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By R. A. Thomas, R. L. Solbod

The importance of transverse diffusion on the finger development in a miscible-phase displacement at an adverse mobility ratio of tbree was studied in a porous plate 1/4-in. thick, 3-in. wide and 18-in. long. Fast displacement rates (29 ft/D) and slow rates (1.6 ft/D) were used to determine the effect of residence time on the geometry of the fingers. The shape of the fingers was observed directly by use of the X-ray technique. At fast rates numerous narrow fingers were observed, but at slow rates a single somewhat bulging finger was produced. The amount of material moved transversely by diffusion across the plate was sufficient to modify the finger geometry in the slow-rate run because of the long residence time. These results are in contradiction to some of the postulates in the literature. The composition of the effluent stream, however, was not affected by the flow rate. This result is not inconsistent with the observed change in the shape of the finger in a short model, but it seems likely that a short model does not offer adequate and proper scaling of the reservoir. The model used was probably a valid one for studying the effect of transverse diffusion on the finger geometry, but a longer model would be needed for proper scaling of the effect of the change in the finger shape on the efficiency of displacement as measured by the composition of the effluent stream. INTRODUCTION Fingering can be defined as the uneven advance of the injected phase as it moves into a porous medium displacing the resident phase from the pore spaces of the rock. The use of this term is usually restticted to the situation in which the displacing phase is less viscous or more mobile than the fluid being displaced. Under these conditions, not only are fingers formed, but the length and width of the fingers grow with distance traveled in the porous medium. This subject has become one of great interest to the oil industry because of the present trend toward the use of various forms of miscible-phase displacement to increase oil recovery. Since in nearly all of the known modifications of the miscible-phase displacements an unfavorable mobility ratio exists (the displacing phase has a lower viscosity than that of the crude oil), the conditions are proper for fingering to develop. An appreciable amount of fingering appears to be a severe handicap to these processes for it increases the volume of agent required for the process to be a success, and such an increase puts a severe strain on the economics of the proposed processes. In some cases, such as for a mobility ratio of 200 unfavorable, it has already been demonstrated that the proposed process would not be economic if the fingering in the field were to be of the same magnitude as that observed in the laboratory. A number of aspects of fingering have been studied and reported in the literature. While the phenomenon of fingering cannot be regarded as a completely understood subject, considerable information exists on the effect of the path length and the mobility ratio on the growth of fingers. Less-complete data are available on the effect of the diameter of the flow path on the character and amount of the fingering, and even less agreement in results exists on the effect of rate of flow on the nature of fingering. This paper deals with one aspect of this latter subject. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was narrowed down to one rather specific feature of the behavior of fingers in miscible-phase displacement in porous media. The variable studied was the effect of rate of flow on the nature and the development of fingers. It should be made clear at this point that, while rate was the apparent variable, the real variable was residence time; that is, at low rates the fluids are present at a given spot in the porous medium for a longer time interval than at fast rates. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to determine the changes which occur in the fingering and the possible benefits which might accrue from a longer residence time during that period when fingers are

By C. E. Agnew

The Eastern district, composed of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, with its native ores, was the cradle of the iron industry of the United States. The district attained and held the leadership in production of pig iron for over 100 years, from pre-Revolutionary days to approximately 1875. The first shipment of Lake hematite ore was made in 1853. It was a small shipment, transported by a sailing vessel and a canal barge, but it was the beginning of the end of the supremacy of the Eastern district, although at that time the ore was supposed to be too rich to be successfully smelted with the block coal then in use at western furnaces. The iron made from the first shipment of Lake ore was worked into nails by the Sharon Iron Co., at Sharon, Pa. The writer's great-grandfather, David Agnew, and his brother, John P. Agnew, owners and operators of the Sharpsville furnace, Sharpsville, Pa., worked the shipment through a furnace. Because of this, the writer feels some satisfaction in having been one of a group that solved the problem of making profitable an operation using Eastern district ores exclusively. With the development of Lake mines, and the production and use of coke, the Middle West district gradually assumed the position of leadership in production; because, even though the ores were transported 1000 miles by water and rail, its cost figure on pig iron was better than that of the eastern producer whose furnace was next to his mine. Such a cost figure was possible because the ore was naturally rich in iron and reduced easily. It was possible to carry a heavy burden on the furnace, which resulted in large tonnage and low coke per ton of iron. This paper is in no sense a technical one. The purpose is to show that with the proper physical preparation of the Eastern magnetites they will reduce as easily as the Lake hematites, and because of the high iron concentration give the Eastern producer just as much advantage as formerly he was at a disadvantage in comparison with the Middle West producer.

Jan 1, 1938

By Eugene McAuliffe

It is not possible to include in this paper, limited as it is in scope, the many diverse steps toward the reduction of mine accidents that are taken in the mines that produce the nation's coal. Every coal-producing state has enacted laws covering proper mining practices, and the major portion of these are directly related to the safety of the mine employees. The United States Bureau of Mines, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, The American Mining Congress, a number of national, regional and state organizations, as well as the coal technical press, have covered time and time again all of the '(do" and "don't" phases of mine operation that bear on the important question of mine and employee safety. Within the past 15 years The Union Pacific Coal Co, has attempted to put into practice in its mines in southern Wyoming these many good recommendations, finding some value in all, and yet, to secure substantial results, the management found it necessary to resort in the end to what might be referred to as i'extra-territorial" methods. It is the writer's purpose to show in this paper that marked and even extraordinary betterment, can be brought about when employer and employee work together with due sincerity. In presenting our own experience, one that has been duplicated in so far as results are concerned on numerous other properties, no theory of perfection of management exists; on the other hand, our organization feels that as long as our record of accidents remains as shown by even our latest and best performance we still have far to go. Safety work in some form has been carried on in and about the mining properties of The Union Pacific Coal Co. since the first mine was opened at the now long-abandoned town of Carbon, Wyo., in 1868. On June 30, 1903, an explosion and subsequent mine fire occurred in mine No. 1 at Hanna, taking 169 lives, and a second explosion occurred in the same mine on March 28, 1908, in which 59 additional lives were lost. Looking back with impartiality on the causes leading up to these two unfortunate disasters, we can only conclude that shooting from the solid, the absence of adequate ventilation, rock dusting, the use of water at the face to allay

Jan 1, 1938

By V. A. Zanadvoroff

THE mine and concentrator of the Howe Sound Co., Chelan Division, are at Holden, in a remote section of the Cascade Mountains of northwestern Washington. Holden is at an elevation of 3200 ft., in the narrow valley of Railroad Creek. This creek drains into Lake Chelan, at a point some 40 miles up the lake from the town of Chelan. The concentrator treats 2000 to 2500 tons of low-grade copper-gold-zinc ore per day. Concentration is achieved by the differential flotation process, with recovery of 94 per cent copper and 82 per cent gold in the copper concentrate, followed by the recovery of 65 to 70 per cent zinc in the zinc flotation circuit. The final flotation tailing is deslimed, and coarse sands, representing 60 to 70 per cent of the total, are cyanided. The tonnage of tailing material amounts to 1900 to 2370 tons per day. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS The property is within the Chelan National Forest. Railroad Creek is a fishing stream, being stocked regularly with trout from State hatcheries. Consequently, in planning a milling operation, the Howe Sound Co. was obliged to avoid any pollution of the stream by tailing material, and also destruction of valuable stands of timber. Moreover, the selected tailing disposal sites should not mar the natural beauty of the valley. In addition to these requirements, the problem of tailing disposal at Holden was complicated by topography and climatic conditions. The valley is long and narrow, averaging 1200 to 1500 ft. in width. Its walls are flaring at a steep angle. There are no extensive flat areas suitable for deposition of tailing. All valleys tributary to Railroad Creek, also the well-marked paths of snowslides, must be avoided. Finally, the direction of prevailing winds and possible dust hazard arising therefrom dictated the necessity of selecting the tailing-disposal sites downstream from the mill building and two campsites. Heavy snowfall during the winter months of November to March, inclusive, impedes building of the retaining dike, making it necessary to prepare the needed storage space during the summer months. It is inadvisable, also, to do any dike building during the freezing weather, because the dike becomes unstable with the spring thaws, producing inevitable "sloughing" of the built-up borders. TAILING-DISPOSAL SITES The existing tailing-disposal areas are near the south wall of the valley. They were developed, and put to use in the following sequence: No. I. Area.-Covers approximately 10 acres. Built up to the height of 60 ft.

Jan 1, 1946

By C. E. Agnew

The Eastern district, composed of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, with its native ores, was the cradle of the iron industry of the United States. The district attained and held the leadership in production of pig iron for over 100 years, from pre-Revolutionary days to approximately 1875. The first shipment of Lake hematite ore was made in 1853. It was a small shipment, transported by a sailing vessel and a canal barge, but it was the beginning of the end of the supremacy of the Eastern district, although at that time the ore was supposed to be too rich to be successfully smelted with the block coal then in use at western furnaces. The iron made from the first shipment of Lake ore was worked into nails by the Sharon Iron Co., at Sharon, Pa. The writer's great-grandfather, David Agnew, and his brother, John P. Agnew, owners and operators of the Sharpsville furnace, Sharpsville, Pa., worked the shipment through a furnace. Because of this, the writer feels some satisfaction in having been one of a group that solved the problem of making profitable an operation using Eastern district ores exclusively. With the development of Lake mines, and the production and use of coke, the Middle West district gradually assumed the position of leadership in production; because, even though the ores were transported 1000 miles by water and rail, its cost figure on pig iron was better than that of the eastern producer whose furnace was next to his mine. Such a cost figure was possible because the ore was naturally rich in iron and reduced easily. It was possible to carry a heavy burden on the furnace, which resulted in large tonnage and low coke per ton of iron. This paper is in no sense a technical one. The purpose is to show that with the proper physical preparation of the Eastern magnetites they will reduce as easily as the Lake hematites, and because of the high iron concentration give the Eastern producer just as much advantage as formerly he was at a disadvantage in comparison with the Middle West producer.

Jan 1, 1938

By Eugene McAuliffe

It is not possible to include in this paper, limited as it is in scope, the many diverse steps toward the reduction of mine accidents that are taken in the mines that produce the nation's coal. Every coal-producing state has enacted laws covering proper mining practices, and the major portion of these are directly related to the safety of the mine employees. The United States Bureau of Mines, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, The American Mining Congress, a number of national, regional and state organizations, as well as the coal technical press, have covered time and time again all of the '(do" and "don't" phases of mine operation that bear on the important question of mine and employee safety. Within the past 15 years The Union Pacific Coal Co, has attempted to put into practice in its mines in southern Wyoming these many good recommendations, finding some value in all, and yet, to secure substantial results, the management found it necessary to resort in the end to what might be referred to as i'extra-territorial" methods. It is the writer's purpose to show in this paper that marked and even extraordinary betterment, can be brought about when employer and employee work together with due sincerity. In presenting our own experience, one that has been duplicated in so far as results are concerned on numerous other properties, no theory of perfection of management exists; on the other hand, our organization feels that as long as our record of accidents remains as shown by even our latest and best performance we still have far to go. Safety work in some form has been carried on in and about the mining properties of The Union Pacific Coal Co. since the first mine was opened at the now long-abandoned town of Carbon, Wyo., in 1868. On June 30, 1903, an explosion and subsequent mine fire occurred in mine No. 1 at Hanna, taking 169 lives, and a second explosion occurred in the same mine on March 28, 1908, in which 59 additional lives were lost. Looking back with impartiality on the causes leading up to these two unfortunate disasters, we can only conclude that shooting from the solid, the absence of adequate ventilation, rock dusting, the use of water at the face to allay

Jan 1, 1938

By Stewart L. Toleman, Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer

In his paper on the calculation of harden-ability from chemical composition, Gross-mannl discussed the effect of most of the alloying elements used commercially. The purpose of the work reported in this paper was to determine the effect of several other elements on hardenability—arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cobalt, columbium, germanium, tellurium, tin, aluminum, and titanium—and to extend the range of composition of some of the elements studied by Grossmann—chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, nickel and silicon. Experimental Methods To determine the effect on hardenability, suitable amounts of the alloying elements were added to experimental heats and the hardenability determined by means of end-quenched hardenability specimens. The steels were melted in a high-frequency induction furnace with a basic crucible, using ingot iron as a base for some of the heats and S.A.E. 1015 for others. The alloying additions were made as ferroalloys or as metal, depending on the alloying element. Hundred-pound heats were split and poured into square, tapered, cast-iron ingot molds with hot tops. Aluminum was not used as a deoxidizer in most of the heats. The ingots were homogenized for 12 hr. at 1260°C. (23oo°F.) and forged into rounds of I½ -in. diameter. These bars were normalized twice from 840°C. (I55o°F.) before machining into Jominy bars. mined in most Cases by samples taken from the end-quench hardenability spedmen. AS suggested by Crafts,2 acid-soluble (8

Jan 1, 1944

By Basil Prescott

In the science of evolution of the species, there is a law which, simply stated, avers that the history of the individual repeats the history of the race. Similarly, if unassisted by the experience of others, each SUCcessful engineer would perfect and develop his methods and technique from the rough grab sample up to the carefully taken, recorded and studied samples and observations which now determine and decide the expenditure of the large sums required for modern mining. Hence real progress results from the interchange of experience, as in that way the entire experience of the profession can be made available to every engineer. The literature of this subject is already voluminous, but some progress has been made in the gathering of data and in their compilation or presentation. More Romance than Developed Ore in Limestone Deposits In certain types of deposits, methods little known 25 yews ago have been developed, perfected and standardized to a degree that lifts sampling from the field of manual labor to the plane of an applied science; for instance, the modern methods of estimating the so-called porphyry coppers. With some types of orebodies, we have become familiar, and sometimes on too easy speaking terms, with millions of tons of ore in reserve and tens of millions of dollars; while with others even these once marvelous figures sink into insignificance before the array of ciphers that are presented. .In such company, the average limestone replacement orebody is entirely out of place, for its reserves seldom reach a figure to arrest the attention of the modern engineer, and more often are insignificant. It is only when the records of the production of some of the older camps are studied, which show them to have continuously produced over very extended periods, that a realization is borne home that occasionally this type is worthy of consideration even in these days of gigantic tonnage.

Jan 1, 1925

By Basil B. Zavoico

During 1937 the Russian oil industry made very satisfactory progress in its exploration branch and added considerably to its proven reserves in the older producing districts, while several entirely new potential areas were opened for development by discovery wildcats. The exploitation of known fields, however, suffered greatly from internal political difficulties, referred to as "sabotage," and was also seriously handicapped by the requirements for national defense under the duress of a grave international situation. More particularly, the necessity for preparing for a major war resulted during 1937 in short-rationing of the oil industry in its iron, steel and rubber requirements, affecting quantitatively drill pipe, casing, tubing and the rubber equipment of automobiles, and qualitatively much of the oil-field machinery for which it was either impossible or difficult to obtain iron or steel of required specifications, which necessitated manufacture of heavier and unwieldy equipment and caused directly and indirectly an unavoidable major curtailment of drilling operations below the planned footage. War-preparation measures during 1937 also required accumulation of a large gasoline reserve in the Vladivostok area and inasmuch as shipments from California can be made much more cheaply than from Caucasian refineries, either by tank cars across Siberia or by tankers via Suez Canal and Indian Ocean, some 2,000,000 bbl. of gasoline was imported from the United States in the past year, resulting in a decline of 46.98 per cent in net exports of all petroleum products from Russia below the 1936 net export volume, which is the lowest level since 1925. Production of crude oil during 1937 is estimated at 212,742,000 bbl. as compared with 202,543,700 bbl. produced in 1936, an increase of 5.04 per cent, but 11 per cent below the planned output. There were no major readjustments as to the source of crude-oil production, Baku district still accounting for the largest share; that, is, 77.21 per cent of the total. Exploration operations were outstandingly successful during the past year, major discoveries having been made on the Apsheron Peninsula, in Grozny and Maikop-Kuban districts, in Ural-Permian Basin, in Middle Volga-Samara district and other areas.

Jan 1, 1938

By Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer, Stewart L. Toleman

In his paper on the calculation of harden-ability from chemical composition, Gross-mannl discussed the effect of most of the alloying elements used commercially. The purpose of the work reported in this paper was to determine the effect of several other elements on hardenability—arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cobalt, columbium, germanium, tellurium, tin, aluminum, and titanium—and to extend the range of composition of some of the elements studied by Grossmann—chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, nickel and silicon. Experimental Methods To determine the effect on hardenability, suitable amounts of the alloying elements were added to experimental heats and the hardenability determined by means of end-quenched hardenability specimens. The steels were melted in a high-frequency induction furnace with a basic crucible, using ingot iron as a base for some of the heats and S.A.E. 1015 for others. The alloying additions were made as ferroalloys or as metal, depending on the alloying element. Hundred-pound heats were split and poured into square, tapered, cast-iron ingot molds with hot tops. Aluminum was not used as a deoxidizer in most of the heats. The ingots were homogenized for 12 hr. at 1260°C. (23oo°F.) and forged into rounds of I½ -in. diameter. These bars were normalized twice from 840°C. (I55o°F.) before machining into Jominy bars. mined in most Cases by samples taken from the end-quench hardenability spedmen. AS suggested by Crafts,2 acid-soluble (8

Jan 1, 1944

By T. G. R. Rawlins, L. E. Brosselard

Direct platinum carbon replicas have been used to study substrates prior to growth and after initial nu-cleation of the layer. Replicas have been directly stripped and correlations have been made with other replica techniques. Mechanically polished substrates are very flat with occasional areas of "dirt", which is apparently silicon. When such substrates are etched in hydrochloric acid gas, scratches and hexagonal defects (thought to be polishing compound) are revealed, together with areas of apparent redeposition. Chemically polished substrates are much less flat although much more homogeneous in appearance. Heat treat)nents have no effect. Nuclei deposited on these surfaces, using a normal silicon tetrachloride system, have been examined. Nuclei on mechanically polished subsrates occur in random areas only, whereas on chemically polished surfaces they are more uniformly distributed. THE interest in the study of thin films and now their rapidly expanding use in many fields has increased over a period of years. Much of this current interest, particularly in the field of single-crystal or epitaxial thin films, has derived its stimulus not only from possibilities for application but also from fundamental electron-microscope studies which have indicated the manner of growth of such layers from the initial nuclei.1-5 Previous work involving study of growth processes may be divided into three categories. First, vacuum deposition, primarily of metals, on a variety of substrates has been studied by electron microscopy and electron-diffraction techniques. These have shown the three-dimensional aspect of nucleation and the remarkable liquidlike behavior of the growing nuclei which coalesce to form a complete layer. More recently this work has been expanded in two ways: by growth inside the electron microscope this has obvious advantages for kinetic studies; and by growth in ultrahigh vacuum—much of this work has been done on semiconductors.8-11 It is of interest to note that metals, specifically gold deposited on rock salt, will form only polycrystalline layers in ultrahigh vacuum unless the substrate surface is contaminated.12 In general the mode of growth for vacuum-deposited semiconductor films is the same as that for metal films. The second method of growth that has been studied is that of electrodeposition.13,14 The little that has been published suggests that the mode of growth is similar to the vacuum case, except that irregularities may perturb the electric field and disturb the growth process. The third and last primary method of growing epitaxial layers is by use of chemical methods. These techniques have generated much interest and much has been published on them. Considerable electron-microscope work has been done on the defects in the layers; however comparatively little work has been undertaken on the initial nucleation and early stages of growth. Confining ourselves now exclusively to the case of silicon, Charig et a1.15 have considered the growth of silicon on silicon substrates by hydrogen reduction of trichlorosilane, and studied the films by means of replica and transmission techniques. Subsequently they have studied the same system for growth on quartz,16 and with the addition of pyrolysis of silane on quartz and alumina.17 Also Manasevit el al. have studied deposits using silane and silicon tetrachloride on sapphire.18-14 Finally, in this volume studies of deposition on beryllia and sapphire are reported. Although Revesz and Evans20 have examined complete layers, grown by means of the widely used silicon tetrachloride reaction, no detailed examination similar to that published by Charig and Joyce21 for the trichlorosilane system has been given. Therefore this investigation has examined substrate surfaces prior to growth and then nucleation on these surfaces for the silicon tetrachloride system. EXPERIMENTAL In this work the surfaces have been studied by means of standard replica techniques. Because of the very real problems associated with artifacts introduced,22 different replicas and different cleaning

Jan 1, 1967

By M. D. Hassialis, Arthur F. Taggart

WARK1 observed some years ago that collector-coating reactions with xanthates and with fatty acids clearly follow paths parallel to those prescribed by the familiar mass-action law for reactions in dilute solutions. He proposed, therefore, the logical hypothesis that they are governed by the solubility=product principle. However, he went astray in the application of his proposal to collector coating by overlooking the fact that coating involves a heterogeneous reaction. A mistaken concept of the meaning of the word adsorption also entered. Wark thought that the concentration of metallic ion that must be used in setting up the solubility-product equation for the coating reaction was that which could be obtained by solution of the mineral. Since this is very low for sulphide ores, and since the amount of the collector ion necessary for coating produces an extremely low concentration, the resulting ion-concentration product, under conditions when coating occurs, is much lower than that which would indicate a saturated solution of the collector-coating compound. Hence he was forced to the position that the solubility product governing the coating is much smaller than the standard solubility product. To justify this position it was necessary to postulate a coating mechanism that did not obey the ordinary laws of chemical reaction. This Wark did by adopting the concept that adsorption is a property of matter, rather than merely a more or less ephemeral local concentration thereof. Thus he says (p. 142 of ref. I): "Adsorption is not a purely physical property of the solid surface, for the specific nature of the adsorbed molecule or ion is important." The result was that he destroyed the great potential utility of his postulate by tying it to this erroneous concept in the words (pp. 142, 143): "It will be obvious that the adsorption solubility product is less than the normal solubility product." The writers have found quantitatively in the case of galena and potassium ethyl xanthate, and semiquantitatively in the case of covellite and the same collector, that the coating reaction does follow the mass-action law to the extent that coating occurs when the ordinary solubility product of the coating compound is exceeded, and that coating does not take place under the reverse conditions. In the course of the investigation leading to the establishment of this fact it was necessary to work with xanthate concentrations so low (down to 0.0004 mg. per liter), that very long conditioning times, and bubble-contact times of as much as 16 hr. were necessary sometimes to follow the reactions. The results have led to some illuminating conclusions as to necessary collector concentrations in normal flotation operations, and the action of the frothing agent in connection therewith. The experimental work comprised. accurate determination of the standard solubility product of lead ethyl xanthate, development of a much less laborious

Jan 1, 1946

By Eric Jette

IN order to control a chemical process by other than empirical, rule of thumb methods, two types of knowledge concerning the reactions involved must be available: (1) the thermodynamics of the reactions, and (2), by no means less important for efficient operation, the mechanisms and kinetics of the reactions. Information on the thermodynamic side enables the operator to decide upon initial and final conditions, whether heat must be .added or removed from the system, whether the reactions proceed farthest in the desired direction at high pressure or low, etc. Knowledge of the mechanisms involves the determination of the individual steps by which an initial set of reactants, under given conditions, proceed to give the desired final products and kinetic studies upon which the mechanisms are based give the speed at which each of these reactions or steps take place. Thus thermodynamic studies of a 'reaction enable the operator to control the direction and extent to which the reaction can proceed, while kinetic studies enable him to control rates and thus the time' efficiency of the operations. The thermodynamics set the limit to which the reacting system approaches; the kinetics tell how fast the system actually approaches this limit. The two types of information are complementary and not antagonistic even though in discussing the mechanism the introduction of thermodynamics is entirely needless and generally of no assistance, while in thermodynamic studies mechanism need not even be mentioned.

Jan 1, 1931

By John Birkinbine

Much has been contributed to the Transactions of the Institute concerning the construction and operation of American blast-furnares ; but the following compilation is offered as possibly furnishing additional information upon the general features, dimensions, locations, capacities, etc., of the blast-furnaces of the United States; while, incidentally, the ores upon which they rely are noted in a general way. The paper is presented chiefly as a compilation, and the figures given are selections from most reliable sources, or averages calculated from official statistics, placed for convenient reference, with a view of assisting those who consult the Transactions in determining the present relative merits and importance of various sections of the country. The scope of the paper has been restricted to as few topics as possible, and all the details of special plants, or notable outputs have been ignored. While every effort has been made to give correct figures and data, the changes which are constantly taking place in the iron-producing industry, will, undoubtedly, by the time the paper is in print, develop some errors. It is difficult to determine which of the blast-furnace plants of the country should or should not be considered as upon the active list. A number which have not been in operation for years are still reported as active, some of which will scarcely be put in blast again, and others are handicapped so that they can only operate in times of abnormal profits. It is therefore scarcely probable that there are over 600 blast-furnaces in the United States which can properly be considered as active; but so many considerations affect the various plants, that, it being impossible to determine the exact number, I have relied upon the annual reports presented to the American Iron and Steel Association. Concerning the number of plants which could be stricken from the list, the Secretary of this Association says: "In January last (1885) we enumerated 669 furnaces, which included many stacks which had not been in blast for a very long time, and others which could not be operated except during short periods of exceedingly high prices for pig iron. We have gone over this list very carefully and have eliminated 10 anthracite, 19 bituminous, vol. xiv.—36

Jan 1, 1886

THE fall meeting of the Petroleum Division at Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 19 and 20, attracted even a larger number of members and guests than had been expected. Over three hundred registered the first day though the attendance and interest in the program was so keen that it was necessary to begin technical sessions without. waiting for registration. Members were present from as far away as Venezuela and while the larger attendance was from the Mid-Continent and Texas fields, California and the eastern states were represented by influential delegations. One pleasing feature of the meeting was the presence of a number of the older executives of the oil industry who evi-dently have come to realize the importance of the work the Division is doing in advancing technology. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Production Engineering section of the Division. E. 0. Bennett, chief production engineer for the Marland Oil Co. of Texas, and chairman of the Fort Worth Sec-tion. of the A.I.M.E., served as general chairman. J. B. Umpleby, president of the Petroleum Reclamation Co. and vice-chairman of the. Division was in charge of. the program with a special committee in charge of the technical sessions, of which A. C. Rubel of the Union Oil Co. was chairman. The sessions were held in the ball room of the Texas Hotel, which also served as general headquarters. The Wednesday morning session was devoted to the air-gas lift, John M. Lovejoy, chairman of the Division, presiding. The first paper, on the "Principles Under-lying the Air-Gas Lift." by J. 0. Lewis, was presented by R. R. Brandenthaler and discussed by Messrs. Love-joy and Millikan. Mr. Brandenthaler's own paper on the "Effect of Gas Lift on Physical Properties of Oil" followed and was discussed by Messrs. Umpleby, Walker, Mills, Bennett, Williams and Van der Gracht, the dis-cussion turning mainly on what is known and what unknown regarding oxidation of oil under various con-ditions. The third paper of the morning, "Handling Recirculated Gas," by R. D. Gibbs, was presented by Mr. Taylor. The discussion that followed was general and brought out a large amount of data on the costs and results of compression versus, absorption in total gasoline recovery from gas. The next group of papers dealt with "Mechanical Installations of Air-Gas Lift," the first by E. V. Foran on the Texas district outside the Gulf Coast, the second by L. L. Brundred on the Gulf Coast, the third on Kansas and Oklahoma other than Seminole by R. W. Bond, the fourth on Seminole by C. R. Swartz, and the fifth relating to California by H. C. Miller. Some of these were read by title in order to give more time for discussion which was active and participated in by. Mills, Griswold and others.

Jan 11, 1927

By L. D. Jaffe, F. W. Cotter, E. Cordon

The hardenability of titanium-base alloys was studied by metallographic examination and hardness survey of Jominy specimens end-quenched from the B range. Analyses of the data led to the equation log J = -0.57 + 0.25 @ct Fe + pct Mn + pct Mo) + 0.19 @ct Cr) +0.16 @ct V) + 0.03 @ct Zr). Here J is the distance, in sixteenths of an inch, from the quenched end of a Jominy hardenability specimen in the position of peak hardness, for material quenched from the B range. This equation fitted the experimental data with a standard deviation of approximately 0.29. The effects of the elements Al, Sn, W, Cu, Ni, B, C, N, 0, and H, and of pain size, were not statistically significant or not practically significant. A check against hardenability measurements in the literature showed agreement within the stated standard deviation. The equation should be useful in estimating hardenability of new or modified titanium alloys. HARDENABILITY in a titanium-base alloy is the ability of the alloy to retain the B structure on quenching. An alloy with high hardenability will retain the /3 structure even when cooled relatively slowly from a temperature at which B or P plus a is stable. A low hardenability material will retain P only if quenched extremely rapidly from the range of p or 0-plus-a stability, or will not retain it at all, at room temperature. High hardenability is desirable in titanium alloys to be heat-treated to high-strength levels. Its value is by no means limited to large section sizes. With high hardenability, a material can be solution-treated and cooled at a variety of rates, either to give high strength directly or, more generally, to give a soft ductile condition from which high strength can be obtained by subsequent aging. With low hardenability, high strength can be obtained, if at all, only by very rapid quenching, and there will generally be little increase in hardness on subsequent aging; an alloy of this type is limited in its applicability. On the other hand, alloys of very low hardenability have some advantages in weldability; essentially, they are always in the annealed condition, after welding as well as before. For commercial alloys, hardenability data are usually available, in the form either of property data after cooling from the solution temperature at various rates, with or without subsequent aging, or of results of a standard hardenability test, such as that originally developed for steels by Jominy and Boegehold.' When modifications of an available alloy are considered, or preparation of new alloy compositions, it would be Very convenient to be able to estimate the hardenability of the new material without having to make and test it. A method of estimating hardenability of titanium alloys from their composition was suggested by one of the authors some time ago, on a preliminary basis, utilizing scattered data found in the literature.' It seemed worthwhile to carry out a systematic experimental study of the effect of composition upon hardenability. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Approximately fifty heats of various compositions, weighing 8 to 10 Ib apiece, were melted in a small inert-gas tungsten-arc furnace with water-cooled copper walls. The starting material was 110 Brine11 titanium sponge, with high-purity metals added for alloying. Each heat was bottom-poured under vacuum through a molybdenum burnout strip into a cold graphite mold, to form an ingot approximately 4-1/2 by 3-1/2 by 3 in.* From each ingot were cut *The material was melted and cast by Pitman-Dunn Laboratory, Frankford Arsenal, to whom the authors must express their thanks. two pieces 4-1/2 by 1-1/2 by 1-1/2 in. These were forged, at temperatures adjusted to the composition, into 1-1/4-in. rounds, from which standard 1-in.-diam hardenability specimens3 were machined. A number of small samples were also prepared from forged materials of each heat, annealed, quenched from various temperatures, and examined metallographically. The P-transus temperature was determined by observation of the degree of resolution of primary a in these pieces. samples for chemical analyses were also taken from the forgings. One hardenability specimen of each heat was solution-treated for 1 hr approximately 50°F above the measured transus temperature, and the other for 1 hr approximately 250°F above the transus. (An additional hour was allowed for the specimens to reach furnace temperature.) These are not necessarily the temperatures that would be selected for

Jan 1, 1964

By Olaf N. Rove

YEAR 1951 has been bright for the mining geologist. He has arrived after struggling for a generation or two to sell his wares through service to the operator, the mine superintendent, and the manager. But as he establishes himself on the operating front, he is faced with even greater challenges; namely, the development of basic geologic principles governing ore-forming processes and the occurrence and distribution of mineral deposits. These principles are needed to guide his ever-widening search into new areas. He must now stimulate the interest, confidence, and imagination of the mining executive and layman in fostering the research essential to expand rapidly the basic science of geology and its more specific applications to the mining industry. The hallowed time-tested tools of the prospector and the industry are no longer adequate. New basic data, principles, and ideas are needed to guide industry's exploration. The entry of Government into exploration, by lending money to prospectors and operating companies to partly finance exploration, is one of the major events of the year. This was one of the activities for which the Defense Minerals Administration was established in the Department of the Interior. DMA was staffed largely with men from industry, but the Bureau of Mines and the Geological Survey have acted as its technical advisors and have provided its field staff. Since the start of this work in May 1951 to November 19, 1951, the DMA has approved 208 exploration projects while denying 318 others. The contracts involve about eleven million dollars worth of exploration, of which Government's share is about sixty percent. A few contractors have already made discoveries and are into production to repay their loans; others have completed their projects without making a discovery. In November, the DMA was split into two successor units. The Defense Minerals Exploration Administration was set up in the Interior Department to carry out the exploration program. The Defense Materials Procurement Agency was organized as a separate agency to carry out the other functions of the former DMA, as well as general strategic materials procurement. The strategic materials group of the Economic Cooperation Administration was transferred to DMPA in order to centralize the procurement from foreign sources into one agency, although the authority and scope of activities of this group have not been announced as of the middle of December. The DMA-DMEA-DMPA programs are making large demands upon the technical manpower of the Geological Survey and Bureau of Mines. It is still too early to evaluate with confidence the productiveness of this diversion so far as the immediate and long-range effects are concerned. Many of the individuals associated with these programs, as well as others in the industry, are convinced that from a long-range national viewpoint, the regular programs of both the Survey and the Bureau equal or even exceed in importance the current emergency mineral activities of these two agencies. Uranium Uranium continued to be the glamour-girl metal of the mineral industry, and at the request of the Atomic Energy Commission uranium and thorium were included in the DMA exploration program. Industry's intensive prospecting and mining activities in 1950 were further expanded early in 1951 when the Atomic Energy Commission announced an increased price schedule and a new bonus payment

Jan 1, 1952

By Frederik W. de Klerk

INTRODUCTION During the past 40 years, there has been in the United States of America and other industrialised Western countries a distinct displacement in the procurement of minerals from domestic sources towards an increased dependence on imported minerals. This was caused in part by one or each of the following: a lack of local supply of particular minerals, domestic source depletion or exhaustion and the relative ease and inexpensiveness of obtaining minerals from comparatively unexploited sources in underdeveloped and some developing countries, notably in the Middle East, South America, Southern Africa, and Australasia. Governments of the industrialised nations, concerned about the reliance of their economies on imported raw minerals examined both the degree of reliability and the extent of mineral resources in the countries and regions supplying the essential minerals. This brought a painful awareness of the vulnerability of industrialised countries as a result of the possible interruption of their mineral imports. In this regard, the United States of America may be quoted as a case in point: a report by a House of Representatives Subcommittee on Mines and Mining (Santini Subcommittee)1 revealed that the United States in 1980 was dependent on foreign sources for more than 50 per cent for 24 of the 32 minerals essential for national survival. The Subcommittee also acknowledged that although the United States may develop its own alternative energy sources, there are in many cases no substitutes for the strategic + minerals imported from foreign sources, from countries which are often unstable at best, hostile at worst. This resulted in various policy responses as well as contingency measures, amongst other, renewed emphasis on the utilisation of domestic mineral resources, an intensified search for substitutes of critical minerals and increased stockpiling programmes. Increased attention was devoted to analyses of the political and economic conditions prevailing in the regions from which strategic and other minerals are exported to the industrialised countries, and the formulation of policy measures vis-a-vis those regions. One region which attracted a considerable degree of attention has been Southern Africa, and in particular South Africa.2 The Santini Subcommittee affirmed that while the bulk of the minerals imported by the United States is supplied by a number of source countries, a host of critical[t] minerals vital to the well-being of that country (and this includes all the Western industrialised countries) originates from Southern Africa, a region, deservedly referred to as the "Persian Gulf of Minerals". Apart from the Republic of South Africa the mineral-rich countries concerned are Angola (diamonds, iron ore, oil), Botswana (diamonds, coal), South West Africa/Namibia (diamonds, uranium), Zambia (copper, cobalt), Zaire (industrial diamonds, copper, cobalt) and Zimbabwe (gold, nickel, chromium, asbestos). The Subcommittee however noted that, with the exception of cobalt, the greatest portion of the reserves of the critical minerals listed, lies within the borders of South Africa. SOUTH AFRICA A RELIABLE PURVEYOR OF MINERALS In view of the continual instability and political risk, along with the nationalisation of mineral industries in third world countries, importing industrialised nations have in recent years become more and more concerned about security of long-term supply, and have in consequence begun to diversify their mineral enquiries to areas where the following conditions prevail: • Long-standing record of consistency of supply; • An economic system of private enterprise; • Political stability; • A well integrated infrastructure, with a maintenance of transportation and development costs at realistic levels, and • Attractive investment opportunities, with security of the return of profits.

Jan 1, 1982

By William M. Kester

INTRODUCTION The Coal Research Bureau of the School of Mines at West Virginia University is presently conducting laboratory-scale tests to determine the technical feasibility of beneficiating pulverized coal and coal fines with high-intensity electromagnetic fields. Interest in magnetic processes for cleaning fine coals was stimulated by results obtained by Yurovsky, et a1 in 1958.1 This work, while not new in concept,2,3 indicated that pulverized coal which had been thermally treated in a rotary drum in the presence of superheated steam and air underwent thermo- chemical reactions. Films of the ferromagnetic minerals magnetite (Fe2O3), hematite (Fe3O4), and pyrrhotite (FeS[3]) were reported to be formed on the surfaces of the pyrite grains associated with fine coal during the foregoing treatment at temperatures ranging from 120 to 360°C. After thermal treatment the coal was magnetically separated in an experimental magnetic device having a field strength of 10,000 oersteds.

Jan 5, 1965

By Joseph Singewald

I. THE GENESIS OF THE DEPOSITS THE ore deposits at Firmeza have been worked continuously since 1884; those at Daiquiri since 1895. It is surprising, therefore, that they have not been the object of careful geologic study until quite recently. It is true that considerable attention was paid to these deposits by A. C. Spencer, in 1901, in the report on the geology of Cuba, by Hayes, Vaughan, and Spencer,1 but this was only incidental to a hasty general reconnaissance of the Island. As far as the Daiquiri deposits are concerned, this gap has been filled by the appearance of the two papers by Prof. James F. Kemp2 and by Prof. Waldemar Lindgren and Clyde P. Ross respectively.3 Max Roesler, first holder of the Emmons fellowship, made a detailed study of the Firmeza deposits during the past summer, so that soon we can expect a full description of them. Consequently, there is no. demand at the present time for a description of the deposits from other sources, rind that is not the purpose of this paper. The papers on Daiquiri, however, leave unsolved problems in regard to the age of the rocks of the district and certain phases of the genesis of the deposits, and it is with the. hope of aiding in the solution of some of these problems that this contribution is offered. Kemp, and Lindgren and Ross agree in assigning these deposits to the type of contact metamorphic deposits. They disagree in part on the question of their localization. The deposits occur in an extensive area of diorite which includes numerous blocks of limestone, and some-

Jan 3, 1916