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By D. J. McAdam

As shown in three recent papers by the author,6,7,8 in two papers by McAdam and Mebs,9,10 and in a paper by McAdam, Mebs, and Geil,11 the technical cohesive strength of a metal, in any particular state as regards mechanical treatment and heat-treatment, cannot be represented by a single stress value, but must be represented by a diagram with the principal stresses? as coordinates. Each point on the boundary of such a diagram represents a technical cohesion limit. The technical cohesive strength thus comprises an infinite number of technical cohesion limits, each representing fracture under a specific stress combination. Moreover, neither the yield strengths nor the ultimate strength can be represented completely by a single stress value, but must be represented by a diagram with the principal stresses as coordinates. All combinations of the principal stresses may be classified in three groups as illustrated by Fig. I. Fig. Ia shows three typical stress combinations with no two principal stresses equal. The magnitude of each principal stress is indicated qualitatively by the length of the arrow. Arrows pointing away from the cube indicate tensile stresses; arrows pointing toward the cube indicate compressive stresses. Typical stress combinations with two principal stresses equal are illustrated in Figs. Ib and Ic. Such stress combinations would be produced by subjecting a cylinder to combinations of uniform axial and radial stresses. The uniform radial stress may be resolved into two equal principal stresses, with the mutually perpendicular directions rotatable around the axis of the cylinder. Fig. Ib shows stress combinations with S2 equal to Sa. The greatest principal stress is in the axial direction, and the stress combination tends to cause either absolute or relative increase in length.* Fig. Ia shows stress combinations with Ss equal to Sl. The greatest principal stress is in the radial direction, and the combination tends to cause either absolute or relative decrease in length. The complete representation of either technical cohesive strength, yield strength, or ultimate strength generally requires a three-dimensional diagram. When two of the principal stresses are kept equal, however, the strength of a metal may be represented by a two-dimensional diagram with the coordinates representing the axial and radial stresses.6-11 In this paper, attention will be confined almost entirely to stress combinations with two of the prin-

Jan 1, 1944

By Vernon Taylor

CANADA'S oil production is obtained almost entirely from the Turner Valley gas and oil field, in the Province of Alberta. This field, about 30 miles southwest of the city of Calgary and approximately 115 miles north of the United States border, supplied 92 per cent of production in Canada during 1937. In 1938 considerable development took place in this field and total production for the year amounted to 6,688,716 bbl., an increase of 3,922,146 bbl. over the production in 1937, which increased the percentage of production to approximately 97 per cent of Canada's total. In the British Empire, Canada's production is thus comparable to that of Bahrein Island and Burma, each of which produced approxi-mately 7,800,000 bbl. in 1937, being second to Trinidad's production of 15,500,000 bbl. The total production of the British Empire in that year amounted to 2.07 per cent of the world's total. HISTORY Development of the Turner Valley field commenced in 1913, when a well was started near a gas seepage on the banks of the South Fork of Sheep River in the central part of the Valley. This well found small quantities of a light crude oil in beds of Upper Cretaceous age and pre-cipitated a wild boom in 1913-1914 which ended with the beginning of the Great War in 1914. A small amount of drilling was done in the years from 1914 to 1922 and a few wells found small crude-oil production in the upper sands. In 1922 a few wells were started, including the Royalite Oil Company's No. 4 well (R, Fig. 1), which became the discovery well of naphtha pro-duction from the Paleozoic limestone. In October 1924, this well was completed at a depth of 3740 ft., being approximately 300 ft, in the lime-stone, with an initial flow of 600 bbl. of 72° A.P.I. gravity naphtha and 20,000 M cu. ft. of gas per day. Intense activity was not started until the latter part of 1928, when the Okalta No. 1 well (Q, Fig. 1) was drilled, with an initial production of 500 bbl. of naphtha per day. This well was only 1 ¼ miles from Royalite No. 4, but it was approximately 1300 ft.

Jan 1, 1939

By Nicholas J. Grant, Noboru Komatsu

Metallographic and X-ray studies were made of oxide dispersion strengthened Cu-12 vol pet SiO2 and Cu-3.5 vol pet Al2O3 alloys following time exposures at temperatures approaching the melting. point of the matrix metal. Changes in hardness, oxide particle size and crystal structure were studied to determine the time-temperature stability of these alloys. An interpretation of the mechanism of oxide agglomeration is proposed. One of the most striking features of dispersion strengthened metal-metal oxide alloys is their stability at elevated temperatures, both with respect to recrystallization and maintenance of mechanical properties after exposure at high temperatures. A small amount of work has been done on the re-crystallization phenomenon in dispersion hardened metal-metal oxide alloys'l and several theoretical treatments have been advanced regarding the stability of these alloys by Lenel and Ansell,8 and by Grant and his co-workers.9, 10 This paper reports on metallographic and X-ray studies following various heat treatments of Cu-AI2D3 and Cu-SiO2 alloys at elevated temperatures and the effect of subsequent cold work on the recrystallizalion temperature. An interpretation of the recrystallization behavior of this type of alloy, based on the decomposition and agglomeration of oxides, is proposed. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Cast ingot bars of copper-1.59 pet Si and Cu-0.77 pet Al, 7/8 in in diam, were annealed in argon for 80 hr at 1000CC for homogenization. The homogenized rods were machined into fine chips and ball milled. Milled particles in the range minus 20 to plus 60 mesh were separated for internal oxidation. The internal oxidation was accomplished by the same method used by Preston and Grant,9 except that the oxidalion temperature for the Cu-Si alloy was 750°C, and for the Cu-A1 alloy was 800°C. These powders were then hydrogen-reduced at 450°C, compacted in a copper container, evacuated at room temperature to 0.04 µ, and sealed for extrusion. They were extruded at 1400°F (760°C) with a ram speed of 55 in. per min for an extrusion ratio of 15.6 to 1 to give a rod 0.38 in. diam by about 3 ft long.

Jan 1, 1962

By Jerome Strauss, Carl L. Shapiro

THIS is a critical examination of the theory that the amount of carbon necessary to form the iron-carbon (carbide) eutectoid is lowered by the addition of any carbide-forming element. Although this theory has been built up over a long period of years,, it appears, in the light of recent published investigations upon the ternary constitutional diagrams of iron with carbon and other alloying elements, to be no longer tenable. A survey of these new results, summarized below, shows that (as is known) some metals lower the carbon content of the iron-carbon (carbide) eutectoid, whereas others raise it, but (as not heretofore clearly set forth) some first move the eutectoid in one direction and then, at higher concentrations, shift it in the opposite direction. Moreover, these differences in behavior exist even among the common alloying metals classed as carbide formers. PART I INFLUENCE OF BODY-CENTERED CUBIC ELEMENTS The effects of the various body-centered cubic metals (chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, columbium and tantalum) are reviewed individually. Iron-carbon-chromium System.-In the monograph on Alloys of Iron and Chromium, Kinzel and Crafts' concluded that the carbon content of the eutectoid is lowered by increasing the chromium content. The quantitative influence of chromium on the eutectoid point of iron-carbon alloys was shown by Monypenny2 (Fig. I) and no data have been forthcoming to refute his findings. Iron-carbon-tungsten System.-Gregg,3 in the monograph on Alloys of Iron and Tungsten, accepted the data showing that tungsten decreases the amount of carbon required to form the eutectoid. The influence of tungsten on the eutectoid percentage of carbon as determined by Oberhoffer and Daeves4 is shown in Fig. a; these results have received general approval. Iron-carbon-molybdenum System.-In the monograph on Alloys of Iron and Molybdenum, Gregg5 reviewed the work of Guillet,6 Swinden,7 and Reed,8 all showing that molybdenum lowered the carbon content of the eutectoid, whereas Takei9 contradicted this conclusion. Svetchnikoff and Alferova,10 a little later, showed that large additions of molybdenum shift the eutectoid to the right. These last-named investigators found that molybdenum, up to 1.2 per cent, shifts the pearlite point and the point of maximum solubility of cementite in the gamma phase only slightly in the direction of lower carbon content; on the other hand, increasing amounts of molyb-

Jan 1, 1943

By Martin Epner, Eric Gregory

DURING the past decade, considerable work has been carried out on various cermet systems in an effort to produce materials suitable for high-temperature applications in gas turbines. Most of the materials have not, as yet, met the requirements of the engine manufacturers, primarily because of their lack of room-temperature ductility and thermal shock resistance. In the field of tool materials, however, although ductility is still of prime importance, much has been accomplished by improving design parameters and the quality of carbide materials with a view to using cermet compositions successfully. The systems described in this paper were designed primarily for application in this field, although their development was a natural outcome of work on similar compositions designed for high-temperature service. In steel-bonded titanium carbide, the steel binder imparts heat treatability to the system while the carbide provides abrasion and wear resistance. Combining the carbide and the steel matrix in carefully controlled proportions results in a composite material which, when the steel is hardened, has man of the properties of cemented tungsten carbide. In the annealed condition, this material can be readily machined by the conventional chip-removal techniques. Titanium carbide has certain distinct advantages over many of the other carbides when combined with a steel matrix. It is among the hardest of the carbides and is one of the most stable. Liquid iron wets titanium carbide, and this wetting assists in the formation of a dense cermet. Once the composite structure has been formed, the titanium carbide acts as a relatively inert phase during the heat treatment of the matrix. PREPARATION OF ALLOYS The steel-bonded titanium-carbide materials described in this paper were prepared by the liquid-phase sintering technique. The titanium carbide used had an average particle size of 6 to 7 p, a total carbon content of 19.4 pct and 0.35 pct free carbon. This was blended with the elemental metal powders by ball milling them together in a hexane medium. After drying, paraffin wax was added to the blend to provide green strength in the pressed briquettes, and compacting was performed at 15 tsi. Liquid-phase sintering was carried out in vacuum at temperatures which depended on the chemical composition of the system involved, but which were usually around 2640° F. The resultant materials had a density approaching 100 pct of theoretical. The

Jan 1, 1961

By Walter Kauzman

ALL viscous or plastic flow of incompressible matter is the result of shear strain; the changing shape of any body that is being plastically deformed can be completely described in terms of the shear strain occurring at each point in the body.[t] Furthermore, the relative amounts of shear strain occurring in different parts of a body under stress depend upon the relative rates of shear strain at those different points, so that if the dependence of the shear rate of any material on the temperature, shear stress, previous history, etc., were understood, the principles of plastic deformation would be known, and we could calculate how a body made of a given material, having a given shape, and subject to a specified system of forces, would change its shape with time. It may be said, then, that the problem of plasticity resolves itself into, first, the problem of the rates of pure shear processes, and second, the application of what is known about pure shear to actual cases. It is the purpose of this work to investigate the former problem -i.e., the dependence of shear rates on temperature, stress, etc.-from the standpoint of recent developments in the field of chemical-rate theory and with particular reference to the phenomena occurring in the creep of metals and in the plastic flow of crystalline solids in general. It is left for the mechanical engineer, and perhaps the expert in hydrodynamics, to deal with the problem of applications.1 RESOLUTION OF MACROSCOPIC SHEAR INTO MICROSCOPIC MOVEMENTS; RESEMBLANCE TO CHEMICAL REACTIONS Just as any large body is made up of many small units, or atoms, so macroscopically observable shear is the result of many microscopic unit shear processes; just as the understanding of the behavior of large bodies demands the understanding of the atoms of which it is made, so the understanding of macroscopic shear demands the understanding of these fundamental unit processes. The study of shear from this "atomistic" point of view has made considerable progress. There has been fairly complete understanding of shear processes in gases for a long time, at least for nonturbulent flow, as a chapter on gaseous viscosity in any text on the kinetic theory of gases will prove. In recent years Andrade2 and Eyring3 have presented important theories for the flow of liquids and amorphous solids. Becker,4 Orowan,5 Taylor,6 Burgers,7 and Kanter8 have considered the

Jan 1, 1941

By D. D. Button, L. D. Jaffee

INTEREST in the use of graphite as a high-temperature engineering structural material has recently increased markedly. However, actual use of this material has been limited, in part because information about its high-temperature mechanical properties has been lacking. The information needed includes not only reliable values for the properties, but also how to control these properties. Malmstrom, Keen, and Greenl have reported on the tensile and creep properties of some graphites above 2700° F (1500°C). They observed measurable creep under tensile loading at 4000 OF (2200 °C) and higher, with elongations of about 7 pct at 4500°F. Their typical elongation-vs-time curve showed the normal three stages of creep found for many metals at elevated temperatures. The specimens used were heated by passing an electric current through them. This method of heating caused a significant difference between the surface and axis temperatures, and may have affected the results. More recent work by kattus, in which the specfinens were also heated by their own resistance, showed very little plastic deformation for either slow or fast tensile testing or for creep testing. Work at this Laboratory, already reported,3 showed that for temperatures above 4500 "F and under conditions of slow tensile loading some commercial graphites exhibited elongations up to 20 pct. The work reported here is the continuation of a study of the tensile creep behavior of some commercially available synthetic graphites at temperatures up to 5300°F, and is preliminary to a more systematic investigation of the variables governing the high-temperature mechanical properties of graphite. MATERIALS TESTED The tests were conducted on six blocks from four lots of synthetic graphite bearing four different commercial-grade designations. These blocks were selected because their tensile stress—strain properties had been determined in previous work.3 Table I pre- sents the available information, supplied by the producers, on the processing of these materials. Also included in this Table are the densities and the tensile strengths at room temperature and 4500°F determined by the authors. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE The furnace used to heat the specimens for testing is shown in Fig. 1. The heating element was a graphite tube, 3-in. OD by 2 1/2 in. ID by 24 in. length. A spiral was cut into the 6-in. center portion of this tube to provide a high-resistance sec-

Jan 1, 1961

By Goro Shimaoka, Kichizo Niwa

IN the past, the crystalline states of graphite in cast iron have been studied by many investigators. Recently several authors 1-4 have published interesting information on the crystal texture of the individual graphite grain, especially spherulites in nodular cast iron. In regard to the crystal structure of graphite, Lipson and Stokes0 howed by powder X-ray analysis that most of the crystals contain about 14 pct rhombohedra1 structure (ß-form) which differs from the hexagonal structure (a-form) in the sequence of layer stacking. Hoerni6 onfirmed the existence of the ß-form in a single crystal with electron diffraction by Kossel-Moellenstedt's method. Furthermore, Hoerni and Weigle7 found extra reflections in electron diffraction patterns, which are given by a unit cell twice as large as the usual one in the basal plane. Recently, Lukeshs observed graphite twinning and satellite reflections in his X-ray work and considered them as evidence for the existence of an orthorhombic superstructure. Owen and Street" and Matuyama" studied the structures of graphite crystals in several types of cast iron, using the X-ray powder method, and they showed that the graphite crystal contains a certain amount of the ß-form, an amount which varies with the sources of the cast iron used. The present study was made in order to secure structural information on graphitization in cast iron. Electron diffraction studies on the structure of single graphite flakes segregated from molten carbon or silicon-rich iron at 1200" to 1500°C are reported. Experimental Honkeiko pig iron (4.05 pct C, 1.59 pct Si, and 0.65 pct Mn) was used as the solvent of carbon or silicon. The pig iron was melted in an open furnace and a small quantity of metallic silicon was added to the melt at 1300°C. The melt was heated to 150O°C, and then retort black carbon or metallic silicon was added little by little. The components added to the bath contained approximately 5.0 pct C and 2.0 pct Si in the carbon-rich material, and 3.8 pct C and 5.4 pct Si in the silicon-rich iron. These two types were held at 1500°C and then cooled without graphitizing by cutting the heat sup-

Jan 1, 1958

By William Loblowitz

A simplified system of flotation testing has been developed recently at the Bureau of Mineral Research of Rutgers University. The technique involves the known principle of skin flotation and can be used with minute quantities of sample and reagents in a beaker. A vessel containing the conditioned sample with added water and flotation reagents is held inclined and rotated slowly. Water-repellent particles come in contact with air and float on the surface of the liquid, while wettable particles are submerged. The float is poured off and filtered whereas the nonfloat remains in the beaker. The filtrate may be returned to repeat the process. This procedure can be made quantitative. Separations are obtained and are remarkably complete and repeatable. The effect of different reagents, optimum quantities, pH and other variables can be determined in a fraction of the time required for conventional testing. However, the method gives no information on the effect of frothers and the quality of froth to be expected in a cell, and it is not practical for particles finer than 200-mesh. Unlike other preliminary tests, separate float and nonfloat products are obtained, and their contents can be determined quantitatively by chemical analysis or grain counts. After the optimum reagent combination has been determined, the effect of fines and frothing may be verified in the conventional flotation cell. On the other hand, agglomeration-tabling can be directly duplicated from beaker tests. Procedure: Five to ten grams of sample are weighed into a 100-ml beaker. Flotation reagents and a small initial quantity of water are stirred together; additional water is then added to produce the proper water-solids ratio. The beaker is then tilted to 45" and rotated slowly. After three to five rotations, liquid and float are poured off and filtered; the filtrate may be recycled until the separation is completed. One test generally requires less than 10 min. Reagent concentration and pH remain quite constant because of the recycling of the filtrate. Two to four tests may be made simultaneously, and the effect of varied conditions may be observed by comparison. Considerable time is saved in preparation and handling since small quantities of sample suffice for a series of systematic tests. Repeatability One test was repeated four times under constant conditions. The sample used was a quartz sand containing approximately 24 pct feldspar and some clay aggregates. The +28-mesh grains had been screened out, and most of those finer than 100-mesh had been removed by hydraulic classification. The results are presented in Table I. For comparison, 500 g of the sample were separated by agglomeration-tabling using the same reagent combination and quantities as given in Table I. The weight percent float was 18.3 pct, composed almost entirely of feldspar and with only traces of quartz. Most of the remaining feldspar was recovered in a middling product with 2.2 pct by weight.

Jan 1, 1952

By AIME AIME

THE CHAIRMAN of the fast growing Petroleum Division is not only a graduate of the University of California, but a third generation native son. After a few years spent in hard-rock geology, his professional efforts were transferred to the sedimentaries and to petroleum investigations, as a consulting geologist. For ten years these investigations covered the Rocky Mountain, Oklahoma, Texas, and eastern districts. After the war he returned to Casper, Wyo., as chief geologist for the Consolidated Royalty Oil and Western Exploration Companies. This employment afforded him the opportunity to study particularly the economic relationship between the lessor-lessee interests in development and production, a somewhat unusual type of petroleum specialization.

Jan 1, 1939

By A. Eilers

A number of the copper refineries in this country have lately separated some of the rarer metals from the slimes in the refinery tanks. One of these has furnished me the following table of recoveries from given amounts of blister. I publish this to show the proportions, to gold and silver and to each other, in which these rarer metals may be expected to occur in copper from certain localities. GarFIeld, Utah :—The blister copper comes principally from the Bingham porphyry copper mines. Steptoe, Nev. :—All the blister copper is produced from the Nevada Consolidated mines. (Also porphyry deposits.) Omaha, Neb. :—Blister copper comes principally from concentrated copper-lead mattes shipped from the different lead-silver plants of the Rocky Mountain region to the converters at the Omaha lead refinery. Mountain, Cal. :—Ores occur in connection with diorite (?).

Jan 1, 1914

By William P. Blake

Postscript to the paper read by Prof. William P. Blake at the Lake Superior meeting, September, 1904. POSTSCRIPT.*-Since the publication of my paper upon the blackening of the surface of rocks in desert regions, I have noted that similar views of the origin of superficial discoloration in the case of certain rocks from the Salt Lake basin of Utah have been expressed by Prof. George P. Merrill. In the pamphlet, he described the brown-coated weathered boulders from Tooele county, reaching the conclusion that the discoloration was due to the solution of the manganese and iron compounds 'in the interior of the boulder, while they were in the water, and the gradual bringing of this material to the surface through capillarity and its oxidation when exposed.

Mar 1, 1905

By Ralph E. Esarey, G. F. Fix

The oil and gas industry in Indiana in 1938 showed considerable improvement over the preceding year. Most of the drilling and development during the year, as in the past several years, was in the Indiana portion of the Illinois Basin, but increasing interest was apparent in the old Trenton area, for possibilities of further production in the Trenton formation and the underlying St. Peter sandstone. Interest in all other portions of the state was at a new peak, since many areas have never been prospected. Natural gas production continued to drop during 1938, since new discoveries have not been able to keep pace with the rapid decline in older areas. Oil production increased considerably, chiefly through the discovery of new fields. Older fields contributed about the same quantity of oil during 1938 as during the preceding year. There were 159 wells completed in Indiana during 1938, an increase of 25 over the preceding year. Of these, 48 were oil wells, 41 were gas, and '70 failed to find commercial production. Forty-three, or about 20 per cent, were wildcat. Six of these were productive—three oil wells and three gas wells. Thirty-nine wells on which operations started during the year had riot been completed by Dec. 31. Fourteen others were temporarily abandoned, with the possibility that several will be drilled to completion in the near future. A new oil field (Heusler) was discovered in May 1938, in sees. 1 and 12, T. 7 S., R. 12 W., Posey County. Production was found in the Waltersburg (Upper (Chester) sandstone at a depth of approximately 1775 ft. At the close of the year, Heusler field had nine producing wells and two drilling. The Point township area, Posey County, near the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio Rivers, held promise of good production from the McClosky lime, but offsets to the, discovery well had only shows of oil. The discovery well declined rapidly in production arid was finally plugged. In the Oaktown field, Knox County, a wildcat came in with a good flow of gas, extending the field to the east, and proving considerably more acreage. A new gas area was discovered in Sullivan County, and four good wells were completed. The discovery well was in sec. 35, T. 8 N., R. 10 W., and had an initial

Jan 1, 1939

By Ralph E. Esarey, G. F. Fix

The oil and gas industry in Indiana in 1938 showed considerable improvement over the preceding year. Most of the drilling and development during the year, as in the past several years, was in the Indiana portion of the Illinois Basin, but increasing interest was apparent in the old Trenton area, for possibilities of further production in the Trenton formation and the underlying St. Peter sandstone. Interest in all other portions of the state was at a new peak, since many areas have never been prospected. Natural gas production continued to drop during 1938, since new discoveries have not been able to keep pace with the rapid decline in older areas. Oil production increased considerably, chiefly through the discovery of new fields. Older fields contributed about the same quantity of oil during 1938 as during the preceding year. There were 159 wells completed in Indiana during 1938, an increase of 25 over the preceding year. Of these, 48 were oil wells, 41 were gas, and '70 failed to find commercial production. Forty-three, or about 20 per cent, were wildcat. Six of these were productive—three oil wells and three gas wells. Thirty-nine wells on which operations started during the year had riot been completed by Dec. 31. Fourteen others were temporarily abandoned, with the possibility that several will be drilled to completion in the near future. A new oil field (Heusler) was discovered in May 1938, in sees. 1 and 12, T. 7 S., R. 12 W., Posey County. Production was found in the Waltersburg (Upper (Chester) sandstone at a depth of approximately 1775 ft. At the close of the year, Heusler field had nine producing wells and two drilling. The Point township area, Posey County, near the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio Rivers, held promise of good production from the McClosky lime, but offsets to the, discovery well had only shows of oil. The discovery well declined rapidly in production arid was finally plugged. In the Oaktown field, Knox County, a wildcat came in with a good flow of gas, extending the field to the east, and proving considerably more acreage. A new gas area was discovered in Sullivan County, and four good wells were completed. The discovery well was in sec. 35, T. 8 N., R. 10 W., and had an initial

Jan 1, 1939

By Thomas A. Simpson

THE Birmingham red iron ore district in Jeffer-son County, north central Alabama, Fig. 1, is bounded on the northwest by the Warrior and Plateau coal fields and on the southeast by the Cahaba and Coosa coal fields. The area of study includes the ridge and valley between Red Mountain and Shades Mountain, Fig. 2, approximately 70 square miles extending from Homewood in the northeast to Greenwood in the southwest. The district is one of the most important producers of hematite in the United States, with an annual production of about 7 million tons.' The amount of hematite mined between 1870 and 1950 ranged from 6 to 16 pct of the nation's total annual production,' and the iron and steel products from blast furnaces in the Birmingham district supply the entire southeastern section of the country. Most of the mining in the Birmingham district is from slope mines along the outcrop of the ore on Red Mountain, such as Red Ore, Muscoda, Spaul- ding, and Sloss. The Pyne and the Shannon are the shaft mines of the area. The Shannon mine of Republic Steel Corp., in the central part of the area under study, is in Shades Valley at the foot of Shades Mountain. The Pyne mine of Woodward Iron Co. is 2 miles east of Readers Gap in Shades Valley. The hydrology problem has become more prevalent as mining in the area has progressed downdip. An extensive exploratory diamond drilling program is necessary to determine areas where water pressures and abnormal flows are excessive. This operation, added to higher pumpage rates, has greatly increased the costs of ore extraction. In November 1952 the U. S. Geological Survey began a detailed study of occurrence and movement of ground water in the iron mining areas of the Birmingham district. The study is a part of a small-scale but nationwide program to develop data that will be of help to the mining industry in solving mine water problems. The area of the study, in the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian system, Fig. 1, is a series of alternate ridges and valleys trending northeast. The principal ridges are Red Mountain, altitude about 1000 ft, and Shades Mountain, about 1100 ft. Shades Valley is between these two ridges, and its lowest point is about 480 ft. Shades Moun-

Jan 1, 1956

By Jacques B. Wertz

Among the parameters to be considered in the continuous search for new base-metal deposits, there often is a stratigraphic controlling factor that seems instrumental in the localization of ore. In British Columbia, for instance, the Upper Triassic as well as Lower Jurassic volcanics mixed with sediments are a useful indication in the search for copper while, in some parts of Australia, rhyolite bodies seem to be the favorable indicator, and this always within the geosynclinal environment. In Arizona, this stratigraphic factor becomes highly significant and it will be shown here that a large number of ore deposits are to be located around the flanks of ancient calcareous basins or depressions, preferentially corresponding to a certain optimum thickness as revealed by isopachs. The Martin limestone, of Devonian age, is already known for its basal O'Carroll bed which coincides with mineralization at places, and this is a relatively minor control. However, several limestone basins outlined by isopachs are in reality of greater importance as they localize mining districts. Indeed, most mines are found to coincide with a specific thickness of limestone while occurring simultaneously close to major, regional fracture intersections. The regional fractures in question were interpolated and extrapolated from known, important fault expressions, integrating quite well with the existing geology and further confirmed by minor criteria such as contacts, igneous plugs, axes of elongation of batholiths, dikes, etc. Although elements of subjectivity remain, this grid of fractures can be used quite successfully as a working hypothesis in the search for ore. Results of the present study which superposes major structural

Jan 1, 1971

By AIME AIME

M ALBERTSON is research engineer for the Shell Petroleum COT. He joined the Roxana Petroleum Corp. (later the Shell) in 1920, at Hanger, Texas, became district geologist at Shreveport, and after two years was transferred to the production department, where he has been for the past fifteen years. His jobs have ranged from a modest field engineer up to assistant production manager. During this time hc has successively resided in Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, The Hague (Holland), and Texas. II? the Yates Pool, Texas, in 1929, "Al" initiated' the tubing of wells under pressure to control gas-oil ratios, particularly at restricted rates of flow. This led to the compulsory tubing of all oil wells drilled in the State

Jan 1, 1937

By F. D. Weeks

The Salida smelting plant, owned by the Ohio & Colorado Smelting & Refining Co., is situated at an altitude of 7,000 ft., about 2 miles west of Salida, Colo., and 215 miles southwest of Denver. Salida is a division point on the Denver & Rio Grande R. R. where the narrow-gage line serving the San Juan region joins the through standard gage. This narrow-gage road also serves the coal and coke companies at Crested Butte and the lime quarries and mines at Monarch and Garfield, which are only 20 miles distant. These facts, together with the possibility of an appropriate site, doubtless influenced the builders to locate at this point. The smelting plant and yard occupy 80 acres of land on the northeast side of the Arkansas River. The slope of the ground is such as to permit of the ore being delivered by cars at a point 25 ft. above the feed floor; and in front of the furnaces there is a fall of 50 ft. for the slag dump. A recent purchase of river bottom has provided slag room for 20 years. As originally constructed, the plant consisted of four blast furnaces, 40 by 144 in. at tuyéres, two copper-matting furnaces, dust chamber, stack, power plant, blowers, sampling works, and one railroad trestle about 16 ft. from bed floor to rails. Later 12 hand roasters of excellent design were added and the practice of smelting leady matte in a copper-matting furnace was abandoned. Since the plant passed under the present management the equipment has been increased so that the following is a brief description of the same at this date: Two lead blast furnaces, 48 by 180 in. at tuyéres, 17 ft. 6 in. tuyéres to feed floor; four lead blast furnaces, 40 by 144 in. at tuyéres, 17 ft. 6 in. tuyéree to feed floor; two copper-matting furnaces, not used; blast-furnace flue, 900 ft.; area 245 sq. ft.; blast-furnace stack, 150 ft.; above furnace floor, 190 ft. When smelting a 500-ton charge per day, the gases approximate 63,700 cu. ft. per minute and travel at a speed of 260 ft. per minute. The slag is hauled by a 10-ton electric locomotive; the slag shells and settler refuse are elevated to a bin on the feed floor by an electric hoist. The matte is tapped in 1,600-lb. cakes and loaded into cars

Jan 1, 1916

PHILIP D. BLOCK, JR., vice president of Inland Steel Co., visualizes a fine future for the Menominee Range of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He sees a future unclouded by threat from foreign ore imports or the development of low grade ore processing in Minnesota. The statement was made during the opening of Inland's new Cayia mine near Crystal Falls. Inland, according to the vice president, is planning to use an increased amount of the high phosphorous ores found on the Menominee Range. He said that other steel companies will probably do the same, because the steel industry has learned how to use ores of high phosphorous content. He said: "I do not mean to imply that we can use an unlimited amount of high phosphorous ores or that we can burden our blast, furnaces with 100 pct high phosphorous ores, but we have reached the point where we can absorb a much larger percentage of these ores without any detrimental effects. Foreign ores and lowgrade Minnesota ores cost too much to offer real competition, Block said. Transportation costs from the Menominee range to steel producing centers in Chicago and on Lake Erie are less than for any other range in this country. In the meantime, the American operators of the Bomi Hills iron ore mine in Liberia, have reportedly signed a new agreement with the Government. Several months ago, President Tubman of Liberia expressed a definite dissatisfaction with the original contract. Informants state that the agreement only needs the approval of the Export-Import Bank, which loaned Liberian Mining Co. $4 million to develop the iron ore properties. Majority stockholder of the Liberian Mining is Republic steel, with 61.57 pct of the stock. Under the new contract, the Liberian Government will start to share in the profits when the indebtedness is liquidated and the return of invested capital accomplished, or April 1, 1957, whichever is earlier. Under the old agreement the Liberian Government received a 5 cent per ton royalty and an additional sum based on the price of pig iron. The royalty rate reached more than 17 cents per ton this year. After debt liquidation the Liberian Government will receive 25 pct of net profits for the first five years; 35 pct for the next ten years; and 50 pct thereafter. Until the Government starts to share in profits it will receive a royalty of $1.50 per ton in U. S. currency, in addition to royalties provided for in the old agreement.

Jan 1, 1952

By Shiro Ban-ya, John Chipman

Equilibrium in the reaction was investigated at temperatures of 1500°, 1550°, and 1600°C for sulfur concentrations up to 7.2 wt pct. Multisample crucibles contained the liquid alloys in a resistance-heated furnace using a technique especially designed for the study of more complex alloys to be reported separately. Modern free-energy data are used to correct the H2S:H2 ratio for dissociation of H2S and calculalion of the partial pressure of S2. Published data on the equilibrium are similarly corrected. Thermodynanzic treatment of the data employs the composition variable zs = nS/(nFe — nS) and the activity coefficient Gs = as/zs The data at 1500" and 1550°C are fitted by the equation log s = —2.30zs. Within the limits of experimental error the same coefficient is applicable to the data at higher temperatures. Equations are given for the free-energy change in Reaction [I] as well as for the solution of S, gas in the metal. The heat of solution of 1/2 s2 is -32.28 i2.5 kcal. Uncertainty in the free energy is very much smaller. For dilute solutions of interest in steelmaking, the activity coefficient of sulfur is unchanged from that listed in Basic Open Hearth Steel-making. DETERMINATIONS of the thermodynamic properties of sulfur in liquid iron by Morris and williams1 and by Sherman, Elvander, and chipman' provided a basis for control of sulfur in steelmaking processes. From the standpoint of understanding the chemistry of metal plus nonmetal in liquid solution they left several questions unanswered. The activity of sulfur in dilute solution at about 1600°C was well-established but temperature coefficients were uncertain, due at least in part to the use of the optical pyrometer and uncertainty regarding the effect of sulfur on emissivity. It appeared that deviation from Henry's law increased with increasing temperature, a most unusual behavior requiring either confirmation or disproof. These studies were based on experimental determination of equilibrium in the reaction: At high temperatures H2S is partially dissociated so that the gas mixture contains HS, S2, and S in addition to HS. At the time of the earlier studies the free energies of these constituents were unknown and it was therefore impossible to make adequate correction for dissociation. Observations on the effects of alloying elements by Morris and coworkers1, 3 and by Sherman and Chip-man4 enable us to assess the effects of alloying elements on the activity and to make corrections for incidental impurities in the binary liquid. These studies as well as a number of more recent investigations will be reviewed in detail after out own experimental results have been presented. It was our purpose in planning this study to avoid uncertainties regarding the emissivity of alloys and the errors of thermal diffusion which plagued some of the early attempts,5 by using a resistance furnace and thermocouple in preference to induction heating and optical pyrometer. Modern data on free energies of the gaseous species are to be applied to our data and to those of other investigators to obtain corrected values of K1 and of the activity coefficient and ultimately to relate the sulfur content of the bath to the equilibrium partial pressure of S,. Extension of the study to include ternary and complex solutions will be described in a later section. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD a) Preparation and Calibration of H2-H2s Gas Mixture. The source of hydrogen sulfide was a preparer mixture of 43 pct H2S, balance hydrogen, contained in a large aluminum cylinder. This was passed through anhydrone and through a microflowmeter. Hydrogen was passed through platinized asbestos, ascar-ite, and anhydrone, and through a capillary flowmeter. Argon was passed through copper wool at 500°C, then through ascarite, anhydrone, and a flowmeter. The flow rate of hydrogen was kept constant at 200 ml per min, to which an arbitrary amount of the hydrogen-hydrogen sulfide mixture was constantly added and then the prepared gas mixture was introduced into the reaction tube through a gas mixer. In certain experiments 200 ml per min of argon was added to the hydrogen-hydrogen sulfide gas mixture to increase the total flow rate of gas. The ratio of hydrogen-hydrogen sulfide in the inlet gas was checked for each run by chemical analysis. A sample of the gas taken from a bypass was bubbled through zinc and cadmium acetate solution (4 pct zinc acetate, 1 pct cadmium acetate, and 1 pct acetic acid) to remove hydrogen sulfide from the gas mixture, and the flow rate of the remaining hydrogen was measured by a soap bubble method to determine the volume of hydrogen. The amount of hydrogen sulfide absorbed in solution was determined by titration with iodine against sodium thiosulfate, with starch used as the indicator. The ratio of hydrogen sulfide to hydrogen in the inlet gas could be kept within ±2 pct in the range from 10-2 to 5 x 10"4 which corresponds to from 0.2 to 7.0 wt pct sulfur in liquid iron. b) Furnace Arrangement. Fig. 1 shows the furnace arrangement and the shape of the alumina crucible used in this experiment. A vertical-tube silicon carbide electric resistance furnace contained the reaction tube which consisted of two parts, the gas-tight

Jan 1, 1969