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By Harry Klemic

Zirconium and hafnium minerals are used industrially both as minerals valuable for their chemical and physical characteristics and as ores of zirconium and hafnium. The principal zirconium-hafnium-bearing minerals, their composition, and their ranges in content of zirconium and hafnium dioxides are listed in Table 1. The supply of zirconium and hafnium is based almost entirely upon the supply of the minerals zircon and baddeleyite. Eudialyte may eventually also be of importance as a source of these elements. Zircon, which generally contains nearly 49% zirconium and between 0.4 and 1.5% hafnium, is the principal industrial mineral of this group. Baddeleyite, a commercially important but less abundant mineral, contains as much as 73% zirconium and 0.4 to 1.7% hafnium. Eudialyte has a wide range in content of these elements, but analyses of material from several localities indicate values of 6 to 11 % zirconium and 0.07 to 0.4% hafnium. Zircon is a mineral consisting principally of zirconium, silicon, and oxygen that crystallizes from magmas during the formation of igneous rocks. Zircon also occurs in veins and in metamorphic rocks. It is in the tetragonal crystal system. It commonly forms as small well-developed prisms having pyramidal terminations but also occurs as irregular-shaped grains. Zircon has a hardness of 7.5 on the Mohs' scale. Its specific gravity is commonly between 4.68 and 4.70 (Dana, 1932), but the specific gravity varies somewhat depending upon com- position and state of alteration. Zircon has no good cleavage directions and is brittle, breaking with a conchoidal fracture. Zircon of the composition ZrSiO, would contain 67.2% Zr02 and 32.8% SiO2. However, in addition to about 1 % of hafnium, minor amounts of thorium, uranium, rare earth elements, yttrium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum, phosphorus, and hydrogen, and trace amounts of other elements are commonly present in the mineral (Frondel, 1957). Radiogenic lead and other daughter products from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium also accrue in the mineral. Radiation damage to the structure of zircons that contain appreciable amounts of uranium and thorium may alter the internal structure of the crystals to

Jan 1, 1975

By Benjamin C. Craft

Oil and gas development in Louisiana during 1935 brought this state at the close of the year up to fourth place in the nation as a producing area. A review of development in North Louisiana centers around Rodessa, the most important reserve discovered in this area in many years. While the producing limits have not been defined, this discovery is one of the major developments of the year. New gas fields were discovered in Lincoln, De Soto and Bossier parishes. The Lincoln Parish discovery, completed flowing a highly saturated gas from the Glen Rose, further indicates the importance of deep-seated prospects in the interior salt-dome area. Minor extensions were made at Sligo and Pine Island. During the year, 126 oil wells and 103 gas wells were completed in North Louisiana as compared with 144 oil wells and 68 gas wells during 1934. The North Louisiana oil production was 9,617,405 bbl. as com-pared with 9,274,050 bbl. during 1934, an increase of 343,355 bbl., while the gas production increased 18 billion cu. ft. in 1935 over its 1934 figure. The Louisiana Department of Conservation gage of Nov. 1, 1935, shows an open-flow capacity of 4,563,725,000 cu. ft. per day from 941 wells in the Monroe field and 682,770,000 cu. ft. from 159 wells in the Rich-land field. A great deal of leasing continues in North Louisiana as a result of the Lincoln Parish discovery and development in the Rodessa field, especially in Bossier, De Soto, Winn, Lincoln, Bienville, Webster, Ouachita and Richland parishes. South Louisiana's position as an area of important reserves was further proved during the past year. Increased drilling resulted in the discovery of seven new fields: Lafitte, Garden Island Bay, Tepetate, Bunkie, St. Martinsville, Jeanerette and Big Lake. New sands or producing horizons proved productive in 15 of the proven fields. The total oil production for South Louisiana during 1935 was 40,731,-056 bbl. as compared with 23,255,437 bbl. during 1934. There were 222 oil and gas wells completed in South Louisiana during 1935 as compared with 214 oil wells during the previous period. Drilling during

Jan 1, 1936

By Benjamin C. Craft

Oil and gas development in Louisiana during 1935 brought this state at the close of the year up to fourth place in the nation as a producing area. A review of development in North Louisiana centers around Rodessa, the most important reserve discovered in this area in many years. While the producing limits have not been defined, this discovery is one of the major developments of the year. New gas fields were discovered in Lincoln, De Soto and Bossier parishes. The Lincoln Parish discovery, completed flowing a highly saturated gas from the Glen Rose, further indicates the importance of deep-seated prospects in the interior salt-dome area. Minor extensions were made at Sligo and Pine Island. During the year, 126 oil wells and 103 gas wells were completed in North Louisiana as compared with 144 oil wells and 68 gas wells during 1934. The North Louisiana oil production was 9,617,405 bbl. as com-pared with 9,274,050 bbl. during 1934, an increase of 343,355 bbl., while the gas production increased 18 billion cu. ft. in 1935 over its 1934 figure. The Louisiana Department of Conservation gage of Nov. 1, 1935, shows an open-flow capacity of 4,563,725,000 cu. ft. per day from 941 wells in the Monroe field and 682,770,000 cu. ft. from 159 wells in the Rich-land field. A great deal of leasing continues in North Louisiana as a result of the Lincoln Parish discovery and development in the Rodessa field, especially in Bossier, De Soto, Winn, Lincoln, Bienville, Webster, Ouachita and Richland parishes. South Louisiana's position as an area of important reserves was further proved during the past year. Increased drilling resulted in the discovery of seven new fields: Lafitte, Garden Island Bay, Tepetate, Bunkie, St. Martinsville, Jeanerette and Big Lake. New sands or producing horizons proved productive in 15 of the proven fields. The total oil production for South Louisiana during 1935 was 40,731,-056 bbl. as compared with 23,255,437 bbl. during 1934. There were 222 oil and gas wells completed in South Louisiana during 1935 as compared with 214 oil wells during the previous period. Drilling during

Jan 1, 1936

By L. C. Uren

Field studies and laboratory research have established the fact that the expulsive force which drives petroleum into wells, from the reservoir sands in which it is stored by nature, is primarly an expression of the energy latent within compressed natural gas dissolved or occluded in, or otherwise associated with the oil. Each barrel of oil produced is forced into the recovery well by the expansive energy of a certain volume of compressed gas, originally stored with the oil in the pores of the reservoir rock; and each cubic foot of gas so produced with the oil and expanded to atmospheric pressure reduces by so much the total natural energy available for oil expulsion. This relationship between the volumes of gas and oil produced has seemed so important that petroleum production technolo-gists have come to regard the "gas-oil ratio," or the "gas factor" as it has been more conveniently termed, as a measure of oil-production efficiency. Different methods of oil recovery and production devices are now Com pared on this basis and estimates of ultimate recovery obtainable through their use are considered by many to be inversely proportional to the values of their respective gas factors. The writer has been among those who have given support to a widcspread movement toward a proper recognition of the significance of the gas factor as a guide in the control of producing oil wells, and does not wish to oppose its more extended application. It seems necessary, how-cvcr, in view of the almost elemental faith with which the principle of the gas factor has been received in many quarters, to point out that it is a most complex factor, and one which cannot be regarded as an absolute index of production efficiency without due regard to other contributing factors by which it is influenced to an important degree. Variables Influencing Gas Factor The mere recording of a low gas factor, obtained through the use of some method or device, does not necessarily imply efficient oil production; and conversely, a high gas factor does not always signify inefficient recov-

Jan 1, 1928

By G. A. Merkt

THE Isley furnace control, here presented as a novelty in furnace construction, is, in principle, one of the oldest methods of maintaining furnace heat for industrial purposes. Records unearthed in Egyptian tombs and the primitive methods of melting metal practiced by African tribes today indicate that fanning the fire and forcing the furnace by bellows have been an effective means of regulating heat for man's work during thousands of years. Even today, these cruder forms of mechanical draft production are still nn use within the borders of this most highly developed industrial land. Stacks, as we know them, are of com- paratively recent historical age but their attractive simplicity and seeming effectiveness have made them exceedingly popular. And so we find one of the most important types of furnace the world has even known, the open-hearth furnace, duly and more or less properly equipped with a chimney. The regenerative, or reversing, type of furnace, how-ever, required another mechanism between its hearth and the stack to provide a means for alternately con-necting one side and the other of its system of regen-erative chambers and flues to the stack and to a source of fuel and air supply respectively. Various types of reversing valves were developed, some of which are re-markably well designed for maximum efficiency and ease of installation as well as operation. However, this combination has a number of inherent faults which are so difficult to correct as to make efforts in the direction of improving over-all efficiency almost futile. These inherent difficulties are as follows: (1) The necessarily high temperature at which the gases must be delivered to the stack in order to make it operative. (2) The great temperature difference incidental to the reversal of flue gas and air and consequently the large variation in preheated air and fuel delivered to the furnace dur-ing the cycle. (3) The leakages and resistances created by the reversing apparatus and the complicated flues necessary. (4) The inadequate range of control af-forded by the natural draft system, especially under adverse atmospheric conditions.

Jan 12, 1927

By S. M. Marshall, B. M. Bird

For a number of years European investigators have used laboratory methods of predicting the probable strength of coke made from coal, and recently several investigators in the United States have reported the use of various tests for this purpose. There is at present no method accepted as standard, however, nor is there even agreement as to the general type of test that should be used. Furthermore, because the details of most of the tests have not been worked out carefully, one investigator can not hope to duplicate the work of another. The extension of coke manufacture to new localities in the United States, and the increasing need for cokes of exceptional qualities made from the most economical mixtures, made it desirable to have some simple laboratory test which will determine whether given coals, alone or blended with other coals, are more satisfactory from the standpoint of coke strenpth- than others of different cost. The work described herein has resulted in the development of a simple laboratory test which, it is believed, can be generally adopted in coal laborat,ories, and which will give concordant results even though performed by different investigators in different laboratories. The general method of predicting whether a coal or a mixture of coals will produce a strong coke, resistant to crushing and shattering, has been to correlate the known strengths of the cokes produced in commercial ovens with some measurable constituent or with some property of the coals, and then to use the relationship so found for forming an estimate of the coking strengths of coals unknown. Several such correlations have utilized the percentages of the various ultimate constituents of coal, such as the oxygen content and the hydrogen-oxygen ratio;(39)§ other correlations have involved the proportion of a, B and r com-pounds, (17,21,30c) or of "oil and solid bitumens."(16,30) Also a relationship has been traced between the coking properties of coal and the rate of change of the resistance offered to the flow of an inert gas by fine particles of the coal while being slowly heated. (11,176) But the most general corre-

Jan 1, 1930

The Institute conducts jointly with the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Institute of Electrical Engineers, certain activities as listed below, and is joint owner with them of certain properties. United Engineering Trustees, Inc. When Mr. Carnegie made his gift which made possible a home for the engineering societies, a separate corporation was organized to act as a holding company and to manage the common property. This was long known as the United Engineering Society but the name has now been changed to one which more nearly reflects the real function of the corporation. It holds title to the Engineering Societies Building and to various funds placed in its charge and is managed by a Board of Trustees of which three are chosen by each of the four societies, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers, which own equal and undivided interests in the property. The land and building cost two million dollars. The interest of each of the Founders societies, aside from especial trust funds, is now valued at $493,352. The A. I. M. E. trustees are Arthur S. Dwight, J. V. N. Derr and George D. Barron. The President of the Board is Francis Lee Stuart and the Secretary, Alfred D. Flinn.

Jan 1, 1923

By Olaf Hondrum

CHURN drilling equipment at Bagdad consists of two Bucyrus Erie 27-T model drills and one 22-T drill with gasoline engines. The drilling tools weigh approximately 1600 lb. The holes are drilled with 7-in. bits which are heated in an oil burning furnace and sharpened in an electrically powered bit sharpener. A service truck brings the bits to the drills and takes the dull bits back to the shop. The bits weigh around 250 lb. when new and are handled by drill crews without any mechanical handling device. When the management decided to start open- pit operations in 1945 the ruggedness of the terrain was one factor that led to the purchase of the small 22-T model drill. The orebody lies on both sides of Copper Creek Canyon. The sides of the canyon are steep and are cut by numerous narrow branch gullies. The drill had to travel over roads that were narrow and steep. It proved adequate for drilling the capping formation and is still in use.

Jan 1, 1950

Alexander N. Winchell, Butte, Mont. (communication to the Secretary): Mr. Spurr calls attention to the fact that an ore-deposit may be due to a succession of concentrations at different geological epochs. He cites an example of such a condition on Napoleon creek, a branch of Forty-Mile creek, Alaska. It will perhaps be of interest to call attention to another example of the same general character, not so remotely situated. The example referred to is located on Pole creek, a tributary of Cherry creek, in the extreme northeastern part of Madison county, Montana. An excellent geological map of this region is to be found in the Three Forks folio (No. 24) of the United States Geological Survey. According to this map, Pole creek, in its upper course, occupies the contact between the " Flathead " formation, which Peale correlates with the Middle and Lower Cambrian, and an area of gneisses and schists supposed

Jan 1, 1903

William Kelly, Vulcan, Mich.:—In the northern part of Bedford county, Pa., the county immediately south of Huntingdon, the Clinton measures appear along the eastern slope of Tussey mountain near its base. The only iron-ore bed that has been worked is in the upper part of the formation. Along the mountain this seam has a dip of more than 60°. At the outcrop the ore is soft and rich, but with depth it passes often abruptly into an almost pure limestone similar to that described by Dr. Rutledge. The soft ore extends deeper in the cross-gullies than it does under the higher gound between the depressions. The slates adjoining the rich ore have been weathered, but where in juxtaposition to lean ore and limestone they are hard. The alteration of the ore-bed is evidently the result of the conditions of drainage in quite recent geo-

Jan 1, 1910

By E. P. Mathewson

THE experiments described in this paper were made at the Washoe Reduction Works, Anaconda, Mont., for the purpose of determining the relative speed of elimination of the iron, sulphur and arsenic during the process of bessemerizing copper-mattes. The samples were taken from a horizontal "barrel" converter, 8 ft. in diameter and 12 ft. 6 in. long, having an average charge of 9 tons of matte, and blown with a 16-1b. air-pressure. All samples were taken with the blast on, turning the converter from its normal blowing-position to nearly verti¬cal, so that a conical mold, with a long handle attached to a horizontal rod, could be introduced from a platform above the converter into the mouth of the converter and a sample taken. The difficulties of taking a sample with the blast on are appar¬ent, and the irregularities of the lines in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 can be readily accounted for by the amount of slag in the samples. On the whole, the plotting of the results gives comparatively uniform lines, considering the conditions. The samples were taken by the regular sampling-force of the works at 10-min. intervals, as shown in Tables I., II and III, which also give the chemical analysis of the samples so taken. The test shown in Table I. was made with a new converter; that of Table II with a converter that had made three charges and had been cleaned out; that of Table III with a converter that bad blown one charge to white metal, and had then been " washed " out and used for the test. In plotting these results, it was necessary to take, as a basis, the percentage of copper in the samples. This basis does not exactly represent the true condition, since the volume is constantly decreasing and a certain quantity of copper passes into the slag, but it is as near as can be obtained in practice. Take, for instance, in Table I., the sample No. 5, which shows : Cu, 59.9;

Jan 1, 1907

"The pumping of the underground water of the Butte mines is largely done from two central plants of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. The mines of one part of the mining district are served by a modern and mechanically efficient underground plant at the High Ore mine, and the remaining part by a similar one at the Leonard mine. Properties not affiliated with the A. C. M. Co. have separate pumping plants, although in several instances that company handles the water of outside companies, under which arrangement costly single plants are dispensed with. An extensive system of underground crosscuts and drifts connects these mines to both the main pumping plants, so that either may receive the water from all the mines in case there should be a failure in the other to perform its designed service.Quintuple) vertical electric pumps, 7 inches by 12 inches each, of a capacity of 600 gals. per minute under a head of 1,203 feet, are installed at both the plants. Each pump is direct connected to two 150 h-p. motors using 2,300 volts, the motors being on top of the pumps.At the High Ore plant the power cable of 400,000 c. m. is placed in a nearby shaft, the cable at present being hung from the surface to the 2,200 level. From this cable feeders of 300,000 c. m. are laid in connecting crosscuts to the pumping station at the High Ore shaft.The Leonard motors use 440 volts. The practice of building the pumps with the motors on top requires stations with high roofs, but permits the operation of the pumps if they should be submerged by an unusual flow of water."

Jan 1, 1913

By R. W. Raymond

Recent literary labors have led me to the compilation of the following tables and estimates, which may possess interest for my colleagues in the Institute, and which are here submitted without comment.

By William H. Spice

The year 1942 in the South Central Texas area was marked by a sharp curtailment of exploratory drilling as compared with the past several years. In the 33 counties that compose this district, 17 of which are nonproducing counties, only 51 exploratory wells were drilled during the year 1942. This compares with 118 exploratory wells drilled during 1941, or a decrease of more than 50 per cent. At the end of the year 10 active exploratory wells were drilling in this area, as against 19 being drilled at the end of 1941. Of the exploratory wells drilled, two brought in oil wells and were new field discoveries and one was a gas well extending a recently discovered shallow gas area in the western part of the district. This compares with five new oil fields, one new . gas field and two extension wells drilled in 1941. Both new field discoveries were small and in areas outside of the general trend of the main producing horizon of the district in Edwards limestone: One new field, the Imogene, in Atascosa County, is a deep Edwards limestone prospect at 7500 ft., and the other new field, the Poth, in Wilson County, is a sSEa110w Wilcox (Eocene) prospect at 4000 ft. Subsequent drilling in each field to the end of I942 has proved disappointing. There were no new discoveries along the old Balcones fault-line trend, although 35 of the exploratory wells were drilled in counties along this trend. Approximately 38 wells were drilled in or adjacent to the proven fields of the district, of which 18 were oil wells, 2 were gas wells and 17 were dry holes. The district produced 6,186,178 bbl. of oil during 1942, which was a 7 per cent decrease under production for 1941. Approximately 4,961,000 bbl. of this total production, a slight increase over 1941, was produced by the four Edwards-limestone fields, Luling, Branyon, Salt Flat and Darst Creek, and the rest of the production came from the other 42 active fields in the district. During the year, 20 new producing wells were completed and 221 wells were abandoned in the producing fields. This alarming excess rate of abandonment~ over completions will be further reflected undoubtedly by a further decreased rate of 1943 production under 1942. Two active fields in the district in which more than one producing well was completed during the year were Bee Creek and Washburn. The majority of exploratory work in the district was confined to areas along the Wilcox trend, with a certain amount in progress along the deeper Edwards limestone trend. The successful completion of sevemi wells in the Washburn field from multiple sands in the Lower Wilcor (Eocene) has stimulated exploratory work along this trend, while the completion of a small well in the Imogene field from the Edwards limestone at 7500 ft. has renewed interest in this horizon at depths greater than generally are producing in the district. New Fields ounty. ble Oil and Refining Company's No. I

Jan 1, 1943

By William H. Spice

The year 1942 in the South Central Texas area was marked by a sharp curtailment of exploratory drilling as compared with the past several years. In the 33 counties that compose this district, 17 of which are nonproducing counties, only 51 exploratory wells were drilled during the year 1942. This compares with 118 exploratory wells drilled during 1941, or a decrease of more than 50 per cent. At the end of the year 10 active exploratory wells were drilling in this area, as against 19 being drilled at the end of 1941. Of the exploratory wells drilled, two brought in oil wells and were new field discoveries and one was a gas well extending a recently discovered shallow gas area in the western part of the district. This compares with five new oil fields, one new . gas field and two extension wells drilled in 1941. Both new field discoveries were small and in areas outside of the general trend of the main producing horizon of the district in Edwards limestone: One new field, the Imogene, in Atascosa County, is a deep Edwards limestone prospect at 7500 ft., and the other new field, the Poth, in Wilson County, is a sSEa110w Wilcox (Eocene) prospect at 4000 ft. Subsequent drilling in each field to the end of I942 has proved disappointing. There were no new discoveries along the old Balcones fault-line trend, although 35 of the exploratory wells were drilled in counties along this trend. Approximately 38 wells were drilled in or adjacent to the proven fields of the district, of which 18 were oil wells, 2 were gas wells and 17 were dry holes. The district produced 6,186,178 bbl. of oil during 1942, which was a 7 per cent decrease under production for 1941. Approximately 4,961,000 bbl. of this total production, a slight increase over 1941, was produced by the four Edwards-limestone fields, Luling, Branyon, Salt Flat and Darst Creek, and the rest of the production came from the other 42 active fields in the district. During the year, 20 new producing wells were completed and 221 wells were abandoned in the producing fields. This alarming excess rate of abandonment~ over completions will be further reflected undoubtedly by a further decreased rate of 1943 production under 1942. Two active fields in the district in which more than one producing well was completed during the year were Bee Creek and Washburn. The majority of exploratory work in the district was confined to areas along the Wilcox trend, with a certain amount in progress along the deeper Edwards limestone trend. The successful completion of sevemi wells in the Washburn field from multiple sands in the Lower Wilcor (Eocene) has stimulated exploratory work along this trend, while the completion of a small well in the Imogene field from the Edwards limestone at 7500 ft. has renewed interest in this horizon at depths greater than generally are producing in the district. New Fields ounty. ble Oil and Refining Company's No. I

Jan 1, 1943

By H. C. Gatos, J. T. A. Pollock, V. Sadagopan

PREVIOUS investigations on the effect of neutron irradiation on the superconducting properties of bulk transition metals indicated that little or no change occurred in poly crystalline disordered materials, particularly if cold-worked prior to irradiation. Only the superconducting properties of ordered intermetal-lic A15 compounds were found to be sensitive to irradiation, and the observed reduction in Tc and increased magnetic hysteresis or critical current densities were attributed to the introduction of flux pinning vacancy clusters and disorder in the lattice. Since the former would also be expected to be present after irradiation in disordered alloys, the general conclusion was that the disordering effect of the irradiation was the primary reason for the changes observed. The present note reports some unusual effects of neutron irradiation on cold worked Nb(Cb)-Ti-V alloys. Specimens with nominal composition as given in Table I were prepared by repeated arc melting, taking the usual precautions, and homogenized at 1000°C for 24 hr prior to a reduction of 15:l by cold rolling. Samples of size 1 by 1 by 25 mm were sliced from the rolled strips. The sarmples chosen for irradiating were sealed in a cadmium tube (wall thickness 1 mm) prior to exposure in a fast neutron flux of 3.7 x 1019 neutrons per sq cm in the swimming pool reactor of Union Carbide Corporation&apos;s Sterling Forest Reactor. During irradiation the temperature of the samples was maintained below 70°C. The irradiated samples were stored at room temperature for approximately 1 year allowing the radiation levels to reach a safe handling value. Tc measurements were made employing a self-inductance coil technique. Jc data at 4.2"Kwere obtained using a four lead resistivity method. The latter measurements were made at the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory by setting the perpendicularly applied field and increasing the direct current through the sample until a potential of about 10-6 v was detected. Tc values for the nonirradiated samples are listed in Table I together with the change in Tc after irradiation. A decrease in Tc of 0.25 or 0.3"K was measured for three of the four samples, the exception being the Nb-30 at. pct V-20 at. pct Ti alloy which showed a decrease of 0.5K. Jc vs applied field data are plotted in Fig. 1 for the Nb-20 at. pct V-30 at. pct Ti alloy. These curves are typical of the four alloys and surprisingly indicate that a degradation occurred in all the samples after irradiation. Hc2 values, obtained by extrapolation to zero current, are 8 to 15 pct lower than those measured for the nonirradiated specimens. The reasons for the degradation of Tc and jc ob-served in the alloys on exposure to neutron irradiation are not immediately apparent. The temperature at which the samples were maintained during bombardment (<70°C) and stored (20°C) make it highly unlikely that any significant change in the dislocation density of the materials through thermally activated migration and annihilation would occur. The explanation must lie in the type of damage produced by the bombardment. McEvoy et a1. reported no change in superconduct-

Jan 1, 1970

By M. T. Hepworth, A. K. Stewart

Iron containing 0.1 pct A1 and -0.9 pct P by weight was internally oxidized in the temperature range 900° to 1300° C, where the bcc structure is stabilized by phosphorous. By measuring the depth of penetration of oxygen with time in an internally oxidized zone for an imposed surface oxygen potential, oxygen permeability was determined. The dgfusion coefficient of oxygen in iron was then calculated using known solubility data, yielding the expression: where Do is the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in bcc iron in sq cm per sec and T is temperature in OK. RECENTLY Hepworth, Smith, and Turkdoganl measured the diffusivity of oxygen in bcc iron and reported the temperature dependence of diffusivity from data determined in the a, and 6 temperature ranges. Subsequently Swisher and Turkdogan&apos; have measured the diffusivity of oxygen in fcc iron. Internal oxidation techniques were employed by these investigators and in this current study. The analysis of this technique is developed by wagner3 (presented in English by Hauffe4 and Rapp 5). In this present study bcc iron stabilized by phosphorous was used to determine oxygen diffusivity in the temperature range 900° to 1300°C. Meijerin 6 has studied oxygen permeability in this temperature range using bcc iron stabilized with 5 pct Sn. Other inves- tigators who have studied oxygen permeability in bcc iron at other temperatures are Schenck et al., 7 Bohen-kamp and Engell, 8 and Bradford. EXPERIMENTAL Electrolytic iron of 99.99 pct purity was alloyed to contain 0.897 pct P and 0.093 pct Al. The maximum weight percent phosphorous required to stabilize bcc iron between 910" and 1392°C is 0.51 pct as determined by Haughton,10 0.42 pct by Roquet and jegaden," and 0.58 pct by vogel,12 with the latter value preferred by Hansen.13 Microprobe analysis indicated that there was no segregation of the phosphorous either before or after permeability studies; therefore, the quantity of phosphorous added was assumed to be sufficient to stabilize the bcc structure. Furthermore, the permeability results of studies on this alloy agreed substantially with interpolated values from previous data on bcc iron.&apos; An ingot of the Fe-P-A1 alloy was hot-rolled to a l-in.-thick slab. Specimens were machined to dimensions: 13/8 by $ by 1/4 in. The experimental apparatus and procedure used have been described before.&apos; A constant oxygen potential was established by passing argon and hydrogen through a column of oxalic acid dihydrate, which has a water vapor pressure which is well-known as a function of temperature. Slab specimens were exposed to a gas mixture sufficiently lean in oxygen to prevent the formation of a surface oxide for predetermined temperature for selected times. The specimens were then quenched, sectioned, and examined metallo-graphically. All quenched specimens were iron-plated to provide protection from the outside sample edge during polishing. Fig. 1 shows a typical microstruc-ture for a specimen oxidized at 953°C for 48.00 hr at a water vapor-to-hydrogen pressure ratio of 0.20. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS The following equation was derived by Hepworth et al.&apos; from Wagner&apos;s kinetic expressions for internal oxidation:

Jan 1, 1969

By M. G. Cheney

Careful estimates indicate that during 1942 new discoveries and extensions in West Central Texas added oil reserves slightly in excess of the eight million barrels produced. Drilling activity fell 40 per cent below 1941 and 82 per cent below the normal drilling activity of the late 1920&apos;s. Total production for the district continued its downward trend, now being less than % of the 42.7 million barrels peak in 1921. Rapid revival of activity is not probable under existing conditions, as costs of discovery, development and operations on the average probably now exceed current market price for the oil, the latter having remained constant since the spring of I941. Costs have advanced materially since the third quarter of 1941, when reports to the Tariff Commission indicated a margin of profit of 13.3 per barrel. Physical as well as economic conditions are holding back the amount of drilling in this district. The lenticular sands are not suited to 40-acre spacing regulations. There is no surplus of experienced oil-field labor. To reduce costs, much second-hand material is used for all except the deeper wells.. Price controls have retarded movement of used equipment by prescribing maximum prices that arc too low for the better grade materizl, thus making , owners reluctant to sell. On the other hand, buyers are unwilling to pay ceiling prices asked by sellers for poor material. Seventeen new oil fields and five new gas fields were found during 1942. Extensions and deeper &apos;drilling brought favorable results in eight older fields. The most significant new developments appear to have been in Coleman, Jones, Shackelford and Taylor Counties. A 5800-ft. completion in Wise County brought this county into the producing column for the first time. None of these new discoveries can he rated above one million barrel reserve on the basis of present development. Probably the most important development was discovery of a deeper pay (Gunsight lime) in the Wimberly field of Jones County, which shows promise of producing over an area of about 1000 acres. Jones and Shackelford Counties still lead the district in total annual production. Discovery of the Reddin pool, north central Taylor County, is credited to geochemical methods, making one success out of five or more wildcats based on such methods. Geophysical surveying increased decidedly during 1942 and returns from these studies are expected during coming years. Most of the wildcatting in the district is still based on surface and subsurface geological structural mapping, study of log data as to distribution of prospective producing reservoirs, and drilling in proximity to previous showings of oil and gas. Geological debate continues as to the proper correlation of the 100 to 300 ft. of gray lime that has produced more than 100 million barrels in the Parks, Brecken-ridge, Curry, Eliasville, Ibex, Pioneer and other important fields of this district. Fossils indicate that this limestone is younger than the Atoka beds of Oklahoma. On a structural basis most geologists include this formation with the Bend but a number of paleontologists believe it is more properly classified with the Strawn.

Jan 1, 1943

By M. G. Cheney

Careful estimates indicate that during 1942 new discoveries and extensions in West Central Texas added oil reserves slightly in excess of the eight million barrels produced. Drilling activity fell 40 per cent below 1941 and 82 per cent below the normal drilling activity of the late 1920&apos;s. Total production for the district continued its downward trend, now being less than % of the 42.7 million barrels peak in 1921. Rapid revival of activity is not probable under existing conditions, as costs of discovery, development and operations on the average probably now exceed current market price for the oil, the latter having remained constant since the spring of I941. Costs have advanced materially since the third quarter of 1941, when reports to the Tariff Commission indicated a margin of profit of 13.3 per barrel. Physical as well as economic conditions are holding back the amount of drilling in this district. The lenticular sands are not suited to 40-acre spacing regulations. There is no surplus of experienced oil-field labor. To reduce costs, much second-hand material is used for all except the deeper wells.. Price controls have retarded movement of used equipment by prescribing maximum prices that arc too low for the better grade materizl, thus making , owners reluctant to sell. On the other hand, buyers are unwilling to pay ceiling prices asked by sellers for poor material. Seventeen new oil fields and five new gas fields were found during 1942. Extensions and deeper &apos;drilling brought favorable results in eight older fields. The most significant new developments appear to have been in Coleman, Jones, Shackelford and Taylor Counties. A 5800-ft. completion in Wise County brought this county into the producing column for the first time. None of these new discoveries can he rated above one million barrel reserve on the basis of present development. Probably the most important development was discovery of a deeper pay (Gunsight lime) in the Wimberly field of Jones County, which shows promise of producing over an area of about 1000 acres. Jones and Shackelford Counties still lead the district in total annual production. Discovery of the Reddin pool, north central Taylor County, is credited to geochemical methods, making one success out of five or more wildcats based on such methods. Geophysical surveying increased decidedly during 1942 and returns from these studies are expected during coming years. Most of the wildcatting in the district is still based on surface and subsurface geological structural mapping, study of log data as to distribution of prospective producing reservoirs, and drilling in proximity to previous showings of oil and gas. Geological debate continues as to the proper correlation of the 100 to 300 ft. of gray lime that has produced more than 100 million barrels in the Parks, Brecken-ridge, Curry, Eliasville, Ibex, Pioneer and other important fields of this district. Fossils indicate that this limestone is younger than the Atoka beds of Oklahoma. On a structural basis most geologists include this formation with the Bend but a number of paleontologists believe it is more properly classified with the Strawn.

Jan 1, 1943

By William D. Manly, John Towers, Paul A. Beck

RECENT work on grain growth in high purity aluminum and in a solid solution type alloy of aluminum and magnesium&apos; showed that the isothermal increase of the average grain diameter D with time follows the equation [D = K(to + A)-Eq I] Here [to] is that portion of the total annealing time [t], which is available for grain growth, i.e. the annealing time less the time necessary for complete recrystallization. The parameters A and n depend only on the temperature. A has the dimension of time, and is usually of the same order of magnitude as the time for recrystallization: R. In some instances R may be substituted for A in Eq I. This is the case for example at long periods of annealing or at high temperatures, where both A and R become small in comparison with t. In such instances Eq I is simplified to [D-K-tnEq2] For high purity aluminum the exponent n increases in the ratio of about 1 to 5 in the temperature range of 350° to 600°C. 70-30 brass has been long known to exhibit grain growth of the continuous type, such as occurs in pure metals. For this reason, it was of interest to determine whether grain growth in brass also follows Eq I and 2 as it does in aluminum. Isothermal grain growth data for 70-30 brass were published in recent years by R. S. French2 and by H. L. Walker3 Fig I shows a log D vs. log t plot of French&apos;s data, together with the 500, 600 and 100°C data by Walker for 42.8 pct reduction by rolling. In such a log D vs. log t plot Eq 2 corresponds to a straight line with a slope of n. As seen in Fig I, the data of French and the 600°C data of Walker can be represented by straight lines. However, the 500 and 700°C data of Walker give curved lines and the average slope of his 500°C line is very different from the slope of the line representing French&apos;s data for the same temperature. Furthermore the curvature of the 700°C line suggests a tendency for grain growth to stop after 8 hr. If confirmed, this would constitute a definite deviation from Eq 2, not explainable on the basis of the specimen thickness effect found in high purity aluminum.1 Walker&apos;s specimens were 0.125 in., i.e. 3.18 mm thick, while the deviation occurs at a grain size of approximately 0.4 mm. A further point of divergence arose recently, when J. E. Burke suggested4 on the basis of Walker&apos;s data, that, instead of Eq 2, grain growth in 70-30 brass follows the equation [D-D. =K• t,Eq3] Here D, is the grain size as recrystallized at the temperature in question. Although it was possible to show5 that, for pure aluminum, for which isothermal grain growth has been carefully investigated, Eq 3 is incompatible with the experimental facts, the situation remained somewhat obscure with respect to 70-30 brass. In view of the discrepancies between the

Jan 1, 1948