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James GayleY, New Pork City (communication to the Secretary*) :—The main thing that is sought after in this matter is that all purcliases shall be made by analysis. This is done already in special lines, as in the manufacture of various grades of steel in which phosphorus, silicon and sulphur are specified within narrow limits, and I quite agree with Mr. Cook that specifications, which are over-rigid in unessential particulars, should be avoided, as they defeat their own purpose because unreasonable requirements permitting no variation are practically not fulfilled, and it is impossible to specify grade

Jan 1, 1905

By Robert N. McIndoo

A good tire program must begin at the top; management must have an awareness of the tremendous potential for cost saving that tires represent. At Reserve Mining Co., tires account for 33% of the cost of maintaining its 44 tractor-trailer side-dump haulers and 22% of its 32 rear-dump trucks. In comparison, engine overhauls account for only 6% of the maintenance dollar. Doubling the present engine life would save only 3%. The open-pit mine, located near Babbitt, Minn., moves about 46 million t/y with its off highway fleet. Mine roadways total in excess of 160 km (100 miles) and about 1200 tires are in active use at any given time.

Jan 3, 1978

SEC 1 The membership of the Institute shall comprise seven classes, namely 1 Members, 2 Honorary Members, 3 Senior Members, 4 Associates, 5 Junior Members, 6 Rocky Mountain Members, 7 Junior Foreign Affiliates All shall be equally entitled to the privileges of membership, excepting that no member of any class whose residence shall be outside of the United States of America, except those residing in Mexico and Canada, shall be entitled to vote SEC 2 Members A person to be eligible for election or transfer into the class of Member must be at least 27 years of age and must have had at least six years' employment in the practice of engineering, mining, geology, metallurgy, or chemistry, during at least three years of which he must have held positions of responsibility in one or more of these fields This shall not apply to Rocky Mountain Members SEC 3 Honorary Members Each candidate for Honorary Membership must be recommended by the Committee on Honorary Memberships and must be elected by ballot at a meeting of the Board of Directors by the unanimous vote of the Directors present, provided, however, that the number of Honorary Members shall at no time exceed twenty Such election shall automatically act as a transfer of such member from any other class of membership to which he may belong SEC 4 Senior Members The Directors may, at the special request of any Member or Associate who has reached the age of seventy years and who has paid

Jan 1, 1952

By M. J. Pool, P. J. Spencer, R. V. Miner

The partial molar heat of solution of rhodiunz in liquid lin and Rh-Sn alloys has been measured as a function of rhodium concentration at 700" , 725" , 750" , and 775°K. The values at infinite dilution are very exo thermic, ranging from -29,950 to -28,260 cal per g-atom Rh at 700" and 775"K, respectively. At the solubility limit the heat of solution becomes sharply nzore exothermic and has permitted the liquidus boundary to be accurately established at each temperature. From the measurements in the two-phase region of liquid Plus RhSn, the heat of formation of RhSn,has been determined. A large increase in the heat of formation between 725" and 750°K suggests the possibility of a phase transformation in this compound. V ERY few measurements have been made of the heats of solution of transition metals in liquid tin; yet those values that are available are of great interest because of their very large exothermic nature. For example, the heat of solution at infinite dilution of palladium in tin has been measured as about -26,000 cal per g-atom (625" to 800°~),' while the heat of solution at infinite dilution of platinum is even more exothermic at -28,591 cal per g-atom (914°K).' These values are of the same order of magnitude as the heat of formation of many intermetallic compounds and as such clearly indicate that very strong bonding must exist between the solute and tin atoms in the liquid solutions. Rhodium might be expected to display similar solution characteristics in tin in view of its close electronic resemblance to palladium and platinum. Since no thermodynamic data are available for Rh-Sn alloys, rhodium was chosen as an appropriate solute for further investigation of transition-metal systems with highly exothermic heats of solution at infinite dilution. EXPERIMENTAL The heat of solution of rhodium in dilute Rh-Sn liquid solutions was measured as a functlon of rhodium concentration at 700°, 725", 750°, and 775°K. The liquid-metal solution calorimeter used in this work has been fully described elsewhere. At the start of each series of measurements, the solvent bath consisted of about 0.5 g-atoms of 99.9+ pct pure tin. To this was made a number of small rhodium additions, about 0.0005 g-atoms each, and the heat of solution was measured for each. Rhodium of 99.9+ pct purity in powder form was used in order to promote rapid dissolution in the liquid tin. The powder specimens were contained in tin foil stated to be purified (lead-free). This foil was found to have no measurable heat of solution in pure tin so the effect of any impurities could be neglected. The energy equivalent of the calorimeter was experi- mentally determined by dropping tungsten and/or tin specimens at intervals during each series of rhodium drops. The tungsten and tin used were 99.95 and 99.999+ pct pure, respectively. The only heat effect due to a tungsten drop, or a tin drop at low rhodium concentrations in the bath, is the sensible heat of the specimen. The heat content of these materials is well-established and is presented in the compilation of Hultgren et al. 4 As the rhodium concentration in the tin bath increases a small heat effect arises from the reaction: Sn (liquid, T) — & (soln, T) where T is the temperature of the tin bath. Where necessary, this heat of solution of tin was determined by Gibbs-Duhem integration, and corrections were made to the heat effect of the tin calibration specimens and the tin foil containing the rhodium specimens. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The calculated values of the heat of solution of rhodium in dilute Rh-Sn alloys as a function of composition are shown graphically in Fig. 1. The values have been corrected for the sensible heat of the specimens, initially at 273"K, and apply to the reaction:

Jan 1, 1969

By Herbert Hoover

BOTH the directors of industry and your leaders have made great progress toward a new and common . ground in economic conceptions, which, I am confident, has had a profound effect upon our economic progress during the last few years. That is the conception that industry must be constantly renovated by scientific research and invention; that labor welcomes those labor-saving devices; that labor gives its full and unrestricted effort to reduce costs by the use of these machines and methods; that the savings from these reduced costs shall be shared among labor, employer and the consumer.

Jan 1, 1930

By FRANK RIEBERS

IN DISCUSSING the selection of a geophysical method, much of what the writer will say is applicable to any of the various methods and to their use in prospecting, whether for oil or for other minerals. Specifically, the writer's subject is the problem, particularly pressing on the Pacific Coast, of checking the rising cost of the discovery of new fields by the proper employment of geophysical methods. Table I was prepared from statistics published by the California State Milling Bureau. The writer selected five of the largest a:ld most active companies operating in California, segregated the number of wild-

Jan 1, 1930

By William Loblowitz

A simplified system of flotation testing has been developed recently at the Bureau of Mineral Research of Rutgers University. The technique involves the known principle of skin flotation and can be used with minute quantities of sample and reagents in a beaker. A vessel containing the conditioned sample with added water and flotation reagents is held inclined and rotated slowly. Water-repellent particles come in contact with air and float on the surface of the liquid, while wettable particles are submerged. The float is poured off and filtered whereas the nonfloat remains in the beaker. The filtrate may be returned to repeat the process. This procedure can be made quantitative. Separations are obtained and are remarkably complete and repeatable. The effect of different reagents, optimum quantities, pH and other variables can be determined in a fraction of the time required for conventional testing. However, the method gives no information on the effect of frothers and the quality of froth to be expected in a cell, and it is not practical for particles finer than 200-mesh. Unlike other preliminary tests, separate float and nonfloat products are obtained, and their contents can be determined quantitatively by chemical analysis or grain counts. After the optimum reagent combination has been determined, the effect of fines and frothing may be verified in the conventional flotation cell. On the other hand, agglomeration-tabling can be directly duplicated from beaker tests. Procedure: Five to ten grams of sample are weighed into a 100-ml beaker. Flotation reagents and a small initial quantity of water are stirred together; additional water is then added to produce the proper water-solids ratio. The beaker is then tilted to 45" and rotated slowly. After three to five rotations, liquid and float are poured off and filtered; the filtrate may be recycled until the separation is completed. One test generally requires less than 10 min. Reagent concentration and pH remain quite constant because of the recycling of the filtrate. Two to four tests may be made simultaneously, and the effect of varied conditions may be observed by comparison. Considerable time is saved in preparation and handling since small quantities of sample suffice for a series of systematic tests. Repeatability One test was repeated four times under constant conditions. The sample used was a quartz sand containing approximately 24 pct feldspar and some clay aggregates. The +28-mesh grains had been screened out, and most of those finer than 100-mesh had been removed by hydraulic classification. The results are presented in Table I. For comparison, 500 g of the sample were separated by agglomeration-tabling using the same reagent combination and quantities as given in Table I. The weight percent float was 18.3 pct, composed almost entirely of feldspar and with only traces of quartz. Most of the remaining feldspar was recovered in a middling product with 2.2 pct by weight.

Jan 1, 1952

By G. E. Klinzing, S. H. Chiang, R. M. Kakwani

Filtration and dewatering results of -500 µm (-32 mesh) Pittsburgh seam coal are discussed with reference to the microscopic structure parameters, i.e., particle segregation in the cake and particle and pore size distributions at different layers. At low solid concentration of 0.33 kg coal/kg water, a non-uniform cake structure is observed where particle and pore sizes increase from the top to bottom layers in the filter cake. An increase in the solid concentration in slurry produces more uniform cake structure and higher filtration and dewatering rates. Air bubble entrapment in the coal filter cakes is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By AIME AIME

A PAPER prepared by James A. Adams, development engineer of the fitline & Smelter Supply Co., and presented at the last Annual Meeting of the A.I.M.E. in New York City, de- scribed a new automatic pulp density controller which has had a most favorable reception. Manual control has until now been the universal practice in spite of its shortcomings; samples of pulp for density determination were often improperly taken, and only at the operator's convenience, so that the trend in density changes was frequently missed, and the grinding circuit al- lowed to operate under something less than the most efficient conditions.

Jan 1, 1940

By Shiou-Chuan Sun, R. F. Wesner, J. D. Morgan

0. C. Ralston and F. Fraas—Dr. Sun and associates have presented an interesting paper not all of which is comprehended by us. The data assembled measure the deflections of particles in an electrostatic field as a function of a number of independent variables and some dependent variables that are not sharply differentiated. These data are all based on a Johnson type machine of definite, well-described geometry, something not often done in electrostatic separation literature. One new fact brought out by this technique is the effect of coal dust on admixed pyrite and quartz. The effects are opposite in character, as should be expected and we do not agree with the authors that these effects are negligible. Fraas' also used a multiple cell "distribution analyzer" and gives in fig. 5 of his paper a straight line plot with no humps or curves. This is not necessarily at variance with Sun's results because Fraas used a larger gap between electrodes and had no evidence of particles adhering to or dropping off the charged electrode. The section of Sun's paper on effect of surface conductivity contains a speculation that the dielectric constant "represents more or less the electrical conductance of the bulk body instead of the surface of the mineral particles." A simple picture of the meaning of the dielectric constant is that it is the specific inductive capacity of a dielectric when used as the dielectric between the plates of a condenser. It is at once evident that the above speculation confuses capacity with conductance—two definitely independent variables. We ask the authors to state in what group or subdivision their garnet belongs; what method and units were used in calculating the data of col. A, table I and their meaning; what was the temperature of the carrier roll and, finally, has any effort been made to investigate the effects of particle shape on distribution in the electrostatic field? S. B. Hudson—I have read this article with great interest. We have been engaged in research work on the principles of electrostatic separation in this laboratory for some time now, and our findings agree with those of the authors in many respects. The article shows evidence of careful and valuable research in the field of electrostatic separation. A "distribution analyser," very similar to that described in an earlier article by one of the authors," was incorporated in an inclined plate-type electrostatic separator designed and built in the Melbourne University laboratory in 1948 for investigation purposes.22 The actual splitting edges were machined from y! in. per-spex, and the paper hoppers were supported on linen thread immediately below the perspex dividers. These dividers fitted into machined slots in a framework to give accurate Yz-in. spacings. The hoppers (staggered) fed directly into a rack of test tubes, which is supported on a vertical pantograph arrangement. The rack was positioned with guides on the horizontal pantograph stand, and this ensured positive alignment when replacing the rack after making weighings. In later work, when much heavier feed rates were used, of the order of 30 to 40 Ib per in. per hr a rack fitted with rectangular metal containers and similarly aligned was used. Some work was done here on comparing the distributions of minerals when passed separately and when passed as a mixture, and it was found that there was quite an appreciable difference in the two results.= However, in our separator the particles do not pass down the plate in a single layer, and this difference is probably caused by collisions of one mineral particles with the other mineral particles. In most of the investigational work here, the change of the center point of the distribution is measured to establish the effect of a variable, such as voltage. Two minerals (zircon and rutile) have been studied rather exhaustively, and it was found that their distributions are very nearly normal. Owing to the sharpness of the distribution curves, the usual method of obtaining the mean or median was inaccurate, and was not used; instead the mean (also the median), calculated on the assumption of a normal distribution, was used to locate the center point of each distribution and proved satisfactory. The effect of polarity becomes very apparent in the plate-type separator where frictional charges play a very important part when using highly resistive minerals such as zircon. With rutile, a comparatively conductive mineral, polarity of the electrode has little effect. On the other hand, the magnitude of the voltage has a far greater effect on conductive than on resistive minerals. Shiou-Chuan Sun (authors' reply)—Thanks are extended to Drs. Ralston and Fraas for their keen interest in this paper. Their questions concerning coal dust,

Jan 1, 1951

By Shiou-Chuan Sun, R. F. Wesner, J. D. Morgan

0. C. Ralston and F. Fraas—Dr. Sun and associates have presented an interesting paper not all of which is comprehended by us. The data assembled measure the deflections of particles in an electrostatic field as a function of a number of independent variables and some dependent variables that are not sharply differentiated. These data are all based on a Johnson type machine of definite, well-described geometry, something not often done in electrostatic separation literature. One new fact brought out by this technique is the effect of coal dust on admixed pyrite and quartz. The effects are opposite in character, as should be expected and we do not agree with the authors that these effects are negligible. Fraas' also used a multiple cell "distribution analyzer" and gives in fig. 5 of his paper a straight line plot with no humps or curves. This is not necessarily at variance with Sun's results because Fraas used a larger gap between electrodes and had no evidence of particles adhering to or dropping off the charged electrode. The section of Sun's paper on effect of surface conductivity contains a speculation that the dielectric constant "represents more or less the electrical conductance of the bulk body instead of the surface of the mineral particles." A simple picture of the meaning of the dielectric constant is that it is the specific inductive capacity of a dielectric when used as the dielectric between the plates of a condenser. It is at once evident that the above speculation confuses capacity with conductance—two definitely independent variables. We ask the authors to state in what group or subdivision their garnet belongs; what method and units were used in calculating the data of col. A, table I and their meaning; what was the temperature of the carrier roll and, finally, has any effort been made to investigate the effects of particle shape on distribution in the electrostatic field? S. B. Hudson—I have read this article with great interest. We have been engaged in research work on the principles of electrostatic separation in this laboratory for some time now, and our findings agree with those of the authors in many respects. The article shows evidence of careful and valuable research in the field of electrostatic separation. A "distribution analyser," very similar to that described in an earlier article by one of the authors," was incorporated in an inclined plate-type electrostatic separator designed and built in the Melbourne University laboratory in 1948 for investigation purposes.22 The actual splitting edges were machined from y! in. per-spex, and the paper hoppers were supported on linen thread immediately below the perspex dividers. These dividers fitted into machined slots in a framework to give accurate Yz-in. spacings. The hoppers (staggered) fed directly into a rack of test tubes, which is supported on a vertical pantograph arrangement. The rack was positioned with guides on the horizontal pantograph stand, and this ensured positive alignment when replacing the rack after making weighings. In later work, when much heavier feed rates were used, of the order of 30 to 40 Ib per in. per hr a rack fitted with rectangular metal containers and similarly aligned was used. Some work was done here on comparing the distributions of minerals when passed separately and when passed as a mixture, and it was found that there was quite an appreciable difference in the two results.= However, in our separator the particles do not pass down the plate in a single layer, and this difference is probably caused by collisions of one mineral particles with the other mineral particles. In most of the investigational work here, the change of the center point of the distribution is measured to establish the effect of a variable, such as voltage. Two minerals (zircon and rutile) have been studied rather exhaustively, and it was found that their distributions are very nearly normal. Owing to the sharpness of the distribution curves, the usual method of obtaining the mean or median was inaccurate, and was not used; instead the mean (also the median), calculated on the assumption of a normal distribution, was used to locate the center point of each distribution and proved satisfactory. The effect of polarity becomes very apparent in the plate-type separator where frictional charges play a very important part when using highly resistive minerals such as zircon. With rutile, a comparatively conductive mineral, polarity of the electrode has little effect. On the other hand, the magnitude of the voltage has a far greater effect on conductive than on resistive minerals. Shiou-Chuan Sun (authors' reply)—Thanks are extended to Drs. Ralston and Fraas for their keen interest in this paper. Their questions concerning coal dust,

Jan 1, 1951

By James Norman

SPODUMENE is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodu-mene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components.1 The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manga-nese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li20 on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston, ? the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2,3 The methods described in the second publication' did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. Q. Payne

The art of crushing ores and other materials by means of rolls is a comparatively recent one. While the first record of rolls using iron crushing-surfaces dates hack to the year 1806, when they were employed in Cornwall, their principal developmcnt has taken place during the past 30 years. To Stephen R. Erom belongs the credit of the pioneer in introducing the belted high-speed roll, which has had its origin and a marked development in this country. His notable contrib'ution to the art was in the use of a single bed-plate or frame supporting the roll-shafts, and to which levers holding the mova, ble roll-bearings were pivoted. He also made use of steel tension-rods to support the crushing-strains, and of hammered-steel tires for the crushing-surfaces. These changes brought the design of crushing-rolls to a high level. Following closely thereon, about 1885, W. R. Eckart conceived the idea of the swivel or ball-and-socket support for the roll-shaft bearings. This is an excellent mechanical conception, especially for bearings held against a spring pressure, and while it may not be necessary for all types of rolls, yet it has been quite generally adopted by other roll-designers, and illustrates the refinement which roll-construction has now reached. Other engineers, as, for example, Argall, Vezin, Roger, and Sturtevant, to mention only a few among many, have also given the closest attention to the various details of rolls, such as the frame, springe, bearings, and shafts, and have developed many novel and original designs. It has remained, however, for the boldness and originality of Mr. Edison to extend the field of crushing-rolls in two new directions, and to cause them to ex-

Jan 1, 1913

Discussion of the paper of G. K. Burgess and J. J. Crowe, presented at the New York Meeting, October, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 82, October, 1913, pp. 2537 to 2591. HENRY M. Howe, New York, N. Y. :-I think we can hardly rate the importance of the entry of the Bureau of Standards into our field. There is no body in the world that is better fitted to undertake this work than that Bureau, and it is work which really calls for the aid of some national organization. The skill and care with which this work has been done speaks for itself. It is very striking that within a very few months the distinguished English investigator, Professor Carpenter, of whom I spoke before, thought that he had disproved the existence of beta iron by proving that the A2 retardation which Professor Burgess has now demonstrated did not occur. Dr. Burgess's demonstration of the existence of. this retardation makes the existence of beta iron very probable, in my opinion. Osmond used to call beta iron " decipuum." You knew of its existence as you know of the existence of certain planets, only by the perturbation which it caused. Certain phenomena could not be explained, except by assuming the existence of a third allotropic form, beta iron. The evidence that you got was always evasive and susceptible of other explanations, except that which we have to-day, which it seems to me is not capable of other explanation. Professor Carpenter proceeded in the same way that Dr. Burgess has, by taking the heating and cooling curves of exceedingly pure iron, and thought that he had shown that there was no thermal change, no absorption or evolution of heat at the supposed A2 point, and hence that the A2 point did not exist. This he did by a piece of reasoning which I think seems to most of us rather surprising. That is to say, if of ten witnesses, three have seen a thing and seven have not, the evidence of the seven who have not is set aside, and that of the three who have seen stands. In Dr. Carpenter's own experiments under certain conditions he found the A2 change, the heat evolution., under certain others he did not. That is like the three witnesses who saw and the seven who did not see. You can arrange your test so that this change will not become visible or so that it is masked. But though an existent change can be masked a non-existent one cannot be shown. So that the reasoning seemed to me wholly fallacious.

Jan 12, 1913

By M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey, P. S. Jacobsen

Two growing problems confront the preparation engineer—still further restrictions on stream pollution and a greater proportion of fine coal as more and more continuous miners come into use. The de-watering screens, centrifuges, and settling ponds that sufficed a few years ago must often be supplemented by more effective equipment, and in some instances the finest solids are now being recovered by vacuum filtration, once considered too costly in many coal washeries. Unfortunately not all slurries can be readily filtered. Some are virtually unfilter-able, and others do not permit the high cake rates needed to hold costs within reason. Often, however, these difficult slurries can be rendered filterable by flocculation. Starch and lime have long increased settling rate in thickeners and can also aid filtration. More recently there have been other flocculants, primarily synthetic polymers or gums. Reports of their great effectiveness prompted the U. S. Bureau of Mines to test their use in filtration as part of its program on recovering and cleaning fine coal. The object of the present work was to compare some of the newer flocculants with starch and lime and to test the reaction of different types of slurries to flocculation. Three natural slurries, three synthetic coal-clay mixtures, and five flocculants were tested, all with a laboratory filter leaf. Slurries and Flocculants Tested: First of the slurries was the thickener feed from the washed coal section of the Michel colliery of Crow's Nest Pass Co. Ltd., Michel, B.C. As shown by the screen and ash analyses in Table I, practically all this slurry was finer than 28 mesh, and about half the solids were finer than 200. Substantially all material coarser than 200 mesh was clean coal, but the ash content of 20.7 pct in the finest size indicates a moderate amount of impurity. This coal is medium-volatile bituminous in rank. Slurry was also obtained from the Black Diamond washery of Palmer Coking Coal Co., King County, Wash. This underflow of a 1/2-mm vibrating slurry screen is a waste product discharged to a settling pond. As shown by the data in Table I it contained about 20 pct material finer than 200 mesh, which analyzed 77.5 pct ash, indicating a high proportion of clay. The coarser sizes were also high in ash content because of the presence of bone and shale. Black Diamond coal is on the dividing line between bituminous and subbituminous rank. The third slurry, from the washery of Roslyn-Cascade Coal Co. in Kittitas County, Wash., was the underflow of a battery of 8-in. cyclones that is wasted with the coarser refuse from the plant. In both size and ash content this slurry was similar to the Black Diamond, but since it was a cyclone-underflow product, the fraction finer than 200 mesh undoubtedly contained a much smaller proportion of finely divided clay than was present in the Black Diamond slurry. The Roslyn-Cascade coal is high-volatile A bituminous in rank. Initially the slurry samples were stored in the laboratory at a concentration of 40 pct solids. A progressive change in filtration and flocculation characteristics during storage was noted, however, presumably because of progressive disintegration of the clay. After careful testing demonstrated that the slurry solids could be dried and then repulped without changing the original filtration characteristics, this procedure was adopted. The flocculants used were Separan 2610, Kylo 27, Jaguar MD-A, Idaho potato starch, and lime. The lime was used as a slurry, the Separan 2610 as a 0.10 pct aqueous solution, and the other flocculants as 0.50 pct aqueous solutions. The starch was causti-cized with sodium hydroxide before use. As some of the flocculants are reported to deteriorate on storage, new batches of flocculants were prepared every two days. Test Procedure: Fig. 1 diagrams the filter leaf apparatus employed. This consists of a test leaf having an effective area of 0.10 sq ft., a 60°, 8 1/2-in. diam cone to hold the slurry sample, a variable-speed electric stirrer, vacuum gage, bleed line for controlling vacuum, filtrate flask, moisture trap, and vacuum pump. Two filter cloths were selected—Saran SA 603, a monofilament, coarse-weave cloth, and polyethylene PO-801 HF, a monofilament, fine-weave cloth. The Saran was selected to provide maximum cake rate without regard to clarity of filtrate and the polyethylene to provide the best quality of filtrate without regard to cake rate. The test charge for the filtering vessel consisted of 800 g of solids (previously soaked for 24 hr) and

Jan 1, 1960

By G. J. Ballmer

Drilling and blasting 12-in. blastholes started about the middle of 1946 and has worked out so well that about one half of the blasting, formerly done with 9-in. holes, is now done with 12-in. holes. In most of this work the harder benches were chosen for the 12-in. size because these were the areas where the greatest difficulty was encountered in thorough fragmentation. At the start of this experimental work a 42-T Bucyrus- Erie churn drill was available whereas all other blasthole drilling was being done with 29-T rigs. The large drill was first equipped with a standard 9-in. string of tools but it could not drill quite as fast as the 29-T drills. How- ever, when the weight of the string was increased about 700 lb, or to a total weight of about 3500 lb, it was found that the 42-T exceeded the drilling speed of the 29-T by about 25 per cent. When a 12-in. bit was substituted for the 9-in. bit the 42-T rig again dropped behind the drill- ing rate of the 29-T rigs. At this stage of the experiment the 42-T was using a 12-in. bit with detachable points and the total weight of the string of tools was about 3800 lb. It took longer to change the drill points than it did the regulation bit and this accounted for some of the slower drilling rate. When a heavier stem and standard construction 12-in. bits were used it was found that the 42-T could drill a 12-in. hole slightly faster than a 29-T could drill a 9-in. hole even in the hardest rock in the pit.

Jan 1, 1949

By Donald W. Scott

GENERALLY speaking, there is nothing very difficult about taking good micrographs of photogenic thin sections or grains with a petrographic micro-scopecamera setup. However, sometimes it is desired to show some detail that cannot be illustrated satisfactorily by the usual micrographs taken with parallel polarized light, with crossed nicols, or even with two micrographs. A simple procedure giving good results has been used at Battelle Memorial Institute for subjects falling into this classification, and it is believed to be of interest, especially to research people who must sell a point to executives through the medium of well-illustrated reports. The following problem illustrates a typical application: It is desired to photograph a thin section of an iron ore to illustrate the character and association of the iron oxides and the individual quartz crystals. A magnification of 75 dia. is acceptable. A micrograph of the field in question (Fig. I[a]) was taken with parallel polarized light. Due precaution was taken to provide critical illumination, correct exposure, a sharp focus, a good darkroom technique, and other essential conditions. It illustrates correctly the iron oxides, but it fails to show the individual quartz crystals. A micrograph of the identical field (Fig. I[b]) was taken under the same precise conditions, but with crossed nicols. It gives a better idea of the character of the individual quartz crystals but is likely to be misinterpreted unless accompanied by a lengthy descriptive note. This micrograph suggests that the centrally located, large black area is composed entirely of iron oxides. That this is an incorrect interpretation is evident by reexamining the micrograph of Fig. I[a]. The correct interpretation is that the dark area contains quartz crystals oriented with their optical directions parallel to, or nearly parallel to, the vibration directions of the polarizer and analyzer of the microscope. Thus, the executive, or anyone who had not done the work personally, would get no more than a fair interpretation, even if two micrographs were included; and in the interests of both brevity and clarity, one micrograph usually is more desirable. Exactly how many quartz crystals occur in this region cannot be told from the two micrographs, and a printing of the two negatives in register would likewise not show the detail desired. Thus, it is evident that some subjects cannot be satisfactorily illustrated by the usual procedures. In photographing Fig. is the light was subdued and, during the entire exposure of 75 sec., the analyzer nicol was rotated uniformly in its mounting from a crossed position to 45° uncrossed position to introduce the desired amount of contrast in the various individual quartz crystals. The true reproduction of the character and association of the iron oxides, and the additional structure and detail in the quartz areas, is apparent. It might be

Jan 1, 1946

By H. L. Washburn, G. L. Judy

DURING recent years thermal drying of fine coal has increased at a tremendous rate, but very little discussion of the several excellent units has found its way into print. This is particularly true for operating and maintenance costs, and the operator who is faced with his first fine coal drying installation must depend chiefly on hearsay when trying to determine what his drying costs will be. This article presents the maintenance and operating costs for the seven drying units now installed in preparation plants of Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co. and lists other cost information that should be obtained before any particular drying unit is selected. Plant Description: The fine coal drying section of Plant A consists of four Flash driers operating on two furnaces equipped with spreader stokers. Plant B has one Flash drier operating (together with a screen-type coarse coal drier) on one furnace equipped with a spreader stoker. Plant C has two Cascade-type driers operating on a single furnace with a spreader stoker. Plant Costs: Tables I, 11, and III present the cost of operating these units as reported by the individ- ual plants. As can be seen, the labor rates vary, depending on the amount of overtime paid and the time interval the cost figures cover. There is considerable variation in thermal units used and in the value given to the thermal units at the particular mine. There is some difference in power costs at a given location and, finally, the power costs of conveyors leading to the drying plants were included in some cases. Maintenance supply costs are simply a tabulation of the cost of all supplies used on the driers, furnaces, and stokers. Depreciation is not included, and the tables omit items such as supervision, plant cleanup, oiling, general maintenance, taxes, and insurance. These tables in themselves do not offer a true comparison of costs. This information must be reduced to some common basis. But what is this common basis to be? A mine operator must calculate his overall mine and preparation plant costs in terms of tons of clean coal sold. Unit costs on pieces of equipment within a given plant are correctly calculated on the same basis. However, when unit costs are compared between one plant and another, some thought must be given to unit design. This reasoning is similar to the old argument concerning i solid bowl vs basket-type centrifuges—the units themselves are not directly comparable without their supporting equipment. So it is with thermal driers. Except in rare cases of low entering moisture i content, driers are sized on the basis of water that must be evaporated, while the wear each unit gets de-

Jan 1, 1958

By K. C. Sclater, B. R. Stephenson

Recent progress in oil-recovery methods has brought into prominence gas-energy relations in oil sands. The greater the effort made to utilize this gas-energy relationship to the best advantage in oil recovery, the greater becomes the need for more precise information concerning physical conditions as they actually exist in an oil well. The intelligent use of gas-oil ratios when considering production efficiency has been the subject of much recent discussion. It has been stressed that the pressure as well as the volume of gas must be known when considering the efficiency of a producing well on an energy basis. When methods of production are compared on an energy basis it implies a knowledge of pressure, temperature and physical properties of the fluids at the bottom of the well. In questions concerning gas-lift and the pressure control of wells usually there is a wide variance of opinion among engineers when energy relations come up for discussion. Perhaps this difference f opinion can be traced to erroneous assumptions made with regard to the physical conditions existing within the well. If erroneous assumptions are made it follows that computations based on these assumptions will give results which also will be in error. That erroneous assumptions are made is not to be wondered at because when handling a fluid composed of gas and oil, we are dealing with a complexity of hydrocarbon components each varying to some degree in physical and chemical properties. This means that the physical state of the gas and oil will depend not only on temperature and pressure but that it will be influenced also by the relative amounts of the various hydrocarbon components present. If water is present the problem becomes still more complicated. From these considerations alone it would appear that we can well afford to give some thought to devising more positive methods or means for obtaining data on physical conditions within the well rather than depend entirely on computations from casinghead data. If these data

Jan 1, 1929

By R. A. Liddle

Intermitt'en'I'ly during the past 10 years showings of oil and gas in tests drilled in the eastern part of Texas have stimulated the search for production. Tests on the flanks of the long-known salt domes, principally Keechi and Butler, have found oil in small quantity in the Woodbine formation of the basal part of the Upper Cretacrous. In the central part of Cherokee County, Colliton et all in 1926, in their Clapp No. 2 found a good showing of 37" B6. oil at about 3500 ft. Several wells were drilled in 1926 and 1927 as a result of this showing. On Jan. 22, 1927, Humble Oil & Refining Co. wildcatting on Carey Lake salt dome, obtained commercial production in its Clark No. 1. This inaugurated intensive exploration both for salt domes and for other types of structure. As a result several new domes and a few promising structures of other types have been discovered. Development in East Texas durinG 1927 Carey Lake Dome Location.—On the Neches River in Anderson and Cherokree counties, 10 miles west of Jacksonville, Cherokec (lounty. (Fig. 1.) date of Discovery.—During 1925 geologisls of the Humble Oil & Refining Co. working in the Neches River valley discovered slight surface fracturexs, cratic dips, and slickensided clays and sands in green-sands of the Mount Selman formation north of Carey Lake. A number of core tests were drilled by the Humble Oil & Refining C'o. during 1925 and 1926, some more than 1500 ft. deep, to check their surface obsuvations of faulting, and the possibilities of a salt dome. On May 16, 1927, solid rock salt was reached at 2142ft. in the first deep test on the prospect. Surfacc Indications.—Surface indications of the Carey Lake dome, though not as evident as manifestations at the previously known domes of Palestine, Keechi, Butler, Grand Saline, Steen and Brooks, are more noticeable than on any of the domes discovered in 1927. F. E. Poulsen, of the Pure Oil Co., who examined the area before the deep tests were drilled, noted the alignment of erratic surface dips which suggested faulting, especially in conjunction with slickensiding, and the local deflec-

Jan 1, 1928