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By James L. Eirls

The objective of this project was to improve a driver's field of view for large trucks used in the mining industry. Rearward viewing was enhanced by improving the rear-view mirror designs. Rear vision was accomplished using a closed circuit television system. Views ahead,, to the right, and downward were obtained with a blind area viewer (BAV). The BAV is a unique combination of fresnel lenses housed in a shielded, environmentally protected enclosure that produces an image of the area in front of and downward 70° and to either side of the BAV 300. The improved visibility devices were evaluated by long-term, in-mine testing. The right Bide mirror (RSM) and BAV provide the greatest improvements for the least cost and are commercially available. Application of the RSM and BAV should achieve a reduction in accident potential and greater vehicle productivity by enlarging and improving the equipment operator's visibility and making priviously blind areas and hazardous situations detectable.

Jan 1, 1982

By L. B. Pankratz

Heat content measurements were conducted for GaPo.996 and InPo.986 over the temperature range from 298° to 1,100° K, and for In2S2.897 over the range from 298° to 1,200° K. Both the actual experimental data and values adjusted to conform with the stoichiometric compositions (GaP, InP, and In2S3) were reported. Entropy increments above 298.15° K were calculated for the stoichiometric compounds, and heat content and heat capacity equations were derived.

Jan 1, 1965

By Robert H. Ridgway

Scrap iron and steel attracted attention during 1937 because of the unprecedented exports and the concomitant agitation in some quarters to prohibit the exportation of this essential raw material except on license by the President. This report does not attempt to analyze the statistics given in the light of the controversy over the limitation of scrap exports, but it is believed that students of this problem will find many essential basic data in the various tables presented herein. This paper presents the results of the third in the series of annual canvasses on the consumption of ferrous scrap and pig iron in the United States. The study was inaugurated in 1935 by the Bureau of Mines in response to requests from trade organizations and others for detailed

Jan 1, 1938

By Robert H. Ridgway

Scrap iron and steel attracted attention during 1937 because of the unprecedented exports and the concomitant agitation in some quarters to prohibit the exportation of this essential raw material except on license by the President. This report does not attempt to analyze the statistics given in the light of the controversy over the limitation of scrap exports, but it is believed that students of this problem will find many essential basic data in the various tables presented herein. This paper presents the results of the third in the series of annual canvasses on the consumption of ferrous scrap and pig iron in the United States. The study was inaugurated in 1935 by the Bureau of Mines in response to requests from trade organizations and others for detailed

Jan 1, 1938

By John C. Machisak

Injury data and experience, with related employment statistics, at coal mines in the United States for 1959 are presented in this publication under the following general sections: (A) General injury experience: Tables 1 to 6: Current data on number of injuries degree of injury, frequency and severity rates, average severity, and related employment and production data by work location. (B) Selected injury experience: Tables 7 to 38: Current data on principal agencies of injuries, distribution of injuries by part of body injured, days of disability, extent of hand and machine loading, experience by employment and production groups, and various other operating factors and physical conditions related to the occurrence of injuries at the Nation's coal mines.

Jan 1, 1961

By John C. Machisak

INJURY data and experience, with related employment statistics, at coal mines in the United States for 1958 are presented in this publication under the following general sections: (A) General injury experience: Tables 1 to 6: Current data on number of injuries, degree of injury, frequency and severity rates, average severity, and related employment and production data by work location. (B) Selected injury experience: Tables 7 to 38: Current data on principal agencies of injuries, distribution of injuries by part of body injured, days of disability, extent of hand and machine loading, experience by employment and production groups, and various other operating factors and physical conditions related to the occurrence of injuries at the Nation's coal mines. (C) Injury experience by States: Tables 39 to 43: Current data on injuries, their causes, rates of occurrence and severity; employment and production data by work location, by States. (D) Major disasters: Table 44: Data on major disasters from 1949 to 1958. A major disaster is defined as a single accident in which, or as a result of which, five persons or more are killed instantly or die at any time thereafter. (E) Historical coal-mine-fatality experience: Tables 45 to 49: Data on fatalities and their causes at bituminous coal, lignite, and anthracite mines from the earliest records through 1958.

Jan 1, 1961

By J. E. Wilson

A bench-scale expansion tester using 71 grams of coal was developed to determine the practicability of an apparatus of this size to investigate the effect of variables such as oxidation, blending, bulk density, inerts, size consist, petrographic differences, and rate of heating on the expanding properties of coal. The value of this tester is shown by the correlation that exists between its results and those of the larger scale sole-heated oven expansion apparatus used in commercial plants. From tests on 32 coals the standard error of estimate for predicting sole-oven results from bench-scale results is ± 5.3 percentage points. A standard deviation of the difference between pairs of tests in the latter apparatus of ± 2.1 percentage points was determined for 31 samples. In the sole-heated oven test the expansion of a coal at constant pressure is directly proportional to the dry coal bulk density. Tests in the bench-scale tester show a similar relationship between expansion and bulk density. When the blending ratios of high-and low-volatile coals are varied, similar changes in expansion are observed in both the sole-heated oven and the bench-scale tester. Therefore, the effect of other variables on expansion should be similar in the latter apparatus.

Jan 1, 1960

By Emery Chilton, Charles Taylor, Mark Senk, Linda McWilliams

Three-axis ultrasonic anemometers are used to study airflow in the NIOSH ventilation gallery where ventilation in an underground mine is simulated. In this study, performance characteristics of this anemometer are evaluated and the effects of sensor orientation and sampler location on flow readings are examined. The study results provide guidelines for more effective use of the ultrasonic anemometers in the ventilation gallery.

By R. V. Ramani

This volume is the second of a four-volume final report on research carried out under a contract from the U.S. Bureau of Mines on the development of a computer simulation model for surface mine reclamation planning. The other volumes are titled as follows: Volume I: Ore Reserve Estimation, Volume III: Mine Coordinate Generator System, and Volume IV: User's Manual for OPMHS/2. The dragline model described in this report simulates the movement of the dragline bucket across the digging face, the swing load, the dump, and swing back. It is programmed to handle chopdown, key cut, main cut, and rehandling operations. Provisions have been made for simulating equipment and mining delays. Any mining method can be specified in terms of numbered blocks, the dragline positions for the mining block and the dumping location for the block. Accounting procedures permit the calculation of production rates, rehandle volume, dig and delay times. The model can be used to study the effects of varying mining conditions, cut width, and spoiling sequence with special reference to toxic spoil, overburden and bench removal procedures. The basic input data for the model include machine parameters, the geology and material characteristics, the mining parameter, and the delay characteristics of the equipment.

Jan 1, 1985

By Francis Church Linxoln

"This property was explored as part of a general investigation of zinc-prodccing areas of southwestern Wisconsin at a time when an effort was being made to increase the production metals important to the Nation's war program. This report describes the work that was done and presents the data obtained.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSIn its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral resources to the and that they make the greatest possible contribution to national security and economy. It is the policy of the bureau to publish the facts developed by each exploratory protect as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, performs the actual exploratory work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, P., G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests. Both these branches are under the supervision of Dr. R. S. Dean, assistant director. Special acknowledgment is due Professor G. H. Pett, of the Wisconsin Institute of Technology at Platteville, Wis., Jack Tracy, manager of the Mifflin Mining Co., and J. M VanMatre, representative of the Defense Property, for their assistance in the work. Acknowledgment is also due to A. F. Agnew and A. V. Heyl, geologists of the Federal Geological Survey, for furnishing geologic interpretations and lithologic studies of the drill-hole sections. All drilling was done under the immediate supervision of Francis C. Lincoln and M. Howard Berliner, project engineers, Edward P. Barrett, district engineer, Minneapolis, and E. D. Gardner, regional engineer, of the Bureau of Mines."

Sep 1, 1946

By R. L. Grant

The Bureau of Mines developed two new gap-sensitivity methods for explosives, and especially permissible explosives, to overcome certain disadvantages of the present routine half-cartridge method. The revised methods are based on the statistical up-and-down method and give more useful measurements of the 50-percent' gap values than the nonstatistical routine method. The new methods use full cartridges and incorporate certain physical improvements such as the use of cardboard tubes for containing the explosives and coal dust gaps to simulate actual mining conditions. A total of 60 samples of permissible explosives were evaluated simultaneously with the 2 improved methods and with the half-cartridge method

Jan 1, 1967

Any communication system requires at least three elements in order to function: a transmitting device, a receiving device, and a transmission line or propagation medium. Even the device children use, tin cans connected with string, consists or these three elements. One speaks into one can (transmitter), which vibrates at the same frequencies as the voice. The string (transmission path) picks up the vibrations of the can and carries them along its entire length. The other can (receiver) detects the vibration and reproduces the original sounds to a lesser extent depending on distance, tightness of string, type of string, etc. All communication systems depend on these three elements: transmitter, transmission path, and receiver. Communication systems can be divided into three fundamental categories: wired phone systems, radio systems, and carrier current systems. Sections 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4, respectively, describe these systems and explain the basic principles of how each works. Hybrid systems are those systems that use various combinations of the three basic communication methods. Hybrid systems are described in section 2.5. There are some other methods of signaling (stench warning, bell signaling, etc.) that can be used in underground mines to transmit or convey information. These systems, although they cannot be considered true communication systems since they do not provide voice or even two-way communication, are briefly described in section 2.6. 2.2 Wired Phone Systems Wired phone systems are all those that depend on a wire connection between phones with the wire carrying the voice signals. Figure 2-1 is a diagram of two typical wired phone systems.The top panel shows a simple single pair party line system. In this system each phone is connected to a common pair of wires, and a person speaking into one phone will be heard at all the other phones on the line. The bottom panel shows a multipair private line phone system. In this type of system, each phone is connected by its own individual pair of wires to a central switch or telephone exchange. To establish a call between two phones in this system, the lines between the two phones must be connected (switched together) within the telephone exchange. In early exchanges, the connections were made manually by an operator. These exchanges are called Private Branch Exchanges (PBX's). Today, equipment within the exchange can automatically connect each phone to any other phone in the system. These exchanges are called Private Automatic Branch Exchanges (PABX's). There are many different types of automatic exchanges. Some utilize switches to physically make each connection according to the number dialed. Other, more advanced exchanges are completely solid state and may even be computer controlled. [ ]

Jan 1, 1984

By R. J. Matetic

Researchers associated with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL), are investigating injuries (fatal and nonfatal) attributed to water well drillers during well drilling activities. Injury data, obtained from various sources, suggest that many water well drillers are experiencing unnecessarily high insurance premiums and very avoidable citations or violations from the direct result of accidents, injuries, and fatalities occurring throughout the water well drilling industry. Expensive insurance premiums and unnecessary citations are the direct result of poor health and safety practices. Visits to numerous water well drilling sites were conducted by NIOSH personnel to characterize and identify the injury data collected and to provide inexpensive strategies to prevent, minimize, and eliminate safety and health issues associated with water well drilling activities.

Jan 1, 2001

By G. R. Strimbeck

This is a report on experimental work on development of a gasification process operating at near atmospheric pressures and using finely pulverized coal entrained in oxygen and steam. The gasifier was designed by The Babcock and Wilcox Co. in cooperation with engineers of the Bureau of Mines Morgantown station. The test work discussed in this report covers the first 34 tests made in the pilot plant in which a strongly coking Sewickley-bed coal, ground to either 70 or 90 percent through a 200-mesh screen, was used.

Jan 1, 1954

By Michael G. Zabetakis, Glenn H. Damon, Joseph A. Herickes

The flammability and explosibility of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine ( UDMH ) were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Mines to evaluate hazards associated with commercial application of this material as a missile fuel . This program included the following determinations : 1. Temperature limits of flammability in air at one atmosphere pressure ; 2. limits of flammability at selected elevated temperatures and pressures ; 3. 4 . 5. spontaneous ignition temperature in air at one atmosphere and at 200 pressure per square inch gage ( p.s.i.g. ) initial pressure ; spontaneous decomposition temperatures in nitrogen at one atmosphere and at 200 p.s.i.g .; shock sensitivity over a temperature range from about ( ca. ) 25 ° to 50 ° C .; 6. shock sensitivity of reference propellants ( hydrazine , nitromethane , methyl acetylene , etc. ) ; 7 . shock sensitivity of UDMH plus small amounts of selected metal catalysts . Part of the corresponding data was obtained for a mixture of unsymmetrical - dimethylhydrazine and diethylenetriamine ( U - DETA) .

Jul 1, 1960

By Fred D. DeVaney

The Mesabi iron district of Minnesota has a potential production of over 50 million tons of iron ore annually. The large shipments of ore each year are gradually depleting the reserves, and if the present rate of production is to be maintained there must be a growth in the present available ore supply. Growth is a natural course. The growth of a city may be affected by the addition of city blocks or by the improvement of utilities necessary for its betterment. These may go on in the order named or concurrently. The city-block type of growth of the Mesabi has been tremendous, and the "betterment" type has followed in due course. Probably the former has reached its limit, and if so, more time will be allotted to the latter. It is not the intent of this paper to present either a eulogy of the wonderful mining methods or a history of the milling, but it is pertinent to say that if the lean-ore area continues to produce, the continuance will be more the result of further improvement of milling methods now well under way than of extension, of boundaries by the city block plan of growth. In an examination of the western end of the Mesabi district one finds sludge basins containing millions of tens of millable ore rejected by washing plants which were built for economy in operating cost and with little thought of conservation, and rich tailings piles of jigging plant rejects. In addition, there is an appreciable tonnage of bowl rake products so low-grade that it requires mixing with the best ore of the district to make it merchantable.

Jan 1, 1932

By O. C. Ralston

Natural or artificial manganese dioxide of a grade pure enough to be satisfactory as depolarizer for dry cells has never been available in large supply simultaneously with being available in desired quality . The Second World War called for more of it than ever . A supply of natural material from the Gold Coast was ample for the war and was not completely exhausted . Whereas the crystal form of the manganese oxide was not recognized as a matter of importance until the war came , it is now known that gamma MnO2 is a desirable form and that pyrolusite , once thought acceptable , is not the best mineral . The following paper is a translation of an internal company report filed at the Bitterfeld office of the I. G. Farbenindustrie A.G. by Dr. Peter Marx in 1933 , just a year after G. W. Nichols had published in the Transactions of the American Electrochemical Society a study of making anodic manganese dioxide from solutions of manganous sulfate . The I. G. experiments were made to confirm the American work and were also extended to a larger scale . Only chemical purity was considered , and no mention is made of crystal form . The report adds to the knowledge submitted by Nichols but has not been previously available to the general public . Believing it of value to the United States industry , a translation has been made .

May 1, 1948

By Christopher C. Jobes

Computer-aided control of a mining machine requires a guidance system to aid remote positioning of the machine by determining its position and heading. The mechanical position and heading system (MPHS) developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines provides such navigation information during face maneuvers. This report describes the required theory, which yielded a reliable algorithm for calculating machine position and heading, and implementation of this theory in hardware and software design, which made surface testing of the MPHS possible. Analysis of the errors and test results showed that the MPHS provides reliable results and can, therefore, provide useful guidance information for face navigation.

Jan 1, 2010

By Cleo Griffith Rall

The method for determining the effective porosity, of oil- and gas- bearing sand described in this report is a development of an earlier method devised by Bureau of Mines. The apparatus has been improved and made more convenient to use, but the procedure has been in use for many years without essential changes. A tabulation at the end of the report gives the results of more than 2,000 porosity determinations for oil sands in the fields of 13 states. A selected bibliography of articles containing descriptions and evaluations of various methods of determining porosity Is a. part of this report. The method was devised and developed at the Petroleum Experiment Station at Bartlesville, Okla., as part of the Bureau's research on fluid-energy relationships and ,on methods of improving the recovery of crude oil from underground reservoirs.

Jan 1, 1949

By M. P. Youker

USE OF LOW-PRESSURE GAS BURNERS IN OIL- FIELD BOILERS

Feb 1, 1922