Search Documents

By A. W. Ambrose

The underground losses of oil exceed by hundreds of thousands of barrels all the oil that has been lost in storage, transportation, or refining. The quantity lost is, of course, indeterminate; but when it is considered that the contents of an entire oil field have been excluded from recovery by invading waters, some idea of the amount wasted may be gained. Similarly, enormous quantities of gas have been lost underground. Conservation of the oil, therefore, should start before it is brought to the surface rather than after it is placed in storage tanks. Water is one of the most important causes for underground losses and the operator should give as serious consideration to an underground flood of water as he would to a destructive surface flood. The best insurance, of course, is to have the wells drilled in such a manner that water has no access to the productive oil and gas horizons, and on abandonment the wells should be properly plugged. The encroachment of edge water and the occurrence of waterin;the base of an oil sand present a very serious problem to an oil company sooner or later these waters are bound to cause considerable damage, if they do not entirely destroy the possibilities of further production. Too often, however, a field has been considered to be in a hopeless condition, whereas wells in as bad a condition in other areas have been repaired and the life of the field appreciably lengthened. The corrections are very often suggested by technical study. Very successful results have been accomplished by detailed underground work in the California oil fields, in Cushing, Oklahoma, and in other areas. The purpose of this paper is to outline briefly1 general methods of analyzing oil-field water problems in a producing or in a producing and developing oil field, with a view to suggesting repair work on offending wells. Reference is continually made to producing oil wells; the same general method of procedure, however, should be adopted in a gas field.

Jan 1, 1921

By Philip Morse

THE Australian lead-smelting plants began to use charges carrying high zinc percentages somewhat earlier than was common with American plants. When lead smelting first started in Australia the immense deposits of oxidized lead at Broken Hill were available but later these oxidized ores became exhausted and were replaced by sulfides. This was before the days of flotation and these sulfides when concentrated carried about 1 per cent. of zinc to 6 per cent. of lead. The works of the Sulphide Corpn. at Cockle Creek was perhaps the pioneer in high-zinc slags but the Port Pirie plant of the Proprietary Co. was a close and very able second and has continued the work to the present time. The Cockle Creek lead furnaces remained in operation until shortly after the war when most of the Broken Hill companies combined and took over the Port Pirie plant to treat their concentrates. As it was the practice both at Cockle Creek and Port Pirie to carry 20 per cent. or more of lead on the charge, it was found that under these conditions of large amounts of zinc in the charge, good roasting was absolutely necessary and matte production was unwise. The Huntington-Heberlein system of roasting was introduced and later the Dwight & Lloyd process. In this way, by roasting the sulfide portions of the charge as thoroughly as possible and making no matte, a method of smelting was developed where the slag over long periods carried as high as 20 per cent. ZnO without serious furnace troubles, and slags carrying even up to 33 per cent. ZnO have been reported. The zinc slags were not very different in appearance from the ordinary slags produced in American practice except that they gave off more smoke and fume on tapping. The slag usually ran hot and freely, coming from the tap in a full stream. Normally there was little crust on the sides' of the furnace and the tuyeres gave no trouble though they were always rather dark.

Jan 1, 1929

By E. W. Davis

IF the tonnage of merchantable iron ore remaining in the Lake Superior district is divided by the average of the annual shipments for the past 20 years, it will be found that this ore supply will be exhausted in approximately 35 years. This computed exhaustion period would be an indication of the future activities of the iron-mining industry if it were not for the fact that merchantable ore is being manufactured from low-grade ore, of which there is an almost inexhaustible supply in the Lake Superior district. It is true that at present only the simplest of these low-grade ores are being concentrated to any considerable extent, but progress is being made with the treatment of the more complex ores, and now, in addition to 20 washing plants on the Mesabi Range, three plants are equipped with jigs for the treatment of ore that cannot be concentrated simply by washing. The latest addition to the ore-treating plants of the Mesabi Range is a magnetic roasting and concentration plant at Cooley, Minn., in which ore that cannot be concentrated either by washing or by jigging is roasted to the magnetic state and concentrated on magnetic separators. This plant is beginning its third season of operation, and while it is too soon to make definite predictions, there are strong indica-tions that this new process may make commercially possible the manu-facture of high-grade, merchantable iron ore from large quantities of low-grade ore now considered worthless. After the iron oxide contained in an ore has been converted to mag-netite, almost any desired grade of concentrate can be produced, using magnetic-concentration equipment of the types now in general use for the concentration of the natural magnetites of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The conversion of hematite (Fe2O3) to magnetite (Fe3O4) is easily accomplished by heating the ore to a dull red tempera-ture in a reducing atmosphere. The reaction is slightly endothermic, and while it requires 200 B.t.u. to heat to 900° F. one pound of hematite ore containing 45 per cent Fe, it requires only 100 B.t.u. to convert the oxide into magnetite. In the laboratory, using small quantities of ore, this conversion is very simple, but large furnaces suitable for commercial

Jan 1, 1936

By Howard Eavenson

IN a discussion in the Transactions of the Institute (vol. xl, page 835 et seq.) the writer gave some data about explosions of gas and dust in the coal mines of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, among which was a table showing all explosions in the countries mentioned, in which five or more fatalities occurred, which had been reported from Oct. 2, 1871, to Mar. 28, 1908. Since the elate of publication of this discussion, as opportunity has presented, this table has been extended by the addition of explosions occurring since that time, by including several explosions which occurred prior to 1871, and by adding to the list all explosions of gas or dust in which less than five fatalities occurred, this having been clone by a search through the various mine reports, partly by the author and partly by the Librarian of the United Engineering Societies, and by correspondence with mine inspection officials of the various States, to all of whom acknowledgment of assistance is made: The accompanying list, Table I, is believed to be as nearly correct as such a statement can be made, and, while only extending to Dec. 20, 1912, contains all of the data now available in reports. An analysis of Table I, showing the occurrence by months of all explosions of gas or dust, including those in which less as well as those in which more than five fatalities occurred, is given in Table II. The statements are frequently made, in technical papers, that the number of explosions, particularly the larger ones, is increasing more rapidly than the number of mines, and that the number of fatalities caused by mine explosions, particularly the more disastrous ones, is increasing faster, proportionally, than the production of coal. To investigate the correctness of these statements Table III was prepared, in which the number of accidents and fatalities is taken from Table I, using those in the United States only, on account of lack of other data for Canada and Mexico; the production is from the records of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the number of mines, from 1909, from the same source; previous to 1909, the number of mines, for the decennial periods, was furnished by the U. S. Census records.

Jan 10, 1914

By R. M. Brick, M. A. Williamson

Certain features of the response of copper and brass to deformation and recrystallization remain obscure. The textures obtained on rolled sheet are listed by Schmid and Boas1 as: No adequate explanation has been advanced for the presence of the secondary deformation texture of copper and its absence in brass or for the origin of the cubic recrystallization texture of copper.2 A recent publication3 attempted to rationalize the above empirically described annealing texture of brass on the basis of retention of the (110) [112] rolling orientation plus twinning about the central octahedral poles of the usual secondary (110) [115] orientation. The difierence in the textures of annealed copper as compared to 70-30 brass is also shown by the difference in the position of ears for drawn copper, at o° and go", as compared with drawn brasses, at 45o, for all compositions between oo-10 and 70-30.4 Data on indi- vidual crystals are as yet too few to permit of an analysis of these textures comparable to that of mild steel as made by Barrett and Levenson.5 Experimental Methods The materials studied included copper specimens cut from the central, equiaxed crystal portion of a tough-pitch wirebar; brass made from this copper and high-purity (99.99 per cent) zinc including alloys of 7 per cent, 15 per cent, 24 per cent, 29 per cent and 36 per cent Zn and large single crystals of 70-30 bras. Sections 1/4 in. thick of the cast polycrystalline copper and brasses were reduced 40 per cent by rolling, recrystallized to a common grain size of 0.045 mm. and then rolled directly to foil 0.002 in. thick. Hardness readings employing both the Vickers and Rockwell machines were taken at intervals during the reduction. For comparison, similar specimens were cross-rolled—i.e., turned through 90° for each pass—and comparable hardness data were secured. Finally sections from the single crystals of brass were cut to obtain the following initial orientations; these sections were rolled, hardness data secured and a complete micrographic record of structural changes obtained.

Jan 1, 1941

By R. M. Brick, M. A. Williamson

Certain features of the response of copper and brass to deformation and recrystallization remain obscure. The textures obtained on rolled sheet are listed by Schmid and Boas1 as: No adequate explanation has been advanced for the presence of the secondary deformation texture of copper and its absence in brass or for the origin of the cubic recrystallization texture of copper.2 A recent publication3 attempted to rationalize the above empirically described annealing texture of brass on the basis of retention of the (110) [112] rolling orientation plus twinning about the central octahedral poles of the usual secondary (110) [115] orientation. The difierence in the textures of annealed copper as compared to 70-30 brass is also shown by the difference in the position of ears for drawn copper, at o° and go", as compared with drawn brasses, at 45o, for all compositions between oo-10 and 70-30.4 Data on indi- vidual crystals are as yet too few to permit of an analysis of these textures comparable to that of mild steel as made by Barrett and Levenson.5 Experimental Methods The materials studied included copper specimens cut from the central, equiaxed crystal portion of a tough-pitch wirebar; brass made from this copper and high-purity (99.99 per cent) zinc including alloys of 7 per cent, 15 per cent, 24 per cent, 29 per cent and 36 per cent Zn and large single crystals of 70-30 bras. Sections 1/4 in. thick of the cast polycrystalline copper and brasses were reduced 40 per cent by rolling, recrystallized to a common grain size of 0.045 mm. and then rolled directly to foil 0.002 in. thick. Hardness readings employing both the Vickers and Rockwell machines were taken at intervals during the reduction. For comparison, similar specimens were cross-rolled—i.e., turned through 90° for each pass—and comparable hardness data were secured. Finally sections from the single crystals of brass were cut to obtain the following initial orientations; these sections were rolled, hardness data secured and a complete micrographic record of structural changes obtained.

Jan 1, 1941

By B. S. Butler

Introduction. THE New London copper mine, about 81, miles east of Frederick, Md., was visited by the Writers for a few hours in the spring of 1909 and the following brief notes on ore specimens collected are presented as a contribution to studies in chalcocite ores. For certain data on the structural and areal geology of this portion of Maryland the writers are under obligation to the unpublished notes and maps of Arthur Keith. The detailed study of the ores is the work of B. S. Butler. The deposit here discussed has many similarities to those of the Virginia district of Virginia and North Carolina, which have been described y Graton1 and Laney2, except that in the deposits of the New London mine chalcocite is by far the most important ore mineral, while in the Virginia deposits bornite is commonly-the most important sulphide. In the New London occurrence calcite is the most important gangue mineral.

Jan 7, 1914

By A. T. Tye

Regarding the results of preferential flotation at Cananea, Weinig has stated that "The concentrating mill of the Cananea Consolidated Copper Company at Cananea, Mexico, furnishes an excellent example of modern flotation practice. The complete figures are given because they present so forcibly the advantages of modern selective flotation."l L. 0. Howard notes that "Perhaps the outstanding example so far published of improverrients in results through the use of selective flotation is that at Cananea, Mexico."" The following notes indicate the conditions under which the results were obtained at Cananea; also the effect of preferential flotation at the concentrator and at the smelter. In the majority of cases the full benefit of selective flotation is not fully realized, as the concentrates are shipped from the mill to smelters owned by other companies. The saving made at a certain concentrator by this method of flotation may be well understood but the saving resulting at the smelter from the results of preferential flotation at the mill is not so apparent, as the data are contained in the smelting records of some other company. Even at the smelter the great gains following preferential flotation may not be noted, as a variety of ores and concentrates from various sources are received and the difference from the changed concentrator operations of a certain mill may be obscured. As noted by Professor Weinig and Professor Howard, the results obtained at Cananea brought about a veritable metallurgical revolution at the smelter. There are probably plants at which a better preferential separation is being made than at Cananea. Many ores contain barren iron pyrite which, when depressed, does not carry copper into the tailing. Some concentrators use clean uncontaminated water for milling and in others the ore is ground much finer than at Cananea. All of these items are concerned in perfect separation. The details of preferential flotation at Cananea, therefore, are not presented on account of the perfection of the

Jan 1, 1928

By E. H. Jr. Dix

THE work of Merica1 and other investigators indicates that the phenomenon of age-hardening in. alloys of the duralumin type is primarily dependent upon the variation in the solubility of copper with temperature. In addition to copper, however, these alloys contain small amounts of magnesium, silicon, manganese and iron, which may affect the age-hardening either directly or indirectly. The effect of these elements on the solubility of copper and on the manner in which this solubility varies with the temperature is of considerable interest, therefore. The effect of magnesium is of especial interest because apparently it exerts a marked effect on the natural or room-temperature aging of alloys of the type described.2 A series of investigations3 has been in progress in the research laboratories of the Aluminum. Company of America to determine the functions

Jan 1, 1932

By Waldemar Lindgren

At the time of the discovery of America the old world had a scant supply of the precious metals. Both the northern and the southern part of the new continent proved wonderfully rich in gold and silver and its treasures were eagerly looted; though the looting has lasted four centuries, the mines of its mountain chains are far from being exhausted. Even the later discoveries in Australasia and eastern Siberia could not rob the Western Hemisphere of its position as the greatest gold and silver producing region of the world, though finally the developments in a narrow and circumscribed area in South Africa wrested from the Americas their supremacy in the production of gold. Nevertheless the history of the two parts of the great western continent has been strikingly different. At first the Spaniards extracted vast treasures of silver from Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, while Colombia arid some placer deposits in Peru yielded a smaller quantity of gold. A couple of centuries later, a stream of gold began to flow from Brazil, the silver production from the countries mentioned above continuing strong in the meanwhile. Later on, the yield of South America diminished, but to offset this there began a wonderful series of discoveries in North America. The gold fields of California astonished the world; and when the cream of these had been skimmed off there began a no less amazing development of the Central Cordilleran gold and silver districts, which soon made the United States the greatest producer of the precious metals. Aided by ever improving technique, extensive exploration, and a system of railroads, the yield was maintained and increased. Still later followed the discoveries of the gold fields of the arctic region and silenced those who had maintained that the zenith in gold production had passed. Recently the province of Ontario in eastern Canada

Jan 1, 1917

By Richard P. Hight

Abrasives include the substances, natural or artificial, that are used to grind, polish, abrade, scour, clean, or otherwise remove solid material, usually by rubbing action but also by impact (pressure blasting for example). They do not include abrasive tools, for instance, lathe tools and files-or polishing agents such as waxes, which act by filling pores. Detergents and cleaners whose action is chemical rather than physical are omitted although some chemical-action polishes and cleaners may also contain solid abrasives, for example, many automobile and metal polishes. General Considerations The most important physical properties of materials that qualify them for use as abrasives are hardness, toughness (or brittleness), grain shape and size, character of fracture or cleavage, purity or uniformity. For making bonded abrasive products such as grinding wheels, additional important factors are stability under high heat and bonding characteristics of grain surfaces. The economic factors of cost and availability are always important. No one single property is paramount for any use. For some uses extreme hardness and toughness are needed, as in diamonds for drill bits; for others, the factors of greatest importance are hardness and ability to break down slowly under use, to develop fresh cutting edges when grains become worn-for example: in garnet for sandpaper neither highly cleavable or friable grains nor extremely tough grains are wanted. For still other uses, great hardness is objectionable; for example, abrasives for dentifrices and for glass-cleaning soaps. For the most efficient use in the more critical applications, the different types of abrasives are rarely completely interchangeable; thus, while crushed quartz and garnet are both used in sandpaper, the papers are not at all interchangeable in their use applications. In the last analysis, the choice of a high grade abrasive depends upon the quality and quantity of work done by the abrasive per unit of cost. Initial cost of an artificial abrasive may be much greater than that of a natural abrasive but the artificial abrasive may do so much better work than the natural one, and do it so much faster that the ultimate cost will be less. It is for this reason that artificial abrasives have largely replaced natural abrasives. Abrasive Value Mineralogical hardness or "scratch" hardness as expressed in Mohs' scale is an important property in evaluating abrasive materials, but, as noted before, it is only one of several essential properties. The mineral hardness of pure crystal almandite garnet is about 7.5, but if the crystal is crossed by incipient fracture planes, or if it contains inclusions of other minerals, the apparent or useful hardness may be much lower. While the quartz grains in a sandstone have a hardness of 7, the bond holding the grains together may be so weak that the stone is valueless as a commercial abrasive. In artificially bonded wheels and stones, the hardness, strength, and character of the bond are fully as important as the hardness of the abrasive grains. Thus, in an overall consideration of abrasive hardness of loose abrasive grains, both "scratch" hardness and toughness must be considered. In naturally or artificially bonded abrasive stones, bond characteristics are a third factor, which is most important. The problem of abrasive hardness is further complicated by the inadequacies of methods of testing hardness and of expressing relative values. The Mohs' scale is inadequate both because the methods of testing are very crude and

Jan 1, 1983

By Walter Harvey Weed

In a previous paper upon the enrichment of mineral veins by later metallic sulphides,? the writer has shown that certain masses of rich ores, such as are found in many mines, either near the water-line or as bonanzas in depth, are of secondary origin, and are due to a leaching of lean ore and the concentration of the material by reaction between the solution and the unaltered ore below. The geological and mineralogical evidence is believed to form an adequate basis for a chemical and physical explanation of the phenomenon. In the present paper the writer will give a brief synopsis of this theory, and will apply it more particularly to deposits of the precious metals, laying special emphasis upon the dependence of such enrichments upon the presence of iron sulphide (as pyrite, etc.) in the primary ore, and upon structural features which control the circulation of the enriching solutions below the water-level. It is believed that many, though not all, of the bonanzas arid pay-shoots of rich sulphide ores, especially those carrying gold and silver, which are encountered in ore-deposits, are of such secondary origin. Apparently it is essential that the occurrence and structural relations of such ore-masses should be understood, as the success of the mine is often dependent upon the finding and extraction of these ores. A legitimate deduction, too, is that such ore-deposits decrease in value With depth. As my own studies have been mainly in Montana, my illustrations must be drawn from the ore-deposits of this and adjacent States, with such as I have noted in hurried visits else-

Jan 1, 1901

By R. E. Cook

This paper presents results of a study to determine to what extent errors in estimated free gas saturation affect the results of static pressure calculations from build-up curves in two-phase systems. Use is made of the method of pressure build-up curve analysis developed by Miller, Dyes and Hutchinson1 , with modifications for two-phase flow advanced by Perrine2. Cornhined fluid compressibility of gas-oil mixtures is included, with special attention given to the discontinuity that occurs in fluid compressibility at the saturation pressure and its effect on static pressure calculations from build-up curves. The sensitivity of static pressure calculations to errors in gas saturation is considered over wide ranges of formation and fluid properties and reservoir pressure conditions. It is concluded from this study that for analyses of two-phase pressure build-up curves (I) the use of under-saturated crude compressibility data, even when producing GOR's are at or near solution values, will result in very significant negative errors in calculated static pressrrre, and (2) except for large values of buildup curve .slope and/or very low crude gravities, rather large errors in calculated gas saturation can he tolerated without .significant effect on calculated static pressures. The conc1usions arc qualified as referring only to the effects of gas saturation and excludc possible errors in the nuumerous other factors that enter into the ancllysis of pressure build-up curves. INTRODUCTION As part of the analysis of basic data for several major Eocene reservoirs in the Bolivar Coastal field (Western Venezuela), it was necessary to analyze a large number of pressure build-up curves for oil permeability and static reservoir pressure. From performance data it became apparent that gravity segregation is very active in these reservoirs. As a result of this performance it was recognized that the free gas saturation within the oil leg of the reservoirs would be small but would be subject to certain errors in calculation due to the inaccuracy of relative permeability data in the low gas saturation region. Since all of the various methods of build-up curve analysis were originally derived for sin- gle-phase, constant compressibility systems, and since the presence of a small but rather indeterminate gas saturation would greatly affect the reservoir fluid compressibility, a study was undertaken to investigate the effect of gas saturation on the results of two-phase pressure build-up analyses. TWO-PHASE BUILD-UP CURVE ANALYSIS The method of analysis used in this investigation is basically that originally developed by Miller, Dyes and Hutchinson1, with modifications for two-phase flow advanced by Perrine2. Miller, et al, showed that the original equation for single-phase permeability away from the well bore, held for two-phase flow except that the calculated permeability is the effective permeability to oil away from the wellbore. This finding was acknowledged by Per-rine, who also presented the equation for effective gas permeability* as Since Eqs. 1 and 2 contain no terms influenced by fluid compressibility, no distinct problem should develop in calculating permeability from two-phase build-up curves. In regard to the calculation of static reservoir pressure from build-up curves in single-phase systems, the modified Miller, et al, method as presented by Perrine is briefly as follows. 1. From build-up curve data, PVT data for the reservoir fluid and the well spacing and sand thickness, calculate the climensionless shut-in time corresponding to the highest value of actual shut-in time (t, hrs) on the straight-line portion of a semi-log build-up curve. Dimenrsionless shut-in time is related to actual shut-in time by the relation, t- 0.000264 kt 2. From a graph of dimension less shut-in time vs dimensionless pressure difference (Fig. 1 1 ) find the value of dimensionless pressure difference corresponding to the value of 7 calculated under (1) above. Dimen-

By Jei Y. Choi, Paul G. Shewmon

The surface self-diffusion coefficient of copper (D,) has been measured between 847° and 1069 "C for six different orientations. These were the(111), (110, (100, and three higher index surfaces. The activation energy for Ds (designated Q s) was found to be about 49 kcal per mol for all six surfaces, and Do about 2 x 104 sq cm per sec. At any temperature Ds varied by no more than a factor of three over these orientations. It is shown that, if the free energy of a surface atom is uniquely determined by its number of nearest neighbors, it follows from the Principle of microscopic reversibility that Qs should have the same value for all surface orientations, and Ds should vary little with orientation. This model also suggests that for clean fee metals Qs ~ 2/3 AH, (heat of vaporization). This is true for copper. ALTHOUGH it has been appreciated for several decades that atoms can diffuse more rapidly on a surface than through the bulk of a crystal, it has only been in the last few years that reliable values of the surface self-diffusion coefficient (Ds) have become available. Tracer studies of Ds had been attempted prior to this period, but when a tracer is placed on a surface, an ever increasing fraction of it is drained off into the lattice. The correction for this loss involves a very difficult, and as yet unperformed calculation. Those who have worked with tracers have not corrected for this loss.1, 2 Thus their results indicate that Ds is greater than the self-diffusion coefficient in the lattice (Dl), but it has not been established that they give quantitative data on Ds. A procedure which avoids the problem of tracer loss is to study the rate of mass-transfer under the effect of surface tension. If the surface asperity being studied is very small, the mass transfer occurs entirely by surface diffusion. The kinetics at which a grain boundary groove forms on an initially plane surface is a well-studied case of this type. The smoothing of a slight scratch in an otherwise flat surface is another procedure that has been studied. If these grooves are up to 20 to 30 µ in width, the dominant mechanism for mass transfer is surface diffusion (at least in the case of metals with low vapor pressures), and the widths can easily be measured with an interference microscope. Of these two, mass-transfer techniques only in the case of grain boundary grooving has a rigorous mathematical treatment been given. This was done by Mullins.3,4 His analysis predicted that in the case of copper in an atmosphere of an inert gas, surface diffusion should be the dominant transport mechanism. This analysis gave an equation for the groove profile and predicted that the width of the groove would increase as (time)1/4. Mullins and Shewmon showed that both of these predictions agreed with experiments.5 Thus the validity of the values of Ds given by this procedure seems to be well established. Gjostein has used copper bicrystals and the grain boundary grooving technique to determine Ds and the activation energy for surface selfdiffusion (9,) in the [001] direction on surfaces ranging between the (100) and (110) planes.= He reported that Qs = 41 kcal per mole and Do = 6.5 x 102 sq cm per sec for all orientations studied. Since the results did not change with the dew-point of the dry hydrogen atmosphere or the type of refractory tube used, he concluded that the surfaces were clean, or at least that the results were not influenced by any impurities chemisorbed from the atmosphere. The work reported here reproduces and extends Gjostein's study in that D s and Q s were determined for copper over a wider range of orientations. To study the effects of impurities, two purities of copper were used as well as cathodic etching to remove any possible electropolishing film. Gjostein postulated that the diffusing atoms on a surface near a low index plane are the few atoms which are adsorbed on the smooth region between ledges or steps in the surface. A more rigorous derivation of the equation relating Ds to the concentration and jump frequency of these adsorbed atoms is given here. Using this treatment, our empirical observation that Q s and D s are essentially the same for all surface orientations can be shown to follow from the assumption that the free energy of a surface atom is uniquely determined by its number of nearest neighbors. The studies of D s using the scratch technique have been carried out by Blakely and Mukura on nickel,' and by Geguzin and Oveharenko on copper. The latter study using copper gives values of D s roughly

Jan 1, 1962

By W. T. Turrall, M. J. Cook

A discussion of modern developments in beneficiation of fine sizes of anthracite, this paper includes a description of the plant flowsheet, an analysis of operating results, and a summary of fundamentals of mineral separation relative to plant operation. DURING the past several years Lehigh Naviga-tion Coal Co. has installed equipment at Tamaqua and Lansford collieries for cleaning and sizing No. 4 buckwheat —3/32 + 3/64 in. and for recovering and cleaning flotation coal —20 + 200 mesh at Tamaqua colliery. Papers describing some of these installations have been presented to AIME. At Coaldale colliery, however, methods used to clean fine coal were inadequate and inefficient. Management decided upon a thorough investigation of all existing processes before building a plant to treat the combined three sizes mentioned. Investigation, carried out on company property and at other plants, entailed a study of hydrotators, hydroclassifiers, tables, spirals, flotation machines, methods of screening, and methods of dewatering. On the basis of this investigation a flowsheet was designed which necessarily excluded many processes in use, and the writers wish to emphasize that no criticism is implied by omission of processes or machines. A determining factor in selection of many machines was the policy of standardizing equipment wherever possible. Flowsheet and Operational Data The first principle to be considered in designing of any plant is efficiency of cleaning as related to laws of classification. Beneficiation of coal may be described as separation of two materials having different specific gravities. Although there is an inherent ash content even in the purest coal which slightly affects its specific gravity, it is recognized that many particles are true middlings. The percentage of these particles allowable in the final product depends upon the ultimate ash, or specifications of the consumer. Richards in his study of free settling and hindered settling classification' determined that particles of equal size and different specific gravities had unequal settling velocities. He also determined a definite size relationship for equal settling velocities with free settling and hindered settling conditions. Considering the design of machines used to clean No. 4 and No. 5 buckwheat, it may be assumed that both free settling and hindered settling conditions exist and that ratio of size for practical operations is between the established values. The essential factor is that the more efficiently and closely sized the feed is maintained, the more nearly perfect the resulting separation. Flowsheet design was governed primarily by factors related to the 1200 to 1500 tons per hr feed to the main plant. It should be stressed that because of the many sources of supply from mine and stripping, the physical characteristics of this feed varied considerably. The most significant influence was varying percentage of fines, necessitating that all machines be capable of operating under maximum peak load during periods of surge. Since cleaning practice is a wet process, about 9000 gal per min containing 14 to 15 pct solids, or 350 tons per hr, must be treated. This slurry contained all the fines, or —3/32 in., but also percentages of oversize, up to 1 % in., dependent on spills or breaks in screen jackets, a not uncommon occurrence in preparation plant practice. The flowsheet developed is shown in Fig. 1. Circled numbers represent points of sampling. Table I gives operational data including size, ash by size, composite ash, rate of flow in gallons per minute, percent solids dry weight, and average tons of solids per hour. It should be noted that these results are subject to human error in sampling practice. Detailed information reported is a representative evaluation of plant operation.

Jan 1, 1954

By Peter L. Langsjoen, Kenneth L. Maloney

Ten small and intermediate-sized (4.5 Mg/hr to 113 Mg/hr steam--10,000 to 250,000 lb per hr) coal-fired boilers in the upper Midwest have each been tested on both a bituminous eastern coal and a subbituminous western coal. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of substituting western subbituminous coal for eastern bituminous coal as a means of reducing the SO, emissions from this class of boiler and to demonstrate the feasibility of greatly expanded western coal utilization as a means of reducing the use of oil and gas. The scope of this study was such that the representative boiler types were tested on both eastern and western coal for a period of time sufficient to completely characterize their individual emission and operational characteristics.

Jan 1, 1978

By E. R. Borcherdt

IT is notable that the first large-scale mine operation equipped entirely with detachable bits was the Badger State mine of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. in Butte, Montana, just 30 years ago. This mine in 1922 was producing approximately 1200 tons of ore per day. Much of the data presented in C. L. Berrien's article' describing the development and installation of the Hawkesworth detachable drill bit were obtained from these operations. As in any pioneering effort, no precedent existed and many difficult problems required solution, so that the changeover to detachable bits at all Butte hill mines was not completed for 6 years. There was widespread disbelief as to the probable efficiency of the new installation. Some attempts were made in 1931 by the owners of the Hawkesworth patents to interest Ontario gold mine operators in the bit. These efforts were not successful, but they undoubtedly stimulated thinking which resulted in the invention and patenting of several well-known Canadian detachable bits, one of which is now a widely used throwaway bit. The success of the Butte installation also led to the development of the threaded type of bit connections by several well-known manufacturers, and in 1935 these bits were introduced to the mining industry on a national scale. The original Hawkesworth bit was not provided with a water hole but, depended upon water passing through the clearance opening between the tongue in the bit and the groove in the rod to flush cuttings from the drill hole, see Fig. 1. In December 1935 it was found that this method of introducing drilling water to the bit face resulted in high dust counts. To correct this a water hole was drilled on the central axis of the bit, passing through the tongue. Unfortunately, quenching water would rise through the small water hole, spot-hardening the tongue to cause breakage, never completely eliminated. In the fall of 1936 large-scale tests indicated that savings would be effected by use of a threaded type of bit, which was therefore adopted as standard for all Butte mines. This type of bit was used until 1947, when it was superseded by a one-use slip-on type. Since the first use of the Hawkesworth bit every detachable bit of importance has been investigated, and where advantages which might reduce costs or increase efficiency were indicated, substantial tests of the bit were carried on in the Butte mines. When tests demonstrated the advisability of changing from one kind of detachable bit to another the change was made at one level or in one area each day until the new rod and bit equipment was used throughout the mine. This involved a minimum of cost and disruption of drilling. Intelligent selection of a detachable bit to obtain optimum results requires careful consideration to achieve a balance between the three principal types of equipment used in the drilling process: 1—drill bits, 2—drill steel, and 3—drilling machines. Optimum results imply maximum output and minimum cost per unit of output. Since every rock type differs in drillability and it is generally impractical to provide equipment for more than one or two types of rock which may occur in one operation, selection of equipment must encompass average drilling conditions. However, on exceptional occasions several widely differing conditions may make it mandatory to provide equipment best suited to each condition. The choice of rock-drilling equipment is a most controversial subject and one that is further complicated by unreliable and frequently misleading performance claims. Small operators without the means for making accurate evaluations of equipment frequently suffer from these over-enthusiastic claims. It is apparent from experience in rock drilling throughout the world that rock drillability is not alike in any two places, and that selection of proper equipment can only be made after conducting thorough trials of various types of equipment. Some recent drilling tests in tactite and hornstone at the Darwin, California mine of the Anaconda Co. present some interesting clues on rock drillability. Microscopic examination of thin sections of these rocks reveals that mineral composition and rock texture are equally important in governing drillability. The Darwin hornstone is at times so abrasive that the carbide bit cutting edges become flattened to 3/32 in. in 2 to 4 ft of drilling, and some carbide bits were dulled to this point after 9 to 10 in. of drilling. This wear was determined to be the proper point for resharpening to eliminate carbide insert breakage or breakage of the steel rod when drilling with 1½ to 1?-in. bits, with a drifter of 2 3/4-in. diam and 90 to 100 psi air pressure, see Supplement A. Before considering the merits of various bit designs it may be well to review the mechanics of drilling rock with percussion drills. A sharp bit cuts by penetration and chipping. The amount of penetration governs the amount of chipping and depends upon the contact area of the cutting edge, the foot-

Jan 1, 1954

By W. V. Green

Creep of tantalum was measured at temperatures from 0.6 to 0.89 of the absolute melting temperature. The creep curves include first, second, and third stages. Steady-state creep rate depends on the fourth power of stress. The activation energy for creep throughout this temperature range is approximately 114 kcal per mole, measured by the aT technique. Subgrain formation occurs as a result of creep strain, and pile-up dislocation arrays are observed in etch-pit patterns. BECAUSE of its high melting point-which is exceeded only by those of rhenium and tungsten—and its high room-temperature ductility compared to most of the other high-melting-point metals, tantalum will undoubtedly be utilized in an increasing number of high-temperature applications. Alloying studies directed toward increased high-temperature strength must use data on tantalum itself as a base line in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the alloying additions. However, to date, no systematic study of creep of tantalum at temperatures above one-half of its melting point has been reported in the literature. Conway, Salyards, McCullough, and Flagella1 have measured linear creep rate of tantalum sheet as a function of stress, but at only one temperature, 2600°C. This paper describes a relatively thorough study of the high-temperature creep of tantalum. METHOD Material Tested. The commercially supplied, l/2-innch-diameter tantalum rod used for this work was electron-beam-melted, cold-forged, rolled, swaged, cleaned chemically, and vacuum-annealed for 1 hr at 1000°C, all by its manufacturer. The vendor's analysis included 60 to 170 ppm C, 3.4 to 4.2 ppm H, 60 to 80 ppm 0, 15 ppm N, and a hardness ranging from 66 to 81 Bhn and averaging 76 Bhn. Creep eimens Used. Two creep-tested specimens are shown in Fig. 1. The 1/4 in.-diameter gage section was 3/4 to 1 in. long, and terminated either at shoulders 5 mils high or at 20-mil-diameter tantalum wires spot-welded to the circumference of the gage section. Both kinds of shoulders served equally well as fiducial marks for optical strain measurements. The spot welding did not alter the creep behavior in any detectable way; the 5-mil- high sharp shoulders did not result in any detectable localized effect on the strain. Before testing, each tensile bar was first mechanically polished -id then electrochemically polished according to the method referred to by Forgeng2 as the "Thompson Ramo Woolridge" method, which was suitable for tantalum after small adjustments of technique were made. Two tensile bars tested at low stresses had 1/8-in.-diameter gage sections and utilized only the weight of the bottom grip for the applied load. Although these diameters were smaller than were desired for other reasons, applied loads were known with high precision in the tests in which they were used. Testing Procedure. Two different constant-load creep-testing machines were employed, one of which has been described by Smith, Olson, and Brown.3 In both, the tensile bar is held vertically on the axis of a cylindrical tungsten tube or screen heater by threaded tungsten grips. The tensile bars and associated grips are heated by radiation from the incandescent heaters, which are heated by their own electrical resistance. Both testing machines use pins to hold the bottom grips in place. The load is applied to a tensile bar through hanging weights, a constant force-multiplication lever, a pull rod sealed to the chamber lid, and a top grip threaded to the pull rod at one end and to the tensile bar at the other. In one machine, the vacuum seal is a bellows with a low spring constant; in the other, the seal involves a rotating "0 ring". With the latter, rotation is converted to translation with a crank shaft, so that elongation of the tensile bar is accommodated with no change of tensile load. The incandescent tensile bar is viewed by an external optical system through slots in the radiation shields and heater, and an enlarged image is projected on a ground-glass screen. Gage-length measurements are made on this image with cathetometers on traveling microscopes. With regard to creep-test results, the two machines were identical. Thorium oxide coatings were applied to the threaded ends of the tensile bars, to prevent diffusion welding of the tensile bars to the grips during testing. Specimen temperatures were measured with an L. & N. optical pyrometer which had been calibrated against a standard carbon arc, and were corrected fir window absorption by calculation from the measured spectral transmittance of the quartz observation windows. Longitudinal temperature gradients in the tensile-bar gage length and temperature drifts during testing were detectable but small, and were estimated to be 10°C or less. Accuracy of temperature measurement was confirmed by comparing the temperature measured on the surface of a special

Jan 1, 1965

By J Price, M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey

COAL mine operators recognize coal as an abrasive material, because the wear of drilling, cutting, and conveying equipment is reflected as a cost item for replacement of parts. Similarly, industrial consumers of coal experience abrasive wear on all coal-handling equipment. Operators of pulverized fuel plants are doubtless most keenly aware of the abrasiveness of coal, because under the high contact pressures developed between coal and metal in pulverizers, abrasive wear is increased many fold. Moreover, experience in operating pulverized fuel plants has demonstrated that some coals are much more abrasive than others. Hardgrove' stated that maintenance costs entailed by the wear of grinding elements is often a more important variable than the cost of the power required to pulverize different coals. Craig2 also reports that one coal may cause pulverizer parts to wear several times faster than another. It is apparent, therefore, that those concerned with pulverizing coal could profitably employ a method for estimating the abrasiveness of different coals, just as they utilize standard tests for thermal value, grindability, and ash-fusion temperature to assist in selecting the most suitable and economical coal to use in a particular plant. The objective of this investigation was to develop a test procedure that would be suitable for general use in estimating the abrasiveness of coals. However, few, if any, of the standard tests now used for evaluating the properties of coal are the product of a single investigation or the result of a single investigator's efforts. Rather, in each case, a testing procedure was devised by one investigator, used by others on a wider variety of coals, and finally refined completely as the result of the joint efforts of a number of interested people. Thus, the test procedure for estimating abrasiveness developed in the course of this work may not be refined sufficiently in its present form for general use, but it may serve as the starting point from which an acceptable test procedure can be developed. The method has been used thus far on only about a dozen coals, and there has been no opportunity to attempt a correlation between experimental results and actual plant experience. Only wider use of the procedure by other investigators and correlation with plant experience can determine to what extent the method will have to be modified to render it suitable for general application. Test Method Although the literature contains no record of an attempt to devise a method for estimating the abrasiveness of coal that could be used industrially, several investigators have tested properties of coal that are closely related to its abrasiveness. The abrasiveness of a material generally is considered to be related to its hardness, and hardness tests for coal have been employed by Heywood,' O'Neill," and Mathes. Also, the resistance of coal to abrasion, a property that presumably is related to the abrasiveness of coal, was measured by Heywooda and by Simek, Pulkrabek, and Coufalik.2 11 these investigators tested only individual pieces of coal. Since coal is a heterogeneous material having components of varying properties, tests of this type can yield results having little more than academic interest. Only a test method that utilizes a representative sample of coal can give results that are useful industrially. The abrasion tests used for various other materials have been considered for adaptation to testing the abrasiveness of coal. The tests used for metals,7-9 paving and flooring,'" and rubber," cannot be used because coal is not sufficiently abrasive.~ The present experimental work was begun before World War II and was conducted by three research fellows"'" working under a joint agreement between the University of Washington and the Bureau of Mines. After a great deal of preliminary work with a variety of apparatus and materials, a test procedure was developed which consisted of rotating a test disk 2Yz in. diam in a steel mortar containing the coal sample. The shaft carrying the test disk at the lower end and a 100-lb load on the upper end was free to move vertically. The bed of coal in the mortar was kept fluid by low-pressure air admitted through a port near the bottom of the mortar. Measurable wear on an Armco iron disk could be obtained in this test procedure, but, despite extensive efforts to eliminate them, several major disadvantages remained in this test method. First, with most coals the amount of wear on the iron disk did not exceed a few milligrams. Second, a single type of disk was not applicable for all coals. A smooth iron disk gave satisfactory results with both bituminous and sub-bituminous coals, but hardly any wear with anthracite or coke. A disk having studs or projections gave more satisfactory abrasion losses with anthracite and coke and presented no operating difficulties with free-burning bituminous and sub-bituminous coals. It could not, however, be used with caking coals because these coals formed a

Jan 1, 1952

By W. C. Coffin

Fire-brick stoves have become a necessary part of the modern coke blast-furnace equipment, and are also superseding the cast-iron pipe stoves in anthracite- and charcoal-furnaces. The brick stoves in general use are of either the Cowper or Whitwell type, or modifications of these bearing the names of those who invented the alterations from the original types rather than any real departure from then]. All these stoves have approximately the same valve-equipment and follow the same line of operation. The waste gas from the furnace enters at one port and burns in a single combustion-chamber, and the heated products are drawn through the various passe; in the brickwork to a stack of proper height to create the necessary draught. The last passes of these stoves receive a very small percentage of the heat from the gas, owing to their extreme distance from the combustion-chamber; and this chamber also suffers great deterioration in the attempt to force the heat into the farthest passes. At best, about 70 per cent. of the heat taken up is held in the combustion-chamher and the first down-pass of the Whitwell stoves. Mr. Hugh Kennedy, Manager of the Isabella Furnaces, Pittsburgh, Pa., who has had a large experience with the fire-brick hotblast stoves, was so strongly impressed with the fact that but about thirty per cent of the brick of the average stove were doing proper duty as heat-agents, that, after careful study and experiment, he had three 20- by 60-feet stoves constructed with a view of more uniformly heating all the brick. In these the general lines of the Whitwell stove are followed, with the blast-connections unaltered, but gas is introduced at the bottom of each pass, and outlets are provided at the top, so that the gases have a direct natural draught in each pass and the highest heats are obtained at the bottom instead of the top. The natural tendency being toward the reverse condition, the brickwork soon acquires an almost uniform temperature.

Jan 1, 1893