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By Mark I. Copeland

The Bureau of Mines discovered that silicon and nickel additions can prevent the formation of copper alloys of Sn, Sb, and As on the surface of steel during reheating to hot-working temperatures. When molten, these copper alloys cause surface hot shortness during hot working. Wrought steels were reheated isothermally and by simulated industrial practice; the resulting surfaces were metallographically evaluated. The steels contained, In weight-percent, 0.20 C, 0.45 Mn, and up to 1.00 Si, 1.00 Cu, and 0.15 Ni, and up to 0.30 Sn, Sb, or As. The larger the Cu, Sn, Sb and As content of the steels, the greater the amount of silicon necessary to prevent copper alloy formation. A content of 0.10 Ni considerably decreased the amount of silicon necessary for copper steels containing tin and antimony, but not for those containing arsenic. Theories for the beneficial effect of silicon and nickel additions are presented.

Jan 1, 1975

By Oliver Bowels

Many inquiries are received by the United States Bureau of Mines for the names of elementary books on geology, mineralogy, methods of identifying minerals, prospecting, and similar subjects. In response to this demand the following brief bibliography has been prepared. As many of the inquiries are received from those who have limited technical knowledge of the subjects involved, the bibliography includes the simpler texts which present the subjects in nontechnical language. Other texts contain glossaries which define the technical terms used. A short note following the title indicates the character of each book, the number of pages, and the price. Thus, elementary mineralogists or geologists, prospectors, mineral collectors, nature students, or travellers may select the texts that best suit their requirements and their capabilities. To supply the needs of more advanced students, quite a number of the standard texts used in schools and colleges are included in a second group. A short list of books on economic geology and mineralogy has also been added.

Jan 1, 1929

By Frank A. Peters

This description of process evaluation techniques used by the Bureau of Mines for studying proposed processing techniques has been prepared to provide those interested in using these studies with an understanding of the methodology. The methods used for preparing both capital and operating cost estimates are described. Each step in preparing the evaluations is described. Types of equipment costs are shown and factors used in the estimates are defined. Uses of the estimates are suggested and several examples are included. The accuracy of various types of estimates is discussed, along with an explanation of the reason for selecting the type used in the Bureau's process evaluation studies.

Jan 1, 1987

By W. D. Walker

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

Jan 1, 1953

By H. P. Greenwald

About mid-December 1936, the safety director of a large coal corporation visited the authors at the Bureau's Experimental coal mine to discuss a rock-dust barrier he had invented primarily for use in trackless entries of coal mines. The rock dust in this device was carried in its original paper containers and means were provided for ripping these open so that the dust might be scattered in the path of an explosion. The inventor termed the device a "bag barrier", and this term has been adopted in the present paper for convenience. At that time the device was in an early stage of development, and the inventor felt that the barrier should be tested to determine whether it had enough promise of being successful to justify further development. The matter was taken under consideration and finally three tests were made during the week of February 15, 1937. It was concluded that while the device did stop an explosion in two of the three tests, it was much loss effective than ordinary rock dusting, and that too few data were obtained to permit direct comparison with tests of other barriers. Apparently, the conditions under which the device could, be successful 'Were somewhat limited, out the limits could not be defined without additional tests.

Jan 1, 1938

By D. S. Kingery

The practice of using doors to control main ventilating currents in bituminous-coal mines is common throughout the industry. When doors are erected in pairs to form air locks, they are usually accepted as satisfactory by both State and Federal coal-mine-inspection agencies. A review of the contributing factors in recent methane ignitions showed that interrupted ventilation (often caused by doors latched open, destroyed, or damaged) was the principal cause of methane accumulations that subsequently were ignited.

Jan 1, 1958

By Charles C. Boley

The Bureau of Mines dried and carbonized two wood wastes, one softwood (redwood) and one hardwood (oak), using continuous, vertical entrainment techniques previously developed for use with coal. It was demonstrated that these techniques are readily applicable to wood waste and that appreciable changes in the yields of carbonization products can be obtained by varying operating conditions. A limited amount of experimental work was done on briquetting the char-coals. Firm briquets were formed with oak charcoal, although greater quantities of starch binder than used commercially for kiln-produced charcoal were required. Redwood charcoal did not briquet successfully under the test conditions employed.

Jan 1, 1969

By G. W. Jones, R. E. Kennedy

"INTRODUCTION Information relative to the ignition temperatures of acetylene and acetylene-air mixtures has become of particular interest recently due to a number of explosions that have occurred in 500-pound, double-rated, medium-pressure acetylene generators in shipyards on the West coast. Various suggestions have been made as to the causes of these explosions prominent among which has been that air finds its way into the acetylene generators during abnormal operation or that air remains in the carbide hopper of the generator following the purging and charging operations.This raises the question as to how and to what extent the presence of small percentages of air in acetylene affects the ease of ignition of such mixtures at the various operating pressures of the acetylene generators. The range of operating pressures in the 500-pound, double-rated generators involved in the explosions may vary from below atmospheric to 15 pounds gage.The present report gives the results of an investigation made to determine the effects of pressure on the ignition temperature of pure acetylene and of acetylene containing varying percentages of air:EXPERIMENTAL Apparatus A preliminary investigation showed that a heated quartz surface gave lower ignition temperatures than other material tested.A ""hot-spot"" method of ignition was found desirable in the case of the acetylene mixtures since the violence of the explosions was reduced by keeping most of the test mixtures at room temperature. Explosive violence was reduced further by using an ignition tube 17 mm. or less in diameter."

Mar 1, 1945

By R. D. Leitch

Beside many other damaging effects of acid mine drainage, corrosion of pipe lines and pumps frequently adds much to mine operating, costs. Not only is it often necessary to install special and relatively costly acid-resistant materials, but even these may require frequent replacements. It is not unusual for ordinary steel pipe to last only a few days in some highly acid waters, while other common materials, though more resistant, frequently cast only a few weeks. In the spring of 1935, local PWA authorities offered to assign a number of persons to various problems under the direction of regular employees of the Bureau of Mines. It was believed that at least some simple tests on as many different kinds of acid-resistant pipes as could readily be obtained might produce interesting; and valuable information for the mining industry. This paper describes the tests and some results that have since been noted.

Jan 1, 1938

By William C. Larson

A study was conducted by the Bureau of Mines to provide quarry operators with information regarding (1) the effects of jointing and bedding on rock fragmentation when bench blasting in two small-scale (2.5-ft) limestone benches, and (2) the successful use of inexpensive equipment and field techniques to determine the orientation and spacing of joints and bedding separations within the quarry. Using inexpensive equipment, such as a pocket transit and steel and paper tapes, joint and bedding separations were mapped and their frequencies measured. Results from two small-scale bench blasts in the Stewartville member of the Galena limestone formation showed that when the row of vertical blast-holes was oblique to the vertical joint orientations, the backface expression was outlined by two relatively large triangular protrusions (joint surfaces). In this blast, part of the rock burden was unbroken. When the line of vertical blastholes paralleled a predominant joint set, all of the rock burden was broken and displaced. The thickness of fragments that had been displaced by a blast correlated with the observed bedding thickness in the bench.

Jan 1, 1974

By Oliver Bowles

[In an endeavor to promote greater efficiency in the lime industry, the United States Bureau of Mines is preparing a series of preliminary reports dealing with particular problems of the industry. Through the circulation of these reports, it is hoped that sufficient interest may develop among lime-plant operators to prompt them to discuss with the bureau their our experiences with these problems. By such an interchange of ideas, it is believed that conclusion may be reached which will be of practical benefit to try entire industry. The first report, "Stripping problems it Limestone quarries of the Shenondoah Valley", Serial No. 2401, was issued during October, 1922. This report t is the second of the series. It is hoped that may operators will contribute additions to the information now at hand.]

Jan 1, 1922

By Wilder D. Foster

In estimating the hazardous qualities of a dusty atmosphere it is frequently desirable to determine the composition of the air-borne dust. Samples collected from ledges or from the rock itself are Likely to be unsatisfactory for this purpose owing to the possibilities of differential disintegration of the rock and of variations in settling rates of the different components of the minerals. It may be necessary, therefore, to collect samples of dust from the air. Samples collected from the air may be analyzed chemically, by X-ray diffraction, and by the petrographic microscope. Chemical methods are unsatisfactory owing to the small samples usually available and to the limitations and complexities of: present methods. X-ray technique requires expensive apparatus not ordinarily available except in research laboratories. Owing to the simplicity and rapidity of petrographic is examination of atmospheric mineral dusts, it was considered worthy of further study.

Jan 1, 1938

The object of this program was to design and build a self-contained system for remote monitoring of the atmosphere in mines. The system developed uses the mine pager phone line as the primary communication channel and also has the capability of using 208 Hz in the ELF band for wireless transmission through the earth. The depth for through-the-earth trans- mission is expected to be about 80 to 90 meters in high conductivity soil and is limited by the noise level in the ELF band-pass filters. The underground components of the TEM System are energized by mine power through a battery charger - storage battery power supply. In the event of mine power failure the battery capacity is more than sufficient for one week's operation with interrogations every four hours.

By R. J. Shanley

This report presents a computer code that has been developed by the Bureau of Mines for isolating naturally occurring clusters of data plotted on the unit hemisphere and testing these clusters against a probability distribution which admits elliptical symmetry about its mean. A listing of the computer code is provided along with an example output illustrating the delineation and analysis of clusters in fracture orientations measured in a porphyry copper deposit.

Jan 1, 1975

By D. E. Traut

A fluidized, countercurrent ion-exchange system was developed, operated, and evaluated by the Bureau of Mines in support of its objective to help assure an adequate uranium supply for future national needs. The system consisted of integrated multiple-compartment absorption and elution columns in which the solution flows are continuous, except for short periods when resin increments are withdrawn. The exchange of uranyl sulfate between a simulated acid-leach-uranium solution and a strong-base, ion-exchange resin was studied, together with subsequent elution using an acidified sodium chloride solution. The effects of the number of compartments, compartment height, amount of resin withdrawal, solution flow rate, and column diameter were investigated. Also examined were the kinetic and equilibrium relationships for the absorption and elution steps. The experimental data indicate a strong interdependence between variables. Solution retention time appears to be a major limiting variable in the absorption process, while resin residence time is the determining factor in the elution process. The columns system was efficient over a range of conditions, but close control was needed for optimum operation.

Jan 1, 1978

By Lisa Steiner, Robin Burgess-Limerick

In 2004, there were 646 underground coal mines in the USA employing 37,445 miners. These mines reported 3556 injuries to MSHA that year - 17% were associated with bolting machines (593 injuries), 8% with continuous miners (283 injuries), and 4% each with Scoop/LHD (1 51 injuries), shuttle cars (134 injuries), and personnel transport (145 injuries). The use of the frequency of reported injuries for the prioritization of risk control strategies has limitations because of the tendency to underestimate the importance of relatively rare but high-consequence events. Injury reports also underestimate the contribution of risk factors such as whole body vibration, which have a long-term cumulative contribution to an elevated risk of injury. However, taking these limitations into consideration, the results of the injury narrative analysis suggest the following hazards as the highest priority for elimination or control: • rock falling from supported roof • inadvertent or incorrect operation of bolting controls • handling continuous miner cable • collisions while driving LHD/Scoop, shuttle cars and personnel transport • rough road while driving or traveling in LHD/Scoop, SC & PT

By C. W. Dwiggins

The Bureau of Mines characterized the chemical and physical properties of metallo-organic materials in petroleum to determine their effect on petroleum production and refining. The structures and physical properties of porphyrins and materials that normally contain metalloporphyrins such as crude oils and asphaltenes were investigated using elemental analysis, NMR analysis, absorption spectrometry, and small-angle X-ray scattering. Petroleum fractions greatly enriched in metalloporphyrins were obtained using asphaltene precipitation, liquid extraction, and large-scale liquid-solid chromatography. Selected fractions containing porphyrins were further purified by chromatographic methods, crystallization, and demetalation followed by chromatography. Nonporphyrin metals could not be appreciably concentrated from the bulk of the asphaltene.

Jan 1, 1969

By Isaac A. Zlochower, Kenneth L. Cashdollar

The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conducted a study of the explosibility of various metals and other elemental dusts dispersed in air, with a focus on the experimental explosion temperatures. The data are useful for understanding the basics of dust cloud combustion, as well as for evaluating the explosion hazards in the minerals and metals processing industries. The dusts studied included boron, carbon, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, sulfur, titanium, chromium, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, niobium, molybdenum, tin, hafhium, tantalum, tungsten, and lead. The dusts were chosen to cover a wide range of physical properties - from the more volatile materials such as magnesium, aluminum, sulfur, and zinc to the highly "refractory" (very low volatility) elements such as carbon, niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten. These flammability studies were conducted in a 20-L chamber, using strong pyrotechc ignitors. The experimental data obtained included the minimum explosible concentrations, maximum explosion pressures, and maximum explosion temperatures. A unique multiwavelength infrared pyrometer was used to measure the temperatures. For the elemental dusts studied, all ignited and burned as air-dispersed dust clouds except for nickel, copper, molybdenum, and lead. The measured maximum explosion temperatures ranged from -1 550 K for tin and tungsten powders to -2800 K for aluminum, magnesium, and titanium powders. The measured temperatures are compared to the calculated, adiabatic flame temperatures. In general, the dusts whose experimental temperatures were closer to the adiabatic values were those with the finer particle sizes, those that were more easily vaporized, and/or those that were intrinsically more reactive.

By Stephen R. Wilson

This paper is one of a series published by the Bureau of Mines on the mineral resources of the Nation. It describes briefly the occurrence of sodium sulfate in Salt Lake and Tooele Counties, Utah, presents data on sampling, and describes ex-traction and refining raw material and a mining research project that has been conducted on the deposits. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgments are given to the Tintic Standard Mining Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Bartlett Chemicals, Inc., New Orleans, La., for permission to use data obtained by the companies. The authors also acknowledge the courtesy of J. A. Marsh and H. K. Thurber, geologists and mining engineers, for permission to use information in reports prepared by them.

Jan 1, 1957

By Sean Gallagher, Thomas R. Battenhouse, August J. Kwitowski, John R. Bartels, Dean H. Ambrose

Problem: Incident investigation reports do not usually contain enough information to aid in studying boom arm vertical speed for roof bolting machines to determine the impact that appendage speed had on an operator's risk of experiencing a contact. Laboratory experiments with human subjects are also not feasible because of safety and ethical issues. Method Researchers successfully developed a three-dimensional computer model that uses virtual human simulation software as the primary means to gather contact data when the boom arm touches the operator's hand, arm, head, or leg. Results: Data analysis of roof bolter simulations shows that the speed of the boom arm is the most important factor in determining the risk of an operator making contact. Regardless of other variables, contact incidents were always greater when the bolter arm was moving up, greater on the hand, and greater for the boom arm part of the machine. The reason why the subject experiences more contacts when the boom arm is moving up rather than down is that more risky behaviors occur during drilling and bolting when the boom arm is ascending. Based on the data collected, boom speeds greater than 13 in/sec result in a substantial increase in risk to the roof bolter operator of making contact. Speeds less than or equal to 13 in/sec are associated with a more modest relative risk of making contact, which represents a decrease in potential hazard. Impact on Industry: The use of such information can be quite helpful in making recommendations to machine design and task procedures to reduce the likelihood that roof bolter operators will experience injury due to contact with a moving roof bolting machine's boom arm.