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By Meissner, C. A.

THE tendency all over Europe, just as it is with us, is to go to the use of turbines for new construction or replacement of old steam or even gas engines. 'The lower construction cost and the lower operating cost, when they can have high steam temperatures and pressures, together with their efficiency, is the cause of this change to turbines, both high and low pressure. The present trend is to equip plants with modern, efficient steam boilers, turbines, etc., and gradually work into high-pressure superheated steam equipment to accomplish a saving. One company has just completed a 375 to 400 lb., 700 deg. superheated steam installation and turbo-blowers with this end in view. Some of our new steam plants are using 350 lb. working pressure.

Jan 1, 1928

By Augustus Locke

MY conclusions apply to the engineer in California ore hunting; and, because the product has been overwhelmingly gold, that means gold-ore hunting. But, I wish to think of ore hunting, not as employment for engineers, but as engineering. I wish, moreover, to think of it as productive of ore in significant quantity. The small mine, even if good, means little. Only new districts, or large extensions of old districts can engage our attention here. The conclusions are summarized as follows: (1) The bright color of California mining history comes from the suddenness and intensity of its outburst of gold. Had the mining been averaged from the start, it would soon have become dimmed among greater industries. For fifty years, California has proceeded as an agricultural, timber and oil, but not a mining region. 1

Jan 1, 1931

By G. T. Jackson

The Alaska Gastineau Mining Co.'s mine is located at Perseverance, about 4 mi. east of Juheau, Alaska. Its property consists of a group of claims, the lode system traversing these claims for a distance of 11,000 ft. (3352 m.). It is shown in Fig. 1. The ore deposits occur in what is known as the Juneau gold belt. This gold belt can be traced for about 50 mi. northwest of Juneau and 40 mi. southeast. It consists of a single band, several hundred feet wide, in which stringers and veins of quartz, carrying gold, occur in a slate formation near its contact with some altered volcanic rock known as greenstone. The Perseverance orebody consists of stringer lodes, having a strike northwest and southeast, dipping about 60° to the northeast. These

Jan 1, 1920

By Jan Visman, S. J. Aresco

INTRODUCTION The accurate sampling of coal, as with most minerals, is a difficult task. Coal is a heterogeneous material made up of different types of coal and varying amounts of mineral matter. The product as mined may contain all the layers of coal and impurities found in the seam as well as portions of the stratas above and below the coal seam. The preparation plant is the device to size, crush, and/or remove impurities so the coal may be shipped as a salable product. Sampling may be needed at many stages in the preparation process. Although this chapter is primarily concerned with sampling in connection with preparation processes, the principles apply to all coal sampling. The main reasons for sampling in connection with coal preparation are: 1) To determine the washability characteristics of the raw coal by means of float and sink tests. These may be used for the design of a preparation plant, prediction of results to be obtained, or monitoring raw coal delivered to the plant. 2) To check the performance of various operating units in the plant, either by float. and sink tests or chemical analyses. 3) To determine the analytical characteristics of the products produced, such as moisture, ash, Btu, sulfur, etc. HISTORY The earliest accepted methods of sampling coal in the United States were given in US Bureau of Mines (USBM) publications by J. A. Holmes,l G. S. Pope,2 and A. C. Fieldner.3 The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) more or less adopted the methods proposed by USBM in their Standard D-21-1916 and it remained a standard for many years. Briefly, this standard called for a 500 lb (227 kg) sample for coals less than 94 in. (19 mm) in size and a 1000 lb (454 kg) sample for all coals over 94 in. (19 mm) in size. No mention was made of increments, but there was an instruction that the sample should spread over the coal

Jan 1, 1979

By Moore, Richard B

PROBABLY no other metal excites as much interest, among both scientific men and the general public, as radium. This is due partly to the high cost of radium salts and partly to the peculiar properties of the element. Since radium-bearing ores were discovered in the United States, the interest of American scientific men has been stimulated and, at the present time, more radium is extracted and refined in this country than in all the rest of the world together. HISTORY The property of radioactivity was discovered, partly by accident, by Henri Becquerel, the French physicist, in 1896. He was experimenting with certain fluorescent substances in order to find, if possible, a connection between fluorescence and the recently discovered Y-rays. Among other chemicals which possess the property of fluorescence, he was using

Jan 8, 1918

E. D. Peters, Jr., Dorchester, Mass.: This paper of Mr. Keller's seems to me a step in a direction that has been very little exploited, and iff likely to lead to valuable practical re-

Jan 1, 1899

By A. W. Gauger

WITHOUT QUESTION the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contains the most remarkable coal deposits of the whole world. Within its borders ,are to be found excellent coals ranging in rank from the high volatile bituminous of the western part of 'the state through the low volatile or semi-bituminous of central Pennsylvania to that aristocrat of solid fuels, anthracite, found in the East. . . . But while other states and even the Federa1 Government have recognized the needs of the coal industry, Pennsylvania has not. Though bituminous coal represents one of the most important industries in the state, far more important in annual productive wealth than agriculture, for example, hundreds, of thousands of dollars have been spent on agricultural research whereas little or nothing has been spent on coal investigation.

Jan 1, 1932

By HARRISON W. CRAVER

LIBRARIES are universally recognized as essential to modern civilization. In a world that gets most of its learning through the printed word, storehouses of print are a vital necessity. In this regard engineering differs in no way from the other learned professions, but until recent times the library needs of engineers have received rather scant attention. When the engineering profession was more of an art and less of a science than it is today, when each problem was solved more through the results of experience than by applying scientific principles, literature was less helpful. The engineer of today, however, is aware that his activities rest upon a scientific foundation and consequently comprehensive books dealing with more limited fields are now being published. Another difficulty for the operating engineer in the past was that the published works on engineering were written chiefly for use as college texts. A third obstacle to the development of engineering libraries has been the lack of librarians with experience in engineering.

Jan 1, 1938

By AIME AIME

THE session* on Non-ferrous Metallurgy held Monday morning was conducted in a most satisfactory manner with F. F. Colcord, vice-president, U. S. Smelting Co., in the chair. In spite of the early hour and the fact that members desired to register first, the meeting started quite promptly, with almost every chair in the room occupied. About 65 men were present and during the morning many more came but, not being able to find room, drifted away to other fields of activity. The first paper presented, "Lead Refining Practice of the Bunker Hill Smelter of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co.," by Alfred F. Beasley (T. P. 303), was read in abstract by Edward H. Robie, and an animated discussion followed in which Messrs. Johnson (written discussion), Brewer and Jones and Professor Hayward participated. The discussion hinged principally on the liquation of the zinc crusts, but Professor Hayward called attention to the fact that the practice of keeping the gold and silver crusts separate was not new and the present scheme illustrated the axiom that processes based on fundamental principles should not be considered as extinct; one can never tell when it may be found advantageous to make use of them again.

Jan 1, 1930

Adolph Greiner, Seraing, Belgium:—I have nothing special to add to Professor Hubert's paper except to say that there are some little things that it would be well to have corrected when the paper comes to be published. In dealing with the thermal efficiency of the engine, you will find that the 29.84 per cent. was a very high one. Professor Hubert has forgotten those engines built under the Cockerill type, but he has referred to them in Appendix 11. At our works at Cockerill we have built 63 engines, giving 63,000 h.p., and the other companies who have received licenses have built 113 engines, making 103,000 h.p., and aggregating 176 engines and 166,000 h.p. Eight years ago I had the pleasure of giving to the Institute the results obtained up to that time. Since then a good many engines have been constructed. In 1898 I thought a blast-furnace producing 100 tons of pig iron would allow 3,000 h.p. Professor Witz and Professor Hubert show that with the same production of pig the new engines take 3,800 h.p. out of the gas. At present at Cockerill we make 700 to 800 tons of pig iron per day, and we hope to have 26,000 h.p. in a few years. At present we have only half of that in gas-engines, but we hope to have in five or six years all the gas out of these furnaces to the number of 25,000 or 26,000 h.p. Tom WEstGarth, Middlesbrough, England :—My contribution is not a paper in the ordinary sense of the word, because I am sure you will agree with me that what I have written is only supplementary to the other two papers. The notes are schedules of the larger-size gas-engines built by British engine-makers, of 500 h.p. and upwards. If you look at the schedules you will find that in England gas-engines have become quite ordinary motors for a good many purposes. It was at first thought that gas-engines were troublesome, and ill-

Jan 1, 1907

By AIME

IN the parlance of Hollywood, it was a super-colossal meeting. In the more restrained language of engineers, the Institute's 75th Anniversary Celebration attracted the largest crowd ever; was the longest Annual Meeting ever held, occupying a full week; had more important papers, more important people, more of an international flavor, and more glamour than ever before. And in the minds of those who came to the big city from the wide open spaces, one other record should be mentioned: for those not on an expense account, it was the most expensive affair ever staged by the Institute! To state the attendance down to the last digit for a meeting such as this is impossible. The total names registered on cards, plus those who attended the Annual Banquet but were not otherwise registered, came to 3149. But a few were registered twice, and probably a still larger few did not register at all, but just dropped in for a session or two in which they were interested. It would appear that 3200 would be about as close an estimate of attendance as could be made, and that is some 300 more than came to the biggest Annual Meeting of the past-in 1944. A considerable number of members brought their wives, but most were delegates at large.

Jan 1, 1947

By AIME AIME

A discussion of the Papers by Prof. H. Hubert, Liege, Belgium ; Mr. Tom Westgarth, Middlesbrough, England ; and Mr. K. Reinhardt, Dortmund, Germany, presented at the London Meeting, July, 1906, and printed in Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 12, November, 1906; pp. 910 to 930, 971 to 987, 1037 to 1163. MR. ADOLPH GREINER, Seraing, Belgium :-I have nothing special to add to Professor Hubert's paper except to say that there are some little things that it would be well to have cor-rected when the paper comes to be published. In dealing with the thermal efficiency of the engine, you will find that the 29.84 per cent was a very high one. Professor Hubert has forgotten those engines built under the Cockerill type, but he has referred to them in Appendix II. At our works at Cockerill we have built 63 engines, giving 63,000 h.p., and the other companies who have received licenses have built 113 engines, making 103,000 h.p., and aggregating 176 engines and 166,000 h.p. Eight years ago I had the pleasure of giving to the Institute the results obtained up to that time. Since then a good many engines have been constructed. In 1898 I thought a blast-furnace producing 100 tons of pig iron would allow 3,000 h.p. Professor Witz and Professor Hubert show that with the same production of pig the new engines take 3,800 h.p. out of the gas. At present at Cockerill we make 700 to 800 tons of pig iron per day, and we hope to have 26,000 h.p; in a few years. At present we have only half of that in gas-engines, but we hope to have in five or six years all the gas out of these furnaces to the number of 25,000 or 26,000 h.p. MR. Tom WESTGARTH, Middlesbrough, England:-My contribution is not a paper in the ordinary sense of the word, because I am sure you will agree with me that what I have written is only supplementary to the other two papers. The notes are schedules of the larger-size gas-engines built by the engine-makers, of 500 h.p. and upwards. If you look at the schedules you will find that in England gas-engines have be-

Jan 1, 1907

By Arthur W. Ruff

One of the major challenges to management in the mining industry today is the establishment and maintenance of positive and dynamic programs for cost control and cost reduction. To meet the challenge, management must have a good cost system. There are various types of cost accounting systems in use today: some companies check their, performance by comparing the costs incurred during one period with the costs incurred during previous periods, while others compare the current costs with estimated costs which the company considers desirable. A third type of system is a standard cost system which provides predetermined allowances for the various cost elements and operating activities. Such a system, based on sound standards, can be established to fix responsibility for cost performance in each segment of the operation; recognize the impact of volume or rate of activity by establishing a standard volume and evaluating departures: take into consideration fixed and variable costs and their dissimilar behaviour at varying levels of operations: and provide consistent and equitable yardsticks for measuring performance.

Jan 11, 1962

By Dunbar D. Scott

The development in the perfection of mine-surveying instruments has been by no means rapid, as it has depended somewhat on the details of construction borrowed from astronomical and geodetic theodolites, largely on the restrictions laid down by mining companies and the prejudices of mine managers themselves, but more than all on the methods used in conducting surveys and the importance attached thereto. Mine-surveying, in some form or other, has been practiced from the very earliest times; but it has never kept pace with the other branches of surveying, or even with the art of mining itself, and cannot be recognized as an exact science until shortly before the beginning of this century. The works of Hero of Alexandria, who lived in the second century B.C., are still extant, and contain descriptions of a rectangular sighting-instrument, which he invented and called a diopter. His improvement upon this simple construction, which possibly he devised for use in the Greek mines for rough leveling-purposes and for laying out any angle, must be considered, says Hübner," as the origin of the highly perfected theodolite of to-day. Whether this instrument came into general use during the first centuries of the Christian era, is not recorded; in fact, no writer undertakes to tell how mine-surveying was conducted until 1556, in which year Agricola expounds the principles of mining and metallurgy in his De Re Metallica, devoting the entire fifth chapter to the practice of mine-surveying (see Fig. 1). In mediæval times those who possessed any knowledge of engineering skill made strenuous effort to keep their art a secret, partly on account of the miners' proverbial conservatism and partly for their own personal aggrandizement, and were, in

Jan 1, 1899

By F. M. Lewis, J. F. Myers

W. I. Garms-—The authors state that when they added 11 tons of balls to the 45 pct volume ball load, the power needle did not budge. The question arises as to whether any increase in capacity accompanied the 11-ton addition. It is hardly conceivable that all of the balls making up the 11-ton addition were sterile. However, as the work done in the ball mill is not by kilo-watthours per se or balls per se but by kilowatthour-balls, it is possible that the kilowatthourballs in the mill before the 11-ton addition had a different amperage, voltage or robustage than those in the mill after the addition and that the overall outcome was that equal work was done before and after the addition. The authors can keep the efficiency that they got with the 45 pct volume 1-in. ball charge and get additional capacity by putting more kilowatthourballs to work in the form of the addition of 11 tons of 2-in. balls to the present ball charge, and subsequent makeup additions by weight of 20 pct 2-in. balls and 80 pct 1-in. balls. J. F. Myers (authors' reply)-—Mr. Garms points his finger at the 11 tons of "sterile" balls added to the Tri-cone mill. A fact so interesting to us that we felt it should be reported. Clearly, ball slippage at the existing mill speed prevented any further transfer of power from the shell to the ball mass. We agree that the kilowatthourballs would increase, were we charging rough 2-in. balls as suggested by Mr. Garms. The assumption is, of course, that we would get a corresponding increase in work done. Our reported data (CIME meeting, Vancouver, 1946) shows a gain of work accomplished of 7.6 pct as we decreased the ball size from 2 in. to 11/2 in. and a further gain of work accomplished of 2.1 pct when we went from 11/2 in. to 1 in. The small ball results reported by H. R. Banks at Chapman Camp are also very convincing. In the case of 2-in. balls they would take the conventional ball path and start cascading. They would thus destroy the classifying pool over the "foot" of the

Jan 1, 1951

By J. F. Myers, F. M. Lewis

W. I. Garms-—The authors state that when they added 11 tons of balls to the 45 pct volume ball load, the power needle did not budge. The question arises as to whether any increase in capacity accompanied the 11-ton addition. It is hardly conceivable that all of the balls making up the 11-ton addition were sterile. However, as the work done in the ball mill is not by kilo-watthours per se or balls per se but by kilowatthour-balls, it is possible that the kilowatthourballs in the mill before the 11-ton addition had a different amperage, voltage or robustage than those in the mill after the addition and that the overall outcome was that equal work was done before and after the addition. The authors can keep the efficiency that they got with the 45 pct volume 1-in. ball charge and get additional capacity by putting more kilowatthourballs to work in the form of the addition of 11 tons of 2-in. balls to the present ball charge, and subsequent makeup additions by weight of 20 pct 2-in. balls and 80 pct 1-in. balls. J. F. Myers (authors' reply)-—Mr. Garms points his finger at the 11 tons of "sterile" balls added to the Tri-cone mill. A fact so interesting to us that we felt it should be reported. Clearly, ball slippage at the existing mill speed prevented any further transfer of power from the shell to the ball mass. We agree that the kilowatthourballs would increase, were we charging rough 2-in. balls as suggested by Mr. Garms. The assumption is, of course, that we would get a corresponding increase in work done. Our reported data (CIME meeting, Vancouver, 1946) shows a gain of work accomplished of 7.6 pct as we decreased the ball size from 2 in. to 11/2 in. and a further gain of work accomplished of 2.1 pct when we went from 11/2 in. to 1 in. The small ball results reported by H. R. Banks at Chapman Camp are also very convincing. In the case of 2-in. balls they would take the conventional ball path and start cascading. They would thus destroy the classifying pool over the "foot" of the

Jan 1, 1951

By Howard N. Eavenson

WASTE of coal, or perhaps more properly the percentage of its recovery in mining, has keenly interested me during an experience of over a half century in coal mining. In the early part of that time and until a few ears after World War I the use of better mining plans and supervision resulted in an increased recovery. Since then, and particularly since controlled prices have been effective and mechanized mining has been extensively practiced, the tendency has all been toward lesser recovery in mining. The purpose of this paper is not to criticize the methods being used, which after all are the result of economic forces, nor to point to any particular mining method or to any locality where the best recovery is obtained. but to call attention to the tremendous waste of our national coal resources that is constantly continuing. A possible method of reducing this loss will be suggested. but without any illusions that it will be followed or that much attention will be paid to it.

Jan 1, 1946

By J. V. W. REYNDERS

FIRST of all let me express my affectionate gratitude for the cordiality and good will of your reception. On the part of the men I venture to interpret the character of your greeting, not only as a recognition of the position to which you have been good enough to elect me, but also as an expression of your friendly attitude. However, I cannot pass over the tribute of the ladies so casually: Nor does it seem possible to do justice to my sentiments in addressing them collectively. I would feel more equal to the task if I could have the opportunity to talk to them singly, in doing which I know I may count upon their good sportsmanship not to compare notes. There has been some discussion between Mr. Kelly and myself as to our respective duties on this occasion: The precedents are not clear as to whether the retiring or the incoming president is expected to speak at length. Mr. Kelly's argument was that as the incoming president confines himself to promises for the future his field is a broad one and his opportunities for extending his remarks correspondingly unlimited.

Jan 1, 1925

By Charles H. Fulton

THE Engineering Education group began its sessions Tuesday morning, Feb. 16, as a Committee and wound up the day as the Institute's fifth " Division." C.II. Fulton presided. The first paper for discussion was entitled "Teaching Management in Engineering Schools,"' by Eugene McAuliffe, president of the Union Pacific Coal Co., space for which may be found later in these pages. In it, Mr. McAuliffe argued that an engineering student should be taught the knowledge of men, much as a medical school teaches surgery. He then went on to indicate, out of the wealth of his administrative experience, the problems an executive needs to be equipped to handle, and said that every student engineer should look on himself as a potential manager.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. R. Ingalls

THE paramount subject of interest and concern at the present time is the readjustment in economic conditions following the cataclysmic disturbance produced by the war and the misconceptions leading to an orgy of extravagance that prevailed during two years following the armistice he, time is too short for me to undertake to review the nature and extent of the upheavals occurring between August, 1914, and October, 1920. Bulky volumes will be written about them. . But I shall have to refer to some of the results in order to outline a prognosis. It is the future, not the past;' that is of most interest to us. Let me be so bold as to say, without further preface, that I am not optimistic as to the near future. .We shall, indeed, have revivals in trade, but they will be delusive if their nature be not 'understood. We shall build hopes and expectations upon political maneuvers and events, only to find in the end that they were folly. In the meanwhile fundamental economic influences will continue to exert their steady and irresistible pressure. The new administratiow at Washington has no magic wand with which to kindle the fires in our idle steel furnaces, or create a million new houses for the people; nor can the premiers of Europe put into motion the spindles of the cotton and woolen mills, or by any incantations compel the people of the Orient to buy goods. The people of the Orient, and of, Europe, and of the two Americas are in the grip of the same economic forces. The readjustment has proceeded further in some parts of the world than in others. In the United States I do not think we, have gone more than over the threshold. I shall tell you why 1 think thus, but in telling you I shall be limited, in view of the immensity of the subject, to a series of bald statements, without much elucidation.

Jan 1, 1921