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By J. Visman

FOR more than 25 years evaluations of coal cleaning units have appeared in many publications, and during this time considerable progress has been made in developing the theory and techniques of calculating washery results. A variety of characteristics have been defined over the years, many receiving general recognition during the first post-war Coal Preparation Conference in Paris in 1950. Coal preparation has become a science, and the approach to preparation problems is being revolutionized. Formerly, for example, if a coal operator wanted to know the performance of a given cleaning unit for a particular grade of his run-of-mine, he either shipped a carload to the manufacturer for a test run or relied on a report of a test carried out on a coal similar to the one he intended to clean. In modern practice the expensive, time-consuming test work generally can be avoided if the washability curves of the coal in question and the error curve of the cleaner are known. Normally a guarantee can be given on the strength of this information. General acceptance of modern standards has thus reduced the need for pilot-scale models of existing types of coal cleaners. Needless to say, the method requires exhaustive and accurate information on the cleaning unit and on all the additional circumstances affecting its results, in- formation that ultimately can be secured only from actual tests made in the laboratory or in the washery.

Jan 10, 1954

By Harlowe Hardinge, R. C. Ferguson

Laboratory and plant data covering 12 different operations show that lower than "standard" ball mill speeds increase grinding efficiency. In the case of high pulp-level mills, the gain is so great that the increase in capital cost of the larger lower speed mill will pay for itself in less than a year's time.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. D. MOTTER

THE following brief description of the status of operations of the Chile Exploration Co. at Chuquicamata, Chile; and of the plant as it exists today, points out the-great progress that has been made since the initiation of prospect drilling in 1912. During the 11 years which have elapsed since then, a group of small mines, eking out a 'precarious existence, has been consolidated into one large operating property,, taking high rank among the world's producers of copper. After a drilling campaign followed by a construction period, the plant first started operations in 1915. Since then production has been gradually increased, as world conditions permitted, until the present status has been reached.

Jan 1, 1924

By C. A. Worner

THE meeting of the Petroleum Division at the Annual Meeting of the Institute maintained the high standard set in previous years, and attendance of member: of the Division was at a new high. The impact of the war was evident not only in the tone of many of die papers but also in the presence at the meeting of many of our members now serving in the armed forces of our-country. Ken interest was manifested in all papers presented and the discussions which followed developed many additional facts of interist and importance. The first activity of the Division was the joint meeting of the Papers and Programs and the Publications Committees on Monday afternoon; at which time definite plans were formulated for a simplification and co-ordination of the work of the committees.

Jan 1, 1944

By J. D. Mooney, D. L. Darnell

The accompanying chart has been drawn for the convenicncc of engineers as' a means of quickly determining the correct number of plies of conveyor belts operating under specific conditions. The calculations are based on the average safe strength (factor of safety, 15) of the various standard rubber conveyor belts. The calculations assume maximum loading conditions; that is, the belt is considered as carrying the greatest load that it will handle without spillage at ordinary belt speeds. This not only produces the most economical operating conditions, but also the maximum tension in the belt. The chart is a graphical representation of the formula: Where, p = kg W(L + 10H) p = the correct number of plies k = a constant, depending on the type of drive g = the weight 'in pounds per cubic foot of material handled W = the width of the belt in inches L = the length of the belt in feet (approximately twice the center distance). H = the difference in elevation between the head and tail pulleys, in feet. For a simple drive, with a bare pulley, k = ----1 For a simple drive, with a rubber-lagged pulley, k = --- 1 For a, tandem drivej with bare pulleys, k = 1/375.000 For a tandem drive, with rubber-lagged pulleys, k = ---1 The chart is drawn for a simple drive, with a bare pulley (k — =e)1 ; therefore, the number of plies obtained from the chart should be multi- ' plied by the factor 0.83 or 5/6 for simple, lagged drive; the factor 0.67 or 2/3 for tandem, bare; and the factor 0.55 or 11/20, for tandem, lagged. The formula p = kgW(L + 10H) has been developed mathematically

Jan 1, 1916

By B. R. Coil

One executive writing on capital equipment re- placement stated: "We keep extremely close watch over repair costs and when we reach the point of uneconomical operation, we replace the machine." This, of course, is most elementary, but a very basic premise. However, it seems advisable to set forth several equally obvious principles, so that all discussion will start from the same point. The subject is intended to deal with the point of uneconomical operation due to high operating costs in general and high repair costs in particular. This is not concerned with a similar problem of high costs because of an insufficient number of machines, be they trucks, shovels, or dozers.

Oct 1, 1955

By S. Kobayashi, A. E. Armenákas, C. Mylonas

Earlier work1-4 has shown that commercial mild steels under static loading at the lowest natural operating temperatures fracture in a brittle manner only when damaged by a suitable history of straining. Notched and then compressed plates have fractured in subsequent tension at loads as low as 10 pct of the limit load and precompressed smooth bars at a subsequent extensional strain as low as 0.01. The comparison of the average net fracture stress with the flow limit stress was shown to be an excellent criterion of brittle or ductile behavior of mild steel structures when only loads and general stress levels are known. The present investigation shows that the deformation at fracture is a far more sensitive measure of brittleness than the fracture stress. Both criteria, deformation and stress, are used to determine the amount of uniform precompression of two mild steels, ABS-B and Project E-steel, resulting in brittle fracture under the strong constraint of a subsequently machined severe circumferential groove. The fracture stress equaled or exceeded the theoretical flow limit Ól = 2.680., ('based on the elevated yield stress at each prestrain) up to prestrains of about 0.20 and then fell off to about 1 at prestrains of 0.60. Yet a prestrain of only 0.05 reduced the elongation at the shoulders by a factor of about 4. The total plastic elongation of a region surrounding a sharp notch in prestrained steel deternines whether or not fracture will be initiated in large structures, hence is a direct and realistic measure of the remaining ductility and provides an excellent test of the material's resistance to embrittlement. ALMOST all engineering structures of mild steel which failed in service in a so-called "brittle" manner exhibited appreciable local plastic deformation (more than 1 pct) and a mixture of "cleavage" and "shear" fracture surfaces. Furthermore, the peak local stress in an advancing crack is always high. Such simple criteria as pure cleavage, absence of plasticity, or fracture stress, so useful in other fields, are insufficient to characterize brittleness in engineering structures at ordnary temperatures. The "brittle)' behavior of engineering structures is caused by the limited ductility at cracks or notch regions, as shown by recent work at Brown University summarized and extended in Refs. 1 to 4. It was also shown that the local ductility of mild steel may be catastrophically reduced by a suitable strain and temperature history similar to those which may occur in real structures. Localized yielding begins at the notch roots at low loads but is contained by surrounding elastic regions. The plastic strains are hence small. They increase slowly with the load up to the flow limit or limit load for an ideally plastic material. Unrestricted plastic flow then occurs. At such strains the real material locally st rain-hardens and fractures. With work-hardening materials no flow limit exists, and the transition from low to high plastic strains is gradual but increases more rapidly at loads close to the flow limit of an equivalent perfectly plastic material. When the available ductility is sufficient for reaching the limit load, the behavior is normal or "ductile". With insufficient ductility, fracture will occur at a low load and will be defined as "brittle". Accordingly the sufficiency or not of the ductility at a notch is reflected in the magnitude of the fracture load or average net stress as compared with the limit load or flow limit. The application of this criterion gave surprising results. Service failures under semistatic loading occurred mostly below the limit load, hence were "brittle". On the contrary all static tests with undamaged commercial mild steels reached the limit load in spite of the deepest notches and temperatures below Charpy impact transition (say about -30°F or higher). Notched bars showed no brittleness even under fully dynamic axial loading up to 1.5 x107 psi per sec at -23°F and about 2.5 x l06 psi per sec at -ll0°F, but broke in a brittle manner at -200°F and l03 psi per sec.' To propagate a fracture at low load, experimenters had to trigger it by superimposing a strong dynamic impact at a notch cooled by liquid nitrogen as in the Robertson5 or Esso tests.' Once started the cracks would run through warmer regions of smaller stress. Obviously the ductility of the apparently undamaged commercial steels was "sufficient" in the laboratory tests but not in the service fracture, where it must have been reduced by some embrittling procedure of fabrication or service. These conclusions were confirmed by the achievement of low static stress (brittle) fracture initiation in unwelded steel after a local reduction of ductility by simple prestraining. Symmetrically notched plates of undamaged mild steel cooled below the Charpy V-notch transition range were tested in central static tension: Undamaged plates withstood loads of limit intensity, but when subjected to prior in-plane com-pressive prestraining perpendicular to the notch axis and to accelerated aging, the plates fractured completely or partially at very low static loads, as low as one-tenth of the flow limit.2-4 However, damage could not be easily related to the strongly variable prestrain around a sharp notch. To obtain easier strain measurements, it was decided to use axially precom-pressed bars and bent bars. Final testing was done by

Jan 1, 1970

By F. G. Cottrell

(New York Meeting, February, 1912.) ABOUT a year and a half ago, at the San Francisco meeting of the American Chemical Society, in connection with the excursions to local smelting-works, I had occasion to show some lantern-slides illustrating the recent commercial development of electrical methods for precipitating the suspended matter from smelter-smoke, the underlying phenomena of which were clearly brought to the attention of the technical public by Sir Oliver Lodge as long ago as 1884. In the Journal of industrial and Engineering Chemistry, August, 1911, most of these views were reproduced, together with an account of the work from its beginning up to July, 1911. To-day I wish particularly to show you some of the further developments of the work since that time; but in order to make these clear they will be prefaced by a brief abstract of the article above referred to. The removal of suspended particles, front gases, by the aid of electric discharges is by no means a new idea. As early as 1824 we' find it suggested by Hohlfeld 1 as a means of suppressing ordinary smoke, and again a quarter of a, century later by Guitard.2 These suggestions, which do not seem to have stimulated any practical study of the question, were soon entirely forgotten, and only brought to light again by Sir Oliver Lodge,3 many years after he himself had independently rediscovered the same phenomena and brought them to public attention 4 in a lecture before the Liverpool Section of the So-

Jul 1, 1912

By Paul Billingsley

The Asientos-Tepezala district is in the north of the State of Aguasca-lientes, about 30 miles north of the city of Aguascalientes, the capital. The district is reached by a standard-gage railway on the west side through the junction, Rincon de Romos, which is on the main line of the National Railways of Mexico from El Paso to Aguscalientes. The terminal is Tepezala. On the east side a narrow gage connects Asientos with the junction, San Gil, on the main line, Asientos to San Luis Potosi. Tepezala on the west side of the Asientos hills is about 2 miles from Asientos on the east side. The area between the two mining centers is separated by a low subdued divide which forms the central part of the hills. The district is in a group of isolated hills surrounded by characteristic bolsón plains. The hills rise above the surrounding plains about 6500 to 10,000 ft.; the highest peak is Alta Mira. The two mining districts lie somewhat upon the flanks of the hills at about the same elevation, 7200 ft. The district is an old one and has been known since early in the 17th Century when the mines were worked by the Franciscan Monks. Their mining operations, which were limited to the oxidized ore above the water level, consisted chiefly in extracting silver from the Santa Francisca vein. To judge from the old workings and the remains of surface plant, the operations were on a large scale. By modern mining operations since about 1900, the various mines of the district have been one of the principal sourees of ore for the smelter located at Aguascalientes. Topography The topographic features of the Asientos hills are largely controlled by the character of the underlying rocks. During the Tertiary period, the entire group of hills was probably covered by extrusive volcanic material in the form of cones and lava flows. The central part of these have since been carried away by erosion, so that remnants have been left along the borders of the hills. These remnants form rather conspicuous peaks,

Jan 1, 1927

By Arthur Notman

THE COMMITTEE on Production Control of the Institute has accomplished little or nothing tangible during the last year. For this the chairman must accept responsibility and whatever praise or blame goes with it. However, we have all had plenty of opportunity to observe the results obtained by various producing groups in their attempts to regulate production to meet demand dur¬ing the last few years. It would be putting it mildly to say that these have not been such as to inspire confidence in the methods pursued. The present plight of the wheat, cotton, coffee and sugar growers; the oil, copper, lead, zinc and tin producers, to name a few of the unfortunates, suggests a common cause perhaps beyond their control. There is a growing tendency to question as outmoded the theories of laissez faire economics, with its laws of competition, supply and demand, with price as the automatic regulator. The position is maintained that something new should be substituted because these laws no longer work. Many solutions are offered, ranging in the world at large from the planned economy of Russia, with the profit element removed, to the military controlled economy of Fascism, and in our own country from voluntary curtailment to martial law. But one hardly feels driven by any irresistible logic to put his finger on any one of these proposals, and to say this is the one in which I believe. On turning to one's neighbors, one is still more confused by the realization that this intellectual uncertainty is wide-spread. Isolation or cooperation, protection or free trade, the gold standard, bimetallism or managed currencies, de¬flation or inflation, all have their proponents in whose eyes one or the other of these slogans will afford the panacea for all our ills.

Jan 1, 1933

United Engineering Trustees, Inc C E Reistle, Jr (to Oct '55), A B Kinzel, '56, Andrew Fletcher, '57, Philip Kraft (from Oct '55 to '59) The Engineering Foundation W M Peirce, '56, A M Gaudin, '58 Engineering Societies Library Board Frank T Sisco, '58, C H Behre, Jr Engineering Societies Personnel Service Board of Directors E J Kennedy, Jr, E H Robie Advisory Committee, Milwaukee F T Agthe Special Survey Committee C M Cooley American Standards Association Mining Standards Board E R Borcherdt, '55, Otto Herres, '55, J K Richardson, '56, E W Bullard, '56, Alternate

Jan 1, 1955

By DAVID F. McFARLAND

THE making of courses of study and curricula has long held first place as the favorite pastime of educators. As a game, this activity is as fascinating to some as golf or bridge, 'and the golfer's hope of a low score is matched by the teacher's ambition to some day evolve a sequence of studies that shall prove the ideal preparation for a life of maximum service and, profit. There are few in, this gathering who have not tried their skill at this game and still fewer are those who have been long satisfied by the product of their efforts. A curriculum is hardly printed in the college catalog before conditions arise which seem to make changes desirable, and strong will power is needed to maintain the program long enough to give it a fair trial. Metallurgical curricula are not less subject to change than others, 'and; indeed they have seemed, at times, to change more rapidly than other curricula because of the changing 'needs of the industries and the demand that the graduate be trained to meet the new conditions. Metallurgical practice is constantly proving that "time makes ancient good uncouth," and the graduate metallurgist is required to adapt himself to newer and

Jan 1, 1930

By Philip D. Wilson

FEAST and famine-or, chronologically, famine and feast-have characterized the aluminum supply program during 1943. Fortunately for the war effort the famine phase is over and aluminum production is now in the happy position of being abundantly able to supply all the requirements of the armed services plus a monthly surplus which is building up a substantial stock pile as a reserve against any contingencies. But the present condition of oversupply cannot be attributed to the super-efficiency of the aluminum production program which was designed to take care of the over-all requirements of the war with little or no margin of safety. The present more than comfortable situation is due primarily to the fact that the armed services generally have not consumed anything approaching the amount of aluminum which their requirement estimates indicated.

Jan 1, 1944

By Howard N. Eavenson

DURING the past year, as in the preceding ones, prices continued to fall, production to decrease, and more mines were closed. Much attention is being given by the industry to suggested plans for betterment of its position, and if the scheme recently brought out for consolidation of sales agencies into district agencies is loyally carried out, it cannot but help to improve conditions. The progress in the anthracite industry is shown in the report of its chairman, E. H. Suender; changes in coal preparation are outlined in the report of J. B. Morrow, chairman of Committee on Coal Preparation, while increased mechanization of the western mines is described by Eugene McAuliffe, chairman of the Committee on Machine and Strip Mining. In spite of the depression, interest in the Coal Division has been increasing, its meetings have been well attended, and its committees are active and have been doing excellent work.

Jan 1, 1932

By L. G. Huntley

The occurrence of oil or "tar" in Mexico was mentioned as early as the seventeenth century by Friar Sagahun, who gives the Indian name "chapopote," by which these asphalt seepages are still called. This asphalt was apparently used, as it has been used by primitive people in many parts of the world, in religious ceremonies and for medicinal purposes. Travellers also report that the ruins in Yucatan and the pyramids in southern Mexico show traces of the use of "chapopotel' as a building cement.l DeGolyer says that the first attempt to exploit oil or gas in Mexico in a commercial way is shown by the records of the Memoria de Fomento of 1865, when permission was granted to a Senor Ildefonso Lopez to exploit the deposits of petroliferous substances in the San Jose de las Rusias area in the State of Tamaulipas. Other concessions follow, and probably refer to surface seepages which occur in that district. This was several years after the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania. In 1868, a well 125 it. deep was :drilled by a company organized in Mexico City, in what is now known as the,, Furbero district, and a little oil was refined there. In 1873, residents of Tampico denounced seepages along the Tamesi River, and asphalt was mined near Tempoal in the Canton of Tantoyuca. No drilling was attempted. But between 1880 and 1883 several shallow wells were drilled for oil in Mexico, two of them being near the present Potrero de Llano field west of Tuxpam. The wells were drilled by a Boston company with Canadian rigs, and are said to have reached a depth of about 400 ft., while one is reported to have flowed. Several other abortive attempts were made to drill for oil between 1885 and the beginning of the present century, about which time the Mexican Petroleum & Liquid Fuel Co., Ltd., in which Cecil Rhodes was interested drilled 24 wells unsuccessfully, several of them as deep as 1,500 ft., in the State of Vera Cruz. Also Messrs. Doheny and Canfield of California pur-

Jan 1, 1916

By C. W. Gibbs, E. K. Parks

In 1929 the Standard Oil Company of California commenced the development of a device for obtaining temperatures and pressures in flowing and shut-in wells and of suitable running equipment for such a recorder. Although simple in principle, the recorder has required much experimental work in its development. The various problems have now been solved to such an extent that it is believed that the apparatus affords a sturdy and reliable means for obtaining information regarding depth pressures,—apparatus that may be turned over to a well gang for routine operation. As an example of the rough usage the device will withstand a recent incident may be cited. Owing to failure of the lowering line at the conclusion of a run a recorder was dropped some 6300 ft. through 2 1/2-in. tubing filled with gassy oil. The device was fished out undamaged and with the pressure record intact, although the instrument had been subjected to a pressure greater than 2300 lb. per sq. in. for some 24 hr. after impact at bottom. Description of Recorder The instrument is of the continuous recording loaded spring type (Fig. I). Temperature is not recorded continuously but is obtained by maximum recording thermometers in an auxiliary thermometer well. The entire instrument assembly, from bottom of the recorder to top of the socket, is 6 1/2 ft. long and weighs less than 25 lb. The maximum outside diameter of the recorder shell is 1 1/4in., and all attachments need be no larger. This permits lowering the device inside 2-in. tubing. The operating principle is simple. The well pressure acts upon a piston A resisted by the extension of spring B. The spring deflection is recorded by a stylus C upon paper within the recording drum D. Springs.—To improve accuracy at lower maximum well pressures five interchangeable spring assemblies are used. These have maximum pressure ranges of from 250 to 5000 lb. per sq. in. Piston diameter is the same in all cases, and each spring is designed for a deflection of about 5 in. for maximum pressure loading. A complete spring assembly there-

Jan 1, 1934

By John C. Cosgrove

IT was just five minutes past midnight, on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 1938, that Mrs. Cosgrove and I sailed from New York City. Our trip was to completely circle the globe, to cover over 40,000 miles and stop at thirty ports-from New York to Trinidad, to South America, via South Africa to the Orient, to India, to the Malay States, to Indo-China, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and across the Pacific home via Honolulu. It is not my intention to make this a complete, technical study of coal or coal mining in the various countries that .we visited but more to outline the general in- formation that the mining engineer and coal operator would absorb in his travels. Coal is the universal fuel and is in use wherever there is commerce and industry. Even on our ship, which, like practically all ocean liners was an oil-burner, a considerable quantity of coal was used for cooking.

Jan 1, 1939

By Douglas D. Donald

The New Jersey Zinc Co. successfully holed through a 2 1/2-mile haulage tunnel connecting its new Ivanhoe shaft with the Van Mater Shaft at Austinville, Va. This 8x 10-ft cross-section tunnel was driven from both ends and met at a point approximately a mile from one shaft and a mile and a half from the other. In order to make certain that the faces met accurately on line and grade it was necessary to refine conventional mine surveying practices. The mines that are serviced by these shafts are located in the southwestern part of Virginia approximately midway between Roanoke and Bristol at the west foot of the Blue Ridge. While the presence of lead-zinc sulfide ores has been known in this area for more than 200 years, it was in 1902 that New Jersey Zinc Co. acquired the Austinville property, which has been in constant operation since that time. About ten years ago the company undertook an extensive diamond drilling program at Ivanhoe several miles to the southwest. This program was successful in locating sufficient ore to justify the purchase of a number of the properties in this area and plans were made to develop the new orebodies. The discovery of this ore as well as substantial addi- tional reserves at Austinville resulted in a decision by the company to increase its daily milling capacity to 3000 tons, of which about 1000 tons would be supplied from the Ivanhoe mine. After careful consideration of all possible methods of transporting this volume of ore from Ivanhoe to the mill, it became evident that diesel locomotive haulage through a 2½-mile tunnel between the two mines would best suit prevailing conditions. Since the lowest operating level, known as the 1100 level, of each mine would be at approximately the same elevation, it was obvious that such a tunnel should be driven on this level. Not only would this tunnel facilitate feeding Ivanhoe ore into the underground crusher and skip loading installation at Austinville, but it would also open up a known orebody 5000 ft southwest of the Van Mater shaft. In addition it would provide a valuable diamond drilling base from which a large and a potentially favorable but untested block of ground might be explored. In order to hasten the completion of the tunnel, it was felt that it should be driven from both ends. ENGINEERING CONTROL PROCEDURES It was vital that the tunnel junction be made accurately on line and grade; thus it was felt that engineering control of an unusually high degree of reliability was required to prevent an accumulation

Jan 1, 1959

By D. Hnrrington

THE Dust Symposium was attended by approximately 100 persons, nearly all of whom remained from the starting hour (2 p. m.) until the use of the auditorium was demanded for another meeting at 5:30 p. in. In calling the meeting to order, D. Harrington made a few remarks as to the importance of the health dust problem in mining as well as in general industry and expressed gratification that the subject is now out in the open and that mining people are desirous of ascertaining the facts. B. F. Tillson acted as chairman of the meeting. The milling executive who desires to know what to do to prevent his workers from being unduly exposed to the dust hazard can get much out of the paper by D. E. Cummings, who has been doing much work in mines trying to keep -the dust in the air within safe limits. His recommendations indicate that the main protection of the worker in mines is by adequate ventilation, supplemented by the extensive use of water in drilling, as well as in water curtaining to condition air both in regard to dust content and to temperatures. Blasting was shown to be one of the chief causes for dust and it was recommended that whenever feasible all blasting should be delayed to the end of the working shift.

Jan 1, 1935

By Percy W. Bidwell

THE statisticians had defeated Germany months before she invaded Poland. With batteries of adding machines they had proved that she was suffering from serious deficiencies in critical food- stuffs and in practically all of the raw materials necessary for the conduct of modern warfare. Their calculations showed that with respect to fats, oils, wool, cotton, hides, petroleum, iron, copper and other metals, the Reich was bound to be at a great disadvantage vis-a-vis the French and British as long as the latter could keep open the lines of sea communication. The conclusion seemed obvious-"Germany can't win." The more cautious of the commentators introduced qualifications as to the length of the war and the tightness of the British and French blockade. They also made a third qualification as to the character of the struggle- whether it was to be a war of attrition or a war of movement. But since the invasion of Norway in April, there is no longer any doubt on this score. It is a war of movement-a war in which fuel, lubricants, and metals are being consumed on a scale never before seen.

Jan 1, 1940