Search Documents

By A. J. R. Curtis

THE Portland Cement Association was organized more than a third of a century ago by a group of cement manufacturers, to do cooperatively the educational and research work needed to ensure proper use of their product. Specifically, the Association has a threefold purpose: (1) to search out facts to ensure the best possible service from concrete; (2) to give the widest possible circulation to facts affecting the use of concrete; (3) to urge practical application of those facts on actual building projects. An organization of technically trained men conducts many research projects in the Association laboratories, interprets their findings and applies them practically in the field. The net effect of this work has been to improve the design and prolong the life of roads, bridges, industrial, commercial and public buildings, homes, farm structures and concrete products. The results of this technical research and experimentation are made available to the entire construction industry through bulletins and reports. Information is also released to the general public through newspapers, magazines and Association publications. In addition to a1 technical staff in the general office in Chicago, the Association has district offices in 22 cities. Field engineers cover 37 states, the District of Colum-bia and British Columbia, to give service to users of Portland cement.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. H. Andrews

THE constantly increasing consumption of Portland cement in the State makes the above subject of partlcular interest at this time. The increasing demand is due to the rapid settling of the country and the fact that new uses are being found frequently for the above named commercial article. The industry is one that is bound to grow as the population increases, and this being the case, it may be well ,it this time to consider briefly- the matter of the chemical and physical com-position of proper raw materials. A cement mixture is one that contains approximately 75 per cent. carbonate of lime, 15 per cent. Silica, and 5 to 7 per cent. alumina, and iron oxides; the other elements being magnesium carbonate and small quantities of the rarer elements general associated with limestone deposits. It call be readily seen from the above composition that it is possible to build up this mixture from a number of different materials. First.-A rock high in carbonate of lime can be mixed with clay or shale in such proportions as to bring about the desired composition ; the chief difficulty in the building up of such a mixture is that it is hard to find a clay or shale in which the silica-alumina, ratio lies .between 4 to 1 and 3 to 1 and at the same time shows physical characteristics which will make certain its adaptability to the practical manufacture of Portland cement. Very often clays or shales are found which are right chemically but contain large quantities of grit or free silica. Such clays or shale must be ground to extreme fineness in the mixture in order to make the silica and alumina combine with the lime when the mixture is burned. On the other hand, clays or shales are often found that have the proper physical characteristics but in which the amount of alumina, is too great.

Jan 9, 1913

By Wm. C. Coffin

THE refractory linings of open-hearth steel furnaces above the bath line are subject to severe wear not only from the heat caused by the combustion of the fuel and the reactions of the bath, but also from the melting action of the gases when not controlled and directed, and from the scouring of the oxides, etc. with which the products of combustion are charged. The framework that encases or binds the furnace is made up primarily of an iron or steel pan in which the furnace proper is built, side and end buckstays, and tie-rods. The expansion and contraction are so great and variable that the bindings may be subjected to severe stresses unless the tie-rods are carefully adjusted in heating up the furnace, but they are most affected by direct heat and usually become deformed from that cause when the lining is worn thin and, sometimes, when sections of the lining fall in and expose some of the framework. A deformed framework displaces the skewback of the roof arch and tends to distort or crush the roof. Bent buckstays deform the front wall, causing the door frames to stand away from the lining so that the gases burn between the lining and the frames, destroying both of them. Frequently the frames are attached to the buckstays; then when the latter bend the frames usually break. Preventing the distortion of the framework and maintaining the economy of the refractories are real factors in the cost of steel making. Not only does the cost of general repairs and reconstruction add directly to the cost of steel produced, but the time lost in making repairs cuts clown the steel production and increases the overhead expense of both the furnace shop and its allied foundry or mills. Many years ago water-cooled equipment applied to iron blast furnaces made it possible to increase greatly not only the size and production of the furnaces but also the life of the lining. It also cut down the loss from frequent repairs. The open-hearth furnace is a much later invention, especially as a commercial factor; for though it dates from the Fred Siemens patent of 1856, much more progress was made in the Bes-

Jan 2, 1919

The early records of coal in Kentucky by Walker and Gist have already been mentioned. Thomas Hutchins was aware of it in 1778, or perhaps several years earlier, as in writing of the Buffaloe, now Green, River, he said, "several persons who have ascended this River, say, that Salt Springs, Coal, Lime and Free Stone etc. are to be found in a variety of places."1 The next record found is an entry to Ellis and Marshall, of 878 acres on Coal Bank Creek, in the, then Fayette County on July 14, 1784.2 The settlement might have been made, or the name given, some time before. Hermeline, in 1783, mentioned iron ore and coal on the Green River,' although he had not been west of the Susquehanna River; his knowledge of coal might have come from Hutchins, although the latter made no mention of iron in that locality. In November 1790, coal was mined on Sturgeon's Creek in Lee County and floated in three barges down the Kentucky River to Cleveland's Ferry, where it was hauled to Lexington. The results were not equal to the expectations, and it was 1793 before the experiment was. repeated 4 In 1791, the estate of Samuel Wharton advertised for sale 31,000 acres "in the county of Jefferson, on the North Side of the Green or Buffaloe river, in the State of Virginia."5 In November 1795 three patents were issued for land in the then Lee County, aggregating 130,000 acres. These patents cover much of Harlan County. The descriptions of these surveys mention passing stone coal. on Rough Branch of Martin's Fork, a "great deal of stone coal" on Blacksnake Branch of Pucketts Creek, and "a quantity of stone coal" probably on Crummies Creek.6 Jedediah Morse, in The American Gazetteer, 1798, said that in Kentucky "in many places there are appearances of potter's clay, and coal in abundance." It is possible that shipments may have been made from near

Jan 1, 1942

By K. Huessener

INTRODUCTION THIS paper attempts a survey of the principles involved in the com¬bustion of blast-furnace gas in boilers and stoves. I do not expect to be able to give much information which is actually new, since the laws and methods of calculation pertaining to this problem are contained in a number of handbooks; but, so far as I am aware, they have nowhere been treated exclusively with reference to this one problem of gas economy. The road which I follow is less that of strictly scientific research than that of the practical engineer, faced by operation problems which require a. quick solution by easily accessible means without a prolonged search in scientific handbooks. For this purpose I give a number of tables and diagrams, as well as the results of many years' practical working experience as combustion engineer, which I trust will prove useful to my readers. HISTORICAL Considering the tremendous efforts made during the last 15 years to increase the efficiency of all kinds of power plants, it is highly surprising that until a comparatively very recent period, progress in the economical combustion of blast-furnace gas has been so slow. The explanation generally put forth, that fuel has been so cheap that it was hardly worth while to bother about this economy, will not hold good, for the greatest trouble was taken to improve the combustion of coal and to reduce the consumption of steam. The most plausible explanation appears to be the general impression, held as an accepted fact, that gas, especially hot, uncleaned, blast-furnace gas, was not a good boiler fuel. Many managers of high repute had tried unsuccessfully to improve the conditions of its use, and the dictum went forth that efficiencies of over 60 per cent., particularly with high loads, were impossible. This was the situation not only in the United States, with very cheap fuel, but also in Europe, where fuel prices are twice and three times as high.

Jan 2, 1916

By J. F. Shirley, H. K. Burke

In January, 1964, three years of laboratory and pilot plant test work reached its culmination. The San Manuel Div. of the Magma Copper Co. switched its molybdenite extraction circuit from the sodium hypochlorite-ferrocyanide process to the new process described in this paper. The San Manuel Div. Concentrator of the Magma Copper Co. is located near San Manuel, Ariz., approximately 45 miles northeast of Tucson. The concentrator treats approximately 35,000 tons of ore per day containing about 0.85% copper and 0.025% molybdenite. The San Manuel ore body is a disseminated copper deposit in quartz monzonite and quartz monzonite porphyry. The primary copper mineral is chalcopyrite; minor amounts of chalcocite, bornite and covellite are also present in varying degrees. Pyrite makes up somewhat more than half the sulfide content of the rock. The molybdenite is nearly always found on fracture faces or associated with quartz veinlets.' On January 9, 1964, the sodium hypochlorite-ferrocyanide process that had been used for molybdenite recovery was replaced by the following process: 1) A conditioning step with hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, sodium cyanide and zinc sulfate. 2) A two stage rougher flotation step with stove oil and sodium ferrocyanide. 3) One cleaning step with sodium ferrocyanide. 4) One cleaning step with sodium hypochlorite and potassium ferricyanide. 5) Four cleaning steps with an anti-foam Exfoam 636 and potassium ferricyanide. COPPER CONCENTRATOR Since molybdenite recovery is closely allied with previous steps in the operation, the copper concentrator will be briefly described first. The ore is ground to approximately 5% plus 65-mesh and 65% minus 200-mesh in a two-step grinding circuit consisting of rod mills in open circuit and ball mills in closed circuit with rake classifiers. A straight forward rougher circuit producing only one concentrate is used. The rougher concentrate is combined with the discharge from the regrind ball mills and is then cycloned, with the overflow going directly to the cleaner circuit and the underflow going to the regrind mills. The feed to the cleaner circuit is approximately 90% to 94% minus 325 mesh. The cleaner circuit consists of two stages in which the tailing from the final cleaner stage is returned to the primary cleaner and the primary cleaner tailing is returned to the rod mill discharge at the head of the circuit. Approximately 0.013 lb of the allyl ester of amyl xanthate (S-3302) per ton of ore is added to the rod mills and approximately 0.006 lb of sodium isopropyl xanthate (2-11) per ton of ore is stage added down the rougher banks. The frother used is methyl iso-butyl carbinol (MIBC) and it is added at various points in the grinding and the rougher flotation circuits. Lime is added to the ball mills and/or to the rod mills to maintain the desired pH in the rougher flotation. The rougher flotation has been operated at various pH levels between 10.5 and 11.5. Fuel oil is added in the regrind mills at a loading of approximately 0.01 lb per ton of ore. Factors Which Directly Affect Molybdenite Recovery: It has been found at San Manuel that, to obtain maximum molybdenite recovery, an oily type flotation collector must be added in the grinding circuit. When molybdenite is crystallized in the characteristic platy form, which appears to be the case almost all of the time at San Manuel, its surface has a greater tendency to adhere to oils than water. 2 Of the several oily type collectors available on the market, the allyl ester of amyl xanthate seems to be the best molybdenite promoter. The floatability of San Manuel's molybdenite does not appear to be affected, at least up to a pH of 11.5, by lime. It has been reported that at several plant operations high lime alkaline circuits have adversely affected the molybdenite recovery.3,4 It has been found through microscopic studies that the bulk of the chalcopyrite will float before the molybdenite in both the rougher and cleaner circuits. It is necessary to add fuel oil to the regrind mills to enhance the

Jan 1, 1965

By Andrew Balint, Peter Cammack

When coal is irradiated by the X-rays emitted from a plutonium 238 isotope, the radiation absorbed by elements of low atomic number (carbon and hydrogen) is lower than that absorbed by elements of high atomic number (silicon, aluminium, iron) which form the ash in coal. The differences are reproducible and readily measurable, and this paper describes how this technique is used to determine the ash content of coal and to optimize measurement accuracy. Uses of the output signal are given with an example of a simple control circuit, and the advantages of instantaneous ash measurement are highlighted in terms of operational convenience and profit.

Jan 1, 1977

Domestic: Middle West-,11.. B. Newcombe Eastern District-J. French Robinson1 Kansas-Henry A. Ley 2 Oklahoma-Henry A. Ley 3 Texas, except Gulf Coast and Panhandle-M. G. Cheney 5 Texas Panhandle-W. E. Hubbard and H. E. Crum 6 Gulf Coast-L. P. Teas 7 South Arkansas, North Louisiana and Mississippi-H. K. Shearer 8 Foreign Mexico-V. R. Garfias and C. 0. Isakson 9 Canada-Line M. Farish 10 Venezuela-C. W. Hamilton 10 Colombia-J. T. Duce 12 Peru-O. B. Hopkins 12 Trindad-Williaim J. Millard 13 Dutch East Indies-Fred B. Ely 13 Rumania-I. I. Gardescu . .. . 14 India-Eric J. Bradshaw 14

Jan 1, 1931

By W. W. Odell

ONCE it was believed that anthracite or coke were the only fuels generally available and suitable for the generation of water gas, particularly so when this gas was made in the generators of standard carburetted water-gas sets such as are commonly used in the manufacture of city gas. During the past 8 years, practice has changed considerably and it is -now common to find gas plants operating without anthracite or coke and using bituminous coal in the generator. This change in fuel has appreciably increased the marketability and sales of certain coal producers' products; accordingly it is of interest to coal operators and others to know the reason for this change, the present trend in practice and the adaptability of various coals for generation of water gas. This paper briefly discusses these conditions and some of the factors relating thereto. BITUMINOUS COAL NOT IDEAL BUT CHEAPER THAN COKE In spite of many changes which have been made in both process and generating apparatus for using bituminous coal as generator fuel more efficiently, in general it is not an ideal fuel for this purpose. It is supplanting coke because it costs less; it is so much cheaper per ton delivered at the gas works that water gas made therefrom costs less per unit-volume than that made from coke, even though the quantity of generator fuel consumed per therm (100,000 B. t. u.) of gas made is greater with coal. This is the reason why so many city gas plants, as well as others, are using bituminous coal instead of coke.

Jan 1, 1927

By T. W. Guy

During the past three years the Surface Preparation Committee of the American Mining Congress Coal Operators' Committees has been collecting data on dewatering and drying washed coal, and on screening coal in representative plants in the Eastern and Central bituminous fields. Because of wide variations in bed moisture, such data can be compared only after deducting the bed moisture. It was found that practically every company used a different routine for moisture sampling and determinations. Some reported the moistures as total moistures, others as surface moistures, air-dried moistures, or oven-dried moistures. For most of the reports it was necessary to estimate, from a consideration of the bed moisture and other data available in a given case, corrections to be made in order to obtain surface-moisture figures as a common basis for comparison. At any plant, and regardless of bed moisture, the percentage of surface moisture remaining in a product when the dewatering, or a given stage of the dewatering, has been completed, is the real measure of what has been accomplished. The descriptions and data given with Fig. 1 show that surface-moisture figures show relationships that would not be shown by total moistures. Therefore bed moisture should be deducted, or, if more practicable, the surface moisture of the products should be measured direct. A preparation engineer finds one per cent, or even a part of one per cent, of surface moisture a very important consideration in the results of his efforts to find the most effective and economical methods of reducing and controlling the surface moisture in his products within the required limits. Therefore it is important for him to have accurate measurements of surface moisture with minimum uncertainty as to whether they sometimes include less than the surface moisture and at others all of the surface moisture plus an unknown part of the bed moisture. The Problem We know that pieces of coal have a capacity for holding water: (1) inside themselves, which is a natural characteristic of the bed from

Jan 1, 1938

By T. W. Guy

During the past three years the Surface Preparation Committee of the American Mining Congress Coal Operators' Committees has been collecting data on dewatering and drying washed coal, and on screening coal in representative plants in the Eastern and Central bituminous fields. Because of wide variations in bed moisture, such data can be compared only after deducting the bed moisture. It was found that practically every company used a different routine for moisture sampling and determinations. Some reported the moistures as total moistures, others as surface moistures, air-dried moistures, or oven-dried moistures. For most of the reports it was necessary to estimate, from a consideration of the bed moisture and other data available in a given case, corrections to be made in order to obtain surface-moisture figures as a common basis for comparison. At any plant, and regardless of bed moisture, the percentage of surface moisture remaining in a product when the dewatering, or a given stage of the dewatering, has been completed, is the real measure of what has been accomplished. The descriptions and data given with Fig. 1 show that surface-moisture figures show relationships that would not be shown by total moistures. Therefore bed moisture should be deducted, or, if more practicable, the surface moisture of the products should be measured direct. A preparation engineer finds one per cent, or even a part of one per cent, of surface moisture a very important consideration in the results of his efforts to find the most effective and economical methods of reducing and controlling the surface moisture in his products within the required limits. Therefore it is important for him to have accurate measurements of surface moisture with minimum uncertainty as to whether they sometimes include less than the surface moisture and at others all of the surface moisture plus an unknown part of the bed moisture. The Problem We know that pieces of coal have a capacity for holding water: (1) inside themselves, which is a natural characteristic of the bed from

Jan 1, 1938

Jan 1, 1913

Jan 1, 1907

[ ]

Jan 1, 1938

Jan 1, 1912

Jan 1, 1911

Jan 1, 1908

Jan 1, 1910

Jan 1, 1913

Jan 1, 1909