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By F. A. Orth

COAL-mine opera- tors face a difficul- ty in notifying men when there is no work. If the miners come to the shaft when there is no work, they must be paid, by agreement, two hours' wages. This involves a considerable loss since it is not uncommon to em- ploy two or three hun- dred men or more at a single shaft. Many mines have solved the problem by using an electric siren. This carries the "no work" message to all of the miners within a ra- dius of from one and one- half to two miles, so they do not trudge uselessly to work and the operator saves the two-hours wage payment. At the Valley Smokeless Coal Co., Johns- town, Pa., such a siren serves as a start and quit- work signal for three mines which previously re¬ quired three individual signal systems. Similar units are used by the Old Ben Coal Corp. mines, Dolly's Smokeless Coal Co., Rhonda Coal Co., Bird Coal Co., and hundreds of others. Many other applications of the electric siren have been found in mines. They are used on underground locomotives, to awaken miners in the morning, to tell them it is time to come to work, to sound the start and quit-work signal, and to warn of fire or accident. The sirens are most generally used to give a start and quit-work signal, fire, and general emergency alarms as well as no-work signals. They require 3 and 5 hp. to operate. The smaller unit has a sound radius of from three-quarters to one mile, while the larger siren can be heard over a distance of from one and one-half to two miles. The 5-hp. unit has been heard for as great a distance as 14 miles, and 10 miles is not at all uncommon. One of the outstanding features of the 3 and 5-hp. units, which is uncommon in the smaller sirens is that they may be adapted to sound code signals. When used to sound a fire or general emergency alarm the siren may tell at the same time where the fire or acci-dent is. When a remote control device is used with a siren it is possible to operate the siren from any number of distant points. Any number of "start" buttons may be placed at various places. By using one "start and stop" button where the remote control is mounted, and one or more "start" buttons at various places about the plant, it is necessary to run only two wires to the various "start" buttons. If "start" and "stop" buttons are used altogether, then three wires must be run.

Jan 11, 1927

By John L. Burnett

Manufacture of lightweight concrete aggregate from common shale is one of the most rapidly growing industries in the field of nonmetallic or industrial minerals. Although expanded shale" has been in use since it was developed by Stephen J. Hayde in 1917, it was not until after World War II that it became a substantial competitor with other aggregates. There are some 70 plants now producing this aggregate in the United States, approximately half of them in states west of the Mississippi River. Expanding plants throughout the U. S. are grouped around major urban centers such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Denver. Concrete made with expanded shale aggregate combines the desirable features of low weight with relatively high strength, making it especially useful in concrete block, in structural concrete for multi-story buildings and in a variety of specialized concrete products such as prestressed panels and beams, and storage tanks. As the cost of construction continues to rise, lightweight concrete will probably be used in increasing quantities because of its low cost relative to the more traditional construction materials such as wood, brick and steel

Jan 1, 1964

By E. J. KENNEDY

THE 142D MEETING of the Institute is rapidly shaping up with splendid prospects of a strong technical program and the lighter side of this annual occasion amply provided for. The date is February 20 to 23. The technical sessions will be held in the Engineering Societies building; the smoker-dinner, the informal dance, and the annual reception and dinner, at the Commodore Hotel, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The news to date on the technical side is as follows: Mining Methods-Subsidence The Mining Methods Committee has prepared an interesting program which will be divided into two sessions to be held early in the week. At the first there will be papers on mining methods and development, including a description of the "Sinking and Equipment of No. 2 Shaft at Minas de Matahambre," by Dudley D. Homer and R. H. Cromwell. They describe in considerable detail the equipment used and the practice followed in sinking this important shaft, giving detailed costs and performance figures. Hoist¬ing ?arrangements and mining practice at the "Red Ore Mines of the Woodward Iron Co. at Bessemer, Ala.," are described by Tenny C. DeSollar, superintendent of mines, in a second paper. At this session of the Mining Methods Committee, H. M. Roche and R. E. Crockett, of the Committee on Eastern Magnetite Mining and Milling Methods, will present their paper, "Iron Ore Mining at the Scrub Oak Mine." This mine is in the highlands of New Jersey about 40 miles west of New York City. Prof. Robert K. Warner of Yale University will present a paper on "The Selection of a Mining System," which should have an interesting discussion. Pierre R. Hines, of Portland, Ore., will present, with stereopticon slides, his paper on "The Owyhee Tunnels, U. S. Reclamation Project, Owyhee, Oregon," describing one of the recent irrigation undertakings.

Jan 1, 1933

By R. B. Lincoln

THE function of a pyrometer protecting tube is to maintain an atmosphere about the thermocouple most favorable to its continued accuracy and long life, and at the same time permit the weld of the couple to attain the full temperature of the area or object being measured. In addition to protecting the thermocouple from the chemical or alloying effects of the products of combustion or bath being measured, the tube must also protect the couple from mechanical injury. The conditions met in practice vary so much that no one material is suitable for all applications. The usefulness as well as the expense of maintenance of a pyrometer system are influenced greatly by a choice of the most suitable protecting tube. The tube must protect the couple without itself becoming too great an expense item. The protecting tube should have the following qualities: (1) A melting point well above the highest temperature to be encountered. (2) Sufficient strength through the entire range of temperatures to hold up its own weight and resist such shock and jar as are unavoidable. (3) It must be impervious to the atmosphere or bath to which it will be subject. (4) It must not give off any vapor injurious to the couple. (5) It must not form any oxides fusible below the highest temperature to be measured. The proper location of the tube in the furnace is almost as important as the choice of material. The tube must be placed as near to the work to be heated .as possible. It must be kept out of the direct path of flame, both because that would give too high temperature readings and because partly burned fuel will destroy the tube faster than the quiet products of combustion.

Jan 9, 1919

"The cleanliness and system evidenced in the accompanying photographs of the West Steward change-house will appeal to all mine operators. This design is the most efficient in use at Butte. It is the standard which will probably be used in Butte in all future construction and is the result of a long period of investigation and experimenting. It is important that such a structure be as nearly fire-proof as possible, because of the frequent fires originating within the lockers from matches, etc., in the men's clothes. The concrete floors permit the thorough washing of the building whenever necessary.The lockers are roomy and well ventilated. They are constructed of sheet steel and are warmed from below by steam pipes."

Jan 1, 1913

PHOTO

Jan 1, 1928

The Year Book of the Institute will be mailed with, the May Bulletin. Its membership lists, both alphabetic and geographic, are corrected to Mar. 1, and the lists of officers and committees are corrected to date.

Jan 4, 1919

By Fred Porter

Pollution problems from smelters may be unique in industry since the pollutants cover the wide range of SOx, particulates, carcinogens (arsenic), plus a number of heavy metals, the health implications of which are not clearly understood. In addition to this wide range of pollutants, many of the plants are extremely old; and fugitive emissions may, in fact, be the most significant air pollution problem. The Environmental Protection Agency, both in an in-house and contract effort, has assessed the quantity of pollutants emitted and evaluated the health impact. This paper will review the status of EPA's regulatory efforts in both new and existing smelters in light of these pollutant assessment studies.

Jan 1, 1976

By Henry T. Mulryan

Since World War II, U. S. chemical companies have loosed a flood of synthetic organic insecticides. These synthetics fall into two broad categories. DDT is the best known of the chlorinated hydro- carbons and Parathion is the most famous (or infamous) of the organic phosphate nerve gas type. Insecticide poisons are not applied at full strength but as dilute sprays or dusts. This permits a broader and more efficient distribution of the active killer.

Jan 12, 1958

Estimated Receipts Dues Arrears $ 3,500 00 Current 108,115 00 New Members - 11,937 00 In Advance 1,763 00 $125,315 00 Initiation Fees - 7,250 00 Initiation Fees-Additional if increased to $20 00 7,250 00 Sale of Transactions 3,000 00 Sale of Binding 7,092 00 Sale of Magazine 2,913 00 Sale of Pamphlets 370 00 Sale of Indexes and Emmons Vols 313 00 Sale of Pyrometry 900 00 Sale of Raymond Vol 100 00 Interest received on Bank Balance . 500 00 Interest received on Life Memberships 500 00 Advertising-Gross 27,000 00 Voluntary Subscriptions-Estimated 16,000 00 Income from James Douglas Fund 5,000 00 Total $203,503 00

Jan 1, 1923

By Earl Kennedy

The Northern West Virginia Region of Consolidation Coal Company consists of ten underground mines. The Pittsburgh seam of coal is being mined. This seam is approximately seven feet in thickness in our area. The mining equipment consists of twelve longwall systems and a combination of Joy and Jeffrey ripper type miners. There are a few boring type machines still in use, but these are rapidly being phased out. The auxiliary ventilation fans being utilized vary in type from single stage carriage mounted 20 horse-power Joys to 40 and 50 horsepower two-stage Joys, Buffalo Forge, and Peabody brands. The particular fans that we have primarily been working with on noise reduction are the two-stage 40 and 50 horsepower types.

Jan 1, 1982

By Edwin C. Barringer

IRON and steel scrap has again become page one news, as it was during the war. To many this is anomalous because the common concept is that the theaters of war are literally paved with scrap as the by-product of war damage and abandoned materiel. To an extent this is true, the bottleneck being the ferreting out and transportation of this scrap. While you as consumers of the electric-furnace grades of scrap-the premium grades-are concerned primarily in only one segment of the scrap market, I believe you ill be interested in a general discussion of the market with subsequent funneling down to your specialty.

Jan 1, 1947

By Walter White

THE measurement of the reading of a thermoelement is the measurement of an electromotive force extraordinarily small compared to those generally used in commercial work. Of the various possible methods of measuring such a quantity, the most advantageous is always a delicate galvanometer. Since a galvanometer measures current, it is necessary to adopt some scheme by which its current reading shall indicate electromotive force. There are two general methods of doing this. One is to use the delicate galvanometer as a "direct reader," that is, to let the electromotive force of the thermoelement furnish the power and produce the current measured. If the resistance is constant the reading will, after a suitable calibration, give the electromotive force of the thermoelement which, by means of a table or of a suitable scale in the galvanometer itself, will FIG. 1.-SIMPLIFIED POTENTIOMETER. POTENTIAL DROP ACROSS THE PART PIN or CIRCUIT OF BULL CELL BALANCES THAT OF THERMOELEMENT TC WHEN GALVANOMETER G READS ZERO. give the temperature. The other method, that of the potentiometer, is to balance the electromotive force of the thermoelement by means of another electromotive force, using the galvanometer to tell when the balance is made. The usual way of getting this other electromotive force is to have a battery, the "bull" cell, send a current through a series of resistances, which 'may in a special case be the resistance of a single wire. The fall of potential along this circuit will then, by Ohm's Law, be proportional to the resistance; the potential difference between any two points, proportional to the resistance between the two points. This is represented in Fig. 1, where M and N are the two points in the circuit AZ of the battery. If M or N, or both, is movable so that the resistance

Jan 9, 1919

By John Garcia

IN some districts of the bituminous coal field the problem of construct-ing bulkheads to seal off water under pressure is becoming increasingly important. Recently this matter has been brought very much to the front by the loss of a large. Illinois mine due to failure of a bulkhead that separated it from several old, flooded mines. As this great misfortune has provoked much inquiry about proper bulkhead design, it is felt that a description of the successful and extensive water-sealing practice at three mines that have different natural conditions will be of considerable interest to those connected with properties having a present or future water problem and to engineers that may have to design safe bulkheads of economical construction. These three mines are the Saxton acid Dresser, near Terre Haute, Ind., and the Hegeler, near Danville, 111. All three have water conditions that make it necessary to regularly seal off till worked-out sections of the mine, and there are considerably over a hundred bulkheads in each. As far as the writers know, these three mines are the only ones in the bitu-minous coal fields of the United States with anything like so large a number of water seals and experience, although a number of other mines are known to have a few bulkheads. More detail will he included herein on the Saxton mine than on the others, as the writers are more familiar with it.

Jan 1, 1937

By Grover J. Holt

Low grade ores dwarf high grade, tonnage wise. Bigger and improved-design machines feature modern concentrators. Flowsheets becoming more complex.

Jan 2, 1951

By J. R. Cahoon, H. W. Paxton

The mechanical properties of unidirectionally solidified A1(rich)-Mg and A1(rich)-Cu castings containing up to 15 wt pct solute have been determined with re -spect to the volume fraction of interdendritic eutectic. Pioperties were determined in the directions pumllel and Perpendicular to that of solidification; the volume fraction of eutectic was varied between the "as-cast" and equilibrizcm amounts by approperiate heat treatment following solidification. The principles of fiber strengthened composites and dispersion strengthened materials are adapted to explain the mechanical properties of these castings. It is generally accepted that castings often have inferior mechanical properties when con~pared to wrought products. However, there is little quantitative data available concerning the factors which make apparently sound castings weak and/or brittle. The relative ease and inexpensiveness of the casting process have always been attractive and, therefore, an understanding of the factors which contribute to the mechanical properties of castings would seem desirable. Such an understanding may lead to an improvement in the mechanical properties to an extent where castings would become competitive in applications where presently only wrought products are considered to have the requisite properties. Such an understanding could also improve the reliability of present cast products. Much of the recent research on castings has centered about determining the extent of segregation in cast alloys. Macrosegregation, particularly inverse segregation, has been studied in some detail 1-8 and a considerable understanding of microsegregation has been obtained.9'10 The effect of solidification rate on dendrite spacing and on the amount of interdendritic eutectic in binary alloys has been established, particularly for Al(rich)-Cu alloys.""0 However, the extension of these ideas to relate the amount of interdendritic eutectic, concentration gradients, micro-segregation, dendrite spacings, and so forth, to the rnechanical properties has been limited. Dean and spear" have related the mechanical properties of an Al-Si-Mg alloy, A356-T62, to the dendrite spacing and have shown that the mechanical properties improve with decreasing dendrite spacing. Passmore et al.12 have shown that annealing at high temperature improves the mechanical properties of Al(rich)-Cu al- loys and Archer and Kempf 13 have shown that an Al-1 pct Mg-1.75 pct Si alloy behaves in a similar manner. Ahearn and Quigley 14 have shown that high temperature homogenization also enhances the mechanical properties of an SAE 4330 steel. However, in the above investigations, no underlying reasons were suggested for the improvement in mechanical properties. The purpose of the present investigation is to relate the mechanical properties of castings to some of the solichfication variables and to derive some equations by which calculations of the mechanical properties may be attempted. In particular, the effect of the amount of interdendritic eutectic and the effect of stress direction with respect to that of solidification on the mechanical properties will be considered. The Al(rich)-Mg and Al(rich)-Cu binary alloy systems were chosen for study. The A1-Mg system was chosen because its constitutional relationships are such that large volunles of eutectic (up to 24 vol pct) may be obtained in the as-cast condition and then be completely dissolved by subsequent heat treatment at about 440°C. This allows a comprehensive study relating the mechanical properties of castings to the amount of interdendritic eutectic. Also the Al(rich)-Mg eutectic is almost a single phase 15 which should make the experimental results more amenable to theoretical interpretation and calculation. The A1-Cu system was chosen for study because of the large amount of related information available concerning segregation, dendrite spacing, and so forth. Unidirectionally solidified castings were used throughout the investigation so that the effect of solidification direction with respect to the direction of applied stress could be determined. THEORETICAL It is well known that upon solidification of binary alloy castings, the nonequilibrium amount of eutectic which forms is given by 10 where fe o is the weight fraction of eutectic, Cs is the solid solubility of solute at the eutectic temperature, k is the equilibrium partition coefficient, and C, is the average composition of the alloy. In the development of Eq. [I], it is assumed that the effects of inverse segregation and diffusion in the solid are negligible, and that no porosity is present. If the casting is homogenized at a high temperature for a long period of time, some (or all) of the eutectic is dissolved and the amount of eutectic for this "equilibrium" condition may be calculated directly from the constitutional diagram. By appropriate intermediate annealing, the

Jan 1, 1970

By John Dodd

This paper reviews advances in the technology of abrasion resistant iron and steels, which could help combat abrasion and wear in mining operations. With the recent progress in high chromium alloy iron development, high temperature heat treatment of massive castings can be eliminated, aloy cost reduced, and cracking problems avoided. Data on erosion-corrosion resistance of these irons; trends in the development of improved cast steels; and factors influencing toughness and abrasion resistance of manganese steels are all considered. The 7% Mn. 1% Mo manganese steels are shown to combine toughness and abrasion resistance, and composite castings are a means of combating abrasion in applications involving severe impact. A brief appraisal is given of recently developed martensitic wrought steels with improved weldability.

Jan 1, 1982

By A. L. Simpson, J. M. Edwards

The application of the Scintillometer to radioactivrty surveys in boreholes of oil wells has made it possible to determine bed thickness with a high degree of accuracy. This fact, combined with known relation of logging variables, makes thin bed porosity determination practical. With the use of the Scintillometer a method hot been derived whereby the apparent level of radiactivity, as recorded on radiation logs, may be converted to the true level. The true level of radioactivity is that level to which the recording pen would have traveled had the detector remained at a given depth for on infinitely long period of time. This factor is: radioactivity level, Ra, is the apparent radioactivity level, T is the bed thickness, D is drag, and L is the length of the detecting system. This method depends entirely on accurate measurements of bed thickness and drag. A thorough discussion of the concept of time constant and logging speed as related to drag is undertaken. INTRODUCTION Neutron curve interpretation has become one of the accepted methods for porosity determination in oil field practices. A great deal of literature has been published about neutron derived porosities, but this has been concerned with thick beds, or possibly even averaging of a series of thin beds as a single unit. There has been a lack of written information on methods whereby porosity can be evaluated for beds less than 10 ft in thickness. In certain areas, production is derived from relatively thin formations. The importance of thin bed evaluation, the fact that the Scintillometer is an adequate tool for this application, and the general lack of published information concerning neutron porosity for thin beds are the fundamental reasons for presenting this method of porosity determination. This concept is not put forth with the idea of discounting existing methods, but is merely suggested as a modification of other accepted methods of porosity determination which makes no allowance for quantitative evaluation of thin beds. The effects on the neutron log of counting statistics, statistical variation in the porosity of earth materials, and hole size must be taken into account to obtain neutron derived porosities. Since these effects have been described in past literature, the authors have not made an attempt to go into the subject in detail. With the use of statistical and repeated sections on the log, it may be determined which responses on the log actually correspond with lithologic changes. EFFECT OF DRAG AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO TIME CONSTANT AND LOGGING SPEED Before entering into a discussion of porosity determination of thin beds, there should be a thorough

Jan 1, 1956

By Arthur Nomann

Recording instruments may be conveniently described under the headings of: (1) geophones, (2) amplifiers, (3) recording cameras, (4) miscellaneous parts. Geophones Geophones or seismometers are actuated by slight earth movements, and generate electrical currents, which are amplified and recorded. In all geophone desigm there is provision for differential movement between parts of the mechanism and the signal voltage is generated as a function of this differential movement. The part that conforms to the movement of the ground is called the support, and the part that remains more nearly stationary with respect to more distant unactuated parts of the earth is called the steady mass. The mechanical period of the geophone is the time required for an oscillation of the steady mass after an initial impulse is given it, and is determined by the effective stiffness of the spring joining the two parts together in relation to the weight of the suspended part. Geophones have been used with frequencies varying all the way from less than 10 cycles per sec. to several hundred cycles per second. Those with a natural frequency of less than, say, 100 cycles

Jan 1, 1940

By Arthur Nomann

Recording instruments may be conveniently described under the headings of: (1) geophones, (2) amplifiers, (3) recording cameras, (4) miscellaneous parts. Geophones Geophones or seismometers are actuated by slight earth movements, and generate electrical currents, which are amplified and recorded. In all geophone desigm there is provision for differential movement between parts of the mechanism and the signal voltage is generated as a function of this differential movement. The part that conforms to the movement of the ground is called the support, and the part that remains more nearly stationary with respect to more distant unactuated parts of the earth is called the steady mass. The mechanical period of the geophone is the time required for an oscillation of the steady mass after an initial impulse is given it, and is determined by the effective stiffness of the spring joining the two parts together in relation to the weight of the suspended part. Geophones have been used with frequencies varying all the way from less than 10 cycles per sec. to several hundred cycles per second. Those with a natural frequency of less than, say, 100 cycles

Jan 1, 1940