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By G. Richards Gwinn

THE mineral graphite has been known for hundreds of years and was first used commercially as a coloring agent. Its true identity, however, was not recognized until the end of the eighteenth century and its commercial development did not become extensive until near the close of the nineteenth century. The common names for this mineral are graphite, plumbago, and black lead; others less frequently used are potelot, crayon noir, carbo mineralis, and kish. Graphite was named by Johann Gottlieb Werner in 1789 from the Greek word graphein, to write, and this name was applied primarily to the large crystalline, flake variety. Plumbago is a trade term used primarily for massive graphite as found in Ceylon. Black lead is also a trade term and, like plumbago, is based upon the idea that prevailed throughout the Middle Ages that graphite was a form of lead, or at least contained that metal. Graphite is a soft, black, unctuous form of carbon that crystallizes in the hexagonal system with rhombohedra1 symmetry. It occurs occasionally in six-sided tabular crystals but usually is found in foliated masses, minute disseminated scales, or earthy lumps. It has perfect basal cleavage, is gray to black, has a metallic luster and a gray streak. The specific gravity is 2.1 and hardness is 1 to 2. It is opaque even in finest particles; extremely resistant to the action of acid or heat; and a good conductor of both heat and electricity. Graphite may be separated into three classes: ( ) natural, (2) manufactured (which is sometime called artificial), and (3) colloidal. Natural graphite is divided into two classes, "crystalline" and "amorphous." Crystalline graphite may occur as flake, lump, chip or dust. Amorphous graphite is a commercial term only, as all graphite is crystalline, but grades in which the individual grains cannot be distinguished are classified by the trade as amorphous. Natural mixtures of crystalline and amorphous occur in all proportions. The term "artificial graphite" is a misnomer; "manufactured graphite" is a better term, because it actually is pure crystalline graphite,

Jan 1, 1949

By Avnulf Muan, Egil Aukrust

The activity-composition curve for cobalt oxide in (Co,Fe)304 solid solutions with spinel-type stmcture has been determined experimentally by studying the equilibrium between the spinel phase and a coexisting cobaltowüstite phase, "(Co,Fe)O", at 1200°C. A large negative deviation from ideal behavior prevails in the spinel at low cobalt oxide concentrations and a positive deviation at high cobalt oxide concentrations. The activity-composition curve for iron oxide in the solid solution is determined from the above curve by integvation of the Gibbs-Duhem equation along the join Co3O4,-Fe3O4. The standard free energy of formation of cobalt ferrite, CoFe2O4, from the oxide components CoO and Fe2O3 is calculated to be -8.2 kcal. ThERMODYNAMIC properties of (CO,Mn)3O4 solid solutions with spinel-type structure have been presented recently.' The present paper deals with similar relations in another spinel solid-solution phase, that represented by the system Co3O4-Fe3O4. The principles involved in measurements and calculations of thermodynamic properties for the system Co3O4-Fe3O4 are analogous to those used and discussed in detail in the work on (CO,Mn)3O4. A (CO,Fe)3O4 solid solution coexists in equilibrium with a (Co.Fe)Ot solid solution over a considerable Here acOo1.33 and aao are the activities of cobalt oxide in the spinel and the oxide solid solutions, respectively, pO2, is the oxygen pressure of equilibration, and pb, is the oxygen pressure at which CoO and CosO4 coexist in equilibrium in the binary system Co-O at the same temperature. The activity-com position curve for cobalt oxide in the (Co,Fe)O solid solution in contact with metal has been determined in a previous investigation by the present authors.' The system shows a small positive deviation from linear behavior. Because of the large defect concentration in wiistite and in (Co,Fe)O solid solutions, one cannot assume that the activity-composition relations in the oxide phase coexisting with a spinel phase at relatively high oxygen pressures are the same as those prevailing in the oxide solid solution coexisting with metal. However, a Gibbs-Duhem integration over the ternary Co-Fe-0 solution can be used to determine activities of cobalt and iron, and hence of CoO and FeO, from a knowledge of the oxygen potentials. Several papers have dealt with the subject of application of the Gibbs-Duhem equation to multi-component systems. 3-6 In the present case, it was

Jan 1, 1964

By J. B. Austin

In considering so complex a process as the smelting of iron in the blast furnace, there is obviously no single method of calculating efficiency that gives a complete appraisal of the performance of the furnace in all its several functions; such a comprehensive view as is required to evaluate producing ability and manufacturing costs for a given furnace is obtained only by considering a group of efficiencies, each of which measures the performance of the furnace from a specific point of view. For instance, there is the rate of consumption of coke per ton of iron produced, which is probably the most frequently considered, and is certainly one of the most important of the group; there is the efficiency of recovery of iron charged; and there is the efficiency of utilization of energy, both chemical and thermal, in some respects related to the former two yet in other ways independent of either. In each of these cases, the calculation can be made on the basis of the actual input of material or energy, or it may be based upon a comparison with the minimum amount of material or energy that would be required by a "perfect" furnace; that is, an imaginary ideal furnace analogous to the perfect steam engine used in thermodynamic calculations, when this furnace is operating under optimum conditions. Moreover, the furnace itself can be considered either as an apparatus for smelting iron or, taking a somewhat less common point of view, as a gas producer yielding iron and slag as by-products. Some of these efficiencies are more useful than others, yet all are instructive; for a knowledge of them not only leads to good engineering practice from the standpoint of control but also discloses limits to possible improvement in performance and indicates the lines along which improvement is most likely to be profitable. Estimates of some of these efficiencies have appeared from time to time in the literature, but many of them are open to objection because they are based on data of uncertain accuracy or because they have been caleulated without due regard to the thermodynamic principles involved. Moreover, so far as the author is aware. no general survey of the blast furnace comparing its performance in all the aspects mentioned has been made.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. B. Austin

In considering so complex a process as the smelting of iron in the blast furnace, there is obviously no single method of calculating efficiency that gives a complete appraisal of the performance of the furnace in all its several functions; such a comprehensive view as is required to evaluate producing ability and manufacturing costs for a given furnace is obtained only by considering a group of efficiencies, each of which measures the performance of the furnace from a specific point of view. For instance, there is the rate of consumption of coke per ton of iron produced, which is probably the most frequently considered, and is certainly one of the most important of the group; there is the efficiency of recovery of iron charged; and there is the efficiency of utilization of energy, both chemical and thermal, in some respects related to the former two yet in other ways independent of either. In each of these cases, the calculation can be made on the basis of the actual input of material or energy, or it may be based upon a comparison with the minimum amount of material or energy that would be required by a "perfect" furnace; that is, an imaginary ideal furnace analogous to the perfect steam engine used in thermodynamic calculations, when this furnace is operating under optimum conditions. Moreover, the furnace itself can be considered either as an apparatus for smelting iron or, taking a somewhat less common point of view, as a gas producer yielding iron and slag as by-products. Some of these efficiencies are more useful than others, yet all are instructive; for a knowledge of them not only leads to good engineering practice from the standpoint of control but also discloses limits to possible improvement in performance and indicates the lines along which improvement is most likely to be profitable. Estimates of some of these efficiencies have appeared from time to time in the literature, but many of them are open to objection because they are based on data of uncertain accuracy or because they have been caleulated without due regard to the thermodynamic principles involved. Moreover, so far as the author is aware. no general survey of the blast furnace comparing its performance in all the aspects mentioned has been made.

Jan 1, 1938

By Fritz Wald, Martin Weinstein, Herbert E. Bates

ONE of the methods for preparing a fiber-reinforced composite is that of directional solidification of a eutectic melt. Its major drawback lies in the fact that the matrix in this case is a pure constituent (or a terminal solid solution of fixed concentration) and the ratio of fiber to matrix volume is fixed. Only very few, if any, pure metal matrices possess technically useful properties, and the necessity for alloying is the inevitable consequence of this fact. Nevertheless, structures similar to binary eutectic ones can be obtained in higher-order systems by pseudoeutectic reactions of a type where crystallites and a solid-solution matrix are simultaneously precipitated from a liquid.1"3 Trials to solidify such alloys directionally—the matrix consisting of a solid solution of chromium, nickel, and silicon and the reinforcing phase being Cr3C2— will be reported elsewhere.4 This note describes constitutional studies carried out primarily to determine -the position of the pseudoeutectic and further to insure that no undesirable reactions between the reinforcing phase and components of the matrix occur in the solid state at elevated temperatures. In the investigation it was specifically desired to reinforce a matrix which is as close as possible to the 80/20 Nichrome composition with Cr3C2 to insure good oxidation resistance and improve the strength at high temperatures. No konstitutional information on the quaternary C-Cr-Ni-Si svstem in the range of interest was found in the literature. Nevertheless, the two most important ternaries c-cr-Ni5 and have been completely investigated. On C-Cr-Si some investigations have been conducted,7"9 and C-Ni-Si was studied with a few alloys in the course of the present investination 9 Eight alloys were prepared to investigate the changes in the constitution of the ternary C-Cr3Ce-yNi eutectic5 with silicon contents up to 10 wt pct. Five alloys were made with varying chromium and carbon contents around compositions containing -60 to 70 wt pct Ni and 5 to 6 wt pct Si. The latter alloys were designed to locate the y(Ni-Cr-Si-C)-Cr3C2 pseudoeutectic reaction and to determine the maximum chromium content in solid solution compatible with a two-phase equilibrium between y and Cr3C2 only. The alloys were prepared from electrolyte nickel, semiconductor-grade silicon, high-purity chromium (99.999 pct pellets), and semiconductor-grade graphite. They were melted inductively in high-purity alumina crucibles under flowing argon. Twenty-gram charges were prepared and investigated by optical microscopy (including hot-stage investigations), X-ray powder methods, and electronmicroprobe analysis. The alloys were studied in the as-cast condition and also after a homogenization annealing treatment of 48 days at 900°C in evacuated quartz ampoules. The structures of all alloys based on the ternary eutectic plus silicon in the as-cast state consisted generally of an inhomogeneous solid solution and at least two other phases. Annealing of the alloys showed that the solid solution was homogenized but that an incomplete solid-state reaction had taken place in all alloys with silicon contents over 5 wt pct. This reaction is clearly visible in Fig. 1 around the large Cr3C2 crystals (gray areas). Below this concentration, the alloys consisted of a homogeneous matrix and precipitates of Cr3C2 plus graphite, Fig. 2. The Cr3C2 was entirely unreacted here. From these observations and subsequent X-ray and microprobe investigations, it was deduced that the

Jan 1, 1969

By B. R. Coil, C. A. Ross

NEW demands for underground power in the Miami mine of the Miami Copper Co., Miami, Ariz. has brought about expansion of the distribution system for both ac and dc power. Progress in mining equipment and the normal changes in the mine were responsible for this increased demand. Early power requirements were for pumping and haulage. A 440 v ac power line down No. 5 shaft took care of a small pumping load and shaft station lighting, 275 v dc power was generated by motor generator sets on the surface, with a churn drill hole from surface to the 570 haulage level serving as a cableway. Electric lights were installed where power was available, and thus were confined to the haulage level and shaft stations. All industrial power in the Miami area is 25-cycle, which dates back to the hydroelectric generator installation at Roosevelt Dam in 1908-10. The Problem The main haulage level was moved to the 720 level and later, to the 1000 level, requiring a longer feeder line with the resultant voltage drop. Also, as mining progressed to the east, the churn drill hole for the power cable would have been subjected to subsidence cracks. The first extension in the use of electricity was in electric blasting. About 1935 the mine went to electric blasting, using the dc haulage current. Bringing electric current to the working levels of the mine for blasting greatly expanded the use of electric lights. Lights were used in tool rooms, powder and cap magazines, stairways, and other semi-permanent installations. Like all mines, Miami Copper began to study and experiment with mechanical mucking and transportation of ore by slushers, shakers, and belts during the late 1930's and early 1940's. At the beginning of the program, power was supplied from the haulage level 275 v dc system. Later it became necessary to run a cable, carrying 440 v ac power, down the No. 7 ventilation shaft. The increased use of power came about gradually, and many new problems were added, not the least being the introduction of switch boards and power cables into the working areas of the mine, where drifts and crosscuts take weight, and require repairs. The 25-cycle current presented special problems, in that 25-cycle transformers are twice as large and about 2V2 times as heavy as 60-cycle transformers of the same power output. The 25-cycle transformers were considered too large for installation in the mining areas. In 1947 the distribution system was revised and standards were adopted, governed by the following

Jan 1, 1952

By Walter R. Hibbard, George H. Eichelman, William P. Saunders

INTEREST in the various products of the austenite eutectoid transformation in iron-carbon alloys, particularly as produced by the isothermal sub-critical techniques introduced by Davenport and Bain,1 has resulted in the application of similar heat treatments to other eutectoid transformations. Studies2.3.4 of the beta copper-aluminum alloy eutectoid transformation revealed microstructures very similar to those found in iron-carbon alloys. Investigations5,6 of the kappa phase in the copper-silicon alloy system have established the eutectoid type transformation of this phase into terminal alpha and intermediate gamma phases. This transformation has been reported' as forming a eutectoid type structure in a very sluggish manner by a long time isothermal treatment. The purpose of the present investigation is to study the products of the kappa eutectoid transformation as affected by transformation temperatures by means of microscopic and hardness methods. PREPARATION OF ALLOYS The copper-silicon alloy equilibrium diagram is shown in Fig I. The kappa field converges to a minimum silicon solubility at the eutectoid composition and all other completely kappa alloys are hypereutectoid. Thus, kappa decomposition involves first the proeutectoid precipitation of gamma, followed by the eutectoid transformation of a lower silicon content kappa (5.2 pct). Smith5 has indicated that alloys containing between 5.4 and 5.7 pct silicon could be hot rolled, but that the latter composition was desirable in order to permit a wider kappa temperature range. The alloy was prepared by adding Baker's commercially pure silicon to an ingot of copper-silicon alloy containing 2.34 pct silicon remaining from the investigation of Brick, Martin and Angier.7 Following the casting techniques of Krynitsky, Saunders and Stern,8 the ingot was melted under a heavy layer of dried charcoal in a clay-graphite crucible in a gas-fired pot furnace. Small lumps of silicon were held under the melt surface with a graphite rod. After the silicon had dissolved, the alloy was chill-cast and then remelted without a cover, stirred thoroughly, skimmed and poured into a preheated cast iron mold. The cast microstructure is shown in Fig 2. The casting, 10 X 4 X ¾ in., was annealed at 750°C for 21 brand furnace cooled. About 1/16 in. was milled from all surfaces. The plate was cut in half longitudinally and the bottom half analyzed by A.S.T.M. methods.9 The composition by weight was as follows: copper 94.24 pct, silicon 5.56 pct, iron 0.11 pct.

Jan 1, 1948

By Frederick Clapp

INTRODUCTION - SCOPE OF DISCUSSION There has hitherto been no systematic effort to make public the available information on petroleum in South America and the object of this paper, therefore, is to broadly discuss the subject as it pertains to South America as a whole, endeavoring to collect in readable form what is known regarding individual fields. This article is not intended to exhaustively discuss individual fields, or to solve the many complicated problems regarding petroleum and natural. gas in the various republics, since those necessitate years of study and work by petroleum geologists, engineers, financiers, and drillers. Neither. can the reader expect absolute accuracy in all statements, since this is impossible at the present time. The writer has, of course, attempted to be correct in all cases, but in a review involving so many countries and extending over so many, phases of the subject, it is to be expected that some errors will have crept in.

Jan 10, 1917

By A. A. Collins

When we speak of high copper on a lead blast furnace we think in terms of 4 to 5 pct, or. any lead charge carrying over 1 pct. Any copper on charge will produce its corresponding troubles such as lead well, extra slag losses, drossing problems, and the working up of the dross. This is indeed a very interesting subject and one that used to give the old-time lead metallurgists such as Eiler, Hahn and lles many worries, not so much in the actual operation of the hlast furnace but in the working up of the copper. When the American nletallurgists commenced with the American rectangular-shaped lead blast furnace in the 1870's and got away from the reverberatories such as were in use in Germany and other parts of the world, they went to greater tonnages, as 80 to 100 tons per day in comparison to the 20 to 30 tons per day in the other processes. With the greater tonnages along with insuficient settling capacity, the silver losses in some cases were increased. Hence the lead-fall was low, for there were no leady concentrates in those days to assist the metallurgist to gain lead or an absorber for the precious metals; and in some cases copper sulphides were added intentionally to the charge to produce a copper matte to lessen the silver losses through the dump slag. The operators in those days thought that where some copper was always present in the lead ores the copper should not enter into the reduced lead and alloy with it. This, by the way, is just the reverse of our present-day practice, when we try to put all of the copper into the blast furnace lead and to remove the same through the drossing kettles. Therefore the furnace was operated to produce a certain amount of matte or artificial sulphides, since, due to the great affinity of copper for sulphur, any copper present would enter the matte almost completely. Thus, the lead bullion produced was practically free from copper. The products of the furnace were metallic lead or lead bullion, containing 05 to 95 pct of the lead and about 96 pct of the silver which were in the ore—a lead-copper-iron matte which contained nearly all the copper in the ore and the slag, the waste product. In the United States, up through the year 1092, we find the small furnace 100 X 32 1/2 in. with 12 tuyeres, some 6 on each side, plagued with a small amount of poorly roasted sulphides— either from heap or hand roasters that produced matte. This matte was roasted and if poor in copper was returned for the ore smelting. Otherwise it was smelted either alone or with additions of rich slags or argentiferous copper ores, the products being lead and a highly cupriferous matte, the latter being subsequently worked up for its copper. The lead metallurgists kept trying and improving on furnace and roasting equipment designs until we find blalvin W. Iles constructing at the old Globe Plant at Denver what came to be the modern furnace. That is, in 1900 he built a furnace of 42 in. width by 140 in. at the tuyeres with a 10 in. bosh and a 16-ft ore column. This type has been more or less standard to the present time, though modified in width and length to meet the demand for large tonnages and improvements in structural details. In 1905 at Cananea, Mexico, Dwight and Lloyd developed the present down-draft sinter machine that has meant so much in producing a well-processed material for the lead blast furnace. In 1912 Guy C. Riddell came forth with double roasting at the East Helena Plant of the American Smelting and Refining Co., which removed the "zinc mush plague." Incidentally, with the introduction of double roasting, which most lead plants were forced into after 1924, when lead flotation came into its own, less matte or no matte was produced. When this stage arrived, the copper was forced into the dross and the casting of lead at the blast furnace lead-wells was stopped. In plants with a fair copper carry 1 pct or better on the blast furnace charge, the lead wells became inoperative once the production of matte stopped. The copper drosses clogged the lead wells and even with bombing, either water or dynamite, the operators could not keep them open. Thus, the lead wells were abandoned in some plants, such as at the El Paso and Chihuahua smelters of the American Smelting and Refinillg Co., and all lead taken out through the first settlers. The elimination of sulphur, espccially sulphide sulphur, from the blast furnace charge and the nonproductiori of matte resulted in a great saving of tinie, energy and equipment in the recirculation of the copper, With the copper content in the dross and dross-fall ranging in quantities from a few percent up to 60 pct, such as at El Paso, a drossing problem was created. As the old-time operators hated dross and buried the same in the shipping bullion, the modern metallurgists from 1925 on decided that with increasing dross-falls they would have to adopt the lead refiner's ideas of drossing kettles with subsequent treatment of the lead with a sulphur addition to have the shipping lead of 0.01

Jan 1, 1950

By R. W. Smith

There are many inconsistencies and gaps in available information concerning the mechanism whereby dodecylamine acts as a collector for quartz. The author compares the studies which have been made in correlating the contact angle with adsorption density on quartz over all pH ranges, and attempts to resolve some of the inconsistencies. In recent years much information has been obtained concerning the mechanism whereby dodecylamine acts as a collector for quartz. Fuerstenau,1 for ex- ample, has shown that adsorption density and zeta potential under some conditions, at least, can be correlated with contact angle and flotation rate. There appear, however, to be several inconsistencies and gaps in information available. One inconsistency involves trying to correlate contact angle with adsorption density on quartz over all pH ranges. Fuerstenau's correlation at a collector concentration of 4x10-5 moles per liter dodecylamine acetate and about pH 10 shows a contact angle of about 80 degrees occurring at approximately monolayer coverage. If Gaudin and Morrow's2 and Morrow's3 contact angle data for near neutrality (pH 6 to 7) are now compared with deBruyn's4,5 adsorption data on quartz in a similar pH range, it will be noticed that a contact angle of 38 to 40 degrees corresponds to complete monolayer coverage (at an amine concentration of approximately 10"3 molar). In fact even at an amine

Jan 1, 1963

By A. R. Marder

Fe-C alloys have been investigated at temperatures below the eutectoid transformation to determine whether the superplasticity phenomenon exists for these materials. As a result of void formation at the carbide-ferrite interfaces that led to void coalescence and premature failure, the large elongations characteristic of superplustic matem'als did not develop. It had generally been assumed that the conditions for obtaining superplasticity include: a) T/Tm =0.5, b) a strain rate sensitivity of the flow stress that results in m s 0.3, and c) fine-grain structure. Although superphsticity was not observed in the alloys studied, stress-strain rate measurements indicated that an additional condition for the existence of superplasticitv in Fe-C allovs is that the fine-wain structure be equiaxed in agveement with previous results on Zn-Al al1oys. MANY investigations have been made on the hot deformation of iron-base alloys in order to obtain an understanding of the variables that may affect high-temperature strength and ductility.'-6 However, only a few papers have studied the effect of carbon content on the high-temperature properties of iron-base alloys. Peretayat'ko and Zaikov and Wallquist and carlen4 studied the effect of carbon on strength in the y temperature range, and recently Robbins, Shepard, and sherby6 studied the influence of carbon on the torsional behavior of iron in the a and cu-plus-cemen-tite temperature ranges. In addition to studying hot deformation behavior, current investigations have also been concerned with the phenomenon of superplasticity in nonferrous materials, and, in particular, ferrous alloys. Superplasticity is identified by the increased resistance to necking that results from a high strain rate sensitivity of the flow tress. ackofenr proposed the strain rate hardening coefficient m = d log a/d log e as a measure of strain rate sensitivity and showed that m must be "-0.3 for superplasticity to exist. In addition, a fine-grained microstrcture,- a eutectic or eutectoid ornosition,- and a test temperature in the creep range (TITm > 0.5)" have also been advanced as necessary conditions for superplasticity. Although many workers""23 investigated superplasticity associated with the allotropic transformation in iron and the eutectoid transformation in steel, and recently chadler " and orrison have studied superplasticity in the a - y phase region, no one has measured the superplastic effect in the a + cementite temperature region. Therefore, the purpose of this investiga- tion was to determine the effect of carbon content, microstructure, and test temperature on the strain rate sensitivity of Fe-C alloys at temperatures below the eulectoid transformation. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Fe-C alloys with carbon contents of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 wt pct were prepared as 100 lb 54 in. ingots by vacuum-induction melting. The compositions are listed in Table I. All the ingots were soaked at 2100°F for 2 hr prior to rolling to 4 in. plate. The minimum finishing temperature for rolling was 1800°F. The plate was sheared in 10-in. lengths and tensile bars were rough-machined prior to heat treatment. The samples were heat-treated according to the schedule in Table I1 in order to obtain a fine-grained microstructure consisting of finely dispersed carbides in a matrix of small ferrite grains. All the tensile specimens were heat-treated prior to finish machining, and tensile testing was accomplished on an Instron machine in conjunction with a clamshell furnace. The buttonhead specimen configuration is shown in Fig. 1. An inert atmosphere, helium, was maintained during testing with a steel tube shroud in a bell jar arrangement. Predried helium was continually purged over the buttonhead specimens and exhausted through ceramic fiber at the bottom of the tube to keep oxidation at a minimum and to prevent

Jan 1, 1970

By C. E. McCarthy, A. George Stern, Stanley J. Green

The national interest prompts consideration of any new source of mineral wealth even though the immediate need may be of minor importance. A critical shortage of potash in the United States during the World War of 1914-18 stimulated broad development, which established an American potash industry on a basis so sound that this commodity is not even listed as urgent in the present war program. However, this should not minimize its importance, and the need remains, not only for adequate supplies of the usual potash salts (the chloride and the sulphate) but of all potash chemicals. Potassium carbonate (known commercially as pearl ash) has been a high-cost commodity; in consequence, the quantity used by industry has been relatively small. By a combination of fortuitous geographical circumstances, there is opportunity to produce a low-cost potassium carbonate with the possibility that this might become an important source of chemical potash. The following paper considers a recently developed process1 taking advantage of these conditions. Wyomingite Deposit For many years it has been known that a deposit of potash-bearing igneous rock known as wyomingite occurs in the south- western part of Wyoming at Zirkel Mesa, which is 44 miles northeast of the town of Green River (Fig. I). The western escarpment of this deposit is about 3 miles east of the Superior Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. This mesa alone covers approximately 3300 acres, and the average thickness of the wyomingite flow is 75 ft. It has been estimated2 that about one billion tons of wyomingite occur in this one deposit, all of which can be mined by open quarrying without overburden. In addition, there are several smaller deposits within 10 miles, so that the aggregate wyomingite in the area approaches two billion tons. This is one of the world's largest sources of leucite, and the only known deposit of its kind in the United States. The wyomingite (which is in the form of a lava flow and numerous small craters), with the mineral leucite as its most important component, has a mineral composition3 of: leucite, 50 per cent; phlogopite, 15; diopside, 12; kataphorite, 15; glass and apatite, 8. The phlogopite is present in visible phenocrysts 1/8 to 1/2 in. in diameter, but the leucite usually is almost microcrystalline and not capable of liberation by grinding. Chemically, the Wyomingite has a potash Content averaging slightly higher than eleven per cent K2O. The potash is mainly in the leucite, but part of it is in the phlogopite and a small amount is in the feldspars that are occasionally seen as undigested occlusions of the granite country rock, through which the leucite-bearing lava intruded, and as sanidine feldspar both in the crystalline and glassy phases of the rock. A typical analysis of the wyomingite from Zirkel Mesa is as follows:

Jan 1, 1948

By A. George Stern, Stanley J. Green, C. E. McCarthy

The national interest prompts consideration of any new source of mineral wealth even though the immediate need may be of minor importance. A critical shortage of potash in the United States during the World War of 1914-18 stimulated broad development, which established an American potash industry on a basis so sound that this commodity is not even listed as urgent in the present war program. However, this should not minimize its importance, and the need remains, not only for adequate supplies of the usual potash salts (the chloride and the sulphate) but of all potash chemicals. Potassium carbonate (known commercially as pearl ash) has been a high-cost commodity; in consequence, the quantity used by industry has been relatively small. By a combination of fortuitous geographical circumstances, there is opportunity to produce a low-cost potassium carbonate with the possibility that this might become an important source of chemical potash. The following paper considers a recently developed process1 taking advantage of these conditions. Wyomingite Deposit For many years it has been known that a deposit of potash-bearing igneous rock known as wyomingite occurs in the south- western part of Wyoming at Zirkel Mesa, which is 44 miles northeast of the town of Green River (Fig. I). The western escarpment of this deposit is about 3 miles east of the Superior Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. This mesa alone covers approximately 3300 acres, and the average thickness of the wyomingite flow is 75 ft. It has been estimated2 that about one billion tons of wyomingite occur in this one deposit, all of which can be mined by open quarrying without overburden. In addition, there are several smaller deposits within 10 miles, so that the aggregate wyomingite in the area approaches two billion tons. This is one of the world's largest sources of leucite, and the only known deposit of its kind in the United States. The wyomingite (which is in the form of a lava flow and numerous small craters), with the mineral leucite as its most important component, has a mineral composition3 of: leucite, 50 per cent; phlogopite, 15; diopside, 12; kataphorite, 15; glass and apatite, 8. The phlogopite is present in visible phenocrysts 1/8 to 1/2 in. in diameter, but the leucite usually is almost microcrystalline and not capable of liberation by grinding. Chemically, the Wyomingite has a potash Content averaging slightly higher than eleven per cent K2O. The potash is mainly in the leucite, but part of it is in the phlogopite and a small amount is in the feldspars that are occasionally seen as undigested occlusions of the granite country rock, through which the leucite-bearing lava intruded, and as sanidine feldspar both in the crystalline and glassy phases of the rock. A typical analysis of the wyomingite from Zirkel Mesa is as follows:

Jan 1, 1948

By L. L. Wyman

THE resultant embrittlement caused by the exposure of oxygen-bearing copper when hot and exposed to reducing gases has been the subject of many studies.1 Little attention, however, has been given to the possible embrittling effects due to atmospheres or conditions that under some circumstances might be the source of a reducing gas. At rather infrequent intervals there occur reports of copper becoming embrittled during normal annealing cycles in commercial steam-atmos-hered furnaces such as customarily are used for this operation. As might be expected, several other factors exist-such as oil, dirt on the wire, or in the furnace, or metallic surface contacts that might produce reducing gases and be the source of the trouble. However, in consider-ation of the statement made by Ruder,2 it would seem that under some conditions steam itself might prove to be the source of trouble. A consideration of the amount of the dissociation of water vapor up to temperatures of the melting point of copper shows that' the amount of hydrogen that could come from this source is far too minute to account for any embrittlement. What such information does not tell is what will happen at the surface of copper when subjected to steam at elevated temperatures, for entirely different conditions may persist, which would account for Ruder's observation. Furthermore, there are no data as to what might happen at the surfaces of other materials present, the result-ant of which might affect the condition of the copper present. For this reason, it was decided to make a series of experiments com-parable to those previously conducted by the writer,1 which would clarify the effect of the steam on copper, and in copper in the presence of steel.

Jan 1, 1940

By Allen Garrison

A PREVIOUS paper1 reviewed some of the properties of clays and shales and presented some data on the nature of the gelling phenomenon. It included a brief discussion of origin of clays and shales, their com-position, structure, retention of water, ionization, base exchange, and the nature of the gelling of water suspensions, Other publications of the Institute2-8 have discussed the properties of clays and their relations to drilling-fluid behavior and control. It is the purpose of this article to present some new data obtained and arranged in a different manner and making possible a better understanding of the chemical reactions involved in the control of drilling-fluid characteristics during the normal drilling operations. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The difficulties involved in the measurements of the flow character-istics of plastic fluids are too familiar to recite, The possible applications of some of the well-known instruments to this problem have been ade-quately discussed by Hobson9 and he has given an excellent bibliography. Although there are many viscosimeters of varied design, none of them appear to fulfill the most obvious demands of accuracy in the measure-ment of clay or shale suspensions, Since the fluid characteristics are dependent on the rate of flow of the fluid, and the viscosity usually falls off very rapidly as the rate is increased, it is clear that the first require-ment is that the instrument shall be capable of a wide variety of speeds. The viscosity of the fluid at any fixed and constant rate of flow is also a function of time, so that the second demand is that the instrument shall be capable of a constant and continuous motion for a prolonged period of time.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. H. Sommer

MANY attempts have been made to develop a relation between the tensile properties and the deep-stamping qualities of metals com-monly used in deep drawing. These operations are generally performed cold and the metal is always stressed beyond the elastic limit. However, the problem cannot be readily solved without a proper investigation of (1) the relation between actual stress and actual strain in the plastic range and (2) the stresses that are set up in the metal during the process of deep stamping. Much work has been done in recent years to add to our knowledge on plastic deformation of metals and the shortcomings of the ordinary tensile test, particularly in the plastic range, have been sufficiently recognized. It has been widely acknowledged that the local contraction, which appears in a tensile test after the maximum load is reached, is not a general characteristic of the material but is peculiar to this form of testing. The plastic deformation of materials is explained by the slip of their crystals along certain planes and this rearrangement should be similar whether observed in a tensile, compression or torsion test, and if the results of any of these forms of testing show deviations, it must be due to other influences, as for example the local contraction in a tensile test. For this reason the tensile-test curve as obtained from the measurements taken on a tensile-test machine or registered by an autographic device has been supplemented by the so-called "actual stress-strain curve," which is constructed from the observed tensile-test data by eliminating the effect of local contraction and is in complete alignment with the stress-strain values obtained in a compression or torsion test. The actual stress-strain curve shows the increase of actual unit stress in relation to unit elongation beyond the yield point and

Jan 1, 1934

By Charles R. Austin, Carl H. Samans

In an earlier serics of studies on 18-8 stainless steel at 600º, 700º, and 800ºC.l one pretreatment was used throughout; viz., 15 min. in hydrogen at 950°C., followed by an air quench. Several manufacturers of this alloy since have expressed doubt as to the suitability of the temperature employed, recommending instead the more customary Strauss treatment as promising superior results. In this subsequent investigation on the effects of the temperature of pretreatment several interesting points have arisen, which are described in this paper. Previous work on our equipment had shown a marked difference between alloys of "similar chemical composition" that had been manufactured by different companies. Accordingly, one mill-bar length was selected from which to prepare all specimens. It could then be assumed that any marked differences in creep characteristics would be due to effects resulting from variations in the pretreatment of the alloy. The material was furnished by the Allegheny-Ludlum Steel Co. in the form of 5/16-in. dia. rod, finished by air cooling from a mill anneal at 1950°F. (1066°C.). It was analyzed only for the elements shown: carbon, 0.07 per cent; chromium, 18.73; nickel, 9.46; manganese, 0.40. Three pretreating temperatures were chosen, the specimens being held for 15 min. in hydrogen at either: (1) 1150°C., to conform to the recommended Strauss treatment; (2) 950°C., to compare with the results of previous tests; or (3) 75Q°C., to initiate precipitation of carbides in the material before testing. As the test cross sections were only 1/8-in. dia., air cooling followed the annealing treatment. These treatments permitted two direct comparisons: (1) between the 1150" and 950°C. treatments to indicate the effect of grain size when all carbides were probably in solution at the start of the test; and (2) between the 950" and 750°C. treatments to indicate the effect of carbide "nucleation" for similar grain sizes.

Jan 1, 1940

By Carl H. Samans, Charles R. Austin

In an earlier serics of studies on 18-8 stainless steel at 600º, 700º, and 800ºC.l one pretreatment was used throughout; viz., 15 min. in hydrogen at 950°C., followed by an air quench. Several manufacturers of this alloy since have expressed doubt as to the suitability of the temperature employed, recommending instead the more customary Strauss treatment as promising superior results. In this subsequent investigation on the effects of the temperature of pretreatment several interesting points have arisen, which are described in this paper. Previous work on our equipment had shown a marked difference between alloys of "similar chemical composition" that had been manufactured by different companies. Accordingly, one mill-bar length was selected from which to prepare all specimens. It could then be assumed that any marked differences in creep characteristics would be due to effects resulting from variations in the pretreatment of the alloy. The material was furnished by the Allegheny-Ludlum Steel Co. in the form of 5/16-in. dia. rod, finished by air cooling from a mill anneal at 1950°F. (1066°C.). It was analyzed only for the elements shown: carbon, 0.07 per cent; chromium, 18.73; nickel, 9.46; manganese, 0.40. Three pretreating temperatures were chosen, the specimens being held for 15 min. in hydrogen at either: (1) 1150°C., to conform to the recommended Strauss treatment; (2) 950°C., to compare with the results of previous tests; or (3) 75Q°C., to initiate precipitation of carbides in the material before testing. As the test cross sections were only 1/8-in. dia., air cooling followed the annealing treatment. These treatments permitted two direct comparisons: (1) between the 1150" and 950°C. treatments to indicate the effect of grain size when all carbides were probably in solution at the start of the test; and (2) between the 950" and 750°C. treatments to indicate the effect of carbide "nucleation" for similar grain sizes.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. L. Mular

Two equations express the integral rate at which fines are produced from a homogeneous material: It has been demonstrated that the Gaudin-Meloy distribution for single fracture is equally applicable to multiple fracture and is related to the Gaudin-Schuhmann distribution at least when the distribution modulus a is close to unity. A, xoY was found to be independent of starting mass over the range studied when particle size was held constant. The equations are related to the input energy to the mill. In an earlier paper,' it was shown that when Mo g of uniformly sized homogeneous material is ground dry in a batch rod mill, the energy-size reduction equation is expressed at any time by the mass of unbroken starting material left at time t, ku is the size modulus of the portion Mo - Mt, and P is a constant that is generally equal to the distribution modulus a. If the power to the mill is constant, Et is proportional to time and Eq. 1 is rewritten where (Mo -Mt)/t is actually the integral rate at which fines are produced from a parent material, and A, is another constant. The size modulus, k,, is determined from the Gaudin-Schuhmann equation:2 where y is the cumulative fraction finer than any size x. Recently, Gaudin and Meloy derived a distribution equation for single fracture on the assumption that the random fracture of a homogeneous material produces daughter particles of similar shape. Their equation is given by where y is the cumulative fraction finer than size X, x, is the size of the unfractured parent, and r is designated the size ratio. Although Eq. 4 is derived for a single event, it should also approximately hold for a series of com-

Jan 1, 1962

By L. W. Kempf, R. S. Archer

The binary aluminum-silicon alloys have certain characteristic advantages which are now well known, and these alloys have come into considerable use during the past several years.' Their field of application has been limited to a certain extent, however, by their low yield point and hardness, low endurance limit, and relatively poor machining characteristics. These properties are improved by the addition of copper, and the ternary aluminum-silicon-copper alloys constitute an important class. The addition of copper decreases the corrosion resistance of the aluminum-silicon alloys and increases specific gravity. Magnesium is a hardening addition which seems to have relatively little effect on corrosion resistance, and which, of course, reduces specific gravity. The object of the work described in this paper was the development of alloys and heat treatments for the production of sand castings and permanent-mold castings having substantially all the advantages of the binary aluminum-silicon alloys together with mechanical properties improved to a degree permitting wider application. Constitution of Alloys Magnesium and silicon combine in aluminum alloys as the compound Mg2Si, which forms a binary system with aluminum. In alloys containing an excess of silicon over that required to form the compound, solidification ends with the freezing at 1022' F. (550' C.) of a ternary eutectic of aluminum, Mg²Si, and silicon. Judging from the horizontal projection of the liquidus surface as given by Hanson and Gayler,² this ternary eut,ectic contains about 13 per cent. silicon and 6 per cent. magnesium. All of the alloys discussed here contain excess silicon, so it

Jan 1, 1931