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By Donald Ofte, L. J. Wittenberg

The absolute viscosity coefficients and activation energies for viscous flow of bismuth, lead, and zinc are reported. The viscosities were measured in an oscillating cup viscosimeter from nearly 1000°C to within 1 deg of the melting point of zinc; 2 deg of the melting point of lead; and in the supercooled condition of bismuth, 9 deg below the melting point. Two methods of relating the change in the viscosity coeflicient with temperature were compared. From the plot of the logarithm of viscosity (77) as a function of reciprocal absolute temperature (1/T), the equations of the lines which fit the data are: AS a part of the Reactor Fuels and Materials Research program at Mound Laboratory, precise measurements of the physical properties of liquid metals are of interest because the desirability for a low vapor pressure liquid coolant in high-temperature nuclear power plants has focused attention on the properties of the liquid metals.' Also, a clearer understanding of the liquid metal state can be achieved when better measurements are available. For these reasons, the viscosity values of certain liquid metals have been determined. The viscosities of the liquid metals, bismuth, lead, and zinc are measured in an oscillating cup viscosi-meter. In this apparatus the liquid is sealed in a right-circular cylindrical cup which is attached to a torsion fiber so that the system forms a torsion pendulum. The damping effect of the molten metal upon the normal oscillations of the torsion pendulum is a function of the viscosity of the liquid. This method is advantageous because of the small amount of sample required (8 to 10 cc), the ease of remote operation of the apparatus in a vacuum system, and the containment of the liquid metal in a hermetically sealed, nonreactive, tantalum crucible. With the liquid metal sealed in the crucible, loss of liquid by vaporization and chemical reactions with atmospheric gases are prevented. Additionally, an absolute viscosity determination is obtained which avoids the sources of possible error in a relative measurement. The difficulties in a relative method include the repetitious cup calibrations, and the uncertainty inherent in the practice of calibration of the apparatus at room temperature and extrapolation to the high temperatures necessary for the investigation of most liquid metals. The oscillating cup viscosimeter was first described by Meyer in 1891.2 The first complete mathematical treatment offering an absolute measurement of viscosity with this type of apparatus was proposed by Andrade and chiong3 in 1936 for an oscillating sphere filled with a liquid. This solution was modified to include a right circular cylinder by Hopkins and Toye4 in 1950, and R. Roscoe5 in 1958. Roscoe's treatment for the calculation of the viscosity of a liquid at a particular temperature from the logarithmic decrement and period of oscillation of the torsion pendulum was used in this investigation. A detailed description of the method of calculating the viscosity from these measurements has been reported earlier.' This calculation has been programmed for the IBM 704 and IBM 1620 computers for expedition of the otherwise laborious calculations. APPARATUS The cutaway view of the apparatus in Fig. 1 shows the suspension system within the high vacuum enclosure. The low residual gas pressure. maintained between 1 x 10-4 and 5 X 10-6 mm Hg during a determination, avoided both air drag on the pendulum and

Jan 1, 1963

By G. F. Bolling

STUDIES of grain boundary migration in zone-refined metals have all shown that the rate of migration is greatly reduced by small added solute concentrations. However, it is apparent that a difference exists between boundary migration during normal grain growth and single boundaries migrating in a bicrystal to consume a substructure. To effect the same reduction in velocity in the two cases, much more solute is required for grain growth than for the single boundary experiments. One case is available for direct comparison; both Bolling and winegardl and Aust and utter' added silver and gold to zone-refined lead to study grain growth and single boundary migration, respectively. For comparable reductions in migration rates, about 500 times more solute was required to retard grain growth than to retard the single boundaries. A reason for this difference is suggested here. The rate of grain boundary migration is dependent on solute concentration and must therefore also depend on the solute distribution; i.e., regions of higher solute concentration encountered by a moving boundary must produce greater retardation and thus could determine any observed rate. A dislocation substructure can be the source of a nonuniform solute distribution since it can attract an excess concentration of certain solutes. In fact, it is probable that the solutes which impede grain boundary migration most would segregate most severely to a substructure for the same reasons. Thus a dislocation substructure present in a crystal being consumed could locally magnify the concentration of solute confronting an advancing grain boundary. In the single boundary experiments a low-angle substructure, within single crystals obtained by growth from the melt, was used to provide the driving force to move a grain boundary; in grain growth, no substructure of this magnitude was present. The increased solute concentration at subboundaries should be given approximately by C, = G e c,/kT, where t, is a binding energy and CO the bulk concentration. To account for the difference between the two experiments in the Pb-Ag and Pb-Au cases, C, must be the concentration impeding the single boundary migration, and a value of t, = 0.25 ev is necessary. This is reasonable, even though calculation on a purely elastic basis gives t, = 0.12 ev. because electronic effects must enter for silver and gold in lead. The compound AuPbz forms3 and the metastable compound AgrPb has been reported to nucleate at dislocations prior to the formation of the stable, silver-rich phase.4 Other observations support the hypothesis that a magnified solute concentration impedes the single boundary migration. For example, some crystals were grown by Aust and Rutter at concentrations of ~ 0.1 wt pct Sn and 2 x X at. pct Ag or Au which exhibited a cellular substructure, and in these crystals no boundary migration was observed. It is therefore evident that the higher concentrations at cell boundaries drastically inhibited migration. Inclusions would not have been responsible for this inhibition since according to recent work on cellular segregation,5 no second phase should have occurred in the segregated regions at the cell boundaries for the conditions of growth used, at least in the Pb-Sn system. In the purest lead, only the "special" boundaries observed by Aust and Rutter gave rise to the same activation energy as that obtained in grain growth. It is reasonable to suppose that the structure of special boundaries does not favor segregation at low concentrations and thus solute, or an inhomogeneity in its distribution, would have no effect. Random boundaries, on the other hand, are affected by solute and the substructure would enhance residual concentrations in the zone-refined lead, leading to a higher activation energy. It is clear, even without a detailed theory, that the apparent activation energies and exact solute dependence in the two experiments must be different as long as the non-uniform solute distribution produced by the substructure is important. Recrystallization experiments should also be susceptible to the same kind of local segregation at subboundaries or disloca tion cell walls; a suggestion similar to this has been made by Leslie et al.' Following the arguments presented here, the effects of a given solute concentration would be like those observed by Aust and Rutter if segregation occurred, and like those of grain growth otherwise. This work was partially supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; Contract AF-49(638)-1029.

Jan 1, 1962

By W. C. Thurber, C. J. McHargue

THE deformation textures of metals have been extensively studied because of both the practical implications in metal fabrication and the fundamental insight into the behavior of the metal during deformation. Most studies have been concerned with pure metals or solid-solution alloys and relatively little attention has been directed toward more complex alloy systems. Barrett' and Brick2 have summarized work on multiphase systems in terms of the relative ease of deformation of the phases. Thus, if the phases are deformed about equally, each develops its usual texture for the particular fabrication process. This behavior has been reported for Ag-Cu and Cd-Zn alloys3 and 62-38 brass.4 A dispersion of hard particles in a softer matrix interferes with the normal reorientation of the matrix lattice during deformation, thus distorting the texture or in some cases preventing its development. Increasing the amount of carbon in steel has been observed to increase the randomness of the ferrite5 and almost random textures have been reported for A1-12 pct Si eutectic alloy wires.6 It has also been noted that if the second phase is platelike, deformation causes the platelets to line up in a common direction. The present work concerns a quantitative study of the deformation textures in aluminum-uranium alloys containing 5 or 13 wt pct U. Alloys in this composition range are characterized by a pure aluminum matrix in which the intermetallic compound UA14, is dispersed. From a fundamental standpoint, this system affords the opportunity for studying the effects of a dispersed phase on texture development in an essentially pure metal matrix. Further, these alloys are commonly used as fuels for nuclear research and testing reactors, and a knowledge of the preferred orientation may be useful in evaluating physical and mechanical properties as well as response to fabrication. The deformation textures in sheets of aluminum (99.996 pct), Al-5 pct U alloy, and Al-13 pct U alloy were determined for reductions in thickness of 90 pct by cold rolling. The texture in an alloy rod of the latter composition which had been extruded at 455°C was also determined. It can be readily ascertained from the aluminum-uranium phase diagram that the 5 pct U alloy is hypoeutectic and contains 7.3 wt pct (3.4 vol. pct) UAl4. The 13 pct U alloy has the eutectic composition and contains 18.9 wt pct (9.4 vol. pct) UAl,; however, because of nonequilibrium solidification conditions, the typical eutectic microstructure was not developed. The alloys were prepared by open-air melting in graphite crucibles. The slab castings were cropped and cold reduced 90 pct in thickness on a two-high mill. The slabs were reversed after each pass. Although the uranium-bearing alloys exhibited edge cracking, they could be cold rolled to the desired thickness. Small coupons 1.5 by 0.75 by 0.1 in. thick were sheared from the center of the rolled plate with a major axis parallel to the rolling direction. To obtain a specimen of sufficient thickness for machining of the X-ray diffraction specimen, three coupons were laminated into a single three-ply sandwich with a suitable adhesive. Adhesives which could be cured at room temperatures were selected in order to prevent recrystallization during bonding. Bondmaster M-648 (Rubber and Asbestos Corp.) was used for the pure aluminum laminate and Armstrong A-6 (Armstrong Products Co.) was used for the alloys. The alloy for extrusion was cast in a cylindrical graphite mold! cropped and machined into a 3-in. diam by 4-in. long billet. This billet was preheated to 455°C, upset to 3.125 in. diam, and extruded on a 700-ton hydraulic press at a speed of 6 fpm through a flat-face, 1-in. diam die. The rod was quenched with a water spray as it emerged from the die. Pole-distribution data were obtained using the diffractometric method described by Jetter and Borie.7 A spherical X-ray diffraction specimen of

Jan 1, 1961

By F. W. Schremp, J. W. Chittum, T. S. Arczynski

This paper describes a laboratory study of causes of external casing corrosion and the test work that led to the use of oxygen scavengers to prevent this attack. External casing failures are classified as water-line, casing-casing, collar and body failures. A corrosion mechanism based on principles of differential oxygen availability is developed that is consistent with facts known about each kind of failure. The field use of oxygen scavengers is depicted as a direct result of the laboratory study. A part of the paper is devoted to reporting on the field use of hydra-zine to control external casing corrosion. Results of field measurements made over a period of several years are presented as evidence of the efectiveness of the hydrazine treatment. The first conclusion reached is that the use of hydrazine materially reduces the cathodic protection requirements for treated wells. This result is interpreted to mean that a reduction is taking place in the amount of corrosion on the casing. Results indicate also that hydrazine shows its greatest usefulness within the first 12 to 18 months after a well is completed when pitting corrosion is likely to be most active. INTRODUCTION According to surveys sponsored by the National Association of Corrosion Engineers,' the cost of repairing casing leaks caused by external corrosion may exceed $4 million per year. In addition, well damage and lost production resulting from casing leaks probably costs the petroleum industry an additional $5 to $6 million per year. Concern about the cost of external casing corrosion led to an extensive laboratory study of factors causing this external corrosion and to the development of a new approach to its prevention. This paper presents a discussion of various causes of external casing corrosion, details of laboratory studies and the results of the field use of an oxygen scavenger in well cementing fluids to prevent the external corrosion of oil-string casing. Measurements on test wells over a period of several years show that cathodic-protection current requirements are greatly reduced when hydrazine is used in cementing mud. Reduction of current requirements can be interpreted to mean that removal of oxygen by hydrazine has greatly suppressed corrosion cells on the external surface of the casing and thereby, has reduced corrosion. To date, hydrazine has been used by the Standard Oil Co. of California in more than 200 well completions. KINDS OF CASING FAILURES A survey of a large number of casing leaks disclosed four types of external casing failures — water-line, casing-casing, collar and body failures. These types are identified largely by their location on the casing. Water-line failures are found just below the surface of water or mud in the casing annulus. Casing-casing failures occur on the oil string just below the shoe of the surface string. Collar failures are found in the threaded ends of casing joints where they are screwed into casing collars. Body failures may occur at any point on the body of a casing joint. Ex- amples of each kind of failure have some of the general characteristics that are shown in Fig. 1. Water-line failures usually result in the circumferential severance of an oil-string casing. The corrosive action causing a water-line failure usually is sharply defined and is limited to a short length of the casing. Casing-casing failures usually are accompanied by pitting corrosion distributed around the oil-string casing for distances up to 100-ft below the shoe of the surface string. Casing-casing failures may also sever the casing. Collar failures seem to start on the first thread at the bottom of recesses between collar and casing joint. Corrosion proceeds across the threads by what appears to be a normal pitting mechanism. Both casing and collar are severely attacked. Body failures are the result of highly localized pitting at any point on a casing wall. Besides the pit that perforates a casing, a large number of other pits usually are found along one side of the casing joint. The pits occasionally are filled with corrosion products consisting largely of oxides and sulfides.' Frequently, the mill scale is largely intact on the rest of the casing. Examination of a casing failure does not always reveal the cause of the failure. Frequently, the necessary details are destroyed when the failure occurs. For example, formation water flowing through a perforation at high velocity may enlarge the hole and destroy any remaining evidence of the cause of the failure. One way to obtain undistorted information about a failure is to study the nature of other pits on the casing in the vicinity of the failure. A study of such pits frequently suggests that they are characteristic of an attack resulting from the differential availability of molecular oxygen.

By John S. Johnson, Thomas Fraser

SIZING is the process of separating mixed particles into groups of particles all of the same size, or into groups in which all particles range between certain definite maximum and minimum sizes. In coal preparation, sizing is generally accomplished by passing the coal over screens. Separation by differential settling in air or water currents has been adapted to the special field of separating very fine sizes, and these processes are in commercial use to a relatively small extent in the coal industry. Separation with screens is a very old industrial practice. Agricola described the use of screens for ore treatment in the middle ages. In the literature of the British coal industry references were made to the screening of coal as early as 1589, but the practice of extensive sizing for the market did not become general until the last half of the nineteenth century. In America, the practice of sizing developed first in the Pennsylvania anthracite region, beginning with the use of rakes in the mine working places to recover coarse coal. This mining procedure left the fines in the mine. Preparation outside the mine started with the installation of stationary cast-iron plates with 4 to 6-in. square holes. The run-of-mine coal was dumped upon the platforms, the large pieces of rock were picked out by hand, and the large lumps of coal were broken with hammers. The term "breaker," which still applies to the anthracite-preparation plant, originated with this practice, but the term is no longer descriptive of the entire function of the plant. In 1884, the first power-operated anthracite coal breaker was erected by Gideon Bart at his colliery at Wolf Creek near Minersville, Pa. This plant utilized a system of rolls for breaking the coal and revolving screens for sizing. The plant was driven by a steam engine. It could handle coal at the rate of 200 tons a day. By 1860, revolving screens were in wide use in the Pennsylvania anthracite field. Shaking screens were introduced in the Pennsylvania anthracite region in the 90's and they rapidly displaced the lower-capacity revolving screens.

Jan 1, 1950

By Terry G. Richard, Vernal H. Kenner, Sunder H. Advani

This paper presents and discusses the results of thirty-one fracture toughness tests on Pennsylvanian Age Clay Shale. Two different orientations for this anisotropic material were studied and two series of tests were conducted, namely, 1. a test series to determine the effect of moisture content on fracture toughness, and 2. a test series to study mixed mode fracture. Increased absorbed moisture is found to reduce fracture toughness. Several analyses of mixed mode failure are found to give varying non-conservative predictions of failure stress intensity level.

Jan 1, 1982

By S. Feuerstein

THE influence of environment on the mechanical properties of metals has been extensively studied and documented.' Most investigations have dealt with an interaction between a particular environment and a specific metal surface and the concomitant change in bulk mechanical behavior. Typical contributing media are oxide and metal film:;, electrolytes, and other surface-active agents. In the last category fall controlled gaseous environs (i.e., pressure or vacuum). Most vacuum exposure experiments prior to 1963 were conducted at pressures s>10-6 torr and elevated temperatures, or in such a manner as to prolong the exposure (e.g., by stress-rupture, creep, and fatigue). Little attention has been given to vacuum environment effects on the mechanical behavior of metals subjected to simple uniaxial deformation at room temperature. Test times and temperatures were assumed too ineffective as far as bulk changes were concerned. Further, the contribution of surface effects to the bulk mechanical behavior of metals was considered minimal. Under vacuums of the order of 1.0- 8torr and higher, molecular densities and, consequently, the rate of monolayer formation are such that exposures from seconds to days would be required for complete gas coverage. Thus, atomically clean surfaces created under ultra-high vacuum could conceivably maintain their cleanliness for time intervals orders of magnitude greater than at higher pressures. The influence of this unusual type of environmental surface phenomenon on the short-term bulk mechanical behavior of aluminum was first observed by Krame and Podlaseck in 1963.' kin equivalent effect was reported for magnesium by Williams and Nelson.3 It was concluded from these studies2,3 that vacuum and, consequently, the monolayer formation rate of the oxide, were responsible for the described changes in flow behavior. The presence of an oxide layer impedes dis- I) EXPERIMENTAL DATA: MOLYBDENUM The tensile behavior of molybdenum was investigated by the author4-6 at ambient temperature over a range of pressures from 760 to 10-10 torr. These studies revealed that the flow behavior of the bulk specimens (0.200 in. diam by 2 in. gage length) was independent of pressure on sintered (0.062 mm grain size) and arc-cast polycrystals (0.012 to 0.149 mm grain sizes) and single crystals. Since the specimens were relatively large in size, it was assumed that any flow behavior effect would be surface-limited because of the short-term deformation procedure. Strain-rate-change experiments performed to determine the activation volumes for individual specimens at 760 to 10- 10 torr further indicated that the surface flow contribution was either minimal or zero, contrary to the findings of Shen el a1.7 on aluminum. Although the flow behaviors did not change, specimen ductility did change. For the sintered material at a strain rate of 4.2 x 10-4, specimen ductility was -9 pct higher at l0- 10 torr than at atmospheric pressure (dry nitrogen). A more comprehensive investigations on this same material revealed a distinct pressure dependence, Fig. 1. Intermediate and atmospheric pressure tests were obtained by backfilling the system from l0- 10 torr with extra dry, prepurified nitrogen. Other environments (air and purified argon) were also utilized for the 760 torr experiments; the results were essentially the same as those for dry nitrogen atmospheres. Departure from the fracture strain values obtained at 760 torr takes place in the vicinity of l0-6 torr, as indicated by the scatter band; a noticeable ductility increase is apparent at l0-8 and 10-10 torr.

Jan 1, 1970

By J. E. Nelson, R. J. Bonnis

Recent completion of Cyprus Bagdad's $240-million modernization and expansion program has registered a 700% increase in ore production with only a 50% increase in labor. Elements of this remarkable achievement include the application of large-scale mining equipment as well as the selection of the latest in processing hardware. Most important, however, was the early recognition that Bagdad's labor personnel is its most important asset.

Jan 4, 1978

By Rudolph G. Wuerker

MUCH descriptive matter has appeared on the subject of suspension roof supports, or roof bolting, as it is more commonly called. The widespread introduction of roof bolting into coal mines and metal mines is truly phenomenal. Mine operators were quick to recognize the advantages of supporting wide openings without hindrance to machine maneuverability and ventilation. Although suspension roof support has long been installed at St. Joseph Lead Co. mines in southeast Missouri,'" its application to coal mining presented new problems, such as proper anchorage and bearing for the bolts, bolt diameter, and spacing of bolts. After continuous testing and experimenting at the mines, standard roof-bolting materials were determined.'!' The study reported in this paper is not concerned with such details as bolt diameter, which may be considered already solved in practice. In the tests discussed here, small models patterned on actual bolts were found to function in the same way and as satisfactorily as their prototypes. The aim of these tests was rather to investigate the influence of roof-bolting systems on the stress distribution around mine openings and to study the fracture patterns obtained in actual testing. Little was found about this in the literature, as testing of suspension roof methods and quantitative measurements are only now coming to the fore. Several suggestions and actual measurements have been made to evaluate critically the functioning of roof bolting systems, single roof bolts, and parts thereof. Outstanding among them is Bucky's outline of structural model tests.'" Since none of the suggested testing equipment was available, however, for the experiments discussed below, a different approach was chosen. The response of a mine roof under stress has often been compared to that of a beam. The slow coming down and bending through of beam or plate-like banks of shale, sandstone, or top coal is a familiar occurrence, extensively cited in the literature." It was felt that testing of roof-bolt systems installed in a concrete beam which was loaded in bending would be a fair approximation of the behavior of a mine roof underground. Another school of thought considers the roof behavior over an underground opening in connection with the stress distribution all around a circular or rectangular opening. This is more accurate, and leads to the concept of a dome-shaped zone of material destroyed under tensile stress. This is likewise a common sight in unsupported roadways where the continuous fall of roof results in what has been called the natural outline of roof fracture. This theory could not be tested and is treated separately in Appendix B. It is important to note that according to both assumptions the immediate roof fails in tension; the use of a beam in these tests, therefore, should give information valid for either of the two theories. With the testing equipment at hand it was possible to load concrete beams 6xlx0.5 ft under two-point loading, giving an equal bending moment over the center part in which the model bolts were installed. A comparison was made of the ultimate loads needed to break plain beams and beams in which roof bolts were installed. Arrangements were made with: 1—plain beams; 2—bolts with plate washers, some with holes drilled at 90" angles and others with holes drilled at 45" angles; 3—bolts with channel irons underneath; 4—bolts in holes filled afterward with cement; and 5—bolts anchored in a stronger stratum. The foregoing arrangement is made in order of increasing strength, as assumed from the theory of reinforced concrete. Likewise, laminated beams with wooden model bolts and with combinations of the foregoing set-ups were tested. All in all, 21 experiments were made out of the much greater number of combinations possible. There were, too, some trial tests. Enough observations from this limited number were made to interpret the behavior of mine roof, supported by various types of suspension bolts, at fracture. In present-day concepts, which have been proved by mathematical derivations and stress analyses, any opening driven underground will change the distribution and magnitude of the stresses existing around it. It does not matter whether the stresses become visible, as in rocks whose strength is less than the forces acting upon them, or whether they are invisible, as in the gangways lacking evidence of rock pressure. In this latter case the rocks can withstand changes in stress-distribution. To consider the mine roof as a beam, there are, with transversal loading, tensile stresses in the lower fiber and compressive stresses in the upper layers above the neutral axis of the beam. Beams of brittle material such as rock and concrete fail exactly as shown in Fig. 1. Nearly all model beams showed the same fracture pattern as that of a tension crack. The influence of support, by roof bolting or conventional

Jan 1, 1954

By Everett H. Graff, Ray H. Misener

THE Sol de Oro mine is in the province of Nazca, 487 km. southeast of Lima, and 60 km. inland from the coast at an elevation of 1200 m. above sea level. From Lima the mine may be reached in 8 hr. by automobile; 472 km. from Lima to Nazca over the paved Pan-American Highway and 15 km. from Nazca to the mine over a good graveled road. The trip from Lima can also be made in 2 hr. via the Faucett Air Lines which make two stops weekly at Nazca. The [Compania] Aurifera Nazca, owning and operating the Sol de Oro mine, was organized in Lima in 1930 by a group of prominent Peruvian mining men, including Ing. Carlos Alvarez Calderon, Dr. Alfredo Alvarez Calderón, Ing. Hector Boza, Ing. Jorge Félix Remy, Ing. Eulogio Femandini, Sr. Fernando Wiese, and Sr. Julio East. The nine claims in the Sol de Oro group owned by the company comprise an area of 52 square kilometers. Development of the property was not started until 1932 and only then under adverse conditions, owing to lack of transportation facilities. Mining machinery and other supplies could be taken as far as Ica by boat and railroad, but to transport them over the 180 km. of hot, sandy desert from Ica to the mine was a problem. There was no road in those days and only a few of the most venturesome truck drivers cared to contract the hauling. Another problem the company had to face was that of securing adequate labor. The Sol de Oro is in an agricultural region, and was forced to look to the near-by cotton plantations for men. Experienced men were imported from the "sierras," but they did not stay. The men are accustomed to high altitudes and cold climate and cannot easily acclimate themselves to the hot and arid coastal region. As a consequence the company has been forced to hire the inexperienced local laborers and train them for mining. The company has established three separate camps at the Sol de Oro property. Each is approximately one kilometer from the other and connected by auto road. The upper mine camp consists of living quarters for 300 workmen and their families, a general mine office, carpenter shop and timber-framing shed, compressor house, drill-sharpening and drill-repair shop, first-aid station, time office, school and store. At the central or "empleados" camp there is a 200-ton cyanide plant, general offices, warehouse, powerhouse, shops, laboratory, hospital, school, guest house, an 18-room hotel for the single staffmen, and 12 completely modern five-room cottages for the married staff employees. At the lower camp are living quarters for 200 workmen and their families, two general stores, a school and a small theater. Below this camp, along the river, are the company wells and pumping plant supplying water for mine, mill, and camp uses.

Jan 1, 1945

By Thomas L. Garwood, F. C. Menk

IT is generally accepted that no method of coal cleaning except froth flotation is effective in cleaning dust. In the majority of coals mined in the United States the dust sues contain a high percentage of impurities, hence the removal of the dust from the coarse sizes lowers the impurity content of these sizes. Dedusted coal is desired as a means of providing a better feed to cleaning plants because of increased efficiency in I both dry and wet plants. In dry-cleaning plants, a dedusted feed makes for a pervious and uniform bed. With a dusty feed the fines tend to segregate in the feed stream and pass en masse over the air separators, causing a lack of uniform aeration and fluidity of the bed necessary to efficient cleaning. In wet-cleaning plants dedusting of the feed often decreases the sludge problem to the point of eliminating the necessity of wasting wash water. It may be advantageous to eliminate sludge-settling equipment in favor of dedusting equipment, to provide the advantages of a dedusted feed to the wet-washing process. Dedusting advantages may include: (1) the removal of fusain, especially advantageous in plants washing coal intended for metallurgical coke; (2) prevention of the gradual build-up of solids in the wash water, with a consequent variation in the washing ability of the system; (3) prevention of the loss of dust to the sludge ponds, providing instead a fuel for local consumption or special markets. DEDUSTING The practice of dedusting, sometimes called aspirating, has presented a problem in disposing of the dust and intermediate small sizes recovered in the process. It has been found that no difficulty is experienced in disposing of the intermediate sizes, since they are free of fine dust and burn freely on grates built for small coal. They handle well, flowing freely from bins and hoppers and into conveyors, and pulverize easily. They have a low angle of repose. In tests made on this size as a feed to coke ovens, the results have been excellent, in that the natural breakdown of coal in handling and shooting in the mine gives this small-size coal good coking characteristics-producing a strong, fingery coke structure. Deduster dust from Illinois coal has been

Jan 1, 1950

By Thomas L. Garwood, F. C. Menk

IT is generally, accepted that no method of coal cleaning except froth flotation is effective in cleaning dust. In the majority of coals mined in the United States the dust sizes contain a high percentage of impurities, hence the removal of the dust from the coarse sizes lowers the impurity content of these sizes. Dedusted coal is desired as a means of providing a better feed to cleaning plants because of increased efficiency in both dry and wet plants. In dry-cleaning plants, a dedusted feed makes for a pervious and uniform bed. With a dusty feed the fines tend to segr6gate in the feed stream and pass en masse over the air separators, causing a lack of uniform aeration and fluidity of the bed necessary to efficient cleaning. In wet-cleaning plants dedusting of the feed often decreases the sludge problem to the point of eliminating the necessity of wasting wash water. It may be advantageous to eliminate sludge-settling equipment in favor of dedusting equipment, to provide the advantages of a dedusted feed to the wet-washing process. Dedusting advantages may include: (1) the removal of fusain, especially advantageous in plants washing coal intended for metallurgical coke; (2) prevention of the gradual build-up of solids in the wash water, with a consequent variation in the washing ability of the system; (3) prevention of the loss of dust to the sludge ponds, providing instead a fuel for local consumption or special markets. DEDUSTING The practice of dedusting, sometimes called aspirating, has presented a problem in disposing of the dust and intermediate small sizes recovered in the process. It has been found that no difficulty is experienced in disposing of the intermediate sizes, since they are free of fine dust and burn freely on grates built for small coal. They handle well, flowing freely from bins and hoppers and into conveyors, and pulverize easily. They have a low angle of repose. In tests made on this size as a feed to coke ovens, the results have been excellent, in that the natural breakdown of .coal in handling and shooting in the mine gives this small-size coal good

Jan 1, 1943

Discussion of the paper of R. H: Sweetser,. presented at the Cleveland meeting, October, 1912, and printed in Bulletin No. 71, November, 1912 pp. 1327 to 1334. See also Bulletin 11 No. 72, December, 1912, pp. 1561, 1562. J. J. HOWARD, Dover, N. J. (communication to the Secretary*) :-No doubt there are as many different methods of starting a blast-furnace as there are men who assume that responsibility. Having blown-in a furnace a few years ago in a manner similar to that outlined by Mr. Sweetser, things went along so well at the start that I had time for a little reflection on what was going on inside the furnace. I saw the wood turned to charcoal practically, and it occurred to me, why should I use wood when I could put in the charcoal in the. first place, and thus save a lot of time, and also eliminate the dangerous gas from the wood, which is the cause of most of the accidents in starting up a furnace. I had a furnace out for repairs and decided to use no cord-wood in blowing in. I put in about a carload of charcoal and used no wood except some shavings and oily waste at each of the tuyeres. The furnace had 16 tuyeres and was 100 by 22 by 14.5 ft. Hot rods were put in each tuyere' and the blast started immediately at 11 a.m. Within 5 mill. the air was all driven out of the stack and the gas lighted of its own. accord at the top of the furnace. It was allowed to burn for 5 min. longer and then the bell was closed and the gas taken to the last stove and the last boiler on the gas-main. It was all clone so quietly that it was hard to realize that the gas was down. The tuyeres were as bright as if the furnace had been in blast for a long time. I have learned since that others have used the same method, but they had not passed the good advice along.

Jan 5, 1913

THE man who forgot to mail the letters his wife gave him was for once justified at Tulsa, for envelopes, scratch paper and tablecloths were all in demand and through the two days of the meeting of the Petroleum Division, pencils were busy everywhere sketching out diagrams, drawing curves, figuring, or just taking notes. Those attending took the serious papers seriously, and discussion was wide-ranging but pointed. Despite the highly technical character of the papers presented, the chairmen had never to call for discussion; it was only necessary to say the paper was open for it. Both days the meetings lasted until after five in the afternoon, and it was enthusiastically voted to advance the meeting hour on Friday, in order to give more time. In all, ten papers, abstracts of which appeared in MINING AND METALLURGY for October, and copies of all but two of which were available in print, were presented in the two days, and no more could have been handled to advantage in that time. All but one of these dealt with problems of production engineering. That, the opening paper, was a general review of demand, supply and price in 1928, by Campbell Osborn, in which he argued for the price control of production and showed how the economic conditions determined development. J. Elmer Thomas presented a carefully prepared review of the same data, but came to somewhat different conclusions as to trend, and J. E. Pogue pointed out that in recent years it has been the manufacturing rather than the producing industries that have been notably profitable. These and other discussions were too long to be reported here, but will be printed in full later.

Jan 1, 1928

By H. B. Probst

Mechanical twins were produced in zone-refined tungsten single crystals by explosive working at room temperature. These twins are parallel to (112) planes and have irregular boundaries rather than the classical plane twin boundaries. These boundaries aye grooved surfaces in which the grooves themselves are parallel to a <111> direction and the sides of the grooves appear to be par-allel to (110) planes. TWINS were produced in tungsten single crystals by explosive working at room temperature. These twins differ in character from any previously reported for tungsten; however, they are similar to those found in molybdenum after compression at -196°C.1 Deformation twins "resembling Neumann bands in ingot iron" have been observed in tungsten by Bech-told and Shewmon.2 This observation was made with sintered polycrystalline tungsten pulled in tension to fracture at 100°C and using a strain rate of 2.8 x 10-4 sec-1. More recently Schadler3 found deformation twins in zone-refined tungsten single crystals pulled in tension at -196"&apos; and -253°C. These tests were conducted using a strain rate of 3.3 x l0-4 sec-1, and the twin bands were found to be parallel to a (112) plane. Deformation twins in tungsten&apos;s sister metal, molybdenum, were observed by Cahn.4 These twins were produced by compressing small (0.7 mm) vapor-deproducedposited molybdenum single crystals at -183°C. The compression was performed &apos;by impact." By the use of precession X-ray techniques, Cahn was able to identify the twin plane as {112} and the shear direction as <1ll>. Mueller and Parker1 produced deformation twins in polycrystalline electron-beam-melted molybdenum by compression at -196°C. Their "loading rate" was 5000 psi per min which, judging from their stress-strain curve, corresponds to a strain rate of approximately 0.3 x 10-4 sec-1. These twin bands were found to be parallel to (1 12) planes; however, they differed in appearance from previously observed twins. In place of straight and parallel twin boundaries they were found to be irregular, jagged, and sawtoothed. The sides of the saw teeth were identified as (110) planes and irrational planes of a (111) zone. The twins observed in the present work in tungsten single crystals are similar in appearance to those of Mueller and Parker in polycrystalline molybdenum. The starting material used in this investigation was 3/16-in. diam commercial tungsten rod produced by powder-metallurgy techniques. This material was converted to a single crystal by the electron-bombardment floating-zone technique.= The process was carried out in a vacuum of 10-5 mm of Hg using a traversing speed of 4 mm per min. Segments (=2 in. long and 3/16 in. in diam) of two crystals (A and B) produced in this manner were studied. Crystal A received one zoning pass, while crystal B received two passes. The two crystals were explosively worked at Bat-telle Memorial Institute in the following manner. A 1/2-in.-thick layer of plastic was applied to the crystals to serve as a buffer in an attempt to prevent cracking. The composite, crystal and buffer, was then wrapped with 1/8-in.-thick DuPont sheet explosive EL506A2 and detonated in water at room temperature. Metallographic samples of the worked crystals were prepared, and back-reflection Laue X-ray patterns were obtained using unfiltered molybdenum radiation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Blasting the crystals as described above failed to prevent cracking. The crystals fractured into several fragments about 3/16 to 1/2 in. long; however, the fragments were of sufficient size to be useful for the subsequent study. The diamond pyramid hardness of the crystals after blasting was in the range 430 to 450 as compared with 340 for the as-melted material, which shows a definite hardening resulting from plastic deformation. These hardness values were obtained using a 1000-g load and taking readings only in sound portions of the crystals free of cracks. The crystals exhibited profuse twinning as shown in Fig. 1. No such structure is present in the as-melted condition. Most of these twins have jagged twin boundaries and are similar in appearance to those found in molybdenum by Mueller and Parker. The twins in both crystals were found to be parallel to {112} planes. This identification was made by using the conventional two-trace method. Subsequent efforts to describe these twins more fully were carried out on crystal A. If the longitudinal axis of crystal A is placed in the (001)-(011)-(Il l) basic triangle of the standard cubic stereographic projection, as in Fig. 2, then the two sets of twins shown in Fig. 1 are parallel to the (112) and (121) planes. Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of a twin with jagged boundaries. This type of twin with a <111>

Jan 1, 1962

By J. B. Dilworth

The word ".development," as used in connection with mining, is a rather general term and in most instances must be qualified or explained before the exact thought in the mind of the user is made clear. For instance, by the development of a mining district is often meant its entire facilities of mineral production, such as railroads, towns, mine plants, etc. In speaking of the development of a property its prospecting by test pits or diamond drill borings may be referred to; or it may be the mines, strip pits or quarries from which the coal, ore or rock is won. Rut, as a rule, when the development of an individual mine is spoken of the idea in mind is the system of underground workings by means of which the mineral is recovered and transported to the surface. It is this character of development that is considered here. The discussion will be confined to the ordinary room-and-pillar system of mining practically horizontal coal seams that is used in most bituminous coal mines in this country, and to only two phases of this subject; viz., what is properly included under the head of "Development" as it appears on the books of a coal company or the inventories of an examining engineer, and how its " value " should be determined by the accountant or engineer. No absolute rule or definite agreement covers these points, yet these questions are far more than academic. Development is often an important part of a mining company&apos;s assets, affecting the amount of its invested capital (and hence its rate of taxation under present Federal income tax laws) as well as the value of its total assets and the amounts chargeable to cost of coal and to depreciation. Mine Development Account Perhaps the majority of mine accountants will agree that the mine development account is that capital account which shows the extraordinary expenditures incurred in opening and expanding the underground workings of a mine until it has reached its normal production, the expenditures being those made for shafts, slopes, rock tunnels, drift mouths and such relatively permanent work; also payments over and above ordinary mining costs made for driving entries, air courses and break-through; for

Jan 1, 1922

By Edwin S. Smith

Current research in the phenomenon of liquefaction has indicated some of the in situ material properties which should be considered in the planning of waste deposits. Practical experience in tailings disposal, however, must be combined with the results of theoretical and laboratory studies to develop the most economical and safe techniques against liquefaction failure. One of the many responsibilities of mining engineers and mill superintendents is providing for the safe and economic disposal of wastes (or tailings) that remain after a mineral has been extracted from an ore. The cost of disposal of these tailings exerts a considerable influence on the minimum grade of ore extracted from the mine. It varies to a great extent with each project and is dependent on many diverse factors, such as the local topographical, meteorological and seismological conditions together with the applicable water pollution laws of the area. The process used to extract a mineral from an ore determines the physical characteristics of the tailings and, thus, is one of the more important factors to be considered in the planning of disposal facilities. Today&apos;s trends in ore-processing operations complicate the problems of waste disposal: recently developed extraction methods result in the production of finer tailings, the use of lower grade ores produces greater volumes of wastes, and the enhanced land values in the vicinity of industrial plants preclude the former practice of spreading wastes laterally and force the expansion of waste deposits upwards to greater heights. The frequent occurrence of stability problems in waste deposits indicates that many mining organizations may not be employing current soil mechanics concepts and practices. One of the most spectacular, and often most disastrous, types of tailings dike failure is that resulting from liquefaction of the fine particles combined with a breach of the main retaining dike. TAILINGS DISPOSAL Since the many variations in site conditions, ore bodies and extraction processes dictate the general disposal procedures and mill superintendents incorporate special facilities to provide the most economical disposal method consistent with accepted safety standards, it is only natural that there are almost as many different disposal techniques as there are disposal areas. Methods used in the construction of retaining dikes include: (1) transporting granular material from an adjacent borrow pit and (2) mechanically segregating the total effluent and allowing the coarse fraction to form a retaining dike by hydraulic deposition. The location of a plant and the surrounding topography exert the greatest influence on the layout of tailings disposal facilities. Most of the above-ground waste deposits can be classified as side-hill, (Fig. 1,) cross-valley, (Fig. 2,) or stockpile deposits. Side-hill disposal areas are probably the most common type of layout because of the natural advantage of gravity flow, without the disadvantage of river diversion usually needed for tailings ponds formed behind cross-valley dikes. Stockpiles, which are placed on relatively level ground, require four retaining dikes and the effluent generally has to be pumped up into the disposal area. Changing production techniques or developments adjacent to disposal areas have produced variations or partial combinations of these three categories. In a series of articles, Lenhart describes many of the problems encountered in the disposal of tailings and certain innovations used to overcome them. He discusses weaknesses in design and layout and shows that disposal techniques are often learned the

Jan 1, 1970

Jan 1, 1963

By Mason K. Banks

A process has been developed which produces spodumene concentrates assaying 6.0 pct Li20 and 0.45 pct Fe203, with 70 to 75 pct recovery of spodumene. Two flotation separations are required: the simultaneous removal of mica, feldspar, and quartz as a froth product using a cationic collector, and the subsequent removal of iron-bearing minerals as a froth product while spodumene is depressed as a tailing.

Jan 2, 1953

By A. R. Gregory

A shear wave velocity laboratory apparatus and techniques for testing rock samples under simulated subsurface conditions have been developed. In the apparatus, two electromechanical transducers operating in the frequency range 0.5 to 5.0 megahertz (MHz: megacycles per second) are mounted in contact with each end of the sample. Liquid-solid interfaces of Drakeol-aluminum are used as mode converters. In the generator transducer, there is total mode conversion from P-wave energy to plain S-wave energy. S-wave energy is converted back to P-wave energy in the motor transducer. Similar transducers without mode converters are used to measure P-wave velocities. The apparatus is designed for testing rock samples under axial or uniform loading in the pressure range 0 to 12,000 psi. The transducers have certain advantages over those used by King, 1 and the measurement techniques are influenced less by subjective elements than other methods previously reported. An electronic counter-timer having a resolution of 10 nanoseconds measures the transit time of ultrasonic pulses through the sample; elastic wave velocities of most homogeneous materials can be measured with errors of less than 1 percent. 5- and P-wave velocity measurements on Bandera sandstone and Solenholen limestone are reported for the axial pressure range 0 to 6,000 psi and for the uniform pressure range 0 to 10,000 psi. The influence of liquid pore saturants on P- and S-wave velocity is investigated and found to be in broad agreement with Biot&apos;s theory. In specific areas, the measurements do not conform to theory. Velocities of samples measured under axial and uniform loading are compared and, in general, velocities measured under uniform stress are higher than those measured under axial stress. Liquid pore fluids cause increases in Poisson&apos;s ratio and the bulk modulus but reduce the rigidity modulus, Young&apos;s modulus and the bulk compressibility. INTRODUCTION Ultrasonic pulse methods for measuring the shear wave velocity of rock samples in the laboratory have been gradually improved during the last few years. Early experimental pulse techniques reported by Hughes et al.2 and by Gregory 3 were beset by uncertainties in determining the first arrival of the shear wave (S-wave) energy. Much of this ambiguity was caused by the multiple modes propagated by piezoelectric crystals and by boundary conversions in the rock specimens. Shear wave velocity data obtained from the critical angle method, described by Schneider and Burton4 and used later by King and Fate sand by Gregory, 3,6 are of limited accuracy, and interpreting results is too complicated for routine laboratory work. The mode conversion method described by Jamieson and Hoskins7 was recently used by King 1 for measuring the S-wave velocities of dry and liquid-saturated rock samples. Glass-air interfaces acted as mode converters in the apparatus, and much of the compressional (P-wave) energy apparently was eliminated from the desired pure shear mode. A more detailed discussion of the current status of laboratory pulse methods applied to geological specimens is given in a review by Simmons.8 A new shear wave velocity laboratory apparatus has been developed for testing rock samples under elevated pressures. This apparatus employs liquid-solid interfaces as mode converters. The technique for generating pure shear waves at liquid-solid interfaces was developed from studies of critical angle methods.6 Two identical transducers are placed in contact with opposite ends of the rock sample, one transducer acting as an ultrasonic energy emitter or generator and the other acting as an ultrasonic energy receiver or motor. The P-wave energy emitted from the piezoelectric crystal in the generator transducer is converted into pure S-wave energy at the Drakeol-aluminum