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By Samuel P. Polack

This report reviews investigations to determine the fire hazard in coal mining when using flammable petroleum hydraulic oils to actuate mining equipment and summarizes research by the Bureau of Mines and industry on fire-resistant hydraulic fluids. Tests were established to evaluate fire resistance and the necessary characteristics to assure adequate service when fire-resistant fluids are used to replace petroleum hydraulic oils. The research was conducted in the laboratory and field trials under actual operating conditions in underground mines. Bureau of Mines Schedule 30 became effective December 17, 1959; the first approval was granted on February 18, 1960, and the twelfth was granted on March 17, 1961. The approvals include nine ready-mixed (by the producer) fluids and seven concentrates to which water is added by the user according to instructions from the producer. Seven synthetic-type fire-resistant hydraulic fluids submitted by two producers are also approved. Over 100 coal mines are now using water-in-oil emulsion-type fire-resistant hydraulic fluids in varying degrees from a trial in one machine to all the hydraulic equipment in an entire mine.

Jan 1, 1961

By W. C. Holliman

This report is one of a series of reports on the characteristics of commercial aviation gasolines, It presents compilations of inspection test data on their products furnished by 16 manufacturers of commercial grades of aviation and special date obtained in Bureau of Mines laboratories on 66 samples of these gasolines, Data are presented for 19 samples of grade SO, 17 of grade 91/98, 22 of grade 100/130, and 8 of grade 115/145 aviation fuels. These gasolines are designated July 1948 production, although some of the samples may have been produced a month earlier or later.

Jan 1, 1948

By Oliver Bowles

The manufacture of lime is one of the oldest industries. Plants are distributed widely and furnish an essential raw material for numerous industries. The use of lime by the building trades, in agriculture, and in hundreds of manufacturing and chemical processes has created demands for a large production and has necessitated exhaustive research on methods of manufacture and uses. The bibliography of lime is an extensive one, but for the most part each publication has dealt with only certain operations. The purpose of this paper is to present a general picture of the industry as a whole. The abundant literature has been abstracted and quoted freely, and the National Lime Association has rendered valuable assistance in furnishing data for certain sections. Publications containing more detailed information on the various branches of the industry are referred to in the footnotes and in the bibliography.

Jan 1, 1936

By John H. Hild

"INTRODUCTION Alunite occurs within a radius of 10 miles of Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, in veins and as replacements of igneous rocks. A number of each type of deposit was explored by the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Geological Survey, under the Strategic Minerals program during 1942. The exploratory work comprised geologic and topographic mapping, diamond drilling,,bulldozer and hand trenching, sinking test pits, rehabilitation of old workings, sampling alunite exposures, and constructing and repairing roads.ACKNOWLEDGNENTSIn its program of exploration of mineral deposits; the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral resources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to national security and economy. It is the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by each exploratory project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, performs the actual exploratory work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, R. G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests. Both these branches-are under the supervision of Dr. R. S. Dean, assistant director.With particular reference to this publication, acknowledgment is given to Richard E. Mieritz and William E. Young, who assisted on the project at various times; P. T. Allsman, chief. Salt Lake Division, Mining Branch, who advised on exploratory problems and gave valuable assistance in preparing the report and illustrations; A. P. T. Schumann, for preparing the illustrations; and to Gordon L. Bell, Max Willard, and Eugene Callaghan, of the Geological Survey, who cooperated as representatives of that agency."

Nov 1, 1946

By E. H. Denny

This paper discusses accident experience and costs in 150 Colorado coal mines for the 5 years 1929-33; these mines produced 62 percent of Colorado's coal tonnage during this period. This and similar studies by the United states Bureau of Mines in other States (listed in the appendix to this report) make available comparable information on mine-accident costs and bring out clearly the importance of accident reduction from the humanitarian as well as from the economic standpoint. Compensation insurance costs constitute a considerable part of the cost of coal output. The tendency toward greater liberalization of workmen's compensation laws and increased benefits thereunder may mitigate to some extent the seriousness of an accident to a worker and his dependents, but no compensation is paid ultimately, not by an insurance fund but by the mine operator and the general public, which includes the miner. The one really effective method of reducing compensation costs is to reduce the number and severity of accidents.

Jan 1, 1935

By D. Harrington

Part III-B, presented in this circular, completes the series reviewing the literature on effects of breathing dusts with special reference to silicosis; it includes data on the status and cost of compensation for silicosis in the United States and several foreign countries and a summary and general conclusions covering the whole series. Parts I, II, and III-A of the series have been issued as Information Circulars 6935, 6840, 6948 , and 6957; Part I defines and classifies dusts, indicates sources of exposure, and describes the physiological effects of breathing dusts; Part II-A discusses the principal dust factors producing pulmonary pathology and methods of determination of dust in air; Part II-B presents data on the engineering and medical control in the prevention of dust diseases and general recommendations for their control in industry; and Part III-A deals with the economic and legal aspects of dust diseases in industry.

Jan 1, 1936

"INTRODUCTION While investigating prevention of sabotage and maintenance of production of essential war minerals, engineers of the Bureau of Mines visited more than 1,400 metal and nonmetallic mines, quarries, and open pits in all parts of the United States.The need for, uniform safety practices is indicated by the fact that during 1938-1940, inclusive, the Western Safety Conference, under the sponsorship of the California Department of Industrial Relations, undertook the prepara¬tion of a set of standard safety regulations for the 15 participating political subdivisions. The membership of these political subdivisions is comprised of representation from Alaska, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Lower California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, For the guidance of its own engineers; the Bureau of Nines found it necessary to prepare a set of safety practices that could be used uniformly throughout the United States. These safety practices were compiled from State mining regulations, mining company safety rules, and the experience of Bureau of Mines engineers for more than 3 decades, and represent the best safety practices of the Nation's' mineral industry.The purpose of this publication is to make safety practices available for the non-coal branches of the mineral industry, with the hope that they may assist in reducing accident occurrence. The Bureau will welcome questions and suggestions regarding these practices in order that changes may be made as necessary.Where the adoption of any practice would not materially increase the safety of employees or would work undue hardship on the operator, the Bureau does not recommend such adoption."

Sep 1, 1946

By W. W. Adams

Three hundred and twenty-eight mines and quarries, representing 36 States, took part in the twelfth yearly accident-prevention contest conducted by the United States Bureau of Mines and known as the National Safety Competition. Four underground mines and one open-cut mine (which represents the quarry and open-cut mine group), each the leader in its group, were awarded the ?Sentinels of Safety? trophy. Relative standing in the contest" was determined by the number of days lost from accidents in proportion to the total number of man-hours worked. Since 1925, when the National Safety Competition was inaugurated, an increasing interest has been taken in it by mining and quarrying companies as a means of stimulating mine and quarry safety by competition among similar plants. Each participating plant can, on a basis of its standing and record in the contest, determine to what extent its safety program is succeeding or to what extent it needs strengthening. With this information, each company that has a low standing in the contest can intensify its safety-promotion efforts the following year to obtain a lower rate and possibly win the trophy or achieve honorable mention in the competition. Except for 1929, the National Safety Competition of 1936 represented more man-hours of employment than any other year since the yearly contests began.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. H. Wiggins

"The tests described below were conducted by the Bureau of Mines at a lease in Oklahoma on installations designed to decrease evaporation losses of crude oil Pram storage tanks. Use of the lease was granted by the Oklahoma Producing and Refining Corporation of America. Tankage was obtained through the courtesy of the Parkensburg Pig and Reel Co. The purpose of the installations and tests was to demonstrate the value of making crude-oil storage tanks gas-tight, rather than to determine the amount of evaporation in any one type of tank. None of the tanks used were absolutely gas-tight, but one of them was very nearly so. They comprised a tank of the ordinary open type with an 18-inch manhole, a tank with a ""4-inch vent"", a tank with a ""smaller vent"", and a tank which had only ""pin holes"" through which air and vapor could pass freely. On the last two tanks any excess pressure was taken care of by an automatic differential pressure regulator.The results obtained in these tests indicate that tight tankage will soon pay for itself. They will not, however, serve as a basis on which a producer can compute the actual number of days necessary for tight tankage to pay out, because the oil used was exceptionally volatile. It is probable that the average evaporation loss in the Mid-Continent field is at least one-half as great as that shown by these tests, and if this is true, the saving that would be effected by providing tight tankage on the lease will undoubtedly justify the expense. The installation of evaporation-proof tanks on the lease has been delayed by the failure of production managers to realize, first, that their evaporation losses are enormous, and, second, that they can practically eliminate these losses by a simple and inexpensive installation."

Apr 1, 1921

By A. N. Fried

One of the important problems confronting oil producers in appraising the possibilities of secondary recovery in many California fields is the effect of viscosity on oil recovery by water flooding. In January 1954 there were 554 fields and/or pools, in the State, that produced 1 million barrels daily, and 138 of these pools produced approximately 267 thousand barrels daily of heavy crude oil having gravities below 200 API. Many of these fields are nearing the end of their primary economic life and still have high residual-oil saturations, a favorable factor in water flooding. The crux of the problem is whether or not enough oil can be recovered from these fields by water flooding to make the operation economically successful. Some experiments on the relationship between viscosity and oil recovery have been made by other investigators, but in most instances the viscosity of the oils used in the experiments was lower than the viscosity of the oils found in many of the heavy-oil fields in California. A study was undertaken, therefore, to determine the relationship between oil viscosity and recovery over a wider range of viscosities and to compare the experimental results with those predicted by theoretical calculations.

Jan 1, 1955

By Galen G. Waddell

Dilation and contraction of the rock surrounding horizontal access open-ings of a deep mine were analyzed during stope advance to determine what type of measurements, made with relatively inexpensive instrumentation, would best reflect the rock behavior. A variety of instruments, mostly mechanical extensometers, were used. Detailed descriptions are given of Down-the-hole extensometers, floating rockbolt clusters, transit surveys, and other instruments and measuring techniques. Although all of the radial-deformation-rate graphs illustrated useful rock behavior data, the most informative graphs were compiled from data procured with the radial extensometers that penetrated, to various depths, the rock around the access openings. An analysis is given of measurement data on the rock around lateral drifts and across and adjacent to the nearly vertical vein of the Star mine, Burke, Idaho. Several useful relationships were found between the rock deformation rate and the stoping process. Information was produced on the elastic state of rock around an underground opening, effectiveness of stope support, rheology of rock, zone of influence around stopes, effectiveness of rockbolts, axis of maximum strain in a plane perpendicular to the long axis of the lateral, and other phenomena. This information could be of particular value in determining location, design, and support of underground openings.

Jan 1, 1966

By S. H. Ash

Tunnel driving is recognized as one of the most hazardous of occupations; this is a reflection of the high accident severity rates and resultant high compensation and similar costs in this industry. Most tunnels are driven by contractors who bid for the jobs, taking into consideration the prevailing industrial insurance rates at the time the bids are placed. After the bid is secured the contractor then attempts to complete the job at the minimum cost to himself. In a sense the accident-cost item is fixed for at least one year when a policy is secured. Time is generally an important factor not only for the contractor, but also for the insurance carrier and the assured. If the assured represents a private interest, the cost burden usually is ultimately placed on the general public which avails itself of the service contemplated; if the project is a governmental enterprise the cost burden unquestionably falls upon the general public involved and on the general tax payer. For these reasons it is of vital interest to the public that accidents not only be kept at a minimum as a humanitarian objective, but also because the accident-cost burden, too frequently not even realized and considered to the degree that it should be, can assume proportions that materially affect the cost of the enterprise. The basic industrial insurance rate for tunneling in California in 1932 contemplated an earned premium of 12.12 percent of the labor pay roll. The State has been particularly engaged in large construction enterprises, some of which involve high accident cost rates, notably structural-steel bridge building, which contemplates an earned premium of 19.65 percent of the labor pay roll. When this figure is compared with the much lower rates that apply to other industries it is apparent that a heavy toll in human wreckage is taken by such engineering projects, which must be viewed as monuments to human suffering as veil as to human achievement.

Jan 1, 1933

By William M. Thornton

[Owing to the comparatively high freezing point of nitroglycerin (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 37, 38)3/ - 1.9° C. and 13.0° C. for the labile and stabile modifications, respectively, as determined by Hibbert (16) - manufacturers of dynamites have incorporated into the liquid portion of these composite explosives various substances capable of participating in an explosion, to depress the above-mentioned freezing point. Aromatic nitro-compounds, chiefly nitrobenzenes, nitrotoluenes, and nitronaphthalenes, have been used to a considerable extent (11), but such nitrosubstitution products have not proved altogether satisfactory, as has been shown clearly by Naoúm. (14). Consequently there has been a strong tendency in recent years to replace them with one or more of several nitric esters, among which the following (29, 35) have been prominent: Dinitrochlorhydrin (monochlorhydrin dinitrate); nitrosugars, for example, sucrose octanitrate (19); tetranitrodiglycerin (diglycerin tetranitrate); nitroglycol (ethyleneglycol dinitrate); and diethyleneglycol dinitrate (13, 46, 47). Of these, nitroglycol (33, 4l, 45, 48, 49, 65) is outstanding in importance. As the Bureau of fines is naturally interested in the analytical chemistry of the "explosive oils," it seemed desirable to bring together in this report the widely scattered experimental work covering the problem of differentiation that has appeared in various chemical and physicochemical publications.]

Jan 1, 1941

By H. H. Heady

A naphtha obtained by destructive, recycle hydrogenation of crude shale oil, produced by gas-combustion retorting of Colorado oil shale, was found by the Bureau of Mines to contain 49.1 percent paraffins, 20.3 percent cycloparaffins, 7.8 percent olefins, and 22.8 percent aromatics. The naphtha contained only minor amounts of sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen compounds. Compounds containing less than 5 carbon-atoms per molecule were removed by distillation before analysis. The paraffins where predominantly straight-chain compounds; n-Hexane was present in the largest quantity, and the other straight-chain paraffins decreased in amount as the molecular weight increased. The cycloparaffins, which contained both cyclopentanes and cyclohexanes, were evenly distributed throughout the boiling range. Although the naphtha had been produced by hydrogenation, it contained a small quantity of olefins. Straight-chain olefins with a terminal double bond comprised about two-thirds of these compounds. Among olefins with an internal double bond, those having trans configuration were present in three times the quantity of those in the cis form. In the aromatics all but one of the alkylbenzenes having nine or less carbon-atoms per molecule were identified; toluene was present in the greatest quantity. Only a few of the higher molecular-weight homologs were identified. The composition of the naphtha was computed from analyses of 105 narrow¬boiling distillation fractions. Volume, density, refractive indices, bromine number, and an ultraviolet spectrum were determined on each fraction. From these data the hydrocarbon-group composition of each fraction was estimated. A silica gel adsorption analysis was used to check the values of nearly one-third of the fraction calculated from physical-property data. Mass and infrared spectra were obtained on some fractions for identifying individual compounds or types of compounds, such as terminal olefins.

Jan 1, 1960

By John C. Cook

Channel sand bodies ("wants" or "cutouts") are deposits of barren, hard sediments which interrupt production and pose safety hazards when encountered in underground coal mining. To locate these costly impediments to mining in advance, from the surface of the ground, the seismic reflection method is recommended. High-resolution (high frequency) techniques for shallow seismic exploration of coal beds have been worked out and are reported here, including a field example. Newly-developed high-frequency, digital recording equipment was used, together with light-weight shot-drilling equipment and a variety of down-hole seismic impulse sources. Techniques for rapid but complete coverage of a coal prospect area with a crew of 2 to 6 men n 2 or 3 vehicles are described in detail.

Jan 1, 1976

By D. Harrington

The number of fatalities from mine explosions for the fiscal year 1945 dropped below that of the year before; continued improvement over the record of the years from 1940 to 1945 is hopeful, but the number of reported explosions has increased rather than diminished, and the number of victims claimed by explosions is often more definitely a factor of chance than forethought. Mine fires and explosions can be eliminated through the methods now well-known to those well-informed in matters pertaining to safety in mining but ignored by many coal-mine operators and employees who follow procedures of the past or their own short cuts, regardless of disasters that may result: Tried and proved safety measures for preventing mine fires and explosions have been recommended to the mining public repeatedly, yet only a relatively small but far-sighted minority have adopted these measures and made them a part of operating practice. That far more explosion disasters did not occur in 1945 is fortunate. In 1945 a coal-mine fire of electrical origin caused heavy loss of life, while several others from the same cause were controlled with but few fatalities; this hazard is now being curbed temporarily to some degree after the bad record of the two preceding years, but a real solution of the problem has not been reached, although cooperating committees trying to produce at least some answer have made progress.

Jan 1, 1946

By W. M. McKewan

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has established a wire rope research laboratory to examine the factors that affect the life of wire rope. A 2-in-diameter 6x25 fiber core rope was degraded on a bending fatigue machine. This was the first in a series of tests on rope of this construction and size. Baseline testing at the laboratory was reported in an earlier publication. Tensile and nondestructive tests were performed on samples of the rope to determine the relationship between rope deterioration and rope breaking strength. The tests indicated that as a wire rope nears the end of its useful life, deterioration and the consequent loss of rope strength increase at an accelerated rate.

Jan 1, 2010

By William Seymour

"INTRODUCTION Byproduct-coke manufacture is one of our country's most essential in¬dustries; its importance was strikingly accentuated by the demands of World War II. This paper reviews recent progress in various phases of byproduct-coke operations for the production of metallurgical coke particularly that used as blast-furnace fuel.In the early days of the by-product-coke industry in the United States high-grade bituminous coking coals, both high-volatile or gas coal and low-volatile Pocahontas coal, were plentiful, and the selection and mixing of coals for coke-oven use were minor problems.The demands of World War I for the production of iron, steel, and coke aroused and stimulated new interest in the investigation of the reserves, characteristics, and properties of our coking coals. During that war the increased demand for coke reached a critical stage, and the shortage of high-grade coking coals necessitated the use of cols of inferior quality and of different coking characteristics than those previously used.The period of prosperity following World War I brought much progress and development in the by-product-coke industry. Methods of testing coal and coke were improved. The search for satisfactory coking coals was continued, and construction and design of byproduct ovens were improved."

Jun 1, 1946

By Dean E. Bluman

The Bureau of Mines investigated the convective heat transfer coefficients for recirculated suspensions of 30-micron glass beads in inert gas. Coefficients for the suspensions were not significantly higher than coefficients for the pure gas. Reynolds numbers of the suspensions were 20,000 to 35,000; solids loadings ranged from 0.0 to 0.7 pound per pound of gas. Comparison of the results with published data showed the direction of heat flow to have no effect at the test conditions.

Jan 1, 1967

By T. F. Mitchell

During the investigation or the occurrence of manganese deposits in western United States, Bureau of Mines' examining engineers collected samples from four manganese properties in the Death Valley region, California. These were supplemented by samples submitted by owners of two other properties in the same area. Extensive laboratory tests were made to determine the, amenability of the ores to standard ore-dressing concentration methods. A small sample of high-grade oxide manganese ore from the McWhinney property, San Bernardino County, Calif., was submitted by the owner. Although the sample would sinter directly to plus 48 percent manganese grade, it appeared probable that the ore, if mined in quantity, would be lower in grade and would require beneficiation. Therefore, testing was conducted to remove the chief gangue constituent, calcite. The National Resources, Inc., property (also known as the old Owl Hole mine) is in the Owl Hole Springs district, I mile from Owl Hole Springs, San Bernardino County, Calif., near the southwest corner of Death Valley National Monument. The ore deposits occur as small lenses or ,pockets, evidently .replacements in limestone and granite. Laboratory work was done on a representative sample of orb procured by Bureau engineers.

Jan 1, 1949