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By Mark Sheppard

DURING the winter of 1937, the writer visited a West Virginia stone quarry at which the overburden is stripped hydraulically. The quarry is in a bed of limestone, about 200 ft. thick, which outcrops on a hillside above a small river; the quarry face is 175 ft. high. The top of the stone is cut in all directions by erosion channels, which are filled with a tough, red clay. Some of the larger channels are 30 ft. deep and 8 ft. wide. The thickness of the clay overburden ranges from a few inches to 10 ft., the average being estimated as less than 3 feet. The topography of the district is rugged, and the hillside above the quarry face is not suited to the use of the usual mechanical methods of moving dirt. Until hydraulicking was started 10 years ago, the over- burden was dug by hand labor, dumped to the quarry floor and transported to the dump in quarry cars. Cleaning deep channels was a slow and expensive process. When hydraulicking was started, the top of the quarry face was over 200 ft. above the level of the river. The pipe line was carried in a semi- circle around the top of the quarry about 200 ft. from the face and about 50 ft. above it. As there is no adequate supply of water above the quarry, the water must be pumped from the river. As quarrying progressed the pipe line was moved until the discharge points are now over 300 ft. above the river. Water is pumped from the river by a four-stage centrifugal pump having a 5-in. intake and a 4-in. discharge. It is direct-connected to a 200-hp., 2300-volt, 1760-r.p.m. induction motor. At 1760 r.p.m. the rated capacity of the pump is 750 gal. per minute under a head of 600 ft. The pump is installed in a house of frame construction on the river bank, about 10 ft. above normal water level, which also houses the pump for the mill-water supply. Above the pumps are hoisting bays into which the motors are raised whenever the river reaches flood stage. An 8-in. suction line, equipped with a strainer and a foot valve, takes the water from a concrete sump at the edge of the river. The pipe line from the pump consists of 1750 ft. of 8-in. spiral steel flanged pipe and 800 ft. of 4-in. spiral steel flanged pipe. The connection from the pump

Jan 1, 1938

By J. F. Wolff

EXPLORATION of Lake Superior iron ores is done principally by drilling. The soft iron ores are churn drilled and the harder ores are diamond drilled. In exploratory work in the harder formations, where the diamond drill is used, the sample comprises both core and cuttings. The care given in handling and preserving the core depends on the im-portance that may be attached to certain characteris-tic strata in different formations. The following instructions for the care of core samples are issued by the Oglebay Norton Co. for diamond drill work done for them on the Gogebic Range of Michigan: The driller shall be careful upon removing the core from the core-barrel to keep the core in exact order. Not only should the pieces of core be kept in exact relation to each other, but care should be used not to turn them end for end. Core should be placed in the core-box from left to right in each row. Each drill should be furnished with small, hinged cover core-boxes, and each drill should be well supplied with empty boxes. Core remaining at the drill when the drillers are not working should be locked up. The practice of picking sample pieces of core and carrying them away from the drill to be examined in better light, or shown to someone else, is unnecessary and prohibited. The reason for this is that these pieces are seldom returned to the core-boxes and valuable information or "markers" may be lost. If the inspector suspects that a critical point is reached in the drilling and he cannot determine at the drill, he should remove the entire core-box and see that the drill is immediately furnished with an empty core-box. It is customary to split the core longitudinally so that one-half may be ground to a pulp for analysis and the other half may be kept for future inspection. The core should be filed in permanent core-boxes, properly labelled, if the core is to be kept in exact order as taken from the core-barrel. Otherwise, it is often filed in tin boxes inn the way that sludge samples are filed. To obtain the average analysis, the core and cutting samples obtained in the same run are analyzed separately and the analyses are combined in the proper ratio.

Jan 9, 1922

By Joseph F. Oesterele, Richard S. McCaffery

This investigation was undertaken to determine the quality of different iron blast-furnace slags as desulfurizing agents, and the possibility of using, in the blast furnace, materials of higher sulfur content than is now common. The solution of the problem would render possible the use of higher sulfur iron ores for pig iron and cokes containing more sulfur than now employed, and the economic manufacture of irons and steels of lower sulfur content. It is generally assumed that the sulfur that reaches the lower part of the iron blast furnace is removed from the pig iron by combining with lime to form calcium sulfide. Most of the sulfur introduced with the charge is in combination with iron or manganese or, perhaps in the coke, as a carbon compound.1 The iron and manganese sulfides are more soluble in the iron than is calcium sulfide, and as the latter is generally said to to be more soluble in the slag than the iron and manganese sulfides, this greater solubility of calcium sulfide in the slag tends to free the metal from sulfur. This greater solubility of the calcium sulfide is used not only to reduce the sulfur contents of the pig iron in the blast furnace, but by this means also low-sulfur steels are produced in the open-hearth and electric furnaces. The reaction2 FeS + CaO + CO = Fe + CaS + CO2 requires a high temperature and strongly reducing conditions in the presence of lime. The constitution of blast-furnace slags, first studied scientifically by Vogt13 indicated certain ranges of composition of the slag in which a

Jan 1, 1923

By Richard S. McCaffery, Joseph F. Oesterele

This investigation was undertaken to determine the quality of different iron blast-furnace slags as desulfurizing agents, and the possibility of using, in the blast furnace, materials of higher sulfur content than is now common. The solution of the problem would render possible the use of higher sulfur iron ores for pig iron and cokes containing more sulfur than now employed, and the economic manufacture of irons and steels of lower sulfur content. It is generally assumed that the sulfur that reaches the lower part of the iron blast furnace is removed from the pig iron by combining with lime to form calcium sulfide. Most of the sulfur introduced with the charge is in combination with iron or manganese or, perhaps in the coke, as a carbon compound.1 The iron and manganese sulfides are more soluble in the iron than is calcium sulfide, and as the latter is generally said to to be more soluble in the slag than the iron and manganese sulfides, this greater solubility of calcium sulfide in the slag tends to free the metal from sulfur. This greater solubility of the calcium sulfide is used not only to reduce the sulfur contents of the pig iron in the blast furnace, but by this means also low-sulfur steels are produced in the open-hearth and electric furnaces. The reaction2 FeS + CaO + CO = Fe + CaS + CO2 requires a high temperature and strongly reducing conditions in the presence of lime. The constitution of blast-furnace slags, first studied scientifically by Vogt13 indicated certain ranges of composition of the slag in which a

Jan 1, 1923

By George A. Grandy, D. W. Fuerstenau

Simulation of nonlinear grinding systems is discussed in the context of the size-discretized batch-grinding model. A linear approximation of environment-dependent (or nonlinear) selection functions is postulated for systems which exhibit feed grinding orders less than unity. For this, a convex linear combination of zero and first-order selection function forms is used to obtain an analytical solution that can be used for simulation. An example in which marked nonlinear behavior occurs is rod-mill grinding. Accordingly, a series of grinding experiments was carried out in a batch laboratory rod mill to test these techniques; agreement between experiment and the model was found to be very good. Recently, significant progress has been made in the simulation of linear grinding systems by using a population balance mathematical model. Herbst and Fuer-stenaul presented a parameter estimation scheme that can be used with the size-discretized batch-grinding model, and Gumtz and Fuerstenau3 have extended these techniques to the simulation of locked-cycle grinding. Grandy et aL." summarized the simulation of linear systems and noted important alternate solutions to the batch-grinding equation. Kelsall et a1.'-" discussed the dynamic simulation of linear batch grinding, as well as linear open and closed-circuit grinding. In all of these, the key word is linear, which certainly restricts the engineer trying to simulate a variety of grinding systems. This paper discusses an approach for the simulation of non-linear grinding systems, particularly those which exhibit grinding orders less than unity. Experimentally, dry rod-mill grinding is used to evaluate the technique presented. Batch Grinding Model The size-discretized batch-grinding model has been discussed in detail by Mika et al.'.' and by Herbst and Fuerstenau,' and therefore, will only be briefly developed here. The model is formulated by making a differential mass balance of each size fraction in such a manner that the equation parameters are precisely defined in terms of selection and breakage functions,' which can be either calculated'.' or estimated1 from experimental data. The model is phenomenological because it averages all stress-application events in the system and, therefore, does not distinguish the manner in which individual particles are stressed.' For this average environment, the resistance of all particles in a size fraction to breakage is defined by that size-frac-tion's selection function; and when fracture occurs from an average event, the breakage product size distribution is defined again by that size-fraction's breakage function. The model is deterministic and is derived in terms of a continuous time variable and a discretized size variable,' i.e., the n mass fractions associated with the n defined size intervals (see Table 1 for nomenclature).

Jan 1, 1971

By Maynard H. Jameson

EARLIER investigations of the potential-drop-ratio method of electrical prospecting have indicated that under suitable conditions this method is well adapted to the location of formation boundaries in stratified ground. A description of this development was given several years ago by H. Lundberg and Th. Zuschlag.1 The curves published by these authors for the potential-drop-ratio variation above a horizontal contact indicated a definite relation of the position of the curve peak to the depth of the interface. The theory underlying this relation was subsequently studied by Z. Mitera in greater detail,2 and the theoretical deductions were compared with the results of tank experiments. The investigations available at this writing were confined to studies of horizontal formation boundaries. It is the purpose of this paper to extend the scope of the previous work to the problem of dipping layers. THEORY Consider the case of three media of different resistivities, whose interfaces are not parallel. If a point-source is located in one of these interfaces, its images do not lie in a straight line, but on the circumference of a circle whose center is at the hypothetical junction of the interfaces. R. F. Aldredge3 determined the relation that exists between the degrees of dip of the two interfaces and the distances between the various images and the point for which the potential is to be found. As seen in Fig. I, three media of resistivities po, pi, and p2 are involved, and the source I is located at the interface of the media (po) and (pi). The perpendicular depth of the lower interface is h,? is the dip, R is the distance between source I and potential point P, and r is the distance between the images and that point. To distinguish between images lying above the ground interface and those below, the notation "odd" and "even" images will be employed; images below the ground interface will be termed "odd" and those above "even." The following relations govern the distances between either kind of images and the potential point: [ ] As previously pointed out, the images of the source are on the circumference of a circle. If the angle of dip is ?, the angle measured from the horizontal to the first image is 2? to the second image it is 4?,, and so on. Since the limit of the reflecting interface is at its outcrop, the last possible

Jan 1, 1941

By A. J. Goss, M. Tanenbaum, W. G. Pfann

THE purification of two metals, antimony and tin, by zone refining is described, and a reciprocating method of passing molten zones through a straight ingot, which effects a considerable economy of time and apparatus, is discussed. Antimony has been used extensively as a doping agent in germanium and silicon. More recently, it has become important in the preparation of new semiconducting compounds such as InSb, GaSb, and AlSb. High purity is especially necessary in this latter use, since the antimony may comprise as much as 80 pct by weight of the compound. Antimony is generally available in a commercial form of about 99.8 pct purity. Column 1 of Table I is a typical emission spectra analysis of commercially available 99.8 pct antimony. Zone refining has been quite successful in increasing the purity of such samples. Columns 2 to 4 of Table I are analyses of an ingot of the antimony of column 1 after the passage of seven molten zones in an atmosphere of nitrogen. The ingot length was 9 1/2 in.; the mean zone length was 2 in.; convection was the only means of stirring. The column headings are sample locations in inches from the leading end of the ingot. The results illustrate both the merit and a limitation of zone refining. It is seen that four of the five impurities—nickel, arsenic, lead,

Jan 1, 1955

By H. W. Weart, D. J. Mack

SINCE the first recognition of eutectic solidification as the simultaneous formation of 2 solids from one liquid,1 many complex structures thus produced have been observed. Despite many attempts to ascertain it, however, the detailed mechanism by which these structures develop remains obscure. In an attempt to clarify the origin of eutectic structures, the study described in this paper was undertaken. The broad objective of the study was to investigate the effect of different solidification conditions on the structure of single eutectic grains. It was expected that the eutectic structure would thereby be isolated for study, but preliminary experiments revealed another structure within each grain. When a literature surveye revealed only 1 previous mention of the subgrain structure,' it was decided to determine the origin of the structure and to study its response to various growth conditions. Before presenting the details of the investigation, it is apropos to distinguish carefully among the 3 structures produced during eutectic solidification. This is especially desirable in view of the apparent confusion existing in the literature concerning the structures in a eutectic specimen. The confusion is due largely to the existence of the subgrain structure noted above which is easily mistaken for the grain structure. In the following paragraphs, an effort is made to distinguish the 3 structures by briefly describing their origin during solidification, even though the results are thereby anticipated slightly. The 3 structures produced during eutectic solidification are the grain structure, the colony structure, and the eutectic structure, each one contained by the one preceding it. The grain structure is analogous to the polycrystalline structure of a metal or inle-phase alloy in that each grain grows from a single nucleus. A somewhat broader interpretation is needed here, however, because of the presence of 2 phases in each grain. Since in most eutec-tics particles of 1 phase are dispersed in a matrix of the other, a grain may be taken to be the region in which the matrix phase is monocrystalline.*

Jan 1, 1959

By F. C. Oliphant, George H. Fancher

Two samples of drilling mud from the Hastings oil field, Texas, were tested, and the solids in each were separated into small fractions of a limited range in particle size. The mineral composition of each fraction by X-ray analysis is reported, and the results are interpreted in relation to other measured quantities, such as the physical properties of the original samples and the density of the various fractions. It was found that only 7 to 8 per cent by weight of the solids was of colloidal dimensions and that neither of the samples contained montmorillonite but did contain illite. Considerable calcite was also found. These data should be useful to the geologist interested in the origin and history of sedimentary strata as well as to the petroleum engineer. Introduction The questions, What is good drilling mud? What constitutes bad drilling mud? are pertinent, because the proper use and control of drilling fluids has been a factor of great importance in the successful drilling and completion of oil wells since the days of Captain Lucas. Adequate control of the characteristics of drilling fluids has assumed greater significance comparatively recently because of the problems introduced by caving formations in deep wells, costly blowouts and impressive mud bills. Much is known about the solution of some of the problems but, despite extensive research directed toward a better understanding of the physical and chemical properties of clay suspensions, it is difficult to define precisely a drilling mud, and much more difficult to say what constitutes a good mud. It is generally believed that the smaller particles of a drilling mud greatly affect its physical properties. In fact, it is customary to blame the colloids in a mud for nearly everything that goes amiss, because colloidal properties have effects out of all usual proportion on viscosity, filtration rate and reaction to electrolytes. It is germane to know whether drilling muds possess colloids and if so, the quantity and kind. Source oF Samples Two drilling muds from the Hastings oil field, Brazoria County, Texas, were selected because it is generally agreed that in this oil field good natural muds made solely from formations penetrated by the drill can be used until the well is nearly ready for completion. Customary drilling procedure in this field is to spud in with water, set a protective string of pipe, drill to 2500 ft. and set the surface casing. Drilling is continued to 5500 ft. with no treatment of the drilling fluid other than addition of water to

Jan 1, 1943

By F. C. Oliphant, George H. Fancher

Two samples of drilling mud from the Hastings oil field, Texas, were tested, and the solids in each were separated into small fractions of a limited range in particle size. The mineral composition of each fraction by X-ray analysis is reported, and the results are interpreted in relation to other measured quantities, such as the physical properties of the original samples and the density of the various fractions. It was found that only 7 to 8 per cent by weight of the solids was of colloidal dimensions and that neither of the samples contained montmorillonite but did contain illite. Considerable calcite was also found. These data should be useful to the geologist interested in the origin and history of sedimentary strata as well as to the petroleum engineer. Introduction The questions, What is good drilling mud? What constitutes bad drilling mud? are pertinent, because the proper use and control of drilling fluids has been a factor of great importance in the successful drilling and completion of oil wells since the days of Captain Lucas. Adequate control of the characteristics of drilling fluids has assumed greater significance comparatively recently because of the problems introduced by caving formations in deep wells, costly blowouts and impressive mud bills. Much is known about the solution of some of the problems but, despite extensive research directed toward a better understanding of the physical and chemical properties of clay suspensions, it is difficult to define precisely a drilling mud, and much more difficult to say what constitutes a good mud. It is generally believed that the smaller particles of a drilling mud greatly affect its physical properties. In fact, it is customary to blame the colloids in a mud for nearly everything that goes amiss, because colloidal properties have effects out of all usual proportion on viscosity, filtration rate and reaction to electrolytes. It is germane to know whether drilling muds possess colloids and if so, the quantity and kind. Source oF Samples Two drilling muds from the Hastings oil field, Brazoria County, Texas, were selected because it is generally agreed that in this oil field good natural muds made solely from formations penetrated by the drill can be used until the well is nearly ready for completion. Customary drilling procedure in this field is to spud in with water, set a protective string of pipe, drill to 2500 ft. and set the surface casing. Drilling is continued to 5500 ft. with no treatment of the drilling fluid other than addition of water to

Jan 1, 1943

By Alan Morris

BRASS rod for use in automatic screw machines is one of the major products of the brass mills. A large tonnage is consumed each year in the manufacture of an endless variety of finished articles and parts for assembly into other products. The machines that do this work have been developed to a high degree of efficiency, and their manufacturers are still striving for higher production speeds. This development has brought with it a demand for brass rod to meet the increasingly difficult machining conditions. This paper is a report of the results of tests undertaken in an effort to obtain a measure of the effects of such variables as lead content, microstructure and cold work on the machinability of brass rod. It is realized that the term "machinability" has never been well defined. Power, finish and tool life all should have a place in such a. definition. In practice it is sometimes found necessary to sacrifice some of these in order to obtain a rod that will not tend to throw up a burr, or will give a burr which is easily tumbled off. Again a specially stiff rod may be necessary because of long overhang from the chuck or a rod of special characteristics is needed to take a given broaching operation without chattering. It is only through an understanding of the effect of basic mill operations on the machinability of the rod that such problems as these may be solved most economically. It is hoped that this paper, together with the discussion it may evoke, will prove to be a basis for such an understanding.

Jan 1, 1932

By D. S. Choi, H. von Schonfeldt, H. D. Dahl

The design of pillars around a longwall panel in which the effect of the adjacent and worked-out panel is taken into consideration is discussed. A mathematical model is used to duplicate field observations such as opening closure and pillar rib movement. The model is then used to predict the effect of changes in mining geometry on the opening stability.

Jan 1, 1976

By H. W. Smith, A. K. Bjerring

A nonlinear dynamic model for a flotation cell is developed, using a number of simplifying assumptions, the most important of which is that of essentially complete liberation in the feed material. Using this model, a complete dynamic model for a flotation circuit is developed and calibrated against steady- state process data. The dynamic response of the circuit to disturbances in input feed rate and composition is simulated, as is the response of a linearized and simplified model on which control design might be more easily based. Preliminary results indicate the practicability of the modeling technique. However, difficulties in matching steady-state operating conditions in one process stream, and the apparent importance of recycle streams as indicators of process operation, indicate that inclusion of at least one species of middling particle in the model should be considered.

Jan 1, 1969

By O. C. Ralston

The use of copper sulfate for improving the flotation behavior of sphalerite is probably at least 15 years old. The original discovery of its activating influence is somewhat obscure. The story goes that in the mill at Mascot, Tenn., its favorable action was discovered by accident, early in 1914, as follows: The original laboratory test work on a sphalerite ore gave favorable flotation results, but after a mill had been built the flotation concentration of the ore was very unsatisfactory. In diagnosing the probable reasons, one fact pointed out was that the laboratory test machine had been constructed of bronze whereas the commercial machine allowed pulp to come in contact only with wood and iron. A plate of sheet copper was hung in the flotation machine and results immediately improved. At first fanciful explanations of electrolytic and electrostatic behavior were given credence, but when the copper plate was removed and a small amount of copper sulfate substituted in the pulp an even more favorable result was obtained. Toward the end of 1914 copper sulfate was also adopted in the acid flotation circuit of the Butte and Superior Copper Co. Just who is responsible for the original discovery the present writers do not know. It seems strange that in that era of flotation litigation this discovery was not patented. While for pragmatic purposes it [nay be sufficient to know that the mere addition of copper compounds to a flotation pulp is sufficient to activate the flotation of the sphalerite, for scientific purposes it is quite desirable to know more about how the action takes place. It is the purpose of this paper to present certain evidence dealing with the mechanism of the beneficial effect. The description of the effect as activation in contradistinction to depression is now common in both the English and German languages. It makes no assumptions as to whether the zinc sulfide surfaces have been filmed with copper compounds. In fact, the principal differences of opinion expressed in the literature deal with whether there is an actual formation of CuS (or even Cu2S) on the surface of the sphalerite. Activation of sphalerite takes place in alkaline, neutral or weakly acid solutions and whereas the present day flotation of sphalerite is usually in ah alkaline solution, the early use of copper sulfate was in a sulfate solution.

Jan 1, 1930

By Maurice Ewing, L. Don Leet

The most important quantitative method in seismic prospecting by refraction shooting is the method of profiles. A profile is established by firing a series of charges at various points along a straight line which terminates at the seismograph. The same data are obtained by repeatedly firing charges at one place and recording at a series of stations along the line of the profile. The quantities which are measured are the distance x from each firing position to the seismograph and the time t required for the first disturbance from each explosion to travel to the seismograph. These data are used in plotting the familiar time-distance graph. The only time-distance graphs that will be considered here are those obtained in localities where the velocity of propagation depends solely on the depth beneath the surface; that is, where there is no slope in the subsurface. The essential calculation to be made from such a time-distance graph is the determination of P(x), the maximum depth of penetration of a disturbance coming to the seismograph from a firing point at the distance x from the instrument. If the time-distance graph consists of a series of straight lines, as is often the case, the penetration P(x) can be calculated by means of formulas which appear in almost every description of seismic prospecting.' Until the present, however, the only formula that has been available for calculating P(x) for time-distance graphs which are smooth curves is one which requires an arbitrary assumption regarding the law of velocity increase with depth.2 The practice in these cases has been to approximate the curve by means of a number of straight lines and then to apply the ordinary straight-line formulas. This method clearly can yield accurate results only when a sufficiently large number of straight lines is used. The labor of computation increases rapidly when the number of lines is increased, so too few lines often are used. Further than that, there is a strong tendency to overlook the approximate nature

Jan 1, 1932

By Leslie G. McMillion

A field project to develop and demonstrate a method for alleviating problems of highly mineralized ground water where they occur as isolated zones or pockets in fresh-water aquifers is being conducted in the Ogallala aquifer of eastern New Mexico by the Robert S. Kerr Water Research Center. Removal of contaminated water is by a large-capacity well and the pumped poor-quality water is used locally for secondary recovery of oil. Benefits of the operation are threefold in that the aquifer is being reclaimed for future fresh-water production, contaminated water is being used beneficially, and fresh water which otherwise would have been used for waterflooding is available for other purposes. Ground-water quality in the site has improved markedly after two years of operation. Use of water in the arid and semiarid Southwest has grown so rapidly that demands in many localities far exceed available supplies. In the High Plains region of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, the only large sources of water are underground reservoirs, being depleted at an alarming rate. In some parts of this region, the aquifers contain pockets of highly mineralized waters; and the mineralized waters in some of them have started spreading in response to the drawdown effects of pumping wells. The aquifers of this region are primarily composed of sand and gravel beds; any cleanup by natural processes will require many tens or even hundreds of years. Most of these pockets of highly mineralized water were caused by oil-field brines seeping downward from earthen disposal pits. Thousands of these pits were in use in the region until only a few years ago when they were prohibited by the oil regulatory agencies of the respective states. The resulting areas of poor quality water are serious enough to warrant much corrective attention. Correction will involve one or more of three approaches: 1) Restrict the pumping of fresh water in the zones where the drawdown of the pumping well will significantly influence the movement of the contaminant. 2) Remove the highly mineralized water entirely from the affected area. 3) Develop and pump the poor-quality water in such a manner that its movement is held in check, even though only a part of the contaminant is actually removed. The principal hurdle to overcome in applying methods 2 or 3 is financing of the operations, since there are very

Jan 1, 1972

By D. H. Davis

HAND picking was the earliest form of coal preparation, first practiced to improve the outward appearance of the coal being loaded and to remove any pieces that might appear objection- able to the buyer. It is still extensively practiced on the plus 1-in. sizes and particularly on the plus 4-in. and larger sizes. The percentage of ash reduction that can be obtained by hand picking depends entirely upon the amount of free impurity occurring in the coal. In a particularly dirty seam, where a considerable quantity of rock occurs with the coal as mined, hand picking produces sizable reductions in ash. If the coal is prepared clean at the working face hand picking is a final check; in some cases, on the smaller sizes, it is practiced only to show that an effort is being made to prepare a clean product. Because of the variety and different methods of handling coal, the early plants were not always adapted for efficient hand picking. At most mines an attempt is made to remove the visual impurities at one or more of the following places in the surface plant? (1) in the tipple during screening; (a) on picking band, belt, or shaking conveyors;*(3) during the loading of the coal as it goes into the railroad car. Whatever the physical arrangements of the plant may be, the usual practice is to run the coal over the screen, picking table or boom at such a rate that each piece of impurity is exposed to the view of the picker. Coal should be uniformly sized and spread out on the table so as not to exceed one particle in depth. The flow should be even in tonnage and the speed of travel should be from 30 to 60 ft. per minute and not exceed 80 ft. per minute. The dirtier the coal, the slower the speed required for a fixed number of pickers. Actually, picking capacity depends on the number of particles per minute that can be picked out and rejected. The percentage of impurity removed is determined by this and the average weight of piece rejected. Handling a mixture of sizes from nut to the largest lump over the same picking table or conveyor is not conducive to efficient separation by hand picking because the lump hides the smaller

Jan 1, 1943

By R. T. DeHoff, L. J. Buteau, J. Kronsbein

Network topology is introduced and used to describe sinter bodies at various stages of the sintering process. The matrices of incidence, loop-branch. tree-branch, and cut-branch are constructed and their relationship to the three-dimensional void space and the common two-dimensional bounding surface is established. The sintering body is assunzed to remain connected but this is not so with the void space. The topological invariants known as Betti numbers are related to this observed fact and provide parameters which measure the progress of the sintering process. They are extracted from the matrices by means of known algebraic operations. Experimental procedures are given which permit actual construction of the various matrices and determination of the Betti numbers by serial sectioning of the sinter bodies. A sinter body is produced by exposing a large number of metallic particles (0.00001 to 0.3 in. diam) to a temperature that is near but below their melting point. When these particles are maintained at such a temperature for a sufficient length of time, it is found that the interparticle contacts become welded. As time increases, these welds, often referred to as necks, grow. All of the space between the particles constitutes a single connected void; an ultimate consequence of sintering is the breaking up of the void into separated parts. A mathematical apparatus for describing the geometric characteristics of a sinter body at each stage of the process was first proposed by F. N. Rhinesl when he introduced the application of topology to this problem. He described the sinter body in terms of one of its topological invariants, the genus. The most important advantage of a topological description is invariance with respect to continuous deformations. This means that particle sizes and shapes need not be considered, resulting in considerable simplification and generalization of the geometric description. In the case of a sinter body, wherein the internal geometry is particularly complex, the simplification provided by topological concepts is absolutely essential. The important parameters in the Rhines model are the number of particles and the interparticle contacts. The invariant considered called genus is given by Euler's formula for the connectivity of two-dimensional surface of the sinter body. This surface includes the pore-solid interface. The Euler formula is G = C - P + 1 [1] where C = number of interparticle contacts, P = number of particles, and G = genus of the surface bounding the sinter body. In topology the term genus may be used to mean the number of self re-entrant cuts that can be made on a closed surface without dissecting it into more than one connected surface. Its use is restricted to the surface and does not apply to the three-dimensional volume enclosed or excluded by it. In the case of sintering, the volume enclosed by the surface is defined as the sinter body; the volume excluded will be referred to as the void space. There is an intrinsic reason for using genus as a characteristic number associated with a sinter body. The genus is related to the Gaussian curvature by the integral of the product of the principal curvatures taken over the entire surface of the sinter body, as given by

Jan 1, 1965

By D. E. Coates, G. R. Purdy, S. V. Subramanian

The morphological stability of the planar solid-liquid interface in dilute ternary alloys, undergoing steady-state unidirectional solidification, is analyzed in terms of both the constitutional supercooling principle and the perturbation methods recently developed by Mullins and Sekerka. First, various steady-state solutions for the two solute distributions ahead of a planar interface are examined. The nature of the solutions depends on the size and concentration dependence of the off-diagonal diffusion coefficients. W~thin the framework of the constitutional supercooling principle, a cumulative contribution to instability frorn the two solutes is found to exist in the absence of diffusional interaction. It is shown that the latter can produce a further enhancement of instability or can have a stabilizing influence, depending on the form of the liquidus surface and on the sign of the solute-solute interaction. A perturbation analysis, which ignores diffusional interaction, verifies the cumulative influence of lhe solute fields and demonstrates that the Mullins-Sekerka stability criterion for binary systems (with capillarity accounted for) can be readily extended for application to ternary systems. SOME time ago, Tiller et al.' calculated the solute concentration distribution ahead of the planar solid-liquid interface of binary alloys undergoing steady-state unidirectional solidification. An earlier qualitative proposal that the transition from planar to nonplanar growth morphologies is associated solely with the onset of constitutional supercooling in the liquid layer ahead of the moving interface2 was used in conjunction with this calculation to put the now well-known constitutional supercooling (C-S) stability criterion into quantitative terms. Mullins and Sekerka,3 in a recent and very elegant analysis, established a more complete criterion (hereafter referred to as the M-S criterion). Interfacial stability was investigated by determining the time derivative of the amplitude of a sinusoidal perturbation of infinitesimal amplitude which had been introduced into the originally planar shape of the moving interface. Of particular importance is the fact that capillarity was included in the boundary conditions of their calculation. The purpose of the present paper is to extend all of this earlier work on dilute binary systems for application to dilute ternary alloy solidification. The analysis is divided into three sections. In the first the two solute distributions ahead of a moving planar interface are considered. Mathematical solutions are de- termined for situations in which: a) diffusional interaction is negligible, 6) diffusional interaction must be considered but circumstances permit use of constant diffusion coefficients, and c) the concentration dependence of off-diagonal diffusion coefficients can be described by first-order dilute solution approximations. In the next section, a stability criterion analogous to the C-S criterion is developed and the influence of diffusional interaction on interface stability is analyzed. Finally, the perturbation formalism of Mullins and Sekerka, with capillarity included in the boundary conditions, is extended for analysis of ternary systems in which diffusional interaction is negligible. The study of interface stability in binary systems usually commences with the assumption that the equilibrium distribution coefficient and the slope of the liquidus line are constant at values corresponding to infinite dilution. Similar assumptions have not been introduced into the present treatment; that is, we do not assume planar solidus and liquidus surfaces joined by tie lines which yield constant distribution coefficients. The latter involves the assumption of no ther-modynamic interaction between solute species in both the solid and liquid. We consider a ternary phase diagram for which the solidus and liquidus surfaces are, in general, nonplanar and of course pass through the corresponding binary solidus and liquidus lines. These lines are not assumed to have constant slope. In the dilute regions we are concerned with, the following assumptions are made: i) The solidus and liquidus surfaces are of a form such that both the solidus and liquidus temperatures are monotonically varying functions of each solute concentration. ii) The tie lines are such that the equilibrium distribution coefficient of a given solute is greater than unity for every point on the solidus (or liquidus) surface or it is less than unity for every point. STEADY-STATE SOLUTE DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE LIQUID As will be demonstrated in the next section, a knowledge of the steady-state solute profiles is not a necessary prerequisite for the formulation of a ternary C-S stability criterion. However, in that details, such as the complete description of the equilibrium liquidus temperature profile, require an evaluation of the solute distributions, the overall treatment is enhanced if these distributions are determined. Consider a ternary system (solvent plus solutes 1 and 2) for which a planar solid-liquid interface is in unidirectional motion at constant velocity V. At this stage it is unnecessary to limit ourselves to dilute solutions. For a stationary frame of reference the generalized forms of Fick's equations are:

Jan 1, 1969

By John D. Ridge, Robert C. Barwick

The quantities and destinations of the metallic ores and concentrates and partially or fully refined metals in international trade result from the interaction of many factors, of which geographic location is only one. How far the processes of concentration and refining are to be carried in the country in which the mining is done and what dictates the destinations to which the more or less completely processed raw materials will move are determined not only by present-day geologic, political, and economic conditions, but also by the patterns set up by these same conditions as they obtained in the past. The first generalization that can be made regarding trade in metal raw materials-one that affects the form in which the material is transported, rather than the patterns followed by that trade-is that concentration is carried out for all low grade ores, nonferrous or ferrous, in the country in which they originate. (Rule 1.) Economic considerations alone almost always require that this be done; only high grade iron, manganese, and chromite ores can be shipped as they are mined.

Jul 1, 1955