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By C. H. Herty

Almost every metallurgist who has given the Howe Memorial Lecture has had a personal contact with the distinguished gentleman to whose honor this hour is devoted. Unfortunately for me, such personal contacts were not possible. However, in the preparation of a thesis on the open-hearth process, one of my earliest tasks was to make a survey of the literature, and it was from Professor Howe's Metallurgy of Iron and Steel that I drew a number of references to previous work which formed the foundation for my reading. In his volume there is such a complete exposition of the then current thought on the subject of slags and on their role in the elimination of phosphorus from steel that I feel no hesitation in discussing in this Howe Lecture the subject of "Slag Control." In the present era of close specification, the drive for uniformity of product, and the close inspection of the product and of the cost sheet, the utmost efforts must be made to control the steelmaking variables to the best advantage of the steel producer. One of the major variables is the slag in the furnace and its effect upon the composition and quality of the metal. What advantages are to be gained from slag control? In the broad sense the advantages must be tremendous, because the very foundations of good steel melting are based on "shaping up" the slag to a point where, with proper temperature, the heat is ready for the final additions. Every melter works toward these ends through his experience with innumerable heats of steel. The elimination of undesirable constituents such as phosphorus and sulphur is entirely a matter of slag composition and physical nature, a point well known for over half a century. The role played by the slag in assisting in proper heat transfer from roof and flame to the steel has been equally well known. In more recent years there has come the problem of oxygen control in the more accurate gauging of additions for making high-grade rimmed steel for the new strip mills, and in the deoxidizing additions for grain-size control and cleanliness of forging steels, both carbon and alloy. In this problem the oxidizing characteristics of the slag are of prime importance.

Jan 1, 1940

By John R. Gould

A mathematical treatment of multiple-pass floating-zone refining of semiconductors, including the evaporation of solutes from the melt at reduced pressure, is presented. Vapor pressures and evaporation rate constants for phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony in germanium have been determined from floating-zone experiments conducted at 10 mm Hg. Rate sensi-tivity of arsenic in germanium has been examined over the range of 1 to 10 in. per hr growth rate. The equilibrium value of the segregation coefficient of arsenic in germanium, as determined by an extrapolation of these data, was found to be 0.09. PFANN has treated the segregation of nonvolatile solutes in the zone-melting process, Bradshaw and Mlavsky2 considered the evaporation of solutes in a vacuum during the growth of crystals by pulling from the melt, and van den Boomgaard3 has shown that it is possible to bring a volatile impurity element homogeneously into an ingot by means of zone-melting under a constant pressure of that element. This paper is concerned with the volatilization of solutes during zone - melting in a vacuum. The mathematical analysis by Lord4 of multiple-pass zone melting is extended to include evaporation of solutes. A method is presented in which evaluations of vapor pressures, evaporation rate constants, and distribution coefficients may be derived from the variation of solute concentration in the floating-zone refining of germanium at 105 mm Hg. EXPERIMENTAL Ingots of zone refined germanium, approximately 1/4 in. in diam and 10 to 12 in. in length, were subjected to several floating-zone passes at 105 mm Hg in order to provide intrinsic material for these studies. These ingots were then seeded in a [Ill] direction and solid-doped to a constant impurity concentration of approximately 1015 atoms per cmS in a forming gas ambient (10 pct H - 90 pct A) at 1/2 atm gage. The resulting crystals were subjected to repeated floating-zone passes at 105 mm Hg and a concentration profile along the length made after termination of each pass. Concentrations were determined from four-point probe resistivity measurements, and proper precautions were taken to prevent contamination during handling. A constant zone length, crystal cross section, and growth rate were maintained during zoning. A stationary coil and moving crystal system were employed for floating-zone growth with neither the section of crystal above nor below the melt rotated.

Jan 1, 1962

By G. Derge, M. Bourgon, G. M. Pound

A STUDY of electrical conductance in molten Cu-Fe sulfide mattes' has shown that pure molten Cu,S behaves like a semi-conductor in that it is an electronic conductor and its specific conductance, of the order of 100 ohm-' cm-', increases with increase in temperature. On the other hand, pure molten FeS, another electronic conductor, behaves like a metallic conductor in that its specific conductance, about 1500 ohm-' cm-', decreases with increase in temperature. Molten solutions of Cu,S and FeS follow a roughly additive rule of mixtures with respect to both specific conductance and temperature coefficient. The behavior of molten Cu,S may be understood, by analogy to the situation in solids, in terms of semiconductor theory.' It is thought that, although the melt consists of cuprous and sulfide ions, the bond between these atoms has a certain degree of cova-lency. According to the simplest concept the electrons in the partially covalent bonds are thermally promoted to a conduction band. In another concept, small amounts of impurities (undetermined) provide donor or acceptor levels in the forbidden zone between the valence and conduction bands and thus facilitate semi-conduction in the usual way. However, the metallic behavior of molten FeS is difficult to explain, because one might expect from similar reasoning that it too should act like a semi-conductor. It was suggested that the apparent metallic behavior of molten FeS might be explained by a large negative temperature coefficient of density. Thus if molar conductance instead of specific conductance were plotted versus temperature, the slope might prove to be positive, indicating semi-conduction instead of apparent metallic conduction. Accordingly, density measurements were made in order to answer this question in regard to molten FeS and also to provide data for conversion of specific conductance to molar conductance for molten Cu,S and a molten 50-50 wt pct Cu-Fe sulfide matte. Experimental Diagrams of the apparatus are given in Figs. 1 and 2. A 3 x 8-cm dense alundum crucible containing the prefused specimen is positioned in the uniform temperature zone of an induction furnace tube and melted under a helium atmosphere. Then the cell assembly, consisting of two 3-mm spectro-graphite rods, one of which is in a 1-cm ID open

Jan 1, 1959

By C. H. Herty

Almost every metallurgist who has given the Howe Memorial Lecture has had a personal contact with the distinguished gentleman to whose honor this hour is devoted. Unfortunately for me, such personal contacts were not possible. However, in the preparation of a thesis on the open-hearth process, one of my earliest tasks was to make a survey of the literature, and it was from Professor Howe's Metallurgy of Iron and Steel that I drew a number of references to previous work which formed the foundation for my reading. In his volume there is such a complete exposition of the then current thought on the subject of slags and on their role in the elimination of phosphorus from steel that I feel no hesitation in discussing in this Howe Lecture the subject of "Slag Control." In the present era of close specification, the drive for uniformity of product, and the close inspection of the product and of the cost sheet, the utmost efforts must be made to control the steelmaking variables to the best advantage of the steel producer. One of the major variables is the slag in the furnace and its effect upon the composition and quality of the metal. What advantages are to be gained from slag control? In the broad sense the advantages must be tremendous, because the very foundations of good steel melting are based on "shaping up" the slag to a point where, with proper temperature, the heat is ready for the final additions. Every melter works toward these ends through his experience with innumerable heats of steel. The elimination of undesirable constituents such as phosphorus and sulphur is entirely a matter of slag composition and physical nature, a point well known for over half a century. The role played by the slag in assisting in proper heat transfer from roof and flame to the steel has been equally well known. In more recent years there has come the problem of oxygen control in the more accurate gauging of additions for making high-grade rimmed steel for the new strip mills, and in the deoxidizing additions for grain-size control and cleanliness of forging steels, both carbon and alloy. In this problem the oxidizing characteristics of the slag are of prime importance.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. H. G. Bushell

The author maintains that selectivity in flotation depends in part on differences in rates of flotation. The rate of flotation should be directly proportional to the frequency of particle-bubble collisions. In this paper, it is suggested that floatable particles of the mineral must be distinguished from nonfloatable particles. Success in flotation is entirely a matter of selectivity. All minerals can be made to float. The problem is to make one mineral float and leave the others in the tails. For a typical ore, with all minerals naturally hydro-philic, a collector which is adsorbed by only one mineral and not at all by the others would give perfect separations. The hydrophobic, collector-coated mineral would separate cleanly from the remaining minerals. In practice, no such highly specific reagents are known. All standard collectors adsorb on most minerals to some extent, and selectivity then becomes a matter of extent of adsorption rather than adsorption on some minerals and not on others. Flotation is therefore a compromise process: if enough reagent is used to float all the desired mineral, the concentrate will be low grade; conversely, high grade concentrates can be attained only at low recovery. With many minerals coated with collector to varying degrees, selectivity appears to depend in part on each mineral floating at a different rate. The study of flotation kinetics is therefore a basic requirement to quantitative understanding of the process. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS THEORIES Before a particle enters the froth it must strike a bubble and adhere to it. Flotation rate will therefore depend on the number of particle-bubble collisions

Jan 1, 1962

By J. H. Wernick

IN temperature-gradient zone-melting1 a molten zone is moved through a solid or across a solid surface by the establishment of a temperature gradient. This technique has both practical and fundamental aspects. One practical application is to make p-n junctions for semiconductive devices, particularly for devices in which the junctions are desired within the semiconductor. From a fundamental point of view, the technique is being investigated as a method for determining diffusivities in liquid alloys, and preliminary diffusivity results have been reported by the writer." In this paper, the effects of crystal orientation, temperature, and molten zone thickness in temperature-gradient zone-melting, and the bearing of these effects on diffusivity measurements and n-p-n junction formation are discussed. Experimental Procedure An effect of crystal orientation was noted in early experiments. To facilitate its study, movements of wire zones across a surface, rather than through the body of a single crystal, were observed for various surface planes and travel directions. The experirr-entai setup is illustrated in Fig. 1. The graphite end-section for the high temperature heater has an apron about 1/16 in. above the upper surface of the crystal. This apron insures that the surface temperature of the block is equal to or greater than the temperature within the block at every point, Thus, the zone does not penetrate the block and convection in the liquid is minimized. The experi-through a block is shown in Fig. 2,

Jan 1, 1958

By Alexander Field

THE rate of elimination of carbon largely controls the time required to make a heat of steel by the basic open-hearth process and to an important degree determines the cost of refining. Practical experience has led to the generally accepted belief that the use of slags relatively high in iron oxide, such as are required to bring about rapid refining, leads to a certain sacrifice of quality in the product. As a consequence, a compromise must be made between the exceedingly slow rate of carbon drop which would correspond to the ideal case and the rapid rate which would best satisfy the condition of minimum cost. An increase in rate of refining necessarily implies an increase in the concentration of iron oxide dissolved in the metal. However, even for the infinitely slow rate that corresponds to slag-metal equilibrium, the metal would contain a certain definite concentration of dissolved iron oxide. It is a matter of great practical importance, therefore, to determine the quantitative relation between the minimum or equilibrium concentration of iron oxide in the metal and the higher concentrations which must actually obtain in practice. The present paper is devoted to the development of certain equations, derived from the established laws of physical chemistry, which will enable this relation between rate of refining and the degree of oxidation of the metal bath to be computed from operating data. No attempt is made to exhaust the possibilities of this general method of treatment. In considering rate of refining, attention is mainly confined to rate of carbon elimination. However, the equations are of a more general nature and their application may readily be extended. The results of the preliminary calculations given herein indicate that increased rate of refining may have a decided effect in increasing the concentration of iron oxide dissolved in the metal. The uncertainty. which attaches to the calculated value for this relationship arises in part from probable errors in experimental data on which the calculations are based, and in part from the lack of complete or favorably disposed information on basic open-hearth practice.

Jan 1, 1928

By N. S. Keith

No one of the live subjects of the day, to which the attention of the mining engineer and metallurgist should be turned, is of greater practical interest to him than electricity in its applications to various mechanical, chemical, and metallurgical operations. The object of this paper is to call the attention of my fellow-members and associates of the Institute to various new, as well as comparatively old, developments in the science and art of electricity which seem to promise results of advantage. Too many of the comparatively old applications have been neglected by the mining engineer, which; if he had given them a place among his appliances, would have assisted him greatly. The telegraph may be noticed as one. Its. use is, however, confined to a person having skill in the. manipulations of the key, the reading of the alphabet, and familiarity with the sounder. One of the simpler forms-the call-bell-has a range of application far greater as to distance and convenience than the old wire-pull, or the hoarse voice of the windlass-man or the bucket-dumper. A few Leclanehé cells, two or more electric bells, and a mile or more of wire judiciously placed will put the superintendent, at his office, in communication with the foremen of his mills and mines, so that by the aid of a code of signals, great advantages may be gained without necessitating a knowledge of the Morse alphabet, or of the mechanical voice of the sounder. The telephone furnishes a means of communication be-

Jan 1, 1882

By Arthur Crowfoot

As a result of work done, on an operating scale, in its experimental mill during 1920 and 1921, the plan here given was proposed for crushing, grinding, and concentrating low-grade sulfide ores at the Morenci Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corpn. The flow sheet is designed to recover 85 per cent. of the total copper and 95 per cent. of the sulfide copper from ore assaying 2.0 per cent. total copper and 0.3 per cent. acid soluble copper. At present, 1400 tons are treated daily under the conditions of this flow sheet, two 700-ton units having been installed in the 4000-ton concentrator. The run-of-mine ore will be reduced, in the dry-crushing plant, to —6 mesh and then delivered to the concentrator feed bins. The crushing will be done in three stages: (I) Run-of-mine ore is reduced to —2 1/2-in. in a gyratory crusher; (2) the 3-in. ore is reduced to 1/2-in. in 72 by 24 in. rolls; (3) the 1/2-in. ore is reduced to — 6-mesh size in 54 by 24 in. rolls. The 54-in. rolls will operate in closed circuit with electrically vibrated screens, "Hum-mer" type, a conveyor circuit being used to carry the roll product to the screens. Sufficient screens will be installed to pass 1.5 tons undersize per hour per square foot. Fine-ore bin chutes will be piped for compressed air, which will be used intermittently to keep the ore feed in motion if it tends to arch or pipe in the bins. The Concentrator The concentration of the copper and iron sulfides in the ore will be effected in three stages: I. By direct treatment of the —6-mesh crushing-plant product on primary tables, which will recover about 35 per cent. of the original copper content of the ore in a clean granular concentrate. The table middling will be dewatered in Dorr rake classifiers and ground to — 48-mesh in ball mills operating in closed circuit with circulating classifiers.

Jan 1, 1923

By Arthur Crowfoot

As a result of work done, on an operating scale, in its experimental mill during 1920 and 1921, the plan here given was proposed for crushing, grinding, and concentrating low-grade sulfide ores at the Morenci Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corpn. The flow sheet is designed to recover 85 per cent. of the total copper and 95 per cent. of the sulfide copper from ore assaying 2.0 per cent. total copper and 0.3 per cent. acid soluble copper. At present, 1400 tons are treated daily under the conditions of this flow sheet, two 700-ton units having been installed in the 4000-ton concentrator. The run-of-mine ore will be reduced, in the dry-crushing plant, to —6 mesh and then delivered to the concentrator feed bins. The crushing will be done in three stages: (I) Run-of-mine ore is reduced to —2 1/2-in. in a gyratory crusher; (2) the 3-in. ore is reduced to 1/2-in. in 72 by 24 in. rolls; (3) the 1/2-in. ore is reduced to — 6-mesh size in 54 by 24 in. rolls. The 54-in. rolls will operate in closed circuit with electrically vibrated screens, "Hum-mer" type, a conveyor circuit being used to carry the roll product to the screens. Sufficient screens will be installed to pass 1.5 tons undersize per hour per square foot. Fine-ore bin chutes will be piped for compressed air, which will be used intermittently to keep the ore feed in motion if it tends to arch or pipe in the bins. The Concentrator The concentration of the copper and iron sulfides in the ore will be effected in three stages: I. By direct treatment of the —6-mesh crushing-plant product on primary tables, which will recover about 35 per cent. of the original copper content of the ore in a clean granular concentrate. The table middling will be dewatered in Dorr rake classifiers and ground to — 48-mesh in ball mills operating in closed circuit with circulating classifiers.

Jan 1, 1923

By Rudolf K. Berkhard

Static soil investigations with more or less heavy loads and extensive borings do not always have efficient results; also, they are very expensive. The new geophysical method of dynamic tests described herein is simple and cheap and avoids several disadvantages of the routine investigation, thus forming a useful supplement to the older methods and even at times replacing various static tests. The fundamental principle of dynamic soil tests consists in the application of artificial vibration. The technique employed is essentially geophysical in nature and in some respects is akin to seismic studies. Artificial vibration may be excited by centrifugal forces resulting from eccentrically supported rotating masses. The reactions of soil and structures caused by these vibrations may be measured. Their dynamic constants, such as amplitudes, phase speeds, damping, reflection, and interference effects, can be investigated. This geophysical method has been used for several years with increasing success. The results of these tests, summarized at the end of the paper, indicate that this method opens a new field for the pkactical engineer in investigating soils (capacity and formation), foundations, dams and structures, and especially buildings that must withstand earthquakes. Methods Static Method.—The first and oldest tests to investigate the bearing capacity of the soil were carried out by static weights. The penetration of these weights, however, depends not only on the soil but also on the size and the form of their lower surface. The length of time the load acts is also important. To imitate actual field conditions, heavy weights and lengthy tests are required, both of which are expensive. Furthermore, the influence of static weights affects only the surface and does not penetrate into deeper strata, therefore substitutes and supplements for static tests have to include the time factor and consequently lead to dynamic investigations. Such dynamic investigations also affect

Jan 1, 1940

By Rudolf K. Berkhard

Static soil investigations with more or less heavy loads and extensive borings do not always have efficient results; also, they are very expensive. The new geophysical method of dynamic tests described herein is simple and cheap and avoids several disadvantages of the routine investigation, thus forming a useful supplement to the older methods and even at times replacing various static tests. The fundamental principle of dynamic soil tests consists in the application of artificial vibration. The technique employed is essentially geophysical in nature and in some respects is akin to seismic studies. Artificial vibration may be excited by centrifugal forces resulting from eccentrically supported rotating masses. The reactions of soil and structures caused by these vibrations may be measured. Their dynamic constants, such as amplitudes, phase speeds, damping, reflection, and interference effects, can be investigated. This geophysical method has been used for several years with increasing success. The results of these tests, summarized at the end of the paper, indicate that this method opens a new field for the pkactical engineer in investigating soils (capacity and formation), foundations, dams and structures, and especially buildings that must withstand earthquakes. Methods Static Method.—The first and oldest tests to investigate the bearing capacity of the soil were carried out by static weights. The penetration of these weights, however, depends not only on the soil but also on the size and the form of their lower surface. The length of time the load acts is also important. To imitate actual field conditions, heavy weights and lengthy tests are required, both of which are expensive. Furthermore, the influence of static weights affects only the surface and does not penetrate into deeper strata, therefore substitutes and supplements for static tests have to include the time factor and consequently lead to dynamic investigations. Such dynamic investigations also affect

Jan 1, 1940

By A. M. Kivari

OPERATIONS at the cement plant of the Permanente Corporation, in the hills about 45 miles south of San Francisco and 12 miles west of San Jose, are interesting to the members because of the adoption of modern hydrometallurgical methods for handling and beneficiating raw materials Closed-circuit grinding, classification, hydroseparation, flotation, agitation, and thickening are familiar terms at this cement plant These methods make it possible to process refractory limestone into suitable materials for the manufacture of modern cements Construction of the plant, haying originally a design capacity of 7000 bbl of cement per clay, was started in June 1939, and the first clinker was ground on the following Christmas Day At present the capacity is about 12,000 bbl of finished cement per 24 hr , most of the production being low-heat cement † About 3130 tons of limestone, 620 tons of clay and 100 tons of gypsum are required daily for this output Occasionally iron oxide is added to the clay to obtain the desired composition This, together with the gypsum, is purchased from outside sources Up to the present time, the corporation has produced low-heat, normal, moderate¬ heat, moderate-sulphate-resisting, high-early-strength, oil-well, modified-oil-well, and plastic cements Most of the present production is for Shasta Dam, near Redding, Calif , the told demand being 5,800,000 bbl of cement Following are sonic of the cement requirements of the Shasta D [im] specifications [ ] The average specific surface in the bin s sampled shill be not less Ulan 1800 sq cm per gram and no individual sample less thin 1600 sq centimeters Compressive strength The average compressive strength in pounds per square inch of three mortar cubes composed of one part cement and 2 75 parts fine testing sand, by weight, shall be equal to or greater thin the following

Jan 1, 1941

By A. W. Ambrose, C. E. Beecher

It is the purpose of this paper to summarize data on unitization projects in Oklahoma and Kansas as obtained from replies to questionnaires sent out by the A. I. M. E. committee for these states. The information received indicates that unitization is growing rapidly in this area, but has not been in operation for a sufficient length of time to develop production history. It was impossible to obtain a record of all unitization projects in the time available. The magnitude of such projects is indicated by the fact that reports were received covering a total of 171,420 acres in Kansas and 49,350 acres in Oklahoma. Most of these units have been formed during the past 2 years, the greater number having been completed in 1929. It is anticipated that even more will be formed during the present year. The following important facts have been emphasized by answers to the questionnaire and discussion with various operators: 1. Unitization is growing rapidly, as evidenced by the number of units and the large total acreage now included in units as compared with practically no acreage 2 years ago. 2. Operators are convinced that unitization is reducing development and operating cost and they anticipate greater reductions as experience is gained in unit operation. 3. Producing units have not been in operation for a sufficient length of time to give significant production history from which to estimate the ultimate recovery of oil, but the general opinion seems to be that more oil will be recovered. 4. In view of the benefits to be derived from unitization, many operators are refusing to carry on wildcat operations unless a unit has been formed. If this attitude continues to grow there will be no large pools developed in Oklahoma and Kansas in the future except under unit control. Summary The following tabulation gives a condensed summary of the information received on unit operations in Oklahoma and Kansas, but does not include all units, because many were not reported.

Jan 1, 1930

By Edward Richardson

As DEVELOPED up to the end of the Great War, an airplane was essentially a mechanism of wood and fabric, joined and held together by metal fittings and, fastening. The engine and accessories, wire for wheel spokes and other tension members, and the occasional use of metal for interplane struts and the shafts of surface controls required some metal, but essentially it was a. wood and fabric structure. Attempts had been made to use metal for other purposes, such as struts in the drag-trussing of wing panels and for short interplane struts, and Junkers had produced an airplane of iron in 1915. By 1917 he was using steel tubes and duralu-min sheets, securing noteworthy advantages aerodynamically and from the standpoint of weigh PRINCIPLES OF AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION The loaded weight of airplanes ranges from 500 lb. for the light plane of which we heard so much a short time ago, to about 40,000 lb. The great majority of planes range from 2000 to 10,000 lb. Of this weight from 15. to 30 per cent. is for the dividend-earning load. This percentage is so low that every per cent. saved on the rest of the weight increases the pay load from 3 to 6 per cent. The economic value of every pound that can be saved in designing or constructing a plane is sufficiently great to warrant spending money on refined methods of structural analysis, materials of superior strength properties for a given weight, methods of manufacture which may make possible the use of refinements in structural design, and the like, to an extent unknown heretofore.

Jan 1, 1928

By R. S. French

THE purpose of this paper is to present data that have been obtained during the past two years concerning the effects of prior cold-work and temperature and time of anneal upon the recrystallization and grain growth of 70-30 cartridge brass. It was desirable to study certain of these phases so that an accurate picture of the principles of the subject could be shown. The work is not intended to provide explicit annealing data, but to provide material examples that may help to clarify analogous problems concerning this alloy. Specifications often set limitations upon the grain size of annealed materials because of the importance of grain size upon subsequent manufacturing operations. It was, therefore, worth while to study the variables that affect the recrystallized grain size of this material. C. H. Mathewson and A. Phillips,1 W. R. Webster,2 and others have presented annealing characteristic curves of this alloy. A recent typical curve presented by R. S. Pratt3 is shown in Fig. I. The tensile properties and grain sizes are shown as functions of the annealing temperature. Such curves serve as a useful guide in determining the physical properties of annealed material, but as they are made generally under carefully controlled laboratory conditions they do not indicate the performance of metal annealed in a mill muffle, where conditions are different and the amounts of metal require necessarily longer heating times and temperatures. Study of the effect of time and temperature upon grain growth and subsequent recrystallization was made with a coil of metal having the following analysis: 70.04 per cent copper; 0.007 lead; 0.007 iron; 0.00 tin; 0.00 silicon; 0.001 nickel; 0.000 phosphorus; balance zinc. The sample coil was obtained from metal that had been rerolled from hot-rolled mill stock, and was received at 0.228-in. gauge, soft, with a grain size of 0.125 mm. This material was then rolled 43.5 per cent to 0.125-in. gauge and annealed to a 0.053-mm. grain size. In this condition, samples were cut and used in all of the experimental work reported in this paper. TIME The first study was of crystal growth at a constant temperature over a moderate length of time. Material was cut from the stock coil at 0.129-in. size and rolled 75 per cent hard to 0.032-in. gauge. From this piece small samples were cut ½ by 2 in., suitable for grain-size determinations. Twelve samples were placed in an electric furnace uniformly across the width, approximately an inch from the floor, A thermocouple was wired to the center sample, so that the approximate metal temperature could be followed. At various

Jan 1, 1944

By H. T. Clark, S. Feigenbaum

THE importance of measuring the temperature of molten steel in the open-hearth furnace has been recognized for many years. Poor temperature control may be costly to steelmaking operations and lead to a lowered quality of the steel. Low or excessive temperatures may shorten the life of the furnace, ladles and molds. Rates of reactions in the furnace and efficiencies of deoxidizers are known to change materially with a change in the temperature of the metal and slag. Ladle skulls and mold and stool stickers cause steel to be scrapped instead of being converted into useful products. Finally, the structure, segregation and surface condition of ingots are affected by the teeming temperature. Mill investigations of the effect of bath temperature upon steelmaking operations have been largely qualitative in character, based upon observations by practical melting men. The physical chemist has used the empirical information available and has reached reasonable and useful conclusions with respect to the various melting processes. The introduction of a reliable direct- reading pyrometer will permit accurate quantitative evaluation of the effects of temperature and should furnish a more rational basis for study of the thermo- chemistry of steelmaking. The problem is not merely one of making a small number of temperature measurements in the open-hearth furnace. This has been done by several methods to a degree of precision that was apparently satisfactory. Considerable effort by a number of investigators has been directed rather to the development of an open- hearth bath pyrometer that would be both accurate and practical for routine measurements. To be practical, the pyrometer should be inexpensive to operate; that is, the installation, operating and maintenance costs should be exceeded by the tangible benefits to the open-hearth operator. Temperatures from 2800° to 3100°F. are encountered in the open-hearth furnace. The surface of the molten metal is covered by several inches of slag, which prevents direct observation of the metal surface for optical or radiation measurements. Both slag and metal are highly reactive at these temperatures and will attack to a greater or lesser extent any material immersed in them. Adequate protection of thermocouples, which of necessity must be brought to the temperature of the bath, has generally resulted in a large, heavy assembly made up of .brittle materials, unsuited for handling on the open-hearth floor. The lie of the equipment was short and maintenance was an important consideration. EARLIER WORK Any one of a number of physical proper- ties of liquid steel could conceivably be used as a basis for temperature measurement. Efforts to the present time, however, have been confined largely to measuring either the thermal electromotive force generated between two dissimilar materials immersed in the steel or the intensity of radiation from the surface of the steel. These

Jan 1, 1946

By James Finlay

(New York Meeting, February, 1913) AT first blush one is tempted to say that iron-mines are like any other mines, and that principles governing mining-property in general will apply to them. But there are certain considerations which seem to repay reflection. Gold and copper are more or less independent of transportation. The proof of this is that those metals are profitably mined and shipped from the remotest corners of the earth. Their value is determined by the cost of production on the ground. This is quite true of gold, not quite so true of copper, not at all true of iron. If New York were a fishing-village and Chicago' a swamp, Calumet & Hecla might still be a bonanza. The main element of its value is the 60 lb. of fine copper per ton which it produced for years. But the Mesabi Range is absolutely dependent upon the industrial activity in the United States. Iron-manufacture in Europe would give it no value whatever. If Chicago and New York had a population of Peruvians or Hindus, the Hull-Rust mine would be as worthless a bit of landscape as any tundra in Alaska. I have discussed these facts more or less casually and dimly in my book on the cost of mining and in my report to the Tax Commissioners of Michigan1 I shall try here to bring them out in more detail. I have already referred to some differences in the problem of mining as between the more precious metals, e.g., gold, and the less precious and more abundant minerals, like iron and coal; but it is interesting to note that the literature of the eco-

Jan 3, 1913

By G. L. Oldright

Nearly all of the present schemes for treating complex (i. e. lead-silver-zinc-copper) ores are based on the idea that lead holds, and will hold for some time, the strongest economic place from the viewpoint of supply and demand of all the non-ferrous metals. Copper, it is thought, will come back to its own when European affairs are stabilized, although at that time competition from Chile, Peru, and Katanga, in particular, will be more severe than in pre-war days. The future for silver and for zinc is uncertain. New uses are developing for zinc, and the market has remained better than many expected, but the stabilization of world markets will bring in foreign competition instead of relief. The cost of producing zinc from simple zinc ores, by the retort process, will, from the nature of the labor required and the increasing cost of fuel, increase steadily. As a result, the small producers of purely zinc ores around Joplin are shutting down their mines, even with a good market price for zinc; on the other hand, the producer of lead from complex ores, in the Rocky Mountain states, is confident of a profit from the sale of his lead, and is seeking means to make the zinc in his ore pay some part of the cost of treatment. However, the tonnage costs for mining and ore dressing are much higher in the Rocky Mountain states, as may be seen by comparing tax-return statements from the various states. Even before the recent drop in the price of silver, many mines were operating on a very slender margin of profit; labor and supplies cost more. Mining at greater depth has shown most orebodies to grow increasingly more complex, so that improvements in mining and ore-dressing practice have not been sufficient to compensate for the additional expense involved in beneficiating these ores. The smelters have bad to meet the same general economic situation, so they can only give

Jan 1, 1924

By M. L. Fuller

DURING the last several years many papers have appeared dealing with the structure of highly polished metal surfaces The awakening of interest in this subject is due to the applicability of the electron diffraction technique to the study of surfaces The original theory of Beilby1 considered the surface of polished metals as of the nature of a super-cooled liquid or a vitreous, amorphous solid The electron diffraction effects from polished metals have been interpreted by many to be a direct experimental proof of the correctness of the Beilby theory This interpretation has been strongly opposed by others, so that at the present time the subject is in an uncertain and controversial state In the present paper new, and hitherto unpublished, electron diffraction effects from polished zinc are described These observations indicate that the polished surface of zinc is crystalline PUBLISHED WORK Many papers2-10 have interpreted the electron diffraction evidence as proof of the Beilby amorphous theory All investigators agree that highly polished metals give rise to two diffuse diffraction haloes, similar to those obtained by the diffraction of X-rays in liquids and vitreous solids It is this similarity that leads to the amorphous-layer interpretation of polished metals Strangely, the interatomic distances calculated from these haloes are very similar for the various metals investigated, in spite of a rather wide range of such distances in the crystalline and liquid states The calculated atomic sizes are, furthermore, smaller than are experienced in the normal states of the metals In spite of these anomalies, the amorphous-layer interpretation has been adhered to by many One investigator, S Dobmski,11 differs from the others in his experimental results By polishing under benzene in order to avoid the possibility of oxidation, Dobinski obtains diffuse haloes of [radire] different from those previously obtained He thus obtains a more rational quantitative correlation of-the diffuse haloes with the amorphous-layer theory

Jan 1, 1938