Search Documents

By David White

THE search for potash salts in the great "Red Beds? region of the Southwest, conducted for several years by the U. S. Geological Survey, the work being carried on for a part of the time in coöperation with the Bureau of Economic Geology and Technology of the University of Texas, has resulted in the discovery, within shafting depth, of potash salts, apparently of workable thickness and commercial quality, and prob-ably of great extent. Definite information is lacking as to the exact thickness of the potash beds, the size and boundaries of the areas underlain by workable strata, and the locations of the deposits richest and most favorably situated for exploitation. Briefly to review the salient features, of the general situation: We have in the great Red Beds region of the southwestern United States, embracing portions of central Kansas, western Oklahoma, eastern New Mexico, and northern and western Texas, .a series of sandstones. shales, anhydrite beds, clays and limestones, which; through an interval of 1000 ft., more or less, carry beds of salt, estimated by Darton1 to contain over 30,000 billions of tons of rock salt. It is the greatest known salt field of the world. At some points the intercalated beds of rock salt, one of which is reported by the driller to exceed 300 ft. in thickness, aggregate, accord-ing to the drillers' records, over 1000 ft. The sedi-mentary strata are similar in composition to those carrying the potash deposits of western Europe, and they were laid down at the same time and under condi-tions which, in many respects at least, were similar The stratigraphy and character of the beds are des-cribed by Darton2 and a, part of the area and the reported aggregate thicknesses of salt are shown, with some revision after Darton, in the accompanying map Fig. 1. The assumption that in the great areas of shallow evaporation basins spread over -the vast base-level region of saline deposition in the Southwest during Permo-Triassic time, potash salts were in some places, and at different stages, thrown down in crystalline deposits associated with the beds of rock salt, anhydrite, and gypsum, is, geologically speaking, more than reason-able. They are to be expected, and the conviction that they are probably present has long been held both in the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and Tech-nology, under Dr. J. A. Udden, and in the- U. S. Geological Survey. Accordingly, for many years, efforts to determine whether potash deposits are present in this region have been made, though under very great difficulties, such as insufficient funds for boring, hack of drilling on private initiative in the more promising regions, hack of interest at first on the part of the drillers and companies, and, hater, inadequacy both of the methods of boring and of the sampling, to reveal in definite terms the thickness-of any saline stratum of given composition.

Jan 4, 1922

By Prof. B. Hopkinson

Introduction.-A short time ago Professor Stoughton asked the writer if he would present a paper for the February meeting of our Institute. In reply to this suggestion, some notes have been prepared relating to the subject mentioned in the title. It is to be hoped they may be of interest to our members. The research now described is the joint work of Prof. B. Hopkinson, F. R. S., and the writer. Those interested in the subject will find further data in a paper entitled The Magnetic and Mechanical Properties of Manganese Steel, which will probably be read at this year's May Meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute in London. This paper was submitted to the Institute in October last, and advance copies will shortly be available. The present paper has been drawn up by the writer on this side the water, and he has not had time to communicate with Professor Hopkinson with regard to the statements or opinions expressed herein. While the writer believes that Professor Hopkinson would in the main agree with the statements herein set forth, it should be understood that apart from the actual work described he is not otherwise responsible. The experiments described have been carried out on the material known as manganese steel, which one of the writers of these notes discovered in 1883. A paper by him describing this material was read before this Institute in 1893, entitled Iron Alloys, with Special Reference to Manganese Steel. It is not necessary to describe manganese steel nowa-days; its qualities are so well known, and its use throughout the world is on a very extensive scale.

Jan 3, 1914

By J. R. Campbell

A dozen years or so ago, the general superintendent of our company, now the president, Mr. W. H. Clingerman, asked me to study the coal-washing problem. This work brought me into contact with the best washery men of the country. I investigated many kinds of coal-cleaning schemes, made numerous tests, and collected voluminous data, yet I confess frankly that I have had little practical washery experience and that little has been at the Middlefork washery of the United States Fuel Co. at Benton, Franklin Co., Ill., which was put in operation last fall. While this washery installation may not be the "last word," I am quite sure it embodies some long steps in advance of the older designs and constructions. From the washery man's standpoint, the removal of pyrites or marcasite, a disulfide of iron, is the one vital problem, and the one productive of the most beneficial results, so far as elimination of sulfur is concerned. Sulfates and so-called organic sulfur occupy quite a sec-. ondary position and are generally lost sight of in coal washing. The elimination of sulfur in coal in the past has usually been accomplished by jigging in water, but lately concentrating tables have been successfully employed. The flotation process has been applied to fine coal, but is hardly considered practicable. Coal washing is rapidly coming into its own, due to the depletion of low-sulfur coals for coking purposes, and we predict that soon the same careful attention will be given to the design and construction of coal washeries that is now being given to byproduct plants and other allied industries. Heretofore, coal washing has been considered only an incidental and necessary evil instead of the big problem it is—one worthy of the most careful study by men well trained along technical lines and capable of delving into the fundamental principles. Preparation oF Coal It is usually necessary to crush the mine-run coal before sending it to the jigs, the degree of crushing depending on the occurrence of the sulfur and other impurities in the coal and the type of jig over which it is to be sent. The feldspar jig requires finer and more uniform crushing

Jan 1, 1920

By P. Marier, T. R. lngraham

The kinetics of the sulfation of MnO,, MnzO3, and Mn3O4 in SO,, SO3, and O, mixtures was examined and the descending order of sulfation rates at temperatures near 400°C was found to be Mn,O3 > MnO, > Mn3O4. The respective activation energies for the thermal decomposition of MnO, and Mn,O, are 39 and 47 kcal. At 900°C, the thernzal decomposition of MnSO, to MnzO3 is slower than that to Mn3O4. The respective activation energies are 62 and 51 kcal, respectitely. MANGANESE is used to improve the hot workability of steel in the proportions of approximately 13.5 Ib of ferromanganese per ton of steel produced. This requirement accounts for about 95 pct of its large industrial market in North America. The remaining 5 pct is used in the battery and chemical industries. In most North American ores, the percentage of manganese and the manganese-to-iron ratio are not suitable for the direct production of ferromanganese. Hence, most of the North American requirements for manganese are satisfied by importing ore. Typically, many of the studies done on native low-grade manganese resources have been directed toward the production of ore substittes" and the recovery of manganese from open-hearth slags.3 Of the wide variety of processes which have been proposed, the most popular involve compounds in the Mn-S-O system. The thermodynamic properties of manganese and its compounds were reviewed by ah' in 1960 and, more recently, lngrahams discussed the thermodynamics of some of the reactions involved in the Mn-S-O system at normal roasting temperatures. The conditions for producing manganese sulfide during the reduction roasting of manganese sulfate are discussed by Fuller and Edlund.9 A novel scheme was proposed recently by zimmerley7 for utilizing waste sulfur dioxide from stack gases to recover the manganese from ocean-mined manganese nodules. Very little of the work published on manganese compounds has been related to reaction rates. Singleton et 1.' studied the rates of reaction on the MnO-C and Mn7C3-3MnO systems and observed linear and parabolic kinetics respectively in the systems. Tatievskaya et a1.' studied the low-temperature reduction of Mn&, MnO,, and Mn& in HZ and CO, and reported activation energies in the range 1628 kcal. In this paper, the rates of some of the decomposition and formation reactions involving MnSO4, MnOz, MnzO3, and Mn3O4 will be examined after the conditions for the thermodynamic stability of the individual compounds have been designated. CONDITIONS FOR STABILITY OF MnSO4, MnOz, MnZO3, AND Mn3O4 The areas of stability for h'hSO4, MnOz, MnzO3, and h3O4 were established from the data of Mah4 and Ingrahams and are shown in the predominance area diagram,10 logpq- logpsq, in Fig. 1. The diagram is drawn for two temperatures, 700°K, solid lines, and 1100°K, dotted lines. The sketch for the lower temperature includes the conditions likely to prevail in the Zimmerley patent7 when manganese nodules react with sulfur dioxide and that for the higher temperature indicates the conditions for recovering MnzO3 or Mn3O4 from MnSO4 during a roasting reaction. From the fact that the boundary between the areas of stability of MnOz and hSO4 at 700°K is parallel to the abscissa, it is evident that MnOz and SO2 should react together to produce MnSO4, irrespective of the oxygen pressure in the system. If the source of sulfur for sulfation were from waste flue gases, it is likely that the oxygen content of the gas stream would be more than sufficient to oxidize any MnsO4 to MnzO3, 107 atm of O2 required, or even to convert any Mnz03 to MnOz, 0.02 atm OZ required, prior to sulfation. At 1100°K, the diagram indicates that MnSO4 may be converted directly to either MnzO3 of Mn3O4, depending upon the prevailing partial pressure of oxygen. When the gas stream contains more than 1 pct Oz, logpq = -2, only MnzO3 would be recovered from an experiment done under equilibrium conditions. At oxygen partial pressures of less than 1 pct, one would expect to bring about a reversible exchange between MnSO4 and Mn3O4 by appropriate adjustment of the partial pressure of SOZ. These various reactions will be described in the subsequent kinetic experiments.

Jan 1, 1969

By L. B. McConville

The general term "tar sand" refers to sand that contains varying amounts of dense, viscous petroleum. Tar sand deposits have been found throughout the world, often in the same geographical area as conventional petroleum. The largest one by far is known as the Athabasca Tar Sands, in the province of Alberta, Canada. Actually a group of three deposits, these particular sands underlie an aggregate area of more than 12,000 sq miles. Current estimates place the contained raw petroleum at about 700 billion bbl; and via currently available technology, the amount of recoverable synthetic oil may be as much as 300 billion bbl-which is roughly equivalent to five times the combined US and Canadian total crude oil reserves. With the ever-widening gap between energy supply and demand, mining and petroleum companies are now evaluating all possible energy resources-both developed and underdeveloped-and, certainly, the Athabasca Tar Sand deposit is one of the more important ones to merit such attention. The first section in ME deals with the geology and historical developments; the other four sections, with mining methods, extraction technology, economics, and outlook.

Jan 1, 1975

By Stanley J. Gasior, Albert J. Forney, Joseph H. Field

Most bituminous coal mined near Eastern industrial areas requiring high-Btu pipeline gas is caking and therefore unsuitable for fixed-bed pres- sure gasification by present techniques. If the caking property of such coal can be destroyed, the resulting fuel can be gasified in a fixed bed at pressure with steam and oxygen as a preliminary step in making a high-Btu gas. To find a practical way to convert strongly caking coals of granular or small lump size to noncaking fuel was the object of this study. In previous work, strongly caking coals of 1/8- to 1½ -in. size were converted to a noncaking coal char by treatment in a static bed in about 3 hours1 and coal of 18-100 Tyler mesh in a fluidized bed in about 5 min.2 An inert gas such as steam, nitrogen, carbon dioxide or a mixture of all three with a small amount of oxygen was used in both studies. In our work a strongly caking bituminous coal from the Pittsburgh seam of 4-8 Tyler mesh size was converted to a noncaking form in free-fall in about 2 sec by dropping it through a countercurrent flow of steam containing 4% to 7% oxygen at 1150º-1200°F and 300 psig. This method should also be applicable to smaller-sized material.

Jan 3, 1965

By Irving Cadoff, Kurt Komarek, Edward Miller

Barium can be purified by equilibration with titanium. The melting point of barium was found to be 726.2° i 0.5 °C. The room-temperature lattice parameters of BaTe and Bask are 7.004 * 0.002A and 6.600 * 0.002A. Melting points for BaTe and Base were found to be 1510° * 30°C and 1830° ± 50°C, respectively. HIGH-purity barium and its compounds are difficult to prepare because of the reactivity of barium with the atmosphere and the large heats of formation of the compounds. Purification of barium by vacuum distillation,' and the preparation and properties of barium oxide2 and barium sulfide3 have been reported. However, little has been done on the homologous compounds barium selenide and telluride. PURIFICATION OF BARIUM Distilled barium obtained from King Laboratories was used as the starting material. The analysis supplied with the metal showed the presence of: 0.4 wt pct Sr, 0.001 pct Mg, 0.02 pct F, 0.003 pct Cu, 0.005 pct Na and less than 5 x 10-3 wt pct of any other metallic impurity. Analyses for oxygen and nitrogen were not available. Since there is evidence4 that any barium nitride present in the starting material may decompose on distillation producing nitrogen which can contaminate the distillate, further purification was performed. At elevated temperatures, any nitrogen and oxygen present in barium should be removed by reaction with titanium. Assuming that the solubility of oxygen in liquid barium is negligible near the melting point of barium, any oxygen present will be in the form of BaO. Removal of oxygen from molten barium is expressed by the equation: BaO(S)+ TixOy(S) = Ba(l)+ TixO(y+1)(s) where Ti,Oy and TixO(y+1) are solid solutions of oxygen in titanium. At 1000°C, the change in free energy for this reaction is negative for (y+1)/x +y+1) x (100) 17.5 at. pct O.5 Since reaction with commercially pure titanium (containing 0.07 wt pct oxygen) results in a free energy change for the reaction of -19 kcal per g-atom, slight solubility of oxygen in barium would not hinder the oxygen removal. Since comparable thermodynamic data are not available to permit calculation of the partition of nitrogen between liquid barium and titanium, a similar quantitative relationship cannot be obtained. However, on the basis of work by Kubaschewski and Dench,5 complete removal of nitrogen from liquid barium can be expected. Since the melting point of barium is depressed markedly by small additions of nitrogen,' the change in melting point during reaction of barium with titanium was used to follow the purification reaction. MELTING POINT OF BARIUM A 50-g sample of barium was sealed by arc welding under argon into an all titanium crucible provided with a thermocouple well. The melting point of the sample was determined by thermal analysis, using a Pt/Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouple which was calibrated according to National Bureau of Standards specification6. The crucible was then heated for 48 hr at 950°C in vacuum and the melting point redetermined. This procedure was repeated until three successive thermal analyses agreed within ±0.5oC, the limits of error of the analysis. The melting point increased from an initial value of 720.0°C to a final value of 726.2°C. Analysis on samples quenched from 950°C gave a solubility value of 0.004 wt. pct Ti. Assuming that the titanium-barium phase diagram is similar to those of titanium-magnesium7 and titanium-calcium,8 the solubility of titanium in liquid barium decreases with decreasing temperature. Therefore, the solubility of titanium in liquid barium should be less than 0.004 wt. pctat the melting point (726oC), and the effect of dissolved titanium on the melting point would be negligible. Addition of up to 3 wt pct Sr does not significantly change the melting point of barium,7 so that the effect of the 0.4 wt pct Sr in the starting material will also be negligible. The value of 726.2" ± 0.5C obtained for the melting point of barium can be compared .with a determination carried out by Keller and coworkers in low-carbon steel crucibles,' who obtained a value of 725± 1C, using barium purified by fractional distillation. The higher value obtained in the present investigation is indicative of the effectiveness of titanium in removing traces of nitrogen. PREPARATION OF BaTe AND Base The compounds were prepared by direct reaction

Jan 1, 1961

By George Macready

TRINIDAD, British West Indies, is an island near the north coast of South America, situated between latitudes 10° and 11° N:, and. opposite the numerous outlets of the Orinoco River Delta. It is separated from Venezuela by the Gulf of Paria (salt, water) and straits over 5 mi. (8 km.) wide. The area of the island is approximately 1750 sq. mi. (453,- . 250 hectares) and the population is approximately 400,000. The climate is tropical with an annual rainfall of from 45 to 60 in. (114 to 152 cm.). The oil fields consist of several units, or fields, located in the southern half of the island. Approximately 90 per cent. of the total production has been yielded by fields situated within 7 mi: (11.3 km.) of the famous asphalt lake and on the southwest peninsula. The most important producing fields, or units, are the following, which are shown on the accompanying map: Brighton, or Pitch Lake Field, operated by the Trinidad Lake Petroleum Co., Ltd., is situated beside the famous Pitch Lake; it, even encroaches on the lake. Vessigny Field, operated by the Trinidad Lake Petroleum Co., Ltd., is situated 2 mi. (3.2 km.) south of Pitch Lake. Lot One Field, operated by the Petroleum Development Co., Ltd., the United British Oilfields of Trinidad, Ltd., and Stollmeyer, Ltd., is situated 3 mi. south of Pitch Lake upon Lot One of Morne 1'Enfer Forest Reserve and adjoining properties. Parry Lands Field, operated by the United British Oilfields of Trinidad, Ltd., and the Petroleum Development Co., Ltd., is situated 3;2 mi. south of Pitch Lake on Lot Three of Morne l'Enfer Forest Reserve and adjoining properties. Point Fortin Field, operated by the United British Oilfields of Trinidad, Ltd., is situated at Point Fortin, 6 mi. southwest of Pitch Lake. Fyzabad Field, operated by Trinidad Leaseholds, Ltd., is situated several miles southwest of Fyzabad Village and 6 mi. south-southeast of Pitch Lake. Barracpore Field, operated by Trinidad Leaseholds, Ltd., is situated several miles south of. San Fernando and 15 mi. (24.14 km.) east of Pitch Lake.

Jan 9, 1920

By A. R. Troiano, E. A. Steigerwald, F. W. Schaller

The initiation of localized cracking in hydrogenated high strength steel was dependent on the developmeni of a critical hydrogen conceniration and relatively insensitive to the magnitude of the applied stress. The stress was believed to influence the deluyed failure process by providing the means for grouping the hydrogen. On the basis of an assumed distribution law the observed changes in the lower critical stress as a function of notch acuity, yield strength, and temperature were predictable over a significant range of these variables. THE phenomenological characteristics of delayed failure in high-strength steel have been comprehensively investigated and the behavior has been attributed to the strong embrittling action of hydrogen.1-3 Delayed failure or, as it is also termed, static fatigue, is the most sensitive means of detecting hydrogen embrittlement since it allows the maximum time for hydrogen diffusion during a test.3 The nature of delayed failure cail be aptly described by four parameters which are schematically depicted in Fig. 1. The upper critical stress corresponds to the rupture stress in a conventional notch tensile test. The lower critical stress or static fatigue limit is the stress below which no delayed failure will occur. The incubation period is the time required for the formation of the first crack and the fourth parameter is the failure time. An increase in hydrogen content, notch acuity, or strength level of the material increases the susceptibility for delayed failure by decreasing the lower critical stress, the incubation period, and the time to failure.lY3 A decrease in test temperature prolongs the incubation period in accordance with the lower diffusion rate of hydrogen, and also de-

Jan 1, 1961

By H. A. Schwartz, A. F. Gorton, H. R. Payne

In a previous paper1 we published what we believed to be a correct stable equilibrium diagram for an iron-carbon alloy containing + 1.20 per cent. silicon. The purpose of the present paper is to record the results of studies concerning the effect of silicon on the location of the eutectoid points of both systems, including also certain incidental observations of general interest. We prepared white cast irons containing roughly 21/2 per cent. carbon, 0.05 per cent. manganese, and 0.03 per cent. each of phosphorus and sulfur, but of accurately known silicon contents which varied from 0.40 to 3.32 per cent. These were completely graphitized, and both A1 points determined, as in our previous work, the specimens being converted from the stable to the metastable condition and vice versa by appropriate heat treatments. Each stable alloy was heated to a few degrees above Arl for 3 to 7 hr., quenched and analyzed for total and graphitic carbon, the difference being the "combined" or, better, agraphitic2 carbon content of the saturated solid solution just above the eutectoid transformation. One specimen was lost through accident, and the 0.40-per cent. silicon material gave an anomalous result ascribed to difficulty in maintaining the stable system in the presence of but little silicon.

Jan 1, 1923

By H. R. Payne, A. F. Gorton, H. A. Schwartz

In a previous paper1 we published what we believed to be a correct stable equilibrium diagram for an iron-carbon alloy containing + 1.20 per cent. silicon. The purpose of the present paper is to record the results of studies concerning the effect of silicon on the location of the eutectoid points of both systems, including also certain incidental observations of general interest. We prepared white cast irons containing roughly 21/2 per cent. carbon, 0.05 per cent. manganese, and 0.03 per cent. each of phosphorus and sulfur, but of accurately known silicon contents which varied from 0.40 to 3.32 per cent. These were completely graphitized, and both A1 points determined, as in our previous work, the specimens being converted from the stable to the metastable condition and vice versa by appropriate heat treatments. Each stable alloy was heated to a few degrees above Arl for 3 to 7 hr., quenched and analyzed for total and graphitic carbon, the difference being the "combined" or, better, agraphitic2 carbon content of the saturated solid solution just above the eutectoid transformation. One specimen was lost through accident, and the 0.40-per cent. silicon material gave an anomalous result ascribed to difficulty in maintaining the stable system in the presence of but little silicon.

Jan 1, 1923

By George B. Clark

THE " Munroe effect" of shaped explosive charges was discovered by Charles E. Munroe more than 50 years ago (in 1888), but it was not until World War II that it was put to any practical use. Both Allied and Axis armies used the principle effectively in bazooka projectiles, artillery projectiles and in fixed shaped charges. The first two were used primarily to combat tanks and other armor and the latter to assault pillboxes and other fixed concrete emplacements. Many engineers and others who saw the military application of the jet effect of shaped charges believed application would be possible in many industrial fields where blasting is used, such as mining and quarrying. Some work has already been done on the problem of making shaped charges applicable to mining operations. Experimentation conducted at the National Tunnel and Mines' was directed primarily along the lines of use of shaped charges for secondary blasting in connection with long-hole stoping methods. Experimentation initiated earlier and conducted by the author2 at the University of Utah on a more scientific basis was directed at revealing the basic principles of the functioning of shaped charges, as well as the feasibility of using them in mining operations after the principles of their operation had been clearly defined. It was found that: (I) a given design of charge required an optimum standoff to make it most effective, either in penetrating solid rock or steel (see Fig 3); (2) for a given design of charge there exists an optimum ratio of charge diameter to charge height above which the increase in effectiveness of the charge decreases rapidly (see Figs 4 and 5); (3) partial confinement has the effect of making charge performance much more consistent; (4) the higher power and higher velocity explosives tested are much more effective than relatively low-strength explosives; and (5) shaped charges may be adaptable to mining operations in secondary breakage and drilling blasting holes. Fig I is a diagrammatic sketch of the action of a shaped charge for two types of cavities, while Fig 2 shows the approximate manner in which the jets are believed to be formed when an explosive wave encounters the cavity, approaching it from the top. The experimentation already completed has laid the foundation for further research in the study of shaped charges. Standoff effects, effect of the strength of explosives and other features have been fairly well established. Such elements in the design of shaped charges as (I) geometry of cavity liners, (2) relative horizontal dimensions of explosive column, (3) effect of

Jan 1, 1947

By S. R. du Toit, W. J. Oberholzer, M. I. Watson, D. G. Krige

The objectives, essential features and implications of the 'random' and 'deterministic' types of ore value surfaces are examined as well as the basic requirements for a satisfactory prediction model. The 'random' method used on the South African gold mines and based on observed auto-covariance patterns is briefly discussed as well as its justification in preference to the 'deterministic' approach. Various mathematical models for auto-covariance patterns are examined for the one-dimensional case. It is also shown that these patterns as estimated for ore values in certain mines agree closely for various sizes of ore unit. In two case studies the variations in gold, uranium and ore thickness covariance patterns are examined and compared with certain geological features established independently from sedimentological studies.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. H. Pratt

In a recent paper* on the origin of corundum associated with the peridotites of North Carolina, attention was called to the constant occurrence of the mineral, chromite, in these rocks. The field-data obtained during the preparation of that paper have been used largely in the present paper. During the past summer the general occurrences of chromite have been carefully studied, and those in North Carolina have been especially examined in the field. It is purposed to give, in this paper, the reasons why the chromite should be regarded as having been formed at the same time with the peridotites, having been held in solution by the molten mass of the peridotite, and crystallizing out among the first minerals as the mass began to cool. This theory is essentially the same as that advanced by me for the origin of the corundum associated with the peridotite rocks, and a similar line of reasoning has been used to substantiate the theory proposed. Investigations concerning the igneous origin of some of the ores have been materially aided, during recent years, by the skillful experiments of Morozewicz and Lagorio,§ and by researches that show us, more clearly, why we should regard a fused mass of rock as a liquid, having similar properties to an ordinary solution. These experiments have shown that a molten basic glass, similar in composition to the basic magnesian rocks, dissolves alumina readily, and that upon cooling, the first minerals to separate out are corundum and spinel.

Jan 1, 1900

By Thomas S. Lovering

Hot springs, geysers, steam-emanating fumaroles- these creatures of nature were until recently little more than geological curiosities, but today they are exciting the interest of engineers around the world for it has been shown that such hyperthermal areas can be profitably harnessed by man to provide heat and power for his communities. Although water from hot springs was used centuries ago to heat some Korean dwellings, is being used today by one-third of Iceland's population for similar purposes, and is finding industrial applications in New Zealand and elsewhere, the most dramatic use of geothermal energy has been its conversion into electricity. The largest installation at the present time is that at Larderello, Italy, where the Count of Larderello began to experiment in the production of electricity from geothermal steam in 1904. Eight years later after a quarrel with the local power company, the Count installed his first steam turbine, a unit of 250 kw capacity.

Jan 9, 1965

By S. Harries Daddow

IN order to get an idea as to the strength of steel rails, it will be well to review the tests to which iron rails have been subjected. In England, Mr. Ashcroft found that the best 80 pound rails broke under a 300 pound weight, falling 15 feet. In Germany the Society of Railway tyfanage1-s determined 011 and have long applied a test of 1000 pounds falling 101/2 feet, as the standard which all first-class iron rails must reach. In this country no inspection nor test is applied, but tests made show that iron rails fro; our most reliable makers, break under a G foot fall of a 1500 pound drop as an extreme test, most of those tested breaking under a far less test; some breaking with less than a 3 foot fall of the same weight. Everywhere where steel has been used, engineers have come to the conclusion that some test is required to show the regularity and strength of the product. As compared with iron, the tests which steel will stand are wonderful. After numerous experiments partially based on the experience of the rail-mill at Graz, belonging to the Southern Railway of Austria, the Society of German Railway Managers fixed upon a test of 2000 pounds falling 138 feet. They found that this test represented the steel which suited their necessities, and also found that with steel of otherwise average purity, this test represented about one-half per cent. of carbon, and made it a rule to take no steel containing under three-tenths of a per cent. of carbon, because it was too soft. They expressed a hope that a harder steel could soon be made tough enough to stand the same test. I n England, a test was adopted of 2240 pounds, falling 15 to 17 feet on the rail on heavy bearings. This test has been found satisfactory under heavy traffic on average road-beds, and has been invariablyPILLAR of coal, which are designed and left in our mines as the means of supporting the overlying strata of our coal-beds, and securing protection to the miner, are not only insufficient for these purposes, but the most objectionable means of providing the desired security to life and property. Though such pillars are left at a great sacrifice to the owners of collieries and mineral lands, loss to the resources of the commonwealth, and ultimate privation to the public, they defeat the very ends for which they are designed, and not only do not secure life and property, but are as fatal to the one as ruinous to the other. Propositions.-It is eminently desirable that the resources of the Common wealth-particularly our mineral wealth in anthracite coal, which is limited-should be carefully utilized and made available, not only to ourselves but our posterity. Yet, speaking as an anthracite miner, we are wasting our resources of coal with a recklessness which will bring ruin in the end, unless checked, not only to the iron manufacturing interests of the East, whose chief protection, in competition with the iron-masters of the interior, lies in a cheap and abundant supply of anthracite furnace fuel, but to the best interests of the State. It is, consequently, not only desirable, but necessary, that we should realize every ton of coal from each colliery, and every acre of coal area, in order that our resources may not be wasted at present, to breed want in the future, and to realize the greatest present benefit to the mine, the miner, and the public. It is not possible, however, to secure these ends, if we continue to leave, as we do at present, from one-third to one-half our resources in anthracite as pillars in our mines. But our sad bills of mortality, our abandoned collieries, and our yawning mountain-sides, present ample evidence that even this enormous waste of coal, though left for the purpose of protecting life and property, is as totally inade-

By W. C. Ellis, E. S. Greiner, M. E. Fine

Discontinuous changes of Young's modulus, internal friction, coefficient of expansion, electrical resistivity, and thermoelectric power are evidence for a transition in chromium near 37OC. Although the X-ray diffraction pattern gives no clue, a difference between the thermal expansivity and the temperature dependence of the lattice parameter suggests a crystal-lographic change. Young's modulus data disclosed another transition near THE thermal dependence of a number of proper- ties of chromium indicates a transition occurring over a temperature range near room temperature. Bridgman' noted this first from a minimum in the electrical resistivity near 12°C. In a sample of greater purity, Sochtig' observed the minimum at 41 °C. Erfling3 reported an inflection in the thermal expansivity curve at 36°C. These temperature-dependence curves are reversible with no hysteresis being detected. No discontinuity or inflection has been observed in the heat capacity' or the paramagnetic susceptibility.' Likewise, no one has noted a change in crystal symmetry. In the present investigation Young's modulus, internal friction, coefficient of expansion, electrical resistivity, illustrated in Fig. 1, lattice constant, Fig. 2, thermal electromotive force, Fig. 3, and paramagnetic susceptibility, Fig. 4, were measured over an extended temperature range. The samples were prepared in two ways: (1) By cold pressing a sintered electrolytic powder compact,' and (2) by electroforming from an aqueous solution. The electroformed samples were prepared by R. A. Ehrhardt and G. Bittrich by plating on copper or nickel tubes from an aqueous solution according to the method of Brenner, Burkhead, and Jennings.' The pressed powder samples (method 1) were finally annealed at 1400°C in purified helium: the electroformed samples, packed in powdered chromium, were vacuum-annealed at 1000°C. From the composition of the original powder' the purity of the pressed powder samples is estimated to be 99.8 pct Cr. Spectrochemical analysis furnished by E. K. Jaycox, revealed only slight traces of impurities in the electroformed sample (less than 0.001 pct), neither iron nor nickel being detected. Chromium deposited by this method is reported to contain approximately 0.05 pct 0.- Methods and Data Young's Modulus: For measurement of Young's modulus, an annealed, pressed powder sample, 0.114 x0.237x1.845 in., and an electroformed sample, 0.10 in. od, 0.01 in. id, and 1.86 in. long, were prepared. The resonant frequencies of the rod samples in forced longitudinal vibration were measured at a series of temperatures from —192" to 200°C by a method previously de~cribed.6,7 Because the samples were nonferromagnetic, iron- silicon or molybdenum permalloy tips (0.013 in. thick) were soldered to the ends. The softening temperature of the solder limited the temperature of measurement. Young's modulus, E,, of chromium at temperature, T, may be calculated from the resonant frequency of the composite rod, f,; the thickness of the tips, t; the length of the chromium sample at 25°C, l,.; the density of chromium at 25°C, pc (7.20 g per cc);5 and the thermal expansivity, Al/l25. Modulus differences for two temperatures, ET and E, are accurate to +0.002x10" dynes per cm2. ET = 4PAlc+2tyf Young's modulus at 25°C, Fig. la, is 28.2~10" dynes per cm' (40.8xlO" si) in wrought chromium (upper curve). The modulus of the electroformed sample is apparently lower due to cracks. From the modulus measurements two transitions were observed: one with a critical temperature at 37°C, the other at —152°C. Internal Friction: The internal friction, 1/Q, was determined from the width, Af, of the strain amplitude-frequency curve at 0.707 times the strain amplitude at resonance;' the internal friction, 1/Q, then equals Af/f. Fig. lb shows a sharp peak in internal friction at 38°C. The internal friction of the electroformed sample had a similar maximum. Thermal Expansion: The expansivity measurements, shown in Fig. 2, covering the temperature range —195" to +400°C were made by D. MacNair in an interferometric dilatometer8 sing a sample consisting of three pyramids 0.25 in. high prepared from wrought electrolytic chromium. Below —120°C the experimental points deviated up to ±2x10 from the drawn expansivity curve in Fig. 2 because of decreased precision of the quartz wedge thermometer at low temperatures. Near 38°C the thermal expansivity curve, Fig. 2, goes through an inflection corresponding to a minimum in the coefficient of expansion, Fig. ld, and a relative volume decrease on heating. Electrical Resistivity: The variation of electrical resistivity with temperature measured by the po-tentiometric method is also shown in Fig. l. The resistivity of the wrought chromium (upper curve) at 20°C is 13.6 microhm-cm; of electroformed chromium (lower curve) 12.8 microhm-cm. The lower value reflects higher purity and agrees closely with a published value." A minimum at 40°C occurs in the resistivity curves of both samples. No conclusive evidence for a transition near — 150°C was observed, but the points, Fig. 1, appear to deviate from a smooth curve between —120" and —160°C.

Jan 1, 1952

By ALFREDO INTZAUGARAT, MIGUEL BERRO

During the years 1943 through 1945, there was a decrease in the total oil production in Argentina. In the fields of Comodoro Rivadavia (Chubut Territory) and Mendoza and Salta Provinces, the production obtained was as shown in Table I. The only place where there was a small increase was Plaza Huincul, in the Neuquen Territory and Lunlunta, in the Mendoza Province.

Jan 1, 1946

By C. B. Foraker

THE Magma mine, of the Magma Copper Co., at Superior, Pinal County, Arizona, is 68 miles east of Phoenix and 21 miles west of Miami, Arizona, on highway U. S. 180. TEMPERATURES AND UNDERGROUND WATERS Surface Temperatures.-The average surface dry-bulb temperature at Superior is 72.4º; wet-bulb, 57.4º; with an indicated relative humidity of 38 per cent. The average yearly rainfall from 1921 to 1936, inclusive, was 18.74 in. The maximum condition of the atmosphere is in June, July and August, and the minimum is in January and February. The surface temperatures, of course, influence the temperatures of the down- cast shafts; however, the variation between winter and summer causes a difference of only 2º to 3º in the stopes and working places that are not close to the intake shafts. Average atmospheric conditions are shown in Fig. 1. Rock Temperatures.-Rock temperatures on the deeper levels of the mine are as follows: [ ] There appears to be no difference in rock temperature for any particular horizon of the various formations or in the vein. Water encountered is always the same temperature as the rock from which it flows, and for this reason it is thought that the water is heated by the rock; not the rock by the water. The country rock apparently has been heated by the various intrusions, perhaps the vein itself, and has not yet had time to cool off. The geothermal gradient (Fig. 2) as indicated by the rock temperatures given above is 1 ½ º per 100 feet. Underground Waters.-The underground water varies from 350 to 565 gal. per min., depending on the rainfall. The limestone and other

Jan 1, 1938

By Richard P. Rothwell

Fires in mines are so serious in their consequences and of such frequent occurrence, that their causes and the means of extinguishing them are certainly questions of the greatest interest to a large part of the engineering profession. We have already, in this country, many mines which have been burning for years, and though our hard anthracite is so difficult to ignite that for a quarter of a century after it was first discovered it mas not known how to burn it except with the aid of an artificial blast, yet most of the fires which have occurred underground have been in anthracite mines, and in the coal itself. The injury which these fires have caused to properties in various parts of the anthracite regions, and the cost of extinguishing them, would amount to many millions of dollars, and they have also occasioned the loss of many valuable lives. It is not surprising, therefore, that the subject has already attracted much attention, and the exercise of great ingenuity; and the present communication is made less with the expectation of announcing anything new, than with the object of putting upon record the present state of our knowledge on this subject, or, in other words, of indicating how defective are the present means of combating underground conflagrations. Causes of Mine Fires.—Even upon the surface, fire is a terrible foe to contend with, and there is probably no other which inspires such thorough and well-founded alarm. With what feelings, then, must we look upon this destructive element, when its field is in the narrow galleries of a mine, where the poisonous products of combustion, spreading in every direction, protect, in the most effectual manner, the fire itself from the attacks of extinguishers, while, if the face of attack be ventilated so as to enable then] to approach the seat of the fire, the air current simply increases the extent and violence of the conflagration. Fires underground originate in as various ways as those on the surface, and it is scarcely necessary to say that, except in the rare cases where they are the result of design, they are invariably classed as " accidents," and most generally as " unavoidable accidents." In reality, by an intelligent understanding of their causes and with due precautions, they can almost always be prevented. Ignorance and