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By H. B. Pulsifer

.ABOut 1.5 varieties, or tnodifications, of the best rnagnesiurn available were prepared and subjected to etching tests, then examined for micro-structure. Of the 30-udd etching reagents that were tried, nearly half, mostly ammonium salts, etched the metal satisfactorily. The surfacing and etching of magnesium is shown to be a very simple and quick operation. The density and hardness of magnesium were determined. The most interesting new observations relate to the finding of the hexagonal etch figures, the crystal laminations, and the fact that the metal is plastic, cold, when restrained or quickly deformed. Under slowly applied pressule cold metal deforms slightly, then shears to fracture without plastic flow. The chief structural features of magnesium arc presented in two reduced photographs and 30 photomicrographs. Materials Tested There are only two sources in the United States from which new metal can be procured: the American Magnesium Corpn. and the Dow Chemical Co. No pronounced structural or property differences in the metals from these two companies were disclosed by the work of this investigation. The following materials were obtained from the manufacturers: 1. Massive crystals of distilled metal (American Magnesium Corpn.). 2. Rods of hot-extruded metal, ½-in. squares and 5/8-in. rounds (American Magnesium Corpn.). 3. Sheet magnesium, 0.005-in. thick (American Magnesium Corpn.). 4. Cast stick metal, 13/8-in. dia. (Dow Chemical Co.). 5. Magnesium-aluminum alloy, hot-rolled plate, ½-in. thick (American Magnesium Corpn.). From these materials, were prepared: 6. Sections from a furnace-cooled ingot made from clistilled crystal. 7. Cold-strained pieces from (6), (4) and (2). 8. Pieces cold-squeezed to fracture from (6), (4) and (2). 9. Hammer-struck pieces from (6), (4) and (2). 10. Steam-hammer struck pieces from (6), (4) and (2). 11. Sections from furnace-cooled ingot of the magnesium-aluminum alloy.

By H. M. Chance

One hundred and twenty miles of hard travel over steep ridges almost due east from Fayetteville, on the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, about 100 miles from Eureka Hot Springs, or 75 miles northwest from Batesville, will bring the traveller to the waters of the Buffalo Fork of the White river, in a wild, thinlysettled, heavily-timbered country, now being prospected quite actively for zinc, and known as the Buffalo or Rush Creek district. Excepting here and there a piece of bottom land, patented before the discovery of zinc, the land is unoccupied Government land, and subject to entry under the United States mineral laws. Claims are now being taken, 600 by 1500 feet, but a movement made this summer, if successful, will largely modify the position of claim-holders. A few claims are now being filed under the Placer Act on the ground that as the zinc occurs as a horizontal, sedimentary deposit, etc., it can only be properly so classified. The zinc occurs in limestone, which is at times so siliceous that

Jan 1, 1890

By Robert T. DeGavre

The $650 million financing for Into Ltd.'s Soroako nickel project is a story worth telling-not only because the project itself represents a significant achievement but also because there are certain important lessons that can be derived from our experience in financing the project. A critical appraisal of the methods and successes in the financing plan is presented in this article, in light of goals which Inco sought to achieve. A technical assessment of the project is not included, since Inco Ltd. has submitted a series of papers on this subject at the International Laterite Symposium as part of the 108th Annual Meeting of AIME in February 1979. Progress in developing and financing the project is encapsulated in the accompanying project factsheet.

Jan 3, 1979

By G. W. Imholz

A number of interesting wells were drilled in north central Texas during 1940. The Shell Oil Company's Smith well in scc. 143, block I, H. and T. C. survey, Stonewall County, was completed for an initial production of 581 bbl. per day from the Mississippian limestone, with a total depth of 6065 ft. The same company's Patterson well, sec. 393, block D. H. and T. C. survey, Stonewall County, tested the Ellenburger limestone and was abandoned as a dry hole with a total depth of 6760 feet. In Nolan County the Tex-Harvey Oil Co. drilled a well in sec. 43, near the Tipton well, which was completed as a small producer in the Strawn section. The Tex-Harvey well tested this producing horizon but was abandoned as a dry hole with a total depth of 5210 feet. The Montour-Haggart well, sec. 184, block 2, H. and T. C. survey, Fisher County, tested the Strawn and was abandoned with a total depth of 5664 feet. The Georgian Oil Company's Blach, sec. 309, T. R. and L.. Shackelford County, encountered the top of the Ellenburger limestone at 4725 ft. After being plugged back to 3915 It. from a total depth of 4825 ft., the well tested 10 bbl, of oil per day and 300 bbl. of water. The W. I. Sothern No. 2 Carlisle well in sec. 293 was deepened to the Cambrian. The top of the Ellenburger was encountered at 6540 fcet. A wildcat well in Fisher County, the E. A. Stephenson-Maberry, apparently opened a new pool when the well encountered sand from 3298 lo 3302 ft. and was completed for 50 bbl. per day in the Cook sand horizon. In Jones County, the King Oil Company's Olsen well, sec. 158, B. B. B. and C. survey, extended the Avoca-Olander pool. The well was completed for 263 bbl. in 8 1/2 hr. from the Palo Pinto limestone, from 3298 to 3302 ft. Ungren-Frazier extended the Akard pool with No. I Akard, in the D. 'T. Bruce survey. The well was completed for 83 bbl. per day from the Cook sand, encountered from 2109 to 2126 feet.

Jan 1, 1941

By G. W. Imholz

A number of interesting wells were drilled in north central Texas during 1940. The Shell Oil Company's Smith well in scc. 143, block I, H. and T. C. survey, Stonewall County, was completed for an initial production of 581 bbl. per day from the Mississippian limestone, with a total depth of 6065 ft. The same company's Patterson well, sec. 393, block D. H. and T. C. survey, Stonewall County, tested the Ellenburger limestone and was abandoned as a dry hole with a total depth of 6760 feet. In Nolan County the Tex-Harvey Oil Co. drilled a well in sec. 43, near the Tipton well, which was completed as a small producer in the Strawn section. The Tex-Harvey well tested this producing horizon but was abandoned as a dry hole with a total depth of 5210 feet. The Montour-Haggart well, sec. 184, block 2, H. and T. C. survey, Fisher County, tested the Strawn and was abandoned with a total depth of 5664 feet. The Georgian Oil Company's Blach, sec. 309, T. R. and L.. Shackelford County, encountered the top of the Ellenburger limestone at 4725 ft. After being plugged back to 3915 It. from a total depth of 4825 ft., the well tested 10 bbl, of oil per day and 300 bbl. of water. The W. I. Sothern No. 2 Carlisle well in sec. 293 was deepened to the Cambrian. The top of the Ellenburger was encountered at 6540 fcet. A wildcat well in Fisher County, the E. A. Stephenson-Maberry, apparently opened a new pool when the well encountered sand from 3298 lo 3302 ft. and was completed for 50 bbl. per day in the Cook sand horizon. In Jones County, the King Oil Company's Olsen well, sec. 158, B. B. B. and C. survey, extended the Avoca-Olander pool. The well was completed for 263 bbl. in 8 1/2 hr. from the Palo Pinto limestone, from 3298 to 3302 ft. Ungren-Frazier extended the Akard pool with No. I Akard, in the D. 'T. Bruce survey. The well was completed for 83 bbl. per day from the Cook sand, encountered from 2109 to 2126 feet.

Jan 1, 1941

By Clarence Linville

IN an article published in the Iron. Trade Review 1 I gave a convenient arrangement for the installation of wet and dry bulb thermometers for use in making moisture determinations in the air being blown into a blast furnace, and also gave a chart for use in obtaining moisture values from the thermometer readings. The data from which this chart was prepared were obtained from the tables in use by the U. S. Weather Bureau.2 The work of Carrier 3 has shown that these tables are somewhat in error. He has recalculated the values for moisture as referred to, wet and dry bulb thermometer readings, and he has prepared a psychrometric chart from the values thus obtained. This work has priced the subject of psychrometry upon a correct scientific basis. I think it is proper that we should recognize the importance of his work and give him credit for one of the most interesting and valuable researches that have been published in recent years. Blast-furnace men are not ready to use, as he suggests 4 a value expressed in grains of water accompanying a pound of dry air. However convenient this may be for heating and ventilating work and other engineering problems, there are several reasons for preferring the use of a value expressed in grains of water in a. cubic foot of mixed air and water vapor, in connection with combustion phenomena and the effects of moisture on blast-furnace operation. Previous papers presented to the Institute have used such values and we have

Jan 10, 1913

By Knapp. Arthur

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

Jan 2, 1920

By C. C. McDermond, Others, B. N. Zavoico

Production of crude oil in Venezuela for the year 1937 was 186,653,-916 bbl., as compared with 155,228,982 bbl. produced in 1936, an increase of almost 31,500,000 bbl. The oil-field strike, which started on Dec. 14, 1936, lasted until Jan. 25, 1937, when a total of 10,000,000 bbl. of production was estimated to have been lost (5,750,000 bbl. in 1936 and the remainder in 1937). Of the total of 186,653,916 bbl. produced in 1937, the Lagunillas field contributed 45.6 per cent, a drop of approximately 10 per cent under 1936 figures; Tia Juana, 14.3 per cent; Quiriquire field, 14.0 per cent; La Rosa area, 13.3 per cent and the Mene Grande field, 7.6 per cent, these being the five leading contributors of the year's production. Detailed production figures by fields and by companies are shown on Table 1. Of the total production of Venezuela the following four major companies accounted for the greater proportion: Standard of Venezuela and Lago Petroleum Corporation together, 48.3 per cent; Shell, 37.4 per cent and Venezuela Gulf, 14.0 per cent. At the end of the year, 2491 wells were producing, of which number 1291 wells were pumpers, or about 52 per cent. Production The accompanying statistics of production record of Venezuela oil fields from its inception to Dec. 31, 1937, shown on Table 2, indicates that the cumulative production reached 1,503,283,228 bbl. In order of importance, Lagunillas leads all the fields, having accounted for about 50 per cent of Venezuelan production, followed by La Rosa area, which produced about 21 per cent; Mene Grande, which produced about 13 per cent, and Quiriquire, which produced 6.5 per cent. Table 3 shows the age of each field. Mene Grande is the oldest, having produced for 24 years; Tarra is next, 21 1/2 years old, and El Mene third, 171/2 years. The gravity of the crude from the various fields, also shown on Table 3, remained unchanged, the only addition being the new Tia Juana field, which averages 15.6' A.P.I. Table 4 shows the method of production by fields as of Jan. 1, 1938; at the end of the year 2491 wells were producing, compared with 2005 wells producing at the beginning of 1937, or an increase of 486 wells. The completions for the year reached 512. Of the 2491 wells producing crude oil, 1291 wells, or approximately 52 per cent, were pumping, 925 (approximately 37 per cent) were flowing naturally and 275 (11 per cent) were on

Jan 1, 1938

By Maurice Grieves

The great majority of shafts constructed today are still excavated by drilling and blasting, a method which changed very little in over 100 years until the introduction of the mechanical lashing unit and cactus grab by the South Africans, which enabled muck to be removed as fast as massive hoisting systems could handle it and resulted in very rapid rates of sinking. Record breaking month's performances were achieved at -Hartebeestfontein No. 4 shaft, October 1960-337.1 m; Western Reefs No. 4 shaft, October 1961-340.7 m; and Buffelsfontein eastern twin shaft, March 1962-381.2m. The method was very labor-intensive, requiring a crew of over 60 workers at the shaft bottom during the drill cycle. Safety precautions were strict, but in the drive to achieve rapid advance, cases of personal injury were still somewhat high because of the large number of people engaged in this potentially hostile environment. The South African method, as it came to be referred to throughout the rest of the world, was adopted in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s in a modified form with greatly reduced manpower and nonsimultaneous sinking and lining, which was insisted on by the British Mines Inspectorate. In that instance, it was successfully used to sink the 7.3-m-diam concrete-lined shafts at Kellingley to 770 m depth, with rates of advance of over 90 m/month achieved, a British record at that time. During the sinking of the 1.15-km-deep twin shafts at Boulby potash mine in the UK in 1970, the method was again used, but for the first time ever in Britain exemptions from the mining code permitted the use of crash beams, crash doors, jack catches, and semi-simultaneous sinking and lining techniques. New British shaft sinking records of over 120 m/month were achieved in both shafts. Similar equipment and techniques were used in the early 1970s to sink several deep shafts in Canada, notably Creighton #7 and the Con zinc mine at Yellowknife in the NW Territories. Today, this equipment is standard for deep shafts in the US and the rest of the world. However, with the tremendous escalation in mining labor costs, the impact of health and safety legislation, and environmental regulations, coupled with a very real shortage of miners willing to work in this exposed situation it was apparent that an alternative to the labor-intensive conventional method of shaft construction had to be found. Recognizing the trend is inevitable, one or two major German shaft sinking contracting firms began to take a fresh look at full face boring techniques applied to tunnels and raise bored shafts. The results were most encouraging. Tunnel drivage techniques using moles had developed considerably from Colonel Beaumont's original channel tunnel machine circa 1880 to the superbly engineered Priestley machine selected to cut the British side in 1975 and the double shielded Robbins Grandori borer on the French side of the English Channel. Full face tunnel machines were being successfully used to drive uphill in inclined shafts in Austria and Switzerland. At Mapprag in Switzerland, the Demag mole drove the first (intentional) vertical transition and curve, and then went on to successfully complete the 730-m-long penstock shaft at an inclination of 35°. In Austria, the Wirth mole drove the Kaprun Glacier ski-lift railcar tunnel at record breaking rates of 457 m/MONTH (best 30 m/d) through green schist at an inclination of 29° for a distance of 3.35 km while the Hydro tunnel at Sarrelli in Switzerland was being driven by the Robbin's mole at an inclination of 35°. Simultaneously, extremely promising results were obtained using large assemblies of cutter discs on raise borer heads, such as the 4.87-m-diam X 460-m-deep shaft raised by Teton for Jim Walter Resources Inc. Bearing in mind that most mine shafts in the future (unless in exceptionally competent rock) will require some form of lining, and the trend will be toward deeper shafts as the more easily accessible mineral deposits become exhausted, it was seen that normal raise boring had definite limitations in vertical accuracy, in the limitation imposed by the drill string on the available torque that could be applied to the cutter head, and in the risk of collapse of the unsupported shaft rock wall in friable or jointed and fissured ground, since it is not possible to apply any form of temporary support until the permanent lining is being installed. A further problem was the economics of installing a subsequent lining, necessitating setting up a headgear and hoisting arrangement approaching in size that required for conventional drill and blast sinking and lining. Because of the economics, German contractors opted for a phased transition from drill and blast to the full face, rodless, out of the solid shaft mole, by starting off with a down-the-hole shaft boring machine -without a drillstring-but using a pilot hole to get rid of the muck.

Jan 1, 1982

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke

On the basis of experiments conducted on quartz using a bubble pick-up method, it was shown in an earlier paper1 that this mineral will preferentially adsorb hydrogen, calcium, or sodium ions, depending on the relative concentrations of those ions in the solution in which the quartz is immersed. For quartz particles ranging in size from 0.2 to 1 mm, it was demonstrated that the concentration of calcium in solution (assumed present as ions) necessary to completely activate quartz for flotation is given by the expression: Ca++ = [H+] X 106 + [Na+] X 10-3 In this expression, ionic concentrations are in mols per liter. It was further shown that the pick-up method is apparently more sensitive to changes in reagent concentration than the standard captive-bubble method, and that induction times are apparently much reduced. Since completing these earlier tests, a new type of cell has been constructed; this is shown in Fig 1 and 2. In Fig 1, A is a ground joint, B is a central tube reaching to within a few millimeters of the bottom of the cell, and C is a stopper which may be removed for reagent addition, and serves the further purpose of excluding carbon dioxide from the air during the test. The entire cell is constructed of Pyrex glass, and does not give the trouble experienced with the earlier cell, in which activating ions were released from the glass at high pH values. The only critical factor in the construction of the cell is the clearance between the central tube and the bottom of the cell. This clearance should be sufficiently small that the bubble can be pressed directly on the mineral grains lying on the bottom of the cell. In the pick-up tests to be described in this paper, the reagents used were all of C. P. grade, except the sodium oleate, which was Merck's "neutral powder." The quartz employed was water-clear vein quartz, sized on screens, cleaned with both hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, and given a thorough final washing with distilled water. Experimental procedures were the same as described in the earlier paper. EFFECT OF SIZE OF QUARTZ ON PICK-UP To ascertain the effect of particle size on the adsorption of calcium ions, the quartz was sized from minus 14 plus 20 mesh through the intervening screen sizes to minus 270 mesh plus 400 mesh. Each size was thoroughly cleaned, and then tested in the cell at different calcium chloride and sodium hydroxide concentrations, and at a constant sodium oleate concentration of 20 mg per liter. All particles, within the size range given, exhibited complete pick-up within the curve expressed by the equation above. This presumably means, when the conditions imposed by the equation are satisfied, that this maximum is independent of particle size. However, it was found that the range through which partial particle pick-up occurred progressively broadened as particle size decreased. This is shown in Fig 3, in which curves B, C, and D show the limits at which pick-up just commences (as the pH is increased) for particles of minus 14 plus 28 mesh, minus 65 plus 100 mesh, and minus 270 plus 400 mesh size, respectively. These results indicate that for satisfactory activation, at any given pH, a lower calcium ion concentration is required for fine particles than for coarse particles. EFFECT OF HIGH ALKALINITY ON PICK-UP At calcium concentrations of between 1 and 10 mg per liter, and at high alka-linities, it was noticed that pick-up ceased as soon as calcium hydroxide commenced to precipitate. This effect was investigated at other calcium concentrations, with the same results. Solutions of calcium chloride, containing 105, 104, l03, and l02 mg of calcium per liter were made alkaline with sodium hydroxide until calcium hydroxide just started to precipitate, according to the following equation: CaCl² + NaOH -+ Ca(OH)2 + 2NaCl The beginning of precipitation was taken as that point at which either a faint opalescence appeared in the solution, or a Tyndall cone became ap-

Jan 1, 1950

By A. Patton, F. N. Speller

The use of roll scale in the Bessemer process dates back, to the best of our knowledge, at least 20 years. It was first used by the Ohio Steel Go., Youngstown, Ohio (now the Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Co.) under the direction of Sam McDonald, Superintendent of the Bessemer Department at these works. Two 10-ton vessels and one blowing engine capable of blowing one heat at a time were employed. The object of using the scale was to shorten the length of the blow, or in other words, to increase the production with the same equipment. Various means were tried out for introducing the roll scale into the bath of molten iron: It was shoveled into the vessel before the heat was charged, so that the metal would flow over the scale; it was shoveled into the bath after the vessel was turned up; it was dumped into the empty iron ladle by the wheelbarrow-load, and at times was dumped on top of the molten metal in the iron ladle. But the practice of introducing the scale into the iron ladle had to be abandoned on account of danger from explosions and of skulling the ladles. It was soon learned that the proper place to charge the scale was in the empty vessel, so that when the molten iron was poured into the vessel it flowed over the scale, causing a considerabIe reaction to take place before the heat was turned up. Eventually, cylindrical chutes similar to those now in use were installed. Into these chutes the scale is dumped and carried into the empty vessel. Before this convenient means of introducing the scale was adopted, the Ohio Works had satisfactorily demonstrated that roll scale would increase production, by blowing 107 heats in one 12-hr. turn (1,087 tons) with one blowing engine, blowing one heat at a time; whereas, prior to the use of scale, the best practice at these works was about 80 heats under the same conditions. In using roll scale and other oxides of iron to facilitate and control the refining of pig iron in the converter, the Bessemer plant has borrowed one of the most active agencies used in the open-hearth process with, as would be expected, much the same results. The effect of such additions to the Bessemer charge may be discussed as to the influence of this practice on quality, production and cost.

Jan 1, 1917

By R. H. Atkinson, R. N. Rhoda

An improved technique has been developed for the deoxidation of palladium with aluminum which is especially suitable for use in making small castings with an induction-melting and casting machine. The effect of various crucible linings on the efficiency of the residual deoxidizer and accompanying oxide film in protecting palladium against oxidation during remelting also has been examined; the preferred crucible lining consists of zirconia cement. THE objective of this work was to develop a simple method of deoxidizing induction-melted palladium which would be suitable for use by manufacturers of jewelry and other small castings. In a common method of deoxidizing torch-melted palladium a piece of aluminum foil is dropped on the surface of the molten metal. If a film is present, which is usually the case, it must first be removed by oxidizing the molten metal thoroughly because it would interfere with the entry of the aluminum into the melt. Removal of the film is probably facilitated by a mild fluxing action of the silica crucibles which are used for torch-melting. However, removal of an alumina film from molten palladium in the crucibles normally used for induction melting is a much slower process and it became necessary to modify the de-oxidation procedure. In the modified procedure the charge is simply melted and the desired amount of aluminum, crimped to one end of a tungsten wire, is plunged through the film into the palladium and the wire immediately withdrawn. The trace of tungsten which dissolves along with the aluminum can be avoided, if considered objectionable, by using a palladium wire. In view of the persistence of the alumina film under the conditions of induction-melting it also was decided to ascertain the efficiency of this film in protecting palladium against oxidation during repeated remelting and casting. Melting Equipment and Materials The equipment used for melting and casting consisted of an Ecco GC:6, 6 to 8-kva high-frequency converter and an Ecco M34B centrifugal casting machine. This unit is being increasingly used for making jewelry and dental castings and it also has been found useful in making exploratory melts of a variety of nickel alloys, for which purpose it is well suited on account of its speed of melting and economy of material. A description of the machine and its operation will be published elsewhere.' A common palladium jewelry alloy, 95.5 palladi-um-4.5 ruthenium (referred to as "palladium" in the trade), was selected for the deoxidation tests. It was available as melting stock which had been melted in air to free it from oxidizable impurities, and also as clean scrap from previous melts which had been deoxidized with aluminum. The latter was thought to be typical of clean "palladium" scrap to be found in a manufacturing jeweler's establishment and it is also similar to one brand of "casting palladium." By the same token, the oxidized melting stock corresponds to "casting palladium" after the latter has been melted and thoroughly oxidized: Pure aluminum wire (99.9 pet), 0.032 in. diam; 1 in. = 0.036 g. Scrap tungsten wire, 0.014 to 0.020 in. diam. Argon, commercial water-pumped; 99.9 pet pure Experimental Procedure Samples of about 50 to 75 g of the palladium alloy were melted in a crucible lined with a proprietary refractory alumina cement. Some charges were melted in air, others in argon. The oxidized melting stock was melted and solidified a number of times in order to remove as much oxygen as possible before deoxidizing, but this treatment was unnecessary in the case of scrap. In either case the metal was deoxidized with aluminum (0.01 to 0.05 pet) by the

Jan 1, 1959

By H. R. Shidel

THIS paper summarizes the results obtained from the preliminary cementing of wells in an effort to cut off the bottom water. The object of this work was two-fold: (1) To prevent the oil sand from becoming flooded. (2) To plug off bottom water, thereby preserving the individual well and reclaiming production. Valuable suggestions and help have been given by the following named: Messrs. Kyle and La Velle, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; Magnolia Petroleum Co.; Freed Oil and Gas Co. The cementing work was carried out under the personal supervision of L. J. Snyder. In an unpublished paper on the "Water Problem in the Augusta Field," S. K. Clark reaches the following conclusions: (1) That the great amount of water present is bottom water, occurring in the Varner sand, the main producing or the 2500-ft. horizon. (2) That the only striking connection between structure and water is in the area of the marked fault on the Ralston, E. C. Varner, and F. Varner leases in sections 8, 9, 16 and 17. (3) That the oil occurs in porous streaks, generally separated by fine-grained, well cemented sand, which is barren. Possibly two, or three such pay streaks may be found. That under a pay, fine-grained sand occurs, which is presumably barren at the time of drilling, but soon reveals water. The writer takes partial exception to the last point, because well defined shale, slate, lime, or hard sand breaks have been encountered in a great many cases, separating the pay streaks under which water is often found. This is not an invariable occurrence, as cases have been noted when the oil has been followed immediately by water in the same stratum. In an effort to overcome the water menace, the following methods of plugging were tried: (1) Plugging with wood, lead, and limit plugs. (2) Plugging with sand pumpings.

Jan 10, 1918

By D. Mills, G. B. Craig

ZIRCONIUM has been float-zone-refined in an electron-beam furnace and the redistribution of oxygen, iron, and tungsten has been measured. The iodide zirconium used in the present experiments initially contained both oxygen and iron in the range 100 to 200 ppm by weight, and tungsten in amounts less than 10 ppm. Float-zone refining of zirconium, using induction heating, has previously been attempted by Kneip and Betterton1 and Langeron.2 Kneip and Betterton were primarily interested in the removal of iron and nickel. They achieved some purification, with respect to both these elements, in material given up to six passes at 150 mm per hr under an argon atmosphere. Langeron reported purification for a large number of elements after four completed passes in a static vacuum system operating at pressures less than 10-6 mm of Hg and with rates of zone travel between 30 and 40 mm per hr. He did not report oxygen concentrations, but stated that there was inverse segregation of this element. westlake5 has also used a minimum of four zone passes to remove iron from zirconium. No rates or conditions were given. Belk6 has shown that tungsten contamination can occur during electron-beam melting. He reported an increase from 0.01 to 0.05 pct by weight tungsten in molybdenum after four complete zone passes. The vacuum system for the electron-beam unit used in the present investigation consisted of a single-stage rotary pump backing a liquid-air-trapped oil-diffusion pump. A pressure of less than 10-8 mm of Hg was obtained with Dow-Corning 705 fluid in the diffusion pump. In order to avoid contamination of the zirconium by evaporation from the tungsten filament, a special focusing cage4 was employed. Three rates of zone travel, 114, 38, and 4 mm per hr, were investigated, with the liquid zone moving from the bottom to the top of the bar. The bars used were 3 mm diam and the total melted length was 130 mm. Oxygen was analyzed by neutron-activation analysis using a neutron flux of 10' neutrons per sq cm per sec to form the isotope N16 by the 016 (n,p) N16 reaction. The standard deviation is quoted for each oxygen determination. The iron and tungsten analyses were performed spectrographically, and the precision is estimated to be ±6 pct. Analyses for tungsten were all below the detectable limit of 10 ppm, confirming the protection given by the focusing cage. No significant redistribution of oxygen was found at the two higher rates of zone travel. The redistribution of oxygen and iron obtained after five passes at a rate of zone travel of 4 mm per hr (1.1 x 10-4 cm per sec) is recorded in Tables I and 11. Burris, Stockman, and Dillon3 have estimated the distribution of solutes during multipass zone refining. Using their curves for an effective distribution coefficient of Keff = 1.5 and 2 for oxygen and Keff = 0.3 for iron, the expected concentrations were estimated for the present material. These are shown in Tables I and 11, along with the experimentally measured values. The calculated concentrations are based on a molten-zone length of 10 pct of the total melted length, whereas in the present experiments the molten zone was approximately 5 pct of the total melted length. The effect of zone length on solute redistribution is most pronounced after a large number of zone passes. Comparison with Pfann's published data8 for solute redistribution for various Keff's and zone lengths indicates only small differences at low numbers of completed zone passes. It is evident that the expected distribution has not been realized in the case of iron. Scrapings of material deposited on the inner surfaces of the electron-focusing cage were found to be magnetic. It is, therefore, concluded that redistribution of iron is masked by evaporation. Deposition of iron inside the focusing cage was observed at all rates of zone travel. The results of the investigation may be summarized as follows: 1) Segregation of oxygen is typical for a solute with a distribution coefficient, Keff > 1. 2) No redistribution of oxygen takes place at high rates of zone travel. 3) The distribution coefficient for oxygen lies between 1.5 and 2.0. 4) Purification with respect to iron occurs mainly by evaporation. 5) The focusing cage is effective in preventing tungsten contamination.

Jan 1, 1967

JUST as I have taught you to refine silver in a small way and to make assays, so now I wish to teach you how to make cupeling hearths in place of these little cupels when you have silver in large quantities. This is done in four ways, as I have seen, but all are alike in the end and differ very little one from the other. There are some who make use of a furnace with a vault built with bricks above the cupeling hearth. There are some others who use in place of this an iron hood like a large cover. There are some others who use only heavy dry sticks of oak or some other thick wood. Others have certain long plates of terra cotta that cover the whole hearth in three or four pieces; the two of these that adjoin have [56] a hole in the middle that leads exactly into the middle of the cupeling hearth, and through this they put in the material and the lead, according to the practice I shall describe.

Jan 1, 1942

By H. C. H. Darley

Particles of montmorillonite-type clays consist of plate-like clay crystals stacked face to face. Under certain conditions in a suspension, these particles disperse to individual platelets with the formation of diffuse double layers round each platelet. This action has a profound influence on the rheo-logical and other properties of the suspension. This paper describes a test for degree of dispersion and uses this test to correlate changes in dispersion with changes in viscosity and gel strength. The test is of practical value in determining and controlling dispersion in drilling muds. INTRODUCTION It has long been recognized that the hydration and dispersion of clays, particularly those of the montmoril-loilite type, strongly influences the rheological and other properties of drilling muds, but little has been done to measure either of these phenomena under conditions that exist in drilling muds. The hydration of clays as such has been extensively studied by those interested in clay mineralogy, but in drilling muds it is to be expected that dispersion is at least as important a factor as hydration because of the much higher water-to-clay ratios and the very high degree of mechanical agitation. The term dispersion as generally applied to colloidal systems means the subdivision of large particles to small. Particles of montmorillonitic clays, however, consist of plate-like particles stacked face to face. Dispersion of these aggregates to individual platelets may be expected to have an unusually large influence on the properties of the suspension because of the shape factor, the enormous increase in specific surface, and the pronounced surface phenomena exhibited by the crystal surfaces. It is this form of dispersion that is particularly considered in this paper, -and the term degree of dispersion is used to imply the number of platelets per particle. The term aggregation is used to denote the opposite of dispersion, the association of individual platelets face to face to form stacks. It is important, as Garrison' has pointed out, to distinguish between the deflocculation-flocculation phenomenon and the dispersion-aggregation phenomenon. Flocculation of clay suspensions is characterized by the formation of voluminous sediments that are stable under quite high centrifugal fields. This indicates an edge to plate association of particles to form an open network type of structure, which obviously will have quite a different influence on the properties of the suspension than aggregation of the platelets face to face. The work described in this paper was primarily concerned with developing a test for degree of dispersion in clay suspensions and by means of this test to follow changes of dispersion brought about by addition of electrolytes and to show the influence of dispersion on the rheological properties. The Clay-Volume Test This test is based on the assumption that the greater the number of particles per unit weight of clay in a suspension the greater will be the volume of sediment when it is flocculated under standard conditions and centrifuged. After considerable experimentation the following procedure was established: 1 cc of the test mud vigorously shaken with 100 cc of 1-N NaCl in an ASTM oil centrifuge tube and centrifuged for five minutes in an International No. 2 centrifuge at 2,000 rpm. When drilling fluids of different solids content are being compared, the clay volume is expressed in cc per gram of clay solids, but generally changes in dispersion in a given mud are being compared and it is more convenient to report as cc of sediment. The test is strictly a comparative test, so that it is not necessary to adhere to the conditions specified above, e.g., with field muds a stronger flocculant such as Al2(SO4)3 may be preferable to NaCl.

Jan 1, 1958

By C. R. Whitney, G. N. Maniar, D. R. Muzyka

Previous results have shown that Pyromet 860, an Fe-Ni-base heat-resistant alloy, is stable at temperatures as high as 1500°F for aging times as long as 100 hr. This Paper describes the results of long-time creep-rupture testing at 1050" to 1400°F at various stress levels. Times as long as 37,660 hr were employed. The effects of time, temperature, and stress on the precipitates and their morphologies were studied by optical and electron microscopy, X-ray and electron diffraction, and microprobe techniques. phase, containing cobalt, nickel, and molybdenum, was detected after extended exposures from 1200" to 1400°F and careful study was performed to describe the kinetics of its formation in this alloy. µ phase formation apparently has little effect on the elevated-tem-perature properties of Pyromet 860. For times as long as 500 hr at 1300°F and below, with µ phase present, m significant effects on ambient temperature properties were noted. For longer times at 1300°F and after 1400°F exposure, the effects of u phase on ambient temperature tensile strength properties are not clear due to y' effects and grain boundary reactions. Electron-vacancy, N,, numbers were calculated using different methods described in literature and correlated with the present findings. In the selection of alloys for use in gas turbine applications, structural stability ranks as a primary criterion. High-temperature strength and cost are also of major concern. With these factors in mind, Pyromet 860 alloy, an Fe-Ni-base superalloy was designed. This alloy combines the cost advantages of Fe-Ni-base alloys such as A-286, 901, and V-57 with improved strength and structural stability'1,2 and no tendency to form the embrittling cellular 77 phase. A previous study3 reported on the stability of Pyro-met 860 at temperatures from 1375" to 157 5°F and times up to 100 hr. That study showed that the y' precipitates increased in size and separation and decreased in number with an increase in time or aging temperature. No deleterious phases were found to occur. In the present work, samples from four production heats were subjected to long-time creep-rupture testing at 1050" to 1400°F at various stress levels. Various heat treatments were used on the starting samples and tests were run up to 37,660 hr. The effects of time, temperature, and stress on the precipitates and their morphologies were studied by optical and electron microscopy, X-ray and electron diffrac- tion, and microprobe techniques. Electron vacancy numbers, Nv , calculations were made by TRW.4 Experimental results are correlated with the Nv data used to predict occurrence of intermetallic phases such as a phase. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Mechanical Tests. Material for the present study came from four production size heats of Pyromet 860 alloy, weighing from about 3000 to about 10,000 lb. All of these heats were made by vacuum induction melting plus consumable electrode vacuum remelting. The nominal analysis for this alloy is compared with the actual analysis of the four heats in Table I. Sections of these heats were forged to 9/16-in. round bar,3/4-in. square bar, 3-in. round bar, 4-in. square bar, and a gas turbine blade forging about 16 in, long, about 6 in. wide, and weighing about 20 lb. In general, all forging of this alloy is done from a 2050°F furnace temperature. Longitudinal test blanks were cut from the centers of the smaller bars, from mid-radius positions for the 3- and 4-in. bars, and from the air foil of the gas turbine blade and heat-treated according to the procedures outlined in Table 11. Heat treatment A is the "standard treatment" recommended for this alloy for best all-around strength and ductility. Heat treatment B is a modification of treatment A for improved tensile strength at moderate temperatures. The treatment coded C was designed for treating large sections according to a procedure previously described.' Heat treatment D was developed to yield optimum stress relaxation characteristics at 1050°F for a steam turbine bolting application. After heat treatment, the test blanks were machined either to plain bar creep specimens with a gage diameter of 0.252 in., to combination smooth-notched stress-rupture bars with a plain bar diameter of 0.178 in. and a concentration factor of Kt 3.8' at the notched section, or to notch-only specimens. All specimens conformed to ASTM requirements. Metallography. Most of the creep-rupture tests were continued to failure. A few bars were fractured as smooth or notch tensiles after creep-rupture exposures. After fracturing, ordinary metallographic sections were made primarily in gage areas adjacent to fractures to represent a "high-stress" region and through specimen threads to represent a "low-stress" region. All metallographic sections were made in a longitudinal direction with respect to the test specimen axes. For optical microscopy, the samples were etched in glyceregia (15 ml HC1, 5 ml HNO,, 10 ml glycerol). For XRD analysis, the phases were extracted electrolytically in two media: 20 pct &Po4 in H20 for selective extraction of y' and 10 pct HC1 in methanol for carbides and other phases.

Jan 1, 1970

By Thomas T. Read

Readjustment of the industrial world to a peace basis after more than 4 years of war will involve many fundamental and far-reaching changes that cannot as yet be clearly foreseen or definitely provided for. Such problems may be subdivided, in the vocabulary of war, into those involving material and those centering about personnel. Of the two, the latter group is the more difficult and obscure, as the factors involved are less clearly understood and the methods to be followed are not yet tested and standardized. When it is said that the market is weak, stocks large, and demand light, every business man understands clearly what is meant and what course he should adopt to adjust himself, so far as possible, to such conditions. But when it is said that the rapid spread of Bolshevism in Europe is a danger to industrial organization in this country, it is difficult to have any assured sense that all that the statement may mean is clearly understood or that the means to be followed to meet such a situation are definitely known. Since Bolshevism is primarily a mental phenomenon and since the rupture it brings about in industrial organization should be prevented, if possible, it is my purpose to restrict this discussion of the activities of the Committee on Industrial Organization to some of its mental aspects, as the chairmen of the sub-committees, from their special knowledge of their own fields, can best set forth recent progress in the lines with which they are especially concerned. The first requisites of success in industrial organization, as in the biological organism of which it is the social counterpart, are unity of purpose and coordinated activity. Typical good and bad examples of this' are the relative parts that the United States and Russia have played in the great war. These two factors are primarily mental, and it is not difficult to view the mental aspects of all problems of industrial organization as the most important ones. Unless we can attain unity of purpose and coordinated activity in industry, the provision of comfortable homes at reasonable rent, the assurance of steady work at good wages, the elimination of industrial accidents, and provision against want in old age or in case of disability will have brought us no nearer to our real goal.

Jan 1, 1919

By W. H. Ode, W. A. Selvig

By plotting fixed carbon against British thermal units of coals free from mineral matter, and ranging in rank from anthracite to lignite, it is found that the coals of higher rank, from anthracite to the higher rank of the high-volatile bituminous coals, inclusive, can be separated into groups according to their degree of metamorphism by reference to their fixed carbon. Such charts show also that the coals lower in rank can be best separated into groups with respect to B.t.u., especially when plotted on the moist basis, that is, coal containing its natural bed moisture. A tentative scheme for coal classification was presented at the October, 1932, meeting of the Technical Committee on Scientific Classification, of the American Standards Association Sectional Committee on Coal Classification. This scheme was sponsored by Subcommittee IV on Tentative Classification of Coals, under the chairmanship of W. T. Thom, Jr. It proposed the grouping of coals according to rank by reference to fixed carbon and B.t.u., on the basis of coal containing its natural bed moisture but free from mineral matter. This scheme proposed classifying coals into four broad classes: (1) anthracitic, (2) bituminous, (3) subbituminous, (4) lignitic. The anthracitic class was divided into three groups designated as meta-anthracite, normal anthracite, and semianthracite. The bituminous class also was divided into three groups, low volatile, medium volatile, and high volatile. The high-volatile group was further subdivided into four subgroups according to moisture content, as fo1lows: (1) less than 5 per cent, (2) 5 to 10 per cent, (3) 10 to 15 per cent, and (4) 15 per cent and more. The subbituminous class was divided into two groups, group 1 including subbituminous coals having calorific values of 10,500 B.t.u. or more, and group 2 including those with less than 10,500 B.t.u. The lignitic class of coal was divided into two groups both below 8,000 B.t.u., the one group consisting of consolidated and the other of unconsolidated

Jan 1, 1934

The paragraphs quoted, regarding Mr. Hoover's appointment as chairman of the newly organized food board of the United States, are taken from the editorial page, of the New York Times for April 13: ?The country is fortunate in commanding the services of Herbert C. Hoover as Chairman of the newly established Food Board. This is n, problem of first importance. Few realize the extent to which American food stuffs will enter into the decision of the war, and it is doubtful if it has occurred to many minds as yet that we shall have to deny ourselves what we have regarded as necessaries in order to keep our European allies supplied. " Mr. Hoover is one of the leading mining engineers of the country. At the outbreak of the war he put his private affairs aside to become the head of the American Commission for Relief in Belgium. He has had an experience that perhaps no other man has ever had, covering the raising of money and the purchase and distribution of supplies on a large scale; He has been brought into close relations with the neutrals and the belligerents on both sides. By them all he is recognized is one of the best executives brought to the fore by the mar. Mr. Hoover is in a position now to place abilities and experience at the service of his country. He will come back with comparative data that will enable him to measure resources and deficiencies accurately. This appointment gives renewed assurance of our Government's grasp of the problems of war and its resolve to apply, business principles to their solution."

Jan 5, 1917