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By V. N. Mackiw, D. E. Weir, D. J. I. Evans

The world's largest reserves of nickel are found in lateritic ores. Commercial exploitation has been carried out for almost one hundred years; however, none of the plants currently in operation produce pure nickel but rather ferronickel, matte, impure nickel oxide or mixed sulphide precipitate. Over the past decade Sherritt has studied various processes, including the modified reduction roast-ammonia-ammonium carbonate leach process, for the production of pure nickel powder and briquettes from laterites. Nickel can be reduced to the pure elemental form at elevated temperatures and pressures from impure basic nickel carbonate slurries. Several methods were studied in the development of the process for working up the pregnant leach liquor and basic nickel carbonate to produce feed for the aqueous hydrogen reduction step in which pure nickel powder is produced. This paper is concerned only with the laboratory studies using the basic nickel carbonate slurry reduction procedures.

Jan 1, 1973

By R. G. Treuting, W. C. Ellis

The twinned state is characterized by a lattice of coincidence sites. Imperfections are required at stable lateral twin interfaces. Twinned regions can occur with relative ease in the diamond cubic IN recent contributions1,2 on the origin and growth of cubic annealing twins, attention has been directed to the orientation relations between such twinned components and their parent matrix. There are some aspects of twinning which may be illuminated by a more detailed consideration of the twinned state" alone. As an extreme example, the dense twinning in cast ingots of germanium,&apos; as contrasted with the rarity of twins in cast face-centered cubic metals, is yet to be accounted for. It has been this that has led us to the present work, which, it will be noted, uses methods and constructions in many respects similar to those of Kronberg and Wilson.&apos; In the cubic systems, a 70" 32&apos; rotation about a <110> axis is angularly equivalent, as to twinning, to the more usually considered 180" rotation about a <111> axis. Figs. 1 and 2 show a (110) projection of a twinned face-centered cubic lattice and a twinned diamond cubic lattice. In both figures, the two adjacent planes A and B, shown by the larger and smaller circles, are sufficient to represent the entire array. In each case a section of lattice, the original atom sites of which are shown by open circles, has been rotated as indicated through 70" 32&apos; to bring an original. [112] direction into coincidence with the [112] diiection. The latter is the intercept on the (110) projection of the (ill) plane normal thereto, the twinning plane. In the face-centered cubic case the rotation can be performed about an axis passing through an atom-site; the mirror plane then is also a composition plane containing atoms common to both twinned and untwinned lattices. The diamond cubic lattice may be construed as two interpenetrated face-centered lattices. Its (111) planes recur in a sequence of alternately short and long interspacings. Consequently a mirror plane for twinning cannot be a composition plane, but must be the bisector of one of the spacings. When the longer spacing is selected, the closest distance of approach across the mirror plane in the [ill] direc- tion is identical with that in the untwinned structure. In each case periodically recurring (ill) planes (parallel with the twinning plane) are found, on which there is coincidence of atom sites of the pre-twinned and twinned orientations; these are indicated by the cross-hatched circles. In the face-centered lattice there is such coincidence every third (ill) plane; in the diamond cubic lattice, on two adjacent planes in every six. At the twinning interface in the latter, there is on each side of the mirror plane a (ill) plane of atoms common to both twin components. Conceivably, there is little influence on a plane of atoms about to be adhered to such a pair of coincidence planes, whether it be laid down in a normal or in a twinned position with respect to the previously formed structure. Slawson% as attributed the high incidence of twinning in diamond to this boundary state. Further examination shows that the motion of intermediate planes can consist of various pairs of equal and opposite translations, for example of (ill) planes in the [l&apos;;i2) direction, the familiar twinning shear, indicated in the small schematics in the figures. Since the translations form a system of shears of alternating sign between coincidence planes, twinning could take place by such a mechanism over an extended region without extensive shear; in fact, in this case any atom moves but the distance in the [1i2] direction. One alternative construction for the face-centered cubic lattice leading to the same end result is illustrated in Fig. 3. The plane (711) with respect to the pretwinning orientation (the twinning plane of Fig. 1) is given, the twinned region arbitrarily bounded by <110> and <112> directions. The coupled shear is identical to that of Fig. 1. The "rotational" movement about coincidence sites generating the same twinned position could consist as shown of the translation a,/d% for each atom of a group of three in the B layer in a different one of the three <112> directions, and a similar translation of the underlying three atoms in the C layer in either the same or the opposite sense. This is not dissimilar to Kronberg and Wilson&apos;s construction for their 22" rotation of three adjacent (111) planes.

Jan 1, 1952

By W. E. Rice

THE ceramic industry has to do with forming or molding articles of clay, and imparting to them their characteristic properties of permanence, strength and color by subjecting them to heat treatment in kilns. This heat treatment is commonly known as "firing" or "burning." The art of firing clay ware antedates the industrial use of coal; hence wood was the fuel first used, and the earliest kilns were built to burn wood. The majority of the clay ware produced today is fired in periodic kilns that are essentially enlarged structures similar to the earliest enclosed kilns; a kiln consists of a large chamber 16 to 32 ft. dia. (or rectangular) in which the ware is charged and fired either in direct contact with flame or hot gases from the fuel, or in saggers which shield the ware from direct contact with the gases. The fuel is burned in a number of small furnaces built in the thick .wall that encloses the chamber; these furnaces are from 16 to 36 in. wide and from 3 to 5 ft. long; some of them have horizontal or sloping grates, but many have no, grates; the last are called "dead-bottom" furnaces. The temperature necessary to mature the charge in the kiln varies for different clays; for some it is as low as 1800°, and for others as high as 2700° F. Wood was an ideal fuel for the low temperatures that were used in early kilns; it burns freely and produces along, clean flame, which promotes uniform distribution of the heat in the kiln; it does not coke and so restrict the passage of air through the fuel bed; the ash does not melt in the fuel bed to form clinker; and the ash that is carried into the chamber and deposited on the charge does not contain iron and sulfur to discolor the clay. The extent of the ceramic industry now precludes the general use of wood in kilns, so that today this industry is one of the large users -of bituminous coal, burning more than eight million tons annually in kilns. Manufacturing plants usually are at or near the source of clay, with deposits of coal suitable for kilns occurring near the clay. The cost of coal is the largest single item of expense in the manufacture of clay ware, and, because all coals are not equally suitable for the process, the careful selection of coal is important. In this selection the desidera-

Jan 1, 1932

By C. O. Lee, Z. W. Bartlett, R. H. Feierabend

DESPITE the fact that American brimstone production has increased 2 ½ times since the prewar period 1935-1939, the demand for sulphur exceeds the supply. To alleviate this situation efforts are being made to increase the production of sulphur and bring the shortage to an end. The most important developments are being undertaken on the Gulf Coast. One new brimstone mine has been put into operation and three others are being developed. These projects are expected to account for a large part of the additional sulphur production now anticipated for the free world.1,2 Except for a small amount of byproduct sulphur from sour natural gas and refinery gases, American brimstone is produced by the same process devised by Frasch 60 years ago, consisting essentially of the injection of superheated water at about 325°F into sulphur-bearing formations through wells which are drilled from the surface by standard oilfield methods. Sulphur deposits vary in depth from a few hundred feet to 2500 ft from the surface; in a typical deposit the sulphur occurs as crystalline aggregates in porous limestone and gypsum in concentrations varying from 5 to 40 pct, the thickness of the formation ranging from a few feet to several hundred.3 The deposits are usually surrounded by formations impermeable to the flow of hot water, the top and sides being enclosed by impermeable sediments and the bottom by dense impermeable anhydrite. As the hot water leaves the well bore, it percolates through the formation and transmits its heat to the rock and sulphur. When the sulphur reaches 240°F it melts, separates from the rock, and flows through the hot channels downward to the bottom of the well. Here it is freed from incoming water and from formation water, which saturates the porous rock, by gravity separation, liquid sulphur being 1.8 times as heavy as water. It then is pumped to the surface in a relatively pure state, 99.5 pct or better. Chief contaminants are organic impurities, such as petroleum residues, which are soluble in sulphur and tend to discolor it.4 Sixteen deposits of commercial magnitude have been discovered in the Gulf Coast area. Five of these deposits have been depleted and abandoned with production totalling more than 26,886,000 tons. Eight properties are operating and have produced 65,875,000 tons to Jan. 1, 1952, for a total Frasch-type production of 92,761,000 tons. Three new deposits are under development. Aforementioned deposits are listed in Table I. Each of these deposits has been found in the caprock overlying shallow intrusive salt plugs or domes and buried in several hundred to as much as 2500 ft of sediments. All salt domes do not contain sulphur; only 16 sulphur deposits have been found in a total of 231 salt domes which are known to exist in the Gulf Coastal states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Ten of the salt domes lie in the Gulf of Mexico offshore from the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Additional offshore domes may be found, but their value as a sulphur potential is questionable owing to the great hazard and high cost that can be visualized at these exposed locations where depths of water reach 50 ft. Marsh operations of Freeport Sulphur Co. are in the southeast section of Louisiana. In general, the country is low, flat, relatively uninhabited marshland broken by many shallow lakes and bayous which extend for irregular distances inland. Geologically, the coastal area is of sedimentary origin, having been built up gradually under the sea by deposition of material carried down by large streams to their deltas. Offshore bars were formed enclosing

Jan 1, 1952

By Hiroshi Oikawa, R. G. Blake, A. G. Guy

An equatzon has been derivedfor conveniently calculatzng the couvse of homogenzzation in a three-corviDonent solid solutiorz. The necessary assumptions are that the initial distributions of concentration are sinusoidal and that the four interdiffusion coefficients are constant. Employed in the deriuation were the Laplace transform and the fouter Fourier sine transfovwz. The final equation is shown to be in good agveetnent with the experimental results of Kirkaldyet al. on Cu-Sn-Zn alloys. COMMON boundary conditions for representing physical problems are those of the finite solid and of the infinite solid. Many metallurgical phenomena, however, have the geometrical form of a finite pattern reproduced throughout an infinite solid. Precipitation within a uniform matrix and segregation during solidification are examples. The purpose of this treatment is to show that a convenient and useful mathematical analysis is possible in those cases in which the finite pattern can be approximated by a sine function. The particular topic to be considered here is the elimination of segregation by diffusion, but the mathematical model has applicability in many other areas. It should be recalled that the mathematical solution of a typical problem involving a finite solid, such as diffusion into a thin layer, is quite involved.&apos; Various types of solutions are used depending on the degree of advancement of the diffusion process and on the initial conditions. A step function is the simplest initial condition, but even in this case the general solution has the form of an infinite series. Kirkaldy et a1.2 have

Jan 1, 1968

By J. L. Rodda

A large amount of time has been devoted to the microscopical study of the copper-zinc alloys, emphasis naturally being placed upon the commercially important alloys of the system. Suitable methods are available for microscopically recognizing the two phases richest in copper, Per cent,by weight FIG. 1.-COPPER-ZINC EQUILIBRIUM DIAGRAM. (Frond National Metals Handbook, 1933.) but none appear to have been developed for the positive identification of the other phases. This is, however, accomplished, for the phases normally encountered, by an electrolytic method described in the following pages. Five phases of the copper-zinc diagram (Fig. 1) are considered for the purpose of this paper: the solid solution of zinc in copper, alpha (a); the intermediate phases, beta (ß), gamma (y), and epsilon (e); and the solid solution of copper in zinc, eta (n). Beta prime is not considered a separate

Jan 1, 1936

By Harold H. Haman

In view of Twentieth Century advances in mineral dressing technology, most modern metallurgists would be inclined to class jigging as an early, somewhat primitive, representation of their art. The practice of metallic sulfide concentration by jigging is becoming rare. This is so, in part, because the type of ore amenable to the process is becoming rare. It is appropriate, however, that this symposium recognize that a significant contribution of domestic zinc remains dependent upon coarse preconcentration by jigging, and that the state of the art be described even though the theory and applications are already well delineated in technical literature. One of the few areas still using jigging as a major concentrating process is The Upper Mississippi Valley. AREA HISTORY AND JIGGING The Upper Mississippi Valley (UMV) has produced one billion dollars worth of zinc and lead at current prices. The district includes the southwest part of Wisconsin, the northwest corner of Illinois and an adjoining narrow strip of Iowa. Within a total area of 4,000 square miles, important sub-districts cover about 400 square miles. As is widely known, early mining in this district involved shallow lead---crevice deposits of galena that were very selectively mined, hand sorted and cleaned, and then smelted at or near the site. The district has produced almost a million short tons of metallic lead, a very large part of this during the fifty- year period following 1830. Zinc mining began at the end of the civil war, but at a very low rate until about 1905.

Jan 1, 1970

By Roscoe E. Bell

BETWEEN 1945 and 1948 the author made studies of the western phosphate industry and its potentialities. These included an appraisal of the opportunities for western development of the industry, studies of production costs, of market potentials, of transportation economics, and of industry location. This paper will be directed toward pointing up the factors which have an important bearing on the establishment of fertilizer plants in the western area. Industry Location Factors: There are, of course, an infinite number of possible organizational setups which might require consideration. However, the phosphate industry is simple enough so that studies of the most probable alternatives can be made conveniently. The salient factors which require special consideration in such a study are: (I) the location of the raw materials, (2) the location, size, and character of the present and potential markets, (3) the location of energy sources and materials required for fertilizer processing, (4) the location and capacity of present manufacturing facilities, (5) the cost of assembling the materials and energy needed in manufacturing, and (6) the cost of distributing the manufactured product. Raw Material Supplies: Rock phosphate is the raw material for the manufacturing of phosphate fertilizer. In the United States the important known deposits of this material are located in three general areas (fig. 1). The western deposits, comprising about 60 pct of the nation&apos;s supply, are in the four-state area—Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. The Florida deposits comprise roughly 38 pct of the national supply. The Tennessee deposits, comprising about 2 pct of the national supply, have been the most important source until recent years. The western deposits, which are virtually undeveloped, have not been used to any extent to meet the nation&apos;s need for phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizer. Fertilizer Markets: The large national markets for fertilizer are in the midwestern and eastern United States (fig. 2). The principal far-western markets are along the Pacific Coast, especially in California. Until recent years the western markets have been extremely limited, whereas the markets in the eastern United States have long been established and manufacturing facilities have been provided to meet these needs (fig. 3). In recent years the western markets have expanded very rapidly, continuing to grow throughout the war years and postwar period at a similar rate. The question always arises as to whether this is a temporary war-swollen market which will shrink back to its original size as soon as the present agricultural price levels drop. In order to answer this question consideration must be given to the character of the market (fig. 4). I have considered seventeen western and midwestern states in the western market area where transportation costs from the western deposits are equal to or lower than those from Florida. They include all states west of a line drawn through Chicago, Kansas City and the western boundary of New Mexico. In the mewar period this was a small market totaling only 37,000 tons of P,O, annually. The 1946 total for this same area was approximately 200,000 tons. Considerably more fertilizer would have been used in 1946 had adequate supplies been available. Estimates of future markets are difficult to make, but we do have some indices that are useful. The

Jan 1, 1951

By Roscoe E. Bell

BETWEEN 1945 and 1948 the author made studies of the western phosphate industry and its potentialities. These included an appraisal of the opportunities for western development of the industry, studies of production costs, of market potentials, of transportation economics, and of industry location. This paper will be directed toward pointing up the factors which have an important bearing on the establishment of fertilizer plants in the western area. Industry Location Factors: There are, of course, an infinite number of possible organizational setups which might require consideration. However, the phosphate industry is simple enough so that studies of the most probable alternatives can be made conveniently. The salient factors which require special consideration in such a study are: (I) the location of the raw materials, (2) the location, size, and character of the present and potential markets, (3) the location of energy sources and materials required for fertilizer processing, (4) the location and capacity of present manufacturing facilities, (5) the cost of assembling the materials and energy needed in manufacturing, and (6) the cost of distributing the manufactured product. Raw Material Supplies: Rock phosphate is the raw material for the manufacturing of phosphate fertilizer. In the United States the important known deposits of this material are located in three general areas (fig. 1). The western deposits, comprising about 60 pct of the nation&apos;s supply, are in the four-state area—Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. The Florida deposits comprise roughly 38 pct of the national supply. The Tennessee deposits, comprising about 2 pct of the national supply, have been the most important source until recent years. The western deposits, which are virtually undeveloped, have not been used to any extent to meet the nation&apos;s need for phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizer. Fertilizer Markets: The large national markets for fertilizer are in the midwestern and eastern United States (fig. 2). The principal far-western markets are along the Pacific Coast, especially in California. Until recent years the western markets have been extremely limited, whereas the markets in the eastern United States have long been established and manufacturing facilities have been provided to meet these needs (fig. 3). In recent years the western markets have expanded very rapidly, continuing to grow throughout the war years and postwar period at a similar rate. The question always arises as to whether this is a temporary war-swollen market which will shrink back to its original size as soon as the present agricultural price levels drop. In order to answer this question consideration must be given to the character of the market (fig. 4). I have considered seventeen western and midwestern states in the western market area where transportation costs from the western deposits are equal to or lower than those from Florida. They include all states west of a line drawn through Chicago, Kansas City and the western boundary of New Mexico. In the mewar period this was a small market totaling only 37,000 tons of P,O, annually. The 1946 total for this same area was approximately 200,000 tons. Considerably more fertilizer would have been used in 1946 had adequate supplies been available. Estimates of future markets are difficult to make, but we do have some indices that are useful. The

Jan 1, 1951

By A. R. Denison

Several productive areas in the Mid-Con-tinent are broadly and briefly examined with respect to the present depth of drilling on productive structures, and the thickness of sediments remaining untested. Evidence is offered to show that a vertical mile to two miles of untested but prospective formation remain within reach of the drill. In no case would a well deeper than 15,000 ft. be required, and in most cases to no greater depth than 10,000 ft. Recent outstanding success of deeper prospecting in West Texas demonstrates the merits of deeper drilling on known structure. Introduction New fields discoverd during I942 equaled or exceeded the number in any preceding year. The total amount of oil found by these discoveries was less than in any previous year, for which accurate records are available. This means that the pools now being discovered are much smaller than in past years. This is to be expected, since the prospects available during 1942 were largely those overlooked in the earlier years and therefore represent a second or third order (in quality) of structural feature. This failure to find pools of good size and quality raises grave doubt as to the security of our future oil supply. With military needs rising almost daily, and the period of heaviest con- sumption in our war effort still in the future, there is even a growing doubt as to our ability to supply the amount needed for our ultimate victory. This does not mean that our reserves are inadequate, but rather that our "capacity to produce" may be inadequate. Lacking large fields with flush production, our capacity to produce is rapidly approaching our current needs. ,Since the industry is unable to find the large new fields necessary to keep a safe margin of "capacity to produce," other means are needed. It seems obvious that one of these should be deeper prospecting on the large, proven, productive structural features now known. The exploratory wildcat is drilled primarily in search of a trap and the reason for failure to find oil and gas in nine out of ten cases is due to the absence of a suitable trap under the drill site. Therefore, deeper drilling on a known structural feature that is productive largely eliminates the greatest hazard in wildcat drilling. While by no means all the oil known today is found in structural traps—in fact, some have estimated that less than half is so located— the fact remains that structural traps are far more commonly the oil fields that have multiple horizons of production superimposed one over the other. Outstanding examples are the Eldorado field in Kansas, the Tonkawa and Cushing fields in Oklahoma, the Louden and Salem pools of Illinois, and the richest and most prolific of all structural traps, the Long Beach, Ven-tura and other similar fields of California.

Jan 1, 1944

By A. R. Denison

Several productive areas in the Mid-Con-tinent are broadly and briefly examined with respect to the present depth of drilling on productive structures, and the thickness of sediments remaining untested. Evidence is offered to show that a vertical mile to two miles of untested but prospective formation remain within reach of the drill. In no case would a well deeper than 15,000 ft. be required, and in most cases to no greater depth than 10,000 ft. Recent outstanding success of deeper prospecting in West Texas demonstrates the merits of deeper drilling on known structure. Introduction New fields discoverd during I942 equaled or exceeded the number in any preceding year. The total amount of oil found by these discoveries was less than in any previous year, for which accurate records are available. This means that the pools now being discovered are much smaller than in past years. This is to be expected, since the prospects available during 1942 were largely those overlooked in the earlier years and therefore represent a second or third order (in quality) of structural feature. This failure to find pools of good size and quality raises grave doubt as to the security of our future oil supply. With military needs rising almost daily, and the period of heaviest con- sumption in our war effort still in the future, there is even a growing doubt as to our ability to supply the amount needed for our ultimate victory. This does not mean that our reserves are inadequate, but rather that our "capacity to produce" may be inadequate. Lacking large fields with flush production, our capacity to produce is rapidly approaching our current needs. ,Since the industry is unable to find the large new fields necessary to keep a safe margin of "capacity to produce," other means are needed. It seems obvious that one of these should be deeper prospecting on the large, proven, productive structural features now known. The exploratory wildcat is drilled primarily in search of a trap and the reason for failure to find oil and gas in nine out of ten cases is due to the absence of a suitable trap under the drill site. Therefore, deeper drilling on a known structural feature that is productive largely eliminates the greatest hazard in wildcat drilling. While by no means all the oil known today is found in structural traps—in fact, some have estimated that less than half is so located— the fact remains that structural traps are far more commonly the oil fields that have multiple horizons of production superimposed one over the other. Outstanding examples are the Eldorado field in Kansas, the Tonkawa and Cushing fields in Oklahoma, the Louden and Salem pools of Illinois, and the richest and most prolific of all structural traps, the Long Beach, Ven-tura and other similar fields of California.

Jan 1, 1944

By L. W. Page

PREVIOUS to the introduction of the motor vehicle the broken stone or macadam road met the conditions of rural horse-drawn traffic better than any other type of road, but under fast motor traffic it has been proved to be quite unsatisfactory, and necessitates high maintenance charges. Such a road depends for its success upon the fact that the rock dust fills the voids between the stones and acts as a cement or binder. Under ideal conditions it should be constructed of rock so suited to the volume and character of horse traffic that only enough fine dust is worn from the stones of which the road is composed to take the place of that carried off by wind and rain; and when these conditions are met, the fine dust resulting from the wear. of traffic forms with the stone a smooth, impervious shell, shedding the surface water and protecting the foundation. With increase in the number and speed of motor vehicles, however, it was soon found that the cost of maintenance also increased, until at the present day highway engineers consider the old method of constructing and maintaining broken-stone roads increasingly inadequate, and are introducing every known type of binding material other than rock dust to cement the stone together. Among the most prominent types of products in use are those produced from our various petroleums. That the value of modern methods of road preservation was appre¬ciated in this country much earlier than we have been accustomed to believe is demonstrated by the recent revival of an old patent which was granted to one John Martineau, of Elbridge, N. Y., in 1834. Petroleum had, of course, not been discovered at that time, but he claims as his invention and improvement "The application of tar, turpentine, or any of that class of tenacious, cohesive substances, reduced before use to a fluid state, and that state used as a cement, to apply to, and combine with sand, gravel, pebbles, and pulverized stone, such as is used for a Mc-Adam road, or cobble stone, the interstices of coarser material being in all cases filled, as well as may be, with sand and gravel and cemented with tar or turpentine, to form the wearing face or surface of streets,

Jan 2, 1914

By J. B. Morrow, D. H. Davis

THERE are two general approaches to the problem of increasing profits from an operation. One is to lower expense; the other is to raise income. Mechanical preparation of coal may be used for either purpose but a prudent consideration of many details must precede any decision lest the results be negative instead of positive. It is quite possible that any net gain will result from a combination of the two. Since mechanically prepared coal invariably is a better product qualitatively than a hand-picked coal from the same mine, it is a reason¬able expectation that the customer will be willing to increase the pro¬ducer&apos;s income by paying a higher price. Or there may be the possibility that a combination of mechanical mining plus mechanical cleaning will give a lower over-all production cost for the coal in the railroad car. More likely, there will be found a combination of these two factors. From the customer&apos;s point of view, the competitive delivered cost per B.t.u. considered in relation to such incidental factors as dust nuisance, handling properties, ash disposal, and ash fusibility determines what he will pay. In a bulk tonnage product such as coal, freight is a very considerable part of the delivered fuel cost, and obviously freight paid on incombustible ash has no economic attractions.

Jan 1, 1943

By J. R. CAIN

SAMUEL L. HOYT, ? Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio (written discussion?). The work that Dr. Cain is doing on gases in steel should have a highly important bearing on investigational work in connection with steel-making practice. We found, for example, in our work in connection with the use of manganese in open-hearth practice that we needed expressions for the manganese efficiency and the "condition" of the steel. To get these figures we assumed that we would need to know the amount of FeO at different stages of the heat and the amounts of the gases present. This required simultaneous analyses of our samples for FeO and the gases and Dr. Cain seems to be the only investigator who has considered the analytical work from this point of view. That he has done so is very encouraging and it is to be hoped that his work will solve the mys-teries now surrounding this neglected phase of steel metallurgy. Those interested in the Ledebur method for use in connection with the efficiency of manganese as a "deoxidizing " agent will he disappointed to learn that more recent work at the Bureau indicates that Ledebur determinations are not reliable. The principal source of error seems to be due to the partial reduction of the ferrous oxide by the carbon present in the steel. However, it seems like an unnecessary criticism of the Ledebur method to state (p. 1319) that it proved of little value because it showed little differences in oxygen for a series of steels treated with ,various reagents and showing variations in physical properties and free-

Jan 12, 1919

By C. H. Mathewson, A. U. Seybolt

As is well known, many questions affecting the properties and uses of a metal cannot be answered without careful consideration of the state of purity realized in the various operations of preparation, refining, or special treatment that have brought the product to its final state. The occurrellce of an impurity in minute quantity offers no guarantee that its effect will be inconsiderable because dissolved substances often modify the properties of a metal quite out of proportion to their concentration. In such cases the determination of solid solubility must be accepted as a problem of considerable difficulty, requiring the use of especially purified materials and methods not ordinarily used in the metallurgical laboratory. This aspect of the equilibrium between metals and their oxides is especially important and a search for fundamental data reveals little except conflicting opinion even concerning the systems of common occurrence and interest. Rhines and Mathewson1 in 1934 studied the solubility of oxygen in solid copper by annealing to equilibrium in air and gave reasons for the failure of other methods, notably the ordinary procedure of heat-treatment followed by microscopic examination, to yield reliable results. In this paper, a similar study has been made of the solubility of oxygen in cobalt. The simple theory of this method is outlined below. Conditions of Equilibrium between a Metal and Dissolved Oxide at Different Temperatures and Pressures The general conditions of equilibrium in any system are conveniently summarized in a projection of the triple curves of the P, T, X space

Jan 1, 1935

By A. U. Seybolt, C. H. Mathewson

As is well known, many questions affecting the properties and uses of a metal cannot be answered without careful consideration of the state of purity realized in the various operations of preparation, refining, or special treatment that have brought the product to its final state. The occurrellce of an impurity in minute quantity offers no guarantee that its effect will be inconsiderable because dissolved substances often modify the properties of a metal quite out of proportion to their concentration. In such cases the determination of solid solubility must be accepted as a problem of considerable difficulty, requiring the use of especially purified materials and methods not ordinarily used in the metallurgical laboratory. This aspect of the equilibrium between metals and their oxides is especially important and a search for fundamental data reveals little except conflicting opinion even concerning the systems of common occurrence and interest. Rhines and Mathewson1 in 1934 studied the solubility of oxygen in solid copper by annealing to equilibrium in air and gave reasons for the failure of other methods, notably the ordinary procedure of heat-treatment followed by microscopic examination, to yield reliable results. In this paper, a similar study has been made of the solubility of oxygen in cobalt. The simple theory of this method is outlined below. Conditions of Equilibrium between a Metal and Dissolved Oxide at Different Temperatures and Pressures The general conditions of equilibrium in any system are conveniently summarized in a projection of the triple curves of the P, T, X space

Jan 1, 1935

By C. L. Colburn

THE statutory requirements of the States and the district rules are, broadly speaking, similar. There is just enough difference to make it tantalizing. DIFFERENCES IN STATE LEGISLATION GOVERNING THE LOCATION OF MINING CLAIMS Discovery Discovery is the first step in the location of the claim. The provision of the Revised Statutes (2320) is, "No location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located." Strictly speaking, discovery may be defined as the finding of ore or metalliferous rock in place in a well-defined vein. This definition was too strict, so discovery extended later to cover such indications of the presence of ore, within rock in place, as would justify an experienced miner in spending his time and money with a reasonable expectation of finding ore in paying quantities. According to Colorado statutes a discovery must show a well-defined crevice; in Arizona, a lode, deposit, or mineral in place; in Montana, a well-defined crevice or valuable deposit; in Nevada, a lode or deposit of mineral in place. It is wrong to require a discovery. An honest prospector, wishing to obey the law, finds himself compelled, in most cases, to evade this point. In Clear Creek district, Colorado, a quartz seam will constitute a discovery; in Butte, a red capping; in Leadville or Ely, it is any place where a man can find a piece of vacant ground big enough upon which to sink a 10-ft. hole. If the vein or deposit outcrops a man can show a discovery, but if it does not outcrop it is foolish to compel him to show one; and this point has been gently side-stepped. Any hole 10 ft. deep now constitutes a discovery. It is no use having laws that the people cannot consistently obey. No sane man will dig unless he expects to find mineral, and he should be protected while digging. He should be required to show that he has mineral ground only when he comes to patent.

Jan 6, 1914

By F. O. Shuck, F. E. Butler

A diaphragm diffusion cell suitable for use with liquid metals was designed and tested by measuring the diffusion coefficients for a Hg-10 pct In alloy at 25°C. The binary diffusion coefficient and the coefficients for In and Hg tracers were measured at this composition. The measured coefficients for both tracers were less than the binary diffusion coefficient. When these coefficients were combined with the activity correction term of Darken, the predicted binary coefficient was somewhat higher than the experimental value. In recent years a number of investigators have been studying diffusion of liquid metals in order to gain a better understanding of the liquid state and to examine possible applications to liquid metal processing. The bulk of this work has involved either self-diffusion or diffusion of low concentrations of solute metals in an essentially pure solvent metal. The most common experimental technique employed has been the capillary-reservoir method of Anderson and saddington1 since it is well-suited to measurements involving low concentrations of solutes. As an expansion of previous studies, an investigation of the variation of diffusion coefficient over large composition ranges has been undertaken in this laboratory. Although it is possible to modify the capillary-reservoir method for such measurements, the technique loses its principal advantage of requiring only small quantities of solutes. Therefore, it was felt desirable to investigate other possible experimental techniques applicable to measurements over large composition ranges. A technique which has been used widely in measurements of other liquid systems and seemed potentially applicable to studies of liquid metals was the diaphragm cell. This method has been found to combine relative simplicity of operation with accurate and reproducible results. In use with normal liquids, the tyiical diaphragm cell utilizes a porous glass disk. However, because of the high surface tension, it is not possible to use a diaphragm of such fine pore structure with liquid metals. Furthermore. projected use at high temperatures makes the use of glass undesirable. Consequently, the first problem was the search for an appropriate cell design. EXPERLMENTAL Diaphragm Cell. A number of possible cell designs were examined. Prototypes of several were constructed and tested. The final design is shown in an exploded view in Fig. 1. The cell consists of two identical chambers, one on either side of a 0.20-in.-thick partition. The chambers are 0.15 in. deep and have a volume of 3.45 cu cm. Each chamber is provided with two small threaded holes for filling and emptying. The filling holes may be sealed with stainless-steel screws. Drilled lengthwise through the center partition is a 0.250-in.-diam hole. Inserted into this hole is a rod having seven 0.059-in.-diam holes drilled radially through it. The total "hole" volume is 0.078 cu cm. When the rod is properly aligned, the holes in it constitute the "diaphragm" through which diffusion occurs. The center section was of Teflon and the rod and face plates were of Plexiglas. Four such cells were constructed and used in this study. Subsequent to this investigation, a similar cell constructed entirely of iron was fabricated and tested at higher temperatures. Several considerations led to this final design. It is desirable to minimize the volume of the cell chambers to decrease the time required for a measurement. However, the total volume of metal in the diaphragm must be small in comparison with that in the chambers. To facilitate filling and emptying it is desirable to have a diaphragm which may be closed.

Jan 1, 1970

By N. A. D. Parlee

The diffusion rate of hydrogen in liquid iron has been measured by a gas-liquid metal diffusion cell technique. The diffusion cell was formed by immersing an alumina tube containing hydrogen gas at 1 atm in a bath of stagnant liquid iron. The change in the composition of the melt in the cell was determined by measuring the rate of absorption of the gas in the cell. The appropriate solution to Fick&apos;s second law was used to examine the data and calculate diffusivi-ties. The absorption of hydrogen in stagnant pure liquid iron has been found to be diffusion-controlled. The results show that the chemical diffusion coefficient, D, of hydrogen in pure iron in the range of 1547" to 1726°C can be represented by the following Arrhenius relation: D(sq cnz per sec) = 3.2 x X exp(- 3300 i 1800/RT) where the uncertainty in the activation energy corresponds to the YO pct confidence level. Oxygen in the melt (above 0.015 pct 2) increased the apparent rate of absorption of hydrogen. The importance of diffusion data on liquid metals for predicting the rates of certain metallurgical processes has been recognized for a long time. Moreover, these data are much needed to test and develop theory for diffusion in liquid metals. Despite this practical and theoretical interest, however, relatively little reliable information about diffusion in liquid metals is available in the literature. This is particularly true for gas components such as hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in liquid metals, where almost no data on chemical diffusion coefficients are to be found. This is probably due to a multitude of experimental difficulties particularly associated with high-temperature melts. In an effort to fill this gap in information, a research program was undertaken to study the diffusivities and rates of solution of gases in liquid metals. This paper presents the results of a study of the diffusion of hydrogen in liquid iron. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD Two methods for the study of the kinetics of dissolution of gases in liquid metals are being employed in this laboratory. Both involve the measurement of the volume of gas absorbed by the melt as a function of time and as such both avoid the uncertainties involved in chemical analyses of quenched samples for relatively small amounts of gas. In the first method, the gas dissolves in an inductively stirred melt and, in the absence of a slow surface reaction, the results are often interpreted in terms of mass transport across a liquid "boundary layer" between the homogeneous gas phase and well-stirred part of the melt. Other interpretations of the results of such experiments have also been described in the literature.1&apos;5 In the second method a gas-liquid metal diffusion cell is used.&apos; The gas dissolves in a cylindrical column of stagnant liquid metal and, in the absence of a slow surface reaction, the results are interpreted in terms of a non-steady-state diffusion solution to Fick&apos;s second law. The weakness of the first method is that while it gives information on the mechanism of absorption by stirred melts it yields an overall rate constant which even in the simplest cases depends on the nature and the thickness of the "mass transport layer" or "boundary layer". It yields no values of diffusion coefficients. The second method was used in this research because in many cases it is possible to determine the diffusion coefficient of the gas component in the liquid metal. In this research it has been utilized to measure diffusion coefficients of hydrogen in liquid iron. The apparatus used was essentially the same as that described by Mizikar, Grace, and par lee but certain modifications have been introduced to meet the elevated temperatures and special conditions of this research. Fig. 1 is a schematic drawing of the apparatus and Table I gives the identification of various parts in this figure. The diffusion cell, shown in detail in Fig. 2, was formed by immersing an impervious alumina tube (hereafter called absorption tube) in a bath of pure liquid iron contained in an alumina crucible. Two types of tubes were used, Morganite triangle RR and McDanel AP35. The crucible was contained in a vertical impervious alumina combustion tube (32 mm ID by 914 mm long) which was closed at both ends by water-cooled brass heads employing O-ring compression seals, Fig. 1. A protection tube enclosing a Pt, 5 pct Rh-Pt, 20 pct Rh thermocouple was introduced through the lower end of the combustion tube

Jan 1, 1968

By H. Van F. Furman

TO those engaged in the purchase and sale of gold- and silverores, mattes and bullion, the frequent differences in the gold- and silver-contents, as reported by different assayers, is a source of much annoyance and expense. The desirability of uniform methods of assay has long been recognized by certain refiners who specify in their bullion-contracts the method to be adopted in assaying the bullion. One large producer of base bullion employs at each refining-works with whom it has a bullion contract an assayer whose duty it is to see that the bullion is sampled and assayed according to contract-specifications. For the assay of gold- and silver-bullion, standard methods are now generally adopted; the reeult being that differences seldom occur. While we cannot hope for anything near perfection from fireassay methods for ores, mattes and base bullion, as carried out cornmercially, such methods may be made to yield results which answer all commercial requirements, and they will probably be retained for obvious reasons. The object of the present paper is to point out some of the sources of error and to show the importance of more uniform methods of assay and close attention to the details of the work. The sources of error in the assay of ores and mattes are: improper sampling; losses of the precious metals during fusion, scorification and cupellation; imperfect elimination of the base metals on the cupel and imperfect extraction of the silver during the parting in nitric acid. It is not the object of the present paper to enter upon the subject of sampling; but a few remarks may be of value. There has been considerable discussion recently in Colorado upon the frequent differences which occur in the assays of Cripple Creek gold-ores, and these differences have been attributed to various causes. The writer is informed by two of our most prominent smelters that since they have adopted 100-mesh screens (the general practice is 80-mesh) the

Jan 1, 1895