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By William L. Fink

Nickel is used as an alloying element in several complex commercial aluminum alloys, among which are found some very interesting properties, such as relatively high strength at elevated temperatures, relatively low coefficient of expansion, the absence of permanent growth, ability to take a good polish, and a bright, pleasing as-cast surface. For that reason the aluminum-nickel system was included in the list of binary aluminum systems that are being studied as a preparation for the investigation of more complex commercial alloys. This paper is the fifteenth of a series from the Research Laboratories of the Aluminum Company of America reporting the results of investigations of equilibrium relations in aluminum-base alloys of high purity. The aluminum-nickel equilibrium diagram from 0 to 18 per cent nickel was determined, using the purest material available. Previous Investigations The entire aluminum-nickel system was studied thermally and microscopically by Gwyer.1 At the aluminum end of the system he found the intermetallic compound NiA13. He found a eutectic at 6 per cent nickel with a melting point of 630" C. A slight thermal arrest, which he could not explain, was also noted in alloys from 2.5 per cent to 41.9 per cent nickel at 550" C. Bingham and Haughton,2 in a later investigation of alloys of aluminum with copper and nickel found the eutectic concentration of the binary aluminum-nickel system at about 5.3 per cent nickel. The melting point of the eutectic was about 633" C., or slightly higher than that found by Gwyer. Although the solid solubility of nickel in aluminum could not

Jan 1, 1934

By O. A. Knight

THE suppression of the austenite-martensite transformation that can be brought about by the addition of certain alloying elements, such as manganese or nickel, to plain carbon steel has been known for a long time, especially since Guillet's investigation at the beginning of this century. The extent to which the critical range is lowered depends upon the percentage and nature of the special element added. First the Ar1 point is lowered gradually, then at a certain percentage a sudden lowering to about 300° C. occurs. The addition of still larger percentages of the alloy may result in lowering the Ar1 point to room temperature or below, in which case the steel remains austenitic at room temperature, especially after rapid cooling. The effect of alloying elements of this general type on the lowering of the transformation temperature is well illustrated by Sauveur(1)§ in his Fig. 281a, reproduced here as Fig. 1. This type of curve is characteristic of both manganese and nickel though it requires about 2 1/2 times as much nickel as of manganese to produce the same result. The influence of nickel in retarding the transformation of austenite into the lower transition constituents is due to its lowering of the critical range of the steel, which is also well illustrated by Sauveur(1) (after Osmond) in his Fig. 284, reproduced here as Fig. 2. Scott(15) presents a diagram illustrating the effect of manganese on the Ac3 and Ar3 points which is strikingly similar to the diagram above referred to in Fig. 2 concerning the effect of nickel.

Jan 1, 1934

By W. S. Steele

Vermiculite is a nonmetallic mineral of the mica family, probably related to biotite mica. Its occurrence has been noted at numerous places in the United States and in some foreign countries, but it can be said that vermiculite is of only moderately wide distribution. A laboratory and field survey of over 60 deposits in the United States by F. 1;. Schundler & Co., of Joliet, Ill., indicates that the purest deposit represented in this survey is on the property of the Zonolite Company at Libby, Montana The Zonolite Company is commercially active and the vermiculite it produces is sold as Zonolite. Hereafter, in this report, the word "Zonolite " will be used to designate the vermiculite produced by the Zonolite Company. Values given herein to Zonolite are peculiar to the vermiculite produced from the Zonolite Company's deposits. References to " vermicullite," are to he interpreted as covering the broad field covered by the Schundler survey. Composition and Characteristics of Vermiculite Vermiculite is an aluminum-nmgnesium silicate. The following typical analysis is published by the United States Bureau of Standards: silica, 41 per cent; iron oxide, 7; aluminum oxide, 18; magnesium oxide, 21; calcium oxide, 1; alkalis (sodium and potassium), 1; moisture, 11. Vermiculite breaks down into platelike formation in crushing and grinding operations. Its cleavage is basal. Crude, screened, dry Zonolit,e weighs between 80 and 90 Ib. per cubic foot; its specific gravity is 2.8 and its specific heat is approximately 2. The fusion point of Zonolit'e is 2462" F. Crude vermiculite contains between 7 and 9 per cent of chemically combined moisture. The instantaneous introduction of crude Zonolite into an expansion furnace at a temperature of between 1800" and 2000" F. transforms the combined moisture into steam, which in an effort to liberate itself forces all explosive expansion of the platelike crude material

Jan 1, 1934

By P Shenon

THE Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people.1 Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties.

Jan 1, 1934

By H. N. Eavenson

Prior to 1907 nearly all coke was made in beehive ovens, and most of the gas produced was made in the old-style gas retorts, and while there were a few coke plants in southern West Virginia, southwest Virginia and Kentucky operating on high-volatile coals the proportion of the total product made by them was small and usually was used locally. The greater part of the coke made, and the coal gas produced, came from the Pittsburgh seam of western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, which was then regarded as the standard coking and gas coal of the country, and the best coal available anywhere for these purposes. With the advent of the byproduct oven and the building of coke plants at the furnaces, the restriction of the use of one grade of coal for making coke was removed and the use of mixtures of low-volatile and high-volatile coals began. The change in the locations of the coke plants removed the necessity of using Connellsville coal and also made sources of gas available to the public utilities other than of their own manufacture. Most of the first oven plants were built at points distant from the Connellsville region and this afforded an opportunity for the use of coals from the southern Appalachian fields, which were then at approximately equal distances from the ovens. Since that time development has been made on a number of seams of coal of great purity in southern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky, which have been largely used for gas, cokemaking and metallurgical purposes where low amounts of ash, sulfur and phosphorus are determining factors. These coals are much lower in the objectionable elements than most of the coal shipped from the Pittsburgh seam, or than any northern coal, and when blended with low-volntile cod produce coke in byproduct ovens that is not excelled for any purpose by any coal mined in this country, and is equaled very seldom. Coal from several of these scams is shipped in great quantities without beneficlation and is lower in ash and sulfur than any but the best washed product from the Pittsburgh seam in the north. The writer has made a study of these coals to ascertain their relative qualities and the areas and reserves of coal available in each of them. No attention has been paid to the coals of Alabama, which do not compete with any of these coals, and no coal of equivalent quality is found in

Jan 1, 1934

By C. E. Reistle, G. L. Nye

The East Texas field is in Smith, Rusk, Gregg, Upshur and Cherokee counties, Texas. The discovery well was completed Sept. 8, 1930, near the eastern limit of the field. Within less than one year the new field became the dominant factor in the world production of crude oil. On Aug. 16, 1931, eleven months after completion of the discovery well, there were 1644 wells in the field, and the average daily production was 584,475 bbl. Since that time the number of wells has increased to 8195 on Oct. 1, 1933, and the field has produced 385,979,691 bbl. of oil. The geology of the East Texas field has been discussed by Lahee,1 Levorsen,2 Minor and Hanna3 and others, and it will not be discussed in detail here. The field is a structure of the monocline type on the westward dipping homocline between the Sabine uplift and the East Texas geosyncline. Production is obtained from the Woodbine group, which has been truncated and then sealed by the Austin chalk, which rests unconformably upon it. The oil-saturated part of the sand lies bettween a sub-sea depth of 3050 ft. on the east side of the field, where the Woodbine sand stops and the Austin chalk rests directly upon older formations, and a sub-sea depth of 3320 ft., which was the average depth of the water table in the sand at the time the field was discovered. The field is about 40 miles long and has an average width of approximately 4 1/2 miles. The area within the proven limits of the field is close to 116,580 acres and the normal Woodbine water underlies nearly 62,000 acres on the western side of the field at the present time. The field is unusual in several respects: (1) the tremendous size of the reservoir system and the quantity of oil in place; (2) the large area of the oil and water contact, which makes water movement possible into the oil-bearing part of the structure; (3) the absence of free gas within the main producing sand of the field. Changes in the reservoir pressure during the production history of the field have been greatly affected by

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1934

By H. F. Yancey, O. L. Furse

For several years the Bureau of Mines at its Northwest Experiment Station, in cooperation with the Mines Department. of the University of Washington, has been studying the breakage and degradation of coal. The first phase of the study was devoted to the determination of the friability of many coals of various ranks and comparison of various methods for estimating friability.' A study of the relative ease or difficulty with which various coals are reduced to the fine size required for use as pulverized fuel followed the completion of this work. Baltzer and Hudson2 list twelve research organizations in the United States, two in England, one in Germany and one in Canada that are reported to be engaged on this problem; showing the general appreciation of the need for a simple method of estimating the grindability of different coals. Hardgrove,3 ho has advanced a method for estimating grindability, points out that pulverizer tests of different coals are incomplete and unsatisfactory. He compares such tests to that of a boiler test made without knowledge of the calorific value of the coal. Frisch arid Holder4 also stress the same point. They state that,

Jan 1, 1934

By E. Houdremont

THE different influences exerted by the various alloying elements in iron and iron-carbon alloys give rise to a great number of complexities, which are difficult to grasp. It is important therefore to study any sys-tematic relations that may exist between the effects exerted by the various alloying elements, in order to obtain a general classification and thus a clearer conception of the nature of alloy steels. A systematic survey of the alloys of iron, based on an investigation of the binary equilibrium diagrams, was recently published by Wever. Although his work deals little with properties of importance in works practice, its purpose being rather to point out the theoretical agreement among the types of binary equilibrium diagrams and the position of the alloying elements in the periodic system (atomic radii, etc.), the classifica-tion proposed nevertheless also suggests relationships among the proper-ties of the alloys in question, even though the alloys may contain carbon in addition to iron and the alloying element. Wever divided the alloys of iron into one group exhibiting an open or enlarged gamma field and another exhibiting a closed or restricted gamma field, with both groups capable of further subdivision depending upon whether a continuous series of solid solutions is formed, or, owing to the separation of compounds, etc., only a limited series. Thus all alloying elements which with iron form a closed gamma field, a "gamma loop," produce alloys that beyond the composition correspond-ing to the greatest extent of the gamma loop are composed of ferrite alone at all temperatures. Alloys of this composition accordingly are not susceptible to ordinary heat treatment because of the lack of tran-formations. Steels. of this class may thus be divided into steels that contain less than the critical amount of alloying element, and are subject

Jan 1, 1934

By N. A. Zeigler

Considerable work has been and is being done on the changes of physical properties that take place in alloys at elevated temperatures, and much information on this subject is published. Much less is known, as pointed out by Rickett and Woodll about reactions between the alloys and atmospheric gases and still less is known abut changes within the alloy itself under the influence of heat and given atmosphere. Moreover, most of the work published has been done on the alloys of "heat-resisting" type, in which chromium is an essential ingredient, the behavior of all other alloys being quite unknown, except perhaps of decarburization produced at the surface by oxidizing atmospheres. It has been shown2 that iron, with total amount of foreign ingredients not exceeding 0.01 per cent, if heated in an oxidizing atmosphere at above 900" C., may be saturated with oxygen to 0.1 per cent. It was suspected that something of a similar nature may take place in iron-silicon alloys (transformer material), the mechanism of such processes being either a direct diffusion of oxygen into the alloy, or oxygen combining with silicon to form SiO2 or more complicated (silicate) inclusions. Another possibility to be considered was that during annealing in oxidizing atmospheres, when scale is being formed, silicon may oxidize preferentially at the surface, thus impoverishing the alloy in silicon. In collaboration with Dr. T. D. YensenP3 the writer set out to investigate this problem about two years ago in order to settle these questions. Testing Procedure In the first part of the investigation, two pieces of 4 per cent silicon iron, prepared in hydrogen atmospheres and forged to 3/4-in. square bar,

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1934

By W. J. Reagan

A SURVEY of the literature on bottom-cast practice gives but scant information as to some of the real facts concerning this most interesting method of steel manufacture, and some of the information available is very misleading.1 An exceptionally good description of this method of pouring or teeming is to be found in an English publication2 on the heterogeneity of steel ingots. Quoting from this paper: (a) With bottom teeming, the metal rises steadily and progressively in the mold with the minimum possible agitation, the main force of the stream coming from the ladle being broken down or retarded by the down gate or runner. Further, the stream of metal from the ladle, under these conditions of casting, is invariably main-tained at a much more continuous rate and is steadier than with top teeming. (b) In view of the facts referred to in (a) it follows that with bottom teeming the metal is not exposed to atmospheric oxidation to anything like the same degree as with top teeming. In this paper it is intended to detail briefly some of the advantages of bottom-cast practice and to discuss the possibilities of iron-oxide control in the basic open-hearth furnace. A description of the type of charge, ingot mold set-up, etc., is found in detail in an earlier paper.3

Jan 1, 1934

By N. W. Sager, H. W. Mossman

The arrangement and general dimensions of the reverberatory furnaces and waste-heat boilers for the Nos. 2 and 3 smelting units at the McGill plant of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Corporation are shown in Fig. 1. Each of the two reverberatory furnaces has its own set of waste-heat boilers, and before February, 1932, each furnace, when it was in operation, delivered waste-heat gases to its own boilers only. In January, 1933, the idea was suggested of using some of the waste-heat boilers as economizers to operate in conjunction with the waste-heat boilers that were generating steam. The execution of this idea gave rise to the gas-flow scheme depicted in Fig. 1, the advantages of which were obvious, particularly so in view of the fact that for some months prior to the adoption of this scheme the smelting had been confined to No. 2 furnace, with No. 3 furnace and its boilers idle. The waste-heat gases from No. 2 furnace pass through the boilers serving this furnace as steam-generating units, thence through the original exit duct to a point where a bulkhead diverts the gases in a reverse direction through two of the boilers of No. 3 furnace. After the gases have traversed these two boilers, another bulkhead placed in the duct between No. 3 furnace and its boilers causes them to traverse still one more boiler, from which the gas path leads to the stack. In this scheme the last three boilers traversed by the gases, i.e., the boilers behind No. 3 furnace, function as economizers and preheat the feed water for the two steam-generating units directly serving No. 2 furnace. This discussion will give consideration to the results obtained in waste-heat recovery by the scheme shown in Fig. 1, and, further, will compare these results with those obtained before the boilers of No. 3 furnace were set up to act as economizers, but before going into the detail of heat generation, distribution and recovery, will present some additional details of the equipment. All boilers in this waste-heat plant are of the Stirling type. The two behind No. 2 furnace, acting as steam-generating units, of class 13, are 40 tubes wide and rated at 1112 boiler hp., while the three boilers behind No. 3 furnace, acting as economizers, are also of class 13, but 28 tubes

Jan 1, 1934

By R. A. Feemster, C. M. Rader

Because of the necessity for taking regularly occurring open-flow tests in prorated high-pressure oil fields, much gas is turned to atmosphere by way of vertical vent lines leading away from the oil and gas separator. In the past, measurement of such gas has been accomplished by several methods, usually by use of the open-flow Pitot tube. The use of the closed-flow Pitot tube has been avoided apparently chiefly because the ordinary vent-line hook-up makes it necessary to apply the instrument closer to a bend, valve, or obstruction in the pipe than is recommended by rules of good practice. The many advantages that would result from the application of the closed-flow Pitot tube prompted investigation of the actual effect upon quantity rate of flow measurements computed from data obtained with the tube in a normal working position, which is closer to the tee at the base of the vent riser than is usually considered as giving highly accurate results. An effort Was first made to compare the results thus obtained to those under ideal conditions and at high velocities To make this comparison, knowledge of the characteristics of gas flowing at very high velocities is essential. Research for such information indicated that little or no work had been done that would give data necessary for such a comparison, therefore the problem was changed to a test designed to determine the relationship between quantity rates of flow as measured by an orifice meter and a Pitot tube placed at the center of a pipe eight diameters from a tee or ell at the base of a vent riser, through which gas is flowing under low pressures at very high velocities. To determine this relationship, a series of tests was run on a number of 8-in. iron-pipe vent riser., in which the Pitot tube data were taken at the position as stated above. Gas from a wet-gas gathering system was passed through an orifice meter setting and thence to atmosphere by way of the vents. Data were taken simultaneously from the orifice meter and Pitot tube from which computations for comparisons were made. The actual method of comparison is discussed later in this paper. Since Pitot-tube information is usually given in general terms, and not readily usable, it will be the purpose of this paper to discuss the applica-

Jan 1, 1934

Arizona E. P. MATHEWSON, Chairman F. W. MACLENNAN, First Vice-chairman CLYDE E. WEED, Second Vice-chairman E.D. GARDNER, : Secretary-Treasurer Box 4097, University Station, Tucson, Ariz. ARTHUR CROWFOOT G.H. DOWELL HENRY F. EASTER R.D. LEISK Boston Meets first Monday each month, October to May, inclusive GEORGE, W. METCALFE, Chairman ROBERT S. WILLIAMS, Vice-chairman F. LEROY FOSTER, Secretary-Treasurer Rooms G-202, Mass. Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, Mass. FREDERICK K. MORRIS GEORGE A. PACKARD

Jan 1, 1934

By Irwin Roman

IN a previous paper,1 a method was suggested for determining the depth to a bed in the simple case of a uniform overlying layer of constant thickness. The main purpose of the present paper is to show how a slight modification of that method has been used to interpret specific data obtained in the upper peninsula of Michigan by the staff of the Depart- FIG. 1.-THE TECTONIC CONFIGURATION. ment of Mathematics and Physics of the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. The method of Tagg2 has also been used on the same data, thus furnishing a comparison of the e two methods, as well as a method of using the two methods jointly. The method of measuring the apparent resistivity is that suggested by Wenner,3 and illustrated in Fig. 1. A current I enters the earth at the positive pole C and leaves it at the negative pole D. The potential V of the high electrode A, with respect to the low electrode B is measured by suitable means. The separation of the collinear points in the order shown, DBAC, is 1, the same. for each interval.

Jan 1, 1934

By Joseph Jensen

When the legal holders of Government permits in the Middle dome of Kettleman Hills entered into an agreement on May 27, 1929, to suspend all drilling activities on five permits, covering portions of the Kettleman Hills Middle dome, until Jan. 1, 1931, and the owners of fee lands contiguous thereto assured Secretary Ray Lyman Wilbur, of the Department of the Interior, that they too would respect a drilling suspension for a period of a little more than 19 months, none of these interested parties realized that this was the first step in a chain of events that would culminate, more than four years later, in the formation of the Middle Dome Corporation for the development of the Middle dome area in a unit plan that would be the first unit plan to be approved by the California Regional Producers Committee and recommended to the President as a satisfactory unit plan, under Section 7 of Article III of the Oil Code, approved Aug. 17, 1933. Neither did they realize that more than two million dollars would be spent before oil or gas would be successfully and continuously produced from wells drilled on that Middle dome area. On Oct. 1, 1933, under the terms of the Middle Dome Agreement, the Middle Dome Corporation assumes control of activities and is responsible for the division of all product's produced from the Middle dome area to members of the Middle Dome Corporation. This Middle dome plan is the second successful unit plan developed in California in the past three years, the first being the Kettleman North Dome Associationll formed under the agreement, of Jan. 31, 1931, for the unified operation and development of more than 12,000 acres of land on the North dome of the Kettleman Hills. All other unit plans discussed in the past four years in the state have not yet been completed, for one reason or another, but under Section 7 of Article 111 of the new Oil Code numerous plans of development, some of which may be unit plans, will be forthcoming within the next few months. There is much

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1934

By Alden Greninger

MANY recent contributions in the field of theoretical metallography have been concerned with crystallographic definitions or descriptions of various phenomena. The lattice orientation of the crystal being studied must be known before such definitions can be made. Practically all the metallic crystals used do not have crystal faces-other than the unknown "plane of polish"; hence resort must be had to other means of determin-ing orientations. Some use has been made of etch-figures, slip bands, optical properties, etc., for this purpose; but for. accurate results, and because of the fewer restrictions to their use, the various X-ray methods have been the most satisfactory.1 The methods that, have been used may be divided into two general classes: (1) oscillation methods, and (2) transmission Laue methods-2

Jan 1, 1934