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By J. Downie, H. A. Kendall, G. H. F. Gardner

Some cases of the motion of two miscible fluids in uniform linear models are discussed. There is no bulk flow through the models, and the convection currents are caused solely by density gradients. Horizontal, vertical and inclined positions of the models are treated separately. Analytical formulas for the motion of a narrow transition zone between the fluids are obtained and compared with measurements, and the limitations are discussed. Observations of the ultimate stabilizing effect of diffusion on the motion me compared with the theory. It is shown that fluid motion in an inclined model with a constant rate of bulk flow can be directly deduced from the cases discussed, provided the viscosity ratio is small. INTRODUCTION In some reservoirs, convection currents caused by variations in the fluid densities may be significant. For practical purposes it may be desirable either to minimize the effect, particularly in miscible displacement, or to maximize the effect as in some schemes for the production of heavy crude oils by combustion. Experiments by Craig, et al,l have shown the effectiveness of gravity in reducing the efficiency of a miscible displacement when the mixed zone between the displacing and displaced fluids is narrow compared with the height of the system. The presence of a board transition zone from one fluid to the other has been shown by Perkins, et al,2 to nullify considerably the influence of a difference in density. Indeed, the theoretical discussion given by Perrine3 has shown that when the transition zone exceeds a certain critical length the efficiency approaches 100 per cent. Many additional results 495 have been published on miscible and immiscible displacements which show the importance of density difference and also mobility ratio. The aim of the present paper is to discuss some cases of gravity segregation of miscible fluids in linear models such as are often used in the laboratory to evaluate recovery processes, and to supply additional experimental evidence in support of the conclusions. An attempt is made to calculate simply the magnitude of the fluid motion caused by density pdients and mobility ratios, and to quantify the modifications in the fluid motion produced by the combined effect of molecular and convective dispersion. However, it should be pointed out that the uniform permeability of the models and the use of only a single pair of fluids (whereas several pairs of fluids may be employed in a recovery scheme) severely restricts direct conclusions about natural reservoirs. For conciseness, the motion generated by density gradients is emphasized for the case of no bulk flow through the models. This is not a drastic limitation because, as shown in Appendix A, a fluid motion with a constant bulk flow through any linear model is equivalent to a fluid motion with no bulk flow in the same model inclined at a different angle to the horizontal, provided only that the density is a linear function of the viscosity of the fluid mixture. HORIZONTAL MODEL In this case the model is assumed to have a rectangular cross-section with a horizontal breadth b, vertical height and a great length L. Throughout.the paper it will be assumed that x-axis points along the length, the y-axis along the width and the z-axis along the height. Thus, in the present case the x, y plane is horizontal. Initially, the transition zone between the fluids is assumed to be thin and parallel to the y, z plane. An example of this situation in a practical problem arises in a scheme for using air for cushion gas in the storage of fuel gas in aquifers. 6 With the passage of time the denser fluid sinks and spreads along the bottom of the model while the lighter fluid rises. The interface extends from the top plane of the model to the bottom. Experiments have shown that for practical purposes this interface may be treated as a plane surface at all times. The surface is significantly curved, however, for viscosity ratios greater than about 10. Other complications arise with large viscosity ratios because of the nonlinear dependence of the viscosity on the composition of the mixture, so that the simple results given here are restricted to fairly low viscosity ratios.

By C. S. Barrett

THE crystal imperfections known as faults in stacking (stacking disorder) are of importance to both fundamental and applied science and are receiving increasing attention. On the theoretical side there have been recent advances in the analysis of diffraction patterns in terms of stacking faults, and on the experimental side it has been found that certain metals develop a faulted structure on cooling through a phase transformation. Beyond this, little is known of what may be called the physical and mechanical metallurgy of faulting, although there has been no lack of discussion and conjecture as to the presence of faults in metals and the effect of faults on mechanical properties and microstructures. In the close-packed metals the nature of faults can be described very simply. Face-centered cubic (FCC) crystals consist of close-packed layers of atoms, (111) planes, stacked above each other in a definite manner. If one layer is designated as the A layer, the next must be a B or a C layer; that is, every atom of the second layer lies not above the atoms of the A layer, but nestles in the hollows between these, using the hollows designated as the B positions, or the equivalent hollows designated as C. If the sequence of layers is ABCABC...., so that layers three spacings apart are directly over each other, the crystal is FCC; if CBACBA ... it is an FCC crystal that is a twin of the former; if ABAB........or BCBC..it is hexagonal close-packed (HCP). A fault is a break in the sequence, such as ABCABABC .. . which has the effect of inserting an HCP lamella into an FCC crystal. Regularly spaced faults spaced two layers apart would convert an FCC crystal entirely to HCP, or an HCP to FCC. A fault in an FCC crystal is also equivalent to creating an FCC twin of minimum thickness; in fact, the entire crystal would be converted to its twin if faults were introduced regularly. (In HCP crystals, however, twinning does not occur on the basal plane and a fault on this plane is not identical with a thin twin). Faults are one of the possible causes for annealing twins,' for the strain markings that are brought out by etching deformed metal,'," for the altered X ray reflecting power of metal at slip bands that is revealed in X ray reflection micrographs,' for the extinction of Kikuchi lines in electron diffraction patterns, and for the hardening of latent slip planes.' Since other explanations of these effects are also available," there has been no direct proof of faults from deformation; yet it has appeared likely that they would occur. Faults resulting from phase transformations in metals, however, have been clearly revealed by diffraction in cobalt" and lithium. It is to be expected that the faulting tendency is greatest

Jan 1, 1951

By R. F. Hehemann, D. J. Cometto, G. L. Houze

The w transformation in the Zr-Nb system was studied using X-ray diffraction, dilatometric, re-sistornetric, hardness, and metallographic techniques. w forms in a diffusionless, completely reaersible manner on quenching and in a diffusion-controlled manner- on aging. The temperature at which w begins to form on quenching was determined as a Junction of composition and was found to decrease with increasing solute content. w formed bv aging establishes a metastable equilibrium with an enriched ß phase. The ß/w + ß transus has been determined for this metastable equilibrium and employed to rationalize retrogression and reversion phenomena observed in these alloys. The decomposition mechanism is discussed in terms of a gradual or continuous transformation from ß to the w state. BETA- stabilizing alloying elements lower the MS temperature of the martensitic bcc (ß) to hcp (a') transformation in zirconium and titanium alloys. In certain titanium alloys, a lower symmetry modification of the martensitic structure, termed (a"), also has been reported.1,2 These martensitic transformations are suppressed when the amount of the ß-stabilizing element exceeds a critical level. However, the high-temperature ß phase cannot be quenched to room temperature without change. At alloy contents just above the critical level, |ß trans-forms to the w phase when cooled rapidly.3-6 The amount of w in quenched alloys is reduced by increasing alloy content, and this phase virtually disappears above a critical composition.5 In addition to the transformation during cooling, w also can be formed by aging ß at temperatures below approximately 500°C, and significant alloy enrichment of retained 13 accompanies the isothermal transformation.1-8 The structure of LC is closely related to that of the ß from which it forms.9-15 The bcc (ß) lattice can be generated using a hexagonal cell with three atoms located at (000) and ±(2/3, 1/3, 1/3). This cell has an axial ratio of 0.612 and is oriented with respect to the cubic cell such that (0001)H (111)C and [1120]H [101]C. Consequently, there are four possible orientations of the hexagonal cell, associated with the four (111) planes of the bee lattice. Formally w can be obtained from 0 by allowing the two atoms at the ±(2/3, 1/3, 1/3) positions to approach the coordinates ±(2/3, 1/3, 1/2) and there are four equally probable orientations of w for each 0 grain. In titanium alloys w retains the cubic axial ratio of 0.612" and hence also can be indexed as triply cubic, but this is not the case for aged Zr-Nb alloys where w is clearly hexagonal with an axial ratio of 0.622." The lattice parameters and atomic positions of w depend on thermal history and alloy content. The atomic positions (000), ±(2/3, 1/3, 1/2) provide reasonable agreement between calculated and observed diffracted intensities for w in the fully aged condition.10,14 In the quenched condition, on the other hand, the atoms appear to be displaced from the central plane12,13,15 and assume positions ±(2/3, 1/3, Z = 0.42-0.48) rather than ±(2/3, 1/3, 1/2). This results in a structure with trigonal rather than hexagonal symmetry. The readily detectable parameter and axial-ratio changes of w in Zr-Nb alloys make this system especially attractive for studying the structural changes that occur in the formation and aging of w. Particular attention in this investigation has been directed to the relationship between the structure of w in the quenched and aged conditions, and to certain aspects of the reaction kinetics. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE Zr-5, 12, 17.5, and 25 pct Nb alloys were prepared by a double arc-melting practice, encased in stainless-steel cans and hot-rolled to 1/8-in.-thick sheet.* Charged weights have been employed for the niobium contents and interstitial analyses are reported in Table I. Dilatometric, X-ray diffraction (filtered CuK, and MoK, radiation), metallographic, and hardness techniques have been employed to follow the transformations during isothermal and quench-aging heat treatments. In quenched specimens, the electrical resistivity also was studied. Betatizing was conducted for 1 hr at 900°C. With the exception of the isothermal dilatometric studies, samples were

Jan 1, 1965

By G. M. Ritcey, A. W. Ashbrook, E. G. Joe

Solvent-in-pulp extraction of uranium from acid leach slurries of flotation concentrates is described. Solvent extraction was carried out in a 10 in. diam pulsed-plate column. The extractant was a 0.1 M tertiary amine (General Mills Alamine 336) in a kerosene diluent containing isodecanol as an emulsion suppressor and third phase inhibitor. In pilot plant operation at the Beaverlodge mill of Eldorado Mining and Refining, Ltd., slurry feeds containing up to 35% solids were processed at a throughput rate of 13.5 tpd of dry feed. Uranium extraction obtained was as high as 98%. Amine losses to the raffinate were approximately 0.07 lb amine per ton of original dry feed. The Beaverlodge Mill of Eldorado Mining and Refining employs a carbonate leach for the extraction of uranium from the ore.',' Prior to carbonate leaching sulphides are removed by flotation to reduce reagent consumption. This flotation concentrate containing some uranium is then leached with sulfuric acid, filtered, and the uranium precipitated with magnesium hydroxide. The precipitate is then returned to the carbonate leach circuit. Although the tonnage of flotation concentrate treated by acid leaching is low, reagent costs are relatively high. Also maintenance costs on the acid leach filtration circuit were beginning to show significant increases. The choice of solvent extraction-in-pulp as an alternative to the present circuit was influenced by the following factors: 1) elimination of acid pulp filtration, 2) increase in overall recovery because of soluble loss elimination, 3) reduction of reagent cost (mill sodium carbonate solutions are used as strip), and 4) production of higher purity precipitate at the mill site. Because a solvent-in-pulp process would be difficult to test on a bench-scale, the Eldorado experience in the use of pulse columns,3-5 mixer-settlers,6 and solvent-in-pulp operations in particular7 was applied directly to the initial pilot plant carried out during the summer of 1965 and followed by the second pilot plant in 1966. The latter work, which is presented in this paper, determined the following factors for anticipated scale-up to plant production: 1) overall uranium recovery by this process, 2) tonnage throughput expected, and 3) solvent losses anticipated for the full-scale plant. The equipment used consisted of a 10 in. diam extraction pulse column and three mixer-settlers for scrubbing, stripping, and acid equilibration. All equipment was designed by Eldorado and much of the pilot plant was built at the mill site. PROCESS CHEMISTRY Feed to the acid leach plant consists of a sulphide flotation1,2 concentrate containing mainly pyrite, uranium and graphite, with a particle size of 90%

Jan 1, 1968

By R. Hogg

Sintering is a process in which the pore structure of an agglomerated powder is modified. For many applications, it is desirable to be able to control the pore structure in order to optimize such properties as mechanical strength and reactivity (availability and accessibility of solid surfaces to reactant gases, for example). In general, these properties will be determined by the total porosity and the pore size distribution of the agglomerate. In the work described in this paper, a physically realistic mathematical model for the sintering process has been developed. The model is based on the usual assumption that the pore system in an agglomerate can be treated as a network of interconnecting, cylindrical pores of continuously varying size. It is further assumed that the total pore length is conserved during the course of the sintering process. Using standard expressions for the rate of shrinkage of an individual pore, the model can be used to predict the changes in total porosity and pore size distribution as sintering proceeds. Experimental pore size distributions, obtained by mercury intrusion porosimetry, for the sintering of oxides appear to be in general agreement with the predictions of the model.

Jan 1, 1977

By M. C. Van Camp, J. D. Miller

Preliminary results are reported regarding the design and development of a pilot scale air sparged hydrocyclone for cleaning fine coal 590 pm (- 28 mesh) containing 24% ash and 1.6% sulfur. The principle of separation is the flotation of hydrophobic coal particles in the centnjugal field generated by the fluid flow in the air sparged hydrocyclone as discussed in another publication. This 152-mm (6-in.) hydrocyclone has a nominal capacity of 0.9 t/h (1 tph) and experimental results suggest that separations vastly superior to a water-only cyclone are possible. In addition the separation efficiency is as good, if not better, than that achieved with conventional flotation cells. For example, typical results indicate that 75% clean coal can be recovered at 15% ash leaving a tailing product of almost 50% ash. These experimental results coupled with the high capacity of the air sparged hydrocyclone (imagine a retention time for flotation of only two seconds compared to two minutes for conventional flotation) may represent a significant breakthrough, not only in coal preparation technology, but in the flotation of fine particles in general.

Jan 1, 1983

By Alexander Bowie

In many places throughout the Western mountain plateau regions of the United States coal beds in place have been burned over very extensive areas, the fire evidently originating on the nakedly exposed outcrop of the coal bed and gradually burning its way into the bed for considerable distances under very heavy cover. The surface evidences of the burned-out coal beds are seen in the calcined and discolored rocks overlying the places of the outcrops. The greater the mass of the burned coal the higher the results of its combustion can be seen in the overlying strata. I have noted many instances of this condition in the States of South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexipo, and Arizona. In the lignite fields of Dakota and Wyoming I noted stretches of level country many square miles in extent where the surface rooks were roasted and vitrified by the burning of a great bed of lignite lying nearly level and with a light cover; this is probably the most favorable natural condition for the burning out of a coal bed. The less the depth of the rock covering overlying the coal bed, the better the chance for a continuous supply of air to the fire; but when the coal bed dips heavily into the ground, or even if level, if it passes under a hill or mountain which gives the bed a heavy covering of strata, the fire has more chances of being extinguished from natural causes than in the first condition described. The distance which a crop fire may extend into a coal field is very much influenced by the dip, the thickness of the coal bed, and the nature of the rock covering immediately overlying it. In reasoning on this subject, it would seem logical to assume in the case of a coal-bed cropping at the base of a hill and dipping into it, with an extensive drainage surface above the crop line, that a crop fire would be promptly extinguished by the caving in of the overlying strata and the precipitation of the rainfall from the drainage surface above the outcrop through the breaks formed in the caving strata. This consideration would be more or less effective according to the climate of the location and the nature of the overlying strata. In a humid climate where the rainfall was heavy the water from the natural precipitation alone would probably extinguish a crop fire before it could work its way very far under cover, but in an arid climate this preventive does not seem to be effective.

Jan 1, 1915

By J. E. Dorn, L. A. Shepard

LOW and Gensamer' demonstrated a number of years ago that the yield point phenomenon in mild steels was associated with the presence of fer-rite soluble carbon or nitrogen. More recently the yield phenomenon in body-centered-cubic metals containing interstitials was rationalized by Cottrell' in terms of a simple dislocation model. Interstitial atoms interact with dislocations in two ways; they cause not only local expansions but induce local tetragonality in the lattice. Consequently, interstitial~ interact with the hydrostatic tension and shear components of the stress about dislocations. They tend to migrate toward the expanded regions of edge dislocations and to assume sites that relieve the shear stresses of screw dislocations. Thus, a dislocation saturated with solute atoms constitutes a lower free energy state than that obtained when the dislocation threads through the average composition regions of the matrix. A greater stress will be required to separate the dislocation from its atmosphere than to move the dislocation through the matrix. This factor gives rise to the upper yield stress, which is required to unleash a series of dislocations in a localized region. This local yielding is propagated across the specimen to form a thin band of plastically deformed material known as a Lueder's band, making an angle of about 45" to the stress axis. Once the band has formed, deformation continues at the lower yield stress by the spreading of the Lueder's band in the direction of the applied stress. Undoubtedly the spreading of Lueder's bands at the lower yield stress is accomplished by the high stress concentrations at the band fronts, which serve to induce continued unlocking of new dislocations in advance of the migrating band fronts. Cottrell and Bilby have shown that the dependence of the yield point on temperature can be deduced by assuming that thermal fluctuations aid the stress in unlocking small dislocation loops from their solute atmospheres. Once a loop that exceeds a critical size has been nucleated, the entire locked diqlocation is released and can migrate. Fisher4 simplified this analysis by assuming that the locking forces were short range, so that if the dislocation loop were displaced only one Burgers vector from its atmosphere, it would be unlocked. Applying his model to the special case of delayed yielding under a constant stress of the order of the upper yield strength, he demonstrated that the delay time 7 for yielding should depend on stress and temperature according to where A and B are constants, G is the shear modulus, and u and T are the resolved shear stress and absolute temperature, respectively. Cottrell and Bilby, Fisher, and Fisher and Rogers' have shown that the above deductions are at least in qualitative harmony with the experimental facts. A number of investigators5-0 have shown that the yield point phenomenon can also be induced in sub-stitutional alloys of face-centered-cubic metals. In general such yield points are not as pronounced as those encountered in body-centered-cubic metals containing interstitials. The yield point phenomenon in these materials is usually enhanced by prestrain-ing at low temperatures and aging at intermediate temperatures. Undoubtedly the yield point phenomenon induced by strain aging substitutional alloys also results from locking of dislocations. But the locking of dislocations in substitutional alloys of face-centered-cubic metals differs somewhat from interstitial locking of dislocations in body-centered-cubic metals. Substitutional elements in face-centered-cubic lattices cause only radial displacements of the adjacent lattice points. Consequently, only the edge components of dislocations can be locked by the mechanism suggested by Cottrell. Additional locking, however, can be obtained by the Suzuki mcchanism.10 In face-centered-cubic metals, dislocations exhibit lower energies when they are present in the

Jan 1, 1957

By M. J. Bradley, P. H. Dike

THE art of melting nonferrous metals, in smelting, casting, and in compounding of alloys, is highly dependent on a knowledge of the temperature of the metal. This knowledge may reside in the experience and judgment of the melter, or it may be based on measurement by suitable instruments. It-is our purpose to discuss briefly the instruments available for such measurements, and more at length the present, practice in molten metals, without recommendation. In the limits of time and space allotted, we can do little more than mention the available methods of measurement that are directly applicable in this field. In the 1939 edition of the Metals Handbook, issued by the American Society for Metals, pages 285-310, there is a more extensive discussion of pyrometry than can be attempted here, which should be referred to for details we must omit. For reasons that will appear, thermoelectric pyrometry will constitute the major portion of our discussion of the subject, only limited attention being given to radiation or optical pyrometry. METHODS OF MEASUREMENT THERMOELECTRIC PYROMETRY A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar wires, or a wire inside a tube of a dissimilar material, joined together at one end, which is placed in the region or medium where the temperature is to be measured, while the other ends are connected through suitable lead wires to a voltage-measuring device, which may be a millivoltmeter or a potentiometer. An electromotive force is generated in the circuit, which is proportional to the difference in temperature between the hot junction and the junctions of the lead wires to the measuring instrument. If this latter temperature is maintained constant, the e.m.f. measured varies only with the temperature of the hot junction. Every thermoelectric pyrometer is calibrated for a particular cold-junction temperature such as 0°F., 32°F. or 75°F., but usually it is more practical to compensate instrumentally over the probable range of cold-junction temperatures than to maintain the junction at the particular temperature for which the instrument was calibrated. Thermocouple Materials Only a very few pairs of metals are in frequent use for pyrometric measurements. The most generally used are iron-constantan for temperatures up to 1500°F. in oxidizing and up to 1800°F. in reducing atmospheres and chromel-alumel, which may be used in oxidizing atmospheres at temperatures up to 2400°F. for intermittent service. The accuracy of the latter deteriorates rapidly at temperatures above 2200°F. Platinum vs. platinum-rhodium thermocouples may be used up to a temperature of 3000°F , but they are easily contaminated by slow absorption of

Jan 1, 1946

By Arthur S. Dwight

We author of this historical chapter will perhaps be criticized for limiting his subject to the history of the blast furnace in lead smelting, and especially to the part it played in the great custom ore-smelting business which for three decades or more was the means of opening up vast mineral treasures and practically dominated the mining industry in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, in Mexico and in Canada. The men of that era shared the romance and the thrills of mining, and bore their part as pioneers in the building of the great West. The present writer was too young to participate in the first of the three decades mentioned, but immediately thereafter came under the apprenticeship of some of the men who had worked out the early metallurgical problems of the industry, became personally acquainted with most of the others of that group, heard the tales of early experiences, successes and failures, the gossip of the frontier and mining camps, from all of which there remain embedded in his mind clear impressions of the outstanding personalities of that time. That is the background against which the fifty years of intimate contact with the mining and smelting business and his own experiences as metallurgist stand out in his memory, and it is hoped that the gentle reader may understand and approve his desire to rescue from comparative oblivion the fundamentally valuable results accomplished by these fathers of the industry. It will be the purpose of this chapter first to narrate the general history of the growth of the industry; second, to pay tribute to some of the pioneer metallurgists, and third, to discuss some of the salient points of the metallurgical practice at different periods, to illustrate the technical progress of the art. The series of eight Annual Reports of Rossiter W. Raymondl,† U. S. Commissioner of Mining Statistics from 1869 to 1876, contain most of the available information about the early smelting operations in the Rocky Mountain region, and much is in the early volumes of the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. The monograph by S. F. Emmons2 though not published until 1886, contained an elaborate description of the smelting works operating in 1879. Otto H. Hahn3 wrote a valuable paper in 1883, on smelting prac-

Jan 1, 1937

By Harry Power

THE relative merits of air and natural gas as propulsive agents in pressure drive operations have been discussed for a number of years. When air or gas is introduced into the sand, various factors lead the operator to the selection of what he believes to be the proper propelling medium; but when the question of relative drive effect is raised, several physical and chemical premises must be taken into consideration in arriving at a conclusion as to the superiority of one medium over the other. Dow and Calkins1 and Beecher and Parkhurst2 have contributed fundamental experimental work on the effect of dissolved gas in lowering the viscosity and surface tension of crude oil. Herold3 and Tickell4 have indicated that whatever type of reservoir control obtains, gas plays other important parts in the movement of oil towards the well, namely: 1. The propulsive and expansive force of the gas. 2. The "Jamin effect," or resistance to the movement of oil in a porous media due to the formation of gas bubbles. When quantitative studies are made, parallel conditions must be selected whereby we may say definitely whether air is superior to gas as a driving medium, or vice versa. Examples of similar conditions are not easy to find in the field. However, in the laboratory we can make determinations which may lead to general conclusions when applied to the field. The- experimental and research work described here was started at the laboratories of the University of California in January, 1927, and completed in private laboratories at Tulsa, Okla., in February, 1928. The apparatus used was designed especially for the work.

Jan 1, 1928

By Shosei Serata

Stress control methods of mining have been developed separately in at least four different parts of the world in entirely different types of mining -- coal, trona, salt and potash -- during the decade of the 1960s. They all utilized yield pillars as tools for ground control. Today, yield pillars are becoming widely used in under- ground mines in a variety of geological conditions. Stress control methods are effective in stabilizing openings in weak, complex grounds, especially at greater depths. Their advantage is that they utilize existing ground media to stabilize mine openings by altering the stress distribution patterns around the openings, by controlling design parameters such as room width, pillar geometry, and excavation sequence, rather than by using a conventional means of artificial ground support such as roof bolts, cribbing, or arches. Stress control methods, therefore, are suitable for both advance and retreat mining, including total extraction mining. Adaptation of these methods results in substantially greater safety, productivity, and ecnomy over conventional methods. These methods are based on scrutiny of the actual stress conditions in the ground, by both in-situ measurement and computer simulation. This paper provides a summary of stress control methods as developed over the last ten years. The field examples are limited largely to salt and potash mining applications, although the method has been used successfully in other mining applications. The examples illustrate that stress control methods actually address general ground weakness problems -- separation at discontinuity planes, swelling by shale expansion, deterioration by brittle fracture, and interference by ground water. That is, although the principle is developed mainly with reference to salt and potash applications, it is generally applicable to weak ground.

Jan 1, 1983

By Max C. Eastman, V. H. Wilhelm

California had a record year in production and drilling activity, but the results have not been sufficient to keep up with the enormous increase in demand due to war activity. During the year, 164 dry wildcats were drilled, 80 dry wells in proved areas, 31 gas wells, and 1158 successful oil-well completions for a total of 1433 wells, compared with a total of 765 in 1942. With new discoveries of only 20,000,000 and production of 283,000,000 bbl. for the year, total reserves of California oil have decreased more than 250,000,000 bbl. However, revised estimates of the reserves of old fields indicate an increase in the state's reserves of I00,000,000 barrels. The completion of 1158 wells has served only to maintain the maximum efficient daily rate of production at 800,000 barrels. There is evidence in many fields that oil is being withdrawn too rapidly to obtain the maximum recovery, and more rapidly than is conducive to good production practice. Statistics for 1943 as compared with I942 are shown in the table in the next column, Supply and Demand Steadily mounting needs of the military forces and increased industrial consumption raised total demand for all petroleum products on the Pacific Coast to 914,000 bbl. daily in 1943. That all-time record demand was 149,ooo bbl. daily higher than in 1942 and 214,000 bbl. daily above 1941 demand. Despite restrictions due to shortages of critical material, crude-oil production was boosted from 680,000 bbl. daily in 1942 to 779,000 bbl. daily in 1943, the highest level in 15 years. However, the new crude supply plus natural gasoline production and imports from other states totaled only 840,000 bbl. daily, leaving a deficiency between supply and demand of 74,000 bbl. daily. That shortage had to be made up by withdrawals from inventories, which had been steadily depleted during the previous four years. Aboveground reserves, which totaled 159,574,000 bbl. on Jan. I, 1939, were down to ~8.000,000, bbl. at the end of 1943. Significantly enough, the greater part of that decrease occurred during the last six months of I9437 when more than 23,000,000 bbl. was taken from inventories of both crude and products. Although the size of total inventories on Dec. 31, 1943 might appear substantial, about 65 per

Jan 1, 1944

By A. J. Lanza

The prevention of illness among the employees of the mining industry is especially important in view of the importance of the industry, the unsettled conditions of labor, which emphasize the economic necessity for conservation of labor, and for humanitarian reasons. The burden of chronic illness is altogether unwarranted and unnecessary. If the industry is to maintain its labor supply in an efficient manner and keep the standard high, it is essential that it make every effort to keep its labor in good physical condition. The basic principles underlying health conservation are the same for any industry, but they are here applied especially to the mining industry, and more particularly, perhaps, to metal mining, as it is with this phase of the industry that the writer is most familiar, and as it is conceded that metal mining presents more health hazards than coal mining. The first step in the prevention of illness lies in securing employees who are in sound health and free from organic disease. I do not mean that all men who go underground should be physically perfect, but they should be free from organic defects of the heart, lungs, and other organs, or from anatomical defects that would markedly increase their liability to accident. The number of men working underground in mines in this country whose physical condition totally unfits them for such work presents a situation that should not be allowed to continue, and which I believe is not equalled in any other industry in the country. There is but one way to secure men who come up to the required standard, and that is by a thorough physical examination before employment. I am fully aware of the objections felt toward such a procedure by many employers and employees. There is much to be said on both sides, but to any one who is at all familiar with the mining industry as it is today in this country, and who approaches the matter with an unbiased mind, there can be absolutely no doubt as to the necessity for physical examination. As a purely logical proposition this is self-evident, but there remains the further necessity of placing physical examinations on such a basis that they can be administered in a just and equitable manner free from the abuses and suspicions to which they have been subject in the past.

Jan 1, 1919

By Max C. Eastman, V. H. Wilhelm

California had a record year in production and drilling activity, but the results have not been sufficient to keep up with the enormous increase in demand due to war activity. During the year, 164 dry wildcats were drilled, 80 dry wells in proved areas, 31 gas wells, and 1158 successful oil-well completions for a total of 1433 wells, compared with a total of 765 in 1942. With new discoveries of only 20,000,000 and production of 283,000,000 bbl. for the year, total reserves of California oil have decreased more than 250,000,000 bbl. However, revised estimates of the reserves of old fields indicate an increase in the state's reserves of I00,000,000 barrels. The completion of 1158 wells has served only to maintain the maximum efficient daily rate of production at 800,000 barrels. There is evidence in many fields that oil is being withdrawn too rapidly to obtain the maximum recovery, and more rapidly than is conducive to good production practice. Statistics for 1943 as compared with I942 are shown in the table in the next column, Supply and Demand Steadily mounting needs of the military forces and increased industrial consumption raised total demand for all petroleum products on the Pacific Coast to 914,000 bbl. daily in 1943. That all-time record demand was 149,ooo bbl. daily higher than in 1942 and 214,000 bbl. daily above 1941 demand. Despite restrictions due to shortages of critical material, crude-oil production was boosted from 680,000 bbl. daily in 1942 to 779,000 bbl. daily in 1943, the highest level in 15 years. However, the new crude supply plus natural gasoline production and imports from other states totaled only 840,000 bbl. daily, leaving a deficiency between supply and demand of 74,000 bbl. daily. That shortage had to be made up by withdrawals from inventories, which had been steadily depleted during the previous four years. Aboveground reserves, which totaled 159,574,000 bbl. on Jan. I, 1939, were down to ~8.000,000, bbl. at the end of 1943. Significantly enough, the greater part of that decrease occurred during the last six months of I9437 when more than 23,000,000 bbl. was taken from inventories of both crude and products. Although the size of total inventories on Dec. 31, 1943 might appear substantial, about 65 per

Jan 1, 1944

By E. S. Moore

The Kolar gold field has been for a long time the most important gold-producing area of India. It is situated in the Skate of Mysore, southern India, and not far from the City of Bangalore. The productive field is about 3 miles long and in it a gold-bearing quartz vein varying in width from 1 in. to over 10 ft. is worked. The vein carries high values to great depths and many of the mines have paid large dividends. Geological Formations In KolaR Region The rocks of the Kolar region are pre-Cambrian in age and bear a close resemblance to some of the pre-Cambrian formations of America. The oldest rocks seen are basic lavas, now mostly altered to hornblende-schists, with which is associated some banded iron-formation; these rocks are similar to the Keewatin schists and iron-formation in the Lake Superior region. The schist is cut by the gold-bearing quartz vein. In certain parts of the area there is also a conglomerate containing pebbles of granite, jasper, and schist. The matrix resembles a hornblende-schist and is intruded by small granite dikes, which in some cases have been pinched off by squeezing of the rock. This has led Dr. W. I?. Smeeth, Chief Inspector of Mines of Mysore, to whom the writer is greatly indebted for information regarding this area and for his hospitality while visiting the field, to regard this conglomerate as a breccia due to crushing of granite dikes in the schist. Dr. J. W. Evans has regarded the conglomerate as probably a squeezed glacial boulder clay. From analogy with pre-Cambrian conglomerates in America, the writer regards it as a metamorphosed rock similar to our basal Huronian conglomerate. However, the main bearing which it has upon the problem under discussion is the apparent fact that it is younger than the schist and that it indicates the presence of a syncline in the rocks cut by the quartz vein. Surrounding the area of schist and conglomerate is a large mass of granite-gneiss resembling the Laurentian gneiss of the Lake Superior region. Still later than the rocks mentioned above are basic intrusions which cut the quartz and schists; in the mines these are known as trap. One dike of this type is 50 to 60 yd. wide.

Jan 1, 1920

By H. A. Kuhn

THE Pittsburg coal field in western Pennsylvania, is conceded to be the most important in the world. To measure its importance it is necessary to understand the extent of its service in the various industries of the country. Probably 90 per cent. of the pig iron manufactured in the United States up to the present time has been made by using coke manufactured from the Pittsburg coal seam in western Pennsylvania. This coal field is the foundation on which the city of Pittsburg rests and is the reason for the great growth of the iron industry in the Pittsburg district. Iron ore is brought to this district, not because Pittsburgh is a. natural location, over other locations, for the iron and steel industry-as its position places the manufacturer at the mercy of the railroads-but the ore is brought 1,100 miles to meet the fuel. It can be said that the illuminating-gas industry in the United States has used this coal exclusively to the same extent that the pig-iron maker has used it. It may be also said that 20 to 25 per cent. of the fuel used on railroads in the United States conies from this coal field. The Pittsburg coal field is unquestionably the center of the industrial population of the United States, for in addition to the industries of the district and those closely adjoining, it has tributary to it all the cities and industries along the Great Lakes and practically all of Canada with the exception of the extreme western and eastern ends. It supplies the industries and population west of Duluth and Superior many hundreds of miles. This coal is floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, supplying the towns en route, and is delivered in New Orleans, a distance of 2,200 miles, for approximately SO to 90 c. per ton transportation cost. It is delivered on the docks of Superior and Duluth at a cost of transportation 50 c. a ton less than the cost of transporting the same coal from Pittsburg to a local consumer in Philadelphia. With other Appalachian coals it has large markets east and along the seaboard, especially for byproduct-coke making and the illuminating-gas industry. It is considered the premier railroad fuel of the world on account of the fact that this coal in a given-sized locomotive will probably haul more cars than any other coal in the

Jan 10, 1914

By Gerald Edmunds

THE liquidus line on the phase diagram for temperature versus composition of a binary alloy system, representing the boundary between the homogeneous melt and the heterogeneous melt plus solid, besides showing the minimum casting temperature, is useful in determining eutectic compositions and the presence of phase changes such as peritectic transformations and intermetallic compound formation. The liquidus often is determined by the cooling curves of thermal analysis, but supercooling frequently occurs, so that the temperature values are low. An alternative method, the one employed here, consists of determining the com- position of samples of the melts from heterogeneous alloys that are at equilibrium. With meticulous attention to fundamentals, this method is capable of yielding values limited in precision only by the temperature control and measurement and analyses. APPARATUS By starting, on the one hand, with a supersaturated solution and allowing the excess solute to precipitate, and on the other hand with an undersaturated solution and allowing more of the solute to be dissolved, both processes being carried out at the same temperature, equilibrium may be said to have been approached from both directions; that is, from above and from below. If the analyses show the solutions to contain the same fraction of solute when equilibrium has been approached from above and from below, one is assured that equilibrium has been reached in both determinations. In order to carry out such determinations, it is necessary to have equipment for obtaining and maintaining the proper temperatures; for holding the melt, measuring its temperature, and stirring, sampling and analyzing it. The present work required temperatures from 420° to 900°C. The equipment consisted of: A furnace, which was a vertical alundum tube, 1 ¾ in. diameter inside and 18 in. long, wound with Nichrome resistance wire, surrounded by a 3-in. i.d. alundum tube wound for 5 in. of length near each end, for compensation of end losses. This muffle was contained in an iron shell with Transite end plates, the intervening space being packed with Sil-O-Cel. The outside dimensions of the furnace were 12 in. in diameter by 18 ½ in. in height. Heating current was supplied by three independent variable-voltage transformers (Variac), one connected to each end compensator winding and manually controlled, and one connected to the main winding through a series resistance of 5 ohms. This resistance was short-circuited for

Jan 1, 1944

By M. R. Geer Olds, H. F. Yancey

THE increase in the number of coal-cleaning plants employing dense-medium processes occurring since 1946 is especially interesting when viewed historically. Both sand and magnetite were introduced as material for heavy mediums at about the same time, sand in the Chance process in 1921 and magnetite in the Conklin process in 1922, but from that point on their records diverge. The Chance process enjoyed a steady growth from its inception, whereas no additional magnetite plants were built in the United States for over 20 years. Then, following the close of the World War 11, magnetite was again introduced, this time with marked success. During the following years some 47 plants employing magnetite medium were built. This rapid growth of dense-medium cleaning has been concurrent with widespread adoption of full-seam mining on one hand and a return to a more competitive market on the other. At a time when changing mining practice has provided cleaning plants with dirtier coal and changing market conditions have simultaneously demanded a cleaner product, the industry has through necessity turned to improved preparation. The inherently greater sharpness with which dense-medium processes can separate coal from impurity is thus helping to hold the line against ever-increasing mining costs and at the same time assisting materially in retaining badly needed markets. Although dense-medium cleaning unquestionably offers a distinct advantage when the washing problem is difficult, other methods can provide almost equally high efficiency when the coal is easy to wash. Moreover, fine coal cannot yet be treated by heavy medium in a proved process, although the Driessen cyclone is in the pilot-plant stage. Most of the present types of dense-medium equipment have been in use only a few years, and the dearth of information in the literature concerning their performance characteristics is entirely understandable, Nevertheless this information is necessary if the process is to be intelligently applied to individual cleaning problems. Without data on the efficiency of a process in a particular type of separation, it is difficult to assess the advantage to be expected from it. Similarly, the role of particle size in heavy-medium separation is important in some cases, yet there is little published information on this aspect. To mention only one more of the numerous points on which essential information is lacking, the bearing of medium characteristics on performance has been discussed only in qualitative terms. It was with the hope of providing information on some of these points that the Bureau of Mines built a dense-medium pilot plant for cleaning coal at its Northwest Experiment Station in Seattle in 1950. The plant has been operated continuously since that time, and over 50 runs have been made on 7 coals exhibiting a wide range of washability characteristics. An idea of the magnitude of this work will be gained from the fact that examination of the plant products has involved some 600 float-and-sink separations and about 2500 ash determinations. A laboratory pilot plant is especially well adapted to investigate many aspects of performance because close control over test conditions can be exercised and because a large number of tests can be made rapidly. On the other hand, factors such as consumption of medium and other cost items can be investigated satisfactorily only in a commercial plant. Actually, the two forms of investigation should be complementary, with the laboratory work pointing the way for confirming tests in commercial units. Pilot Plant The dense-medium pilot plant employed for this work comprises a 24x30-in. drum-type separating vessel, a 12-in. densifier, a 12-in. magnetic separator, a 26-in. x 9-ft vibrating screen, and the necessary pumps and conveyors for handling materials. Arrangement of these units corresponds with the flowsheet used in most commercial plants, except that a thickener is not provided for the feed to the magnetic separator. Coal and refuse discharge from the separating drum to the vibrator, which is divided longitudinally down the center. Medium draining through the first 3 ft of the screen is recirculated directly to the drum. Sprays on the middle 3 ft of the screen rinse medium from the products, and the last 3-ft section is for dewatering. Dilute medium from the rinsing and dewatering sections is pumped to the magnetic separator, where magnetic solids are recovered. These are pumped to the densifier, from which they return to the medium-drainage sump by gravity through a demagnetizing coil. The drum-type separating vessel is a scale model of a commercial unit. Feed enters axially at one end of the drum just below the surface of the bath, and float material overflows through a circular opening at the other end. Particles sinking to the bottom of the bath are picked up by lifting flights bolted to the inner wall of the drum, elevated out of the bath, and sluiced to the vibrating screen. Baffles suspended in the bath prevent float material from entering the sink-lifting flights. About 8 gpm of medium is used to sluice the feed into the drum. An additional 15 to 24 gpm, depending upon operating conditions, is added through two pipes dipping into the bath behind the baffle on the side where the sink-lifting flights enter the bath. The bath available for separation is 2 ft long and 13 in. wide, giving an area of 2.08 sq ft. Depth of bath from the surface to the top of the sink-lifting flights, measured vertically below the axis, is 6 in.

Jan 1, 1954

By A. Muan

Liquidus data are presented for mixtures in the ternary system FeO-Fe2O3-SiO2 in equilibrium with a gas phase with O2 pressures ranging from 10-10.9 to 1 atm. Data obtained are combined with previously published data to construct lines of equal 02 pressures and lines of equal CO2/H2 mixing ratios along the liquidus surface. Courses of crystallization of selected mixtures under conditions of constant total composition, constant O2 pressures, and constant CO2/H2 mixing ratios are discussed. PHASE equilibrium studies of silicate systems where iron is one component are complicated by the fact that iron readily occurs in three different states of oxidation: Fe3+, Fe2+, and Fe0. Success or failure in work with iron silicate systems is to a large extent dependent on control of the oxidation state of iron and all investigations therefore must be carried out under carefully controlled atmospheric conditions. Silicate systems containing only strongly electropositive metals (like Na+, Ca2+, Mg", etc.) can, for simplicity, be treated as condensed systems, that is, the gas phase can be neglected and the phase relationships discussed in terms of the phase rule written in the well known simplified form P + F = C + 1. In the case of iron silicate systems, however, the composition of the condensed phases varies with the gas composition, and a complete picture of phase relationships can be obtained only by varying the gas composition over a wide range. In order to understand the phase relationships in the more complicated multicomponent silicate systems with iron oxide as one of the constituents, a knowledge of the ternary system FeO-Fe2O3-SiO2 is essential, since it constitutes a bounding portion of all such systems. It was with this in mind that the present study was undertaken. Previous Work A considerable amount of work has been done on various aspects of the chemistry and metallurgy of systems containing silica and iron oxides. The two bounding binary systems FeO-Fe2O3 and FeO-SiO2" The first attempt to obtain information on phase relationships of iron oxide-SiO, mixtures at different 0, pressures was made by Greig.' Darken" determined the melting points of iron oxide on solid silica under various atmospheric conditions. Darken did not determine experimentally the composition of the melts at liquidus temperatures but discussed very ably the principles involved in applying the phase rule to the system. In a recent study Schuhmann, Powell, and Michal8 determined experimentally the liquidus surface of a portion of the ternary system and combined the new information with data in the literature to construct a phase diagram. Their method was briefly as follows: Homogeneous mixtures with various contents of SiO2, FeO, and Fe2O3 were made up by melting together stock mixtures in various proportions. Samples of the homogeneous mixtures, the compositions of which were determined by chemical analysis, were then heated in platinum crucibles in an inert atmosphere until equilibrium among the condensed phases was achieved. The samples were quenched to room temperature and the phases present determined by microscopic examination. Assuming that no change in composition takes place during the equilibration run in inert atmosphere, the liquidus surface can be determined, but no information is obtained regarding the partial pressures of 0, of the gas phase in equilibrium with the condensed phases. The author's method, to be described in the next section, permitted the location of points at the liquidus surface as well as a calculation of the corresponding partial pressures of O2. Experimental Method General Procedure: The standard quenching technique was adapted for a study under controlled variable atmospheric conditions. Premelted mixtures of silica and iron oxides in platinum envelopes were held at constant temperature under chosen atmospheric conditions until equilibrium was reached among solid, liquid, and gas phases. The sample was then quenched to room temperature, the phases present identified, and, for the most significant runs, the composition was determined by chemical analysis. The corresponding partial pressure of 0, was calculated from known equilibrium constants of the gas reactions occuring in the furnace atmosphere. Materials: Starting materials were oxides of commercially highest available purity; cp silicic acid was dehydrated by heating to 1350°C for 6 hr and cp Fe2O3 was dried at 400° C for the same length of time. Samples of 10 g were made up by mixing

Jan 1, 1956