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By H. T. Clark, S. Feigenbaum

The importance of measuring the temperature of molten steel in the open-hearth furnace has been recognized for many years. Poor temperature control may be costly to steelmaking operations and lead to a lowered quality of the steel. Low or excessive temperatures may shorten the life of the furnace, ladles and molds. Rates of reactions in the furnace and efficiencies of deoxidizers are known to change materially with a change in the temperature of the metal and slag. Ladle skulls and mold and stool stickers cause steel to be scrapped instead of being converted into useful products. Finally, the structure, segregation and surface condition of ingots are affected by the teeming temperature. Mill investigations of the effect of bath temperature upon steelmaking operations have been largely qualitative in character, based upon observations by practical melting men. The physical chemist has used the empirical information available and has reached reasonable and useful conclusions with respect to the various melting processes. The introduction of a reliable direct-reading pyrometer will permit accurate quantitative evaluation of the effects of temperature and should furnish a more rational basis for study of the thermochemistry of steelmaking. The problem is not merely one of making a small numbcr of temperature measurements in the open-hearth furnace. This has been done by several methods to a * Assistant Manager, Research and Development, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Issued as T.P. 2031 in MEtals Technology, June 1946; also in Open Hearth Proc., 1946. † Open-hearth Metallurgist, Jones and 1aughlin Steel Corporation, Aliquippa. Pennsylvania. degree of precision that was apparently satisfactory. Considerable effort by a number of investigators has been directed rather to the development of an open-hearth bath pyrometer that would be both accurate and practical for routine measurements. To be practical, the pyrometer should be inexpensive to operate; that is, the installation, operating and maintenance costs should be exceeded by the tangible benefits to the open-hearth operator. Temperatures from 2800' to 3100°F. are. encountered in the open-hearth furnace. The surface of the molten metal is covered by several inches of slag, which prevents direct observation of the metal surface for optical or radiation measurements. Both slag and metal are highly reactive at these temperatures and will attack to a greater or lesser extent any material immersed in them. Adequate protectioil of thermocouples, which of necessity must be brought to the temperature of the bath, has generally resulted in a large, heavy assembly made up of brittle materials, unsuited for handling on the open-hearth floor. The life of the equipment was short and maintenance was an important consideration. Earlier Work Any of a number of Physical Properties of liquid steel could conceivably be used a a basis for temperature measurement. Efforts to the present time, however, have been confined largely to measuring either the thermal electromotive force generated between two dissimilar materials immersed in the steel or the intensity of radiation from the surface of the steel. These

Jan 1, 1947

By H. T. Clark, S. Feigenbaum

The importance of measuring the temperature of molten steel in the open-hearth furnace has been recognized for many years. Poor temperature control may be costly to steelmaking operations and lead to a lowered quality of the steel. Low or excessive temperatures may shorten the life of the furnace, ladles and molds. Rates of reactions in the furnace and efficiencies of deoxidizers are known to change materially with a change in the temperature of the metal and slag. Ladle skulls and mold and stool stickers cause steel to be scrapped instead of being converted into useful products. Finally, the structure, segregation and surface condition of ingots are affected by the teeming temperature. Mill investigations of the effect of bath temperature upon steelmaking operations have been largely qualitative in character, based upon observations by practical melting men. The physical chemist has used the empirical information available and has reached reasonable and useful conclusions with respect to the various melting processes. The introduction of a reliable direct-reading pyrometer will permit accurate quantitative evaluation of the effects of temperature and should furnish a more rational basis for study of the thermochemistry of steelmaking. The problem is not merely one of making a small numbcr of temperature measurements in the open-hearth furnace. This has been done by several methods to a * Assistant Manager, Research and Development, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Issued as T.P. 2031 in MEtals Technology, June 1946; also in Open Hearth Proc., 1946. † Open-hearth Metallurgist, Jones and 1aughlin Steel Corporation, Aliquippa. Pennsylvania. degree of precision that was apparently satisfactory. Considerable effort by a number of investigators has been directed rather to the development of an open-hearth bath pyrometer that would be both accurate and practical for routine measurements. To be practical, the pyrometer should be inexpensive to operate; that is, the installation, operating and maintenance costs should be exceeded by the tangible benefits to the open-hearth operator. Temperatures from 2800' to 3100°F. are. encountered in the open-hearth furnace. The surface of the molten metal is covered by several inches of slag, which prevents direct observation of the metal surface for optical or radiation measurements. Both slag and metal are highly reactive at these temperatures and will attack to a greater or lesser extent any material immersed in them. Adequate protectioil of thermocouples, which of necessity must be brought to the temperature of the bath, has generally resulted in a large, heavy assembly made up of brittle materials, unsuited for handling on the open-hearth floor. The life of the equipment was short and maintenance was an important consideration. Earlier Work Any of a number of Physical Properties of liquid steel could conceivably be used a a basis for temperature measurement. Efforts to the present time, however, have been confined largely to measuring either the thermal electromotive force generated between two dissimilar materials immersed in the steel or the intensity of radiation from the surface of the steel. These

Jan 1, 1947

The mining of coal, phosphate, oil, gas, and sodium on the public lands of the United States has, during a long period of years, been prevented by the failure of Congress to legislate, notwithstanding the fact that each successive Congress has vainly attempted to enact a law. Disagreements among members of Congress, many of which have related to non-essential matters, have prevented the passage of a bill, the failure at the last session having been due to a fillibuster in the Senate against the conference report led by Senator LaFollette of Wisconsin. Seven bills covering this subject have been introduced into the present Congress, four of which are identical in nearly all essential respects and follow either precisely or closely the conference agreement of the last Congress. These bills are too long to permit of review in this column. In general they provide for the leasing of lands or privileges to mine or to recover the various minerals above mentioned under terms and conditions as to the amount of land that may be leased by any one applicant, the diligence with which the work must be prosecuted, the return or royalty demanded, and the term of the lease and extensions thereof.

Jan 8, 1919

By T. S. West

Completion and production data presented for three wells in the Oakville area of Live Oak County, Texas, which were completed near the gas-oil or water-oil contact, indicate that coning may not be as prevalent a cause of failure in such cases as is commonly assumed. Failure in the cases discussed is indicated to be due instead to: (I) erosion of the formation, (2) flowing out of mud filter cake, or (3) failure of the cement. An open-hole gravel-pack type of completion procedure is proposed for preventing failures of this kind by preventing movement of all solid material in the space in which completion is made. Various combinations of layers of gravel, sand, and cement are utilized for this purpose. Experimental results and theoretical discussion as to the applicability of gravel pack completion are included. Introduction This paper is primarily a study of the reasons for failure of oil-well completions near the gas-oil or oil-water contact, and suggests a procedure for increasing the efficiency of this type of completion. The value of improvement in completion effectiveness near the gas or water zone is not confined, however, to wells of relatively thin oil columns. Thick oil columns become thin as depletion progresses. It would seem to follow that the minimum distance from the gas or water zone at which completion can be made in a new well indicates the limit to which depletion may be carried in a well having an oil column of any initial magnitude. Only four ways can be postulated in which high gas-oil or water-oil ratio can initially occur if the zone exposed for production is within the oil column: 1. Failure of the cementing material. 2. Vertical coning. 3. Failure along the boundary between the cement and the wall of the well. 4. Failure of the formation comprising the wall of the well. Cementing materials such as portland cement and plastics have reached a high stage of development. Failures of this type are probably due almost always to extraneous causes such as mud contamination rather than to faulty cementing material. Vertical coning can and obviously does occur. However, the usual occurrence of thin impermeable streaks in sand sections and the success with which open-hole drill-stem tests can be made near the gas-oil contact suggest that over-all effective vertical permeability, and in turn vertical coning, is less prevalent than frequently is assumed. Much has been written on failure by flowing out of the mud filter cake between cementing material and the formation. A filter cake is always present if, prior to cementing, mud has come in contact with a permeable formation at pressures exceeding the pressure head of the fluid it contains. Mechanical methods are in use for removing filter cake during the cementing operation? which undoubtedly are of

Jan 1, 1947

By T. S. West

Completion and production data presented for three wells in the Oakville area of Live Oak County, Texas, which were completed near the gas-oil or water-oil contact, indicate that coning may not be as prevalent a cause of failure in such cases as is commonly assumed. Failure in the cases discussed is indicated to be due instead to: (I) erosion of the formation, (2) flowing out of mud filter cake, or (3) failure of the cement. An open-hole gravel-pack type of completion procedure is proposed for preventing failures of this kind by preventing movement of all solid material in the space in which completion is made. Various combinations of layers of gravel, sand, and cement are utilized for this purpose. Experimental results and theoretical discussion as to the applicability of gravel pack completion are included. Introduction This paper is primarily a study of the reasons for failure of oil-well completions near the gas-oil or oil-water contact, and suggests a procedure for increasing the efficiency of this type of completion. The value of improvement in completion effectiveness near the gas or water zone is not confined, however, to wells of relatively thin oil columns. Thick oil columns become thin as depletion progresses. It would seem to follow that the minimum distance from the gas or water zone at which completion can be made in a new well indicates the limit to which depletion may be carried in a well having an oil column of any initial magnitude. Only four ways can be postulated in which high gas-oil or water-oil ratio can initially occur if the zone exposed for production is within the oil column: 1. Failure of the cementing material. 2. Vertical coning. 3. Failure along the boundary between the cement and the wall of the well. 4. Failure of the formation comprising the wall of the well. Cementing materials such as portland cement and plastics have reached a high stage of development. Failures of this type are probably due almost always to extraneous causes such as mud contamination rather than to faulty cementing material. Vertical coning can and obviously does occur. However, the usual occurrence of thin impermeable streaks in sand sections and the success with which open-hole drill-stem tests can be made near the gas-oil contact suggest that over-all effective vertical permeability, and in turn vertical coning, is less prevalent than frequently is assumed. Much has been written on failure by flowing out of the mud filter cake between cementing material and the formation. A filter cake is always present if, prior to cementing, mud has come in contact with a permeable formation at pressures exceeding the pressure head of the fluid it contains. Mechanical methods are in use for removing filter cake during the cementing operation? which undoubtedly are of

Jan 1, 1947

By W. N. Miner, R. O. Elliott

Electrical-resistivity )measurments were made be-trueetz room temperatrive and 1.5 oK on five different stocks of cerium metal, and the results were correlated with the types, amounts, and distribution of the impurities present. Magnesium, which appeared to be distributed as a solute throughout the cerium matrix, was found to have a large effect on the residual resistivity, 1 at. pct Mg being sufficient to increase the residual resistivity by about 10 microhm-cm. The formation of ß by repeated thermal cycling between room temperature and liquid-helium temperature is attributed to the deformation and faulting that occurs during the ? D a transformation. In preparation for starting a proposed study of cerium-rich alloys, we examined samples from severa1 stocks of cerium metal in order to choose the purest stock for future use in making the alloys. Low-temperature electrical-resistivity data were used to gain initial information about the purities of the stocks. Additional information was subsequently obtained from chemical analyses, density measurements, optical metallography, and electron-micro-probe analyses. Cerium that has been annealed at high temperature and cooled to room temperature has the fee crystal structure (? phase) with a = 5.16Å. When cooled further, in the region between about 250" and 150°K, some of the fee phase transforms to the double hcp form (ß phase) with a = 3.68 and c = 11.92Å. The remainder of the room-temperature fee form (and perhaps some of the hexagonal phase) transforms electronically in the vicinity of 100° K to the more dense or "collapsed" fee form (a phase), a - 4.85A, by transferring about 0.5 electron per atom from the 4f level to the valence band. Very little work related specifically to the effects of impurities on the physical properties of cerium has been reported in the literature. Gaume-Mahn1, 2 has studied the effects of calcium, magnesium. iron, silicon, and tantalum on the electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility of cerium between 60o and 300°K. Gschneidner, Elliott, and McDonald3 have discussed the effects of total impurity content on the hysteresis of the a —? (reversible) transformation and on the formation of the 4 and "a-? intermediate" phases. Smith and Morrice* have reported the effect of total impurity content on the resistivity of cerium at 4 and 293°K. In none of these reports, however, is it apparent that the distributions of the impurities were determined, L.r., whether the impurities were present in inclusions or in solid solution in the matrix is not mentioned; nor does it appear that the phase purity of the cerium was always considered. In the present study, five different stocks of cerium were involved. One was represented by a single sample of electrowon cerium, which was all that had remained from a stock of high-purity material obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Reno, Nev., in 1959. The other four stocks were recently purchased from commercial sources and were specified to be 99.9 wt pct pure. EXPERIMENTAL Cerium stocks designated as #1, #2, #4, and #5 were obtained from commercial suppliers for the specific purpose of finding a reliable source of high-purity cerium. Although the purity level of the cerium was specified to be 99.9 pet, the specifications did not include limits as to the amounts of various impurities that would be acceptable. Consequently the chemical analyses of the different stocks varied widely. Stock #3, which had been obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Mines and which was the purest on the basis of chemical analyses, consisted of a single specimen of electrowon cerium. It was included in the examination for purposes of comparison. Table I contains the chemical and spectrographic-

Jan 1, 1968

By Milton F. Goodrich

The idea of using water-only cyclones to scalp clean coal from the feed to other devices has recently been gaining in popularity.l,2,6 An indication of this popularity is that water- only cyclone scalping is already employed in a few commercial plants. Water-only cyclones scalp the feed to a heavy media vessel in the Warwick plant,3 to Deister tables in the Rowland plant,4 and to a heavy media cyclone circuit in the Amherst Coal Company's McGregor plant.5 Despite this trend, we found surprisingly little information in the literature on the performance of water-only cyclone scalping. Therefore, we undertook a study of its technical merits, limiting our investigation to a water-only cyclone scalper in conjunction with heavy-media cyclones. We felt this to be a reasonable combination of equipment, since both processes operate well on the same size coal. First, we developed simple mathematical relationships revealing general characteristics of the system. Next, we compared the clean coal yield and quality obtainable by the system on four different coals with that obtainable by heavy-media cyclone circuit alone and water-only cyclones middlings recirculation circuit alone. This was done by using computer program to simulate the operation of the three systems. Finally, we considered the effect that implementation of the system would have on a typical preparation plant circuit.

Jan 10, 1978

By David Swan

No mystery shrouds the discovery of chromium. The indefatigable French chemist Vauquelin, in reporting his discovery of this chemical element to 1'Institut National in 1798, concluded his discourse with the statement: "I place before the eyes of the Institute a small quantity of chromium and several of its most re- markable combinations." Working with the so-called "red lead of Siberia, Vauquelin not only prepared numerous chemical compounds of the new metal, but he reduced the oxide to the metallic state. These chemical compounds possessed a variety of remarkably distinctive colors; so, acceding to suggestion, Vauquelin named the new element chrome (chromium), a derivative of the Greek word chroma, meaning color. Siberian "red lead" (crocoite) was not plentiful; however, it was not long before Vauquelin's prediction was realized that the chemical compounds of chromium would become useful in the arts when sources of chromium became more readily available. Although chrome-iron ore (chromite) became obtainable in France, the United States and elsewhere during the early part of the nineteenth century, it is interesting to note that from 1828 to about 1860, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and others of the eastern United States furnished almost the entire chrome-ore requirements of the world. Several countries each in turn have since dominated for certain periods the supply of chromite. In recent years, the largest tonnages have come

Jan 1, 1953

By A. V. Henry, W. Harry Vaughan

THE kaolins of the southeastern United States were known to civilization as early as the latter part of the eighteenth century-and yet the [ ] commercial history of Georgia kaolins may be said to begin in the year 1900. The U. S. Bureau of Mines reported for that year a production of 6885 tons of "miscellaneous" clays in Georgia. A comparison of these figures with those of 1934, when the production rose to 284,556 tons (65 per cent of the domestic production), indicates the growing economic and technologic importance of this raw material. Fig. 1 clearly shows that a part of the increase is due to a normal growth in the use of kaolinitic clays and a part is due to replacement of clays formerly imported. Occurrence Georgia kaolin occurs in an irregular belt extending diagonally across the middle of the state, a distance of approximately 225 miles. This belt

Jan 1, 1937

By G. T. Pruitt, T. L. Irby, P. B. Crawford, H. Ferrell

In water flooding peripheral, center-to-edge, line-drive or water-encroachment patterns the question has arisen, "when should a producing well be converted to a water-injection well?". It is realized that, if the producing well is shut in when water breakthrough occurs, some oil could be left in an unswept area. Yet, operation to high water-oil ratios may require processing much additional water. If a well is shut in, "where should the allowable be transferred?". A review of the literature indicates that very few data are available to the engineer to assist him in answering these questions. It is the purpose of this paper to present information which may be of value in selecting the flooding technique and the injection and producing wells and in scheduling injection and production rates. Certain phases of these problems can be studied in the laboratory. The Potentiometric model is well suited for studying many waterflooding problems. This model assumes that steady-state flow exists, that the mobility ratio is equal to one and that gravitational effects are neglected.'-' The three-phase sand model also has been recognized as an effective means for studying certain reservoir problems. Both models were used in making the study reported here. This paper discusses seven cases utilizing various waterflooding techniques. Data for the first five cases were obtained on the potentiometric model. Data for Cases VI and VII were obtained by constructing and flooding an unconsolidated sand pack (a three-fluid-phase system) and by determining the swept area and cumulative oil recovery for various types of operations. APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE The potentiometric model reservoir was 30 in. long X 10 in. wide by about 1/2 in. deep. Four wells were equally spaced in a line array along the lateral center line. (See Fig. 1.) Well No. 1 initially was an injection well for each of the patterns reported. The cases studied with the potentiometric model and sand model are described herein. The laboratory sand model reservoir was a 30- 10-in. rectangular Lucite vessel packed with sand to a depth of about 0.65 in. Four wells were equally spaced in a line array along the lateral center line. The reservoir material was an unconsolidated sand into which the reservoir fluids were mixed to yield fluid saturations of 55 per cent oil, 25 per cent water and 20 per cent gas. The water was added to the sand and the material mixed, after which the oil was added. Kerosene and water, the fluids used, gave a viscosity ratio of 1.64:1. In packing the reservoir, care was taken to assure constant fluid saturations and constant porosities. A new mixture was prepared for each run. During water flooding, a colored water was injected by a constant rate pump. The injection rate was 1.1 B/D/ft of sand thickness. For this series of tests, each of the producing wells was open to the atmosphere and, as in the potentiometric model study, Well No. 1 initially was an injection well for each of the patterns. KESULTS OF POTENTIOMETKIC MODEL STUDlES Two cases (Cases I and 11) involving equal pressure injections were studied, with the following results. Case Water injection was initiated at Well No. 1; the producing wells (Nos. 2, 3 and 4) were operated at constant and equal bottom-hole pressures. When water broke through at Well No. 2 and achieved the selected water-oil ratio, Well 2 was converted to a water injection well, resulting in two injection and two producing wells. The injection pressures at Wells 1 and 2 were maintained equal and constant; pressures at the producing wells were held equal, but they were lower than those at the injecting wells. A similar process was repeated when water broke through at Well No. 3. The flood was terminated when

By AIME AIME

FEW mining schools possess an art gallery and certainly none can equal the collection of paintings depicting the mineral industries now hanging in the comparatively new building of the School of Mineral Industries at The Pennsylvania State College. Dean Steidle, who conceived the idea, early this spring boasted of 55 paintings in the collection, by 24 different artists, the gallery being appraised at $18,000. Since then, eleven additional paintings have been added. Opportunity will he presented for an inspection at the meeting of the Industrial Minerals Division, to be held at the College, Sept. 24-26.

Jan 1, 1936

By H. D. Newell

Jan 1, 1938

By H. D. Newell

Jan 1, 1938

By D. F. Kelsall

The hydraulic cyclone, in simple or modified form, is finding increasing application in metallurgical processing. In this article, the author considers several aspects of conventional applications, less conventional applications and some potential uses of modified cyclones. Information concerning the mechanism of separation within a cyclone and the effect of the major variables is summarized. During the past twenty years, and especially in the last decade, hydraulic cyclones have found increasing application in metallurgical processing as classifiers and, under special circumstances, as thickeners. To a more limited extent cyclones have been used to extend heavy, or dense, medium separation into the finer size ranges, and several attempts have been made to separate dispersions of immiscible liquids with a view to use in the field of liquid-liquid extraction. A large proportion of published work reports incomplete data, applicable only to particular systems. The more useful papers, covering data of relatively wide significance, have been reviewed recently in considerable detail1,2 and no attempt will be made to cover the same material in the present paper. However, before considering several aspects of conventional application, less conventional applications and some potential uses of modified cyclones, it is considered pertinent to summarize information relating to the mechanism of separation within a cyclone and the effect of the major variables. LIQUID FLOW PATTERNS At any point within a simple cyclone the liquid velocity may be resolved into three components, i.e., the tangential or swirling velocity (v), the vertical velocity (w), and the radial velocity (u). The relative values of these components at selected positions within a typical cyclone have been established for water. 3 The extent to which similar flow patterns exist in systems of considerably higher viscosity, or apparent viscosity, operating under conditions of reasonable pressure drop, is not known with precision, but indirect evidence indicates that up to approximately five centipoise there is no marked change. Beneath the bottom of the vortex finder, envelopes of constant tangential velocity are cylinders coaxial with the cyclone, and, at any horizontal level, starting from near the conical wall, this component of velocity increases with decrease in radius (r) according to the relationship vrn = constant (where 0 < n < 1) This holds to regions near the center of the cyclone where v reaches a maximum value at a radius somewhat smaller than that of the inside wall of the vortex finder. At this point, the centrifugal acceleration, v2/r reaches a maximum value. As the radius is further decreased the tangential velocity decreases so that v = r. Above the bottom of the vortex finder there is a tendency for the first relationship to persist to near the outside wall of the vortex finder, until v reaches a maximum and then decreases rapidly as the wall is approached. The two most significant features of the vertical velocity distribution are an approximately conical Table I. List of Symbols v = liquid tangential velocity at any point in the cyclone w = liquid vertical velocity at any point in the cyclone u = liquid radial velocity at any point in the cyclone r = radius from cyclone axis to any point ? = half angle of conical portion of the cyclone ?= fluid viscosity d = particle diameter s = liquid specific gravity p = particle specific gravity d50 = the particle diameter which distributes 5090 to overflow, 50% to underflow e = overflow diameter, in. b = feed diameter, in. G = gpm of feed slurry

Jan 1, 1963

By James E. Lawver

Efficiency of industrial research and development depends on the ability of engineers and scientists to collect and present data to top management for decisions. In many cases, the data presented are so deceptive that management makes costly wrong decisions. Since management personnel often are selected on the basis of higher administrative quality than technical ability, it is the responsibility of the industrial scientist or research engineer to make certain that the data presented tell a completely ac- curate story of each industrial problem. It is rare that misleading data are deliberately presented, but when this is done, it is? of course, dishonest. The rise of deceptive data usually stems from the lack of knowledge of experimental design and statistical methods of analysis. Most of the better chemical engineering schools have recognized the need for courses in industrial experimentation and many of them offer complete courses at both graduate and un- dergrarluate levels. By contrast, many of the mining and metallurgical schools have not recognized the importance of industrial experimentation courses and some of them, in fact, do not allow credit toward a mining or metallurgical engineering degree for statistical courses even when taken as an elective. The sole purpose of this paper is to make a plea for mining and metallurgical schools to present required industrial. statistical courses for their graduates. It is true that fine industrial research has been accomplished in the past without the assistance of any statistical techniques. Industrial problems have also been solved without the use of digital or analog computers, electron microscopes or other modern conveniences. The fact remains, however, that the correct use of these modern tools tends to reduce the cost of research and to eliminate costly errors. A working knowledge of experimental design and statistical data analysis must simply be viewed as a valuable tool whose proper use will greatly reduce the cost of experimentation and minimize the cost of false conclusions. These statistical methods, however, simply cannot replace fundamental knowledge or, for that matter, "good horse sense". Nevertheless. an experimenter armed with fundamental knowledge and good horse sense but completely ignorant of elementary statistical techniques, may easily present his data in such a deceptive form to cause management to make incorrect decisions.

Jan 6, 1962

By H. C. Kenny

THE annealing or softening temperature of cold-worked copper is appreciably increased by almost unbelievably small amounts of silver. As indicated by some data in this paper, the softening temperature of high-conductivity, tough-pitch copper may be increased from 200° to 350° C. by the addition of only 15 oz. per ton (0.052 per cent) of that element. Because it has this higher annealing temperature as compared with the silver-free metal, silver-bearing copper finds considerable use in industry. For example, when hard-rolled copper is used in operations that involve soldering or tinning, silver-bearing copper insures against loss of strength, whereas silver-free copper becomes "dead soft." Yet-though several investigators, beginning with Caesar and Gerner1 in 1916, have shown that small amounts of silver do definitely raise the softening temperature of copper-data are lacking on the problem: What is the specific influence of different amounts of silver on this tem-perature? It was to help in filling this gap in the knowledge of what might be termed "alloy coppers" that the data given herein were obtained. The softening of cold-worked copper depends, of course, on a number of factors, of which the composition of the material is only one. Other highly important factors are the degree to which the material is cold-worked and the time it-is held at the annealing temperature. The method of cold working and the grain size of the metal produced are also signifi-cant. All these variables were taken into account in the investigation reported here, and the influence of silver on the electrical conductivity and on the working was also considered.

Jan 1, 1934

By A. W. Gauger

Fox perhaps one hundred years scientists have been engaged in attempts at devising a satisfactory method of classification of coal. During this time many charts, tables and graphs have been proposed, some of which have had considerable merit, but no one system has been found to be applicable to all ranks of coal, nor has any one system received general acceptance. In many of the proposals, water eliminated between room temperature and 105° C. has been regarded as extraneous matter and calculations have been made to the air-dry or water-free basis. Such methods of. calculation do not lend themselves to satisfactory grouping of the high-moisture coals.1,2 A consideration not only of the properties of the high-moisture coals and their behavior on drying but of the generally accepted ideas of the coalification process and the role of water in this process indicates that water is an essential constituent of all coals and therefore should not be neglected. For example, in such low-rank coals as the lignites of the Northern Great Plains&apos; deposits the inherent moisture of the lignite as mined plays a very important part in the physical properties thereof. Freshly mined lignite contains upwards of 30 per cent water and is extremely tough and resistant to shock. Upon exposure to the atmosphere, the lump loses part of its moisture and checks and splits, leaving a friable and broken up residue. So far as we have been able to determine, water is the only thing lost in this process and we are forced to the conclusion that moisture plays an extremely important part in the structural properties of the original lignite. With reference to the coalification process, Mack and Hulett3 pointed out in 1917 the important part that water played therein. They observed that water cannot be removed from peat or coal by pressure alone, but only as the result of chemical reaction, and suggested that peat in its early stages may be largely a hydrosol. Slow chemical changes occur over a long period of time until finally the mass becomes more largely a hydrogel. These views are substantiated to some extent by the experi-

Jan 1, 1932

By A. W. Gauger

For perhaps one hundred years scientists have been engaged in attempts at devising a satisfactory method of classification of coal. During this time many charts, tables and graphs have been proposed, some of which have had considerable merit, but no one system has been found to be applicable to all ranks of coal, nor has any one system received general acceptance. In many of the proposals, water eliminated between room temperature and 105" C. has been regarded as extraneous matter and calculations have been made to the air-dry or water-free basis. Such methods of calculation do not lend themselves to satisfactory grouping of the high-moisture coals.1, 2 A consideration not only of the properties of the high-moisture coals and their behavior on drying but of the generally accepted ideas of the coalification process and the role of water in this process indicates that water is an essential constituent of all coals and therefore should not be neglected. For example, in such low-rank coals as the lignites of the Northern Great Plains&apos; deposits the inherent moisture of the lignite as mined plays a very important part in the physical properties thereof. Freshly mined lignite contains upwards of 30 per cent water and is extremely tough and resistant to shock. Upon exposure to the atmosphere, the lump loses part of its moisture and checks and splits, leaving a friable and broken up residue. So far as we have been able to determine, water is the only thing lost in this process and we are forced to the conclusion that moisture plays an extremely important part in the structural properties of the original lignite. With reference to the coalification process, Mack and Hulett3 pointed out in 1917 the important part that water played therein. They observed that water cannot be removed from peat or coal by pressure alone, but only as the result of chemical reaction, and suggested that peat in its early stages may be largely a hydrosol. Slow chemical changes occur over a long period of time until finally the mass becomes more largely a hydrogel. These views are substantiated to some extent by the experi-

Jan 1, 1932

By F. W. Bloecher, A. M. Gaudin

H. H. Kellogg—There is one point that the author has failed to emphasize sufficiently in his paper. What is commonly called the equilibrium contact-angle (the author&apos;s "maximum contact-angle") can have only one value on a smooth, flat, homogeneous surface under a given set of conditions. The equilibrium contact-angle is defined, for such a system, as the angle between the solid-liquid and liquid-gas interfaces, measured through the liquid. The value of the equilibrium contact-angle is uniquely determined by the value of the interfacial energies of the three intersecting interfaces and is independent of other forces in the system. When the liquid-gas interface intersects the solid at an edge—as was the case for all the experiments reported in this paper—the orientation of the solid-liquid interface is indeterminate or varies through 90" for a right-angle edge. Mr. Morris has called the angle between the horizontal and the liquid-gas interface for this edge condition a "static contact-angle." I feel that this term is unnecessarily misleading. In the first place, "static contact-angle" sounds too much like "equilibrium contact-angle." In the second place, the magnitude of the "static contact-angle," which I would prefer to call the "supporting angle," is determined by the forces in the system other than those derived from the interfacial energies, hence "contact angle" is misleading. If Mr. Morris had said that the "supporting-angle" is variable and depends on the weight of the particle and size of the bubble and that it has a maximum possible value equal to the equilibrium contact-angle, his discussion would have been more accurate. T. M. Morris (author&apos;s reply)—Mr. Kellogg puts forth a reasonable criticism of some of the terminology used in the paper. I agree that the term "static contact angle" may be misleading. Substitution of the term "supporting angle" or "vector angle" may be more suitable. F. X. Tartaron—In this paper the author presents a very interesting mathematical development of the forces present when a mineral particle adheres to an air bubble. Excellent concordance is obtained between mathematical formulation and experimental results. It is the writer&apos;s understanding that when the mineral surface presented to an air bubble is greater than the area of contact, the maximum contact angle is obtained. However, this contact angle represents distortion of the bubble, the normal shape of which is spherical or in cross-section, circular. This distortion produces a force that acts in opposition to the force of adhesion between the bubble and particle. Hence, at maximum contact angle, the force of adhesion between bubble and particle is at a minimum for static conditions. However, when the size of bubble is increased, the size of particle remaining the same (and all other conditions remaining the same), the contact angle decreases, the distortion of the bubble decreases and the force in opposition to adherence of bubble and particle also decreases. Thus, there is stronger attachment between bubble and particle. When this situation is applied to actual flotation conditions, it is doubtful that it has any significance. The reason is that the bubbles are normally so much larger than the particles, that in substantially all cases, it is probable that negligible distortion of the bubble takes place. In table IV, the author makes computations for bubbles from 0.50 to 2 mm diam. This is from 0.02 in. to 0.08 in. Certainly the bubbles generated in a flotation machine are far larger than this. The surfaces of the author&apos;s bubbles range from 0.79 to 12.6 sq mm. The area of contact of the glass rod (0.15 mm diam) is 0.017 sq mm. Thus, ratio of bubble surface to mineral area of contact ranges from 47 to 741 in round numbers. If we take a %-in. diam bubble and a 65-mesh (0.208 mm) particle of cubical shape, the ratio of bubble surface to mineral area of contact is 2931. Mineral particles do not readily become attached to air bubbles. Taggart has shown that in pneumatic flotation machines collector-coated particles are only temporarily attached to bubbles. They keep falling off and down in the froth but at a delayed rate as compared with gangue. Spedden and Hannan&apos;s motion pictures confirm the difficulty of attaching particles to air bubbles. In the agitation froth process, according to Taggart, air is precipitated from the water selectively on to the collector-coated particles and these

Jan 1, 1951

By F. W. Bloecher, A. M. Gaudin

H. H. Kellogg—There is one point that the author has failed to emphasize sufficiently in his paper. What is commonly called the equilibrium contact-angle (the author&apos;s "maximum contact-angle") can have only one value on a smooth, flat, homogeneous surface under a given set of conditions. The equilibrium contact-angle is defined, for such a system, as the angle between the solid-liquid and liquid-gas interfaces, measured through the liquid. The value of the equilibrium contact-angle is uniquely determined by the value of the interfacial energies of the three intersecting interfaces and is independent of other forces in the system. When the liquid-gas interface intersects the solid at an edge—as was the case for all the experiments reported in this paper—the orientation of the solid-liquid interface is indeterminate or varies through 90" for a right-angle edge. Mr. Morris has called the angle between the horizontal and the liquid-gas interface for this edge condition a "static contact-angle." I feel that this term is unnecessarily misleading. In the first place, "static contact-angle" sounds too much like "equilibrium contact-angle." In the second place, the magnitude of the "static contact-angle," which I would prefer to call the "supporting angle," is determined by the forces in the system other than those derived from the interfacial energies, hence "contact angle" is misleading. If Mr. Morris had said that the "supporting-angle" is variable and depends on the weight of the particle and size of the bubble and that it has a maximum possible value equal to the equilibrium contact-angle, his discussion would have been more accurate. T. M. Morris (author&apos;s reply)—Mr. Kellogg puts forth a reasonable criticism of some of the terminology used in the paper. I agree that the term "static contact angle" may be misleading. Substitution of the term "supporting angle" or "vector angle" may be more suitable. F. X. Tartaron—In this paper the author presents a very interesting mathematical development of the forces present when a mineral particle adheres to an air bubble. Excellent concordance is obtained between mathematical formulation and experimental results. It is the writer&apos;s understanding that when the mineral surface presented to an air bubble is greater than the area of contact, the maximum contact angle is obtained. However, this contact angle represents distortion of the bubble, the normal shape of which is spherical or in cross-section, circular. This distortion produces a force that acts in opposition to the force of adhesion between the bubble and particle. Hence, at maximum contact angle, the force of adhesion between bubble and particle is at a minimum for static conditions. However, when the size of bubble is increased, the size of particle remaining the same (and all other conditions remaining the same), the contact angle decreases, the distortion of the bubble decreases and the force in opposition to adherence of bubble and particle also decreases. Thus, there is stronger attachment between bubble and particle. When this situation is applied to actual flotation conditions, it is doubtful that it has any significance. The reason is that the bubbles are normally so much larger than the particles, that in substantially all cases, it is probable that negligible distortion of the bubble takes place. In table IV, the author makes computations for bubbles from 0.50 to 2 mm diam. This is from 0.02 in. to 0.08 in. Certainly the bubbles generated in a flotation machine are far larger than this. The surfaces of the author&apos;s bubbles range from 0.79 to 12.6 sq mm. The area of contact of the glass rod (0.15 mm diam) is 0.017 sq mm. Thus, ratio of bubble surface to mineral area of contact ranges from 47 to 741 in round numbers. If we take a %-in. diam bubble and a 65-mesh (0.208 mm) particle of cubical shape, the ratio of bubble surface to mineral area of contact is 2931. Mineral particles do not readily become attached to air bubbles. Taggart has shown that in pneumatic flotation machines collector-coated particles are only temporarily attached to bubbles. They keep falling off and down in the froth but at a delayed rate as compared with gangue. Spedden and Hannan&apos;s motion pictures confirm the difficulty of attaching particles to air bubbles. In the agitation froth process, according to Taggart, air is precipitated from the water selectively on to the collector-coated particles and these

Jan 1, 1951