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By R. S. Nutter

The results of designing, constructing, and laboratory testing of a modular, distributed, microprocessor-based mine monitoring and control system are presented. A standard computer communications protocol (DDCMP) was utilized throughout the system. Tests were performed on the utilization of a high-level language for programming mine monitoring and control systems. Laboratory tests were run on a combined air velocity/methane sensor.

Jan 1, 1980

By L. L. Hirst

In 1944, the 78th congress of the United States enacted Public Law 290, which directed the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Mines, to furnish industry with basic information and cost data for the development of a synthetic liquid fuels industry. Recently published information with respect to the cost of synthetic liquid fuels processes indicates a wide variation in estimated results. To clarify the results and inconsistencies for the hydrogenation of coal, the Bureau of Mines has prepared preliminary designs and calculated detailed investment costs from which the operating costs to produce 30,000 barrels per day of liquid products, mainly gasoline, by coal hydrogenation were obtained.

Jan 1, 1949

By L. C. IlsLey

A list of permissible mine equipment, tested and approved p or to July 1, 1934, was published in Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6813/. The present list4/ includes virtually all the electric air compressors, coal drills, mining machines, loading machines, conveyors, mine pumps, room hoists, mine telephones, rock-dusting machines, switches, electric cap lamps, flame safety lanes, electric hand and trip lamps, electric flood lamps, methane detectors, blasting units, storage-battery locomotives, tandem locomotives, mower trucks, and concrete mixers tested and approved by the Bureau to January 1, 1937. The system under which these devices were tested permits the manufacturer, after his equipment has passed certain tests prescribed by the United States Bureau of Mines, to mark his equipment with a seal showing that it has been approved by the Bureau. These tests are designed to insure that equipments have the minimum requirements for safety in use. The only object of the bureau in making such tests and publishing lists of permissible equipment is to help decrease the hazards of mining.

Jan 1, 1937

By T. F. Mitchell, B. K. Shibler, J. V. Batty, W. G. Sandell, G. M. Potter

"INTRODUCTION The Park City district, situated 30 miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Wasatch Mountains, Is a well-known producer of lead, zinc, and precious metals. Nearly continuous production has been maintained from the dis¬trict since its early discovery about 1870. For approximately 50 years, gravity milling methods were employed to beneficiate Park City ore, and during that time tailings from the mills were sluiced down Silver Creek and deposited on lands below the camp for 7 miles.Owing to the large tonnage of tailings deposited along Silver Creek, considerable work was done in the past in the attempt to develop a low-cost concentration method for re-treating this material, but no-method was found that was economically feasible. The Bureau of Mines was asked to conduct beneficiation tests on Park City tailings in November 1944, and metallurgical studies were initiated at that time. This report summarizes the results of laboratory ore-dressing studies made on samples from the Grasselli deposit."

Dec 1, 1947

By H. William Zeller

The U.S. Bureau of Mines evaluated the effects of two iron-based fuel additives on diesel particulate matter (DPM) emissions. The 5.6-L, six-cylinder test engine is typical of engines used in underground mines. One additive, ferrous picrate, did not measurably affect exhaust emissions. This report is mainly about a ferrocene-based additive that reduced DPM between 4 and 45 pet., depending on engine operating conditions. The report concludes that the DPM reductions were caused by the catalytic oxidation properties of a ferric oxide coating that developed inside the engine's combustion chamber. The ferric oxide coating also decreased gas-phase hydrocarbons and O2, but it increased CO2 and NOx, The increase in NOx, of about 12 pet, is considered the only adverse effect of the ferrocene-based fuel additive. The results suggest that the effectiveness of ferrocene was partially offset by increased sulfates because of the high-sulfur fuel used. Recommendations for continuing fuel additive research are presented.

Jan 1, 2010

By E. P. Hayes

This report supplements the date contained in Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6156, "Special features of core drilling in the salt beds of Western Texas and New Mexico," by J. S. Wroth. That circular dealt with the drilling of the first 12 of the 24 potash tests made by the U. S. Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the U. S. Geological Survey; this report is concerned with the drilling of the last 12 tests. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer is indebted to R. E. Heithecker, the Bureau of Mines engineer who had charge of the drilling of tests 13 to 17, for his well-prepared records on the drilling of these tests.

Jan 1, 1933

By S. P. Kinney

The Department of the Interior has recently investigated the atmospheric conditions in tunnels of the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah and Wyoming , by observations made from the cabs of freight locomotives . This work was conducted by the Bureau of Mines at the request of , and in cooperation with , the Union Pacific Railroad Co .. and was brought about by several accidents to members of engine crews while passing through tunnels , from pollution of the tunnel air by exhaust gases from freight locomotives . The object was to determine the cause of gassing accidents , by examining into composition of the air in locomotive cabs while passing through railroad turmels ; to learn the effect of these conditions on the engine crew; and to provide a means of protection for the men so exposed . Gas samples and temperature readings taken in the cabs of locomotives were used in studying the atmospheric conditions to which the locomotive crews were exposed . The symptoms and the physiologica effects produced in men exposed to the atmospheres encountered were studied . The pulse rates and body temperatures were taken , and the determinations of the carbon monoxide content of the blood were made . Various methods for the prevention of gassing and for the protection of men therefrom were considered and tested , among which were the use of mechanical devices for deflecting the smoke away from the engine cab, and the use of various types of gas masks and breathing apparatus . While this investigation is a part of the safety work of the Bureau of Mines in connection with hazards from atmospheres containing carbon monoxide ( CO ) , the results are of particular value to railroads operating steam locomotives through tunnels , and are also valuable to other industries where atmospheres having poisonous gases or of a high temperature and humidity may be present . The results may be summarized as follows :

Jun 1, 1923

Rock property tests were performed on NX-size diamond drill core from the roof, floor, and coal from the longwall mining section of Federal No. 2 mine, West Virginia. The purpose of these tests was to determine the engineering properties of the various strata as part of a ground control study of the longwall operation. The following tests were performed: 1. Uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio 2. Triaxial compressive strength 3. Brazilian tensile strength 4. Modulus of rupture 5. Specific gravity Thirteen boxes of core delivered to the University on April 1, 1974 were identified as follows: 2 PTR 1 -2 boxes of roof rock 2 PTF 1 -2 boxes of floor rock 2 PTR 2 -2 boxes of roof rock 2 PTF 2 -2 boxes of floor rock with approximately 3 ft of coal in Box 2 (designated 2 PTC 2) 2 PTR 3 -2 boxes of roof rock 2 PTF 3 -2 boxes of floor rock 1 PC 5 -1 box of coal

Jan 1, 1976

By M. A. Schellhardt, E. J. Dewees, R. Vincent Smith

"INTRODUCTION Abnormal material requirements of the nation at war impose an intensive demand upon many irreplaceable natural resources. Natural-3as reserves) for example, are being subjected at the present time to extensive depletion by large-scale withdrawals of gas to supply unprecedented demands for fuel and raw materials for the synthesis of strategic products. Fluids produced from many so-called gas-condensate type reservoirs have become an important source of hydrocarbons vital to the war effort.Development of gas-condensate type reservoirs in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas in recent years created many problems not common to ordinary gas-producing operations. Early in the development of condensate-type gas fields, general practices were evolved and applied to insure efficient re¬covery of the hydrocarbons existing in the gas phase under initial reservoir pressures and temperatures, put often the practices were predicted mainlyregardingupon generalized theory regarding the behavior of the fluids and were not always the most efficient, because field and laboratory procedure for testing these hydrocarbons had not progressed as rapidly or as far as field development. Specific information regarding the composition and properties of fluids ultimately recoverable from many gas-condensate reservoirs, especially, is lacking."

Oct 1, 1944

By Stanton L. Tainter

As a part of a wartime program to aid in the development of known ore bodies and in the discovery of hitherto unknown deposits of strategic minerals, the Bureau of Mines investigated the feasibility of diamond-drilling the Christmas copper deposit, in Gila County, Ariz., to increase the reserves of milling ore. Upon recommendation of the examining engineer, drilling was begun in September 1942, from the bottom (770) level of the mine. One month later, in cooperation with the Bureau, the Federal Geological Survey started geologic mapping of the mine workings. Since extensive and costly development would be required, the War Production Board concluded that ore below the bottom level could not be mined at that time because of the wartime shortages of equipment and man-power. In January 1943, drilling was moved to the 300 and 400 levels to locate reserves readily accessible for continued production of fluxing ore. This drilling, which was under the supervision of L. G. Marshall, was completed in January 1944.

Jan 1, 1948

By E. D. Gardner

The American petroleum industry is supplying the present domestic demand for liquid fuels. Known reserves of petroleum in the ground, however, are limited, and the .cost per barrel of finding new oil pools is increasing. Any deficiencies of domestic production in the near future doubtlessly could be made up by imports: Dependence upon foreign oil for part of our industrial requirements is not necessarily cause for alarm, but in time of war an adequate, dependable, domestic source of liquid fuels is vital to the defense of the country. As a national defense measure, and to insure a future continuous oil supply for our economic machine, it would appear logical to take steps now to develop methods for producing petroleum substitutes within our own borders. This undoubtedly was in the mind of Congress when it passed the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act (58 stat.190; 30 U. S. C. Sup. Secs. 321-325), Approved April 5, 1944.The title' of the Law reads: An Act authorizing the construction and operation of demonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels from coal, oil shales, agricultural and forestry products, and other substances, in order to aid the prosecution of the war, to conserve and increase the oil resources of the Nation, and for other purposes. Congress authorized $30,000,000 for a 5-year program and directed the Bureau of Mines to carry it out. The part of the program pertaining to oil shale is being conducted on Naval Oil-Shale Reserves Nos. 1 and 3 (fig. 1) at Anvil Points, near Rifle, Colo.

Jan 1, 1948

By W. W. Adams

Lower accident rates were the outstanding feature. of the second annual sand and gravel safety competition conducted in 1930 by the United States Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the National Sand and' Gravel Association. Both the frequency and, severity rates for accidents were greatly reduced as compared with those shown by the first year's contest, that for 1929. Three times as many plants were enrolled, and the number of man-hours of work represented was more than doubled. Seventy-six sand-and-gravel plants, situated in 20 States, participated in the Competition, as compared with 26 plants, located in 13 States, in the year before. The number of man-hours of employment, which indicated the amount of exposure to occupational hazards, was 4,915,592, an increase of more than 100 per cent over the previous year's total of 2,259,572 hours. The frequency of accidents declined from 74.4 per million hours for all plants enrolled in the first year's contest to 42.7 per million man-hours for all plants enrolled in 1930. The accident-severity rate was reduced from 9.7 days of disability per thousand man-hours of exposure in 1929 to 5.9 days of disability per thousand man-hours of exposure in 1930. The actual number of accidents reported for 1930 by 76 plants included four deaths and 206 injuries whereas the 26 plants that were enrolled in 1929 reported three fatalities and 165 injuries. Under the rules of the contest all "lost-time" injuries are reported--that is, all injuries that disable an employee for more than the remainder of the day on which the accident occurred. If the employee is physically able to resume his work on the day following the accident, the injury is not classed as a lost-time injury. The contest covered accidents and man-hours worked by all employees at the plant who were employed by the same company, and included work up to the point of delivery of the material directly to consumer or to independent agency of transportation--in other words, to point of relinquishment of control of the material by the producer.

Jan 1, 1931

By H. B. Brunot, L. C. IlsLey, E. J. Gleim

"INTRODUCTION To supply inspectors, safety engineers, and others with detailed information as to the safety features of the various electrically operated machines that have been approved as permissible by the Bureau of Mines, three bulletins and five reports of investigations have been published dealing with the various classes of approved machines:Bull. 313, Permissible Storage-Battery Locomotives and Power Trucks.Bull, 343, Permissible Coal-Handling Equipment Approved from January 1926 to December 1930, inclusive.Bull. 382, Permissible Coal-Cutting Equipment Approved Prior to July 1, 1932.Rep. of Investigations 3309, Permissible Electrically Operated. Air Compressors.Rep. of Investigations 3326, Permissible Electrically Operated Room Hoists.Rep. of Investigations 3345, Permissible Electrically Operated Rock-Dust Distributors.Rep. of Investigations 3363, Permissible Electrically Operated Hand-Held Coal Drills.Rep. of Investigations 3391, Permissible Electrically Operated Post Drills and Drilling Machines.The present paper gives similar information relative to the mine pumps approved before October 1, 1939."

Mar 1, 1940

By Griffith. F. E., Glei

"INTRODUCTION For many years protective grounding of electrical equipment has been advocated as a means of safeguarding equipment against damage and of minimizing shock hazards to persons. Several codes are in effect covering in considerable detail the items to be observed in obtaining effective grounding in and about industrial plants. Although the coal-mining industry does not have a comprehensive code of its own covering the grounding of electrical installations, a number of States and individual coal-mining companies have issued codes, standards, or rules that include certain requirements with reference to grounding. As early as 1916, 4/ and again more recently, 5/ the Bureau of Mines recommended grounding, particularly as a means of preventing shock to men working on or around electrical equipment.It is common knowledge among electrical engineers of public utility and mining companies that connecting a wire from the frame of a machine to a rod or pipe driven into the earth does not necessarily assure desired protection of surface equipment. In fact, it has often been found necessary to use several interconnected rods and to treat the surrounding earth with salt or other chemicals before the connection to earth would have sufficiently low resistance to give satisfactory results. Even these expedients have not produced the desired results in some localities. It has also been found that ground connections initially having a low resistance may attain high resistance during some seasons of the year. In spite of such difficulties with surface equipment, it has sometimes been assumed that a mining machine resting on the floor in a coal mine is grounded by virtue of its contact with that floor. It has also been assumed by persons endeavoring to comply with grounding requirements that a peg or rod driven into the mine floor would provide a sufficiently low-resistance contact with the earth to be satisfactory as an electrode for connecting the grounding wire from frames of equipment. That both assumptions may be wholly untrustworthy has been proved by the authors in actual tests with underground machinery."

Dec 1, 1943

By P. H. Mutschler

The Bureau of Mines studied the Chattanooga Shale to determine the quantity and quality of the uranium resources present and to assess specific environmental effects of mining the shale. Geologic data and chemical analyses, mainly concerning a 12-county area of Tennessee, were compiled from previous published and unpublished reports. Uranium resources in the Gassaway Member of the Chattanooga Shale in this 12-county area were estimated to be between 4.2 and 5.1 million tons, contained in 76 to 91 billion tons of shale. These figures represent inground tonnages and do not allow for mining or processing losses. Depending upon efficiency of mining and processing systems, enough uranium could be available to satisfy a large part of the cumulative domestic and world demand through the year 2000. A model was developed which assesses the total tons or acres of shale to be mined if the Gassaway Member were to satisfy 1 percent of the United States demand for uranium in 1991. This partially demonstrates the environmental impact of mining the shale and is easily factorable to any specified demand.

Jan 1, 1976

By Vernon O. Markworth

This report contains the results of tests performed on three large diesel engines to determine their ability to meet selected criteria of the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration Regulations for equipment used in gassy, non-coal mines. Study efforts were first directed toward determining the types of equipment expected to be used in underground oil shale mines. Three typical engines in the 800-1200 horsepower range were then selected for testing. Intake flame arresters, exhaust scrubbers, and water jacketed exhaust system were designed and built for each engine. During testing, each engine was evaluated for its gaseous emissions output, adequacy of the exhaust gas cooling system, ability to withstand internal explosions, and adequacy of the flame arresters. Surface temperatures of the engine and exhaust cooling system were determined under full load operation.

Jan 1, 1978

By C. J. H. Brest van Kempen

The objective of this contract was to provide thrust and torque control and visual output torque readout systems to an existing mine roof bolting machine and to test the consistency of torques obtained under actual field conditions. A Lee Norse TD1 roof bolter was modified by adding a simple torque sensing device to the drill rotation mechanism and a pneumatic logic control circuit that measures torque and controls the hydraulic circuit to the rotation motor. The modification controls and indicates the final installation torque of mine roof bolts. A total of over 5,000 mechanical roof bolts were installed in an operating coal mine. The installed torque of these bolts were within an error band (standard deviation) of 8%.

Jan 1, 1978

By W. W. Adams

With production of coal per man-hour of work highest in history, the coal mines of the United States established a lower accident-frequency4 rate in 1942 than in any year since 1930, the first for which the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, collected complete reports of nonfatal as well as fatal injuries. Reports from mine operators and State mining departments showed that 530,861 men were employed in and about coal mines during the calendar year 1942. This number does not include office employees or coke-oven workers. The figure represents a decrease of 15,831 men from the previous year, owing to losses of men to the military services and to more lucrative employment in the munitions and other industries. The loss of men was offset to some degree by an increase in the number of days of mine activity and the average number of hours of work per man during the year. The volume of work done during 1942 was 910 million man-hours, 11 percent more than in 1941. The average employee worked 243 days, 30 days more than in 1941. Production reached the unprecedented total of 640 million short tons, an increase of 12 percent over 1941; 582 million tons came from the bituminous fields of the United States and 58 million tons from the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania. To produce this quantity of coal 1,471 men sacrified their lives, and 69,564 men suffered nonfatal injuries that disabled them for more than the remainder of the day on which the accident occurred. The nonfatal injuries were divided into three groups: 65 caused permanent total disability, 2,045 caused permanent partial disability, and 67,454 caused temporary disability of 1 day or more but did not result in the loss of, or permanent loss of use of, any part of the body.

Jan 1, 1944

By Lloyd A. Morley

This annual report details progress under USBM Grant G0155003 during the project period of January 1, 1977 through December 31, 1977. The report contains four principal chapters covering accomplishments in the mine electrical safety research areas of continuous monitoring, battery and battery-charging safety, and computer modeling. Highlights of the work are summarized in the last report chapter.

Jan 1, 1978

By A. J. Barry

This report presents observations made by Bureau engineers regarding hydraulic-powered roof supports that are currently being used or have been used on nearly all operating longwalls in the United States, A comparative summary of specifications for various types of powered supports with a brief description of the mine conditions has been compiled to enable mining engineers and mine operators to readily evaluate the differences in design data. Some of the support data furnished in the field may vary from those listed in manufacturers' brochures because of the trend to customize various support components to meet specific mine conditions. A method of estimating support requirements for different assumed operating conditions is presented. Similar computations for specific mine conditions may be used to make preliminary estimates of support requirements.

Jan 1, 1969