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By Horace Tharp Mann

Jan 1, 1926

A LARGE proportion of the steel that is melted and refined in the United States and poured into ingots is made in basic open- hearth furnaces. The capacity of these furnaces varies over a wide range with a large majority falling within limits of 50 to 200 tons (Fig. 1) The two general types of furnace design used are stationary [ ] and tilting furnaces, the former being much more common. The fuel burned in such furnaces is either one of several types of gas, or a liquid fuel such as oil or tar, or a combination of gas and liquid fuel. GENERAL FEATURES OF FURNACE CONSTRUCTION The design of a modern stationary furnace built to burn liquid fuel and with a capacity of 175 tons is shown in Figs. 2 to 4. The cross- section of the furnace at the tap hole is illustrated in Fig. 2, which shows the bottom construction, sloping back wall, and the rigid steel

Jan 1, 1944

Jan 1, 1920

By Michel T. Halbouty

South Texas, one of the world's important oil and gas-producing areas, continued to hold interest during 1939 as another scries of new fields and new producing levels was developed within its boundaries at a fairly continuous rate throughout the year. There were 1801 wells drilled in this area in 1939, compared to 1678 in 1938; of these, 1515 were drilled in established fields, or as extensions to proven areas (semi-wildcat), and 286 were drilled as rank wildcats, in search of new production. Among these rank wildcats, 22 produced oil, 7 produced distillate and gas and 257 were abandoned as dry holes (see Table 5). Of the 1515 field and cxtension wells, 1213 produced oil, or distillate and gas, 50 produced only gas and 252 were dry; 38 found new productive sand levels in proven ficlds. Jim Wells County led this district in discoveries, having had 9 new fields arid 9 new productive sands found within its border during 1939. Most activc of the 1939 discoveries were Reynold?; and Ben Bolt fields in Jim Wells County and Minnie Bock field in Nueccs County; among producing fields the most activc were: East White Point and Aransas Pass (McCampbell). Production from South Texas in 1939 totaled 55,105,506 bbl. against a total of 56,152,122 bbl. produced in 1938. South Texas should continue its present rate of developrnent and exploration and this should result in the discovery of many fields in its numerous oil-bearing zones, and should also lead to more knowledge of the possibilities of its deeper horizons, such as the Mt. Selman and Wilcox formations; with the latter holding particular interest at the present time. Tide Water Associated Oil Company's A. M. Bruni No. I, Cole-Bruni field, Webb County, the deepest well drilled along the Mirando trend, was carried to 8959 ft., where it started to blow out from a Wilcox sand topped at 8954 ft., making gas, distillate and mud under heavy pressure. After the well was killed, drill stem beeame stuck and was cemented in place in order to test a Queen City (Mt. Selman) sand logged from 5620 to 5675 ft. This and other shows found in other wells along this trend, but out of this district, have served to increase the importance of this but little explored Sparta-Wilcox trend of South Texas during the year, and more activity along it is to be expected in the near future.

Jan 1, 1940

By Michel T. Halbouty

South Texas, one of the world's important oil and gas-producing areas, continued to hold interest during 1939 as another scries of new fields and new producing levels was developed within its boundaries at a fairly continuous rate throughout the year. There were 1801 wells drilled in this area in 1939, compared to 1678 in 1938; of these, 1515 were drilled in established fields, or as extensions to proven areas (semi-wildcat), and 286 were drilled as rank wildcats, in search of new production. Among these rank wildcats, 22 produced oil, 7 produced distillate and gas and 257 were abandoned as dry holes (see Table 5). Of the 1515 field and cxtension wells, 1213 produced oil, or distillate and gas, 50 produced only gas and 252 were dry; 38 found new productive sand levels in proven ficlds. Jim Wells County led this district in discoveries, having had 9 new fields arid 9 new productive sands found within its border during 1939. Most activc of the 1939 discoveries were Reynold?; and Ben Bolt fields in Jim Wells County and Minnie Bock field in Nueccs County; among producing fields the most activc were: East White Point and Aransas Pass (McCampbell). Production from South Texas in 1939 totaled 55,105,506 bbl. against a total of 56,152,122 bbl. produced in 1938. South Texas should continue its present rate of developrnent and exploration and this should result in the discovery of many fields in its numerous oil-bearing zones, and should also lead to more knowledge of the possibilities of its deeper horizons, such as the Mt. Selman and Wilcox formations; with the latter holding particular interest at the present time. Tide Water Associated Oil Company's A. M. Bruni No. I, Cole-Bruni field, Webb County, the deepest well drilled along the Mirando trend, was carried to 8959 ft., where it started to blow out from a Wilcox sand topped at 8954 ft., making gas, distillate and mud under heavy pressure. After the well was killed, drill stem beeame stuck and was cemented in place in order to test a Queen City (Mt. Selman) sand logged from 5620 to 5675 ft. This and other shows found in other wells along this trend, but out of this district, have served to increase the importance of this but little explored Sparta-Wilcox trend of South Texas during the year, and more activity along it is to be expected in the near future.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. M. Gow

The trend in ball milling has been toward mills of larger diameter, but without fundamental laws as a guide. The speeds at which mills are run have been a matter of cut-and-try. This paper deals with both diameter and speed and proposes to show the laws which apply to some laboratory ball mills, ranging in diameter from 18 to 42 in., run at various speeds. The correlation of power, speed and grinding rate of the respective mills will be shown by curves of markedly significant similarity. Before presenting the results some consideration will be given to the mechanics of ball milling. Mechanics and Theory of Ball Milling As early as 1904, Herman Fischerl reported observations on specially constructed ball mills which allowed the paths of balls to be studied. The following conclusions were drawn: 1. Balls do not grind the ore, but crush it by impact. 2. At slow speeds the balls roll down the inclined heap, but at higher speeds the balls close to the wall adhere to it until they reach a certain height, whence they are thrown through an arc to the bottom. 3. The falling balls do not come down in clusters, but in series, the balls of each row keeping to their own line of flight according to their distances from the wall while ascending. 4. A further increase in speed results in the balls adhering during the whole of the circuit to the side of the drum. (This centrifuging speed may be called the "critical" speed and may be taken as a reference basis, since it is a constant function of the diameter.)2

Jan 1, 1930

By J. C. Jaeger

The study of brittle fracture of rocks has been a much neglected subject until quite recently and now is in a state of transition and rapid development. Historically, three methods of testing were used by engineers: uniaxial tension, bending, and, by far the most common, uniaxial compression of cubes. This latter was probably adequate for engineering requirements, but from the last century onwards there has been a demand from geologists for a study of the properties of materials under conditions comparable with those at depth in the earth's crust. King1 remarked that "in engineering practice a cube of the material is put into a testing machine and the stress required to crush the cube is measured. This gives the limiting stress difference for the material so long as the boundary conditions are similar to those existing during the test . . . this may by no means be the case when the boundary conditions are very different from those existing in the test, for instance, in the case of rupture in the neighbourhood of a cavity. . . ." Despite this very clear statement of principle, many writers until recently (e.g. Jeffreys2 used the uniaxial compressive strength as a measure of the 'strength' of rock. In the last century (Becker 3, it was both conjectured and, for some rocks, known qualitatively, that plastic deformation could occur under confining pres- sure; the demand from geologists has been for the study of flow rather than fracture of rocks.. From the time of von Karman (1911) and Böker5 (1915) onwards, apparatus has been built which could provide confining pressures sufficient to make some rocks plastic. Many experiments tended to be made on rocks such as marble, which readily become plastic, and the general tendency was to make relatively few experiments in the brittle range. This is particularly true of many experiments on combined stresses. As a result of this, there is not sufficient data to provide adequate information

Jan 1, 1967

By V. M. Lovell

The recovery of apatite from the phoscorite ores occurring in the Transvaal, Republic of South Africa, involves a flotation process that is particularly difficult to characterize from a fundamental point of view. However, the reagents used, (tall oil fatty acid, nonylphenyltetraglycol ether, sodium silicate, and sodium hydroxide) can successfully bring about a separation of apatite from dolomitic calcite, which is the most troublesome gangue component. Recently, it has been demonstrated with some flotation feeds that the addition of certain polysaccharides can improve the flotation significantly. It has been shown that the metallurgy obtained is closely linked to the nature of the froth, and this, in turn, is influenced, often dramatically, by the presence or absence of certain of the reagents. The character of the froth depends less on the inherent frothing ability of these reagents than on the presence or absence of fine mineral particles in the froth, and on their surface characteristics and state of aggregation. The polyglycol ether and the polysaccharides have been shown to affect these properties, and it is suggested that a major function of these reagents is to modulate the properties of the fine particles in the pulp, thereby changing the character of the froth and giving rise to improved results.

Jan 1, 1976

By C. B. Gillson, Henry Fay

For several years past, investigations on the chemistry of tellurium have been carried on in the laboratory of this institution. The methods of preparation of pure telluriumf and the estimation of tellurium‡ have been studied, and an attempt to determine the atomic weight of tellurium is now in progress. All these problems had been investigated, however, along purely theoretical lines; and it was thought desirable to study the more practical application of the metal, which can now be had in considerable quantities as a waste product in the refining of copper-ores. In its physical and chemical properties tellurium is very similar to antimony, and it was thought

Jan 1, 1902

By Emil Gathmann

Through wide experience at numerous mills in the United States I have found that there is a decided difference of opinion among the producers of steel as to what constitutes commercially sound steel. Some metallurgists insist upon having, for certain grades of steel, a so-called "open steel," i.e., one which contains numerous blowholes of varying sizes, and consequently but little volume of true pipe, although a central intermittent shrinkage cavity often extends well down into the ingot. Such blowholes and pipe are expected to weld up during rolling or forging, because their surfaces are not oxidized. Even if this be admitted, included slag particles and a high degree of segregation are bound to be present in the product of such ingots. Blowholes are the result of an oxidized heat, and all heats, unless made or finished in the electric furnace, are oxidized more or less. Subsequent deoxidation, or rather degasification, either in the ladle or in the mold, or in both, is necessary to reduce or prevent blowholes. As is well known, a greater yield of billets or sheets is secured from the ingot by allowing the formation of blowholes, but this is undoubtedly obtained at the expense of the quality of the product. Decided segregation of carbon, phosphorus, and sulphur, as well as small included slag particles, undoubtedly exists throughout the greater portion of all so-called open steel, and cannot be removed by cropping. The first requisite for sound, homogeneous steel ingots and blooms is therefore, in my opinion, so to treat the steel in the furnace, ladle, and mold that "piping" steel is produced. The line of demarcation between harmful and so-called "harmless" blowholes is practically impossible to define. Is it not, therefore, the better and safer practice to use means for the elimination of blowholes and correspondingly reduce the segregation and allow the formation of a well-defined shrinkage cavity or pipe at the upper end of the ingot? With the relatively cheap deoxidizers available at the present time, e.g., ferro-silicon, aluminum and titanium, there is no commercial reason why all steel should not be thoroughly degasified. A degasified steel being provided, the method of freezing or solidifying the liquid steel into an ingot, and the subsequent working into blooms and thence into various products, is of great importance in reducing the crop or scrap portion of the steel, due to segregation and pipe. How to ac-

Jan 1, 1916

By C. K. Leith

The ores of the region are contained in rocks of pre-Cambrian age, which, for most of the country up to recent years, have usually been referred to as “crystalline schists” or “crystalline complex;” and regarded principally as a metamorphosed basement-unit upon which the sedimentary rocks, beginning with the Paleozoic, were laid down. In the Lake Superior region this pre-Cambrian complex presents an' unusual variety of rocks with determinable relations. It has been possible, with the large expenditures which the magnitude of the iron-mining industry warrants, to work out their stratigraphy to a larger degree than bas been possible in almost any other area of pre-Cambrian rocks. [The portion here omitted contains descriptions of the Archean, Algonkian, and Keweenawan rocks of the several districts, their structure, distribution, correlation, and succession. Table I. and the geological map of the Lake Superior region belong to this portion, but are here reproduced on account of their value as guides to the readers of the rest of the paper.] The simplest and clearest conception of the pre-ambrian succession for the Lake Superior region may perhaps be obtained by thinking of it as primarily divided into six series-Keweenawan, Upper Huronian, Middle Huronian, Lower Huronian, Keewatin, and Laurentian-all but the last two separated by unconformities of varying and disputed relative im-

Jan 1, 1913

By F. E. Calkins

THE following presentation of the more important accumulated facts and probabilities involved in copper ore deposition is based on my experience in examination work and study of the extensive litera-ture of the subject; to make personal mention of all sources of information would require the naming of a small army of able geologists and other investigators who have contributed to, building up the science. I have tried to present the salient features of the subject in logical order and condensed form, and to point out the relative importance of processes involved. Doubt-less many geologists could suggest some changes and many additions. ORIGINAL SOURCE The original source of all copper was in the earth's interior; it has been brought to the outer part of the earth, within reach of man, in three ways: (1) By intrusions and flows of basic igneous rocks containing copper in minute quantities, presumably as silicate or sulfide. No orebodies have been formed by this method. (2) As segregations within intrusive igneous rocks, the copper minerals having solidified at the same time as the rock itself. The few deposits known to have been formed in this manner have been of little or no importance. The oft quoted Sudbury nickel-copper deposits are now known to belong to the class following. (3) By gaseous or liquid aqueous emanations from ,large deep-seated masses of intrusive molten rock. These emanations, or mineral solutions, ascended through zones of connected openings in the earth's crust and dropped their load at points far above their source. Deposits formed in this manner were the primary source of nearly all, if not all, of the world's copper production.

Jan 10, 1923

By P. W. Rainier

The Chivor emerald field is situated on the eastern slope of the Andes in the Department of Boyach, at an elevation of about 8000 ft. above sea level. It overlooks the Llanos (plains) of the Orinoco and is watered by many streams flowing into the Rio Meta, the Orinoco's largest tributary. The Rio Meta is navigable from the Orinoco to a point within about 50 miles of the Chivor district and may eventually prove to be the reasonable outlet for the future development of this part of the country. The topography of the district is extremely rugged and mountainous (Fig. I), the difference in elevation between two points on a mining claim 1 km. square being sometimes as much as 4000 ft. The ground is covered with dense forest growth and the available timber is suitable and sufficient for mining purposes, but it is becoming gradually depleted by Indian clearings as the country around the mines becomes settled. The many streams combined with the rough topography give good possibilities for hydroelectric power. The center of population nearest to Chivor is Bogoth, the capital of the republic and a city of some 300,000 inhabitants; the distance is two and one-half days' travel. The first stage of the journey from BogotB is accomplished by rail to Choconta, some 4 hr. travel. From Choconth the journey is made in the saddle, one night being spent in Guateque. The latter is a small town and the nearest post office to the mines, being some 10 hr. ride distant. The roads are mere bridle paths, in parts hazardous and almost impassable in the wet season. All supplies brought to the mines, other than those produced locally, are carried by pack mule; mule freight from Choconth costs 3 centavos1 per pound. The climate of the Chivor district is healthful and bracing. The wet season begins in March and concludes in November, the remaining months being dry. The annual precipitation is about 130 in. The temperature throughout the year is nearly constant, varying from about 45" F. to about 65" F. shade temperature. The rains are cold and unpleasant, and for the greater part of each day in the wet season the country is shrouded in dense mist. A fire can with comfort be kept burning in a living room all the year round. There are a few slight

Jan 1, 1931

By H. L. Gilbert, C. Travis Anderson, W. J. Kroll

IN a previous paper,1 the use of a split graphite tube resistor as a heater element for high-temperature furnaces has been described. The principal advantages of this type of construction are: I. The quadruple resistance or voltage compared with the top-bottom clamp resistor furnace. 2. Free expansion of the resistor. 3. The ease of protection from oxidation by air. 4. The firmness by which it may be held in the compact split clamp. This construction appeared to be well adapted for the fusion of high melting metals which require fusion in a vacuum. Zirconium metal had previously been melted at the Albany Laboratory of the Bureau of Mines in a vacuum arc furnace on a water-cooled plate, using a movable tungsten top electrode.2 When larger furnace capacities were desired, this type of construction proved to have its limitations as the largest tungsten rods available were about 7/8in. in diameter. The supply of direct current of high amperage for producing the . desired arc characteristics was also not available. Considerable difficulty was also found in compensating the atmospheric pressure on the flexible tubing of the movable electrode, at the same time keeping its movement sufficiently free to enable the striking of an arc on any part of the metal briquet. Among the various materials used for the electrodes in conducting experiments in the vacuum arc furnace was graphite. It was found that zirconium fused in a graphite cup with a carbon arc was contaminated to only 0.2 pct carbon. It was therefore decided to melt zirconium directly in graphite crucibles. A high-frequency furnace was first used in the attempt to melt the zirconium in graphite crucibles. The high-frequency heating coil was placed outside a silica tube which was evacuated by means of an oil diffusion pump backed up by a mechanical pump. The graphite crucible was thoroughly degassed at 1900°C before use. Considerable difficulty was experienced in operating at such temperatures in vacuo because, as shown by Zintl,3 carbon vapor formed and reacted with silica according to the reaction: Si02 + C = SiO + CO. The silicon monoxide which is volatile at these high temperatures reacted with the zirconium, thereby contaminating it with silicon and oxygen. The presence of carbon monoxide was detected by means of a gas discharge tube placed in the vacuum system as indicated by the pale blue glow of the tube as soon as carbon vapor started to react with the hot silica. The reaction between the carbon vapor and hot silica was avoided by the use of split cylindrical molybdenum shields which were inserted between the graphite crucible

Jan 1, 1948

By Royal B. Jackman, Carle R. Hayward

Two comprehensive papers have appeared regarding the forms of copper that occur in smelter slags, one by Frank E. Lathe1 and the other by C. G. Maier and G. D. Van Arsdale.2 These authors comment on other published results and draw conclusions from their own investigations. The development of X-ray examination of minerals and improvement in high-power microscopic methods make it possible today to get additional evidence by means that were not available to earlier investigators. The present work was confined to reverberatory slags obtained from five different plants. Some definite conclusions were reached regarding the forms of copper present in these slags. In most cases these agree with some of the findings of Maier and Van Arsdale but new methods of attack were used in the investigation. Conclusions of Previous Investigators Various important conclusions reached by previous investigators are summarized in the following paragraphs, arranged chronologically. William A. Heywood:3 Slag losses increase with grade of matte but with the same grade of matte losses decrease as the acidity of the slag increases. Lewis T. Wright:' Slag losses are only partly due to prills of matte. It is suggested that part of the copper is dissolved in the slag. J. Parke Channing9 A considerable part of the copper enters the slag as silicate or oxide and not as sulfide. C. A. Grabill:6 Slag losses are both physical and chemical. Physical losses, due to poor settling, gas flotation and slight differences in specific gravity, are small under normal conditions. Chemical losses may- be due to formation of oxides or to solution of metals and sulfides. The last is considered the most important. John W. James:' The copper in converter slag is largely the oxide and as such enters the reverberatory slag when converter slag is added to the charge.

Jan 1, 1934

By Harold Cook

THE purpose of this paper is to state briefly the inspection requirements of the Bureau of Ordnance, the specifications governing the inspection, and the physical and chemical properties of the steel used in the construction of ordnance for our Navy. It would be of interest to evoke discussion on points in these specifications which do not tend to insure the production of the very best material for the purpose intended. In other words, what requirements of our specifications are useless and also in what manner are our specifications deficient? It might be well at the, start to answer the first criticism of this paper which will probably be made, and that is that the title does not agree with the subject matter. Considering metallographic work as covering only the macroscopic and microscopic examination of metals, this paper will have gone beyond the subject; but it is believed that a broader definition of metallography is that it is the study of the relation of the internal structure of metals and alloys to their composition and to their physical and- other properties. The internal structure of steel is dependent on its physical and its chemical properties. These physical properties are dependent on the chemical composition and the mechanical and thermal treatment of the steel. So it seems that this subtitle would not be entirely necessary and that the title "Metallography of Steel for Ordnance Purposes" would cover a study, not only of what we can learn of macroscopic and microscopic examination, but broadly of the whole subject of the specifications, the fulfillment of the requirements of which produce the structural conditions revealed by macroscopic and microscopic examination. .

Jan 2, 1916

By Robert Roberts

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) IN order to obtain data on the thermal effect of the blast-furnace jacket and oil the water consumption in these jackets a series of tests were run on the 56 by 180 in. blast furnaces at the Great Falls Reduction Department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., at Great Falls, Mont. The arrangement of the jacket is shown in the transverse section of one of the furnaces (Fig. 1) on which the tests were made. The nose, spout, and breast jackets have independent water supplies and discharges. The end and side jackets are connected in pairs, as regards water supply, the feed water entering at the bottom of the lower jacket and overflowing into the bottom of the jacket immediately above it, and discharging into an independent overflow pipe for each pair of jackets. Tests were run on the main side and end jackets, the breast jacket, the spout, and the nose. Measurements were taken of the quantity of water discharged per minute and the rise in temperature of the water in its passage through the jacket. The product of these two results, expressed in the proper units, evidently gives the number of units of heat removed per minute by the water. Sufficient work was done on each type of jacket to determine its behavior under different conditions, and the results from each set of conditions were checked by repeating the work from three to six times.

Jan 7, 1913

By Earl Oliver, J. B. Umpleby

It is believed that in connection with the study of unit operation by the Petroleum Division of the A. I. M. E. a review of the simple principles of unit operation would be helpful. To that end, the following discussion is submitted. It is not to be considered in any sense as the conclusion of the committee, but rather as material submitted for its consideration and represents at this time only the viewpoints of its authors. Growth of the Oil Industry In 70 years the oil industry has grown from a single well on Oil Creek, Venango County, Pennsylvania, producing 25 bbl, per day, to more than 400,000 wells scattered over five continents with a daily output of 4,000,000 bbl. In that time petroleum has expanded from its simple use as a medicine in a few localities to a multitude of diverse uses in homes of every country the world over. During those years the oil fields of the United States have produced two-thirds of the world's output and have shipped their excess production into almost every country. In those years several hundred thousand good wells in the United States declined into small ones and depleted shallow deposits gave way to deep zones; so that the United States crude oil industry gradually changed from one of low cost production to one of higher cost. Throughout its entire life it has labored under two serious economic disadvantages, namely, constantly recurring periods of demoralization through overproduction, and competitive development methods that are wasteful. Development of Foreign Competition During the transition from low to higher cost production in the United States, events even more significant were taking place in foreign lands. Jungles were tamed and deserts conquered. Oil deposits were found and developed until, in the words of Sir John Cadman, "the globe is now drenched with a commodity which, although necessary to life, involves but an irregular and sometimes meager expenditure of life in its

Jan 1, 1930

By Carle R. Hayward

WHEN lead production began to recede from the peak productions of 1929 many plants took advantage of the curtailed operations to make necessary improvements and repairs about the plant. There followed a period of adjustment to synchronize production and demand, which merged in the present period of marking time. The lead smelting and refining industry has produced little that is new during the past year except in what might be called makeshifts, which have been introduced to make operation at fractional capacity profitable. This is more particularly true in refineries than in smelters. The Parkes process had become standardized during the period of normal production, with softening, desilverizing, and dezink-

Jan 1, 1935

By Clyde Orr

INTRODUCTION Cracks, crevices, holes, and fissures -- here collectively termed pores -- occur in all manner of substances in sizes from those evident to the unaided eye to those well below electron microscopic levels of detection. Naturally occurring materials having varying degrees of porosity are represented by wood, rock, soil, and mineral formations. Man-made materials that are porous include ceramics, sintered metals, catalysts, adsorbents, filters, and various compacted objects. The extent of their porosity greatly influences the hardness, rigidity, integrity, and general usefulness of such materials, and assessing both their pore volume and size is becoming increasingly necessary. Means by which this pore information can be obtained is the subject here. No attempt will be made to include all techniques and variations of them that have been suggested, but, hopefully, those of most general applicability will be described in sufficient detail to enable a potential user to judge their merit for a particular need. The results of pore measurements are made useful by relating them through other tests to performance criteria such as weatherability, water penetration, frost damage, oil recovery, strength, or thermal or electrical conductivity. These tests, of course, are outside the bounds for inclusion here. A pore is variously defined in dictionaries as "a minute opening", "a small interstice admitting passage of liquid", and "an interspace between particles". Clearly any object through which it is possible to find a continuous path from one side to the other either for a liquid or a gas must be regarded as porous. Passageways are not necessary for porosity to exist, however. There are so-called blind

Jan 1, 1980