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By William E. Hubbard

During the last decade the known reserves of petroleum in the United States have increased from about five billion to over thirteen billion barrels. From the standpoint of public welfare the existence of these known reserves presents an undeniably favorable picture, but viewed from the position of many a harassed operator the blessing has not always been considered an unmixed one. Along with this increase in excess reserves, curtailment of production has come into being as a matter of necessity and the principle of proration as a matter of equity. As a practical matter it has been considered necessary to curtail the production of old wells as well as that of new wells in a pool. The right of new pools to produce has been recognized, and the allowable for them has come partly from increased market demand and largely from the allowables already enjoyed by the developed pools. The natural result—a downward trend in daily per-well allowables—has been especially felt by Texas operators. This trend may be illustrated by Table 1, which comprises the five active areas in Texas, and from which may be noted the following: 1. The average daily allowable per well has decreased about 53 per cent in three years. 2. Of the 184,000-bbl. increase in total allowable for the five areas, 29,000 bbl. came from the increase in state demand and 165,000 from the combined allowables of the remaining pools in the state.

Jan 1, 1937

The opening session was held on Tuesday evening, June 28th. Mr. F. S. Witherbee, of Port Henry, a member of the Local Committee, welcomed the Institute as follows: Mr. President and Gentlemen and (if I my also add) Ladies of the Institute: In the absence of the Chairman of our Local Committee it is my pleasant duty to give you a cordial welcome once more to the shores of Lake Champlain. I think some fourteen years have passed by since we last had the pleasure of receiving you at a meeting in this vicinity ; but the pleasure of that meeting still lingers in our memory; and the profit which we derived from your discussions and from your presence with us has made us heartily desirous to have you here again. If the truth must be known, we were for a time much embarrassed by the difficulty of providing adeqriate and comfortable shelter for the large number of friends whom we hoped (and, as this assembly indicates, had good reason for hoping) to receive. But the liberality and zealous co-operation of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company and its hotel manager, in offering to open Hotel Champlain, at no little inconvenience, before the usual time, presented a solution of this difficulty, provided the date originally proposed for the meeting could be changed to a week later. This change was duly authorized; .and I think you will all agree with us that it was wise.. At all events, I am sure, I now need offer no apologies for the roof which covers yau. During the fourteen years which have elapsed since your last visit to us, great strides have been made in the industrial development of this country. The meetings of the Institute, held from one end of the land to the other, have permitted you to witness the transformation of small hamlets? like Birmingham, Ala., into populous and thriving industrial centers. You have seen the Minnesota and the

Jan 1, 1893

OREGON SCHOOL OF MINES SOCIETY The Oregon School of Mines Society held a special meeting, January 2S, 1918. Mr. Thos. Varley, Superintendent of the Northwest Experiment Station of the United States Bureau of Mines, at Seattle, Wash., addressed the Society. He discussed, in some detail, the development and work of the United States Bureau of Mines, and gave a brief resume of the conditions affecting the "war minerals" on the Pacific Coast. About forty members were present and thoroughly appreciated Mr. Varley's address.

Jan 4, 1918

By C. S. Trewin

ZINC, in its wrought form, is produced commercially in rolled strip, sheet, wire, rod and tubing. Wire has been made periodically, but due to the fact that slight drafts are necessary, the cost of production is greater than for the more common non-ferrous metals which are made into wire. Notwithstanding the cost, zinc wire has certain special uses for which it is particularly adaptable. Rod has been made both by rolling and extrusion; the product, however, has not indicated great commercial value. Tubing has been made from strip from time to time by forming a strip around a mandrel and either electrically or gas-welding a longitudinal joint. Recently a tube manufacturer has succeeded in making a fair quantity of this material. Its commercial adaptability is still to be determined but anyone who desires it can obtain quantities of the smaller sizes. Inasmuch as strip and sheet are commercially the most important, this paper will be devoted to these products. In the broader sense, zinc is not alloyed. That is, there are no combinations comparable to the various copper, aluminum and nickel alloys. It has been recognized for some time that the lead and cadmium occurring with commercial zinc have some effect on its properties and such alloys as may be said to exist are those made from zincs containing varying amounts of lead and cadmium with a relatively low iron content. The foreign rolled zinc will analyze higher in lead than the domestic grades. A representative foreign analysis will run 1.1 per cent. lead, 0.07 per cent. cadmium and 0.02 per cent. iron. The American grades vary from zinc approximating high grade and analyzing 0.08 per cent. lead, 0.002 per cent. cadmium and 0.015 per cent. iron, to the lower grades in which the lead will vary from 0.3 to 1.0 per cent., cadmium from 0.10 to 0.5 per cent. and the iron in the neighborhood of 0.02 percent. ROLLED ZINC Rolled zinc is produced in both the strip (or ribbon) form in which the product is rolled from a single bar in one continuous direction, or sheet in

Jan 1, 1928

By Jose A. Ruiz

INTRODUCTION For heterogeneous non-catalytic solid-gas reactions carried out in fluidized bed reactors, nominal bed temperature is an average value between gas and solid. For highly exothermic reactions, actual particle temperature can be up to hundred degrees above termocouple temperature, since heat dissipate at slower rate than heat generation during some steps of transformation. These micro instabilities at particle level can displace thermodynamic equilibrium from the desired phase to others. This effect is important when relatively narrow range of phase stability exists, like in sulphation roasting of sulphides, where bed discharge contains, in addition to the desired sulphate others metastable phases such as basic sulphate and ferrite. For example, for copper-iron sulphide concentration roasted below 680°C, no cupric ferrite is formed, as shown by Jakob et al., therefore the separate Kellogg's stability phase diagrams Cu-S-O represent the roasting (Fig.l). At temperature above this one, like 760°C for example, phase stability changes from CuSO4 to the basic sulphate Cu0•CuSO4. Solid state reaction between Cu0•CuSO4 and Fe203 also occurs to form cupric ferrite, Cu0•Fe2O3, therefore the Cu-Fe-S-O Kellogg's phase diagram of Fig. 1 (continuous line) represents this condition of roasting. Although both Cu0•CuSO4 and Cu0•Fe2O3 are metastable phases under normal operating conditions of sulphation roasting(1-10% SO2, 1-10% 02 and 680°C, points A and B,Fig. 1) sulphation of these species and particularly ferrite are slow and limited due to diffusional control. This explain why reactors discharge contains several phases: CuSO4, Cu0•CuSO4, CuO•Fe203 plus small amounts of CuS and FeS due to the baclonixed conditions of fluidized bed reactors. The presence of cuprous ferrite due to reducing conditions inside individual particles also occurs, but in very limited extent at the reaction interface, as it is demonstrated by the low soluble iron levels of calcines. On the other hand, the presence of cupric ferrites can be explained only due to the higher temperature achieved by particles, since below 680°C cupric ferrite formation does not take place. [ ] This phenomena also occurs for others non-ferrous metal sulphides concentrates roasted under sulphation conditions, such as 7n, Co and Ni. Therefore the prediction of discharge composition of fluidized beds is not possible based only on kinetics and mechanistics models alone or purely thermodynamical considerations, since all factors should be integrated to describe the overall phenomena. SINGLE PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION Assuming a first order reaction with respect to the gas and zero for solid, such as

Jan 1, 1984

By T. S. Washburn

Deoxidation is one of the most complex metallurgical operations in the basic open-hearth process. The necessity for deoxidation arises from the fact that the refining operations that precede it require the oxidation of the steel bath. when the refining is completed and the desired composition of the bath has been obtained with respect to the elements subject to control by 'oxidation. there is usually an excess of oxygen present in the bath from the standpoint of the amount desired in the finished steel. The objectives of deoxidation are to control the amount and type of oxides and, although not directly ilnp1it.d by the term or always considered as a Part of the process, to control the amounts of gases such as hydrogen or nitrogen that will be present in the finished steel. There are other aspects to be consideretl in connection with deoxidizing procedures. In addition to the primary objectives of oxide and gas control. the composition of the steel is affected by the elements introduced during the deoxidizing process. Factors in furnace operations are likewise involved, such as slag composition, temperature control. arid heat time. .ill of these should be considered in establishing the most satisfactory deoxidizing procedure for each grade of steel. The purpose of this paper is to outline the objectives of deoxidation as related to steel characteristics, and to summarize the factors in furnace practice and the economic aspects to be considered in connection with deoxidation procedures. Objectives of Deoxidation The primary objectives of deoxidation are the formation and elimination of oxides. The amount of oxygen present in the bath prior to deoxidation is an important factor, since it is the basis of any deoxidation procedure. The oxygen content of the bath is primarily a function of the carbon content, although it is affected also by the temperature, the oxidation of the slag, and transient conditions within the furnace. The relation of oxygen to carbon in the bath is shown in Table I. Table I shows that under actual operating conditions, the amount of oxygen present in the bath is higher than the theoretical amount. This relation would be expected, since the bath is in a state of metastablc equilibrium during the period that the carbon is being eliminated. The most important feature demonstrated by this table, however, is the rapid increase

Jan 1, 1945

By M. Cepak, K. Donovan, W. G. Pariseau

This paper examines the difficulties of applying the finite element (FE) method of analysis to quantitative design of cable bolt systems. Cable bolt systems are in general use for ground control in VCR (Vertical Crater Retreat) topes throughout the world. However, despite their widespread use and importance, design of cable bolt systems is highly subjective. Two difficulties with the FE approach are examined: (i) the use of standard elements with a high aspect ratio (slender elements) to represent bolts, and (ii) the influence of cable bolts on hanging wall stability of a VCR study stope. Analysis results indicate that the use of slender elements for bolts is practical in large scale finite element analyses of VCR stopes. There are significant advantages in this approach to the engineering design of cable bolt systems in underground mining.

Jan 1, 1984

The income of the Institute is derived from dues, subscriptions to MINING AND METALLURGY and sale of publications. These sources are fortunately supplemented by the interest from invested funds now amounting to over $500,000, a considerable portion constituting endowments for especial purposes. Aside from the medal funds the principal endowments are the James Douglas Fund for support of the Library, the Rocky Mountain Fund and the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund. The income from the two last named is available for the support of research and a variety of other purposes. It is allocated by the Board of Directors upon recommendation of standing committees in each case. An active effort is being made to increase the endowments of the Institute, it being felt that unusual opportunities exist for research and public and professional service through the organization and at a minimum of expense. J. V. W. Reynders is chairman of the Endowment Committee.

Jan 1, 1923

By J. Chipman, N. J. Grant, J. C. Fulton

This paper contains data on the distribution of silicon between liquid iron-silicon-carbon alloys saturated with respect to graphite and CaO-SiO2-Al2O3 slags under 1 atm of CO at 1600°C. The ranges of slag compositions studied were extended from the dicalcium silicate saturated liquidus composition up to silica concentrations at which Sic appeared as a stable phase. IN blast furnace operation it is not to be expected that slag and metal reach equilibrium with one another. Nevertheless, the silicon content of the metal varies with slag composition and with temperature in a manner which would be predicted from equilibrium considerations. Similarly, the distribution of sulphur between slag and metal does not attain an equilibrium state, yet the influence of slag composition is strongly analogous to its effect on the distribution equilibrium. The desulphurizing power of metallurgical slags has been shown to be highly dependent upon the FeO content of the slag. Moreover, the rate of removal of sulphur from slags is influenced by the oxygen potential of the slag-metal system. Thus it was shown by Grant, Kalling, and Chipman1 that the presence of MnO in slags which are low in FeO causes a marked slowing down of the transfer of sulphur from metal to slag. This led to the hypothesis that the slow removal of sulphur by blast furnace slags of more acid composition might be due in part to the effect of SiO2 on the oxygen potential of the system. This was verified in the work of Grant, Troili, and Chipman,' who found that the desulphurizing power of the more acid blast furnace slags could be markedly improved by an increase in the silicon content of the underlying metal. Their explanation of this improvement was that the higher silicon content of the metal decreased the rate of transfer of more silicon and, along with it, of oxygen from the slag to the metal. The slowness of the transfer of sulphur from metal to slag was the result of the slow reduction of SiO2 from slag to metal. Attempts to study the rate of sulphur removal had in the past resulted in very slow rates corresponding to the rates of silica reduction. It has become evident on the basis of these studies that further experimental studies on the rate of removal of sulphur must take these factors into consideration if there is to be a clear understanding of the rate of sulphur transfer under conditions simulating those existing in the blast furnace. It will be necessary, at least in a part of such study, to employ combinations of slag and metal in which the disturbing effect of silica reduction has been eliminated; in other words, to employ slag-metal combinations which are already in equilibrium with respect to the transfer of silicon. In preparation for such studies of desulphuriza-tion, a preliminary program of research on the distribution of silicon between slag and metal has been undertaken. This will ultimately include a comprehensive survey of the effects of temperature and slag composition on the equilibrium distribution of silicon between slag and metal. The present paper is a report on experimental methods employed and on

Jan 1, 1954

not weaken. I saw him shortly before he was killed; his conduct under fire was splendid and an inspiration to his men. His loss is felt deeply by all ranks. Thanks to him and to others, who like him, paid the full measure of devotion to their country, our line was held until the critical situation in that vicinity was at an end. He died the true death of a soldier, with his face to the enemy. As we now look back, it is easy to believe that this holding of the line of defense intact by General Carey and his men was a determining factor in the outcome of the war. To have played so important and noble a part in this vital effort as that taken by Perry is assuredly the privilege of few. Our lives, it seems, are like capital entrusted to us to be expended as wisely and effectively as we may. With them we purchase whatever of accomplishment the stuff that is in us permits. It is impossible to escape profound regret that a career so full of the highest promise, and a personality so overflowing with all that is fine and lovable, should have been cut short at the age of thirty-one. Yet who can doubt that in a few months Perry bought with his life the fullest achievement of a life-time—a glorious part in the salvation of Liberty and Justice and Decency, indeed of Civilization itself! L. C. Graton.

Jan 1, 1920

not weaken. I saw him shortly before he was killed; his conduct under fire was splendid and an inspiration to his men. His loss is felt deeply by all ranks. Thanks to him and to others, who like him, paid the full measure of devotion to their country, our line was held until the critical situation in that vicinity was at an end. He died the true death of a soldier, with his face to the enemy. As we now look back, it is easy to believe that this holding of the line of defense intact by General Carey and his men was a determining factor in the outcome of the war. To have played so important and noble a part in this vital effort as that taken by Perry is assuredly the privilege of few. Our lives, it seems, are like capital entrusted to us to be expended as wisely and effectively as we may. With them we purchase whatever of accomplishment the stuff that is in us permits. It is impossible to escape profound regret that a career so full of the highest promise, and a personality so overflowing with all that is fine and lovable, should have been cut short at the age of thirty-one. Yet who can doubt that in a few months Perry bought with his life the fullest achievement of a life-time—a glorious part in the salvation of Liberty and Justice and Decency, indeed of Civilization itself! L. C. Graton.

Jan 1, 1920

By Michael R. Lewis, Dennis P. Moore

Untensioned, fully grouted, steel bars (dowels) up to 30 m long and 45 mm in diameter were used to reinforce rock slopes several hundred metres high, excavated for a hydroelectric project near Revelstoke, British Columbia. These dowels were successfully used to prevent surface rock from loosening, to prevent sliding on interconnected discontinuities and to prevent sliding of relatively intact rock on a thin shear zone. Because the interaction between rock slopes and dowels is not well understood, critical slopes were extensively monitored. Based on the experience from Revelstoke and elsewhere, it appears to be worthwhile, in most circumstances, to reconsider the need for tensioning rock anchors.

Jan 1, 1982

By D. H. Baldwin, R. E. Reed-Hill

Six compositions of polycrystalline ZY-0 alloys, containing up to 4.2 at. pct 0, were tested in tension between 77° and 600° K. The data obtained from each of the compositions corresponded closely to a rela-ion between yield stress and absolute temperature of the form In s/so = BT, where oo is the yield stress extrapolated to zero degrees and B is a constant. In agreement with others who have observed this relationship, it is shown that the activation energy may be expressed as Ho In so/s. In the present specimens Ho is approximately 18,000 cal per mole and is apparently independent of temperature and composition inside the limits of the investigation. It is also demonstrated that this form of activation energy cowesponds to a strain rate sensitivity parameter RT/Ho. Oxygen was also noted to have an effect upon the operative deformation mechanisms. With increasing oxygen concentration there was an increased tendency to observe both nonbasal slip and cross-slip phenomena. Oxygen does not seriously inhibit twinning more than it does slip. Twins were observed in all specimens tested. It is becoming increasingly evident that interstitial atoms in solid solution are able to interact strongly with mobile dislocations. Stein, Low, and seybolt,&apos; have shown that, if the carbon concentration in bcc iron is lowered below the solubility limit, its flow stress temperature dependence is markedly reduced. This suggests that carbon atoms in interstitial solid solution may be responsible for the pronounced temperature dependence of the flow stress normally observed in iron. This view has recently been challenged by Leslie and sober2 who observed a strong flow stress temperature dependence in iron to which a trace of titanium had been added in order to remove carbon atoms from solution. Since the interstitial concentration must be reduced below approximately 1 ppm in order to produce a pronounced effect on the flow stress temperature dependence,&apos; studies of the effect of interstitials on the flow stress in iron necessarily involve serious experimental difficulties in alloy preparation. There are other metals, however, in which strong effects of interstitial solutes upon both the flow stress and its temperature dependence are observed. Of particular significance is zirconium which, according to Domagala and Mcpherson, 3 is capable of dissolving 28.6 at. pct O. The O-Zr alloy system is an almost ideal system for studying the interaction of interstitial atoms with deformation modes since it is possible to form alloys capable of study over an extensive range of compositions. Mills has made such a study using single crystals oriented primarily for single prismatic slip4 and has found an effect of oxygen concentration on the flow stress temperature dependence analogous to that observed in iron due to carbon by Stein, Low, and Seybolt. The present paper is specifically concerned with the effect of oxygen on deformation in polycrystalline zirconium. Although plastic flow in this type of specimen is much more complex than that reported for the single-crystal work, and involves both slip (on several different types of planes) and mechanical twinning, the results of this investigation are in general agreement with the single-crystal observations concerning the effect of oxygen on the temperature dependence of the flow stress. In addition, they also demonstrate that oxygen affects the acting deformation systems. This is in contrast to single-crystal results4 that showed only single slip on a prism plane. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Material. High-purity hot-rolled zirconium strip, 0.2 in. thick by 4 in. wide, of 0.10-mm average grain diameter, was used for forming alloys. It was obtained from the Carborundum Metals Co., Akron, N.Y., whose analysis indicated the major impurities were, in wt ppm: Hf, 540, C, 145; Fe, 100; and 0, <80. The plate texture was similar to a wire texture, with basal planes generally parallel to the rolling direction and basal poles randomly distributed about the rolling direction. The heat treatments described below did not appreciably alter the basic texture. specimen Preparation. Small threaded-end tensile specimens were machined from the plate with axes perpendicular to the rolling direction. These transverse specimens had gage sections 1 in. long by 0.060 in. in diam. The small gage section diameter was dictated by the fact that the alloys were formed by dif-

Jan 1, 1969

By A. J. R. Curtis

THE Portland Cement Association was organized more than a third of a century ago by a group of cement manufacturers, to do cooperatively the educational and research work needed to ensure proper use of their product. Specifically, the Association has a threefold purpose: (1) to search out facts to ensure the best possible service from concrete; (2) to give the widest possible circulation to facts affecting the use of concrete; (3) to urge practical application of those facts on actual building projects. An organization of technically trained men conducts many research projects in the Association laboratories, interprets their findings and applies them practically in the field. The net effect of this work has been to improve the design and prolong the life of roads, bridges, industrial, commercial and public buildings, homes, farm structures and concrete products. The results of this technical research and experimentation are made available to the entire construction industry through bulletins and reports. Information is also released to the general public through newspapers, magazines and Association publications. In addition to a1 technical staff in the general office in Chicago, the Association has district offices in 22 cities. Field engineers cover 37 states, the District of Colum-bia and British Columbia, to give service to users of Portland cement.

Jan 1, 1937

Jan 1, 1953

By S. Maemura

Miike Colliery of Mitsui Coal Mining Company, the biggest and oldest coal mine in Japan, is producing a quarter of the national coal production, about 5.2 million tons of clean coal annually and almost a half of which is now being mined under the "slicing Mining System". The slicing system is a mining method to mine a thick coal seam dividing it into two faces, upper and lower. Its history started nearly 20 years ago. However, the all-around modernization of this system has made little progress up to recent years, while mining methods for single longwall faces has made a remarkable progress together with the improvements in mining machineries, self advancing supports and so on. The reason was that the tremendous difference in adaptabilities of mechanized face equipments existing between the upper and lower faces has made it very difficult to increase the total production capacity of slicing system. After our persistent study for seventeen years, we have recently realized successfully the quite satisfactory slicing system, applying the combination of shield type self advancing supports and double ranging drum cutter at both faces. We are now fully convinced of that the high efficient, quite safe and improved slicing system has been basically established for the present. This paper intends to brief the transition on the combination of self advancing supports and mining machines, its results and further to detail the development of shield type self advancing support for upper face and artificial roof material which shall be the key point to be successful in full mechanization of slicing faces.

Jan 1, 1976

By Theodore P. Holt

The Mines Operating Co.&apos;s plant at Park City, Utah, was designed to treat the low-grade fillings in the old stopes of the Ontario mine. These fillings carry 6 to 14 oz. of silver, 1 to 2 lb. of copper, 0.01 to 0.015 oz. of gold, and a small percentage of lead and zinc. The treatment consists in mixing the crushed ore with coal dust and salt and then roasting in a new type of furnace by combustion of the contained fuel. The roasted ore is leached with an acid salt solution to dissolve the silver, gold, copper, and lead. At present these metals are precipitated together on scrap iron and the product sold to a refinery. The only new feature of importance in this scheme of treatment is the roasting process, which makes possible the chloridizing of ores without any loss of the valuable metals, and at a very low cost. History of the Development of the Process The roasting process- had its beginning in connection with research work at the Utah State School of Mines. N. C. Christensen, Jr., who held one of the School of Mines&apos; fellowships, was engaged in some experimental work on blast roasting. At the same time I was doing some work on the insoluble gold in Mercur base ores. Mr. Christensen roasted some of this base gold ore in his pot furnace, and found that when he mixed a sufficiently low percentage of fuel with the ore, it did not sinter but roasted to a leachable product. We considered this a new application of blast roasting, and proceeded to test out a large number of ores in several different types of small roasters which we constructed.. This experimental work continued well into the summer of 1911. In August, 1911, the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines Co. installed a small roaster of our design, which we proposed to operate on the counter-current principle, feeding mixed ore continuously on top, and at the same time drawing off the roasted ore from the bottom. By proper adjustment we hoped to maintain a permanent roasting zone near the center of the column, the ore moving downward as roasted. However, we

Jan 1, 1915

By William Best

OIL burners, oil furnaces, and methods of installation, have been the subject of many articles, but information concerning oil-burning systems, based upon scientific principles, is still in great demand, especially in the manufacturing districts of our country. Fuel oil, as it is termed (this being the residuum from oil refineries), has for many years been of great service to our manufacturers, and has justified its popularity not only by producing a superior manufactured product, but by turning out approximately 50 per cent. more product than can be made with coal fuel under like conditions. To install a system requiring only an oil-storage tank, a small pump, and an oil-supply main with numerous laterals leading to the various burners, furnaces, boilers, etc., is a comparatively simple matter; and, because fuel oil is very volatile, it is not necessary to heat it, even during the winter months in a very cold climate. Furthermore, only a small amount of power is required to atomize fuel oil, this often being done by a positive pressure blower, or by a mechanical burner. An analysis of fuel oil, together with that of various other liquid fuels, is given in Table I.

Jan 2, 1914

By William Newton Best

Oil burners, oil furnaces, and methods of installation, have been the subject of many articles, but information concerning oil-burning systems, based upon scientific principles, is still in great demand, especially in the manufacturing districts of our country. Fuel oil, as it is termed (this being the residuum from oil refineries), has for many years been of great service to our manufacturers, and has justified its popularity not only by producing a superior manufactured product, but by turning out approximately 50 per cent. more product than can be made with coa1 fuel under like conditions. To install a system requiring only an oil-storage tank, a small pump, and an oil-supply main with numerous laterals leading to the various burners, furnaces, boilers, etc., is a comparatively simple matter; and, because fuel oil is very volatile, it is not necessary to heat it, even during the winter months in a very cold climate. Furthermore, only a small amount of power is required to atomize fuel oil, this often being done by a positive pressure blower, or by a mechanical burner. An analysis of fuel oil, together with that of various other liquid fuels, is given in Table I.

Jan 1, 1915

By B. M. Larsen, T. E. Brower

An increasing amount of attention is being paid to the possible influence of oxygen, in its several modes of occurrence in steel, upon some of the properties of the metal; but clearly investigations along this line are unlikely to yield significant results until reliable analytical methods for the determination of oxygen have been established. This paper presents some results of a study of an improved Ledebur method which aims to determine a definite portion of the oxygen; namely, that which presumably is present in diffusible form in the solid steel. These more or less preliminary results lead us to believe that the oxygen so determined has some significance; their presentation at this time will, we hope, stimulate discussion of, and focus attention upon, certain rather neglected aspects of the problem. Considerable work has been done recently on methods of estimating inclusions and on the vacuum-fusion method for oxygen; with results which, however, are of somewhat questionable significance. It is commonly presumed that the oxygen in a bath of molten steel in a furnace is present partly as a separate phase consisting of suspended particles of oxides or silicates, partly in solution, the latter being probably the more important. Upon addition of a deoxidizer, it reacts with some portion of the dissolved oxygen and precipitates it as additional suspended particles; the oxygen not eliminated in this way, which remains in solution in the liquid steel, may be regarded indifferently either as dissolved oxygen or as dissolved FeO. When the steel is poured, some of the suspended particles rise towards the surface, others remain trapped in the finished steel, appearing as nonmetallic inclusions in amounts corresponding usually to about 0.01 to 0.03 per cent Oz in the steel. The dissolved oxygen may be partly eliminated as CO during freezing of the ingot, but some remains either in solution or in part precipitated as FeO. Finished steels may thus contain oxygen in several forms: (1) In non-metallic inclusions which are probably quite insoluble in the solid metal at all temperatures; (2) in solid solution which at lower temperatures may be supersaturated; (3) in FeO particles produced by relief of this

Jan 1, 1932