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Jan 1, 1953

By C. J. Haigh

Stockpiled and currently produced zinc plant residues containing zinc ferrite are to be treated at a rate of 350 tonne per day in a plant that is being constructed at the Risdon works of the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Limited (E.Z.). Start-up of the plant is scheduled for December, 1970. The residue is to be treated by a hydrometallurgical process that was developed by E.Z. in Australia, by Det Norske Zinkkompani in Norway, and by Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines (Asturiana de Zinc) in Spain. The process, as it is to be used at Risdon, is simple, consisting essentially of two stages : 1. A leaching stage at atmospheric pressure in which the zinc ferrite contained in zinc plant residue is dissolved in spent electrolyte, fortified with make up sulphuric acid, at a temperature in the range 70 to 95ºC. Undissolved solids containing lead and precious metals are separated for sale to a lead smelter. 2. An iron precipitation stage at atmospheric pressure in which ferric iron is precipitated from a slightly acidic solution at 90 to 95ºC as ammonium jarosite, a crystalline double sulphate which is relatively coarse, and is easily filtered and washed free of zinc-bearing solution. Calcine is used to neutralise the acid that is liberated during precipitation of the iron. Also included in the Risdon plant are a separate stage for oxidation of ferrous iron by injection of air, and a pre-neutralisation stage, using recycled oxidation stage pulp, to neutralise excess acidity from the leaching stage before the jarosite precipitation stage. The residue treatment plant consists of conventional equipment such as covered agitated vessels, thickeners and filters. Operation will be continuous and product solution will join the main zinc plant circuit for further purifications and electrolysis. Marketable zinc production will be increased by 70 tonne per operating day by the treatment of residue.

Jan 1, 1970

By E. W. Davis

On the eastern end of the Mesabi Range, in Northern Minnesota, is a large formation of siliceous rock which contains bands and fine grains of magnetite. The magnetite comprises about 35 per cent. of the rock, the remainder being chiefly quartzite and iron silicates. The rock has a specific gravity of 3.4, a hardness of 7, and is extremely tough. This large deposit was located early in the history of the Minnesota iron-ore industry but has not been utilized because of its low percentage of iron as compared with the other Mesabi ores, and because of the difficulty and expense of any milling treatment that would concentrate the iron. An investigation, begun about 3 years ago, shows that the magnetit,e is finely disseminated throughout the entire formation and that there are bands or lenses of higher- and of lower-grade material, in which the magnetite and silicate are intimately mixed. As a result, the scheme of milling adopted must include a fine-crushing plant. As it is necessary to crush to 200 mesh in order to produce the desired grade of product, the fine crushing is one of the largest items of expense and for this reason has been given detailed study. It is the purpose of this paper to present some of the results of the work on fine crushing, as to both theory and practice. Previous to fine crushing the part of the rock that contains little or no magnetite can be discarded by magnetic concentrators after each reduction in size in the dry-crushing plant. This-makes it possible to fine-crush a minimum of rock and also establishes the feed to the ball-mill as below % in. The fine-crushing problem, then, consists simply in crushing the rock from 1/4 in. to 200 mesh at the minimum expense. Equipment of the Testing Plant In order to determine, among other things, the operating conditions of the ball-mill when working on this rock, a test mill of about 300 T. daily capacity was erected at Duluth, Minn. The fine-crushing plant contains a Hardinge 8-ft. by 22-in. (2.4-m. by 55.8-cm.) conical mill, a 6- by 27-ft. (1.8 by 8.2-m.) Dorr duplex bowl-type classifier, a 41/2-ft. (1.37-m.) standard Akins classifier, and the auxiliary machinery necessary to handle the products. Each machine is driven by an individual motor, each of which is provided with meters for measuring the power required. Over 150 tests have been made in the ball-mill, varying in

Jan 1, 1920

PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 R W RAYMOND 1872-1874 A L HOLLEY1875 ABRAM S HEWITT 1876 T STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B COXE 1878 - 1879 WILLIAM P SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P ROTHWELL 1882 ROBERY W HUNT 1883 JAMES C, BAYLES 1884-1885 ROBERT H RICHARDS 1886 THOMAS EGLESTON 1887 WILLIAM B POTTER 1888 RICHARD PEARCE 1889 ADAM S HEWITT 1890 JOHN BIRKINBINE 1891-1892 H M HOWE 1893 JOHN FRITZ 1894 J D WEEKS 1895 E G SPILSBURY 1896 THOMAS M. DROWN 1897 CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1898 JAMES DOUGLAS 1899-1900

Jan 1, 1952

By M. E. Wadsworth, R. L. Pearson

THE dissolution of UO, in carbonate solutions can occur only il the tetravalent uranium is oxidized to the hexavalent state. The carbonate system is of particular interest because it provides a means whereby the oxidized uranium may be dissolved by forming the complex ion UO,(CO3)3-1. In the presence of oxygen the over-all reaction may be written UO+1/2O,4CO3T+2HCO2UO,(CO4)11+H2O [1] UO, was used in this study because it could be obtained in high purity and also because it is representative of the most refractory of the primary uranium minerals. The mineral ulrichite is the natural counterpart of the synthetic UO, used. The kinetics of the leaching of UO, should be similar for any of the uraninite type minerals. A pressurized system was used not with the hope it could be extended to commercial systems as a primary purpose but simply to provide the means whereby important temperature and pressure parameters could be varied for the evaluation of the kinetic processes. The importance of such pres-

Jan 1, 1959

By M. M. Fine

Normally the U. S. produces less than 10 pct of its annual manganese requirement. About 95 pct of domestic consumption is used by the steel industry.1 The strategic and critical nature of manganese has been recognized by its inclusion in the national stockpile and by intensified research directed toward cataloging and evaluating domestic manganiferous deposits. The USBM has participated in these activities for many years with field and laboratory studies to assess the extent and potential utilization of domestic manganese ores. One area of particular interest is in the vinicity of Batesville, Ark., where deposits have been mined since 1849 for both manganese and ferruginous manganese ores. Production is centered in Independence County, but deposits are also found in Sharp, Izard, and Stone counties in north- central Arkansas. Miser has described the geology and manganese mineralization in some detail.2,3 The rocks of the area are sedimentary, consisting of sandstone, limestone, shale, and chert. The two formations of greatest importance,4 Fernvale lime- stone and Cason shale, are host rocks of the primary manganese mineralization.

Jan 8, 1959

October Meeting of the Institute.-Invitations have been sent to the members of the following societies through the respective Secretaries to attend the October meeting of the Institute and the Dinner which will be given on the evening of Oct. 17 : American Society for Testing Materials, American Iron and Steel Institute, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society. of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers, . American Foundry men's Association. Members of these Societies have also been invited to contribute to the discussion of the various papers to be presented at the meeting, a revised list of which appears in the notes of the Iron and Steel Committee on p. vi. Many individuals of national and international prominence have also been invited to contribute discussions of these papers, and the response to these invitations has been extremely encouraging.

Jan 9, 1913

By G. A. Vissac

O. R. LYONS *—I wish to thank Mr. Vissac for his compliment. I hope that his paper is not only well received, but that it will serve to bring forth more papers on the subject of thermal drying. One of the primary purposes of the work performed by Battelle for Bituminous Coal Research in investigating the thermal drying of coal was to stimulate other investigators and to get them to contribute their knowledge in the form of papers such as this one. We at Battelle and the personnel of Bituminous Coal Research are very gratified that Mr. Vissac and other persons have responded in this matter of the thermal drying of coal. I wish to state that I think that Mr. Vissac's paper is a very clear and easily understood description of a method of calculating the design requirements for a screen type drier, and I think that it would be exceedingly valuable to operators and to those who intend to purchase any type of thermal drier and use it in the future, if the manufacturers or operators who have such information for other types of driers would provide the same type of information for the other makes of driers now on the market. 1 also wish to point out—an idea that is new to me, and I know is new to most of the operators of driers in the United States-—the idea of recovering the heat that is normally lost in the coal and in the exhaust gases. This heat is not being recovered at most (of the thermal drying operations in the United States, and the possibility of recovering it should be called to the attention of every single one of those operators. I know many of them have never given any thought to the matter, but they will be interested once they realize the ease with which it could be done and the savings that could be realized. I also wish to compliment Mr. Vissac for presenting the method of analysis that he uses to determine the difficulty of drying any particular coal. It is a very simple method, and yet it seems to me that it should be a very effective, very efficient method for determining the difficulty of drying for his particular problems. C. Y. HEINER*—I do not know that I can add anything very illuminating to what Mr. Vissac has said. I think anything that Mr. Vissac said in regard to coal drying is a contribution because, to my personal knowledge, he has studied the matter carefully for many years and made many valuable contributions. I am not too familiar with coal drying problems in the east, but I know in the west we have not made enough coal drying studies. I think coal operators too often just take the coal as it is and make more or less the best of it. There are relatively few washing plants in the west now, and so the problem has not come to the front as much as it probably will in the future. In this connection, it seems to me that this matter of drying the raw coal, as Mr. Vissac brings up, is an extremely important one. We have not a continuous miner ourselves, yet, but we expect to get some this year, and we think the percentage of fine coal-—that is, minus 3/16 in.—will double. We have about 20 pct minus 3/16 in. in the 8 in. by 0 size now, and we think we will likely have 40 pct, which will have a surface moisture of the order of 8 pct. To wash it satisfactorily, we will have to dry the raw coal first in order to screen it, and after that, I suppose, there will have to be dry cleaning of some sort. We have not really used dry cleaning on fines in the west yet to my knowledge, but it is a matter that has to be faced by the industry, and I am very hopeful that Mr. Vissac's study will assist us in that connection. W. L. McMORRIS*-In my company we are preparing largely metallurgical coal for a great number of byproduct coke plants. The most outstanding thing to me about the requirements of moisture in the finished product is that there is a different requirement for almost every coke plant. Each operator has a different set of factors on which he establishes his coking costs where they involve moisture. For our corporation operations in Birmingham, my company does not produce the coal, but in Birmingham they are getting away with moistures very much higher than our plant at Clairton, Pa., would tolerate. The moisture that we have to produce for the plants along the lakefront where they are subject to much more severe weather is something else again. We have not tackled heat drying, primarily because our customers do not know what heat drying will do to the coking characteristics of the coal. If the temperature of drying can be held down

Jan 1, 1950

By Robert W. Hunt

When I had the honor of presenting to the Institute at the Buffalo meeting in October, 1888 (Trans., xvii., 226), my paper on " Steel Rails and Specifications for their Manufacture," I expressed my hesitancy in submitting my ideal rail-sections. Since then, continued residence in Chicago, perhaps, or greater intercourse with railroad officials, has either given me more courage or has taught me that so little is really known on the subject that one is safe in expressing one's views, let them be ever so erroneous. As a further personal excuse, I may remind you that " fools rush in," etc. At all events, I would now call attention to certain rail-sections which I believe to be good. I do not say they are the best, but I feel sure they have more merit than the majority of the adopted heavier-sectioned rails. In determining the proper form for a rail, the subject should be considered from two points; first, and most important, the duty required ; second, and of almost equal importance, the influence of existing details of manufacture upon the character of the finished product. It is perfectly proper that all the strains to which the rail will be subjected should be considered and calculated. But its ability to resist them will depend quite as much upon the character of the metal as upon the form of its section. That which would be the realization of the ideal with good steel would be disappointment with poorer metal. Therefore, the railroad engineer should always have in mind and pay due respect to what the metal worker may give him—the may being the factór of danger to be covered by his factor of safety, and possessing greater importance than any formula laid down by never so eminent authorities. It is well-known how positive is my conviction that high heat during manufacture and good rails cannot go together; hence, if we insist upon the avoidance of this evil by rail-makers, we must give them sections which can be made at low temperatures with commercial as well as technical success. The market-price for rails controls the practice of makers, and,

Jan 1, 1889

By David H. Browne

The use of coal-dust fired reverberatory furnaces, or indeed of rever-beratory furnaces of any description, was for the Canadian Copper Co. a matter of necessity, and not of choice. For 20 years smelting had been done in blast furnaces alone, and with the Herreshoff furnaces used prior to 1904 there was no trouble in treating fine ores. But little flue dust was produced, and this, following the time-honored custom, was wetted down and put back with the charge. Whether the flue dust really smelted, or whether it was worn out by being chased around in a circle, was a problem that troubled no one. With the installation of modern blast furnaces and high-pressure blowing engines, in 1904, flue dust commenced to assert itself. Evidently more dust was made than could be smelted, but so many vital. problems engaged our attention at that time that this minor question was pushed to one side. In 1906, the details of blast-furnace smelting and the conversion of matte had been worked out to a satisfactory conclusion, and the ever-increasing piles of flue dust and fine ore on the stock yard demanded serious consideration. Numerous experiments in sintering, briquetting, mixing with converter slag, forming blocks of flue dust with green-ore fines and cement, and so on, were undertaken. None of these showed much promise. Our problem was still further complicated by the question of treating converter slag. The ore was basic, the slag was not needed as a furnace flux, and it was felt that under these conditions the old method of pouring slag in molds and resmelting in the blast furnace was an unnecessary expense. If the converter slag could be settled in basic-lined reverberatory furnaces, in which at the same time flue dust and green-ore fines could be smelted, two problems might thus be solved. Reverberatory practice with our ores was, however, an unknown factor. As carried on in the West, on siliceous ores and concentrates, at least 25 per cent. of fuel was required, and even this ratio depended greatly

Jan 1, 1915

By Avnulf Muan, Egil Aukrust

The activity-composition curve for cobalt oxide in (Co,Fe)304 solid solutions with spinel-type stmcture has been determined experimentally by studying the equilibrium between the spinel phase and a coexisting cobaltowüstite phase, "(Co,Fe)O", at 1200°C. A large negative deviation from ideal behavior prevails in the spinel at low cobalt oxide concentrations and a positive deviation at high cobalt oxide concentrations. The activity-composition curve for iron oxide in the solid solution is determined from the above curve by integvation of the Gibbs-Duhem equation along the join Co3O4,-Fe3O4. The standard free energy of formation of cobalt ferrite, CoFe2O4, from the oxide components CoO and Fe2O3 is calculated to be -8.2 kcal. ThERMODYNAMIC properties of (CO,Mn)3O4 solid solutions with spinel-type structure have been presented recently.' The present paper deals with similar relations in another spinel solid-solution phase, that represented by the system Co3O4-Fe3O4. The principles involved in measurements and calculations of thermodynamic properties for the system Co3O4-Fe3O4 are analogous to those used and discussed in detail in the work on (CO,Mn)3O4. A (CO,Fe)3O4 solid solution coexists in equilibrium with a (Co.Fe)Ot solid solution over a considerable Here acOo1.33 and aao are the activities of cobalt oxide in the spinel and the oxide solid solutions, respectively, pO2, is the oxygen pressure of equilibration, and pb, is the oxygen pressure at which CoO and CosO4 coexist in equilibrium in the binary system Co-O at the same temperature. The activity-com position curve for cobalt oxide in the (Co,Fe)O solid solution in contact with metal has been determined in a previous investigation by the present authors.' The system shows a small positive deviation from linear behavior. Because of the large defect concentration in wiistite and in (Co,Fe)O solid solutions, one cannot assume that the activity-composition relations in the oxide phase coexisting with a spinel phase at relatively high oxygen pressures are the same as those prevailing in the oxide solid solution coexisting with metal. However, a Gibbs-Duhem integration over the ternary Co-Fe-0 solution can be used to determine activities of cobalt and iron, and hence of CoO and FeO, from a knowledge of the oxygen potentials. Several papers have dealt with the subject of application of the Gibbs-Duhem equation to multi-component systems. 3-6 In the present case, it was

Jan 1, 1964

By N. Lilienberg

Refractory materials play much the same part in the producion of metals as houses and shelter for men, and it therefore seems useful to discuss sometimes the ways of manufacturing them. In fact, it appears to me that too little has been said on this important matter, probably because the manufacturers of fire-brick do not care to publish details for the benefit of competitors, but perhaps, also, by reason of the indulgent indifference of consumers. Judging from the revolutions in the manafacture of iron and steel caused by using calcareous materials for the furnace-bottoms, it does not seem improbable that in the future basic bricks may be produced suffciently strong for building also side-walls and arches, and perhaps, also, for use in blast-furnaces. But the existence of the present difficulties of great shrinkage in burning and small strength against compression, which limit the possibility of using basic bricks to Bessemer converters and such open-hearth furnaces as permit the bottom to be separated from the superstructure, seems to indicate still a long and extensive use of silica fire-bricks. I am not prepared to say anything about American fire-brick making, but knowing that industries abroad are watched with increasing interest by American manufacturers, I have imagined that this association would like to hear some facts about the way firebricks arc made in my country—Sweden. Well-known as it is that Sweden produces a high quality of iron, it is perhaps not so universally known that the same country produces a very high grade of silica fire-brick, whereby most of its own wants are supplied. In giving the following sketch I can, of course, not claim that all the facts are entirely new, but shall consider my object attained if American manufacturers can derive some benefit from the comparison of the following methods with their own, and if some discussion on this important subject can be aroused which will contribute to further progress. In order to show the extensive use of domestic fire-bricks in Sweden, where English bricks are easily obtainable, I mention the fact that about twelve millions of all kinds of fire-bricks (reduced to

Jan 1, 1885

By Charles E. Stuart

A paper on this subject can cover but a limited range. A thorough visualization of the subject would contemplate a comparative analysis of haulage machines and batteries of various types; the relationship of the storage-battery locomotive to other types of mine haulage should be considered and limiting factors in each case should be carefully developed. This paper will deal briefly with these factors. So far as the writer has been able to determine, the first storage-battery locomotives for mine haulage were manufactured in 1897 or 1898 and were tried out in the Pocahontas coal field, but they were not sufficiently satisfactory to justify their continued use. Battery explosions were frequent and caused serious damage to the wiring, electrical equipment, and the clothing and bodies of the motormen. Sulfuric acid was used as the electrolyte. Experiments were then conducted with locomotives bearing reels of flexible cable through which connection between the motors of the locomotive and the trolley wire was maintained. At first, these reels were turned by hand. Later, the reels were revolved by contact with the wheels of the locomotive, being raised out of contact with the wheels, by a lever, when necessary. About 1902, the plan of operating the reel, by chain and sprocket wheels, from one of the locomotive axles, as is still the practice, was devised. The popular floating motor-driven reel had its inception in the Pocahontas fields prior to 1906. The maximum radius of operation of the reel-type locomotive is about 500 ft. (150 m.) from point of connection with trolley wire. This is ample for room work and certain entry work, but the need for a machine that would operate entirely independently of the trolley wire was so great that, with the development of the storage battery, renewed efforts were made to manufacture a successful storage-battery locomotive. About 1908, the gasoline locomotive was introduced. In spite of many objections to this type of machine for such work, the fact that hundreds of these machines were purchased was proof of the need for a machine operating independently of the trolley.

Jan 1, 1923

By R. J. Wagner, F. F. Craig, H. G. Riley, J. D. Griffith

Peripheral water injection has been underway in the Sholem Alechem Fault Block "A" Unit, Stephens County, Okla., since 1955. In the engineering planning of the flood, it was recognized that maintenance of pressure in the large, dry gas caps was vitally necessary to prevent the loss of an estimated 27 million bbl of oil through saturation of the gas caps by the oil banks moving updip on the peripheral flood pattern. The development of an abundant, low-cost water supply and the rising cost of makeup-gas purchases indicated that gas-cap control by water injection was desirable from an economic standpoint, provided an eflective water barrier could be placed without premature water breakthrough into downdip oil producers. A laboratory model scaled to the existing reservoir conditions was comtructed to evaluate the feasibility of gas-cap water injection. Model studies indicated that (I) water injected at the edge of the gar-oil contact would form a continuous barrier between the oil and gas zones, and (2) water would advance uniformly downdip without segregation due to gravity effects provided a specified, minimum water-injection rate was maintained. The model test results also indicated that it was not necessary to fill the gas cap completely with water. Water injection at the edge of one of the gas caps was initiated in March, 1958, to field test gas-cap water injection. Water breakthrough occurred at a downstruc-ture producing well in April, 1959, after approximately 2.5 million bbl of water had been injected into the gas cap. This was the volume calculated to be required to form the barrier between the oil zone and gas cap. This performance indicates that prevention of oil encroachment into dry gas caps in a peripheral water flood by water injection at the gas-oil contact appears practical and that the model studies provided a valid prediction of field performance. INTRODUCTION The Sholem Alechem Fault Block "A" Sims Sand Unit was one of the fist major waterflood projects in Oklahoma to utilize a peripheral injection pattern. Design of control measures to minimize oil encroachment into the large crestal gas caps was one of the greatest single problems during engineering planning of this flood. Engineering studies indicated that saturation of the gas caps with oil displaced by the peripheral water flood could result in a loss of about 27 million bbl of oil, or over one-half the estimated waterflood recovery. This estimate was based on a residual oil saturation after water flooding of 35 per cent pore volume, compared to the negligible oil saturation initially in the gas caps. The Sholem Alechem Springer field, located in Stephens County, Okla., is an elongated anticline with structural dips varying from 400 to 1,000 ft/mile. The structure contains numerous faults, some of which are sealing. The portion of the field considered in this paper is Fault Block "A", which is the largest of the five major fault segments in the field. A map of the unit is shown on Fig. 1. The unit is bounded on the east and west by major sealing faults, on the north by a water-oil contact and to the south by a deterioration of sand development. Two domes, each having gas caps, exist in the unit and are separated by a north-south fault as shown in Fig. 1. The sands being flooded are the Sims sand members of the Springer series of early Pennsylvanian age. The Sims sands average over 100 ft in thickness in Fault Block "A" and have a porosity of approximately 19 per cent. Core permeabilities average 160 md, with interstitial water saturation of about 23 per cent pore volume. Three different zones can be correlated over most of the area. However, they are commingled in most of the producing wells. The two upper zones, designated as First and Second Sims, are the most important. Both the First and Second Sims have gas caps in the east dome, while only the First Sims has a gas cap in the west dome. These gas caps, whose limits are also shown on Fig. 1, initially occupied nearly 11 per cent of the total reservoir volume. The major concern of this paper is the control of the two gas caps in the First Sims sand. Fig. 2 is a cross section, to scale, across the east dome of this formation. Notable features are the relatively shallow dip, the deterioration of the First Sims sand on the south side of the gas cap and the water-oil contact on the northern edge. The formation dip at the gas-oil contact in this cross section is approximately 5".

Admissions: Joseph C. Gordon, Chairman K. F. Anderson Allen B. Gibson H. J. Gruy R. F. Madera Dan H.-McLendon K. W. Robbins Aurel E. Smith W. F. West Advertising: John. D. Wisenbaker, Chairman Bernard F. Klein Henry N. Lyle R. E. Howard Clark R. Edgecomb, Jr. [ ]

Jan 1, 1961

By R. B. Burt, James A. Barr, I. S. Tillotson

DISCUSSION Howard Howie (Knoxville, Term.)—The authors are to be congratulated on the presentation of a paper containing so much valuable information on the pipeline transportation of phosphate, as there is very little literature on the subject. The writer is especially interested in the paper, as he conceived the arrangement of the Akin and Godwin plants and was in charge of the design work and the engineering incident to their construction. The Akin and other phosphate deposits in the Tennessee phosphate area lie on beds of limestone that are very irregular. The limestone beds, after the phosphate matrix has been removed, are similar in appearance to land severely eroded by the action of water and denuded of top soil. Depressions in the limestone, called cutters, are irregular in depth with vertical or overhanging walls, having the general appearance of cracks in dried clay. They change abruptly in direction, width, and depth, and vary on the Akin tract from 1 to 25 ft in depth and from 1 to 50 ft in width. Pinnacles of limestone commonly occur in the cutters which appear, when exposed, like small clifflike islands in a river. Limestone floats also occur. The phosphate matrix fills the cutters and covers the uncuttered areas, the thickness of the cover varying continually and sometimes rather abruptly. It occurs generally as stratifications of phosphate rock and clay of varying thickness. The phosphate rock in the matrix varies in hardness and in percents of silica, lime, iron oxides, and fluorine, and the clay varies in toughness. In some places the deposit consists of narrow strata of rock almost devoid of clay streaks. In other nearby locations the clay will predominate. When it is excavated, the phosphate rock breaks into thin irregular lumps, locally known as plate rock. Limestone lumps are also excavated with the matrix. Akin plate rock is generally much softer than that occurring in other deposits in the area. Because of the above described physical and chemical variations of the excavated material, the resultant slurry varies in size distribution, specific gravity, and percent of slimes. When the rock is soft or when there is an increase of clay, the slime fraction is greatly increased as it passes through pumps and pipelines, resulting in reduced pipe friction. It is obvious that the longer the pipeline the greater the reduction of coarse fractions into fines, causing a decrease in pipe friction that cannot be accurately evaluated. The matrix is mined with a dragline that drops it into a hopper with a grid composed of 9-in. parallel bar spacings located above the hammer mill. The matrix on, and passing through the grid, is subject to the action of powerful sprays which wash it down to the hammer mill, together with any limestone lumps that are not removed before passing through the grid. The hammer mill reduces the feed to lumps of plate rock and clay, most of which will pass through the 8-in. pump suction. The mixture discharges into a pool containing the pump suction pipe. Water from a hydraulic nozzle moves the mixture to the pump suction intake. The pump, driven by a variable speed motor, is the same size as the pumps mentioned on p. 279. Provision is made to remove any lumps that lodge in a bend in the suction pipe in a manner similar to that used in the Florida phosphate fields. The hammer mill and pump units are mounted on wide steel skids so that they can be moved as the mining operation progresses. The discharge from the pump flows through an abrasion-resistant spiral welded steel pipe 8 1/4 in. actual inside diam, 8 in. nominal diam, for a maximum distance of 2200 ft, which is the limiting pumping distance for one pump. This pipeline, referred to hereafter as pipeline A, discharges into a ball mill without balls, which in turn discharges into a rotary screen attached to it that separates the slurried matrix into 11/4-in. oversize and undersize fractions. The oversize is returned to the mill for further reduction; the undersize is pumped to a Dorrco washer and then flows into a hydroseparator 160 ft in diam. In spite of the size reduction in the hammer mill and the blunging and washing of the slurry in its passage through the pump, pipeline, mill, and washer, the discharge to the hydroseparator frequently contains mud balls almost perfectly spherical. Sometimes the discharge from the 16,000-ft pipeline at Godwin contains mud balls the size of bird shot and smaller. This pipeline will be referred to subsequently as line B. Liquid caustic is added to the slurry at the Akin plant before its passage through the hydro-separator, which decreases the size of particles in the overflow by dispersion. In passing through pumps 1, 2, and 3 and pipeline B, the slime fraction in the underflow is increased by abrasion and blunging and also by continuing dispersive action of the caustic. The matrix for use in the experimental tests referred to on p. 279 was obtained from three small surface openings on the Akin tract that were made previous to the purchase of the tract by the Authority. Matrix used in the 2 and 4-in. experimental pipeline tests was taken from the three openings and proportioned to obtain a sufficient quantity that would be fairly representative of the average in the Akin deposits. Prospecting samples of matrix had been obtained from drill holes which showed no small variation in physical and chemical properties. Some of the physical variation is evident from the size distribution of solids in samples taken during the tests covering line B flows so thoroughly made by the Authority under the direction of Mr. Burt, see Table V, p. 280. Hydraulic gradients for a pipe of 8-in. diam were derived from the 2 and 4-in. pipeline tests using the so-called representative matrix as above described, and plotted on the profile of pipeline B. Gradients of other materials in slurry form passing through pipelines that bore some similiarity to the Akin matrix slurry were also plotted. After a study had been made of the hydraulic gradients plotted on the profile and the varying slurry flow that would probably occur during actual operation, three pumps were ordered, referred to as No. 1, 2, and 3 on p. 279. No. 1 and 2 pumps were installed and the third kept in reserve should the operation of 1 and 2 pumps prove satisfactory, since installation of the third pump would require an attendant, as well as the laying of 5400 ft of pipe to supply it with seal-water from the Akin plant. Subsequently, it was found desirable to install the third pump to maintain capacity when the slime fraction was low and the coarse fractions were large. Reference to Fig. 6 will show that the flow in B line goes upgrade in three locations. At the outlet at Godwin, the slurry flows between two 45" bends for an approximate distance of 18 ft to rise above the ground a sufficient height to discharge into a launder feeding the first classifier. This condition requires extra energy, which is taken care of by keeping the hydraulic gradient a sufficient distance above the high points. Although there are rather heavy upgrades in the line, the choking condition that might occur at the

Jan 1, 1953

Jan 1, 1922

By J. H. Bowden

The water-hoisting tanks herewith illustrated have been designed for removing large quantities of water from recently-flooded mines, through their hoisting-slopes, with rapidity proportional to the capabilities of the hoisting machinery available, the tanks being adaptable to slopes of small sectional areas and varying pitches. The following features may be of interest to those operating mines liable to be flooded. 1. The arrangement of doors on each tank by which it may be automatically filled by immersion at any point on the varying pitch of a slope, the water being retained while hoisting on the flat as well as on the steep pitches, and quickly and autoniatically discharged at the top. 2. The arrangement, in connection with the above-mentioned doors, of side-wheels over the rear wheeh of each tank and of sidedumping tracks at the top of the hoist, for the automatic emptying and quick return of the tank. 3. The arrangement of two or more tanks, one in front of the other, so as to give as large a capacity in a single hoist as the enginepower will permit, yet without making any tank too large for the sectional area of the slope, or of unwieldlp length, or of such a shape that it cannot easily pass over vertical curves; and without concentrating too much weight on any one pair of wheels or on any point of the track. The details of construction and method of operating are shown by the accompanying sketches (Figs. 1 and 2), and the following more detailed description. At the end of each tank is a large iron door of almost the full size of the end of the tank, opening inwards, so that when immersed the tanks fill almost instantly. To provide for holding the water while it is hoisted up flat pitches, a wooden door is attached to the front of each tank, opening outward. Each front door is attached to the

Jan 1, 1892

By John P. Ashby

Mine production blasting is a process of destruction of rock masses in order that ore may be extracted. Many open pit operations are faced with the apparently conflicting requirements of providing large quantities of fragmented rock for the processing plant and of minimizing the damage inflicted upon the surrounding pit slopes. A reasonable compromise between these two conflicting demands may often be found by means of simple engineering of production blasts. Many operations tend to rely too heavily upon traditional wall control techniques to alleviate a problem already created by the production blasts. Various production trends including use of larger blastholes and patterns have tended to aggravate the situation. These practices only serve to emphasize the need for engineered improvements. Central to blasting engineering is the process of systematic trial and evaluation. Changes to the blasting system should be made singly, starting with the simplest. This paper discusses simple changes involving drill pattern control, effective use of blastholes and explosives, adequate delaying including use of down-the-hole sequential techniques, effective utilization of free faces, and avoidance of "choked" situations. By directing explosive effort where it is needed, such changes generally result in a significant improvement of slope conditions and of production blasting cost and performance.

Jan 1, 1983

LIST OF REFERENCES COMPILED BY ENGINEERING SOCIETIES LIBRARY FUEL POSSIBILITIES IN STEEL MAKING. Iron Age, November 6, 1913, p. 1056-1059. Paper read before the American Iron and Steel Institute, by William Whigham. The author discusses the use of pulverized coal as a fuel for open-hearth furnaces. IMPROVED PULVERIZED FUEL FEED DEVICE. Iron Age, November 6, 1913, p. 1024. Brief description of the Dunn apparatus, especially intended for cement kilns, but used also in the nodulizing of iron ore. WIDER UTILIZATION OF PULVERIZED COAL, H. R. Barnhurst. Iron Age, October 23, 1913, p. 906-908. Part of discussion of paper by James Lord on The Use of Pulverized Fuel in Metallurgical Furnaces, read before the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania. POWDERED COAL FOR OPEN HEARTH FURNACES. Iron Age, October 16, 1913, p. 855. Abstract from the "Coal and Coke Operator." USE OF PULVERIZED COAL AS A FUEL FOR BOILERS, R. C. Carpenter. Sibley Journal of Engineering, December 1913, p. 85. COAL-DUST FIRED BOILER. Indian Engineering, November 29, 1913, p. 301. PROGRESS IN FUEL UTILIZATION. Mining and Scientific Press, October 25, 1913, p. 638. BUFFALO GRAIN-ELEVATOR DUST EXPLOSION. Engineering News, July 31, 1913, p. 223-24. Reprinted in the National Fire Protection Association Quarterly, October, 1913, p. 149-151. Mention is made of the danger of explosions in connection with the burning of powdered coal. POWDERED FUEL AND EXPLOSIONS. Railway Age Gazette, July 18, 1913, p. 53-84. Letter by W. D. Wood. USE OF PULVERIZED COAL IN METALLURGICAL FURNACES, James Lord. Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, Proc., October, 1913, p. 363-371; discussion, p. 371-417. With bibliography.

Jan 3, 1914