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Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

By H. F. Moore

Jan 1, 1936

By Francis H. Crockard

During the past five years we have probably witnessed greater technological advances than in any similar period. Industry and science have steadily marched ahead. The makers of iron and steel products have watched with great interest the development of streamlined trains, faster and safer airplanes, the entirely new science of air-conditioning and the widespread use of stainless steels. Since 1930, we have witnessed the erection of the world's largest suspension bridge, the largest and fastest ocean liner and the spectacular Boulder Dam, while even greater things are planned in these particular fields. Other industries, too, have been moving ahead rapidly. This advance in a few years has been caused primarily by the fierce competition of the depression. Now, more than ever, is the emphasis placed upon quality and service. Makers of southern merchant pig iron have been no exception and have been confronted with increasingly strict chemical specifications and with much greater stress on physical characteristics than ever before. For example, sulfur in the iron must be held very low, competition demanding that it be in the 0.020's and low 0.030's; silicon content must be held within a very narrow range, and definite requirements of phosphorus and manganese are an essential part of the specifications. Physical characteristics are becoming of increasingly greater importance. The introduction of triple-skimmed, slow-cooled iron several years ago was the first step in this direction. Now there are a few customers who buy iron by chemical analysis and physical appearance, having found that the analysis alone is an insufficient guide to their requirements. In addition to questions of quality, the subject of cost has greatly altered the southern furnaceman's viewpoint on many things. Formerly we had low-grade but cheap raw materials, but recent developments, such as greatly increased labor rates, have raised the cost of the same

Jan 1, 1936

By E. W. Shilling Harwick Johnson

The separation of hematite by hysteretic repulsion was first brought to the attention of the public in 1922, by W. M. Mordeyl. Three years later another paper2 was published and after another four years a third paper3 appeared in the South African publications. Certain data were lacking in these papers. In order to continue the work intelligently a knowledge of the shapes of the hysteresis curves for certain minerals was very necessary. This information was not available until the present year4. It was known that reduction of certain ores rendered them amenable to this process of separation but definite data in the form of curves showing exactly the effect of such treatment were lacking. Probably our best source of information on the separation of minerals by the use of alternating-current magnetic fields today is the reports from the U. S. Bureau of Mines5"7. It is not the purpose of this paper to tell the reader in detail how to make a commercial separator. Experimental models have recently been made? and the results obtained have been so good that it is the opinion of the authors that the public will soon take an active interest in the subject and its development. The writers have constructed a separator that is considerably different in construction and operation from the two types described by Mr. Davis. This will be described, but the real purpose of this paper is to outline certain experiments and give curves showing data that have a fundamental bearing upon the practical construction of a separator of this type. Specular hematite is usually considered nonmagnetic; that is, it is very feebly magnetic as compared to some other minerals. If specular hematite is placed in a steady magnetic field there is no apparent attraction. At the moment of closing the switch, however, some particles may be seen to move. If the field is alternating, the particles are con-

Jan 1, 1936

By T. L. Joseph

Blast furnaces are most efficient thermally when the CO2 in the top gas is highest. Oxygen introduced in the air blast is converted to CO in the combustion zones. The extent to which CO, generated in front of the tuyeres, is converted later to CO2 depends upon the ratio of ore to coke in the charge and the degree to which CO2, formed by reduction of iron oxides with CO, reverts to CO by the secondary reaction C + CO2 = 2CO. About 300 to 400 lb. of carbon' per ton of pig iron is normally involved in the solution-loss reaction or direct reduction of FeO with carbon, which produces the same over-all results; that is, lower CO2 in the top gas. Rich2 has recently reported a reduction in fuel consumption at slower rates of blowing on two furnaces in spite of higher heat losses per ton of iron. Lower fuel consumption at slow operating rates was due to more complete reduction of the ore that resulted in higher CO2 in the top gas and consequently more efficient use of carbon. Kinney3 has reported substantial savings in fuel as a result of crushing and sizing the ore charge. Improvements in practice brought about by sintering magnetite concentrates, flue dust and fine ores have been due to the establishment of conditions favoring more complete reduction of the ore in the upper part of the furnace. The extent to which oxides and fluctuations in composition in pig iron affect the quality of steel and finished product needs further study. There is evidence that more thorough preheating and reduction of the ore in the upper part of the furnace tend to give a better quality of iron. Bogatzkii4 found from laboratory work that the amount of oxygen entering electrolytic iron, melted under various slags, was directly proportional to the concentration of free FeO in the slag and inversely proportional to the basicity of the slag. Herty and Gaines5 concluded that the silicate content of open-hearth steel before deoxidation is related to the concentration of silica in the pig-iron charge, indicating that most of the persistent inclusions are silica from the iron. They also found that

Jan 1, 1936

By W. F. Holbrook, T. L. Joseph

The problem of sulfur control is important in all blast-furnace operations but particularly for certain grades of steel because of the rigorous specifications. During the past decade the tendency has been to produce pig iron and hot metal of lower sulfur content. As most of the sulfur in the iron originates in the fuel, the use of high-sulfur coke demands modifications in practice to meet sulfur specifications. While it is generally known that high temperatures and more basic slags favor desulfurization, operators as a rule produce the most acid slag that will permit proper desulfurization. The viscosity of blastfurnace slag has been thought to be related to desulfurization and has been investigated by Feild and Roysterl, also McCaffery and his associates*, but apparently no systematic effort has been made to determine the relative desulfurizing powers of slags over the range of composition encountered in practice. Development of Testing Method Because slag and metallic iron are immiscible, the desulfurization reaction is heterogeneous, occurring only at the interfaces between slag and metal bodies. In the blast furnace the newly reduced iron, containing FeS, descends through the slag bath probably either as small drops or streams, at the interfaces of which desulfurization occurs. After its descent through the slag the iron collects to form a bath of metal, at the top surface of which desulfurization reaction probably occurs. These two steps have been thought to account for all desulfurization in the blast furnace. Kinney3 found that metal removed from the blast furnace just above the tuyeres contained three to four times as much sulfur as the iron at cast. Herty and Gaines4 conclude that most of the sulfur is removed while the metal is passing through the slag. Mund, Stoecker

Jan 1, 1936

By P. C. Hodges

While there is very little romance connected with the operation of a stone quarry, yet to those who have participated in the growth and development of a business that has been a pioneer in its field and that has been in continual operation two-thirds of a century there is bound to be a background of experience, which if properly capitalized, brings progress as well as satisfaction in its accomplishment. The simple methods of drilling and blasting limestone and loading on to railroad cars everything that remained on a stone fork and leaving

Jan 1, 1936

By William E. Brewster

Dating back some five years ago, various foundries made inquiries as to the probable total carbon content in a given specification and grade of pig iron. Up to that time we had no data, and except for a few occasional determinations of total carbon, no attempt had ever been made to set up routine determinations of total carbon. In fact, at that time, a cast analysis was considered sufficient, without examining at further length into possible variations of analysis between ladles of the same cast. In view of the various inquiries as to total carbon, we sampled all piles of all grades of pig iron, making complete analyses. Finding some variation in carbon content, we secured more samples and plotted the carbon content with respect to silicon in each grade of iron except for the higher phosphorus foundry iron, where it was necessary to divide the group into twenty-point phosphorus ranges. This is easily understood, owing to the falling off of carbon content with the increase in phosphorus content, silicon in each case being the same. In addition, these curves clearly demonstrate the lowering of the carbon content as the silicon is increased. In order to insure accuracy and reliable determinations the following method of sampling and analysis was employed: Two pigs selected from each end of the car, each car containing iron from one 50-ton ladle, are drilled with a 5/6-in. drill all the way through from top to bottom in the center of one section of the pig. The drillings are collected and transferred to an 80-mesh sieve; the portion passing through and the portion retained are placed in separate envelopes and labeled accordingly. The amount of sample in each envelope is weighed to obtain the proportionate amount of coarse and fine drillings, then a 1/2 factor weight of sample (1.3636 grams) made up of proportionate

Jan 1, 1936

The Round Table on Qualities of Pig Iron, under the auspices of the Joint Committee on Qualities of Pig Iron, which is made up of members of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the American Foundrymen's Association, the American Society for Testing Materials, the Gray Iron Institute, and the Malleable Iron Institute, was held at the Palmer House, Chicago, III., on Oct. 1, 1935. Prcoeedings R. H. SwEEtseR,* New York, N. Y.—Seven years ago last June, in Chicago, we had a round table on qualities of pig iron1, and at that time the foundrymen were out with their battle-axes for the blast-furnace men, and the open-hearth men were doing the same thing. After that meeting there was really a determined effort to find out about the qualities of pig iron, and great progress has been made all along the line. This afternoon we want to have a frank discussion of the qualities of pig iron, whether it is the molten pig iron going into the steel plant, or cold pigs going to the different foundries. We ought to hear something from Dr. J. T. MacKenzie, who is chairman of the Joint Committee, and from Mr. R. E. Kennedy, the Technical Secretary of the American Foundrymen's Association. J. T. MacKEnzie,† Birmingham, A1a.—As a result of that meeting in Chicago, there was considerable agitation in the Foundrymen's Association to develop a set of tests for pig iron. One of the difficulties was that nobody talked the same language on shrinkage, draws, live iron, dead iron, and so forth, which were the main complaints against pig iron. By request of a committee of the Foundrymen's Association, the Bureau of Standards ran a comprehensive set of tests that did develop the principles governing the optical pyrometer as applied to cast iron and pig iron. Then the Bureau went on further with the fluidity test, and developed a method for the absolute changes of volume at the freezing point. There is one serious gap in the yardstick, which has never been developed, and that is the tendency to draws from heavy sections to light. Everyone who has worried about the differences of section, and sponginess in changes of section, realizes that the

Jan 1, 1936

By W. E. Forsythe

Different forms of optical pyrometers are discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of the different types for measuring high temperatures are pointed out. These advantages and disadvantages lead to the selection of the disappearing-filament type of optical pyrometer for most work. Attention is directed to the necessity for the use of a monochromatic screen with a pyrometer, which leads to a discussion of the meaning and use of the effective wave length of the screen. Methods of calibrating the optical pyrometer are outlined and it is shown that an optical pyrometer can be calibrated just as definitely as any other temperature-measuring device. Accuracy tests are included, in which it is shown that excellent results can be obtained by even untrained or slightly trained observers with this form of optical pyrometer. The various corrections that are necessary in this kind of work are indicated, including corrections for stray light, for absorption of windows, of smoke, and so forth. The troublesome problem of measuring the temperature of bodies that do not radiate like a black body is discussed and the corrections for reducing such readings to the true temperature are given for a number of different materials. Introduction The fundamental idea of temperature depends upon our temperature sense and bodies are said to be hot or cold depending upon the reaction of our hands or some other part of the body to the heat from the source investigated. For measuring the temperature some instrument must be devised, since the temperature of the source studied is apt to be so hot as to greatly injure any part of the body that comes near it, to say nothing about direct contact with it. Definition of Temperature.—The temperature scale is based upon two fixed points, the temperature of freezing water and the temperature of boiling water. This temperature interval, depending upon the scale

Jan 1, 1936

By Walter Kauenhowen

Germany's crude oil production during 1935 totaled 3,007,711 bbl., an increase of 36.6 per cent over the 2,202,214 bbl. produced in 1934. The Nienhagen-Haenigsen field furnished 77 per cent of the total 1935 production. Cumulative production figures for Germany's two most important oil fields, Wietze and Nienhagen, show that during the period from 1872 to the close of 1935 the Wietze field produced 13,325,536 bbl. and the Nienhagen field 9,340,870 bbl. Table 1 gives statistics of German production since 1928, arranged both by fields and by oil provinces. Fig. 1 demonstrates the production of the various German fields since 1890. New Fields Discovered During 1935 five new fields came into production. The first of these, the Moelme-Hoheneggelsen field near Hanover, was opened up in April. This region has been sporadically drilled for oil since 1882, but not until 1935 was production on a commercial scale obtained. The oil comes from Mesozoic sandstones on the flanks of a shallow salt plug. Also during April, oil was found in commercial quantities in the Rhine valley at Forst, near Bruchsal. Tertiary and Mesozoic sandstones cut by faults of the Rhine Graben form the reservoir structures in this area. In July a wildcat well drilled on the Fallstein structure, a broad Triassic anticline near Halberstadt, came in as a producer from Permian (Zechstein) dolomite. In September commercial oil mas found at Gifhorn, near Braunschweig, in Wealden sandstones associated with a shallow, geophysically discovered salt plug. During the same month production was obtained at Heide, in Holstein, from the Permian Rotlie-gendes formation, in a structural high on which oil seepages have been known for years. Drilling Activities Published information indicates that during 1935 drilling totaled 574,000 ft., as compared with 436,000 ft. in 1934; 233,000 ft. in 1933 and 151,000 ft. in 1932. The German Government is subsidizing wildcat

Jan 1, 1936

There have been no major field developments during 1935. Operations have proceeded normally on the company's three producing fields, Masjid-i-Sulaiman, Haft Kel and Naft-i-Shah. The refinery at Kermanshah was commissioned in September, 1935, with a rated throughput capacity of 75,000 tons a year of topped crude to meet local requirements. Crude production from the Masjid-i-Sulaiman and Haft Kel fields is tabulated below: Masjid-i-Sulaiman Field.—The flowing lives of wells have been extended by (I) a process of acid treatment, thereby reducing the bottom-hole pressure differentials, and (2) by reducing the back-pressure. Optimum producing conditions for individual wells have been determined as a result of an experimental study of the amount of available energy in the reservoir crude and of energy losses in flowing wells. The return of surplus products to the reservoir has continued to be a satisfactory economic operation and the crude throughput capacity of the topping plant has been increased. The viscosity of residue returned to the reservoir is reduced before injection by regassing at 35 lb. per sq. in. absorption pressure with surplus gas. The pressure in the gas dome is falling at the low rate of one pound per annum. Haft Kel Field.—The delimitation of the main structure has proceeded; the oil-bearing area so far proved being about 50 square miles.

Jan 1, 1936

By Ben. B. Cox

The principal events during the year consisted in the exploitation of the Kirkuk field, the regular operation of the four-million-ton pipe line to the Mediterranean, and the discovery of low-gravity oil on three other structures in the West Tigris (Shergat) area. The Iraq Petroleum Co., Ltd. continued the systematic exploitation and exploration of its Kirkuk field, maintaining a carefully unitized operation. Bottom-hole pressure differentials and low gas-oil ratios were maintained. All crude was produced by flowing The cleaning up following the construction of the Mediterranean pipe line, which began deliveries in August, 1934, was completed during the first quarter of 1935. The line easily maintained its rated capacity for the remainder of the year. The Mosul Oilfields, Ltd., through its operating subsidiary, the B.O.D., Ltd., expanded its exploratory organization from 9 to 16 drilling rigs and discovercd 20" A.P.I. crude on the Sadid, Hibbarah and Qasab anticlines. Whether these discoveries will be commercial pools remains to be proved. The Qaiyarah-Najmah-Jawan field, which was discovered by the I.P.C. in 1928, was extended arid production was found in the Eo-Cretaceous as well as the "Main Limestone" (Eocene, Oligocene and Lower Miocene). Gas caps were found under each of the crests of the West Tigris structures. Negotiations are in progress between the Mosul Oilfields, Ltd. and the Iraq Government for the extension of the Anatolian Railway from the Turkish border to Mosul, with a view to tanking the heavy West Tigris crude to the Mediterranean. The subsidiary of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., Ltd.', the Khanaqin Oil Co., Ltd., continued to operate its Naft Khaneh field near the Iranian (Persian) border to supply the local Iraq market through the Rafidain Oil Co., Ltd. Somewhat more than 28 million barrels of crude was produced in Iraq during 1935. Crude delivcred to the pipe line for export during the years 1934 and 1935 was: Year BaRrels 1934................................................. 7,096,669 1935................................................. 27,014,904 Total as at Dec. 31, 193.5.............................. 34,111,573 ° Converted at an avcrage of 7.0 bbl. per ton.

Jan 1, 1936

By V. R. Garfias R. V. Whetsel

Production of crude petroleum in Mexico during 1935 totaled approximately 40,082,000 bbl., an increase of 1,925,000 bbl. over the previous year. Successful development continued in the Poza Rica field during the year, increasing production in that area from 3,708,000 bbl. in 1934 to 9,542,000 in 1935. The output of the South fields (Golden Lane) area decreased by 3,000,000 bbl. during the year, and the heavy-oil district of the Northern fields by 1,500,000 bbl. Production in the Tehuantepec fields showed a slight gain. Production of natural gasoline increased from 430,000 to 600,000 bbl. in 1935. Crude run to stills in local refineries is estimated at 30,000,000 bbl., some 4,000,000 bbl. more than in the previous year. Exports of crude and refined products were approximately 22,000,000 bbl., or 2,000,000 bbl. less than in 1934. Exclusive of ships bunkers, domestic consumption increased about 900,000 bbl. during the year, reaching an estimated total of 14,500,000 barrels. Only 74 wells were completed, as compared to 148 in 1934 and 91 in 1933. In proven areas 58 completions resulted in 33 producers and 25 failures. In northeastern Mexico, near the United States border, six wildcat wells were completed, all of which gave little or no encouraging results, except Rancheria No. 3, near Camargo, which is a fair-sized gas well. Four wildcats were drilled just northeast of the Northern fields (heavy-oil district), all of which were failures. A deep test was completed a short distance southeast of the Golden Lane (South fields) in Palo Blanco, which encountered small production not sufficient to exploit. On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec a wildcat well was completed for an estimated initial production of 2000 bbl. daily, a short distance south of the old Jalapa field, which was perhaps the most important new development of the year. Four other wildcats drilled in the Isthmus district resulted in failures. Fields Northern Fields (Heavy-oil District).—In the Northern fields, 18 producing wells and 20 failures were completed, as compared to 34 producers and 71 failures in 1934. The initial production of the new

Jan 1, 1936