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By Douglas Ball

An underground storage field is a gas field where man, not nature, has put all or most of the gas. All but one of those in use today are in the pore spaces or "porosity" of sedimentary rocks, the most common being sandstone. The one exception, near Newcastle, England, is a gas storage in a cavern dissolved from rock salt. The tens of millions of barrels of LPG (liguified petroleum gas) now stored in salt caverns mined in shale is liquid storage, not gas storage, and in this paper I recognize the presence of these installations but do not include them in the gas storage category, Since, with the English exception, gas storages are gas fields, they can all be sorted into the categories used to describe gas fields, 95% of them once gas fields anyway, but some of the remaining 5% are the ones having the greatest effects on underground waters.

Jan 1, 1960

By W. A. Tiller

The conventional techniques1 for determining the liquidus and solidus surfaces of an alloy system containing more than two components are extremely tedious to use and do not provide a complete picture of the equilibrium relations between solid and liquid alloys. These techniques are unable to yield "tie-line" information concerning solid and liquid phase equilibrium, a very important parameter in the solidification description of the liquid alloy and a very necessary parameter in the preparation of "zone-levelled" alloy crystals. The tie-line in a polycomponent system is analogous to the partition coefficient, k, in a binary system, it gives the composition of the solid, Cs, in equilibrium with a liquid of composition CL. That is, CS = kCL, where CL = [CO, c1,...Cn] denotes the concentrations of the n + 1 constituents, and k = [ko, kb ,...kon] denotes the gross partition coefficient for the elements between the two phases; thus, k is the tie-line in this system. To provide complete information concerning the two-phase equilibrium in a polycomponent system it is necessary to know both the liquidus surface and the gross partition coefficient. From these two the solidus surface is obtainable. The conventional techniques are unable to provide this information in other than a binary system so we must look elsewhere. In recent years considerable insight has been gained into the correct description of the liquid-solid transformation, 2,3 and controlled solidification experiments may now be designed to both facilitate and enhance equilibrium diagram studies. In the present paper consideration is given to two methods for obtaining the liquidus surface and the tie-lines in polycomponent systems. The methods to be described below deal with the solidification of an n + 1 constituent liquid alloy of initial composition [co, Co ,...Con], where the superscripts refer to the elements present and the Oth element is considered as the solvent in which the n solutes are dissolved. The general assumptions made in the treatment are the following: (i) the solid and the liquid at their interface are in equilibrium during the growth of the solid phase, (ii) there is no diffusion in the solid phase, and (iii) the liquid phase is completely mixed and is therefore homogeneous in concentration. METHOD I In this section a general experimental method will be described which, in principle, is capable of giving an exact description of the liquidus surface and tie-lines. Consider the unidirectional solidification of the liquid alloy specimens L cm in length (freezing either horizontally or vertically). Allow the sample to be frozen very slowly from one end, as indicated in Fig. 1, with complete mixing in the liquid, and then analyze the solid bar to determine its chemical constitution as a function of position, x, along the bar. Let Fig. 2 represent a possible distribution of the ith constituent along the bar. At the point x' the concentration of the ith constituent is C1/5(x'), and the average concentration of the rest of the bar between x' and L is given by C:(X' - L) where [ A(x) c1s(x)dx c1/s(x'-L) = f A(x) dx x * and A(X) is the cross-sectional area at x. In a similar manner. all the Cf(x' - L) may be determined. Thus, the gross artition coefficient k for liquid of composition [Cs(x - L),...Cs(X' - L)] is given by -ko= CUs')/Cos(x' - L)" k0 = csn{x')/cs(x'- L) During the freezing of a charge of length L, the liquid composition may vary over a wide segment of the phase diagram and the gross partition coefficient over this segment of the phase diagram may be determined from one, bar. Fig. 3 illustrates the magnitude of Cs(g)/C,' as a function of the fraction g of the bar which has Solidified.2 We can see that the concentration in the bar will vary over a range of about 15 wt pct for C,' = 10 wt pct and k0 = 0.5. It appears that 4 or 5 specimens would be adequate to study a simple binary eutectic phase diagram.

Jan 1, 1960

By C. Hirayama

THIS investigation was undertaken to determine some of the factors contributing to the embrittle-ment of glass-coated silver wire on heat treatment. The materials used in this investigation were 22 and 23 AWG silver wires obtained from Handy and Harman as "fine quality, soft temper." A wet analysis of one sample showed 99.8 pct Ag. The 23-gage wire was covered with a double layer (2.5 mils thick) of electrical grade fiber glass (aluminum borosilicate glass containing a relatively high concentration of calcium, and a very small amount of

Jan 1, 1960

By Morley H. Mathewson

The unprecedented demand for capital investment in the mining industry today has intensified management's interest in every known technique which will help to reduce operating costs and increase production. One proven approach leading to the accomplishment of this objective is well known in the mining industry and is gaining added prestige, particularly where keen competitive conditions exist. This approach is in the area of incentives applied to mining productivity. An investigation of many incentive plans now in use throughout the mining industry revealed a predominant number of conventional type plans, Most of these plans are designed to reward the hourly-paid employee on the basis of percent over and above a standard hourly or daily ton rate, By contrast, this search failed to divulge any incentive plan solely and independently developed for production management employees. This does not mean that such plans in the mining industry are nonexistnet, but it does indicate that production management incentive systems are scarce or are being kept under wraps.

Jan 1, 1960

By J. D. Ramsdell

The study described in this report was undertaken to obtain information on the character and effect of antimony additions to titanium. The availability of high-purity, low-hardness titanium metal, resulting from fused-salt electrorefining techniques, permitted a reassessment and evaluation of the physical behavior of titanium-antimony alloys. Alloys, based on several grades of titanium containing up to 10 percent antimony, were arc-melted and processed to sheet by hot and cold rolling. Properties and characteristics were evaluated by hardness tests, hot and cold rollability, annealing treatments, metallographic examination, and tensile tests.

Jan 1, 1960

By R. L. Fleischer

IN 1925 a criterion for localized deformation in a single crystal was derived by Taylor and Elam.' They noted that for a single active slip plane the slip plane area is constant, but the direction of the stress with respect to the slip direction changes during deformation so that, when the increase in stress due to this rotation is large enough relative to the work hardening, instability occurs. (By instability is meant continued slip on the active slip plane.) The instability criterion may be written t>dt/d?/m tan2? [1] where t and ? are resolved shear stress and strain, m the Schmid factor for resolving shear stress, and ? is the angle between the slip direction and the axis of tension. The formula points out that regardless of the atomic mechanism involved, for large flow stresses and low work hardening rates, slip on a single plane—once started—should continue. The case of alloying provides a direct possibility of adjusting the parameters in Eq. [I]: As an alloying element is added to a pure metal, the flow stress is raised and the work hardening in easy glide may be either decreased2 or unaltered.3 Since flow stresses in easy glide may rise to the kg/mm2 range for alloy crystals while easy glide slopes may be less than % kg/mm2, 2 it is possible for the inequality to be satisfied. Indeed Garstone and Honeycombe3 report that slip becomes coarser with increasing stress in the easy glide range, where the flow stress would be increasing and the slope would be essentially constant. Another case where high flow stresses and low hardening rates accompany coarse slip is that of quench hardening.4 Maddin and Cottrell report that quenched aluminum crystals display slip markings resembling those of a brass. A similar effect has been observed after irradiation.'

Jan 1, 1960

By S. L. Payne, J. P. Morris, R. L. Kipp, G. R. Zellars

The activities of iron and nickel in liquid Fe-Ni alloys were determined by measuring the vapor pressures of iron and nickel above the alloys and comparing with the vapor pressures of the pure metals. Nickel was found to deviate negatively from Raoult's law over the entire composition range. Iron behaves ideally down to 0.7 mole fraction but shows negative deviations at lower concentrations. At 1600°C the activity coefficients at infinite dilution are 0.40 for iron and 0.66 for nickel. 1 HE formulation of the conditions of chemical equilibrium between liquid metals and gases or slags is an important application of thermodynamics to pro- cess metallurgy. Usually the metal and slag phases are solutions of several components; and for accurate calculations, it is often necessary to use the activities of the components in place of their concentrations. Data concerning activities, however, are quite meager. The evaluation of the activities of iron and nickel, presented in this paper, is part of a project to determine activities in iron alloys at elevated temperatures.

Jan 1, 1960

By G. Horvay, J. G. Henzel

Nomograms and charts are provided which permit rapid determination of the mold-casting interFace temperature and the speed of solidification when a semiinfinite ingot is cast into a semiinfinite mold. The physical properties of the mold, the frozen metal, and the liquid metal are not assumed to be equal, but they are assumed to be temperature independent. The results are correlated with charts prepared by Paschkis and Hlinka—using Columbia University's Analog Computer—for the freezing of finite ingot slabs when a constant surface temperature is impressed, and with experimental cooling curves obtained by Pellini in sand and iron molds for 7 in.-sq steel castings. x = coordinate directed to right of zero (freezing direction) y = coordinate directed to left of zero (melting direction) e = position of freezing front (in x direction) ? = position of melting front (in y direction) $ = temperature (function of position and time) ? = fixed temperature 2L = width of finite slab Y = a fixed position in the semiinfinite mold, or the width of a finite mold (see Section 7) Properties y = density, lb per cu ft c = specific heat, Btu per lb deg F k = conductivity, Btu per ft hr deg F X = heat of fusion, Btu per lb k = k/Yc = temperature diffusivity, sq ft per hr* b - = = - heat diffusivity, Btu per sq ft deg F Vhr Subscripts 2 = pertaining to the still-liquid metal (case of freezing), or the medium which furnishes the heat (case of melting) 1 = pertaining to solidified metal (case of freezing), or to molten metal (case of melting)* 0 = pertaining to mold (case of freezing), or to the still-solid metal (case of melting) f = pertaining to fusion condition (eg.,?f - fusion temperature) i = pertaining to the location x = 0 (the mold-ingot "interface")

Jan 1, 1960

By A. J. Barry

Two methods of testing anchorages of headed expansion-type mine roof bolts were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Mines to determine whether they are acceptable for general use. In both methods a load was applied to a tightened bolt with a hydraulic jack. A total of 80 tests, 40 using each method, was conducted in 4 test areas in 3 commercial coal mines. Electric resistance strain gages were used in all tests to indicate true bolt load as the bolt was tightened and when an additional load was applied with the hydraulic jack. The results indicate that: 1. The relationship between the true bolt load and the jack load will vary according to the test method until the two loads become equal. The bolt load-jack load relationship below this point can be determined only with strain gages. 2. The point at which the two loads become equal can be estimated by noting the load when the hardened washer becomes loose in one method, and when the bearing plate becomes loose from the roof in the other. It also can be approximated for either method of testing by noting the load when the first abrupt change in the slope of the jack load-bolt displacement curve occurs. 3. The anchorage characteristics of the test bolt can be determined from the data obtained from either method by examining the slope of the jack load-bolt displacement curve above the point at which the true bolt load is equal to the jack load.

Jan 1, 1960

By John Nagy

A study was made in the Bureau of Mines experimental coal mine of factors affecting gas ignition by a cutoff explosive charge. Experiments showed that, although gas could be ignited under some circumstances, the probability under normal mining conditions would be low. The use of permissible explosives, relatively short-delay intervals in firing adjacent holes, blasting to a 6-inch kerf, and reasonable care in the placement of the holes favor safe blasting and are current practice in mining. The experiments also showed that the weight of the charge is not a primary factor in the ignition of gas by a cutoff charge. The quenching action of a first charge on the igniting action of a second was verified in a supplementary study. Related experiments have shown that gas at the face may be ignited by a single charge of explosive when fired with a light coal burden. Permissible explosives were less hazardous under these conditions than nonpermissible explosives. The frequency of gas ignition in cutoff and single-charge experiments increased as the linear distance between the sheared face and the opposing mine rib increased.

Jan 1, 1960

By Irven A. Jacobson

This literature survey consists of references dealing with gaseous state thermal decomposition reactions of organic nitrogen and sulfur compounds. The reference source for the survey was the Chemical Abstracts from 1930 to 1956, inclusive. Original articles were not studied. The starting date was set at 1930 because previous to this time much of the work is questionable. This report is in three parts: Part I lists nitrogen compounds; Part II, sulfur compounds; and Part III, compounds containing both nitrogen and sulfur. The organization of the classes of compounds is alphabetical: Part I - amides, amines, amino acids, ammonia, azides, azines, azo compounds, heterocyclic nltrogen compounds, hydrazine, nitrates, nitriles, nitrites, nitro compounds and miscellaneous nitrogen compounds; Part II - disulfides, sulfides (including double and triple sulfides), thiols, thiophenes and xanthates; Part III - thioacid amides, thiazoles, thiocyanates and thiuram disulfides. A class formula is included with each class name. The R's used in these class formulas may refer to hydrogen or to the same or different radicals when more than one R appears.

Jan 1, 1960

By Oren C. Baptist

Umiat field contains the largest accumulation of oil discovered so far in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 in Arctic Alaska. The Umiat anticline was tested with 11 wells; 6 produced oil in varying quantities. Behavior of the wells during testing was unpredictable. For example, one well was abandoned as a dry hole after all tests failed to recover any oil, yet an offset well, only 200 feet from the dry hole, produced 400 barrels of oil a day. The main oil reservoirs are less than 1,000 feet deep and are in the permanently frozen zone (permafrost). Reservoir pressures are low, and most primary production will be by expansion of gas-in-solution in the oil. Because of the unusual reservoir conditions and the difficulties encountered in drilling and completing the wells, the Department of the Navy asked the Federal Bureau of Mines to make laboratory studies of the reservoir sand to determine the cause of well plugging and to provide laboratory information, to be used as an aid in estimating oil recovery from frozen reservoir rocks under solution-gas expansion from low-saturation pressure conditions.

Jan 1, 1960

By Eldon C. Pattee

THE BUREAU OF MINES began an investigation of tungsten resources of Montana in September 1953. This report presents information obtained from July 1955 to September 1957 on tungsten deposits in and near the Mount Torrey batholith. The batholith comprises part of the Pioneer Mountains of Beaverhead County in the southwest corner of Montana. Included in the report are assays and preliminary-examination data on 22 properties. Tungsten minerals are known to occur in 19 of the properties. The major producer is the Brown's Lake mine which has produced more than 625,000 tons of ore. Nearly all of the deposits are in the Lost Creek, Utopia, and Bald Mountain mining districts along the east and south margins of the Pioneer Mountains. The districts are less than 27 miles from Dillon, Mont.

Jan 1, 1960

By Claude E. Wykes

Deep Well turbine pumps receive constantly increasing application to the problem of mining water and other fluids from great depths. Many installations of medium settings are presently operating successfully and it is felt that mach greater depths are immediately within reach. Settings and lifts in excess of 2000 feet: are not at all out of reason with present knowledge experience, and materiels; however, conditions of individual applications will govern in each case and dictate methods and possibilities to the designer. Design and operating problems of deep set -turbine pumps ire discussed together with a description of various types of equipment falling within this category. Although the deep well turbine pump has been produced In the vertical turbine pump industry for many years, the connotation of the word "deep" still remains questionable. Among the manufacturers of this type of machinery, answers to the question implying the practical limitation of setting for a deep well pump will vary to an extreme. Most pump designers are in accord that this type of equipment has not yet been exploited to its fullest degree; however, the subject is admittedly fraught with unsolved problems and un¬tried solutions so that such a discussion must necessarily derive from personal opinion and, belief., even though based on substantial experience and background. For this reason, it will be stipulated that the present writing will deal with what may be termed euphemistically ?a highly controversial subject.? During the nineteenth century, a paper was published under proper authority proving beyond question that the human body could not withstand speeds exceeding 20 miles per hour. As a limitation, this looks ' pretty ridiculous to us today. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was not a single machine in operation that could be described as mullti-stage deep well centrifugal pump. As a matter of fact, very few centrifugal pumps of any type wire operating against heads in excess of 50 feet, since such applications were considered impractical. In the

Jan 1, 1960

By C. Wert, D. Keefer

The results of this study indicate that sudden increases in aging temperature lead to reversion phenmena in carbon in the a, iron system. These phenomena are thought to be associated with the dissolution of carbide precipitates. Reversion is studied with respect to three variables: 1) Specimen grain size, 2) the initial amount of carbon in solution, and 3) difference between initial and final aging temperature. It is found that of these variables the initial carbon concentration has the greatest effect on reversion. THE solid solution of carbon in n iron has been the subject of numerous investigations throughout the past few years. Despite the great amount of effort which has been put forth toward understanding this system, however, there persist a number of interesting aspects of the system which are open to further research' Studies Of the precipitate which forms as a result of aging a supersaturated solution of carbon in a, iron appear to be particularly interesting. The present work is an attempt to determine certain

Jan 1, 1960

By William H. Waggaman

The United States not only is the largest producer of phosphate rock but also manufactures and consumes greater quantities of phosphate products than any other country. New and expanding uses will increase even further the demand for this basic raw material. Only a small proportion of the total quantity of phosphate rock mined and marketed is consumed directly in a raw or unprocessed state; the vast bulk is chemically treated and converted into [ertilizer] and a wide variety of finished products that play a vital role in [r] national economy. Three fundamental methods are employed in decomposing phosphate rock. 1. Reduction by carbon at high temperatures. 2. Treatment with one or more acids. 3. Calcination or fusion with silica, sodium salts, magnesium minerals, or small quantities of phosphoric acid.

Jan 1, 1960

"D bed, Ky., coaL, washing characteristics RII 5140coking coal, reserves, estimate RI 5037Pa., coal, washing characteristics RI 4834, 4941D bed mine, Ky., coal, washig characteristics"

Jan 1, 1960

By Robert L. Rough

This report presents the results of an investigation by Federal Bureau of Mines engineers of water-injection projects in the northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York area, where oil-producing wells have been converted from pumping to flowing. Data from 24 leases converted to flowing were collected and examined. Only 10 leases had information of significant scope for inclusion in the final analysis. The projects were classified in one of two categories. Group I consisted of leases operated to permit an evaluation of operational changes in terms of existing pressure differentials between injection and producing wells. Group II included remaining properties, for which enough information was available to justify an economic analysis but which did not have sufficient production data to support an engineering study because of radical changes in operational techniques. Variations in production and costs resulting from conversion to flowing were examined for production methods, well-spacing and completion techniques, and reservoir characteristics. Where water-injection rates were constant, oil production usually decreased rapidly at the time of conversion; production then increased slightly for 6 to 8 months before resuming a normal decline rate considerably below the estimated pumping rate. The abrupt decrease in production after conversion is indicative of lower pressure differentials between injection and producing wells, caused by the increased hydrostatic head in the producing wells.

Jan 1, 1960

By Howard E. Rollman

South Central United States, an area including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, is a net exporter of refractories. Nearly $45 million of these materials was shipped in 1954 from plants in the area, compared with area consumption of $18.5 million. About 88 percent of all refractories production is concentrated in Missouri. The prevalent consumption pattern, however, is one of localized shortages. For example, although Texas uses more than half of the refractories consumed in the South Central United States, production of refractories in Texas is relatively small. Also, the apparent self-sufficiency of the area is in terms of value produced rather than in terms of products consumed. Nearly all of the $6,425,000 nonclay refractories consumed in the area were shipped from other States. Local resources possibly could be developed for making refractories to serve markets that currently are being supplied from outside the area. Since other industries are growing rapidly in the area, the market for refractories is expected to continue to grow--more rapidly than the national market. The Missouri refractories industry is economically important nationally. Nearly one-fourth of the clay refractories produced in the United States are made in Missouri. Moreover, Missouri produces most of the higher grade clay refractories, about 62 percent of the high-alumina refractories, and 85 percent of the superduty refractories. The competitive position of the Missouri refractories industry is strong. The national market for clay refractories and the market in the South Central United States are expected to continue to grow. The ratio of net income to the value of refractories shipped in Missouri is larger than the national average.

Jan 1, 1960

By Alfred Siegel

Mineral pigments give color, opacity, or body to paint, stucco, plaster, mortar, cement, linoleum, rubber, and similar materials. They must be finely divided, substantially insoluble, and generally inert for such uses. Inorganic pigments may be grouped somewhat arbitrarily as follows: A. Natural mineral pigments dug from the earth. 1. Those consisting mostly of iron oxides, such as hematite and limonite. 2. Those containing large amounts of clay or noncoloring matter, such as ocher, sienna, umber, and colored shales. 3. Those whose color is not due to iron oxide, such as Vandyke brown (including sap brown, an alkali extract of Vandyke brown), graphite, and terre verte. B. Synthetic pigments. 1. Those containing iron oxide as the essential coloring matter, such as "pure" reds, yellows, and blacks, and Venetian reds. 2. Those not containing iron oxide, but rather such compounds as lithopone, zinc white, titanium white, ultramarine, Prussian blue, and the like. Only groups A and B-1 are discussed here. All the pigments in those two categories, except Vandyke brown, sap brown, and some of the carbonaceous slates, contain, as their essential color constituents, one or more compounds of iron; namely, an oxide-limonite (2Fe2O3.H2O to Fe2O3.4H20), hematite (Fe2O3), or magnetite (Fe2O3.FeO). Man's first permanent coloring materials were earth pigments-the ochers, iron oxides, and various iron-stained clays. The caves occupied by prehistoric man and the arts of the ancient Chaldean, Egyptian, and Cretan civilizations bear mute witness to this and also testify to the beauty and permanence of earth colors. As the Roman era developed, earth pigments were pushed from their pre-eminent position by white lead and red lead and in the Middle Ages by zinc oxide. Today, of course, the number of acceptable pigments is very large and on a value basis the group of natural and synthetic earth pigments stands forth with $16,000,000 per year; it is surpassed by titanium, lead and zinc pigments. Of this sum,21 natural pigments supplied 31 pct of the tonnage and 16 pct of the value of the total finished pigment in 1957, the remainder representing the tonnage and value of sales of the synthetic iron oxide colors. The average value of finished natural pigments in 1958 was $80.62 per ton. The average value of manufactured pigments in the same year was $202 per ton. Of the 60,000 tons of manufactured colored pigments sold in 1958, the reds comprised 76 pct of the market and the yellows 20 pct. The reds furnished 68 pct of the value and the yellows 24 pct. Of the finished iron oxide pigments (natural and manufactured) sold in 1958, the reds dominated the market with 66 pct of the quantity and 63 pct of the value; yellows supplied 17 pct of the quantity and 20 pct of the value, and browns furnished 11 pct of the quantity and 10 pct of the value. The average value of the reds was approximately $152, and the average value of the yellows $190 per ton. The highest valued pigment in 1958, with almost 12 pct of the total tonnage and 21 pct of the value of the iron oxide pigment market, was manufactured red from calcined copperas valued at $286 per ton.

Jan 1, 1960