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This report describes the activities and publications of the Bureau of Mines Health and Safety Research and Testing Center, Pittsburgh, Pa., for the fiscal years 1960-65. It includes a discussion or work being conducted on roof control, dust explosions, ventilation, health, coal mine fire control, and electrical-mechanical testing, and an abstract of each paper published during the report period.

Jan 1, 1966

By McHenry Mosier

This paper is one of a series recently undertaken by the Mining Branch of the Bureau of Mines to describe current practice in diamond drilling for production at various mines throughout the United States and to discuss the relative merits of this method compared with drilling by percussion rock drills . The Bureau of Mines and the mining companies that are cooperating with it in this ' investigation have the objective of developing information on diamond -drilling blast holes for the benefit of all who are interested in the possible improvement of mining operations .

May 1, 1947

By R. H. Nielsen

A new, cheaper precipitation scheme has been developed to produce purified zirconium oxide, Technical-grade sulfuric acid is used to precipitate a basic zirconium sulfate from a hot dilute hydrochloric acid solution. With close control of temperature, pH, and zirconium - sulfate ratio, excellent purification and complete zirconium recovery can be attained. The process has been successfully applied for 3 months and has proved to be a more satisfactory procedure than the ammonium phthalate process used previously. INTRODUCTION The Northwest Electrodevelopment Laboratory of the Federal Bureau of Mines has developed and improved the Kroll process for the production of pure ductile zirconium and hafnium. metal. Since 1946 over 1 million pounds of zirconium sponge metal has been produced, mostly high-purity material for the Atomic Energy Commission

Jan 1, 1956

By Paul M. Tyler

This paper is one of a series of digests of foreign mining legislation and court decisions prepared in advance of a general report relative to the right of American citizens to explore for minerals and to own and operate mines in various foreign countries. This interpretation of the laws of Yugoslavia was prepared from information furnished by John Dyneley Prince, American Minis- ter at Belgrade, in response to a questionnaire submitted by the Bureau of Kinos and transmitted through the courtesy of the Department of State.

Oct 1, 1929

By R. R. Sayers

Radioactivity, the property of radium that led to its isolation more than 30 years ago, is the characteristic that makes it of value in the treatment of disease. Tyler3 gives the following brief history of the investigation: The way to the discovery of radium was opened in 1895 by Rontgen, who found that the glow from a Crooke's tube contained penetrating rays, which .he called X rays. Prof. Henri Bequerel, while investigating the effect of various phosphor¬ escent substances, found that uranium salts produced photographic impressions even when enveloped with opaque substances. To Marie Sklovouski, a young Polish student, who later became Madame Curie, Professor Bacquerel delegated the task of learning how and why uranium possessed power to emit these peculiar rays, which he had proved to be electrical in character. Madam Curie, examining by electri¬ cal methods the radioactivity of a large number of minerals containing uranium and thorium, discovered that some specimens of pitchblende had about four times the activity of the metal uranium; that chalcolite, the crystallized phosphate of copper and uranium, was twice as active as uranium; that autunite, a phosphate of calcium and uranium, was quite as active as the same weight of pure uranium. In order to check these discoveries, she prepared chalcolite artificially, starting with pure products, but found that this artificial chalcolite had only the acti¬ vity represented by its composition, or, roughly, 40 per cent of the activity of uranium. This led to the conclusion that there was some element or substance in the residue from uranium minerals that possesses a high degree of activity. After an exhaustive chemical investigation of pitchblende from Joachimsthal, she found that this mineral contained not only uranium but also another radioactive sub¬ stance, to which she gave the name of polonium, in honor of her native land. Later in 1898, Monsieur and Madame Curie found still another element, which, when brought to a state of concentration, was several million times as active as uranium, and to this was given the name of radium. Debierne afterwards found a fifth radio¬ active substance, actinium; and in 1906 Boltwood isolated the metal ionium. Strict¬ ly pure radium chloride was first produced in 1902. The first radium was produced commercially from the uranium residues obtained from the mines of Joachimsthal, Bohemia. Tyler calls to attention that, as the ores were a government monopoly, search was begun at once for sources in other parts of the world. As a result, radium-containing ores have been found in about 10 countries.

Oct 1, 1932

By P. M. Sullivan

At its College Park Metallurgy Research Center in Maryland, the Bureau of Mines has installed and is operating a 5-ton-per-hour pilot plant for continuous mechanical separation of values contained in raw urban refuse. The entire sys tern was assembled using commercially available equipment. The process relies on multistage processing including shredding, air classification, screening, gravity concentration, and electrostatic separation. Compactor trucks deliver raw refuse collected along typical routes in metropolitan Washington, D.C., to the pilot plant. The loads are separated into concentrates of (1) light-gage iron, (2) massive metals, (3) glass, (4) putrescibles and waste combustibles, (5) paper, and (6) plastics. While some refinements remain to be made in the processing system flow-sheet, the data obtained to date have been highly encouraging, indicating favorable economics for commercial-size plants.

Jan 1, 1973

By L. B. Pankratz

High-temperature heat-content values of gallium and scandium sesquioxides were measured over the temperature range from 298° to 1,800° K. The results fill gaps in the thermodynamic information for these compounds; no previous similar data existed. The heat-content values were combined with heats and entropies of formation to obtain free energies of formation of gallium and scandium sesquioxides to 2,000° K. The thermodynamic stabilities of the sesquioxides of aluminum, gallium, scandim, and yttrium were compared.

Jan 1, 1963

By Merle L. Bowser

The Bureau of Mines has constructed a miniature oxygen deficiency alarm system using an electrochemical cell as the sensor. Distinct audible signals are produced at either of two preselectable oxygen levels which can be varied from approximately 10 to 20.9 percent oxygen. The high or cautionary range produces a 500-cycle-per-second tone pulsed at about a 1-cycle-per-second rate, whereas the lower or more dangerous oxygen level produces a continuous 500-cycle-per-second tone.

Jan 1, 1968

By R. O. Dannenberg

This report describes aperiments by the Bureau of Mines and reviews theoretical aspects of the use of organophosphate solvent extraction for recovering beryllium from sulfate leach liquors. The leach liquors were prepared by sulfuric acid leaching of lime-sintered low-tenor beryl flotation concentrates. The experimental work on sulfate leach liquors showed that the acidic esters of organophosphates extracted beryllium slowly but in preference to aluminum. Three common alkylphosphoric acids, di- (2-ethylhexyl) (EHPA), heptadecyl (HDPA), and dodecyl (DDPA), in order of decrmsing selectivity, yielded a partial separation of beryllium from aluminum.

Jan 1, 1962

By Ann C. Kim

This Bureau of Mines report summarizes the methods and results of many of the laboratory studies on spontaneous heating of coal published in the last 50 years. It includes a brief description of experimental methods, indices of combustibility, and important contributing factors. Adiabatic calorimetry, isothermal calorimetry, [0], sorption systems, or temperature differential are the most frequently used experimental methods. Indices of combustibility include various heating rates, crossing point temperature, ignition temperature, and CO index. Factors that affect the spontaneous heating of coal include air flow rate, changes in moisture content, particle size, rank, temperature, pyrite content, geological factors, and mining practice. Experimental conditions and results from 20 papers are summarized in an appendix, and the bibliography contains 45 references.

Jan 1, 1977

By R. V. Ramani

"In this paper, the current status of respirable dust control in coal mine atmospheres is presented. The advancements in the engineering control of dust generation and entrainment, and of reducing the exposures are summarized. The results of the Health Surveillance Program are briefly reviewed. The results of research conducted in the Generic Mineral Technology Center for Respirable Dust are presented. The 1995 NIOSH criteria document on respirable coal mine dust is briefly reviewed. The fundamental scientific and engineering issues in need of research are discussed. A detailed bibliography is attached.IntroductionFor coal mines in the United States, the current permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 2mg/m3MRE-equivalent concentration (an 8-hour TWA concentration measured gravimetrically) was established by Public Law 91-173: the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety of 1969 (the 1969 Coal Act). This standard is reduced when the respirable quartz content in the dust sample exceeds 5%; the reduced standard in mglm3 is obtained by dividing 10 by the percent quartz. The OSHA and ACGIB PEL for respirable coal mine dust is also 2 mg/m3 , and OSHA PEL for respirable quartz is 100 µg/m3 . The 1969 Coal Act also prescribed two activities in the Coal Mine Respirable Dust Sampling Program and the National Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program n to control respirable dust in mines, and the coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) among the coal miners.There are three principal methods by which personal exposures to respirable dust are controlled. The first is engineering control where the aim is to reduce the concentration in the mine atmosphere to or below the mandated level. The second is the provision of personal protective devices which allow the miner to work in dusty atmospheres without increasing personal exposure. The third is the use of administrative controls where the miner's exposure is controlled through work schedules and procedures to keep miner exposure at or under the mandated levels. The 1969 Coal Act specifically prohibits the use of respirators in lieu of environmental control. The compliance sampling program essentially does not give any credit to the use of administrative controls."

Jan 1, 1998

By C. Q. Cupps, R. F. Zaffarano, J. Fry

Reservoir oil analyses from seven wells in the Greater Clareton area have been included in a study of the original characteristics of oil in the Newcastle sandstone reservoir . These data correlated with areal location of the wells show an increase of saturation pressure in a general north - south or downdip direction . The increase amounts to about 500 psi in more than 17 miles , which corresponds to a depth increase of about 1,600 feet . To facilitate application of the data to engineering analyses , average characteristics are given for arbitrary north and south divisions of the 22 - mile - long producing area . The downdip increase of saturation pressure is taken as evidence of updip diffusion of solution gas from a somewhat higher concentration at the bottom of the reservoir . This effect is opposite to that previously observed in two prominent high- relief reservoirs in the Rocky Mountain area . The increasingly greater saturation pressures southward or downdip in the Greater Clareton area suggest a continuing migration of fluids into the structure .

Jan 1, 1964

By O. C. Blade

"INTRODUCTION This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States is a continuation of a series of reports made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Coordinating Fuel Research (CFR) Committee of the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) 3/ and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. The first of these reports presented data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36.4/ Further reports were issued describing motor gasolines sold during the succeeding sum¬mers and winters to and including the summer of 1941.4/ No reports were made on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1941-42 and during the summer of 1942. However, starting with the winter of 1942-43, the semiannual reports were resumed.!The present report presents analytical data for 4,544 samples, represent¬ing the products of 124 companies. The samples represented in this report were obtained during December 19146, January and February 19-(. As in previous surveys, the companies covered Ly the survey include both large and small suppliers. Conforming to former reports, the data cover three groups of samples - regular-price, premium-price, and third-grade gasolines.As the number of analyses submitted for samples of third-grade gasoline are not considered adequate to represent this type of motor fuel, data for the analyses have not been averaged, but the individual items are tabulated. The number of samples, items, and brands comprising each group is as follows: Regular-price, 2,368 samples, 319 items, and 113 brands; premium-price, 2,172 samples, 289 items, and 106 brands; third-grade, 4 samples, 4 items, and 4 brands. The meanings of these terms as used in the surveys are as follows:"

Aug 1, 1947

By Yael Miron

Two recent unplanned detonations occurred during blasting operations in sulfide-bearing ores in a Nevada gold mine. Other premature detonations have also reportedly occurred at other Nevada, California, and Arizona operations within the past few years, with increasing frequency. Unplanned or premature detonations can be extremely hazardous to life and can cause extensive property damage. A miner was injured in one of these occurrences. This report, by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, is intended to acquaint personnel involved in such mining activities with the basic causes for these accidents. These causes include the exothermic oxidation of pyrite (FeS2) and formation of ferrous sulfate (FeS04), the exothermic and energetic reaction of the ferrous sulfate with ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO)-based explosives, and the associated elevated temperatures that can set off detonators and explosives in the boreholes. Recommendations for safe operation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau, and the mine involved with the recent incidents include monitoring temperatures in the blast holes, analyzing for sulfate and ferrous ions, and limiting the time between loading and firing in accordance with conditions in the blast holes. Other procedures for safe operations should fit specific conditions in, the mines.

Jan 1, 1992

By RV. Ramanl, KV. K. Prasad, M. Swaminathan

The objective of the research in this project is to develop a knowledge based expert system for aiding the planning of mine ventilation systems. This system focuses on mine ventilation system design from a coal mine dust control standpoint. It is recognized that mine ventilation system design is an engineering problem involving not only rote numerical calculations to solve the pressure quantity problem but also substantial judgement and expertise to analyze a problem situation and Interpret the results of an algorithmic program. The thrust of this project is to i) extract this knowledge from public domain sources and recognized experts in industry, government and academia, 11) represent this knowledge in the form of IF ... TI-IEN rules in an expert system (ES) and 111) interface the developed expert system with a mine ventilation network analysis program vis. PSUMVS (Pensylvania State University Mine Ventilation Simulator). By providing the numerical computing and qualitative reasoning aspects of mine ventilation system design in a single Integrated system, better quality decision support will be made available to apprentice users.

Jan 1, 1988

By Thomas P. Mucho

Cable bolts are emerging as the newest ?twist? for roof support in U.S. underground coal mines. For decades cable bolts installed in underground metal mines in the United States and Canada used cement-based grouts for anchoring. The cement anchoring process, because of the time and expense for installation, made cable bolts impractical for use in coal mines. Today, the introduction of resin-anchored cable bolts provides a system more consistent with tradi­tional U.S. coal mine roof bolting practices and requirements. Expecta­tions are that the utilization of cable bolts for a number of U.S. mining applications will expand, particularly in coal mining.

Jan 1, 1998

By D. C. Crowell, A. G. Loomis

Both Dimensional and Inspectional Analysis are developed from fundamental concepts , and dimensionless groups are derived which represent the viscous , capillary , and gravitational forces existing in two - phase , incompressible flow in petroleum reservoirs . It is shown how properly scaled models may be devised by means of the foregoing groups . Laboratory measurements with such models faithfully duplicate the behavior of the reservoir on a miniature dimensional and compressed time scale , and when all the pertinent variables are evaluated , the model is a most effective tool for the study of complex fluid displacements in the reservoir . Applying the Principle of Similitude , it is shown how dimensionally scaled models are applied to various types of reservoir displacements : ( 1 ) Oil displaced by water , ( 2 ) gas displaced by water , and ( 3 ) miscible displacement . The special case of water displacing gas by imbibition is analyzed , and it is shown that the dimensionally scaled model must be fabricated of sandstone rather than unconsolidated sand , which is generally used in such models . This report is intended to be a review and summary of the application of Dimensional Analysis to reservoir displacement problems for those who are beginning the study of this useful and interesting method .

Jan 1, 1964

By W. D. Ludemann, E. A. Loria, E. A. Rowe

The isothermal recrystallization of electrorefined vanadium has been studied as a function of annealing time , temperature , and prior deformation . Specimens were cold- rolled from 30- to 75 - percent reduction in thickness , then annealed from 700 ° to 1,200 ° C at time periods ranging from 1 minute to 96 hours . The course of recrystallization was followed by means of hardness , metallographic , and X- ray techniques , and a recrystallization diagram was constructed . Interpretation of the data indicated that there was around 50- percent softening due to recovery ( first stage of softening) before recrystallization began . The defining of recrystallization limits with respect to the amount of deformation was precisely established for electrorefined vanadium . More than 30- percent reduction was necessary for recrystallization to occur at 850 ° C. With 60- percent reduction , it was initiated at 750 ° C and completed at 950° C. The activation energy for recrystallization , as derived from the data , was 95,300 cal per mole for 60 - percent reduction and annealing at 750 ° to 900 ° C. Recrystallization by the mechanism of nucleation and growth was the principal process during the second stage of softening . minor part of the second stage of softening took place as strain- induced boundary migration , which was observed in specimens reduced 30 percent , bent in L- shape , and annealed at 950 ° C. Grain size decreased significantly only with the largest reductions and annealing between 750 ° and 950 ° C. Grain growth was expressed by the empirical relation D = KKtt"" ,, the exponent being the same at 60- percent reduction and annealing from 750 ° to 900 ° C. Accordingly , the activation energy for grain growth was 75,000 cal per mole .

Jan 1, 1964

By B. B. Letson

The heats of formation of lithium chloride and lithium oxalate were determined with the aid of a Bureau-developed, glass Dewar-type solution calorimeter which uses thermistors as its temperature sensing element. Values obtained at 298.15° K were -98.38 ± 0.54 kcal/mole for lithium chloride and -329.02 ± 0.79 kcal/mole for lithium oxalate, using graphite as the standard state for carbon.

Jan 1, 1965

By S. P. Sandoval

The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated the separation of aluminum from copper dump leaching liquors using a supported liquid membrane. Aluminum was selectively transported through porous polypropylene impregnated with di (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid in an aliphatic diluent. The effects of variables, such as solution composition, temperature, and extractant concentration, were measured with a three-level fractional factorial experimental design. Experimental results were used to derive equations for predicting transport rates for aluminum, iron, and copper. The major variables influencing aluminum transport were solution temperature, feed solution pH, aluminum concentration in the feed solution, and extractant concentration. Copper and iron transport rates were almost zero when aluminum transport rates were high. Measured aluminum transport rates under the best conditions of 55° C, pH 3.0, 16 g/L A13+, and 65 pct extractant solution confIrmed the predicted value of 210 f.'g/(cm2.h). Transport rates for iron and copper were less than 5 ug/(cm2.h) under these conditions. Aluminum was recovered from the stripping solutions by sparging with gaseous hydrogen chloride to crystallize aluminum chloride hexahydrate, which was calcined to alumina. Sparging crystallization regenerated the stripping acid for recycle.

Jan 1, 1989