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By Richard H. Olson

"Rarely in our technological society does the discovery of a new class of inorganic materials result in such a wide scientific interest and kaleidoscopic development of applications as has happened with the zeolite molecular sieves." The foregoing, the opening sentence in a landmark volume on zeolite molecular sieves by D. W. Breck (1974), is, if anything, an understatement. Zeolites were recognized as a new group of minerals in the 1750s, but it was not until 1930 that the first analysis of the crystal structure of a zeolite mineral was made. In the late 1940s research workers at Union Carbide Corp. began a program of zeolite synthesis and study which has resulted in one of the major research achievements of all time. Naturally, with the vast research and development efforts devoted to the synthetic molecular sieves, Union Carbide became concerned in the mid-1950s about its position should minable deposits of natural analogues be discovered. Zeolite minerals have diverse origins, and even a brief discussion of these is beyond the scope of this paper. The early work on zeolites was confined to igneous rock occurrences (e.g., amygdules and veins) which were formed by "space-filling;" these crystals tend to be euhedral, thereby rendering them appealing to both mineralogists and collectors. During the first year or so of Union Carbide's exploration (which began in mid-1957) attention was devoted solely to such igneous occurrences. A landmark paper by Bramlette and Posnjak (1933) heralded the potential significance of the occurrence of zeolite minerals as alteration products of vitric ash and similar materials. In the summer of 1958, full attention was directed by Union Carbide to the search for deposits of this type in the western United States. Since then, such exploration has been continu-

Jan 1, 1975

By B. F. Tillson, C. M. Haight

I. General Remarks..........................723 1. Location............................723 2. Characteristics of the Orebody..................725 (a) Mineralogical (b) Shape, Strike, Dip, Size, Etc. (1) Ore (2) Country Rock 3. Historical Sketch........................725 11. Mining Method..........................726 1. Outline of Methods Now in Operation............... 726 (a) Stopes (b) Fill . (c) Pillars (d) Slices (e) Transportation (f) Miscellaneous 111. Mining Operations........................727 1. Shaft..............................727 (a) Sinking (b) Dimensions and Equipment, Sketches (1) Size, Inclination. Direction, Etc. (2) Timbering (3) Stations (4) Track (5) Hoisting Equipment (a) Skips (b) Engines and Ropes (c) Idlers (d) Man Cars (6) Loading Pockets (a) Operating Figures (7) Headframe

Jan 1, 1918

By Frank B. McKune

This is something new in my life. A lot of you men here today I do not know, and some I do know. So if you have any remarks to make, I wish you would give your name and the name of your company. This is the first Acid Meeting which has been held under the auspices of the National Open-Hearth Steel Conference, and I hope it is a success. Whether it is a success or not depends entirely upon the support we get. If it does get good support, I have the idea it will be continued as a regular feature of the National Open-Hearth Steel Conference. We all think we have pretty good practices. But we can all learn and I hope that you, gentlemen, who take issue with the things someone else has said will stand up and give your opinions. Otherwise, the meeting will fall rather flat, and we won't get a great deal out of it; and there will not be enough interest shown by the National Committee to continue to place the meeting on the regular yearly program.

Jan 1, 1940

By Orville R. Lyons

DISCUSSION Judson S. Hubbard (The Humphreys Investment Co., Denver)—In this very interesting paper several brief references are made to the Humphreys spiral, a device used for cleaning fine coal. In Table I, Plants 76 and 77, data are given on spiral performance treating Raton and Trinidad coal. The fine coal, as fed to the spiral in these instances, is actually a table middling, hence the more easily treated material was previously removed and a large number of particles were present which were difficult to clean. Mr. W. M. Bertholf of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. presented a paper in February, 1946, Cleaning Table Middlings from a Coal Washery with the Humphreys Spiral Concentrator, from which I quote: "In considering the results of our tests it should be noted that the feed was our table middling, and that any real separation is a 'moral victory' as there is little material that could properly be called coal and practically no heavy rock, the consequences being that previous attempts to clean the middling have not at all been successful." Referring again to Table I, Plants 72, 73, 74, and 75, these data were obtained by Yancey and Geer and others and presented at the February 1950 Meeting, AIME, in a paper entitled Laboratory Performance Tests of the Humphreys Spiral as a Cleaner of Fine Coal. Results shown for those tests involve all particles from 8 mesh through the colloids, which admittedly is not an ideal situation for spiral feed if much refuse is contained in the —80 mesh or —100 mesh size range. As an illustration of the effect of treating too broad a size range, let us consider Plant No. 75, Kentucky No. 9 seam. Spiral feed was 8 mesh x 0. Now had this been 8x100 mesh the percentage of misplaced material would have been 8.0 pct instead of the reported 15.26 pct. Similar comparisons can be made on the other data presented with respect to the spiral. Other types of equipment show a similar trend in that whenever too fine a size is treated in a given unit process the percentage of misplaced material increases. Since the spiral is working near the finer end of the size range, it will sometimes be advantageous to treat the entire range of —8 mesh material rather than to deslime and make a fair showing on, say, the +80 or + I00 mesh. Desliming is subsequently done in any case in the dewatering or thickening operation. Results obtained by spiraling any given coal depend on factors too numerous and complex to discuss here, but there are strong indications that proper preparation of feed to the spiral can improve results obtained on some of the raw coals tested. This is clearly pointed out at the end of the aforementioned paper by Yancey and Geer. "The spiral is an extremely simple device which involves no moving parts and is constructed almost entirely of unmachined castings. Since it is such an uncomplicated mechanism, operation is simple and virtually foolproof. These characteristics, which go far toward insuring low cost operation, are attractive attributes in any coal cleaning unit." Certain equipment used in conjunction with the spiral has resulted in a decrease in the percentage of misplaced material, notably in actual practice the launder screen which is used to remove objectionable high ash fines from a spiral-washed coal product. Private correspondence with the U. S. Bureau of Mines has intimated that an additional yield of coal is possible by flotation of the spiral middling. Possible future improvements and developments may result from other methods now under consideration. Finally, some compromise must be made between the best metallurgical performance and the best practical or economical results. Mr. Lyons emphasizes in his summary this objective of overall economy in selection of equipment. G. B. Walker (American Cyanamid Co., Stamford, Conn.)—I had the pleasure of reviewing the draft of this paper and my curiosity was aroused by the data given for Tromp plants, in that all of the examples shown appeared to be 2-product separations, whereas all the Tromp plants with which I am familiar have been 3-product units. The data given for plants No. 101 and 102 appear to be taken from Tromp's brochure on his process and represent the results obtained at the Dominale plant in Holland which was operated for many years by Mr. Tromp. The plant, which was designed to treat 58 tons per hr, was sampled while treating 35 tons per hr of 3Y4x-in. coal. Example 101 appears to conform to what would result if the middling product were calculated into the refuse product, while Example 102 represents the calculation of the middling into the coal product. It is believed that Examples 103 and 104 represent the operation of the Willem-Sophie Mine in Holland recalculated on the same basis. In checking the English examples given by numbers 14, 15, 16, and 17, the same procedure seems to have been followed. These results have, apparently, been taken from an article in Colliery Engineering in August 1941, describing the initial operation of the Williamthorpe Colliery of the Hardwick Colliery Co. Two vessels are employed in this plant, one to treat soft coal and one to treat hard coal. Example No. 14 presents the results that could be obtained from the soft coal bath if the middling were calculated into the refuse, and Example 15 the results when the middling is calculated into the coal. Examples 16 and 17 represent the same expedient in the case of the hard coal bath. Of interest to this discussion is the fact that during the past year the Simon-Carves Engineering Co. in England has installed in the Williamthorpe plant their new "Sim-Car" medium cleaning system which is based on magnetic extraction and control and which is licensed under the Heavy-Media Separation Processes patents by the American Zinc, Lead and Smelting Co. This system has been described in the December 1951, issue of Colliery Engineering. It is reported that since the Williamthorpe Colliery was changed from the Tromp system of medium cleaning to the Magneto-Motive method of medium control the opera-

Jan 1, 1953

By Orville R. Lyons

DISCUSSION Judson S. Hubbard (The Humphreys Investment Co., Denver)—In this very interesting paper several brief references are made to the Humphreys spiral, a device used for cleaning fine coal. In Table I, Plants 76 and 77, data are given on spiral performance treating Raton and Trinidad coal. The fine coal, as fed to the spiral in these instances, is actually a table middling, hence the more easily treated material was previously removed and a large number of particles were present which were difficult to clean. Mr. W. M. Bertholf of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. presented a paper in February, 1946, Cleaning Table Middlings from a Coal Washery with the Humphreys Spiral Concentrator, from which I quote: "In considering the results of our tests it should be noted that the feed was our table middling, and that any real separation is a 'moral victory' as there is little material that could properly be called coal and practically no heavy rock, the consequences being that previous attempts to clean the middling have not at all been successful." Referring again to Table I, Plants 72, 73, 74, and 75, these data were obtained by Yancey and Geer and others and presented at the February 1950 Meeting, AIME, in a paper entitled Laboratory Performance Tests of the Humphreys Spiral as a Cleaner of Fine Coal. Results shown for those tests involve all particles from 8 mesh through the colloids, which admittedly is not an ideal situation for spiral feed if much refuse is contained in the —80 mesh or —100 mesh size range. As an illustration of the effect of treating too broad a size range, let us consider Plant No. 75, Kentucky No. 9 seam. Spiral feed was 8 mesh x 0. Now had this been 8x100 mesh the percentage of misplaced material would have been 8.0 pct instead of the reported 15.26 pct. Similar comparisons can be made on the other data presented with respect to the spiral. Other types of equipment show a similar trend in that whenever too fine a size is treated in a given unit process the percentage of misplaced material increases. Since the spiral is working near the finer end of the size range, it will sometimes be advantageous to treat the entire range of —8 mesh material rather than to deslime and make a fair showing on, say, the +80 or + I00 mesh. Desliming is subsequently done in any case in the dewatering or thickening operation. Results obtained by spiraling any given coal depend on factors too numerous and complex to discuss here, but there are strong indications that proper preparation of feed to the spiral can improve results obtained on some of the raw coals tested. This is clearly pointed out at the end of the aforementioned paper by Yancey and Geer. "The spiral is an extremely simple device which involves no moving parts and is constructed almost entirely of unmachined castings. Since it is such an uncomplicated mechanism, operation is simple and virtually foolproof. These characteristics, which go far toward insuring low cost operation, are attractive attributes in any coal cleaning unit." Certain equipment used in conjunction with the spiral has resulted in a decrease in the percentage of misplaced material, notably in actual practice the launder screen which is used to remove objectionable high ash fines from a spiral-washed coal product. Private correspondence with the U. S. Bureau of Mines has intimated that an additional yield of coal is possible by flotation of the spiral middling. Possible future improvements and developments may result from other methods now under consideration. Finally, some compromise must be made between the best metallurgical performance and the best practical or economical results. Mr. Lyons emphasizes in his summary this objective of overall economy in selection of equipment. G. B. Walker (American Cyanamid Co., Stamford, Conn.)—I had the pleasure of reviewing the draft of this paper and my curiosity was aroused by the data given for Tromp plants, in that all of the examples shown appeared to be 2-product separations, whereas all the Tromp plants with which I am familiar have been 3-product units. The data given for plants No. 101 and 102 appear to be taken from Tromp's brochure on his process and represent the results obtained at the Dominale plant in Holland which was operated for many years by Mr. Tromp. The plant, which was designed to treat 58 tons per hr, was sampled while treating 35 tons per hr of 3Y4x-in. coal. Example 101 appears to conform to what would result if the middling product were calculated into the refuse product, while Example 102 represents the calculation of the middling into the coal product. It is believed that Examples 103 and 104 represent the operation of the Willem-Sophie Mine in Holland recalculated on the same basis. In checking the English examples given by numbers 14, 15, 16, and 17, the same procedure seems to have been followed. These results have, apparently, been taken from an article in Colliery Engineering in August 1941, describing the initial operation of the Williamthorpe Colliery of the Hardwick Colliery Co. Two vessels are employed in this plant, one to treat soft coal and one to treat hard coal. Example No. 14 presents the results that could be obtained from the soft coal bath if the middling were calculated into the refuse, and Example 15 the results when the middling is calculated into the coal. Examples 16 and 17 represent the same expedient in the case of the hard coal bath. Of interest to this discussion is the fact that during the past year the Simon-Carves Engineering Co. in England has installed in the Williamthorpe plant their new "Sim-Car" medium cleaning system which is based on magnetic extraction and control and which is licensed under the Heavy-Media Separation Processes patents by the American Zinc, Lead and Smelting Co. This system has been described in the December 1951, issue of Colliery Engineering. It is reported that since the Williamthorpe Colliery was changed from the Tromp system of medium cleaning to the Magneto-Motive method of medium control the opera-

Jan 1, 1953

By Robert Mehl

THE purpose of this investigation was to prepare high-purity iron-carbon alloys, to determine as precisely as possible the A3(GOS), the Acm(SE), and the A1(PSK) transformation temperatures in the meta-stable iron-iron carbide system (up to 1.4 per cent C), and to study the influence of carefully controlled and constant rates of heating and cooling (1/8 to 2° C. per minute) upon the transformation temperature and upon the resulting microstructure. Apart from the general metallurgical importance attending the completion of such a task, it will be noted that highly precise transformation temperatures are of interest and importance in the thermodynamic study of this system1. Several determinations of the iron-iron carbide diagram have been made. These suffer generally from the low purity of the alloys used, and from the application of methods of investigation of low sensitivity. Attempts to compare and weight the many data available in an effort to construct as accurate a diagram as possible have, in the main, been unsuccessful. In general, the wide differences in the results of different workers, the lack of complete analytical data, the omission of important details relating to the heat-treatment of the alloys, and the meager description of the methods of investigation applied, render such a process of averaging nearly meaningless. It may be seen from the summaries by Epstein2 and Körber and Oelsen1 that variations as great as 30° C. exist in the reported data on the A3 temperatures in iron-carbon alloys. For-tunately, the A3 temperature in pure iron is now known to be 910° C. ± 1° C.3 The best recent work on iron-carbon alloys is that of Esser4 on hypoeutectoid steels and that of Sato' on both hypoeutectoid and hyper-eutectoid steels.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. J. McGee

Most nations and states have conducted geological surveys, generally with the view of discovering and developing natural resources, sometimes with the aim of promoting science. In some cases, as in the first survey of Pennsylvania, the official geologist so far preceded the prospector and miner as to guide the discovery and exploitation of the commoner ores, mineral fuels and structural materials; but in most instances statesmen have only been awakened to the need of such a survey by the successful extraction of minerals;

Jan 1, 1893

Plans for a multi-million dollar uranium mill in southeastern Utah were confirmed by Vanadium Corp. of America officials. Atomic Energy Commission has been dickering with two private firma for mill construction at Hite, Utah and Shiprock, N. Mex. Colorado Fuel & Iron has contracted to purchase all manufacturing business, plants and inventories of John A. Roebling's Sons Co., through a wholly owned subsidiary. CF&I currently the nation's ninth largest steel producer, will operate the new subsidiary under the Roebling name.

Jan 1, 1953

By E. J. Schmitz

This novel safety-lamp, which was first introduced in some of the German coal-mines in 1882, at once attracted general attention in the coal-districts of Europe. Objections which arose during the early stages of its use at the mines have gradually died away with the increase of experience in handling the lamp 011 the part of the miners, and the continual efforts to perfect it on the part of its inventors. Wolf's lamp has rapidly surpassed all its rivals, and has already a greater distribution on the Continent than any one of its older sisters. In the course of two and a half years, the manufacturers have sold 25,000 of the lamps, besides remodelling several thousand rapeseed-oil lamps. This great success, which of itself speaks loudly enough as to the superiority of the Wolf benzine-lamp, is corroborated by both official and private reports, which all agree in pronouncing this lamp the best yet brought forward. It was described in a paper by Mr. Eugene B. Wilson, read at the Chicago meeting of the Institute, in May, 1881,* in which its salient merits were briefly but clearly indicated. Every previous improvement of the original Davy lamp has been directed to one or more of the following main points: 1. Light of greater and more uniform intensity. 2. Freedom from smoke or soot, which clogs the gauze and other parts of the lamp. 3. A greater safety and sensitiveness in the presence of firedamp. 4. An illuminating material which, satisfying the foregoing conditions, should be also cheap. 5. A lock which could not be opened in the mine by the miner. 6. An arrangement for lighting without opening the lamp. 7. An arrangement for changing the size of the flame in the closed lamp, to supersede the picker, the danger from which is explained in Mr. Wilson's paper, already cited. It may safely be said that wolf's lamp was the first to secure all these objects. The adoption of benzine instead of rapeseed-oil (previonsly the best illuminant) has completely satisfied conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4. Benzine gives a much clearer, stronger, and more uni-

Jan 1, 1886

Jan 3, 1953

By Young C. Kim, Francis Martino, Ish Chopra

For the past two and one-half years, various emission control strategies were jointly developed by the University of Arizona and the Homer City Owners to com- ply with the clean air requirements at its Homer City Power Plant. Some of the available options for the SO2 emission control by the Homer City Owners were:l)cleaning of run-of-mine coal,2) scheduling of mining operations at its captive mines, 3) blending the captive mine coal with externally purchased low sulfur coa1,and 4) placing a partial FGD system. This paper describes two specific emission control strategies developed and implemented. These are: 1) production scheduling at the mining face to minimize sulfur variability, and 2) external purchasing of low sulfur coal for further blending. The main objective of this paper is to share our experiences on implementing the developed strategies. This paper emphasizesthe need for proper mine planning on a short-term basis, if the power plant is to meet the desired objective.

Jan 1, 1983

A price list of publications of the Geological Survey, complete to May, 1931, and with separate monthly notices of publications to (late, will be sent upon application to The Director, United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. A leaflet is issued each month listing new publications; it will be sent upon application to the Director, as well as Circulars containing information about topographic maps. Book publications of the Survey include (1) Annual Reports, (2) Monographs, (3) Professional Papers, (4) Bulletins, (5) Water Supply Papers, (6) chapters and volumes of Mineral Resources of the United States, (7) Folios of the Geologic Atlas of the United States and the World Atlas of Commercial Geology, (8) Topographic Folios and Topographic Maps that bear descriptive texts. Monographs, Folios of the Geologic Atlas of the United States and the World Atlas of Commercial Geology, and Topographic Folios and Topographic Maps, are not distributed free. A publication of one of the other classes can be distributed free only until the end of the fiscal year following that in which it was issued. No person can obtain more than one free copy of the same publication, and general requests for free publications, such as all of any series or all on any subject, can not be granted. In ordering publications one is requested to give both the series designation, as Bulletin 738 or Professional Paper 122, and the title. Give full address, plainly written, including county. Prepayment is required and may he made by postal, or express money order payable to the official charged with the sale of the publications. requested, as indicated in the discussion of each classification following; or it may be made in cash-exact amount -at sender's risk. Postage stamps are not accepted in payment for publications.

Jan 1, 1933

By Stanley D. Michaelson, Norman Weiss

This was a year of realization. Some years are for planning and development, some for designing and building, others for fulfillment. With greater hopes and plans for the future than ever before, the year 1954, nevertheless, will be remembered principally because of project completion. Among copper mines, for example, there were Silver Bell, Copper Cities, Bisbee, Yerington, and White Pine. In iron, there were the Humboldt, Coleraine, Cerro Bolivar, and Eagle Mountain. In asbestos, Johns-Manville's new mill at Asbestos, Que. In uranium, completion of the ninth mill on the Colorado Plateau-Kerr-McGee's at Shiprock, N. M. In research, 1954 marked the completion of Kennecott's Research Center in Salt Lake City, one of the historic forward strides in the science of minerals beneficiation. The year was fruitful in other directions as well. Investigations of a fundamental nature were on the upswing, and pilot plant projects have also increased in size and number. Progress in new reagents and equipment was greater than normal. It can already be conservatively predicted-from the technological point of view-that 1955 and 1956 will be tremendous years.

Jan 3, 1955

By Arthur Bell

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) . PRIOR to 1908 the oil production in the State of California, had been almost entirely a heavy fuel, oil, with a high flash point, hut changed within a-short period to a large percentage of refining oil with a low flash, by reason of the coming in of the Santa Maria field, the Midway field, and the increased production of the Fullerton field. This is clearly shown in the following tabulation of California's production: Year Barrels . Below -20° Be, Above 20° Be,, Per Cent_ Per Cent. 1905 48,307,000 90 10 1910 77,698,000 SO 20 1912 90,075,000 6o 31 1914 10:3,600,000 47 53 The bringing in of these high percentage's of light oil with their dangerous low flash and the increasing demand for the refined products necessitated the devising of some cheap and efficient means of quickly separating the lighter elements either in the field or at the main distributing points; also it became necessary to remove the excessive percentage of water which many of the light oils carried in emulsion.

Jan 9, 1915

By W. H. Bassett, C. H. Davis

The late J. P. Sparrow, chief operating engineer of the New York Edison CO., carried out a series of practical tests on condenser tubes of several copper alloys and reported on the results to the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies at its meeting in September, 1913. In the preparation of these tubes the senior author had the pleasure of cooperating. Copper-zinc alloys in the proportions of 60-40,70-30,80-20, 90-10, and Admiralty metal, which is in effect 70-30 with 1 per cent. of tin, were tried. Monel metal and several copper-nickel alloys, and 8, 5, and 3 per cent. aluminum bronze were also tried. At the time of this report, the aluminum bronze had been in service for 4 1/2 years and seemed to be giving especially good results but later it began to fail and showed no substantial improvement over Admiralty metal. Monel metal was unsatisfactory and the nickel alloys apparently did not give better service than the Admiralty alloy. Previous to the publication of the report, and after considerable discussion, it was agreed that a test where tubes of different kinds could be under laboratory observation would be advisable, so the apparatus described here was set up in The American Brass Co.'s Waterbury Laboratory. This was fitted with tubes of copper, brass, bronze, nickel silver, cupro-nickel and other alloys, and the test started on Oct. 11, 1912. Salt water from East River, New York harbor, was barrelled and transported to the laboratory for the test. A fresh supply, completely replacing the water in service, was obtained at the end of each six months period. Plan of Procedure In general, the procedure was to inspect the tubes at short intervals and to remove those that had begun to leak. The tubes removed were carefully examined and a photographic and microscopic record of the

Jan 1, 1925

By George M. Fowler, Joseph P. Lyden

PaGE Scope of this Report.................................................... 206 Production of Tri-State District.......................................... 207 Historical Sketch....................................................... 207 Location and Topography............................................... 211 Geology............................................................... 212 The Tri-State District.............................................. 214 Stratigraphy........................................................... 217 General Geological Section in Tri-State Region....................... 217 Stratigraphic Section of Mineralized part of Boone Formation........... 218 Stratigraphic Section Bird Dog Well.................................. 219 Metamorphism........................................................ 220 Structure............................................................. 225 Regional.......................................................... 225 Due to Metamorphism.............................................. 229 Ore Deposits.......................................................... 231 Types............................................................ 232 Hard-ground Deposits.......................................... 232 Brecciated................................................. 232 Stratified............................................ 232 Sheet Ground............................................. 232 In Dolomite............................................... 233 In Shale.................................................. 233 Soft-ground Deposits.......................................... 233 In the District as a Whole....................................... 233 Ore Minerah and Analysis......................................... 233 Paragenesis....................................................... 234 Conclusions........................................................... 236 Structure.......................................................... 236 Genesis of the Ore.................................................. 237 Future of the District............................................... 239 Acknowledgments..................................................... 239 Discussion............................................................ 239 Scope of This Report The Tri-State district. as outlined in this paper. refers to the entire mineralized area in sout'hwestern Missouri. southeastern Kansas and

Jan 1, 1932

By S. Chander, D. W. Fuerstenau

The inherently sluggish nature of the reactions involving sulfide minerals, particularly molybdenite, in aqueous solutions under ambient flotation conditions make their investigation complicated and difficult. Since the physicochemical nature of sulfides is known to be controlled by electrochemical reactions, a number of attempts have been made in the past to study sulfide mineral-collector interactions through rest potential and electrode polarization measurements. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the interaction of potassium diethyldithiophosphate (KDTP) with molybdenite. In the present investigation of the interaction of KDTP at the molydenite surface, molybdenite electrode rest potential measurements and electrode polarization behavior were experimentally determined under various solution conditions. The standard reduction potential for the equilibrium between dithiophosphate ions (DTP-) and bis(diethoxythiophosphoryl)disulfide (DTP) [(DTP). + 2e :i7-± 2DTP- (1)] can be evaluated from the electrode rest potential measurements on a platinum electrode in deoxygenated KDTP solutions saturated with freshly prepared (DTP)2. Experimental A platinum wire was used as the electrode for potential measurements. Prior to each measurement the elec-

Jan 1, 1975

By J. E. Howard

On Aug. 25, 1911, a rail failed on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, causing a disastrous wreck. The surface of the fracture was in a plane at right angles to the length of the rail. There was a dark-colored, oval spot on this surface, located on the gage side of the head, representing the part of the rail which was the first to fracture. The nucleus of this spot showed that the fracture had an interior origin. Other fractures of this kind, the peripheries of which had not reached the surface of the rail, presented surfaces having a (silvery luster. The darkened surface of the present fracture was caused, doubtless, by the air having had access to it. This fracture was recognized as a fatigue fracture, of a modified type, its interior origin having been due to a component in the rail which is not usually present in cases of fatigue fractures. The metal next the running surface of the head of the rail was in a state of internal compression, this being the component not commonly met with in other cases, and which caused the fracture to have its interior origin. For the purpose of giving this modified type of fatigue fracture a specific name, for identification, the term "transverse fissure" was applied. No mystery was thought to attach to its formation, or to its development. The explanation of its occurrence seemed obvious in the light of common knowledge upon the behavior of steel under repeated alternate stresses.' By reason of the state of internal compression at the running surface, the maximum tensile stresses in the head, ander bending loads, were along an interior element. Here the tensile strains were higher than in the fibers more remote from the neutral axis. Under such conditions the fracture of the rail would be expected to have an interior origin. A discussion of the subject of transverse fissures essentially becomes a discussion of fatigue fractures, since they are believed to be identical. The descriptive term employed, merely for the identification of this type of fatigue fracture, had the appearance of creating alarm. Apprehensions arose that a new phenomenon in the physical properties of steel had presented itself, the explanation of which was sought in every

Jan 1, 1918

By W. J. Parton

THE efficient recovery and preparation of small sizes of anthracite called No. 4 Buckwheat (3/3 2 by 1/3 2 in.) and No. 5 Buckwheat (1/3 2 in. by 0), present a difficult problem to the anthracite operators. In many instances preparation of these sizes, particularly No. 5 anthracite, is extremely inefficient. In many of the older preparation plants, inadequate facilities, and often none at all, were provided as an integral part of the plant for cleaning this fine anthracite. Consequently, much of the material smaller than s, 32 in. was discarded. As the demand for these sizes increased, facilities for preparing the fine sizes were often crowded into existing structures with consequent sacrifices of capacities and efficiency. In addition to this condition, the methods of preparing the finest sizes are being developed in an attempt to improve their efficiencies. Because the demand for small sizes of anthracite still is increasing, many operators would benefit by investigating and improving the cleaning equipment employed on these sizes.

Jan 1, 1949

By Anthony Anable

HOOVER DAM, rapidly nearing completion in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River at Boulder City, Nev., taxes the superlatives of the vocabulary to describe. For by all odds, it is the largest construction project of its type ever essayed by man and the plants providing the essential materials of construction are also in a class by themselves not only in size but in advanced design, mechanization, and accurate control. Picture, if you will, the great aggregate plant, as it is called, situated about 4 mi. upstream from the site of

Jan 1, 1934