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By Rollin A. Pallanch

THE Midvale mill of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company is situated on a flat site whose elevation is 50 ft above that of the Jordan River. Tailings are impounded in the area between the river and the flat upon which the mill and railroad switchyard are located. The water supply is pumped from the Galena canal which leads from the river at a point some ten miles to the south. The mill has a present capacity of approximately 1700 tons daily. It started out originally in 1926 as a 750 ton three-unit plant. The tonnage was gradually increased to 1200 tons by 1934, and in late 1935 a fourth unit was added. The accompanying flowsheet shows the principal equipment and how it is utilized. The ore is principally sulphide with varying degrees of oxidation, with individual lots ranging widely in both precious and base metal content. In each of the four individual units of the mill there will often be mixtures of as

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert Mehl

THE importance of the Widmanstätten structure to structure theory in metallography has been recognized by many writers.1 It is a structure produced by the precipitation of a new phase from a solid solution upon cooling as a result of changing solid solubility, and displays a characteristic appearance indicating a crystallographic relationship between the new phase and the original solid solution (Fig. 1). First discovered in 1808 by Alois de Widmanstätten2, the structure has been traced by analogy through many alloy systems. Particularly is this true of the steels. Sorby's classic work3 on the microstructure of iron and steel was in essence an attempt to explain the origin of this characteristic structure in meteoric iron. He observed in a Bessemer steel and in a cast-steel ingot structures which we now recognize as typical Widmanstätten figures.4 Osmond5 observed structures in a steel ingot analogous to those found in meteorites. Arnold and McWilliams6 obtained (and recognized) a

Jan 1, 1930

By A. J. Mortlock

Cobalt and nickel have been diffused at tracer concentrations in gold at several temperatures in the range from approximately 700° to 950°C. The diffusion penetration profiles were determined by a serial sectioning technique in which the gold is first anodized and then the anodic layer is dissolved in acid. In this ulay sections as thin as 250A could be removed reproduci-bly. In all cases, the region close to the specimen surface was characterized by irregular behavior in the sense that the logarithm of concentration was not linear in the square of the penetration distance. In sotne cases, there zuas an indication of the operation of very slow dijfusion in this region, while in others the apparent diffusion coejj'icient was negative. Possible reasons for this anomalous behavior are briefly discussed. In recent years it has been found that the region close to the surface of a metal can sometimes exhibit anomalously slow diffusion characteristics relative to the interior of the metal. One of the best examples of this fact is the work of Styris and omizuka,' who showed that the apparent diffusion coefficient for zinc in the region withi: about 1 p of the free surface of copper was about ,,,, that at deeper penetrations. This result is particularly interesting, because it is free from the possibly complicating effects of low solubility of the diffusing tracer in the solvent metal. In the case of diffusion under conditions of low solubilitjr, interpretaticn of the results in terms of lattice diffusion is difficult because of the enhanced short-circuiting produced by segregation to dislocations.2'3 Measurements by Duhl et 1. suggest that cobalt diffusing in gold may also show a near-surface effect of this type. Once again the solubility is high, so that this result could be of great interest. However, the technique used for analyzing the diffusion penetration zones by Duhl, viz. the counting of residual gamma activity in the specimen following sectioning, appears to have indicated a near-surface effect in a parallel experiment on the self-diffusion of gold reported at the same time. The latter result is known to be spurious, since Kidson5 has demonstrated that self-diffusion in gold does not show this effect. Duhl et 01. also reported some measurements on the diffusion of nickel in gold, but failed to give any data for the near-surface region. As the solubility of nickel in gold is high, such data would also be of special interest. We, therefore, decided to conduct another set of experiments on the diffusion of nickel and cobalt in gold, using a sectioning technique that allows the individual sections to be assayed for solute content and thus gives direct determinations of penetration profiles. Also, by sectioning with an anodizing/stripping tech- nique, very thin layers can be removed and the region close to the surface studied in detail. MATERIALS The gold specimens were supplied as single crystal disks $ in. in diam by a in. high by Monocrystals Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. The gold itself was of spectro-scopic purity, i.e., better than 99.99 pct pure. METHOD Specimen Preparation. One flat end face of each gold crystal was spark planed with a Servomet spark erosion machine set for minimum spark energy. Following this treatment the crystals were preannealed for 2 to 4 days at temperatures of either 400" or 700°C. The three crystals preannealed at 700°C showed signs of recrystallization. The spark-planed end face of each crystal was then coated with the appropriate amount of 63i or 60 radioactive tracer. This deposit was laid down in a simple plating bath containing the as-supplied solution of the radioactive isotope as well as sufficient ammonium oxalate to saturate the solution. Some ammonium oxalate remained undissolved on the floor of the bath for this purpose. During plating further additions of ammonium oxalate were sometimes required to allow the plating to continue satisfactorily, perhaps due to passivation of the undissolved oxalate already present. The thickness of the deposited layer was determined by comparison of the apparent surface activity of the plated specimen with that of a similar specimen having a weighable deposit of the isotope on its end face. Correction for self-absorption of the radiation was made in this calculation. Annealing. The deposited crystals were annealed in a hydrogen atmosphere in sealed silica tubes. During this heat treatment they were supported, active face down, on optically flat silica plates. The temperature was measured with calibrated Pt vs Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouples, and the tabulated values can be taken to be correct to Z°C. All the crystals showed evidence of recrystallization following these heat treatments, suggesting that initially they may not have been good single crystals or had suffered strain during delivery. Concentration Profile Analysis. After annealing, the crystals were sectioned by the anodizing-stripping technique.6 The anodizing involved suspension of the specimen with its cylindrical axis horiz6ntal by a gold wire in a 200-ml beaker containing 1 M Hg304. A cathode in the form of a strip of gold sheet, 2 in. wide and positioned to be in contact with the curved side of the beaker, completely encircled the specimen. An anodizing current of 30 ma, corresponding to a current density of 5 ma per sq cm on the surface of the specimen, was passed for times ranging from 5 to 150 min depending on the thickness of gold to be removed; the solution was stirred continuously during this process. Following this treatment, the specimen

Jan 1, 1969

By Donald M. Liddell

ALTHOUGH the midday lunches of business associations have been re-echoing the phrases that re- search would lead us out of the depression and that the last place to economize is on research, nevertheless most executives apparently concluded that it was their neighbor who ought not to economize in research, and that in their own plants what had been discovered in 1929-30 was sufficient to lead them out of the wilderness. At any rate, I have discovered much less that seems worth noting, and compared with 1931, the report volume of the committee members is off about 40 per cent, and compared with 1929, about 80 per cent. Evidently there is some hookup with the +tee1 industry as to output, and the Report Reading Committee should investigate this and the relative use of commas and periods.

Jan 1, 1933

By L. A. Walker

DURING the past twelve years the underground shaft of the United States mine at Bingham has been sunk an additional 2000 ft. with stations and pockets cut every 200 ft. without interrupting the mining of 600 tons of ore per day and the advancing of 1500 ft. of development per month. Following is a brief description of the way the joint work is conducted. The vertical underground shaft is a three-compartment shaft with outside dimensions of 6 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 6 in., and inside dimensions for each compartment of 4 ft. 2 in. by 4 ft. 8 in. The manway compartment of the main shaft is used as the hoisting compartment in sinking operations; it is partially lined with 2 by 12-in, lagging and a bucket is used without guides or crosshead. Preparatory work includes the placing of a bulkhead in the manway compartment, 60 ft. above the lowest station or level, the installation of a hoist, a head sheave, a fleet sheave, a-signal system, air and water lines, and a trap door for handling waste.

Jan 1, 1937

By Fred W. Gordon

It is my purpose to call attention to the close approximate correctness of certain coefficients and formulas concerning the flow of gases, and their applicability to the practical construction of flues and

Jan 1, 1886

By Owen Rice

CHANGES in coke hardness affect the working of the blast furnace, for soft coke is an obstacle to proper furnace operation. Soft coke is due to a low hydrogen-oxygen ratio in the coal charged; increasing this ratio increases the hardness of the coke. The best means of determining the hardness of coke is the combined tumbler and ball-mill. Soft coke is a great hindrance to proper blast-furnace operation and changes in coke hardness affect the working of the furnace. The best method of determining the hardness of coke is by using a combination tumbler-ball-mill. Soft coke is due to a low hydrogen-oxygen ratio in the coal charged. An increase of this ratio improves the hardness of the resulting coke. WHAT IS GOOD COKE? It is not always appreciated that the correct answer may be such a reliable forecast to the physical condition of the blast furnace, and incidentally its entire operation, that among the ordinary variations in other raw materials and also in operating conditions, it assumes a position of primary significance. Inasmuch as coke forms two-thirds of the total bulk of material charged, this assertion will not seem exaggerated, and in the subsequent discussion its applicability will be presented. Coke is the ideal blast-furnace fuel because it is strong and hard enough to resist the crushing and grinding effects of the furnace burden, and its porosity allows the ready passage of gas upward through the charge, and rapid combustion before the tuyeres. Coke deprived of its strength and with a cell structure physically frail and chemically susceptible to solution by carbon dioxide, has its chief asset eliminated. When the melting zones are approached the fluid cinder trickling toward the hearth will envelope the small pieces of coke and form a sticky mass that will retard the free passage of gas. Blast pressure will then rise, driving

Jan 1, 1921

Discussion of the paper of E. S. Moore, presented at the Colorado meeting, Sep-tember, 1918, and printed in Bulletin No. 135, March, 1918, p. 687. W. F. SMEETH, * Bangalore, Mysore, India (written discussion ? )-Before dealing with the air blasts, I would like to clear up a geological point. The author states that the matrix of the conglomerate resembles a hornblende schist. This is a, misapprehension. The conglomerate

Jan 10, 1918

By Tokio Yanagida

Major parameters relating to the operating of the conventional calcine-charged reverberatory f'ce process such as distribution coefficients of major elements among slag, matte, blister, and gases, temperatures and weights of intermediates, and heat losses of furnaces were measured and determined. A computer program to estimate heat and material balances at the process was prepared utilizing these data, showing a good agreement with actual results.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. E. Rice

The ceramic industry has to do with forming or molding articles of clay, and imparting to them their characteristic properties of permanence, strength and color by subjecting them to heat treatment in kilns. This heat treatment is commonly known as "firing" or "burning." The art of firing clay ware antedates the industrial use of coal; hence wood was the fuel first used, and the earliest kilns were built to burn wood. The majority of the clay ware produced today is fired in periodic kilns that are essentially enlarged structures similar to the earliest enclosed kilns; a kiln consists of a large chamber 16 to 32 ft. dia. (or rectangular) in which the ware is charged and fired either in direct contact with flame or hot gases from the fuel, or in saggers which shield the ware from direct contact with the gases. The fuel is burned in a number of small furnaces built in the thick wall that encloses the chamber; these furnaces are from 16 to 36 in. wide and from 3 to 5 ft. long; some of them have horizontal or sloping grates, but many have no grates; the last are called "dead-bottom" furnaces. The temperature necessary to mature the charge in the kiln varies for different clays; for some it is as low as 1800°, and for others as high as 2700" F. Wood was an ideal fuel for the low temperatures that were used in early kilns; it burns freely and produces a long, clean flame, which promotes uniform distribution of the heat in the kiln; it does not coke and so restrict the passage of air through the fuel bed; the ash does not melt in the fuel bed to form clinker; and the ash that is carried into the chamber and deposited on the charge does not contain iron and sulfur to discolor the clay. The extent of the ceramic industry now precludes the general use of wood in kilns, so that today this industry is one of the large users of bituminous coal, burning more than eight million tons annually in kilns. Manufacturing plants usually are at or near the source of clay, with deposits of coal suitable for kilns occurring near the clay. The cost of coal is the largest single item of expense in the manufacture of clay ware, and, because all coals are not equally suitable for the process, the careful selection of coal is important. In this selection the desidera-

Jan 1, 1932

By N. Plint, E. T. Pinkney

Copper segregation developments within the Anglo American Group are described with particular reference to the work of the TORCO Project Team. Some radical differences have been adopted in the mechan-ical approach as compared with methods used by previous workers. Most important among these are the following: (1) The heating unit is a fluidized-bed roaster. (2) A moving bed segregation chamber is used in which a packed bed of heated ore, to which reagents have been added, moves slowly downwards under gravity and is discharged at a controlled rate by means of a suitable valve mechanism. (3) The quantities of reagents used (sodium chloride and some form of carbon) are only a small fraction of those recommended by other investigators. (4) Retention times of only 2 min have been satisfactory for the complete segregation of many types of ore. Project TORCO is the code name given by Anglo American Corp. of South Africa, Ltd., to the investigation undertaken in Zambia to develop a plant capable of treating large tonnages of refractory copper-bearing ores by the segregation process. The process has now been under investigation for six years (1960-66) and during that period work has progressed from bench-scale laboratory tests through small-scale pilot-plant work to a 500-tpd commercial pilot unit. Test work has been carried out mainly on the ores of the Zambian Copperbelt and results have been encouraging. Recoveries on the order of 90% have been obtained on all Copperbelt ores tested with high concentrate grades. PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION Laboratory scale segregation test work on Nchanga banded sandstone ore and oxidized ore from Kansan-shi was originally conducted by Professor Maurice Rey. SociCtC Miniere et Mktallurgique de Pefiarroya, in 1957. Both ores responded favorably to the process. In November, 1960, the consulting engineers of Anglo American Corp. of South Africa, Ltd., initiated preliminary investigations on the application of the segregation process to Copperbelt ores. In early laboratory work, samples were heated in a closed, externally heated tube furnace for one hour at temperatures ranging from 800 to 830°C. The free moisture content of the ore feed was 4% and reagent additions were 0.5% salt and 1.0% coal. Both salt and coal were pre-crushed to -48 mesh Tyler.* All samples except an ore from the Bancroft mine responded well to the process and recoveries of over 90% were obtained. The presence of dolomite was responsible for the relatively poor recoveries from the Bancroft ore, as tests on one of the other ores with additions of calcite or dolomite confirmed. Recoveries dropped from 94 to 45% Grades of all the rougher flotation concentrates produced were low at 10-15% copper. The laboratory investigation was then followed up on a pilot-plant scale. An attempt was made to carry out the segregation process in a coal-fired 5-ft-diam fluidized-bed roaster. The feed consisted of a banded sandstone from Nchanga to which 0.5% sodium chloride had been added. Reducing conditions were maintained in the roaster by the addition of coal in excess of that required for heating the feed. The excess coal and added salt constituted the segregation reagents and the temperature of the bed was held at approximately 750°C. Recoveries of copper and grades of concentrates were low. The reasons for lack of success were: (1) The reaction is a gaseous one and a fluidized-bed roaster is therefore unsuitable as a segregation unit. (2) Coal in excess of that required for heating was introduced into the fluidized bed and under these conditions some of the copper would be reduced in situ. The term "reduced in situ" is used here to describe any copper mineral reduced to the metallic state in its original site within the ore particles. If this copper is to be recovered by subsequent froth flotation it must first be liberated from the gangue by grinding or some other method which, in practice, is usually not feasible on ores of this type.

Jan 1, 1969

By C. C. McDermond

In reviewing petroleum development in Venezuela during the year 1936, it is well to bear in mind certain factors that affected progress, although not directly connected with the oil industry itself. At the start of the year, when the present Federal Administration took over the reins of government, reaction against the former regime resulted in some popular uprisings. Although these were entirely political in character, they were not without their effect on the oil industry itself. Such popular agitation really ended with a short general strike in Caracas, Maracaibo and other cities during June, these strikes being based on demands for certain changes in government policies. The strikes were duly investigated and their motives taken into consideration by the executive power or by Congress, and during the year many of the civil, political and administrative laws have been revised. In June and December, however, it was necessary to suspend activities in drilling and production work, particularly in the Lake Maracaibo Basin area. In June a strike caused a five-day shutdown in the main producing fields and on Dec. 14 labor difficulties resulted in a shutdown that continued to the end of the year, which necessitated suspension of all drilling and production in the Lake Basin area and curtailment of shipments to deep-water terminals. Actually, the strike lasted for a period of 42 days, until Federal intervention brought the dispute to a close with minor wage increases to workers hut with no loss of initiative or independence on the part of the oil companies. Operations in eastern Venezuela were not affected by the labor disturbances, production and exports having been reduced in December only in the Lake Basin fields. Well Completions On Jan. 1, 1937, a total of 3384 wells had been completed throughout Venezuelan fields, as compared with 3094 on Jan. 1,1936. Of these wells, 2005 were producers. The 290 completions effected during 1936 were by the following operating companies: Lago Petroleum Corporation, 123 completions; Dutch Shell group, 104; Standard Oil Company of Venezuela, 46; Mene Grande Oil Co., 15; British Controlled Oilfields, Ltd., 2.

Jan 1, 1937

By Frank T. Sisco

DURING the past year the iron and steel industry of the world as a whole operated on a satisfactory basis. No discoveries nor new processes of outstanding importance were announced either here or abroad, although rumors of such were persistent. In general, the efforts of operating and research men in the iron and steel industry seemed to be confined to improving quality and reducing cost, not a new aim, for the same efforts have been noted in nearly all of the annual reviews of the industry for at least fifty years. Most published papers on blast furnace or steel-making practice were of minor importance, at least when judged by the criterion of radical change in process or product. If the number of reports in the technical journals, or articles in the trade press, is used as a basis for comparison, continuous-mill sheet is still the most important single product of the industry; papers were published detailing the results of the investigation of various phases of the

Jan 1, 1938

By R. T. DeHoff

A theoretical development is presented which reformulates Fick's first law for diffusion in the solid state. The diffusion flux of component i in a multi-component system, Ji, is related to its local concentration, ci, and local jump frequency, ri : where a is a geometric factor and d is the jump distance. The product, ciri , is defined as the local concentration of atomic jumps for component i. The analog to Fick's second law is also derived. A solution to this equation is presented, which permits the experimental determination of the variation of atom jump frequency with composition in multicomponent systems. HISTORICALLY, the description of diffusion in the solid state has been presumed to be best approached as an application of more general diffusion laws, known as the phenomenological equations. These equations relate the flux, Ji, of the various components, expressed in atoms, grams, or volume, to the driving force involved, expressed as either a compositional or chemical potential gradient, sumption that the flux is simply proportional to the driving force is the foundation of this approach. The phenomenological equations take the form: where the concentration gradients are assumed to be the driving force, and: if the chemical potential gradient is taken as the driving force. The coefficients Dij in Eq. [1.] are the "diffusion coefficients"; the elements of the corresponding matrix in Eq. [2], the Mij, are called the "mobilities". Eqs. [I] and [2] may be considered to be definitions of these phenomenological coefficients. A formidable body of literature has been generated about these equations; this literature dates back to their original formulation for the simplest case of binary diffusion in a fluid, by Adolf Fick, in 1855.' This description has been shown to be self-consistent. However, the "constants of proportionality", the Dij or ,Mij, are not constant: they vary with composition in all but the simplest systems. Even in the case of tracer diffusion, wherein it can be shown that the diffusion coefficient is constant, the mobility, which is considered in irreversible thermodynamics to be the more physically meaningful quantity, varies with the concentration of the tracer involved.' In more complex systems, it is necessary to evaluate the entire matrix of phenomenological coefficients, as a function of composition, in order to describe diffusion locally. Further, in order to determine this matrix experimentally, it is necessary to produce diffusion couples that have different sequences of compositions; the matrix may be evaluated only at points where these "composition paths" cross.* Finally, and perhaps most

Jan 1, 1969

By T. M. Drown, P. W. Shimer

The precipitation of phosphoric with titanic acid, by boiling an iron solution which had been reduced to the ferrous condition by sulpharetted hydrogen or sulphurous acid, was first noticed by E. H. Bogardus in 1874.* Since that time, as far as we are aware, not much has been published on the relation of these two acids to each other, and to silicic acid, in the ordinary course of analysis of iron ores. The following investigation may perhaps aid in clewing up some of the obscure points in the analysis of titaniferous ores. THE DETERMINATION OF PHOSPHORUS. From two to five grams of the finely powdered ore are weighed into a beaker and treated with about 50 c.c. of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1.12), evaporated to dryness, and heated ih an air-bath for

Jan 1, 1882

By E. Topuz, S. S. Bhamidipati, M. Bartkoski

Air Leakage in underground mines is the most common cause of inefficient distribution of ventilating air. Depending upon various factors, more than one half of the fresh air entering a mine short-circuits to the return airways before reaching the working faces. Consequently, large leakages create an additional demand for increased intake air, which substantially affects the efficiency of a mine system. This paper deals with the identification of the physical variables of air leakages and offers an overview of the methods of measuring leakage.

Jan 1, 1982

By P. F. Allen

WITH capacity of 51,000 tpd, the Morenci concentrator produces approximately 49,000 tons of tailing for final deposition. Disposal involves distribution of thickened tailing to dams in such a manner that solids can be used for dam construction and water can be impounded for reclamation. During early operation, although tonnage treated was lower, it was necessary to use orthodox disposal practices in the areas available for tailing. Trestles mounted on a series of dams, constructed of borrow material, carried the pipelines from which tailing were spigoted behind the dams. When adequate disposal areas were finally established, it became desirable to look for more efficient methods. The idea of placing the distribution pipe or manifold directly on the crest of the dam was advanced in 1945. After a period of testing, that procedure in modified form replaced the older trestle arrangement. Marked economies resulted, and time required to prepare dams for succeeding storage cycles was greatly reduced. The tailing disposal area for the Morenci concentrator lies south and southwest of the concentrator building. Ample storage space is available. A wide valley contains three sharply defined ravines lying on an average slope of 4 pct. The more central of these ravines, and the largest of the three, is known as Morenci canyon, which provides substantially more tailing storage area than the other two. Stargo canyon lies to the west; the other is appropriately named East canyon. Total area of the tailing disposal site is nearly 31/4 sq miles, or about 2000 acres. The storage area in use was somewhat more than 850 acres at the end of 1954, or 16 acres per 1000 tons of tailing to be stored daily. At the present time none of the east side dams are in regular use but they are available in emergency. There are five dams on the west side (in Morenci and Stargo canyons) as well as two auxiliary dams adjacent to No. 4 West and No. 5 West. This has made it possible to concentrate men and equipment in a smaller area with consequent savings in both manpower and machinery. Tailing Thickening: Tailing from the flotation process reaches the thickeners with a solid content of about 18 pct. The launder carrying this pulp is subdivided at a central point into seven launders carrying a proportional share to each of seven tailing thickeners, which are located in Morenci canyon close to the concentrator. Five of these thickeners are 300 ft diam and two are 325 ft diam. Thickeners are of the peripheral traction type and rakes travel at the rate of one revolution in 37 to 39 min. The entire installation provides 500,000 sq ft of settling area, or approximately 101/2 sq ft per ton of tailing to be thickened daily.

Jan 1, 1957

By C. G. Black

THE purpose of this paper is to present data obtained from an investi-gation conducted on the grindability of coal by the American Society for Testing Materials Tentative Standard ball-mill method. This investiga-tion has been conducted over a period of a year, during which time several hundred tests were run on a wide selection of different coals coming from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. The data herewith presented tend to show that the tentative standard ball-mill method might give results that are misleading and that a volume measure might be more indicative of the true grindability 'of materials of varying specific gravity. A means whereby the time element might be reduced has been studied and other phases of this work such as preparation of samples, mechanical screening, reporting results and duplicating tests have been investigated. It is hoped that all criticism offered in this paper will be taken as constructive, with the purpose in mind of perfecting the method now tentative to show the true conditions and of making optional the manner in which certain parts of the test might be conducted to meet diversified laboratory conditions.

Jan 1, 1936

By Herbert A. Stein, John B. Murdock

AN analysis of perlite expansion furnaces must be based upon one consistent theory which explains how and why perlite does expand when heated. There is more than one such theory, so to establish a basis for the rest of this paper, the authors will outline one theory and the data that support it before going into the construction details of different furnaces. JOHN B. MURDOCK, Associate Member AIME, is President, and HERBERT A. STEIN is Secretary, of the Perlite Corp., Phoenix, Arizona. San Francisco Meeting, February 1949. TP 2736 H. Discussion of this paper (2 copies) may be sent to Transactions AIME before Feb. 28, 1950. Manuscript received Jan. 3, 1949. Why Perlite Expands: Perlite is known to contain some dissolved or combined fluid, probably water, which is lost when the material is heated to fusion. It is generally agreed that when particles of this volcanic glass are heated to fusion in such a way that vaporization of this water into steam takes place at the same time as the glass becomes soft, the steam puffs up each particle into a mass of glass foam. It is a simple matter to expand perlite under a blow torch for demonstration purposes, but in commercial installations, the problem is made more complicated by the necessity of making efficient use of both raw material and fuel, and producing an expanded aggregate conforming to close specifications for size distribution and density, using many different types of perlite rock. The ability of a given operation to fulfill these requirements depends upon the proper handling of four variables. They are: (1) the nature of the perlite rock used, (2) the heating time taken to get the perlite particle up to its highest temperature, (3) the size of the particle, and (4) the maximum temperature the particle reaches. Types of Perlite Rock: Perlite may be classified in many ways, but the characteristics most easily correlated with its behavior in furnaces are its softening temperature, its effective water content, and its "liveliness." Actually there is a close correlation among these three characteristics so it is possible to describe a perlite using any one of them. Lively perlites always have low softening temperatures and high effective water contents, whereas the deader perlites have higher softening temperatures and lower effective water contents. These softening temperatures run from 1400°F to above 2000°F and the effective water contents run from over 2 pct down to 0.2 pct. Included in the category of lively glasses are the green pitchstone from the Edgar claim in Superior, Ariz., the red pitchstone on the Animas highway south of Lordsburg, N. Mex., and a gray glass from Beatty, Nevada. Examples of intermediate perlites (in order of decreasing liveliness) are the Guzman-Lobb perlite with obsidian

Jan 1, 1951

By Herbert A. Stein, John B. Murdock

AN analysis of perlite expansion furnaces must be based upon one consistent theory which explains how and why perlite does expand when heated. There is more than one such theory, so to establish a basis for the rest of this paper, the authors will outline one theory and the data that support it before going into the construction details of different furnaces. JOHN B. MURDOCK, Associate Member AIME, is President, and HERBERT A. STEIN is Secretary, of the Perlite Corp., Phoenix, Arizona. San Francisco Meeting, February 1949. TP 2736 H. Discussion of this paper (2 copies) may be sent to Transactions AIME before Feb. 28, 1950. Manuscript received Jan. 3, 1949. Why Perlite Expands: Perlite is known to contain some dissolved or combined fluid, probably water, which is lost when the material is heated to fusion. It is generally agreed that when particles of this volcanic glass are heated to fusion in such a way that vaporization of this water into steam takes place at the same time as the glass becomes soft, the steam puffs up each particle into a mass of glass foam. It is a simple matter to expand perlite under a blow torch for demonstration purposes, but in commercial installations, the problem is made more complicated by the necessity of making efficient use of both raw material and fuel, and producing an expanded aggregate conforming to close specifications for size distribution and density, using many different types of perlite rock. The ability of a given operation to fulfill these requirements depends upon the proper handling of four variables. They are: (1) the nature of the perlite rock used, (2) the heating time taken to get the perlite particle up to its highest temperature, (3) the size of the particle, and (4) the maximum temperature the particle reaches. Types of Perlite Rock: Perlite may be classified in many ways, but the characteristics most easily correlated with its behavior in furnaces are its softening temperature, its effective water content, and its "liveliness." Actually there is a close correlation among these three characteristics so it is possible to describe a perlite using any one of them. Lively perlites always have low softening temperatures and high effective water contents, whereas the deader perlites have higher softening temperatures and lower effective water contents. These softening temperatures run from 1400°F to above 2000°F and the effective water contents run from over 2 pct down to 0.2 pct. Included in the category of lively glasses are the green pitchstone from the Edgar claim in Superior, Ariz., the red pitchstone on the Animas highway south of Lordsburg, N. Mex., and a gray glass from Beatty, Nevada. Examples of intermediate perlites (in order of decreasing liveliness) are the Guzman-Lobb perlite with obsidian

Jan 1, 1951