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By KENNETH W. GREENAWALT, William Greenawalt

THE patent system, through which an inventor is given exclusive right to his invention for a limited period as a reward for his industry and in reimbursement of his expenditures, originated in England in the famous "Statute of Monopolies," enacted in 1623. The first patent granted in America was to Samuel Winslow, in Massachusetts, in 1641. The basis of the patent system of the United States is a provision in the Constitution giving Congress the power to secure to inventors for a limited time the exclusive use of their discoveries. The first legislative enactment was the law of 1790, which was placed on the statute book after Washington had addressed Congress in its favor. Under this law, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Attorney General constituted the board for the examination of patent applications and the granting of patents. The first Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, became the first administrator of the patent sys- tem in this country. He personally examined every application filed during his term of office.

Jan 1, 1930

Jan 1, 1969

By A. C. Fieldner

IN the Wall Street journal for March 1, 1941, was a tabulation of the construction under way or under negotiation by thirteen iron and steel companies for a predicted increase in annual coke production of 3,165,600 tons. That even this figure was short of the mark is indicated by other plans, then being considered, for a later expansion of 2,610,000 tons additional. Considerable progress has already been made on thin program, for approximately 500 new ovens were put in operation in 1941. and well over 200 should be completed in 1942. These figures include a number of units that replace older and obsolete equipment.

Jan 1, 1942

By K. Verghese, R. W. Rousseau, R. P. Gardner

A radioactive tracer method and a size-discretized, mass balance model are formulated and demonstrated in a feasibility experiment for the determination of crystal growth rates in MSMPR crystallizers. The system studied is aqueous KN03 with K-42 as the radioactive tracer. The results indicate that the method should prove to be very valuable for this application, particularly when systems exhibiting size-dependent growth rates are of interest. An indicated refinement to the tracer method is the simultaneous use of an additional tracer in the liquid to determine the amount of radioactivity from the liquid that is adsorbed on the samples of filtered crystals.

Jan 1, 1980

By Robert L. Zook, Bernard J. Olup, James J. Pierre

Coal refuse slurry impoundments are dams constructed of coarse coal refuse to impound fine refuse (slurry) and water (25 to 30% solids). Both products are waste from coal preparation plants. A number of these structures in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky were investigated to determine embankment stability. During the investigation a variety of embankment designs were encountered. The investigation determined the soil and geological characteristics of the embankments and the sites. This was accomplished by a test drilling and monitor installation (observation wells and piezometers) program, geologic study, and large-scale mapping which allowed subsurface profiles of the embankments to be constructed. The laboratory testing program concentrated on textural classification of the coal refuse, permeability, and determining strength parameters to be utilized in the stability analyses. For the stability analyses, the modified Fellenius slip circle, simplified Bishop slip circle, and analysis for translational failure were utilized. In all stability analyses hydrostatic pressure and seismic acceleration probability were considered. This investigation indicated that 62% of the embankments analyzed were in a stable condition. The coal seam, the type of roof rock, and the gradation of the refuse influence the degree of compaction obtainable and the permeability of refuse. The shear strength of coal refuse appears to be controlled by its composition, moisture content, degree of compaction, amount and grain size of fines present. This investigation demonstrated these embankments should not be treated as pure state-of-the-art dams consideration must be given to the particular properties of coal refuse and the total refuse disposal system. Refuse dam slurry impoundments generally lack the site selection phase that is standard practice with siting most other types of dams.

Jan 1, 1976

By B. C. Riblet

THE president of a large smelting and refining company once telegraphed me that they had acquired extensive mining interests in northern Peru and requested me to inspect their properties as it would be necessary to install a system of aerial tramways between their mines and treatment plant. The concentrator was about 50 mi. from the coast, reached by a fairly good motor road. From the concentrator an aerial tramway would he required, about 6 mi. long, to their first property, a gold and silver mine. The lower terminal of the tramway was at an elevation of 4000 ft. and the mine at an elevation of 9500 ft.

Jan 1, 1937

By Carl F. Floe, Michael B. Bever

ACCELERATED by the demands of war, research and development work in nonferrous physical metallurgy has continued at a rapid pace during the past year. In particular, advances have been made in processing and fabrication, especially of the light alloys, and in the surface treatment of metals. Theoretical physical metallurgy, although less active, has not been neglected and the year has brought forth some -notable contributions to our understanding of the fundamental structure of metals and their behavior in service. Of course, much work that has been done cannot be publicly discussed because of wartime restrictions.

Jan 1, 1945

By Guy N. Bjorge

HOMESTAKE'S mining methods today are of necessity controlled to a considerable extent by that which has been done in the past. This may be shown by the fact that our two main operating shafts now, the B. & M. and Ellison, were begun in 1878 and 1896 respectively, so that-the loca-tions of shafts, locations of all the drifts on the upper levels, and a great deal of sloping was done before any of us now connected with the mine had anything to do- with it. Anything that I may say is not to be construed as criticism of those who have gone before for it would be a sad commentary indeed on us if we had not learned something from their experience. The levels down to the 1100 in the Homestake mine are spaced at 100-ft. intervals, and below that at 150-ft. intervals. The general plan of develop-

Jan 1, 1934

By Donald L. Katz

The equilibrium constants developed by Souders, Selheimer and Brown1' have been very useful tools in predicting vapor-liquid equilibria during the past five years. Their equilibrium constants were computed by assuming ideal solutions and recognizing the deviations of vapors from ideal gas laws. The same fundamental concepts were used by Lewis and co-workers8 for predicting vaporization phenomena by means of fugacities. The equilibrium constant is defined by equation 1: y\x =K [1] in which K = equilibrium constant, y = mol fraction of a constituent in the vapor phase, x = mol fraction of the constituent in the equilibrium liquid phase. The equilibrium constants are a function of temperature and pressure and might be considered as replacing the ratio of the vapor pressure to the total pressure of Raoult's law. They may be used to compute the vapor or saturation pressure of a liquid or the dew point of a vapor for any pressure or temperature from the analysis of the mixture much as Raoult's law is used. Likewise, the quantity of a mixture that will vaporize at any equilibrium temperature and pressure and the composition of the vapor and liquid may be calculated. The purpose of this paper is to review the available equilibrium data of interest in petroleum production, to discuss the auxiliary physical properties of the hydrocarbons, and to present typical uses of the equilibrium constants. The particular applications chosen are the computation of the results of stage separation of crude oil and natural gas, the calcula: tion of a pressure-volume curve of a crude oil-natural gas mixture, and information gleaned from a consideration of reservoir equilibria.

Jan 1, 1938

By AIME AIME

UNDER the auspices of the Institute's Committee on Industrial Preparedness, a symposium was arranged for the Annual Meeting on the subject "Ores, Metals, and the War," with many well-known Government men and industrialists participating. Wilfred Sykes, president of the Inland Steel Co., of Chicago, presided, with C. K. Leith and Clyde Williams as vice-chairmen, Mr. Williams presiding over the latter part of the meeting. On the Auditorium stage in the Engineering Societies Building was a formidable corps of "experts," with an audience of several hundred to hear what they had to say and to ask questions.

Jan 1, 1942

By J. W. Byrkit

Design features and operating methods at the new Ajo smelter are described in detail. Successful operation of a novel method of handling and charging wet concentrates to a deep bath type reverberatory furnace contribute to the daily production of 200 tons of anodes with good results from the standpoint of both metallurgy and economy. THE New Cornelia Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corp. is located at Ajo, Ariz. Large scale mining operations were started at Ajo in 1917, when a 5000 ton leaching plant was put in service to treat the copper carbonate ore that overlaid the sulphide ore-body. In 1924 a 5000 ton flotation plant was built to treat the sulphide ore and the leaching operation was abandoned a few years later. Changes in practice and additions to plant facilities have resulted in a gradual increase in the milling rate which now approaches 30,000 tons daily. Prior to the erection of the Ajo smelter, flotation concentrate was shipped by rail to Douglas, Ariz, where it was treated in the Phelps Dodge smelter. Construction of a one reverberatory furnace smelter to produce an average of about 200 tons per day of copper anodes at Ajo was started early in 1949. Initial heating of the reverberatory furnace was begun on June 21, 1950. Charging the furnace was started on july 8, and the first anodes were cast on July 14. Neither the anode furnace nor the reverberatory furnace has cooled since the initial firing. Fig. 1 is a photograph of the new smelter. Built primarily to eliminate the '300 mile haul of concentrate to the Douglas plant, the new smelter was designed to treat the Ajo concentrate, with a minimum of capital investment. A novel, and relatively simple, method of concentrate handling and furnace charging made unnecessary the installation and operation of expensive storage facilities and reclaiming equipment, and obviated the necessity of holding in storage large quantities of copper-bearing materials. (Patents are pending in the United States and abroad on the Ajo process.) In the selection and arrangement of equipment, consideration was given to the full utilization of all smelting facilities, reducing the amount of idle equipment to a minimum. The layout of the smelter is shown in Fig. 2. The important problem of internal transportation was minimized by arranging the reverberatory furnace, converters, and anode furnace in a compact group and providing storage bins inside the smelter building, within reach of overhead cranes, for fluxing materials and other supplies needed in the daily operation. This can be seen in the sectional view of the smelter given in Fig. 3. Incorporated in the design were many innovations in smelting equipment intended to facilitate operations and effect economies in maintenance expense and manpower requirements. Table I gives operating data of the entire plant. Metallurgy The metallurgical practice at Ajo is based essentially upon the use of a single, deep bath reverberatory furnace for smelting wet concentrate, without concentrate storage facilities. The large reservoir of slag and matte maintained in the furnace serves to equalize, to some extent, the day to day variations in the nature and grade of concentrate and permits

Jan 1, 1954

By S. A. Mersol, C. T. Lynch, F. W. Vahldiek

The microhardness of single crystals of tungsten disilicide has been investigated by the Knoop method. The average random room-temperature hardness of the WSi, matrix was 1350 kg per sq mm. Hardness crnisotropy was noted with respect to plane and indenter orientation as determined by single-crq.stal X-rny studies. Annealing at 1600" and 1800°C decreased the average hardness to 1310 and 1230 kg per sq tnm, respectively, and produced a second phase identified by X-ray diffraction and electron-microprobe analysis to be wSio.7. Ball-impact experiwzents produced rosettes at 850°C. Optical and electron microscopy showed evidence of slip and cross slip and twinning produced by microhardness indentations. Prismatic (100), [001] slip was found and cor~elated with hardness data. THE present study was undertaken to investigate the hardness anisotropy of as-grown and annealed single crystals of tungsten disilicide. The existence of the silicide WSiz in the W-Si system has been well-established and its structure thoroughly investigated zachariasen2 found WSi, to have a tetragonal C type of structure, similar to that of MoSi, with lattice parameters a = 3.212A, Kieffer et al. studied the W-Si system and measured the density and microhardness (at a 100-g load) of both polycrystalline WSi, and WSi,.,. The values found were 9.25 g per cu cm and 1090 kg per sq mm for WSi,, and 12.21 per cu cm and 770 kg per sq mm for WSi0.7, respectively. According to Samsonov et a1.5 the microhardness of polycrystalline WSi2 is 1430 kg per sq mm (at a 120-g load). EXPERIMENTAL The WSi, single-crystal boules investigated in this paper were grown by a Verneuil-type process using an electric arc by the Linde Division of the Union Carbide Corp.6 The largest specimens were 8 mm in diameter by 16 mm long. The crystals had an average density of 9.01 g per cu cm with a tungsten • silicon content of 99.9 wt pct. The major impurities were: 87 ppm O, 41 ppm N. 54 pprn C, 500 ppm Zr, 50 ppm Na, and 50 ppm Mn. The crystals were silicon-poor, the average silicon content being 22.20 pct (stoichiometric value is 23.40 pct), and tungsten-rich, the average tungsten content being 77.70 pct (stoichiometric value is 76.60 pct). As-received single crystals were ground and analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction technique using Cu Ka radiation. Laue and layer line rotation patterns were obtained on cleaved sections of WSi, single crystals. Electron-microprobe traverses of representative crystals were done using a Phillips-AMR electron microanalyzer. Carbon replicas were used to prepare electron micrographs. This work was done with a JEM-6A electron microscope. Prior to the metallographic examination, the specimens were mounted in Lucite and then polished for short times on polishing wheels using 9-, 3-, and 1-p diamond-grade pastes. Finally they were fine-polished with Linde A powder for 24 hr on a Syntron vibratory polisher. The samples were etched with 4H 2 O:1HF:2HNO3, which is a medium fast-acting etchant. The combination 1HF:2HNO3:5 lactic acid is also a satisfactory etchant. Annealing runs for selected specimens were made at 1600" and 1800°C for 3 hr at 1.0 to 3.0 x 10-5 mm Hg. A Brew tantalum resistance furnace with WSi2 powder for setters was used. The WSi2 powder was the same as that used for the crystal growth. Temperatures were measured with a calibrated W, W-26 pct Re thermocouple and a microoptical pyrometer. Powder X-ray diffraction, emission spectrographic, and electron-microprobe analyses were done after the annealing runs. For microhardness measurements a Tukon Microhardness Tester Type FB with a Knoop indenter was used. Although measurements were taken at loads ranging from 25 to 1000 g, the 100-g load was chosen as the standard load. All measurements were taken at room temperature. Only indentations of cracking classes 1 and 2 were considered.' DISCUSSION OF RESULTS Powder X-ray diffraction analysis showed the as-received crystals to be single-phase WSi2. Laue and layer line rotation patterns obtained on cleaved sections of WSi2 single crystals proved them to be tetragonal WS 2 2 The results also indicated that the c axis of the crystal was oriented parallel to the boule or growth axis. Electron-microprobe traverses across the matrix of the as-grown crystals showed them to be homogeneous WSi,. Optical and electron microscopy of etched crystals, however, revealed that they contained minute amounts of the "golden" and the "blue" second phases as opposed to the "white" or WSi2 phase. These two second phases were concentrated in inclusion and etch-pit

Jan 1, 1965

By D. W. Fuerstenau, L. M. Berlioz

In 1957, Charles1 first presented an analysis of a relationship between the energy expended in comminution and the extent of size reduction achieved. Subsequently, Schuhmann extended and interpreted Charles' approach to comminution. According to their analysis, the energy, E, expended in comminuting unit mass of fairly uniformly-sized material is related to the size modulus of the product, k, by where a is the distribution modulus (slope of the log-log cumulative size distribution plot) and C is a constant, which is primarily determined by properties of the solid. If there is any fundamental basis for the E vs k relationship, E must necessarily be concerned with the useful work for the size reduction process and not necessarily the work input, as discussed in detail by Harris.3 Charles and numerous other investigators tested this equation only by relating k to the grinding time, assuming expended energy to be directly proportional to time, but never directly measuring power. In our laboratories, we recently constructed a special batch ball mill with which the power could be accurately determined with torque measuring apparatus.4 With this device, a direct test of the Charles relationship could then be made for ball milling. 5 EXPERIMENTAL A stainless steel mill, 11.5 in. long and 10 in. in inside diam, lined with eight low-silhouette lifter bars, was used for these experiments. The grinding media consisted of 30 kg of single sized, 1-in. diam, stainless steel balls, which occupied about 50% of the total mill volume under static conditions. The void fraction of the static ball load was approximately 0.4, and for the dry grinding conditions used, the corresponding interstitial volume was filled when about 3300 g of the dolomite feed material was present. The 7x9 mesh dolomite used as feed was obtained as a natural, uncrushed product thus as- suring a random distribution of feed particle shapes. Charge weights of 660, 1320, 1980, 2480, 3300, 3960 and 5280 g, which correspond to 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, l00%, 120%, and 160% of the interstitial load, respectively, were used. Grinding times of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 150, 200 and 300 revolutions were considered, with the mill operating at 54 rpm (approximately 60% of critical speed). The tests were made sequentially, in that the size distribution obtained after a certain grinding interval was utilized as the feed for the subsequent period of grinding. Agreement with control experiments where the mill ran continuously for the entire interval was excellent. Torque measurements were made utilizing a Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton SR-4 torque pickup in the manner that has been described previously.3 Standard wet (to obtain the -400 mesh material) and dry sieving procedures were followed using the Tyler full screen series. RESULTS The Gaudin-Schuhmann size distributions obtained in all of these experiments are characterized by distribution moduli (slopes), a, of about 0.66 and are representative of normal dry batch ball milling of a material like dolomite. As an illustration of typical

Jan 1, 1968

By AIME AIME

THE convention which met in Washington at the call of the Joint Conference Committee was called to order at ten o'clock on Thursday morning; June 3, by Richard L. Humphrey, temporary chairman, member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, who made a brief statement of the reason for the meeting. Lieut. Col. Charles W. Kutz, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., and Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, then welcomed .the engineers composing the convention on behalf of the District of Columbia and, the Washington engineers. Although an elaborate program had been prepared on which were many well-known speakers on interesting and important topics, , it was voted to intersperse this to fill in the usual and unavoidable hiatuses in the business program of such a convention[ Calvert Townley, president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, was elected permanent chairman, and J. C. Hoyt, of Washington, was elected secretary of the convention. The following committees were appointed: Consti¬tution and by-laws, Richard L. Humphrey, chairman; resolutions, Philip N. Moore, chairman; and program, F. H. Newell, chairman. Then, Gardner S. Williams, member of the, A. S. C. E. and the Grand Rapids Engineering Society of. Grand Rapids, Mich., and one-time member of the American Association of Engineers, offered the following resolutions:

Jan 1, 1920

By Raymond L. Jones

With the inauguration of open-pit copper mining in Bagdad, Ariz., plans were formulated for a large scale leaching operation. Dump stockpiling was started almost immediately, but actual production was not initiated until spring 1961.

Jan 9, 1977

By Oliver S. North

Reserves of perlite rock in the western section of the United States are immense. A geological report prepared for the Union Pacific RR showed proved tonnage of over 400 million tons in southern Nevada alone. Yet the perlite industry is not large, and most of the mines are relatively small. There are indications that perlite processing, thus far largely in the hands of relatively small com¬panies, is becoming concentrated in a few large companies. For economic reasons the bulk of perlite sold in crude form has come from three or four pro¬ducers, although many individual operators have sold small quantities to limited lists of purchasers. Perlite is one of ultra-lightweight aggregates. Owing to its outstanding qualities as an aggregate, variety of uses, and ultimate economy of use, it has enjoyed considerable popularity in this country in recent years. Marked foreign interest also has been evinced in this material.

Jan 2, 1955

By W. R. Crane

The support of roof in mines is dependent largely on the character of the top rock and its occurrence. The formations overlying the orebed in the Birmingham district are sandstone and slate. The sandstone occurs in beds of sufficient thickness to constitute important elements in the system of support; the slate is relatively strong but is thinly stratified. The alternating beds of sandstone and slate furnish an excellent combination in that the former are strong and the latter are impervious; however, their continuity is broken by jointing or slip planes. The thickness, and consequent weight of the overlying formations, is important in so far as the size and arrangement of pillars are concerned but may be relatively unimportant, temporarily at least, as a factor in the support of the roof. The position of the respective beds of sandstone and slate, their relative thickness, and their inherent weakness because of the occurrence of faults and folds, may exert a predominating influence on their support in place, which is affected only in part by the weight of the cover. The only mine in this district that operates under a cover of approximately 2000 ft. (1900 ft.) is the Shannon so-called "twin slope," situated 14,000 ft. southeast of the portal of the No. 7 mine of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, & Railroad Co. The conditions in this mine indicate what may be expected in other mines when the same depth is attained; in fact, the effect of pressure is shown in several mines that have not reached two-thirds of that depth. It is evident, then, that conditions affecting the support of roof will not improve but rather will become more difficult with the extension of the mines into the valley under a constantly increasing weight of cover. Further, the difficulties will probably be augmented by the occurrence of faults and other disturbed ground, the presence and position of which at present are largely unknown.

Jan 1, 1925

By Paul F. Fulton, Robert K. Estes

INTRODUCTION Relative permeabilities are factual data necessary to any prediction of reservoir production behavior. One important problem in determining relative permeabilities of porous media to gas is the effect of gas slippage on these determinations. Since certain aspects of the slippage phenomenon still remain unknown, this study is particularly concerned with that problem. The validity of the theory of gas slippage as it is applied to the flow of gas through porous media has been well established. 1,2,3 Therefore, in determining the permeabilities of porous media to gas by ordinary laboratory procedure, i.e., at atmospheric pressure, the slippage correction should be considered. Rose3 performed experiments on gas relative permeabilities which indicated that the effect of gas slippage on the measured effective gas permeabilities at various liquid saturations decreased with an increase in liquid saturation. Following Rose, it was substantiated experimentally' that the effective gas permeabilities at the various liquid saturations extrapolated to infinite mean pressure were the same as the non-wetting liquid permeabilities at the same saturations. This same paper also presented data which showed that the magnitude of the slippage between those values of gas effective permeability determined at atmospheric pressure and those found by extrapolation to infinite mean pressure decreased with an increase in liquid saturation. However, these experiments were not performed at liquid saturations above 30 per cent. Therefore, the purpose of this experimental work was to determine the effect of gas slippage on permeability measurements at liquid saturations in excesh of 30 per cent. APPARATUS Five core samples were used In this work: two synthetic Alundum samples (A-1, and A-2). a Nichols Buff sandstone sample (NB-13), and two samples from producing formations, a Soso sandstone (S-1), and a vugu-lar dolomitic limestone (R-7). The core samples ranged in permeability from 32 to 663 md. These cores were chosen because they represented a fairly wide range of permeabilities and probably a considerable difference in pore size and pore size distribution. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus which consists of an air dehydration filter A, two Moore null-matic sub-pressure regulators B and C, the differential oil manometer D, the core holder E, the flowmeter F, the soap reservoir G, and a mercury manometer H measuring the downstream pressure. The interesting features of the apparatus are the two Moore vacuum-pressure regulators. The regulators permit the rapid establishment and easy control during flow at sub-atmospheric pressures of both the differential and downstream pressures, and prevent the surging action of the vacuum pump from disturbing the system during flow. Provided there are no leaks in the system, these regulators will maintain without measurable change selected downstream and differential pressure. Specifically, regulator B controls the downstream pressure and regulator C controls the differential pressure. In opera-

Jan 1, 1957

By George H. Deike

DURING the past year a survey was conducted by the Committee on the Promotion of Student Interest in Coal Mining to determine whether the program as laid down in past years was operating effectively. It is a source of satisfaction and pleasure to be able to report considerable headway among operating companies in putting cooperative scholarship plans into operation. In previous committee reports the pioneer work along this line by Eugene McAuliffe, president of the Union Pacific Coal Co., has been cited. That Company now has in its employ, in responsible positions, three men who received their education under such scholarship plans. One student under a similar plan is now studying at the Colorado School of Mines.

Jan 1, 1942

By George A. Miller

THE outstanding characteristic of the American business man is that he likes to run his own business his own way, without any interference from his wife, his friends, his bankers, and least of all from his government. The oil man, like the miner, is an American business man in which this special characteristic is even more pronounced. It may be because he has been an explorer and is more nearly like those pioneering Americans who explored, developed, and built these United States.

Jan 1, 1944