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By M. C. Dow

Belt conveyors generally are conceded to be the most economical method yet devised for the transportation of large quantities of bulk materials within plants. Belts are coming into greater use for transportation over long distances and are replacing other forms of long-haul conveyance. It is not the intent of the writer to comment on the design of belt conveyors, but to offer some suggestions for improvement in the operation of conveying belts, based on many years experience with belts in several stone-crushing plants. It is the contention of this writer that opportunities for improvement not fully realized by most operators exist in many plants and that a study of the individual conveyors can result in lower unit belt costs. General Reliability It is the fool-proof nature and general reliability of the belt conveyor that is responsible for its neglect. Even when abused, a belt will carry large tonnages and last a long time, often outlasting the personnel responsible for its care. Some operators look upon the purchase of a new belt as an expensive outlay every so many years, rather than a constant and steady cost amounting in belt wear alone to several dollars every operating day. This belt wear for all conveyors in one stone-crushing plant known by the writer costs 1 /12 cents per ton or $12 to $15 per hour, based on the present cost of belt replacements. The fact that these replacement costs are double those of prewar quality emphasizes the necessity of improving the conditions that make belts wear out. Some of those conditions are the responsibility of the conveyor designer, and if a serious original error has been made, this handicap cannot be overcome by the operator. If the belt is too narrow, too steep, or too fast for good loading, the operator finds that he has an inherently expensive belt. The other factors that decrease the life of a belt are more or less under his control. The two factors of most importance are the loading conditions and the alignment. Most of the cover wear and carcass cutting occurs at the loading point and if the alignment is not good under all conditions, edge wear or damage may result, Fig I. Loading the Belt It is difficult to load a belt in an ideal manner; that is, to flow the material on the moving belt at a steady rate, without impact, without turbulence, and with a velocity equal to and in the same direction as the belt. An inclined belt is especially difficult to load and particularly when its speed is over 300 or 350 fpm. Inclined conveyors require longer skirt plates to prevent spillage until the load settles. It does not seem reasonable to expect an inclined the to carry the same load as a horizontal belt of the same width and speed, because of the difficulty in loading

Jan 1, 1948

By M. C. Dow

Belt conveyors generally are conceded to be the most economical method yet devised for the transportation of large quantities of bulk materials within plants. Belts are coming into greater use for transportation over long distances and are replacing other forms of long-haul conveyance. It is not the intent of the writer to comment on the design of belt conveyors, but to offer some suggestions for improvement in the operation of conveying belts, based on many years experience with belts in several stone-crushing plants. It is the contention of this writer that opportunities for improvement not fully realized by most operators exist in many plants and that a study of the individual conveyors can result in lower unit belt costs. General Reliability It is the fool-proof nature and general reliability of the belt conveyor that is responsible for its neglect. Even when abused, a belt will carry large tonnages and last a long time, often outlasting the personnel responsible for its care. Some operators look upon the purchase of a new belt as an expensive outlay every so many years, rather than a constant and steady cost amounting in belt wear alone to several dollars every operating day. This belt wear for all conveyors in one stone-crushing plant known by the writer costs 1 /12 cents per ton or $12 to $15 per hour, based on the present cost of belt replacements. The fact that these replacement costs are double those of prewar quality emphasizes the necessity of improving the conditions that make belts wear out. Some of those conditions are the responsibility of the conveyor designer, and if a serious original error has been made, this handicap cannot be overcome by the operator. If the belt is too narrow, too steep, or too fast for good loading, the operator finds that he has an inherently expensive belt. The other factors that decrease the life of a belt are more or less under his control. The two factors of most importance are the loading conditions and the alignment. Most of the cover wear and carcass cutting occurs at the loading point and if the alignment is not good under all conditions, edge wear or damage may result, Fig I. Loading the Belt It is difficult to load a belt in an ideal manner; that is, to flow the material on the moving belt at a steady rate, without impact, without turbulence, and with a velocity equal to and in the same direction as the belt. An inclined belt is especially difficult to load and particularly when its speed is over 300 or 350 fpm. Inclined conveyors require longer skirt plates to prevent spillage until the load settles. It does not seem reasonable to expect an inclined the to carry the same load as a horizontal belt of the same width and speed, because of the difficulty in loading

Jan 1, 1948

By A. M. Gaudin

THE study that is presented here was undertaken in order to condense information concerning comminution, and covering a great variety of conditions, into one or several rules which would be of use in the development of a systematic theory as well as in many directly practical ways. As the result of this work, the following conclusions appear justified 1. Rocks may be classified, from the point of view of comminution, into two general classes which are (a) structurally homogeneous, and (b) structurally heterogenous. Structurally homogeneous rocks are those in which fracture takes place through grains and grain boundaries alike; heterogeneous rocks are those in which fracture passes in preference through grain boundaries. 2. If a sized product composed of structurally homogeneous rock grains is crushed, a product results in which the relation between the percentage weight of grains of various sizes and these sizes themselves follows a definite law. This is not true of structurally heterogeneous rocks. 3. Ball milling with structurally homogeneous rocks, and under certain conditions, presents exceptions to this rule. 4. In ball milling with structurally homogeneous rocks, there exists a critical ratio of size of feed to size of balls, above which the machine operates essentially by surface wear, and below which it operates essentially by breaking across the body of the particle. 5. In ball milling, with structurally homogeneous rocks, and when the size of feed grains exceeds the critical size, the particles worn off are of a, substantially definite size which depends upon the ball size 6. In the case of a typical heterogeneous rock, such as Manhattan schist, particles are crushed in such a way that there is a greater proportion of grains of the size that is the average grain-size of the rock than there would be in that range of size with a structurally homogeneous rock. This has been found to be true with-all the crushers tested. 7. Different methods of crushing produce grains of different shapes.

Jan 2, 1926

By F. H. Deily, Jean M. Quets, Milton E. Wadsworth, John R. 222-000-000-012 Lewis, D. S. Rowley, R. J. Howe

Samples of synthetic magnetite were reduced in hydrogen-water vapor atmospheres in the temperature range 450o to 900oC. The reaction was always surface controlled, indicating the final products of reaction are nonfirotective. Three separate cases have been identified from the kinetic results: Case I, reduction of magnetite to iron below 570°C; Case II, reduction of magnetite to iron above 570°C; and Case 111, reduction of magnetite to wustite above 570 oC. In Cases I and 111 the kinetics have been explained by the formation of oxygen anion vacancies in the magnetite surface followed by associated diffusional processes. In Case 11 the observed kinetics have been related to the concentration of iron cation vacancies in the wustite layer formed, followed by associated steady-state diffusional processes. The concentration of cation vacancies in the wustite is maintained constant by the magnetite-wustite equilibrium. THE reduction of the oxides of iron has been a subject of study and interest for many years. However, few attempts have been made to interpret the results in terms of the mechanism of reduction of an iron oxide by either hydrogen or carbon monoxide. Stalhane and Malmberg' using CO, H2, and CO-Hz mixtures, developed the rate expression: where m = mass of oxide reduced, t = time, k = a constant, s = surface area, P = partial pressure of of CO or H,, and P, = partial pressure of the reducing gas at equilibrium. The rate of reaction per unit area was proportional to the difference between the partial pressure of the reducing gas and its pressure at equilibrium. Hansen, Bitsianes, and Joseph2 studied the reduction of pellets of hematite to magnetite with mixtures of CO-CO,. They concluded that below 450°C the reaction proceeded according to a model in which CO reacts with the hematite surface producing an oxygen ion vacancy. The rate controlling step was then assumed to be oxygen ion diffusion through vacancies resulting in the formation of magnetite. They derived an expression giving the rate of reduction proportional to the cO/CO, ratio. Recently McKewan3 published results for the reduction of magnetite spheres in atmospheres below 570°C. He explained his results by an equation of the form where K, is the equilibrium constant for wustite-iron equilibrium attributed to the formation of wustite as an intermediate in the reduction of magnetite. According to McKewan, Kp is an equilibrium constant for H, -HO adsorption in which oxygen is deposited on the surface from the H,Oand subsequently acts as a poison for reduction by hydrogen. Sample Preparation and Experiments. In this work the authors used the same apparatus and experimental procedure employed in the hydrogen reduction of magnetite. Sintered disk samples weighing approximately 1.5 g and measuring 1.2 cm in diameter and 0.25 cm in thickness were prepared by a method described previously.4 Partial pressures of hydrogen and water vapor were controlled by bubbling hydrogen through a series of flasks containing distilled and deionized water maintained at constant temperature in an oil bath. The total flow rate of the reacting gases—hydrogen and water vapor—was approximately 0.5 liter per min. The entire external system was maintained at a temperature above the oil bath to prevent condensation of water vapor. This was accomplished by wrapping electrical resistance elements over all surfaces. The glass column containing the weighing system-a McBain balance suspended from a gold chain-was enclosed in an aluminum tube heated by nichrome resistance wire enclosed in an insulating material. The temperature of the glass column was held constant by means of a series of thermocouples connected in parallel to a Leeds and Northrup temperature controller. This was necessary since variations in temperature resulted in expansion and contraction of the glass column and could be readily observed with the cathetometer. The spring extensions were measured through a window with a gaertner cathe-

Jan 1, 1962

By T. Prof. Ph. D. Egleston

(Read at the Amenia Meeting, October, 1877.) THE copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior are composed of a series of metamorphic rocks, comprised under the names of amygdaloid and conglomerate, in which the copper and silver found with them are pseudomorphs. These rocks, generally, have well-defined walls which cause them to separate easily. Generally, the country rock is sterile, but it occasionally rises into the copper-bearing rock, and then carries copper. Usually, the amygdaloids carry copper, and the greenstones or melaphyres which encase them do not. There is a very generally received opinion that the copper in these beds occurs in shoots. This does not appear to be proved, though the opinion seems to have some foundation from the experience of the Calumet & Hecla Mine, where a body of poor rock has been left, which, on the mine map, shows a general direction. The theory may be true of that individual mine, but too little work has been done in the other mines to draw any decided conclusion. The copper is very unequally disseminated in the rock, if any given piece be taken as an example, but, if the whole copper-bearing series be considered, its distribution is uniform. It may prove that there are certain directions in which the copper has been deposited more abundantly than in others, and these may be found to correspond with certain geological causes, but up to the present time the knowledge gained is not sufficient to warrant any general conclusion. These rocks are supplemented by a series of true fissure veins, of which there are several systems, making the amount of native copper very large. Unfortunately, except in the fissure veins, known as "mass-mines," the copper is so scattered through the rock, and is in such a fine state of division, that, although it is not always difficult to mine, it is always difficult to dress it sufficiently too make it pay. The metal is so uniformly distributed through these copper-bearing rocks that detached pieces, called " float," are found in digging on almost any land in the country. These pieces vary from very small fragments, weighing not more than a few ounces,, up to many pounds. III one instance, in making an excavation for a cellar of a

Jan 1, 1878

By Noah Fields Drake

During July and August, 1899, the writer took advantage of an opportunity of going to Shansi to gather some information concerning the geology and value of the already famous coalfields of that province. The long journey, mainly on slow river-boats, and the limited time at command, allowed only about ten days of work to be done in the coal-fields around Tsê Chou. The geologic structure and the rock-formations were found to be simple and quite regular, so that in that time the accompanying sketch-map (Pig. 1) was made, and a fairly good idea of the distribution of the coal and general geologic features was obtained. The map was made by measuring a base-line about three-quarters of a mile long, triangulating for principal points over the field, and filling in the details by rapid sketches. The few elevations marked on the map were taken with an aneroid barometer. Only a few of the great number of towns and villages that are within this densely populated area are shown; and the coal-mines indicated are not the only ones within the area, but the ones where most of the following information about the coal was obtained. The value of this coal-field was first clearly set before the scientific and commercial world by Baron von Richthofen,* who made a geologic reconnaissance of Shansi in 1870. Since that time the hostile attitude of the Chinese government and people towards foreigners and their enterprises has kept the coal-fields from being developed. But the last few years of rapid change in the conditions of China have at last apparently opened a way for the exploitation of this coal-field. The Peking syndicate, a joint English-Italian company, now has concessions from

Jan 1, 1901

By R. L. Bleifuss

Most pellets swell only slightly during reduction, but some swell so enormusly that their increase in size is termed catastrophic. Since catastrophic swelling produces irregularities in blast furnace operation, an understanding of the phenomenon is of practical as well as theoretical interest. Observations have shown that catastrophic swelling is characterized by the growth of a network of fine iron filaments. Evidence is presented to show that the growth of these filaments is promoted by the presence of calcium in the magnetite lattice of the original ore. During reduction, the limited mutual solubility of CaO and FeO produces an unstable condition that inhibits the uniform nucleation of metallic iron. Other elements in the magnetite lattice whose oxides are continuously soluble in FeO in the critical temperature range have no effect. Magmatic segregation or pyrometasomatic replacements are the most likely deposits to contain calciferous magnetite. Over the past few years there has been an increasing concern throughout the iron and steel industry over the tendency of pellets to swell during reduction. Although the tendency for swelling is only one of several attributes that determine the behavior of pellets in the blast furnace, swelling-reduction tests are now part of the normal evaluation procedure of many pellet consumers. During a swelling-reduction test, pellets display either the moderate increase in size known as normal swelling, or the enormous expansion known as catastrophic swelling. This paper is concerned with the origin and control of catastrophic swelling and how it is enhanced or inhibited by the presence of minor elements. Swelling Behavior The swelling behavior of pellets during reduction is indicated in Fig. 1. The lower curve represents normal swelling and the upper curve catastrophic swelling.' During the initial stages of reduction, that is, up to about 20-25% reduction, the two curves are considered to be equivalent. Beyond this point normal pellets undergo a gradual decrease in size with increased reduction. By contrast, pellets which exhibit catastrophic swelling show a second dramatic expansion between 25 and 70% reduction. The initial normal swelling develops as the hematite of the pellet is successively reduced to magnetite, and then to wustite. Work by Edstrom' and others has shown that the reduction of hematite to magnetite is accompanied by a 25% volume increase, whereas the magnetite to wustite stage shows a volume decrease. The volume increase overlaps the wustite field because magnetite is formed simultaneously with the wustite during topochemical reduction of the pellet. The catastrophic expansion is clearly related to the wustite, to

Jan 1, 1971

By Carl Henrich

Aspen, the flourishing mountain- and mining-town of Pitkin county, Colorado, is located in the valley of the Roaring Fork, 11 miles above Glenwood springs, where that stream empties its waters into Grand river, a tributary of the Colorado. The Roaring Fork heads on the western slope of the Sawatch range near Grizzly peak, and runs in a general northwesterly direction to its junction with the Grand river. Of its numerous tributaries, Castle creek joins it just below the town of Aspen, the town being built on an extensive flat hounded on the northeast by the Roaring Fork and on the west by Castle creek. The latter heads at the junction of the Sawatch and the Elk mountains and flows northward between the two chains, until it empties into Roaring Fork. Opposite the town of Aspen, Hunter creek, coming westward from the western slope of Mount Massive, joins the Roaring Fork. About a mile north of Aspen, the bed of Hunter creek is at least 300 feet higher than that of the Roaring Fork at Aspen. Hunter creek forms thus, at its mouth, one of the best water-powers in Colorado. A portion of it is now utilized for electric lighting in Aspen, while in the near future, the whole of this magnificent natural power will be applied, through electric transmission, for hoisting, pumping and ventilating at different mines of the district. The mountain opposite the town of Aspen, on the east side of Hunter creek (which near its mouth flows southerly), is called Smuggler mountain, from the famous mine at the foot of it. On the other, or western, side of Hunter's creek (see map, Fig. I), a higher mountain rises, on the slope of which the regular dip of the Triassie or Upper Carboniferous red sandstone strata, alternating with white layers of the same rock, can be clearly seen from town. This mountain is called Red mountain, from the prevailing color of its rocky

Jan 1, 1889

Jan 1, 1932

By AIME AIME

Gentlemen, we have ten questions on our list and a number of us here probably have other questions to ask. Therefore, we arc going to allocate the time to these different questions so that we will try to be finished by 4:30; from then until 5 o'clock, if any of you have any questions on subjects not related, you will be free to ask them. Mr. Morton and I have changed the order of the questions. Instead of what is now first, we have put No. 3 first, progress on basic-roof construction, inasmuch as we feel that it is quite important. At this time, H. S. Robertson, of Harbison-Walker, is going to give you a short talk, with slides, on what has been done to date on this subject.

Jan 1, 1940

By W. W. Anderson, S. Razi

Electroluminescetrce of single crystals of terbium-(loped ZnS prepared by vapor-transport technique shows the sharp line specirum characteristic of the 4f— 4ft,ansitiotzs of the trivalent Tb3 rotz. V-I tt~easuverr~ents give evidence of space-ellarge-lirrlited curvent but the thrveshold for trap-filled law behavior is not iu agreement with Lampert&apos;s theory for. Single injection. Variations of &apos;brightness with applied voltage, the observation of double peaks its brightness because joms, and the spatial distribution oi electroLur?zir~escerrce indicate that the accelet~atiotz-collision mechanism involving the bst lattice and/ov shallow traps is most likely to be responsible fov excitation of&apos; electrolnminescence. Efficiency rtreusuver)~etits show the quantwn efficiency to be about 10 pct and powev efficiency about 0.05 pct. Effect of anr~eallng the crystal in sulfur vapor is to enluztzce llle rare-earth emission. It rs pvoposed tlzat sulfitv anr~ealing crreates acceptorr-lvpe defects with which the donor-type vare-eavtll ion can associate more readily vesulting in enhanced rare-earth emission. A&apos;o such e~zlznr~cerr~etrt is obserued when the crystal is atztrealetl in zinc vapor. Photolianinescence of ZnS doped nith a variety of rare earths also shows tile slurvp l~rze rwve-eavtlz erriission which in sorrretirr~es accompanied by broad band, stvuctureless lattice emission. Photo-atrd electrolutr~itzesce?~ce of ZIIS:Tb slw~rj do!rlit~unt rare-earth emission in the ~ticirzity of 54(3OA corre-sporrdit~g to the transition D* — Fj. Hoz~!el)er, the detailed line structuve of the luo spectvtr is cliffevet~t, irzdicutit~g that different sites are active in the two processes. Decay of rave-eartlr fluorescence in ZnS doped with any of sei!evul vuve eurtlzs car1 be described by a single exporleritial e.scepl joy ZrlS:lIo. Tl~is exceptiotr can be explaitred it~ tevrr~s of tlre closely spaced er~evgy 1e1:els Jov the HO~&apos; iorr. Decay lime measurertzekzts jov ZnS:Tb, using pulsed elect,-ical ar~d pulsed opticcll excitutiorzs, (11-e itz goor1 agrcetrier~t. LUMINESCENCE of rare-earth-doped materials has been a subject of interest for the past 20 years. Within the past few years there has been a considerable increase in rare-earth research motivated in search of new and more efficient laser materials and also due to the use of certain-rare-earth compounds in the preparation of color television screens. The purpose of this study has been to seek an understanding of some of the basic processes involved in exciting the rare-earth luminescence which is associated with transitions within the 4f shell of the trivalent rare-earth ion. Single crystals of ZnS doped with a variety of rare-earth ions have been prepared by vapor-transport technique described elsewhere.&apos; Photoluminescence was excited by a high-pressure short-arc mercury lamp together with suitable glass and chemical filters. For electroluminescence, sinusoidal and pulse excitations were used. 1) ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS 1.1) V-I Measurements. Electroluminescence experiments were performed on crystals of terbium-doped ZnS. The samples were cleaned and etched and indium or In-Ga alloy contacts were alloyed on by heating in H2 atmosphere to 600°C for times ranging up to 10 min. Static voltage-current measurements were made on several samples. Fig. 1 shows the results for a typical sample. For voltage V < 20 v, the V-I relationship is linear giving a resistivity of 2.5 x 109 ohm-cm for this particular sample at room temperature. In the range of 20 to 250 v, I varies as V "3 and at still higher voltages (when electroluminescence is visible to the scotopic eye) current varies as Vs up to 600 v, all at room temperature. At 77"K, for V > 200 v, / I vge5 up to 1000 v. The V-I characteristics at room temperature follow reasonably well the behavior predicted by Lampert&apos; for one carrier space-charge-limited current in an insulator with traps although, as shown later, the expression derived by Lampert2 for the threshold for trap-filled law behavior Vtfl yields an unrealistically low value for trap density if we use the experimental value of 300 v for VtfL. Assuming the case for shallow trapping, the transition from Ohm&apos;s law behavior to space-charge-limited behavior occurs at voltage Vtr given by where no = thermally generated free carrier density, L = length of the sample, e = static dielectric constant, 6 = ratio of free to trapped electron densities, e = electron charge. For the ZnS:Tb crystal, L = 0.5 mm, E = 8.3 €0, Vtr - 20 v, and no = 5 x 10&apos; per cu cm, calculated from the ohmic behavior assuming electron mobility of 100 sq cm per v-sec. This results in 9 = 0= As more and more electrons are injected the Fermi level moves up in the forbidden gap toward the conduction band. If we assume a single-energy level for traps (which is not strictly correct, as we will show later), the current voltage characteristic is profoundly affected when the Fermi level crosses the trap level. The traps are now filled and injected carriers can no longer be immobilized in traps. Hence, current rises sharply with voltage. The transition from space-charge-limited behavior to the trap-filled behavior occurs at voltage VTFL given by

Jan 1, 1968

By C. WIFLARD HAYES

(New Haven Meeting, February, 1909.) I DESIRE to make it perfectly clear at the outset that I fully realize the hazardous nature of any attempt to estimate the quantity of iron-ore or any other mineral in the ground. I should not have had the temerity to venture upon an inventory of the iron-ore supplies of the United States except for the requirements of the Conservation Commission. During the preparation of this inventory I have been impressed by the wide diversity in estimates of those best qualified to. hold an opinion, and I am therefore prepared in advance for criticism of my figures. Inasmuch as this report was prepared in large part for unprofessional readers, I considered it necessary to classify and describe the commercial iron-ores in a somewhat elementary manner, in order to explain the reasons for the large element of uncertainty in the estimates. I have therefore given a chemical and a geological classification of iron-ores, which place the commercial deposits in six classes: (1) magmatic segregations in basic igneous rocks; (2) contact-deposits formed in connection with igneous intrusions; (3) concentration-deposits; (4) replacement-deposits; (5) bedded-deposits, and (6) gossan-deposits. The iron-ores are further distinguished under two classes available and not available. This classification is in large measure arbitrary, and it, is evident that it will vary front time to time. In the available class are placed those ores which can be worked at a profit under conditions essentially as they exist at present. Since it depends wholly on the question of costs, the various factors which affect cost will determine the classification of any particular deposit. Actual production, * Abstract of Report prepared for the Conservation Commission. t Chief Geologist, United States Geological Survey. .

Apr 1, 1909

By G. H. Clevenger

THE reagents now used in flotation consist of various acids or salts, which may be either electrolytes or non-electrolytes, dissolved in water and some substance or combination of substances which function as collecting or frothing agents. At times the only dissolved salts present are those naturally occurring in the water used. The general effect of the electrolyte is to greatly sharpen the separation between the gangue and the concentrate. Examples of this are: The use of sulphuric acid with zinc ores; and of sodium carbonate or calcium oxide (line) with silver-gold ores. Crude pyroligneous acid is also sometimes used when available. Various oxidizing agents, such as permanganates, bichromates, etc., are added in the selective flotation of lead-zinc ores. Many other reagents for performing certain specific functions, either real or imaginary, have been proposed, and a number of them have been tried upon a working scale. The wild orgy of experimentation which is now going on in flotation exceeds even that which followed the introduction of the Washoe process for the treatment of Comstock ores, when, among other things, sage-brush tea and tobacco juice were reagents added to the pans. Out of all this will, of course, eventually come a more or less standard practice for the treatment of each class of ore. Omitting a discussion of the functions of frothing and collecting agents, the reagents used in flotation for this purpose may be classified under five general heads: (1) Essential oils; (2) fixed or fatty oils;. (3) alcohols and their combinations with organic acids; (4) coal tar and its refined products; (5) petroleum and its refined products. A flotative agent of some kind is required in flotation as now practiced. A single reagent, as, for example, certain. of the essential oils, may perform the dual function of frothing and collecting agent, or a mixture of substances may be required.

Jan 9, 1916

By J. L. Gregg, C. W. Kuttner

ReceNtly there has been considerable interest in the production and use of extra hard alloys composed primarily of tungsten and carbon. Dr. Hoyt&apos;s recent paper1 gives a good description of these alloys and describes their performance when used as tools. There are a number of these alloys on the market sold under various trade names, and it is the purpose of this paper to describe the results of an investigation of the structure of five of these alloys by means of microscopic and X-ray methods. The samples studied were in the form of small tools or wiredrawing dies, which were either purchased or supplied as samples. They were in some cases not supplied by the original makers but were furnished by the agents in this country, and we wish to call attention to the fact that they may not be truly representative of the materials supplied under the various trade names No performance data are given and no inference as to the inferiority of one alloy as against any other is made. K. Schröter2 recently described methods for polishing alloys of this type for microscopic examination and has presented photomicrographs of several alloys. However, he did not identify their constituents or describe methods for their identification. Constituents and Their Identification As far back as 1915 attempts were made to utilize tungsten carbides commercially, but the great brittleness of these carbides made these first attempts unsuccessful. Later, successful dies were made by sintering the powdered carbides with small amounts of iron, nickel, or cobalt. Due to the high melting points of the tungsten carbides (2600" to 2800" C.), it is difficult to melt the carbides without volatilizing almost quantitatively the added element of the iron group. Inasmuch as the added metal does not exceed 20 per cent. and is usually present in much smaller amounts, some understanding of the tungsten-carbon equilibrium dia-

Jan 1, 1929

By C. W. Kuttner, J. L. Gregg

ReceNtly there has been considerable interest in the production and use of extra hard alloys composed primarily of tungsten and carbon. Dr. Hoyt&apos;s recent paper1 gives a good description of these alloys and describes their performance when used as tools. There are a number of these alloys on the market sold under various trade names, and it is the purpose of this paper to describe the results of an investigation of the structure of five of these alloys by means of microscopic and X-ray methods. The samples studied were in the form of small tools or wiredrawing dies, which were either purchased or supplied as samples. They were in some cases not supplied by the original makers but were furnished by the agents in this country, and we wish to call attention to the fact that they may not be truly representative of the materials supplied under the various trade names No performance data are given and no inference as to the inferiority of one alloy as against any other is made. K. Schröter2 recently described methods for polishing alloys of this type for microscopic examination and has presented photomicrographs of several alloys. However, he did not identify their constituents or describe methods for their identification. Constituents and Their Identification As far back as 1915 attempts were made to utilize tungsten carbides commercially, but the great brittleness of these carbides made these first attempts unsuccessful. Later, successful dies were made by sintering the powdered carbides with small amounts of iron, nickel, or cobalt. Due to the high melting points of the tungsten carbides (2600" to 2800" C.), it is difficult to melt the carbides without volatilizing almost quantitatively the added element of the iron group. Inasmuch as the added metal does not exceed 20 per cent. and is usually present in much smaller amounts, some understanding of the tungsten-carbon equilibrium dia-

Jan 1, 1929

By D. C. DERINGER

METALLURGISTS and mill operators appreciate, in a general way, .the economic or commercial relationship between recovery and grade of product but few have correlated in detail fluctuating metal prices with the metallurgy. They know that many factors such as metal price, dedusiions for returning charge, transportation, percentage of metal in head ore, etc.; all affect the commercial relationship between recovery and grade of product. In practically every mill some one at some &apos; time has calculated the amount of recovery that can be sacrificed for each percentage increase in grade of concentrate and from this calculated ratio the commercial or ., economic tail has been established. Such a ratio finally becomes a well-entrenched rule by which the progress of the metallurgy is judged.. When once established, these-, ratios are but seldom corrected to changes of metal prices for each possible grade of concentrate that may be produced. The calculation is tedious when often repeated. Other methods have been suggested and used to correlate the commercial with the metallurgical phase. A factor .derived ,by multiplying the grade of concentrate by recovery is often used, but is of little importance because it does not possess a single commercial quantity. The percentage monetary recovery calculated by dividing the gross value of the ore into the net smelter return gives a good economic index and, is to be commended, but it is difficult to correlate exactly and quickly the work of each day on a commercial basis.

Jan 1, 1931

George A. Packard, Boston, Mass. (communication to the Secretary†):—The very interesting results obtained by Prof. Hofman and his assistants came to my attention when I had temporarily assumed charge of the metallurgical department of the Missouri School of Mines, and had found it, pending the completion of a new building, lacking a furnace in which to roast ore preparatory to the customary lead blast-furnace run. An attempt at lime-roasting had been already determined upon, but the use of a charge which would make a slag of definite composition was a new idea. The results following were obtained by Messrs. Aubrey Fellows, J. C. Long, E. R. Wash, and Dr. T. C. Tseung, under my supervision. It is regretted that the data are not more complete; but the work was done simply incidentally to securing the desired ore for the blast-

Jan 1, 1908

By E. P. Polushkin

This work has for its purpose the establishment of a new method for determining the structural composition of alloys. The area occupied by a constituent on a few representative photomicrographs of the alloy is measured, by a planimeter, especially designed for metallographic work, and the volume and proportional weight of the constituent calculated. Experiments have shown that the results are accurate enough to justify the application of the method to many problems in metallographic research instead of chemical analysis. The advantage of the method is the possibility of determining the amount of the constituents without separating them from the alloy; their composition may also be determined if the ultimate chemical analysis of the alloy is known. Suppose Fig. 1 represents a part of a photomicrograph on which the total area of the black figures is to be found. By a system of parallel lines drawn short equal distances apart all figures may be divided into trapezoids. As the area of a trapezoid is equal to its median multiplied by its altitude, the relation between the total areas of the black and the white figures comprised within each strip is equal to the relation between the sums of medians for these figures respectively. This is also true for the whole area of the photomicrograph. Therefore, to determine the total areas of the black and white figures we must first find the proportion between the sums of the medians and then divide the area of the whole photomicrograph in the same proportion.

Jan 1, 1925

By G. O. Prickett, P. Somasundaran

An experimental progmm based on statistical principles is used for optimizing a flotation operation for the separation of minerals. In this case, flotation of sylvite from sylvinite ore with amine and starch as the flotation reagents was studied to find the optimum reagent levels at various slime levels. The experiments were first done on a two-level three-factor design. Analysis of the results showed that the interactions between various factors were significant. Hence, a first-order linear model of the flotation response would not be accurate. The two-level three-factor design was expanded into a composite design in order to test the fit of a higher-order model. Data were treated to obtain an expression for flotation response as a function of the different variables, to predict the optimum reaaent levels at various slime levels, and also to determine the path of steepest ascent. Tests around the predicted optimum and along the path of the steepest ascent were done until a near-optimum region was obtained. Exploration of the nature of the response surface in that region established the actual location of the maximum response. The optimum amine level was found to be 0.20 lb of amine per ten of ore at all slime levels, while the optimum starch level varied as a function of the slime present. Computer access at the laboratory by means of a teletype terminal on a commercial time-sharing system enabled efficient and accurate treatment of experimental data. The efficiency of experimental investigations can be improved significantly by the use of experimental design and data analysis based on statistical principles. The common approach used in experimental research is to study a property of a system as a function of "one-variable-at-a-time". Several authors&apos;-4 have pointed out the inadequacy and deceptiveness of this method. Results obtained for the effects of a variable on the measured response of the system using

Jan 1, 1970

By Alexander L. Field

This paper contains an account of experimental results obtained in an extensive investigation of steels containing zirconium. There recently appeared&apos; an announcement by F. M. Becket, at whose suggestion and under whose general direction this investigation was made, a statement of the outstanding features of the work and a brief explanation of the factors that led to its inception. It is not possible, in a paper of this character, to record all of the operating and test data collected, which includes the production of more than 350 heats of steel. The difficulty of a complete presentation is increased by the fact that several lines of experimentation are too incomplete to warrant publication of the results at the present time. In addition to the methods of manufacture and test employed in the work, there is described experimental evidence on which are based certain definite conclusions regarding the remarkable effects brought about by the presence in steel of relatively small percentages of zirconium. When added to a molten steel bath, zirconium combines chemically with dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, in the order named, and is capable of neutralizing the embrittling effect of phosphorus in whole or in part; although in the case of phosphorus there is no evidence so far of actual chemical combination. These effects arc not in the nature of suppositions supported by theory, nor is their existence deduced merely on the basis of analytical evidence. In each phase of its relation to or reaction with the four impurities mentioned, zirconium affects beneficiauy the mechanical properties of the steel to which it is added, in a manner which it is one of the purposes of this paper to explain in terms of a tentative working theory.

Jan 1, 1923