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By Orville R. Lyons, A. C. Richardson

THE Coal Division of Battelle Memorial Institute, during the course of an investigation conducted for a coal producer, carried out extensive sampling of the fine-coal section of a preparation plant. The information obtained during the testing period was used to evaluate the overall plant operation and provided the basis for. recommended changes in the plant flowsheet. Included in the information were data for the results obtained when using a Bird centrifuge to dewater the particular coal being treated. At the completion of the investigation, the coal producer gave Battelle permission to publish the operating data for the Bird centrifuge in order to make this information available to the coal industry. The authors wish to take this opportunity to express their appreciation to this company and its officials for their willing cooperation in the matter of publication. Description of Preparation Plant: The preparation plant on which the data were obtained is primarily a jig plant. The coal being washed is a low inherent moisture, friable, Pocahontus-type. The washed coal from the jig is dewatered and sized at 1/4 in. by a Parrish-type dewatering and sizing screen. The minus 1/4-in. coal and the underflow water from the shaker screen flow to a sludge tank where, after the coal settles, the coal is conveyed by a flight conveyor into a pump sump. The pump, a 300-gpm sand pump, delivers a mixture of fine coal and water to a Bird centrifuge which produces a dewatered cake and an effluent. At the time when the investigation was made, the centrifuge effluent was returned to the sludge tank and the cake product was mixed with a coarser size of coal prior to loading into railroad cars. The semiclarified water from the sludge tank overflowed into a pump sump from which it was pumped to the jig. As originally designed, the preparation plant was intended to operate with a closed water system but it was found, soon after operations started, that for various reasons this could not be done. In order to provide for removal of excess water from the system and to aid in maintaining the desired minimum percentage of solids in the circulating water, the plant was operated to provide from the sludge tank a continuous overflow of water and fine solids that was sent to waste. The centrifuge feed represents approximately 35 tons per hour of minus 1/4-in. coal in the form of a pulp averaging 38 pct solids. Sampling Procedure: In order to obtain basic data for determining the relationships existing in the fine-coal section of the preparation plant, samples were obtained for: (1) the centrifuge feed, (2) the centrifuge cake, (3) the centrifuge effluent, and (4) the circulating water. The sampling was arranged to start on a Monday, in order to begin operations with a sludge tank full of fresh water, and was continued long enough to allow sufficient time for fine solids to build up within the water system or for a two-day, four-shift operating period. All samples were taken at half-hour intervals except when plant stoppages occurred. After a stoppage the plant was

Jan 1, 1951

By Paul Pietrokowsky

THE formation of intermediate phases in the solid state reaction of titanium with silicon, germanium. and tin (of subgroup 4B in the periodic table) was the subject of a recent paper.' Further investigation of the system Ti-Sn revealed the presence of a new compound on the titanium-rich side of this phase diagram. Metallographic evidence indicated that this new phase was situated very close to 75 atomic pct Ti. The present work is concerned with the crystal structure of the intermediate phase Ti3Sn. Iodide-process titanium metal, furnished by the New Jersey Zinc Co., was used in this investigation. The metallic tin was received in powder form from Charles Hardy Inc., New York; its purity was 99.80 pct. The titanium rod was machined into small cups 1 cm in diam and about 1.5 cm in height. The tin powder was compacted, melted, and then placed in the titanium cups and alloyed by electric arc melting in a helium atmosphere. The alloys, weighing approximately 8 g, were sealed in evacuated quartz tubes and homogenized at 1030°C for 5 days. This isothermal heat treatment was terminated by a water quench from the soaking temperature. Filings of the alloyed pellets were sealed in evacuated quartz bulbs and quenched from 1030°C into liquid argon. A 14.32 cm Debye Scherrer X-ray camera was used for the powder diffraction study. The copper radiation was filtered. X-ray diffraction data for the compound Ti3Sn are given in Table I. The data were indexed on the basis of a hexagonal lattice. Good agreement between observed and calculated values of the square of the reciprocal interplanar spacings was obtained with the following expression: (1/d)2 = 0.03810 (h2 + hk + k2) + 0.04410 (l2) Unit cell parameters were calculated by the method of least squares from the reflections (20.3), (22.2), (40.1), and (42.1); ao = 5.916 & 0.004A, co = 4.764 ± 0.004A, and co/ao = 0.805. The relatively small size of the unit cell allowed the unambiguous indexing of most of the reflections from planes of large spacing. An inspection of the assigned indices (Table I) reveals the absence of (hk.l) reflections when 1 2n. A systematic absence of this type leads to the space group C 6/mmc or one of its subgroups. Assuming, for a first approximation, a linear increase in the density of titanium with the addition of tin, it follows that there are two stoichiometric molecules of Ti3Sn per unit cell. The density calculated from X-ray measurements is 5.194 g cm-'. At this point it became clear that Ti3Sn might be isomorphous with Mg3Cd. The 6 Ti and 2 Sn atoms were placed in the following positions of space group D4 6h, C 6/mmc: 6Tiin (h): X 2X 1/4; 22;; 1/4;Xx 1/4;x2x3/4; 2x x 3/4; x x 4; with x = 516 2 Sn in (c): 1/3 2/3 1/4; 2/3 1/3 3/4.

Jan 1, 1953

By ARTHUR S. DWIGH

Discussion of the paper of W. W. NORTON, presented at the Salt Lake meeting, August, 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 92, August., 1914, pp. 1993 to 1999. ARTHUR S. DWIGHT, New York, N. Y.-Mr. Norton's chief argument is directed against the idea that the D. & L. sinter is any better material for the blast furnace than the H. & H. product. He supports this by citing two experimental furnace runs. Reducibility.-To discuss a furnace record like that quoted by Mr. Norton for the five days' run in August, 1912, is manifestly difficult for an outsider, but a possible explanation for the poor reduction on Furnace No. 5, smelting D. & L. sinter, may lie in the fact that both sets of furnaces carried the same fuel charges. Other things being equal, if 11 ½ per cent. coke was right for the furnaces smelting H. & H. product, it Was too much for the furnace smelting D. & L. product, as I shall endeavor to show later, and incipient overfire, accompanied by higher leads in slag and matte, was induced. It may sound like a paradox to say that excessive fuel sometimes produces poor reduction, but it is a sad fact. In certain plants where practically the entire charge to the blast furnaces receives a preliminary treatment by being sintered on the D. & L. machines the peculiarities of this problem have had to be very carefully studied, for serious metallurgical difficulties presented themselves when the change was first made to D. & L. sinter in large quantities. Some of these plants had blast pots before they had D. & L. machines, and many opportunities were afforded for comparative study of this very point. There is reason to believe that, clue to the long period of blowing and the higher temperatures developed in the pots from greater mass action, the iron in the H. & H. product is present chiefly as Fe203, perhaps in the form of ferrites, while in the D. & L. product the iron is present as FeO. The fuel charge in the blast furnace must be so proportioned as to exactly meet the chemical and thermic requirements of reduction and melting. If ally of these functions have been performed before the material enters the furnace, a corresponding allowance should be made or the fuel balance will be disturbed and bad work will result. One of the functions of the coke is to reduce enough metallic Fe for the matte requirements, leaving the remainder of the iron as FeO to go into the slag. In smelting almost any other material than D. & L. sinter the iron must-be reduced from the higher oxides, Fe203 or Fe304, to the protoxide, FeO, before a true comparative basis is reached. Experience has shown that with about one-half D. & L. sinter on the charge the coke should-be cut about 10 per cent. This theoretical benefit is borne out by the practical blast-furnace results on a large scale in numerous plants. In fact, wherever this very important factor is ignored the evil symptoms of excessive fuel will be indicated,

Jan 11, 1914

By Nicholas J. Grant, Italo S. Servi

Extensive data of minimum creep rates and rupture times for high purity and commercial aluminum confirm the existence of a transition range from the low temperature-type to the high temperature-type behavior. The data are analyzed in line with the suggested theories of deformation of metals. CONSIDERABLY more work has been done on the rupture and creep behavior of commercial alloys than on the less complex, high purity metals. As a result, certain fundamental behaviors are overlooked. One of the lesser known variables affecting the high temperature behavior of metals is the impurity content (or alloy content). Impurities are known to affect strongly the recrystallization temperature, electrical resistivity, and other properties of metals, but the effect on creep and other high temperature mechanical properties has been determined for very few materials. In view of these facts aluminum appears to be a fairly ideal metal, since it is available in a wide range of purity contents from 99.995+ down through the 2s (99.0 + Al) and 3s (1.2 Mn) grades in small steps. It is highly resistant to oxidation and other surface instabilities, leaving recrystallization and grain growth as virtually the only instabilities. Control of grain size is also well standardized. Limited data on the creep of aluminum have been obtained by Dushman et a1.l for high purity aluminum; by Sherby2 on 2s aluminum of variable grain size; and by Dorn and Tietz³ on cold-worked 3s aluminum. Experimental Procedure The apparatus consisted of a constant stress, creep testing unit similar to the type described by Hop-kin.' The specimens were held at temperature for 30 min before loading. The loading time was less than 2 min. Factors affecting the accuracy of the data were: 1-—the temperature gradient and control, ± 3°F; 2-the stress determinations, ± 1.5 pct; and 3—elongation measurements (1 in. gage), ? 0.001 in. Three grades of aluminum were tested: 1— high purity (99.995 pct Al), 2—2s (99.3 pct Al), and 3—3s (98.2 pct Al). The spectrographic analyses of these materials are reported in Table I. The specimens were annealed then electropolished in a perchloric-acetic mixture before testing. Data on heat treatments and grain size obtained appear in Table 11. The entire creep curve was determined for almost all of the tests. A few tests were interrupted after the beginning of the third stage of creep, and in these cases the rupture time was estimated. Experimental Results Constant stress creep-rupture testing gives a much longer, more accurately measurable second stage of creep than constant load testing. This behavior is in agreement with the results obtained by Andrade for lead (see Fig. 1). If the test is run to completion, the third stage of creep appears as soon as stress intensification occurs. In the case of specimens which fail in a ductile manner, the stress intensification begins when the sample starts "necking". This differs from the "high temperature brittle" specimens in which the stress intensification is caused by intercrystalline cracking. These specimens

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry P. Ehrlinger, James C. Bradbury

Tripoli is a naturally occurring, very finely divided form of silica found chiefly in some midwestern and southeastern states and used commercially as fillers and abrasives. Definitions Tripoli is a microcrystalline, finely particulate, more or less friable form of silica that appears to be the product of leaching of siliceous limestone or calcareous chert. The term was originally applied to a deposit near Seneca, MO, that resembled material of that name found near Tripoli In North Africa (Hovey, 1894). The two deposits were subsequently found to have different physical characteristics -the North African tripoli, now called tripolite, is a diatomite, composed of the siliceous skeletons of microscopic marine plants called diatoms; the Missouri tripoli contains no diatom remains. The term tripoli, however, continued to be used for the Missouri material and is now applied in a general way to most silica deposits similar to it in characteristics and geologic origin. In commercial trade tripoli is commonly understood to designate material from the Missouri-Oklahoma field; silica from southern Illinois, the other major producing area, is referred to commercially as amorphous silica. Each term, however, may be used commercially for material, regardless of place of origin, that has the characteristics or uses commonly ascribed to the material from one or the other major producing area. For example, in the commodity price listings, Engineering & Mining Journal routinely lists under Tripoli, prices "f.o.b. Elco, IL" and "f.o.b. Seneca, MO, and Rogers, AR," and under Silica, amorphous, prices "f.o.b. IL," and "f.o.b. bierks, AR." Amorphous silica, the commercial designation given to southern Illinois tripoli, is, like the term tripoli, a misnomer. Mineralogically, the southern Illinois deposits are composed of microcrystalline quartz, and no amorphous material has been detected during X-ray and scanning electron microscope investigations (Leamnson, Thomas, and Ehrlinger, 1969; Thomas et al., 1970; Keller, 1978). Soft silica is another term that has been applied to Illinois and Tennessee tripoli, presumably to distinguish it from the more compact Missouri material. It has also been used in the ceramic trade to distinguish tripoli from "hard" silica, or silica flour, produced by pulverizing silica sand (Heinz, 1937). Rottenstone, produced commercially in Pennsylvania, is similar to tripoli in that a major constituent is finely particulate silica, and its uses are much the same as those of Tripoli-as abrasives and fillers. The origin of rottenstone also is similar to that of tripoli-decomposition of a siliceous sedimentary rock. The parent rock is defined as a siliceous limestone (Gary, McAfee,, and Wolf, 1972; Thrush, 1968) or as shale. Heinz (1937) quotes a brief statement describing the Pennsylvania deposits -"a black impure shaly limestone grading into black shale"-but does not identify the source of the statement. For convenience, rottenstone is included with tripoli in the reporting of production statistics in US Bureau of Mines (USBM) Minerals Yearbooks. Other materials that have been called tripoli include siliceous deposits in San Bernardino County, California (USBM Minerals Yearbooks, 1934-1941) and in Nevada (Chandler, 1960). These, however, differ in composition and/or origin from tripoli and, therefore, should not be identified by the name tripoli.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. H. Rushton, L. H. Mahony

Principles of fluid motion and turbulence which have been found to be of use in mixing and agitation problems are discussed, as well as suggested applications in extractive-metallurgy processes. Various types of impellers are described, together with other conditions that affect flow pattern and turbulence. The choice of equipment for particular requirements is considered, and equations for power input are given. Modern heavy-duty mixing and agitation equipment can take an increasingly important part in such extractive-metallurgy processes as solids handling, crystallizing and leaching, chemical operations, and flotation. Application of mixing and fluid-mechanics principles to extraction methods can lead to greater process rates and a resultant saving in time and money. MIXERS are being applied with increasing frequency to problems in the metallurgical industries. The increase represents in part the modernization of mechanical equipment used through the application of unitized drives, modern electric motors and speed reducers, and recently developed materials of construction. Some applications have resulted from process changes and the use of techniques for operations similar to those that have been demonstrated and proven in the chemical industry. Still more applications are being developed through the use of fluid-dynamics principles not previously recognized as applicable to these operations. It is the purpose of this paper to describe those principles of fluid motion and turbulence which have been found to be of use in mixing and agitation problems, and to suggest applications for them in the extractive-metallurgy processes. Modern mixing equipment has been designed to provide the fluid motion consistent with that best suited to different operations.' When properly applied, these more efficient fluid-handling mixers result in lower process-production costs. Metallurgical operations usually involve large amounts of solids. The characteristics of the ore control the process and only enough liquid is added to provide sufficient fluidity for handling and processing. The reactive part of the ore, the mineral value to be extracted, is likely to be low in percentage, and the quantity of reagent required is similarly low, but excessive dilution makes additional reagent necessary and therefore is undesirable. Thus, the primary problems in minerals processing are to handle as high a concentration of solids as possible and to distribute reagents uniformly. These pulps, or slurries, are in a range of solids concentration where hindered settling rates apply, and care must be taken to agitate and mix sufficiently to maintain suspension and flow throughout the equipment. Such slurries have high densities which are the weighted average of the components and viscosities that are spoken of as "effective viscosities" but are difficult to evaluate. It is convenient to separate metallurgical operations involving mixers and agitators into three categories: solids handling, mechanical or physical operations, and chemical operations. In each of these categories fluid motion is required to maintain suspension, to distribute surface-active agents, to blend components and reactants, and to induce high rates of chemical reaction. After a discussion of some basic principles of mixing and agitation, examples of application to the three categories will follow. Fluid Motion The fundamental problems of mixing and agitation of liquids have to do with the mechanics of fluid streams and the means by which they are

Jan 1, 1955

By R. L. Stephenson

The effect of fabrication variables on the creep-rupture properties of TZM (Mo-0.5 pct Ti-0.08 pct Zr-0.03 pct C), Cb-TZM [columbium-modified TZM (7140-1.5 pct Nb-0.5 pct Ti-0.8 pct Zr-0.05 pct C)], and TZC (Mo-1.2 pct Ti-0.25 pct Zr-0.15 pct C) has been studied at 982º. 1093º, 1204º, and 1315°C for rupture times up to 1000 hr. The creep tests were performed in vacuum creep furnaces, employing cold-trapped oil-diffusion pumps, operating at pressures 2 X 10-7 tory. After-test chemical analyses showed no significant changes in interstitial content. The creep-rupture properties of TZM, fabricated according to current mill practice, were determined in the stress-relieved and in the re crystallized conditions to provide control data. Specimens of TZM, Cb-TZM, and TZC fabricated according to each of two experimental fabrication schedules were then tested. The schedules differed in terms of in-process annealing temperatures and warm -working temperatures. The data make several conclusions evident. Fabrication variables do indeed have a profound effect on the long-time creep-rupture properties of molybdenum alloys. Strengths of these alloys compare very favorably with those of other refractory metal alloys in the temperature range studied. FOR several years we have been engaged in the evaluation of the creep-rupture properties of promising refractory metal alloys. We consider the determination of these properties to 1000 hr at several temperatures necessary for a valid comparison. Such an evaluation indicated that the creep strengths of Mo-0.5 pct Ti and TZM (Mo-0.5 pct Ti-0.08 pct Zr-0.03 pct C) compare favorably with those of other refractory metal alloys. Tensile and recrystallization data of other investigators1,2 show an effect of fabrication variables. More specifically, those fabrication schedules which produce high strength through work hardening exhibit the least thermal stability. A similar conclusion was reported by perkins3 for Cb-TZM. This would lead one to expect that, in terms of creep, those materials showing higher strength at short times and low temperatures would exhibit lower strength at long times and high temperatures. If these expectations were fact, a substantial improvement could be made in these alloys by optimizing their fabrication schedule in terms of their anticipated service temperature. We therefore undertook a study of the effect of fabrication variables on the long-time creep properties of TZM, Cb-TZM (Mo-1.5 pct Cb-0.5 pct Ti-0.08 pct Zr-0.05pct C) and TZC (Mo-1.2 pct Ti-0.25 pct Zr-0.15 pct C). MATERIALS All materials used were supplied by the Climax Molybdenum Co. of Mich. Our original intention was to test the same heat of each alloy in different conditions. Fabrication difficulties prevented this; however, heats with nearly identical analysis were selected. The compositions of the materials used are listed in Table I. All materials were supplied in the

Jan 1, 1970

By K. K. Clark, W. H. Somerton

The feasibility of reducing pressures needed to fracture formations by heating the borehole intensively has been investigated on a laboratory scale. Reductions in fracture pressures of heated Bandera, Berea and Boise sandstone cores were observed at various confining pressures, simulating reservoir stress conditions to a depth of 5,000 ft. Both permeable and impermeable borehole boundary conditions were tested. Three heating conditions were used in the tests. One group of samples was heated in a furnace to a temperature of 600C, cooled to room temperature., and then tested for fracture pressures. Two other groups of samples were heated with a borehole heater to maximum borehole wall temperatures of 625 and 792C, then cooled and tested. In all cases, heated samples showed substantial reductions in fracture pressures compared to unheated samples. The higher temperature borehole heated samples showed the greatest reduction, amounting to 70 per cent in the extreme case. In actual application to wells, it was concluded that fracture pressures may be reduced by 20 to 50 per cent by intensive borehole heating before fracturing. INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells is an accepted and effective technique for increasing well productivity in many areas, but is notoriously unsuccessful in other areas. The technique becomes less interesting for production stimulation purposes when excessive fracture pressures are necessary. Formations which do fracture but require high pressures, probably form horizontal fractures. There is good evidence to indicate that some formations do not fracture at all, but yield plastically under high pressure. Thus, any technique which will make formations easier to fracture or will reduce fracture pressures is potentially interesting to petroleum producers. Horizontal fractures generally occur in planes of weakness, such as bedding planes, and at pressures equaling or exceeding the effective overburden stress. In the unusual case where planes of weakness do not exist, a slightly higher pressure must be applied to overcome the tensile strength of the rock. In general, high fluid-loss fracturing fluids are conducive to the formation of horizontal fractures.1 Vertical fractures, when they do occur, are initiated at pressures generally lower than overburden pressure and are favored by low fluid-loss fracturing fluids or impermeable boreholes. The pressure necessary to create a vertical fracture in an impermeable, elastic medium can be predicted from the so-called "thick-walled cylinder" equation: Pf = 2 or+ st.............(1) where pf = fracture pressure or = radial stress st = tensile strength of medium. This equation indicates that to fracture it is necessary to overcome a tangential compressive stress, induced by and equal to two times the radial confining stress, plus the tensile strength of the medium. If the above equation held strictly true for rocks, very little could be done to reduce fracture pressure. The tensile strength of the rock might be reduced somewhat, but any change in st would be small compared to the magnitude of the tangential stress at reasonable subsurface depths. Laboratory tests have shown that actual fracture pressures exceed values predicted from Eq. 1 by factors of 1.4 to 28.6.1,2 Eq. 1 thus does not properly describe the

Jan 1, 1966

By C. D. Rubert, W. J. Parton

A flotation plant was placed in operation in 1945 at the Tamaqua colliery of the Lehigh Navigation Coal Co. Inc., to recover fine anthracite which is discharged from the cleaning plant with the washery water.‡ In addition to the recovery plant, facilities were provided for the complete clarification of the washery water, recirculation of this clarified water for breaker use, and disposal of the refuse solids in a waste impounding dam. Fig I shows a view of the settling tanks and the flotation plant. Flow Diagram The flow diagram for the complete recovery project is given in Fig 2. All the waste water from the cleaning plant is collected in a sump A outside the breaker structure, from which a 7000 gpm pump B delivers it through a 16 in. line to a 75-ft diam hydroseparator C. The hydroseparator, acting as a classifier, is set to give a separation at approximately 200-mesh. The minus 200-mesh overflow is discharged by gravity into the 180-ft thickener D for final settling of the solids. The classifier underflow sludge is pumped to the flotation plant by a 6-in. quadruplex diaphragm pump E. A 10-ft diam hydroseparator F is used to make a second classification on the sludge solids at approximately 28-mesh. The underflow from this classifier containing the coarse particles is elevated by a 6-in. diaphragm pump G and is discharged on two 4- by 6-ft vibrating screens II. These screens are dressed with approximately 28-mesh cloth. Screen oversize product flows directly to the centrifuge that dewaters the cleaned froth. The screen underflow and the overflow from the 10-ft classifier flow to the flotation circuit. The flotation feed is conditioned in a 12 by 12-ft agitator tank J at a pulp density of I:2.33 (30 pct solids). Reagents are fed to the circuit by reagent feeder I. The conditioned pulp is then diluted to a pulp density of approximately I: 5 (18 pct solids) and is fed to two banks of four 100-cu ft froth flotation cells K for primary coal recovery and cleaning. Additional reagents from reagent distributor L are added to the feed weir-box of Nos. 2, 3, and 4 cells of each bank of flotation machines. Clean coal removed from these cells flows directly to the clean-coal sump. Dilute tailings from the primary cells is re-thickened in a 30-ft diam thickener M and is then retreated in a scavenger circuit for final recovery of coal. The scavenger circuit consists of a 6- by 6-ft agitator tank N and two banks of four 24-cu ft froth flotation cells 0. Coal froth from these cells flows to the dewatering equipment and the tailings flows to a vertical refuse pump which delivers it to the 180-ft diam waste thickener D. Dewatering of the coal products is accomplished in a 54- by 72-in Bird centrifugal filter P. The cake product is dropped onto a conveyor and is loaded

Jan 1, 1949

By Jeffrey L. Thompson, Kenneth A. Gutschick, Robert C. Freas, Robert S. Boynton

Lime, the "versatile chemical," is, generally speaking, a calcined or burned form of limestone commonly known as quicklime, calcium oxide or calcia, or, when water is added, calcium hydroxide or slaked lime. Almost 40 different lime products are available, a fact which has contributed to the rather loose use of the term lime as well as to much confusion and misunderstanding. The term is frequently, albeit erroneously, used to denote almost any kind of calcareous material or finely ground form of limestone or dolomite. Lime is usually made from high-calcium or high-magnesium limestone, generally having a minimum of 97% combined carbonate content. Normally, high-calcium limes contain less than 5% MgO. When the lime is produced from a high-magnesium limestone, the product is referred to as dolomitic lime. Calcination, or the production of lime, has its origins in the earliest days of alchemy, with the general reaction class having been identified in an Arabic text printed in 1000 A.D. It was much later, however, in the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s before this basic reaction became understood from a scientific perspective. The production of lime has been so basic and simple that its underlying scientific principles have over the years received only intermittent investigation. Rather, much of the thought and inquiry has been directed toward the development of kilns. Thus, it has only been in the last 15 to 20 years that lime has received any concentrated scientific investigation relative to the thermodynamics and kinetics of the calcination and hydration reactions. Calcination refers to a broad class of reactions, of which the lime/limestone reaction is just one, wherein a substance is heated to less than its melting point, resulting in a weight gain or weight loss. In the calcination of limestone to produce lime, the basic chemical reaction is as follows: [CaCO3 (limestone) + heat (1000° to 1300°C)= 100 CaO (quicklime) + CO2 T 5644 or CaCO3 • MgCO3 (limestone) 10084 + heat (900°C to 1200°C) CaO • MgO (quicklime) + 2CO2 T 56 4088] While there is nearly universal agreement about the equilibrium conditions related to the limestone/lime reaction above, there have been numerous and varied calcination models developed for the reaction. Recent investigations have resulted in the development of the model shown in Fig. 1. From this model it can be seen that calcination is a function of both temperature and CO2 pressure. It does not, however, provide any indication of the rate at which the reaction takes place. Calcination is strongly time variant with different limestones. In a very broad sense this relates to the fact that the calcination reaction starts on the exterior surface of the limestone and then proceeds toward the center. As the calcination reaction takes place, the CO2 released at the reaction interface must make its way through the lime to the exterior surface. Therefore, because calcination is limited by gas diffusion to the surface of the partially calcined limestone, natural impurities in the stone, differences in crystallinity, grain boundary chemistry, density variations, and imperfections in the atomic lattice all play a significant role in

Jan 1, 1983

By Archer E. Wheeler

IN the copper industry, the year 1942 was one of striving for larger tonnage and increased production. The demands of the war program placed copper high in the list of strategic metals and the Government encouraged production by offering a premium of 5c. per pound for copper output in excess of the 1941 quotas. This had the effect of increasing the tempo of existing operations and also of initiating a number of projects which will eventually result in production from sources not hitherto exploited. No radically new methods of copper reduction were reported.

Jan 1, 1943

By Julian E. Tobey

A MEMORABLE year has just passed in the field of coal utilization. Because of the war, oil conversions in industrial, commercial, and domestic installations have been made to the equivalent of 20,000,000 tons of coal. The war emergency has resulted in a great shifting of various types of coals to various markets. Huge tonnages of metallurgical-quality coals have been withdrawn from steam and domestic business and sent into the iron and steel industries. Marginal coals have replaced these coals in the steam and domestic field.

Jan 1, 1944

By Anthony Anable

HOOVER DAM, rapidly nearing completion in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River at Boulder City, Nev., taxes the superlatives of the vocabulary to describe. For by all odds, it is the largest construction project of its type ever essayed by man and the plants providing the essential materials of construction are also in a class by themselves not only in size but in advanced design, mechanization, and accurate control. Picture, if you will, the great aggregate plant, as it is called, situated about 4 mi. upstream from the site of

Jan 1, 1934

By AIME AIME

FRANCIS ANDREW THOMSON was born in London, Dec. 21, 1879, coming to the United States by way of British Columbia where he lived until he matriculated at the Colorado School of Mines. When only sixteen he was inducted into the mining industry as apprentice assayer and millman at the Victoria Metallurgical Works. Following his training at Golden he had more practical mining and milling experience at several properties in the West, and studied a little as well at the Royal School of Mines, in London, and at the Ecole des Mines, in Paris.

Jan 1, 1939

By T. Price, H. A. Holl, A. P. Greenough, A

UdIN, Shaler, and ulff' first used wires for the determination of the surface energy of a solid metal. A gage length was marked by tying knots in the wires, which were then suspended in a cylinder of the same metal, heated in an inert atmosphere for the appropriate time, cooled to room temperature, and finally removed from the furnace so that the lengths of the wires could be measured. With iron wires, difficulties associated with deformation during the phase changeszp3 made it necessary to measure the gage lengths at the tem-

Jan 1, 1964

Estimates of 80% coal recovery in strip mining and 5O% recovery in auger mining are commonly used in reserve base calculations, according to a Bureau study team. A survey of coal mining states east of the Mississippi was conducted to test the validity of those figures.

Jan 10, 1977

By Harold B. Foxhall

THIRTY per cent of the mineral wealth of the United States is obtained from seven states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. This area, which produced 84,727,156,000 worth of minerals in 1948, constitutes an almost complete economic unit in relation to mineral resources essential to industry. All of these states are producers of fuels and some of metallics, but in the field of important nonmetallic industrial minerals the picture is near perfection-a mineral any one of the seven states lacks, one of the others has in quantity.

Jan 5, 1951

By A. W. Mitchell

Barite occurs as bedded and vein-type deposits in Nevada along a north-northeast trending zone that Parallels the Antler orogenic belt. The Nevada bedded deposits presently supply 85% of domestic barite production, used primarily as a weighting agent in the petroleum drilling industry. The ore bodies are controlled structurally and stratigraphically along regional and local structural breaks in siliceous eugeosynclinal rocks of lower to middle Paleozoic age. Evidence for the origin of the barite includes sedimentary and hydrothermal features, indicating that localization probably took place along fractures in the sea floor.

Jan 1, 1982

By Ingersoll Olmsted

These ores are of two classes, Bessemer and non-Bessemer, existing in separate, though adjoining, beds. Both are carbonates, with small admixtures of oxides and other combinations. To prepare them for market they are roasted in kilns, which have already been described by Mr. John Birkinbine at the Troy Meeting, October, 1883 (Trans., xii., 378). Concerning their size, arrangement, etc., I need, therefore, only repeat that they are 60 feet in height; have wrought-iron shells 24 feet in diameter; are lined with fire-brick, and supported by cast-iron mantel and columns.

Jan 1, 1889

By George H. K. Schenck

The investment analysis methods that are most generally accepted in the mineral industries in the mid-80's are presented along with their advantages and disadvantages. Also covered are current widely-used practices for introducing the uncertain nature of most of the important variables in an investment analysis, which is contrasted to the former dominance of deterministic analysis. Finally, the discussion turns to current practice for handling the two critical areas: cost of capital and inflation. The advice contained is reinforced with data from a survey of current practices in the petroleum industry.

Jan 1, 1985