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By G. R. Rigby

Used basic brick taken from copper anode furnaces, reverberatory furnace roofs, md copper converters have been examined by chemical analysis, petro-graphical examination, and X-ray diffraction tech-niques. In the anode furnace roof, brick absorb copper and copper oxides, whilst in the reverberatory roof, iron oxide with smaller amounts of alumina and silica are absorbed. Chemical reactions in the converter are most complex since the brick absorb both a copper-copper oxide slag and a fayalite-magnetite slag. CHANGES taking place in basic brick after use in copper smelting furnaces have received attention from C. Burton Clark and J. Spotts Mc Dowell,' who examined brick taken from copper converters, and by G. R. Rigby and B. G. Hamilton' who examined brick from copper anode furnaces. This paper describes the changes taking place in basic brick from all types of copper smelting furnaces and discusses the major reasons for lining wear. A) METHODS OF EXAMINING SAMPLES A variety of used brick have been taken from the following positions in various furnaces, a) roofs, reverberatory arches, and bottoms of copper anode furnaces, b) roofs of copper reverberatory furnaces and c) the tuyere line and end walls of copper converters. The method of examination was standard in that brick were first measured and the extent of wear-back computed. They were next sawn in two by a central cut vei-tical to the working face to enable the freshly cut surfaces to reveal any zonal changes and cracks, both of which usually ran parallel to the working face. Each well-defined zone was then sampled for a) chemical analyses, b) petrographical studies using transmitted and reflected light techniques under the microscope, and c) X-ray diffraction studies on powdered samples. From the data accumulated, changes taking place in a variety of

Jan 1, 1962

By C. P. Watson

Economics has been defined as the useful application of wealth or material resources. The search of alchemists in the Middle Ages for s formula by which base metals might be transmuted into gold was no more intensive than has been the search by all branches of the oil industry for methods whereby the rnatcrial resources of West Texas in the nature of sulfur-bearing oil might be usefully applied. The purpose of this paper is to present in brief space developments that are conceded to possess economic significance. History The first discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the Permian Basin of West Texas was the Westbrook field in Mitchell County in 1920. Three years later the discovery well in the Big Lake field was cornpleted as a small pumper (70 bbl.) at a depth of 3028 ft. In 1925, discovery of the Powell or World pool in Crockett County stimulated activities in the Permian Basin, further establishing the importance of the Permian limestones as sources of production. The years 1925 and 1926 were marked by a period of extensive leasing and drilling activities. At the close of 1926 more than 7,000,000 acres had been leased and discovery wells completed in the Hurdle, Hendricksand Yates fields, definitely establishing the importance of the Permian Basin as a source of production from free-flowing wells. Review of Fields The producing fields in the Permian Basin are grouped on three distinct lines of folding. These may be separately identified as the Big Lake-Powell fold; the Yates, Hurdle, and Church-McElroy area and the Winkler County development. Production is derived from a porous limestone stratigraphically uniform, encountered at depths varying from 900 to 3100 ft. Lenticular sand bodies above the lime in Howard County have resulted in the

Jan 1, 1928

By R. L. Templin

IN TREATING a cast metal by any working process such as rolling, drawing or forging, variations in the conditions present in the remelting, casting, chilling and preheating of the initial ingot will certainly have some effect on the physical properties of the final product. In considering the effects of cold working on the physical properties of metals, however, it will be assumed that these factors, being controlled according to best practice, will remain constant and therefore may be neglected. Starting with such a uniform metal ingot, the next operation in the production of wrought metal involves hot working by rolling, forging or extrusion so as to produce a slab, billet or bloom. This working must be sufficient to produce substantial grain refinement and minimize any defects occurring in the initial ingot. Even such a hot-worked product is not suitable as a starting material for determining the effects of cold working because it contains internal strains analogous to those resulting from cold working. It is necessary, therefore, to supplement the hot working with a considerable amount of cold working, followed by a proper annealing in order to obtain a material suitable for use in defining the effects of cold working on the physical properties of a metal. That is, if the effects of cold working are to be evaluated accurately it is necessary to have other effects at least constant if not absent. Such material, unfortunately, cannot always be obtained in commercial practice but the requirements just indicated certainly represent the desired goal; this goal has been attained in the treatment of some metals, one being aluminum.

Jan 1, 1929

By Miguel Bustamente

In 1890 I mas manager of a mining enterprise in the State of Michoacan. The ores were composed principally of iron pyrites (much decomposed), in a quartz matrix, with native gold in very irregular grains. Some portions, however, carried their metallic value in a matrix of calcite arid siderite. The mill in which the ores were treated consisted of two 800-lb. stamps, two amalgamating-plates, four pans, two automatic washers, two Frue vanners, and the necessary accessories for assaying, retorting and refining gold. The plant, originally erected with American capital, and directed by competent Americans, passed in 1890 into the hands of Mexican owners. On taking charge of the business I found on hand a large amount of ore assaying 35 grammes of gold per metric ton (about 1 oz. Troy per ton of 2000 lbs.); but the company was losing money, and was about to abandon the business. Obviously, the difficulty lay in the treatment of the ore. The extraction of gold scarcely reached one-tenth of the assayvalue ; the loss of mercury was considerable; and high freight; charges excluded the alternative of exporting the ores. This situation naturally suggested that amalgamation was not applicable to these ores, and that a more appropriate method must be adopted. The cyanide- and chlorination-methods had been tried already, without practically satisfactory results. For the first few months I employed a combined system, extracting a part of the gold by direct amalgamation, and cyaniding the concentrates. This saved 32 per cent. of the assay-value, but the cost of milling still exceeded the proceeds. Meanwhile I observed

Jan 1, 1902

By R. C. Hirschfeld, H. H. Einstein, R. W. Bruhn, R. A. Nelson

The objective of the model studies described in this paper is to determine the effect of planar discontinuities on the strength and deformability of a rock mass. A model material was used because it satisfied concurrently three requirements that available natural-rock samples did not: (1) low strength, which was desirable for minimizing the loads that had to be applied in the laboratory; (2) ease of producing test specimens with geometrically regular joint patterns; and (3) uniformity of the test specimens. The model tests were performed on specimens made from a single modeling material and tested under triaxial stress conditions with [u,=u,]. Results are presented in this paper for tests on specimens that had (1) a single joint set inclined at several angles to the major principal direction, including 0º and 90°, and (2) two joint sets that were mutually perpendicular, one set perpendicular to and one set parallel to the major principal direction. Several different joint spacings were used in each series. Future tests will include a series with two sets of joints that make oblique angles with each other and with the major principal direction. The results of model tests and tests on cores of jointed rock by several investigators (e.g., Müller and Pacher,l Moore,2 Krsmanovic and Milic,3 Hayashi,4 Rosenblad,5 Jaeger,6 and Lane and Heck 7, have contributed significantly to the design of these experiments, which are believed to be the first in which a comprehensive study has been made of the combined effects under triaxial loading of joint spacing and joint orientation (Fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1970

By S. R. Elliott

THE principles of the caving system, as they apply to mining of soft iron-ore deposits, are well known, as this method has been in use for many years. It is, however, necessary to give a general description of it before describing the Athens method. The shaft and surface equipment should be placed at a sufficient distance from the orebody, so that the caving and pulling of the surface will not disturb the operations of the mine. Levels are started at the proper intervals, and when raises are completed, slicing commences at the top of the orebody and progresses downward. The necessary precautions are taken to avoid the occurrence of large open rooms and it is customary to break sufficient capping to form a mat to prevent heavy falls of ground from crushing through to the lower sublevels and endangering the lives of the workmen. Slicing is continued, and when sufficient width and length are undercut, the capping commences to cave, and in time a settlement occurs at the surface. As soon as this caving commences, the pressure on the timber naturally increases; after it extends to the surface, the amount of pressure has a certain relation to the depth. In other words, the pressure increases with the depth, but not in direct proportion. At great depths, such as that found at the Athens, 2500 ft. (760 m.), the pressure might be so excessive that the cost of keeping working places open would be prohibitive. The actual caving of the surface in a deep mine, with a great thickness of capping, is slow and often takes years to accomplish. After sufficient width and depth -have been undercut, the capping starts to break away, but through arching large masses of rock-.fill the opening, support the capping, and retard the continuation of caving. Caving to the surface is, therefore, retarded until either a sufficient thickness of the orebody is removed, or the width and length of the undercut part have been greatly increased. I wish to emphasize this fact of slow caving, for it is on, this principle that the success of the Athens system. largely depends.

Jan 8, 1920

By C. K. Leith

MANGANESE is one of the minerals which is principally consumed in countries other than those of origin. Nearly 85 per cent of the pro-duction is used by the United States, England, Germany and France, and roughly a third of the total is used by the United States alone. On the other hand, over 85 per cent of the world production comes from Brazil, Russia, India, the Gold Coast of Africa, and the Sinai Peninsula. It follows from this fact that practically all manganese moves across international boundaries in raw or alloy form, and much the larger part of this movement is for considerable distances and is ocean borne. There is no indication that any one of the principal consuming countries can develop even approximately adequate supplies of its own. Under abnormal war conditions, with high prices and changes in metal-lurgical methods, only 35 per cent of the needs of the United States was met from local sources, and under our recent tariff only 11 per cent. There are thousands of manganese deposits scattered about the world, but only a very few which can figure largely in supplying requirements on a modern scale. The known reserves, together with highly probable extensions and explora-tions now under way, indicate no shortage from a world standpoint for many decades to come. The production and marketing of manganese is going steadily into fewer and stronger hands. The steel in-dustry uses over 90 per cent of all the manganese mined, and is acquiring control of a considerable part of the production in all of the principal fields-the Germans in Nikopol, the English in India and Gold Coast, the Americans in Georgia, India, Gold Coast and Brazil. Some of the controlling companies are of international scope. Concentration of commercial control is a notable tendency. A natural consequence is the growing un-easiness of smaller consumers the world over about their ultimate supplies and desire to know more definitely how and where manganese supplies will be controlled in the future. The sources of supply are few enough to warrant the belief that more or less monopolistic ele-ments of control are not impossible.

Jan 5, 1927

By E. L. Estabrook, H. H. Hill

This report summarizes the information that was obtained by the Committee on Unit Operation in Eastern United States and in the foreign countries. Letters and questionnaires were sent to all of the Eastern members of the Petroleum Division of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and to those who are living outside of the United States, asking them to advise the Committee of any unit operations that are in effect in the various countries of the world and to furnish the names of men to whom inquiries should be directed for detailed information on the different projects. The response to the Committee's request is worthy of note. Practically all of the members who had knowledge of foreign operations replied to the questionnaire and not only furnished information that was of value to the Committee, but they evidenced a real interest in the subject of unit operations and assured the Committee of their willingness to assist in every way possible in order to make the study a success. The Committee wishes, at this time, to express its appreciation of the excellent cooperation that was received from the members of the A. I. M. E. to whom questionnaires were sent. Unfortunately, the limited time that has been given to this survey did not permit the collection of detailed data on the different unit operations that are now in effect. It required several weeks to get back replies from the members located in some of the foreign countries and as a result the men who were asked to furnish information on the various projects have not had sufficient time to submit the detailed data that were requested. The Committee has been assured, however, that information relating to a number of unit operations will be furnished in the near future. Part of the delay has been due to the fact that the purpose of the study was not understood and because the terms "unit" and "near-unit" operations were not clearly defined. In the foreign countries, practically all of the operations in noncompetitive fields are on concessions or leases that have been granted to a single company and for that reason

Jan 1, 1930

By H. A. Wentworth

THE Huff electrostatic plant of the United States Smelting Company operated in conjunction with its wet concentrator at Midvale, Utah, was the second plant of substantial size installed using the Huff process, and the first plant to be put in operation on the so-called Western complex ores. In spite of the machinery being of early design and consequently embracing many of the mechanical weaknesses incident to a pioneer plant the mill has operated steadily and uniformly since the summer of 1909, about five years now, without any material change other than some re-arrangement of the machinery for better handling of the sizes. The ore, at present coming almost entirely. from the company's mines in Bingham, is of practically the same composition as that upon which the plant was first put in operation. The crude ore, consisting of the sulphides of copper, lead, zinc, and iron, and containing small amounts of gold and silver, is brought by train and delivered to the hoppers of the wet concentrator, where by jig and table treatment, there are produced a shipping lead concentrate, a tailing and a middling product, the latter being conveyed in push cars to the adjoining electrostatic mill. The crude ore delivered to the wet concentrator contains from 6 to 9.5 per cent. zinc. At times the plant is used also for the treatment of custom ores from the Bingham district and elsewhere, and at such times the results of the plant vary according to the material in use, but as by far the larger portion of the product is that from the company's own mines, the results given below are fairly indicative of the general work obtained. The accompanying diagram illustrates graphically the flow of the ore through the electrostatic mill. The middling coming from the wet mill containing from 15 to 18 per cent. moisture is hoisted while on the cars by an elevator, and delivered from the top of the elevator to a hopper over the drier. The drier first installed was of too low capacity to take care of the moisture present in the tonnage to which the mill was later

Jan 8, 1914

By Percy Hopkins

KIRKLAND LAKE, the second most important gold area in Ontario, is situated in the north¬eastern part of the Province, 392 miles north of Toronto by railway. It is reached by a five-mile macadam road from Swastika, a village on the Temiska-ming & Northern Ontario Railway, 63 miles north of Cobalt. Gold, was first found at Kirkland Lake in 1911 by W. H. Wright. on claim No. 1830, now a part of the Wright-Hargreaves mine. In January, 1912, the metal associated with various tellurides was found by Harry Oakes and George Tough on the Tough-Oakes property 3/4 mile east of the lake. The shipping of hand-sorted, extremely high-grade ore, valued at $350 to $450 in gold per ton, from this property created great interest and resulted in numerous other discoveries. The early developments of the area, however, were much retarded on account of war conditions, labor troubles, and owing to the ore zone being largely under the bed of Kirkland Lake or in drift-covered depressions. It was not until early in 1918, when the Lake Shore Co. found its rich orebody under the bottom of Kirkland Lake, that the various ore deposits were believed to be more or less continuous along one main vein system. From that time most of the work in the area has been done along the "main vein" with gratifying results. Production began late in 1912, and up to the end of March, 1923, the five producing mines have yielded gold, with some silver, valued at $8,379,403. The production in 1922 was $2,162,548; that of 1923 should be over $3,000,000. The same general assemblage of rocks which occurs at. Kirkland Lake extends easterly for many miles to Larder Lake and beyond; hence there is a large area containing formations favorable for gold prospecting. In this general area numerous prospects are being operated, and among the most promising ones, may be mentioned the Argonaut, Crown Reserve and Asso-ciated Goldfields near Larder Lake. A 25-mile branch railway is now being constructed across the mineral area from Swastika to Larder Lake, passing through Kirkland Lake.

Jan 8, 1923

By M. Gensamer

It has been suggested by a number of people that it would be worth while for some one to attempt to summarize or condense the proceedings of this symposium. This task has fallen to me as organizer and co-chairman. Its difficulty will be appreciated by anyone who attempts to read the whole proceedings. It is therefore with trepidation that I offer the following digest. In recent years there has been a renewal of interest in America on this subject of the cohesive strength of materials, and a growing appreciation of the need for a better theory of cohesion failure. The theories of elastic action and plastic action are well developed, particularly the former. The theory of plastic action is still in the course of development, but it is well along. Plastic action is terminated by cohesion failure and what is needed is a theory that will tell us when to expect the cohesion failure. In the past it has generally been assumed that cohesion failure will occur when a critical value of the maximum tensile stress has been reached. Many experiments have shown that this is not strictly true, and this symposium concerns itself with the failures of this simple hypothesis, and with the efforts that have been made to devise a more satisfactory theory. The most active contributor in recent years to knowledge in this field is Dr. McAdam, and he was asked to open the symposium with a summary or condensation of his papers and views. Undoubtedly it is presumptuous to attempt a still greater condensation, but perhaps it will be useful, because even his contribution to this symposium contains no summary, no concise statement of just what his contribution has been. Dr. McAdam makes two main points The first is that the cohesive strength is not a single valued quantity, but that it is a function of all three principal stresses and hence must be represented diagrammati-cally by a surface in a three-dimensional figure, Dr. McAdam has attempted so to delineate the cohesion limit, basing his

Jan 1, 1945

By R. W. Raymond

The sudden death of Captain Jones, September 28,1889, became known to his fellow-members on the eve of the Ottawa meeting of the Institute; and at that meeting, Mr. Charles Albert Ashburner, of Pittsburgh, expressed with unaffected feeling and unpremeditated eloquence the sorrow of all. Mr. Ashburner subsequently undertook to revise and extend, for in in the Transactions, the remarks he had made at Ottawa; but death surprised him also, in the midst of his labors; and it has become my duty and privilege to prepare from the memoranda he left behind, the present brief and inadequate notice. To me, who knew and loved them both, this task of double sorrow recalls them both, with a peculiar sense of presence and of absence. They seem to speak from another land, not far away, yet not with human voices—like an echo and its echo. William Richard Jones was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1839. His father was Rev. John G. Jones, a Welsh minister, who had immigrated to the United States in 1832. William was the eldest son, and his father's failing health made it necessary for him to begin early the work of self-support. At the age of ten, he was apprenticed to the Crane Iron company, of Catasauqua, and in this humble capacity entered upon the profession in which he was to become famous. Unquestionably, the thorough acquaintance with all details, acquired by working his way from the bottom to the top, was one secret of the conspicuous executive ability which characterized him in the height of his career. According to a letter from Mr. J. H. Geer, Assistant Chief Engineer of the Cambria Iron Company, Mr. Jones entered the service of that company in 1858 or 1859 as a machinist, and continued to work in that capacity until July, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in the 133d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which he afterwards commanded a company. The regiment was mustered out of service in 1863, and Captain Jones re-enlisted in the 194th

Jan 1, 1890

By Walter Miller

Any review of the engineering progress made in 1932 in the petroleum refining industry must necessarily be broad and general, improvements having been made in practically all major branches of this activity. Several factors contributed to an advancement on a wide front, much of it coming from those active in refining, considerable from those not, immediately in it but engaged in designing and installing equipment and maintaining large and capable staffs of experts in both engineering and development work. Another factor has been the ability of the refiner, because of less than capacity operation, to carry on experimental and development work in regular plant equipment. The movement to higher antiknock value gasoline has continued through 1932, and the average improvement of the more widely sold branded gasolines is from 3 to 4 points higher in the octane scale. A very great improvement was brought about during the year in the method of determining the octane number of gasoline. While the procedure and equipment for determining this value as developed by the Cooperative Fuel &search Steering Committee prior to 1932 had received fairly general acceptance, evidence that it did not always evaluate in a measure consistent with road performance quickly accumulated, and led to further effort to synchronize laboratory results with actual use. As the result of some really brilliant work on the part of the C.F.R. Committee and a large number of collaborators, it was found that a comparatively minor modification of the previously developed equipment and method gave surprisingly concordant results between laboratory tests and trial per-formance on the road. This method has been officially accepted by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American Petroleum Institute, and will according to present plans go into general use on April 1, 1933. The American Society for Testing Materials has studied the method but at the time of writing this had not reached a final decision regarding it. Improved Volatility of Gasoline The most notable trend during the year, in addition to a very considerable increase in antiknock value referred to above, has been in the

Jan 1, 1933

By R. M. Treco

THE thermal expansion of pure beryllium was first investigated by Hidnert and Sweeneyl in 1925 on a single cast specimen stated to be of 98.9 pct purity. A study of the coefficients of expansion by X-ray methods has recently been made by P. Gordon' on powder obtained from the Brush Beryllium Co. assaying 97 wt pct beryllium with about 2 wt pct oxygen as an impurity. The present work pertains to about the highest purity metal obtainable from the Brush Beryllium Co. This metal was in the form of lumps which were remelted and cast in a high-vacuum induction furnace. Expansion data in this paper deal with beryllium extruded into bars of rectangular cross-section 4x1/2 in. and the anisotropic expansivity of a large cast single crystal. Analysis of the cast metal after extrusion indicated a beryllium assay of 99.28 pct. Impurities were 0.170 pct Fe, 0.140 pct Al, 0.014 pct Mg, 0.086 pct Si, 0.020 pct Cu, 0.020 pct Mn, 0.007 pct Ni, 0.007 pct Ca, 0.080 pct C, 0.179 pct 0, (as BeO). Part I—Extruded Metal Thermal expansion measurements were obtained with a fused quartz-tube differential type dilatom-eter3 on specimens cut from the extruded sections in longitudinal and transverse directions. Specimens were machined to a diameter of 0.250 in. and a length of 3.000 in. One sample from each direction was vacuum annealed for 1 hr at 800°C. The dilatometer tube was placed in a vertical tube furnace having a uniform temperature zone which was twice the length of the sample. Average time for a complete thermal cycle to 500°C was 18 hr. Temperatures were observed with two chromel-alumel thermocouples attached to the sample about 1 M in. apart. The accuracy of temperature measure-ment was ± 0.25°C. An argon gas atmosphere sur-rounded the specimen to prevent oxidation of the beryllium. Samples were identified as shown in table I. Results - The original plan included measuring expansion up to 1000°C, but the first two runs on sample No. 5 showed that a permanent contraction occurred from

Jan 1, 1951

By G. F. Dillion, A. F. Armington

THE present method for the ultrapurification of boron involves the formation, distillation, and decomposition of boron tribromide.' However, the boron tribromide prepared contains several impurities in the ppm range, even after distillation. Some of these impurities, notably carbon, can be reduced after decomposition by zone refining. In this study, a comparison of the purity of boron tribromide at various formation temperatures is presented. The apparatus employed consisted of a bromine flask connected to a 22 mm ID horizontal quartz reaction tube packed with amorphous boron powder, which was in turn connected to a receiving flask cooled with an ice bath. Argon was used as a carrier gas. The approximate rate of passage of bromine to the reaction tube was 25 g per hr. The reaction was first investigated at several temperatures in order to determine the lowest temperature necessary to produce a colorless product which was assumed to be an indication of complete reaction of the bromine. The lowest temperature found in this study was 420oC. The amount of impurities found in the boron tribromide at various formation temperatures is shown in Table I. The data presented are emission spectroscopic results of boric oxide produced by the hydrolysis of 2 to 3 g of boron tribromide in 10 ml of distilled water. After hydrolysis, the samples were dried several hours on a hot plate. Assuming equilibrium conditions in the reactor, one can make approximate thermodynamic calculations estimatling the completeness of reaction of bromine with boron and its impurities at various temperatures. Data for these calculations were taken from Rossini,3 and must be taken as approximations since the T?S factor was not included in the calculations. The results of such calculations indicate that, with the exception of carbon bromina-tion, all impurities would react almost to completeness (> 99 pet) at all temperatures between 400" and 900oC. In the case of carbon, which cannot be accurately analyzed spectroscopically, it is estimated that only about one sixth as much carbon tetrabromide would be formed at 400" than at 900°C. Since some marked reductions in impurity content were observed at the lower reaction temperature which would not be predicted by thermo-

Jan 1, 1962

By Ralph Arnold

WHILE much geological work and drilling have been done in Venezuela, the incompleteness of geological evidence obtainable and the restricted areas in which drilling has been done make any estimates of oil resources extremely speculative. Nevertheless, it is felt that the data given are justified, in the belief that the ideas of a geologist familiar with the region are better than those of a promoter. The oldest beds of interest to oil men are those of the Cretaceous, which are well developed in eastern Venezuela and about parts of Lake Maracaibo. In both cases, a hard massive limestone is overlain by a great thickness, most of which is shale. In the west, in places this shale is more than 2000 ft. (610 m.) thick, while in the east it may attain 3500 ft., (1067 m.). The limestone and parts of the shale are oil producing. In the east, the Tertiary where present is almost entirely covered by the Quarternary, but in the west it is well developed. In probable unconformity over the Cretaceous shales is found a series of sandstones and shales, which may beg called the lower coal series. It is well developed southwest of the lake, where it is the oil container, and is probably the lowest series exposed east of the lake. Above this is the Pauji shale, which is probably the point of origin of all the oil east of Lake Maracaibo and in the State of Falcon. It has a thickness of about 3000 ft. (914 m.) in the Mene Grande region. The upper coal series is developed as a great thickness of sands, shales, and clays, with some partly consolidated limestone. Its thickness may be as great as 10,000 ft. It is the oil container of the Falcon-El Mene region and a probable location for oil in some of the area about the lake. It may or may not include the so-called Maracaibo series in which the oil is found at Mene Grande. Over much of Venenzuela, the Quarternary is present in unknown thickness, which probably is not great. It obscures oil structure in all cases and presents the greatest hazard of oil exploration for the fields which probably exist below.

Jan 7, 1922

PRIOR to the World War most of the barite used in the United States for manufacturing lithopone and barium chemicals was imported. Germany, by virtue of an abundance of high-grade ore and low labor costs, was in a position to dominate the world market. With the cessa-tion of imports and with the war demand for barium chemicals, the barium chemical industry and the mining of barite became well; estab-lished in the United States. This industry has continued to expand because of the increasing use of lithopone. In 1914 the sales of domestic crude barite was 52,919 tons and in 1934 it was 209,850 tons. Barite deposits of economic importance occur in at least 20 states, but the principal producers in 1934 were Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, California and Arizona. The main mining centers are located near the crude barite markets of the three principal marketing districts-the Pacific Coast, the Midwestern area, and the Eastern area. The Pacific Coast is supplied entirely by California, Nevada, and Arizona. The Midwestern area uses most of the Missouri crude and a small amount from the southern states. The eastern market is the chief competitive area. Practically all of the imported crude is marketed there; also the bulk of the southern crude and ground barite. In addition, this area absorbs a small part of the Missouri crude and 80 per cent of the ground barite. Besides the advantage of low delivered costs and purity of product, the imported barite has commanded a price differential because it is soft rather than hard, like many of the domestic ores. The inherent physical properties of the southern ores remain, but the purity can be controlled to a great extent by beneficiation. Simple washing or gravity concentra-tion has sufficed in the past, but in many cases a more efficient process now becomes imperative to remove impurities not amenable to these methods. Certain deposits now being opened are of lower, grade and require more precise milling conditions. In some ores, the kind of impurities has changed as the mining advanced.

Jan 1, 1936

By B. L. Dunic, Terkel Rosenqvist

rr has long been suspected that sulphur has a small but finite solid solubility in iron, but up to the present more accurate data have been lacking. The survey given by Hansen' illustrates the divergence of data and opinions. Solubilities between 0.01 and 1.5 pct have been suggested, and opinions vary regarding the effects of temperature and phase transformations in iron on the sulphur solubility. The extent of solid solution and its variation with temperature might be expected to be an important factor in the occurrence of hot shortness in steel. Therefore, the object of the present investigation was to study this problem more systematically. It was furthermore hoped that solubility data for sulphur might contribute to an understanding of the factors which determine solid solubilities in general. Experimental Procedure The present work was based on the measurement of the chemical activity of sulphur in the solid solution by means of equilibrium with a mixture of hydrogen and hydrogen sulphide. When the solid solubility limit is reached, the sulphur activity in the iron becomes equal to that in the coexisting sulphide phase. A gas mixture of a controlled H,S/H, ratio was passed over pure metallic iron heated to a temperature in the range 900" to 1500". The amount of sulphur absorbed by the iron was determined by analysis, and from a plot of percentage of sulphur vs. gas composition the sulphur activity and the solubility limit were determined. As the rate of diffusion of sulphur in solid iron is very small, often several days were needed to be sure that equilibrium conditions had been established. To produce a gas flow with less than 1 pct H,S of constant composition for several days, was in itself a problem. The most satisfactory arrangement was obtained by a continuous synthesis of hydrogen sulphide from the elements. This was done in the part of the apparatus shown to the left in Fig. 1. The hydrogen used was first purified in tank batches by passage through activated charcoal cooled in liquid nitrogen under a pressure of 150

Jan 1, 1953

W. E., RUDER, Schenectady, N. Y. (written discussion *).-Professor Howe, with characteristic thoroughness, has demonstrated that Professor Jeffries' "Reversed Inheritance" explanation of the case in question is contrary to fact, as shown by many previous observers. Since the photographs were my own, I feel it my duty to say a few words in discussion. In the first place, it is to be noted that these photographs were of pressed powders, and although many of Professor Jeffries' original experiments were made from this kind of material, the nature of such a specimen must of necessity be different from that of the fused metal, although the same basic laws of grain growth may apply in both cases, certain factors, such as the rate of change, for example, are undoubtedly different in each case. That the 1000° C. grain is a natal grain is evident from its appearance contrasted with the more perfectly formed, though smaller, grains in the 1300° C. photograph. I am not sure that Professor Howe's explanation of the formation of this grain is necessarily the correct one, although it agrees with. Stead and Carpenter's results. I am inclined to think that this grain may have been formed on heating, because I have been able to produce grains of the shape and magnitude of Stead and Carpenter's grains by heating to 850° C. pure electrolytic iron, which has been subjected to a strain gradient. On reheating to 1300° C., the mobility being so much greater, the individual crystals had time for unhampered re-arrangement and growth after their second refinement on passing Ac3, so that we have in this case a true fused metal condition in which the individual crystals are arranged in true equiaxed grains of a size consistent with their high temperature anneal. In this case the grains are equiaxed, inheriting none of the columnar tendencies of the previous grain, because they were not affected by any strain gradient, except possibly some accidental local gradients. It seems to me that the introduction of pressed powders into the discussion of grain growth, where allotropic changes take place, unnecessarily complicates an already complicated problem.

Jan 1, 1918

By John Chapman, J. C. Vaughan

Although a considerable amount of practical importance attaches to systems involving gases and molten metals, little is known regarding the effects of alloy elements upon the solubility of gases in liquid iron. The solubilities of hydrogen1 and nitrogen2,3 in pure liquid iron arc known and it has been shown that small amounts of silicon and aluminum3 exert only a small effect upon the solubility of nitrogen but greatly increase its rate of solution. This paper presents the results of a study of the solubility of nitrogen, at pressures approximately one atmosphere, in molten iron containing up to 15.8 per cent silicon. EXPEBIMENTAL METHOD There are two general methods by which the solubility of a gas in a molten metal may be determined. In the first, which Sievertsl employed, the gas is measured from a burette into the enclosure containing the metal and the amount absorbed is found by subtracting from the total volume that of the dead space in the container. The second method, which was used successfully for pure liquid iron, is to expose the molten metal to the gas until absorption ceases, then to solidify and analyze the metal. In either method the stirring produced by inductive heating prevents the development of a stagnant layer at the metal surface and ensures actual attainment of equilibrium. Obviously the second method is accurate only when the saturated metal is capable of solidifying without gas evolution. Since the rate of solution of nitrogen in iron is increased by the presence of silicon, it was to be expected that the rate of evolution would be correspondingly increased and for this reason the first method was selected. A sketch of the furnace is shown in Fig. 1. A small high-frequency coil having 17 turns fitted closely around a fused silica tube, 2 in. in diameter, in which was placed, on a bed of 60-mesh alumina sand, an

Jan 1, 1940