Search Documents

By Michael J. Messel

W. P. MOULD*—Has consideration been given to the problem of retreating the 4,000,000 ton tailings pile to recover the very considerable amount of asbestos fiber that was lost over the years due to insufficient operation and poor recoveries? Also, what was known about the possible content of chromite and the sulphides of nickel and cobalt? M. J. MESSEL (author's reply)—Consideration was given to the problem but nothing concrete has been done up to this time. W. P. MOULD—I am certain the tail- ings contain a very considerable quantity of fiber, not all of which is in the shortest lengths, because in the milling of talc rock from a neighboring location having a common origin with the asbestos bearing serpentine source of the tailings pile, a concentrate carrying 15 pct Ni and Co in complex sulphides and constituting about 4/10 of 1 pct of the talc rock was recovered. In the belief that the tailings also contained an appreciable content of chromite (then in demand, 1937) it was suggested to the management of the asbestos company that a truck load of the current tailings be sent to the flotation plant of the talc company where it would be put over the concentrating tables in an effort to discover the presence and roughly the percentages of chromite, nickel, and cobalt. Preparations for the test were woefully inadequate and the test was completely snarled up by the surprisingly large quantity of asbestos fiber from 1 in. long down to very short fiber, all of which matted up and plugged launders and pumps with disastrous effects and practically the total loss of the sample. If anything was indicaded by the test, it was that a wet process for milling asbestos was worthy of very serious consideration. M. J. MESSEL—A wet milling process for tailings retreatment only, is at present under study at our plant. One asbestos mining company in Canada has constructed a fairly large test plant for this purpose, but as yet no definite results have been obtained other than in a small test unit plant which were in some respects quite encouraging.

Jan 1, 1950

By P. Pietrokowsky

RECENTLY a comprehensive investigation of the various sigma binary alloys was published by Duwez and Baen.1 It was shown that the following conditions are necessary for the formation of the sigma phase: (1) the difference in atomic diameters of the two alloying metals must not be more than about 8 pct; (2) of the two elements which form sigma, one must exhibit a body-centered cubic structure while the second metal must be face-centered cubic, at least in one of its allotropic forms. In addition, a tetragonal unit cell was proposed and powder patterns of six sigma phases were indexed for d spacings greater than 1.640 kx. Since the indexing, based on tetragonal symmetry, led to only fair agreement, the possibility of sigma being orthorhombic was investigated. Various methods for indexing orthorhombic powder patterns are de- scribed in the literature.' The method used in this investigation was a graphical examination of the differences in values of sin' 9 for the adjacent lines of the powder diffraction pattern. This method led to a complete indexing of the Cr-Co (60-40) pattern. Because of the strong similarity between the various sigma alloys, it was then possible to assign indexes to the patterns of Fe-Cr (50-50), Fe-Cr-Mo (30-30-40), Fe-V (50-50), Co-V (50-50), and Ni-V (50-50). The values of sin' 9 and indexes of the six sigma alloys, together with visually estimated intensities, are presented in table 1. In general, the similitude between the six patterns is quite good. For spacings greater than 1.75 kx a few differences are noticeable. In the Ni-V pattern, no (320) exists and the two strong lines (030) and (031) are separated by only two lines of lower intensity, unlike any of the other sigma patterns. However, very little is known about the Ni-V phase diagram and it is possible that the equal atomic percentage composition in this system lies in a two-phase region. At lower spacings there is a close analogy between the patterns. The planes

Jan 1, 1951

By A. H. Taitt

The original basis for the search for oil in Great Britain was described last year.t During 1937 the exploratory drilling by the D'Arcy Exploration Company, Ltd. has been continued. Three wells have been completed in the south of England and a fourth is nearing completion. In addition, test wells are now being drilled in Scotland and East Yorkshire. Southern England The test well on the Portsdown structure, which at the end of 1936 was drilling in the Lower Lias at 5792 ft., entered the Triassic at 6540 ft. and was completed in that formation at a depth of 6556 ft., without encountering further indications of petroleum. The Henfield well encountered the Lias at a depth of approximately 4090 ft., and after drilling 800 ft. of an argillaceous development of that formation entered a series of marls, breccias and conglomeratic limestones of the Carboniferous. Drilling was suspended at a depth of 5105 ft., in the latter formation. The consistently impermeable nature of the strata encountered in the Portsdown and Henfield test wells focused attention on the desirability of obtaining shore-line conditions of the Jurassic. With this end in view the Kingsclere anticline, a few miles south of Newbury in Berkshire, was selected for a next test. The Kingsclere well has now reached a depth of 5032 ft. in the Lower Lias and has encountered a full development of the Jurassic. With the exception of the Portland sand, which has a slightly greater porosity, and the Corallian, in which relatively great thicknesses of impervious limestone were met, conditions of sedimentation have been found to be comparable with those of the earlier wells. Small traces of petroleum have been found in cuttings and cores, but formation tests carried out at frequent intervals have yielded no flow of oil. In order to test the Corallian, from which series an outcropping oil sand had been found, a test well was drilled in a near-by anticline at Poxwell in Dorset. The Poxwell well started in the Portland beds and entered the Corallian at 995 ft. The sands at the horizon of the out-

Jan 1, 1938

By B. S. Butler

If geology is to continue to serve the mineral industry with increasing effectiveness as it has done in the past, there must be a steady output of better and better trained geologists and engineers with broader geological background. It may seem that the education and technical training of geologists belong entirely to the universities and colleges and has nothing to do with either Government surveys or the mining industry, outside of these activities furnishing a field for future work for the geological student. It will take but the most casual look, however, to see the large influence of Government surveys in education. Geological Maps Geological maps are essential tools in teaching geology, without which the instructor would be lost. Maps are produced by mining and oil companies, by university workers and by other individuals and institutions, but nearly all of the comprehensive maps, and most of the maps of small areas that are available, are directly or indirectly the work of public surveys. Such surveys in the past have been the only organizations with the continuity of effort and funds necessary to carry out projects that must combine the work of many individual geologists over long periods. Have we all the maps we need and of the quality we need? I believe that all who have used general maps, like the geological maps of the world, the maps of 'North America and the United States, maps of the several states and of smaller areas, appreciate fully the value of the maps as they are but realize also the value of greater accuracy, which can come only by more detailed work; and there are many areas of which we have no adequate maps. Other Helps I have chosen to emphasize maps as a help in preparing the young geologist to go out from the schools with some background of what has been accomplished and some outlook of what is yet to be done. Maps, however, are scarcely more essential to the teacher than many allied helps. What would the teacher of economic geology do if the work by Government surveys along that line were to be blotted out? We may

Jan 1, 1935

By George E. Roberts

The maintenance of the common gold standard is the most important cooperative undertaking in the world. The war broke up this relationship and brought about a state of great disorder in the currencies and exchanges. After the war the countries all began to grope their way back to the gold standard as the best means of establishing trade and financial relations with each other. With this movement began a general decline in commodity prices. The question has been raised whether the world's return to the gold standard was not forcing prices back to the prewar level. Also, the question is raised whether the world has not outgrown the supply of gold as the basis of credit. Because Europe readjusted its monetary units to conform to the higher level of prices there is no pressure on prices on this account. Furthermore, a large amount of gold formerly in hand-to-hand circulation passed out of circulation and has been added to the central bank reserves. The gold reserves of 36 countries increased approximately 100 per cent from the outbreak of the war to June 30,1930. The increase is much larger than the average increase of prices in any of the important countries, at any time since 192.5. As gold in the central banks of issue is far more effective for all business purposes than gold in circulation, the gold scarcity argument has little basis as applied to this time. The abnormal distribution due to the war was to the disadvantage of business everywhere. Credit was scarcer and dearer in some countries. The inflation in this country might have been greater had the production of gold been greater. The argument supporting the theory of a scarcity of gold assumes as fundamental that general price changes must be accounted for by changes in the price equation on the side of money. This is disproved in every period of business depression. A downward price movement is characteristic of every period of business recession. Important discoveries of gold must be made even to maintain present gold production, in the face of which the world's business is bound to continue increasing. It cannot be doubted that some way will be found

Jan 1, 1931

Air-sand Process of Cleaning Coal Discussion of paper by THOMAS FRASER and H. F. YANCEY, presented at the New York Meeting, 1926, and issued, as Pamphlet No. 1561-F, with MINING AND METALLURGY, February, 1926. T. DEVENNY, Edgarton, W. Va.-How near the size of the sand can the coal to be treated be brought? Do you use an 8-mesh coal on that cleaner? J. J. RUTLEDGE, Baltimore, Md.-From the little I have seen of the apparatus in operation, I should say 8-mesh. In my experience in metalmine concentration work, trying to separate different minerals on one jig, sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes not. This apparatus has appealed to me; something of this kind should be useful with the silicates and carbonates of zinc. I think this apparatus has possibilities in metal mining. Recently in our coal field a screen has been introduced for cleaning coal; it is giving excellent service. When I asked the inventor why he did not take it to the metal mines, he said there was a good and sufficient reason, in a patent way. There may be reasons why it would not be applicable for metal mining; but the simplicity of it appeals to me and I cannot see why it could not be so used. T. FRASER (written discussion).-We feel that 8-mesh would be about -the minimum size of coal practicable to treat by the air-sand process. This would depend partly upon the friability of the coal. The more nearly the lower size limits of the coal- approaches the size of the sand, the more .time will be required in screening the sand out of the cleaned coal, which would mean a little more chance of breakage. In regard to the treatment of ores; this would necessitate the use of some heavier mediums than ordinary silica sand, or some other means of making the separation at a higher specific gravity than is required for coal. We are now working on a method of obtaining this effect for the preparation of anthracite coal without resorting to the use of heavier and more expensive material than common sand.

Jan 1, 1927

By B. F. Tillson

There is a dearth of information on the economic threat of silicosis. Even the insurance companies and rating bureaus are in a quandary, and the majority of them avoid any action that will stir up an awakened public consciousness of the serious nature of this industrial hazard. Individual claims for $100,000 are now common in silicosis lawsuits. Because of ('hidden costs," in lowered plant efficiency, the total cost of this disease to industry is probably four times its apparent direct cost. The direct costs vary with the labor policies of the employer and with the labor legislation in force. Direct costs may originate in three ways: (1) voluntary assumption by the employer of medical expenses and loss of earning power of stricken employees; (2) state enforcement of industrial disease compensation acts; and (3) awards or settlements after suits in common law. Examples are offered in the last two classifications. In the Rand, South Africa, compensation laws are in effect and in approximately 20 years prior to 1932 about $65,000,000 has been awarded for silicosis and an additional liability of $34,000,000 incurred, or an average of about t5,000,000 per year. During 1932 silicosis compensation on the Rand was about $6,000,000. No figures are available for the direct capital or operating costs for preventive measures there, nor for the additional "hidden costs." It might be reasonable to assume that silicosis has cost the gold-mining industry of South Africa twenty to twenty-five millions of dollars per year. It is estimated that common-law silicosis claims have, in the last few years, aggregated $50,000,000 in New York State alone and have exceeded $300,000,000 in the United States. Attention is called to the involved nature of the insurance situation for industrial diseases in contrast to accidents. The indeterminant, insidious nature of silicosis makes it particularly difficult to predict necessary insurance premiums and reserves. The serious hazard of this disease was not properly appreciated by either insurance companies or industrialists, so sufficient study has not been given its causation, prevention, detection, treatment, and compensation. Therefore legal difficul-

Jan 1, 1934

THE strike of the coal miners began on April 1, as had been expected, the entire force of unionized miners-both anthracite and bituminous-going out and making this the most widespread strike of record. Up to the present writing there has been no serious inconvenience to industry in general, the accu-mulated stocks of coal being large and the non-union mines having continued to make a substantial production. However, the union labor leaders, having concentrated their efforts toward inducing the non-union miners to go out also, met with some measure of success in certain fields and created a shortage of coking coal, which caused iron makers to bank a few furnaces. The strike of textile workers in New England spread further. Here and there, throughout the country there were sporadic troubles with the builders. Rail-way labor was the subject of continued palavers, which did not get anywhere. On the whole the events of April were in line with the forecast that this would be a year of labor troubles. In domestic politics, the soldier bonus bill, having been passed by the House, went to committee consider-ation in the Senate. Public opposition to it manifestly waxed. On the floor of the Senate the tariff bill was under consideration and is drawing nigh to passage, without there being much consideration of its probable economic consequences. It is going to be a very high tariff and there is much in it that is equivalent to subsidizing small and normally unprofitable industries at the expense of the people as a whole. Abroad affairs were more quiet, superficially at least; than they were in March. In Egypt, India and South Africa things calmed, down, so far as we know, but in Ireland there was continued turmoil. The Irish, having won their freedom to the same degree as the Canadians, have entered upon violent quarrels among themselves, more over phrases than anything .else, so far as we can see. Lloyd George obtained a spectacular vote of confidence from Parliament and thus postponed, the exigency of a general election.

Jan 5, 1922

F. JOHNSON,* Birmingham, England (written discussion t).--. Mr. Skowronski's first melting experiments tend to show that ingots with a "level set" may be obtained without oxygen. Now it is characteristic of all metals which occupy a smaller volume when solid than they do when molten to "pipe." In vertical-cast ingots, this pipe resembles a horn-shaped cavity, with the wide mouth uppermost. In horizontal-cast ingots, the pipe is a longitudinal furrow along the center-line of the ingot surface. If copper be successfully deoxidized and degasified, this furrow will inevitably be produced. In the author's oxygen-free ingots, it is. clear that gases were occluded and these gases effectively opposed the formation of a pipe or furrow by shrinkage (fluid contraction). It is riot a special property of any particular gas which produces this effect. Hence it is not surprising that the author has succeeded in producing level and overpoled ingots through the agency of sulphur. dioxide gas. That he has counteracted the overpoling influence of sulphur by means of oxygen is somewhat difficult to explain, since the well known reaction between cuprous sulphide and cuprous oxide should result in the production of sulphur dioxide gas. Why the presence of excess cuprous oxide should neutralize the overpoling influence of this gas without eliminating sulphur is not at all clear. It is to be regretted that the oxygen was not determined in the bars given in Tables 3 and 4. It is by no means established that sulphur is responsible for the over, poling of ingots given in Table 4, since carbon was used for overpoling. If, however, the same kind of poling treatment was given as that applied in the case of ingots in Table 1, the responsibility of sulphur assumes more definite shape. The author rightly points out that Mr. Johnson's theory of the equilibrium between gases and cuprous oxide does not explain why a simple addition of cuprous oxide does not correct an overpoled charge. Such a charge must be re-worked to "set" copper. This re-working (rabbling) undoubtedly forcibly removes the excess gases, which are not removable by cuprous oxide.

Jan 11, 1918

By Leroy U. Gardner

The human respiratory tract is an apparatus for the interchange of gases between the air and the blood. An important part of it are mechanisms to prevent the apparatus from becoming clogged with dust particles that are inhaled with the air. These mechanisms are adequate to protect the organ against most dusts, but silica and at least one of the silicates, asbestos, are tissue poisons which initiate changes in the connective tissues of the lung, incompatible with function. Silica is concentrated by the phagocytes in contact with the connective tissues of the lymphatic drainage system. An overgrowth of connective tissue occurs which interferes with the function of this system. More dust that may be inhaled can no longer be effectively eliminated from the lung. It accumulates in the functioning part of the organ and excites the formation of characteristic fibrous nodules and bands. These changes seriously impair the respiratory function. The shadows of such changes cast upon an X-ray film of the lung are discussed. The reaction to silica in the lung produces a marked increased susceptibility to tuberculous infection. It can be reproduced and studied in the experimental animal and has been observed repeatedly in human beings. Asbestos dust also causes fibrosis in the lungs but the mechanism of its development is different. The fibrous dust settles along the irregular walls of the terminal bronchioles. In this location it excites the formation of cuffs of scar tissue. This contracts and shuts down the tubes, resulting in a collapse of the air spaces distal to the obstruction. Such a condition in itself is a cause of fibrosis. The two causes, immediate reaction to the dust and collapse of the finer air spaces, bring about a generalized diffuse fibrosis. This reaction is not so regularly associated with increased susceptibility to tuberculosis as with silicosis. The case against sericite as a cause of silicosis has not been proved. Experimentally, sericite-free quartz will produce nodular fibrosis. Silicon carbide and aluminum oxide are quite inert in the normal animals. The former apparently increases susceptibility to tuberculosis in animals but whether the same is true in human beings awaits demonstration.

Jan 1, 1934

By James F. Kemp

Discussion of the paper of JAMES F. KEMP, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 105, September, 1915, pp. 1801 to 1836. WALLACE E. PRATT, Manila, P. I.-I am glad that Professor hemp has referred to the Philippine ores in his paper, inasmuch as I have had the privilege of examining, in a preliminary way, the ores there. I must say, from the resume given us, that the Daiquiri ores seem to be similar in origin and character to the magnetite-hematite ores in Bulacan Province, Philippines. Professor Kemp has also referred to C. M. Weld's description of the magnetite-hematite ores at Hongkong and to the similarity of these ores to the ores at Daiquiri and to those in Bulacan. There is a minor feature of apparent difference in origin in the Hongkong and Bulacan ores. Mr. Weld believes the iron ores at Hongkong to have resulted from the intrusion of the Hongkong granite, a distinctive rock of wide distribution in the Orient, into sedimentaries which are probably of much greater age than those which have been replaced in part by the ores in Bulacan. Associated with some of the ores in Bulacan and elsewhere in the Philippines there is a granite which may be the equivalent of the Hongkong granite; but the Bulacan ores are not related in origin to the intrusion of this granite, which is clearly older than the ores, but to the later intrusion of dikes and small bodies of basic rocks into the granite and into associated tuffs, breccias, and sedimentaries, including limestone. I gather that the intrusives to which the mineralization is related at Daiquiri are also small in volume and later than larger bodies of associated igneous rocks, from which it would appear that the Bulacan ores are even more closely related to the Daiquiri type than are the Hongkong ores. The deposits in Bulacan are inaccessible and are not large, the largest one containing about 1,000,000 tons, according to an estimate based solely on its outcrop dimensions. Ores of similar character, however, occur in Camarines Province in apparently larger quantity and in a situation on the coast adjacent to deep water.

Jan 12, 1915

CHARLES F. WILLIS,* Bisbee, Ariz.-(written discussion?).-The consensus of the discussion of the paper of Dr. Lanza indicates that the physical examination, while it is probably a good thing, is fought by the workingman, and that, because of this fact, it has been proved unsuccessful. The physical examination standing alone is worth but little, and could easily be made a subject both of ridicule and dissension unless the company having such examination shows its own good faith in promoting a thoroughly better health program. It is easily seen why a workman would resent his employer expecting him to be physically fit, if at the same time the employer provides un-healthful, unsanitary, working conditions, or if the town in which the employees are expected to live is dirty and unkempt. One mocks the other. The employer cannot say, "You must remain healthy so that I can get by with unhealthy conditions." But if working- conditions are as good as can be obtained to keep men well, the employer can ask his men to be in a healthy condition. A State examination and standard would have many difficulties, owing to the fact that a man would pass or would not pass the standard set, thus eliminating the discretion on the part of the employer in placing men whose physical condition might well permit working in one place and not another. Any physical examination that is run for the purpose of eliminating the physically unfit is unjust, both to the worker and to the nation as a whole; a State examination would make a distinct dividing line, whereas examination by the employer is conducted with a vision of the positions available. The workman's opposition to the physical examination comes from the fact that he has been taught to believe that it is an interference in his personal affairs, that he can be clean or dirty as he chooses, that he can he healthy or unhealthy, and that it is nobody's business but his own. The war has taught us, however, that the individual is no longer the unit and that all such propositions must be based on the greatest good for the greatest number.

Jan 6, 1919

On. Tuesday, Apr. 8, the Rocky Mountain Club held its 12th annual dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York. In reporting the dinner the Evening Telegram says: "General Coleman du Pont was sort of master of ceremonies, and he conducted the affair at the end of a Colt .45. It was the General's `forty-five' which filled the banquet hall of the Waldorf-Astoria with the brand of smoke which Uncle Sam showered so generously upon Germany's hordes. It was General du Pont's `forty-five' which bellowed and thundered and echoed through Fifth avenue, scaring horses and shell shocking pedestrians: But no one was hurt or badly shocked except those who could not discern the artistry of Miss Doraldino's dance. "There were Western men around the table who have just come hack from over there. For instance, there were Brigadier General G. H. McManus, General Shanks and a score of others. And there were Thomas H. Watkins, who is said to own half the State of Pennsylvania and is known as the `Coal Baron'-of Pennsylvania,, and Alba B. Johnson, president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, each one a Westerner, with personality and type suggestive of some of the wonderful men Bret Harte wrote so much about. "It seemed as though General du Pont, who was chairman of the Reception Committee, tried to eclipse all former meetings, and he succeeded if congratulations are a criterion. " General du Pont startled the management of the Waldorf and surprised the diners by staging a three-round bout between Frankie Fay and Phil Wagner. The clash between these two featherweights made Waldorf history, because it was the first boxing contest ever held in the hotel. Tex Rickard, who is going to chaperone Jess Willard and Jack Dempsey in a fight in the near future,-was scheduled to referee the contest, but at the last moment, for some obvious reason, M. E. Schermerhorn was sent in as third man. The bout was a slashing one. Miss Amparito Farrar, lately returned from France, where-she sang for the 'dough-boys;' Eleanore Wetmore, the Rath Brothers and Phil Baker were among the others who entertained.

Jan 5, 1919

By Gilbert Cady

EXTENSIVE Sampling of coal in Illinois during the past 10 or 12 years by the State Geological Survey, in cooperation with various organizations, such as the U. S. Bureau of Mines, the University of Illinois, and the Illinois Cooperative Mining Investigations, has made possible the delineation of two areas of low-sulfur coal in the southern part of Illinois. The sulfur content is less than 1.25 per cent., so that, if otherwise suitable, these coals can be employed for metallurgical uses and for the manufacture of water-gas and retort gas. One of these areas is small and lies in Jack-son County, near Murphysboro, the other is much larger and includes a large part of the famous Franklin County field. A small area of No. 2, or Murphysboro, coal has been worked for many years near the town of Murphysboro, Jackson County, Ill. In two mines, at least, the coal has a sulfur content of less than 1.25 per cent. It is doubtful, however, whether this field will ever be a source of large tonnage as the total area underlain by low-sulfur coal in workable thickness is probably less than 15 sq. mi. (24.14 sq. km.), and a large part of it has already been worked out. The location of the area of low-sulfur coal in the Franklin County field is shown in the accompanying map. The small area underlain by the Murphysboro low-sulfur coal is shown near the town of that name in the central part of Jackson County. The larger area lies in the west side of Franklin County, extending also about 6 mi. (9.65 km.) south into Williamson County, about 4 mi. (6.43 km.) west into northern Jackson and western Perry County, and northward an undetermined distance into Jefferson County. All but the northern limit of the area is fairly well defined by sampling in numerous mines. The inner cross-lined area is underlain by coal having less than 1 per cent. sulfur, the outer boundary surrounding the area Underlain by coal having less than 1.25 per cent, sulfur.

Jan 7, 1919

By Arthur McKee

As HEAT is the controlling factor in all smelting operations, it will be .most helpful to make a new set of calculations on the basis of a .unit of fuel burned at the tuyeres to carbon monoxide. This ties together the only two factors in this operation that seem to be constant with respect to each other-the fuel at the tuyere and the air or its oxygen content. If our usual smelting operations, using natural air heated to reasonably obtainable temperatures, furnish sufficient heat above this critical temperature for the purpose, it is doubtful whether additions of oxygen will be of marked benefit. A unit of fuel will not produce a single heat unit more if burned with pure oxygen than if burned with natural air and less heat will be available per unit of fuel by the amount of heat that is carried in by the preheated nitrogen in the natural air of the blast. This is more readily apparent if considered in connection with a heat balance sheet per unit of fuel at the tuyere. The heat available in the stack, as shown by the committee's report, is less by reason of the lower fuel consumption per unit of output assumed in this calculation. The balance sheet for enriched air shows a shortage of the amount of heat usually carried in with the blast; also a lack in the hearth of sufficient heat to melt the 18 per cent. additional metal and slag and in the shaft to the extent of the shaft heat required to heat the 18 per cent. additional stock to the melting point. These heat deficiencies are provided for by the largely increased conversion of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, which is assumed, as shown by the following figures: Calculation for natural air: Carbon dioxide 18.4 per cent. (after having eliminated the carbon dioxide from limestone) and 20.8 per cent. of carbon monoxide. Calculation for oxygen-enriched air: Carbon dioxide 28.4 per -cent. and carbon monoxide 23.2 per cent. (no carbon dioxide from stone as lime is charged instead).

Jan 11, 1924

By S. B. Sargent, V. J. Collins, Lester C. Uren

[The conclusions arrived at by authors in paper read before the Petroleum Division and the California Sections of the Americam Institute of Mining and MetallurgicaI Engineers and the Standardization Division of the American Petroleum Tnstitute, at a joint session held at Los Angeles, Cal., Jan. 21, 1926, are presented below.] From the theoretical discussion and experimental evidence presented in this paper, the following conclusions may be drawn: 1. The efficiency of the oil-well plunger pump is dependent to an important degree upon the submergence provided. 2. Ample submergence must be secured in order to provide sufficient static pressure to force the oil through the restrictions interposed in the oil path at the standing valve and at the plunger nut surrounding the garbutt rod. These restrictions should be no smaller than is structurally necessary, in order to reduce resistance to oil flow to a minimum. 3. A part of the static pressure developed below the standing valve by submerging the pump is dissipated in overcoming the inertia and in providing upward acceleration for oil left between the pump valves at the conclusion of the down-stroke of the plunger, and of oil below the standing valve in the gas anchor above the oil inlet. This loss in effective static pressure can be reduced to a minimum by dispensing with the garbutt rod and placing the working valve at the lower end of the plunger. The valves should be as near together at the conclusion of the down-stroke of the plunger as is consistent with security in avoiding striking of the lower end of the plunger on the standing-valve crown. Gas anchors should be short, and oil inlets should be as near the standing valve as is consistent with proper gas exclusion. 4. Because of the presence of gas in solution in the oil, which tends to escape from solution under the reduced pressure conditions above the standing valve, the effective length of stroke of the plunger is reduced, and the suction effect of the rising plunger is largely nullified. The influx of oil through the standing valve is therefore chiefly dependent on static pressure developed by submergence.

Jan 1, 1927

By Joseph Zwierzycki

By an extension of drilling activities in 1938, the Polish oil industry succeeded not only in maintaining production but even in increasing it slightly. This increase, however, was from present oil reserves and not due to the discovery of any new fields. Most of the new wells were drilled in the Jaslo district, particularly in the Lipinki-Libuszal oil field, because of the shallow depth of the producing sands. At the Boryslaw field the 12,332 meters drilled could not compensate for the steady drop in production. A drilling campaign similar to that of the previous year in the Stanislawow district resulted in a slight decline of production. A number of the new wells have been subsidized by the Fund for the Advancement of Drilling2 in Poland. As the present sums at the disposal of this fund are insufficient for a great exploration program, they are chiefly used for the maintenance of the actual production. New wells on known folds, but more than 1000 m. outside the present productive areas, are entitled to a subsidy. Applications for wildcats outside the known productive areas have not been received in 1938. Even when the Polish oil industry was prosperous, wildcatting was not frequent and in their present impoverished condition the oil companies are no longer able to bear such financial burdens. The only way to start a large-scale drilling campaign on the still existing promising areas seems to depend on the granting of new substantial subsidies from the Treasury. Such measures are being considered by the Polish Government. It has been suggested that a fund for wildcatting might be raised by a small increase in the price of benzine. An advance of one grosz per liter of benzine would raise, on present home consumption of 108,000 kilogram-tons, about 1.3 million zloty, an advance of 5 grosze more than 6 million zloty.3 This small increase in price would hardly be felt by the motor-car owners, as it would mean an extra expense of 80 to 400 zloty in a year.

Jan 1, 1939

By Enrique Touceda

As in the case of steel and the non-ferrous alloys in general, the use of the microscope in connection with the manufacture of malleable cast iron has proved of inestimable value to the industry. Had its use not been invoked, many facts either would not be known at all or, if suspected, would be confined to the realms of conjecture. No fairer statement could be made than that the start of real progress in the industry was coincident with the application of metallography to the product, though the full significance of this statement can hardly be appreciated except by those who not only are conversant with conditions as they existed at the time referred to, but are familiar with the character of works' practice at the present time.. A few years ago, about the only test made to ascertain the physical properties of the product, except in the case of certain plants, was the bending of a casting to destruction, not only with the object of discovering whether or not the metal was ductile, but for the purpose of inspecting the fracture. The characteristics of the fracture, if correctly interpreted, were known to be of value in locating the trouble in castings that were inferior. In general, it was found that if a casting of medium or heavy section would bend through a wide angle before failure took place, the fracture in the majority of cases would have a black velvety appearance; while if it was held at different angles to the direction of the rays of light, it would show a change of color and an iridescent sheen. But an inferior air-furnace heat or anneal might yield castings which, if thin and consequently largely decarburized, could be bent double on themselves and still not possess the fracture described. If, on the other hand, a casting broke short, its fracture might have one of a great many different color and structural peculiarities. Depending on the cause of the trouble, such castings might have any of the fracture characteristics, of which the following is but a partial list.

Jan 1, 1922

By R. S. Reed, D. L. Ward

This paper is the result of a study, in 1919, to determine how much surplus power could be produced through the proper utilization of the entire gas flow from the two furnace stacks at the Federal Furnace Plant, South Chicago, 111. Obviously, the problem was to measure the flow of gas through the main beyond the point where the amount necessary for stove operation mas rermoved. In all probability, blast-furnace gas is the most difficult gas to measure, because of the high moisture and dust content, and the widely fluctuating flow from the furnaces. This wide fluctuation of flow forbids the acceptance of any one group of flow road-ings as indicative of normal operating conditions. A study of the conditions showed that a recording device on gas flow was necessary. As the gas at the point of measurement had passed through met washers, and accordingly was saturated with water and contained considerable dust carried past the scrubbers in the form of sludge, no form of Pitot tube could be used, for this sludge would quickly plug the dynamic. and static holes, spoiling the gage readings. An even more serious objection to the use of Pitot tubes was the impossibility of accurately measuring the cross-sectional area of the gas main on the plane of Pitot-tube installation. Given an absolutely clean gas and a perfectly circular pipe, it would be safe to assume, through measurements of the pipe diameter, that the gas main was of a certain cross-sectional area. But the continual depositing of sludge and the fact that the main mas fabricated from riveted sheets led us to discard the idea of using Pitot tubes for. this service. The Venturi tube mas then considered, and had there been a sufficiently long straight run of gas main to accommodate a tube of the required size (72 by 28 in.) such an installation would very likely have been made. A plate with a sharp-edged orifice was eventually accepted as it possesses all the characteristics of a Venturi tube, requires less space, and

Jan 1, 1922

By Walter F. Pond, Kendall E. Born

Production of crude oil in Tennessee during 1935 approximated 20,000 bbl., an increase of about 5000 bbl. over 1934. The total production for the state is an estimate, since the only definite figures available are those for Scott and Morgan counties, where 12,377 bbl. were marketed during 1935, an increase of 4305 bbl. over the preceding year. The oil fields of Scott and Morgan counties are near the eastern margin of the Cumberland Plateau where Pennsylvanian sediments rest uncon-formably upon the Mississippian. Near Glenmary, in Scott County, the production is from the middle Mississippian, probably near the top of the St. Louis limestone. Accumulation is due to a low, east-west anticline which has been cut by a fault. This field is now 20 years old and only a few wells are pumped at present. Oil was Struck along Boone Camp Creek in Morgan County in 1924 and there has been small production since that time. The oil comes from the middle of the Fort Payne formation of lower Mississippian age at a depth of 1400 ft. Geologic work in the area has shown that a terrace and porosity conditions in the Fort Payne formation account for the accumulation. The production figures on a number of small producing wells in Clay and Overton counties are not available. As pointed out by Glenn1, the installation of small local skimming or topping plants in the fields has curtailed the shipment of crude oil out of the state and as a result it has been impossible to secure accurate production figures in these counties. The operators, in most cases, are reluctant to give information, and there is no state law requiring them to do so. Based upon information available to the writers, it is believed that between 7000 and 8000 bbl. is a fair estimate of the production in Clay and Overton counties during 1935. More than 500 wells have been drilled in Clay County, the majority of which were drilled east of Cumberland River. Some eight small oil fields have been developed in the county within the past 12 years, a

Jan 1, 1936