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By M. J. R. Morris

THE year 1939 has seen the iron and steel industry driving for efficiency with unabated zeal. "Efficiency" is here used in the sense of enabling the customer to do more with less, either supplying him with more economically priced steels or with higher priced steels that will do a job more economically. The plain carbon steels have been improved tremendously in quality be- cause of recent control tests. All steel companies have been urged to hold to .closer chemical control, closer standards, soundness, and more control on grain size, and now attention is being directed to closer control of hardening properties. Better control of open- hearth operations undoubtedly will result in an increase in the application of special carbon steel. Further, with a better understanding of quenching, the present trend to study the quenching of this class of steels will be ex- tended. These steels will then be used for purposes to which they are best suited. Utilization of special carbon bars and large shapes seems to be developing less slowly than special car- bon in the form of strip. There are many reasons for this and the future development of this trend will be important. Continued development of the manufacture of parts from strip and sheet to replace forgings, and of formed; structural members such as channels or welded pipe, is notable. Special carbon sheets with nonaging properties have been produced during the year; they maintain a higher degree of ductility over a longer time and are less sensitive to the changes which took place in the former product when stocked.

Jan 1, 1940

By Claude Ferquson

MORE men are killed and injured in the metal mines of the United States from falls of rock and ore than from any other cause. Dan Harrington, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, recently stated that "falls of men and material continue to take about 50 per cent of the lives annually lost in our mines (coal or metal) and this kind of accident is now and has been one of the most difficult to prevent." The fact that comparatively little has recently been written on this important subject for the benefit of the metal miner is the incentive for the present paper. Little will be said that will be new, but I hope to place fresh emphasis on certain well-known' principles' and to reiterate and stress previously stated rules so that the average experienced miner, as well as his buddy who may not be so experienced,' will sit up and take notice. It is not within the scope of this paper to discuss mining methods from the standpoint of safety and the prevention of accidents from falls of rock. It is up to the mine management to select the system of mining best suited to the character of the ore deposit and its wall conditions. This is something that the miner can do little about; although in many mines the management encourages the workmen to make suggestions that will improve existing

Jan 1, 1938

By George W. Maynard

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) AT the Pittsburg meeting of the Institute, May, 1879, I made the first announcement in America of the results obtained by Sidney Gilchrist Thomas and Percy C. Gilchrist, ill their efforts to eliminate phosphorus in the manufacture of steel in the Bessemer converter and the open-hearth furnace.1 The first published statement in an American newspaper was a reprint of the first Thomas-Gilchrist paper, 2 which I sent to J. C. Bayles, at that time the editor. At the suggestion of many friends who were present at the Pittsburg meeting, and others who are cognizant of the beginnings of the process in the United States, and for the information of the younger generation of the iron and steel fraternity, I have thought it eminently proper that the history of the process in detail should be given where I made the first announcement and where the process has had its largest development. During my residence in England, from April, 1873, to February, 1879, and as a member of the Iron and Steel Institute since 1874, I was present at many of its meetings during those years. At nearly -every meeting the burden of discussion was the question of the use of pig-iron containing phosphorus in the. manufacture of steel by the Bessemer or the open-hearth process. In my biographical notice of Thomas;3 read at the New York meeting of, the Institute, February, 1885, I show that the working-out of the process was not a hap-hazard or accidental inspiration, but the culmination of many years of investigation of experiments and theories which had been carried on and advanced by chemists and metallurgists at home and abroad. 1 Trans., viii., .5 (1879-80). 2 The Iron Age, vol. 22, No. 17, p. 3 (Oct. 24, 1878). 3 Trans.. xiii., 785 to 791.

Jul 1, 1910

By Harold Cook

Discussion of the paper of HAROLD EARLE COOK, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 110, February, 1916, pp. 375 to 400. ALBERT SAUVEUR, Cambridge, Mass.-I think we must all agree with Lieutenant-Commander Cook when he says that there is a great deal of room for improvement in the annealing of steel castings and that better results would be attained if the annealing were conducted in closer agreement with scientific requirements. Whether even a carefully annealed steel casting can ever be made the equal of a steel forging of good quality is still a debatable question. Nevertheless, we all realize that very greatly improved results can be attained by careful annealing. Lieutenant-Commander Cook refers to some requirements calling for annealing steel castings above the Ac1 point. He is undoubtedly right where he says that this should be the Ac3 point. Take, for example, a steel casting containing, say, 0.35 per cent. of carbon, having a very coarse structure made up of coarsely crystalline ferrite. If this is heated just above the Ac1 point the ferrite remains, of course, just as it was before, while the pearlite is converted into a solid solution, austenite. Upon cooling, all this austenite is again converted into pearlite, or sorbite, while the coarse structure of the ferrite remains unchanged and the annealing has accomplished very little. It is therefore surprising that the requirement of annealing above the Ac1 point should appear, in these specifications.

Jan 5, 1916

By N. Plint, E. T. Pinkney

Copper segregation developments within the Anglo American Group are described with particular reference to the work of the TORCO Project Team. Some radical differences have been adopted in the mechan-ical approach as compared with methods used by previous workers. Most important among these are the following: (1) The heating unit is a fluidized-bed roaster. (2) A moving bed segregation chamber is used in which a packed bed of heated ore, to which reagents have been added, moves slowly downwards under gravity and is discharged at a controlled rate by means of a suitable valve mechanism. (3) The quantities of reagents used (sodium chloride and some form of carbon) are only a small fraction of those recommended by other investigators. (4) Retention times of only 2 min have been satisfactory for the complete segregation of many types of ore. Project TORCO is the code name given by Anglo American Corp. of South Africa, Ltd., to the investigation undertaken in Zambia to develop a plant capable of treating large tonnages of refractory copper-bearing ores by the segregation process. The process has now been under investigation for six years (1960-66) and during that period work has progressed from bench-scale laboratory tests through small-scale pilot-plant work to a 500-tpd commercial pilot unit. Test work has been carried out mainly on the ores of the Zambian Copperbelt and results have been encouraging. Recoveries on the order of 90% have been obtained on all Copperbelt ores tested with high concentrate grades. PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION Laboratory scale segregation test work on Nchanga banded sandstone ore and oxidized ore from Kansan-shi was originally conducted by Professor Maurice Rey. SociCtC Miniere et Mktallurgique de Pefiarroya, in 1957. Both ores responded favorably to the process. In November, 1960, the consulting engineers of Anglo American Corp. of South Africa, Ltd., initiated preliminary investigations on the application of the segregation process to Copperbelt ores. In early laboratory work, samples were heated in a closed, externally heated tube furnace for one hour at temperatures ranging from 800 to 830°C. The free moisture content of the ore feed was 4% and reagent additions were 0.5% salt and 1.0% coal. Both salt and coal were pre-crushed to -48 mesh Tyler.* All samples except an ore from the Bancroft mine responded well to the process and recoveries of over 90% were obtained. The presence of dolomite was responsible for the relatively poor recoveries from the Bancroft ore, as tests on one of the other ores with additions of calcite or dolomite confirmed. Recoveries dropped from 94 to 45% Grades of all the rougher flotation concentrates produced were low at 10-15% copper. The laboratory investigation was then followed up on a pilot-plant scale. An attempt was made to carry out the segregation process in a coal-fired 5-ft-diam fluidized-bed roaster. The feed consisted of a banded sandstone from Nchanga to which 0.5% sodium chloride had been added. Reducing conditions were maintained in the roaster by the addition of coal in excess of that required for heating the feed. The excess coal and added salt constituted the segregation reagents and the temperature of the bed was held at approximately 750°C. Recoveries of copper and grades of concentrates were low. The reasons for lack of success were: (1) The reaction is a gaseous one and a fluidized-bed roaster is therefore unsuitable as a segregation unit. (2) Coal in excess of that required for heating was introduced into the fluidized bed and under these conditions some of the copper would be reduced in situ. The term "reduced in situ" is used here to describe any copper mineral reduced to the metallic state in its original site within the ore particles. If this copper is to be recovered by subsequent froth flotation it must first be liberated from the gangue by grinding or some other method which, in practice, is usually not feasible on ores of this type.

Jan 1, 1969

The School of Mineral Industries is dedicated to education in mineral conservation and research by which the means may be found to make conservation effective. This includes diligent search for mineral truths and the energetic discovery, complete recovery, and maximum utilization of irreplaceable mineral resources. Standards of living depend upon two factors: human resources-intelligence, imagination, initiative, know-how, work; and natural resources-plants, animals, and minerals, including water, air, soil, heat and light from the sun, and all other such resources that are useful to man. Human relationships have not kept pace with scientific achievement; as a result man, in desperation, wittingly, premeditatively sacrifices freedom for security. Many natural resources, through overproduction, mismanagement, and greed, have definitely moved over into the exhausted or exhaustible category. The United States cannot maintain present standards of living on an agricultural economy alone, and serious harm can ensue if there are marked disproportions in numbers and relationships between city and rural populations. The most materialistic New Yorker must see virtue in bucolic loveliness. The United States is rated wasteful and inconsistent most of the time. It does not make sense to dole out through the keyhole what a wage earner can bring through the open door; to raise wages to lower the cost

Jan 1, 1950

By F. O. Garrabrant

POWER is furnished to the Climax Molybdenum Co. by the Public Service Co. of Colorado over two 100,000-volt line to a bank of three 3333-kva. Transformers 100/13.8 kv. These transformers arc so designed that with the addition of forced cooling their capacity may be increased 33 1/3 per cent at 12,000-ft. altitude. Under present conditions, these transformers are operated at 140 per cent of their rating with forced air cooling. On the secondary side of this bank there is a 15-kv., 1200- amp. Westinghouse oil circuit breaker provided with automatic reclosing relays allowing three successive short circuits before lockout. From this breaker 13.8-kv. power is transmitted to a central switching station (Fig. I) where all circuits radiate to the different operations of the property. Each circuit is protected by a 23-kv., 600-amp. oil circuit breaker with by-pass and isolating disconnecting switches. MINE Power at 13.8 kv. enters the mine through a ventilation raise over a three-conductor, size 1-0 varnished cambric insulated, leaded, steel-wire armored cable, insulated from 17 kv. This power is received and distributed through one switching station and four underground substations, shown in Fig. 2. No. 370 substation (Fig. 3) contains three 250-kva, 13,800/440-volt, single-phase Pyranol transformers protected on the high-voltage side by a 600-amp. manually operated oil circuit breaker. This station serves 20 slusher-hoist motors, a 45-kw., three-phase, 220-volt electric furnace, a Massco hot miller for tempering and milling Timken detachable bits and a hoist with 175-hp. motor on the No. 3 development shaft. Also at this shaft are three pumps. One two-stage pump, 1200 gal, per min., 100-ft. head, 3600 r.p.m., driven by a 150-hp. motor, is at the bottom of the shaft. Two deep-well pumps, 500 gal. per min., 500-ft. head, are at the collar of the shaft. Under normal operation the one pumping 1200 gal. per min. is controlled by a float switch to take care of the water. If this pump fails, or if its capacity is insufficient, the first 500-gal. pump is automatically started, and if still more capacity is needed the second 500-gal. pump automatically starts. Time delay relays are provided on the deep-well pumps, so that if power fails the column will have time to drain before the pumps restart. On failure of any of these, an alarm is sounded in the train dispatcher's office, so that mechanics can be sent to ascertain the cause of failure and make repairs. The cable from No. 370 substation is run to the switching station, in which are four15-kv., 600-amp. direct-current solenoid-operated oil circuit breakers. The current for operating and tripping is furnished by a 125-volt storage battery. All breakers are operated from the switchboard in the compressor room. One circuit from this switching station goes to the

Jan 1, 1944

By L. M. Pidgeon, K. T. Aust

There has been considerable interest in the possible use of titanium in magnesium alloys.' Zirconium has shown some promise in this connection2 and its general similarity with titanium suggests that the latter might act in a similar manner. A literature survey revealed that quantitative data on the Mg-Ti system was unavailable. Several patents3 have claimed that titanium additions from 0.2 to 4 pct to magnesium alloys were possible, but no mention was made as to the form in which the titanium existed in the alloy. Kro114 succeeded in introducing only traces of titanium into magnesium by bubbling TiCl4 through the metal under argon or by reacting it with sodium titanium fluoride. The application of theoretical data given by Carapella5 based on Hume-Rothery's principles, involving atomic size factor, crystal structure, valency and the electro-chemical factor, suggests that a Mg-Ti alloy is a favorable case, and the system appeared to warrant experimental examination. Experimental Procedure and Results THERMAL ANALYSIS If titanium is appreciably soluble in magnesium, a change in the melting point of the magnesium might be detectable using standard cooling curve methods. Magnesium was melted in graphite crucibles under an argon atmosphere, the assembly being enclosed in a silica tube. Graphite thermocouple protection tubes served also to stir the melts. The apparatus was very similar to Fig 1, with the addition of a refractory and baffle system to prevent undue heat losses from the top of the crucible. Chromel-alumel thermocouples were calibrated using Al of 99.97 pct purity. Dominion Magnesium Limited sup- plied redistilled high purity magnesium of the analysis given above. Titanium was added in three different forms: 1. Titanium powder —100 mesh, from the Titanium Alloy Manufacturing Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y. 2. Sheet titanium from the U.S. Bureau of Mines, produced by Mg reduction of TiCl4. 3. Magnesium —50 pct titanium master alloy from Metal Hydrides Inc., Beverly, Mass. The melting point of the high purity magnesium used was measured experimentally as 651.0°C. More than a dozen tests were conducted using titanium from the three sources referred to above, in calculated additions up to 20 pct titanium, at temperatures between the melting point and 1000°C and holding periods up to 6 hr. In no case was evidence obtained of solubility of titanium in magnesium, using inverse-rate and time-temperature curves. The melting point of the magnesium was unchanged within the accuracy of measurement, namely -+0.5°C; and no other thermal arrests were detected. Metallographic investigation of the thermal analysis billets indicated that the titanium additions were apparently mechanically entrapped in the magnesium in segregated areas. Consequently, these samples were not analyzed for titanium. The master alloy proved to be a mechanical mixture of titanium particles in a magne- sium matrix. These results indicated that the titanium solubility, if such existed, could not be obtained by the usual thermal methods. X RAY DIFFRACTION INVESTIGATION In an effort to detect solubility of titanium in magnesium, samples were investigated using both the Debye-Scherrer and the Focusing Back-Reflection methods. Filings from samples of the thermal analysis billets and from pure magnesium were annealed in argon one hour at 350°C to relieve mechanical strain. Measurements made of the interplanar spacings showed no difference between the Mg-Ti samples and pure magnesium. The interplanar spacings could be measured to within 0.0002A, and the greatest variation found was 0.0004A, in the back-reflection method. The diffraction lines for magnesium were not shifted by the titanium additions indicating that the solid solubility of titanium in magnesium is of a very low order—less than 0.5 pct. From both diffraction methods, a d or interplanar spacing of 0.817A was obtained for the redistilled high purity magnesium. This latter value is not given in the standard X ray diffraction cards for magnesium metal or vacuum distilled magnesium. Theoretical calculations for a close-packed hexagonal space lattice for magnesium indicate that the planes {2134) should give a line which was found. The relative intensity for this reflection at 0.817A is slightly less than that at 0.870k for magnesium. SOLUBILITY OF TITANIUM IN LIQUID MAGNESIUM The Mg-Mn system was examined by Grogan and Haughton6 who were

Jan 1, 1950

By Fred N. Kissell, Natesa I. Jayaraman

Introduction This paper describes a recent Bureau of Mines research project that resulted in a simple procedure for reducing the dust exposure of longwall shearer operators. This project involved the development and testing of a water spray and passive shield system to hold dust against the face and away from the shearer operators. This system is known as the Shearer- Clearer.

Jan 1, 1981

By T. L. Joseph, G. Bitsianes

THE layered structure of partially reduced iron ore was described in a previous paper.' Reduction by hydrogen was found to take place at well-defined interfaces between layers of the solid phases. In the present investigation, a detailed study was made of the wiistite phase that had formed during the partial reduction of a cylindrical compact of chemically pure hematite. An unusually wide band of wiistite permitted a rather detailed study of this phase. The specimen was made from Baker's C.P. hematite in the form of a cylinder 1.5 cm in diameter and 1.8 cm long. A dense ore structure with about 6 pct porosity was attained by heating the specimen in air at 1100°C for 3 hr. To confine reduction to the top surface, a ceramic coating was applied to the bottom and sides of the cylindrical compact. The specimen was then partially reduced in hydrogen at 850°C and subjected to a coordinated sequence of macro-, micro-, and X-ray examinations. A section of the partially reduced cylinder is shown in the macrograph, Fig. 1. Four layers consisting of metallic iron, wustite, magnetite, and unreduced hematite are clearly shown. The effort to force reduction to proceed downward in topochemi-cal fashion was only partly successful, as some reduction occurred along one side and bottom of the cylinder. A rather wide layer of dark wustite phase had formed, however, and permitted sampling for X-ray studies as indicated. To supplement previous work and to study the wustite layer in more detail, ten separate layers were removed for X-ray examination. Broad and diffuse patterns were obtained with the as-filed powders, especially with those of iron and wiistite, and the condition indicated a cold-working and variable composition effect within the respective layers. This condition was corrected by annealing the entire series of powders at an appropriate temperature. For the annealing treatment, the ten powder samples were wrapped in silver foil, sealed under vacuum in small quartz tubes, and heated at 750°C for 16 hr. The specimens were then drastically quenched in cold water to preserve the annealed condition. These annealed specimens were X-rayed in turn and the compiled patterns are shown in Fig. 2. The standard patterns for iron and its oxides have been interjected at appropriate positions for purposes of comparison and phase identification. All of the patterns obtained were clearcut and concise so that positive identifications could be made for all of the phases. The outermost layers A, B, and C were composed almost entirely of iron with a small amount of wiistite being detectable at the X-ray limit of phase detection. Layer D from the iron-wustite interface showed both of these phases. The next four layers E, F, G, and H were all in the dark phase band which had been tentatively identified as wustite by the macroexamination, Fig. 1. The diffraction data with their single-phase patterns of wiistite for these layers checked the visual evidence. Continuing the X-ray analyses after layer H, the macrograph (Fig. 1) shows that layer I came largely from the magnetite zone but included some fringes of the wiistite-magnetite interface. The diffraction pattern for the sample confirmed this observation. Layer J came from the unreduced core of the specimen and its diffraction pattern indicated a preponderance of hematite phase. The reduction behavior of synthetic compacts has thus been found to be similar to natural dense iron ore. The previous results were supplemented with measurements of the diffraction films and calculations of the respective unit parameters. These X-ray data are summarized in Table I and offer some interesting correlations as to the compositions of the various phases undergoing reduction. The iron layers that were analyzed gave lattice parameters close to that of pure iron at 2.8664A. Evidently this iron was present in layers A through D as a pure phase with little or no oxygen dissolved in its lattice. With the wiistite layers an entirely different situation prevailed in that there was a definite and

Jan 1, 1955

By AIME AIME

TRANSFER to the Bureau of Mines of the responsibility for conservation and production of helium, and announcement that a proposal has been made to the President for commercial operation of the Los Angeles has attracted new attention to the helium program of the Government. The matter is one in which mining engineers, and the mining industry in general, have a peculiar interest. Helium is a byproduct of the petroleum and natural gas industry. It is found in certain of the natural gases which have themselves been discovered, in the main, in the search for oil. If it is to be produced on a large scale, the conservation and development of the fields will necessarily be done by the men of the oil and gas industry. There is no known or expected source of supply of quantities of commercial importance save in the natural gas fields. Not all gas wells supply helium and none of them supply it in important percentages. If it were necessary to prospect a field, develop it, lay pipe lines and build production plants for the helium alone, the cost would be prohibitive. On that basis helium would necessarily be restricted to essential war uses, where cost is subordinate to need. As a byproduct of the natural gas in certain, at least, of the fields in the United States there is distinct reason for anticipating that it may be produced in amounts and at a cost that will permit its regular use in commercial airships.

Jan 1, 1925

By Nagel, Theodore

USE of oxygen in metallurgical operations was investigated by a committee of unusually able engineers more than ten years ago. A record of their work appeared under the title "The Use of Oxygen or Oxygenated Air in Metallurgical and Allied Processes," Serial 2502, Report of Investigations, U. S. Bureau of Mines. Shortly thereafter the A.I.M.E. published "Use of Oxygenated Air in Metallurgical Operations," based on a symposium at the New York meeting, February 1, 924. Quoting from the Bureau of Mines report In view of the many recent developments in oxygen manufacture, and considering the increasing cost and decreasing quality of our raw materials, the Bureau of Mines has taken the matter of the application of oxygen or oxygenated air to the metallurgical centers for consideration and has appointed an advisory committee to study the problem.

Jan 1, 1935

By Jose J. Alvarez

INTRODUCTION Three major plant processes control the operation of an uranium in-situ mining plant. The three pro- cesses can be categorized under the headings termed - loading, elution, and precipitation. All other plant processes can be subcategorized under the three. In summary, the major plant processes in an in- situ mining plant are: 1. Loading - The pregnant lixiviant from the production wells flows through anion exchange resin. The loading of the uranium on the resin is controlled by various factors, such as ionic strength, valence, functional groups, etc. 2. Elution - The uranium-loaded resin is eluted or regenerated by a high ionic strength solution. The effluent from this process is de- fined as the pregnant eluate. 3 . Precipitation - The pregnant eluate is chemically treated to attain the ideal conditions for the selective precipitation of uranium. Hydrogen peroxide is an ideal precipitating agent under URI conditions. This paper will focus on two of the major processes: Elution and Precipitation. For the most part this relatively young industry has grasped the theory of liquids in continuous flow for the operation of the plant processes. Likewise, URI initially operated the two processes of interest with the continuous flow concept. Through laboratory experiments, URI has abandoned the flow concept and operates the eluting and precipitating stages with the concept of "batch" processes, whereby only one container, filled to a specified liquid level, is chemically processed. In the proceeding sections, each of the two pro- cesses will be discussed in detail, from their original concept to the present operation. Only minor modifications were made to the existing circuits for the conversion with results revealing a greater level of efficiency. ELUTION The elution of the loaded anion exchange resin can be achieved by different high ionic strength solutions. The selection of constituents is dependent on both chemical and economic considerations (i .e., efficiency and operating/restoration factors). The regenerant presently used is a pH 9.5 solution containing 7.5% NaCl and a mixture of Na2C03/NaHC03. expressed as 2.5% NaHC03.

Jan 1, 1980

By J. D. Price, W. M. Bertholf

A. C. RICHARDSON*—First of all, [ think that the paper represents a lot more work, study, and correlation than has been indicated by the brief talk by Mr. Price. I like the way he started out and described the areas from which the samples were obtained, the locations of the washing plants, the available tonnages, and other background information with which to evaluate the data he submitted later on. Then I like the way in which he described the various types of washing plants, the tonnages handled and the difficulties of the washing problems; showing the amount of material that lies close to the specific gravity at which the washing separation is made. Later he gave figures from washing plant operations showing recoveries and cleaning efficiencies. He then discussed his own plant at Pueblo. It is the same old plant, I think, that I worked around a good many years ago. It is unusual to find a plant treating nearly 5000 tons of coal a day on tables. But this table plant is, I believe, more efficient than is indicated by the figures that Mr. Price gave. To determine the efficiency of a cleaning operation or to compare it with another it is necessary to consider the quantity and character of the material close to the specific gravity at which the separation is made. It is not fair, I believe, to penalize the table operation by something like 4 pct of out-of-place-material as he has done here. The variety and difficulty of the coals that he has to wash, the continuous shift and change in their composition make a very difficult cleaning problem and the table performance is excellent. I believe that the information in this paper will be of interest and value to anyone operating or planning to build a coal cleaning plant in this or other areas; particularly where the cleaning of fine coal is a problem. The data may be used for comparative purposes in determining the relative efficiencies of other cleaning plant separations. E. D. HAIGLER*—What is a Baum jig? J. D. PRICE (authors' reply)—A Baum-type jig is one in which the pulsations of the water is secured by means of a pulsating air current applied on top of the water. I imagine you are all familiar with the old plunger-type jig which is in effect a U tube in which a plunger on one side of the U, moving up and down, causes a corresponding pulsation on the far side of the jig. In the Baum jig, the pulsating air current is applied on the surface of the water on one side of the U tube of the jig and gives a corresponding pulsation on the other. It is also commonly known as a pneumatic jig. The control of the rise and fall of the water in the jig body proper is under much better control than it is in any of the other type jigs. Mr. Richardson could enlarge on that feature, for I know that he has had considerable experience with these jigs. A. C. RICHARDSON—You have asked how to control a Baum-type jig. The pulsations in a Baum jig can be modified and regulated to a marked degree by the amount of water admitted to the jig and by the adjustments of the valve which regulates the manner in which air is admitted. The number of pulsations per minute is controlled by the number of cycles of the air valve. Thirty to forty cycles per minute is a good speed for large jigs treating coarse sizes of cod. With an air valve it is possible to modify the time-velocity curve of the pulsating water to some extent which in turn determines the action in a jig bed. Within limits the following parts of the air valve cycle may be regulated: (1) the rate and period of air admission, (2) the period of air expansion, (3) the rate and period of air exhaust, and (4) the period of air compression. The rate and period of air admission determines the acceleration of the water at the beginning of the pulsion stroke and the amplitude of the stroke. The period of air expansion, after inlet port is closed, is one in which the water has reached the desired velocity, positive acceleration reduced, and the bed held in a mobile condition. The rate and period of the air exhaust can be adjusted to modify the degree of suction and so modify the manner in which the particles in the bed stratify. The compression period, alter the exhaust port closes and before the intake port opens may be used to advantage in retarding the downward velocity of water during the suction stroke. An ideal jig stroke is one in which during the up stroke the bed is lifted slowly in a mass and opens up like an accordian with the bottom layers dropping away first. With the bed open and mobile the particles adjust themselves according to their hindered settling rates. During the down stroke, while the bed is still open the particles of high specific gravity are accelerated toward the bottom layers. It is possible to approach this stroke with all types of jigs but it is less difficult to approximate it with a Baum jig.

Jan 1, 1950

By Paul M. Tyler

OF THE 92 elements generally accepted by chemists as constituting the primary building blocks of matter, all but the very rarest have been investigated with a view to employing them in steel manufacture. The surprising thing is that so few have been found commercially acceptable. Despite the relatively small number of elements involved, the use of alloys in steel making is one of the most complicated and probably one of the least well understood of modern industrial enterprises. The action of individual elements in steel making has been described often and a profuse and somewhat acrimonious literature covers pretty much the whole field of ferroalloy ore supplies. In the middle ground between the miner and the -steel maker developments are less carefully watched by most observers and except for an occasional description of the technique of some conversion process or the tariff hearings in Congress, little is said about them. The present paper has been submitted in the hope that it will stimulate broader constructive economic thinking. It undertakes to describe in' relatively nontechnical terms this great and growing though highly complex industry and to study its relations to national progress.

Jan 1, 1932

By E. Gybbon Spilsbury

(Pittsburg meeting, March, 1910.) THE recovery of gold and silver from their ores by means of the cyanide process has been so successful in the last few years that any radical improvement would seem impossible; yet the appliance to which I wish to call attention in this paper is really a radical departure from the methods now in general use. The most modern and approved of these, known as the all-sliming method, depends for its success on the grinding of the. ore so fine that practically 90 per cent. of it will pass through a 200-mesh screen. The slimes thus produced are then agitated and aerated in tanks of various types. The main object of this treatment is to insure such a thorough admixture of the pulp and solution that every particle of the ore is surrounded by a volume of solution sufficient to insure the dissolving of the whole of the gold- and silver-content. In addition, in order to expedite the action of the cyanide, and to oxidize such elements as would, if left in their active state, become cyanicides, air is blown in under pressure. In the Pachuca tank, this air is the active and sole means of agitation. The chief objections to all the methods off agitation used heretofore are the expense of operating and maintaining the mechanical devices for keeping the pulp in suspension, and the length of time required to obtain a fairly complete extraction. of the values. These objections are inherent to any method of agitation effecting a circulation of the pulp and the solution together, by giving the whole mass a circular movement, as in the low-tank system, or a vertical circulation, as in the Pachuca-tank system. In both methods, the particles of ore are kept traveling in the same direction as the solution, and with very little difference of speed; so that, while the whole mass is in

May 1, 1910

By W. Wanjokow, H. O. Hofman

In the metallurgical treatment of most metallic sulphides it is usually necessary to carry on a roasting-operation. In some cases the raw ore will have to be roasted; in others the intermediary product, matte, produced in smelting the ore; again, both ore and matte may have to be subjected to oxidation at elevated temperatures. Most metallic sulphides, when given an oxidizing-roast, pass through the state of sulphate before they are converted into oxides. All metallic sulphates are completely decomposed by heat, with the exception of those of lead and bismuth, but the temperatures at which decompositions take place vary with the metals. Some metallic sulphates are converted directly into oxides, others first form basic salts. Alkali-earth sulphates show a behavior similar to that of metallic sulphates, while alkali sulphates do not part with their sulphur trioxide even at elevated roasting-temperatures. The older data on the decomposition of metallic sulphates by heat are only approximations. Thus Kerl' gives the order in which metallic sulphates are decomposed with increasing temperatures as (Ag2, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Mn, Pb) SO,. More recent statenlents give definite temperatures and modify the formerly accepted order of decomposition. But the temperatures given by various observers do not agree. The reasons for this are to be found mainly in the method and manner of carrying out experiments. Four methods have been used: 1. Heating in an evacuated tube; 2, heating in a tube closed at one end, without air-cur-

Jan 1, 1913

By E. C. Bain, E. S. Davenport

When annealed carbon, or low-alloy, steels are suitably heated the ferrite (alpha iron solid solution) and the carbide, of which they are composed, react together to form a single solid solution of carbon (and other elements) in gamma iron (austenite). This reaction may begin only at a certain minimum temperature called the eutectoid temperature. The first ferrite and carbide thus to react together do so in definite proportions known as the eutectoid composition. With further heating the original constituent that is present in excess is dissolved in the austenite until exhausted. Whether the excess constituent be ferrite (hypoeutectoid steels) or carbide (hypereutectoid steels) the procedure is much the same, and upon slow cooling the homogeneous austenite expels the excess of either (proeutectoid ferrite or carbide) until the eutectoid composition is reached. Thus the reaction upon heating is strictly reversed upon cooling and accordingly an equilibrium diagram of this process may be constructed. Such an equilibrium diagram concerns itself only with the temperatures involved and with the proportions and compositions of the phases developed under conditions that suffice to permit equilibrium. Specifically it has no concern for the type or mode of distribution of these constituents nor with any extra-equilibrium conditions such as undercooling, which is almost universally encountered in metals. Actually, however, of great importance is the sluggishness toward equilibration caused by the not inconsiderable time involved in diffusion. Thus instead of the theoretical transformation point AF, we find for a certain rate of heating or cooling the use of the designations Ar and Ac (transformation temperature found on cooling and upon heating). These figures obviously have no particular meaning except as measured and expressed for a definite heating or cooling rate, and represent the apparent temperature displacement caused by an inadequate time allowance. In this paper are presented the results of a study of the time required for the transformation of austenite to ferrite and carbide at a variety of temperatures and also of the time required for the reaction austenite? martensite at the temperatures at which this reaction occurs instead of

Jan 1, 1930

By J. A. Cordier

USINOR has conducted four blast furnace tests with formcoke made from marginal coals in the pilot plant of HBNPC ("H. B. N." process) in four different blast furnaces of various sizes and with medium and high grade burdens. The tests in which up to 30% of the blast furnace fuel burden was replaced by HBN formcoke yielded good results on furnaces ranging in hearth diameters from 5.6 to 9.5 m. The tests demonstrated that: - the slight increase of pressure drop in the stack did not prevent smooth operation at record production rates with the same blowers - the total coke rate was not significantly affected, but there was a slight increase of the calorific value of the top gas - the hot properties of the formcoke are satisfactory as seen from the samples withdrawn at the tuyeres and tapholes. At the end of the two months test on BE nº 2 of Dunkerque, the hearth was as permeable and clean as with good standard coke. Our conclusion is that HBNPC formcoke made from lean coals is an adequate substitute for conventional coke in the range of 20 to 40% replacement, which is of interest to USINOR.

Jan 1, 1977

By Dean, R. S.

THE numerous theories of hardening which have been advanced in recent years are all satisfactory in accounting for some of the phenomena observed in hardening metals, but none so far presented account for all of the facts observed. Some years ago one of the authors, R. S. Dean,' presented a theory to account for some of the properties accompanying work hardening. The present paper develops this theory further in the light of recent experimental work and extends it to other forms of hardening. Many of the ideas included have come from the writings and personally communicated thoughts of others. We have attempted to give proper credit in every case, but it is possible that we have not always done so. As an historical basis it is desirable here to review very briefly the hardening theories which have been current. The first comprehensive theory of work-hardening phenomena was due to Sir George Beilby.2 He contributed the idea that with cold work part of the structure of the metal was rendered amorphous and that-it was to this amorphous material that the cold-worked metal owed its difference in properties. According to Beilby's theory this amorphous material was a supercooled liquid and, therefore, had the characteristics of a vitreous material. That such a theory is not capable of explaining the property changes in metals has been repeatedly pointed out. This theory also allowed a slip to take place only once on a given plane, which, as has been pointed out by Jeffries and Archer13 is not consistent with the observed length of an, individual slip and the amount of elongation which can be obtained by wire drawing. The modifications, which have been proposed to this hypothesis to make it coincide with the experimental facts, have to a considerable extent robbed the theory of its clean-cut characteristics. The commonest of these modifications replaces the amorphous phase with an

Jan 1, 1927