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By G. P. Halliwell, C. R. Austin

The investigation described in this paper deals with the development of high-temperature alloys of the Konel series over a considerable period of time at t,he Research Laboratories of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. The word ''Konel" has been coined to designate a class of alloys which are essentially nickel-cobalt-iron with other elements added, usually in small quantities. Most of these alloys contain titanium, usually about 2.5 per cent. The main consideration related to strength at high temperatures but the thermionic characteristics of the alloys was also of considerable importance. It is, however, with the mechanical properties at elevated temperatures that we are herein concerned. Much attention has also been devoted to their age-hardening characteristics. There is little need to stress the utilitarian aspect of this subject, as it has been discussed frequently. Alloys exhibiting superior properties at normal or elevated temperatures rapidly find many suitable applications. There may be some question, however, as to what constitutes a "superior alloy," or an alloy that may have good service possibilities at high temperatures. The problem is complex and various means have been employed to predict the useful life that may be expected of a material. In recent years the "creep limitJ' has been used as the best means of evaluation. Such tests necessarily are prolonged and hence collection of data is very slow. In a general survey of many alloys therefore the creep test is not desirable and recourse must be had to much shorter time tests in order more rapidly to select alloys which appear to show promise. For this reason the present survey has been made using the high-temperature tensile test and a bend test developed by Howard Scott.' In the tensile test the conditions have been standardized for all tests, so that values obtained are at least comparable, one alloy with another, although the absolute values recorded merely indicate the mechanical properties at the given temperature under a definite rate of loading.

Jan 1, 1932

By F. E. Bash

About three years ago, the writer presented a paper1 on the rate of heating and cooling of a 24-in. round ingot. The present paper deals with work done on larger ingots at the plant of the Allis Chalmers Mfg. Co., Milwaukee, Wis., in August, 1919. Sufficient data on ingots of all sizes were desired to enable one to calculate in advance the rate at which any ingot could be raised to a forging temperature without injury to the steel, determining also the temperature gradient between different sections of the ingot and the length of time necessary to heat to the center. This has now been experimentally determined for 24-in. and 45-in. ignots by the writer and for a 18-in. cube by E. F. Law.2 J. F. Harper has also made tests on heat-treating temperatures on 30-in, ingots; which data are included in this paper. No attempt is made here to work out a formula for the heat penetration of steel, for too many factors are involved concerning which we have not sufficient information, as for instance, the specific heat of steel up to 2300' F. It is hoped that eventually a set of formulas will be developed so that one may calculate maximum allowable temperature differences within an ingot for any particular kind of steel and the rate of absorption of heat and temperature gradient within the ingot for a definite temperature head. EXPEEIMENTAL INGOT The ingot tested was 45 in. in diameter, having been forged into the shape shown in Fig. 1 from 54 in. diameter. Seven -in. holes were

Jan 1, 1923

By F. E. Bash

About three years ago, the writer presented a paper1 on the rate of heating and cooling of a 24-in. round ingot. The present paper deals with work done on larger ingots at the plant of the Allis Chalmers Mfg. Co., Milwaukee, Wis., in August, 1919. Sufficient data on ingots of all sizes were desired to enable one to calculate in advance the rate at which any ingot could be raised to a forging temperature without injury to the steel, determining also the temperature gradient between different sections of the ingot and the length of time necessary to heat to the center. This has now been experimentally determined for 24-in. and 45-in. ignots by the writer and for a 18-in. cube by E. F. Law.2 J. F. Harper has also made tests on heat-treating temperatures on 30-in, ingots; which data are included in this paper. No attempt is made here to work out a formula for the heat penetration of steel, for too many factors are involved concerning which we have not sufficient information, as for instance, the specific heat of steel up to 2300' F. It is hoped that eventually a set of formulas will be developed so that one may calculate maximum allowable temperature differences within an ingot for any particular kind of steel and the rate of absorption of heat and temperature gradient within the ingot for a definite temperature head. EXPEEIMENTAL INGOT The ingot tested was 45 in. in diameter, having been forged into the shape shown in Fig. 1 from 54 in. diameter. Seven -in. holes were

Jan 1, 1923

By R. I. Jaffee, F. C. Holden, H. R. Ogden

ECENT papers dealing with the properties of unalloyed iodide titanium have been directed primarily at the determination of base-line properties for alloy investigations. Early work was limited to a few tests because of the limited availability of iodide titanium at the time. In the results of papers by Campbell et al.,1 Gonser and Litton,2 Jaffee and Campbell,3 inlay and Snyder,4 and Jaffee, Ogden, and Maykuth, data on mechanical properties are presented for unalloyed iodide titanium in the annealed and cold-worked conditions. Data are presented in this paper which show the effects of heat treatment on the structure and mechanical properties of commercially produced iodide titanium. Correlation is made between microstruc-tural variables and the mechanical properties. Experimental Procedures Melting Stock: The melting stock used was as-deposited iodide titanium, produced by New Jersey Zinc Co. The furnished analysis showed the following range of impurities: N, 0.004 to 0.008 pct; Mn, 0.005 to 0.013; Fe, 0.0035 to 0.025; Al, 0.013 to 0.015; Mo, 0.0015; Pb, 0.0045 to 0.0065; Cu, 0.0015 to 0.002; Sn, 0.001 to 0.01; Mg, 0.0015 to 0.002; and Ni, 0.003. Hydrogen content as determined by vacuum-fusion analysis was 0.0091 wt pct (0.44 atomic pct) after arc melting and fabrication. Nitrogen analysis on the arc-melted and fabricated titanium showed a content of less than 0.002 pct N. The average hardness of the furnished stock was Rf 70, or approximately 85 VHN. Melting Procedure: The as-deposited rods were rolled, sheared, and degreased in preparation for arc melting. The charge was arc-melted with a tungsten electrode in a water-cooled copper crucible under a positive pressure of high purity (99.96 pct) argon. The final ingot was approximately 2 in. in diameter and showed no increase in hardness over that of the initial stock. Fabrication: Heating for fabrication was done in air. It was begun by forging the ingot into a 3/4 in. diam rod, at an initial temperature of 1600°F. Scale was removed by sandblasting. The rod was then swaged to 1/4 in. diam at room temperature through a series of 20 dies, with approximately 10 pct reduction in area between each die. An anneal of 1 hr at 850 °C in air was given after the 1/2 in. die, such that the final cold reduction was 75 pct. Sections cut from this rod were used for test and microstructure specimens. Heat Treatment: Heat treatments were carried out in resistance tube furnaces with stainless-steel linings, under an atmosphere of gettered argon. As further protection against contamination, the specimens were packed in titanium turnings in a titanium sleeve. Control experiments have shown negligible hardness increases with this method, indicating that contamination from oxygen and nitrogen is slight. Three cooling rates were employed in this work; these have been designated as water quenching, argon cooling (to simulate air cooling under a controlled atmosphere), and furnace cooling. The cooling rate for an argon cool is 100°C per min for the first minute, with an average cooling rate of 35°C per min over a 15-min period. A furnace cool requires about 10 hr, with an average cooling rate of 3.6oC per min during the first hour, and an average cooling rate of 1.2°C per min over the 10-hr period. Microimpact Test: The specimen adopted was based on the cylindrical Izod Type Y specimen (ASTM, E23-41T). All dimensions were reduced to half scale, including the notch radius. Specifications are shown in Fig. 1. The specimen is held vertically in an adapter and broken as a cantilever beam. Impact tests were run on a constant-velocity (11.34 ft per sec) Tinius Olsen impact testing machine with a total available energy of 100 in.-lb. Tests were made to determine the correlation between this microimpact and the standard V-notch Charpy impact test. Curves showing impact energy as a function of temperature for both impact tests are plotted in Fig. 2. Transition temperatures, when they occur, are about the same for both impact tests. All three titanium-rich materials have the same conversion factor, 10. Tensile Testing: Tensile tests were conducted on Baldwin-Southwark testing machines using the 600, 2400, or 3000 1b range. Specifications for the test specimen were taken from the 1948 edition of the ASM Metals Handbook, and are shown in Fig. 1. Strain measurements were made using an SR-4 resistance gage (Type A-7) cemented to the reduced section in conjunction with a lever-type extenso-meter. Readings on the SR-4 strain indicator were

Jan 1, 1954

By Frank F. Poland

TEE purpose of this paper-is to describe a new process for the refining of secondary copper-base metals and a specially designed high-temperature electric-resistor furnace used in the process for the distillation of zinc from these metals. The process was used for the conversion of nickel silver to cupronickel and to recover the zinc content in metallic form. It also proved applicable and economical for the treatment of scrap brass for separating and reclaiming the copper and zinc. The relatively large furnace developed for the distillation of zinc is described in detail, for it made economically possible the direct recovery of metallic zinc from scrap brass, which is a new step in the processing of such material. Considerable interest has been shown in the utilization of the distillation furnace for other metallurgical processes, where it is of advantage to operate in a controlled neutral or reducing atmosphere, or to avoid having the processed metal in contact with refractories other than carbon, or to operate at temperatures between 3000 and 4000°F. PURPOSE OF DEVELOPMENT It was recognized early in the war effort that nickel would become a critical metal, therefore all nickel stock and alloys containing relatively high percentages of nickel were frozen immediately. Among these alloys were considerable quantities of various grades of nickel silver, an alloy containing copper, nickel, zinc, and in some grades lead, also minor amounts of iron, manganese and other constituents. At the time there was no existing plant or process to eliminate the zinc, lead, and minor constituents so as to convert this metal to cupronickel, one of the important alloys needed by the U. S. Navy for condenser parts. Therefore the Bureau of Industrial Conservation of the War Production Board requested the executives of the leading nonferrous metal companies to have their metallurgical staffs study the problem of converting this metal to cupronickel conforming to U. S. Navy Specification 44T40. The composition specified therein is as follows: nickel, 29 to 32 per cent; zinc, 1.00; iron, 0.00 to 0.60; lead, 0.05; tin, 1.20; manganese, 0.00 to 1.00; total of other elements (maximum), 0.50; copper, remainder. The problem in converting these alloys to cupronickel was the elimination of zinc, lead, iron, manganese, and other elements without appreciable loss of nickel to slags or other by-products. Revere Copper and Brass Incorporated, through its Research and Development Department, undertook to solve this problem. A Government-owned plant was built at Rome, N. Y., and there the con- version was successfully made.

Jan 1, 1946

By R. D. Parker

LARGEST of any hoist installation ever manufactured in Canada is that being erected at No. 5 shaft, Creighton mine, of the Inter- national Nickel Company of Canada, Limited. It is a bicylindrical conical- drum hoist with the drums arranged in tandem, and driven by two direct- current motors through single reduction gearing. This hoist was designed by the Canadian Allis-Chalmers, Limited and manufactured at their works in Lachine, Quebec.

Jan 1, 1936

By A. E. Wells

In this paper are described various comparative tests made on cracked and straight run gasolines. The results of these tests may be briefly summarized as follows: Samples of 54 to 55° Bé. gravity cracked gasolines, with end point of about 442° F., and with a somewhat larger proportion of the less volatile fractions than conformable to government specifications, were used in a single cylinder variable compression engine under the same conditions as were samples of straight run gasoline of 58 to 59° Bé. gravity, and of which one had a greater proportion of the more volatile fractions than called for in government specifications. The cracked gasolines showed decidedly less tendency to knock, hence could be used at higher compression ratios and thereby developed from 10 to 20 per cent. more power than did the straight run gasolines. These figures may be taken as one measure of the superiority of the cracked gasolines under test with the straight run gasolines. It is not claimed that all cracked gasolines are superior to all straight run gasolines to the extent indicated by the above tests; cracked gasolines vary as do the straight run products. Cross's work and that of others have indicated that certain cracked products may have a much greater superiority over straight run than that determined above. From various sources and by different methods of testing data are being obtained to show the definite and generally quite considerable superiority, as an anti-Cetonating fuel of cracked gasolines over straight run gasolines. It is now becoming generally recognized that by increasing the production of cracked gasoline motor fuel from those heavier petroleum fractions, which otherwise would be used for burning purposes, the petroleum industry is not only working in the interest of the conservation of the world's supply of petroleum, but is at the same time making available to the gasoline-consuming public a product distinctly superior to the straight run gasolines.

Jan 1, 1927

By E. F. Burch, R. W. Schoenberger

This paper deals with an investigation of the use of steam filtration for filter cake dewatering and shows that it may be applied on a practical scale. The advent of larger quantities of minus 1/4 in. coal in the raw feed to the preparation plant and the necessity of recovering this material has made the problem of meeting product moisture specifications more difficult. For a number of years thermal dryers have been used advantageously as a means of reducing fine coal moisture content where the over-all economics would justify such an installation. However, these units are not without their drawbacks because of high capital and operating costs, safety hazards and possible degradation of the product, and thus an alternative method of moisture reduction is highly desirable. After the various mechanical variables associated with filtration have been optimized, an examination of theory shows that surface tension and liquid viscosity are the only two remaining variables which might be altered to reduce moisture content. A lowering of the surface tension within the limits of normal wetting agent dosage results in a rather insignificant decrease in cake moisture content. Not until the dosage is increased to a point well beyond this limit is there an appreciable decrease in moisture. At these high dosage levels, interfacial tension is a major factor contributing to the appreciable moisture reduction obtained. Since no suitable method has been developed to recover and recycle this wetting agent, this phenomena is not of practical significance. On the other hand, a reduction in liquid viscosity has a pronounced effect on cake moisture. While it is readily apparent that one method of reducing liquid viscosity is to heat the entire feed slurry, it is equally apparent that this would not be an economic approach except, perhaps, in certain isolated cases. It does, however, suggest that water circuits should be designed to conserve heat as much as possible and to make use of any waste heat that may be available. The use of hot air as a heat carrying medium for drying porous materials on a filter has been practiced for many years. However, this method is restricted to materials with a high air rate in the order of 100 cfm/ ft2 because of the low heat release per unit weight of air passing through the cake. The normal fine coal filter cake has an air porosity far too low to make this a practical approach. Various types of radiant heating devices have been investigated and can significantly lower moisture content at reasonable thermal efficiency. However,

Jan 1, 1964

By W. Denham Verschoyle

IN designing a pocket instrument whereby any given horizontal or vertical angle may be closely approximated, the following points should be kept in view, if general utility is aimed at 1. The instrument should be light and compact, so that it can be carried in the pocket, or in a sling. 2. It should be capable of observing any angle whatever, horizontal or vertical. 3. Since time is often an important consideration in making a preliminary survey, it should be capable of giving the horizontal and vertical angle at one observation. I do not know of any instrument that will fulfill these requirements, except the one here described. Where the depression- or elevation-angle of the distant object, whose bearing is required, exceeds 50 or 60 degrees, it becomes difficult or impossible with a prismatic compass, for instance, to obtain accurate results; and since it frequently happens, particularly in mining, that much work requires to be done beyond that limit, it is obvious that an instrument which can be used to observe a high angle just as easily as a low one, if not absolutely a necessity, will at least be a great convenience. How this " pocket transit " attains to the required degree of universality will be understood from the diagram, Fig. 1, in which B is a beveled, graduated circle, attached to and freely revolving about the center of the magnet A. Light falling on B is reflected through a window in F (the compass-box), along the line AC, and is again reflected back to the eye at D by the prism C. By a simple arrangement, the sight-line DCE can be completely revolved in the vertical plane DE, which is normal to AC. It is clear, then, that no matter through what vertical

Jul 1, 1907

W. P. WHITE,* Washington, D. C. (written discussion?).-The authors seem to have proved that for a phenomenon as irregular as the one they were investigating there was no perceptible conduction effect in the platinum wire. It should be mentioned, however, that the conduction of heat to and from small wires is not proportional to their surface and might give unexpected value, varying largely with the medium in which the wire was situated. Attempts to eliminate a conduction effect in the wire by extrapolating the curve obtained by using different sizes have in some cases given incorrect results, so that the authors' result should be applied with great care as a guide in other cases. The difference in size of wire employed by them is really rather small. If the desire had been to find out how great the effect was instead of merely to demonstrate its absence, a greater difference of diameter would, of course, have been selected. The sharp gradient immediately in front of the burning portion of the cigar is quite surprising at first sight. The weight of air coming from a flame is considerably greater than the weight of material burned, and it would be thought that this stream of heated air would heat very con-siderably the material not yet reached by the zone of combustion. Pos-sibly the heat is exhausted in evaporating moisture from the material. In that case the cigar is really a sort of regenerative furnace, except that it is not air but the, material which is preheated, and the pre-heating produces dryness rather than increase of temperature. Whether or not this is the case would be shown by finding how hot a thoroughly dry cigar would get.

Jan 12, 1919

By Benjamin Tillson

The hammer drill rightly receives the credit for having made the one-man drill possible, and so many economies seem possible through the proper application of :different types of hammer drills to various mining, quarrying, and, excavating operations, that an indication of the economies effected by the New Jersey Zinc Co. at its Franklin mines may be of pertinent interest. When this company commenced its trials of hammer drills in 1907, these tools had not I been developed to one-fourth the capacity and refinement which they have at present. At that time it was frequently stated that such a small tool, drilling holes of less diameter than the reciprocating rock drill, could not drill enough holes in a shift to permit the placing of sufficient explosive to break a tonnage of ore comparable with that produced by the"' rock drills;" that the placing of small holes inclined upward, at angles steeper than 40° above the horizontal, could not be expected to produce results equal to the large flat, wet or dry, holes in the breasted back of an overhand stope, and would only shatter the ground so as to make the back unsafe. In' spite of these adverse opinions, the hammer drills first showed their superiority over both heavy and light reciprocating drills in raising and in stoping, and then in drifting and quarry work. As a result, all of the reciprocating drills at the Franklin mines were scrapped, three years ago, all of the mining work being accomplished with increased efficiency, as shown in detail in this article. With the advent of the hammer drill in this property, it was considered advisable to make comparative tests of all the tools accessible, and it has since been the policy to investigate the merits of any advance of the drilling art in order to get the maximum amount of work from the tools. The necessity of devising some means of standardizing drill tests, and of measuring the consumption of compressed air as well as the drilling speed, was early realized.

Jan 2, 1915

By Harry H. Power

The Specific purposes of forma! engineering education include training in the basic sciences, the engincering-prob]em method, the rudimentary development of technical skills, an appreciation of values and costs, and an understanding of the art of engineering as distinguished from its science, Two major divisions of an educational program in engineering are recognized: (I) the scientific-technological, and (2) the humanistic-social. Hence, the entire curriculum for the four-year program in specialized petroleum engineering schools must be designed to give the student an initial impetus in the directions indicated. In accordance with suggestions from the Engineering Council for Professional Development, Inore attention is being given to the fundamental approach in the undergraduate curriculum. This paper presents a cross-sectional viewpoint of the various educators in the petroleum engineering schools concerning course contents in the specialized curricula An outline is suggested for the content of the specialized courses wherein the engineering problem method or quantitative approach is emphasized. Although the particular viewpoints of the author have been stressed, yet due acknowledgment is made to a considerable number of petroleum engineering educators and in in industry interested in educational work, for their contribution of course outlines or helpful suggestions with respect to programs that will be of maximum value to students, institutions, and the industry they serve. Although "standardization" of course material is not suggested, the advantage to be gained by cooperative determination of purpose and scope are apparent paiticular1y from 'he standpoint of the proper accreditment of petroleum engineering schools by petroleum engineering educetors who have laid a basis from which to measure educational values. Petroleum engineering has "come of age" and deserves the same careful attention with respect to. curricula that has been accorded other engineering branches. Introduction Engineering schools have a major responsibility to the public, to industry and to the professions they serve. The specific purposes of formal education include training in the basic sciences, the engineering-problem method, the rudimentary development of technical skills, an reciaciation of values and costs, and an understanding of the art of engineering as distinguished from its science. Other purposes implied include the ability to read, write, and speak the English language effectively, an understanding of social and human relationships, a knowledge of the duties of citizenship, a broad appreciation of cultural interests, and an indoctrination in professional standards and relations. Throughout these educational processes is the development in the student of habits of accuracy, thoroughness, powers of analysis, creative ability and integrity with respect to all phases of his work. Major Divisions of Program In the Report of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education,† two † Report of Committee on Engineering Education after the War, dated January 1944.

Jan 1, 1945

By L. Zwell, H. A. Wriedt

In describing their procedure for measuring the lattice parameters of solid solutions, Abrahamson and Lopata report (p. 77) the final heat treatment of their alloy specimens as "700°C for 100 hr, followed by a furnace cool". The isothermal part of this treatment may be expected to precipitate solute in excess of the stable a solid-solution limit at 700°C; the subsequent slow cooling is likely to reduce the dissolved solute still further. Fig. 1 (upper) presents the data for titanium alloys so he;rt-treated and shows the lattice parameters of solid solutions containing up to 3.5 at. pct Ti; Fig. 17 (lower) shows 2 at. pct Ti as the solubility limit in a iron at 700°C. Figs. 1 and 17 are thus incompatible. The paper contains comparable incon~patibilities for zirconium alloys, for niobium alloys, and for tantalum alloys. The final heat treatment at 700°C may also be responsible for the anomalous "knee" in the lattice-parameter data for nickel alloys, Fig. 3. The "knee" composition is located near the 700°C limit of the stable a solid-solution field;37 alloys of the experimental composition range with more nickel than the "knee" composition are two-phase at 700 C and prolonged heat treatment of them at 700°C would tend to produce inhomogeneity rather than homogeneity. In Figs. 4 and 7, the composition ranges of the zirconium, hafnium, and niobium alloys examined terminate at alloy concentrations of 0.1 to 0.2 at. pct. These metals form very stable oxides and their partial removal from solid solution in iron by impurity oxygen may be expected. We believe that the authors should have reported the procedure by which they distinguished the amounts of alloying elements in solution and in oxide. The diagrams pertaining to copper in Figs. 3 and 18 (lower) are almost certainly incorrect. Three recent investigations of this system38-40 all substantially agree on the solubility of copper in a iron, finding it to be much larger than that reported by Abrahamson and Lopata. The change of the lattice parameter with composition reported by Abrahamson and Lopata is too large by a factor of three to five, as seen by comparison with the findings of other investigators.41738 Moreover, the authors violate, in Fig. 18, the accepted Fe-Cu constitution diagram37 by ignoring the eutectoid at about 850°C.

Jan 1, 1967

By William A. Johnson

THE mathematical analysis of diffusion curves in solid metals is Carried out ordinarily by analogy with the flow of heat in a continuous medium and no account is taken of the fact that the materials involved are composed of discrete particles that move discrete distances at irregular intervals. It is possible to treat the problem on the basis of simple assumed atomic mechanisms, in which case, because of the small scale of the elementary process compared to the gross effects observed experimentally, the two procedures lead to the same expression for the variation of concentration with distance. Thus, for engineering purposes, the usual methods are quite satisfactory. If, on the other hand, our purpose is to go beyond the mere collection of data, however desirable this may be, it is necessary to recognize and understand the factors that are of fundamental importance. One factor that has not hitherto been considered when dealing with solid metals is the difference in atomic weights of the isotopes of a single metal. While all the atoms of a given element are alike chemically, their weights may vary by a small but significant amount, and atoms of different weights may have different diffusion rates. With gases this variation in isotopic weight produces a change in the rate of diffusion by a factor inversely proportional to the square root of mass. While, except for the lightest gases, this is not a large effect, it is, for example, sufficient to permit a considerable concentration of one isotope at the expense of others. If metals exhibit a similar phenomenon, some modification of the analysis of the diffusion process will be required, since the different isotopes of a given metal will have different probabilities of moving and the heat-flow analogy will contain a fundamental error. This situation cannot be rectified by using a diffusion coefficient based on the average probability of moving, and it can be shown that even when the diffusion coefficient is independent of composition, the diffusion curve will not agree with the simple theory except in the rare cases where only one isotope exists; e.g., gold. If, however, the mass effect in the solid state were no larger than in the gaseous, the errors arising therefrom in the analysis of ordinary diffusion curves would be quite negligible. Nevertheless, our desire to obtain all possible information concerning the details of the diffusion process, and the possibility of diffusion in the solid state as a means for separating isotopes are cogent reasons for undertaking an experimental study to determine whether isotopes of different masses diffuse at different rates. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE If isotopes of different masses diffuse at different rates, the ratio of the concentration of one relative to another will vary with the distance from the diffusion inter-

Jan 1, 1946

By Thomas M. Dr. Drown

IN experimenting in connection with Mr. P. W. Shimer (now chemist of the Thomas Iron Company, Hokendauqua, Pa.) on methods for the determination of silicon in pig iron, in order to find one which should be accurate and yet give results in a few hours, I have adopted the following procedure, which, as far as my experience goes, leaves nothing to be desired. About one gram of pig iron or steel is treated in a platinum or porcelain dish with 25 cubic centimeters of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1, 2). When action has ceased, 25 to 30 cubic centimeters of dilute sulphuric acid (one of acid and three of water) are added, and heat applied until the nitric acid is nearly or quite driven off. The heat of a water-bath is sufficient, though the process may be hastened by heating higher on a sand-bath. Water is then cautiously added (as soon as the free sulphuric acid is sufficiently cool) and the contents of the dish heated until the crystals of ferric sulphate are completely dissolved. The solution is then filtered as hot as possible, the residue washed first with hot water, then with 25 to 30 cubic centimeters of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1, 12), and finally with hot water. After drying and igniting, the silica will be found to be snow-white and granular. The following are some results obtained by this method compared

Jan 1, 1879

By L. D. Frink

THOSE actively interested in mining are fully aware of the ever-increasing difficulty of making conditions such that efficient work can be clone in underground openings, especially as higher rock temperatures are encountered in depth. This is also true where an effort is being made to cut down the burden of overhead expense by working headings 24 hr. in a day if blasting is done as often as is possible in that time. That the conditions resulting from both these causes have driven the native-born Americans from the mines and that their places have been taken by less efficient foreigners is a fact that we must all admit. The great war now being fought in Europe and the educational qualification clause written into our immigration law by the last Congress will probably limit very materially the supply of labor, such as we are now using in our mines, and will force upon mine operators the necessity of making this work appeal again to Americans. Metal tubing, with blower or exhaust fans, has long been used in supplying air to dead ends where natural ventilation is impossible, or in driving the smoke from such places, or in doing both, as the need might be. Here in Butte we have now come to use canvas tubing very extensively and find that it has many advantages not possessed by the metal. The use of flexible tubing is not new, but it has not been generally used in mining operations. Recent improvements, however, in the canvas itself and in the jointing of sections and manner of suspension have so increased its usefulness that it promises to add much to the efficiency of mining. There is now on the market a product that is impervious to air, is fireproof, and has a system of jointing which, permits it to be put up or taken clown in a few seconds. In this article an effort will be made to explain the manner in which canvas tubing is being used in the North Butte company's operations at Butte, Mont. The accompanying photographs will, I hope, help make clear what may be done with this material.

Jan 1, 1918

By Frederic Benard

PRIOR to 1936, the Ontario Refining Co. received all incoming blister copper from The International Nickel Company's smelter in the usual form of 460-lb. cakes, or slabs. These were received in open cars in lots of 250 pieces. At the refinery the cakes were unloaded onto narrow-gauge cars, for convenient handling and pickup by charging cranes. In March 1936, an investigation was started on the feasibility of transferring converter copper in the molten state from the smelter to the refinery anode furnaces, a distance of 1 ¼ miles. Although common in steel practice, the transportation of blister copper in this form had not previously been attempted and a preliminary study of the various factors involved was therefore necessary. For this purpose, a series of experiments was made in which molten copper, removed at different stages during the furnace cycle, was held in a small portable holding furnace. This vessel was essentially a refractory-lined steel cylinder provided with ports for filling and emptying, heated by an oil burner. Dimensions of the steel shell were 3 ft. 10 in. diameter by 7 ft. 3 in. long, and thickness of refractories depended on the design and combination used for the particular experiment. The vessel was filled with approximately 2 ½ tons of copper at a predetermined temperature, the lining having been preheated to a definite point by means of an oil burner. All openings were well luted and temperature readings were made every 15 min. by means of an immersion-type thermocouple. In this manner the rate of heat loss resulting with different refractory design could be developed. The ratio of exterior surface to weight of metal was taken into consideration in comparing the experimental results with what might be expected for a full-sized unit, and observations were also made on type and degree of slag accretion. It was not possible to get as much information on this latter point as desirable, but all evidence showed that the problem would be control of slag build-up rather than attack on refractories. From the information derived, and in consultation with the engineering staff of the supplying company, an order was placed for the first

Jan 1, 1938

By F. Petkovich, M. P. Sudbury

Development of a new method of treating flotation concentrates for the preparation of feed suitable for direct charging to blast furnaces or converters is described. The method takes advantage of the fact that pyrrhotite contained in the concentrates can be made to undergo exothermic reactions which, under properly controlled conditions, result information of oxidation products that serve to cement the concentrate particles together. Thus green concentrates either in the form of pellets or briquettes containing 5 to 8 pct moisture not only were hardened, but also completely dried autogenously by continuous countercu,vrent shaft treatment with air. The process was developed through pilot plant operations ranging from 35 1b per hr to 2.5 tph, culminating in products evaluation tests on a railway-car scale. Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd., Falconbridge, Ont., have practised sintering, on a travelling grate machine, for many years to prepare a pyr-rhotite-bearing Cu-Ni sulfide flotation concentrate for blast furnace smelting. In recent years the development of new mines, and the construction of concentration plants some 40 miles from the smelter has increased the quantity of concentrate shipped, and encouraged the search for a method of producing dry, hard pellets or briquettes suitable for direct charging to a blast furnace or converter, and capable of withstanding considerable handling. The cementing properties of pyrrhotite oxidation products were discovered during a search for a suitable agglomeration method for sulfide concentrates, and were exploited in a process subsequently developed for autogenously drying and hardening pellets and briquettes of pyrrhotite-bearing Cu-Ni sulfide flotation concentrate. EARLY TEST WORK The production of hard, dry pellets of concentrate filter cake was attempted in the drying plant of one of the new concentrators. While soft pellets were produced containing 5 pct moisture, attempts at further drying resulted in disintegration of the pellets and intolerable dusting. The plant therefore was controlled to produce a concentrate containing about 6 pct moisture. The partially dried concentrate, which was shipped to Falconbridge for sintering, tended to heat spontaneously in transit. An at- tempt to briquette the moist concentrate at Falconbridge, in a plant incorporating a muller, a 20-in. roll briquetting press, and a steam-heated travelling grate oven, was more successful, although the equipment corroded rapidly due to the acid nature of the concentrate after spontaneous heating had occurred. LABORATORY STUDIES OF SPONTANEOUS HEATING OF CONCENTRATE The spontaneous heating of partially dried concentrate was studied in the laboratory. Moist concen-

Jan 1, 1961

By E. V. Kleber, V. F. Novy, R. C. Vickery

The constitutional diagram has been determined in part for the sgstem Gd-Fe. Seven intermetallic compounds have been found at compositions corresponding to the following Gd-Fe ratios; 2:3, 1.2, 1:3, 2:7, 1:4, 1:5, and 2:17. The GdFe, com-pound has a congruent melting point above 18000C, whereas all of the remaining compounds melt incongruently, A eutectic exists at 13 wt pct Fe at a temperature of 860°C. ALTHOUGH an increasing amount of information is becoming available on the metallurgy of pure rare earth metals, relatively few studies have been made on alloy systems of the rare earths with the transition metals; iron, nickel, and cobalt. Even less data are extant on gadolinium alloys although it could be expected that such alloys might possess interesting structural and magnetic properties. In this paper, we report investigation of the gadolinium-iron alloy system. Studies on systems containing nickel and cobalt will be presented in subsequent papers. Previous data on gadolinium-iron compounds have been reported by Endter and Klemm1 and Jep-son and Duwez.2 Both reports agree on the existence of the GdFe2 phase, which crystallizes with the C-15type structure (face-centered cubic). This is in accord with results of the present work. EXPERIMENTAL The gadolinium metal used was prepared by met-allothermic reduction of high purity gadolinium fluoride. A typical analysis of the metal thus produced indicated the principal impurities to be oxygen, 0.24 pct, and tantalum, 0.2 pct. The iron metal used for alloying was a reagent grade material. Alloys were prepared by arc melting mixtures of the respective metals. Appropriate quantities of the two component metals were carefully weighed, blended and compacted. The compacts were then melted in an arc furnace consisting of a water-cooled copper hearth plate and a water-cooled tungsten-tipped counter electrode contained in a brass vacuum chamber. The furnace was evacuated to an absolute pressure of less than 1 with the leak rate established as being less than 20 per min. The furnace was then back-filled to a pressure of 25 mm of Hg, with a 75 pct He-25 pct Ar mixture. Arc melting at 25 v and 300 amp was maintained for about 30 to 60 sec until the entire visible area of the sample became molten, by which time surface tension had drawn the molten metal pool into a large bead. After allowing the furnace to cool, the alloy button was inverted and the melting process repeated. A series of melts was made covering entire composition ranges from 100 pct Gd to 100 pct Fe. All samples were examined metallographically in the as-melted condition. As the phase diagram became rationalized, and differential thermal analysis had given indications of temperature arrests, annealing was carried out in vacuo or in argon. Generally, compositions containing more than about 60 pct Gd were heat treated at 750°C and alloys containing less than this quantity of gadolinium were annealed at 1000°C. Prolonged annealing times were of the order of 100 to 200 hr. Metallographic examination was repeated on the annealed materials. Although little material loss was noted during alloy preparation, chemical analyses were made on all specimens prepared. The following standard, analytical techniques were used. Samples were dissolved in hydrochloric acid; insoluble material was filtered off, ignited and fused with potassium pyro-sulfate. The cold melt was leached with dilute acid and the solution thus obtained added to the main sample solution. Gadolinium was always determined gravimetri-callv as oxide from oxalate ignition. Iron was removed from an aliquot sample by electrolysis on a mercury cathode at approximately six volts. Gadolinium in the iron-free electrolyte was then precipitated as oxalate which was subsequently ignited to oxide. Iron was determined volumetrically in an aliquot solution by reduction with stannous chloride fol-

Jan 1, 1962

By Robert D. Pike

IN November 1939, on behalf of the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., the author undertook the study of the problem of utilizing the dolomite of northwestern Ohio for the manufacture of calcined magnesia suitable for use in refractories. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the unfailing assistance and encouragement throughout this work from the executive and technical staff of Harbison-Walker Refractories Company. The dolomite of the Niagara formation that is exposed or near the surface of a wide area in northwestern Ohio1 constitutes a vast supply of almost pure dolomite. It offers a virtually unlimited supply of cheap raw material of uniform dependable analysis for the manufacture of magnesia. A typical analysis of dolomite from the vicinity of Luckey, Ohio, follows: [ ] Brines containing magnesium chloride or sea water can be reacted with calcined dolomite to produce magnesia.2,3 In such reactions the MgCl2 of the brine supplies some of the magnesia and the amount of dolomite required is thereby reduced by an equivalent amount, but brines of commercial importance containing magnesium chloride are some distance away from the purest grades of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio. It was decided therefore to concentrate upon the development of a suitable process for separating the lime and magnesia of dolomite, depend¬ing upon the dolomite itself as the sole source of magnesia. This would make it possible to place a plant at the dolomite quarry, thus eliminating the cost of transporting the stone and also rendering the calcined magnesia available at a most convenient production point, considering the cost of delivery throughout the steel industry. The selection of a process depending solely upon the dolomite as a source of magnesia also necessarily entails production of the lime content of the dolomite as a by-product. It was recognized that if such a lime by-product could be produced in a suitable form, a plant location in northwestern Ohio would also be advantageous for marketing the lime. The problem, therefore, was the discovery and development of a low-cost process for separating the magnesia and lime of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio and producing each in a form relatively free from the other, and meeting the respective requirements of established markets. A satisfactory solution of this problem has been found, and it is the

Jan 1, 1947