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By Sam F. Harrison

The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors again sends out this recommendation: If you have an air compressor that is mounted directly on the air tank, get it off. Characteristically, small- to intermediate-sized air receivers are thin-walled vessels, and as such are prone to failure when subjected to external loading. Many of these vessels, if not a great majority, are bought by a distributor of air compressor systems, who provides the compressor, motor, switchgear and other accoutrements-all of which are very frequently mounted on a base which is then welded to the shell of the receiver. These welds at the points of attachment transmit external loading to the tank in the form of weight and vibration, frequently resulting in stress-induced cracks.

Jan 3, 1978

By H. Linder, W. H. Dennen

The graphitic carbon content of soils may be used to detect and delimit subsurface graphitic zones. Spectrographic measurement of carbon in C horizon soils from several areas in the northeastern United States shows good correlation with known graphitic bodies. Bodies of graphite and sulfides are readily located by electromagnetic prospecting methods, but these methods cannot generally discriminate between them. Usual practice, therefore, requires follow-up work on electrically anomalous areas by trenching, drilling, or soil sampling in order to determine the mineralogical nature of the conductor. The efficiency and cost of such follow-up is consequently an important factor in prospecting. The presence of buried sulfide deposits is often reflected in concentrations of metals in the superincumbent soil. Simple chemical tests for such metal concentrations have been developed and applied with considerable success. Bodies of graphite or mixtures of graphite and sulfides are, however, very common and a means whereby buried graphite could be detected by soil testing should provide valuable additional information in the search for ore sulfide and graphite deposits. Graphite is a notably stable substance and should persist in soil above graphite-rich horizons. Microscopic examination of soil samples high in carbon, however, failed to reveal any recognizable graphite fragments indicating a grain size in the clay range. Presumably such small particles would have some mobility in a soil by a translocation mechanism similar to that proposed for the movement of clay particles in a soil profile. Experimental data supports this idea since the boundary between background and anomalous soils carbon values is quite sharp, but the anomalous zone is slightly broader than the graphitic source rock. A simple spectrochemical technique for the determination of carbon in geological materials has been described by Dennen,1 and may be directly applied to soils. A modification of this technique which employs an arcing chamber through which nitrogen is passed is recommended to decrease contributions from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Tests indicate that soils over graphitic zones may be strongly enriched in carbon. The spectrochemical determination of carbon depends upon the formation of the cyanogen molecule (CN) from carbon in a sample and atmospheric nitrogen, under the high temperatures associated with a dc arc. Samples for analysis are dried, lumps broken, and screened. A small portion of the -100 mesh fraction is packed into a copper electrode and excited as the cathode of a dc arc. The band spectra of cyanogen are recorded photographically and the density of the bandhead CN 3883A is measured. The limit of detection of the method is about 0.01 pct C and its coefficient of variation is about 15 pct. Soils, of course, contain carbon in other forms than graphite, and the amount of interference from such sources was examined. The C horizon of several soils from Massachusetts, Maine, and Pennsylvania were found to have a carbon content of 0.3 to 0.5 pct by weight. This content is chiefly due to the presence of carbonates and vegetable matter in the sample and may be readily eliminated, or at least

Jan 1, 1961

By Howard Steven Strouth

The Blind River mining camp in Canada is all set to stage a major revolution. Enthusiasts on the scene say it will bring large-scale mining to North American uranium operation. If orebodies already discovered live up to their promise, it will be anything but the usual business of a few men handpicking orebearing rock out of small mines. Because of the geological structure of the region referred to generally as the Algoma district the ore may prove an extremely lucrative enterprise for years to come. The present center of activity is in Ontario about 75 miles east of Sault Ste. Marie, and just north of Lake Huron. It stacks up as one of the large uranium discoveries in the Western Hemisphere. For a change modern mining machinery working against large ore faces of predictable grade will enable mine operators to send a product to mills of several thousand tons daily capacity. Ore shapes-up as worth more than $20 per ton. Already, many millions of tons of ore have been outlined and apparently reserves are sufficient to keep the proposed large mills going for decades. And the end is not yet in sight. This region in the Sudbury subdivision has been known for decades as having occasionally rich but sporadic occurrences of nickel, gold, pyrite, and other minerals. Because of the unpredictable mineralization for more than 80 miles along the contact line of a huge reversed "S" there was no record of successfully organized mining in the district-until the present one.

Jan 5, 1955

By Walter Weeks

THE subject of the flow of air through a mine under the influence of natural ventilation has proved an elusive one. To my knowledge only cut and try algebraic solutions have been used where multiple paths are involved. The object of this paper is to present a method for the graphi-cal determination of the flow induced by the natural ventilation pressure (N.V.P.) alone or in combination with a fan. The N.V.P., measured in pounds per square foot, induced by two columns of air between two horizontal planes at different elevations, is equal to the difference in weight of the two columns, assuming each to have a cross-sectional area of 1 sq. ft. Pressure in pounds per square foot is converted into inches of water by dividing by 5.19. Methods of calculating the N.V.P. have been discussed in the litera-ture. In this paper, for simplification of exposition, the change in pres-sure due to the weight of superimposed air will be assumed directly proportional to the length of the column. The actual methods of cal-culating the N.V.P. do not affect the solutions to be presented. It must be realized that the precision to be obtained from the small-scale, inked diagrams presented is not as great as would be obtained from large-scale, penciled curves that would he used in practice. The accuracy of the curves does not warrant reading "volumes" closer than the nearest thousand cubic feet per minute.

Jan 1, 1938

By C. M. Means

Considering the hazard involved in mining operations, statistics show that a very small percentage of accidents is chargeable to electricity. These accidents do represent quite a large percentage of those that are preventable and they are the direct result of the introduction, for purely economical reasons, of a dangerous element. The introduction of electricity in mines should decrease the hazard, and in no case should electricity be applied to the mechanical operation of equipment if by so doing the dangers incidental to mining are increased. The greater number of accidents are the result of persons coming in contact with exposed conductors at potentials varying from 258 to 508 volts direct current. The use of alternating current at higher potentials than these is quite common in large mines, but it is very rare that an accident happens from this source. This is explained by the fact that where these high voltages are warranted, proper precautions are taken, and the installations are directed by those who fully appreciate the dangers incidental to the work. Direct current is in much more general use than alternating current because of its adaptability to haulage locomotives and the low cost of installation in small operations. We are, however, coming to a more extended application of alternating current for the operation of mechanical devices used in connection with mining. Our underground direct-current wiring system is an evolution from the surface trolley and feeder systems. This is probably due to the fact that our earlier successful applications were electric locomotives, which required the use of a trolley wire. The trolley current has been almost banished from industrial establishments on the surface because of the hazard involved, yet we use it indiscriminately underground, where the dangers from accidental contact or fire are infinitely greater., This does not mean that the underground trolley systems should be eliminated, but it does imply the proper safeguarding of such equipment as is necessarily a part of the trolley systems. It is a fact that the men now employed in the installation and maintenance of mining equipment may be in many cases incompetent or not thoroughly familiar with the work, but they are the men who must do the work and, in order to do it properly, it is necessary that they be educated

Jan 1, 1915

By D. L. Douglas

The ß decomposition of Zr-U-O alloys was studied during an interrupted quench from the a + ß region. Decomposition was more rapid than in binary Zr-U alloys of the same uranium content or qf equivalent ß composition. The rapid transformation has been ascribed to the presence of the primary a phase which provided nucleation sites and which permitted preferential partitioning of oxygen to the a phase and of uranium to the COMMERCLAL heat treatments are designed to produce certain strength and toughness character- istics by controlling the microstructure of an alloy. A desired distribution of microconstituents is achieved in practice by treating an alloy under the correct time-temperature conditions. A knowledge of the phase equilibria in any alloy system is essential in outlining heat treatments, but in addi-

Jan 1, 1961

By AIME AIME

The following acts of the Directors are reported for the information of members:¬ At a meeting held November 3, 1905, Messrs. Henri Le Chatelier, of Paris, France, and Andrew Carnegie, of New York, N. Y., having been nominated by a large number of members, and recommended by unanimous vote of the Council, were unanimously elected Honorary Members, in recognition of their distinguished services to the arts and professions represented by the Institute. At a meeting held February 7, 1,906, Dr. James Douglas, of New York, N. Y., having been" nominated by a large number of leading members, and recommended by unammous vote of the Council, was unanimously elected an Honorary Member, in recognition of his distinguished services to the practice and the literature of mining and metallurgy, his zealous and loyal devotion to this Institute, his fraternal generosity towards professional colleagues, and his effective advocacy, by public utterance and private example, of the free communication of technical knowledge and experience. At the same meeting, By-Law IV., which now authorizes the Secretary to appoint an '1 Assistant Editor," was amended by substituting the words, " Assistant with the title of Editor." At the same meeting, the resignation of Mr. Theodore Dwight, as Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer of the Institute, was presented and accepted, and the Secretary was instructed to express to Mr. Dwight the thanks of the Board for his loyal and efficient services, and its regret that he could not continue in that position. . [SECRETARY'S NOTE.-Mr. Dwight's resignation, dictated solely by the demands of private business, covers only his immediate management of this office. He is still a Director and Councilor, and a representative of the Institute in matters connected with the new Carnegie Building, etc.-R. W. R.] At the same meeting, the Secretary and the Treasurer reported respectively their appointment of Mr. Henry WT. B. Howard as Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, to fill

Mar 1, 1906

By L. W. Kempf

A BALANCED system of internal stress is set up in any metallic structure by plastic deformation below the annealing temperature. The internal stress induced by cold rolling or other fabricating processes is generally recognized and its magnitude is known to be, within certain limits, a function of the degree of cold deformation. The plastic deformation that may accompany rapid cooling from elevated temperatures may not materially change the form of the product. The internal stresses so induced are not, therefore, so evident and nonrecognition of their presence has at times led to engineering failures. The heat treatment of aluminum alloys is a relatively new art and little information is available regarding the magnitude of stresses induced luring the commercial heat treatment of aluminum alloy products is the industrial use of aluminum increases, it is inevitable that products of increasingly large volume be required. It has become necessary in the present commercial utilization of aluminum to heat-treat castings and forgings weighing hundreds of pounds. One of the factors governing the magnitude of internal stresses arising from rapid cooling at elevated temperatures is that of the, size of the structure being treated. Some of the other factors are: cooling rate, elastic properties of the alloy, thermal expansivity, thermal conductivity, and the presence or absence of phase changes. Practically all aluminum alloys have a high coefficient of thermal expansion and some are capable of developing relatively high

Jan 1, 1934

By E. J. Roberts

Prior to 1916, thickening was an art, and any accurate decision as to what size of machine to install to handle a given tonnage of a specific ore must have been one of those intuitive conclusions, based on both intimate and extensive acquaintance with thick-ners and ore pulps. Then in 1916 "knowledge of acquaintance," became "knowledge about" with the publication of the Coe and Clevenger paper.' The unit operation of thickening had graduated to the status of an engineering science. The fundamental similitude relationships for the two major phases of the operation were defined so clearly that batch tests on models as small as liter cylinders could serve to specify protypes as large as 325 ft in diameter. It is quite apparent from reading the literature that Coe and Clevenger's contribution is not generally appreciated. In so far as the basic engineering relationships are concerned, the only real advance which has occurred in the 30 odd years which have elapsed since the Coe and Clevenger paper is the recognition of the effect of the rakes on the thickening process. Bull and Darby2 noted this in 1926, and the extensive use of the "gluten type" thickener, in which the effect is magni-fied, bears witness to its importance. Comings3 further verified this effect of the rakes. As a matter of fact, a number of papers show an apparent regression from the Coe paper in that the area determinations are made on the basis of a single test from One concentration of solids. Coe and Clevenger amply demonstrated that this is unsafe, since the controlling zone may be one other than that of the feed dilution. Comings3 neatly demonstrated this without apparently realizing it. Of course there have been significant advances in the application of the operation to industry. Open tray thickeners were introduced to save area; balanced tray thickeners, washing thickeners, and multifeed clarifiers were developed with all of their special hydraulic and mechanical problems. Combinations of all kinds have been introduced, such as combination agitators and thickeners, combination flocculators and clarifiers, combination thickeners and filters. With the establishment of the operation on a firm engineering foundation, installation was facilitated and expansion proceeded. There are still problems, of course, functional as well as mechanical. Sometimes the moisture in the underflow obtained in practice is not as low as is expected on the basis of the test data. Sometimes the underflow is so "thick " that its discharge and subsequent handling requires special attention. Island formation plagues some operators. The use of the thickener as a surge basin and blending tank in the cement industry poses unusual problems. Design of rakes and the drive mechanism must be continually im-proved. Corrosion problems must he overcome. Power requirements for raking the settled solids occasionally is the controlling factor as it was in the case of the all American Canal desilting installation. Other similitude relationships and design problems come into the picture when we enter the field of clarification or nonline settlement. We have an energy dissipation problem in introducing the feed and any models must satisfy the Froude model relationships. Autoflocculation requires detention which involves the same similitude laws that we encounter in the compression zone. Approach to an Exact Science The next step beyond having control of the similitude relationships is to understand the why of these relationships right back up the line to first principles. The ultimate might be that, if given the mineralogical composition of the solids and their size distribution together with an analysis of the suspending liquid, we could calculate the entire thickening behavior of the system. Then we could say we had reduced the operation to an exact science. True it might be more trouble getting this basic analytical data than to make our empirical determinations for area and volume, and we would need an ENIAC to calculate the results, but that does not detract from the desirability of such understanding. Considerable work has been done by the chemical engineers with this end in view. Comings,3 Egolf,4 Work,5 Kam-mermeyer,6 Steinour,7 and others have studied the problem. The writer has no final answer to the thickening story but would like to propose a picture of the mechanics of the two phases of thickening which has been found useful in understanding the subject and which leads to some convenient relationship in treating the compression step and arriving at the compression depth.

Jan 1, 1950

By Arnulf Muan, D. P. Masse

PHASE relations in the system CoO-SiO2 have been determined as a basis for further investigations of thermodynamic properties of olivine solid solutions involving Co2SiO4 as a component. Previous data on the system CoO-SiO2 are incomplete or uncertain. Biltz and Lemke1 determined the melting point of cobalt orthosilicate as 1345°C , but Asanti and Kohlmeyer2 have later found a considerably higher temperature, 1420°C. The latter authors also studied melting relations of one mixture on the CO side and two mixtures on the SiO2 side of the orthosilicate composition and sketched a tentative phase diagram for a limited composition range of the system. However, no phase identification was carried out, and the authors left unanswered the question of the possible existence of a stable meta-silicate phase. Greig3 showed that a 90 wt pct SiO2-10 wt pct Co mixture at 1725°C consists of two immiscible liquid phases. The quenching technique was used in the present investigation. Mixtures of high-purity cobalt oxide ("Fisher Certified") and dehydrated silicic acid ("Baker Analyzed") were equilibrated in air atmosphere. The samples were then quenched to room temperature and the phases present were identified by microscopic and X-ray examination. The samples were kept in small envelopes made from thin (0.0004 in.) platinum foil. Thermodynamic data which have become available recently for Pt-Co alloys4 were used to check that the losses of COO from the oxide samples by alloying of cobalt with platinum in the present investigation were too small to change significantly the compositions of the oxide material during the equilibration. A vertical tube furnace with an 80 pct Pt 20 pct Rh resistance winding was used in runs up to 1510°C. Temperatures in these runs were measured with a Pt vs 90 pct Pt 10 pct Rh thermocouple calibrated against the melting point of diopside (CaMgSi2O6, 1391.5?C). The given temperatures as measured by this technique are estimated to be accurate to *5°C. Quench runs at temperatures above 1650°C were made with a modified Roberts and Morey5 strip furnace, using strip resistors composed of a 60 pct Pt-40 pct Rh alloy. Temperatures were measured with an optical pyrometer which was calibrated against the liquidus temperature of a mixture composed of 10 wt pct CaO, 90 wt pct SiO2 (1707°C). The temperatures measured with this technique have an estimated accuracy of +15°C. The results are shown graphically in Fig. 1. Only one intermediate phase, the orthosilicate Co2SiO4 with olivine-type structure, is stable in addition to the end members cobalt oxide and silica. The melting point of the orthosilicate was found to be 1415" ± 5°C. The metastilicate CoSiO3 is not stable at the temperatures of the present investigation. The two eutectic points in the system CoO-SiO2 where COO plus olivine, and olivine plus silica, coexist with liquid were found to be 72 wt pct COO and 1407°C and 63 wt pct COO and 1381°C, respectively. The melting point of cobalt oxide in air was taken as 1745?C, based on the previous data of Aukrust and Muan.6 Within limits of error (+ 5?C), identical eutectic temperatures to those determined in air were found when two representative mixtures were equilibrated at 1 atm O2 pressure and in an atmosphere of 84 vol pct CO2, 16 vol pct H2. This suggests that changes in oxidation state of cobalt in the condensed phases are not significant as far as their effect on the phase relations are concerned. This inference was substantiated by failure to detect7 any "excess oxygen" (i.e., oxygen in excess of that contained in Co2SiO4) in a sample of orthosilicate composition equilibrated in air 10°C above the liquidus temperature and subsequently quenched to room temperature. This work was carried out as part of a research program sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission under Contract No. AT(30-1)-2781.

Jan 1, 1965

As already said Pattin's map and the later one of Evans' showed coal in several places in Ohio as early as 1750, and possibly 1748; the reference on the latter map was' to an exposure near Bolivar, in Tuscarawas County, as well as along the Hocking River. So far. as now known, it 'was not mined in either place until 1810. George Croghan, in descending the Ohio with his party in 1765, mentions an "Alum Hill" which they saw near the present site of Pomeroy, probably an exposure of saline deposits, but does not mention coal. As settlement north of the Ohio River was prohibited until 1787, no coal was mined until long after that date. In 1785 a survey of seven ranges in the Ohio country was made, the line running west from a point on the north bank of 'the Ohio River, due north of the western termination of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. The surveyors noted, "from hence to Stoney Brook between two very steep and high Ridges; it is eight yards wide, its bottom is of Slate and Sand Stone, and in many parts of it are large pieces of excellent Coal washed by, the Rains from the Neighboring Hills."' This was the present Yellow Creek, and the coal was from some of the lower measures. The Scioto Company published a pamphlet in French in 1787, to promote the sale of their lands and emigration to them, in which was said,

Jan 1, 1942

By George W. Crawford, W. P. Aycock, E. W. Hough

Forty oilfield brines have been examined so far by a polarographic technique new in petroleum engineering called the "tensatnmetric method" by the team of biochemists who perfected its use in their field. Samples of brine were obtained from various oil fields in which the wells were known to be producing fluid from oil productive zones in well-known geologic formations. Most of the reservoirs from which the samples were obtained are believed to have an active water drive under the prevailing conditions of operation. The 40 samples represent brines produced front 16 different formations of various geologic ages. Graphs have been prepared of the data obtained in the testing of each sample, and the distinctive waife-like curves so obtained are characterized by reproducible profiles, called "response curves." Careful comparison of the response curves of salt water coming from different fields producing from the same geologic formation reveals that the curves are similar. The response curves of salt water coming from productive zones of different geologic formations are characteristically different. Preliminary work offers the further hope that response curves of an oilfield brine indigenous to a particular oil-bearing formation and hence representative of a particular geologic environment, such as deposit-ional and all subsequent morphological conditions, may be of value in reservoir engineering in the interpretation of surface and interfacial phenomena. For example, the wettability of the rock matrix and more specifically, the classification of productive oil-bearing strata as hydrophyllic or hydrophobic may be determinable. However, many more brines must be examined and the resulting response curves analyzed in comparison to known causal phenornena before this objective is achieved. INTRODUCTION One of the perennial moot questions in the literature of petroleum engineering is whether the reservoir rock is oil- or water-wet. Possibly an answer to this question could come from a careful examination of oilfield brines. None of the conventional methods of examining brines (chemical analysis, pH and electrical conductivity measurements, and the like) answer the question. Careful analysis of reservoir behavior observed in the exploitation of oil fields, particularly in the application of fluid injection, has been fruitful to the extent that a few reservoirs are believed to be properly classified. Physical chemistry suggests the behavior of reservoir brine and rock may be due to something in the brine in small amount. The ever increasing development and modification of theory in the general field of surface and interfacial chemistry has, and is, contributing to a better understanding of the problem, particularly as theory is verified by data. The work herein reported was begun in 1953 by Hough and Roebuck 1,2 who employed a new form of alternating current polarography, i.e., tensammetry, developed by Breyer, et a13,4 and who studied eight oilfield brines in adapting tensammetry to petroleum engineering needs. THEORY AND DEFINITIONS Tensammetry is a new technique of inquiry into surface phenomena. Specifically, a weak alternating current voltage is superimposed upon the direct current voltage applied to a dropping mercury electrode in contact with an electrolyte containing a small amount of a surfactant. The resultant alternating current can be measured and provides the experimental data for this new area of research. Under the influence of the direct current voltage, polar molecules arrange themselves in a double layer at the electrode. This double layer may be compared to a variable condenser, the capacitance of which is a function of the imposed direct current voltage. The direct current voltage determines the degree of adsorption of the surface active molecule on the electrode. Whenever the molecules are strongly adsorbed on the electrode, the capacitance of the double layer is low and the alternating current through the cell is low. Desorption occurs at some values of the direct current voltage, and at these voltages the capacitance of the double layer is high, resulting in an increase in the alternating current through the cell. The direct current

Jan 1, 1958

By P. Barnes

The sums given in the accompanying table are those actually paid for material and labor up to about August, 1875; but, as some parts of the machinery were not wholly completed at the starting of the works in September, 1875, the statement cannot be taken as an absolutely correct note of the total cost. A complete description, with engravings of the building and machinery, was given in Engineering, April 26th, 1878, in a paper by Messrs. A. L. Holley and Lenox Smith, to which convenient reference may be made. A detailed list of the construction accounts has been given in a paper, by the present writer, in vol. vi, Transactions of the Institute. A summary is given in the table of the items in each class which enter into the total cost, and also a note of the proportion which each of these items forms of the whole. A concise view may thus he obtained of the facts embodied in the statement as a whole, even though it cannot lay claim to completeness in showing the entire or final cost. An urgent suggestion has reached the writer from a distant country that such statements of cost to be really most serviceable should give the details in days of labor, in weight of iron, and in number of brick, and to this an assent is most cordially yielded. It is true, however, that the mere labor of copying arid compiling these details to such a degree of minuteness, would be very great, and, in any event, the probable difference between the plans of an existing establishment and one projected, would be so wide as to render even so complete a statement of cost of little more real service than the approximate notes given herewith.

Jan 1, 1879

By J. H. East, E. R. Maize

INTRODUCTION PROBABLY no other type of equipment is now being introduced into American underground mines about which less is known and about which there is more misinformation than the Diesel mine locomotive. Any equipment installed underground brings with it hazards that were not present before, and it is the purpose of this paper to show that Diesel-powered equipment can be used with safety in underground mining if certain feasible but very important precautions are taken. Diesel locomotives are not new in underground mining, since they have been used successfully in European mines for at least 19 years, but their use in American mines is exceedingly limited; so far as is known, only five Diesel mine locomotives are operating at present in United States mines. Diesel locomotives were permitted underground in Great Britain for the first time in 1939, and the rapid increase in the number in use in those mines, testifies to their safety and efficiency. More than 1300 Diesel mine locomotives are in use in European mines, according to the latest statistics; these locomotives are employed in coal, iron, lead-zinc and mercury mines. So far as is known, the Diesel mine locomotive has not yet caused an explosion or mine fire, and has not been the cause of any fatalities from toxic gases in the mines in which it has been used. ADJUSTMENTS OF DIESEL ENGINES FOR UNDERGROUND USE A Diesel engine adjusted to work in an underground mine should not be confused with the same engine adjusted for use outside the mine. Adjustment of the air:fuel ratio for engines that are used on the surface is intended to give the maximum fuel economy, and little or no attention is given to the chemical composition of the exhaust gas produced. Many such engines are poorly adjusted and perhaps poorly maintained, with the result that the engine emits smoke in quantity as well as the disagreeable odor familiarly associated with Diesel engines. The air:fuel ratio in the case of Diesel engines operated on the surface is generally around 15:1; that is, 15 lb of air to burn 1 lb of fuel. Diesel engines adjusted to work underground usually have an air:fuel ratio of about 20:I, as at this ratio the minimum quantity of toxic gases is given off in the engine exhaust. Diesel engines operated underground must be maintained in better condition than similar engines used on the surface; otherwise, the smoke emitted in the exhaust becomes objectionable if not unendurable. Practically normal air is required for safe operation of Diesel engines underground or in confined places; failure to provide virtually normal air for Diesel engine operation is almost certain to result in trouble. Bureau of Mines engineers have determined that the air in which a Diesel operates in confined places should contain less than 1/2 pct of carbon dioxide and at least 20 pct of

Jan 1, 1947

By P. Barnes

THE sums given in the accompanying table are those actually paid for material and labor up to about August, 1875; but, as some parts of the machinery were not wholly completed at the starting of the works in September, 1875, the statement cannot be taken as an absolutely correct note of the total cost. A complete description, with engravings of the building and machinery, was given in Engineering, April 26th, 1878, in a paper by Messrs. A. L. Holley and Lenox Smith, to which convenient reference may be made. A detailed list of the construction accounts has been given in a paper, by the present writer, in vol. vi, Transactions of the Institute. A summary is given in the table of the items in each class which enter into the total cost, and also a note of the proportion which each of these items forms of the whole. A concise view may thus be obtained of the facts embodied in the statement, as a whole, even though it cannot lay claim to completeness in showing the entire or final cost. An urgent suggestion has reached the writer from a distant country that such statements of cost to be really most serviceable should give the details in days of labor, in weight of iron, and in number of brick, and to this an assent is most cordially yielded. It is true, however, that the mere labor of copying and compiling these details to such a degree of minuteness, would be very great, and, in any event, the probable difference between the plans of an existing establishment and one projected, would be so wide as to render even so complete a statement of cost of little more real service than the approximate notes given herewith.

Jan 1, 1879

By Earl Oliver

IN times like these, the A. I. M. E. and similar societies have their greatest usefulness. . . . Individuals and companies acting alone in the development of public opinion are merely voices crying in the wilderness. United and organized they make a great force that can and does influence public action. . . . What part, if any, then, shall the A. I. M. E. take in these great stabilization processes of civilization? Shall it help to give direction and force to scientific knowledge which comes within its field of activity or shall it merely develop more of it? . . . Is it the A. I. M. E.'s function to help bring system, order and direction out of this situation so that the world can again have forward economic movement, or should it rest on its oars until other agenciess develop that public understanding and direction so necessary for economic progress? As we understand the functions of the A. I. M. E. Petro¬leum Division, they are to discover and promote knowl¬edge for the benefit of society on the mining of oil and gas. To the individual member of the Petroleum Division, there are certain advantages of social and professional contacts, but the collective purpose is that described. And the individual is benefited by membership only as the Division measures up to the purposes of its existence. Consequently, the welfare of this Division and that of its members depends on the extent to which it keeps pace with the needs of society on matters relating to the mining of oil and gas.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. T. Turrall, D. Porter

THE crystal laboratory, Dept. of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was confronted with the problem of obtaining a supply of optical grade calcium fluoride (CaF2) for use in growing synthetic CaFe2 crystals. A search of the known fluorspar deposits did not indicate that any quantity of optical spar could be obtained. Even the best material had to be sorted by hand to remove impurities. The process for growing CaF2 crystals developed by Professor D. C. Stockbarger of the Dept. of Physics, M.I.T., necessitates very pure feed materials. Exclusion of impurities is required, even in amounts detectable only spectrographically. The impurities occurred as minute inclusions of SiO2, BaSO4, CaCO3, FeS2, water or air. Crystals up to 4 in. in diam and weighing several pounds are made by the Harshaw Chemical Co. in Cleveland. Since the time required to grow a 4-in. crystal is about one week, and since the cost of manufacture is high, removal of impurities by any concentration method appeared practical. The mineral engineering section of the Dept. of Metallurgy undertook to investigate the possibility of concentrating clear optical fluorspar, -4 mesh +10 mesh, from a feed containing over 99 pct CaF2. Various innovations of the known methods of concentration were considered, but in each case the minute amount of impurities associated with the crystal produced such extremely small differences

Jan 1, 1952

By C. C. Hagenbuch

Machine loading of coal into mine cars is increasing rapidly. Particular reasons for its use frequently apply to certain localities, but in general, it is profitable to install mechanical coal-loading equipment: (I) when existing hand-loading contract rates prevent further cost reduction; (2) when the height of the coal bed requires that either top or bottom must be taken to place cars in rooms; (3) when labor shortage or limited house-plant capacity prevents the production of desired tonnage ; (4) when tonnage requirements are in excess of possible hand-loaded production from developed areas; (5) when working places are scattered and it is possible to concentrate production, and therefore supervision, by the installation of mechanical equipment; (6) when rapid development is essential. Having decided to install loading equipment, the problem then arises as to what type is best adapted for a particular mine or coal bed, the choice lying between mobile track equipment, pit-car loaders, scrapers, shaker conveyors, belt conveyors and drag conveyors. MajoR FactoRs Influencing Choice of Equipment In determining the type of equipment to be used, the following major factors must be studied: Grades.—Adverse grades, while permitting other types of loading equipment to work successfully, may prevent the success of a shaker conveyor installation. Thickness of Bed.—The thickness of coal governs the choice of equipment. A machine that requires 5 ft. of head room should not be selected for a 3-ft. bed where otherwise it would be unnecessary either to brush top or to lift bottom. Nature of Pavement.—Soft or scaly bottoms are unsuitable for the use of any type of digging loader, shaker conveyors or scraper loaders. nigging loaders and scraper loaders scale the bottom, mixing it with the coal and causing preparation difficulties; shaker-conveyor drives frequently work themselves loose, destroying the conveyor alignment and creating maintenance problems. Nature of Roof.—With any type of loading machine, it is policy to obtain the maximum possible tonnage per move per set-up. This must

Jan 1, 1931

By W. W. Stephen, J. P. Walsted, W. J. Kroll

FOR the production of carbides, various furnace types are available, especially those using arc, resistance, and high-frequency heating. Selection of a specific means of heating depends primarily on the material to be treated and the physical properties of the carbide produced. In the present case, zirconium carbide had to be prepared on an industrial scale as a raw material for the production of anhydrous zirconium chloride. Considering that a rather expensive pure oxide was to be used, the arc-furnace treatment recommended for zircon sands in a previous publication' was ruled out because of the considerable volatilization and dust losses caused by the blast of the arc. For this reason, either high-frequency or resistance heating seemed to offer more promise. Since there was not enough capacity of the former available, resistance heating was chosen. It was first thought that the Acheson silicon carbide furnace would be suitable for the present purpose, but the voltage in such a furnace, in which the current passes through the batch, varies from 220 to 75 v from the start to the end of a run. This variation is so great that a special tap transformer would have been required. Trouble was also expected by local melting of the carbide. Pure zirconium carbide melts at about 3527°C, but the melting point is brought down to 2427°C, according to Agte,2 when an excess of 6 pct C is present in the carbide. This we found confirmed by experiments in a high-frequency furnace. Excess carbon is needed in the batch to obtain a complete reduction. Fusion of the charge would cause great difficulties in an Acheson-type furnace because of the good electrical conductivity of the carbide as compared with that of the loose batch. Also, fused carbide is much more difficult to chlorinate than the spongy product that can be made in the radiation furnace described below. It was apparent that, to obtain a good-qual-ity zirconium carbide, the heat input would have to be well-controlled. The hairpin-resistor principle seemed to offer possibilities in this regard, and a furnace of this type was therefore developed. The advantages of the hairpin-resistor radiation principle have been discussed in previous publications, and a split-tube graphite-resistor furnace," now increasingly used in various laboratories, as well as a centrifugal quartz melting furnace4 of this type, has demonstrated the usefulness of this heating method. The hairpin-heater element has the following definite advantages over a straight resistor of the type used, for instance, by Georges:5 Its resistance is four times greater; it can expand freely; it is sturdier because of the larger diameter, and it has a larger radiation surface; there are no hot contacts that might wear out or overheat; only one clamp is used which permits assembling all electrical leads at one side of the furnace, making the other sides easily accessible to the operator. The shorter element and its larger diameter permit greater concentration of heat. The furnace developed is shown in fig. 1. The box (I), made of 2 1/2-in. graphite plates, has inside dimensions of 23x17x16 in. It contains the briquet-ted batch (2). The box is embedded in lampblack (3) up to the cover plate. The cover plate contains an opening for the gas escape (4) and for the observation hole (5), which permits measuring the temperature with an optical pyrometer. The cover plate is embedded in charcoal (6). The lampblack is contained in the insulating brick lining (7), held in the 1/4-in. sheet steel box (8). The graphite box is set on two rows of triangular graphite bars (9). The hairpin-heater element (10), the dimensions of which are given below the main drawing, extends horizontally in the graphite chamber and radiates freely on the batch. A graphite tube (11) keeps the lampblack from falling into the slot. The split electrode, which in reality is turned 90" against the drawing, is so arranged that the slot is vertical. The water-cooled packing gland (12) is insulated by an airgap from the heater element. A thin pipe (13)

Jan 1, 1951

By C. Dinis da Gama

Because of the growing importance of back analysis for the interpretation of rock slope failures, particularly in open pit mines, it is suggested a methodologic sequence of activities for dealing with those problems. The principal mathematical tools for the interpretation of the most common mechanisms of slope failures are reviewed, including methods of stress and strain analysis, which seem to be more powerful for parametrization studies, and for developing more realistic explanations of slope behaviour, such as the measurement of displacements. An application of those methods is described, using slope failures detected in a Brazilian uranium mine (Cercado), thus providing reliable shearing strength parameters for the rock mass discontinuites, which were used in the final pit design. The concept of using backanalysis results to supply input data for pit design was implemented by means of the excavation of an experimental trench within mine limits, where specific instruments were installed, and several slope failures were monitored and backanalysed, in order to yield information about sliding mechanisms in the future open pit.

Jan 1, 1983