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By J. F. Barkley

[There is a general concept in the, coal trade that the moisture- and ash-free B.t.u. of coal from the same seam, and. surely from the same mine, is substantially a constant; that calculation of the -moisture- and ash-free B.t.u. value from the proximate analysis and B.t.u. determined in the laboratory will reveal whether a coal came from a given area or sears; and that, having this constant, the B.t.u. value of a coal sample can be calculated fairly closely upon a dry or as-received basis from the moisture and ash values of its proximate analysis.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Thomas T., Read

IT does not seem practicable to review all the other specialized curricula that have developed in the mineral industries field in so much detail as has been given for petroleum. Nor is it easy to draw a definite line between true curricula, leading to a designated degree in the special subject, and options, which may range from the mere substitution of one or two courses for others ' in the final years to differences so extensive as almost to amount to separate curricula. Even to attempt to catalogue all the options that have been offered at one time or another would , require too much space. The remainder of this discussion, there- fore, will be confined to three topics which seem to be of major importance. Mining and metallurgical curricula will be covered in a later chapter. Geology The first, from the historical view, is geology in its relation to the mineral industries. Previous, chapters have made clear that in the early years of mineral industry instruction in the United States economic geology and mining engineering, so overlapped one another that men who were by training and experience economic geologists were appointed professors of mining, while men who had graduated as mining engineers sometimes developed into professors of geology. Even today men whose basic training was in- geology as a pure science, and who perhaps took a doctor's .degree in that subject, have attained such distinction in the mineral industries as to be universally accepted as "mining men," and their right to be regarded as mining engineers would not be questioned, even though 'they did not .take a degree in engineering. Nevertheless the distinction does exist, and has been made a concrete reality in recent years by the enactment of

Jan 1, 1941

By Walter Kauzman

ALL viscous or plastic flow of incompressible matter is the result of shear strain; the changing shape of any body that is being plastically deformed can be completely described in terms of the shear strain occurring at each point in the body.[t] Furthermore, the relative amounts of shear strain occurring in different parts of a body under stress depend upon the relative rates of shear strain at those different points, so that if the dependence of the shear rate of any material on the temperature, shear stress, previous history, etc., were understood, the principles of plastic deformation would be known, and we could calculate how a body made of a given material, having a given shape, and subject to a specified system of forces, would change its shape with time. It may be said, then, that the problem of plasticity resolves itself into, first, the problem of the rates of pure shear processes, and second, the application of what is known about pure shear to actual cases. It is the purpose of this work to investigate the former problem -i.e., the dependence of shear rates on temperature, stress, etc.-from the standpoint of recent developments in the field of chemical-rate theory and with particular reference to the phenomena occurring in the creep of metals and in the plastic flow of crystalline solids in general. It is left for the mechanical engineer, and perhaps the expert in hydrodynamics, to deal with the problem of applications.1 RESOLUTION OF MACROSCOPIC SHEAR INTO MICROSCOPIC MOVEMENTS; RESEMBLANCE TO CHEMICAL REACTIONS Just as any large body is made up of many small units, or atoms, so macroscopically observable shear is the result of many microscopic unit shear processes; just as the understanding of the behavior of large bodies demands the understanding of the atoms of which it is made, so the understanding of macroscopic shear demands the understanding of these fundamental unit processes. The study of shear from this "atomistic" point of view has made considerable progress. There has been fairly complete understanding of shear processes in gases for a long time, at least for nonturbulent flow, as a chapter on gaseous viscosity in any text on the kinetic theory of gases will prove. In recent years Andrade2 and Eyring3 have presented important theories for the flow of liquids and amorphous solids. Becker,4 Orowan,5 Taylor,6 Burgers,7 and Kanter8 have considered the

Jan 1, 1941

By Earl T. Hayes

[This work represent a continuation of the efforts of the Metallurgical Division of the Bureau of Mines to ascertain and apply knowledge of miner physics to processes metallurgy.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Thomas T., Read

T HE preceding chapter has recorded the initiation of mineral industry education during the period 1890-1910 in numerous institutions that had not previously offered it. It should also be emphasized that in many institutions where instruction had begun before 1890, as recorded in earlier chapters, but had not yet become firmly established,, this period was one of marked growth and development. This was not universally true, however, for at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington (St. Louis), Iowa, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, and at the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania, mineral industry instruction was being dropped during this period, instead of gaining in strength. It is necessary to emphasize this, because writers on the subject have not infrequently , attempted to make a much too simple correlation between mineral -discovery or production and the intensity of student interest in mineral industry curricula. It would naturally be true that periods of large mineral production would, in general, coincide with cycles of business prosperity, and the latter are conducive to starting new ventures, educational as well as business. It should be equally evident that opportunities for business and professional success might, in such periods, appear to increase at a more rapid rate in industries other than mineral, or in the utilization of minerals rather than in their production. The author has not been able to perceive any simple and clear relation between interest in mineral industry education and mineral discovery, production, and utilization, or general business prosperity. On the contrary, the more the problem is studied the more complex the factors involved in it appear to be. In a later chapter an attempt will be made to analyze them in more detail.

Jan 1, 1941

By Frank G. Miller

Controlling natural-water drives to effect efficient and economic production of petroleum, through wells, from reservoir sands and rocks is a problem of major importance in the oil-producing industry. Water-drive fields are characterized by large quantities of mobile water under high pressure immediately below the oil in the flanks or extraneous parts of reservoir formations. Hence, the water, which is in fluid connection with the oil and a source of a large proportion of the energy available for moving it, advances up-structure to replace it. This phenomenon of water moving crestward into the oil-bearing parts of the reservoir and replacing oil is termed edgewater encroachment. The mechanism by which oil is flushed out and continually replaced by water as the hydrocarbon content of the field is depleted must be understood if natural-water drives arc to be used successfully to, induce efficient recovery of oil from its reservoir rocks. Until recently, the function of water in the production of oil has been somewhat obscure and was not given the consideration it deserved in early petroleum production-research programs because of the greater importance associated with and the effort devoted to investigations concerning the relations of natural gas to production of oil. Thus, with virtually no fundamental information at hand, it is not surprising that at first edgewater was considered a necessary evil, and the manner in which it was dealt with depended largely on the experience of the operators. During the intervening years, however, .practical information on encroachment of edgewater in oil sands has been widely disseminated as a result of studies of oil-field depletion, and many theories pertaining to petroleum-reservoir energy and performance have been advanced; these theories necessarily included consideration of edgewater as an integral part of the reservoir fluids and a source of energy for propelling hydrocarbon fluids through the reservoir and to the surface of the ground.

Jan 1, 1941

By Thomas T., Read

IN this survey of the progressive development (of education for the mineral industries throughout the United States, the review of .the history of each school has usually been completed wherever it is first mentioned, but the history of the schools in the cities of the eastern seaboard was not carried beyond 1870. It is necessary now to cover what happened during the period of approximately the last quarter of the nineteenth century in several of the schools in the east. Philadelphia Of Philadelphia, it has been related in chapter 4 that the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania began offering a curriculum leading to the B.S. in mining in 1853; that the school did not prosper, and finally closed about 1890. The establishment of a Department of Mining, Arts, and Manufactures at the University of Pennsylvania in 1855-56 was also mentioned, but its history was not carried beyond 1860. In 1859 J. Peter Lesley was appointed professor of mining in the University of Pennsylvania. The son of a cabinetmaker, born in Philadelphia Sept. 17, 1819, he had taken his A.B. degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1838 and then secured a position on the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania under H. D. Rogers. When the Survey was discontinued, in 1841, he went to Princeton to study theology, was ordained a Presbyterian minister and followed that career until 1852, when the Pennsylvania, Geological Survey was again started and he rejoined its staff. He published "A Manual of Coal and its Topography" in 1856, and studied at the École des Mines, Paris, in 1856-57. He published an 800-page "Iron Manufactures Guide" the year that he was appointed to the staff at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1863-64 a College of Agriculture, Mines, Arts and the Mechanic Arts was established, but it was not a separate school

Jan 1, 1941

By M. Muskat, H. H. Evinger

Although the shooting of oil wells for the purpose of increasing production has been practiced since 1866, present-day shooting technique has been arrived at almost wholly by a process of trial and error. The difficulties attending either a theoretical analysis of the problem or an experimental attack become apparent when one actually embarks on a theoretical investigation or attempts to formulate an intelligent experimental program. The literature on the subject consists mainly of descriptions of current practice, scattered eye-witness accounts of events following the shooting of a well, and vague speculations on the mechanical processes involved. In contrast to quarry blasting, the results of oil-well shooting cannot be determined by means of visual inspection, and it is perhaps for this reason that only one attempt at what approaches a direct experimental attack has been reported in the literature.' In these experiments, charges of liquid nitroglycerin were exploded in holes drilled in a sandstone outcrop. In order to observe the character and extent of the resulting fractures, the rock was blasted away so as to expose the original shot holes. After all this had been done it was found impossible to distinguish the fracturing due to the original shots from that due to the subsequent blasting. The enlargement of the holes due to the pulverizing action of the shots was measured and an attempt was made to determine the effectiveness if sand tamping. Only five shots were made and few definite conclusions could be drawn. Some small-scale experiments to deter-mine the effect of tamping were performed by Snelling and IIalL2 Small charges (zo grams) of dynamite were detonated at the bottom of a cylindrical hole in a lead block and the resulting enlargement of the hole was taken as a measure of the effectiveness of the explosion. It was found that when the shot was tamped with a sufficient amount of sand or clay, the volume enlargement was approximately double that found when no stemming had been used. The properties of the explosives have been the subject of much study by the manufacturers, the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and various other agencies. For example, velocities of detonation for many commercial explosives are to be found in the Blasters' Handbook, issued by the Du Pont company. Many other properties are given in a treatise on the subject by Naoum.~ The shock wave that accompanies the detonation of high explosives has been studied photographically by Payman4 and others. The hydrodynamical theory of the shock wave has received much attention, and an extended theoretical treatment is given by Bateman.6 Two aspects of the well-shooting problem will be considered in this paper; namely, the fracturing of subsurface strata, and possible damage to casing. With respect to the former of these, several calculations have been made giving the stresses in the rocks surrounding the shot. In order to arrive at numerical results at all, however, it is necessary to introduce a great many simplifying

Jan 1, 1941

By W. L., Yerkes

AN interesting study of the application of air-, conditioning to the problem of mine ventilation and cooling can be found on the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Here there are a large number of deep mines in a relatively small area. Due to the nature of the reef, many mines are working at a depth of 6000 ft. and some have gone down to 8000 and 9000 ft. below the surface. At such depths, even in a country geologically as old as Africa, the virgin rock temperature approaches 110°F. The flow of heat from the- rock to the ventilation air is tremendous though the shaft or drift may have been open to ventilation for some years. In addition, there is the heat produced by machinery, lights, and men at work and the heat of adiabatic compression of air introduced into the mine. The difference in atmosphere pressure between the collar of a shaft and a level 6000 ft. below is nearly 3lb. per sq. in., resulting in an increase in heat content of nearly four B.T.U. per pound of air delivered to the mine at surface. Further the exclusive use of wet mining to reduce the incidence of miner?s phthisis increases the latent- heat content of the air.

Jan 1, 1941

By Thomas T., Read

IT will be recalled that when educational instruction for the mineral industry began at Freiberg, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the original aim was to organize and systematize the procedures previously followed by young men in gaining -familiarity with the technology then in use. There must have been many other ideas current, even then, as to just what a young man needed to learn in order to become capable of assuming 'responsibility for the supervision and direction of such technical work. The problem in Europe was decidedly different .from that in nineteenth-century America, because some of the European mines were actually owned and operated by the governing authority and the others were supervised, regulated, and taxed by it. The American problem was the e5cient performance of technical operations; the European one was regulatory supervision. It was natural, therefore, that in the development of educational processes in Europe stress was laid on those factors which conserved and protected the interests of the state. The study of mineralogy and geology, leading to correct judgments as to the workability and value of mineral deposits; assaying, which gave the means of quantitative measurements, as did surveying; chemistry, which furnished a better basis of understanding for assaying, mineralogy, and geology; and physics and mathematics, which are the bases for the understanding and efficient use of mechanical appliances, became the core of systematic instruction, for the mineral industry. It was early recognized that men could learn more than was already known about all of these subjects and education took on that dichotomy which still characterizes it; the teaching of established knowledge to the unlearned, and that of extending of the bounds of knowledge, now loosely termed research, which after two and a half centuries of work still shows

Jan 1, 1941

Question 1—1s Structural Deformation of Some Character Always Necessary for the Migration of Mineralizing Solutions. Especially in Limestone or Other Dense Rocks Discussion by: A. M. Bateman.........120 S. F. Kelly........... 125 C. H. Behre. Jr........118.123 G. B. Langford......... 123 T. M. Broderick.........121 H. E. McKinstry......... 116 R. H. Clarke.......... 123 D. H. McLaughlin........ 118 J. D. Forrester for M. H. Gidel . . 11.4 W. H. Newhouse......... 123 G. M. Fowler......112. 116. 121 R. H. Sales.......... 116 L. C. Graton..........121 Edward Sampson......... 122 R. D. Hoffman.........120 J. 8. Stevenson.......... 117 I. B. Joralemon.........121 L.B.Wright........... 112 Question 2—What Are Some of the Chemical and Physical Characteristics in Certain Beds within a Limestone Formation that Determine Their Favorable or Unfavorable Aspects as Reservoirs for Ore and Other Introduced Minerals? Drscussion by: G. W. Bain....... 127 G. M. Fowler....... 131 C. H. Behre, Jr. ..... 131 L. C. Graton....... 128 J. S. Brown. ...... 126 G.. F. Loughlin...... 128 E. L. Bruce ....... 129 R. H. Sales........ 129 R. H. Clarke...... 130 A. K. Snelgrove....... 130 Question 3—Are There Any Criteria by Which One Can Determine When Mining Operations Have Reached the Roots of an Ore Deposit? Discussion by: J. M. Boutwell...... 139 G. B. Langford..... 139 T. M. Broderick..... 138 . G. F. Loughlin...... 135 E. Y. Dougherty..... 137 R. H. Sales...... . 134 G. M. Fowler....... 132 F. A. Thomson..... 136 I. B. Joralcmon...... 132 Edward Wisser:..... 140 General s. F. Kelly................. . ...........145 References...............................146

Jan 1, 1941

By Edmund S. Leaver

[In previous reports 5/ of ore-testing studies standard methods of conduction tests with precious-metal ores selected as representative of certain mining districts were discussed in considerable detail.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Joseph Daniels

[Adequate supplies of suitable coal and coke are prime requisites in many industries, particularly those dealing with the utilization of mineral resources, recently interest has been focused on the possibilities of using electricity produced at Bonneville and Grand Coulee, Wash., in many electrochemical and electrometallurgical processes, in which core or some form of carbon is necessary in addition, discussion has been revived on the possibility of making iron and steel by the conventional methods employed in blast and open-hearth furnaces. The subject also is important at this time because of its relationship to industrial preparedness for national defense. A supply of coke from local sources on the Pacific coast is necessary in any program of production for strategic sufficiency of certain materials. An anal trio involving tae establishment of such industries should include detailed data on available supplies of coal, the quality and properties of the coke produced, and the technologic and economic factors involved in manufacture of echo and disposal of byproducts.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Ralph H. Espach

Wyoming contains many petroleum and natural-gas fields, and more than 250 geological structures have been mapped; however, only about 85 have been found (July 1938) to contain petroleum or natural gas, or both, in commercial quantities. To January 1938 approximately 434 million barrels of oil and 915 billion cubic feet of gas have been produced, and it was estimated that proved oil reserves in Wyoming amounted to 300 million barrels.' The Salt Creek field, the largest in the Rocky Mountain area, alone has produced 64 percent of the State's oil and 46 percent of its gas. This field ranked thirteenth among the producing fields of the United States in total cumulative production as of January 1, 1938. On this basis it ranks with the Kern River and Huntington Beach fields of California and the Butler County fields of Kansas. The Salt Creek field has declined in relative importance; in 1937, while still the largest oil-producing field in the State, it produced 31 percent of the oil and 11 percent of the gas extracted from all wells in Wyoming.

Jan 1, 1941

By K. K. Kelley

The first bulletin (245)3 in this series, which appeared in 1932, summarized the entropy values then available for the elements and inorganic compounds, results being listed for some 150 substances. In the interim advances in the realms of spectroscopy applicable to the determination of thermodynamic properties and in the development of methods of calculation therefrom have added many highly accurate values. Moreover, through the efforts of Prof. W. M. Latimer (286) and his coworkers, satisfactory entropy values are now available for all but a few of the common inorganic ions in aqueous solution. At the same time rapid progress has continued in the study of low-temperature heat capacities in several laboratories, In addition, compilation and correlation of data pertaining to vapor pressures (247), thermodynamic properties of carbonates (258), thermodynamic properties of sulfur and its inorganic compounds (250), and the thermodynamic properties of metal carbides and nitrides (251), which were published as members of this series, have yielded many values. As a result, over 500 usable entropy values for inorganic substances may now be tabulated. This bulletin originally was planned as a second revision of the first member of this series, the first revision (249) having appeared in 1936; however, because of requests for the explanatory section of the first bulletin from those teaching thermodynamics, it was decided to com¬bine the information in the first bulletin and its revision with the data that have appeared since 1935 and to repeat the explanatory material in somewhat more detail. The purpose of this bulletin is therefore to give the available values of the entropies at 298.1° K. of the elements and inorganic compounds, together with enough explanation of the methods employed in calculating entropies to make the results comprehensible.

Jan 1, 1941

By E. E. McGinley, L. D. Woodworth

During the past several years has occurred what, in the light of future events, may aptly be called the rebirth of the acid Bessemer process. The increased attention given to the technical and metallurgical details involved in the production of Bessemer steels has been exceedingly fruitful, and indicates the value of further research and p1ant development. In times like these, when the steelmaking capacity of the country is operating at a maximum rate to supply materials for the national defense program, it behooves the Bessemer operator not only to strive to increase production but also to maintain a high standard of quality. The opportunity is ripe, it seems, to recapture fields of application once considered the birthright of Bessemer steels, but supplanted in recent years by open-hearth grades. This involves cooperation all along the line, from the blast-furnace operator to the metallurgical contact man and salesman. The metallurgist's part in this program involves the study of the many steelmaking variables and the measures necessary to ensure constancy in the finished product. It is equally important that the knowledge gained be disseminated widely to ensure the wise application of Bessemer steels in new fields. The merits of Bessemer steels for certain work are well understood. The combined properties of good weldability, machinabil-ity and stiffness are unique and fully explain the strong entrenchment of Bessemer steels in certain fields; e.g., skelp for small butt-weld conduit, screw steels machined in automatics, and certain tin-plate applications. It is the purpose of this paper to review briefly the physical properties of Bessemer steels as contrasted with those of open-hearth steels, to discuss control measures now employed in the making of Bessemer steel, and to consider the advantages derived from the use of these control measures. Physical Properties oF Bessemer vs. Open-hearth Steels A number of Bessemer blows and open-hearth heats were tested for tensile strength, ductility and impact strength. The steels selected were confined to sections from 3/4 to 1 1/4-in. diameter, inclusive, and the carbon content covered was sufficient to yield parallel ranges in ultimate strength for the comparison. Other factors, such as the extent of deoxidation of the steel and variations in chemistry, were kept as comparable as possible. Machined test pieces of 0.505-in. diameter with an 8-in. gauge length were pulled. The data obtained are shown in Fig. I, ultimate strength being plotted against carbon content. This graph shows that for equivalent carbon content Bessemer steel has on the average 15,000 lb. per sq. in. greater tensile strength and, conversely, for the same tensile strength Bessemer steel requires on the average 0.14 per cent less carbon. The average phosphorus content for the Bessemer steel was 0.090 per cent,

Jan 1, 1941

By R. S. Dean

In addition to the normal work and that pertaining to strategic minerals, the Metallurgical Division has been made responsible for carrying on major investigations in the development of processes' for the treatment of low-grade domestic manganese ores that heretofore have failed to yield products suitable for the preparation of ferromanganese, an alloy essential to every ton of steel produced. These investigations are particularly important at this time because of their part in tucking this country self-sufficient with regard to manganese when the stock-piled ore becomes e exhausted and as foreign shipments of ferro-grade ore are cut off. The results indicate that there is a good probability of accomplishing this objective, while at the same time conservation may be promoted through the use of normally useless material from the large, low-grade ore deposits.

Jan 1, 1941

By R. S. Dean

The brief resume of the activities of the Metallurgical Division that appears annually in its progress reports series serves a useful purpose by making available a rather comprehensive but concise recapitulation of the current work, and publications of the division. An unprecedented opportunity to attack the problem of producing ferro-grade material from low-grade domestic manganese ores effectively was provided by the act designated as Public 667 of the 76th Congress of the United States, approved June 26, 1940, which made available an appropriation for "Expediting Production of Equipment and. Supplies for National Defense." Although the funds were not immediately available to the division, good progress has been made in the, solution of the many and diverse problems presented in the studies undertaken to determine the best methods for the recovery of useful products from a wide variety of manganese ores.

Jan 1, 1941

By Edmund S. Leaver

[In previous reports5/ of ore-testing studies standard methods of conducting; test with precious-metal ores selected as representative of certain mining districts were discussed in considerable detail. In addition to standard tent procedures such as direct cyanidation, amalgamation, gravity concentration, and flotation, or a combination of these methods, it is sometimes necessary to apply other methods, such as preliminary roasting and washing of the calcine with plain or acidulated water before cyanidation. In all of this work standard tenting procedure has been supplements by he necessary assaying and analyses of original ore and test products.]

Jan 1, 1941

By W. W. Adams

Every man-hour of work performed in and about the coal mines of the United States had a 2-percent heavier death load from accidents in 1938 than in 1937. This is an unorthodox way of stating that the death rate per million man-hours of exposure or employment was 2 percent higher in 1938 than in 1937, increasing from 1.74 to 1.78. Thus the average miner had a 2-percent greater chance of being killed in 1938 than he had in 1937. The average quantity of coal resulting from 1 man-hour of work increased 3.6 percent -from 0.615 ton in 1937 to 0.637 ton in 1938. The production of the average ton of coal was accompanied by a slightly smaller loss of life in 1938 than in 1937, the accident rate being 2.793 per million tons in 1938 compared with 2.833 in 1937.

Jan 1, 1941