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By Kenneth K. Humphreys

INTRODUCTION What is automation? Why automate? Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines automation as "the automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human organs of observation, effort, and decision." This definition gives an implied answer to the second question, "Why automate?" Automation, automatic control devices, and process control equipment receive their justification in supplementing or replacing manpower, which results in decreased operating costs. In the past, processes were operated with the minimum amount of instruments needed merely to guide operators. Processes were manually con- trolled by the operator on the basis of simple temperature, pressure, flow, and level indications on a panel. Today the tendency is to design a new plant to operate in a fully automatic manner according to a preset pro- gram utilizing a minimum of manpower. In addition to this direct cost reduction in manual labor, increased equipment capacity results from uniformity of flow and uniform control of process variables. This control eliminates or minimizes surges and permits equipment to be operated at or near its ultimate capacity and, for a given material throughput, permits the use of smaller process equipment. Automatic control, therefore, be it in the field of coal processing or in any industrial field, is simply a problem of economics. Control equipment is justified in terms of its contribution toward increasing productivity, increasing profit margins, or producing a new and salable product at a profit. Instruments and control devices can be divided into two general groups: (1) units which measure and (2) units which both measure and control a process variable.

Jan 1, 1979

By Hans-Henrik Wallin

The stresses in the heads and shell of a grinding mill are largely dependent on the bending moment produced by the trunnion bearing. By using spherical roller bearings in a special narrow housing a short moment arm is obtained and the bending moment is reduced. For large mills a hydrostatic shoe bearing which also gives a short arm, can be used. Spherical roller bearings also require less maintenance and have a long service life. As the bearings are grease lubricated an automatic lubricator is used instead of an oil lube system. Service data from two Swedish mining companys confirm the fact that the above arrangements provide a long service life.

Jan 1, 1979

On July 1, the Bonneville Power Administration announced a 25% power cutback because of lower than normal stream flow. In September, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) announced plans to shut down one 23,000-ton-per-year potline at its Vancouver, Wash., primary aluminum smelter. Alcoa also announced that the last of four potlines at its Point Comfort, Tex., primary aluminum smelter would be restarted in October. A new 3-year contract was signed and workers at three Alcan Aluminum Ltd. primary aluminum smelters in Canada returned to work. It was estimated that it would take about 3 months before the smelters were operating at full capacity.

Jan 1, 1979

Fathi Habashi, Chalcopyrite. Its chemistry and metallurgy. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1978. 165 pp. RI9,95. Loss prevention and safety promotion The Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Loss Prevention and Safety Promotion in the Process Industries, Heidelberg, 6th to 9th September, 1977, are now available. Chemical reaction engineering The Proceedings of the 4th International/6th European Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering (4th ISCRE) held at Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Ge rmany, from 6th to 8th April, 1976, are available from DECHEMA Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Chemisches Apparatewesen, P.O.B. 970146, D-6000 Frankfurt/ Main, West Germany, at the price of DMlOO plus postage and packing. Books received The Institution of Mechanical Engineers Proceedings Volume 190. Tribos abstracts on friction lubrication wear. Published by BHRA Fluid Engineering, Cranfield, Bedford MK 43 OAJ England. Price £30 (UK), US$72 (Europe), Seawater corrosion handbook, edited by M. M. Schumaker. Noyes Data Corporation Publicity Department, Mill Road at Grand Ave., Park Ridge, NJ 07656. 494 pp. Australian mineral industry quarterly 31(1) 1978 and 31(2) 1978. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Box 378, Canberra City, ACT 2601 Australia. Subscriptions $8, individual number $2. Mineral and NIM reports Report no. 1996 The extraction of gold from chloride solutions. (10th Nov., 1978). Report no. 1898 Batch and pilot-plant tests on M erensky Reef ore from the Western Platinum Mine. (8th Jun., 1977; reissued 30th Jan., 1979). Report no. 1920 A mineralogical investigation of Mamatu'an and Wessels manganese ores. (15th Sep., 1977; reissued 3rd Jan., 1979). Report no. 1978 The preparation and certification of a referencesample of magnetite ore. (22nd Dec., 1978). Report no. 1998 Electrode response to the addition of zinc during the cementation of gold. (25th Jan., 1979). Report no. 2002 The spectrochemical determination of phosphorus, magnesium, and iron in phosphate rocks and sulphuric acid leach liquors. (26th January, 1979). Report no. 1992 The use of emission spectrometry for the determination of impurities in metals. (24th Jan., 1979). Report no. 2003 An electrodeless conductivity meter of improved sensitivity and reliability. (28th Feb., 1979). Report no. 2005 The spectrometric analysis of manganese-bearing materials with particular reference to ferromanganese slags and metals. (16th Mar., 1979). Report no. 2006 An examination of procedures for the analysis of dry powders by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. (28th Feb., 1979). Report no. 2007 The instrumentation and computerization of a 25 MV.A submerged -arc furnace. (25th Mar., 1977; reissued 16th Mar., 1979). Corrosion The International Corrosion Council has decided to hold the next Internat ional Congress on Corrosion in Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany, from 6th to 11th September, 1981. Process control The First European Symposium on Real -time Datahandling and Process Control will be held in West Berlin from 23rd to 25th October, 1979. Geomechanics The 28th Geomechanics Colloquy, organized by the Oosterreichische Gesellschaft fur Geomechanik, is to be held at Salzburg on 18th and 19th October, 1979. Geosta tistics A short course on 'Geostatistics for exploration and production planning' is being conducted by the Applied Earth Sciences Department, Stanford University, California, from 27th to 31st August, 1979. Business administration The Twelfth Executive Development Programme of the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of the Witwatersrand, is to be held from 9th July to 17th August, 1979. The engineer and the law A series of four meetings on the above subject is being conducted by the Measurement, Computation and Control SubCommittee of The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers. Lead smelter for South Africa? The National Institute for Metallurgy and Gold Fields of South Africa are making a comprehensive joint investigation of the technical and economic viability of an integrated lead smelter. Conference on titanium The Fourth International Conference on Titanium will be held from 19th to 22nd May, 1980, in Kyoto, Japan.

Jan 1, 1979

By Brian L. Beninger

This paper discusses the application of the computer to coal preparation process predictions. In broad terms, the computer is used to perform two main functions. Firstly, the given float-sink analysis is interpolated and extrapolated to cover the entire actual range of raw coal specific gravity. Assumptions based on historical data must be made at times. Secondly, the partition curve, which, from historical data, defines the efficiency of a specific coal washing process, is applied to the washability data in order to determine the expected clean coal yield and quality. The vast amount of numerical work which is required to make a prediction of this type exhibits the need for computer methods in this area.

Jan 1, 1979

By Robert M. Dreyer

Although lateritic ore deposits are relatively flat-lying, surficial ore bodies, the evaluation of lateritic bauxite and nickel deposits is among the most difficult problems confronting an economic geologist. Laterite is a soil formed under tropical conditions resulting in the concentration, within the soil zone, of certain trivalent metals - principally iron and aluminum, but also, locally, nickel and manganese. The soil zone is divided into two parts: (a) the true soil or lateritic zone and (b) the zone of partially altered bed rock or saprolite. Whereas bauxite generally is confined to the lateritic zone, some nickel deposits occur in both the laterite and saprolite zones. The evaluation of bauxite and lateritic nickel deposits thus has both similarities and differences. These ores have been formed by supergene, soil-forming solutions moving downward through zones of widely varying permeability within the weathering rock. Because the permeability varies widely, both vertically and laterally. the extent of weathering may vary greatly within short distances. Because the weathering process varies widely, the degree of metal concentration may also vary widely. It is not at all uncommon for a laterite to change, within a few centimeters, from a virtually valueless rock to a high grade ore. Moreover, the depth of weathering, and hence the depth and form of the ore profile, vary greatly. Obviously, for this type of deposit, a few grab samples or a few drill holes are virtually worthless. The evaluation of such a deposit requires a sophisticated statistical study based on thousands of carefully selected samples. As a rule of thumb, the cost of evaluating a large bauxite or lateritic nickel deposit will be about one cent per ton of ore in the ground. Thus, the cost of evaluating a several hundred million ton deposit may be considerable. The following factors must be considered during the evaluation: Type of Sampling: The best and most reliable samples for the evaluation of lateritic ores are taken along large, vertical channels in hand-dug pits. Where labor costs are high, some form of drilling may be used in place of pitting, but it is always wise to choose a drilling procedure after checking drilling results against a series of pit channel samples. The drilling may not reproduce exactly the results from pit channel samples, but it may be possible to derive a constant correction factor. If the physical character of the laterite varies within the deposit, it may, of course, be necessary to change the type of drilling, the correction factor or both. In some areas, it has been found empirically that augers, chum drills, vacuum drills, rotary drills, or core drills yield satisfactory results. The problem is to find which drilling technique gives results most similar to channel samples through the heterogeneous sequence characterizing the laterite in a given area. In lateritic nickel deposits, the drilling characteristics of the lateritic and saprolitic portions of the deposit are very different. Within the saprolite, the major nickel values are commonly found in weathered zones within less altered boulders - a type of occurrence which makes sampling very difficult.

Jan 1, 1979

By Harrison R. Cooper

Approximately 40 concentrators throughout the world have successfully adopted computer control for flotation circuit operation since 1969. Successful use of flotation control, gaining up to 2% efficiencies, has largely derived from effective employment of on-stream slurry analyzers and integration of key measurement data through digital processors. Requirements for reliable measurement have also led to improved functional reliability in magnetic flow meters, pH, reagent feed, and other key elements. Methods used in computer control of flotation will be reviewed and variations in operating philosophies will be described with reference to the approaches taken to flotation automation.

Jan 1, 1979

Provide reasonably priced, reliable fire protection for blasthole drills. Approach An automatic fire sensing and suppression system using both dry and gaseous chemicals was developed, and is more shock and vibration resistant than similar industrial fire protection systems. How It Works Temperature sensors mounted in the drill's machinery house, hydraulic room, operator cab, and transformer area detect the heat from a fire, and trigger a sequence of actions. The same fire fighting sequence can be initiated from manual alarm boxes in the cab, hydraulic room, or machinery house. Electrical power to the drill Is immediately cut off, and a horn sounds to warn the drilling crew. After a 40-second, built-in, delay to allow time for drill's ventilating fan to stop, gaseous and dry chemical fire extinguishing agents are piped to and released in various rooms of the drill. The gaseous extinguishing agent (Halon 1301) is released in the machinery house, hydraulic room, and operator cab where dry chemical clean-up from electrical panels and machinery would be difficult and costly. Dry chemical is piped to the transformer room at the rear of the machine. Location of the principal components of the system are shown in the drawing.

Jan 1, 1979

Reliably detect fires by sensing sub-micrometer-sized particles released into the air by smoldering or burning materials. Approach An extremely sensitive, ionization-type fire detector has been built that continuously draws air samples through its ionizing field and collects the ionized smoke particles downstream, thereby generating a proportional electrical output signal. (An offshoot instrument measures the size distribution and number of sub-micrometer particles in air.) How It Works Mine air to be monitored is drawn through the instrument assembly by a small pump. A pre-filter and cyclone remove dust particles and other particles larger than 0.6 micrometer diameter. The air and remaining aerosol-sized particles flow through a gastight tube which contains the detector. See diagram. Smoke and other sub-micrometer-size particles moving Into the detector, pass through an Ionizing field, and are struck by alpha particles released from radioactive source located on the axis of the tube, The alpha particles move radially outward until they strike smoke particles or molecules of air or water. When struck, a smoke particle or molecule loses an electron and becomes positively ionized.

Jan 1, 1979

By David M. Hopstock

To help assure an adequate supply of minerals to meet the Nation's economic and strategic needs, the Bureau of Mines is conducting bench-and pilot-scale research using wet high-intensity magnetic (WHIM) separation to recover iron from oxidized taconites of the. Lake Superior region. The advantages and disadvantages of WHIM separation in relation to other separation methods, the most recent innovations in WHIM flowsheet design, and the role of mathematical models in process optimization are discussed.

Jan 1, 1979

By Larry D. Patts

Section 317(e) of the Federal Coal Mine Health & Safety Act of 1969 directed the Secretary of the Interior to prepare standards under which all working places in a mine shall be illuminated by permissible lighting while persons are working in such places. Section 317(e) further provides that such working places shall be illuminated within 18 months after such standards are promulgated. In accordance with this section of the Act, there was published in the Federal Register for December 91, 1970, a notice of proposed rulemaking which prescribed the illumination to be provided in the working places of underground coal mines. In light of written comments, suggestions, and objections to this proposed rulemaking, the proposedstandards were withdrawn and reproposed in the Federal Register for Wednesday, October 27,-19h. In light of further comments, suggestions, and objections, a public hearing was held on April 4, 1974, and standards were again reproposed and published in the Federal Register for April 1, 1976. Promulgation of the final lighting standards took place on October 1, 1976, which means that the underground coal mining industry must comply with face illumination requirements by April 1, 1978. As mentioned previously, the first proposed rulemaking for illumination of underground coal mines was published in the Federal Register on October 27. 1971. In early 1972, Consolidation Coal Company (Consol) and the United States Bureau of Mines agreed to a cooperative study of underground face illumination: Consol felt that expertise is this field would become increasingly important. Consol's initial efforts in illumination were aimed at investigating practical lighting systems for underground face equipment. We were concerned with installing unobtrusive lights which provided sufficient face illumination for safety, but at the same time were readily maintainable, electrically reliable, and physically sheltered from damage. We believe that our initial lighting systems did provide sufficient face lighting for safety, but because only prototype components were available for field testing, the resultant poor system reliability and maintainability necessitated drastic improvement before face lighting could become practical. Final Lighting Standards Deem Early Lighting Installations Out Of Compliance On April 1, 1976, the Federal Register contained the final version of the illumination standards (as they were later promulgated in October). When these illumination regulations and measurement techniques were defined and measuring instruments were available, Consol checked their lighting systems underground and determined that the systems were not in compliance with these final illumination standards. More Lighting Hardware Added In An Attempt To Achieve Compliance. After determining that all of our face lighting systems were not in compliance, we began adding additional lighting hardware in order to meet compliance with published regulations. Unfortunately, to date, we have not been able to meet compliance with practical lighting systems. We have determined from our field installations that the required additional lighting hardware, (to meet compliance) with its increased vulnerability and decreased reliability, renders the lighting systems impractical, if not impossible, to reasonably maintain. Our attempts to provide 0.06 footlamberts have also produced adverse operator reaction to the glare and to illumination systems in general. BCOA Members Ask MESA To Demonstrate Practicability Of Compliance With Regulations Industry concern about meeting the impending lighting regulations was mounting, and in May of 1976 a meeting between MESA and BCOA members was held to discuss lighting compliance problems. At this meeting, BCOA offered to work cooperatively with MESA in testing the practicability of various lighting systems mounted on underground mining equipment. Field tests were to be conducted by United States Steel Corporation, American Electric Power Service Corporation, and Consolidation Coal Company. The purpose of this underground field testing was to develop capability to provide adequate face illumination in a safe, workable manner which would not detract from efficiency of operation. BCOA members involved in this cooperative study were to submit necessary machine drawings, sketches, etc. to MESA in order that MESA could perform a "black-box" study and specify the type and location of luminaires to be installed on the test machines. MESA was confident that they could specify lighting systems that would be in compliance and would be practical so as not to detract from efficiency of operation. Consol was first to install lighting hardware under the BCOA/MESA cooperative agreement. As per MESA specifications, Control Products HgV luminaires were installed on a Joy 2BT-2H boring machine at the Williams Mine of Northern West Virginia Region. As of mid-October, 1976, Consol had approximately eight weeks operating experience with the lighting system on this boring machine underground and had drawn the following conclusions: The lighting system installed at Williams Mine (1) does not meet compliance with lighting standards as originally proposed by MESA, (2) does not provide illumination in a safe workable manner, and (3) will detract from efficiency of the mining operation due to operational delays. Although Consol has rearranged lights on this boring machine in an attempt to reduce operator objections, a practical lighting system which is "in compliance" has not been arrived at as of this writing.

Jan 1, 1979

By Osamu Shoji, Mamoru Kato

In order to continue improving the quality of telecommunication services to meet the expectations of the people and to increase reliability in the case of emergency such as disasters, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (NTT) is now constructing cable tunnels which connect main urban telephone offices. However, almost all the large cities in Japan are built in river deltas, so that their chief underground features are low strength fluvial deposit and a high ground water level. In this saturated soft ground, the ground surface at an installation site has occasionally subsided through deep excavations for cable tunneling construction. As these settlements have sometimes caused accidents, especially in densely populated large cities, NTT has made much effort to avoid such accidents. These accidents have occured mainly in flexible sheeting due to its inward movement. Therefore, after the investigation into forecast method of sheeting deflection with accuracy, NTT has reserched a system which forecasts ground surface settlements. This paper describes an outline of the ground settlement forecast system and practical example on the site.

Jan 1, 1979

By Harry H. Ku

In December 1975, a report entitled "An Evaluation of the Accuracy of the Coal Mine Dust Sampling Program Administered by the Department of Interior" [1] was prepared by the Analytical Chemistry Division of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), in response to a request by Senator Harrison A. Williams. Chairman, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. The report attempted to evaluate the adequacy of (1) the personal sampler unit used to measure the coal dust concentration in the mines, (2) the procedures used by the Department of Interior (DOI) to analyze the dust samples obtained from mine operators, and (3) any recent studies made by the Department or private industry concerning the coal dust sampling equipment. Recommendations in the report of NBS included continued research efforts by the appropriate organization to correct the personal sampler deficiencies and to consider the use of area or stationary samplers as a supplement to the personal samplers. Concurrent with the NBS report cited above, the General Accounting Office (GAO) also issued a report in December, 1975 [2], suggesting that improvements are still needed in coal mine dust sampling programs and procedures relating to penalty assessments and collections. Among recommendations made by GAO, the following paragraph specifically called for actions by the agencies involved:

Jan 1, 1979

By Van Price

Some technical developments of the National Uranium Resource Evaluation Program which are of general application in geochemical exploration are being studied. Results of stream water and suspended and bottom sediment analyses are compared for an area near Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Variations of uranium content of water samples with time in the North Carolina Piedmont are seen to correlate with rainfall. Ground water samples from coastal and piedmont areas were analyzed for helium. All media sampled provide useful information when properly analyzed and interpreted as part of a total geological analysis of an area.

Jan 1, 1979

By M. S. Fleming

The objective was to evaluate central lubrication systems for potential use on underground mining equipment. Previous use on continuous mining equipment resulted in poor system performance because of improper selection of lubricants, component failures, and an inconsistent delivery of lubricant to the bearings. The principles and operational characteristics of systems are reviewed and evaluated, and it was concluded that systems are available which can provide reliable central lubrication if properly applied, installed, and maintained. The procedures for applying a system to a continuous miner are discussed. Investigation revealed the lack of significant information on lubrication-related equipment failures and injuries related to maintenance and repair operations, the lack of significant failure rate data for central lubrication system components, and the lack of performance standards for central lubrication systems and components. To continue the development of systems for underground mining equipment it is recommended that a data bank on failures and reliability for equipment with and without central lubrication systems be created, and standardized specifications and performance criteria be developed for central lubrication systems and components which will be used on underground mining equipment.

Jan 1, 1979

By D. A. Paice

A power supply to operate fluorescent or mercury vapor lamps from 300 volt dc coal mine trolley wires has been developed for the Bureau of Mines. A high frequency regulated inverter unit incorporates ballasts for a mix of lamp loads up to 650 watts. For 600 volt trolley systems an additional power converter unit was developed to step down the dc voltage to 300 volts for the inverter unit. Both units have operated in a working coal mine for over 12 months without need for servicing. The lamp load in these tests included two 100 watt mercury vapor head lamps and six 75 watt fluorescent lamps.

Jan 1, 1979

By Charles G. Howard

Accidents involving underground rail transport were analyzed to quantify the magnitude and the operational requirements for individual mine car braking systems. The results showed that the brake preventable accidents represent only 2% of the total underground fatal accidents and less than 1% of the total underground nonfatal accidents. In addition, the brake preventable accidents are expected to decline over the next decade. The costs of accidents involving deaths and Injuries were determined using various well accepted methods. The costs of a brake retrofit program for all operating underground coal cars were developed separately for small and large coal mines. Costs of retrofit brakes, new car brakes, maintenance, inspection and repair facilities were included in the esimates. The analysis showed that a retrofit program would not significantly increase safety, and that the program cost would greatly exceed the corresponding expected benefits.

Jan 1, 1979

By L. Keith Hudson

The purpose of this study is to provide data that demonstrates that the Alcoa flash calciner design can be used for the decomposition of AlCl3?6H2O to A1203. Heat and material valance data for calcination provides data on the partial pressure of HCl in the off-gases. Experimentally determined data for the HCl partial pressure, over solutions expected in producing alumina from clay by the hydrochloric acid process, show that HCl can be absorbed from the off-gases into process solutions to effect crystallization of AlCl3?6H2O.

Jan 1, 1979

By F. Kitzinger

Electromagnetic testing of wire rope has become more and more reliable over the past two decades. This improvement is partly a result of an unprecedented progress of electronic technology, which permitted the development of a new breed of testing instruments. There are two basic methods for the electromagnetic testing of wire ropes, the AC method and the DC method. Both methods rely on magnetic field disturbance caused by mechanical anomalies in the rope structure. The wire rope under test is passed through a magnetic excitation field, which can be a weak alternating field or a strong static field. Because the alternating field is produced by an alternating current, these instruments are of the AC type(l). In the early days of ND-testing, strong permanent magnets were not yet available; therefore, the static magnetic field was produced electromagnetically with direct current. Instruments based on static excitation are still called DC instruments(2), even though the field is now produced by a permanent magnet. Both these methods have certain characteristic features. The AC method can detect loss of metallic area caused by corrosion or other effects, whereas localized faults such as broken wires are better detected by the DC instruments . The basic principles of the wire rope testers have remained unchanged over the years and the improvements present in the new instruments usually reside in the signal processing and recording sections. The Instrumentation Department of the Noranda Research Centre* has been involved in a four-year development program which resulted in a new type of wire rope tester, the Magnographv** . This new instrument in many ways represents a considerable departure from the traditional wire rope testers. The Magnograph has already been patented in Canada and the U.S.A.(3), and patent applications are pending in other countries.

Jan 1, 1979

By John T. Dieckmann

This report documents the work performed and the results obtained in a 2-year development of a Mobile Inert Gas Generator for use in the Bureau of Mines Remote Sealing System for fighting underground coal mine fires. The performance requirements of an inert gas generating system for the Remote Sealing System were clearly established. A thorough review of seven possible system designs meeting these requirements was conducted. An air cooled, distillate oil fired combustion type inert gas generator was selected for further detailed design, hardware fabrication, and performance testing. The Inert Gas Generator constructed under this program has been thoroughly performance tested and has been operated in the field for approximately 200 hours. The system has met or exceeded all important performance requirements. The system was used in the fire fighting efforts at the Bethlehem Mines Corporation Cambria Division Mine 33 fire and contributed to the successful containment of the fire. The system was also employed in the demonstration of entire Remote Mine Sealing System at the Jenney Mine in the fall of 1978. The system is currently avail-able for fighting any future underground coal mine fires.

Jan 1, 1979