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By F. B. Plummer, R. B. Newcome

The practice of introducing acid into oil wells to increase production of oil and gas has been in use since 1894, when it was first used in the Pennsylvania oil fields30.‡ It is only since 1928 that it has been used to any extent in the Mid-Continent18. The process has proved successful in increasing production, at least temporarily, in depleted oil fields where the producing formation is highly calcareous and where water drive is not too pronounced. In the Zwolle field in Louisiana, where the producing horizon is a chalk, increases of 100 per cent have been recorded25. In north-central Texas, where the oil is produced from the Marble Falls limestone, equally pronounced increases have resulted3. The production also in some fields yielding oil from quartz sand cemented with calcitc has been benefited. The evidence of actual increase in total recovery of oil, however, has been questioned by some engineers18. It has been pointed out that the results of the treatment of a well in a now district, where the process has never been tried out, can never be predicted with certainty, since other factors besides percentage of calcareous content of the oil sand play a large part in determining the success of the method. Numerous articles have been published on acid treatment and on the effects of acid on limestone1-35, yet very little has been written concerning experimental work on the actual effect of acid on capillary pores and larger oil-coated voids of oil sands. This is due partly to difficulties in duplicating field conditions in a laboratory and partly to the fact that the process has been carried out largely by contracting companies that have been unwilling to publish details of their results for fear of loss of business to competitors. The authors, using equipment developed to measure the radial permeability of oil-sand cores2', have developed a method of investigating the results of acid treatment which has enabled them to test numerous cores and to study in some detail the action of acid on the different types of rocks, particularly fine-grained rocks.

Jan 1, 1936

THE purpose of this chapter is to present a general outline of the basic open-hearth process for the benefit of students, practicing open-hearth operators, and metallurgists who wish to review the subject. The discussion is limited to a description of the sequence and purpose of the operations, illustrated by data and examples. Subsequent chapters deal with more detailed and fundamental studies of the subject. The function of the basic open-hearth furnace is to convert various types of ferrous material into finished steel of given composition and quality. In comparison with other steel-making methods, the basic open-hearth process is one of the most versatile, both from the stand- point of the raw materials that can be used and the types of steel that can be produced. The process can be considered as a sequence involving melting, refining, and deoxidation. In the case of some types of liquid-metal charges the melting stage is not present, but refining and deoxidation in varying degrees are fundamental features of the process. GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE BASIC OPEN-HEARTH PROCESS The first consideration in open-hearth practice is the type of charge on which the operation is based. This consists of three components-fluxing, oxidizing, and metallic materials. Fluxes. In the basic process the fluxing material is primarily lime, added in the form of either limestone (CaC03) or burnt lime (CaO). This is supplemented by magnesia (MgO) and lime from the furnace bottom and banks. The function of these fluxes is to form a slag with the silica (SO2), manganese oxide (MnO), iron oxides (FeO and Fe203), and phosphorus oxide (P205) that are produced by the oxidation of varying amounts of the silicon, manganese, iron, and phosphorus in the charge during melting and refining. The slag, composed of the basic fluxes and the neutral and acid oxides, floats on top of the steel bath when the charge is melted. The composition of this slag depends on the amount of each slag-forming element present in the charge and on the extent of oxidation of these elements during the course of the

Jan 1, 1944

By F. B. Plummer, R. B. Newcome

The practice of introducing acid into oil wells to increase production of oil and gas has been in use since 1894, when it was first used in the Pennsylvania oil fields30.‡ It is only since 1928 that it has been used to any extent in the Mid-Continent18. The process has proved successful in increasing production, at least temporarily, in depleted oil fields where the producing formation is highly calcareous and where water drive is not too pronounced. In the Zwolle field in Louisiana, where the producing horizon is a chalk, increases of 100 per cent have been recorded25. In north-central Texas, where the oil is produced from the Marble Falls limestone, equally pronounced increases have resulted3. The production also in some fields yielding oil from quartz sand cemented with calcitc has been benefited. The evidence of actual increase in total recovery of oil, however, has been questioned by some engineers18. It has been pointed out that the results of the treatment of a well in a now district, where the process has never been tried out, can never be predicted with certainty, since other factors besides percentage of calcareous content of the oil sand play a large part in determining the success of the method. Numerous articles have been published on acid treatment and on the effects of acid on limestone1-35, yet very little has been written concerning experimental work on the actual effect of acid on capillary pores and larger oil-coated voids of oil sands. This is due partly to difficulties in duplicating field conditions in a laboratory and partly to the fact that the process has been carried out largely by contracting companies that have been unwilling to publish details of their results for fear of loss of business to competitors. The authors, using equipment developed to measure the radial permeability of oil-sand cores2', have developed a method of investigating the results of acid treatment which has enabled them to test numerous cores and to study in some detail the action of acid on the different types of rocks, particularly fine-grained rocks.

Jan 1, 1936

By James P. Kimball

The object of the present memoir is to pot on record some practical experiments by the writer in smelting a silicions native magnetite with no other flux than the silicates of its own gangue.' This work was undertaken in the spring of 1878 for Messrs. Naylor & Co., of' Boston, to whom I am indebted for the privilege of here communicating its results, these having hitherto only been simply announced.* So far as I am aware these are the first instances of the kind ill this country that non-calcareous; or rather non-carbonatbed, magnetite have successfully been used strictly alone as self-fluxing ores in the blast furnace; that is, without the addition of' calcareous flux in the form either of limestone, quicklime, calcareous ore, or basic (calcareous) slag. Previous to the spring of 1878, when the Chateaugay magnetic ore was first brought to illy notice. its use had been limited to Catalan forges, after " separation " at the ore bed. The blooms and billets made from it in the several forges of Messrs. Weed $ Williams, and of Mr. Williams, were well known in the trade as among the best in the market. Tile Chateaugay ore beds proving of great magnitude, and the ore exceptionally low in phosphoric acid, it commended itself for blast-furnace purposes to Messrs. Naylor & Co., who employed me to blow-in the charcoal furnace at Pittsford, Vt., on this ore in the spring of 1878, a previous trial of this ore in the same furnace in the fall of 1877 having proved abortive. This was therefore the first time that Chateaugay ore was successfully smelted in a blast furnace, although since well known as a blast-furnace ore possessing superior and exceptional qualities. The Pittsford furnace, although rebuilt in 1844, and subsequently improved by the former owner, the late J. Prichard, is one of the few furnaces of the old type with open breast (Sumpfofen) still active in this country, Its improvements 011 furnaces of the period,

Jan 1, 1881

By H. C. van Elst

Ultrahigh-speedphotographic and electronic meth-ods were applied to an investigation of details of brittle-fracture propagation in steel. The brittle fractures studied were obtained in steel plate with the aid of a Robertson apparatus. It was found that a brittle fracture proceeds by discrete steps ranging from 30 mm near the stop temperature to less than 2 mm at lower temperatures. The halting FROM prior metallographic observations of brittle fracture in steel' it could be concluded that the distribution of mechanical twins along a brittle fracture was similar to the distribution of mechanical twins induced by explosive deformation. It was therefore assumed that a running brittle fracture created stress waves, cf. Refs. 2-7. An emission of stress waves by a brittle fracture, however, seems only conceivable if the fracture propagates by discrete steps. For this reason a study of the details of times between successive steps drop in this tem-perature region from 20 usec to about 1 psec. The stepwise propagation mechanism is accompanied by an intermittent emission of stress waves of the order of 100 to 200 kg per sq mm. These stress waves seen1 to play an important role in the mechanism of brittle fracture as will be discussed. brittle-fracture propagation was undertaken to investigate the possible determination of the fracture steps and the emitted stress waves associated with the assumed mechanism. The more practical object of this work is the development of a test method for the determination of the ductile-brittle transition in small specimens. This has special advantages for the study of irradiation damage in steel. In this test method, which will be published in a following paper, the stress waves emitted by an actual brittle fracture are reproduced with explosive or electrical means and are then transmitted through small specimens at various temperatures. In the present paper only the results of the brittle-fracture study will be reported.

Jan 1, 1964

By Robert W. Hunt

The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers was the first American technical organization to consider steel-rail specifications and sections. If I am not mistaken, the first contribution on those subjects to the Proceedings of the Institute was presented by Prof. Thomas Egleston, in 1874, and was entitled "Investigations on Iron and Steel Rails made in Europe in the Year 1873.1" The next contribution was Dr. C. B. Dudley's report of his investigation for the Pennsylvania Railroad of the wear of steel rails in their tracks, in 1878, which contribution led to a very memorable discussion that extended through several meetings.2 In 1880, Mr. C. P. Sandberg3 presented an article on rail specifications and inspection and rail sections. This was followed, in 1881, by A. L. Holley,4 in his exhaustive report on the then used American rail sections. The next contribution, I believe, was made by myself5 at the Buffalo meeting, in 1888, on steel-rail specifications, which I followed,6 in 1889, by a paper on steel-rail sections. Since that time there have been numerous contributions to the Transactions of the Institute in relation to the manufacture of steel rails. The American Society of Civil Engineers officially took up the investigation of the relation of rail sections to the wear of car wheels in 1888. In the prosecution of this work, the Society appointed a special committee, whose labors extended through several years and resulted in an exhaustive report to the Society in 1893.7 Later, another committee was appointed to consider specifications for the manufacture of steel rails; the labors of this committee extended over a period of several years, a final reporta being made in 1910. It was my fortune to be the secretary of both of those committees. The American Society for Testing Materials, organized in 1899, took up the consideration of rail specifications and is still giving attention to that subject through its established procedure of investigations by committees. In 1900, the American Maintenance of. Way Association was organ-

Jan 1, 1920

HAVING promised you to write concerning the nature of ores in particular, I must tell you some general facts, especially those concerning the places, kinds, and manner of their existence as well as the tools which are used. However, you must know that according to good investigators these ores are found in many parts of the world. They show themselves almost like the veins of blood in the bodies of animals, or the branches of trees spread out in different directions. Indeed, careful investigators of minerals, wishing to show by analogy how ores are located in mountains, have drawn a large tree with many branches, planted in the middle of the base of a mountain. From its principal trunk extend various branches, some thick, some slender, exactly like real trees in mature forests. They think that these grow and enlarge continually and draw themselves toward the sky, ever converting into their own nature the most disposed adjacent materials so that finally the tips arrive at the summit of the mountain and emerge with clear sign, sending forth, in place of leaves and blossoms, blue or green fumosities,* marcasites with small veins of heavy mineral, or other composition of tinctures. From these things, when they are found, it is possible to make certain inference that such a mountain contains ores, and as the signs are more or less, so are the minerals plentiful and rich or poor. For this reason the prospectors for these things take heart according to the manifestations that they find, and with hope and certainty of profit they take all possible pains to mine with skill and expense those things that the signs have indicated. Often there are ores of such a kind and quality that they raise a man in wealth to the skies. For this reason men penetrate with eyes of appraisal and judgment within the mountains and see almost exactly the places where there is ore and the

Jan 1, 1942

By E. R. Gilliand

KNOWLEDGE of a large number of the physical properties of the hydro-carbons is needed in the calculations and studies of the production engi-neer. Since experimental data on these properties of the individual hydrocarbons and their mixtures are available in only a relatively few cases, the use of generalized correlations has developed rapidly in the last decade. The generalized correlations of pressure, volume and tem-perature,1 enthalpy,2 and vapor-liquid equilibria,3 on the basis of reduced temperatures and pressures, are outstanding examples of this develop-ment. These correlations are of particular value to the production engineer interested in the flow of oil and gas, since they can be used to estimate the conditions under which segregation of phase occurs as well as the composition, density, and relative amounts of the phases. The technique of using the correlations for such estimations has been pub-lished by several authors¢ and will not be considered in this paper. A considerable number of data have been obtained to check the generalized pressure-volume-temperature correlations, and these data indicate that such relations hold for the hydrocarbons from methane to heptane. The accuracy is in general sufficient for most engineering pressure-volume-temperature calculations. However, the generalized correlations of enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria have in general been developed from the pressure-volume-temperature correlations by thermodynamic calculations and only a relatively few experimental data are available to check these calculated values. The calculations from pressure, volume and temperature are likely to lead to large errors in the calculated enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria. Thus, in the calculations of enthalpies, slopes of the pressure-volume-temperature data are employed, and determining these slopes can greatly amplify small errors in the original data. In the vapor-liquid equilibria calculations it is necessary to have the pressure-volume-temperature relations of the mixture, and the latter properties are much more questionable than those of pure components, particularly in the critical region. A considerable number of experimental data are

Jan 1, 1939

By A. W. Hahn

ALTHOUGH enormous tonnages of sulfide lead and lead-silver ores are treated by flotation, the products of flotation mills treating oxidized ores of lead and silver are almost negligible. However, each year there is a slight tonnage increase, and it is possible, should a sizeable oxidized lead ore tonnage be developed, the field will become an important one. In 1918, the Shattuck-Arizona Copper Co. erected a plant at Warren, Ariz., for the treatment of oxidized gold-silver-lead ores. Glenn L. Allen worked out the metallurgy for this plant, employing tabling, followed by flotation concentration. The Shattuck-Denn Mining Co., successors to the Shattuck-Arizona Co., now employs straight flotation in the same mill, treating about 200 tons daily. In 1922, the San Diego mill of the American Smelting & Refining Co., in the Parral district, Chihuahua, Mexico, started operating a 600-ton mill on a mixed sulfide-oxide gold-silver-lead ore. Tables and flotation are used here, and about 200 tons of oxidized slime treated by flotation. In 1923, the Eureka Holly Mining Co. started operating a 90-ton mill at Eureka, Nev., using tables and flotation, on an oxidized lead-silver ore. In 1924, the American Smelting & Refining Co. started a 250-ton mill in northern Peru, to treat a high-grade oxidized gold-silver ore with very low lead values. In 1924, the Grand Central Mining Co. started a 200-ton flotation mill on old oxidized gold-silver-lead tailings at Fairbank, Ariz. In 1926, the Compania Internacional Minera, a subsidiary of the Union Corporation of London, started a 250-ton flotation mill on oxidized lead-silver ores, and during April of this year, the Phelps-Dodge Corpn. will probably start a 250-ton mill at Warren, Ariz., on oxidized lead-silver ores, similar to those being treated in the Shattuck-Denn mill. METHODS All of these mills use sodium sulfide for filming the oxide minerals, with the possible exception of the North Peru mill, and all use oily reagents. The total tonnage of strictly oxidized lead-silver ores concentrated by flotation is probably less than 2500 tons daily. The following figures give the various types of ores being treated:

Jan 1, 1928

By Julien F. Phillips, Donald E. Garrett

The production of soda ash from natural sources is one of the United States' oldest industries. The London Company, which financed the settlement of Jamestown, in the fall of 1608 exported in its first cargo from Virginia " . . . trials of pitch, tar, glass, frankincense, and soap-ashes."1 This last product, a crude mixture of sodium and potassium carbonates obtained by the burning of wood in iron pots, was the commercial soda ash of its day, used in the infant soap, glass, and bleaching industries. Besides having a good cash value, its production helped to clear the land, and it was a compact, easily shipped commodity. The extra high potassium content of these American "pot-ashes" gave them an added market as a fertilizer, a field that they dominated until the opening of the Strassfurt deposits in 1860. This form of natural soda ash disappeared forever from commercial importance with the introduction of the Le Blanc process (1791), and later the Solvay process for manufacturing soda ash. The Solvay process was rapidly accepted in the United States, and has accounted for most of the country's soda ash production since 1884. It was not until the western part of the country began to be developed that natural soda ash was again produced. A number of lakes, playas, and springs west of the Rocky Mountains were found to be rich in this mineral, and climatic conditions were ideal for its easy recovery by solar evaporation. The production of natural soda ash from these deposits has become a steadily growing industry in the United States. Production A summary of the production and value of natural sodium carbonates in the United States is presented in Table 1. Prior to 1927 the principal output came from several different companies at Owens Lake, California. Then production at Searles Lake, California, began to [ ] increase until it became the most important source. In 1948 the sale of crude trona from Green River, Wyoming, commenced and since that time production from these latter two areas has been about equal. Table 2 lists the four

Jan 1, 1960

SAMUEL L. HOYT.-The question of adding the ferromanganese to the ladle or to the furnace involves both theoretical and practical questions and its discussion might very easily occupy the rest of the day. One of the points to be kept in mind is the desirability of obtaining uniform steel. If ferromanganese is added to the ladle, it is necessary first to melt the manganese and then to distribute uniformly throughout the heat. The only heat available for this purpose is that of the molten steel itself. No doubt sufficient heat is present, but in our desire to pour the steel as quickly as possible there is hardly sufficient time allowed, many times, for the proper distribution of the manganese. In other words, this is an operation which takes a certain amount of time and any undue shortening of the time allowed must affect the quality and uniformity of the steel. Again, this particular method does not lead to as efficient a use of the manganese as might be desired; a contention which is based on theoretical grounds. In concentrated solution, manganese will completely reduce all the ferrous oxide, the presence of which I hypothecate and produce, as the reaction product, manganese oxide. In dilute solution, the manganese only partly reduces the iron oxide, but the manganesee oxide which does form dissolves the iron oxide in simple solution. The dissolution of ferrous oxide in the manganese oxide will result in a more economical utilization of the manganese and an equal purification of the heat. This whole point, at present, has not been definitely proved and its answer will involve very difficult research work. On the other hand, if the manganese is added to the furnace, the heat of the furnace is used to melt the alloy and there is plenty of time during tapping for the manganese to be very uniformly distributed throughout the steel. By distributing the alloy throughout the charge we can secure a better utilization of the manganese than is possible if the addition is made to the ladle. Certain other points, such as the recovery, have been dealt with at greater length in the paper.

Jan 4, 1919

By R. L. Powell, E. C. Houston, V. J. Jones

The phosphate ores mined in middle Tennessee typically consist of granular rock phosphate particles disseminated in a clayey matrix. In the TVA plant near Columbia, Tenn., the phosphate ore is mined, made into a slurry with the addition of a small amount of sodium hydroxide as dispersant, and treated in a hydroseparator to remove minus 10 micron material. The hydro-separator underflow, comprising a rough concentrate, is transported by pipeline to the plant; the hydro-separator overflow, comprising a tailing, is flocculated by addition of calcium sulphate and is discharged to settling ponds at a rate of about 1400 gpm. Sedimentation in the ponds produces a clarified efluent, which may be recycled for use as process water or discharged to surface drainage. This method of tailing treatment is not entirely satisfactory since poor sedimentation characteristics of the tailing result in poor ultimate utilization of pond storage volume. The sediment contains about 70 pct water, even after several years of settling, and is not sufficiently dry to permit it to be used as back-fill, which would provide a method for reclaiming ponds that had been filled with sediment. Since important advantages would result from a process whereby the water content of the tailing solids would be made substantially lower than that obtained in the present process, several possibilities of achiev- ing this were considered. Flocculation tests were made with a wide variety of chemicals, but none gave any improvement over the results obtained with calcium sulphate. Filtering or centrifuging was found to be infeasible. Small-scale tests of dewatering by electrophoresis showed promising results, so this method was studied further in pilot-plant equipment. It was found that the tailing could be dewatered by electrophoresis to produce the solids in a form suitable for use as back-fill. However, the de-watered tailing has no monetary value at present, and the process is not economically competitive with settling pond operation under present conditions. This paper describes the pilot-plant work on electrical dewatering. It is believed that the data may find application in dewatering physically similar but economically valuable materials such as clays or mill slimes, or in dewatering phosphate tailing in the event of increased settling pond costs

Jan 1, 1950

By Charles Wright

AT most mines where large tonnages are handled, "bulldozing" or secondary blasting is an important and costly operation. To reduce the large blocks from primary blasting operations or stoping so that they will be small enough to pass through the chutes into the cars at the haulage level, and not too large for the crushing plant, requires blasting. Often this is done by placing a few sticks of dynamite on top of a block with or without a capping of mud, but to consume less dynamite and to promote safety, most secondary blasting is now done by blockholing, or the drilling of holes 6 to 12 in. long in the blocks, using only a part of a stick of dynamite per hole. Regardless of the method of blasting, however, the term "bulldozing chamber" is applied to the room where this work is done. Bulldozing chambers permit secondary blasting at all times in a safe place without disturbance to the other mining operations. The chambers are usually high above the haulage level and well below the stope level or open-pit floor. In most instances the material is passed through a grizzly in the bulldozing chamber, but sometimes no grizzlies are used. One to four raises extend from the chamber to the stope floor and one or two from the haulage level to the chamber floor. Occasionally large slabs of ore or rock choke the raises above the bull-dozing chamber, and these have to be blasted by attaching a bundle of dynamite sticks on the end of a long pole and placing them up in the raise between the pieces causing the choke. This is called "chute-blasting." To give a picture of the progressive developments in the use of the bulldozing chamber, a few typical mines that show the application of this method to both metal and limestone mines have been selected for description here. Limestone mines have been included because many metal miners do not realize to what extent the nonmetallic, or rock, miners are now applying metal-mining methods successfully in their operations. The bulldozing chamber is the "neck of the bottle" for some mines.

Jan 1, 1935

By A. R. Anderson

UNTIL recently all discussions directed at justify-ing the use of mechanical-loading equipment and conveyors have referred chiefly to tons per man and cost per ton. But there is another consideration that ? will speed the adoption of mechanical loading in mines even though tons per man on present day stand-ards were not increased nor the cost per ton decreased. With restricted immigration, improved facilities for education in our mining communities, and increased opportunities for recreation, the type of man who can or will throw 20 tons of coal per day over the side of a mine car is disappearing. Whether we will it or not provision must be made to replace muscular effort by mechanical means. Fortunately, indications are that the process will be accompanied by increased output per man and lower production cost, and though the outlook may now be a bit clouded in spots, all should profit by the change. The operator should enjoy a more stable business with more assured profit, the miners should get a better livelihood with less arduous effort and under safer and pleasanter working conditions, and the consumer should gain the assurance of a supply of coal always available at reasonable prices. That sounds like the millennium in the coal business perhaps. Of course, it is not, but there is just enough of that millennium stuff in it to encourage those of us who are working with today's problems of applying loading and conveying equipment to underground opera-tions. If we discern clearly that there can be no back-sliding, and that all will share in whatever advantages accrue, we will carry on more vigorously, and may right-fully expect to have the necessary cooperation of all the elements within the industry. As nature does not seem to have followed a definite plan in the formation of coal deposits it is not likely that any one standard method or type of equipment can be evolved for mining the coal. The method of mining that maybe most advantageously employed with load-ing machines and conveyors depends on the character of the strata overlying the coal as much as anything else.

Jan 4, 1927

By Richard S. McCaffery

This paper considers certain aspects of the acid bessemer process, particularly in its relations to the duplex process—that combination in which the pig iron is first desiliconized and decarburized in acid bessemer converters and then dephosphorized in basic open-hearth furnaces. The acid bessemer process employs an acid-lined converter and produces an acid slag. The blow is usually thought to eliminate the silicon and manganese as oxides and then to burn off the carbon as carbon monoxide On account, however, of the relatively large amount of metallic iron present in the converter, compared with the relatively small amount of the impurities it is desired to oxidize, the first reaction in the converter probably is the formation of iron oxide, which dissolves in the bath and acts as an oxygen carrier for the silicon and carbon. As soon as iron oxide is dissolved throughout the bath, the oxidation of silicon commences; but in the early stages of the blow the mass law would indicate that iron oxide must form first, and this oxide probably increases up to some saturation point. The molten metal in the converter from the early stages of the blow right through to its completion remains basic, while the slag produced is siliceous. This fact is shown by the corrosion of the acid bottom and the tuyeres, which is greatest at the tuyere orifice where oxidation is most active and where there is the most iron oxide. Why does this acid bottom corrode? Because it is attacked by a base. The thought, therefore, suggests itself, why not. make the bottoms of basic or neutral material?' As the converter slag is acid, those parts of the converter coming in contact with the slag should be acid; but those parts of the converter that are in contact with the molten metal saturated with metallic oxides should be basic. or neutral. Bessemer operators have for some time tacitly admitted this condition, for the blast pressures have steadily increased with the object of keeping the metal in suspension, and so preventing bottom corrosion; if the molten metal were not basic, it would not attack an acid bottom. In addition, the tuyeres are bunched together at the middle of the bottom and a clear space is left around the outside of the bottom; if tuyeres are placed too near the side walls the

Jan 1, 1922

By Richard S. McCaffery

This paper considers certain aspects of the acid bessemer process, particularly in its relations to the duplex process—that combination in which the pig iron is first desiliconized and decarburized in acid bessemer converters and then dephosphorized in basic open-hearth furnaces. The acid bessemer process employs an acid-lined converter and produces an acid slag. The blow is usually thought to eliminate the silicon and manganese as oxides and then to burn off the carbon as carbon monoxide On account, however, of the relatively large amount of metallic iron present in the converter, compared with the relatively small amount of the impurities it is desired to oxidize, the first reaction in the converter probably is the formation of iron oxide, which dissolves in the bath and acts as an oxygen carrier for the silicon and carbon. As soon as iron oxide is dissolved throughout the bath, the oxidation of silicon commences; but in the early stages of the blow the mass law would indicate that iron oxide must form first, and this oxide probably increases up to some saturation point. The molten metal in the converter from the early stages of the blow right through to its completion remains basic, while the slag produced is siliceous. This fact is shown by the corrosion of the acid bottom and the tuyeres, which is greatest at the tuyere orifice where oxidation is most active and where there is the most iron oxide. Why does this acid bottom corrode? Because it is attacked by a base. The thought, therefore, suggests itself, why not. make the bottoms of basic or neutral material?' As the converter slag is acid, those parts of the converter coming in contact with the slag should be acid; but those parts of the converter that are in contact with the molten metal saturated with metallic oxides should be basic. or neutral. Bessemer operators have for some time tacitly admitted this condition, for the blast pressures have steadily increased with the object of keeping the metal in suspension, and so preventing bottom corrosion; if the molten metal were not basic, it would not attack an acid bottom. In addition, the tuyeres are bunched together at the middle of the bottom and a clear space is left around the outside of the bottom; if tuyeres are placed too near the side walls the

Jan 1, 1922

By H. E. Howe, A. A. Smith

The creep properties of lead alloys have been studied by a number of investigators but most of the work has been done on extruded material and the amount of data available on rolled alloys is surprisingly limited. Greenwood1 and his collaborators investigated various rolled commercial leads containing relatively small amounts of impurities, Phillips2 likewise studied rolled commercial leads, although he did include a few alloys— such as tellurium lead and one per cent antimonial lead. But as far as the authors are aware no data on the creep properties of so-called "hard leads"-—i.e., containing from 4 to 8 per cent antimony—have been published. In this paper some data are presented on a few antimonial lead alloys and compared with a copper-bearing lead. Preparation OF Specimens All the alloys used in this investigation were cast at a temperature of 400°C. into an open cast-iron mold preheated to Ioo°C., the resultant casting being % by I by 10 in. The copper-bearing alloy was cold-rolled by 10 per cent passes to a thickness of 0.100 in. Creep specimens 16 in. long were prepared by clamping the strips between wooden blocks and machining the edges of the strips parallel by means of a plane. Careful manipulation gave parallel specimens with no reduced section and with a minimum of distortion. The antimonial lead castings were hot-rolled in 10 per cent passes at a temperature of I50°C. to a thickness of 0.400 in., the heating being carried out in an electric oven after each pass through the rolls. After the castings had been broken down to 0.400 in., they were allowed to cool to room temperature and then cold-rolled to 0.100 in. with the usual Io per cent passes. Sufficient time was allowed after each pass for the strips to cool to room temperature. The apparatus and method of measuring strain have been adequately described in a previous paper3 and essentially the same practice was used in obtaining the present data. Time-extension curves for only two alloys are given, since these are typical of all. Figs. I and 2 show the time-extension Curves for the copper-bearing alloy A at 30°C. and loo°C., and Figs. 3 and 4 show

Jan 1, 1945

By R. W. Bartlett

Hydrometallurgical processes for copper flotation concentrates avoid the SO2 emission problems associated with smelting, but they require oxidation of copper to obtain solubilization during leaching. The resulting copper ions must be reduced to metal, which normally requires large amounts of energy or energy equivalent reagents such as hydrogen or iron. The conventional reduction method is electrowinning which is labor intensive and involves 35 to 40% of both the entire operating and capital cost of the better hydrometallurgical processes. There is considerable incentive to reduce the cost and energy required for producing copper ions from solution. Furthermore, it is thermodynamically possible to do this using sulfur contained in the concentrate itself. In fact, the thermodynamic potential of oxidizing sulfur from S+4 to the S+6 state is greater than required to reduce cupric ion to metallic copper.1 Realization of this potential in a practical process would significantly reduce the cost of hydrometallurgical processing of sulfide concentrates because sulfur would become a cost-free reducing agent. An apparently practical method is to use SO: and HSO3 ions, obtained by ammonia scrubbing of SO2 from a concentrate roaster gas, to reduce leached copper to metal in an autoclave. This reduction step is the Jumau 1907 A series of steps, including sulfite reduction, constituting a crude flowsheet was suggested by Parker in 1976.3 The present paper describes a detailed complete. sulfite process flowsheet based on materials and energy balances, discusses the chemistry, and discusses further work that is required to develop this process. Process materials, utilities costs, and energy requirements are projected to be unusually low because of the utilization of sulfur from the concentrate. Process Description The sulfite reduction process requires a copper concentrate containing approximately as much sulfur on a weight basis as copper. For those few concentrates that are deficient in sulfur, additional sulfur can generally be obtained by allowing more pyrite to float in the concentration process. The process steps, shown in [Fig. 1], are (1) a fluid bed roast of the concentrate, (2) a leach of the roaster calcine using recycled barren liquor from the reduction autoclave, (3) scrubbing of the SO2 gas with ammonium sulfite liquor to produce ammonium bisulfite, (4) reduction and precipitation of copper in an autoclave by combining part of the SO2 scrubber effluent (SO5

Jan 1, 1980

By John Birkinbine

A RETROSPECT of the growth of the production of pig-iron for the past half century would be the history of the invention and introduction of heated blast as applied to the smelting of iron ores. As the apparatus employed was improved in conception and construction, the economical operation of the furnaces to which it was attached was the more marked, and the production correspondingly increased. To compare the original iron box placed over a coal fire with the modern hot-blast stove, with its combustion-chamber, gas-burners, and air-regulators, would be as unfavorable to the former as to contrast the product of the little Blauöfen with the yield of the improved furnaces of to-day. But, as these little Blauöfen were the germs from which the larger plants have grown, so from the crude apparatus invented and applied by Neilson has grown, in the face of great opposition, the more economical hot-blast stoves now in use. It is not surprising that an innovation like heated blast should have received a large amount of attention from metallurgists, nor that men of recognized ability should formerly have been found both among its champions and opponents, but it is remarkable that, at the present day, with the results of careful research and thorough experiment compiled in convenient shape for perusal, there are iron¬masters who still consider it economy to allow the products of combustion to escape into the atmosphere, rather than utilize them in heating the blast, because of a supposed injury to the quality of the product. In the present state of knowledge and practice, it is proper to express as an axiom, that a well-constructed hot-blast apparatus is essential to the economic operation of an iron-producing plant. Of the interpretation of proper construction there is of necessity a variety of opinions, and, with the view of solving the problem, the apparatus for heating blast has from time to time assumed various forms. Boxes, cylinders, and pipes, placed horizontally, vertically, inclined, or in circles and spirals, have been tried ; there have been pistol-shaped pipes, double pipes, divided or diaphragm pipes, siphon pipes, and as much variety in the mains, connections, flues, and setting. It is probable that, to the introduction of the bell and hopper in

Jan 1, 1876

By John Birkinbine

A retrospect of the growth of the production of pig-iron for the past half century would be the history of the invention and introduction of heated blast as applied to the smelting of iron ores. As the apparatus employed was improved in conception and construction, the economical operation of the furnaces to which it was attached was the more marked, and the production correspondingly increased. To compare the original iron box placed over a coal fire with the modern hot-blast stove, with its combustion-chamber, gas-burners, and air-regulators, would be as unfavorable to the former as to contrast the product of the little Blauöfen with the yield of the improved furnaces of to-day. But, as these little Blauöfen were the germs from which the larger plants have grown, so from the crude apparatus invented and applied by Neilson has grown, in the face of great opposition, the more economical hot-blast stoves now in use. It is not surprising that an innovation like heated blast should have received a large amount of attention from metallurgists, nor that men of recognized ability should formerly have been found both among its champions and opponents, but it is remarkable that, at the present day, with the results of careful research and thorough experiment compiled in convenient shape for perusal, there are ironmasters who still consider it economy to allow the products of combustion to escape into the atmosphere, rather than utilize them in heating the blast, because of a supposed injury to the quality of the product. In the present state of knowledge and practice, it is proper to express as an axiom, that a well-constructed hot-blast apparatus is essential to the economic operation of an iron-producing plant. Of the interpretation of proper construction there is of necessity a variety of opinions, and, with the view of solving the problem, the apparatus for heating blast has from time to time assumed various forms. Boxes, cylinders, and pipes, placed horizontally, vertically, inclined, or in circles and spirals, have been tried; there have been pistol-shaped pipes, double pipes, divided or diaphragm pipes, siphon pipes, and as much variety in the mains, connections, flues, and setting. It is probable that, to the introduction of the bell and hopper in