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By G. L. Oldright, Henry de Rycker, S. F. Ravitz

The upper limit of richness of concentrates that can be smelted by means of the blast furnace without added diluents is fixed by the operation of sintering. A sinter feed with normal gangue constituents, containing more than about 50 per cent of lead, tends to fuse; as a result, air does not come sufficiently into contact with the sulphides at roasting temperatures, and sulphur elimination is poor. Since most lead concentrates now contain 55 to 80 per cent lead, it is necessary to add diluents to lower the grade of such sinter feed to about 50 per cent or less. This not only entails the expense of providing barren diluents when adequate diluents containing precious metals are not available but also appreciably lowers the capacity of the blast furnace to produce lead and increases slag losses. Attempts to desulphurize rich lead concentrates by methods other than sintering have not proved successful. Flash roasting, for example, converts much of the lead sulphide to lead sulphate rather than to oxide. However, this suggested the possibility that deliberate flash roasting of the concentrates to sulphate, followed by sinter roasting of the resulting product, might prove promising, particularly inasmuch as the elimination of sulphur from lead sulphate requires heat alone and not contact with atmospheric oxygen. The sintering of lead sulphate products has additional interest because important amounts of such products are now treated by lead smelters. Considerable quantities of lead sulphate are present in rich lead flue dusts and other by-products; lead-chamber sulphuric acid plants and other

Jan 1, 1944

By M. S. Azun

I do not at all agree with the basic points of the author's conclusion. The use of lognormal or normal model to respond to the attribute distribution function should be carefully questioned. If fitting a distribution function of regionalized variables is the main purpose, one may employ one of certain well-known families of distributions, such as Tukey's lambda functions. For instance, the distribution function of gold assay values studied by Krige (Krige, 1978) may fit the lognormal model well, but one should not exclude that the basic idea of using the distribution function of observed data is to have insight of the physical mechanism that gives rise to the regionalized variables. In Applied Geostatistics, there are many examples considering only lognormal or normal model for the distribution function of geostatistical data even if the observed distribution function has more than one mode. Of course, using lognormal or normal model always brings easy computation for the statistical properties of attribute under investigation. Still, I object to adopting any of those models without having any "statistical inference." As seen from the author's paper, lognormal and normal model produce the same average grade (0.746% copper) and almost the same sample variance. Therefore, which model explains the probabilistic behavior of ore deposit is always an important question that should be replied by the geostatistician using not the common sense but the statistical and probabilistic methods. For kriging procedures, such as linear kriging, one should describe either second order stationary properties or bivariate properties of regionalized variables. Second order properties, such as correlogram function or semivariogram function, are the inputs of the so-called kriging equations. Selecting one of any useable models for the observed second order properties, such as spherical model, is not easy since the models are not based on the correlations structure of the regionalized variables. How those models being used in Applied Geostatistics can be distinguished is another important problem. One may develop many fitting models to respond to the observed second order properties of regionalized variables. However, I suggest that the model should be based on the probabilistic behavior of geologic process. The author used spherical model for copper, wolfram, and silver grades from isotropic sector (Fig. 2, 4, 3b) and exponential model for silver grades obtained along raises in isotropic sector (Fig. 3a). It seems that those semivariograms given in Fig. 3b for isotropic sector and Fig. 4 may be described by the random model implying that regionalized variables do belong to renewal process (Azun, 1983). If I knew the total number of data points used in estimation, may prove that my conclusion is correct. Recalling the test for the first order sample correlogram value, the test procedure is introduced such that the independence is rejected if [Ir(1) I > Za/2 N1/2] where Za/2 is the a/2 percentile of standard normal random variable and N is the total number of samples used in estimation (Azun, 1983). For the other observed semivariogram functions I suggest the author might try to use the so-called "Markovian model" describing not only the correlation structure of regionalized variables, but also the physical mechanism that produces the regionalized variables. The Markovian model for correlogram function is, [p (h) = T 1ih , h>1 ,] The Markovian model for the other second order properties of ReV are also derived. [T veß], in the above equation, show, for example, structural change and mineralizational variation in a considered deposit, respectively (Azun, 1983). In selecting any model, it is not easy to search for the "best" response to the observed second order properties of ReV's. The Markovian model, based on a theoretical understanding of underlying mechanism, gives more information about the occurrence of regionalized variables and respond to all properties. Random model and the so-called hole effect structure can be easily defined as a special form of the Markovian model (Azun, 1983). An estimation of any second order properties of regionalized variables may be computed through (N-1) lag. However, the dependency between the regionalized variables may be deemed to have "died out" after the so-called stationarity width (range). In practice, the estimation is carried out through 25% of the total number samples available. Therefore, the large fluctuations around the zero level and variance for correlogram or covariogram function and semivariogram function, respectively, cannot be observed. Since the number of pairs involved in the estimation of higher second order properties is small, the estimation variance at those lags is large. There is no need to show higher order estimated second order properties. After using one of any kriging procedure for block estimation, the distribution function of average grades has the same mean as the drilling sample grades but

Jan 1, 1986

By Johannes Moeljono, Werner Wenzel, Heinrich Wilhelm Gudenhau

As an important mechanism for increasing production of the suction-draft-sinter process, it has been shown that gas permeability through the sinter layer plays an important role. Methods to increase production rates have been indicated and suggestions for carrying out the process have been made to improve the rate of production, reduce the fuel consumption, and at the same time obtain a uniform sinter. Laboratory experiments were conducted at the Institute for Ferrous Metallurgy of the Technical University at Aachen to illustrate these methods. Methods of Increasing Gas Penetration Through Sinter Layers The following are of fundamental importance in determining the process cycle during the sintering of iron ores: 1) Generation of maximum temperature, since its form and range determine sinter quality. 2) Propagation velocity of the temperature maximum which controls the attainable output. 3) The convective heat transfer which influences the velocity of travel of the temperature maximum.

Jan 1, 1974

By L. C. Graton

The federal taxes on incomes and excess profits are of course heavy. In 1917, the value of the mineral production of the United States was a little in excess of $5,000,000,000. The total of federal taxes for that year, for the mineral producing companies, as computed by themselves, amounts, according to tentative compilations, to about $207,000,000, and the total for the comprehensive group of mineral and metal industries to about $766,000,000, which figures represent respectively 9.5 per cent. and 35.1 per cent. of the total tax paid by all corporations. Because of greater complexities in applying the revenue laws to mineral properties than to most other industries, opportunity is afforded for wide differences of view. The taxes indicated above, therefore, are not final and may conceivably be very materially increased. For 1918, the taxes are expected to be still greater, but no compilations are yet available. Taxes at a high rate are to continue indefinitely. The subject is clearly of gravest import to the mining industry in particular. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is charged by law with the administration and collection of the taxes, is determined that these functions shall be performed in a just and businesslike way. Fairness and finality are to be the chief objectives. In view of the peculiar conditions that attach to the tax program as applied to mines and other wasting industries, like oil, gas, and timber, the Commissioner has resorted to professional advice and assistance by manning a Sub-division of Natural Resources with competent engineers, brought in from the several industries, into whose hands he has placed for solution the technical questions involved. These engineers have a two-fold duty: (1) to devote to the solution of these problems their own knowledge and experience; (2) through their acquaintance with their respective industries, and with the men engaged in those industries, to focus upon these problems, by conferences and otherwise, the best opinion of the country. The principal object of this paper is to acquaint the mining profession with the attitude of the

Jan 1, 1923

By L. C. Graton

The federal taxes on incomes and excess profits are of course heavy. In 1917, the value of the mineral production of the United States was a little in excess of $5,000,000,000. The total of federal taxes for that year, for the mineral producing companies, as computed by themselves, amounts, according to tentative compilations, to about $207,000,000, and the total for the comprehensive group of mineral and metal industries to about $766,000,000, which figures represent respectively 9.5 per cent. and 35.1 per cent. of the total tax paid by all corporations. Because of greater complexities in applying the revenue laws to mineral properties than to most other industries, opportunity is afforded for wide differences of view. The taxes indicated above, therefore, are not final and may conceivably be very materially increased. For 1918, the taxes are expected to be still greater, but no compilations are yet available. Taxes at a high rate are to continue indefinitely. The subject is clearly of gravest import to the mining industry in particular. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is charged by law with the administration and collection of the taxes, is determined that these functions shall be performed in a just and businesslike way. Fairness and finality are to be the chief objectives. In view of the peculiar conditions that attach to the tax program as applied to mines and other wasting industries, like oil, gas, and timber, the Commissioner has resorted to professional advice and assistance by manning a Sub-division of Natural Resources with competent engineers, brought in from the several industries, into whose hands he has placed for solution the technical questions involved. These engineers have a two-fold duty: (1) to devote to the solution of these problems their own knowledge and experience; (2) through their acquaintance with their respective industries, and with the men engaged in those industries, to focus upon these problems, by conferences and otherwise, the best opinion of the country. The principal object of this paper is to acquaint the mining profession with the attitude of the

Jan 1, 1923

By H. Morgolin, M. A. Greenfield, P. A. Farrar

In attempts to correlate mechanical properties with microstructure, it is desirable to determine the effect of ß grain size. Determination of 6 grain size is not a problem where a has precipitated at ß grain boundaries. However, in alloys which have been processed to produce an equiaxed a +ß structure the ß grain size is difficult to determine because ß grain boundaries do not etch. The ß grain size can sometimes be laboriously determined by searching for grains which have some a! outlining the 6 grains. This difficulty of ß grain size determination in equiaxed a + ß alloys can be overcome by heating below the ß transus temperature for a short time and water quenching. Fig. 1 shows the starting equiaxed a + ß structure of the Ti-5.25A1-5.5V-0.9Fe-0.5Cu alloy used in this investigation, and Fig. 2 shows the microstructure of the same sample water-quenched after heating 1 min at 1675"F, which is 25°F below the 0 transus. The heavily etched microstructure consists of some equiaxed a! in a structure showing considerable amounts of transformed ß. The ß grain

Jan 1, 1969

By Richard P. Rothwell

FIRES in mines are so serious in their consequences and of such frequent occurrence, that their causes and the means of extinguishing them are certainly questions of the greatest interest to a large part of the engineering profession. We have already, in this country, many mines which have been burning for years, and though our hard anthracite is so difficult to ignite that for a quarter of a century after it was first discovered it was not known how to burn it except with the aid of an artificial blast, yet most of the fires which have occurred underground have been in anthracite mines, and in the coal itself. The injury which these fires have caused to properties in various parts of the anthracite regions, and the cost of extinguishing them, would amount to many millions of dollars, and they have also occasioned the loss of many valuable lives. It is not surprising, therefore, that the subject has already attracted much attention, and the exercise of great ingenuity ; and the present communication is made less with the expectation of announcing anything new, than with the object of putting upon record the present state of our knowledge on this subject, or, in other words, of indicating how defective are the present means of combating underground conflagrations. (Causes of Mine Fires.-Even upon the surface, fire is a terrible foe to contend with, and there is probably no other which inspires such thorough and well-founded alarm. With what feelings, then, must we look upon this destructive element, when its field is in the narrow galleries of a mine, where the poisonous products of combustion, spreading in every direction, protect, in the most effectual manner, the fire itself from the attacks of extinguishers, while, if the face of attack be ventilated so as to enable them to approach the seat of the fire, the air current simply increases the extent and violence of the conflagration. Fires underground originate in as various ways as those on the surface, and it is scarcely necessary to say that, except in the rare cases where they are the result of design, they are invariably classed as " accidents," and most generally as " unavoidable accidents." In reality, by an intelligent understanding of their causes and with due precautions, they can almost always be prevented. Ignorance and

Jan 1, 1876

By P. R. Kalischer

In the production of alloys by powder metallurgical processes it is often necessary or desirable to include one or more cornponents that tend to form very stable oxides. Included in this group of metals are aluminum, manganese, magnesium, silicon, and a few others. In many cases it is not necessary for the sintered compact to have full density and the other physical characteristics of a cast alloy and in that event no undue precautions need be taken. If, however, it is required that the sintered part be entirely homogeneous, and have maximum density and physical properties, some method must be found to reduce the surface films of oxide, which are always present on the metals, and for the metals mentioned above this is always extremely difficult, if not impossible. since the production of high-density alloys is of particular interest to powder metallurgists, some experiments were undertaken to devise methods of reducing the refractory oxides. For this work, alloys of iron, nickel, and aluminum were chosen because aluminum oxide is one of the most stable oxides and because these alloys in the right compositions form excellent permanent magnets. All of the pertinent properties of the magnets could be accurately and delicately measured by density measuremerits and magnetic tests of sufficient scope to give a complete demagnetization curve. From such a curve the maximum coercive force, residual magnetism, and energy products could be obtained and compared with the same properties for a cast material. Any lack of homogeneity, density, or solid diffusion would be immediately apparent as a decrease in the magnetic properties. Nature and Removal of Surface Barriers The early work of the present investigation was based upon published processes.* In the published information it was claimed that by intimately mixing iron, nickel, and iron-aluminum alloy (50 Per cent Fe, So Per cent Al) powders, compressing such a mixture into the desired shape and size, and then sintering (heating to a temperature below the melting point of the component metals) in hydrogen at 1200°C. or higher, a sound, homogeneous article could be made having the desired physical size, shape, and strength, and good magnetic characteristics. However. this early work showed clearly that something in the powder compress was inhibiting diffusion and the process was almost entirely unworkable. In the initial phase of the investigation samples of iron powder, nickel powder, and iron-aluminum alloy powder were pressed into separate bars and sintered in hydrogen. Both the iron and nickel powders sintered

Jan 1, 1941

By P. R. Kalischer

In the production of alloys by powder metallurgical processes it is often necessary or desirable to include one or more cornponents that tend to form very stable oxides. Included in this group of metals are aluminum, manganese, magnesium, silicon, and a few others. In many cases it is not necessary for the sintered compact to have full density and the other physical characteristics of a cast alloy and in that event no undue precautions need be taken. If, however, it is required that the sintered part be entirely homogeneous, and have maximum density and physical properties, some method must be found to reduce the surface films of oxide, which are always present on the metals, and for the metals mentioned above this is always extremely difficult, if not impossible. since the production of high-density alloys is of particular interest to powder metallurgists, some experiments were undertaken to devise methods of reducing the refractory oxides. For this work, alloys of iron, nickel, and aluminum were chosen because aluminum oxide is one of the most stable oxides and because these alloys in the right compositions form excellent permanent magnets. All of the pertinent properties of the magnets could be accurately and delicately measured by density measuremerits and magnetic tests of sufficient scope to give a complete demagnetization curve. From such a curve the maximum coercive force, residual magnetism, and energy products could be obtained and compared with the same properties for a cast material. Any lack of homogeneity, density, or solid diffusion would be immediately apparent as a decrease in the magnetic properties. Nature and Removal of Surface Barriers The early work of the present investigation was based upon published processes.* In the published information it was claimed that by intimately mixing iron, nickel, and iron-aluminum alloy (50 Per cent Fe, So Per cent Al) powders, compressing such a mixture into the desired shape and size, and then sintering (heating to a temperature below the melting point of the component metals) in hydrogen at 1200°C. or higher, a sound, homogeneous article could be made having the desired physical size, shape, and strength, and good magnetic characteristics. However. this early work showed clearly that something in the powder compress was inhibiting diffusion and the process was almost entirely unworkable. In the initial phase of the investigation samples of iron powder, nickel powder, and iron-aluminum alloy powder were pressed into separate bars and sintered in hydrogen. Both the iron and nickel powders sintered

Jan 1, 1941

By G. L. Oldright

THE upper limit of richness of concentrates that can be smelted by means of the blast furnace without added diluents is fixed by the opera-tion of sintering. A sinter feed with normal gangue constituents, con-taining more than about 50 per cent of lead, tends to fuse; as a result, air does not come sufficiently into contact with the sulphides at roasting temperatures, and sulphur elimination is poor. Since most lead con-centrates now contain 55 to 80 per cent lead, it is necessary to add diluents to lower the grade of such sinter feed to about 50 per cent or less. This not only entails the expense of providing barren diluents when adequate diluents containing precious metals are not available but also appreciably lowers the capacity of the blast furnace to produce lead and increases slag losses. Attempts to desulphurize rich lead concentrates by methods other than sintering have not proved successful. Flash roasting, for example, converts much of the lead sulphide to lead sulphate rather than to oxide. However, this suggested the possibility that deliberate flash roasting of the concentrates to sulphate, followed by sinter roasting of the resulting product, might prove promising, particularly inasmuch as the elimination of sulphur from lead sulphate requires heat alone and not contact with atmospheric oxygen. The sintering of lead sulphate products has additional interest because important amounts of such products are now treated by lead smelters. Considerable quantities of lead sulphate are present in rich lead flue dusts and other by-products; lead-chamber sulphuric acid plants and other

Jan 1, 1940

By Hjalmar W. Johnson

It has long been accepted that blastfurnace practice varies to some degree with the coke used. While the qualities desirablc in iron have been known for some time, the qualities in coke that produce such iron have not been established. There are no objective standards for blast-furnace coke, which is usually described in general terms, as good or bad. Many experienced operators believe that coke cannot be measured objectively except by using it in the furnace, noting the result, and labeling the coke according to furnace operations. This is admittedly unscientific, and besides is useless for the two main purposes for which a measure of coke quality is needed: (I) to produce the best possible coke from the coals and equipment on hand; (2) to test new coals and determine their value for blast-furnace coke. In seeking such an objective measure, much work has been done on tumbler tests, shatter tests, sizes of coke, porosity, specific gravity, reactivity or combustibility and other tests, but as yet very little has been published in which conclusive correlations have been established between such objective measures and furnace operation. In our study of the problem during the past 8 years we have developed no new measures of coke quality, but we have collected data that are presented here in the hope that they may assist in further work, so that at some future time there may be developed such positive measures. The purpose of this paper is to show that there are variations in coke and that such variations do influence the operation of blast furnaces. At the same time we must remember that there are variations in blastfurnace operation and it may be the blast furnace that is at fault. This correlation of coke properties with blast-furnace operation will be worked out in the following steps: . Discussion of a period when a change in the coke resulted in an increase in efficiency on one furnace and a decrease in efficiency on another. 2. Adaptation of the inefficient furnace to the available coke so that normal efficiency was restored. 3. The use of radial distribution: a discussion of the effect of size of ore layer in adapting blast-furnace operation to the coke. 4. An example of a change in size of coke and the detrimental influence on the pro duction of one furnace. 5. An example of a change in size of coke, together with manufacturing data, to show why it changed, the conclusion being that coke is a product with an optimum value. 6. Illustration of the fact that coke has different optimum values on two furnaces, with discussion on adaptation of operation so the optimum values will be the same. 7. Limitations of the use of screen tests as an objective measure of coke quality. 8. Importance of uniformity in coke. Functions of Coke and Qualities Required to Perform These Functions Coke has three important functions in a blast furnace: (I) to furnish most of the

Jan 1, 1942

By Hjalmar W. Johnson

It has long been accepted that blastfurnace practice varies to some degree with the coke used. While the qualities desirablc in iron have been known for some time, the qualities in coke that produce such iron have not been established. There are no objective standards for blast-furnace coke, which is usually described in general terms, as good or bad. Many experienced operators believe that coke cannot be measured objectively except by using it in the furnace, noting the result, and labeling the coke according to furnace operations. This is admittedly unscientific, and besides is useless for the two main purposes for which a measure of coke quality is needed: (I) to produce the best possible coke from the coals and equipment on hand; (2) to test new coals and determine their value for blast-furnace coke. In seeking such an objective measure, much work has been done on tumbler tests, shatter tests, sizes of coke, porosity, specific gravity, reactivity or combustibility and other tests, but as yet very little has been published in which conclusive correlations have been established between such objective measures and furnace operation. In our study of the problem during the past 8 years we have developed no new measures of coke quality, but we have collected data that are presented here in the hope that they may assist in further work, so that at some future time there may be developed such positive measures. The purpose of this paper is to show that there are variations in coke and that such variations do influence the operation of blast furnaces. At the same time we must remember that there are variations in blastfurnace operation and it may be the blast furnace that is at fault. This correlation of coke properties with blast-furnace operation will be worked out in the following steps: . Discussion of a period when a change in the coke resulted in an increase in efficiency on one furnace and a decrease in efficiency on another. 2. Adaptation of the inefficient furnace to the available coke so that normal efficiency was restored. 3. The use of radial distribution: a discussion of the effect of size of ore layer in adapting blast-furnace operation to the coke. 4. An example of a change in size of coke and the detrimental influence on the pro duction of one furnace. 5. An example of a change in size of coke, together with manufacturing data, to show why it changed, the conclusion being that coke is a product with an optimum value. 6. Illustration of the fact that coke has different optimum values on two furnaces, with discussion on adaptation of operation so the optimum values will be the same. 7. Limitations of the use of screen tests as an objective measure of coke quality. 8. Importance of uniformity in coke. Functions of Coke and Qualities Required to Perform These Functions Coke has three important functions in a blast furnace: (I) to furnish most of the

Jan 1, 1942

By Arnulf Muan, Klaus Schwerdtfeger, L. S. Darken

The equilibrium ratios CO/CO, of. a gas pharse coexislitrg with selected oxide phase assemblages of the system "FeO"-MnO-SiO2 and metallic iron have been determined at 1150°C. The data obtained are combined wilh the thermodynamic data on fayalite (Fe2SiOi) and "FeO"-MnO solid solutions to derive the actiuity-coiHpQsiUon relations for the various oxide components of the olivine (Fe2SiO4-,lIn2Si04) and pyroxenoid (standard free energies of formation of ferrosilile (FeSiO,), tephroite , and rhodonite from their oxides have been evaluated. In the Appendicc~s by Darken and Schivcerdtjeger the ideal solution law for solid deri oed. THE quaternary system Fe-Mn-Si-0 is of interest in many important phases of iron- and steelmaking. For instance, reduction in the blast furnace of ores containing Fe-Mn silicates, deoxidation of liquid steel with Mn-Si alloys, formation and subsequent alterations of oxide inclusions in steels, and the oxidation of manganese- and silicon-containing steels during processing are all governed largely by the thermodynamic relations existing in the system Fe-Mn-Si-O. Although the equilibria between liquid iron and Fe-Mn silicates have been studied in detail previously,' experimental data are lacking for equilibria among the solid phases. The present paper provides such data for a selected temperature, 1150°C. I) PREVIOUS WORK The general feature of subsolidus phase relations in the system iron oxide-manganese oxide-silica under strongly reducing conditions is known.' Fig. 1 represents an isothermal section at 1150°C. The phases present, in addition to silica, are three solid-solution series, viz.. the oxide solid-solution series "Fe0"-MnO (manganowiistite), the orthosilicate solid-solution series Fe2SiO4-Mn2SiO4 (olivine), and the metasilicate solid-solution series FeSi03-MnSi03 (pyroxenoid). The "FeO"-MnO solid solution is continuous between the two end members wustite and manganositeV3 as is the orthosilicate series between the two end members Fe2SiO4 and Mn2 SiO4. 4 The metasilicate solid solution, on the other hand, extends only part way from the MnSi0.l end member toward FeSiO because the latter end member is unstable relative to the phase assemblage fayalite + silica. The letters a through m in Fig. 1 identify end members of the individual solid phases dealt with [for instance, c designates fayalite (FeZSiO4) in equilibrium with wustite, e designates fayalite in equilibrium with silica, and so forth]. In addition to the phase relations there are some thermodynamic data available for the end members of the silicate solid solutions and for the "FeO" -MnO solid solution. The free energy of formation of fayalite (Fe2Si04) from its oxide components has been studied by several investigators. Unfortunately, the data obtained show considerable discrepancies. According to recent tabulations by Kelley, the change in standard free energy Affn for the reaction

Jan 1, 1967

By P. D. Zemany, G. W. Sear, B. W. Roberts

Vanadium metal is embrittled by hydrogen at a temperature as low as 250°C when held in the presence of manganese metal and water vapor in a rough vacuum. It is established that the property changes are caused by the catalytic decomposition of water vapor at the vanadium surface and the diffusion into and solution in the vanadium of the resultant hydrogen. It is found that manganese is a necessary component of the catalyst. The manganese is transported in the vapor phase by an unknown molecule. A deuterium tracer experiment demonstates the role of water vapor in the embrittle-ment process. VANADIUM metal foils were observed to become embrittled' at a temperature of about 300 °C when held in the presence of manganese metal and a small amount of moist air, This paper describes the investigation to find the embrittling agent and an understanding of the relatively low temperature reactions that are involved. Experimental The vanadium metal foil used was prepared by cold-rolling and pack-rolling 32 mil sheet" in a series of steps down to 1 mil foil. The original observation was confirmed by sealing vanadium foils of 3 x 10 sq cm into individual Pyrex tubes with manganese powder† and a con- trol tube containing only the vanadium foil. These tubes were evacuated to 10 -5 mm Hg without baking and sealed. After heat treatment for 200 hr at 300°C, the control foil showed no change in duetility, whereas the foil contained in the manganese— containing tube was embrittled. The visual appearance of each was unchanged. A series of Pyrex sample tubes, about 2.5 cm diam and 25 cm long, were prepared, each containing a 3 x 10 sq cm piece of foil and 5 g manganese powder at the lower end of the tube. By reducing the time of anneal and the temperature of these samples, it was found that embrittlement could be created at 250°C in a time as short as 1 hr. Since the vanadium metal used here has been drastically cold-worked by rolling, it is assumed that it contains a maximum number of dislocations. To check the possible necessity of dislocations in this low temperature reaction, a vanadium foil sample was annealed in Vycor for 2 hr at 800°C to re crystallize and reduce the dislocation concentration. Metallographic examination showed grains which were not visible before annealing. The embrittlement procedure was carried out at 300°C and 3 hr. Upon checking the foil no embrittlement was observed. Further experiments demonstrated that about 6 hr at 300°C are required to create embrittlement in the foil. This delay in the onset of embrittlement in the vanadium foil suggests but does not prove that dislocation channels play a role in the embrittlement phenomena. If manganese metal is necessary for this low temperature embrittlement, do other elements in the transition metals group yield the same result? To check this qualitatively, a group of elements of similar atomic radii were obtained and sealed as before into Pyrex tubes with a sheet of vanadium foil. These tubes were annealed at 250°C for 6 hr and included (with radii)-2 A1 (1.4A), As (1.25A), Be (1.2A), Co (1.25A), Cr (1.45A), Cu (1.25A), Fe (1.25A), Ga (1.2A), Ge (1.25L%), Mn (1.3A), Ni (1.25A), Si (1.2A), Ti (1.45A), Zn (1.3A), air, H,O, 10 cm Hg of dry hydrogen, and MnO, powder. Upon testing the above sample foils for brittleness, only the manganese-containing tube yielded a brittle foil. Manganese Transport—To eliminate contact of manganese metal powder and vanadium foil, sample tubes were prepared with fritted glass barriers. The embrittlement reaction was still found to occur. Thus, the mode of transfer of manganese is certainly vapor transport. A vanadium foil was embrittled by this mechanism in an evacuated Pyrex tube for 8 hr at 300°C. By means of X-ray fluorescence analysis,' the amount of manganese added to the surface was established at 5 ±2 x 10 -6 g per sq cm. Since the average rate of manganese deposition is known, an effective average pressure of an assumed carrier compound can be computed. ___ P = M/T v2p mkT

Jan 1, 1959

By S. S. Hartranft

FuRnace-men of the present day agree very nearly as to the best cooling-devices for the protection of blast-furnace hearths and boshes, and the best location of the cooling-system in the brick-work for the maintenance of favorable furnacelines throughout the blast. The replaceable bronze and copper plates are practically faultless; and there seems to be no reason why a furnace-hearth and bosh should not be held in good condition, by intelligent management and the use of replaceable plates, for a period several times the length of the average blast of to-day. While furnace-men have taken these .precautions to protect the hearth and bosh beyond the life of the lining, the portion of the lining above the mantle has been partly protected by some and wholly neglected by others. Some would not construct a furnace without mantle-plates, and others would not construct a furnace with them. In most cases, furnace-men have either trusted to Providence or to the bosh-plates for the continuance of favorable working-conditions above the mantle, and the prolongation of the life of the lining; consequently furnaces are constantly blown out for repairs to the lining, or for relining, when the hearth and bosh are in good enough condition to last through another blast. The following extract from one of Mr. James Gayley's con-

Jan 1, 1901

By Robert H. Dickson

Limestone replacement and contact metamorphic orebodies are 80 irregular that sampling and estimating are far less. exact than in more regular types of deposits; both the mineralized masses and the lenses of ore within them are extremely irregular. So much development work is required to find the ore that the expense of blocking out great tonnages is prohibitive; furthermore, the rock near these orebodies is so heavy that drifts or raises cannot be kept open for many years without excessive repairs. As a result, few mines in limestone have more than three years supply of ore in sight. As most of the ore, is developed by stoping— not by drifting, raising, or drilling—estimates of ore developed do not indicate the total amount of ore that may be expected; they simply indicate the relative condition of the mines. But even if they are to do this, they must be made according to a fixed plan, intelligently carried out. The estimates of ore in the Calumet & Arizona Copper mines, Warren District, Ariz., have been of much value to those who plan the mining and development work. This paper describes the methods of sampling and estimating used in these mines. Sampling Samples are taken in various ways and depend on the condition of the working and the purpose for which the sample is to be used. Drifts, crosscuts, and raises are sampled by channels or by taking a grab off each mine car as it is filled. Stopes are usually sampled by drill holes or by taking a representative sample off each mine car; the latter, or chute, sample is by far the best sample. All workings are studied periodically by an engineer, who makes graphic and detail notes of the geologic structure, as shown in Fig. 1. The daily car tally and assay of each particular working is added to the same sheet opposite the material it represents. These sheets make a permanent record, showing the exact boundaries as well as the grade of ore in all workings.

Jan 1, 1925

By Leons Kovisars

Introduction Competitive analysis is the collection and evaluation of data on a product, a product line or on an entire industry. Much of the focus of competitive analysis centers on production volume and the price targets of the competitors. In actual practice capacity may be used in place of production volume. Similarly, unit production costs and individual producing units - mines, mills, smelters, refineries - may be the targets of the analysis. The purpose of competitive analysis is to provide information for strategic planning. The analysis will locate the position of the company in the industry and define the competitive margin -- or lack of a margin - between the company and other producers. The analysis can show the current situation and may be expanded to examine the outlook for the future. The forecast option is particularly valuable because it will show the opportunities for new project development or the expansion of current production. Similarly, the forecast will show the potential threat from new entrants, and may provide early warning to reconsider operations that may become uncompetitive in the future. Production cost analysis is a clearly understood means to evaluate producers and estimate the outlook for their profitability. The cumulative cost for the industry outlines the supply structure and defines the marginal cost of production used in developing price forecast as explained in the sub- sequent section of this paper. Competitive analysis is particularly important to the mining industry, notably to metal producers. The final product is typically a purified metal conforming to standards, and interchangable with the output of other producers, i.e. a fungible commodity. Brand loyalty is questionable in the mineral industry. Consumers will show a preference for specific brands, but this preference will be limited to a premium of several percent over the general market price. Price and assurance of supply are the keys to marketing success. Assurance of supply depends on geopolitical considerations and production capabilities. Price will be closely related to cost of production and a thorough competitive analysis should describe the cost structure of the industry. This snapshot will locate one's own position and provide an immediate and readily understandable evaluation of the hazards and opportunities inherent in this position. In the following section we shall discuss elements, methods and sources for competitive evaluation. ELEMENTS OF COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS The practice of systematic collection and analysis of data on competition is hardly a new concept; see, for example, Wall (1) or Porter (2). However, most discussions have been in the context of conventional industrial or manufacturing industries, with a focus on product lines and brand marketing. These considerations are not irrelevant to mining but they do have only a limited application. The key to success in the mining industry is minimizing the cost of production. However, this simple concept becomes complex when we consider relevant costs and the planning horizon. Production costs include the factors consumed in production, namely labor, fuel, energy, materials and supplies. The cost also includes purchased and contracted services such as freight, smelting and refining, sampling and sales required to convert ore to the finished metal. Royalties and ad valorem taxes paid on gross production are direct expenses, as is the cost of administration required by the production units. The sum of these outflows is the total cash cost, the expense that has to be paid in cash in order to continue production. Indirect costs incurred by a producer will commonly include allocated headquarters expenses, as well as the capital charges associated with equity investment and debt. Profit is not generally considered an indirect cost even though it represents the cost of using the owner's capital; similarly, income taxes represent the government's participation in the profits of the enterprise. Interest payments are considered as a direct expense in some cost studies, but many competitive evaluations would consider

Jan 1, 1985

By Bezalel C. Haimson

Anna, Ohio, at the junction of Cincinnati, Findlay and Kankakee arches, has been the site of repeated and sometimes damaging earthquakes. As part of a seismicity investigation near-surface (0.15-1 m depth) overcoring strain measurements were conducted in four limestone and dolomite quarries surrounding Anna, the results of which suggest a complicated regional stress pattern, with changes in the maximum horizontal stress direction from N45ºE to N15ºW. Since such abrupt stress fluctuations are rather atypical in the Midwest and since the reliability of near-surface tests in defining regional stress had not been established, we decided to remeasure the stresses at the same locations but at greater depths (0-200 m) using the hydrofracturing method. Owing to the weak horizontal bedding planes of the Silurian shaly limestones and shaly dolomites and the relatively shallow depths, many of the tests yielded horizontal fractures, providing information only on the vertical principal stress (-0.029 MPa/m depth). However, sufficient tests in each of three testholes resulted in vertical hydrofractures to enable the calculation of all three principal stresses. Within 50-170 m depth the horizontal stresses in all three quarries appear to belong to a uniform regional Stress field defined by the following relations: [']Hmin = 5.1 + 0.014 D; [0] Hmax = 10.1 + 0.014 D, where D is depth in meters. The direction of [O]Hmax within 50-170 m depth is uniform at N70°E (±15º). The hydro- fracturing results obtained at Anna, Ohio are in agreement with the prevailing stress regime in the midcontinent both with respect to magnitudes and directions. The results suggest a possible thrust mechanism for a proposed NW-SE fault along which most of the earthquake epicenters have been located, and a left lateral strike-slip at greater depths. The focal mechanism solution of a recent major earthquake near Sharpsburg, Kentucky, some 200 km south of Anna, also indicates strike-

Jan 1, 1982

By E. C. W. Perryman

On electropolishing, high-purity Cu-Sn and Cu-Sn-P alloys with more than 5 to 9 pct Sn were found to contain many grain boundaries with a ridge-and-furrow profile. The effect was not eliminated by solution treatment and was present at the new boundaries in recrystallized material. It could be produced by diffusing tin into the 3 pct Sn alloy and it is concluded that the effect is due to enrichment of certain boundaries in tin, or possibly in an impurity present in the tin, in solid solution. IN the hot working of tin bronzes, especially those with moderately high tin contents, considerable difficulty is frequently encountered from intercrystal-line weakness, which results in cracking at the edges in sheet on strip rolling and in the unsupported regions of the rod in rod rolling.' These difficulties are not at all pronounced with up to 3 pct Sn, but at 5 pct Sn impose serious limitations and at higher tin contents, especially if the phosphorus content is also high, they may become very severe. In some work carried out at the laboratories of The British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association it was found that a notable lack of ductility in tension at elevated temperatures, associated with intercrystal-line failure, was characteristic of tin bronzes even of relatively high purity. That the intercrystalline fracture is not due to a brittle or molten impurity phase at the grain boundaries was shown by the fact that the temperature at which intercrystalline fracture first occurred decreased with decrease of rate of straining. Tensile tests on some commercial tin bronzes, reported by Goetzel,² show a similar fall in ductility with increasing temperature. As no visual evidence had been obtained showing that the grain boundaries of the tin bronzes were different from those in copper, a more detailed microscopical examination was carried out, and the results of this are given in the present report. Several workers"' have observed that electrolytic polishing is a powerful tool for detecting small amounts of a second phase and in particular for detecting high solute concentrations, "equilibrium segregation," at grain boundaries. Since it had been found that the suggested solutions for electropolishing bronze and the standard solutions for brass and copper did not give satisfactory results it was first necessary to find a suitable electropolishing solution.' Experimental Procedure Materials Used: The cast and wrought materials used for this work were the same as those used for the mechanical tests referred to above. They comprised 3, 6, and 9 pct Sn alloys without phosphorus and the same three basic alloys with 0.03 and 0.4 pct P. A 5 pct Sn alloy without phosphorus, of similar purity, was also examined. The basis materials were Chempur tin, high purity 15 pct phosphor-copper and cathode copper, and spectrographic analyses are given in Table I. Treatment: The cathode copper was first melted under charcoal, degassed by plunging marble chips beneath the surface, and cast through a coal gas flame into sand molds to produce a number of small ingots which after machining were of a suitable size for subsequent vacuum melting. Chill cast bars of the alloys, approximately 1¼ in. in diameter, were then made by melting and casting in vacuo, the tern-

Jan 1, 1954

By Henry Schaefer

Solution by electric analogy of performance problems of reservoirs containing oil and gas has heretofore depended upon a process of successive approximations based on material-balance calculations, because of variation in fluid compressibility. By the addition or subtraction of electric condenser capacity, the analogy network can be adjusted automatically for changing compressibility due to evolution of gas in the reservoir. The addition of a condenser is accomplished by an electronic circuit, which is described; subtracting a condenser is done by merely opening the electrical circuit by means of a relay. Introduction V. Paschkis and H. D. Baker1 first developed in this country a method of applying the analogy of flow of electric current in noninductive circuits to solution of heat-flow problems and suggested its application for certain other problems, such as flow of fluids or mass transfer and chemical diffusion. Necessary details for applying the analogy to flow of fluids in porous media were developed by IV. A. Bruce;= he classified3 the types of analysis and predictions that can be made by the analogy in class I, when the reservoir contains oil but no gas for the period under consideration; in Class 2, when both oil and gas exist in the free state in the reservoir sometime during the period under consideration. Duplication of bottom-hole pressure history and predictions for class I reservoirs can be obtained directly by electric analogy. Until now, the solution of problems pertaining to reservoirs in class 2 was obtained by successive approximations along with material-balance calculations. The object of this paper is to present a method for simplifying the application of electric analogy to class 2 reservoirs, resulting in a solution of these problems as direct as is possible for class I reservoirs. This is accomplished by an electronic control circuit, which adjusts the analogy network for changing compressibilities of fluids contained in the reservoirs. Analogy Network In electrical phenomena the analogy to two-dimensional fluid flow in a porous media is that of current flow through an ideal conducting sheet. This sheet, perfectly insulated on both sides, has resistance and capacitance uniformly distributed throughout its area but is of negligible inductance. The need for having the surface boundaries perfectly insulated is that good correspondence may be had with a permeable fluid-conducting stratum bounded above and below by impermeable media. 111 actual application the ideal conducting sheet, which has distributed parameters, is replaced by a network having lumped values of resistance and capacitance—the resistances are series elements and the capacitances are shunt elements. The larger the number of lumped

Jan 1, 1947