Search Documents

By SIDNEY ROLLE

ACURSORY glance through the literature on the subject reveals that the ablest minds in the land are devoting themselves to the great question of labor, of which employment is one of the fundamentals. Volumes have been written and the end is not in sight. Employment management is today about in the position that efficiency was 15 years ago. During the early days of the war, and perhaps for a year or so before, labor was plentiful. As the war progressed and Europe drew on us for munitions, employers began to compete with one another for', all, classes of labor. Labor was difficult to obtain, wages rose, the labor turnover increased, and employers began to install employment departments, welfare plans, and all sorts of schemes, but the labor efficiency dropped. As the war progressed, greater and greater production was demanded. New factors were introduced each day. The government, labor unions, industrial councils, all tended, it seemed, to make the situation almost intolerable. Wages rose to fantastic heights, the cost of living rose higher and higher, and the efficiency dropped still further.

Jan 1, 1921

By B. M. Larsen, W. E. Shenk

This paper describes a method of reversal control of the open-hearth furnace that obtains in practice those effects considered below as essential to a completely automatic control, without appreciable interference with the natural rise and fall in temperature of the regenerative portions of the furnace system. Growing out of some studies of radiation pyrometry in open-hearth regenerators, it was developed during 1934-1938, and has been successfully applied to a number of commercial furnaces. The goal of open-hearth furnace operation is the highest rate of production of steel of proper quality consistent with good refractory life and fuel economy. This requires rapid heat transfer from furnace to charge, which in turn is dependent upon heating the furnace refractories to the highest safe operating temperature. The greater the heat input to the melting chamber, the sooner this limiting temperature will be reached, so that control methods in general that are designed to protect against overheating of refractories should help to maintain maximum fuel input and production rate. For the typical open-hearth system, with fixed regenerator capacity and with rate of fuel input usually restricted in its range of variation, our basic assumption is the idea that the only other important variable —that is, the time interval between successive reversals—should also be held constant or within a small range. The present reversal control was designed therefore so that, under normal operating conditions, no arbitrary limitation is imposed other than to keep the reversal interval within the optimum time range. However, since a near approach to completely automatic operation involves protection of refractories through the balancing of furnace end temperatures as well as emergency protection against temperature peaks above some upper limit, it was also felt essential to employ, as an integral part of the control unit, a temperature-measuring instrument to register the true temperature of the refractory surfaces at some critical region in the hot ends of the regenerative zones. As the basic elements of the control, we thus have one "maximum" and one lLminimum" time relay and a potentiometer recorder-controller, combined with switches and relays to operate as follows: I. Reversal normally occurs within an optimum range limited by the maximum and minimum settings to about 4 to 6 min. variation, but the actual interval usually is less variable and closer to the minimum setting. 2. The margin between minimum and maximum time is utilized, together with a "floating temperature limit" in the potenti-ometric control instrument, to correct any tendency toward temperature unbalance between ends of the furnace. 3. A second "maximum temperature

Jan 1, 1945

By L. C. McCabe

This paper is a progress report on a study of the distribution of the banded ingredients (Figs. 1 and 2) in Illinois screenings and the method of determining their distribution. Proximate analyses and screen tests1 have been reported and a further report on the washability characteristics of the screenings is in preparation. The microscopic study of the screenings is not yet far enough advanced to permit a conclusive report on the effect of mining, screening and washing on the distribution of the banded ingredients in the coals of Illinois. However, considerable fundamental data have been collected as a background for the screenings investigation and for a proposed study of fuels composed of known quantities of vitrain, clarain and fusain, the three common banded ingredients of Illinois coals. These fundamental data and the preliminary information now available from the microscopic study of screenings are broadly indicative of the reaction of the coals to the physical processes affecting them in mining and preparation. Proximate analyses of samples of vitrain, clarain, and fusain from several Illinois mines have been published2, but those given in Table 1 serve to show the differences that are apparent in proximate analyses. The vitrain samples are consistently low in ash, and the unit-coal value is uniformly lower than in clarain. The average fuel ratio (F.C./V.M.) of the vitrain samples in the table is 1.57 whereas the clarain average is 1.42. The fusain analyses vary considerably in ash and moisture. In the two samples from this mine the moisture values range from 8.99 to 22.80 and the ash from 4.86 to 16.91 per cent. Fusain has higher fixed carbon than either vitrain or clarain but the percentage is erratic from sample to sample. The relative proportions of the banded ingredients in the Herrin (No. 6) coal in Illinois is reasonably well known but detailed information

Jan 1, 1936

By L. C. McCabe

This paper is a progress report on a study of the distribution of the banded ingredients (Figs. 1 and 2) in Illinois screenings and the method of determining their distribution. Proximate analyses and screen tests1 have been reported and a further report on the washability characteristics of the screenings is in preparation. The microscopic study of the screenings is not yet far enough advanced to permit a conclusive report on the effect of mining, screening and washing on the distribution of the banded ingredients in the coals of Illinois. However, considerable fundamental data have been collected as a background for the screenings investigation and for a proposed study of fuels composed of known quantities of vitrain, clarain and fusain, the three common banded ingredients of Illinois coals. These fundamental data and the preliminary information now available from the microscopic study of screenings are broadly indicative of the reaction of the coals to the physical processes affecting them in mining and preparation. Proximate analyses of samples of vitrain, clarain, and fusain from several Illinois mines have been published2, but those given in Table 1 serve to show the differences that are apparent in proximate analyses. The vitrain samples are consistently low in ash, and the unit-coal value is uniformly lower than in clarain. The average fuel ratio (F.C./V.M.) of the vitrain samples in the table is 1.57 whereas the clarain average is 1.42. The fusain analyses vary considerably in ash and moisture. In the two samples from this mine the moisture values range from 8.99 to 22.80 and the ash from 4.86 to 16.91 per cent. Fusain has higher fixed carbon than either vitrain or clarain but the percentage is erratic from sample to sample. The relative proportions of the banded ingredients in the Herrin (No. 6) coal in Illinois is reasonably well known but detailed information

Jan 1, 1936

By A. Goldberg, T. E. Tietz, J. E. Dorn

INTRODUCTION THE concept that the flow stress for plastic deformation of metals in the work hardening range is a function of the instantaneous values of the strain, strain rate and test temperature was promulgated by Ludwick1 many years ago. This thought has been more or less a guiding principle throughout the immediate period of development and growth of mechanical metallurgy. It has been tacitly assumed or knowingly applied to many investigations on the plastic behavior of metals. Spurred by the theoretical interest and practical importance of the plastic behavior of metals, many investigators have attempted to determine empirical, semi-empirical, and theoretical equations2-18 relating the flow stress with the strain, strain rate, and temperature. Although the applications of such equations have been extensive, the experimental verification of the existence of a mechanical equation of state is weak. Furthermore, some of the available evidence on plastic flow appears to suggest that no simple functional relation between stress, strain-rate, strain and temperature can exist. The mechanical equation of state demands that [a = a(e, E, T)[I]] Where o = true stress = load/instantaneous area e = true strain = In Instantaneous gauge lengths initial gauge length e = true strain rate T = temperature] This formulation implies that [da] is an exact differential. Therefore the flow stress (o) is a function of the instantaneous values of the strain (e) the strain rate (e) and the temperature (T), independent of the previous mechanical or thermal history. Having reached a certain strain, strain rate, and temperature, by any path whatsoever, a definite and fixed value of the flow stress should be obtained. One check on the validity of the mechanical equation of state is easily obtained. Consider the following three tests on the stress-strain curve at constant temperature: [A. Strain at rate [ei] B. Strain at rate i2 C. Strain at rate [Ei] to [ei] and continue test at i2] A graphical representation of possible results of such tests are shown in Fig I. If, for strains greater than [el], test (C) data coincide exactly with the data from test (B), as shown in Fig Ia, a limited verification of the mechanical equation of state is obtained for the range of strain rates from [ii] to [e2]. But if the data from test (C) differ from those of (B) beyond strain [el] where the strain rate is changed from [e,] to [€2i] the mechanical equation of state is not

Jan 1, 1948

Note Any member who desires to be designated as being "Available for Consulting Work" can arrange it simply by sending a written request to the office of the Secretary of the Institute The following list of members is primarily arranged geographically, with secondary consideration to political subdivisions arranged alphabetically First, the states of the United States , then other North America, in order Alaska, Canada, Mexico, the West Indies, and Central America Then cones South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, each including the near by islands associated with those continents Australia, the islands to the north, and the Pacific islands except Japan are grouped together under Oceania The various countries are indexed on the preceding page NORTH AMERICA UNITED STATES ALABAMA America -Dyar, G C Anniston -DePriest, S H Klugh, B G Lefforge, J W Auburn Poor, R S Bankhead -Armstrong, W D Bessemer -Beck, A IV, Jr Carnes, D Chabot, L S , Jr Creveling, J C

Jan 1, 1952

By E. P. Pfleider

DIAMOND drill research work was initiated at the School of Mines, University of Minnesota, in late 1949. The Drilling Symposium held in Duluth that spring highlighted the problem of high cost and core recovery and the need for controlled testing. An advisory committee made up of informed representatives of both mining companies and drilling companies was formed to suggest and advise on a program of drill research. A Hy-Mac hydraulic drill unit, see Fig. 1, especially designed for experimental testing, was obtained for this work by the School of Mines through the courtesy of the Carboloy Co. It is an extremely flexible unit, capable of exerting a forward thrust of about 1750 lb and turning at speeds from 650 to 2200 rpm. The feed arrangement is so designed that the advance can be set either at a constant rate or permitted to vary at a fixed pressure, see Fig. 2. The

Jan 1, 1952

By John Hall

THE Fremont test for measuring the energy consumed in breaking a notched bar of steel is not so well known in this country as it deserves to be. The test specimen used in this test is about 3/8 by 1/4 by about 1 1/4 in., notched with a hack saw on the lower side to cause the piece to break at a fixed point. A weight of 10 kg. falling 4 m., and provided with a knife or chisel which strikes the specimen, breaks the test piece by impact. The residual force in the falling weight after it has broken the specimen is recorded by a suitable device, and the difference between the total energy and the residual energy of the weight (in kilogrammeters) is the force consumed in breaking the specimen. An experience of several years with the Fremont testing machine has shown its great value in readily detecting brittleness not revealed by tensile testing or slow bending testing. I this paper it is proposed to discuss (1) the supersensitiveness of the test as applied to cast steel and (2) its value in revealing the effect of heat treatment under certain conditions. .

Jan 7, 1913

Temperatures in the Open-hearth Furnace. By Robert B. Sosman. (Metals Tech. Aug. 1948, T.P. 2435) Steelmaking Direct Oxidation in the Basic Open Hearth Process. By E. R. Hughes and F. G. Norris. (Metals Tech., June 1948, T.P. 2380) With discussion Operation of Oxygen-enriched Open-hearth Furnaces. By J. S. Marsh. (Metals Tech., Aug. 1948, T. P. 2416) With discussion Role of Thermochemical Factors in Basic Open Hearth Production Rate. By T. E. Brower and B. M. Larsen. (Metals Tech., Oct. 1948, T.P. 2451) Structure, Segregation and Solidihcation of Semikilled Steel Ingots. By M. Tenenbaum. (Metals Tech., Sept. 1947, T.P. 2273) With discussion The Origin of Silicate Inclusions in Basic Electric-arc-furnace Steel of Higher Carbon Contents. By Axel Hultgren. (Metals Tech., Aug. 1948, T.P. 2418) A Method for Determining the Origin of Surface Defects in Rolled Steel Products. By C. L. Meyette and V. L. Elliott. (Metals Terh., June 1948, T.P. 2368) With discussion Gases in Steel The Sampling and Analysis of Steel for Hydrogen. By G. Derge, W. Peifer and J. H. Richards. (Metals Tech., June 1948, T.P. 2362) With discussion Apparatus for the Hot-extraction Analysis for Hydrogen in Steel. By C E. Sims and G. .I. Moore. (Metals Tech., June 1948, T.P. 2369) With discussion A Quantitative Experimental Investigation of the Hydrogen and Nitrogen Contents of Steel during Commercial Melting. By C. E. Sims, G. A. Moore and D. W. Williams. (Metals Tech., Feb. 1948, T.P. 2347) With discussion The Effect of Hydrogen on the Ductility of Cast Steels. By C. E. Sims, G. A. Moore and D. W. Williams. (Metals Tech., Sept. 1948, T.P. 2454) Sulphur in Ironmaking Kinetics of the Transfer of Sulphur across a Slag-metal Interface. By Lo-ching Chang and K. Goldman. (Metals Tech., June 1948, T.P. 2367) With discussion Some Correlations between Variables Affecting Sulphur in Blast Furnace Iron. By T. E. Brower and B. M. Larsen. (Metals Tech., Sept. 1948, T.P. 2465) Tracer Study of Sulphur in the Coke Oven. By S. E. Eaton, R. W. Hyde and 11. S. Old. (Metals Tech., Sept. 1948, T.P. 2453) Transformation of Austenite Anisothermal Formation of Bainite and Proeutectoid Constituents in Steels. By Leonard D. Jaffe. (Metals Tech., Dec. 1947, T.P. 2290) With discussion Austenite Transformation Above and Within the Martensite Range. By R. T. Howard, Jr. and M. Cohen. (Metals Tech., Oct. 1947, T.P. 2283) With discussion

Jan 1, 1949

By W. TRINKS

RAPID progress has been made in the automatic control of open-hearth furnaces in the past few years and many firms today\supply such control apparatus. It is somewhat surprising that so little was heard about open-hearth control up to about, 1928, and that thereafter the practice of automatically controlling open-hearth furnaces spread very rapidly. Before discussing the reasons for this it may be advisable to list the quantities that can be controlled. One of the easiest quantities to be controlled in the open-hearth furnace is pressure. The reasons for controlling it are plain. If there is excess pressure in the furnace, products of combustion leak out around .the .door and through all the cracks in the brick-work. The stability of the piers between the doors is seriously endangered, and front wall repairs become frequent. Furthermore, hot gases are lost that might be usefully employed in heating the checkerwork. If there is a slight vacuum in the furnace, cold air entering through the doors and cracks cools the interior, slowing down the reactions and making it impossible to secure the highest degree of preheat from the checkerwork.

Jan 1, 1931

By W. A. Hustrulid, N. A. Ross

An analysis of the design of medium to hard rock tunneling machines is presented. The developed equations are used to compare performances and machine requirements using kerf and fixed pick cutters to bore a given rock. With the use of pick cutters, required thrusts can be greatly reduced and still achieve the same boring rate as with present day tooth or kerf cutters. It appears that the cutting coefficient, which for most boring machines is of the order of 0.1, should be increased to one or larger to facilitate rock removal by cutting rather than grinding. The depth of cut and the indexing distance should be greatly increased to make use of inherent rock weakness.

Jan 1, 1971

Institute of Metals Division Iron and Steel Division Extractive Metallurgy Division Council J H Scaff (IMD) Chairman, Robert W Shearman, Secretary, J S Smart, (IMD), P T Stroup, (EMD), A W Schlechten, (EMD), J S Marsh, (ISD), A W Thornton, (ISD), M E Violin, (MED), D S Eppelsheimer, (MIED) Journal of Metals Editorial Advisory Committee J S Smart, Jr, Chairman, W A Dean, J C Kinnear, Jr, T D Jones, Evan Just, John Marsh, M Tenenbaum Pacific Northwest Regional Conference A Y Bethune, General Chairman, Frank N Marr, Chairman, General Arrangements, R J Lapee, Chairman, C P Love, (EMD Program), W M Armstrong, Chairman, Physical Metallurgy Program, L W Heinzinger, Chairman (ISD Program), J P Spielman, Chairman, (MIED Program) New England Regional Conference K H Mairs, Chairman, W A Backofen, Vice-Chair¬man, Delmar E Trout, Secretary, G W Coleman, Treasurer, F H Wilson, Past Chairman, Members at Large Sidney Siegel, Boston, G F Donahue, Connecti¬cut Representatives from Connecticut Frank Chudy, J E Chafey Representa¬tives from Boston N L Reed, E Gordon

Jan 1, 1955

By D. A. Farmen

INTRODUCTION In early 1978, engineering personnel at The Carter Mining Company began using photogrammetry coupled with a computer modeling technique to aid in mine planning efforts. The decision to develop this approach was based on the following needs: 1. A method to accurately capture excavated quantities for reporting purposes, 2. A method to produce accurate up-to-date maps for planning purposes, and 3. A computer-based mine-planning technique that would be compatible with techniques used in the past. The system developed utilizes a photogrammetric contractor to provide thousands of aerially-surveyed data points for input into the computer system. Each month the Rawhide and Caballo mines are flown by the photogrammetric contractor. The terrain of the active pit area is digitized and punched out on computer cards. This information is read into The Carter Mining Company's computer facilities, and an updated two-dimensional topographic grid model of the pit is generated. This surface is used to generate quantities moved during the month, to update isopachs, and to update quantities contained in fixed block progression polygons used for forecasting purposes. The system has greatly reduced the amount of manhours spent in field surveying and provides a useful tool for expeditiously evaluating many different forecast cases. It also provides the

Jan 1, 1983

By David B. Brooks

INTRODUCTION Resources are not; they become (Zimmermann 100) . The companion concepts of reserves and resources appear, one way or another, in almost all considerations of mineral supply. Yet, no other concepts in the economics of the mineral industries have occasioned so much confusion. Whereas everyone agrees that in general the terms refer to the amounts of material that-depending upon technology, market conditions, and institutions-will become available for production in the near or more distant future, the apparent agreement disappears when we come to more specific definitions or to application of the definitions. Some definitions emphasize the physical aspects of reserves and resources, while others emphasize the economic. Some treat reserves and resources as fixed quantities, while others regard them as continually varying. Some consider that reserve and resource estimates have validity only for individual deposits, while others insist that they can be measured with sufficient accuracy for regional or national planning. This confusion in concepts that lies at the very heart of mineral economics is both strange and not so strange. It is common in the social sciences to find concepts that have been adopted into scientific jargon from popular usage and given rather special meanings -at the same time that they continue to be widely used without such qualifications. Psychologists have the same trouble with personality and sociologists, with community. Nevertheless, an attempt must be made to straighten out the various meanings of reserves and resources, or at least to clarify the conditions under which different meanings are applicable, before much progress in analysis of mineral problems can be expected. That is the objective of this chapter. Throughout the chapter, an attempt has been made to provide enough references to guide the interested reader to the most pertinent works on the concepts under study. However, even in a review article, it is no longer feasible to provide a comprehensive set of citations; there are simply too many. In many instances the works cited will themselves include the bibliographies needed to complete a literature search; those that are particularly useful in this respect are so noted. Also, because of the limited availability of foreign periodicals, some important works -originating largely in Canada, France, the

Jan 1, 1976

By H. Rees

This paper supplements and brings up to date a report prepared earlier this year and presented at the Eleventh Pan American Railway Congress in Mexico City. Most of the original report is contained in this paper in order to acquaint the reader with the project background. On December 1, 1961, construction of this locomotive was completed. Stationary testing started immediately, and a host of problems in various areas were uncovered. Many of these had no relation to the use of coal in a direct fired gas turbine. All of them emphasized the problems which plagued previous projects of this kind. In 1944 the Locomotive Development Committee of Bituminous Coal Research, Inc., was formed to study the problems of combustion, coal handling, and fly ash removal which would have to be solved before coal could be used to fire a gas turbine. By 1947 this committee was composed of the chief executive officers of nine eastern railroads and five eastern coal companies. All of the members of this committee were vitally concerned in a coal fired gas turbine because coal cost only one-fourth as much per heat unit as fuel oil. A number of research projects were started to develop and test components on a small scale. This included work at John Hopkins University, Battelle Memorial Institute, Institute of Gas Technology at Chicago, Purdue University, and Southern Research Institute. By 1946 a pilot plant had been installed at the Dunkirk, New York plant of Alco Products Div. of American Locomotive Co. The U. S. Bureau of Mines made available to the Locomotive Development Committee (hereafter called LDC) a Houdry process gas turbine plant, originally destined for a Russian oil refinery. The full scale pilot plant was used to evaluate the results obtained from the small scale studies under actual gas turbine conditions. Operation of this plant disclosed a number of problems which had not been discovered in the small scale tests. By 1951 four 250 hr tests had been conducted with the Houdry gas turbine to test out a variety of equipment. The major problem concerned the removal of abrasive fly ash from the products of combustion so that wear on turbine blades would not be excessive. The first 250 hr test showed that the original fly ash separating equipment was inadequate. Large ash particles passing through the turbine blading were nicking the leading edges of the first row blades. At the conclusion of the second 250 hr test, erosion was so severe that the first row of stator and the first row of rotor blades were replaced. At the end of the third 250 hr test, it was necessary to replace the first three rows of stator blading. The fourth test was used to test out a new design fly ash separator developed by LDC and named the Dunlab tube. This device gave more encouraging results than any of the others tested. Early enthusiasm for overcoming major difficulties had resulted in placing an order in 1946 with Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. for a 3750 hp regenerative gas turbine. The gas turbine, together with associated combustion and ash removal equipment, coal handling equipment, generators and gear reduction unit was installed at Dunkirk by 1951. A 750 hr test was made in 1952 with the LDC-Allis Chalmers gas turbine power plant. At the end of this test it was necessary to replace the first four rows of both rotor and stator blading. Rows 5 and 6 did not require replacement. In 1953 the American Locomotive Co. joined with LDC and assumed an active role in equipment development and manufacture. During 1954 LDC-Alco operated the rebladed gas turbine 300 hr to determine if a new fly ash separator was adequate. Performance of the improved separator was considerably better, but trouble was experienced with clogged blowdown lines from the Dunlab tubes. When these lines clogged it permitted the passage of abrasive particles. In 1955 a total of 1421 hr was run. This included 243 hr of cycle operation on Union Pacific coal from the D. O. Clark mine at Superior, Wyoming. During the 243 hr a total of 370 tons of coal was consumed. The purpose of this test was to determine if U.P. coal was suitable for use in a coal fired turbine. It was the unofficial opinion that it was as good or better than the eastern coals that had been tested.

Jan 1, 1964

By D. E. Hartman, J. M. Roberts

A detailed study of the temperature dependence of the critical stress, TB . necessary to cause a damping loss of 1.41 x 10-6 g mm per mm3 in pre-strained magnesium single crystals has been carried out in the temperature range 82" to 320°K. Tb is found to be linearly related to the reciprocal of the ahsol~cte temperature in this temperature range. The temperature dependence of the anelastic limit, TA, defined as the stress necessary to form open unidirectional stress-cycle damping loops has been measured between 82" to 320°K. ta is found to be independent of temperature in this range. It is suggested that TA is determined by the stress necessary to activate Frank-Read dislocation NUMEROUS studies1-9 have been reported concerning the details of yielding and microstrain near and below the generally discussed macroscopic flow stress. The work of Kramer and coworkers10-13 is helpful in determining certain qualitative facts. concerning preyield phenomena. The absence of a stress-dependent delay time in annealed copper and aluminum single crystals between 83" and 298 suggests that the preyield mechanism is temperature-independent in this range. This is not sources. The temperature and stress dependence of the effective activation volume (Veff) has been measured in the damping-loop region in prestrained magnesium single crystals. The data suggests that Veff/kT is approximately constant, equal to 2 4.5 sq mm per g in the temperature range 130°to 298°K, and that Veff is almost independent of stress at stress levels greater than 10 g per sq mm. A restricted model is developed to predict the stress (rb) necessary to cause a small fixed damping loss as a function of temperature, effective activation volume, and dislocation density. Various possible dislocation mechanisms controlling TB are discussed. true for zinc, p brass, and iron crystals in the same temperature range, however, since the existence of a stress-dependent delay time suggests a thermally activated preyield mechanism in these materials.10-13 The work by Vreeland et a1.14 confirms the work by Liu et al.ll on delayed yielding in zinc single crystals. A stress-dependent delay time between 82" and 298°K was found12 in prestrained aluminum and copper crystals. These results suggest that the preyield phenomena may be different between prestrained and unstrained or annealed crystals. The temperature dependence of the yield point at 2 x 10-8 plastic strain found by Rosenfield and Averbach3 in annealed copper and aluminum is not in agreement with the delay-time data, unless possibly the delayed yielding experiment only de-

Jan 1, 1964

By R. A. Falconer, H. L. Lovell

With increasing requirements for fine coal cleaning and the many advantages of the cyclone operating on a coal-water slurry, a series of studies designed to achieve an enhanced understanding of the cyclone parameters has been pursued. The purpose of this investigation has been to vary a series of dimensional parameters with an experimental 15-in. diam hydro-cyclone, and to determine the relative effects of parameter variations upon ash and sulfur removal. This study of the hydrocyclone is a continuation of a series of investigations, conducted in the Dept. of Mineral preparation at The Pennsylvania State University, which are directed toward the removal of ash and sulfur constituents from fine bituminous coal by size-density separations in cyclones, and toward a fuller understanding of the complex mechanisms involved in such separations. The purpose of this investigation has been to vary a series of dimensional parameters with an experimental 15-in. diam hydrocyclone, and to determine the relative effects of parameter variations upon ash and sulfur removal. Of special interest was the response to cone angle variation, since it is the high included cone angle that generally distinguishes the hydrocyclone as a gravity separator rather than a classifier. DESCRIPTION OF THE HYDROCYCLONE Fig. 1 is a dimensional drawing of the hydrocyclone used in the investigation. The unit was designed and fabricated by Heyl and Patterson, Inc., for experimental use. The dimensional parameters considered were: 1) Three cone sections having included angles of 45, 60, and 95,degrees, 2) Three 3 1/8 in. diam vortex finders having lengths of 15, 17, and 19 1/2 in., 3) Three 4 1/16 in. diam vortex finders having lengths of 15, 17, and 19 1/2 in. 4) Two apex sections having diameters of 2 and 2 1/4 in. The feed inlet orifice had a fixed diameter of 3 in. The hydrocyclone test installation was made at The Pennsylvania State University pilot plant at Barnes-boro, Pa., which operated at 50 tph. During the period that the hydrocyclone was tested, research was in progress at the Barnesboro site to reprocess refuse material from a near-by coal preparation plant in

Jan 1, 1968

By John A. E. M. Church

THE prospector's pan was the first implement used for saving gold, and its action is so effective that it has never been equalled for thorough work. Copper plates, blankets, sluices, and amalgamators of several patented designs have thrust it aside, but in spite of all the advances made there is no dispute among experienced men as to the comparative thoroughness of the work done by it and its rivals. When its rivals are doing their best, the pan can take their discarded refuse and prove their inefficiency by producing from it not only gold, but even the mercury which has been lost from the machines themselves. The trouble with the pan has always been that it was only a tool. Man was the machine that moved it. His work was high-priced, the quantity treated small, and it was impossible to use the pan for any but the richest sands. As a consequence the best gold-saving appliance known has been discarded for years and replaced by machines of inferior excellence, but which could more than make up for their limited ability in saving gold by their capacity for treating great quantities of ore. Mr. Peck is one of the old-time amalgamators of the Comstock district, and the first idea of the new machine came to him as he used to pan below the tailrace of his mill. No matter how fine the work of the mill was, the pan invariably proved that better could be done. The tailings always contained gold, silver, and mercury. This state of things is just as true to-day, after all the improvements that have been made, as it was then, and the much-vaunted method of the " Washoe process" consists in extracting 72 per cent. of the gold and silver by one operation, and then repeating this operation half a dozen times to get out about one-third of the remainder. With all the advances of twenty years in milling, there is nothing more crude in metallurgy than the treatment of tailings in many of the large mills of the West.

Jan 1, 1880

By John A. Church

Jan 1, 1880

By Alexander Field

IN THE light of the experimental data on equilibrium for the reaction C + FeO = Fe + CO in molten steel recently obtained by Kinzel and I Egan,1 it is necessary to revise current theories regarding the nature of equilibrium between carbon and FeO in the basic open-hearth furnace. According to the measurements of these investigators the equilibrium constant m for the above reaction for a pressure of dissolved CO equal to 1 atm. is equal to 0.0005 at 1550° C., when concentrations of carbon and. FeO are expressed in percentages by weight. Their work also shows that, with the pressure of CO fixed at 1 atm., not only is the product of carbon and FeO constant, but carbon and FeO are each independently constant-a circumstance which might have been predicted from theoretical considerations. At 1550° C., carbon is constant at about 0.025 per cent. and FeO at about 0.020 per cent., with the pressure of dissolved -CO equal to 1 atm., the product of these two constants being equal to the originally mentioned constant of 0.0005. Available data on the dissolved FeO content of samples taken from the metal bath at practical slag-metal equilibrium prove that this FeO content is determined solely by temperature and the effective FeO content of the slag. The distribution constant r at 1550° C., as determined by Herty, Gaines, Larsen, Simkins, Geruso and Watkins2 is equal to 0.0086. A slag would have to contain 0.020/0.0086 = 2.3 per cent. effective FeO or less in order to prevent the metal from containing more dissolved FeO than that required for equilibrium with CO at 1 atm. pressure. Such low percentages of FeO are never found in basic open-hearth slags at the completion of a heat when rate of carbon drop has become practi-

Jan 1, 1930