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By R. G. Knickerbocker

THE copper smelter and refinery of The Messina (Transvaal) Development Co. Ltd., at Messina, South Africa, was erected in 1920 and 1921, but initial operations were deferred until late in 1922 on account of the collapse of the copper market in the interim. Because the anticipated production was to be only 20 tons of copper per day from a high-grade matte containing 60 per cent copper, and because the ore did not contain gold or silver in quantities sufficient to pay for separation from the copper bullion, it was decided to design the plant along lines quite different from the modern smelteries treating large quantities of sulfide ores carrying appreciable amounts of gold and silver. The plant was built, therefore, for the production of copper by the Nicholls-James process. By this method two-thirds of the copper matte produced was roasted in a Merton calciner and charged into a bath of the remaining one-third portion of unroasted matte in a reaction furnace. The original design was not only novel in providing for the Nicholls-James process, but also in comparison with new plants built elsewhere, because of factors inherent in the locality. Sources of supply for machinery were very remote; it takes three months after the placing of an order to accomplish delivery of machinery into Messina from the United States. Native labor was available at 30 to 40¢ per 8-hr. shift. These factors permitted plant design which provided no overhead cranes, no matte ladles, no slag pots or other usual mechanical means of transportation between departments. The design resulted in a compact simple plant with furnaces arranged close together and. terraced so as to provide for gravity transfer of molten material from one furnace to another and for manual disposal of products. Fig. 1 shows the relative location of furnaces. The three furnaces are parallel on successively decreasing elevations. A superimposed feed floor was provided above the furnaces. All three furnaces were provided with coal-dust burners served from a Bonnot system of coal-dust transportation, and the waste gases were discharged into waste-heat boilers.

Jan 1, 1932

By A. Heim, M. Gondouin

Invasion experiments were run on Berea sandstone cores to get laboratory measurements of resistivity and saturation profiles characteristic of water and oil sands invaded by mud filtrate. Injection rates were as low as 1.13 cm/D, and the cores were 30 to 36 in. long, cut parallel to the bedding planes. In the water-sand case, the resistivity profiles revealed the existence of an extensive transition zone between flushed and uncontaminated zones. In the linear geometry of the experiment, the width of the transition zone increased as the square root of the injected fluid volume. For the oil-sand case the core was prepared by displacing the formation water with kerosene to minimum water saturation. During the subsequent invasion experiment. oil saturation was measured directly by means of an oil-soluble radioactive tracer, and resistivity profiles along the core were taken at the same time. These data were interpreted in terms of an oil-water front, followed by a formation water bank, a zone of mixed waters, and finally, invaded mud filtrate near the borehole. Micro-fingering and capillarity seemed to affect considerably the resistivity profiles observed in the invaded oil-sand experiment. Beyond the regular conductive annulus or "low zone", it was found that a resistive "anti-annulus" could also be formed. As a result of these experiments, some simplified invasion profiles have been accepted and are being used in Grand Slam* interpretations. INTRODUCTION The importance of the mud filtrate-invaded zone in interpreting electrical logs has long been recognized.',* In trying to account for its effect, only very simple models of the resistivity profiles in the radial direction from the borehole have been used. In fact, most log interpretation charts have been based on resistivity models consisiting of two media of uniform resistivity (R, and R,) abruptly separated at the diameter of invasion. Such a clean separation of the media of different resistivities seems unrealistic, since flushing may not be perfect and may vary with radial distance into the formation.3** The nature of the transition zone, when it is within the radius of investigation of the surveying devices, may affect the log readings. Campbell and Martin' verified that a conductive annulus containing a high percentage of formation water may be formed when mud filtrate invades an oil-bearing sand. Interpretations which are to include the effect of such an annulus require the addition to the model of a conductive zone located at the outer rim of the invaded zone.' Using the Buckley-Leverett relations,6 aturation profiles may be derived, from which resistivity profiles can be calculated. Results of such computations by K. S. Kunz and J. H. Moran were given in a paper by Dumanoir. Tixier and Martin,7 and led to the construction of log interpretation charts which were based on a representation with three media of resistivities R, R0 and R1. Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a resistivity profile which includes an annulus. Campbell and Martin realized that, during the invasion of an oil sand, both capillarity and mixing would contribute to rounding of the profile shown in Fig. 1. Capillarity tends to draw some of the formation water from the annulus into the uncontaminated (Rt) zone, whereas mixing of the mud filtrate with formation water of the

Jan 1, 1965

By H. D. Strain

Potash is a generic term used to describe a number of compounds containing the element potassium (K), which is one of the three major plant nutrients. Potash content of these compounds is commonly expressed as percentage potassium oxide (K20), and the market value of the products is usually dependent on contained K20. Most of the potash produced (approximately 95%) is used in agriculture as fertilizer. Potash products today are shipped by producing countries all over the world to meet the need for increased food production. WORLD POTASH RESERVES Apparent world potash reserves are shown in Table 15.2B.1 and total some 96 billion mt of recoverable potassium oxide. The Canadian reserves account for approximately one-half the known world reserves. The reserves shown represent the potassium oxide content of a variety of potash-bearing ores. The major ore is sylvinite (a mechanical mixture of KC1 and NaCl) from which KC1 or sylvite is recovered (63.2% K20 equivalent). Other ores, such as langbeinite (potassium, magnesium sulfate-22.7% K20) and carnallite (potassuim magnesuim chloride-17.0% K20) are also mined in various parts of the world, mainly for the potassium content. Theoretically, potassium is available in almost unlimited qualities from brines and saline waters. To date, the cost of recovery from salt brines has been greater than the costs by mining operations, but new technology could make brines and seawater an increasingly important source. POTASH PRODUCTION Potash production dates back to the 1860s in Germany, which was the only recorded producing country until 1912. By 1912 Germany was producing approximately 1 million tpy of K2O equivalent. Production began in France in 1913 and in the United States in 1915. World potash production and consumption are shown in Table 15.2B.2 for the years 1950-51 through 1967-68. In 1967 and 1968 the major potash-pro¬ducing countries in order of importance were those listed in Table 15.2B.3. By 1972 Canadian production had outstripped U.S. production. WORLD CONSUMPTION World consumption of potash for the years 1950-51 through 1967-68 is shown in Table 15.2B.2. Table 15.2B.4 shows total world consumption of potassium materials in 1967-68 by country. More than 70% of the world's potash is

Jan 1, 1976

By Horace Porter

MOST of the bituminous and semibituminous coals of this country Will coke, and all of them yield, on carbonizing, more or less marketable gas and byproducts. We need, however, a finer distinction as between various grades of coking coals and between coals of different degrees of byproduct and gas-making possibilities. There is required by the consumer or the coal producer a dependable test to show whether a certain coal or mixture of coals will make coke of good commercial value for blast, furnace, foundry, water-gas, or domestic use; whether any difficulties in operation may arise from properties inherent in the coal; and whether gas and byproducts may be expected of good quality and in profitable quantity. For determining coke quality, the most dependable test is in actual run in an oven, but for byproducts a coal may better and more accurately be tested in the laboratory or in a miniature oven or retort. As to what are the most desirable qualities in blast-furnace coke, the furnace men themselves are not in complete agreement. Soiree desire a hard, well-burned, "hot" coke, and others get better results from a "greener," less hardened product that burns somewhat more readily in the furnace. But certain qualities of cell structure and porosity are commonly agreed upon as desirable. Information as to what kind of coke a certain coal may be made to yield is valuable in advance, whatever may be the consumer's ideas as to the particular kind most suitable to his needs. The question arises, Can we predict coking quality with any degree of satisfaction from a small-scale test? It used to be said that coals could not be tested satisfactorily on a laboratory scale either for the coke they would yield or-the byproducts. On account of the mystery with which the coking quality of -coal has been shrouded and the large determining influences that many believe are exerted by mass, pressure, and the passage of carbonaceous volatile matter through the coking material, it has seemed difficult to reproduce in the laboratory the exact conditions of commercial practice. Great progress, however, has been made in recent years

Jan 9, 1919

By J. Gordon Parr, D. H. Polonis

IN a previous study of hypereutectoid Ti-Ni alloys' a substructure was observed in quenched powder specimens when the constitution was 100 pet retained ß body-centered-cubic phase. The alloy powders were quenched from 1000°C by a blast of helium gas and precautions already described were observed throughout the work, to minimize contamination. Ogden et al.2 have previously observed subboundaries in the ß phase of a Ti-Mn-N alloy; but this structure was attributed to nitrogen-rich a precipitation. The nitrogen content of the Ti-Ni alloys does not exceed 0.02 pet and the quenching rate was sufficiently rapid to suppress precipitation reactions. Since X-ray diffraction results have confirmed the absence of any second phase which might account for this phenomenon, it seems unlikely that this substructure is explicable in terms of nitrogen content. Fig. 1 shows the substructure in adjacent grains of 100 pet ß phase in a quenched 6 atomic pet Ni alloy. Fig. 2 shows adjacent ß grains in a similarly treated alloy; one grain contains marked intracrys-talline boundaries and the other is completely free from any substructure. The suberystals appear to have fairly regular shapes, suggesting a regular orientation relationship among them. Tempering the retained ß structure at temperatures below the eutectoid eliminates the substructure at an early stage of ß decomposition. At the present time it is possible only to guess at an explanation for this subboundary phenomenon, since very little work has been reported on substructures resulting from phase changes. It is believed that the present phenomenon is due to poly-gonization resulting from unrelieved stresses set up

Jan 1, 1957

By Gustaf Ising

For relative gravity measurements, the author in 1918 described an instrument1 of which the essential part consists of a highly astatized, standing pendulum turning about a horizontal elastic axis. This type of instrument has been used recently in practical field work, therefore a description of its principle and technical development is given herein. Part I, describing the principle, is a direct translation of the original Swedish paper.l Part II gives an account of the practical elaboration of the instrument, together with some description of measurements performed. I. Principle of Using Astatized Pendulums1 In order to reduce the trouble and waste of time attending the use of ordinary pendulums in measuring the force of gravity, various instruments of another type have been suggested for relative determinations, as a rule arranged in such a way that the attraction of the earth on a certain body or mass of fluid is balanced by elastic force from a spring or a shut-in mass of gas. A change in the force of gravity is then made manifest as a change in the position of equilibrium of the body, in that the deformation of the spring (or compression of the gas) is changed. With such instruments there are, however, great difficulties in keeping the elastic force constant or its variation known with sufficient exactitude, because of elastic after-working, influence of temperature, and so on. The author suggests for relative determinations of gravity another type of instrument, in which two directional forces (control coefficients) rather than two forces are compared with one another. By "directional force" or "control coefficient" is meant that quantity in a rotatable system that, multiplied by the angle of deflection, indicates the moment counteracting the deflection. In this way it will be possible greatly to reduce the influence of the elastic after-working, which in instruments with spring devices acts so disturbingly. The instrument is made with a rotatable system arranged in such a way that the total control coefficient acting upon it, is composed

Jan 1, 1940

By Gustaf Ising

For relative gravity measurements, the author in 1918 described an instrument1 of which the essential part consists of a highly astatized, standing pendulum turning about a horizontal elastic axis. This type of instrument has been used recently in practical field work, therefore a description of its principle and technical development is given herein. Part I, describing the principle, is a direct translation of the original Swedish paper.l Part II gives an account of the practical elaboration of the instrument, together with some description of measurements performed. I. Principle of Using Astatized Pendulums1 In order to reduce the trouble and waste of time attending the use of ordinary pendulums in measuring the force of gravity, various instruments of another type have been suggested for relative determinations, as a rule arranged in such a way that the attraction of the earth on a certain body or mass of fluid is balanced by elastic force from a spring or a shut-in mass of gas. A change in the force of gravity is then made manifest as a change in the position of equilibrium of the body, in that the deformation of the spring (or compression of the gas) is changed. With such instruments there are, however, great difficulties in keeping the elastic force constant or its variation known with sufficient exactitude, because of elastic after-working, influence of temperature, and so on. The author suggests for relative determinations of gravity another type of instrument, in which two directional forces (control coefficients) rather than two forces are compared with one another. By "directional force" or "control coefficient" is meant that quantity in a rotatable system that, multiplied by the angle of deflection, indicates the moment counteracting the deflection. In this way it will be possible greatly to reduce the influence of the elastic after-working, which in instruments with spring devices acts so disturbingly. The instrument is made with a rotatable system arranged in such a way that the total control coefficient acting upon it, is composed

Jan 1, 1940

By R. H. Jacoby, M. J. Rzasa

Experimental equilibrium vaporization ratios (K values) were obtained for nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, ethane and hydrogen sulfide in two natural gas-absorber oil mixtures and in two natural gas-Elk Basin crude oil mixtures. For each mixture of constant over-all composition, data were obtained at 100°, 150° and 200°F and at various pressures in the range 200 to 5,000 psia. Some effects of composition on the K values were obtained to serve as a guide in choosing K's for engineering calculations on other mixtures. The pressure cell used to obtain the data is a new type and is described here for the first time. INTRODUCTION The phase equilibria of complex hydrocarbon mixtures such as natural gases, crude oils and their mixtures have been studied previously for the purpose of finding equilibrium vaporization ratios for the hydrocarbon constitutents. In a few cases, such non-hydrocarbon.: as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide were included in the mixture. studied because they occur. in the fluids obtained from petroleum reservoirs. The increasing occurrerce. of these non-liydrocarbon.; antl their growing economic importance. make it necessary to account for them more accurately in engineering calculation.: than is now possible using the meager published data. The available data for non-hydrocarbons may he classified into two groups: namely, binary mixtures of a hydrocarbon and a non-hydrocarbon. and mixtures containing three or more components, only one of which is a non-hydrocarbon. Amon: the former. phase analyses are available for two nitrogen-HC mixtures, tve carbon dioxide-HC mixtures and three hydrogen sulfide-HC mixtures. Data for more complex mixtures are available as follows: Nitrogen-Methane-Pentane'; Nitrogen-Methane-Hexane,'; Nitrogen-Methane-Heptane'; Carbon dioxide-Natural Gas-Natural Gasorline": Carbon dioxide-Natural Gas-Crude Oil". These data have been used generally lor engineering calculations, often with little regard for their precise applicability because data for the non-hydrocarbons in the complex mixtures being dealt with were not available. The use of K values from binary data for calculation:; involving complex mixtures is open to criticism because such K's are not a function of composition and very often show large differences from the K's for the same components in a complex mixture. Thus the effects of composition must be evaluated when obtaining K's for components in complex mixtures. Poettmann and Katz " varied the carbon dioxide content of their mixture.; from about five to ten mol per cent and found substantially no effect on the K values due to this change. This was not surprising since one might expect that changing a minor com-ponent by * three mol per cent would have little effect. It is more important to find the composition change which have the largest effect on the K values. For example. varying the methane or heptanes — plus compositions over a wide rangr may have a large effect on the K'. of all components in the mixture. Interesting data to this effect were obtained by Eilerts and Smith." It was toward these problems that the experimental data presented here were directed. EQUIPMENT The pressure cell used to obtain the data i:. somewhat dif-ferent from those which have been described in the past. Photographs of the equipment are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 Shows. the front panel: from a .rated position at the right the

Jan 1, 1952

By Francis Foley

Small cracks in a plane normal to the axis of steels are found to be prevalent around the water hole of drill steels that have been in service for an unknown period of time. Cracks are not found on the exterior surface of the steels nor to any noteworthy extent even in the water holes of new drill steels. Undulations and serrations are found in the surface of the water hole in new steels; it is in the bottom of such defects that cracks appear to develop in used steels. The occurrence of the more serious of these cracks at the point in the steel to which it has been heated for forging or hardening is thought to account to a great extent for failures in that region. DURING the past, year, we have investigated the cause of 88 per cent, of the failures by breakage near the bit end of some 1-in. hollow, hexagon, drill steel used in a metal mine. This breakage in the region of the bit end of the steel was peculiarly interesting because we have been led to believe that breakage is most prevalent at the shank end of drill steels near the place where the steel is gripped in the chuck of the machine. Records from the mine showed, also, that the breakage was much more frequent in the short lengths of large gage than in the longer steels; this is shown graphically in Fig. 1. Because the shorter lengths of steels are usually those that have been made from broken pieces of long steels or from steels that have worn down in service, rarely being made from new stock, those who are wont to suspect steel of tiring and crystallizing in its old age through fatigue are quite apt to see in this instance an argument in favor of their idea. As usual, a careful examination of these steels reveals defects of a character hardly to be overlooked in favor of such a cause. The steel in question was rolled with a sand core and was of the usual drill steel composition: Carbon 0.85 per cent., manganese 0.60 per cent., silicon 0.25 per cent., phosphorus 0.02 per cent., and sulfur 0.02 per cent., with the exception that in some specimens there was vanadium, not exceeding 0.20 per cent.

Jan 3, 1924

By A. K. Knickerbocker

PRACTICALLY all underground work on the Minnesota iron ranges is done by miners working on a so-called contract wage system. This system, while it has certain advantages over the straight day's pay or company-account method of wage payment, has serious and vital defects. In view of the scarcity and demands of labor, it is important that employers of labor scrutinize their systems of wage payments carefully, not only to save losses and trouble, due to labor disturbances, but also to secure the greatest efficiency of their workmen and reduce their operating costs. It is admitted that an adequate, just, and equitable wage is the prime factor in bringing about these benefits. The wage of labor and its method of application and payment have been, and always will be, the main factors in the unrest and dissatisfaction of labor. Not only does labor want and need an adequate wage, assuming that work is adequately performed, but it wants and is entitled to a just and equitable wage. Labor must have respect for the fairness of the wage and for the fairness of the management in the application of the wage. It is conceded that the Minnesota iron miners are now, and have been, in the main paid adequately, but the inherent defects of the so-called contract system prevent any just or equitable application of this wage to the various units of the labor body. The defects of the contract system, with its obvious inequalities, favoritisms, and injustices, are cancers in the brain of labor. Every thinking miner realizes these defects and knows just what they are; the unthinking do not realize the details of the subject, but each month they are forcibly reminded of these defects through the pay envelope. As practiced on the iron ranges, however, the so-called." contract" system is not a contract and the name is a misnomer. No true contractual obligation exists.

Jan 2, 1920

By T. F. Witherbee

Success in this operation is much promoted by adhering to a definite plan. Random work is of little account. In general, anything done that will enable the blast to pass through the obstruction, providing the melted products can be got away from the tuyeres, is all that is necessary. Hence the utility of high explosives in breaking up the chilled mass in the hearth. (This, by the way, should be done with the wind on, so as to prevent the filling of the tuyeres with the usual rush of cinder following the explosion.) If from any cause it is not expedient to use explosives, the simple but very effective instrument known as the kerosene or hydro-carbon blow-pipe can be depended upon to perforate the contents of a blastfurnace hearth to any extent required. It consists, as used in the Champlain district (first by Mr. Charles H. Foote), of several pieces of gas-pipe, liberally supplied with elbows (five in number) so as to be flexible; one end being connected to a tuyere-stock and the other brought to bear upon the place to be melted out. A 1/4-inch pipe leads from the last length, or blow-pipe proper, to a reservoir of kerosene or crude oil, set high enough to overcome the blast-pressure, This 1/4-inch pipe should have a valve conveniently located to regulate the flow of oil, and also another next to the reservoir. With a good hot blast and a surprisingly small quantity of oil, this apparatus will melt, burn or mechanically dislodge anything around a blast-furnace hearth excepting firebrick and water-cooled castings or plates. It may be helped by vigorous prodding with a suitable steel bar, to detach the fused but sometimes sticky material. A very good way to operate on a chilled hearth with it, is to open up a hole from a cinder- or iron-notch to the nose of the most convenient tuyere and then make a blow-pipe of the tuyere by turning

Jan 1, 1885

By John T. Norton, Robert W. Lindsay

A number of detailed investigations of the physical changes accompanying age-hardening have raised the question as to the possibility of some phenomenon preceding the actual process of precipitation. There is considerable evidence to indicate that in the first stages of the aging process there is a pronounced distortion of the crystal lattice. This is particularly marked in duralumin. It would be of considerable theoretical interest to know the nature of this distortion as compared with that produced in other ways and to find out whether, in supersaturated alloys, it is a necessary antecedent to the formation of a second phase by precipitation. It was believed that a study of the age-hardening char-acteristics of a normally aged alloy compared with one that had been mechanically distorted might supply some useful information on these points. In addition, information would be obtained regarding the effect of a mechanical distortion on any subsequent stage in the aging process. Duralumin was chosen as the material for this investigation because the various aspects of its aging behavior can be shown in detail by suitable variations of the aging temperature. Also, probably more work has been done on this class of alloys than on any other. In spite of the many published results, it was felt that the experiments would be significant only if all of the work were done on samples from the same source and if they were examined under identical experimental conditions. Previous Work The many studies of the mechanism of aging in duralumin have been more or less crystallized by a series of papers by Fink and Smith1~2~3 and a recent paper by Cohen.~ The former authors believe that a simple precipitation theory is adequate to account for the various phenomena

Jan 1, 1939

By John T. Norton, Robert W. Lindsay

A number of detailed investigations of the physical changes accompanying age-hardening have raised the question as to the possibility of some phenomenon preceding the actual process of precipitation. There is considerable evidence to indicate that in the first stages of the aging process there is a pronounced distortion of the crystal lattice. This is particularly marked in duralumin. It would be of considerable theoretical interest to know the nature of this distortion as compared with that produced in other ways and to find out whether, in supersaturated alloys, it is a necessary antecedent to the formation of a second phase by precipitation. It was believed that a study of the age-hardening char-acteristics of a normally aged alloy compared with one that had been mechanically distorted might supply some useful information on these points. In addition, information would be obtained regarding the effect of a mechanical distortion on any subsequent stage in the aging process. Duralumin was chosen as the material for this investigation because the various aspects of its aging behavior can be shown in detail by suitable variations of the aging temperature. Also, probably more work has been done on this class of alloys than on any other. In spite of the many published results, it was felt that the experiments would be significant only if all of the work were done on samples from the same source and if they were examined under identical experimental conditions. Previous Work The many studies of the mechanism of aging in duralumin have been more or less crystallized by a series of papers by Fink and Smith1~2~3 and a recent paper by Cohen.~ The former authors believe that a simple precipitation theory is adequate to account for the various phenomena

Jan 1, 1939

By Alvinus Brown Wood

The ancient copper-mines of Lake Superior, having been destroyed or covered by modern mining-dumps, are not accessible to the present inhabitants of that region, and, since no more are likely to be found, some account of those already discovered, from one who has seen them, may be acceptable to the Institute. Early in May, 1855, I took a party of men to open an ancient pit on the Quincy mine-location. Mr. C. C. Douglas was the " Agent," as mine-managers were then called on Lake Superior. The Quincy Co. had previously done work on a fissure-vein, several hundred feet west of the Amygdaloid lode (afterwards called the Pewabic lode), on which was the ancient pit herein described. 'It was at this pit that the Quincy main shaft was subsequently sunk. The ancient pit showed an apparent depth of about 4 R., but when cleaned out it was shown to he 14 ft. deep, having been filled up by the sliding-in of material composed largely of broken rock, taken out in sinking the ancient shaft, and left near its mouth. Midway of the shaft, and below water-level, was found a scaffolding of white-birch poles, which had been used as a landing, to assist in removing the excavated rock. The shaft was 7 ft. in diameter. The excavation had been done by first building fires in order to disintegrate the rock, as was proved by the abundance of charcoal found; then breaking the softencd rock with hammers of diorite, such as is found in the greenstone range on Keweenaw point. These hammers had about the size of large paving-stones. Only broken ones were found, the whole ones having been doubtless carried away for other work, such as could be traced on the lode for a hundred feet or more to the south. At the place where this shaft was sunk, barrel-copper (i.e.,

Jan 1, 1907

By Edgar L. Newhouse

The lead smeltery at East Helena, Mont., controlled by the American Smelting & Refining Co. since 1899, has been in continuous operation for the past 25 years. Most of the old smelting and roasting practices have been superseded by newer and more modern methods, but on account of the difficulties involved in changing the original construction, some of the methods in use of handling materials are not the most modern. This plant, however, is particularly interesting as being one of the few essentially lead smelteries in the United States. At Federal, Ill., Collins-ville, Herculaneum, and possibly other places, similar work is being done, but it is doubtful whether any of them produces as much lead as the East Helena plant, whose monthly production averages 6,500 tons. The situation, 5 miles east of Helena, is convenient to both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads, while the electric power is obtained from Canyon Ferry, 12 miles east on the Missouri river. Local quarries supply the requisite amount of lime rock, which the contracts require to be crushed to 5 in. Of the 450 men on the monthly pay roll, a census showed 200 Austrians, 110 Americans, and 30 Italians, the balance being made up of miscellaneous nationalities. The ore supply is mainly derived from the Coeur d'Alene mines in Idaho, and consists of crude ore, coarse and fine concentrates, middlings, and slimes. About one-half of the total output of the Coeur d'Alene camp is sent to East Helena. An average analysis of these ores gives approximately 40 per cent. lead and 11 per cent. sulphur. Local shipments, varying from month to month, are mostly highly siliceous gold and silver ores carrying little lead. Small shippers, leasers of old mines, and prospectors are very numerous throughout Montana, and it is the policy of the company to encourage these men by every possible means, including the free sampling and analysis of their ores and aid in the development of their mines and prospects, whenever their results show promise.

Jan 1, 1915

By Richard S. McCaffery

This paper considers certain aspects of the acid bessemer process, particularly in its relations to the duplex process—that combination in which the pig iron is first desiliconized and decarburized in acid bessemer converters and then dephosphorized in basic open-hearth furnaces. The acid bessemer process employs an acid-lined converter and produces an acid slag. The blow is usually thought to eliminate the silicon and manganese as oxides and then to burn off the carbon as carbon monoxide On account, however, of the relatively large amount of metallic iron present in the converter, compared with the relatively small amount of the impurities it is desired to oxidize, the first reaction in the converter probably is the formation of iron oxide, which dissolves in the bath and acts as an oxygen carrier for the silicon and carbon. As soon as iron oxide is dissolved throughout the bath, the oxidation of silicon commences; but in the early stages of the blow the mass law would indicate that iron oxide must form first, and this oxide probably increases up to some saturation point. The molten metal in the converter from the early stages of the blow right through to its completion remains basic, while the slag produced is siliceous. This fact is shown by the corrosion of the acid bottom and the tuyeres, which is greatest at the tuyere orifice where oxidation is most active and where there is the most iron oxide. Why does this acid bottom corrode? Because it is attacked by a base. The thought, therefore, suggests itself, why not. make the bottoms of basic or neutral material?' As the converter slag is acid, those parts of the converter coming in contact with the slag should be acid; but those parts of the converter that are in contact with the molten metal saturated with metallic oxides should be basic. or neutral. Bessemer operators have for some time tacitly admitted this condition, for the blast pressures have steadily increased with the object of keeping the metal in suspension, and so preventing bottom corrosion; if the molten metal were not basic, it would not attack an acid bottom. In addition, the tuyeres are bunched together at the middle of the bottom and a clear space is left around the outside of the bottom; if tuyeres are placed too near the side walls the

Jan 1, 1922

By Richard S. McCaffery

This paper considers certain aspects of the acid bessemer process, particularly in its relations to the duplex process—that combination in which the pig iron is first desiliconized and decarburized in acid bessemer converters and then dephosphorized in basic open-hearth furnaces. The acid bessemer process employs an acid-lined converter and produces an acid slag. The blow is usually thought to eliminate the silicon and manganese as oxides and then to burn off the carbon as carbon monoxide On account, however, of the relatively large amount of metallic iron present in the converter, compared with the relatively small amount of the impurities it is desired to oxidize, the first reaction in the converter probably is the formation of iron oxide, which dissolves in the bath and acts as an oxygen carrier for the silicon and carbon. As soon as iron oxide is dissolved throughout the bath, the oxidation of silicon commences; but in the early stages of the blow the mass law would indicate that iron oxide must form first, and this oxide probably increases up to some saturation point. The molten metal in the converter from the early stages of the blow right through to its completion remains basic, while the slag produced is siliceous. This fact is shown by the corrosion of the acid bottom and the tuyeres, which is greatest at the tuyere orifice where oxidation is most active and where there is the most iron oxide. Why does this acid bottom corrode? Because it is attacked by a base. The thought, therefore, suggests itself, why not. make the bottoms of basic or neutral material?' As the converter slag is acid, those parts of the converter coming in contact with the slag should be acid; but those parts of the converter that are in contact with the molten metal saturated with metallic oxides should be basic. or neutral. Bessemer operators have for some time tacitly admitted this condition, for the blast pressures have steadily increased with the object of keeping the metal in suspension, and so preventing bottom corrosion; if the molten metal were not basic, it would not attack an acid bottom. In addition, the tuyeres are bunched together at the middle of the bottom and a clear space is left around the outside of the bottom; if tuyeres are placed too near the side walls the

Jan 1, 1922

By Clarence W. Balke

SMALL buttons of fused tantalum have been produced by arc fusion in a vacuum, by drawing an arc between sticks of pressed tantalum and a tantalum-faced water-cooled copper block. However, ingots of appreciable size can be produced only by the heat-treatment of bars pressed from powder. The following outline covering the production of finished bars of tantalum by the methods of powder metallurgy is also used for the production of columbium, taking into account the difference in the melting points of these two metals. PRESSING THE POWDER With possibly a few exceptions, a pressing operation is one of the essential steps in the practice of powder metallurgy. In fact, the author's experience with a number of high-melting-point metals and with numerous types of hard carbide compositions has led him to believe that this operation is often one of the most important in the entire process, and frequently one of the most difficult to carry out in a satisfactory manner. Defects due to improper pressing can readily lead to a defective finished product. It is the author's opinion that rarely is a bar or other article pressed from metal powder in such a way that all parts of the piece are uniformly pressed. The nearest approach to uniformity of pressing is possibly attained when the powder is contained in a flexible receptacle, such as rubber, and is pressed under a liquid by hydrostatic pressure. However, this method is not generally applicable. Hydraulic pressing in steel dies where one or two punches are forced into the die must usually be resorted to. As the pressure in such a die is built up, the powder begins to cling to the walls of the die with a tenacity dependent upon the nature of the powder, and this results in a bridging action, so that the layers of powder adjacent to the moving punch are pressed more heavily than those further removed in the mass. Frequently, as the pressure is carried higher, there may be a mass slippage of the powder upon itself, with the result that slip cracks are formed within the pressed

Jan 1, 1938

Discussion of the paper of W. R. SHIMER, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 99, March, 1915, pp. 557 to. 585. WILLIAM R. WEBSTER, Philadelphia, Pa.-I would like to ask Mr. Shimer how the finishing temperature of the H-beams and other beams rolled on the Gray mill at Bethlehem compare with the rolling temperatures of the rails referred to in this paper. Also, how the reductions in the rolling of the beams compare with the reductions in the rolling of the rails. I would also like to know if any drop tests were' made on the rails referred to as having been allowed to cool and then annealed; in other words, what results, if any, were obtained from tests on rails after the internal strains of rolling had been removed; and in the matter of the rail blooms, I would like to ask if they are not often heated to a higher temperature than is desirable on account of the thin flanges in order to carry the heat through to the finishing pass. The tensile strength of the steel in these rails is given as 125,000 lb. per square inch, which is almost as high as tire steel. If some of these blooms were rolled into rounds of about the same section as the head of the rail, would you not get better results from tension tests than those from the head of the rail? In other words, in rolling rounds, whether you would not be able to control the rolling and finishing temperatures better than is possible in the rail, owing to thin section of the rail flanges. Some years ago I had experience with the rolling temperatures of tire steel, running from about 127,000 to 133,000 tensile strength. These tires had the tensile strength and the deflection specified. One of the manufacturers had no trouble whatever, after a little experimenting, in meeting the conditions of the specification. Another manufacturer who made some of these tires came to the office and stated that he had tried tires from three heats of steel and could not meet the specifications and

Jan 5, 1915

Not many accounts of mining methods or labor conditions in the mines in early days can be found; all that have seemed to be authentic have been included in the preceding chapters. In practically every field opened before 18.10 the first coal was recovered by quarrying, or strip mining, the operations, of course, being by hand and on a very small scale; new places were opened as soon as mining became difficult or expensive. Where it became necessary to drift into the hillsides, the first coal was taken out by sleds, and later by small wagons, the power being supplied by the miner, often assisted by dogs. Wooden rails then came into use with small cars running on them. These cars were very small, usually holding only a few bushels; in the Belleville, Illinois field as late as 1863 cars having capacities of 10, 12, 14 and some as large as 30 bushels were in use. It was not until late in the 1830's that horses or mules came into use for haulage purposes in the Pittsburgh region, although some had been used in the Richmond, Virginia field at an earlier date. Coal was usually undercut by hand and wedged down, until explosives came into general use, and in nearly every field the coal was forked into the cars, the fine coal, or slack, being left in the mine. Hours worked were very long, but few records remain to show what they were at different places and times; there was undoubtedly a great variation between districts and mines. Roy stated a miner could often produce 5 or 6 tons in a day of 8 or 9 hours in a 5 or 6 foot seam, but in another seam possibly could mine only 3 1/2 to 4 tons. He estimated an average day's work in a four foot seam at about 3 1/2 tons.1 In a strike in the Belleville field in 1863 it was found that an average skilled miner in the field could probably produce 4 to 5 tons a day.2 This was only the coarse coal loaded and did not include slack. In 1873, a coal undercutting machine was tried at a mine about two miles from Brazil, Indiana, said to be the first coal machine ever invented in the United States. It was run by a 5 H.P. steam engine (later to be changed to compressed air), and consisted of an iron rim, four feet in diameter with movable steel teeth placed about one foot apart. The rim

Jan 1, 1942