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By JOHN R. SUMAN

IT SEEMS particularly appropriate that the Institute's Regional Meeting should be held in Minnesota this year. Whether we like it or not, we cannot help looking at things now in the light of the World War and the all-out effort we, as a nation, are making to defend our resources, our institutions, and our way of life. The ability to do this lies in large measure in the ability to forge weapons of defense-the machines of war. The basic ingredients of any defense system, or war machine, are the raw materials of industry-iron ore, providing steel for guns, shells, tanks, and warships; coal for stoking the nation's furnaces; oil to furnish power for war planes, ships, trucks, and mechanized weapons; and all the other materials that play a vital role in the operation of modern armies and navies. The tremendous requirements of full-scale defense programs are indicated by the large number of commodities that are now under priorities because the supply is not sufficient to meet both defense needs and all normal civilian consumption. But out of all these items two are of paramount importance-steel and petroleum. In this age no nation can hope to main¬tain a position as a first-class power in the world without a highly developed industry, particularly the heavy industries based on steel, and without access to the necessary resources for those industries. In 1918, 70 per cent of the iron and steel production of the United States was required for defense purposes. In 1940, 15 per cent of our iron and steel production was consumed for defense purposes, and with the acceleration of the defense program, it appears that the proportion of steel output required for defense purposes will reach 40

Jan 1, 1941

By F. M. Drake

IN this paper I propose to describe a plant which I lately erected for the Mount Stewart Lead and Silver Mining Company of Leadville, New South Wales, Australia. I am indebted to Mr. W. F. Burrow, of the Roads and Bridges Department of New South Wales, for the drawings which I present herewith, he having reduced and assembled them from my working drawings. The works are situated on a sloping hillside, but sufficient fall mas not available to have the furnace as high as desired, and at the same time have a good slag-tip and sufficient depth on the ore-floor to store a supply of ore and flux. The ore is delivered on the ore-floor (which is of the full width of the furnace-building, and extends back into the hill a distance of seventy feet) by two overhead tramways (not shown in the drawings), one on each side. From these the ore-mixture is made up on one side, while it is being taken to the furnace from the other. The fuel also is delivered by these tramways. The fluxes are stored on a floor directly at the back of the boiler and engine room. The boiler is a Cornish one, 6 feet 6 inches in diameter by 25 feet long. Its flue is 3 feet in diameter and does not contain Galloway tubes. The working-pressure is 40 pounds per square inch. The engine is an old-fashioned one, with a cylinder 16 inches in diameter by 30 inches stroke. Both the engine and boiler had been part of the plant of a defunct gold-mining company. They were very extravagant in their consumption of fuel. The blast is supplied by a rotary pressure-blower, of the Baker pattern, made in England. It has a capacity of 60 cubic feet per revolution. The furnace, which has several novel points, is shown in detail in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The jackets are of cast-iron, and are higher than those generally used. They are different, too, in that the feedwater inlet is through a hand-hole plate near the bottom. This plate is fastened to the jacket by stud-bolts, and is provided with a baffleplate, which prevents the cooling water from impinging against the inner plate. The outlet is by a goose-neck at the top, which dis-

Jan 1, 1893

By Arthur Knapp

The ordinary well log is subjected to a great deal of criticism, much of which is well founded. Sometimes, though, the difficulty in interpreting the log is due to the fact that the geologist or engineer using the logs does not know the limitations of the drilling method used. The rotary drill, especially, has inherent limitations that make it difficult to secure definite information at all times. The identification of well-defined key beds is about all that can be expected from the rotary log. The formation in a drilled hole, as reported by the driller, has a direct relation to the speed with which the drill makes the hole or to the reaction of the various strata on the bit, called the "feel of the bit." When this is not thoroughly understood by the geologist or engineer endeavoring to interpret the log, the result is an erroneous correlation with other wells or a discarding of the log as worthless. General Terms Hard and Soft.—Hard and soft are relative terms. In the case of well logs, they are very misleading as they are used in connection with both resistance to abrasion and resistance to percussion. In technical rock classification, hardness is relative resistance to abrasion. The term brittleness is used in connection with resistance to blows. These terms are misleading to the geologist or engineer who is not familiar with both the cable-tool, or standard tool, method of drilling and the rotary method. In the case of the standard tools, the driller's report of the hardness of the formation is in terms of its resistance to blows. For instance, a cable-tool driller might be able to make from 30 to 50 ft. a tour in a brittle limestone, which he would call soft and at the same time he might call a relatively soft (from a purely mineralogical standpoint) gypsum hard, because it is somewhat elastic and is not readily broken by blows. The rotary driller would reverse the terms. The limestone is hard in that it resists the abrasive action of the bit, while the gypsum might be soft in that it is readily cut by the rotary bit. It is rare that wells drilled by the standard tools are correlated with those drilled by the rotary, but the technologist who has worked with well logs from one system might be misled when working with the other.

Jan 1, 1921

During the past 20 years the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. and the General Electric Co. have collected a valuable library of some 9000 volumes on electricity. The collection was intended especially for use in patent searches and is particularly rich in patent material. Files of all the principal patents relating to electric light acid power issued by America, England, France and Germany, are present, together with copies of the patents owned or controlled by the two companies. Another feature, and one of unusual value, is a series of volumes containing the records of the important adjudicated patent cases of these companies and their predecessors during the past 25 years, and forming a storehouse of electrical history. There are also files of about 100 electrical periodicals. It is a pleasure to announce that this collection has now been presented by the owners to the Engineering Societies Library. This gift, which was arranged through Mr. Charles A. Terry, Vice-president, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., and Mr. Charles Neave, Counsel,

Jan 7, 1918

By Harold C. Price

One year ago, that is in January, 1923, there had not been constructed a single oil-storage tank of 55,000-bbl. or more capacity with a completely electric welded roof and bottom. Today, there are at least fifty 80,000-bbl. storage tanks completed, or nearing completion, on which both the roofs and the bottoms are electric welded. It is the purpose of this paper to describe, in a general way, the construction of these welded roofs and bottoms, and to give their advantages over riveted construction. All of the following data and conclusions were obtained from observations made during the welding of tanks by the Welding Engineering Co. at Texas City, Tex., and Tonkawa and Burbank, Okla. As far as can be determined, the first electric welding on large tankage was completed in May, 1922. At that time the Empire Companies of Bartlesville, Okla., discovered a badly leaking bottom in a 55,000-bbl. tank at El Dorado, Kans. They had considered concreting this bottom, but because of the much smaller cost, decided to try electric welding; so a contract was given the Welding Engineering Co. of Bartlesville, Okla. In this instance, no new sheets were added, the bottom being repaired by electric welding of all seams and rivets, Fig. 1. In some places where the original rivets were missing, the holes were filled by welding; patch plates were also added at certain badly worn spots. This tank has since been used for over a year and a half, but no other

Jan 1, 1924

By John Dilworth

THE word "development," as used in connection with .mining, is a rather general term and in most instances must be qualified or explained before the exact thought in the mind of the user is made clear. For instance, by the development of a mining district is often meant its entire facilities of mineral production, such as railroads, towns, mine plants, etc. In speaking of the development of a property its prospecting by test pits or diamond drill borings may be referred to; or it may be the mines, strip pits or quarries from which the coal, ore or rock is won. But, as a rule, when the development of an individual mine is spoken of the idea in mind is the system of underground workings by means of which the mineral is recovered and transported to the surface. It is this character f development that is considered in this paper. The discussion will be confined to the ordinary room-and-pillar, system of mining. practically horizontal coal seams that is used in most bituminous coal mines in this country, and to only two phases of this subject; viz., what is properly included under the head of "Development"' as it appears on the books of a coal company or the inventories of an examining engineer, and how its "value" should be determined -by the accountant or engineer. No absolute rule or definite agreement covers these points, yet these questions are far more than academic. Development is often an important part of a mining company's assets, affecting the amount of its invested capital (and hence its rate of taxation under present Federal income tax laws) as well as the value of its total assets and the amounts chargeable to cost of coal and to depreciation.

Jan 7, 1921

The Reconstruction and Research Division of the United States Council of National Defense has, up to date, prepared two reviews on the above subjects: one covers foreign countries and the other covers the activities in the States. These reviews contain information appearing in various Governmental and public periodicals. While the information on foreign countries is necessarily incomplete and fragmentary, its summation is perhaps the most complete work of this kind so far accomplished. The information from the states consists mainly of bills and ordinances introduced in the state legislature, municipal councils, legislature committee reports, programs suggested by governors, and other state and local officials and local organizations It is realized that a good deal of this information will be useful to engineers studying conditions in the various states, and especially to those who want an insight into the general condition in all the states. For instance, the reconstruction problem in each state involving highway, reclamation, buildings, etc., are covered in detail.

Jan 8, 1919

By W. E. STOKES

A GENERAL extension and appreciation of the stereocartographic principle of precise mapmaking is evident. Under the stimulus of war, many radical improvements in aerial photography, and in airplane and motor con? struction are indicated for the future. A survey of advanced military designs points to the conclusion that the familiar radial motor is destined for oblivion under the impact of the inverted "V" type.' The latest German inverted "V" design of 1000 hp. is 68 in. long whereas British and American motors of the same power are 72 and 94 in. respectively, suggesting a horsepower-weight efficiency ratio in favor of the former. Application of the pressure cooling principle has made possible the development of in-line air? cooled engines which offer many advantages, such as small frontal area, unobstructed vision for the pilot, freedom from vibration because rotative speeds are not limited by fundamental unbalance of reciprocating parts, freedom from excessive bearing loads, and less weight per horsepower.

Jan 1, 1940

One item of general interest in MINING ENGINEERING Trends, May 1952 gives the wrong impression of the scale of the ilmenite operations in North Carolina It also implies there are known deposits of rutile which "guarantee self-sufficiency for many years" So far as we know this is not true At present, rutile is in such short supply in the United States that the Defense Mineral Authority is encouraging prospecting for new deposits So far none have been found of any consequence and our needs have to be met largely from the deposits near Jacksonville, Fla, and rutile imported from Australia JAY P WOOD VICE-PRESIDENT HUMPHREYS GOLD CORPORATION The reference to self-sufficiency was meant to apply to the ilmenite-bearing sands, not rutile, but improper phrasing failed to make this clear However, the press release that the Glidden Co circulated stated that this deposit of ilmenite was one of the largest in North America -Editor

Jan 1, 1952

By AIME AIME

THE technical material in hand and the plans under way for the 141st meeting of the Institute clearly indicate a well-rounded program of unusual excellence. The meeting will be held in the Engineering Societies Building, Feb. 15 to 18, and while it is too early to announce definitely the time of the various sessions much of the detail has been organized up to that point. Every group in the Institute membership will find much of special interest, and several features should prove generally attractive. The various committees in charge of the lighter side of the meeting are hard at work to emulate the standard established last February In this connection and in this paragraph it will suffice to say-there will be a Smoker-dinner! The Committee on Mining Methods plans two sessions for which these papers are in prospect:

Jan 1, 1932

By J. L. W. Birkinbine

This paper is a discussion of a part of the mineral wealth of the States of Oaxaca and Paebla, Mexico. It does not refer to the precious metals, sonie mines of which, in these States, are said to have been worked before the advent of the Spanish conquistadores in the sixteenth century, as my purpose is to invite attention to the exploration of deposits of coal and iron-ores in the Mixteca region. The prominence given to coal is warranted by the great effect of the scarcity of fuel upon the industrial development of Mexico. Under the progressive administration of President Porfirio Diaz, the Republic has made wonderful advances in the past three decades; and this progress would have been greater but for the limitations imposed by expensive fuel. In the spring of 1906 I was detailed by the Birkinbine Engineering Offices, of Philadelphia, to accompany A. B. Adams, of New York, in a reconnoissance of reported deposits of iron-ores in the State of Oaxaca. The result of this expedition was the formation, in 1907, of the Oaxaca Iron & Coal Co., of which Mr. Adams became, and has remained, President and General Manager, and I have spent the past three years as Chief Engineer of this company in Mexico, principally in western Oaxaca, where field-headquarters were established. GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION. Although the geographical and topographical features of the Republic of Mexico are well known, few realize that the majority of its population is domiciled in the States which immediately surround the capital city of Mexico, including the Federal District, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla,

Jan 1, 1911

By W. D. France, H. l. Burghoff

FABRICATORS of copper and copper alloys have contended with the problems of reconversion during the past year in endeavoring to return to the full-scale production that is demanded of them. The problems have not been easy, for the industry, like so many others, has had to deal with strikes of long duration, and material shortages, particularly in the raw materials, copper, zinc, lead, and tin. Despite all these obstacles, it was possible to gear production to new peacetime records during the latter part of the year. This was made possible not only by the use of multiple shifts of personnel, but also by the improved production equipment, the development of which had been stimulated by wartime necessity. The work of installing new and better equipment is still continuing, and virtually every company is engaged in improving or planning to improve its processes.

Jan 1, 1947

By P. E. Fitzgerald

ACIDIZING, as the terns is used in the petroleum production industry, involves the use of hydrochloric acid in predominantly limestone formations, resulting in the lowering of resistance offered to the flow of oil and gas through the oil-bearing formation, usually with resultant increased production. A number of articles have been written on the chemical treatment of oil and gas wells; a bibliography of these works will appear in Volume 123 of the Institute's TRANSACTIONS (1937), and a few other references are appended to this paper.

Jan 1, 1937

By Rollin A. Slater

This paper presents a composite of ideas on materials handling systems by describing the design of an over-all system for a hypothetical steel pellet plant located on the Great Lakes. The bulk materials handling industry has served for years as the skeleton and the central system of nerves and nourishment for the body of basic industries. During the past two decades, this body has undergone substantial growth and mutation to meet the surging demands of our national economy for more and better products. The steel industry has kept pace with spiralling demand by innovation which has resulted in new processes and improved designs which generally yield greater production from fewer units. Materials handling technology has likewise improved its techniques and currently has a new, stronger generation of equipment to perform its necessary supporting function. Drawing upon excerpts from several recent plant designs, this paper describes a basic approach to the selection and application of modern bulk materials handling systems to an entirely new steel plant. Specific details are not available for publication, and therefore the plant described herein is a composite of ideas. This imaginary plant will be located on the United States side of the Great Lakes and its owner will be called the Hypothetical Steel Corp. for purposes of discussion. TYPES OF EQUIPMENT The basic bulk materials handling systems and components required in a plant so situated are: lake boat unloaders; railroad train unloading systems; storage pile stackers and reclaimers; large bins and regulating feeders; and the conveyor systems — with their attendant controls— which connect the foregoing. PROGRAM OF DEVELOPMENT The initial work on the plant must be that of the process engineers who develop and refine the basic data, i.e., the logistics of all raw materials, waste materials and products within the plant. During this phase of study, the materials handling engineer may advance his planning only in basic areas such as movements at the dock and movements at the railroad. This initial planning work is concerned only with defining logical plant locations in the light of channels, currents, existing traffic, governmental regulations, locations of existing railroads and available rights-of-way. These systems alone have their own individual criteria which must be respected and accommodated in the final layout. All other elements, such as the arrangement of the blast furnaces, power house, coke plant, by-product plant, scrap preparation plant, BOF shop, and facilities for continuous casting, degassing, calcining, etc., are dictated by their own specific needs and their relation to each other. In the arrangement of these latter facilities, the materials handling system is secondary and must be designed to accommodate. BASIC LOGISTICS The result of the process engineer's work can be expressed in terms similar to those shown in Table I. Plants are customarily rated in terms of annual tons of ingots. Therefore, the basic size of this plant can be determined by referring to the BOF Shop wherein it is sized at 5 million tpy. From the base, the required hot metal can be traced to the blast furnace, which in turn indicates the amount of required flux, iron bearing materials and coke —which in turn establishes the demand for coal. Likewise, the total demand for flux can be determined by the combined demand of the lime plant and blast furnace. The generation of fines and waste products, which have significant value but are not usable as such, create the need for a sintering plant. From projections such as the foregoing, the complete flow of materials can be established and accommodated. The basic premise upon which this typical materials balance is predicted is that the plant will be a producer of high tonnages of non-SpecialtV- products. All basic raw materials (flux bearing, iron bearing, coal) will be prime quality. For example, the basic iron charge will be pellets, and the iron ore fraction will be sized lump, all of which

Jan 1, 1970

By W. T. Turrall, D. Porter

The paper describes a machine developed for the purpose of concentrating clear optical grade fluorspar crystal from a feed material containing less than 1 pct impurities. The principle of concentration is based on the fact that in a liquid having an index of refraction equal to that of fluorite (n — 1.434) clear crystals are invisible, whereas crystals containing occluded impurities absorb a part of the light. As the crystals pass through a light beam, undesired crystals give themselves away by creating a shadow on a photoelectric receiver. .The shadow is converted by the photoelectric cell into an electric pulse. An electronic circuit amplifies this pulse and commands the operation of a mechanical concentrator. Hp HE crystal laboratory, Dept. of Physics, Massa--*- chusetts lnstitute of Technology, was confronted with the problem of obtaining a supply of optical grade calcium fluoride (CaF,) for use in growing synthetic CaF, crystals. A search of the known fluorspar deposits did not indicate that any quantity of optical spar could be obtained. Even the best material had to be sorted by hand to remove impurities. The process for growing CaF, crystals developed by Professor D. C. Stockbarger of the Dept. of Physics, M.I.T., necessitates very pure feed materials. Exclusion of impurities is required, even in amounts detectable only spectrographically. The impurities occurred as minute inclusions of SiO,, BaSO,, CaCO,, FeS2, water or air. Crystals up to 4 in. in diam and weighing several pounds are made by the Harshaw Chemical Co. in Cleveland. Since the time required to grow a 4-in. crystal is about one week, and since the cost of manufacture is high, removal of impurities by any concentration method appeared practical. The mineral engineering section of the Dept. of Metallurgy undertook to investigate the possibility of concentrating clear optical fluorspar, —4 mesh + 10 mesh, from a feed containing over 99 pct CaF,. Various innovations of the known methods of concentration were considered, but in each case the minute amount of impurities associated with the crystal produced such extremely small differences

Jan 1, 1953

By W. T. Turrall, D. Porter

The paper describes a machine developed for the purpose of concentrating clear optical grade fluorspar crystal from a feed material containing less than 1 pct impurities. The principle of concentration is based on the fact that in a liquid having an index of refraction equal to that of fluorite (n — 1.434) clear crystals are invisible, whereas crystals containing occluded impurities absorb a part of the light. As the crystals pass through a light beam, undesired crystals give themselves away by creating a shadow on a photoelectric receiver. .The shadow is converted by the photoelectric cell into an electric pulse. An electronic circuit amplifies this pulse and commands the operation of a mechanical concentrator. Hp HE crystal laboratory, Dept. of Physics, Massa--*- chusetts lnstitute of Technology, was confronted with the problem of obtaining a supply of optical grade calcium fluoride (CaF,) for use in growing synthetic CaF, crystals. A search of the known fluorspar deposits did not indicate that any quantity of optical spar could be obtained. Even the best material had to be sorted by hand to remove impurities. The process for growing CaF, crystals developed by Professor D. C. Stockbarger of the Dept. of Physics, M.I.T., necessitates very pure feed materials. Exclusion of impurities is required, even in amounts detectable only spectrographically. The impurities occurred as minute inclusions of SiO,, BaSO,, CaCO,, FeS2, water or air. Crystals up to 4 in. in diam and weighing several pounds are made by the Harshaw Chemical Co. in Cleveland. Since the time required to grow a 4-in. crystal is about one week, and since the cost of manufacture is high, removal of impurities by any concentration method appeared practical. The mineral engineering section of the Dept. of Metallurgy undertook to investigate the possibility of concentrating clear optical fluorspar, —4 mesh + 10 mesh, from a feed containing over 99 pct CaF,. Various innovations of the known methods of concentration were considered, but in each case the minute amount of impurities associated with the crystal produced such extremely small differences

Jan 1, 1953

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 B. F. Fackenthal

One of the practical questions presented to the blast-furnace manager, with regard to which little help can be obtained from existing technical literature, is the manner of filling and blowing-in. This operation is often performed according, more or less, to traditions which have come down from earlier practice, and which, if not positively detrimental when followed with the large modern furnace, may at least be greatly improved, just as the running of the furnace itself, while in blast, has been improved. It is not necessary, as many of the old furnace-men believed, to make a lot of white or silver-gray iron at the start, or to spend many weeks, or months even, in bringing the furnace to its normal burden. It has seemed to me that the publication of carefully-recorded data of practice on this point may be interesting to the members of the Institute engaged in the management of blast-furnaces. The enlarged blast-furnace at the Durham Iron Works, Riegelsville, Pa., owned by Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt, of New York City, was first put in blast February 21, 1876, since which time it has made seven blasts, and is now running on the eighth. A description of the furnace-plant, together with a record of the fifth blast, was given in my paper read at the Chattanooga meeting, May, 1885 (Transactions, xiv., 130). After some of the early blasts the furnace-lines underwent considerable change, and I have thought best to accompany this paper with drawings showing the lines and the tuyere-arrangement (see Plates I. and II.), and to give also the following summary of the conditions and results of each blast. During the first and second blasts no coke was used, and the furnace ran very irregularly, showing a constant tendency to scaffold, which was attributed, in great part, to the small hearth and other defective lines. The large proportion of air required at this furnace is accounted for by the fact that the engines are defective, and do not deliver into the furnace the amount of air indicated by the pistondisplacement.

Jan 1, 1890

By David H. Browne

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) NICKEL has always been a fruitful mother of problems. Previous to the year 1906 nickel was regarded as an element replacing iron in copper-mattes, and it was believed that the same laws which governed the elimination of iron could be applied-to nickel. This conception has lately undergone a complete change, and nickel in all its stages is now regarded as an element replacing copper; in other words, copper-nickel is considered now as two elements, but as one metal. When we commenced our investigations on Monel metal we made a great many experiments on the conversion of mattes, both high copper and high nickel. We studied closely the composition of the mattes and the changes produced by the blow. We found in all cases certain agreements which we believe are due to some law. Briefly stated, our conclusions are as follows 1. Nickel is not an element replacing iron in matte. 2. Nickel-copper alloys act in the matte-blow like one metal. 3. Nickel-copper alloys follow, during the matte-blow, exactly the same laws as govern. the behavior of copper alone. This brings up the question : What are the laws governing the production of metallic copper, and what are the relations copper to sulphur and iron during the Bessemer blow ?

Apr 1, 1910

By H. J. French

AT THE request of a committee of the Engineering Division,1 National Research Council, a study of the properties of boiler plate at various temperatures up to about 900° F. (482° C.) has been instigated. The following is a report of preliminary tests made on two grades of ½ -in. plate and includes a description of the apparatus used in the determination of the proportional limit. Detailed reference to the many published investigations in connection with the properties of steel at various temperatures will be omitted from this report. Suffice to state that results obtained for variation in tensile strength elongation, and reduction in area with temperature are in substantial agreement with the effects now generally considered to be correct. Comparison of proportional limit values with results obtained by other investigators will be found in the conclusions.

Jan 2, 1920