Search Documents

PAGE Problems of American Railroads Early in 1936, by J. J. Pelley 3 The Heavier Nonferrous Metals in Transportation, by C. H. Mathewson... 9 Light-weight Metals in the Transportation Industry, by Zay Jeffries 21 Trends in the Metallurgy of Low-alloy, High-yield-strength Structural Steels, by H. W. Gillett 40 Structural Steels and Light-weight Metals in the Transportation Industry, by Horace C. Knerr 62 Proposed Use of Alloys in Merchant Shipbuilding, by Edgar P. Trask 66 Mutual Effects of Metallurgy and Speed in the Automotive Industry, by Merrill C. Horine 84 The Railroads and Light-weight Equipment, by W. W. Colpitts 93

Jan 1, 1936

By E. G. Bailey

The bituminous coal industry faces a real problem, if it desires to retain the position in the power-generation field to which it is economically entitled. More power is probably produced today for electrical energy, for steam-driven and steam-heating industries and processes, for transportation by rail, water, highway and air, collectively, than ever before, and yet the total bituminous coal production has decreased about 38 per cent, from 575,000,000 tons in 1926 to 357,500,000 tons in 1934. It is not the intention of the writer to recommend coal as a fuel for automobiles and airplanes, but rather to point to these forms of transportation as being responsible in a very measurable degree for reducing the coal consumed by railroads. Petroleum products may still further reduce consumption of locomotive fuel through the extension of the use of Diesel-driven trains. Oil-burning steam-driven locomotivcs are replacing coal in some places, where railroads operating high-speed passenger trains are willing, temporarily at least, to pay a premium for the fuel that is low in ash and produces less smoke and practically no cinders. In the navy and ocean-going passenger ships, oil is so firmly established, and has such definite advantages over coal as formerly fired, in steaming radius, in ease of bunkering, cleanliness, and reduction in firing labor, that very outstanding developments in the handling and burning of coal will be rcquired in order to replace oil. For freighters on the Great Lakes, coal is the logical fuel, but there is great and immediate need of radical improvements in its use, else that market also may be lessened. It is not within the scope of this paper to discuss in detail bituminous coal for either locomotive or marine use, but, rather, generation of power in stationary plants, consisting of electrical generating stations and that very large group of miscellaneous industrial plants, such as paper, rubber, textile, steel and other industries that use electrical, mechanical, and steam power, derived from either hydro or some form of fuel.

Jan 1, 1936

By A. R. Jr. Amos

LOG washers have been used for many years in the washing of clay iron ores, phosphate rock and manganese ores, but not until the past 15 years have they been employed to any extent in the preparation of aggregate materials and fluxing stone. For a machine of such importance where tenacious clay or soft rock must be eliminated, there are few data generally available. The purpose of this paper is to set forth the results obtained from several operations, together with a few suggestions for planning a specific installation. Where the material to be washed out consists of loose surface soil, silt, or small amounts of quickly soluble clay, there is little competition with other forms of washers, because greater power and maintenance are required for the operation of log washers, but where the foreign matter is a stiff clay, such as occurs with high-calcium limestones and in marginal gravel deposits, the ability of other kinds of washers to eliminate com-pletely the hard clay balls is at least uncertain. Then the log washer comes into its own field, for with the breaking and churning action of the logs it will clean out the toughest clay. Even with material from the hydraulic dredge, if it contains tough clay, the log washer is desirable unless the gravel is subjected to a costly soaking and rehandling process. Recently there has been a considerable development in other types of machines to accomplish these results but it is not within the scope of this paper to make comparisons between competitive types, but to present the best obtainable data on log washers only. From the primitive design that gave it its name, a long log hewn from a tree, with paddles forged to shape from strap iron and attached by lag screws, the log washer has gradually been developed to the present all-steel type. As now manufactured, the log washer consists essentially of two built-up logs on which are mounted a series of paddles, carried by shafts fitted at the ends of the logs on bearings fastened outside the enclosing steel box, or trough, which is set at an angle of about 5° to 10° and into which the material is fed. Stuffing boxes at the places where the shafts pass through the box at the lower end are equipped with water-

Jan 1, 1936

By R. A., Pallanch

SO many variations of lead-zinc ores occur in nature that it is impossible to state any rules that will apply to the concentration of ores of this type. Some have lead and zinc in approximately equal amounts; others may have pre- dominant amounts of one or the other metal. There are gradations from all sulfide to completely oxidized minerals. Some such ores carry little pyrite, others contain much more pyrite than they do lead and zinc combined. The behavior of ores in flotation is largely a function of their lead-zinc ratios. their content of pyrite or pyrhotite, the nature of existing soluble salt conditions, the character of the gangue constituents: and the speed with which the minerals float. For the purposes of this paper only those lead-zinc ores handled commonly in present-day flotation practice will be considered. These are practically all-sulfide ores with relatively minor degrees of sulphatization or oxidation.

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

By Nelson Taylor

WITH the extensive deposits of potash minerals which have been dis-covered in the southwestern states, and their rapid development, a permanent. American supply of potassium compounds is now assured. The 325-year history of the potash industry in this country has been told by H. I. Smith1, of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the more recent activities of the Survey and of American potash companies were described last year by the same author2. In fact, it may be stated that so great is the productive capacity that two mines in New Mexico and one in California are able to supply more than half a million tons of crude and refined salts over and above that produced for agricultural purposes. The era of scarcity has given way to an era of superabundance. This situation makes it desirable for the potash producer to look for other applications for his product, and it is with this in mind that the writer presents some information pertaining to present and possible future uses for potassium compounds in the ceramic industry.

Jan 1, 1936

By O. Nomland

The work of The Bahrein Petroleum Company, Ltd., on Bahrein Island consisted mainly in continuing development work and prospecting previously reported. The exploratory work, however, has been greatly minimized and new wells are being drilled, chiefly for the development of larger production; 20 wells had been completed by the end of 1935 and 8 were being drilled. In addition to what has been referred to as the ''main pay," two deeper productive horizons have been discovered, which apparently will greatly increase the potential of the field although the areal extent of this lower production has not yet been determined. The proven acreage of the "main pay" is more than 12,500 acres. Current production (principally from the upper horizons) is about 13,400 bbl. a day. The construction of a 10,000-bb1.-a-day refinery has begun and is to be in operation by July, 1936. It is expected that the capacity will be considerably increased at a later date. The construction of office buildings and a permanent camp has been almost completed. In Saudi Arabia the California Arabian Standard Oil Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company of California, spudded in a well in April, 1935, near the village of Dammam, on the Persian Gulf coast of A1 Hasa. Although several important showings of high-gravity oil and considerable gas have been found, the well is not yet considcred a commercial producer. Dammam well No. 2 has been started farther south on the same structure. A great deal of reconnaissance and some detailed geological work has been completed during the last three field seasons. In order to overcome difficulties of transportation over the desert sand, unusual methods have been used. The parlies penctrating the interior by the use of automobiles and trucks have been supplied with gasoline and provisions by caravans of camels. Mail and supp1ies of lighter weight urgently needed have been carried to the field men by an airplane operated by the geological division of the company. Each party has been supplied with a radio receiving and transmitting set to keep in contact with the airplane as well as with geological headquarters at Jubail on the coast of A1 Hasa.

Jan 1, 1936

By Leonard Grimshaw

THE idea of bonding two dissimilar ferrous metals, and making use of both, is an old one. Tips have been brazed onto tool shanks for many years. The bonding of larger pieces to form whole bars and sheets has also been accomplished, but has received little attention in the technical literature, although a number of patents have been issued covering various methods for its accomplishment. There are three main motives behind the manufacture of composite steels. One is that the physical properties of one steel may supplement those of another; a useful, but at the same time, hard, brittle steel may be backed by a soft ductile one, or a stainless steel may be backed by a steel possessing greater strength. Another motive is direct lowering of cost; an expensive steel may be backed by a less expensive one, bringing down the cost of the piece as a whole. The third motive is an indirect lowering of cost, as when a useful steel is backed by a steel that is easier to machine, so that machining cost on a finished product is lowered considerably. Often more than one of these motives lead to a decision to use a com-posite steel.

Jan 1, 1936

By Edgar Trask

EACH branch of engineering seems to depend on the cooperation and contribution of some other branches to enable it to produce more efficient methods and appliances for man to use. The purpose of this paper is to show approximately the gain in efficiency of self-propelled merchant ships when steel of greater elasticity is substituted for mild steel in some of the strength members and alu-minum alloy is substituted in some of the parts where strength is not essential. The new steel will have some greater strength and a much greater elastic limit in the as-rolled condition, and must be readily weld-able under ordinary conditions of shipbuilding. Naturally, its cost may be more than mild steel, but if the demand is great that excess cost may be reduced to an amount that will make its use more economical than that of the present mild steel. There appears to be a well defined axiom in engineering today that to use the least power to carry a given load the weight of the carrier must be reduced to a minimum. This minimum must be, of course, consistent with the necessary strength, rigidity and durability and it must not be attained at an excessive cost where the fixed charges of the carrier will exceed the savings in, operating the motive power. Recent railroad equipment is a notable example of this, and in these trains alloy steels and aluminum together with less weight per horsepower of the power plant are reducing the weight of the carrier and hence the total power required for moving the paying load. Before considering the application of these metals to shipbuilding, it is well to explain some of the fundamentals of ship design.

Jan 1, 1936

By H. Landsberg

SUBSIDENCE caused by mining operations has been a matter of interest for the mining engineer for just 111 years, since the Belgian Committee for study of subsidence in the city of Liege submitted its first report in 1825. This interest is fairly expressed in the enormous amount of literature that has since appeared on this subject. A bibliography, probably far from being complete, which preceded this study as a pre-liminary survey, comprises more than 800 titles. In spite of this fact the problem remains today as acute as it has ever been. The questions of as good a recovery as possible of the national resources, the safety of the operations, and the protection of private and public property are the important angles from which to look at the problem.

Jan 1, 1936

In 1934 the Southern Experiment Station of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in. cooperation with the University of Alabama began an investiga-tion of the availability of kyanite ores as a source of raw material for the manufacture of refractories. Under this program, gravity concentration and flotation tests have been made on two varieties of Georgia kyanite ore, mica schist and massive. Most of the attention has been directed to the mica schist ores, as they are more widely distributed and seem to offer greater economic possibilities than the massive ores. It is evident that the preparation of kyanite for use as a refractory material involves other considerations than the mere elimination of impurities. A concentration process that eliminates impurities satisfactorily may have to be followed by some additional treatment, since the final product must be of a coarse-ness and size ratio that will make it suitable for refractories manufacture. So far in the investigation at the Southern Experiment Station of the U.S. Bureau of Mines only the concentration problem has been considered, and this paper is intended as an interim report.

Jan 1, 1936

By Mark Malamphy

THE occurrence of outcrops of bituminous schists and sandstones impregnated with heavy asphaltic petroleum first directed attention to the Sao Pedro area as a possible source of commercial production of petroleum. Since 1920, more than 20 wells have been drilled in this area. The discovery of oil shows and small quantities of natural gas in some of the early wells led to the continuation of drilling in the hope that more important findings would result. During the early part of 1934, detailed magnetometer observations were made in this area, and a con-siderable number of torsion balance stations were occupied. The results of these geophysical observations help considerably to clarify the structure of the area and the very considerable amount of geologic information available makes possible a much more exact interpretation of geo-physical anomalies. In presenting the results of these observations, and interpretation of the geophysical data, certain actual case problems are included; i.e., geophysical anomalies due to anomalous masses of which the forms and positions are more or less known. Although anomalies due to igneous intrusions are probably more important to geophysicists in Brazil than in other countries, these data have a certain interest for all geophysicists, particularly because they were obtained in the south magnetic hemisphere, where the lines of magnetic force are directed upward, and in a region of moderately low inclination. This is considered as a geological-geophysical problem, and only passing mention will be given to the petroleum possibilities of the area.

Jan 1, 1936

United Engineering Trustees, Inc. H. G. MOULTON, 40 A. L. QUENEAU, '38 ALBERT ROBERTS, '39 The Engineering Foundation GEORGE D. BARRON, '40 A. L. QUENEAU, '38 Engineering Societies Library Board H. K. MASTERS, '38' A. B. PARSONS, Ex-officio F. F. SHARPLESS, '37

Jan 1, 1936

By Carl Floe

THE possibility of separating the various constituents of mixed ores or metalliferous products by differentially producing their soluble sulfates has not received the consideration that it deserves. The production of the soluble sulfate may be accomplished by baking the ore with sulfuric acid or by treating it with gases containing oxides of sulfur. This paper is primarily concerned with the first method. The procedure used was to mix the material with a solution containing a definite weight of sulfuric acid, baking the mixture at various tempera-tures and then leaching out the soluble sulfate with water. The amount of acid used was calculated to produce certain desired soluble sulfates. The temperature of baking depended on the decomposition points of the sulfates involved. The object was to prevent the formation of or to decompose certain sulfates while leaving a maximum quantity of another sulfate in a water-soluble form. This procedure has two possible advantages over the ordinary method of leaching with an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid. First, a more selective leach may be obtained, and second, the higher temperatures and stronger acid concentrations involved will permit a better recovery of materials that are difficultly soluble in relatively dilute aqueous sulfuric acid solutions. The method of sulfuric acid baking followed by water leaching is not new, as it has been applied in the treatment of various metalliferous materials such as the recovery of cadmium from flue dust1, the re-treat-ment of zinc leach residues2 and the working up of electrolytic slimes3.

Jan 1, 1936

By J. J. Pelley

NOT being a scientist, an engineer or a metallurgist, I consider it a very great honor indeed to be asked to address the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. Your program indicates that any lack of intricate and technical knowledge on my part in the field of metals will be well taken care of by others. Therefore, I believe any remarks that I have to make might well be devoted to the practical side of metals in railroad service and to the general railroad situation as I view it today. The experiments now being conducted on the railroads with so-called streamlined, light-weight trains and cars would not have been possible had it not been for scientific and engineering research in the past that made these lighter weight metals available. The railroads now have approximately forty units of these new trains in operation. Experi-ence with them will no doubt be a guidepost for future construction in that direction. While the best known experiments are in the passenger service, they are being extended into the freight service. Within the past three years there was constructed for the Association of American Railroads a new standard box car of ordinary carbon steel, in which, by reason of superior design, weight was reduced by 3500 to 4500 lb. under that of existing cars of like capacity. The Association is now testing a box car that weighs approximately six or seven tons less than practically all of the box cars of like capacity in service today. If these tests are successful a very large field for the use of lighter weight metals will immediately be opened, provided the costs of such metals are not too high. The fact that various experiments are being carried on with other classes of equipment constructed with so-called light-weight and non-corrosive metals no doubt will have a considerable effect upon the rebuild-ing of old equipment. The question then will be: How much can we afford to spend on the rebuilding of an old car weighing six to seven tons more than a new car constructed with the latest available materials?

Jan 1, 1936

By V. F. Parry, S. P. Burke

The presence of gas in coal mines necessitates the use of costly ventilation arrangements and the use of expensive mining methods. On the other hand, the gas itself in many instances is of considerable intrinsic value, and its separate recovery might conceivably be a profitable undertaking. This paper is concerned with a study of the movement of gas in coal strata with the object of determining the laws governing gas movement and thus making at least a preliminary step toward the solution of the more practical problem of its control or recovery. Naturally, so important a subject has received much attention from scientists and engineers. In most cases, however, the studies have been concerned with the origin1$, the amount" the composition3 and the method of retention4 of the gas in coal; or, from the more practical side, have been concerned with the phenonlena and conditions associated with outbursts5 or explosions and their control. Numerous studies also have been made of the permeability of coal to gas" of gas pressures measured in coal seams, etc. The authors are unaware, however, of any attempt to present a consistent or complete picture of the laws governing the movement of gas through the coal. Study in West Virginia A recent study conducted at this University7 gives the first presentation of the distribution of pressures in a small section of a coal seam. Holes were drilled into the coal rib to various depths and at various distances from the coal face. The location selected for study was as remote as possible from disturbing influences of mining operations, faults, "wants," etc. The pipes extending into the coal that were used to determine pressures were grouted into the borehole for the entire depth of the hole, and great precaution was taken to insure accurate pressure readings. A map of the geology of the region, a map of the probable boundary and extent of the coal seam, a current map of the mine and a

Jan 1, 1936

By J. Charles Miller

THE expansion of facilities for rapid transportation of perishables by train, truck and airplane has necessitated consideration of refrigerants of a minimum weight and volume per pound of cooling and has stimulated the use of solid carbon dioxide commercially. The gas probably has not had wide application in the past in air-cooling equipment for mines, theaters or buildings, owing to its thermodynamic properties, as will be deduced from examination of Table 2. However, consumption of the liquid in carbonating beverages remains a dominant factor. In addition to these uses, carbon dioxide is employed to a limited degree as an explo-sive in the liquid form, as a freezing agent in plumbing, in laboratories for low-temperature work, and in the manufacture of golf balls.

Jan 1, 1936

By G. A. Baird

With the exception of eight wildcat completions, which were unsuccessful and abandoned, all of the 1935 new drilling was performed in the proven fields. As of Dec. 31, 1935, 22 drilling rigs were in operation, of which 9 were at wildcat locations and the remainder were being used in new drilling in proven fields; in addition, 25 workover rigs (exclusive of cleanout rigs) were operating, all in the major fields. Production of Crude Oil.—Notwithstanding the considerable decrease in new completions during 1935 as compared with 1934, crude production mounted to a new high of 148,893,225 bbl., clean oil at 60' F., representing an increase of 12,532,579 bbl. over the previous record year, 1934, total of 136,360,646 bbl. This increase was due: (1) to the flush production

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1936

By E. W. Schilling

THE-separation of hematite by hysteretic repulsion was first brought to the attention of the public in 1922, by W. M. Mordey1. Three-years later another paper2 was published and after another four years a third paper3 appeared in the South African publications. Certain data were lacking in these papers. In order to continue the work intelligently a knowledge of the shapes of the hysteresis curves for certain minerals was very necessary. This information was not available until the present year4. It was known that reduction of certain ores rendered them amenable to this process of separation but definite data in. the form of curves showing exactly the effect of such treatment were lacking. Prob-ably our best source of information on the separation of minerals by the use of alternating-current magnetic fields today is the reports from the U. S. Bureau of Mines 5-7. It is not the purpose of this paper to tell the reader in detail how to make a commercial separator. Experimental models have recently been made7 and the results obtained have been so good that it is the opinion of the authors that the public will soon take an active interest in the subject and its development. The writers have constructed a separator that is considerably different in construction and operation from the two types described by Mr. Davis. This will be described; but the real purpose of this paper is to outline certain experiments and give curves showing data that have a fundamental bearing upon the practical construction of a separator of this type.

Jan 1, 1936