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By Vard H. Johnson

IN 1943 the U. S. Bureau of Mines undertook drilling in an effort to develop new reserves of coking coal in an area near Paonia, Colo., as a part of an attempt to alleviate the shortage of known coking coal of good quality in the western United States. Geologic mapping of the area was undertaken by the U. S. Geological Survey with the purpose of first furnishing guidance in location of drillholes and later aiding in interpreting the results of the drilling. The drilling program was under the general supervision of A. L. Toenges of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. J. J. Dowd and R. G. Travis were in charge of the work in the field. Geologic mapping was started by D. A. Andrews of the Geological Survey in the summer of 1943 and was continued from the spring of 1944 to 1949 by the writer. The first few holes drilled failed to locate coking coal, but in the summer of 1944 coking coal was discovered by drilling 6 miles east of Somerset, Colo., the site of present mining. In the succeeding years, 1945 to 1948, 100 to 150 million tons of coal suitable for coking were blocked out by drilling. The ensuing discussion of the geologic controls on the distribution of coking coal in the area is based on the geologic mapping as well as the drilling done in the Paonia area, more complete descriptions of which have appeared or are in process of publication."' In order that the possible geologic controls affecting the present distribution of coking coal may be considered, it is necessary to discuss briefly the indicators of coking quality coals. Coking Coal Coal that cokes has the property of softening to form a pastelike mass at high temperatures under reducing conditions in the coke oven. This softening is accompanied by the release of the volatile constituents as bubbles of gas. After release of the contained gases and upon cooling, a hard gray coherent but spongelike mass remains that is referred to as coke. This substance varies greatly in physical properties and, to be suitable for industrial use, must be sufficiently dense and strong to withstand the crushing pressure of heavy furnace loads. Western coals have a generally high volatile content and therefore form a satisfactory coke only when they attain a rather high fluidity during the process of heating arid distillation in the coke oven. When this high degree of fluidity is developed, the volatile constituents escape and leave a finely porous coke. On the other hand, when the degree of fluidity is low the product is an excessively porous and therefore physically weak mass that is called char." Small quantities of oxygen present in coal are believed to decrease the fluidity of the material during the coking process and to favor the development of char rather than coke. In consequence, coal chemists have for some time considered the possibility of developing an index to coking qualities by inspection of chemical analyses of coals.' A formula has now been developed that does permit a rough preliminary estimate of the cokability of coal on the basis of the analysis on an ash and moisture-free basis. Coals may be eliminated as possible coking fuels if the oxygen content is greater than 11 pct. Similarly the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen must be greater than 0.5 and the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile constituents must be greater than 1.3. If the coal, on the basis of these limiting factors, appears to have possible coking qualities, the following formula permits determination of the coking index: a+b+c+d Coking index = -------- 5 a equals 22/oxygen content on ash and moisture-free basis, b equals two times the hydrogen content divided by oxygen content on moisture and ash-free basis, c equals fixed carbon/l.3 x volatile matter, and d equals the heating value on moist, ash-free basis/13,600. Coking indices higher than 1.0 suggest that the coal will coke, and indices above' 1.1 indicate good coking tendencies. Although generally usable, this formula 'is not completely satisfactory because the percentage of oxygen shown in ultimate analyses is derived only by difference; i.e., by subtracting the sum of the percentages of the constituents determined analytically from 100 pct. Although the coking index indicates the coking tendencies of coal, it is necessary to make physical tests of coke before its industrial value can be determined. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has developed a standard procedure for determining the approximate strength of coke that would be formed from a given coal. In this test one part of ground coal, mixed with 15 parts of carborundum, is baked to form a standard briquette. The weight, in kilograms, necessary to crush the briquette is termed the agglutinating index. This test determines the relative fluidity attained in the coking process by measuring the cementing strength of the coal in the briquette. A

Jan 1, 1953

By Vard H. Johnson

IN 1943 the U. S. Bureau of Mines undertook drilling in an effort to develop new reserves of coking coal in an area near Paonia, Colo., as a part of an attempt to alleviate the shortage of known coking coal of good quality in the western United States. Geologic mapping of the area was undertaken by the U. S. Geological Survey with the purpose of first furnishing guidance in location of drillholes and later aiding in interpreting the results of the drilling. The drilling program was under the general supervision of A. L. Toenges of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. J. J. Dowd and R. G. Travis were in charge of the work in the field. Geologic mapping was started by D. A. Andrews of the Geological Survey in the summer of 1943 and was continued from the spring of 1944 to 1949 by the writer. The first few holes drilled failed to locate coking coal, but in the summer of 1944 coking coal was discovered by drilling 6 miles east of Somerset, Colo., the site of present mining. In the succeeding years, 1945 to 1948, 100 to 150 million tons of coal suitable for coking were blocked out by drilling. The ensuing discussion of the geologic controls on the distribution of coking coal in the area is based on the geologic mapping as well as the drilling done in the Paonia area, more complete descriptions of which have appeared or are in process of publication."' In order that the possible geologic controls affecting the present distribution of coking coal may be considered, it is necessary to discuss briefly the indicators of coking quality coals. Coking Coal Coal that cokes has the property of softening to form a pastelike mass at high temperatures under reducing conditions in the coke oven. This softening is accompanied by the release of the volatile constituents as bubbles of gas. After release of the contained gases and upon cooling, a hard gray coherent but spongelike mass remains that is referred to as coke. This substance varies greatly in physical properties and, to be suitable for industrial use, must be sufficiently dense and strong to withstand the crushing pressure of heavy furnace loads. Western coals have a generally high volatile content and therefore form a satisfactory coke only when they attain a rather high fluidity during the process of heating arid distillation in the coke oven. When this high degree of fluidity is developed, the volatile constituents escape and leave a finely porous coke. On the other hand, when the degree of fluidity is low the product is an excessively porous and therefore physically weak mass that is called char." Small quantities of oxygen present in coal are believed to decrease the fluidity of the material during the coking process and to favor the development of char rather than coke. In consequence, coal chemists have for some time considered the possibility of developing an index to coking qualities by inspection of chemical analyses of coals.' A formula has now been developed that does permit a rough preliminary estimate of the cokability of coal on the basis of the analysis on an ash and moisture-free basis. Coals may be eliminated as possible coking fuels if the oxygen content is greater than 11 pct. Similarly the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen must be greater than 0.5 and the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile constituents must be greater than 1.3. If the coal, on the basis of these limiting factors, appears to have possible coking qualities, the following formula permits determination of the coking index: a+b+c+d Coking index = -------- 5 a equals 22/oxygen content on ash and moisture-free basis, b equals two times the hydrogen content divided by oxygen content on moisture and ash-free basis, c equals fixed carbon/l.3 x volatile matter, and d equals the heating value on moist, ash-free basis/13,600. Coking indices higher than 1.0 suggest that the coal will coke, and indices above' 1.1 indicate good coking tendencies. Although generally usable, this formula 'is not completely satisfactory because the percentage of oxygen shown in ultimate analyses is derived only by difference; i.e., by subtracting the sum of the percentages of the constituents determined analytically from 100 pct. Although the coking index indicates the coking tendencies of coal, it is necessary to make physical tests of coke before its industrial value can be determined. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has developed a standard procedure for determining the approximate strength of coke that would be formed from a given coal. In this test one part of ground coal, mixed with 15 parts of carborundum, is baked to form a standard briquette. The weight, in kilograms, necessary to crush the briquette is termed the agglutinating index. This test determines the relative fluidity attained in the coking process by measuring the cementing strength of the coal in the briquette. A

Jan 1, 1953

By H. F. Bishop, F. A. Brandt, W. S. Pellini

M. S. Fisher and D. R. F. West (Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England)—It may be of value to compare certain features of the results recorded in this very interesting paper with those of an investigation11 involving determinations of temperature gradients and rates of solidification of steel blocks of 3 in. sq section, cast horizontally in sand molds, some of which contained chills. Castings in plain carbon steels containing up to 0.8 pct C were made and, throughout this range of compositions, both inverse-rate and direct cooling curves, obtained from thermocouples placed within the mold cavity, showed a major arrest, the temperature of which was taken as the "effective liquidus" for the particular steel in question, solidifying under the conditions of the investigation. At the completion of the arrest, the curves showed a comparatively rapid de- crease in temperature. Some of the steels investigated lay within the peritectic region, and a second arrest at 1485°C was detected. In Fig. 15, which shows the effective liquidus temperatures, the limit of the 8 + liquid field has been placed at approximately 0.5 pct C. In inverse-rate curves corresponding to the thermal center of each casting, there was always a discontinuity, viz: an abrupt change of slope, at a temperature about 10 to 20°C below the "liquidus arrest," after which there seemed to be no significant irregularity in the rate of cooling. Curves corresponding to other positions in the casting generally showed some irregularities below the main arrest, probably as a result of heat flow from the solidifying interior. Even the reproducible discontinuity in the curves for the central positions appeared to have no theoretical or practical significance, though it probably corresponded to a stage in the solidification process at which only a relatively small amount of interdendritic liquid remained. Its temperature, rela-

Jan 1, 1953

GEORGE F. KUNZ, New York, N. Y. (written discussion*).-We have been informed that the nickeliferous ores of Sudbury could furnish more palladium than the whole of the present world supply, together with a large amount of platinum. As the quantity of ore melted in Sudbury in 1916 totaled 1,521,689 tons, giving 80,010 tons of matte, and as the average of 3 years, up to 1915, are stated to show an average of 0.10 oz. of platinum and 0.15 oz. of palladium per ton of matte, this would indicate the presence of 12,000 oz. of palladium and 8000 oz. of platinum in the ore mined in 1916.1 Interest in the platinum situation is now more intense than it has ever been, and the great importance of this metal for many special uses is being increasingly appreciated. For munition manufacture, for chemical apparatus, in dentistry, and for jewelry, it has been and continues to be in great demand in spite of the phenomenal rise in its value. It is true that this has necessarily led to a search for substitutes, especially for dentistry and chemical uses, but while some of these have been found to answer the needs fairly well, for many 'other purposes platinum is still employed in spite of its great cost. As to the jewelry industry, the most public-spirited efforts have been made to restrict its use, and its employment in the manufacture of watchcases, purses, bracelets, and catches has been abandoned, gold being used in its place. The prime cause of the present shortage is, of course, the elimination of 'the Russian supply which, in normal times, constituted probably more than 90 per cent. of the world's production. This makes an intensive

Jan 4, 1918

Striving to do a better job of ad- ministering the letter and spirit of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, the Interior Department recently invited criticism-and got it. The criticisms were voiced on July 1 and 2 at the first of a series of public meetings being held by the Office of Hearings and Appeals at the Department's behest. Later meetings, at which all interested parties are invited to comment, are to be announced in the press and the Federal Register. Persons wishing to participate in the meetings should contact the Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals, 1015 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22203. At the first Hearing, USBM Director Elburt F. Osborn outlined the progress his agency has made to date in implementing the law on three fronts: enforcement, education and research. Since the Health and Safety Act became law on December 30. 1969, he said, the Bureau's force of inspectors has grown from a mere 300 to almost 1100, while mine inspections have increased from 10,265 in 1970 to 11,021 for the first six months of 1971. On the educational front. Osborn said, the Bureau now has some 60 instructors who have trained about 50,000 miners in safety procedures since March 30. 1971. Classes at the new Federal Mine Safety Academy for both government and industry personnel begin on September 1, 1971. he added. Health and safety re- search, meanwhile, has been allot- ted $20.1 million for the 1971 Fiscal Year. Of this, $8.1 million is assigned to the Bureau and $12.3 million to contracts with universities and private companies. Admittedly, Osborn said, the mine fatality rate is still unacceptable, hut it was lower in the first half of 1971 than ever before---0.73 per million man hours and 0.31 per million tons of coal.

Jan 1, 1971

By E. A. Holbrook

LOCAL yearly taxes levied on bituminous coal lands in Pennsylvania have become a cost of first importance to the coal industry of the State. In Pennsylvania there is no State tax on real estate, but local taxation of real estate furnishes the greater part of the revenue necessary for the small governmental unit, as counties, townships, boroughs, and local school, road, and poor districts. Coal in place in the ground, whether or not title thereto has been severed from ownership of the surface, is assessed as real estate and on its supposed sale or market value. There are eight classes of counties in Pennsylvania, based on population; in populous counties of the first, second and third class, assessments are made by a county board appointed by the county commissioners and are fairly uniform throughout the county. In counties of the fourth to the eighth classes inclusive, property assessments are made by property assessors elected by and for each township within a county. In these counties the board of county commissioners acts as a board of equalization and review to hear appeals. In most counties, therefore, where there is a large unmined reserve of coal, assessments on that coal vary for each township, irrespective of the fact that the coal bed is continuous under many townships.

Jan 1, 1933

By R. E. J. Putman

Introduction Self-tuning regulators are a class of controllers built around the concepts of sampled data theory, and are especially suitable for implementation in a digital microprocessor or minicomputer control system. The algorithms used are distinctly different from those based upon analog control techniques and include automatic adjustment features which permit them to adapt to unmeasured changes (in, for example, ore grindability) or process nonlinearities (as exhibited by cyclone classifiers). They are also designed to handle transport lags in a simple manner, for example, anticipating the effects of a variable recycle rate on particle size distribution. The advent of distributed control systems will encourage the exploration of these techniques in the minerals processing industries, and particularly for improving the control of comminution circuits, which are especially energy intensive. This paper outlines some current work in progress on this topic. Background Those engaged in the practice of process control have long had two philosophical problems for which solutions have been actively sought - what is optimal control and how can we attain it in some heuristic fashion automatically. The basic analog controller can be represented by the differential equation: [V = Ko + K1 f y • dt + K2 dt(1)] where: v and y are the instantaneous values of output and error respectively and K0, K1, and K2 are tuning constants. The empirical rules for establishing the values of K0, K1, and K2, which provide stability, have evolved from the initial suggestions of Ziegler and Nichols(9) in 1942 and have served their purpose well. However, later analyses demonstrated that there are in fact many combinations of the values of K0, K1, and K2 which, besides being stable, behave better or worse in relation to other process control criteria; some examples are duration of error, amplitude of a damped response, magnitude or rate of movement of control valve or adjustment of speed regulator, etc. The definition of optimality had broadened. In 1964, Kalman(4) published his classic paper which tried to resolve these problems. He defined a

Jan 1, 1982

By J. Gurland, A. Gangulee

The cracking of silicon particles embedded in an aluminum matrix occurs progressively over the range of plastic deformation of the composite specimen. The fracture probability of the particles increases with increasing particle size and decreasing silicon contents. The crack orientation tends to be perpendiculay to the direction of the maximum tellsile strain. An example of a direct association between matrix slip and particle cracking is shorn. ALUMINUM-SILICON alloys of commercial compositions fail by ductile fracture in three stages:' I) initiation of cracks in the silicon particles, 2) growth of cracks into cavities, and 3) rupture of the aluminum matrix separating the cavities. The present work is concerned with the first stage: the initiation of cracks in the silicon particles. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Aluminum samples with 2.8, 6.1, 9.6, and 13.2 vol pet Si, respectively, were cast from commercial al- loys. Machined tensile specimens (2 in. gage length) were annealed in air at 1000°F for 100 hr, and then pulled at a strain rate of 0.025 per min. The grain size (average linear intercept) of the aluminum matrix was 0.24 and 1.6 mm in the 6.1 and 13.2 pet Si alloys, respectively. The particle size of silicon in alloys of one composition (6.1 pet Si) was varied by either modifying the castings with 0.15 pet Na or prolonging the annealing time. The average particle size was measured by linear and planar analysis, assuming spherical particles of uniform size. The particle sizes and compositions of all samples are tabulated in Fig. 8, together with the identifying symbols used in the graphs. The respective numbers of broken and unbroken silicon particles were determined from metallographically prepared longitudinal sections by counting a total of approximately 2000 particles per sample. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 1) Crack Initiation During Deformation as Function of Composition. Nominal stress-strain curves of four specimens of different compositions, but approximately equal particle sizes, are presented in Fig. 1. The fraction of broken particles, P (no. of broken particles/ total no. of particles), is shown in Fig. 2 as function of true stress and in Fig. 3 as function of nominal strain. The last point of each composition line in Fig. 2 rep-

Jan 1, 1968

By D. W. Rudd, D. W. Vose, S. Johnson

The permeability of Mo-0.5 pel Ti to hydrogen was investigated over a limited range of temperature and pressuire (709° to 1100°C, 1.i and 2.0 atm). The resulting permeability, p, is found to obey the The experimental data justifies the permeation mechanism as a diffusion contl-olled pnssage of Ilvdrogen atoms through the metal barrier. 1 HE permeability of metals to hydrogen has been investigated by a number of workers and their published results have been tabulated by Barrer' up to 1951. Since most of the work on the permeability has been accomplished prior to this date, the compilation is fairly complete. Mathematical discussion of the permeability process has been reported by Barrer, smithells, and more recently by zener. From these efforts several facts are observed. First, the permeability of metals to diatomic gases involves the passage through the metal of individual atoms of the permeating gas. This is evidenced by the fact that the rate of permeation is directly proportional to the square root of the gas pressure. Second, the gas permeates the lattice of the metal and not along grain boundaries. It was shown by Smithells and Ransley that the rate of permeation through single-crystal iron was the same after the iron had been recrystallized into several smaller crystals. Third, it has been observed that the rate of permeation is inversely proportional to the thickness of the metal membrane. Johnson and Larose5 verified these phenomena by measurirlg the permeation of oxygen through silver foils of various thicknesses. Similar findings were noted by Lombard6 for the system H-Ni and by Lewkonja and Baukloh7 for H-Fe. Finally, it has been determined that for a gas to permeate a metal, activated adsorption of the gas on the metal must take place. Rare gases are not adsorbed by metals, and attempts to measure permeabilities of these gases have proved futile. ~~der' found negative results on the permeability of iron to argon. Also, Baukloh and Kayser found nickel impervious to helium, neon, argon, and krypton. From what was stated above concerning the dependence of the rate on the reciprocal thickness of the metal barrier, it is seen that although adsorption is a very important process, at least in determining whether permeation will or will not ensue, it is not the rate determining process for the common metals. A case in which adsorption is of sufficient inlportance to cause abnormal behavior has been noted in the case of Inconel-hydrogen and various stainless steels.'' APPARATUS The apparatus used in this study is shown in Fig. 1. The membrane is a thin disc (A), but is an integral part of an entire membrane assembly. The entire unit is one piece, being machined from a solid ingot of metal stock. When finished, the membrane assembly is about 5 in. long. Two membrane assemblies were made; the dimensions of the membranes are given in Table I. The wall thickness is large compared to the thickness of the membrane, being on the average in the ratio of 13 to 1. There exists in this design the possibility that some gas may diffuse around the corner section of the membrane where it joins the walls of the membrane assembly, If such an effect is present, it is of a small order of magnitude, as evidenced by the agreement of the values of permeability between the two membranes under the same temperature and pressure. A thermocouple well (B) is drilled to the vicinity of the membrane. The entire membrane assembly is then encased in an Inconel jacket and mounted in a resistance furnace. The interior of the jacket is connected to an auxiliary vacuum pump and is always kept evacuated so that the membrane assembly will suffer no oxidation at the temperatures at which measurements are taken. The advantages of this configuration are: 1) there are no welds about the membrane itself, so that the chance of welding material diffusing into the membrane at elevated temperatures is remote. 2) It is possible to maintain the membrane at a constant temperature. Since the resulting permeation rate is very dependent upon temperature, it is advisable to be as free as possible from all temperature gradients. 3) It is possible to obtain reproducible results using different specimens. The only disadvantage to this configuration is the welds (at C) in the hot zone. The welding of molybdenum to the degree of per-

Jan 1, 1962

By Irving B. Cadoff, Stojan M. Zalar

AgInTe2, CuInTe2, and all Proportions of CuxAg1-xInTe, forMed homogeneous single phase alloys after direct solidification from the nielt. X-ray analysis indicated a zinc-blel~de strzccture typical of the chalcopyrite compounds, and the electrical resistivity and Sccbeck coefficient values were in the semiconducting range. AuInTe, and AuxA4g,-, InTe, formed by what appeared to be a peritectic reaction (the thermal analysis curves showing more than one arrest) and were conseyue~ztly polyphase. Substitution of copper into AgIrzTe, resulted in a continuous transition in the room tenzperature Seebeck coefficient from the negative AgIzTe, to the positive CuInTe,. A zero coefficient was obtained at about Cuo.55 Ago.45 InTe, . The temperatzire variation was similar to that observed for the stoichiometric compounds, that zs, tendency towards "p" concEuction at elevated temperatures. The thernzoelectric figure of merit for the compo~uzds, as determined by the Putley -Harmnn method were in the range 10- to 10-7 "K-l; the thermal conductivities in the order of 0.15 cal per sec-cm-oK. INCREASED interest in semiconducting intermetallic substances is expanding much of recent research from simple binary compounds into polyatomic systems and solid solutions. Ternary compounds A' represent a covalent extension of the binary semiconductors Within the a tin isoelec-tronic series, Ag-Cd-In-Sn-Sb-Te-I, divalent cadmium atoms in CdTe are being substituted for by monovalent silver and trivalent indium atoms to form the compound AgInTe, . By cross-substitution with elements of other isoelectronic series, a great number of ternary compounds A 'B"'c? is possible. In all of them, however, a necessary though not sufficient condition for the covalent, semiconducting bond—that there be four sharing orbital electrons per atom—must be fulfilled. In AgInTe,, each silver or indium atom is tetrahedrally surrounded by four tellurium atoms, while each tellurium atom is co-valently bound to two silver and two indium atoms. Synthetic chalcopyrites A'B"'c~ were first recognized as potential semiconduct&rs by Goodman and Douglas.' Austin, Goodman, and Pengelly discuss preparation difficulties and some electronic measurements on AgInS, , AgInSe, CuInSe, , AgInTe, , and CuInTe,. Chalcopyrites A B c2v are mentioned in papers attempting to classify and predict semiconducting behavior of intermetallic compounds; on the basis of saturated tetrahedral sp3 bonds,3 by specific selection criteria,' and by crystallographic considerations."

Jan 1, 1962

By Hugh P. Tiemann

The desirability of employing the centigrade scale for the measurement of temperatures is becoming more and more recognized in this country, particularly in view of the fact that this scale is used almost exclusively in technical papers and publications—exclusively in those published in French or German. There are, however, a large number of factories and laboratories which still employ the Fahrenheit scale. It therefore frequently becomes necessary to convert one into the other and the accompanying chart (Fig. I) has been found very convenient for this purpose. The formulas for conversion follow: (1) °F. = 9o /5+ 32 (2) oC = 5 (oF - 32 ) (1) 100° C X 9 900/5 =180 .'. 180 + 32 = 212° F. 5 (2) 5 (212° F - 32) = 5 X 180 =100o C 9 9

Jan 1, 1916

At the end of June, 1938, a new oil field was opened in Egypt, the Ras Gharib. Five wells were completed during the year and gave a total production of 512,988 barrels.' In the Hurghada field production was as follows: Hurghada Field Age of field to end of 1938, years..................... 25 Producing area for gas and oil, acres................ 1,050 Barrels1 Total oil production to end of 1938............... 31,207,754 Total oil production during 1937................ 1,141,356 Total oil production during 1938.................. 1,019,520 Average oil production per acre to end of 1938... 29,719 Average oil production per acre-foot to end of 1938. . . 243.6 Daily average: production in December 1938.......... 2,603.54 Daily average production per well in December 1938. . 34.90 Millions Cu. Ft. Total gas production (Aug. 1925 to end of 1938)... 4,356.7 Total gas production during 1937.................. 222.5 Total gas production during 1938....... . 167.6 Maximum gas daily average of 1938 (ill May 1..... 0.6 Wells Number of producing wells completed to end of 1938 . . 100 Number of producing wells completed during 1938..... 3 Number of wells abandoned during 1938.............. 2 Producing wells at end of 1938 (all pumping)......... 78 Abandoned wells at end of 1938...................... 22 Dry wells at end of 1938......................... 21 Feet Average depth of bottom of producing horizon........ 1,720 Average depth of top of producing horizonlt 1,598 Character of oil, approximate average ill 1938: specific gravity at 60" F'., 0.900; base, mixed. Character of gas, approximate average for 1938: gallons gasoline per 1000 cu. ft. of gas, 6.4. Main producing formation: Nubian sandstone, Cretaceous (PI; sand rock and sandstone.

Jan 1, 1939

At the end of June, 1938, a new oil field was opened in Egypt, the Ras Gharib. Five wells were completed during the year and gave a total production of 512,988 barrels.' In the Hurghada field production was as follows: Hurghada Field Age of field to end of 1938, years..................... 25 Producing area for gas and oil, acres................ 1,050 Barrels1 Total oil production to end of 1938............... 31,207,754 Total oil production during 1937................ 1,141,356 Total oil production during 1938.................. 1,019,520 Average oil production per acre to end of 1938... 29,719 Average oil production per acre-foot to end of 1938. . . 243.6 Daily average: production in December 1938.......... 2,603.54 Daily average production per well in December 1938. . 34.90 Millions Cu. Ft. Total gas production (Aug. 1925 to end of 1938)... 4,356.7 Total gas production during 1937.................. 222.5 Total gas production during 1938....... . 167.6 Maximum gas daily average of 1938 (ill May 1..... 0.6 Wells Number of producing wells completed to end of 1938 . . 100 Number of producing wells completed during 1938..... 3 Number of wells abandoned during 1938.............. 2 Producing wells at end of 1938 (all pumping)......... 78 Abandoned wells at end of 1938...................... 22 Dry wells at end of 1938......................... 21 Feet Average depth of bottom of producing horizon........ 1,720 Average depth of top of producing horizonlt 1,598 Character of oil, approximate average ill 1938: specific gravity at 60" F'., 0.900; base, mixed. Character of gas, approximate average for 1938: gallons gasoline per 1000 cu. ft. of gas, 6.4. Main producing formation: Nubian sandstone, Cretaceous (PI; sand rock and sandstone.

Jan 1, 1939

By Jesse Betterton

IN the Parkes process of lead refining, after desilverization has been completed by means of zinc additions, there will remain in the lead from 0.5 to 0.6 per cent zinc. At this stage in the refining practically all impurities are reduced to refined lead specifications except zinc and antimony. All excess of copper and nearly all the arsenic goes out with the silver. Silver remaining should not exceed 0.1 oz. per ton. It thus remains only to remove zinc and antimony to produce refined lead. The older practice was to complete refining by means of oxidation processes in reverberatory furnaces. Essentially this consisted of heating the lead to 1200° to 1300° F. and allowing it to come in contact with a considerable excess of air passing through the furnace, or accom-plish the same result by blowing the lead with steam by means of pipes introduced for that purpose, at the same time allowing air to enter the furnace. Usually some procedure involving alternate oxidation and reduction with fine coal or coke was employed in order to reduce the weight of dross or skim finally removed from the furnace. This practice had many elements of weakness in that the main flow of lead, after the preceding expensive operations had been performed, and the whole refining process nearly completed, was subjected to an operation at a comparatively high temperature, which involved much lead loss if the furnaces were not on bags, and the production of 3 to 5 per cent of the weight of the lead as dross or skim, which had to be resmelted and the lead either refined or produced as antimonial lead. In addition, the operating expense of the process was a considerable item. The, process of dezincing with chlorine was developed as a substitute for the foregoing described oxidation process, and finally resulted in such advantages as nearly equal operating costs, a practical elimination of the lead loss, and the direct production of a very valuable byproduct, zinc chloride, that may be sold as such or retreated for its zinc and chlorine contents, both of which can be reused in the refining processes.

Jan 1, 1933

By E. P. Klier, Volker Weiss, George Sachs

IT has been shown that the isothermal transformation of austenite in a special steel can be modified by isothermal holding in the high subcritical transformation range.' Since this treatment potentially leads to increased hardenability, limited testing has been completed to determine if the stabilization effects observed with this treatment can be used to advantage in the heat-treating of 4340 steel. As an index of the effects of the several austenitizing treatments on the hardenability of the steel, Jominy-type hardenability tests were completed for specimens 2.5 in. in diameter and 8 in. long. Since the steel studied is to be used at strength levels where notch sensitivity is of major concern, notch sensitivity after selected austenitizing treatments has been evaluated by notch tensile tests for several specimen sizes. The steel composition and the austenitizing treatments are given in Table I. The test specimens are presented in Fig. 1. The hardenability data are given in Fig. 2 and the notch tensile properties are presented in Fig. 3. The hardenability of the steel investigated when determined by use of the standard Jominy test specimen2 as high and remained essentially unchanged for the different austenitizing treatments. For the larger test specimen, as has been shown by other investigations," the characteristic hardenability indexes are changed and it becomes possible to isolate austenitizing treatments which promote maximum hardenability. The stepped austenitizing treatment promotes higher hardenability as is indicated in Fig. 2. The evaluation of notch sensitivity for very high strength steels is best accomplished by means of the notch tensile test. The experimental conditions of the test, however, modify the notch strengths measured, and in the present experimentation an effort was made to achieve a limiting notch condition by fixing the notch root radius at 0.001 in. while the specimen diameter was allowed to increase from 0.3 to 1.1 in.* For this root radius the notch strength, 0.3-in.-diam specimen, and this trend differs from that for the larger specimens. At the highest tempering temperatures the 1.1-ip.-diam specimens yield comparable results for the austenitizing treatments compared. However, as the tempering temperature is progressively lowered below 800°F, em-

Jan 1, 1958

By Albert B. Horn, J. J. McKetta, O. L. Culberson

Since water is present in natural gas and petroleum reservoirs, it is of engineering value to have accurate experimental data regarding the behavior of water in hydro-carbon systems. Since experimental data of this nature are so scarce in literature, a program is under way at the University of Texas to obtain experimental data regarding the distribution of water in petroleum hydrocarbons. This initial paper is subdivided into three parts: A. The apparatus and analytical procedure are discussed. B. The equipment has been checked by comparing the experimental data with data of literature on the solubility of methane in water at 77°F and pressures to 10,000 psia. C. Experimental data are presented at 100, 160, 220, 280, and 340°F on the solubility of ethane in water at pressures to 1200 psia. As the temperature is increased the solubility of ethane in water first exhibits a minimum and then a maximum solubility. The range of applicability of Henry's Law is discussed. INTRODUCTION Although considerable experimental data have been published on water-hydrocarbon systems in the hydrate region, the information on these systems in the vapor-liquid and the vapor-liquid- 'References are given at end of paper. Manuscript received at the office of the Petroleum Branch August 31. 1949. liquid regions at elevated pressures is extremely scarce. A survey of the literature on hydrocarbon-water systems at elevated pressures was presented by McKetta and Katz12,13,14 showing the systems and phases investigated. In addition to these existing published data, Poettman and Dean" have reported the water content of propane in the three-phase region (only the propane-rich liquid and the vapor phases were studied) and Michels, et al.15 have reported the solubility of methane in water at pressures to 6800 pounds per square inch at 77°F and at pressures to 1500 psia at temperatures to 300°F. It has been shown12,14 that the presence of water will materially affect the phase equilibrium of hydrocarbon systems. In order to make experimental studies on the quantitative effect of the presence of water in naturally-occurring hydrocarbon systems, it is desirable to have data available on binary hydrocarbon-water systems. A program is underway at this laboratory to determine the phase relations of the hydrocarbon-water systems. Initially the investigation will be limited to binary systems with water as one of the components. Later ternary and complex systems will be investigated and reported. EQUIPMENT AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE Apparatus In order to avoid a description of the methods employed in each subsequent paper, a description of the apparatus and the analytical procedure will be given here. The apparatus is shown schematically in Fig. 1. The numbered items in Fig. 1 represent the high pressure valves. The equilibrium cell is of the totally enclosed type, with a volume of 550 cubic centimeters. The cell is mounted in an air bath which in turn is mounted on pillow blocks and connected to a rocking mechanism so that the cell and bath will oscillate approximately 30 degrees above and below the horizontal at 35 oscillations per minute. The air bath is heated by two resistance heaters. The first or primary heater is 250 watts and is controlled by a thermoregulator; the second heater is of 500-watt size and is manually controlled to aid in bringing the cell to equilibrium temperature. Air circulation in the bath is accomplished by means of a fan. the shaft of which is concentric to the heaters. The walls of the bath are insulated with 2-in. thick blocks of 85 per cent magnesia. Temperature observations are made with three calibrated thermocouples. One couple is sealed in a well provided within the equilibrium cell, and is used as the criterion of the cell being at the equilibrium temperature. The other two thermocouples are located on opposite sides of the cell to indicate temperature uniformity within the air bath. The thermoregulator, used in conjunction with a relay, gives a variation in the temperature of the air in the bath of plus or minus one degree Fahrenheit. However, since the equilibrium cell weighs approximately 55 pounds, the

Jan 1, 1950

By S. Luszcz, R. W. Vook, Fred Witt

In situ X-ray investigations were made on polycrys-talline silver films deposited by vacuum evaporation on (111) CaF2 and (100) NaCl single-crystal substrates at 80°K. The films were evaporated and annealed in an X-ray diffractometer attachment having a residual gas pressure of 2 x lo-' Torr. All measurements were made without exposing the films to the atmosphere. Measurements were made on the films in the as-deposited state and after various annealing treatments. The intrinsic stacking and twin fault densities, the magnitudes of the uniform and nonuniform strains, and the crystallite sizes were determined. In addition the textures in the films were measured qualitatively. The results obtained for the as-deposited films on single-crystal substrates are in substantial agreement with previously reported results for silver films deposited on glass. Intrinsic stacking and twin faults, as well as uniform and nonuniform strains, were present in these films. During the various annealing treatments (up to 350°C) the faults and nonuniform strains annealed out. Considerable grain growth and texture changes occurred also. The effects were much greater for the NaCl substrate than for the CaFz substrate. The relative magnitudes of the grain growth in the variously oriented grains could be explained qualitatively in terms of the thermal strains and strain energies introduced into the differently oriented grains during the initial, irreversible anneal. These strains were due to the different thermal expansion coefficients of the film and substrate. X-RAY diffraction measurements on evaporated films deposited on substrates at low temperature have the advantage that many of the imperfections introduced into the film during deposition are "frozen in". Thus, the influence of a very important experimental variable, substrate temperature, on the imperfection structure of evaporated metal films may be studied. Moreover, the effects of annealing such films makes possible the study of thermally activated recovery processes in these films. The present study was designed to determine the influence of single-crystal substrates on the resultant film structure relative to the previous results obtained using glass substrates.' To this end great care was taken to keep the experimental variables the same in the two cases. Different experimental conditions would, of course, result in films having different physical properties. Again the initial substrate temperature was in the neighborhood of 80°K and the films were subsequently annealed to 350°C. The pure metal silver was chosen for evaporation, primarily because of its relatively low stacking fault energy and consequent high fault density in the as-deposited state. The silver films were formed by evaporation onto air-cleaved {ill} CaF, and (100) NaCl surfaces cooled to 80°K in an X-ray diffractometer attachment2 having a base residual gas pressure of 2 X l0-' Torr. The films were not exposed to the atmosphere until all of the X-ray data had been recorded. In this way one of the most important experimental variables, environment, could be well-controlled and reproduced. X-ray measurements were made at the temperature of deposition and included determinations of the diffraction line peak positions, line shapes, and integrated intensities. The peak position measurements were used to determine the intrinsic stacking fault densities and the average uniform strain in the film. The shapes of the diffraction lines provided information on the twin fault density, true crystallite size, and average nonuniform strain. The preferred orientation in the film was determined qualitatively from the integrated intensities. I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The evaporator attachmentZ was charged with 99.999 pct Ag pellets positioned in a tantalum filament which had been outgassed previously at l0-8 Torr. The CaFz and NaCl single crystals were cleaved in air and then placed in position in the chamber so that their cleavage surfaces were on the diffractometer axis. The chamber was prepumped using a sorption pump, sealed off, and then baked at 150°C for 24 hr. The ion pump operated during the bakeout cycle. The substrate was then heated to 500° C by means of an auxiliary heater and kept hot until the rest of the chamber was cooled slowly to room temperature. This bakeout procedure consistently resulted in an ultimate pressure in the low lo-' Torr range. The substrate was then cooled down on 80°K. Its temperature was monitored by a thermocouple wedged into the rear of the copper substrate holder. The diffracted intensity and peak position of the 111, 222, and 333 CaF, lines were measured prior to evaporation. Nickel-filtered, pulse-height-discriminated copper radiation was used. Similar measurements were made for the 200 and 400 lines from NaC1. These measurements were used as a lattice parameter check and to determine the thickness of the evaporated silver films from the attenuation of the substrate lines. The evaporation rates were approximately 3A per sec for both films while the maximum pressures during evaporation were 3 x lo- ' and 7 x 10"8 Torr for the CaF, and NaCl cases, respectively. The film thickness was measured by the attenuation of the CaF, and NaCl substrate lines and by at optical interference method. Values of 1700 and 1500A, respectively, were obtained for the silver

Jan 1, 1969

By N. J. Olson, G. W. Toop

A series of equations previously derived for calculating ternary thermodynamic properties using binary data has been applied to the problem of predicting ternary phase diagrams and quaternary excess free energy. The methods are considered to be rigorous for regular ternary and quaternary systerns and empirical for nonregular systems. The equations have been used to predict ternary phase boundaries in the Pb-Sn-Zn system at 926°K and the Ag-Pd-Cu system at 1000ºK. Calculated quaternary excess free-energy values are presented for the Pb-Sn-Cd-Bi system at 773°K. A method for predicting the location of ternary phase boundaries would be a useful supplement to experimental measurements in ternary systems. This has been recognized with the considerable work that has been done to find models to predict or extend thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams in binary and ternary systems1-18 for which direct experimental measurements are limited. With the access to highspeed digital computers and mechanical plotting devices, it is currently rather easy to compare mathematical models with experimental data. The regular-solution model is consistent with systems which exhibit negative heats of mixing, positive heats of mixing, and miscibility gaps, and therefore it is applicable to simple phase diagrams. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of regular-solution equations to predict, empirically, phase equilibria in some types of nonregular ternary systems. Corresponding equations for regular quaternary systems are given and used to calculate empirical quaternary excess free-energy data. METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE LOCATION OF TERNARY PHASE BOUNDARIES USING BINARY DATA Meijerin1,6 has used the regular-solution model to calculate common tangent points to ternary free energy of mixing surfaces and hence to determine phase boundaries in ternary systems involving miscibility gaps. He used the following equation to calculate ternary excess free energy of mixing values: stants characteristic of the binary solutions, and Ni is the mole fraction of component i. An alternate expression which gives for regular solutions as a function of binary values of along composition paths with constant N1/N2, N2lN3, and N1/N3 may also be derived:15 ternary r xs 1 ?c-*n.Ti*.U*. This expression for is more useful for the empirical calculation of ternary excess free-energy values for nonregular systems because actual binary AFXS data may be used in the expression rather than attempting to find suitable constants for Eq. [I]. The results of this feature of Eq. [2] are illustrated in Table I where calculated excess free-energy values for the Ni-Mn-Fe system at 1232°K are compared with experimental data of Smith, Paxton, and McCabe.19 Although regular-solution equations have been shown to give calculated thermodynamic quantities which agree quite well with experiment for single-phase nonregular ternary systems,14,15 care should be exercised in the use of the equations to predict thermo-dynamic properties of multiphase ternary systems in which strong compound formation is suspected. This precaution is consistent with the simple regular-solution model which for negative values of ai_j will indicate a tendency toward compound formation but even for very large negative values of ai-jwill not give multiphase binary or ternary systems involving a distinct stable compound. Hence, calculated ternary free-energy data using Eq. [2] might be expected to vary between being rigorous and poor, in the following order, for ternary systems which are: a) regular solutions, b) nonregular single-phase liquids in which random mixing is nearly realized, c) nonregular single-phase solids, d) nonregular multiphase systems exhibiting miscibility gaps, e) nonregular multiphase systems with binary compounds but no ternary compounds, f) nonregular multiphase systems with highly stable binary and ternary compounds. The calculated data will be expected to be least accurate for the last two cases. The general method adopted in this paper involves two-dimensional plots of ternary activity curves. The principle used is that tie lines indicating two-phase equilibria join conjugate phases a and B for example, for which a1(a) = a1(B), a2(a) = a2(B), and a3(a) = a3(B). Tie lines may be determined by plotting the ternary activities of two components along an isoactivity line for the third component and the unique points where the above equalities hold may be found graphically.

Jan 1, 1970

Smoky Valley Mining Company, Round Mountain, Nevada, was the pioneer operation designed for large scale heap leaching of crushed gold ores. It is located in the Big Smoky Valley which stretches 160 km (100 miles) through central Nevada west of the Toiyabe Mountain Range. Gold was first-discovered at Round Mountain, 88 km (55 miles) north of Tonopah, in 1905; and mining in the area included placer operations, which ran from 1946 to about 1960. Smoky Valley Mining Company is a partnership of Felmont Oil Co., Case-Pomeroy & Co., and Copper Range Co., with the latter being wholly owned by Louisiana Land and Exploration Co. In 1969, an option on the Round Mountain property was acquired by Copper Range, and during 1974 a decision was reached to proceed with mine development and plant construction. Ore reserves were reported at 10,537,000 mt (1 1,617,000 st) of 2.09 g per mt (0. 061 oz per ton) gold using a cut- off grade of 0.69 g (0.02 oz). Silver content was approximately 2.4 g per mt (0.07 oz per ton) and the waste to ore ratio was about 1: 1. By the end of 1976 heap leaching was in operation. The ore is a rhyolite tuff, sometimes described as a gold porphyry with highly abrasive qualities but which does not break down into slimes upon contact .with cyanide solutions. Gold is unevenly distributed through the ore but as a whole it is in a very finely divided state. Climatic conditions are extreme in central Nevada. Summers are hot and dry while winters are windy and cold with subfreezing temperatures. Elevation of the property is about 1,920 m (6,300 ft). Precipitation averages 203 mm (8 in.) per year. Until February of 1980, leaching was continued until the temperature reached minus 2ºC (28º F), and about 10 months leaching was the average. Water for the operation is drawn from the Toiyabe Mountains through a 13. 7 km (8. 5 mile) pipeline, originally installed in 1915, or from wells in the valley bottom. The plant requires make-up water at the rate of about 1,500 liters per min (400 gpm). On a schedule of three shifts, seven days per week, the daily output at Round Mountain amounts ,to 12, 700 mt (14, 000 st) consisting of 6,350 mt (7,000 st) each of ore and waste. Ore is hauled with a fleet of 45 mt (50 st) trucks and dumped into the 1,0.70 by 1,650 mm (42 by 65 in. ) gyratory primary crusher located near the pit. The primary

Jan 1, 1981

By Alfred H. Hesse, Edwin T. Myskowski

The development by the U. S. Bureau of Mines of a process for purifying manganese by electrolysis has stimulated interest in manganese alloys. While recent publications have shown some alloys of manganese and copper to possess rather unusual properties, none have included information on tensile properties, which have an important bearing on the usefulness of the alloys. Manganese-copper alloys can be heat-treated, since the single phases that exist at high temperatures may be retained by quenching. According to Persson,1 when quenched alloys containing from about 30 to nearly IOO per cent manganese are reheated, alpha manganese is precipitated (Fig. I). Calculations based on Persson's X-ray data indicate that this decomposi-tion is accompanied by a change in volume of as much as ; per cent. The reason that this large volume change has not been noted probably is the slow rate at which equilibrium is reached by these alloys. In an investigation on hardening by cold-work and heat-treatment, Dean and Anderson3 found that quenched alloys increase in hardness with manganese content and that high-manganese alloys harden very slowly with cold-work, while high-copper alloys harden much more rapidly. Heat-treatment has little effect on manganese-copper alloys containing less than 40 per cent Mn, and affects those alloys containing more than 40 per cent in accordance with their manganese content and heat-treating temperature. Dean and Anderson4 also found that cold-work increased electrical resistance of alloys containing from 50 to 80 per cent Mn, and that heat-treatment of alloys containing from 40 to 96 per cent Mn altered the electrical resistance considerably. Dean, Anderson and Potter6 have shown that the high vibration damping capacity that characterizes manganese-copper alloys containing 40 to go per cent Mn is affected by cold-work and heat-treatments. Highest vibration damping capacity at low stresses was obtained by heating for 2 hr. at 450°C. (842°F.) after quenching from solution temperatures. Preparalion of Alloys.—The alloys for these tests were melted in a 17-lb. basic-lined high-frequency induction furnace using electrolytic manganese, grade A ingot copper and a 70-30 CU-Mn master alloy (69.80 per cent Cu, 0.12 Fe, 0.04 Si, 0.006 S, 0.07 C, balance Mn). The manganese was heated slowly to expel excess dissolved gases and melted before the addition of copper. No fluxes or covers were used. The melts were cast in tapered iron molds and the ingots were reduced go per cent when forged to 1/2-in. rounds. These rods were given 2-hr. solution treatments at temperatures that depended upon the composition (Table I). Tensile Tests.—The tensile specimens, 0.313-in. diameter (1.25-in. gauge length),

Jan 1, 1942