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By A. W. Schlechten, W. J. Kroll

As this paper is written, the only method for the commercial production of lithium metal is by the fusion electrolysis of LiC1-KC1 mixtures, as first proposed by Gunkz.2 The details of the industrial process have not been made public hut Osborg8 stated that an efficiency of more than 90 pct is obtained with a lithium metal recovery above 95 pct and that the metal is 99.5 pct pure. Pletenev9 gave a power consumption of 66 kw-hr per kilogram of lithium metal produced with a salt consumption of 9 kg of LiCl and 0.4 kg of KCI. Pletenev's figures indicate a somewhat lower recovery than that given by Osborg. In a recent report on' German lithium plants, Motock7 gives figures that are also less favorable than those reported by Osborg. At the German plants the lithium recovery in electrolysis was only 83.4 pct, with a power consumption of 140 kw-hr per kilogram of lithium. The metal averaged only 97 pct pure, with sodium and potassium as the chief impurities. The presence of SO2, SO3, SiO2, Ba, Ca, and appreciable amounts of Na and Fe2O3 were especially disturbing in the electrolysis, and it was necessary to run the cell for some time to eliminate most of these impurities and condition the bath. It may be noted here that most of these impurities do not interfere with a thermal reduction process. These facts show that the present method of producing lithium is fairly efficient and would suggest that other methods could not compete. However, fusion electrolysis has certain drawbacks, such as the necessity of supplying costly, low-voltage direct current and of collecting and processing the anodic chlorine if it is not to be wasted. An even greater disadvantage is that lithium chloride must be used for an electrolyte. It is one of the most expensive salts of lithium, since it cannot be produced in anhydrous form by precipitation from aqueous solution, as is done with LiF or Li2CO3. The reduction of lithium by a vacuum process similar to the ferrosilicon method for the production of magnesium would have certain advantages. Small units such as Pidgeon retorts, would give flexibility of production to meet demand, and a small plant would require moderate capital outlay. There is a possibility of using idle Government-owned magnesium plants for such purposes. The raw materials needed for vacuum thermal reduction would not have to be extremely pure, Director, with respect to the iron and calcium Content. This paper describes a series of experiments to determine the effectiveness of various agents for the reduction of lithium compounds. The investigation is part of a program of vacuum metallurgy con-

Jan 1, 1949

Jan 1, 1966

By Arthur Nomann

Recording instruments may be conveniently described under the headings of: (1) geophones, (2) amplifiers, (3) recording cameras, (4) miscellaneous parts. Geophones Geophones or seismometers are actuated by slight earth movements, and generate electrical currents, which are amplified and recorded. In all geophone desigm there is provision for differential movement between parts of the mechanism and the signal voltage is generated as a function of this differential movement. The part that conforms to the movement of the ground is called the support, and the part that remains more nearly stationary with respect to more distant unactuated parts of the earth is called the steady mass. The mechanical period of the geophone is the time required for an oscillation of the steady mass after an initial impulse is given it, and is determined by the effective stiffness of the spring joining the two parts together in relation to the weight of the suspended part. Geophones have been used with frequencies varying all the way from less than 10 cycles per sec. to several hundred cycles per second. Those with a natural frequency of less than, say, 100 cycles

Jan 1, 1940

By Arthur Nomann

Recording instruments may be conveniently described under the headings of: (1) geophones, (2) amplifiers, (3) recording cameras, (4) miscellaneous parts. Geophones Geophones or seismometers are actuated by slight earth movements, and generate electrical currents, which are amplified and recorded. In all geophone desigm there is provision for differential movement between parts of the mechanism and the signal voltage is generated as a function of this differential movement. The part that conforms to the movement of the ground is called the support, and the part that remains more nearly stationary with respect to more distant unactuated parts of the earth is called the steady mass. The mechanical period of the geophone is the time required for an oscillation of the steady mass after an initial impulse is given it, and is determined by the effective stiffness of the spring joining the two parts together in relation to the weight of the suspended part. Geophones have been used with frequencies varying all the way from less than 10 cycles per sec. to several hundred cycles per second. Those with a natural frequency of less than, say, 100 cycles

Jan 1, 1940

By R. O. Williams

A recent article by Chernock, Singer, Mueller, and Beck 1 which supports the use of the integral of I sin $ d$ for comparing fiber texture data does not settle what happens to I sin ø as ø approaches zero, where I is the diffraction intensity for poles oriented 0 deg from the fiber axis. They indicate that they believe that it should approach some constant value (that is, I increases without bound) and the fact that in reality it does not was a result of the diffraction

Jan 1, 1960

A record $18.7 billion worth of metals, non- metals and fuels was produced in the U.S. during 1962, according to a year-end estimate from the USBM. The 1962 total value, based on preliminary statistics compiled by the Bureau, was nearly $600 million more than in 1961. Most minerals gained both in value and volume of production during 1962 according to information collected by the Bureau. All mineral fuels except anthracite showed increases. Among nonmetallic minerals- other than fuels-gains exceeded losses by two to one. Metal production held steady as gains and losses balanced.

Jan 2, 1963

Organization Place Date 1917 American Electro-Chemical Society Detroit; Mich. May 2-5 American Waterworks Association Richmond, Va. May 7-11 American Institute of Electrical Engineers New York City May 18 America' Society of, Mechanical Engineers Cincinnati, Ohio May 22-25 American Iron and Steel Institute New York City May 25-26 ' Interstate Oil Mill Superintendents Association. Augusta, Ga. May (last wk.) Electric Power Club Hot Springs, Va. June 11-14 Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education .... Evansville, Ind. June 19-22. American Institute of Electrical Engineers Hot Springs, Va. June 25 American Society for Testing Materials Atlantic City, N. J. June 26-30

Jan 5, 1917

By F. H. McDowell

The increasing interest in the subject of electrical separation warrants the addition to what has already been written of a few lines covering the practical workings of the Tilly Foster mill under the direction of Mr. E. S. Moffat, General Manager. Since my last paper was presented to the Institute, Mr. S. P. Tomkins, the superintendent, has had thrust upon him for solution several problems complicated by the introduction of new conditions. 1. The richer portion of the lean ore dump, and that nearest the railroad track, having been worked up in 1890, the handling of the balance, including a largely increased amount of rock, could only be accomplished at an increased cost. 2. The tailings had accumulated close about the mill to such an extent that arrangements had to be perfected to move them further away.

Jan 1, 1893

By G. R. St. Pierre, A. J. Wilhelem

In connection with the reduction of hematite or magnetite to metallic iron, it appeared desirable to study the rate of reduction of each oxide to the next lower oxide under conditions which excluded all other condensed phases. For this purpose, pellets of Fe,O,, Fe,O,, and oFeOo were prepared. A gas train for the preparation of Ar-Hz-H20 mixtures was employed to establish a continuous flow of a controlled atmosphere over a pellet suspended on a balance. In this manner the following individual reduction steps could be studied: For example, pellets of hematite were reduced solely to magnetite by adjusting the gas atmosphere such that it was oxidizing to wustite. In other words, the reaction was complete when the hematite pellet had been totally converted to magnetite. The pellets were prepared from Baker Chemical ferric oxide. The ferric oxide powder was moistened and handrolled. Air sintering at 950°C produced Fe,0, pellets with a density of 3.65 g per cm3. The pellets ranged in size from 0.6 to 1.2 cm diam. The magnetite and

Jan 1, 1962

By John F. McElhiney, Hosseim Kazemi

This chapter is a review of fluid flow and mass trans- port in fractured rocks. The topics include: single-phase and multiple-phase flow theory, formation productivity or injectivity improvement by artificial fracturing, and mass transport associated with fracture acidizing. Possible extension and application of such ideas to in situ mining in fractured rocks are presented.

Jan 1, 1974

By J. Richter, D. Schulze

J. Richter and D. Schulze (Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschafte zu Berlin)—Introduction. In a recent paper R. G. Garlick and H. B. Probst reported on experimental results of investigations of room-temperature slip in zone-melted tungsten single crystals.17 In the paper it was pointed out that slip lines could be detected with an optical microscope only after about 10 pet plastic strain of the crystal. In our investigations we could observe slip lines in tungsten single crystals of defined orientations already with an elongation of 0.02 to 0.03 pet.18"9 Experimental Technique and Results. The tungsten single crystals were produced from 4 to 5 mm sintered rods* as starting material by electron- beam zone melting. With single-zone-pass melting a speed of 0.5 mm per min was used, while three-pass melting could be handled at a speed of 3 mm per min. Crystal axis orientations were located in the shaded area of the stereographic triangle, see Fig. 6. Orientation 1 is located at about 18 deg and orientation 2 at about 5 deg on the great circle from [011] to [ill]. This corresponds approximately to the orientations P and M referred to by Garlick and Probst. Our single crystals had a length of about 70 mm and were profiled solely by electrolytic means, leaving grip ends at both ends of the crystals. Between the latter, a cylindrical crystal of 45 to 50 mm length and about 2.4 mm diam was obtained. The crystals were deformed at room temperature in a commercial tensile-testing machine to obtain a strain of 0.02 to 5 pet. The average strain rate e = eP/t for all tensile tests amounted to approximately 10 -6 to 10-5 per sec, with ep representing plastic strain and t the duration of applied stress. In Fig. 7 a crystal is shown elongated by 0.03 pet. The picture was obtained by means of an optical microscope. Figs. 8 and 9 give electron-microscopic pictures of slip lines of crystals elongated by 0.07 and 1.1 pet, respectively. For crystals with the orientation 1, see Fig. 6, only the two main slip systems (101)[111] and (110)[111] were found. With the crystals of group 2 the two main slip systems are again evident, with

Jan 1, 1965

By C. J. Beevers

Tlze influence of zirconium hydride precipitate mprphology on the fructure of Zr-H alloys tested at strain rates of 10- sec at 20° and - 196°C and at strain rates of -500 sec.-1 at 20°C has been inves-tigated. The critical stage in the embrittlement of these alloys was the fracture of the zirconium hyhide precipitates to form large interval cracks at a stress of 25,000 10 137,000 psi. In specimens con-temping up to 100 ppm H the preciptates existed as isolafed platelets in the zirconium matrix and their fracture as enhanced by low temperature (—196°C) and high strain rate (-500 set-f) loading. These resl~lts lead to the conclusion that the rate of strain hardening of the zirconium metal controls the frac-tzrm of the hydride platelets. Increased hydrogen contents of 500 to 2000 ppm resulted in an increase in the 1)volume fraction and size of precipitates and crlso led to crack propogation in the hydride at both 20 and —196C at the low strain rates (10'* sec-'). Quenching led to refinerment of hydride precipitate size and reduced the degree of embrittlement at — 196°C; this effect is attributed to the absence of fracture of the fine precipitates. The formation of zirconium hydride precipitates has been shown to be the cause of hydrogen embrittlement of zirconium.' Several investigators'-" have studied the problem in broad outline, demonstrating that impact-loading conditions, testing temperatures below room temperature, and increasing hydrogen content produce increased brittleness. For example, Muehlenkamp and schwope2 showed that the transition temperature for notched impact tests was raised from 150" to 350°C on increasing the hydrogen content from 45 to 490 ppm. The degree of embrittlement is also controlled by the morphology of the zirconium hydride precipitates. The solubility of hydrogen in zirconium decreases from 600 ppm at 550°C to 10 ppm at 20"C,~ so that the form of the zirconium hydride precipitates (ZrH2) can be modified by varying the cooling rate through the Zr-aZr + ZrH2 phase boundary.= Forscher showed that quenching a specimen containing 35 ppm H from above 315°C resulted in a reduction in area of 70 pct at -196"C, whereas slowly cooling from above 315°C resulted in a ductility of half this value. The role of the hydride precipitate in the fracture process has been examined by Young and schwartz6 and more recently by westlake.' From metallo-graphic observations on slowly cooled Zr-H alloys they have suggested that cracks are nucleated in the hydride precipitates by the interactions of twins in the zirconium metal with the hydride. The experiments reported in this paper show that crack propagation in the zirconium hydride precipitates is the critical stage in the embrittlement of Zr-H alloys. The factors influencing fracture of the hydride precipitates and crack propagation in the zirconium metal will be related to the problem of embrittlement. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES The zirconium used in these experiments was produced from an ingot of vacuum arc-melted iodide zirconium forged down to 1 in. diameter at 800' to 850°C. The 1-in.-diameter bar was surface-machined and cold-swaged to 0.375 in. diameter. After a vacuum anneal at 800°C for 1 hr the hardness was 60 to 70 Vdh. The total impurity content was approxi-

Jan 1, 1965

By R. G. Burdick, W. R. Peters

Shallow underground voids resulting from early coal mining and other resource recovery activities over the past several decades are now being recognized as a significant cause of ground subsidence problems. Uncertain knowledge of abondoned coal mines also imposes potential hazards in current underground mining operations, since water inundation or the release of methane gas is a serious hazard when mine excavation operations break into an abandoned mine. Requirements for detecting and mapping subversive manmade tunnels in previous work has led to the development of a surface-operated automatic earth resistivity survey system and associated computer data reduction process for military applications. Field demonstration tests of this system have resulted in successful detection of tunnels at depth-to-diameter ratios greater than 10 to one. Under the sponsorship of the Bureau of Mines, a similar high-resolution earth resistivity system was designed and constructed for use as a potential means of detecting abandoned coal mine workings. The hardware and software aspects of third new system are described together with applications of the method for surveying and mapping abandoned coal mine workings. Field tests are presented to illustrate the detection of both air-filled and water-filled mine workings.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. A. Morgan

IN the art of roasting sulfides it is well known that the lower the temperature and the higher the pressure of SO, the larger will be the amount of sulfate present in the product. However, the mechanism of sulfate formation is not generally understood. The following experiment" demonstrates in a direct way that, in the roasting of Cu2S, the sulfate forms from the reaction of Cu2O, formed by the oxidation of Cu2s, with gaseous SO, (or SO3) and 0,. Thus, the sulfate does not form at the sulfide surface. The reaction at the sulfide surface is the same whether or not sulfate is formed. Using an indirect method, Ong, Fassell, and Wadsworth' infer that sulfate forms after oxidation, during the roasting of sphalerite, agreeing with the observations of this paper. The method presented here of demonstrating that sulfate forms after formation of Cu2O is to roast a sample of Cu2S and then to locate and identify the phases formed.' A solid cube of cuprous sulfide, made by melting Fisher reagent grade Cu2S powder and measuring about 1.5 cm on edge, was placed on a Nichrome wire grid suspended over the top of an Alundum combustion boat. The assembly was placed in a tube furnace at 600°C and oxygen gas, flowing at 0.60 liters per min, was passed around the specimen for 24 hr. The furnace tube diameter was 1.5 in. The partially roasted sample was removed from the furnace and impregnated with resin No. BR 0014, obtained from the Palmer Products Co., and the impregnated sample was then mounted in Lucite. A cross section was obtained by grinding and the surface was prepared by the following steps: 1) grinding—60 grit, 3M disk, dry; 2) preliminary polishing —60 through 600 grit, 3M disk, dry; 3) polishing— 8 µ diamond putty, silk cloth; and 4) final polishing —1evigated magnesia in isopropyl alcohol, Selvyt cloth. The color micrograph of the polished surface is shown in Fig. 1. The layers present in the micrograph are given along the side. The comwositions of the various layers were established by Debye-Scherrer patterns. From this evidence the following sequence of reactions which occur in the roasting of Cu2S is inferred: 1) The oxidation of Cu2S occurs with oxygen which has been transported through the oxide-sulfate layer by either gaseous or solid state diffu- sion. The products of this reaction at the Cu2S surface are Cu2O and SO,. 2) The SO, diffuses out through the pores in the Cu2O and finally reaches a position in the Cu2O where the oxygen pressure and the SO, pressure have values such that the thermodynamic conditions for the formation of CuSO4 are fulfilled. Then, the mixture of SO2, SO3, and oxygen reacts with the Cu2O to form CuSO1. 3) The CuSO, decomposes by the evolution of SO,, or SO, and O2, to form the basic sulfate. This is reasonable, since the SO, gradient will decrease toward the oxygen gas phase from the CuSO4 layer. 4) For this same reason the basic sulfate will decompose to form CuO. The above sequence of events is based on the assumption that diffusion through the oxide and sulfate layers, rather than the reaction at the sulfide-oxide interface, is rate-determining. This assumption is supported by the observation that these oxide and sulfate layers combined are almost nonperme-able to the flow of gases through them. Acknowledgments This research was supported by the U. S. Air Force, through the Office of Scientific Research of the Air Research and Development Command. The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful suggestions of Ralph Wells of the Applied Research and Developmeit Laboratory, U. S. Steel Corp. References E. A. Peretti: A New Method for Studying the Mechanism of Roasting Reactions. Discussions Faraday Soc. (1948) 4, p. 174. - J. N. Ong, Jr., M. E. Wadsworth, and W. M. Fassell. Jr.: Kinetic Study of the Oxidation of Sphalerite. Trans. AIME (1956) '206, pp. 257-263; Journal OF Metals (February 1956).

Jan 1, 1957

By O. U. Bradley

THE extent of losses, due to evaporation, sediment, and water, in crude oil stored in steel tanks, is a very interesting question, and particularly so at this time, when every reasonable measure should be employed to eliminate all possible losses of this important natural product. Available information on this subject is incomplete; e.g., during the development of the Cushing Field, considerable surplus oil was stored in steel tanks, but from time to time, owing to changes in weather, somelosses by evaporation and short storage room on the leases, these tanks were topped out, thus rendering inaccurate any system designed to determine the average rate of evaporation or other losses of the oil over a given period. , Furthermore, the losses, as shown by the records at the time, as a result of hasty gages, failed to take into account the temperature and gravity of the oil. Losses may be classified roughly as occurring from evaporation, presence of sediment and water, and leakage. The coefficient of expansion and contraction of crude oil, in relation to temperature conditions, is of material importance; also, the rate of evaporation is dependent upon the gravity of the oil, as the escape of the lighter hydrocarbons in fresh Cushing oil, of from 40 to 42 gravity, on a warm day is considerable, and from available records of temporary storage, it is safe to assume that a loss of 1 to 13 per cent. in volume will easily occur in light crude oil of Cushing grade over a period of. 6 months, including the summer season. The presence of sediment, water, and other impurities, in the oil will also cause, more or less deterioration in quality, particularly when the fresh production is run direct from the. gage tanks, or from the wells on the lease to steel storage, as is often the case when an oil field is being rapidly developed. The bad oil will settle to the bottom of the tanks and may be determined by thiefing and running a centrifuge test on the sample. The amount of water in the oil depends entirely on the conditions under which it is produced. Sometimes in large producing wells, with heavy gas pressure, some water may come in with the oil, particularly if the well has been drilled to the top of a water sand. Under these conditions, cut oil is often produced, which, if not settled out, is carried over into the steel tanks.

Jan 7, 1918

By C. F., Christopher

The purpose of any steel-making process is to convert the two raw materials iron and scrap into steel. The chemical analysis of the steel is set within certain limits which involve the physical proper- ties desired by the consumer. In addition to tensile properties a large number of other properties are at the present time desired, such as impact resistance, grain size regulation, specific degrees of hardenability, resistance to creep at high temperatures, resistance to expansion on heat treatment, the ability of the product to undergo extreme amounts of cold deformation without failure, and many other properties which are not directly related to the specified chemical analysis. Variations in many of the properties of plain-carbon steels are due to elements and compounds not included in the ordinary "five element"§ composition. Such variations result primarily from variations in oxidation of the metal in the furnace and from the deoxidation method employed. The steel-making problem therefore resolves itself into two distinct sections: (I) the elimination of certain elements from the charge (the iron and scrap entering the furnace) and the addition of materials to meet the chemical specifications for the heat; (2) the manipulation of the slag and metal and the process of deoxidation to give certain desired properties in the steel entirely apart from the chemical analysis specified. Each of 'these two ends must be attained

Jan 1, 1957

By Jasper L. Stuckey

PYROPHYLLITE, first identified as soapstone,1 later as agalmatolite,2 and finally as pyrophyllite,3 has been known to occur in North Carolina for more than 130 years and has been produced intermittently in commercial amounts for the past 100 years. Pyrophyllite mining, however, has become a major industry in North Carolina only during the past 25 years. North Carolina and California are the chief producing states. Current annual production averages 125,000 tons, of which slightly more than 90 pct comes from North Carolina. Distribution and Geologic Setting: All known pyrophyllite deposits in North Carolina are associated with rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt,4 which is composed of a vast series of metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary materials, occurring as two zones extending in a northeast-southwest direction across the state. The larger of these zones, lying in the central Piedmont region, varies from 8 to 50 miles wide. The smaller zone lies along the eastern edge of the Piedmont region and is partly covered by coastal plain sediments.

Jan 1, 1958

By S. F. Emmons

Jan 1, 1899

By F. C. Wagner, E. P. Klier, D. E. Nulk

The presence or absence of plastic strain at a cleavarage surface is a question of much importance, and upon its answer depends future possible theoretical work. To investigate this question back-reflectinn X ray patterns were obained on the cleavage facets of ferrite grains. The test set-up consisting of FeK colli- mated radiation, single grain material and stationary cassette and specimen will not lead to a diffraction pattern, in general, but is an ideal arrangement for the exami-nation of surface effects. A pattern taken on hydrogen purified

Jan 1, 1949