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By Douglas W. Fuerstenau, Kalanadh V. S. Sastry

Mathematical considerations of green ball growth in a balling device by the mechanisms of layering new feed onto seed or recycle pellets are presented. An experimental procedure was developed for investigating the agglomerate growth by layering in which the addition of feed to a batch of seed pellets was made cyclically. Using this procedure, the layering growth mode under partial feed consumption and no seed generation conditions was investigated experimentally in a laboratory balling drum as a function of such operating variables as moisture content of the material, feed rate, and the size distribution of the seed pellets. The experimental results were analyzed in the context of the model equations and the layering growth constant was estimated as a function of the operating variables.

Jan 1, 1978

By Kefton H. Teague

Olivine is a mineral containing a mixture of forsterite (Mg2SiO4) and fayalite (Fe2SiO4) in solid solution. The name olivine was first applied by Werner in 1790 (Hunter, 1941) because of the olive-green color of the mineral. Olivine is the principal component of the rock dunite, which itself is a member of the peridotite group of ultrabasic igneous rocks. European uses of the terms olivine and dunite are somewhat different than US usage. In commerce European usage defines dunite as containing 36 to 42% MgO, 36 to 39% SiO2, and loss on ignition of approximately 10%. The term olivine is used to designate a material containing approximately 85% forsterite, with a chemical composition of approximately 45 to 50% MgO, 40 to 43% Si02, 5 to 8% Fe2O3, and ignition loss of 1 to 2%. Uses The principal use of olivine is in various applications involving hot metal. Table I shows the best estimate available as to the amount of olivine consumed by various industries worldwide. In excess of 90% of world uses involve hot metal, with approximately 75% as a slag conditioner in the blast furnace production of pig iron. Approximately 15% of total olivine usage is as a special foundry sand in mold making for the brass, aluminum, magnesium, and manganese steel foundries (Schaller, 1957, 1958; Snyder, 1957; Anon., 1977). Olivine was first used as an industrial mineral in the early 1930s for a refractory material (Anon., 1970; Hunter, 1941). As a refractory raw material, olivine was first introduced in the United States as hand-cobbed, selected, shaped blocks of crude olivine. This use met with limited success. More recently, finely ground olivine blended with MgO and pressed into bricks, which are then fired, has found use in glass tank furnaces and open-hearth furnaces. Ramming or gunning mixes for basic furnace linings also utilize olivine. Olivine has been used in ladle linings with varied success. In Europe, substantial tonnages of olivine are utilized in refractory brick for night storage heaters (Anon., 1970). A limited amount of olivine has been used in the past as a fertilizer (magnesium source) and has been fused with rock phosphate to produce a magnesium phosphate as a plant food. The relatively high magnesia (MgO) content of olivine also attracted attention to it as a potential source of both magnesium compounds and as a source of metallic magnesium (Bengston, 1956; Hunter, 1941). The use of olivine as an additive in the blast furnace is relatively new, having been developed during the last decade. J.W. Currier (Private communication, 1978) describes the behavior of olivine in the blast furnace as follows: Olivine (Mg, Fe2, Si04) represents a unique lime-free source of magnesia and silica as a blast furnace charge component. Only recently has the magnesia-rich mineral been recognized as beneficial cleaner for blast furnace experiencing the problems associated with excessive alkali inputs and/or low coke stabilities. For some time it has been known that alkalis tend to recycle and accumulate in blast furnaces. In the high temperature region of volatilization the elemental alkalis formed attack the integrity of the graphite structure. This alkali attachment is enhanced when poor coke is used. Higher in the furnace stack volatile alkali cyanides condense and oxidize. This accumulation of alkalis tends to agglomerate the burden materials, producing scabs and scaffolds. These structures not only inhibit the downward movement of burden materials and the upward passage of wind, but also lead to erratic furnace performance

Jan 1, 1983

New York, March 18, 1913. MR. CHARLES F. RA ND, President, New YORK, MARCH American Institute of Mining Engineers. Dear Sir: In connection with the official notice of Dr. Raymond's unanimous election by the Directors as Secretary Emeritus, we wish to place upon record certain statements concerning his services to the Institute which we think have not been published., and may not be generally known to the majority of our fellow-members. When the Institute was formed in 1871, Dr. Raymond acted as Secretary of the Founders' Meeting, and became the first Vice-President of the Institute, and, by request of the aged and beloved David Thomas, who was the first President of the Institute, Dr. Raymond discharged all the duties of the office of President, to which he was later formally elected in 1872, and which lip held for three years. During that time, he visited Europe, and through his acquaintance and reputation abroad, established those international relations of the Institute which proved so important in later years. He also enlisted the support of the mining engineers and metallurgists of the Pacific Slope, who would not otherwise have been disposed to join a society originating in the East. And for twelve years he attended; at his own expense, nearly every meeting of the Institute, wherever held, giving to it without remuneration his best service, and sacrificing for it many professional and private interests.

Jan 4, 1913

By C. L. Dake

AN insistent and steadily growing demand is evident for the broadening of undergraduate curricula in engineering. Among suggested additions are training in public speaking, report writing, business law and contracts, accounting, finance, money and banking, scientific management, economics, social and labor problems, psychology, and ethics. The demand for these subjects comes from the older engineers and from the industries that employ our graduates. Of course, many of the men who suggest such changes are influenced largely by their personal needs and contacts, but the demand is sufficiently widespread to merit serious study by educators. In fact, many educators themselves concur in the proposals for broader training. These matters were examined intensively a few years ago in an exhaustive study of engineering education. Opinion at that time was rather strongly against any profound change. Since then, however, the whole economic system has undergone violent disruption. Even if recommendations made a few years ago were appropriate to the conditions then- obtaining, the enormously changed conditions of the present make advisable a further careful study of this problem. In recent years, mergers, to reduce costs, have sharply limited the number of engineers employed and have thereby intensified the struggle to secure positions. In this stiffer competition, engineers with the most adequate training undoubtedly fare the best.

Jan 1, 1934

By Ling Yang, John Henderson

Self-diffusion coefficients of copper in molten copper have been measured by the capillary reservoir method in the temperature range 1140o to 1260°C. The results can be represented by the equation D = [(1.46 * 0.01) x 10-3) exp [(-9710 * 710)/RT] cm2/sec. The energy of activation agrees within the limit of experimental uncertainty with that for viscous flow. The relationship between the diffusivity and coefficient of viscosity is best described by the equation D = kT/4pnr cm2/sec. MEASUREMENT was made of the self-diffusion coefficient of copper in molten copper in the temperature range 1413º to 1533ºK, using the capillary reservoir technique and CU64 as the radioactive tracer.The procedures for filling the capillaries, making the diffusion run and evaluating Dcu from the counting results were the same as described previously.1,2 All experimental operations involving the melt were carried out in a purified argon atmosphere. A graphite crucible, enclosed in a McDanel tube, was used as a container for the melt because of its satisfactory nature as a refractory material and the low solubility of carbon in copper. Graphite was also used for the capillary material. A McDanel thermocouple sheath, to which graphite radiation shields were affixed, was used to hold the capillaries. By moving this sheath through a rubber seal at the top of the McDanel tube, the capillaries could be lowered into or raised out of the melt. A Globar furnace with a constant temperature zone (± 2°C) of 2 in. was used to heat the assembly. The temperature of the furnace was the equilibrium value corresponding to a given setting of the transformer. Temperature was measured with a Pt-10 pct Rh/Pt thermocouple and varied during a run

Jan 1, 1962

Jan 1, 1879

By Pol Duwez, Spencer R. Baen

A LTHOUGH the practical importance of Fe-Cr--iV Mo alloys has long been recognized, constitution studies have been limited to a few alloys within rather narrow ranges of composition. The purpose of the present study was to establish the phase boundaries in the ternary diagram at a temperature of 1200°F (650°C).* The identification of phases and the determination of phase boundaries were based primarily on X-ray diffraction measurements and occasionally on microscopic observation. The methods used for locating the phase boundaries were essentially those described in detail by Andersen and Jette,' and by others.', The compositions of 180 alloys, prepared by powder metallurgy techniques, are shown in Fig. 1. The chemical analysis and mesh size of the powders which were used for the preparation of the alloys are given in Table I. The powders were mixed for 48 hr or longer, then compacted under 80,000 psi in a %-in. diam steel die. Each specimen weighed approximately 5 g. The compacts were sintered for 4 hr at 2500°F (1371°C) in an atmosphere of pure dry hydrogen (dew point near the temperature of liquid nitrogen). An open tray of chromium powder was placed upstream of the compacts to act as a "getter" for the last traces of oxygen or water vapor. In many cases this chromium powder was bright after sintering. Occasionally the upstream side of the powder was slightly greenish, but in all cases the downstream side was metallic. Some of the alloys contracted during sintering and some expanded as much as 20 pct. The latter alloys, which in all cases were brittle, were crushed in a tool steel mortar, repressed, and resintered for 4 hr at 2500°F. After sintering, the alloys were aged for ten days at 1200°F (650°C) in evacuated (105 mm Hg or better) fused silica tubes and were cooled rapidly to room temperature following the aging treatment. The use of the powder metallurgy technique in preparing alloys for structural investigation offers a simple method 'of avoiding contamination or non-homogeniety which could result from a melting operation. It is very often possible to dispense with chemical analysis of the alloys which have been prepared by the powder metallurgy method. In lieu of chemical analysis, it is necessary to determine the weight of the compact before and after sintering. The chemical composition of the alloy may be considered as that of the green compact, within the limits of accuracy determined by the loss of weight during sintering. In phase-diagram studies it is important to achieve homogeniety in structure, whether the alloys are prepared by powder metallurgy or by melting. Homogeniety means complete diffusion during the sintering of the alloys which are prepared by powder metallurgy. It has been found from experience that the best criterion for establishing the completeness of diffusion is the sharpness of the X-ray diffraction patterns. This criterion has been used throughout the present study. The X-ray diffraction data were obtained using powder cameras of either 214.86 or 71.62 mm diam. Copper, cobalt, or chromium Ka. radiation was used, the choice being based on the alloy composition. The powder samples were obtained by filing or crushing, depending on whether the alloy was ductile or brittle. In some cases, the powder was annealed for 4 to 6 hr at 1200°F in vacuum. The measurements were corrected for film shrinkage and absorption. The large camera, in which the film is mounted

Jan 1, 1952

By Samuel Wyer

Over 8,000,000 people in the United States depend on natural gas for their cooking, heating and lighting service. This service has been made possible only by the investment of large amounts of capital in transportation lines connecting the gas wells to the various communities, thus combining a hazardous mining operation with a public utility service. The effect that making these lines " common carriers" will have on the present and future service to these 8,000,000 or more people is of far reaching ethical and economic importance, and deserves careful consideration. As an introduction, it must be conceded that: 1. Natural gas, although a mineral and obtained by a mining operation-with more uncontrollable and uncertain features to cope with than exist in the mining of coal or other minerals-when served to the public becomes a public utility service. 2. The governmental power to regulate all public utilities in the interests of the public cannot be successfully disputed. 3. Mere suggestion of inconvenience to the utility is wholly irrelevant, as it cannot be considered or allowed to influence in making a defense against governmental regulation. Unfortunately it is not generally appreciated that: 1. Legislative enactments are not necessarily laws, and cannot abrogate economic laws or alter engineering facts. 2. There is a clear distinction between "common carrier" and "public utility," although the terms are frequently confused. ' "A common carrier is one who undertakes for hire to transport persons or goods, or both, from place to place for all persons indifferently, the term implying indifference as to whom shall be served, and an equal readiness to serve all who apply, in the order of their application." On the other hand, property becomes a "public utility" only "when for a particular purpose the public have a right to resort to the premises and make use of them."

Jan 5, 1914

By Robert Glass Cleland

THE DEVELOPMENT of the Phelps Dodge copper and railroad interests began in one era of the company's history and continued unbroken into the next. Yet the two eras themselves were strikingly dissimilar and represented marked differences in the company's activities, corporate structure, and personnel. From its organization in 1834 almost to the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, the partnership known as Phelps Dodge was directed, managed, and controlled by the family dynasty established by Anson Greene Phelps. The last two directing partners of this three-generation-old regime assumed control of the company's affairs in 1879 when the economic revolution that followed the Civil War was well under way.' They lived in an age of gigantic undertakings, gigantic enterprises, gigantic combinations, gi- .

Jan 1, 1952

By Alfredo O. Del Campo

Copper concentrate smelting has been the subject of significant improvements during the last three decades. Several new processes are being successfully applied at industrial scale, and probably no new copper smelter will be built with the old-fashioned reverberatory furnace. However, because of financial reasons, the existing reverberatory furnaces, which smelt a significant part of the copper produced worldwide, are likely to last at least another decade. Some improvements have been introduced in reverberatory smelting practice, the best known being the use of oxyfuel burners. However, efforts to optimize the reverberatory furnace operation through automatic control have not been reported. The complex and semi-continuous nature of the process makes it dificult to find a suitable strategy for its automatic control. Many factors, like fuel economy, productivity, boiler capacity, refractory wear, converter slag return, copper losses in discard slag, etc. are interconnected. The chosen control strategy should take into account all these factors to achieve good economic results. A detailed discussion of these problems is presented.

Jan 1, 1984

W. L. SaundeRs, New York City (communication to the Secretary*):—Notwithstanding the sweeping statements made by Mr. Clarke in this paper, the friends of compressed air are not dismayed. There is no war between electricity and compressed air. Each one has its field of usefulness, and in that field each is supreme. In spite of commercial interests, in spite of prejudices and the enthusiasm of the inventor, the thing that is best will survive and flourish. At least ten years ago, our engineering papers contained large advertisements and pages of reading-matter about the application of electricity to mines, recording the introduction of numerous rock-drilling plants, and claiming that the problem had been solved, greatly to the advantage of the miner and with promise of large profits to the manufacturers of electrical apparatus. Edison and Thomson labored to apply electricity to mines, and each believed that the probabilities of success were great. This was the period of the solelloid rock-drill, which mas admirably suited, theoretically, to the percussive principle and in the development of which hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent without satisfactory result. I have searched in vain for a standard mining equipment where electric rock-drills are in constant, commercial operation. During a recent trip made from New York to California, I visited most of the important mines of the West and failed to discover a single electric equipment, so far as this class of mining-work is concerned. If any one will inform me where there exists today an electric-drilling equipment in constant service in mines in the United States, I shall be glad to receive the information. Mr. Clarke has been for some years an active and intelligent writer on the subject of electricity for mining. Whenever his

Jan 1, 1904

By V. V. Clark

WHEN a district is more or less primitive, and a trained mining engineer attempts single- handed to prospect it according to old standards, he generally fails. He has not the ability to live out in the open alone for months at a time and carry on with enthusiasm and determination like the old-time prospector. But the same engineer, placed in an organized group where modern prospecting methods are employed, is immediately put on his mettle and his chances of winning are greatly increased. Marsman Investments, Ltd., with headquarters in Manila, has at the present time, Sept. 4, 1937, six prospecting parties in the Netherland East Indies. Three of these groups are combing their assignments for lode mines, studying structures, developing and reaching out into veins and zones with diamond drills. The other three are searching for placer mines with pans, pits, and Empire drills. I am in charge of one group seeking commercial gold placers on the Island of

Jan 1, 1937

By B. M. Larsen

NEVER having actually tried to engage in the systematic education of anyone, and having little direct knowledge of the practical problems and limitations in the field of education, I can pose only as a "nonexpert" in this field, one whose ideas are to be regarded as personal opinions. The necessity for compromise between educational ideals and the practical limitations of time, money, and mental capacities of both student and teacher is evident in the preparation of an end product that we may regard with a reasonable degree of conviction as a professional engineer. We need to do so many things. The engineering student must have a clear understanding of the basic sciences; he should develop manual skills and co-ordination; he should speak and write the language with simple clarity and directness; he should gather knowledge of a special field; and, he should be educated for living in a broad ..

Jan 1, 1948

By K. R. Bixby

OPENING of numerous stripping operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other districts, particularly outside the Middle West and Southwest where the large-scale stripping mines predominate, holds the limelight for the year 1940. Several factors are responsible for this expansion. One is the scarcity of untested and undeveloped properties in this central field. Another has been the development of earth-moving and preparation equipment suitable for these smaller tonnage tracts. Draglines of the Walker type, small long-range .hovels, and large-capacity tractor- drawn scrapers have to be considered. Wash boxes, designed for light tonnages, costing a few thousand dollars, have made their contribution.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. J. C. MAC DONALD

THE mining engineer must have a chest of books snug enough for a camelback or to be stowed away in a canoe; at the lowest possible cost, as he needs it the most in those early years when he earns the least; but at the same time one having an unusually wide range, for he may have to cut down a forest, put up a sawmill, build mine towns, construct dams, power houses, power lines, and railroads. In fact he may be called upon for many unexpected accomplishments and all in extension of the characteristically broad demands of his profession. Suppose that an average mining engineer with a thorough theoretical training and a specialized mining education has accumulated, during a cosmopolitan experience, a complete and up-to-date library, but, unfortunately, in accepting a long term assignment to a far country he is forced to discard the greater part of

Jan 1, 1925

By E. L. Kapfer

A preliminary description is made of the field of automation and optimization of the oxygen blast furnace process. The concept of static and dynamic process control is illustrated. After a short general description of all factors concerning the optimization of this process, a learning system is derived which gives better results than models previously used. This learning or self-adaptive control system uses statistical methods with exponential aging of process data and requires derivation of multi-variable functions of the process for which measurements can be made available. The practical application of this new procedure and of additional measuring instruments are discussed, and results obtained in plants using the adaptive control system are described. A survey of European steel plant automation using the Siemens technique is presented.

Jan 1, 1969

By AIME AIME

THE outstanding event of the past month has been the conference in Washington of the representatives of about seventy-five of the leading national, regional and local engineering and allied technical organizations." Editorial-July Journal-The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ?Prominent engineers from all parts of the country, representing more than 75 engineering societies, with an aggregate membership of more than 125,000, participated in the organization.? Editorial-July Journal-American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. ?Civil, mechanical, electrical, mining, heating, sanitary, chemical, agricultural, marine, refrigerating, radio, fire protection, automotive, industrial and military engineers, as well as some architects and geologists assembled at Washington, D. C. to consider the advisability of organizing a national federation capable of bringing the united efforts of the entire membership to a focus on any problem of mutual interest." American Architect, June 23, 1920. ?"the object sought places it above any engineering gathering ever held." Editorial-American Machinist, June 17, 1920. "The youngest. profession has voluntarily accepted its responsibility in human affairs and is now reaching forward to a career of essential service." "This is .unmistakably the meaning of the Organizing Conference " Editorial-Industrial Management, July; 1920.

Jan 1, 1920

By J. T. Ryan

SAFETY practice or the elimination of accidents in our coal mines is specifically a problem of management. It cannot be delegated to any governmental agency except that the various coal-producing states do and should have some minimum safety standard laws. However, the legislative method of attempting to control mine accidents is ineffective because of the delay between the necessity and the action. It will always be impossible to keep our various state mining laws up to date; and when the law says you must do a certain thin there is a tendency to do this and no more. Unless the scheme for setting up state regulations is so flexible that when a new hazard develops it can be immediately and adequately covered and the whole responsibility for accident elimination placed undivided on the

Jan 1, 1937

By J. M. Karpinski, F. P. White, R. L. Stone

By means of laboratory balling tests and a procedure for determining bentonite concentration in a green ball, the present study revealed that the bentonite savings by mulling concentrate and bentonite prior to balling was sufficient to warrant installation of a full-size unit in a pellet plant. On the basis of this work, a muller was put on stream at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Cornwall pellet plant in June 1969, and has operated continuously since then. Plant tests showed that the use of the muller resulted in bentonite savings of about 50% without any loss of green, dry, and fired ball quality. Virtually no maintenance problems have been encountered. This information is important to future pelletizing operations both from the standpoint of product quality and economics.

Jan 1, 1972

By G. J. Armstrong, K. S. Lynch, C. G. Thomas, L. A. Baker, R. J. Cornelius

The presence of geothite in a hematite ore has been shown to strongly affect the time of heating to the firing temperature. The investigation of spalling of single pellets and of packed beds has enabled free water and goethite spalling to be identified as separate phenomena. In addition, it has been shown that even for an 18-in. deep bed of green balls, the free water and goethite drying periods can be considered separately. Based on this observation, a method of predicting production rate and hood temperature profile is presented. The method required knowledge of the ore goethite content, ore grind, and the green pellet bulk density. Laboratory results were found to be in good agreement with actual plant practice and have led to improved process performance.

Jan 1, 1974