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By William P. Prof. Blake

WHEN we consider the efforts made in Europe to promote the physical and moral well-being of the working classes, the question is suggested whether in this country, where, theoretically, every man is peculiarly the arbiter of his own destiny, we may not be too prone to expect every man to take care of himself, and neglect to make those provisions for the welfare of the employed, demanded alike by enlightened economy and humanity. In the older countries, where the disproportion between capital and labor is greater, and the working classes are more dependent, their welfare largely occupies the attention of employers. The subject is involved in the problem of the just relations of capital and labor, and we are rapidly approaching the time, if we have not already reached it, when a generous paternal interest in the welfare of the employed should be more generally manifested. It is a subject which is of special importance to mine-owners and engineers in this country, especially to those located in the coal regions. My own attention has been particularly directed to it by a visit made to the Hassard collieries, a few miles from Liege, Belgium, under the direction of M. Andrimont. This celebrated engineer has established a comfortable home for the miners near the mouth of the shaft of the mine. It has been highly successful and beneficent in its results, and may to a great degree be regarded as a, model for such undertakings. It is known as "Hotel Louise," this being the name of Madame d'Andrimont, who laid the corner-stone of the building April 4th, 1871. The structure is of brick, upon three sides of a square, and

Jan 1, 1875

By Grafton Thrasher

For the proper discussion of this subject it is necessary to incorporate in this paper the substance of part of an article published by rite in Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering for January, 1915. CAST-IRON TEST PLUG, SHOWING LOW MOTTLED AND MOTTLED FRACTURES. Several years ago, while I was thief chemist for a malleable-iron company, it occurred to me that the mere regulation of silicon was not sufficient to produce the desired degree of chill. But only after repeatedly encountering this fact in befit open-hearth and air-furnace, as well as cupola metal, was I led to regard variation in the total carbon as the principal cause of disturbance; and I resolved to determine the total carbon as well as the sill on ill every heat, and by a carefully prepared test piece to gauge the approximate degree of chill. The test piece selected was a round plug, 2 in. in diameter and 12 in. long, cast on end

Jan 10, 1915

By T. P. Papazoglou, N. A. D. Parlee, W. C. Phelps

HE high vapor pressures of metals such as lead, calcium, lithium, bismuth, and magnesium at steel-making temperatures present experimental problems which have thus far rendered it almost impossible to obtain really reliable data for their solubilities in liquid iron. Many investigators have attempted to equilibrate liquid iron in the same crucible with the undissolved liquid phase of such volatile metals. The published results,l-6 although useful, are often questionable on the grounds of not being obtained under true equilibrium conditions. Such information is not always of practical value in any case since the equilibrium vapor pressure is often several atmospheres and steel is not currently made at these pressures. Solubility measurements at lower partial pressures (< 1 atm) appeared to be more practical and easier to make. These data could be used to calculate solubilities at other pressures where Henry&apos;s Law is obeyed, and to estimate solubilities under other conditions of temperature and pressure with useful accuracy. This note outlines the development of a general technique for the measurement of solubilities in systems of this kind. The method involves equilibration of the high-boiling metal at known temperatures with the vapors of a low-boiling metal at known partial pressures. Analyses of quenched samples provide vapor pressure-solubility data and make calculations of alloy thermodynamics possible. The principle involved is similar to the closed-system diffusion-transport method which is difficult to apply with most high-melting liquid metals like iron, due to closure problems. A two-zone horizontal (molybdenum wire element) tube furnace, Fig. 1, provides two constant-temperature zones in a reaction tuve (3/4 in. ID by 1 in. OD by 36 in.). A high-boiling metal sample, 9, introduced in the higher-temperature zone, is maintained at temperature T1, and a volatile metal sample, 7, in the lower-temperature zone, is held at T2. A stream of argon with 10 pct hydrogen is passed via flowmeters, 1, and mixing-drying towers, 2 and 3. through the reaction tube at a favorable flowrate and acts as a carrier gas which entrains vapor from the volatile liquid metal at a specific constant partial pressure. The gas mixture passes through a system of constrictions, 6 and 8, to the higher-temperature zone, establishes intimate contact with the high-boiling liquid sample, 9, and exits through a small condenser tube. The entire system is at (nearly) atmospheric pressure and the volume of carrier gas passed is measured with a wet gas meter. When the high-boiling sample attains equilibrium with the vapor phase, both samples are removed and quenched. Analysis of the high-boiling sample for solute content reveals its solubility for the low-boiling metal at a vapor pressure calculated from carrier-gas volume and either a) weight loss of volatile metal or 6) weight gain of high-boiling sample plus condenser (which collects the undissolved vapors). To test the capabilities of the method, liquid silver at 1403&apos;C was equilibrated with lead vapor at various partial pressures. The relatively simple Pb-Ag system was particularly suitable for uncovering experimental problems and providing the first step toward investigations with more volatile metals and more difficult combinations.

Jan 1, 1965

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Oct. 10, 1918, to Nov. 9, 1918. ALLER, FRANK D., Copper Met., Ore Purchaser, American Smelt. & Refin. Co., 120 Broadway, New York, N. Y. AVÈRY, PAUL W., Met. Engr., Esperanza Min. Co., Apt. 8, El Oro, Mex., Mexico. BAKER, CHARLES A., Leaching Foreman, Copper Leaching Plant, Anaconda Copper Min. Co., Anaconda, Mont: BREED, CHARLES H Met., Crown Cork & Seal Co., Baltimore, Md. CHASE, R. L., Min. Engr 102S First National Bank Bldg., Denver, Colo. EICHELBERGER, FRANK, Vice-pres. and Engr., New York-Montana Testing & Engrg. Co., Helena, Mont. GESTER, G. C., Geol., Standard Oil Co. of Cal., 616 Standard Oil Bldg., San Francisco, Cal. GRIFFIN, JOHN, Mgr., Anthracite Territory, The Dorr Co., Board of Trade Bldg., Scranton, Pa. HAYNES, ELWOOD Pres., The Haynes Stellite Co., Kokomo, Indiana. Hsi, T. C:.. Sec&apos;y, Tayeh Iron & Steel Works, Tayeh, China. HYDE, AUSTIN T., Mgr., Keokuk Plant, River Smelt. & Refin. Co., 607 Franklin St., Keokuk, Iowa.

Jan 12, 1918

By J. W. Ristori, V. R. Garfias

ONE of the most serious problems now confronting Gel- many-and one that will affect Italy even more seriously if she goes to war against England and France -is that of supplying her navy, mechanized army, and air force as well as her industrial and other needs with the necessary and related products. This problem, serious even now, will become vital should hostilities on a large scale develop.

Jan 1, 1939

By AIME AIME

THE iron and steel activities of this meeting opened on Monday morning with the steel melting session," with G. B. Waterhouse in the chair and A. L. Feild as vice-chairman. N. A. Zeigler&apos;s paper, on "Gases Extracted From Iron Carbon Alloys by Vacuum Melbing," created considerable interest and the discussion in general was most favorable. H. W. Gillett and Louis Jordan of the Bureau questioned the method of analysis for oxygen and C. H. Herty, Jr., and J. M. Gaines, Jr., I , expressed their surprise at the large amount of oxygen with the high ,carbon alloys. Whether the gases found existed as gas in blowholes or as oxide inclusions was also a moot point. A paper by C. D. King, on "Basic Open-Hearth Yields," was an extremely interesting and valuable contribution. It was discussed by C. E.Kinney and A. L. Feild and numerous questions were asked throughout the presentation. Mr. King then presented a critical analysis of the losses together with novel methods of calculating them. A paper by C. H. Herty, Jr., and J. M. Gaines, Jr., on "Unreduced Oxides in Pig Iron and Their Elimination in the Basic Open-Hearth Furnace," followed. The question of silicates and oxides in pig iron created much discussion, notably by Henry Hanson and W. J. MacKenzie, who gave figures on chipping cost as a function of blast-furnace practice.

Jan 1, 1929

By Daniel Bloomfield

ONE of the major problems of management is how to restore in some measure the personal relation-ship between employer and employed which, in the days of small concerns, meant better morale among employees. The complexity of industry today, the heterogeneous mass. of workers employed, many .of them new to this country and to its institutions, the inability of those whose task it is to get out production to spend much time on the problems of labor-all these and many other factors serve to make of great impor-tance the question of how to establish more satisfactory mutual good will. While there is no such thing as a sure cure for labor troubles, in spite of the fact that charlatans have been selling alleged cures to guileless employers, study and experience have brought to light methods of approach to the problems confronting management in its relation to labor that are well worth consideration. Labor problems must be approached with common sense and an open mind. Facts must be the basis of action. So it is with the question of morale in industry. What makes or breaks morale? What are the forces behind the actions of men? What is there in one man that makes him act differently from another man under similar circumstances? How are men affected by the actions of others in their own group or by the actions of those under whose supervision they work? These are questions that must be carefully studied if we are, to get at the bottom of industrial unrest. It is an easy thing to say that good will can be created by "treating men right." That involves so many things and points of view that it will hardly serve as a full answer to our problem; but it is a good starting point if we mean by right treatment the payment of wages consistent with the well being of the worker and his family as members of the community, and if we also mean the provision of sanitary, wholesome working conditions and a working schedule that does not overtax the worker physically, and mutuality-a give and take relationship. With this as a basis we can go a step farther and see what else can be done to promote better relations between management and the workers.

Jan 9, 1922

By R. J. Franklin, G. W. Beckman, D. Warren, E. Both, J. F. Libsch

BINARY and ternary alloys of iron, nickel and cobalt respond to annealing in a magnetic field by a characteristic change in the shape of their hysteresis 100p.l,2 An increase in retentivity and a decrease in coercive force produced by the magnetic treatment cause the hysteresis loop to approach the appearance of a rectangle. Materials with a rectangular hysteresis loop have made possible the contact-rectifier³ and have greatly improved the performance of pulse transformers4 and magnetic amplifiers." In the best material presently available for these applications, a 50 pct nickel-iron alloy," the desired characteristics are achieved by aligning the preferred crystallographic directions of magnetization along the rolling direction of the tape. The objective of the present study has been to produce rectangular hysteresis characteristics in materials with inherently high saturation. Iron-cobalt alloys, exhibiting saturation values up to 24,000 gausses&apos; appeared to offer promise for the magnetic annealing technique, because they remain magnetic to very high temperatures,8 exhibit favorable magnetostriction properties: and show zero crystal energy at 42 pct cobalt.10 Among the ternary iron-cobalt-nickel alloys,7,11 response to heat treatment in a magnetic field is unfortunately limited to alloys having rather low saturation values.&apos; It appeared interesting nevertheless, to study a series of compositions connecting the optimum composition (50/50) of the binary iron-cobalt system with the "Perminvar" composition (30 pct Fe, 25 pct Co, and 45 pct Ni). Very recently, R. Smoluchowski and R. W. Turner," have shown that under certain circumstances magnetic annealing can produce oriented recrystallization. A combination of this technique with the domain orientation utilized in the present study might well result in further improvements. The advantages of the powder metallurgy technique in preparing magnetic alloys for study have

Jan 1, 1951

By Frederick V. Lawrence

Broadly speaking, fluxes are substances which promote wetting and spreading or enhance the fluidity and manipulative properties of materials in joining, fusion, and smelting operations. The term most strictly applies to substances used to facilitate soldering and brazing; but in the discussion which follows, the definition will be broadened to include materials used to promote fusion in arc welding and which aid in the smelting of metals. In each of the mentioned applications, the role of flux and its composition differs considerably; consequently in the discussion which follows, fluxes for soldering, brazing, arc welding, and smelting applications will be considered separately. Soldering and Brazing Fluxes Soldering and brazing are metallurgical joining processes in which a joint is formed using a filler metal of composition dissimilar to that of the joined pieces (base metal). The filler metal, solder or braze, is always of lower melting point than the base metal. Consequently with these processes there is no melting of the base metal. The successful creation of the joint depends upon the wetting and spreading of the solder or braze around or throughout the joint. The obstacles to successful soldering and brazing are contaminants and tenacious oxide films on the metal surfaces. In soldering and brazing applications, fluxes act to remove and exclude oxides and other impurities from the joint. There is no fundamental difference between soldering and brazing. The distinction between them is made on the basis of temperature. Join¬ing operations carried out at temperatures above 500° C are termed brazing. The higher temperatures used in brazing enable higher melting point filler metals to be used which generally provide stronger joints. The higher temperatures of brazing processes also require fluxes which are substantially different from those used in soldering and which will remain effective at high temperatures. Consequently the distinction between soldering and brazing can also be made on the basis of the fluxes used. Soldering Fluxes Even thoroughly cleaned and degreased, metal surfaces still possess tenacious oxide films which inhibit the soldering of the joint. The reactions which form these films increase with increasing temperature. The rate of oxide formation and the tenacity of the film varies with each base metal. Aluminum, magnesium, stainless and high alloy steels, aluminum and silicon bronzes when exposed to air form hard, adherent oxide films. These metals require highly active and corrosive fluxes to remove and prevent the reformation of oxide films during soldering. Metals such as copper and silver, on the contrary, form less tenacious films at a lower rate, so that mild fluxes are sufficient. Soldering fluxes must dissolve or remove oxides and promote rapid wetting and spreading of the solder. The flux removes the oxide film by loosening and floating it off into the main body of the flux. The oxide removal is often aided by the alloying of the solder with the base metal, undermining small areas of the oxide and detaching them (Anon., 1959). The flux coagulates and suspends the oxide particles which have been loosened. The flux forms a protective cover preventing the reformation of the oxides, permitting the spreading of the solder and the formation of a metallic bond between the solder and the base metal. Constituents of Soldering Fluxes: Soldering fluxes are commonly grouped into three categories: highly corrosive, intermediate, and noncorrosive. One normally would choose to use the least corrosive flux which will give satisfactory performance.

Jan 1, 1983

By John Birkinbine

THE favor with which the members of the Institute received Mr. Fernow&apos;s paper upon the use of charbon roux in the manufacture of iron has encouraged me to present this paper, in the hope of having the discussion upon the manufacture and use of the oldest and undoubtedly the best fuel for producing pig iron continued. Owing to the advances made in employing anthracite coal, bituminous coal, or coke, or mixtures of them, we are apt to forget how much of our present development is due to the pioneers in iron manufacture and the fuel which they employed in the production of pig iron. In Mr. Swank&apos;s last compilation of the iron and steel works of the United States, the furnace capacity of the country is given as 5,868,000 tons, of which 1,000,000 tons can be made in the 264 charcoal furnaces. In other words, over one-third of the furnaces now in existence use charcoal for fuel, and produce more than one-sixth of the iron made. If to this is added the 130,000 tons of blooms and billets turned out by the 122 forges and bloomaries, the importance of the charcoal industries will be appreciated.

Jan 1, 1879

By M. E. Gershon

The development of long-term plans and schedules for strip mines now faces many companies, especially those developing large properties in the West. The rule of mining the lowest strip ratios first, while delaying equipment acquisitions and recouping investment the fastest, sometimes creates the situation where stripping ratios are too high in the latter years of mining operations. A program concept taking life of mine return on investment into account is developed in this paper to optimize mine scheduling and equipment acquisition. In addition, quality considerations (heat content, ash, sulfur, and washability) can be considered by including the appropriate blending constraints to meet contract requirements.

Jan 1, 1984

By Leo F. Reinartz

Part II of a four-part series on the history of steelmaking in the US, points out the inadequate safety and living conditions that existed in steel mills at the turn of the Century. Also defined are furnace and process developments. OPERATIONS in steel plants today are highly mechanized. Men work in light, clean, orderly melting shops, making it difficult for old timers to convince young men that primitive, hazardous conditions existed in steel plants at the turn of the century. Working conditions then were very poor as compared to present day standards. In small plants especially, sanitary, locker, and washroom facilities, first-aid practices and stations were un- known Accidents were frequent and severe. Workers had a fatalistic attitude toward getting hurt. He who had an accident was looked upon as a hero. A dirty bandanna often served as a bandage. Infections were frequent. Electric cranes were in their infancy and broke down often Cables had not as yet replaced chains. Pig iron and scrap iron were loaded by hand in the stockyard, and stockyard locomotives were un- known; mules served as the usual motive power. It was not unusual to see recorded a delay of ½ hr in charging a furnace because of a balky mule. Furnace operations A few plants had primitive charging machines, but most furnaces were charged by placing scrap or pig iron on the paddle of a long peel, which rested on a bar across the furnace door opening. Laborers at the handle end of the peel, using the bar as a fulcrum, would heave the material into the furnace by a down and sideward motion of the peel handle. In time they became expert in placing these materials in the furnace, but it was hard, hot work, and a long time was required for charging. Cold charges of 25 tons required more than 12 hr for melting and re- fining the steel. Ports, doors, and frames were not water cooled. The charging and working area in front of the furnace was covered with steel plates. They were hot and often warped by the intense heat of the un- insulated checker chambers directly below. In the summer, working conditions on the charging floor were almost unbearable. Silica refractories were of poor quality. Because of this, and the inadequate training of furnace men in fuel control and furnace operations, roofs, front and back walls, and ends burned out rapidly. Dolomite machines were unknown; consequently, furnace banks and hearths were fettled with dolomite by the use of hand shovels. The round system required six or more men. Each man took a shovelful of dolomite and, in his turn, deposited it on the back wall and bank by a dexterous forward swing and twist of the shovel. The upward swing of the shovel partially protected his face from the searing heat of the furnace coming out through the wide-open door. Considerable skill and stamina were required to do this job properly. Reverse valves, usually of the cast-iron butterfly type, were located below the charging floor. They were operated by long levers on the charging floor level men they became warped, because of heat and abuse, great strength and skill were required to reverse them. Furnace operations were difficult. The quality and quantity of producer gas coming from irregularly stoked, hand-operated gas producers was uncertain and unreliable. Furnace Linings and ports were quickly burned out. Poor bottom and side-wall refractories, indifferent and inexperienced crews, as well as irregular re-

Jan 1, 1961

By C. S. Corbett

There is much comment at present in the ranks of the oil industry regarding unit operation of oil fields and the benefit that would accrue if it could be extensively applied. It seems certain that, as an immediate corrective of the present situation, overproduction could be effectively curtailed with all the advantages of proper conservation of petroleum resources and with no important loss to anyone connected with the industry. Unit Operation in Certain Foreign Fields Many an oil operator in America would doubtless like to have exclusive control of one or more oil-bearing structures for development in accordance with the economic position of the industry and especially in accordance with the best production practice known. A few operators now have this privilege, particularly in certain foreign fields, and are following lines of procedure which show that they are aware of the great opportunity that is theirs. We find in an article by Professor Strigeoff,1 and in a paper read by Captain Comins2 before the American Petroleum Institute, the outlines of procedure adopted, respectively, by the Soviet Government for the nationalized Russian oil fields and by the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. for its fields in Persia. Comprehensive plans for the unit operation of other oil fields may have been described publicly but no such descriptions have come to the attention of the writer. New fields are coming more and more into the hands of single operators or of a few who control large activities and who appreciate fully the need for cooperative action and are willing to forego the lure of a large quick profit from high flush production in order to secure the advantage of better stabilization in the industry and a larger though more deferred profit by operating the field as a unit. Much can be done toward efficient development of an oil field controlled by a few operators who are willing to cooperate for that purpose, but the best result can be obtained only by pooling their interests in the field

Jan 1, 1930

By F. W. Luersson

High carbon, low phosphorus steel can now be made from pig iron containing 0.7 pct P or more, in a commercial sized open hearth furnace. No external heat is required for refining, and steel produced is identical with basic open hearth steel. THE classical Thomas process, which requires liquid pig iron containing over 11/2 pct P, yields a product relatively high in phosphorzs and nitrogen. Unless large quantities of recarburizers are added to the refined steel, the product is low in carbon content. Thus, the Thomas process is not well suited to American raw materials, and its product is often not acceptable according to the standards set by American industry. The shortcomings of the Thomas process have long been recognized; with the advent of low cost oxygen, studies were initiated to develop pneumatic processes which would conceivably overcome the inherent objections to Thomas steelmaking. Several such modified basic pneumatic processes have been tested experimentally in commercial trials during the past decade. Probably the most widely publicized of these developments has been the oxygen converter process as practiced in Austrial,2 and in Canada.8 n this process, oxygen is substituted for air and introduced above the liquid bath in order to increase the heat available to the metallurgical system. This avoids the need for high phosphorus raw materials and gives a product low in nitrogen. In this process, the phosphorus content in the final product depends, to a considerable extent, on the total amount of that element in the burden. The rotary furnace4 which is now in commercial operation at Domnarvet Steelworks, Sweden, is producing low phosphorus steel from iron containing 1.8 to 2 pct P. One or more early slags are removed and by this means high carbon steels of open hearth quality can be produced. At this stage of development there is some question as to the applicability of the rotary process to large heats. Another development has been the use of oxygen in combination with either steam6 or carbon dioxide yn the basic bessemer, thus avoiding the introduction of nitrogen gas into the refining system and giving a product relatively low in nitrogen content. A double slag process has been used in Europe7 in conjunction with a regular Thomas converter, by means of which it is possible to obtain a phosphorus content in the product approaching that obtained in basic open hearth steels. The Turbo-Hearth process:&apos; which uses the side blowing principle so as to produce low nitrogen steel from normal American pig irons, has been developed experimentally in this country. A process fitted to U. S. raw materials All of the preceding processes, with the exception of the rotary furnace, suffer from the common shortcoming that they cannot be adapted to the production of high-carbon, low-phosphorus steels unless large proportions of recarburizers are added. In 1947, a program was initiated by the Inland Steel Company1&apos; to study an oxygen steelmaking process specifically designed to utilize the full range of phosphorus analyses encountered in American pig irons and to give finai products with phosphorus and nitrogen contents comparable to steel produced by the basic open hearth process. Some of the objectives of the proposed process are: 1) the process should be able to accommodate molten pig iron conta;rl;rrg up to 1 pct P., 2) sne process should be subject to close control of carbon analysis, 3) the process should be capable of producing high carbon

Jan 1, 1958

CHARLES CATLETT, Staunton, Va.-A great many important things have been said in an interesting way but the most startling, to me, is that for 25 years, the price has been in the neighborhood of $1.00, with a minimum of 86 cents and a maximum of about $1.25. It is evident that during all that time the price was inadequate. The amount paid to be divided between the land owner, the capitalist, and the laborer was too limited or too irregular to permit of a healthy condition; yet it is evident that the enormous industrial development of this country was fostered by this very cheap coal, probably the cheapest that has been provided in quantity in any country. I entered the coal business when the price was lowest and my interest and sympathy went out to the man who spent his days in the dirt and foul air of a mine and I was filled with schemes for helping. But at the end of the year, after exercising every economy and in blissful ignorance of proper depreciation and obsolescence, there was still only a profit of 1 cent per long ton for what I think is one of the best coals in the world, the best grade of New River coal. We are now paying a great deal more than we did a few years ago and probably will continue to pay more for some time; but any one who thinks we will not have low prices again is very young or very forgetful. Yet we must have larger profits if the industry is to be healthy, if the three parties to the production are to get adequate returns and be in shape to provide the improvements which will be needed to take the place of and supplement the man-power. This will come when the men are making so much money that the operator wants to replace the man by a machine, and when the operator is making so much money as to be in a shape to make the improvements. He will not put in machinery unless the machinery will save money. We have got to pay a higher prime cost for coal, but engineering skill will teach us how to handle it better and use it more economically, and the ultimate result ought to be of advantage to the public.

Jan 3, 1920

By William Priestley

IN THE manufacture of gun forgings and other steel parts that, in service, are subject to sudden high stresses and shocks, it is most desirable to use steel possessing the greatest toughness and ductility possible without sacrifice of strength. In order to obtain this condition, it is necessary to procure steel that shows the highest possible elongation and reduction of area without lowering the tensile strength and elastic limit. Proper heat treatment of the steel can control this condition within certain limits. When heat treatment has failed to produce the desired results, metallurgists have used steels containing molybdenum, zirconium, vanadium, chromium, tungsten, etc. The purpose of this paper is to describe a method by which these desired physical properties may be procured-by the elimination of certain impurities that inherently exist in steel made by the open-hearth process, and without the use of expensive alloys. DESIGN OF GUN FORGINGS In the manufacture of gun forgings, a certain elastic limit is fixed by the designer, and the walls of the gun are made of the proper thickness, allowing a suitable factor of safety for the high stresses and sudden shocks that occur during gun firing. The elastic strength of the gun is about 1.4 times the stress set up at any point along the bore of the gun during firing with the maximum powder charge.

Jan 12, 1921

By Frank Ruskey, Richard G. Burdick

Many problems associated with potential hazards in a proposed mining area may not be adequately appraised because of the complexity of trying to evaluate them in terms of production requirements. Frequently, encountered hazards have to be dealt with by day-to-day operational schemes that require the miner to either force a way through them or avoid them by blocking off the area in which the hazards are known to exist. These considerations, after the mine is in full production, can be costly to the mine operator and can increase the danger to the miners. A hazard-evasion computer program for mine planning that will appraise proposed mine layouts on the basis of existing or potential hazards has therefore been developed. The program is intended for use during the planning phase of a mine, where it should assist the mining engineer in making decisions in mine design, With the output from this program, the mining engineer should be able either to corroborate his judgments made on the basis of mining experience or to find unanticipated solutions to design problems. The program tests hundreds of possible solutions to a mining layout, and by sorting out the 10 best (based on a criteria of minimum-abandoned-coal) limits the number of choices that need to be considered and appraised for applicability to a given mine scheme.

Jan 1, 1976

By E. L. Ickes

DURing the summer and winter of 1918 eleven standard rigs were erected in the United Kingdom to test the petroleum prospects of- ten structures, eight of which were in England and two in Scotland. By the fall of 1921 ten of the wells were completed; the remaining one, the D&apos;Arcy in Scotland, was stopped some months later. The tests were deep ones, five of the wells being 4000 ft. or more, the rest varying in depth between 1810 and 3918 ft. The total footage drilled was 40,047 ft. The holes were put down with standard or cable tools purchased in the United States (except the boilers). The larger sizes of casing, 10-in. and above, were also from America, while the smaller sizes were secured in Scotland. The Hardstoft well in England found a small production of high-grade oil and the D&apos;Arcy well also encountered what is reported as a favorable showing at a depth of 1810 ft. The Werrington and West Calder wells had to be abandoned on account of drilling difficulties. The Apedale well encountered great thicknesses of ash in the Carboniferous and had to be abandoned on account of depth. The results might be summarized by saying that of the ten structures drilled upon, two yielded encouraging showings; three cannot be considered as having been adequately tested; and five produced dry holes, although in some of these small oil showings and gas were met. The total cost of the work amounted to about half a million pounds sterling, which sum includes the cost of all equipment, subsequently sold by the government. The work, under the superintendence of V. L. Conaghan, took place for the most part in the period immediately following the war—a period of high prices, labor and transportation difficulties, and unsettled conditions generally; factors tending to retard the work and affect the costs. The writer, as a member of the staff of S. Pearson & Son, Ltd., had charge of the administration of the work during its later stages and

Jan 1, 1924

By F. B. Plummer

PERHAPS the greatest progress made in the technical methods of oil production during the last year has been in handling gas from the new fields that yield light distillate fractions. At least sixteen recycling plants have been perfected and installed in South Texas fields alone during 1939 having a daily capacity of more than one billion -2 cubic feet of gas and capable of producing more than a million gallons of distillate daily. The process consists of running the gas under pres- sure through especially designed plants, separating out the condensate, then compressing the gas to 3000 lb. or more, depending on the subsurface pressure in the formation, and injecting gas back into the reservoir to be produced again later, along with more of the liquid hydrocarbons, and again recycled. Hence production in these distillate fields in sense has changed from that of producing a constantly diminishing and much-wasted product to a more or less continuous manufacturing process, in which practically all the gas is conserved-a real triumph in engineering practice.

Jan 1, 1940

By Lewis E. Dr. Young

MINING engineers in the United States understand that mining conditions in the British coalfields are much more difficult than in most of the mines now being operated in the United States. We realize also that in the near future we must face some of these same difficult problems. Early Mechanization The progress made in mechanical loading in the United States is the result of a long struggle in many coalfields to mine with power tools safely and to increase output per man-shift. Attempts to use power to loosen coal and to transport broken coal in the U. S. may be said to date from the Stanly Header, or Entry-Driver brought from England in 1888. The principle of this boring machine was used in the McKinlay Entry-Driver, almost continuously used in the U. S. since 1920. Since 1888 experimental loaders, scrapers, and conveyors were installed with more or less success. Beginning in 1918, considerable progress was made with mobile loaders, and in 1920 the first wage agreement for the operation of mechanical loaders was made in Indiana. In 1923 the Pocahontas Fuel Co. loaded nearly 1 million tons of coal using 23 Coloders. Labor Policy The United Mine Workers of America have never officially opposed the Mechanization movement. On December 10, 1945, in a statement before the House of Representatives Labor Committee, John L. Lewis said, regarding the policy of the United Mine Workers of America: "We have welcomed progress; we have welcomed machines. We have told our people that they had to accept that condition; that it was the process of progress, and that they would have to take their chances." Recent Development In 1951 about 71 pct of the tonnage mined underground was mechanically loaded. Over 4000 shuttle cars are in service and it is estimated that much more than half of the tonnage loaded underground is produced by trackless mining. In 1947 roof-bolting was introduced extensively and it is estimated that more than 2 ½ million bolts are now being used per month in about 600 mines. The use of roof bolts has permitted the more effective and safer use of loaders and shuttle-cars. Continuous Mining The McKinlay Entry-Driver could have been used for continuous mining, but for many years it was used only .for entry driving. In 1946 the Silver machine was developed in Colorado, and in 1947 this was acquired by the Joy Mfg. Co. and called the Joy Continuous Miner. Other types of combination mining-loading machines which eliminate drilling and blasting operations are the Marietta Miner, the Colmol, the Lee-Norse Miner, the Junior Miner, the Goodman and the Konnerth machines. There are several other types in the process of development. Probably by January 1953 there will be about 250 continuous miners in operation in the U. S. Payment of Mine Labor One of the most important problems in mechanizing was the establishing of rates of pay that would be attractive to the best men. Prior to the installation of mobile loaders the hand loaders and cutters have been paid by the ton. It was felt that a system of a day&apos;s pay should be established and that piece and tonnage rates should be abolished completely. Without exception, all coal loaded in mines equipped with mobile loaders is prepared and loaded by men paid an hourly rate. Trends in Mining Research There are two diverse approaches in coal production research; to try to design a mining machine to fit current methods, or to adapt mining practice to take advantage of proven machines. A great deal of credit must go to the mine operators who have been enterprising and dynamic enough to use available equipment intensively and to discard it as soon as an improved or new machine is available. Effect of Changing Markets Formerly there was an important demand for lump and prepared coal in the larger sizes for domestic use. The use of bituminous coal for house heating has decreased so that not more than 19 pct of the annual tonnage goes to retail trade, only 12 pct is used by the railroads, and much of the retail and most of the railroad coal is in stoker size. As a result of this decline in the market for coarse coal most of the large mining operations have crushers installed in the tipples or preparation plants. Mass production at the face requires increased preparation facilities. Another important trend is in connection with complete seam mining with mechanical loading. In many mines where the immediate roof is apt to fall with the coal no effort is made to separate roof material from coal prior to

Jan 1, 1952