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By Mark Eisner

ONE'S JOB is the watershed down which the rest of one's life tends to flow write the Lynds in the first pages of their classic social study, "Middletown in Transition." Certainly engineers will confirm this statement after a check among those in their own profession with whose lives they are at all familiar. I have no hesitancy in acknowledging the truth of their observation for the men and women who are engaged in the profession of the law. It has been often remarked that American public life is overrun with members of the law profession. The highest public office in the land, that of President. has been occupied by lawyers almost to the exclusion of citizens of any of the other professions. Twenty-two Presidents of the United States out of the total of 31, were members of the bar. For the most part, members of Congress, the governors of the states, the state legislators and the mayors and other local leaders, men who occupy important positions of responsibility and public trust, have had legal training. Now this fact is no mere accident. Those who were fitted for the "job" of the practice of the law are favorably placed with respect to their participation in public life. Thus public service and public office is the watershed down which the "lawyer's" life tends to flow.

Jan 1, 1940

By T. K. Redden

Protective coatings based on the formation of a surface coating of nickel aluminide (NiAl) were applied to the nickel-base superalloys IN 100, SEL 15, and U-700. Coated specimens were exposed to an oxidizing environment at temperatures between 1600 and 2200 F for times up to 1000 hr. The oxidation resistance and stability of the coating were evaluated by weight gain measurements, metallographic examination, and X-ray diffraction study of surface oxides and coating. The composition of the coating and diffusion zone was determined by electron microprobe traverse of samples before and after high-temperature exposure. Intermediate phases formed in the coating and diffusion zone were identified by X-ray diffraction in situ and after electrolytic extraction. The outer coating was found to consist of the inter-metallic compound, NiAl, while the diffusion zone contained MC, M23C6 or M6C carbides, and a phase in a matrix of NiAl + Nidl. Oxidation resulted in formation of an A1203 n'ch scale containing some Tz02. Depletion of aluminum during oxidation resulted in degradation of the outer coating to Ni3Al and the nickel alloy matrix. Diffusion of aluminum into the base metal was found to be slight and did not influence coating life significantly. The o formed in the diffusion zone during coating decomposed during elevated-temperature exposure to form stable carbide phases characteristic of the base metal. Diffusion zone phase changes were found to have no effect on the life of the aluminide coating in the oxidizing envzron?nent. THE oxidation resistance of many high-strength nickel-base superalloys is inadequate for extended exposure at temperatures above about 1600°F. In addition, some applications for these materials require that they be exposed to environments containing sulfur compounds and sodium salts which can cause surface attalk known as sulfidation or hot corrosion. In order to provide the necessary corrosion resistance to the high-strength alloys, protective coatings based on an aluminizing process have been developed. These processes, usually based on a pack cementation technique, result in the formation of a NiAl-rich outer coating layer either during the coating process or by a subsequent diffusion treatment. The performance of the aluminide coatings is affected by interactions between the coating layer and the base metal both during the coating process and during subsequent exposure at elevated temperatures. Knowledge of these interactions is required to guide the development of coatings capable of longer life and improved reliability. Goward et al.' recently reported the metallurgical factors which influence coating per- formance on MAR-M200. The present work is concerned with correlating the interactions and performance of coating compositions on several representative materials. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Materials. Three cast nickel-base superalloys which are used for turbine buckets in air-breathing engines were studied: IN 100, U-700, and SEL 15. Their chemical compositions are given in Table I. The alloys were vacuum-induction-melted and cast to slabs approximately 0.3 in. thick from which rectangular specimens 0.25 by 0.5 by 1 in. were machined. Coating Procedures. The machined specimens were coated by CODEP processes which were developed at the author's laboratory. These are based on pack cementation in various media to deposit either aluminum or aluminum in combination with titanium. The coating process which deposits only aluminum is designated CODEP-C, while the CODEP-D process deposits titanium in combination with aluminum. The CODEP-D process was applied only to IN 100. Both CODEP processes are applied at 1950" or 2000°F for 4 hr without need for a subsequent diffusion treatment. An outer coating about 1 mil in thickness is produced by these processes. Test Procedures. Coated specimens were exposed to static oxidation for periods ranging from 24 to 1000 hr at temperatures of 1600" to 2200°F. Terminal weight gain measurements and visual examination were used to evaluate oxidation resistance. including oxide spalling and coating failure. Both as-coated and exposed specimens of each alloy were studied by metallographic examination, electron microprobe analysis (EMA), and X-ray diffraction analysis either of the exposed surfaces or of phases extracted from the coating and diffusion zone. RESULTS As-Coated Condition. The microstructures of as-coated conditions were generally similar, irrespective of base materials or the particular coating process. They are typified by IN 100 coated by CODEP-D as shown in Fig. 1. The predominately single-phase outer layer, area A, Fig. 1, was identified by X-ray diffraction as the intermetallic compound NiA1. The NiAl zone extended inward to the original base metal interface. The diffusion zone, area B, Fig. 1, included carbide phases, a lamellar phase oriented perpendicular to the base metal surface, and a matrix phase consisting of a mixture of NiAl and Ni3Al. The phases in the diffusion zone were electrolytically extracted using a 10 pct HCl in methanol solution at approximately 1.3 amp per sq cm. The extracted phases were found to be M6C, MC, or M=C6 carbides and o as shown in Table I1 for each of the alloys. The d spacings from a typical diffraction pattern are

Jan 1, 1969

By L. W. Holm, G. G. Bernard

Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the effect of foam on gas flow in porous media. Previous studies have indicated that foam may be applicable as a restrictive agent in influencing underground gas flow. Foam was found to be exceedingly effective in reducing the permeability of porous media to gas. Consolidated and unconsolidated sands with specific permeabilities of 100 to 146,000 md had, in the presence of foam, gas permeabilities that were less than 1 per cent of the specific permeability; in many cases the gas permeability was practically zero. Foam reduced the gas permeability of loose sand to a much greater degree than that of a tight sand. For example, the permeability of a 125,000-md sand was reduced to 3 md while the permeability of a 4,000-md sand was reduced to 7 md. This effect should cause, to some degree, selective plugging of high permeability channels in various oil displacement processes. The presence of oil in a porous medium decreased the effectiveness of foam in reducing gas permeability; apparently oil acts as a foam depressant. However, it was found that certain foaming agents were very effective in reducing permeability even. in the presence of oil. Also, continuous injection of other foaming agents increased their effectiveness, when oil was present. The effect of foam on permeability of porous media to gas was studied as a function of foaming agent concentration and injection rate, absolute permeability, total pressure, pressure gadient, length of porous system, brine concentration and time. INTRODUCTION The use of surface active agents in flood water to increase the recovery of oil has been studied in the laboratory and in the field for decades, with rather limited success. In recent years a new approach to the problem was proposed. Instead of using an aqueous solution of surfactant as an oil recovery agent, Bond and Holbrook2 proposed that the oil recovery agent be a mixture of surfactant solution and gas. In their method, a water-soluble surface active agent with foam-producing characteristics is injected into an underground formation as an aqueous slug. This slug is followed by gas to produce a foam within the rock. Foams are defined as "agglomerations of gas bubbles separated from each other by thin liquid films'! A foam is fundamentally an unstable system. The foam process for oil recovery has since been studied by other investigators. Fried 1 has shown that foam can displace from porous structures oil that normally is unrecoverable by conventional water or gas drives. This superior oil displacing action is believed to be the result of several factors: (1) foam introduces into the reservoir many resilient interfaces of various sizes and curvatures, which increase the probability that a proper combination of forces for oil displacement will be created; (2) foam has appreciable viscosity which improves mobility ratio and contact efficiency; (3) foam accentuates the trapped gas effect because high gas saturations are possible without producing high gas/oil ratios. Deming4 studied the effect of various foam properties on the displacement of liquid. He found that (1) high foaming ability favors high displacement efficiency; (2) high foam stability is not necessary for high displacement efficiency; (3) displacement efficiency decreases with increase in plasticity of foam and (4) displacement efficiency is unaffected by surface tension of foaming agent solution. One of the important aspects of this oil recovery process is the effect of foam on gas permeability. The simultaneous flow of gas and liquid in porous media has been studied by numerous investigators and a large amount of literature exists on the subject. In this previous work, gas and liquid have generally been considered as essentially independent phases, whose flow characteristics are related through the saturation parameter. Foam, however, is a material with properties that are considerably different from those of its components; for example, the viscosity of a foam is greater than either of its components. Gas flow in a porous medium in the presence of foam should be considerably different

Jan 1, 1965

By G. W. P. Rengstorff, H. B. Goodwin

A method is described for purifying iron in batches of 150 Ib or more. Oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur are removed from flakes of electrolytic iron by treatment in wet and then dry hydrogen. A special consumable-electrode arc furnace is used to remove hydrogen and to melt the flakes into ingots. A LTHOUGH iron and steel have been made and used for hundreds of years, there are still wide gaps in the knowledge of these metals. One reason for this is that the true properties of the base metal, iron, are not well known, simply because really pure iron has never been readily available for research purposes. Commercial iron, and even the "pure" irons which are readily available, are really complex alloys of iron with oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, sulphur, silicon, and other elements. With such materials, it has not been possible to prepare steels and other iron-base alloys in which all elements are present in exactly controlled amounts. It is an almost impossible task to determine the separate effects of each element or the intereffects of several elements unless alloys can be prepared containing only the desired elements. The ability to make controlled alloys of low impurity content is of far more than academic interest. It will assist in the study of such practical problems as the brittle failure of ship hulls or high pressure gas pipelines, determination of the factors which affect the deep-drawing properties of steels, the improvement of magnetic and electrical properties, the phenomenon of aging, and many others. In 1949, the American Iron and Steel Institute asked Battelle Memorial Institute to prepare high purity iron on a larger scale than had been attempted up to that time. The work was directed toward the preparation of iron as low as possible in carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulphur because these are the contaminating elements of major interest in many research investigations on iron-base alloys. The initial goal was to prepare iron with not more than a few thousandths of one percent of each of these impurities. The purpose was to set up a "bank" of high purity iron on which researchers could draw when a supply was needed and which could be replenished from time to time as the stock became depleted. Of several possible purification methods, heating in hydrogen was selected as the most promising for the removal of both carbon and oxygen from solid iron. Metallic impurities are not removed by hydrogen. Electrolytic iron was chosen as a starting material because it is the most readily available form of iron low in metallic impurities. Decarburization and desulphurization were obtained by annealing in wet hydrogen at relatively low temperatures. The optimum temperature, as found by previous investigators,' is about 1400°F. This treatment also removes nitrogen. Deoxidation is favored by dry hydrogen and higher temperature. There is evidence from previous work that an anneal at 2200°F in dry hydrogen will deoxidize the iron, reduce the nitrogen content, and reduce the sulphur content. These facts suggested the use of a two-stage process: treatment in wet hydrogen followed by treatment in dry hydrogen. To carry out the purification process in a reasonable time, it was necessary that the iron be in thin pieces. Flakes of electrolytic iron were used. Because most research requires that the iron be in massive form, it was nccessary to melt the purified iron to consolidate it into large pieces. For this work, it was decided to prepare ingots weighing at least 15 lb by using a cold hearth arc-melting process in which the iron was melted in an inert atmosphere of argon or helium. This method of melting was selected because the water-cooled copper crucible is not wet by the iron and does not contaminate it as a refractory crucible would. Because the crucible is also the ingot mold, contamination from mold materials was also eliminated. Contamination from electrodes was avoided by making them from purified electrolytic iron. The melting procedure finally developed was an adaptation of the Kellogg electric ingot process.' Two batches of purified iron weighing about 100 Ib each in ingot form were prepared with analyses as shown in Table I. The remainder of this paper describes the procedures in more detail. In general, the process con-

Jan 1, 1956

By F. W. Archibald

The American Smelting and Refining Co. has standardized its copper converting practice to attain a maximum unit blister production with a minimum of refractory consumption by careful location of the tuyeres and by applying magnetite coatings on the hard-burned magnesite brick linings. THE American Smelting and Refining Co. operates four primary copper smelters in the United States with a total of 17 Peirce-Smith type converters; 15 of them are 13 ft in diameter by 30 ft long, and two are smaller. Some details of operations vary with locale; however, fundamentals of design, operation, and maintenance are common to all plants. All converter shells are l-in. thick except for one new converter with riding rings on the ends which has a shell thickness of 1 1/2 in. More tuyeres can be installed with rings on the ends and hence more air can be used. Welded construction is replacing riveted. Minor shell repairs are made after each campaign. Principal causes of complete shell replacement are warpage and cracking resulting from localized over-heating. A 13x30 ft shell is being replaced after 34 years of operation and a total production of approximately 750,000 tons of blister. Converters are driven by 80 hp DC motors through company-designed worm gear reducers. Rotation is 0.38 rpm which permits the skimmer to spot the converter quite accurately for skimming slag. At three of the plants, protection against unscheduled air or power failures is afforded by the installation of emergency drives, consisting of auxiliary air motors or storage batteries. In order to avoid excessive splash out of the converters, the converter mouths are located as far back on the shells as existing flue facilities will permit. At one plant, the back of the mouth is only 13" to the rear of the vertical center line of the converter,. whereas it is 28" at another plant. Newly-lined mouth areas vary from 36 to 44 sq ft with effective operating areas about 25 pct less. It is important to keep the converter mouths as clean as possible. Dirty mouths create back pressures in the converters and as a consequence the tuyere air volumes are reduced. Mouths are generally cleaned by bumping with an empty ladle. Small mouth-cleaning rams have been used but unless extreme care is exercised the brickwork may be damaged. After considerable experimentation, the plants standardized tuyere elevations at 4 to 4% in. below horizontal center line at the shell with a downward pitch of about 13/16 in. per ft of length. Tuyeres are spaced at 6 in. centers except at the riding rings where there are no tuyeres. With this tuyere location, several of the plants now freeze magnetite slag in the bottoms, fronts, and backs up to the bottom of the tuyeres to control the internal shape of the converter. This has the effect of improving the agitation and mixing so that there is a marked increase in converting speed besides affording protection to the brick lining. Currently, the trend is to increase tuyere diameters from 1% to 2 in. to increase the air flow. At present, all converters are hand-punched but one converter is being equipped with a set of mechanical tuyere punchers. Rods for punching are % in. hexagonal smelter bar upset to ll/s in. and rods for cleaning tuyeres are upset to about 1% in., or larger, depending upon the tuyere diameter. Two of the plants use pneumatic reamers for cleaning the tuyeres between charges to minimize disturbing the coating on the inside of the refractory lining. Most of the puncher's platforms are pneumatically or hydraulically mounted so that a convenient punching position can be maintained regardless of tuyere position. For normal operations, tuyere air pressures vary from 15 to 13.5 psi, although some cycles such as magnetiting require pressures down to 8 psi. Air requirements vary from an average of 25,000 cfm on the newer installations down to 12,000 cfm on the older ones. Converter hoods are designed to protect the punchers from sparks, splash or hood accretions as well as to prevent the escape of objectionable

Jan 1, 1955

T.B.King (Depaytment of Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)— A valuable contribution of the authors is in the factual information which they have been able to gather; this type of information is quite difficult to obtain. In many respects, however, it would have been better if they had not subsequently embarked on a discussion of the chemistry of the converter process. It seems inconceivable that the authors do not refer to the papers of Schuhmann and his associates14 which have set the thermodynamic foundation for the whole copper smelting operation. In addition, a very useful review on the physical chemistry of copper smelting by Ruddle 5 appeared as long ago as 1953. An examination of this literature would have convinced the authors that there is no cause to be surprised at a correlation between the magnetic content and the silica content of converter slags, though they rightly point out that one should distinguish between the total magnetite content of the slag and the amount of magnetite which may be considered to be in solution. It is not true that the lowest melting converter slag is that corresponding to the eutectic between ferrous oxide and silica. The simplest slag system which can be considered is a three-component system, since both ferric and ferrous iron are present. As Schuhmann, Powell, and Michal have shown, there are lower melting compositions than this eutectic in the ternary system. The most unfortunate impression given by this paper is that the driving force for chemical reaction is determined by the heat of reaction: of course the entropy change must be taken into account. It would have been more correct to list, in Table VI, values for free energies of formation. Nor can it be said that the data in Table VI represent the "best available data." They do not corregtond with any of the recent, acknowledged sources. F. E. Lathe and L. Hodnett(author's reply)— We are pleased that Dr. King finds the factual information in our uawer of some interest. Dr. King suggests that it would have been better if our analysis and discussion of the data had been omitted, largely because our list of references is so. incomplete. If he will carefully read our introduction, he will see that the questionnaire was sent out in the hope of obtaining data which would throw light on certain questions relating to the use of converter refractories. We did not attempt (nor would the AIME have published!) a complete review of the literature on copper converting, as Dr. King has apparently assumed, nor indeed a complete analysis of the data submitted, but tried only to find a sound basis for the choice of refractories, taking into consideration common variations in converter practice. We hope our paper indicates that, by raising the silica content of the converter slag and operating at a higher temperature, the normal circulating load of magnetite can be greatly reduced, and the whole reverberatory-converter operation improved to a major degree, with resultant important savings. Under such operating conditions, chrome-magnesite brick may be expected to stand up better than those of straight magnesite. Regardless of the choice as between these brick types, however, we find the cost of converter refractories to be so low in comparison with other converter costs as to justify operation under the more severe conditions suggested. Valuable as are the papers by Schuhmann and associates and the book by Ruddle, we make no apology for omitting reference to them, nor for using heats of reaction without mention of entropy changes or free energies of formation. Our primary object was to interest the practicing copper metallurgist, with whose language we may claim to be fairly familiar; we think it would have been unwise to include the highly theoretical phases of the subject which Dr. King suggests. The interest shown in our preliminary paper presented at the New York meeting in 1956, and the trends in practice whtat we have observed since that time, suggest that we did not wholly miss the target. In conclusion, we sincerely hope that Professors King and Schuhmann will independently review the data obtained in our questionnaire and submit a paper giving their own recommendations as to the choice of refractories and the particular converter operating conditions which will result in the lowest overall cost of copper smelting and converting.

Jan 1, 1960

By J. A. Brusset

THE Adanac mine was opened by West Canadian Collieries, Ltd. in 1943, and the question soon arose as to which system of haulage should be selected. Compressed-air locomotives and ropes were rejected on the ground of high cost. Since under the Alberta Mines Act the use of trolley locomotives underground in coal seams is not permitted, the choice lay between storage battery and Diesel locomotives, The preference of the author, who had experience with both in gassy French coal mines prior to 1930, was for Diesel locomotives due to lower cost of installation and greater flexibility and reliability. It was realized that the adoption of Diesels would be somewhat of an innovation since in the United States the mining laws prohibit their use under- ground in coal mines, and in Great Britain in 1943 their use was only in the incipient stage. By 1945, 25 Diesel locomotives were in use underground in gassy mines in Great Britain, and approval had been granted for the use of an additional fifty of two approved types also for gassy mines. Numerous special regulations of the British Coal Mines Act have been formulated to govern the use of Diesel locomotives. For instance, they are not allowed closer than 200 yards from the working face; daily inspections are required; and a weekly checkup and cleaning must be given the engine by a competent engineer. Also, methane content of the air in the roadway can never exceed 1.25 percent, and daily checks must be made if it exceeds 0.75 percent. Under Alberta regulations, we were required to use a flameproof type engine, to be used only in fresh air intake. The engine fumes had to travel along a separate ventilation split where no man was permanently employed. It is forbidden to run a

Jan 1, 1949

By Theodore Marvin

NOW that real progress is being made in building airplanes that can stand up under adverse conditions in isolated parts of the world, utilization of aviation by mining and petroleum companies is proceeding rapidly. This isolation, offering such handicaps to ordinary methods of transportation, also was the thorn in the flesh of aviation until the recent advances in plane and englue design. The accompanying illustration shows one of the six new planes just delivered to the U. S. Government for map making. The planes will be used in Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Navy Hydrographic, and Insular work. There is a trap door in the bottom of the hull for a Fairchild camera which takes five pictures-vertical, N60°, E60°, S60°, and W60°-at regular intervals. It is manufactured by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Farmingdale, N. Y.

Jan 1, 1935

By J. B. NEALEY

MANY nonferrous smelting plants have recently adopted natural gas as fuel with resultant economies, both in cost and efficiency of utilization. Not only has this fuel been used for roasting, reduction, sintering, drossing, and smelting, but also for power. All of the three big smelters near Salt Lake City, Utah, have been changed over from coal and oil firing to gas. Among these is the plant of the International Smelting Co., Tooele, an Anaconda subsidiary, smelters of both copper and lead ores. In the roasting division at Tooele are 32 MacDougall six-hearth roasters, each 16 ft. in diameter and 19 ft. high. Two gas burners are installed on each furnace. These burners are of the single-valve, automatic gas-air proportioning type using high-pressure gas at 10 lb.

Jan 1, 1933

By A. J. Griest, P. D. Frost, J. R. Doig

During the past 5 years, research directed toward the development of titanium alloys having improved strength-ductility relationships and heat treatability has been carried out at Battelle for the U. S. Air Force.1"3 In the course of this work, a method of heat treating ß-stabilized titanium alloys was developed which produced a wide range of useful properties.4 The heat treatment consisted of two steps: a) solution treating at temperatures in the a-ß phase region, and b) overaging at a lower temperature in the range 800°to 1100°F. Corollary to the alloy development work, research was conducted on the mechanism of the heat-treatment reaction. The investigations of Frost and co-workers on isothermal transformation in Ti-Cr5 and Ti-Mn8 alloys disclosed the existence of the transition phase, w, during the course of the decomposition of metastable ß phase. Subsequent work at Battelle7,8 'and at Case Institute by Brotzen and co-workerss further clarified the nature of the decomposition process. Beta decomposition was found to proceed by the following series of reactions: 1 2 3 4 a + Ti, My (in eutectoid systems). ßo, ßr, and ßU refer to ß phase of original, enriched, and ultimate alloy contents, respectively. Omega is a transition phase having a complex structure. 10-13 Step 4, of course, occurs only in ß-eutectoid systems. This paper presents data correlating transformation behavior with mechanical properties for the following alloys: Ti-8Mn, Ti-8Mn-2A1, Ti-4Mn-4A1, Ti-6Al-4V, and Ti-4Fe. The isothermal decomposition of ß in titanium-manganese alloys of similar composition has been investigated by Frost and coworkers8 and the effect of various annealing treatments on alloys in this system has been studied by Holden, Ogden, and Jaffee.14 The compositions Ti-8Mn-2Al, Ti-4Mn-4A1, and Ti-6A1-4V, were studied in the present work in an effort to define more clearly the effect of aluminum on the response to solution and aging treatments. Ogden, Holden, and Jaffee15 have invesitgated the effect of aluminum on the response of a similar alloy (Ti-8.8Mn-2.46A1) to annealing treatments, and Luini and Lee16 have made an exploratory investigation of the heat-treatability of the Ti-4Mn-4Al alloy. The Ti-4Fe alloy was studied as an example of a moderate1y active eutectoid system. Holden, Ogden, and Jaffee 17 have studied Ti-Fe alloys and have presented some hardness data for aging at 400°C for alloys of Ti-2.56, 5.01, and 7.35 iron after quenching from the a-ß field (750°C). EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES The experimental procedures generally used in the precipitation-hardening study are outlined in the following sections. Departures from these techniques are noted in the discussions of the individual alloys. Table I presents the nominal and actual compositions of the alloys studied, together with the swaging and rolling temperatures. In all cases, these temperatures were in the a-ß field and the microstructures consisted of an equiaxed a-ß mixture. Melting and Fabrication—Except for the commer-

Jan 1, 1960

By C. S. Matthews, H. C. Lefkovits

The performance of depletion-type reservoirs at the stage in which the gas is at such low pressure that gravity is essentially the sole driving force has been investigated both theoretically and by use of scaled models. A simple theory is developed which completely explains the scaled model experiments. It also agrees with some field data. When the range of production rates to be considered is less than 25, the theory predicts that the production rate decline curve for homogeneous reservoirs in which there is a free surface will be of the hyperbolic type with n = 2: The theory gives a physical significance to the parameter y. INTRODUCTION This investigation was undertaken to determine a method for prediction of performance of reservoirs where gravity is the sole driving agent. Depletion-type reservoirs fall into this category after the pressure has fallen to some low value. Some examples of this type are found at Healdton ('Oklahoma), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Midway-Sunset (California), and East Coalinga (California). Generally the production rate per unit thickness is quite low in such reservoirs, with the conse- quence that this stage is sometimes called the stripper stage. However, per well production rates may be of the order of 50 B/D because of the considerable sand thickness open in some of the reservoirs. In the past, predictions of behavior of such reservoirs have been based on empirical extrapolation of the rate of production to the economic limit. Difficulties arise when new wells are drilled in the field or when production is artificially curtailed, since in such cases the decline rate of individual wells or leases changes and no clear trend can be detected. It was hoped that the present study would lead to improved methods for evaluation of such reservoirs. The study was initiated by building a scaled model for a particular field and by running a number of experiments on this model. Later a simple theory was developed which explained the laboratory results completely. The theory led, as shown below, to a hyperbolic-type decline equation which had been used previously' in a completely empirical manner. THEORY The General Case The problem to be treated here is the following: We are given a homogeneous cylindrical porous reservoir with exterior radius r, wellbore radius r., and height h,, containing, from the bottom up to a height hit oil, some gas, and interstitial water (see Fig. 1 A). The portion of the reservoir between K, and h, is filled with gas at low pressure, with residual oil, and with interstitial water. If at a time t = 0, the level of the oil in the wellbore is lowered to a height h,, what is the production rate from the reservoir at a time to The configuration within the reservoir at some instant

Jan 1, 1957

By C. O. Fairchild

THE meaning of temperature control can be extended to cover not only the control of temperatures' but also the control of processes through a knowledge of the temperatures involved. In this sense it has a very wide interest. A list of the industries in which temperature control is used in one way or another would cover nearly the entire industrial field. This discussion will be confined to the field of high temperatures. In practically all industries involving operations at high temperatures, pyrometers are used or men are paid for their ability either to estimate temperatures or gage an operation by some physical or chemical change or condition dependent on temperatures. As progress is made in the development of instruments and of methods for measuring temperature, some of these highly skilled artisans are learning the use of a new tool. Many processes have been, in recent years, improved by means of exact measurement thus substituted for estimation, but in a great many industries the pyrometer has had practically no opportunity to demonstrate its usefulness. The perfecting of instruments must be accompanied with a dissemination of the knowledge that new instruments are available and can be economically used. The demand at present, however, is ahead of the supply, and many industries are handicapped by the want of pyrometers. One of the highest paid skilled tradesmen of the present time is the man in the steel rolling mill who knows when proper working temperatures are attained. The metallurgist in his development of steels is continually demanding closer adherence to given temperature ranges in the processes, and the pyrometer is rapidly becoming indispensable. Properties of the finished products are being correlated with working temperatures and so closely that in some cases even the pyrometer is taxed to give the required accuracy. The greatest progress has been made in those industries in which the lower temperatures are used, particularly below 500° C. In this lower range automatic control has been highly developed.

Jan 9, 1919

By C. Chamberlain

The Telfer Project, Australia's newest, largest, and most remote gold mine treats 480 kt of ore grading 9.33 g/t derived from open pit mining operations. Coarse gold is recovered by gravity concentration with jigs and further upgraded wing a continuous strake launder table, and by amalgamation. Remaining gold is recovered in a cyanide circuit and incorporates flat bottom air agitators, counter current decantation (CCD) and stellar filters for clarification and precipitate removal. Overall recovery into a bullion averages 98%. The mill incorporates a number of design features that allow for maximum efficiency and security wing a minimum number of operation personnel.

Jan 1, 1983

By A. Stanley, J. C. Mead

The MacIntyre Development of the National Lead Co. is located at Tahawus, N. Y. The operations involve the mining and concentrating of a titaniferous iron ore to produce an ilmenite concentrate and a magnetite concentrate. Construction of the MacIntyre plant was commenced during the summer of 1941,when world conditions threatened to cut off the supply of Indian ilmenite. An open pit mining operation was developed and the crushing and milling equipment put in operation in July 1942. A general description of the operation was given in the Adirondack Issue of Mining and Metallurgy for November 1943. The metallurgy of the mill operation was described by Mr. Frank R. Milliken,* Plant Manager, National Lead Company, MacIntyre Development, and presented at the AIME New York Meeting, February 1948. The magnetite concentrate produced in the milling operation was too fine (minus 20 mesh) to be used directly in iron blast furnace operation, and most of the magnetite had to be stockpiled in 1942 and 1943. In 1943, the Defense Plant Corp. built a Greenawalt sintering plant at Tahawus, N. Y., to put the magnetite concentrate in a more suitable form for use in the iron blast furnace. The Greenawalt sintering plant consists of three 10 by 25 ft sintering pans designed to produce 1800 gross tons of sinter per 24 hr. The vacuum to each pan is produced by two Greenawalt fans in series, pulling approximately 30,000 cu ft of air per minute at 50 in. water gauge vacuum. The plant started operation in August 1944. The present plant production averages 25 tons per operating pan hour (approximately 224 lb per operating hour per square foot of grate area) of plus 1 in. sinter. Raw feed to the plant consists of 61 pct magnetite, 4 pct anthracite coal culm, and 35 pct minus 1 in. return fines which are conveyed to a pug mill where the materials are mixed thoroughly and water added to give the mixture 5.5 to 6 pct moisture. The mixed prepared feed is conveyed to two 4 by 10 ft vibrating screens where the minus 1 in. plus 5/8 in. return fines are screened out and discharged into a surge bin for use as a hearth layer. The minus % in. prepared feed is discharged into another surge bin for use as prepared feed. A charge car, electrically operated, having a capacity of one charge of prepared feed and several charges of hearth layer, lays a thin layer of plus 5/8 in. return fines and 9 1/2 in. depth of prepared feed into the pans. A fluffing roll and a vibrator on the car fluffs and spreads the prepared feed into the pans. An ignition car, electrically operated, ignites the top of the bed with a 30 sec flash burn. The 9 1/2 in. bed sinters in approximately 13 min. Dumping the pan, and recharging and igniting the bed requires 2 min. To improve the quality of the ilmenite concentrate produced in the mill and to reduce the amount of titanium dioxide lost in the mill tailings and in the magnetite product, extensive research work and pilot plant operations have been done on grinding the crude ore to minus 65 mesh size (rather than to minus 20 mesh) and concentrating it by a combination of magnetic separation (for magnetite recovery) and flotation (for ilmenite recovery). These tests have proved successful in increasing ilmenite recovery and grade. With the development of the ilmenite flotation process to a stage where a full scale flotation plant was in the design stage, the problem arose of handling the 65 mesh magnetite concentrate that would be produced. In order to study and solve the problems of handling and sintering the 65 mesh magnetite in the sinter plant, a pilot sinter plant was plus from John E. Greenawalt. The effect of using 65 mesh magnetite in the sintering operations was then studied on the 2.4 sq ft test pan, operating under conditions as similar to the large plant as could be set up in the laboratory. A series of tests were run in the test pan on present sinter plant feed that had been mixed in the plant pug mill. An average production and an average quality of sinter produced in this series

Jan 1, 1950

By Joseph C. Mead, Alan Stanley

The MacIntyre Development of the National Lead Co. is located at Tahawus, N. Y. The operations involve the mining and concentrating of a titaniferous iron ore to produce an ilmenite concentrate and a magnetite concentrate. Construction of the MacIntyre plant was commenced during the summer of 1941,when world conditions threatened to cut off the supply of Indian ilmenite. An open pit mining operation was developed and the crushing and milling equipment put in operation in July 1942. A general description of the operation was given in the Adirondack Issue of Mining and Metallurgy for November 1943. The metallurgy of the mill operation was described by Mr. Frank R. Milliken,* Plant Manager, National Lead Company, MacIntyre Development, and presented at the AIME New York Meeting, February 1948. The magnetite concentrate produced in the milling operation was too fine (minus 20 mesh) to be used directly in iron blast furnace operation, and most of the magnetite had to be stockpiled in 1942 and 1943. In 1943, the Defense Plant Corp. built a Greenawalt sintering plant at Tahawus, N. Y., to put the magnetite concentrate in a more suitable form for use in the iron blast furnace. The Greenawalt sintering plant consists of three 10 by 25 ft sintering pans designed to produce 1800 gross tons of sinter per 24 hr. The vacuum to each pan is produced by two Greenawalt fans in series, pulling approximately 30,000 cu ft of air per minute at 50 in. water gauge vacuum. The plant started operation in August 1944. The present plant production averages 25 tons per operating pan hour (approximately 224 lb per operating hour per square foot of grate area) of plus 1 in. sinter. Raw feed to the plant consists of 61 pct magnetite, 4 pct anthracite coal culm, and 35 pct minus 1 in. return fines which are conveyed to a pug mill where the materials are mixed thoroughly and water added to give the mixture 5.5 to 6 pct moisture. The mixed prepared feed is conveyed to two 4 by 10 ft vibrating screens where the minus 1 in. plus 5/8 in. return fines are screened out and discharged into a surge bin for use as a hearth layer. The minus 5/8 in. prepared feed is discharged into another surge bin for use as prepared feed. A charge car, electrically operated, having a capacity of one charge of prepared feed and several charges of hearth layer, lays a thin layer of plus 5/8 in. return fines and 9½ in. depth of prepared feed into the pans. A fluffing roll and a vibrator on the car fluffs and spreads the prepared feed into the pans. An ignition car, electrically operated, ignites the top of the bed with a 30 sec flash burn. The 9½ in. bed sin-ters in approximately 13 min. Dumping the pan, and recharging and igniting the bed requires 2 min. To improve the quality of the ilmenite concentrate produced in the mill and to reduce the amount of titanium dioxide lost in the mill tailings and in the magnetite product, extensive research work and pilot plant operations have been done on grinding the crude ore to minus 65 mesh size (rather than to minus 20 mesh) and concentrating it by a combination of magnetic separation (for magnetite recovery) and flotation (for ilmenite re-covery). These tests have proved successful in increasing ilmenite re-covery and grade. With the development of the ilmenite flotation process to a stage where a full scale flotation plant was in the design stage, the problem arose of handling the 65 mesh magnetite concentrate that would be produced. In order to study and solve the problems of handling and sintering the 65 mesh magnetite in the sinter plant, a pilot sinter plant was secured from John E. Greenawalt. The effect of using 65 mesh magnetite in the sintering operations was then studied on the 2.4 sq ft test pan, operating under conditions as similar to the large plant as could be set up in the laboratory. A series of tests were run in the test pan on present sinter plant feed that had been mixed in the plant pug mill. An average production and an average quality of sinter produced in this series

Jan 1, 1950

Edgar Hall, Tenterfield, New South Wales (communication to the Secretary): Mr. Klepetko* asks for information showing at what percentage antimony and arsenic, as impurities, begin to affect injuriously the quality of brass.

Jan 1, 1899

By Frederick M. Becket, Russell Franks

WideSpread experimentation has been conducted in recent years to devise a means of preventing intergranular corrosion in austenitic chromium-nickel steels of the 18 per cent chromium-8 per cent nickel type. Additions of titanium to these steels have been used commercially to overcome this dificulty, as advocated by Krupp of Germany, and the latest literature reference concerning improved details of this method is the article by Bain, Aborn and Rutherford.' Extensive work by the present authors has shown columbium also to be a particularly valuable agent for inhibiting intergranular corrosion. This paper does not deal with steels that are largely or wholly austenitic; it is limited to a discussion of the results obtained through the use of titanium and columbium in plain high-chromium steels. For many years titanium has been used commercially by some steelmakers as a cleanser, and to a lesser extent as a hardener, but then in greater percentages. The results of the work to be described disclose that titanium and columbium in proper Proportions act as effective softeners in the high-chromium steels. It is well known that chromium intensifies the hardening effect of carbon in steel; it imparts pronounced air-hardening properties within a rather wide range of chromium content; it provides increased ductility in steels of given strength and hardness; and it enhances resistance to corrosion and oxidation at elevated temperatures to a marked degree. However, in applications requiring a combination of some of these valuable properties great hardness is frequently a detriment rather than a merit. When the objective is a soft and ductile steel having optimurn corrosion resistance, the producer strives for a carbon content as low as commercially practicable. Despite these efforts some of the commercial high-chromium steels low in carbon present considerable difficulties during production, owing to their air-hardening properties, and in consequence the economic result is not favorable. A good example is found in the 5 to 6 per cent chromium steels employed chiefly in the oil-cracking industry. Sleels

Jan 1, 1934

By ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS

AT various times during the past quarter century proposals have been made that the basic Federal mining law of 1872 be repealed or amended, and that in its place a new and simpler law be enacted to provide for the entry upon, working, and the taking up of claims on the unallotted Federal mining lands in our western states and in Alaska. Serious discussion and study have been given such proposals but little has resulted there from, except perhaps a lively interchange of opinion and the conclusion that though the Apex law of 1872 is in many ways highly unsatisfactory and frequently a fomenter of strife and trouble, it still bids fair to remain with us. Under this act a greater part of the non-ferrous mining industry of the United States has developed. With all its short-comings it is the legal bridge that has carried over the innumerable caravans of adventurers and prospectors who explored our mining frontiers. For without any amendments of substance this act has for fifty-eight years been the guide in the location of our western Federal mineral claims and has stood unchanged during the most important period of our mining history. While Federal and state acts and amendments have been ground out by thousands and tens -of thousands the mining act of 1872, with a :strange tenacity, has remained as constant as the Rock of Gibraltar, and under it states, mining districts, and local customs have developed different codes for its application but its fundamentals have been unaltered. "Use doth breed a habit in a man"; until now the application of the law of 1872 has become a second mining nature.

Jan 1, 1930

By JOHN R. SUMAN

I WOULD like to spend a few minutes describing to you the present condition which exists in the oil industry and then point out some aspects of this deplorable situation in which I think petroleum engineers can be helpful. As you know, the oil business at this time is in a very critical condition, .due to the tremendous potential production in excess of current demand. This is a world-wide condition as well as a national problem, as it is estimated that the surplus production available for the market in foreign countries is of about the same proportion as that existing in the United States. Due to the inability within the United States to hold production within the bounds of demand prices have been slumping for the last four years and at this time have reached the point where the sales value of the average barrel of crude oil in the United States, is far below the cost, of production. In addition to the large amount of potential production available for the market in excess of demand we have in storage in the United States about six hundred fifty millions of barrels 'of oil. Unless something can be done to limit the amount of oil coming onto the market to a point well below the demand, which point will permit the reduction of stocks, it looks as though the 'oil business is facing demoralization.

Jan 1, 1931

By George F. Weaton, Carleton C. Long, H. I. Najarian

Partial descriptions of the operation of the St. Joseph Lead Company's Joseph-town smelter have been published. In, 1936 the electrothermic production of zinc oxide was described;' in 1939 appeared a description2 of the electrothermic method of producing zinc metal. Inasmuch as the plant capacity has more than doubled, and in view of the fact that operating practices have improved greatly since these publications, it seems worth while to prepare a fresh description of the present-day elec-trothermic zinc plant and practice. Josephtown smelter is situated on the south side of the Ohio River about 3 miles below its confluence with the Beaver River. In addition to river barge, the smelter is served by Pennsylvania state highway No. 18 and by a spur line of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (N.Y.C.). A recent extension of this spur line connects with the Pennsylvania Railroad. As originally contemplated the plant was to handle only the product of the com-pany's own mines in St. Lawrence County, New york, but owing to the incessant demand for zinc and zinc oxide, it has been necessary to supplement New York concentrates with foreign ores (principally from Quebcc and the Argentine). The general operational procedure followed comprises roasting the sulphide con-centrates, converting the sulphur dioxide into sulphuric acid, preparation of a strong-structure sinter from the calcine, crushing &lid sizing of coke, reduction of coke-sinter mixture by electrothermic means, condensation of the evolved zinc vapor to make zinc metal or burning of the zinc vapor to make zinc oxide, collection and packing of the zinc oxide. Dusts recovered by the roaster and sinter Cottrells are treated in the leach plant for separation of lead sulphate, cadmium metal and zinc sulphate. The general flowsheet is shown in Fig. I. Principal Items OF Equipment Roaster Plant Concentrate drier, 6-ft. 'ia. by 4O ft. 5 in., countercurrent, direct gas-fired. 3500-~on concentrate storage in three vertical steel tanks. Five modified Nichols-Herreshoff twelve-hearth roasters, 21 ft. 6 in. in diameter. Four fans for shaft-cooling air. One threedrum Stirling water-tube waste-heat boiler, 4'8 hp., 200 1b. Per sq. in., with connections to upper and lower balloon flues. Direct gas-fired countercurrent rotary-kiln roaster for Cottrell dust. Necessary conveying equipment, described below. Instrumentation consists of: draft indicators, (3d hearth); various manometers; pyrometer served by thermocouples in each hearth, entrance and exit of waste-heat Joseph. entrance and exit of each hot Cottrell; roaster draft recorder and shaft air-pressure controller; temperature recorder and controller (10th and 12th hearths); SO* recorder (waste-heat boiler n

Jan 1, 1944