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By M. S. Klima, P. T. Luckie

An evaluation of the operating performance of a recently designed pneumatic centrifugal classifier is presented. This classifier has been modified from a separate air and feed input design to an entrained solids in air feed input. The evaluation first required determining the size distributions for the three streams (feed, fine, and coarse). Using size distribution data and mass flow rates, a size selectivity curve was calculated for each operating condition tested. This curve, in turn, was characterized by appropriate selectivity parameters (i.e., the equiprobable or cut size, the sharpness index, and the apparent bypass values). The variation of these parameters with classifier operating conditions was examined. From these evaluations, the "best" operating conditions for the classifier were then determined.

Jan 1, 1985

By C. E. Birchenall, H. M. Schadel

Vapor pressure of silver over silver-gold alloys has been measured over a range of temperatures for four compositions. Orifice effusion has been compared with electromotive force measurement as a means for determining thermodynamic activities in these solid metallic alloys. Correlated activity coefficients are given for silver-gold alloys for the temperature range 200' to 1000°C. SOUND development of a technique for the measurement of some property of matter requires a comparison with other recognized procedures which have been used to measure the same property. Such a check is especially useful if the assumptions on which the applications stand are basically different for the two methods. Agreement in the results tends to confirm both sets of assumptions. The electromotive force method for determining thermodynamic activities depends upon the reversibility of the electrode processes and a knowledge of the valence states involved. The orifice effusion technique of determining vapor pressures requires that certain mean free path conditions be met, that the state of association of the vapor be known, and that efficient collection of vapors be maintained. Thus the requirements are quite different in nature. Although procedures often exist by which the fulfillment of these conditions may be tested internally, agreement of thermodynamic activities for a single system obtained by both methods constitutes a more severe test of the assumptions. The binary alloy system silver-gold is excellent for this purpose for several series of emf measure-

Jan 1, 1954

By Harry Seltz

INTERMETALLIC compounds are formed in many binary metal systems. Some compounds are stable to their melting points, and others decompose at lower transition temperatures. Even those of the first class are dis-sociated in the liquid state, as indicated by the continuous for in of their solubility curves at their melting points1. While the lattice structures of some of these compounds have been determined, their thermodynamic properties have not been investigated. In this paper is described the determination of the free energy and heat of formation of the compound CdSb, which is of the first class mentioned above, melting congruently at 455° C. This compound shows a rhombic structure, and the lengths of the edges of the elementary cell containing four molecules are: a =6.52, b = 8.60, c = 4.16 A.2 There are three possible methods of determining the free energy of formation of a compound of this type. The first method, applying the third law of thermodynamics, requires the measurement of its heat capacity preferably to liquid hydrogen temperatures, and a calorimetric determination of its heat of formation. The second method involves the study of the equilibrium of the compound in some gas reaction, such as: CdSb + CO2 = CdO + CO + Sb From the known free energies of formation of CdO, CO2 and CO the free energy of formation of CdSb could be calculated. The third method measures the electromotive force of a galvanic cell in which the cell

Jan 1, 1935

By A. F. Banks

INTRODUCTION Selective flocculation-flotation as a method of desliming potash flotation feed has been practiced in the Cominco Ltd. potash plant since November. 1974 when it was installed to replace a less efficient mechanical desliming process. The plant was designed for a consistent feed containing 4.5% insolubles. In practice the quantity and quality of the insoluble material is quite variable. This variability led to serious problems in the deslime circuit and consequently had an adverse effect on sylvite flotation performance. A costly mechanical solution to the problem was being seriously considered when it was drawn to our attention that a selective flocculation-flotation process had been developed. The process was tried first in the laboratory on the Cominco Ltd. ore, then on a pilot basis on 25% of the mill feed and finally full scale. The time from being informed of the process to full scale operation was 18 months. It has since been incorporated into a tailings regrind circuit. The original mine design called for the mining of an 11 foot height up to the top of the three clay seams. These had to be taken as they were a zone of structural weakness. It also assumed that the beds would be uniform with only a few disturbances. Very soon after the initial start up it was found that permanent openings had to take in the layers right up to the upper clay seams and because of the mining process that this material would have to be milled when encountered. The number of disturbed areas in the mine is greater than the design anticipated. In operation the insoluble content of the mill feed varies from 4.5% to 8% plus with the peaks being very short- term to relatively long, from hours to day. In terms of quality, the insolubles in the mining horizon are relatively soft and easily liberated, whereas those above are hard and liberate slowly.

Jan 1, 1979

By D. L. Ward

This paper is the result of a study, in 1919, to determine how much surplus power could be produced through the proper utilization of the entire gas flow from the two furnace stacks at the Federal Furnace Plant, South Chicago, Ill. Obviously, the problem was to measure the flow of gas through the main beyond the point where the amount necessary for stove operation was removed. In all probability, blast-furnace gas is the most difficult gas to measure, because of the high moisture and dust content, and the widely fluctuating flow from the furnaces. This wide fluctuation of flow forbids the acceptance of any one group of flow readings as indicative of normal operating conditions. A study of the conditions showed that a recording device on gas flow was necessary. As the gas at the point of measurement had passed through wet washers, and accordingly was saturated with water and contained considerable dust carried past the scrubbers in the form of sludge, no form of Pitot tube could be used, for this sludge would quickly plug the dynamic and static holes, spoiling the gage readings. An even more serious objection to the use of Pitot tubes was the impossibility of accurately measuring the cross-sectional area of the gas main on the plane of Pitot-tube installation. Given an absolutely clean gas and a perfectly circular pipe, it would be safe to assume, through measurements of the pipe diameter, that the gas main was of a certain cross-sectional area. But the continual depositing of sludge and the fact that the main was fabricated from riveted sheets led us to discard the idea of using Pitot tubes for this service. The Venturi tube was then considered, and had there been a sufficiently long straight run of gas main to accommodate a tube of the required size (72 by 28 in.) such an installation would very likely have been made.

Jan 2, 1921

AVING started to tell you of working potter's clay for making crucibles and shells, the wish came to me to tell you of the practice of this art also. Although it may seem at first glance to be outside the order and purpose of my writing, he who considers well will see that it is not unrelated to it but proper, since it is wholly dependent on the agency and power of fire if it is to be brought to its perfection. Moreover, the potter's glazes and colors are all substances of various metals or impure minerals and therefore belong to fire. Since it is my intention to treat of fire, minerals, and metals for you, I surely should not have omitted this, particularly because it is a necessary art which enriches and is greatly praised both for its ingenuity and its beauty. The art of the potter has two sources as its principal basis. One comes from the art of design, the other from various alchemical secrets and elemental mixtures. In regard to these, I find that, in my opinion, all this art depends in the last analysis on four things: on good judgment in general, and on the art of design so as to be able to make the vessels beautiful and of good shape, as well as to ornament them with painting; after baking them well the first and second times, the next thing is to know how to make and apply the glaze well and to paint them with varied and appropriate colors. The fourth is to see that you have good, fine clay without small stones or lumps-indeed this is to be considered as the first thing. Now this that I have called clay is what many call cretaceous earth and some call argil. It is found and dug up when the masters wish to make use of it and is put in a container to be moistened. When it is moistened, it is beaten on a bench with an iron rod and very well prepared. Mixing it carefully, every small stone, lump, or other hardness that it contains is removed and cleaned away. Then a shaft [145V] of iron is fitted as the journal in a large wheel. On the other end of the journal a small wheel is made which forms an instrument for working that is called a lathe. Having put some clay on this, it is made to rotate by pushing with one foot, and, by rotating it, vessels are worked into a pleasing shape and size. Then they are taken off and put on a board to dry. After drying artificially or naturally they are painted red,

Jan 1, 1942

By George W. Maynard

For an account of the discovery and the determination of chromite on Port au Port Bay I am indebted to Mr. Obalski, Government mining engineer for the Province of Quebec. He writes: " In June, 1894, with the authorization of our Government, I went to Newfoundland to examine some asbestos property. Passing through Halifax, I had interviews with some gentlemen who told me that besides the asbestos there was in the same district a big deposit of iron-ore. They handed me some specimens, and, after ascertaining that they were not magnetic, and learning that they were found in serpentine, I said they were chromic iron. I visited the place on June 27, 1894, and confirmed my opinion, pointing out at the same time the importance of the deposit, as appears in my report of July 9, 1894. I do not claim any credit for the discovery of chrome-ore in Newfoundland; but, as a matter of fact. when I came in contact with the Halifax gentlemen they did not appear to know the nature or the value of the mineral until I mentioned to them that it was chromite. "' Mr. Obalski's report was mainly devoted to the asbestos-deposits. That portion relating to the chromite was as follows: " On the right side of the creek there is a show of chromic iron of good quality, which appears scattered through the serpentine in several places on the face of the cliff for 40 to 50 feet. A few boulders are found farther up at a distance of 100 feet, and also in the ckeek itself. From this point the deposit exists on a relatively large area, the widest exposures being from 6 to 7 feet. Chromic iron deposits in serpentine rock have no regularity, and are merely pockets. In the case of the property in question this rule is not changed, but the pockets look to be of large extent, and could be easily worked." My own preliminary investigation of the property was made

Jan 1, 1898

By Bob J. Rawicki

TYPES OF WET DUST COLLECTORS Basically, there are two types of wettype dust collectors. One is mechanical, incorporating pumps, motors, fans, sprays, filters, or flooded beds. These come in many forms, but their operating principle is basically the same. The screen or flooded bed is wetted by a series of sprays. Polluted air is drawn in through a fan; here the dust particles impinge on the screen and are flushed off into a settlement tank. The air then passes through spray eliminators to the atmosphere. A great deal of time and money has been spent developing this type of collector. In laboratory tests where clean water at constant pressure, air at constant volume, and dust at low but constant mass to volume were applied, these collectors gave high percentage dust collection efficiencies. Theoretically and technically, they are very good. In practice, however, under rugged mining conditions where there are no constants, and dust load, particle size, water pressure, and volume of air vary with time, their efficiency varies dramatically. Some of the most common problems are: 1. clogging of screens 2. blocking of nozzles 3. replacement. of damaged pump stators Any of the above result in loss of air flow and dust collection efficiency. Generally, there are so many mechanical moving parts, something is always breaking down. This type of collector is very expensive in parts and labor to maintain. The second type of dust collector, which I personally developed, with the help of the British National Coal Board of Great Britain, has none of the above mentioned problems and it works on a completely different principle. My collector, the Mark III Precipitaire Wet-Type Dust Collector, (an improved version of previously successful models) has no internal moving parts, no flooded beds, screens, spray nozzles, etc. It is highly efficient - 99.8% efficiency on total collected dust and 97% on respirable dust. The pressure drop through the collector is constant, hence, air flow remains constant. There is no maintenance expenditure, be it labor or parts. The only maintenance that there is, is desludging. This, of course, varies with the dust load. With a low dust load, desludqinq may only be required every 4 weeks, but this is a very simple operation that can be handled by unskilled men and it takes only a very short time. My collector is powered by a ventilation fan that is placed on the clean air side for a longer fan and motor life. Dust is extracted solely by water action. The collector's operating principle is: Dust laden air is drawn in along ducting into a tapered scrubber section, shaped to create a self-induced curtain of water. This action washes the dust particles from the air and the collected dust settles into the bottom of the tank. Cleaned air is then exhausted via a series of spray eliminators where it is completely dried and on into the atmosphere. These collectors have been sold in Great Britain, to the National Coal Board, and throughout Europe. They have been working very well for many years now. GENERAL APPLICATIONS Dust is very dangerous; silicosis and black lung kill and disable many workers each year. Many of the mine explosions can be attributed to coal dust. By the use and application of dust collectors, these deaths and disasters can be avoided. There really is no excuse. However good and efficient a dust collector may be, it's positioning and installation arrangement is critical. The collector may remove 99% of dust supplied to it, but it takes the skill and experience of a dust control engineer to design and fit ducting, hoods, etc. to remove polluted air at source and deliver it to the collector. In some cases this is very simple; in the case of longwall machines, it is very difficult. In general, dust collectors should be used to collect dust at every point of dust generation. I have noted a great reliance on dilution as a means of dust control. I personally think this is a dangerous and unreliable method. As mines become deeper and the use of larger and more productive equipment becomes more common, reliance on dilution will be impossible and dust collectors will be essential.

Jan 1, 1982

By O. G. Bell

While all of the Southwest Texas fields lie within the Gulf Coastal Plain this area may be divided into three subdivisions—the Coastal Plain zone proper, the Reynosa Escarpment zone, and the interior zone. The Coastal zone includes that strip adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico and . extending inland for a distance of about 60 miles and includes the Palo Blanco, Palangana, Piedras Pintas, Kingsville, Agua Dulce, Saxet, White Point and Refugio fields. The Reynosa Escarpment zone includes a Pliocene overlap over older Tertiary sediments lying west of the Coastal zone. The western margin of the Reynosa formation forms a more or less well-defined westward facing escarpment with which the so-called Reynosa Escarpment fields are indirectly related. These fields include those in eastern Zapata, eastern Webb, western Jim Hogg, western Duval, McMullen, Live Oak, Bee, Goliad and Victoria counties. The interior zone includes these fields west of the Reynosa Escarpment which are not in any way related to it and are on separate types of structure. Production data by fields and wells are shown in Table 1. Roma.—During 1928 the Texas Co. completed two small gas wells at 198 ft. on the Roma Structure near the town of Roma on the Rio Grande in Starr County. This gas is of no commercial importance but was used for fuel in drilling other deep tests on this structure. Three dry holes ranging from 3600 to 4200 ft. were drilled; then their No. 4 Guerra, the fourth deep test, was completed during December as a small producer of 37" Bé. oil from a sand at 3560 to 3590 ft. No production was marketed during December but arrangements were being made to handle the output from this well during 1930. This is the first commercial producer in Starr County. Driscoll.—In 1929, Robert Driscoll discovered gas on his Santa Rosalia Ranch in Duval County while drilling water wells. Two sands were developed, one at 2400 ft. and another at 2936 ft. and several gas wells were completed in each, ranging in volume from 15,000,000 to 40,000,000 cu. ft. and in reservoir pressure from 500 to 1,000 Ib. Early in January of 1929, Mr. Driscoll's No. 14 Fee was completed as a 50-bbl. oil producer at 2894 ft. Two other oil producers were completed early in 1929. Mr. Driscoll's death early in the year curtailed develop-

Jan 1, 1930

BECAUSE it is necessary that the powders made for casting have a magistery of salt water, I wish now to teach you to prepare the salt that must form this magistery, for without it these powders would not have the toughness to hold themselves together when they are dry. In short, you take the quantity [119v] of salt that you need to prepare and put it in a rough pot, either baked or, if it suits you better, raw but well dried. This is completely covered with a lid or is luted with well- made moulding clay. Then it is encircled with brick ends at a distance of three dita, like a drying furnace. This space is filled with good charcoal; fire is applied and it is left to stand until all the charcoal is consumed by itself* Then you take that quantity of this burned or rather melted salt which you wish to use for moistening the clay and which you think can be dissolved in the water so that it wd remain very salty. It is boiled in a pot with water and then left to stand. After it has settled, your powder is moistened with it and used for moulding. When you see by testing it that the powder stands up as you wish, it is good. If not, give it some more of this water again and continue until you see that it holds enough. For without this magistery it would return to the dryness that it had before as a powder, and you could not use it without fear that it would fall from the Games. In this way this earth, either natural or artificial, is prepared and made ready, and it is used as the need occurs.

Jan 1, 1942

By Charles E. Locke

The little stamp-mill in the mining laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the work done by it have been well described by Prof. R. H. Richards and E. E. Bugbee in a paper read at the Albany meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, February, 1903.' As run for student class-work the mill contains a feeder, stamps, plate, and vanner. Results in the past indicate that the work of these machines is just as efficient as that of a regular mill handling the same class of ore. It has been the custom to obtain ore principally from Nova Scotia, mainly because it is the nearest source of supply, and also because there is a considerable saving in freight-cost as compared with other districts. The gold in Nova Scotia ores is notoriously coarse, and for this reason it is almost impossible to obtain satisfactory results by sampling and fire-assay, unless an extremely large lot of ore is crushed and all of the contained gold pellets are saved. A very interesting and most extraordinary example of this fact has been presented by a recent run in the Technology stamp-mill. Since the capacity of the mill is about 60 kg. per hr., and since in about 5-hr. run the students in any one section have an opportunity to make the necessary study of machines, it usually happens that several runs are made from one lot of ore. When the shipment is received it is first dried and weighed, put through the Blake breaker, set at 1 or 1.5 in., and the crushed product is piled in a cone on the sampling-floor. When the crushing is completed the ore is usually stored away in barrels for future use; it is aimed to have each barrel of

Jan 1, 1914

By H. E. Stauss, J. Hino

INTEREST in silicon has arisen again in the past decade as a result of improvements in crystal rectifiers.' Although the preparation of silicon was first reported by Berzelius in 1880, the early product was of relatively low purity, and only the need for rectifiers in World War II led to the production of a 99.9+ pct pure powder. This material in crystalline form was consolidated into massive silicon for use, and the method developed was to melt it with selected added constituents as "doping" agents. Melting techniques, therefore, are of great importance. There are two basic problems in producing silicon ingots free of doping additions; one is the prevention of spitting and the other is prevention of cracking of the ingot during freezing. The most satisfactory arrangement yet developed for producing massive silicon is to melt and freeze in a cylindrical quartz crucible surrounded by a concentric heating element and concentric radiation shields or insulation. For example, use can be made of a tubular heater with a high frequency generator as the source of power and reflecting shields of alundum cylinders. The spitting of silicon is related to gas evolution, and the gas comes from two primary causes—adsorbed gas and the reaction products of silicon and the crucible. Gas is also released from bubbles contained in the quartz crucible walls. Improved removal of adsorbed gas can be achieved by means of controlled melting and freezing. The seriousness of the problem in vacuo is reduced with an electrically operated mechanical movement of the high frequency power coil. The upper portion of the powder charge is melted first and the high frequency coil lowered until the powder is completely molten. During cooling the high frequency coil is raised slowly. These means also reduce the final nonviolent extrusion of large beads of metal through the ingot top during freezing. Better control of spitting and bead extrusion is obtained when melting is done under helium at. atmospheric pressure instead of in vacuo. The problem of reaction between silicon charge and crucible in practice is confined to the reaction between silicon and quartz. This2 apparently is: Si + SiO2 + 2SiO The part that this reaction plays in spitting has not been isolated for separate study. SiO is a volatile vapor at the melting point; of silicon and is released freely during melting in vacuo, but hardly at all in helium at atmospheric pressure. The cracking of ingots is a major difficulty in melting silicon, and its prevention requires special melting techniques or the addition of "toughening" agents such as aluminum or beryllium.' The cracking of the ingots has been explained as being the result of the expansion that occurs upon freezing; although direct observation of freezing ingots reveals visible cracks on the surface only after a red heat has been reached, suggesting that cracking is the result of differential contraction of silicon and quartz. Silicon wets quartz, and the ingot adheres tightly to the crucible. Therefore as ingot and crucible cool, the two either have to pull apart, or at least one must crack. Surprisingly, in spite of the relative thinness of the quartz and the thickness of the ingot, the ingot and the crucible both crack. Microscopic and X-ray4 studies fail to show any plastic flow other than twinning in the ingots. Slow cooling fails to prevent cracking. Another possible solution to cracking is to weaken the crucible. Use of thin-walled crucibles finally led to success with fused quartz crucibles with a wall thickness of 0.25 to 0.50 mm. With such thin-walled fused quartz crucibles consistently uniform success is secured in producing sound ingots 30 mm in diam from the purest available grade of silicon (99.9+) without the use of any type of addition. Melts are made in the size range of 50 to 100 g. Omission of a deliberately added doping agent is not sufficient to insure pure ingots. The reaction of silicon with crucibles and the resultant solution of impurities in the silicon is well-established." In this laboratory, the presence of Al, Be, and Zr has been found spectroscopically in ingots melted in contact with alumina, beryllia, and zircon. The best crucible materials reported in the literature are MgO and SiO2. Use of MgO in this laboratory has resulted in a heavy deposit of magnesium on the furnace walls, showing that a reduction of the magnesia occurred and the resulting magnesium removed from the melt by volatilization. In the case of quartz, the silica is reduced and SiO liberated to deposit on the equipment walls. There probably is real danger that oxygen is dissolved in the ingot when either magnesia or silica is used as the crucible material. Preliminary analyses by Dean Walter in his vacuum unit in this laboratory6 indicate the presence of oxygen in undoped silicon melted in quartz.

Jan 1, 1953

By Walter Rose

It is the purpose of this note to call attention to the circumstance complicating the attainment of uniform gas-liquid distributions in multi-phase flow systems, and especially in those of the so-called Hassler type.' Although the complication arises directly as a consequence of gas compressibility and the dependence of fluid distributions on interfacial curvature phenomena, little reference to the problem has yet appeared in the literature.' In fact, it is only the paper of Geffen et al.3 which gives any experimental evidence that a problem exists. On the other hand, previous authorsl,4,5 have made the tacit, albeit fallaceous assumption that uniform gas-liquid distributions automatically are established in linear flow systems by the expedient of maintaining the pressure gradients equal in the flowing gas and liquid phases. Such a device, it can be shown, will succeed only if the immiscible fluids are both equally compressible or both essentially non-compressible. Another necessary condition required before uniform fluid-fluid distributions can be achieved is that the porous matrix is isotropic. Uniform fluid saturation distribution conditions obtain in isotropic media only when the curvature of each interface of contact between wetting and non-wetting fluids is everywhere the same throughout the interspaces. This is a necessary condition which follows from the consideration that variation in interfacial curvature gives rise to finite capillary pressure gradients and therefore to variation in the saturation distribution. That this is not a sufficient condition follows from the consideration that hysteric possibilities allow for different saturations even though the capillary pressure gradient is zero. In any event, it will- be recalled that it is the intent in the Hassler scheme of relative permeability determination' to obtain initially (by the capillary pressure drainage or imhibition process) uniform conditions of fluid distribution in the core sample, and then to maintain this uniformity during mixture flow so that the resultant fluid mobilities which are calculated will refer to steady-state transfer under fixed conditions of uniform saturation. If the flowing fluids are incompressible, it is recognized that employment of the same value of the pressure gradient in each fluid will result in maintenance of the initially obtained condition of zero capillary pressure gradient. On the other hand, the consequence of gas compressibility is that the gradient in the gas pressure varies from point to point in the flowing stream. and since the pressure gradient in an incompressible liquid is constant it is thus impossible to maintain zero capillary pressure gradient during the simultaneous flow of gas-liquid mixtures. Therefore, one would expect to observe a variation in the gas-liquid saturation in the directions of the capillary pressure gradients, depending in magnitude on the particular way saturation changed with capillary pressure. In order to formulate the manner gas compressibility effects prevent the attainment of uniform gas-liquid distributions during mixture flow, consider a linear flow system of unit length. As noted, it is necessary to assume an isotropic medium (viz. one where permeability is independent of position and direction). One then can arbitrarily set the pressure

Jan 1, 1951

By Walter Rose

It is the purpose of this note to call attention to the circumstance complicating the attainment of uniform gas-liquid distributions in multi-phase flow systems, and especially in those of the so-called Hassler type.' Although the complication arises directly as a consequence of gas compressibility and the dependence of fluid distributions on interfacial curvature phenomena, little reference to the problem has yet appeared in the literature.' In fact, it is only the paper of Geffen et al.3 which gives any experimental evidence that a problem exists. On the other hand, previous authorsl,4,5 have made the tacit, albeit fallaceous assumption that uniform gas-liquid distributions automatically are established in linear flow systems by the expedient of maintaining the pressure gradients equal in the flowing gas and liquid phases. Such a device, it can be shown, will succeed only if the immiscible fluids are both equally compressible or both essentially non-compressible. Another necessary condition required before uniform fluid-fluid distributions can be achieved is that the porous matrix is isotropic. Uniform fluid saturation distribution conditions obtain in isotropic media only when the curvature of each interface of contact between wetting and non-wetting fluids is everywhere the same throughout the interspaces. This is a necessary condition which follows from the consideration that variation in interfacial curvature gives rise to finite capillary pressure gradients and therefore to variation in the saturation distribution. That this is not a sufficient condition follows from the consideration that hysteric possibilities allow for different saturations even though the capillary pressure gradient is zero. In any event, it will- be recalled that it is the intent in the Hassler scheme of relative permeability determination' to obtain initially (by the capillary pressure drainage or imhibition process) uniform conditions of fluid distribution in the core sample, and then to maintain this uniformity during mixture flow so that the resultant fluid mobilities which are calculated will refer to steady-state transfer under fixed conditions of uniform saturation. If the flowing fluids are incompressible, it is recognized that employment of the same value of the pressure gradient in each fluid will result in maintenance of the initially obtained condition of zero capillary pressure gradient. On the other hand, the consequence of gas compressibility is that the gradient in the gas pressure varies from point to point in the flowing stream. and since the pressure gradient in an incompressible liquid is constant it is thus impossible to maintain zero capillary pressure gradient during the simultaneous flow of gas-liquid mixtures. Therefore, one would expect to observe a variation in the gas-liquid saturation in the directions of the capillary pressure gradients, depending in magnitude on the particular way saturation changed with capillary pressure. In order to formulate the manner gas compressibility effects prevent the attainment of uniform gas-liquid distributions during mixture flow, consider a linear flow system of unit length. As noted, it is necessary to assume an isotropic medium (viz. one where permeability is independent of position and direction). One then can arbitrarily set the pressure

Jan 1, 1951

By Charles Legrand

The problem of mine pumping is so much affected by local conditions, and those conditions are so liable to changes during the life of a mine, that the best system to use is difficult to determine. The experience of the writer has been that, in general, for copper mines, electric pumping is most satisfactory unless the quantity of water to be pumped is great or the mine does not use electric power for any other purpose. As a rule, however, figuring on the cost of necessary power plant, the total cost of installation is greater with electric pumps than steam pumps. As the water is liable to be gritty, outside-packed plunger pumps are to be recommended, and if the water is not acid, or only slightly so, chilled cast-iron plungers pay for their extra cost very quickly in diminished cost of packing. With chilled plungers it is possible to use metallic packing instead of soft packing, if the water is not too gritty or the lift too high. In vertical pumps this packing is satisfactory for lifts up to 400 ft., in the experience of the writer, and may be found satisfactory for higher lifts. For water slightly acid, cement-lined pump bodies have given good satisfaction. For acid water, both plungers and puhp bodies should be made of acid-resisting bronze. For high lifts, especially with gritty water, a satisfactory pump valve is difficult to find. To reduce the unbalanced pressure on the valve at time of opening it is advisable to have narrow seats; this, however, brings high pressures on the seats when the valve is closed. On large valves for lifts of 600 to 1,000 ft. we have used leather, hard rubber, vulcanized fiber, and soft brass; for clear water the latter has given best satisfaction. The difficulties due to grit make it advisable to have large sumps where water can settle, and if possible, to have two of them so that they can be cleaned alternately. At the mines of the Old Dominion Copper Mining & Smelting Co., Globe, it was found that a small air ejector discharging into a mine car provides a very convenient way to clean mud and sand from a sump.

Jan 1, 1916

By E. H. Crabtree

The heavy-media separation plant at the Central mill of the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Co., near Picher, Okla., was started in February 1939. Since that time twenty-four million tons of lead-zinc ore has been treated in the mill, of which approximately 70 pct has been treated by heavy-media separation. Until January 1945, galena concentrate from the flotation plant was used as the sink-float medium. At that time minus 100-mesh ferrosilicon was substituted for the galena, and its use has been continued. The purpose of this paper is to compare the operating results and the costs of operation of the two media. For the purpose of this comparison the period Jan. I, 1943, to Jan. 29, 1945, has been taken to represent the operation using galena medium; the period Jan. 29, 1945, to Sept. I, 1946, to represent the ferrosilicon medium. During the first of these periods about seven and one-half million tons was milled; during the latter, or ferrosilicon period, more than five million tons was milled. It is believed that these tonnages are large enough to give representative data. Flowsheet The Central mill has a capacity of 15,000 tons per day. Briefly, the treatment used consists of crushing the ore through I½- in. and wet-screening out the minus 3/16-in. portion. The minus 136 plus 3/16-in. washed product is treated by the heavy medium; the minus 3/16-in. product is deslimed and jigged. The heavy-media cone tailing is discarded and the cone concentrate is recrushed and jigged for the production of a coarse lead concentrate. The cone concentrate, impoverished of lead, is then ground in ball mills and treated by differential flotation. The minus 3/16-in. jig product is similarly treated. Heavy-media Plant The heavy-media cone plant treating the minus I½ plus 3/16-in. product consists of one open-top cone 20 ft in diameter by 20 ft deep, equipped with a central airlift. Concentrate is discharged from the top of the airlift to a 3 by 14-ft low-head Allis-Chalmers drainage screen. Medium drains back into the cone, from the first half of this screen. The last half of the screen is provided with washing sprays for further removal of medium. Cone tailing is similarly drained and washed. Undersize from the washing screen is thickened and then cleaned in the medium-cleaning plant. When galena was used as a medium, cleaning was done in Fagergren and Denver flotation machines. The ferrosilicon is cleaned in three 36-in. and one 24-in. Crockett magnetic separators. A flowsheet of the cone plant is shown in Fig I.

Jan 1, 1949

By John H. Melvin

THE Omaha District, Corps of Engineers, has been doing subsurface exploration work for a number of years, both by contract and with its own forces. Certain practices and procedures concerning the recovery of large diameter cores have been developed which will be described in this paper. GEOLOGY Most of the drilling to date has been in connection with structures on the main stem of the Missouri River above Sioux City, Iowa. A wide variety of subsurface conditions has been encountered. The bedrock formations appear in regular order from the oldest to the youngest, traveling upstream; or in other words, the general regional dip is to the northwest. The oldest formation is the Carlile shale, a compaction or noncemented waxy shale of Cretaceous age. Because of its uncemented, soft nature this shale has a tendency to grind or wash away when drilled. It also has a tendency to rebound or expand when the overlying pressures are removed. A 25-ft bed of sharp, friable sandstone called the Codell member is present near the top of the Carlile shale. This member is a cemented sediment, but in drilling, many of the sand grains are broken loose and exert extensive abrasive action on the core barrel and bit. Above the Carlile shale is the Niobrara chalk, a soft calcareous deposit with shaly horizons and some thin beds of bentonitic clay. The average thickness of this deposit is about 145 ft. It is soft enough to be sawed or bored with ordinary woodworking tools, yet is compact enough to be used as building block. The Pierre shale, the formation above the Niobrara chalk, is over 800 ft in thickness and is the most widespread material in the area. It is a dark colored, compaction shale containing numerous thin bentonitic clay seams and at certain horizons, hard manganese concretions. The shale has numerous faults and in addition, along the valley walls, has undergone considerable - slumping. Joints, fault planes and slickensided surfaces are common features encountered in drilling and add to the difficulties of high core recovery. East of the Missouri River the bedrock is generally covered with from 100 to 200 ft of glacial till, composed of clays, silts, sands, gravels and boulders. The valley itself is filled with alluvial deposits, mostly of the sand and gravel sizes, and contains a buried preglacial or interglacial channel over 100 ft in depth. The overburden deposits require sampling in connection with engineering studies and must also be cased before the underlying bedrock can be cored. The diameter of the required overburden samples can thus have an indirect effect on the size of core recovered from the bedrock. West of the river, which in most cases is the western boundary of glaciation,

Jan 1, 1947

By AIME AIME

THE Petroleum Division will hold its first fall meeting in Tulsa, Okla., Thursday and Friday,' Oct. 2 and 3, preceding the. International Petroleum Exposition that opens there on Oct. 4. Headquarters will be at the Hotel Mayo, and members planning to attend should make reservations promptly because of the large attendance expected at the Exposition. The program for Thursday will feature production engineering problems and that for Friday the unit operation of oil pools. The principal papers planned for the various sessions are as follows:

Jan 1, 1930

By C. L. T. Edwards

In the preparation of this paper, the author has drawn upon experience with the operation of a blast furnace on Ioo per cent scrap burden, which he believes was the first operation of its kind in the country. It is the writer's further belief that much of the controversy attending discussions of this subject may be obviated by the presentation of a group of facts that should be known by blast-furnace men and open-hearth men alike. The following question has been raised: "Is iron made with scrap in the blastfurnace charge as good iron as that made without scrap—made with straight ore?" This question may he answered in part by the fact that the open-hearth men of the Bethlehem Steel Co. who used pig iron from a blast furnace that operated on Ioo per cent steel scrap found no difficulty in the processing of such iron other than that to be expected from the known analysis. Operation with ioo PeR Cent Steel Scrap During World War I, there was accumulated at the Bethlehem plant of the Bethlehem Steel Co. some 22,000 tons of alloy-steel turnings and borings. This scrap material was highly corroded and, like alloy-steel turnings of that period, were as a drug on the market. There was also a small tonnage of scale, rich in valuable metal. If this scrap could be worked up into pig iron, it would become readily available for use in the open hearth. In order that the pig iron should contain the maximum percentage of nickel, permission was obtained from the Management to try a Ioo per cent scrap operation. Accordingly, a blast furnace was swung over on July 25, 1919; the percentage of steel scrap increased more or less irregularly until July 29, when Ioo per cent steel turnings were charged. Except for occasional charges of nickel scale as an "cxtra," the operation continued uninterruptedly until Aug. 27, when the furnace was swung back to the regular ore—ore and scrap—operation. During this period, the furnace production ranged from a low of 568.60 tons to a maximum of 766.07 tons. At the swing-over from Ioo per cent scrap to the regular burden, the charge I hung up rather severely. While the latter condition has nothing to do with the object of the paper, a brief discussion of the experience will appear later because of the interest it may have for blast-furnace operators. In Table I, results of the first and last days of the ore charge are shown, July 25 and July 29. The last column shows a summary for the period of maximum scrap ' charge. The furnace employed had a hearth 16 ft. o in., bosh 22 ft. o in., stock line 15 ft. 6 in., bell 11 ft. 6 in., batter in., bosh angle 73' 27' and a Balrer-Neuman top, with gas-engine blowers. Analyses Range of material charged Gravel: SiO2, 64.40 to 70.54 per cent; A1203, 3.52 to 4.58; CaO, 7.27 to 9.49; MgO, 5.09 to 6.14; FeO, 1.67 to 3.34, ignition loss, 9.50 to 13.83. I

Jan 1, 1942

By C. L. T. Edwards

In the preparation of this paper, the author has drawn upon experience with the operation of a blast furnace on Ioo per cent scrap burden, which he believes was the first operation of its kind in the country. It is the writer's further belief that much of the controversy attending discussions of this subject may be obviated by the presentation of a group of facts that should be known by blast-furnace men and open-hearth men alike. The following question has been raised: "Is iron made with scrap in the blastfurnace charge as good iron as that made without scrap—made with straight ore?" This question may he answered in part by the fact that the open-hearth men of the Bethlehem Steel Co. who used pig iron from a blast furnace that operated on Ioo per cent steel scrap found no difficulty in the processing of such iron other than that to be expected from the known analysis. Operation with ioo PeR Cent Steel Scrap During World War I, there was accumulated at the Bethlehem plant of the Bethlehem Steel Co. some 22,000 tons of alloy-steel turnings and borings. This scrap material was highly corroded and, like alloy-steel turnings of that period, were as a drug on the market. There was also a small tonnage of scale, rich in valuable metal. If this scrap could be worked up into pig iron, it would become readily available for use in the open hearth. In order that the pig iron should contain the maximum percentage of nickel, permission was obtained from the Management to try a Ioo per cent scrap operation. Accordingly, a blast furnace was swung over on July 25, 1919; the percentage of steel scrap increased more or less irregularly until July 29, when Ioo per cent steel turnings were charged. Except for occasional charges of nickel scale as an "cxtra," the operation continued uninterruptedly until Aug. 27, when the furnace was swung back to the regular ore—ore and scrap—operation. During this period, the furnace production ranged from a low of 568.60 tons to a maximum of 766.07 tons. At the swing-over from Ioo per cent scrap to the regular burden, the charge I hung up rather severely. While the latter condition has nothing to do with the object of the paper, a brief discussion of the experience will appear later because of the interest it may have for blast-furnace operators. In Table I, results of the first and last days of the ore charge are shown, July 25 and July 29. The last column shows a summary for the period of maximum scrap ' charge. The furnace employed had a hearth 16 ft. o in., bosh 22 ft. o in., stock line 15 ft. 6 in., bell 11 ft. 6 in., batter in., bosh angle 73' 27' and a Balrer-Neuman top, with gas-engine blowers. Analyses Range of material charged Gravel: SiO2, 64.40 to 70.54 per cent; A1203, 3.52 to 4.58; CaO, 7.27 to 9.49; MgO, 5.09 to 6.14; FeO, 1.67 to 3.34, ignition loss, 9.50 to 13.83. I

Jan 1, 1942