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By Stanley M. Walker

Safety consciousness is not a constant for which a specific value can be assigned, but is a variable, which is frequently intangible. Its evaluation is not simple. We all know that safety consciousness is the most potent factor in the prevention of accidents. Safety consciousness may be defined as awareness of hazard and alertness to danger, which controls every action of an individual through his desire to remain alive and uninjured.

Jan 1, 1951

By Shiro Watanabe

To determine the potentialities of nickel as a substitute for cobalt in catalysts for the synthesis of hydrocarbons from carbon monoxide and hydrogen, RESULTS The maximum oil yields obtained in bench-scale equipment were as follows: Using 100N1:20Mn:100 kaolin:200 diatomaceous earth catalyst, a maximum yield of 133.8 cm.3/m.3 of pure CO+2H2 was obtained from one pass of the feed gas, With a nickel:cobalt mixed catalyst (Ni:Co - 3:7) having the composition 100(Ni+Co):8MgO: 5Th02:200 diatomaceous earth, a maximum of 172.2 cm.3/m.3 of pure C0+2H2 was obtained.

Jan 1, 1951

By J. G. Kirby

The total number of petroleum refineries in the United States continued to decline during 1950, and according to the Bureau of Mines annual refinery capacity survey there were 357 refineries January 1, 1951, compared with 367 a year ago. The total throughput capacity increased 267,344 barrels daily during the year to 6,963,644 barrels daily as of January 1, 1951, continuing the trend of the past several years to increase the throughput capacity of the refineries and decrease the number of plants. The capacity of the average refinery to process crude oil increased during 1950 from 18,246 barrels daily to 19,506. The Indiana-Illinois refinery district accounted for 110,175 barrels, or 41 percent of the total crude-oil capacity increase, the Oklahoma-Kansas district, 17 percent, the California district, 14 percent, the East Coast district, 13 percent, and the Louisiana Gulf Coast district, 12 percent. Slight declines ill crude-oil capacity were reported in the Texas Inland, Texas Gulf Coast, New Mexico, And Appalachian refinery districts. The 160,100 barrels of additional crude-oil capacity that was building January 1, 1951, represents an increase of 10 percent over the year earlier figure. The only completely new refinery listed as under construct ion at the beginning of 1951 is located at Superior, Wisconsin. Other new construction involves enlargement of existing refineries. Plans for at least five additional new refineries are under consideration, and construction is expected to begin during the current year.

Jan 1, 1951

By B. W. Gandrud

In the summer of 1950, Bureau of Mines engineers visited a number of coal-preparation plants in western Europe and Great Britain to obtain information on European and British coal-cleaning and froth-flotation practices. In view of the growing importance of froth flotation as a process for cleaning fine sizes of coal, it was felt that such data and information would be of value in this country, for, although froth flotation has been adopted for use in a few of our plants, it has not as yet been employed as extensively as in British and European preparation plants. Many of the important coal beds in western Europe, especially in the Ruhr Valley of Germany and in the Dutch coal-mining region of Limburg, Netherlands, are very friable, with the result that the run-of-mine product contains a large proportion of the sizes too fine to be treated successfully by any other method than froth flotation. Furthermore, the relatively high cost of producing coal from these beds has for many years made it economically feasible and desirable to treat the fines by froth flotation, especially in the coking-coal fields.

Jan 1, 1951

By Arno C. Fieldner

From July 1, 1949, to July 1, 1950, the Bureau of Mines conducted the research and technologic work on coal and coal products that is summarized in this report. The research, described in this fifteenth of a series of resumes, is presented in more detail in publications (see footnote references) that appeared during the fiscal year, though in some cases research data are given that have not been published elsewhere. Results of research in the experimental coal mine, on explosives, and on gas and dust explosions will be found in Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4228, Annual Report of Research and Technologic Work on Explosives, Explosions, and Flames, Fiscal Year 1950. An over-all view of our coal, oil, end natural-gas reserves was presented, and the future possibilities for the, production of synthetic liquid fuels from coal were delineated.3/

Jan 1, 1951

By Glenn L. Allen

The rapid rise of industrial Los Angeles to international prominence has been accompanied by the natural corollary - a record influx of population - together with greatly increased production and fabrication of steel and nonferrous and light metals; industrial mineral processing; and high consumption of fuel oil, gasoline, and chemicals. These have resulted in the release of hundreds of tons of metallurgical and mineral dusts, fumes, and gases into the atmosphere daily. Los Angeles County, intrinsically, is no worse than other industrial centers in respect to the generation of atmospheric contamination. It is, in fact, more fortunate in that no coal is used, and it has no great primary metallurgical industries comparable to those of Chicago and Pittsburgh. Meteorologic and topographic peculiarities of the area, however, which result in poor drainage of the polluted air away from the Los Angeles Basin, serve periodically to greatly increase the intensity and frequency of industrial smog visitations. This combination of intense industrialization, population influx, climate, and topography has made mandatory control of air pollution necessary. The nonferrous pyrometallurgical industry of Los Angeles has three rather unusual characteristics that contribute to its difficulties in developing suitable fume control: It consists of a multiplicity of relatively small establishments subject to wide Variations in products and operating schedules; operations are largely of the secondary or reclaiming nature and, therefore, often work dirty scrap metals; and, unfortunately, much of the industry is concentrated, to a considerable extent, near the center of the city. A difficulty inherent in most nonferrous foundries, including the many brass-works melting alloys containing zinc, is the high volatility of zinc and the extremely small mean particle size of the resulting zinc oxide fume.

Jan 1, 1952

By D. S. Kingery

Investigations over several years have disclosed that the principal manners of occurrence of shuttle-car injuries are in order: 1. Victims in contact with roof or crossbars. 2. Victims in contact with ribs or timber legs. 3. Victims falling from, or jerked from, shuttle cars. 4. Victims in contact with overhanging brows or protruding pine for pin timbers, or water lines. 5. Contact with persons or collisions with parked equipment. 6. Victims injured by roof falls or falling timbers caused by knocking out roof supports with shuttle cars. 7. Victims injured by runaway shuttle cars. 8. Victims injured while loading or unloading timbers or other materials from shuttle cars. These recurring types of shuttle-car accidents reflect the physical conditions of the working sections, certain safety deficiencies in shuttle-car maintenance and design, and unsafe practices by operators.

Jan 1, 1952

By C. A. Herbert

This paper sets forth the hazards of accumulations of explosive mixtures of methane and air due to inadequate ventilation, the causes of which are discussed as follows: 1. Lack of well-maintained air courses. 2. Air losses due to leaky stoppings, trap doors, and overcasts. 3. Faulty mining methods. 4. Poor supervision. A modified plan of room-and-pillar panel mine development is suggested, which, it is believed, will eliminate many off the hazards of gas accumulations inherent in the present method of mine development. It is also suggested that some water-proofing agent be used on the roof of permanent air-course entries in conjunction with roof bolting to eliminate the detrimental effect of the moisture-laden atmosphere during summer and thus prevent serious roof falls.

Jan 1, 1953

By W. H. Tomlinson

The fourteenth National First-Aid and Mine Rescue Contest we;; held at the State fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio, October 2, 3, and 4, 1951. The meet, the first such event in 21 years, was under the auspices of the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, and the Joseph A Holmes Safety Association and was sponsored by the National Coal Association, the United Mine Workers of America, and various State mine-inspection departments. The cooperating agencies that contributed to make the meet a success, in addition to the National Coal Association and the United Mine Workers of America, were the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, Ohio Division of Mines, West Virginia Department of Mines, Pennsylvania Department of Mines, and the Columbus Convention Bureau. SUMMARY Fourteen teams from 6 States participated in the mine rescue contest, and 55 teams from 9 States competed in the first-aid contest. Only one of these teams entered as a combination team, that is, participating in both the mine rescue and first-aid contests. The States represented and the number of teams from each State are listed in table 1.

Jan 1, 1953

By R. A. Cattell

The conditions under which the researches of the Bureau of Mines on petroleum and natural gas were conducted in 1952 were little changed from those indicated in the last report,2/ which dealt with activities during 1951, immediately after crossing of the 38th Parallel by the North Korean Army. Although only a small part of the program was classified in the military sense, there was a feeling of the clash of world forces which called for even cheer scrutiny of the research problems so that the emphasis could be placed without delay where the greatest needs for na¬tional defense seemed to be. The reports of the work accomplished were so directed as to have the greatest immediate value to persons charged with supply planning for the military forces and included information on the availability and characteristics of a wide variety of crude oils, fuels, and other petroleum products. Actually, the approach, direction, and conduct of the work do not differ greatly under the two circumstances, as has been pointed out in earlier reports; only the tempo changes.

Jan 1, 1953

By W. D. Walker

This information circular is offered to the coal-mining industry for use as a guide in selecting, placing, and caring for fire-fighting equipment in coal mines. Its purpose is to suggest minimum requirements for fire protection underground, and it is presented with the hope that it will aid in establishing adequate standards that will provide reasonable protection against underground fires in coal mines. Potentially, a coal mine is a hazardous fire area. Coal itself is a combustible substance, easily ignited. In addition, large quantities of other combustible materials must be present in the area of operations; these include materials for roof support, track ties, doors, ventilation stoppings, lubricants, etc.

Jan 1, 1953

By Sara J. Davenport

The human race has been exposed to copper for thousands of years, as copper and gold were the metals first used by man (1). if According to Ramazzini (2), "of all the metals that man's ingenuity has contrived to dig out of the bowels of the earth, iron and copper are the most useful, far more so than silver and gold." Workings of copper in the oldest known copper mine associated with the smelting of this metal have been traced back to 4300 B. C. Facts revealed by archeological research in India, Austria, Hungary, France, Italy, and Spain indicate that the use of copper probably began about 5000 B.C. (3), and that about 4000 B.C. a copper age came intermediate between the stone and bronze ages (4). Copper ores are rather widely distributed and are found in nearly every country. Many of the copper minas of Europe have been worked since before the Roman Empire. The must important mines in Europe occur in the district around Huelva, extending into Spain and Portugal. The German deposits are located mainly about Mansfeld (Rhenish Prussia); they have been worked continuously for 1,000 years. Some of the mines in Africa have been worked by the natives for centuries, and China has produced copper from shallow pits for thousands of years. India also has many ancient mines worked in the early centuries (2).

Jan 1, 1953

By J. Venter

The history of firedamp is the same as that of coal: The initial stage was the accumulation of vegetation, which was converted into peat under certain local conditions, then lignite, bituminous coal, and finally anthracite. These deposits ceased to increase owing to inundation that deposited earthy sediment, sometimes as much as several tens of meters (several tens of yards). The vegetable matter, whether it was covered with sediment or not, began to ferment. The basic organic components of the vegetable matter are: Cellulose, lignin, and wax and resin in varying proportions, according to the different kinds of vegetable matter. There are, in addition, some impurities, generally mineral.

Jan 1, 1953

By B. P. Martinez

A process for regenerating spent pickle liquor is proposed in which some of the water is evaporated at atmospheric pressure and ferrous sulfate is precipitated as monohydrate crystals..Equilibrium conditions are set for a slurry of crystals in a mother liquor containing 5 percent FeS04 and 45 percent E2S04, by weight, and boiling at about 235° F. The slurry is pumped continuously to a filter, and the mother liquor from the filter is pumped back for reuse in the pickling tanks. The net result of the process is to remove ferrous sulfate in the regeneration plant at the same rate ac it is produced in the pickling tanks. This process is integrated with the steel-pickling operation and controlled by the pickling requirements for particular steels. Spent pickle liquor is removed for regeneration continuously from both batch and continuous picklers at higher acid concentrations than would be dumped to waste because no acid is neutralized or discarded. However, the process is not designed to keep a sulfuric acid concentration stronger than 25 percent in any pickling tank. To retain flexibility in the pickling operation, all acid makeup is added to the pickling tanks. Rinse waters are used as water makeup for the pickling tanks. To further minimize waste of acid in the rinse waters, improvements of rinsing practices are outlined.

Jan 1, 1953

By Alfred L. Ransome

The plan to develop a standard system of names and definitions of regions and districts in Alaska was borne of the need for a tool to use in statistical and economic studies of the mineral industry of the Territory. The purpose of this report is to present to the mineral industry, and to those individuals interested in the mineral or allied industries in Alaska, the system used by the Bureau of Mines in connection with its legal function of collecting and disseminating mineral statistics. It is hoped that the specific descriptions given will result in a more complete understanding of what is meant by the regional and district names that appear in publications of the Bureau of Mines relative to the mineral industry of the Territory. Problem of Standardization of Names and Definitions The question might be asked, does the naming and defining of regions and districts in Alaska present a problem relative to the establishment of a standard? Is it necessary to establish a standard?

Jan 1, 1954

By Leroy E. Schulze

A review of development and a reevaluation of uses of the hydraulic air compressor are suggested by the constant changes in technology, which frequently make an old art valuable in solving current problems. Contacts with research workers in various branches of engineering indicate that this older method of producing compressed air may not be familiar to some or that its salient features might be useful in solving problems involving uses of compressed air. Briefly, a hydraulic air compressor may be described as an inverted siphon, consisting of an intake head where water and air are mingled, followed by a gravity-fall tube in which air is intimately mixed with the water and is compressed as the water pressure increases during the fall down the tube, then a separating, or stilling, chamber in which air bubbles rise to the surface of the water and collect in the upper portion of the chamber at a pressure equal to the weterhead maintained by the height of water in the discharge leg of the circuit. The water, which now contains only the fraction of air that has gone into solution, passes out of the separating chamber and rises up the discharge leg to the surface, which is, of course, at some suitable distance below the level of the intake. Present-day applications include (1) utilizing low hydraulic heads, which otherwise have little commercial values; (2) utilizing low hydraulic heads in reclamation work to supply compressed air, or in some instances to produce a small suction, for air-lift pumping (or for operation of air motors), with minimum attendance and without need for electric power; (3) utilizing medium heads, as at dam and lock installations, to produce compressed air for pneumatic operation of airlifts, gates, valves, and rubber gate seals; (4) utilizing underground waters, as in mines, to produce compressed air for general mine use; (5) using this method of isothermal compression of air in combination with standard compressors wherever hydraulic head is available, thereby securing the advantages of low-temperature intake to the mechanical compressors and reduction of moisture content below that of atmospheric air; (6) development of large air supply at pressures up to 150 p.s.i.g., which, after performing work in reciprocating or centrifugal expansion cylinders, is available at temperatures approximating -50° F. Possibilities in freezing and reheating should be mentioned which may prove economical for obtaining uniformly dry air for process work, wind-tunnel tests, or large air-conditioning installations, such as ventilation of underwater traffic tunnels, and may be economic for supply of supercharged air to gas-turbine plants.

Jan 1, 1954

As a part of its overall wealth in fuel resources, the United States possesses large reserves of coal of ignite rank. According to recent estimates of the Federal Geological Survey (3, 5),l/ the assured lignite reserves of this country amount in total to over 463 billion tons, equivalent to 24 percent of our total national coal reserve on a tonnage basis and 15 percent on a heating-value basis. Distribution and relative amounts of United States coal and lignite reserves are indicated in figure 1. By far the largest proportion of our lignite reserves, over 95 percent is found in North Central States, principally in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, in the vast coal-bearing structural grouping designated as the Fort Union formation. Of the remaining United States reserves, all but a fraction of 1 percent are found in a series of relatively scattered deposits in Texas.

Jan 1, 1954

By L. F. Heising

This report is a general summary of pertinent data on the manufacture and use of synthetic ammonia products. It provides a condensed summary of the potentialities of a synthetic ammonia industry in North Dakota for Federal, State, and private organizations that may be interested in helping to develop an integrates synthetic ammonia and fertilizer industry. The report contains discussions of: (1) Materials used in the manufacture of nitrogenous fertilizers, nitric acid, and urea; (2) National production, imports, exports, and consumption; (3) the ammonia industry, location, capacity of plants; (4) processes used in manufacturing synthetic ammonia, nitric acid, and urea; (5) other potential industries; and (6) analyses of manufaturing and plant cosh;. Additional information on industrial compounds from ammonia and plant nutrients removed by crops is given in Appendixes 1 and 2. Synthetic ammonia is one of the primary ingredients in fertilizers. Resources required in synthetic ammonia manufacture are available in North Dakota. Hydrogen is available from the petroleum and natural gas resources, particularly in the Williston Basin, and from the large lignite resources in the State. Hydrogen can be produced from lignite by a gasification process developed by the Bureau of Mines at Grand Forks, N. Dak.

Jan 1, 1954

The Black Hills Mineral Atlas briefly summarizes all important data available on the mines and mineral deposits in the Black Hills that have been explored, developed, mined, or located. The purpose of the atlas is threefold; First, from available data the general potentialities of the Black Hills region can be determined, although it is not possible to calculate actual ore reserves; second, it will provide the necessary basic information regarding a given property or commodity for further detailed study; and third, the compilation is a comprehensive directory of Black Hills deposits.

Jan 1, 1955

By W. L. Dare

This circular is the first of a series of publications describing uranium mining on the Colorado Plateau. Later circulars are planned in which exploration, development, and mining methods and costs will be described after a detailed study of various operations. Because of the introductory character of this paper, those well-publicized phases of the industry such as geography, history, prospecting, and exploration are described but briefly. Primarily, attention has been devoted to the general problems that are encountered in mining ore bodies and to the factors that affect the selection of development and mining methods. Those familiar with mining may class the information contained in this paper as elementary; however, its inclusion is considered necessary for the completeness of the series of papers. It will also serve as a source of information for people who are interested in uranium but are unfamiliar with mining.

Jan 1, 1955