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By Lorenzen L

In South Africa, as in many other countries, the young engineering graduate is promoted quite soon to a management position where he uses less technical skills and more people-oriented skills. In the standard undergraduate curriculum for engineering, little attention is paid to the non-technical issues of the profession. An undergraduate course in management techniques cannot be a substitute for a MBA or Masters degree in engineering management, but can at least create an awareness of the practical problems facing the engineering manager. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of such a course structure at the University of Stellenbosch. A survey is also presented on management training in the South African and Australian mineral industries. Feedback from students and graduates indicates that the fresh graduate does not fully appreciate the value of such a course until he/she achieves a position of responsibility after two or three years. Nevertheless, the management course appears to be successful in widening the perspectives of the engineer. As explained frequently in management journals, the technically oriented person (the engineer) has a convergent thought pattern, which could be in conflict with the more divergent thought pattern of the top, personnel or marketing manager. It becomes increasingly imperative for the young minerals engineer to be externally oriented instead of the traditional internal focus of engineering. The engineer should not only be aware of environmental issues in the technical design and operation of plants, but should also understand the inter-relationship between public relations, political pressures and environmental perceptions vis-d-vis technical facts.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. D. Steenkamp

Southern Africa has a history rich in the pyrometallurgical processing of ores. Two of the alloys produced are high-carbon ferromanganese (74?83 per cent Mn) and silicomanganese (59?67 per cent Mn and 14?31 per cent Si). The largest land-based manganese ore deposit in the world is based in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. In 2010, 6.3 Mt of ore from the deposit was exported, mainly to China, Norway, Japan, and India, and an estimated 1.1 Mt beneficiated locally to produce manganese ferroalloys. In southern Africa the producers of manganese ferroalloys are Metalloys and Assmang, and of silicomanganese Transalloys, Mogale Alloys, and Match Corporation. Submerged arc furnace technology is utilized in the production of high-carbon ferromanganese (HCFeMn) and silicomanganese, applying the discard slag practice in both instances. The carbon content of HCFeMn is reduced using converter technology and that of SiMn using the Perrin process. Ninety per cent of the world?s manganese ferroalloys production is consumed by the steel industry. The consumption (and production) of manganese ferroalloys therefore closely follows worldwide steel production. From 2001 to 2010, the doubling of the worldwide production of manganese ferroalloys can be attributed to an increase in production capacity in Asia and Oceania, with the largest increase in the production of SiMn. Manganese ferroalloys produced in Asia and Oceania are mainly for the local market, with North America, Europe, Russia, and Turkey the major markets for alloys from southern Africa. The major challenges faced by the southern African manganese ferroalloy producers are increasing electricity tariffs and productivity of labour, which require a concerted effort by all parties involved to achieve a satisfactory solution. Keywords manganese ferroalloys, ferromanganese, silicomanganese, southern Africa, South Africa, manganese ore, high-carbon ferromanganese, refined ferromanganese, refined silicomanganese.

Aug 1, 2013

By James P. Roe

I. INTRODUCTION. THOSE who deem the subject of this paper an old and super¬seded one may recall with advantage the words of the great proverb-maker, bidding us to seek the new in the ashes of the old. The manufacture of wrought-iron began with the small hearth built upon an eminence, and relying on the wind for blast. Next came, either the hearth about 12 in. in diameter by 2 ft. in height, blown by a man operating two goat-skins for bellows, or, a hearth of greatly varying diameter and about 10 ft. high, depending for its blast upon natural draft. The former appeared in India, the latter in Burmah; and both were in operation until quite recently, though their origin is lost in prehistoric times. The Catalan forge was the evolutionary descendant of the foregoing, and the parent of the Blase-ofen, which in turn led to the high bloomary or " Stückofen," the father of the blast-furnace, as a producer of cast-iron. The production of cast-iron checked the growth of the direct processes; and led to the introduction of various hearths, such as the Walloon, for low-silicon irons; and the South Wales process, combining the run-out fire with the finery, for higher-silicon irons. Some of these are still in operation in localities possessing the necessary raw materials; and their product is used for purposes requiring wrought-iron of exceptional quality, the supply of which is still smaller than the demand. We have to look back but a century and a quarter to see the introduction of the puddling process by Henry Cort; a process which, reinforced by the iron-oxide bottoms and fettling of Hall, was not less revolutionary in character, and more revo-

Jul 1, 1905

By C. EDWARD STAFFORD

A Discussion of the paper by Mr. James P. Roe which was read at the Washington meeting, May, 1905. MR. C. EDWARD STAFFORD, Chester, Pa.:-During all my business life, I have been engaged in the manufacture of Bessemer and open-hearth steels, but, during my long connection with the Shoenberger Steel Co. of Pittsburg, I had some experience in the manufacture of high-grade puddled iron for horse-shoes and in the making by Dr. Otto Wuth's process extremely pure low phosphorus puddled blooms (analyzing from 0.005 to 0.01 per cent. of phosphorus and sulphur), which were melted with low-phosphorus pig-iron in acid open-hearth furnaces to make extra locomotive fire-box steel. I have also seen the Dank's puddlers in operation at different times and places, notably where they were most successful, at the Otis Steel Works, Cleveland, Ohio; then under the management of our friend, Mr. S. T. Wellman. These Dank's blooms were made solely for open-hearth melting-stock to which they were well adapted ; the unavoidable presence of bits of ore-fix imbedded in the mass of the, metal always prevents the profitable manufacture of merchant iron from Dank's blooms. With the experience just described, I was to some degree in position to value fairly the means, methods and results of Mr. Roe's mechanical puddling from the metallurgical or technical and economic points of view, when given an opportunity by Mr. Roe to see his puddling furnace or machine in operation in Pottstown, Pa. Briefly, the furnace, with water-cooled bottom, is rectangular in plan, about 20 by 8 ft. in the clear, suspended by trunnions at the middle of the long sides, at a. height of 17 or 18 ft. above the general level; the oscillation (65° each way from the vertical) is accomplished by geared segments (attached to the downward-projecting side or trunnion-plates) with which engage pinions driven by a reversing engine. The whole section

Sep 1, 1905

In the early ages man contented himself with the use of such tools and appliances as would assist him in the enlightenment of his labours. With the advancement of science, numerous motives, with modifications and adaptations, have been introduced to enlighten labours, and in many cases have taken the place of man, but it can hardly be said that this applies to shovels, although one of the oldest implements of labour; certainly, with the introduction of the steam shovel the labours of man have been considerably reduced, but the hand shovel of today is used similarly to that of years ago.If the principle of the hand shovel has not been improved upon, it must not be suggested that the manufacturers of this article are not endeavouring to improve its quality, and the main point with which the manufacturers have to contend is the production of an article which will give a maximum of durability combined with a minimum of lightness. In order to accomplish this they must select suitable material, and subject it to such heat treatment process that will produce a shovel having a maximum of hardness and toughness without being unduly brittle, and which will withstand the excessive wear to which it is subjected.In this article an endeavour will be made to explain (a) the manufacture of shovels; (b) the defects commonly met with-the cause of same and measures which are necessary to remedy them.Before doing so a brief description will be given of the class of steel used for shovels; this is an important factor, and a steel which is admirably suitable is a plain carbon one containing approximately 55 - 70% C., and closely resembles that used for the manufacture of railway rails. This plain carbon steel is very extensively used, although at present alloy steels are being utilised to a certain extent for shovel manufacture, and with suitable heat-treatment.

Jan 1, 1926

By E. C. Wright

THE bessemer process is nearly one hundred years old. William Kelly, the American inventor, was able to demonstrate that he had accomplished the pneumatic purification of molten pig iron as early as 1847; Henry Bessemer's English patent was granted in 1855. The application of this steelmaking process since then and the present position of bessemer steel are concisely discussed on pages 355 and 356 of the fifth. edition of "The . Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel." The great expansion of the automotive, machine-tool, chemical and oil industries after 1910 opened up a large market for special steels, whereas the output of steel before that time was mainly for structural purposes. The need for building more blast-furnace capacity complementary to bessemer operations, combined with the availability of the necessary amounts of steel scrap, both contributed to the extension of open-hearth plants at the expense of bessemer capacity. The ability of the open-hearth furnaces to consume virtually all types of raw materials as far as phosphorus content is concerned, and the need for selecting low-phosphorus ores of rapidly decreasing sources for the bessemer, also played a part in the reduction of bessemer steelmaking operations and the increase in basic open-hearth plants. As a consequence, the proportion of bessemer steel made in this country decreased from 65.7 per cent of the total in 1900 to 37.1 per cent in 1910, and only 6.8 per cent of the total in 1937. The metallurgical concepts existent between 1910 and 1920 caused the writing of many specifications of very low phosphorus and sulphur content, which definitely barred bessemer steel from many commodities. Now sulphur is being added to many open-hearth and bessemer steels in amounts far exceeding the maximum sulphur content of good bessemer steel. Rephosphorizing is also widely practiced for several specific applications. Even today, the chemical-analysis limits of many important steel specifications have an arbitrary and archaic tinge. The old standard "0.30 .to 0.60 per cent manganese" might be mentioned in this connection as similar to the rigid requirements for maximum sulphur and phosphorus that were established at least 25 years ago. The literature is full of vague and complex discussions of the effects of nitrogen and oxygen where these elements existed in steel in amounts less than 0.02 per cent. Many failures have been attributed to these elements without reasonable proof on which to base the conclusion. Methods of determining oxygen in steel require such complicated equipment that only a few research laboratories have the required apparatus. Even so, the accuracy of oxygen determinations in steel has been only recently reproducible. Up to the present time, no one has succeeded in obtaining a sample of molten steel that accurately indicates the full. oxygen content of the metal in the furnace or ladle because the molten sample

Jan 1, 1944

By H. R. Hammond, E. Sadar

Cominco is making substantial savings in secondary breaking by replacing dynamite with a new nitrate-based explosive. Compareo with dynamite. the new explosive, known locally as "Fine NCN," is significantly cheaper, more effective and safer to use. It also works better than prilled NCN, which is unsatisfactory for secondary blasting because of inadequate sensitivity, low strength and awkward handling properties. A simple apparatus has been devised for pulverizing prilled NCN to a fineness practical for effective secondary breaking. Blasting systems using cheap detonating cord for initiation have been developed.

Jan 1, 1966

By C. W. Drury

It is practically fifteen years since stellite was first introduced into industry, and since then the progress made in its manufacture has been so rapid and the number of successful applications so varied that it was considered a review of the more important phases would be of general interest. Stellite is a cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloy, containing approximately 2. 75 per cent carbon. The high percentage of carbon is necessary for the requisite hardness and resistance to wear at ordinary temperatures, whereas the tungsten is essential to impart hardness at a red heat. Chromium imparts hardness and strength, and cobalt renders the alloys more resistant to oxidation. The metals cobalt and chromium are completely soluble in all proportions, both in the liquid and solid state, the equilibrium diagram showing a minimum in the solubility curve at approximately 50 per cent cobalt and l,340°C. Cobalt and tungsten are completely soluble up to 40 per cent tungsten, which is beyond the limit of the; tungsten content of stellite alloys. In the presence of carbon, carbides are formed, which are essential in stellite possessing good cutting or wearing properties.

Jan 1, 1930

By Willard P. Ward

HAVING been engaged during the past year in the manufacture of ferro-manganese in a blast furnace, I have imagined that some further information on this subject might be of interest to that large number of members of the Institute who are engaged in the iron and steel industries. The great question of the economical production of good steel, ingot metal, or homogeneous iron (we scarcely know now what to call it) from good materials, and at reasonable prices, has, thanks to the intelligence and energy of a few American engineers, been successfully solved in this country. Nearly all first-class railroads, and many that would riot rank so high, have adopted the Bessemer rail. Martin boiler-plates are rapidly gaining ground, in competition with

Jan 1, 1877

By Cotton P. L

Although the terms "pipe" and "tube" are normally considered synonymous, a distinction is often drawn, the former term being applied to the hot finished product and the latter to cold finished material. It is, considered that the title of this paper includes hot finished seamless, and continuous-weld pipe, cold drawn seamless tubing, and electrically welded tubing.The continuous-weld process will be reviewed first, passing to the various methods of seamless manufacturing, which, in addition to meeting the demand for hot finished seamless pipe, also supply the raw material for cold drawn tubing, the manufacture of which will then be described. Finally the electric resistance-weld process will be Considered, and the paper will conclude with a brief review of the processes described and trends in present-day manufacture.CONTINUOUS-WELD PIPEThe raw material for this process is delivered in the form of coiled, hot finished, strip steel, generally referred to as "skelp". The end of one coil is electrically buttwelded to that of'the next, so forming an unbroken strip. This continuous ribbon of 'steel is fed into a skelp heating furnace, and brought to the correct temperature for the forming and welding operations which follow. This temperature is usually about 1,350°C.The heated skelp issues from the furnace into 'a multistand mill, in which the first pair of rolls is designed to form the skelp into tubular shape, the edges being in close proximity to, but not touching each' other. These edges...

Jan 1, 1951

By John B. Pearse

IN order to get an idea as to the strength of steel rails, it will be well to review the tests to which iron rails have been subjected. In England, Mr. Ashcroft found that the best 80 pound rails broke under a 300 pound weight, falling 15 feet. In Germany the Society of Railway Managers determined on and have long applied a test of 1000 pounds falling 101 feet, as the standard which all first-class iron rails must reach. In this country no inspection nor test is applied, but tests made show that iron rails from our most reliable makers, break under a 6 foot fall of a 1500 pound drop as an extreme test, most of those tested breaking under a far less test; some breaking with less than a 3 foot fall of the same weight. Everywhere where steel has been used, engineers have come to the conclusion that some test is required to show the regularity and strength of the product. As compared with iron, the tests which steel will stand are wonderful. After numerous experiments partially based on the experience of the rail-mill at Graz, belonging to the Southern Railway of Austria, the Society of German Railway Managers fixed upon a test of 2000 pounds falling 13 1/2 feet. They found that this test represented the steel which suited their necessities, and also found that with steel of otherwise average purity, this test represented about one-half per cent. of carbon, and made it a rule to take no steel containing under three-tenths of a per cent, of carbon, because it was too soft. They expressed a hope that a harder steel could soon be made tough enough to stand the same test. In England, a test was adopted of 2240 pounds, falling 15 to 17 feet on the rail on heavy bearings. This test has been found satisfactory under heavy traffic on average road-beds, and has been invariably

Jan 1, 1873

By J. E. Gillespie

Introduction Mineral wool may be defined as "rock, slag, or glass fibres made by a process of melting and blowing by steam or air, containing a minimum of oil and unfiberized material" (U.S. Bureau of Standards CS 117-44). The earliest production of the material was in Wales, about one hundred years ago. In the United States, the industry daces from 1870 when a plant, using slag as raw material, was established in Greenfield, New Jersey. It was not until 1897, however, that large-scale production was commenced on this continent at a plant in Alexandria, Indiana, which utilized rock from nearby deposits. Today, mineral wool is manufactured in many parts of the United States and Canada, the plants for the most part being in close proximity to deposits of suitable rock or to sources of slag. In the United States there are some seventy-five producers with a total annual capacity of nearly one million tons of wool. In Canada, in 1946, eleven manufacturers produced about fifty million square feet of batt-type mineral wool insulation material. Mineral wool is, perhaps, the most efficient of all heat-insulating materials and, moreover, it is fireproof, extremely durable, and insect- proof. Its high efficiency is due to the very low thermal conductivity of the fibres themselves and to the fact that the produce as marketed contains up to 90 per cent non-conducting air space. Depending on the degree of compression of the fibres in the manufactured product, the specific gravity ranges from 2 lb. to 10 lb. per cubic foot. Products Marketed Following are the principal forms in which mineral wool is marketed: Blanket. - Mineral wool with or without reinforcing on one or both sides, with various types of confining media, all suitably bound together.

Jan 1, 1948

By J. L. Havenga

South Africa produces about 400 Kt zircon (ZrSiO4) per annum. This represents about 30 percent of the global demand. However, very little is beneficiated locally and more than 95 percent is exported with little or no value addition. Zircon is a very inert material and needs to undergo high-temperature alkaline melting processes to produce valuable zirconium products. The conversion of zircon to plasma-dissociated zircon (PDZ) produces a chemically reactive species (ZrO2.SiO2) which consist of finely divided submicron monoclinic ZrO2 crystals dispersed in a SiO2 matrix. In this paper, an in-flight, non-transferred arc pilot plasma plant with a capacity of 100 kg/h and which consists of three 150 kW DC plasma torches, is described. The optimization of the plant, which includes the use of different zircon concentrates, the influence of particle size, feed rates, plasma gas, and energy utilization, is discussed.

Jan 1, 2012

By J. L. Havenga

South Africa produces about 400 Kt zircon (ZrSiO4) per annum. This represents about 30 percent of the global demand. However, very little is beneficiated locally and more than 95 percent is exported with little or no value addition. Zircon is a very inert material and needs to undergo high-temperature alkaline melting processes to produce valuable zirconium products. The conversion of zircon to plasma-dissociated zircon (PDZ) produces a chemically reactive species (ZrO2.SiO2) which consist of finely divided submicron monoclinic ZrO2 crystals dispersed in a SiO2 matrix. In this paper, an in-flight, non-transferred arc pilot plasma plant with a capacity of 100 kg/h and which consists of three 150 kW DC plasma torches, is described. The optimization of the plant, which includes the use of different zircon concentrates, the influence of particle size, feed rates, plasma gas, and energy utilization, is discussed.

Jan 1, 2012

The scope of this paper has been restricted to the manufacture in Australia of seamless steel tubing, as the subject of buttweld tubing has already been dealt with by A. N. Hamilton in a paper delivered before the Institute in 1935.The earliest attempts to produce seamless steel tubes were based on the extrusion of lead piping, a process developed by Thomas Burr in 1820. However, the problems associated with the extrusion of white hot steel had to await the metallurgical knowledge of the twentieth century, and these early attempts were unsuccessful.The years 1840 and 1845 were noteworthy for the introduction of the first practical methods of making seamless steel tubes. In one process, a large circular plate was 'cupped' in a vertical press; in the other, a round steel billet was pierced for its entire length.The product from both these methods was then elongated by repeated reheating and rolling over an internal mandrel, in a circular pass mill.At this juncture, it should be noted that every process developed for the manufacture of seamless steel tubing can be divided into two parts. In the first part of the process, attention is centred on the conversion of the heated bloom into a short, thick-walled, hollow cylindrical forging; this product is then elongated in the second section of the process. It will be noted that these two sections are actually quite distinct, and in practice numerous methods exist for carrying out both functions. The first stage is generally referred to as 'piercing', the second stage being termed 'elongating.' In this paper, the author proposes to outline the various methods adopted for piercing and elongating; the reader is asked to note that although certain methods of piercing are almost invariably associated with only one method of elongating, the distinction between the two functions is, nevertheless, a vital one and should be noted accordingly.

Jan 1, 1947

By H. Le Chatelier

SILICA brick are indispensable in the manufacture of steel because they alone are able to withstand the high temperature of regenerative furnaces. All attempts to replace silica brick by other refractory materials for this purpose have failed, but the reason for this failure has remained obscure; we shall give an explanation later in this paper. Before the war, silica brick employed in France came principally from abroad, for which reason, since the beginning of hostilities, certain French steel works have been seriously handicapped. Our attention was first directed to the question by M. Bred, Engineer of the Teil Works. With him, we began certain investigations, at first using our laboratory and the furnaces of neighboring steel works. The larger part of our experiments, however, have been made in the laboratory of the Faculty of Sciences at the Sorbonne. For the heating of our samples, we are deeply obliged to MM. Charpy, Yeatmann and Guérineau. In undertaking these studies, our first aim has been to render assistance to French industry, by indicating, as precisely as possible, the necessary conditions for the manufacture of high-grade brick; but at the same time we have intended to give an example of the manner in which scientific methods may be put to practical application in the solution of industrial problems. Although our work has been confined to samples of only a few grams, we are nevertheless convinced that our information can be directly utilized by brick-works of which the output is measured in thousands of tons

Jan 9, 1918

By H. B. Gillis

THE following pages c9ntain a brief description of the processes involved in the manufacture of silica brick at the Sydney plant of the Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation. Silica brick manufacture was commenced at Sydney in 1918, for the purpose of supplying the requirements of the steel plant, where about three million silica bricks were used annually. Previous to that date, all silica refractories were brought to Sydney from American sources and were subject to a freight cost of nine dollars per ton, or about twenty-seven dollars per thousand. As a preliminary step to manufacture, a thorough investigation of all possible sources of silica in the vicinity of Sydney was carried on during 1916 and 1917. ?Eighteen separate deposits were examined. Of this number, only four were found suitable for brick making, and the Leitches Creek silica, being the nearest of these four deposits to Sydney, was selected as the raw material for the proposed plant. CRYSTAL MODIFICATIONS OF SILICA A brief review of the silica minerals may serve to indicate why careful investigation of sources of supply is necessary before actual brick-making is attempted. The crystal modifications of silica, i.e., quartz, tridymite, and cristobalite, all possessing alpha and beta phases, play a most important part in determining the suitability or otherwise of the resulting brick. By heat treatment, any one of these forms of silica may be converted to either of the others. The inversion temperatures (after Fenner) in degrees Centigrade are shown on rage 160.

Jan 1, 1938

By C. M. Anson

This paper describes the progresses used in the manufacture of steel wheel-centres, tyres and axles at the works of the Commonwealth Steel Products Co., Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia. The plant is adjacent to the Northern railway and consists of three main buildings, namely: the foundry, the forging and rolling shop, and the machine shop. The foundry contains a 6-ton Heroult electric furnace, together with all necessary mechanical appliances for moulding. Reheating furnaces, steam hammers and tyre rolling mill are installed in the forging shop. The machine shop contains lathes, boring machines, and hydraulic presses. Until this plant commenced operations all wheels used in Australia were imported, previ.ous to the war, from England and Germany, and latterly from England only. Besides being of great benefit to the country in that there is now a domestic source of supply of these articles, there is also the advantage of retaining the home market; and in addition, a small portion of the population are now engaged in highly technical occupations requiring a great degree of skill. The plant began to operate in October 1919, and by 1921 was in a fair way to meet the domestic demand for those articles of railroad equipment which it manufactures.

Jan 1, 1925

By K. J. Sollman

As a class, silicate minerals have likely found the broadest, if not largest volume, use in combination with polymeric binders of all industrial minerals. Among the silicates, calcium metasilicate, wollastonite, enjoys a front runner position in a near universal sense. It is a viable and desirable part of composites ranging from thin films to large moldings; from a common filler/extender for paint for your garage to a reinforcement for the exterior surfaces of a luxury vehicle affordable to very few. This article is focused upon the variations in particle morphology and the surface characteristics which, by way of commercial examples and discussion of active research programs, make this environmentally benign mineral so unique.

Jan 1, 1993

By T. G. Ewart

INTRODUCTION FOR THE purpose of this paper, western bituminous coal is defined as steam coal produced in Alberta and southeastern British Columbia for sale primarily to railways and industries. Before examining present and future markets of this industry, it is proper to review briefly financial and operating conditions within the industry. The report of the Royal Commission on Coal, 1946, supplies financial data from which some conclusions may be drawn. In 1944, the industry as defined above had share capital of $24,886,696. In the fifteen years 1930 to 1944, inclusive, the industry produced: 44,364,211 tons of coal. The profit on this tonnage amounted to $4,678,382.58, which represented 10.6 cents per ton of production. Miscellaneous earnings increased the amount available for dividends to shareholders to a total of $8,487,952.41, which is equal to, 19.1 cents per ton of production. Dividends actually paid in this fifteen-year period amounted to $12,332,040.64, which represented an annual average rate of 3.40 per cent on share capital. It is worthy of note that, in 1944, the net current position of the industry, including investments, was $8,753,874.51. The writer believes that the financial position of the industry with respect to capital, current financial position, and net earnings, has not significantly changed from the fifteen-year period out-lined above. The figures quoted indicate the following situation: (1) The western bituminous coal industry is adequately financed. (2) The industry has followed a conservative dividend policy and has accrued funds for contingencies. (3) The industry has sold its production at very reasonable prices as evidenced by its moderate earnings per ton of production.

Jan 1, 1951