Search Documents

By W. E. Field

In the Coast Mountains approximately 110 miles north of Vancouver, the gold mine of Bralorne- Pioneer Mines Ltd. lies at an elevation of 3500 ft. The deepest or 41 level in the mine is at an elevation of 1400 ft below sea level, and the rock temperature on this level is 122.5°F. The thermal gradient is 1 "F increase in temperature for each 67.5 ft increase in depth. The mine produces between 500 and 600 tons per clay, utilizing an adit two internal shafts, and one service shaft from surface. The Queen shaft, extending from the 26 to the 41 level, IS the deepest, and most production now comes from this area. Stoping in by cut and fill using mill tailing hydraulic backfill.

Jan 12, 1963

By David A. Heitman

The Buick Concentrator is a highly automated operation which utilizes a process control system for continuous monitoring and control. The process control system development, installation, and application to the concentrator grinding and flotation circuits are presented in this paper. The design and implementation of analog field sensing instrumentation, a continuous on-stream X-ray analyzer, grinding and classfication circuit controls, and a recent digital process control system utilizing a centralized computer are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the project planning and installation of the digital control system including a presentation of future plans for continuing application of computer control.

Jan 1, 1982

By Henrique de Siqueira Queiroz

A indústria mineral brasileira é uma das maiores produtoras de minério de ferro do mundo e as reservas do país estão cada vez com teores mais baixos. Por isso hoje são necessários estudos para viabilizar a explotação de jazidas de baixos teores. Utilizando-se de minérios mais pobres, faz-se necessário uma maior cominuição para beneficiamento do minério. Com uma menor granulometria do material, o processo de flotação passa a ter importante papel no beneficiamento por ser mais tolerável aos finos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar diferentes coletores catiônicos, especificamente aminas, utilizados na etapa de flotação reversa de um minério de ferro da região do Vale do Rio Pardo. As amostras utilizadas nos testes são provenientes da remoagem que, pelo circuito de beneficiamento, alimenta a flotação de finos. Foram testados como coletores as aminas EDA, EDA3 e EDA 3C da Clariant. A amina que obteve melhor desempenho foi a Flotigam EDA 3C que obteve concentrado final com 67,4% Fe e 1,76% de SiO2, e recuperação metalúrgica de ferro de 92,14%.

Aug 7, 2018

By Luke Thornton, Jack Janssen

An unconventional drill pattern is used in an aggregate quarry to reduce pioneering costs. The site is the Iron Mountain Quarry, Granite Falls, WA., an aggregate quarry with an annual production of in excess of 1,000,000 tons. The problem is to pioneer a forty acre addition of on top of Iron Mountain. The entire area had a vertical relief of fifty to one hundred feet with no level surfaces. How does one achieve the minimum cost?

Jan 1, 1997

PURPOSE: Evaluate practical technological advances in hearing protective devices for use in different mining environments RESEARCH SUMMARY: Previous NIOSH research shows that miners develop hearing loss much more quickly than nonoccupationally noise-exposed individuals and that miners experience a greater severity of hearing loss than would be expected for nonoccupational noise-exposed persons of the same age and sex. As described in the National Occupation-al Research Agenda, problems created by occupational hearing loss include(1) reduced quality of life due to social isolation and unrelenting tinnitus,(2) impaired communication with family members, the public, and coworkers, (3) diminished ability to monitor the work environment (i.e., warning signals, equipment sounds, etc.), (4) lost productivity and increased accidents resulting from impaired communication and isolation, and (5) expenses for workers? compensation and hearing aids.

Jan 1, 2001

By A. Jolly, A. R. Kumar, T. Novak

"Coal dust in an underground mining environment has always been a health and safety issue, especially with longwall faces. Efforts to integrate a flooded bed scrubber within a longwall shearer are underway at the University of Kentucky (UK) in order to reduce worker exposure. Small scale physical modeling, along with numerical modeling and full-scale experimentation, are engineering tools being used by the authors for simulating operating conditions underground. Recent advances in affordable 3D printers offer a means for fabricating accurate, scale models for obtaining timely insights prior to building large, expensive test setups. Comparing scale-model results with those of numerical modeling, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), lends guidance and confidence in a proposed design. This paper discusses the small scale physical modeling of a longwall shearer with an incorporated flooded-bed dust scrubber in its operating environment. A tracer gas was used in the model in lieu of dust to measure dust-capture efficiency. Results obtained from the physical model are presented and compared with those of CFD model. The small scale model and the CFD results demonstrate good agreement. Dust capture results show the usefulness of the approach in advance of actual design implementation. INTRODUCTION Dust generation is an undesirable, but innate, byproduct of all mining processes. It is particularly problematic in underground coal mining, where coal dust poses potential hazards from two fronts – health and safety. Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), commonly referred to as black lung, is a chronic lung disease that results from the long-term overexposure to respirable coal dust. Although the prevalence of CWP has steadily and significantly declined over the three decades following the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, 2008) indicates that significant health hazards associated with respirable dust still exist within the coal mining industry. In addition to being a health hazard, coal dust can also create a potentially catastrophic safety hazard. Dust that is not captured or removed at its source is suspended and transported throughout a mine by the ventilation airstream. This float dust is subsequently deposited on all mine surfaces along its travel path. Without adequate application of rock dust to these surfaces, forces from a localized methane ignition can reintroduce settled coal dust into the airstream creating an explosive mixture. Therefore, capturing and removing coal dust at its source mitigates the probability of two major hazards that continue to plague the mining industry."

Jan 1, 2016

By C. R. Edwards

"Equity Silver Mines Limited, Canada's largest silver mine, has designed, built and operated a leach plant to reduce the levels of antimony and arsenic in its silver-gold-copper flotation concentrate. The orebody contained deleterious antimony and arsenic minerals in such proportions that the economic long-term sales contracts necessary to obtain project financing could not be procured. Construction of the leach plant therefore allowed development of the mine to proceed. Although the plant took some time to reach design throughput and product specifications, due to the complex and unique nature of the operation, these goals were successfully met and surpassed. This paper describes the physical plant and/or process technology modifications made to mold the main processes-concentrate leaching and filtering, autoclaving and filtration of by-products, and crystallization of salt cake-into an effective, economic operation.IntroductionEquity Silver Mines Limited, a member of the Placer Development Group, owns and operates an open-pit silver mine and related facilities located 37 kilometres southeast of Houston in north-central British Columbia. The mine occupies a 44 I-hectare (1089 acre) site at an elevation of 1300 metres (4265 feet) on the Nechako Plateau. Producing a copper concentrate containing high values of silver and gold, it is the largest silver mine in Canada and one of the largest in the western world. Equity stresses open communications, positive motivation, and production with safety, and achieved the best mine safety record in western Canada in 1984."

Jan 1, 1985

By Thomas V. Fame, William E. Porter

"As geological and mining conditions become more complex, and as overall mining economics become more marginal, short- and long-range decision-making regarding multiple-seam surface mining becomes more difficult. The decision-making problem involves a study of economics, cut-off grades and ratios, equipment capabilities, sequencing and selective mining practices.This paper is concerned primarily with multiple-seam mining of bituminous coal. The research has led to the development of an economic decision-making model for use as a day-to-day tool to aid mine operators and pit geologists to decide what and how to mine.The model is designed as an aid for feasibility decision-making in multiple-scam situations and for situations where selective mining is needed or desired. In effect, a simulation of the feasibility and preliminary mine planning phases has been developed. The model is divided into four separate segments: decision-making, simulated mining, cost calculations and the determination of the discounted cash flow return on investment."

Jan 1, 2014

By N. F. Le] [Jaune

[ ]

Jan 1, 1923

By Gavin A. Hunt

In order for mines to operate profitably throughout their life it is important to monitor and maximise ore recovery. A common problem facing many mines is the underestimation of clay type and its distribution in ore at the mine face, blast hole or in the ore stockpile. Too much clay entering the heap leach ore stream for example causes a dramatic reduction in heap leach efficacy and or increased leaching times. The end result is poor leaching performance and much reduced metal production. Poor clay identification and quantification is attributable to many factors, including costly and slow off-site mineral analysis techniques, such as XRD, XRF and petrology, the visual and subjective limitations of the core logging geologist and a lack of suitable low cost, high throughput mineral logging instruments. To get round these problems a new, non-contact, imaging spectrometer - the SpecCam - was developed by Spectra-Map Ltd, to allow high throughput identification and quantification of minerals from mineable material. Its novel imaging design can collect millions of data points (pixels) per day; each pixel contains spectral information that allows a wide variety of mineral types, including the smectite and illite clays, and phyllosilicates such as talc and kaolin, to be identified. Because all the ore can be imaged a much more reliable mineral log can be made. Hence, mapping changes in mineral composition - related to variations in phenocrysts, macrocrysts, veining or wall rock - is possible. Examples of SpecCam data from Goldfields Cerro Corona Porphyry stockpile and from Rio Tinto?s Argyle Diamond mine illustrate the mineral identification and quantification capabilities of the SpecCam. More importantly, for the first time very accurate % abundances for the different minerals can be obtained using an image-based modal count technique. The modular design of the camera, plus its extremely flexible high speed filter, mean that the SpecCam can be easily installed on different equipment, each one suited to different ore recovery problems. For example the SpecCam can be used on an automated portable logging frame to measure drill core, RC chips, hand samples or powder, or alternatively installed on a Geotek multi-sensor core logger for high-throughput, automated logging of drill or blast hole core using co-registered multi-sensor data. An exciting recent development has been the installation of the SpecCam on CommoDas ore sorting equipment, used around the world for 24 hour mill-feed monitoring and automatic ore sorting. Real-time ore sorting decisions can be made as material is monitored on a conveyor belt running at 3m s-1, from which the ore can be automatically sorted into high-grade, low-grade or waste streams for example. The three installation options for the SpecCam mean that most mineral analysis and automated core logging or ore monitoring needs can be met at the mine. For the first time rapid and automatic mineral identification and accurate quantification can be made. All of which allow the mine geologist or metallurgist to make important decisions about maximising the metal recovery process.

May 1, 2007

By R. H. Church

As part of the research effort of investigating the effects of microwave energy upon the chemical and physical properties of different minerals and ores, the Bureau of Mines has conducted basic research into identifying those properties of minerals that are affected by microwave energy, namely, the dielectric constant and loss tangent. These properties were determined utilizing the theory of microwave propagation in a coaxial waveguide filled with a dielectric material and measuring the input impedance with an RF impedance analyzer that operates from 1 MHz to 1 GHz. By knowing the microwave frequency and filling the waveguide with a powdered mineral, the dielectric properties of the mineral sample were determined. From these dielectric properties, theoretical microwave heating characteristics of each mineral could be calculated. These same mineral samples were then irradiated by a 915 MHz 30 kW variable power microwave oven and dielectric heating studies were performed. A comparison of the theoretical heating characteristics and the results from actual dielectric heating studies was conducted to evaluate the dielectric property measurements on each mineral. This report presents the results of the Bureau's research in identifying the dielectric properties of low-loss minerals according to the mineralogical classification scheme along with their irradiation studies. Though far from complete, this study represents some of the more frequently encountered low-loss minerals.

Jan 1, 1988

By Bruno Vidal de Almeida

A campanha dos refratários à base de carbono aplicados como revestimento de trabalho de diversos equipamentos siderúrgicos depende da soma de diversos fatores como resistência à corrosão, resistência à oxidação do carbono, estabilidade termomecânica, entre outros. Durante a etapa de aquecimento inicial de revestimentos refratários novos ocorre a oxidação prematura do carbono presente no revestimento refratário, reduzindo a vida útil do revestimento precocemente. Para reduzir a oxidação precoce do carbono foi desenvolvido um novo coating cerâmico que atua como uma eficiente barreira física, reduzindo o contato do oxigênio da atmosfera de aquecimento com o carbono presente no refratário. O coating desenvolvido possui uma fase ligante com pega química ativada termicamente e possui como carga refratária um composto sílico-aluminoso com elevada estabilidade térmica. Os resultados laboratoriais de avaliação de desempenho revelaram que com a aplicação do novo coating desenvolvido reduz-se a oxidação prematura do carbono em até 77% e elevase a vida útil do revestimento em alguns casos em até 15%. O coating desenvolvido revelou possuir excelente desempenho quanto a proteção do refratário MgO-C contra a oxidação do carbono que ocorre durante a etapa de aquecimento de equipamentos com refratários novos, comprovando sua aplicabilidade em diversos equipamentos siderúrgicos que possuem revestimentos refratários à base de carbono.

Aug 17, 2017

By Elmer Weber, W. M. Baldwin

Solid lead obeys a single parabolic weight increase vs. time law. In contrast, liquid lead undergoes three successive parabolic weight increases vs. time laws, the first of which has a low constant relative to the latter two. The conversion times for the change from one parabola to the next decrease with increasing temperature. IN recent reports on the subject,1,2 it was noted that zirconium and titanium scale in air by a complex mechanism. The scale first forming on the metal is protective to the extent that it gives a low constant, K, for Tammann's, and Pilling and Bedworth's parabolic equation: w² = Kt [1] relating weight increase, w, due to chemical reaction of the metal with the air, and time, t. After hundreds of hours of apparent stability in some cases the first scale yields to another that offers little protection to the metal. This transition from one scale to another, from a slow parabolic oxidation reaction to a fast one, was not due to impurities in the atmosphere or incidental effects (changing environment, etc.) but was a specific behavior of the metal itself, the transition occurring at definite times (dependent on temperature) and showing other reproducible traits. In view of this behavior how can long-time service behavior be predicted from short-time laboratory tests, not only in the case of these metals, but in any case? Certainly a systematic study of the type of scaling behavior described above—wherever it is found—would help to answer this question. The present paper is a report on the behavior as it is found in lead—the only metal to the authors' knowledge for which the behavior has been described at all, if inadequately, for our present purpose.* At least four oxides of lead are known, of which one occurs in two allotropic forms. They are ß (red) tetragonal PbO stable up to 486°C;8 a (yellow) orthorhombic PbO stable from 486°C up to its dissociation temperature in air at about 2300°C;9 minium or Pb3O4 which from the dissociation pressure data given in Fig. 1 decomposes to PbO at 540°C in air; lead sesquioxide or Pb2O3,; and lead dioxide or PbO2 which, according to Fig. 1, decomposes in air at 400°C to minium. In view of the high dissociation temperature of PbO, lead will scale up to at least its boiling point. Further, it is known that oxygen is almost insoluble in liquid lead.'V his implies a fair probability that an oxide scale would not dissolve in the molten metal and would afford the same protection to lead in the liquid state as in the solid. All of the oxides of lead for which specific gravity data are available are more voluminous than an equivalent weight of metal or a lower oxide from which they might form, hence the scales will be in compression. Lead oxides are known to be ductile, so it would be anticipated that they would form coherent nonporous scales. It is not surprising to learn, then, that both solid and liquid lead scale according to the Tammann, and Pilling and Bed-worth law.14,15 (Gruhl states that at 600°C and above lead oxidizes linearly with time because of "spitting" of the scale.) The parabolic constants K reported by various investigators3,14-16 are badly scattered, however, as shown in Fig. 2. The oxides formed on solid lead were described as being reddish-brown but were not chemically identified by Pilling and Bedworth.15 Gruhl's descripdin³ of the appearance of the scales On his liquid samples indicates that a (yellow orthorhombic) PbO is formed initially on the specimens but gives Way eventually—at least at temperatures below 486 °C— to .ß (red tetraunal) PbO, and that below 540°C minium—Pb3O4 :is firmed at an even later time as an overlay on either the red or yellow PbO. Fig. 3 is a graphical interpretation of Gruhl's description. Gruhl does not indicate any change in the parabolic scaling rate as yellow PbO converts to red. He does indicate that minium reduces the scaling rate, al-

Jan 1, 1953

By James R. Holden, Frederick E. Wang

Through both single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction methods, ten A6B23-type compounds have been confirmed to exist between lanthanides (A) (plus scandium and yttrium) and manganese (B); A = Y, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Lu. The formation of a compound of this type is shown to he extremely atomic size-sensitive; hence it can be classified as a "size-factorH compound. The "enveloping effect", a geometrical consideration observed in its crystal structure, is proposed as the reason for the A6B23-type compound being size-sensitive. The approximate ideal geometrical ratio of the radii R/r is 1.31 while experimentally A6B23-type compounds have a radius ratio lying within the range 1.2 to 1.4. FLORIO t al.' characterized the structure of Th6MnZ3 as fcc, space group Fm3m, with 116 atoms in the unit cell. Since then, a number of isotypic binary compounds, and recently Gd n,,' have been confirmed to exist. The fact that strontium and barium form A6Bz3-type compounds with magnesium strongly suggested the possible existence of Ba6Liz3. However, investigation3 showed the compound Ba6LiZ3 to be absent. Since both strontium and barium are group 11-a elements and are therefore "open metals",6 the nonexistence of Ba6LiZ3 can hardly be explained satisfactorily by valence-electron considerations. On the other hand, the consistent atomic-radius ratio, (R/r),* observed for the known A6Bz3-type compounds,3 strongly suggests that the formation of compounds of this type is atomic size-sensitive. Therefore, one is tempted to explain the nonexistence of Ba6LiZ3 entirely on the basis of the atomic-size difference between strontium and barium. However, this approach is not entirely without objection. Atoms are not rigid spheres and are known to vary in size within certain limits.7 Since the atomic-radius difference between strontium and barium (0.07 to 0.09A) is within these limits, it is reasonable to assume that the size difference would have a negligible effect on the formation of Ba6LiZ3. This view is further supported by the fact that the radius ratio, R/r, in other known "size-factor" compounds is observed to range widely—for example, from 1.08 to 1.45 for ABz-type compounds (C15, MgCuz type)' and from 1.37 to 1.58 for AB5-type compounds (D2d, CaZn5 type).g The present investigation was undertaken in order to find a more satisfactory explanation for the non-existence of Ba6LiZ3 and, consequently, a better understanding of the nature of the A6Bz3-type compound. The primary objectives are to confirm the previous conclusion3 that the A6B23-type compound is indeed a "size-factor" compound and subsequently to determine the atomic-radius ratio range in which the A6Bz3-type compound can exist. In order to achieve these objectives, stoichiometric A6Bz3 alloys, where manganese (B) was alloyed with various lanthanide elements (A), were selected for investigation. The atomic-radius ratios of lanthanide elements with manganese range from 1.26 for Lu/~n to 1.46 for Eu/Mn. This radius ratio range includes and exceeds the range of all previously reported A6Bz3-type compounds—1.32 for Th/Mn' through 1.38 for Sr/Li. Furthermore, the atomic-size difference between successive elements of the lanthanide series in order of atomic number) is of the order of 0.01A (europium and ytterbium are exceptions). The series of lanthanon-manganese alloy systems is ideally suited to a precise determination of the limits of allowable atomic-radius ratio for A6Bz3-type compound formation. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The lanthanide metals, in ingot form, supplied by Michigan Chemical Corp. (St. Louis, Mich.) and Nuclear Corp. of America (Burbank, Calif.), were guaranteed by the suppliers to be at least 99.9 wt pct pure (traces of silicon, calcium, and other minor constituents present on occasion, not to be more than 0.05 wt pct) as shown by spectrographic analysis. Manganese metal, in polycrystalline form, was redistilled from the commercial, chemically pure grade and was analyzed to be at least 99.95 wt pct pure. In all cases, the atom ratio between the two elements in each charge was A (rare-earth meta1):B (manganese) = 6:23 and a constant weight, 3 g, of

Jan 1, 1965

By Joseph Newton

MUCH the same story can be told about the copper industry for the year 1944 as for the three preceding years. Operators report few or no technical changes at their plants and the main endeavor has been to maintain high production with existing equipment. No large new installations have been made to increase plant capacities and apparently over-all copper production has passed its maximum. The present decline in copper production results partly from the severe labor shortage. As is true of most industries; the outstanding fact about the copper industry during the past few years has been its tremendous and sustained production which has been maintained in spite of serious shortages in material. labor, and technical personnel. The figures in Table I give a concrete example of how production has been increased at one large smelter in the United States-the Garfield plant of the American Smelting and Refining Co. at Garfield. Utah. These figures, reported by W. G. Rouillard. superintendent. give the production of the Garfield plant for the five years 1940-44 inclusive. The total blister production

Jan 1, 1945

By J. W. Cunningham, M. J. Stultzman

THE demand for improved materials for high-temperature service has increased during the last few years. Iron,- nickel,- and cobalt-base alloys have been investigated extensively and many alloys with outs'tanding high-temperature strength have been developed. Considerable research has been directed toward improved methods of processing these alloys. The vacuum furnace as a tool for the purification and improved control of high-temperature alloys has been studied extensively and production units are in operation. The research covered by this paper studied the effects of casting in air, vacuum, or argon upon the elevated-temperature properties of two nickel- and two cobalt-base alloys. The alloys investigated were Stellite 31, He 1049, Udimet 500, and Guy Alloy. MELTING AND CASTING PROCEDURES Two heats of each of the four alloys under investigation were melted and investment cast under the following conditions: 1) Stellite 31 was melted and investment cast in air and in vacuum, with an argon atmosphere for pouring. 2) He 1049 was melted and investment cast in air and in vacuum, with an argon atmosphere for pouring. 3) Udimet 500 was melted and investment cast in vacuum with and without additions of zirconium and boron. 4) Guy Alloy was melted and investment cast in vacuum and in argon. The heats were all melted in induction furnaces equipped with preformed magnesia crucibles of 50-lb capacity. The air-melting furnace was powered by a spark-gap converter of 40 kw capacity. The vacuum-melting furnace was powered by a motor-generator set of 100 kw capacity. The argon heat of Guy alloy was melted in the vacuum melting furnace under an argon atmosphere. Virgin materials were used for preparing all heats except the air heats of Stellite 31 and He 1049. The charge for the air heat of Stellite 31 was a commercial blend of shot. The charge for the air heat of He 1049 was Stellite 6 shot plus those virgin materials necessary to give the desired composition. All of the materials used were of the same grade used com-

Jan 1, 1960

By Wayne L. Worrell

Thermodynamic data for the stable carbides and oxides of chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten have been critically eualuuted and are used to determine the stable condensed phases at 1 atm total pressure in each metal-carbon-oxygen system. Pourbaix-Ellingham diagrams have been constructed and are used to estimate the minimum temperatures neces.see)*y to oblain these metals by corbolhermic redlrction under reduced pressures. USING recently reported data for the carbides and oxides of chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten, the stable phases in the Group VI metal-carbon-oxygen systems at specific temperatures and pressures can be determined. The thermodynamically stable regions in each metal-carbon-oxygen system can be completely pictured using a Pourbaix-Ellingham diagram in which the two coordinates are oxygen potential (-RT In Po2) and temperature. Worrell and chipman' have described and constructed such diagrams for the metal-carbon-oxygen systems of vanadium, columbium, and tantalum. Downing2 has used similar diagrams to provide a description of the reactions in submerged arc furnaces. One of the examples which he cited was the Cr-C-O system; however, an improved diagram is presented in this paper using recently obtained data for the carbides of chromium. Although some of the oxides and carbides of the Group VI metals exist over slight ranges of composition,3 all solid phases are represented as stoi-chiometric compounds in the subsequent diagrams. Any error introduced into the calculated equilibria by neglecting the compositional variation of these phases is less than the uncertainty in the thermodynamic data. In a Pourbaix-Ellingham diagram for a three-component system, the phase rule requires that at equilibrium four condensed phases specify a point, three condensed phases determine a line, and two condensed phases define an area. To obtain a well-defined area at high oxygen potentials and teniperatures, the initial carbon to oxygen mole ratio is specified to be more than sufficient to reduce the oxide but not enough to convert all the metal to carbide. Thus, the lowest regions in the subse- quent Pourbaix-Ellingham diagrams represent areas in which the metal and its carbide are the stable condensed phases. Cr-C-O SYSTEM A) Thermodynamic Data. To simplify the subsequent calculations, all thermodynamic data are presented in the form of linear Gibbs-energy-of-formation* equations which were derived for the temperature range 505° to 2000°K and are reasonably accurate over the entire temperature ranges of the diagrams. The thermodynamic data for the compounds occurring in the Cr-C-O system are summarized in Table I. Several volatile chromium oxides have been reported,4 but their influence is negligible in the Cr-C-O system. Thermodynamic data for CO and CO2 were taken from the compilation of Coughlin.5 The only solid chromium oxide sufficiently stable to exist below 1800°K in the Cr-C-O system is Cr2Os.11 The Gibbs-energy-of-formation equation for Cr2O3 was obtained by revising the data tabulated in Coughlin,5 using the heat of formation of ah' and the high-temperature thermal data for chromium.7 In 1953 Richardson8 re-evaluated the original work of Kelley and coworkers,9 who measured the thermodynamic properties of the chromium carbides. However, the high-temperature equilibrium results of Boericke9 yield values for ?G°f of Cr2O3 which are 2 kcal more positive than the accepted data. His results for the chromium carbides are based on the same questionable equilibria. Gleiser10 recently determined the Gibbs energy of formation of Cr3C2 and the equation in Table I was calculated from her data and the thermal data of Kelley and coworkers.9 Thermodynamic data for the Cr7C3 and Cr23C6 carbides were obtained by combining the Cr3C2 data

Jan 1, 1965

By Rudolf E. Greuer

Every mine contains inflammable materials, either in form of the minerals mined or in the form of brought-in supplies. Although great efforts are made to make mines as far as possible fireproof and to prevent ignition sources, the possibility of mine fires, like that of other accidents, will always continue to exist. Detailed statistics are available for coal mines. They show (65,112) that the number of major mine fires in the USA over the last 20 years has remained more or less constant with approximately 50 per year. The same number is reported (26) for the British coal mines. Other countries (147) report about 1 major fire for every 10 million tons of coal production. Conflicting data are published on the number of fatalities caused by fires, presumably because frequently deviating opinions on the cause of death exist. On the average (82,99) 4 miners are killed per year in the US and in the British coal mines. Although this number is much smaller than that for several other causes of fatalities, one must keep in mind that almost every small fire can develop into a large disaster.

Jan 1, 1973

By S. M. Marshall, B. M. Bird

For a number of years European investigators have used laboratory methods of predicting the probable strength of coke made from coal, and recently several investigators in the United States have reported the use of various tests for this purpose. There is at present no method accepted as standard, however, nor is there even agreement as to the general type of test that should be used. Furthermore, because the details of most of the tests have not been worked out carefully, one investigator can not hope to duplicate the work of another. The extension of coke manufacture to new localities in the United States, and the increasing need for cokes of exceptional qualities made from the most economical mixtures, made it desirable to have some simple laboratory test which will determine whether given coals, alone or blended with other coals, are more satisfactory from the standpoint of coke strenpth- than others of different cost. The work described herein has resulted in the development of a simple laboratory test which, it is believed, can be generally adopted in coal laborat,ories, and which will give concordant results even though performed by different investigators in different laboratories. The general method of predicting whether a coal or a mixture of coals will produce a strong coke, resistant to crushing and shattering, has been to correlate the known strengths of the cokes produced in commercial ovens with some measurable constituent or with some property of the coals, and then to use the relationship so found for forming an estimate of the coking strengths of coals unknown. Several such correlations have utilized the percentages of the various ultimate constituents of coal, such as the oxygen content and the hydrogen-oxygen ratio;(39)§ other correlations have involved the proportion of a, B and r com-pounds, (17,21,30c) or of "oil and solid bitumens."(16,30) Also a relationship has been traced between the coking properties of coal and the rate of change of the resistance offered to the flow of an inert gas by fine particles of the coal while being slowly heated. (11,176) But the most general corre-

Jan 1, 1930

By C. C. Harris

An analytical solution of the integro-differential equation of batch grinding is proposed as a first appoximation to the xYt surface. The size distribution equation (xY plane) is a three parameter equation previously suggested. Possible refinements are outlined. Comminution kinetics research is presently following several related courses. Some are equivalent, in that they represent different ways of viewing the same facet of the problem, though the entire endeavor cannot be described as being completely integrated. The purpose of this note is to propose and discuss a framework into which the various approaches might be fitted. This must clearly be founded upon an analysis of the xYt surface.' (See also Fig. 1 of Reference 26.) The investigations referred to above comprise mainly researches into the following: (1) The kinetics of the creation of the finer sizes during relatively small grinding times. This is the Fahrenwald-Arbiter-Bhrany 2-3 approach which leads to equations equivalent to a special case of the charles4 relationship. It emerges that initial production of fines follow essentially zero order* kinetics. (2) Disappearance kinetics of the coarser fractions. This appears to be a first order relationship.5-6 (3) Prediction of the xYt surface via the selection and breakage functions utilizing computer-programmed or approximate solutions of the integro-differential equation of batch grinding.5,8-17 A recent discussion by Mika et al.5 references the relevant literature up to about 1966. In addition to these main-stream researches there is some work on the minor topic of extremely long grinding time considered as a limiting case.18-19 The field is supported by investigations into the size distribution of fragments produced by breakage processes, some of this work being most valuably statistical-mechanical in nature.20-25 Better fitting equations, however, are obtained by statistical and curve-fitting methods.26 This

Jan 1, 1969