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By Jack I. Paige

The Bureau of Mines conducted studies to provide data on the room temperature mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy cast in waterglass-bonded zircon sand and to determine the effect of hot iso-static pressing (HIP) on these properties. Data on the cast and annealed Ti-6Al-4V alloy were compared with published data for forged and investment-cast Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The average Charpy V-notch impact strength compared favorably with the typical values of 17 ft?lbf for wrought material and 19.2 ft?lbf for investment-cast material. The room temperature mechanical proper-ties of cast and annealed material compared favorably with published values for investment-cast Ti-6Al-4V alloy and exceeded the specifications for (1) titanium and titanium alloy castings, grade C-5 according to ASTM B367-69, and (2) titanium alloy bars and forgings as specified in AMS4928H, except for the AMS4928H minimum requirement for reduction in area (25 pct). The minimum requirements are: tensile strength, 130 ksi; yield strength, 120 ksi (0.2 pct); and elongation, 6 pct. None of the specimens tested met the AMS4928H minimum requirement for reduction in area. The HIP process healed the internal casting porosity in the test specimens, but the fatigue strength was not significantly improved. The fatigue properties of both the cast and cast plus hot isostatically pressed castings were significantly lower than those of wrought products.

Jan 1, 1984

Underground coal mine tracked vehicles have been studied to determine the state of the art and how brakes might be added to the coal haulage cars. Specific areas of interest are: brake sys terns, couplers, car trucks and car handling procedures. Problems related to adding brakes to the haulage cars appear to be: the limited amount of room to mount the brakes on the cars, brake line connection between rotary dump cars, achieving desirable braking characteristics without over complicating the system and keeping the installation cost to a reasonable figure. This document combines the information contained in the first issue of the "State-of -the-Art of Underground Coal Mine Tracked Vehicle Brake Systems," BRL Report No. 6080, with that contained in a subsequent monthly report.

Jan 1, 1973

By George S. Rice

The prevention of coal-mine explosions has been one of the chief purposes of the Bureau of Mines. In facti the first Federal appropriation relating to mining methods, in 1908, authorized the investigation of the causes of mine explosions and the possible methods of preventing them. When that investigation started the mining industry had not determined the real causes of a succession of terrible coal-mine explosions in various countries, culminating in the great disasters at CoulTièl'es, France, and Monongah, W. Va. Coal dust as an agent of widespread explosions had been under suspicion, and watering to allay the dust was recommended by some mining engineers but the watering of coal-mine dust was adopted in comparatively few mines of the United States and Great Britain, and had not been introduced widely in any country except Germany. Rock dusting, another method of preventing explosions of coal dust, was early tested with success by the Bureau of Mines in its fist gallery at Pittsburgh and, beginnig in 1911, at the experimental mine, Bruceton, Pa. Several of the fist publications i of the bureau suggested that rock dust be used in gaseous or dusty bituminous mines, and in 1915 Technical Paper 842 strongly recommended it. Since that time additional tests in the experimental mine have fully confied this :ft judgment.

Jan 1, 1924

By E. M. SEELEY, F. S. LOTT

The total capacity of the natural-gasoline industry to produce light hydrocarbon products increased to 21,322,000 gallons ( 507,670 barrels ) daily on January 1 , 1948 , from 17,928,000 gallons ( 426,860 barrels ) daily on January 1 , 1946. Expansion of the industry in the first two post -war years , 1946 end 1947 , thus averaged 9 percent annually , compared with 6 percent annually in the last two war years , 1944 and 1945 . The number of cycle plants increased only from 37 to 39 in the years 1946 and 1947 , and total capacity of these plants gained 21 percent to 5,857,000 gallons de ily on January 1 , 1948 , represent ing 27.5 percent of the total capacity of the industry , compared with 27.0 percent on January 1 , 1946. All other plants decreased in number in the two-year period from 589 to 510 on January 1 , 1948 , but their total daily capacity increased 18 percent to 15,465,000 gallons . The daily capacity of the average plant in the industry was enlarged from 28,600 gallons on January 1 , 1946 , to 38,800 gallons on January 1 , 1948 , continuing the long -established trend to producing units of greater size and efficiency . The average cycle plant capacity increased from 131,000 gallons daily to 150,200 gallons daily on the same dates as the average capacity of all other natural -gasoline plants increased from 22,200 gallons to 30,300 gallons . Owing to the elimination of small , obsolescent plants in Illinois , Oklahoma , and Pennsylvania , these States experienced the greatest reductions in numbers of plants in 1946 and 1947. In Oklahoma and Texas , several consolidations of two or more plants into a single operating unit were reported . Louisiana and Mississippi were the only States in which the number of plants increased , but daily capacity to produce light products was larger in eleven States on January 1 , 1948, than two years earlier . Added facilities in California and Texas accounted for 41 and 36 percent , respectively, of the national gain in capacity .

Sep 1, 1948

By H. W. Brandt

A field test was designed to inject a specially formulated two compound epoxy resin into the roof rock ahead of a working face to cement fractures and formation interfaces at the Westmoreland Coal Co., Winding Gulf Div., Eccles No. 5 Mine, Eccles, West Virginia. Five 30 foot long X 2 inch diameter, hold were drilled at an angle of 15° above the plane of roof line front the face of a working entry. The epoxy resin compounds were pumped through a proportioning unit and mixed in-line before being discharged into the drill hole under treatment it injection pressures up to a maximum of 450 psig. When the coal face was advanced an anomalous failure of the roof rock occurred in the treated section. Further testing was suspended until the cause of the failure could he determined. The polymers were tested, under confined conditions, in 2 inch pipe columns. Extreme temperature and pressure (up to 2400 psig) rises were recorded as they cured, It was concluded that this pressure source fractured the rock and caused the roof failure. The entire program was terminated after it was determined that the heat rise and resultant high pressures could not he controlled chemically or mechanically.

Jan 1, 1978

By Fred W. Snow

This paper describing the mining practices at the Magma mine, Superior, Ariz., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining prac¬tices, methods, and costs in the various mining districts in the United States. At present (1929) practically all the mineral production in the Superior district is from the Magma mine of the Magma Cooper Co. The ore is mined for its copper but contains associated silver and gold. Both direct smelting ore and ore of concentrating grade are produced. The mining methods now in use at the Magma mine were adopted or developed as knowledge was gained of the physical condition of the ore bodies and the inclosing formations; the wall rock is soft and crushed and the ore is relatively hard. In general, existing methods have been adapted to fit local conditions, but some of the mining practices used were originated at this mine. Most of the ore is mined by a combination of rill stopes and pillar stopes. The pillars are extracted by underhand mining.

Jan 1, 1929

By Jerry J. Gray

Transportation charges for mineral commodity movements in western Oregon and western Washington were determined mainly by a stratified random sample canvass of producers. Total 1965 mineral production value for this area was $53.3 million; the cost or charge to move this production from the mine to the consumer or to the point of consumption was determined to be an additional $38.7 million. Thirty seven companies were contacted as a sample out of a total population of 349; the statistically expanded sample production value deviated 3.6 percent from that obtained by the Bureau's annual canvass. The agreement between the sample results and the canvass totals demonstrated the effectiveness of the sampling method for obtaining data with a predesigned level of accuracy. For comparison, the north-central Idaho and western Montana area was studied, A random sample experiment was designed, but because of the dominance of a few major companies, a random sample technique would have required more visits to producers than if only the larger firms were contacted. Eighty-four percent of the 1966 mineral value ($198.6 million) was accounted for by interviewing 27 firms out of a total population of 199. Total transportation costs or charges for the area were $26.7 million. The significant difference observed between the relationship of minerals production value and transport charges between the two areas investigated can be attributed to the difference in the minerals produced. The western Oregon and western Washington region is a nonmetals-producing area as opposed to the predominance of metals production in the Idaho-Montana region.

Jan 1, 1968

By J. G. Kirby, F. S. LOTT

The mmber of petroleum refineries in the United States decreased during 1949 from 375 to 367 while the total crude-oil charging capacity of refineries continued to increase. A gain in the through-put capacity of 257,305 barrels daily raised the total to a new high level 6,696,300 as of January 1, 1950. The capacity of the average refinery to process crude-oil increased during 1949 from 17,171 barrels daily to 18,246. The four coastal refinery districts accounted for 178,900 barrels or 70 percent of the total capacity increase and the Illinois-Indiana- Kentucky district 57,950 barrels, or 23 percent. Slight declines in capacity were reported in the Texas Inland and the Arkansas-Louisiana Inland districts. The capacity building on January 1, 1950, 145,600 barrels daily, was less than half the amount under construction a year earlier. Most of the new construction involved enlargement of existing refineries and was confined to the East Coast and Indiana-Illinois-Kentucky districts. Two new refineries, however, were under construction, one in Oklahoma and the other in Texas. The shut-down capacity increased for the first time since 1946, and the 473,302 barrels daily reported on January 1, 1950, was the largest recorded since January 1, 1938. The only refining district showing a decline in the shut-down capacity was the Appalachian No. 2 district. The largest increases were reported in the Texas Gulf, Indiana-Illinois- Kentucky, California, and East Coast districts. The operating ratio of the petroleum refining industry, as indicated by dividing the January 1950 runs to stills of 5,483,000 barrels daily by the total installed capacity January 1, 1950, was 81.9 percent, compared with a ratio of 87.8 percent at the beginning of 1949.

Aug 1, 1950

By Richard B. Moore

This bulletin presents a summary of available information regarding the sources of uranium, radium, and vanadium, the methods used in treating the ores, and the uses of the finished products. In particular the paper describes the ores found in the United States, giving especial attention to those characteristics of the ores and the conditions of their occurrence that affect mining and treatment. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. In the preparation of this bulletin a number of persons rendered assistance by furnishing information and by making it possible for us to visit the carnotite deposits in western Colorado and eastern Utah at a time of the year when without this assistance it would have been difficult to obtain satisfactory results. We desire to express our thanks to the following persons: Henry Hall, W. L. Cummings, T. V. Curran, K. D. Hequembourg, David Taylor, H. C. Brown, Forbes Rickard, George W. Alsdorf, Dr. Herman Fleck, Orr J. Adams, C. S. Cherrington, Newt. Stewart, O. B. Willmarth, Angus Cameron, George A. Head, and Lorimer Bros.

Jan 1, 1913

By Robert S. Warfield

Eight samples of high-volatile bituminous coal, each large enough for a study of its coking properties by the Bureau of Mines, were obtained from a location along the Kukpowruk River, Arctic Northwestern Alaska. Bench scale and pilot plant carbonization studies with several patterns of coal blending were conducted. The data from these tests were compared to data from similar tests on a coking blend used by the Kaiser Steel Corporation at Fontana, Calif. The majority of the samples representing the 20-foot seam was found to have significant coking properties, and produced coke approaching metallurgical quality when blended with selected coking coals. Although oxidation effects were evident in the samples representing upper portions of the seam, it appears that the whole seam could be used.

Jan 1, 1966

By R. I. C. Manning

The Old Dominion Co, at Globe, Ariz., like the: Phelps Dodge Corporation with which it is closely allied, considers safety a major operating problem. Safety is fostered by this company in consideration of both the humanitarian and economic aspects; the officials, take pride in promoting the welfare of employees, and the management has found that the safest way is the most eco¬nomical and that unless an organization is operated economically it can not continue to exist successfully. In planning and operating any safety, organization, terry things must be taken into consideration because an Enterprise can not be operated solely for safety any more than it can for any other single part of the operations. All work must be planned and executed for the common interest.

Jan 1, 1931

By E. O. RHODES

This report is one of a series written by members of the Solid Fuels Mission to Germany describing wartime developments in the mining, prepara- tion, and utilization of coal. This mission was organized early in 1945 under the auspices of the Technical Industrial Intelligence Committee, which cooperated with a counterpart British Committee. In some instances; engi- neers from other allied countries cooperated. The Solid Fuels Mission operated under the direction of a steering committee headed by Dr. C. J. Potter, Deputy Solid Fuels Administrator. The personnel of the mission consisted of H. F. Yancey, in charge, J. W. Buch, Thomas Fraser, L. L. Newman, and L. D. Schmidt of the Bureau of Minos; H. H. Lowry, Director of the Coal Research Laboratory, Carnegie Institute of Technology; H. J. Rose, Vice-President and Director of Research, Bituminous Coal Research, Inc.; and F. H. Reed, Chief Chemist, Illinois Geological Survey. E. 0. Rhodes, Manager, Development Section, Tar Products Division, Koppers Co., Inc., served on the mission for the Chemical Subcommittee of 1.I.I.C. in Europe. His assignment was the investigation of the coal-tar industry. In this connection he prepared this report on the German Low- Temperature Tar Industry as a companion to his provious report on the German High-Temperature Tar Industry (Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7409). Because of Mr. Rhodes' extensive experience in these fields and the impor- tance of the subject material to the coal producers and those utilizing coal-tar products, both reports are issued by the Bureau of Mines. Over fifty reports were written by the members of the Solid Fuels Mis- elon. These, together with microfilms of supporting data obtained in the course of the investigations, are on file at the Foreign Documents Group, Technical Reports Section, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa., where they are available for examination. Copies of reports available in printed form may be ordered from the Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Services, Washington 25, D. C. Check or money order accompanying order for printed reports should be made payable to the Treasurer of the United States. A Bibliography of Scientific and Industrial Reports, covering all ma- terials and subjects and giving instructions for obtaining the desired items, has been published weekly by the Office of Technical Services. Effective July 1, 1948, the Bibliography of Scientific and Industrial Reports will be prepared monthly instead of weekly and on a more selective basis. issue, which will be the first monthly issue, will be available about July The July month thereafter through June 1949. Annual subscriptions and orders for individual copies starting with the July 1948 issue should be addressed to the Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Servicos, Washington 25, ur, and be accompanied by chock or money order made payable to the Troas- Bibliof the United States. Annual subscriptions for monthly issues of the Bibliography of Scientific and Industrial Roports will be $10. Individual issues will cost $1 per copy. Foreign subscriptions will be $14 per year and $1.50 por copy. tions listed in the Bibliography of Scientific and Industrial Reports should All orders for reports in microfilm or photostatic type of reproduc- ורי

Feb 1, 1949

By H. B. Jensen

STUDY of the thermal-solution process was begun by treating crushed oil shale in a small autoclave at temperatures of 700° to 950° F. The effect of temperature, reaction time, type of solvent, and richness of shale upon the amount of organic matter that was removed from the oil shale was thus determined. Following this orientation work a semicontinuous, bench-scale apparatus was built so that heated solvent could be pumped through a bed of shale under elevated pressure, thus removing the converted organic matter from the spent shale. After some operating experience had been gained, a continuous unit was constructed. This permitted treating a slurry of shale oil and pulverized oil shale at about 300 p. s. i. and temperatures of 750° to 850° F. for various retention times. Considerable cracking and polymerization of the shale oil were found to take place during the process. In an attempt to prevent this, a study was made of extraction of the shale in batch-type autoclaves under high partial pressures of hydrogen at total gas pressures of as much as 4,300 p. s. i. at 850° F. The thermal-solution process was found to convert over 90 percent of the organic matter in oil shale to oil and gas. The highest yields of gas and oil obtained without hydrogen pressure were equivalent to 119 weight-percent of those obtained from the same shale by Fischer assay. With a high partial pressure of hydrogen, yields equivalent to 126 weight-percent of Fischer assay were obtained. However, the oil produced by thermal solution has a higher boiling range than that obtained by other retorting methods, particularly so if the thermal-solution process is used without a high partial pressure of hydrogen. Nondistillable oil (all benzene-soluble material that would not distill under 2 mm. Hg absolute pressure without cracking) equivalent to over 100 percent of the organic matter in the shale was obtained without hydrogen pressure in the system. When the process was carried out under hydrogen pressure, the yield of nondistillable oil amounted to 60 to 70 weight-percent of the organic matter. Part of this heavy material is formed partly by polymerization and condensation of the shale-oil solvent used. These reactions, as well as cracking of the solvent to form gas and a carbonaceous deposit on the shale, are unfavorable features of the process.

Jan 1, 1953

By Daniel G. DiCanio

This report describes a computer-based model for estimating the tangible costs of injuries and deaths from work-related accidents in underground coal mines. The study undertook to identify and quantify the elements of accident costs, including field visits to coal mines, insurance carriers, and public agencies. The mathematical models developed for each tangible element of accident cost are presented in Volume I of the report. A listing of the computer programs which comprise the model and instructions for using the programs are presented in Volume II. Statistical distributions of mining family characteristics, data on 95 miners killed in underground accidents, and other basic data used to develop the model are presented in Volume III. Application of the model to a data base of 9,286 accidents which occured in underground bituminous coal mines during 1974 yielded a total of $56,900,000 in tangible costs to industry, mining families, and public agencies. Loss of income to the families of miners injured or killed in these accidents accounted for 47 percent of the total.

Jan 1, 1976

By D. Harrington

The mining industry of the United States has-long been severely criticized because of its high rate of accident occurrence, net only as compared with other major industries-in the United States but also with the mining industries of other countries particularly Europe. Statistics (often not of strictly comparable nature) indicate that the accident-frequency rate in all mining is currently about three times and the accident-severity rate is about seven times as great as the average for general industrial work in the United States. These figures are by no means comforting to humanitarian mining men, irrespective of their status in. the industry, and they constitute a challenge that certainly cannot continue to be ignored much longer. This picture becomes much darker when the above statistics are augmented with data indicating that. on an exposure basis our mines (more particularly our coal mines) have accident rates two, three, or even more times as great as more or less similar types of mines in Europe, particularly England and Wales, Belgium, France, and Germany. However, these foreign accident statistics should be carefully analyzed before we become very mush concerned about them, because they are clot strictly comparable owing to several considerations, not the least of which is the fact that foreign methods of compiling or recording accident statistics often differ materially from ours. Moreover, foreign mining and other conditions axe definitely dissimilar to ours in many if not most phases, and numerous ether factors affect the comparability of foreign mine-accident statistics with ours. Unquestionably it should also be taken into consideration that the accident rate of the 130,000,000 or more constituting the populace of the United. States as a whole is much higher than that of any other major country in the world and is two, throe, or more times the rate of the European countries that have more favorable mine-accident rates than those of the United States. Moreover, it is significant that the mine-accident-severity- rate of British mines is about six times the average accident-severity rate of the major industries of the British Isles, or but little mere, favorable than the comparable figures in the United States, namely, that mining-has an accident-severity rate about seven times that of the average of about 30 of the major industries of this country.

Jan 1, 1941

By John C. Feeley

The methods used and the funds available for the development and oper- ation of shall mines and the reopening of small abandoned mines frequently present problems that tax the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the mining engineer far beyond that required in the mass production from large deposits. The objective of this paper is to describe in considerable detail the means whereby engineers have solved local problems in reopening an abandoned mine at which equipment, facilities, and funds were limited... The Etowah Coal & Iron Co. Gadsden red-iron-ore mine at Gadsden, Ala., 18 of interest in this category since it is the only independent red-ore mine under active development in the State. All other red-ore mines in Alabama are owned or controlled by the large iron or steel companies. The The mine, located on the southwest end of Shinbone Ridge in the outskirts of Gadsden lies in an ares once productive. but now idle, for many years. ore is relatively highgrade compared with that in the Birmingham area, but the bed is thin and somewhat lenticular. The presence of a large blast furnace at Alabama City, 3 miles from Gadsden, and the growing scarcity of red-iron ore supplies for it offered inducements for reopening the mine in 1946. Up to the time this circular was prepared (1947) only a small quantity of ore (about 1,500 tons) has been produced and shipped to the furnace. A force of 14 men was employed in sinking the main slope and developing a third "lift" (a local term for level) 100 feet below the old mine workings.

May 1, 1949

By R. S. Dewey

The purpose of this study was to assess the various aspects of public safety related to the thousands of abandoned or inactive underground mines found throughout Western Colorado. Review of available published mine inventories yielded data on over 8,000 abandoned underground mines. A random sample of 200 mines was then selected for field visits representative of mining activity in Colorado. Inspections of the openings at two hundred abandoned underground mines were performed recording descriptive information regarding the opening, the mine site, the surrounding area, the primary opening hazard, secondary hazards related to structures or dumps, other openings to the same mi ne, available construction materials, possible safeguard methods, and any special observations such as apparent activity, previous closure attempts, environmental constraints on construction, and access problems. Of the 200 mines visited, twenty mine openings representative of varying geologic, environ-mental, access, and mining conditions were selected for detailed low-cost safeguard application. Description of these safeguards is presented in narrative, itemized labor-materials equipment tabulations, and illustrations. Research into the regulations of mine closure and safeguards was also undertaken to determine jurisdiction of public lands. Recommendations were suggested to improve the awareness and ability to continue this program into an implementation stage.

Jan 1, 1980

By B. J. CROSS., Henry Kreisinger, John Blizard, C. E. Augustine

This bulletin presents the results of 36 tests made on a 468-horsepower Edge Moor boiler fired with pulverized coal at the Oneida Street Station of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co., Milwaukee, Wis. The tests were made by the fuel section of the United States Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the research department of the Combustion Engineering Corporation. Illinois coal was used as fuel; the furnace, burners, and feeders were designed by the Locomotive Pulverized Fuel Co. The object of the tests was to determine what over-all boiler efficiency could he obtained with pulverized coal under various conditions of furnace operation and with coal of different fineness and moisture content. The investigation was thorough. The pulverized coal, as it was supplied to the furnace, was weighed in specially designed tanks placed on platform scales. Twenty-nine of the tests were of 24 hours duration, three of 16 to 18 hours, and four of 12 hours. All tests are reported excepting two-8 and 20-which had to be stopped abruptly, No.8 because a motor actuating the coal-feed screw burned out and No. 20 because of trouble with the feed pump. Tests 1 to 27, inclusive, were made with round burners and tests 28 to 3Rwith spreading burners. In the first nine tests a large excess of air was supplied in an effort to prevent the ash fusing at the bottom of the furnace. In tests 10 to 16 the supply of excess air was reduced in order to get a high efficiency, regardless of the slagging of ash at the furnace bottom. Tests 17 to 27 were made with a water screen about 10 inches above the bottom of the furnace, to make possible the burning of coal with a small supply of excess air without the ash fusing at the bottom of the furnace. Tests 28,29, and 30 were made without the water screen and with a small supply of excess air, and tests 31 to 38 with a water screen around the walls near the bottom of the furnace. Tests 32, 33, 34, and 35 were run with coarser coal than that used ordinarily at the plant. Tests 36,37, and 38 were made with undried coal.

Jan 1, 1923

By K. P. Wang

Mining and metallurgy have had a long history in China, and resources there have always been considered promising. Under the People's Republic of China (PRC), a remarkable industrial renaissance is underway that should further gain momentum in the years ahead. Rapid development of minerals have not only brought the PRC prominence in industrialization, but also in world affairs. Chinese mineral developments, especially petroleum, have been increasingly in the news. Oil and gas may have great potential, but a very large coal industry is already in existence. The steel industry ranks fifth or sixth in the world. The PRC is also prominent in fertilizer, cement, and salt production. The export metals are well known. Also, the country is buying heavily in nonferrous base metals. The need to know and the intense interest in the subject have prompted this study. The world significance of Chinese minerals is pointed out. The history of growth and PRC's mineral supply position are reviewed. Evaluations are made of policy considerations and regional and technical factors affecting mineral development. PRC's mineral trade and efforts to obtain equipment, supplies, and know-how are assessed. Specific reviews are made of major mineral sectors, including coal and power, oil and gas, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, industrial minerals, and fertilizers and chemicals. The overall outlook is summarized.

Jan 1, 1975

By David A. Monaghan

This report describes the results of a 2-year investigation of extensible face ventilation techniques and systems for use at the working face in underground coal mines. The goal was to provide a safe and convenient method of maintaining the extensible system within 10 feet of the face, thereby ensuring good ventilation. A summary of approximately 20 extensible ventilation systems proposed or tried in the past is included for reference, together with a detailed description of the design, construction, and underground testing of a new extensible brattice panel and a new fiberglass duct system. The extensible brattice system utilized a special panel which could be pushed forward as the miner advanced. Brief testing in three mines revealed some conflict with the mining cycle and led to recommendations for two improved designs. The extensible duct system was designed for a Goodman borer and utilized a telescoping tube on the left side of the roof, so that it could be extended without interfering with the miner operator. For mine sections with right-hand return ventilation, a special flat tube section is used to cross over the entry. Underground testing showed substantial improvement in face ventilation without interfering with production.

Jan 1, 1976