Search Documents

By Patrick M. Hurley

The relationships between mineral deposits and various plate margin mechanisms are examined under the constraints of radiogenic isotopes and other geochemical indicators. It seems like1 y that: (1) deposits of the spreading ridge association are fairly ubiquitious through most of geologic history and can be recognized by the lithologic assemblage and primitive lead isotope ratios; (2) most metals in the island arc association are not derived entirely from a subducting oceanic plate, and have a partly continental affinity; (3) subduction beneath a continental plate generates ores which are derived either from the downgoing plate or from the lower crust; (4) the heating of a continental plate by thickening or by mantle plumes may develop a metallogenic province involving extraction of metals from the curst; (5) rifts and grabens developing thick sections of marine sediments with evaporites may be the locus of base metal mineralization by movement of reducing brine solutions resulting from diagenesis and bacterial reduction of sulfates

Jan 1, 1978

[United States PAGE Alabama 242 Alaska 242 Arizona 1 242 Arkansas 243 California 243 Colorado 246 Connecticut 248 Delaware 248 District of Columbia 248 Florida 248 Georgia 249 Idaho 249 Illinois 249 Indiana 250 Iowa 250] [ ]

Jan 1, 1925

By N. E. Rogen, N. J. Grant

AGE-hardening in nickel-chromium-titanium-aluminum alloys in the composition range characterized by the Nimonic alloys, is dependent upon the precipitation of the Ni3(AI,Ti) (y') phase.1 This phase is found to precipitate at about 700°C.1 Ni,Al is a face-centered-cubic ordered structure with a lattice parameter of 3.560 A. The atomic configuration is such that the aluminum atoms occupy the cube corners and nickel occupies the cube faces with titanium substituting for the aluminum preferentially. A maximum of three out of every five aluminum atoms can be replaced by titanium atoms in the -y 'phase.' When the solubility of the y'-phase is exceeded for titanium the T(Ni,Ti) phase is formed. The T-phase is an ordered close-packed hexagonal intermetallic structure which shows little solubility for the other elements in these alloys. The lattice parameter for T-phase is a - 2.5454 kr and c = 8.2900 kx units."

Jan 1, 1959

By Henry Howe

§1. FOUR ASPECTS OF FLOW in the plastic deformation of steel by overstrain, such as punching, wire-drawing, tensile rupture, etc., are: (1) The inter-granular, i.e., the relative movements of the several grains, each as a whole; (2) the intra-granular, i.e., the relative movements of the masses of ferrite or cementite and pearlite within those grains; (3) the intra-pearlitic, i.e., the relative movements of the pearlitic ferrite and cementite; and (4) the crystal unit slipping, i.e., the travel of the minute units past each other, along the slipping planes, giving rise to the slip bands of Ewing and Rosenhain. It may be objected justly that (2), (3), and (4) are in a sense "intra-granular," and that (4) is in a sense "intra-pearlitic." Hence clearness may be gained at times by calling these "Movements of the 2d, 3d, and 4th orders" respectively.

Jan 4, 1914

[PRESIDENT GEORGE OTIS SMITH, District 4 WASHINGTON, D. C. PAST PRESIDENTS SAMUEL A. TAYLOR, District 3 PITTSBURGH, PA. E. DEGOLYER, District 0 NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT W. H. BASSETT, District 1 WATERBURY, CONN.]

Jan 1, 1928

By W. Hume-Rothery

RECENT interest has been shown in utilizing solid-state techniques for obtaining large oriented grains in the Alnico Alloys.1-4 Unfortunately, due to the inherent brittleness of these materials it is difficult to introduce sufficient imperfections by deformation to support the nucleation and growth of new, recrystallized grains. As a result, recrystal-lization methods for obtaining large grains, such as the strain-anneal technique, do not appear to be feasible. Steinort et a1.2 used a combination of a thermal gradient and internal strains to obtain large single crystals of Alnico 5 from a poly crystalline casting by annealing at temperatures above 1200°C. It was suggested that the strains were the result of the precipitation of the y phase which exists between -850° and 1200°C. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the grain size of the cast Alnico alloys can be markedly increased by solid state techniques involv-

Jan 1, 1963

The Year Book of the Institute will be mailed with, the May Bulletin. Its membership lists, both alphabetic and geographic, are corrected to Mar. 1, and the lists of officers and committees are corrected to date.

Jan 4, 1919

By O. K. Miniato, L. Massé, K. Nobe, J. S. Aronofsky, W. F. 213-000-000-016 Seyer

MUCH work has been done dealing with the effect of mechanical stress on electrode potential in an electrochemical system. The contradictory nature of the experimental results indicates the complexity of the problem although thermodynamic considerations show that a simple relationshir, should exist. In those systems where a gas was the electromotive active substance satisfactory agreement between theory and practice has been found. Des Coudres' found this to be so even when the active substance of the electrode, in this case mercury, was in the liquid state. In contrast, attempts to correlate theory and experiment for the solid state have met with a very limited success. The early workers in this field, Andrews,2 Walker and Dill3 used iron, certainly one of the most reactive of metals. Others have made use of less active metals such as copper and nickel. Recently Fryxell and Nachtrieb4 investigated the electrochemical behavior of gold and silver under both tensile and compressive stresses and concluded that it was doubtful whether true stress potentials could ever be measured. Much of the lack of success to measure the thermodynamic stress potential can be ascribed to the presence or formation of a complex film on the metal surface in contact with the electrolyte. Further, the theoretical stress potential is very small and therefore difficult to measure directly. Thus the calculated emf between a 24 B & S gage cold-drawn copper wire stressed with a weight of 1 kg and an unstressed portion of the same wire is only 2.60 X 10"7 volts. This is very small compared to that which can be produced by chemical reactions at the metal electrolyte interface which in turn can be so large as to mask completely the stress potential. Hence in this type of measurement all chemical side effects must be eliminated or reduced as much as possible. It was for this reason that the system copper-sodium chloride solution was selected for study. INSTRUMENTATION In the many preliminary experiments conducted, two major difficulties were encountered. The first was to measure the small electro-potentials to be expected and the second to obtain a suitable electrode surface. The conventional potentiometric method was found to be unsatisfactory for measuring the small emf expected. However, by using an L & N No. 2290 galvanometer having a resistance of 915 ohms consistent measurements were possible. The reference electrode was always the unstressed one made from the same sample of wire. The steady current flow was approximately 10-8 amp. Lewis and Randell5 have stated that for currents of the order of 10-8, if there is no sensible polarization, the measured emf may be taken as a reversible one. To check the galvanomenter readings an alternative method was devised to measure the potential difference between the wires. This involved a Liston-Falb d-c breaker amplifier model 10, an L & N k-2 potentiometer and a moving-coil galvanometer having a sensitivity greater than 0.1 µv (microvolt) per mm. To increase further the output voltage of the amplifier a d-c amplifier, model B. L.-932 was introduced into the circuit. This amplifier was in turn connected to a Brush recorder which had been calibrated previously by the test signals from the Liston-Falb instrument. These test voltages employed took into account the impedance of the input current. Unfortunately, this method had too low a sensitivity for measurement below 10 µv. Above this value the voltage agreed reasonably well with those obtained directly by the simple galvanometer method. The main advantage of the amplifier setup was that one did not have to wait until no deflection occurred on the galvanometer in the circuit when first exposing the wires to the solu-

Jan 1, 1959

By G. H. Bruce, C. E. Williams

The trend toward deeper drilling, together with the attcndant increase in power requirements for circulation of the drilling fluid, has emphasized the need for a critical examination of the factors affecting the removal of bit cuttings from the hole by the drilling fluid. The ability of drilling fluids to lift cuttings is called their carrying capacity. A series of laboratory and field experiments has been conducted to determine the minimrim annular velocity necessary to remove cuttings, and to investigate the effects of properties of drilling fluids on their carrying capacities. Consideration of the results of these experiments led to the following conclusions: 1. Turbulent flow in the well annulus is most desirable from the standpoint of cutting removal. 2. Low viscosity and low gel are advantageous in removing cuttings. 3. Increase in mud weight is effective in increasing carrying capacity. 4. The carrying capacity is higher when the pipe is rotated than when it is not. 5. If turbulent flow can be maintained, an annular velocity slightly higher than the slip velocity of the largest cuttings to be transported should keep the bore hole clean. This implies velocities of 100 to 125 ft per minute rather than the presently used 175 to 225 ft per minute. INTRODUCTION Power Savings by Reduction of Annular Velocities A large portion of the power expended in drilling operations is consumed in circulating the drilling fluid. An important factor in establishing the rate of mud circulation is the minimum velocity in the annulus necessary to remove bit cuttings. Empirically, it has been found that average annular mud velocities of about 200 ft per minute will remove cuttings. It was not definitely known, however, whether annular velocities of about 200 ft per minute were just above the minimum necessary to remove cuttings, or whether such velocities could be materially reduced without sacrifice of the ability of the mud to remove cuttings. It is apparent that if annular velocities could be reduced without impairment of cutting removal, a considerable saving in power requirements would result. Need for Research on Carrying Capacity The ability of a drilling fluid to transport cuttings is called its carrying capacity. Although it has been recognized that the carrying capacity of a mud is affected by mud properties such as viscosity and density1,2,3,4 there have been various views in the industry as to the effects of these mud properties on carrying capacity. The economic importance of the problem of carrying capacity and the scarcity of information on the subject indicated that research on the problem was needed. THE FACTORS AFFECTING CARRYING CAPACITY Qualitative Determination of Factors The mechanism of cutting transport is closely related to that involved in the separation of material by settling processes. A considerable amount of research has been done on settling problems, and discussions of sedimentation theory can be found in standard texts.5,6 Consideration of the information available from these sources, together with consideration of the mechanism of cutting transport, leads to the conclusion that the factors affecting carrying capacity are the dimensions of the system, the physical properties of the cuttings. and the physical properties of the drilling fluid. system Dimensions and Their Effect The dimensions of the fluid circulating system of importance to carrying capacity are the bore hole size, drill pipe size, pump capacity, and pump speed. These dimensions determine the annular velocity of the drilling fluid. Physical Properties and Their Effects The physical properties involved in the interaction between mud and cuttings are the density and shape of the cuttings and the density, viscosity and gel strength of the drilling fluid. The effect of the density factor on carrying capacity is fairly obvious; high density difference between cuttings and fluid results in a low buoyant force and therefore decreases carrying capacity. The effect of cutting shape is less obvious. Although

Jan 1, 1951

By C. E. Williams, G. H. Bruce

The trend toward deeper drilling, together with the attcndant increase in power requirements for circulation of the drilling fluid, has emphasized the need for a critical examination of the factors affecting the removal of bit cuttings from the hole by the drilling fluid. The ability of drilling fluids to lift cuttings is called their carrying capacity. A series of laboratory and field experiments has been conducted to determine the minimrim annular velocity necessary to remove cuttings, and to investigate the effects of properties of drilling fluids on their carrying capacities. Consideration of the results of these experiments led to the following conclusions: 1. Turbulent flow in the well annulus is most desirable from the standpoint of cutting removal. 2. Low viscosity and low gel are advantageous in removing cuttings. 3. Increase in mud weight is effective in increasing carrying capacity. 4. The carrying capacity is higher when the pipe is rotated than when it is not. 5. If turbulent flow can be maintained, an annular velocity slightly higher than the slip velocity of the largest cuttings to be transported should keep the bore hole clean. This implies velocities of 100 to 125 ft per minute rather than the presently used 175 to 225 ft per minute. INTRODUCTION Power Savings by Reduction of Annular Velocities A large portion of the power expended in drilling operations is consumed in circulating the drilling fluid. An important factor in establishing the rate of mud circulation is the minimum velocity in the annulus necessary to remove bit cuttings. Empirically, it has been found that average annular mud velocities of about 200 ft per minute will remove cuttings. It was not definitely known, however, whether annular velocities of about 200 ft per minute were just above the minimum necessary to remove cuttings, or whether such velocities could be materially reduced without sacrifice of the ability of the mud to remove cuttings. It is apparent that if annular velocities could be reduced without impairment of cutting removal, a considerable saving in power requirements would result. Need for Research on Carrying Capacity The ability of a drilling fluid to transport cuttings is called its carrying capacity. Although it has been recognized that the carrying capacity of a mud is affected by mud properties such as viscosity and density1,2,3,4 there have been various views in the industry as to the effects of these mud properties on carrying capacity. The economic importance of the problem of carrying capacity and the scarcity of information on the subject indicated that research on the problem was needed. THE FACTORS AFFECTING CARRYING CAPACITY Qualitative Determination of Factors The mechanism of cutting transport is closely related to that involved in the separation of material by settling processes. A considerable amount of research has been done on settling problems, and discussions of sedimentation theory can be found in standard texts.5,6 Consideration of the information available from these sources, together with consideration of the mechanism of cutting transport, leads to the conclusion that the factors affecting carrying capacity are the dimensions of the system, the physical properties of the cuttings. and the physical properties of the drilling fluid. system Dimensions and Their Effect The dimensions of the fluid circulating system of importance to carrying capacity are the bore hole size, drill pipe size, pump capacity, and pump speed. These dimensions determine the annular velocity of the drilling fluid. Physical Properties and Their Effects The physical properties involved in the interaction between mud and cuttings are the density and shape of the cuttings and the density, viscosity and gel strength of the drilling fluid. The effect of the density factor on carrying capacity is fairly obvious; high density difference between cuttings and fluid results in a low buoyant force and therefore decreases carrying capacity. The effect of cutting shape is less obvious. Although

Jan 1, 1951

By Frederick C. Pearson, Albert Brown, Emil R. Ermert

EARLY in 1946 the Shen-Penn Production Co., a subsidiary of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Co., was organized to operate the Shenandoah Stripping, one of the largest open-pit anthracite mines in the world. This mine is located in the Western Middle Field near Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pa., and involves the removal of approximately 60,400,000 cu yd of overburden to permit the recovery of 9,200,000 gross tons of rough cleaned coal from an area 8000 ft long and 2700 ft wide, with a maximum depth of 400 ft. Operations began in August 1946, and within the next few years 31,811,000 cu yd of overburden and 2,994,000 gross tons of rough cleaned coal had been removed. During the early days of open-pit mining operations, steam was the primary motive power. However, as the size of the equipment increased, so did the problems of fuel, water, labor, and maintenance. Because of its efficiency and convenience, electric power rapidly replaced steam. Later the modern diesel engine was developed, and today practically all stripping equipment is either electric, diesel-electric, or diesel-powered. In locations where electric power is not readily available or where operations are scattered over a large area, diesel power is favored. At Shenandoah operations are highly concentrated in a relatively small area, and this fact, coupled with the availability of ample electric energy, indicated the selection of electric-powered equipment. Since this was a new company, it was necessary to purchase every item, from the smallest tools to stripping shovels. Although the organization period was hampered by the postwar scarcity of materials, an excellent opportunity was afforded to set up a thoroughly modern plant. This paper will describe the power facilities, with particular emphasis on the more unusual features. The substation is a major item in a power distribution system, and a simple arrangement utilizing high quality equipment is an excellent investment. With this in mind, a 3000-kva unit type substation was selected and installed. This unit is made up of three sections, which are assembled simply by bolting together the various sections and connecting the power leads, see Fig. 1. The transformer proper, rated at 3000 kva, is oil-filled and nitrogen-sealed, having a 66,000-v Delta primary and 4160-v Wye secondary with a grounded neutral and 46-ohm ground resistor. The function of this resistor will be described later. Electrical energy is purchased from a public utility and is delivered to the main substation at 66,000 v over one or the other of two incoming lines. These lines terminate on a high voltage switching section on which high voltage fuses and Thyrite lightning arresters are installed. The outgoing feeder switching unit is made up of the following: 1-An auxiliary compartment consisting of potential and current transformers with necessary terminal blocks for connecting to power company metering equipment. 2-Another auxiliary compartment containing a control transformer, battery, and battery charger for the furnishing of power for tripping and reclosing of power circuit breakers. The assemblies in these auxiliary compartments are mounted on carriages that can be rolled in and out with ease. Potential transformers are readily accessible for inspection and fuse replacement. When withdrawn from the operating position they are completely de-energized and grounded. 3-Two feeder breaker compartments, each with a 1200-amp, 5000-v, solenoid-operated magneblast air circuit breaker, voltmeter, ammeter, overcurrent relays, and a ground relay. These power circuit breakers can be quickly and safely withdrawn or repaired. A built-in isolating mechanism is used for lowering the breaker to a transfer truck for repair or inspection or as a means of disconnecting the breaker from the source of power as an added precaution when working on power lines. Thus inspec-

Jan 1, 1952

By A. Vifian, I. lwasaki

Several samples of copper-nickel ore from the Duluth Gabbro were studied to relate their mineral-ogical characteristics with their amenability to concentration by flotation. The most common rocks in the samples were norites, gabbros, and troctolites. The texture of the rocks varied from coarse pegma-titic to very fine. The copper contents ranged from 0.2-0.7% and the nickel contents from 0.07-0.15%. The ore minerals were chalcopyrite, cubanite, pyrrhotite, and pentlandite. Most of the ore minerals occurred in interstices between laths of plagioclase, but some were included in the gangue grains. The samples responded readily to xanthate flotation. After a 65 to 100-mesh grind about 95% of the copper and 85% of the nickel were recovered in a bulk sulfide concentrate. Such recoveries remained constant even with grinds as fine as 270 mesh due to the extremely fine inclusions of sulfides in the silicate gangue. A finer grind than 270 mesh was necessary to free the copper-iron sulfides from the nickel-iron sulfides. A combination of time and British gum* was quite effective in producing concentrates analyzing 25-30% copper. The nickel concentrate averaged 1.5% nickel. Most of the nickel lost in the tailing was present as un-liberated sulfides and not as nickel in the olivine structure. The nickel content of the olivine was only about 0.05 or 0.08%. Western world nickel usage in 1967 is expected to be the second highest on record, amounting to 825 million lb. Despite a rise in mine production, however, demand is expected to exceed supply in 1968. ' Hence, exploration, development, and production expansion projects are being accelerated on a world scale. In Minnesota the copper-nickel bearing Duluth Gabbro is receiving much attention. During the past year 11 companies have been granted leases in the region, and the 1967 Minnesota legislature enacted a tax law designed to encourage the development of a copper-nickel industry. Although it is only during the past few years that mining companies have shown an active interest in the Minnesota copper-nickel deposit, copper-nickel minerals have been known to exist in northeastern Minnesota since 1899.3 At the 28th Mining Symposium, Dr. P. K. Sims, from the Geological Survey of Minnesota, gave a review of copper-nickel exploration in northeastern Minnesota,4 in which he emphasized that the potential of the Duluth Gabbro complex is large. Tests on samples from the Kawishiwi River area were reported by the United States Bureau of Mines in 1955.' In 1964, the Mines Experiment Station described tests on samples from the Gunflint Trail: and in 1966 the Minnesota Geological Survey published a geological map of the Gabbro Lake Quadrangle. The Mines Experiment Station published a study of the concentration of a Minnesota copper-nickel ore in 1967.7 The present paper is divided into three parts. The first describes the mineralogy of some rock samples from the Kawishiwi River area of northeastern Minnesota; the second summarizes the results of numerous flotation tests that were made on the samples, and the third explains the loss of nickel in the flotation tailing. MINERALOGY OF KAWlSHlWl ROCKS Recently five samples of mineralized gabbro from the Kawishiwi River area, a few miles east of Ely, were received at the Mines Experiment Station. One of the samples was a 175-lb composite, which was designated Ore 1556. The other four samples were 7-lb grab samples that had been obtained from four different exploration pits. They were designated Ore 1626, Lots 1 through 4. Basic Mineralogy: Many authors have reported that the rocks of the so-called gabbro of the Duluth Intrusion vary widely in composition.8-9 The samples on which our studies were based also contained a wide range of rocks. A gabbro, olivine-gabbro, anorthosite-gabbro, norite, and a troctolite were represented. The essential minerals in the samples were plagio-clase, pyroxene, and olivine, in variable proportions.

Jan 1, 1969

By M. T. Simnad, C. E. Birchenall, M. H. Davies

THE marker movements observed by Davies, Simnad, and Birchenall during the growth of magnetite on wustite have been misinterpreted. It is the purpose of this note to correct the original interpretation. In that investigation wustite specimens were prepared by oxidizing pure iron disks in water vapor until the iron was consumed. Argon was used as a carrier gas for the water vapor and on the complete conversion of the metal to its oxides ('FeO' plus a small amount (10 pct) of surface Fe3O) the water supply was bypassed and the specimens were annealed in argon alone in order to equilibrate the wustite with the overlying magnetite. After cooling, the magnetite was ground off, a crude magnetic test being employed to determine its complete removal. Radioactive silver streaks were then applied to the surface and the specimen was oxidized completely in water vapor to prevent hematite formation. After complete oxidation the markers were found to enclose about 80 pct of the magnetite with the other 20 pct lying outside the markers. This observation was interpreted to mean that oxygen transport was four times as great as iron transport during the growth of the magnetite. The conclusion would have been correct if, as in the case of wustite growing on iron, all the iron had started from one side of the marker and all the oxygen from the other side initially. Actually a material balance is required. For simplicity, take wustite to be exactly FeO, and magnetite to be Fe3O,. Then at the start of the reaction 3 FeO + O -> Fe,O., All of the iron and three-fourths of the oxygen of the final product will be within the marker inter- faces. The other fourth of the oxygen is in the gas phase outside the marker. From the experimentally determined final position of the markers simple calculation shows that one-fifth of the total iron has crossed the marker interface, while one-twentieth of the total oxygen has crossed in the reverse direction. The simplified result favors iron transport in the ratio four to one. However wiistite is not stoichiometric FeO. At 900°C, the temperature of the measurement, the composition is about FeO When the material balance for the same experimental result is repeated, assuming the product will be 1 mol of Fe3O4, it is found that 0.6 gram atoms of iron and 0.19 gram atoms of oxygen must have passed the marker in the same direction. (This is readily apparent from the reaction to form 1 mol of Fe3O4 SFeO The total oxygen supplied from the atmosphere is 0.61 gram atoms, but the iron which passes the marker interface, i.e., 0.6 gram atoms, requires 0.8 gram atoms of oxygen to convert it to Fe,O,.) If all the transport during magnetite growth is due to iron ion diffusion, then the marker would enclose about 85 pct of the final magnetite and the original measurement is in error by about 5 pct. This error is probably less than the uncertainty in locating the markers by autoradiography. The possibility also exists that the starting wustite was not quite saturated with oxygen and underwent further enrichment with consequent envelopment of the marker before magnetite caught up with the marker interface. In any case it appears that these measurements actually favor iron ion diffusion in magnetite overwhelmingly as the factor controlling its growth, although further experimental measurements are needed to eliminate the error in material balance described. Such studies are planned.

Jan 1, 1954

By Fredrick C. Pearson, Albert Brown, Emil R. Ermert

EARLY in 1946 the Shen-Penn Production CO., a subsidiary of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Co., was organized to operate the Shenan-doah Stripping, one of the largest open-pit anthracite mines in the world. This mine is located in the Western Middle Field near Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pa., and involves the removal of approximately 60,400,000 cu yd of overburden to permit the recovery of 9,200,000 gross tons of rough cleaned coal from an area 8000 ft long and 2700 ft wide, with a maximum depth of 400 ft. Operations began in August 1946, and within the next few years 31,811,-000 cu yd of overburden and 2,994,000 gross tons of rough cleaned coal had been removed. During the early days of open-pit mining operations, steam was the primary motive power. However, as the size of the equipment increased, so did the problems of fuel, water, labor, and maintenance. Because of its efficiency and convenience, electric power rapidly replaced steam. Later the modern diesel engine was developed, and today practically all stripping equipment is either electric, diesel-electric, or diesel-powered. In locations where electric power is not readily available or where operations are scattered over a large area, diesel power is favored. At Shenandoah operations are highly concentrated in a relatively small area, and this fact, coupled with the availability of ample electric energy, indicated the selection of electric-powered equipment. Since this was a new company, it was necessary to purchase every item, from the smallest tools to stripping shovels. Although the organization period was hampered by the postwar scarcity of materials, an excellent opportunity was afforded to set up a thoroughly modern plant. This paper will describe the power facilities, with particular emphasis on the more unusual features. The substation is a major item in a power distribution system, and a simple arrangement utilizing high quality equipment is an excellent investment. With this in mind, a 3000-kva unit type substation was selected and installed. This unit is made up of three sections, which are assembled simply by bolting together the various sections and connecting the power leads, see Fig. 1. The transformer proper, rated at 3000 kva, is oil-filled and nitrogen-sealed, having a 66,000-v Delta primary and 4160-v Wye secondary with a grounded neutral and 46-ohm ground resistor. The function of this resistor will be described later. Electrical energy is purchased from a public utility and is delivered to the main substation at 66,000 v over one or the other of two incoming lines. These lines terminate on a high voltage switching section on which high voltage fuses and Thyrite lightning arresters are installed. The outgoing feeder switching unit is made up of the following: 1—An auxiliary compartment consisting of potential and current transformers with necessary terminal blocks for connecting to power company metering equipment. 2—Another auxiliary compartment containing a control transformer, battery, and battery charger for the furnishing of power for tripping and reclosing of power circuit breakers. The assemblies in these auxiliary compartments are mounted on carriages that can be rolled in and out with ease. Potential transformers are readily accessible for inspection and fuse replacement. When withdrawn from the operating position they are completely de-energized and grounded. 3—Two feeder breaker compartments, each with a 1200-amp, 5000-v, solenoid-operated magneblast air circuit breaker, voltmeter, ammeter, overcurrent relays, and a ground relay. These power circuit breakers can be quickly and safely withdrawn or repaired. A built-in isolating mechanism is used for lowering the breaker to a transfer truck for repair or inspection or as a means of disconnecting the breaker from the source of power as an added precaution when working on power lines. Thus inspec-

Jan 1, 1953

By Albert Brown, Emil R. Ermert, Fredrick C. Pearson

EARLY in 1946 the Shen-Penn Production CO., a subsidiary of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Co., was organized to operate the Shenan-doah Stripping, one of the largest open-pit anthracite mines in the world. This mine is located in the Western Middle Field near Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pa., and involves the removal of approximately 60,400,000 cu yd of overburden to permit the recovery of 9,200,000 gross tons of rough cleaned coal from an area 8000 ft long and 2700 ft wide, with a maximum depth of 400 ft. Operations began in August 1946, and within the next few years 31,811,-000 cu yd of overburden and 2,994,000 gross tons of rough cleaned coal had been removed. During the early days of open-pit mining operations, steam was the primary motive power. However, as the size of the equipment increased, so did the problems of fuel, water, labor, and maintenance. Because of its efficiency and convenience, electric power rapidly replaced steam. Later the modern diesel engine was developed, and today practically all stripping equipment is either electric, diesel-electric, or diesel-powered. In locations where electric power is not readily available or where operations are scattered over a large area, diesel power is favored. At Shenandoah operations are highly concentrated in a relatively small area, and this fact, coupled with the availability of ample electric energy, indicated the selection of electric-powered equipment. Since this was a new company, it was necessary to purchase every item, from the smallest tools to stripping shovels. Although the organization period was hampered by the postwar scarcity of materials, an excellent opportunity was afforded to set up a thoroughly modern plant. This paper will describe the power facilities, with particular emphasis on the more unusual features. The substation is a major item in a power distribution system, and a simple arrangement utilizing high quality equipment is an excellent investment. With this in mind, a 3000-kva unit type substation was selected and installed. This unit is made up of three sections, which are assembled simply by bolting together the various sections and connecting the power leads, see Fig. 1. The transformer proper, rated at 3000 kva, is oil-filled and nitrogen-sealed, having a 66,000-v Delta primary and 4160-v Wye secondary with a grounded neutral and 46-ohm ground resistor. The function of this resistor will be described later. Electrical energy is purchased from a public utility and is delivered to the main substation at 66,000 v over one or the other of two incoming lines. These lines terminate on a high voltage switching section on which high voltage fuses and Thyrite lightning arresters are installed. The outgoing feeder switching unit is made up of the following: 1—An auxiliary compartment consisting of potential and current transformers with necessary terminal blocks for connecting to power company metering equipment. 2—Another auxiliary compartment containing a control transformer, battery, and battery charger for the furnishing of power for tripping and reclosing of power circuit breakers. The assemblies in these auxiliary compartments are mounted on carriages that can be rolled in and out with ease. Potential transformers are readily accessible for inspection and fuse replacement. When withdrawn from the operating position they are completely de-energized and grounded. 3—Two feeder breaker compartments, each with a 1200-amp, 5000-v, solenoid-operated magneblast air circuit breaker, voltmeter, ammeter, overcurrent relays, and a ground relay. These power circuit breakers can be quickly and safely withdrawn or repaired. A built-in isolating mechanism is used for lowering the breaker to a transfer truck for repair or inspection or as a means of disconnecting the breaker from the source of power as an added precaution when working on power lines. Thus inspec-

Jan 1, 1953

By E. J. Koval

Practical miscible displacement processes will be characterized by lingering of the solvent into the oil. The lingering process is brought on by viscosity differences, and can be accentuated by channeling and longitudinal dispersion. The effects of these factors on the efficiency of unstable completely miscible displacements are combined in what is called the K-factor method. This method, analogous to the Buckley-Leverett method, predicts recovery and solvent cut as a function of pore volumes of solvent injected. Experimental data are included and show excellent agreement with theory for a wide variety of sandstone cores and viscosity ratios. INTRODUCTION Theoretical considerations,1 laboratory experiments,2 and pilot tests3 lead to the conclusion that miscible displacements in the field will be unstable In an unstable miscible displacement, the solvent fingers through the oil. This fingering leads to early breakthrough of the solvent and an extended period during which both oil and solvent are produced. For such a system, there appear to be four principal factors which bring about or accentuate the effects of instability: longitudinal dispersion (including geometrical effects), channeling, viscosity differences and gravity differences. Other factors, such as diffusion and flooding rate, can also influence the effects of instability, but at the flooding rates considered in this report, circa 15 ft/D, they are unimportant. Longitudinal dispersion can be thought of as a spreading of the solvent front caused by the presence of microscopic inhomogeneities. Channeling of the solvent occurs when a porous medium has macroscopic inhomogeneities; i.e., gross permeability variations. Viscosity differences lead to fingering of the less viscous solvent. This difference in viscosity accelerates the growth of fingers along paths previously developed because of permeability variations. Gravity differences lead to overriding by the usually less dense solvent. Al- though gravity effects are generally small at a flooding rate of 15 ft/D, they would, nevertheless, unnecessarily complicate the interpretation of flooding experiments. For this reason, all the experiments reported herein were done with matched density fluids. Fingering and the resultant poor areal sweep were recognized early as the dominant influences on the efficiency and the economics of miscible displacement processes. Much research effort has been spent on ways to minimize fingering and increase areal sweep such as the use of graded viscosity slugs4 or water slugs. Some researchers attempted to work out ways to prevent fingering completely; i.e., to achieve a stable displacement through gravity or latitudinal dispersion stabilization. l Others did not attempt to control fingering but obtained an economic process by merely recycling the solvent and sweeping pattern by pattern.6 During this period, all aspects of fingering came under close scrutiny. Some researchers reported on how fingering looks2 and how it is affected by viscosity ratio,7 geometry,7 and slug size.2,* Peaceman and Rachfordg suggested a mathematical approach to the prediction of unstable miscible displacements in relatively homogeneous sand packs, but their work cannot be extended conveniently to heterogeneous systems. Hence for a heterogeneous system, no method is presently available for predicting solvent cut and recovery as functions of pore volumes of solvent injected. The purpose of this investigation was to attempt to fill in the gap in our knowledge concerning the prediction of performance of unstable miscible dis placements. Necessarily, the system selected for study was a relatively simple one. The restrictions placed on the system were: (1) The system was linear; (2) The solvent was miscible in all proportions with the oil in place; (3) The solvent was continuously injected into the porous medium; (4) Gravitational effects were eliminated by matching densities and (5) All the flood rates were high and constant at 15 ft/D to avoid any small rate effect and to minimize any diffusion effects. To simplify and to indicate that both longitudinal dispersion and channeling arise from permeability variations, the effects which they cause or influence have been termed heterogeneity effects. The use of

By C. A. Hope, H. B. Wishart

THE number and severity of surface imperfections on rolled slabs, assuming the reception of uniformly good quality heats from the open hearths, depend upon a number of conditions associated with heating and rolling of steel in the primary mills. While there are other elements that have an effect on surface quality, rather than make this paper too lengthy the discussion of mill processing variables will be limited to three factors in order to illustrate their effect on slab surface quality: 1—amount of reduction between ingot and slab, 2—slab finishing temperatures, and 3—influence of roll changes. Measurement of the percentage of surface removed by scarfing on the flat surfaces of the slabs was used for evaluating quality in this study. A study of this nature must be made on slabs that are inspected and conditioned under uniform conditions and standards. In order to be certain that steel of the best possible steelmaking quality was received at the rolling mills, a low carbon deep drawing grade of rimmed steel, made for sheet mill application and manufactured under carefully controlled open hearth practices, was selected. Use of this particular steel thereby reduced the steel quality factor as a possible source of variation. The measure of slab surface quality is the amount of surface removed by scarfing during yard conditioning and is expressed as percentage of surface removal. This percentage was estimated by experienced personnel to uniform standards and it should be noted that these percentage figures are representative only for the grade selected and under the rigid inspection standards to which the slabs were subjected. Surface removal is a matter of concern because the imperfections, if undetected, often are the cause of poor surface quality in the finished product and their removal, by conditioning, add to the total plant costs. The data was collected at various times over a period of six months and, with normal weekly fluctuation in the level of quality, it is to be expected that for any period of sampling there will be some variation in the plotted results. The type of defect that is responsible for most slab conditioning at Gary Steel Works is a light angular surface break. This defect is usually interconnected to form large defective areas and occurs mainly on the bottom half of the slab on both sides. This type of defect is illustrated in Fig. 1, showing a bottom portion of a slab; while a close-up of an area of the same slab where the surface breaks were found is given in Fig. 2. The large dark areas are heat patterns, results of hot stacking and cooling. Independent of these light breaks, but sometimes associated with them, are larger and deeper isolated breaks. However, most of the surface removal occurs from conditioning the large areas of small breaks. There are also occasional scabs of varying degrees of severity but these are relatively infrequent. The slabs are generally free of rolled-in scale. Ingot to Slab Reduction vs Quality Some ten years ago at Gary Steel Works, the minimum slab ingot thickness was 30 in. Subsequent operating and other quality features indicated the desirability of using an ingot of reduced thickness with the result that a series of molds that would produce a 22 in. thick ingot with various widths was adopted as standard. A minimum number of the thicker mold sets are still used. From the standpoint of quality difficulties from pipe and segregation, the smaller ingots are an improvement. From a quality surface viewpoint, the slab product from the thin molds requires approximately twice the surface removal as the slab product from the thick molds. This is shown in Fig. 3 where the percentage of surface removal is plotted against slab product rolled from

Jan 1, 1956

By Orville R. Lyons

THE relative performance of coal washing equipment, or the effectiveness with which any type or make of equipment removes impurities from coal, has been most difficult to evaluate in the past. The most widely used yardstick is the Frazer and Yancey efficiency formula developed in 1922,1 but Yancey in a later article states that "washers treating coals of different density composition or operating at different densities of separation cannot be compared directly on the basis of this criterion."' Prior to and since 1922, a variety of other methods has been used for comparison purposes, including the distribution curve, the error area, and the "ecart probable" or probable error. Yancey and Geer in discussing these methods conclude, "Performance can be evaluated in a number of different ways, with the choice of the proper method to use being dictated by the objectives of the investigation and the data available."' It is true that performance can be evaluated in a variety of ways, but if the equipment is to be evaluated on an effectiveness basis, there should be only one universal comparison method. Varying methods have been used because one universal comparison method has not been found or developed. In the article previously quoted, Yancey and Geer state in clear terms the primary concept for a universal comparison method: "One of the simplest, and certainly one of the most obvious evaluations of washery performance is the quantity of sink material in the washed coal and the float material in the refuse. If the washery products are tested at the density at which the washing unit is operated, the sink in the washed coal and the float in the refuse represent material that has been misplaced." The quantity of misplaced material was used as a criterion of washery performance by Lincoln in 1913,8 by the United States Bureau of Mines in 1938,4 by Hancock in 1947,3 and by the national French research agency Cerchar in recent years.2 In 1950 Anderson' proposed the use of this criterion as an efficiency value to replace the Frazer and Yancey formula. However, none of the above-mentioned investigators used the misplaced material concept in a manner that would provide universal coal-cleaning equipment comparisons. The Correlation Theory The ideal coal cleaning process would treat all sizes and would make a perfect separation at any given specific gravity. All material lower in density than the desired value would report in the coal product and all material higher in density would report in the refuse product. Unfortunately, no known cleaning process achieves this goal and there seems little likelihood that any process yet to be invented will do more than approach it. When coal is treated in volume under operating conditions, it is impossible to avoid mechanical entrapment, fluctuations in throughput and effective gravity of separation, and the creation of turbulent currents, even when a true heavy-liquid bath is used and the feed is closely sized and contains little intermediate gravity material. This being so, it is possible to appreciate the difficulties inherent in trying to obtain a perfect separation when treating a wide range of sizes and a feed containing high percentages of intermediate material, using turbulent currents to help create the effective separation gravity, under operating conditions which normally tend to be on the overload side. When coal is separated from refuse in any coal cleaning equipment, some refuse always reports to the coal and some coal to the refuse; the writer therefore assumed that there should be a relationship between the total amount of misplaced material produced by any given piece of equipment and the difficulty of separation as represented by the percentage of near gravity material in the feed. With small amounts of near gravity or ±0.1 material in the feed there should be less misplacement of material than would occur with large amounts of near

Jan 1, 1952

By C. F. Baes, H. H. Kellogg

The effect of dissolved sulphur on the surface tension of liquid copper has been measured by a sessile-drop method at 1120°C. Sulphur is highly "surface active" in liquid copper; the surface tension lowering is about 650 dynes per cm for a sulphur content of 0.6 pct. The degree of adsorption of sulphur on the liquid copper surface has been calculated, and various models of the surface layer have been tested against the results. THE science and technology of surface chemistry and physics at room temperature are relatively advanced, and the engineer possesses a background of information that allows him to predict and control many phenomena—such as frothing, emulsifica-tion, wetting of solids by liquids, flow through capillaries, adsorption, mineral flotation, penetration of porous bodies by liquids—which are related to the behavior at interfaces. Surface phenomena in high temperature systems are probably of equal importance to the metallurgist and ceramist, but at present are incompletely understood. Frothing of liquid slags, penetration of refractories by liquid metals and slags, infiltration of powder metallurgy "skeletons" by liquid metals, bonding of metals to ceramic oxides in the manufacture of "cermets," wetting of one metal by another for purposes of soldering and welding, are but a few of the many phenomena of metallurgy that are controlled by surface behavior. Concerning the most elementary of surface properties—the gas-liquid surface tension—the existing data on liquid metals are inadequate. For the surface tension of "pure" metals the results of different investigators differ by 10 or 20 pct. The role of surface-active agents in liquid metals is relatively unknown, and it is not unlikely that the discrepancy in the values for the surface tension of pure metals is due to the presence of traces of surface-tension-lowering impurities in the samples. Based on analogy to room-temperature systems, the highly surface-active impurities in liquid metals should be elements or compounds of limited solubility in the liquid metal and possessing considerably weaker in-termolecular bonding forces than the metal itself. The nonmetals of the V, VI, and VII groups of the periodic table might be expected to act in this way. The experimental work in this paper represents a study of the surface tension of pure liquid copper in hydrogen at 1120°C, and the effect of dissolved sulphur (which is a strongly surface-active agent in liquid copper) on the surface tension of copper. The Gibbs equation has been applied to the results and an attempt made to correlate the surface tension behavior with two models of the interfacial layer. The sessile-drop method for surface-tension measurement at high temperatures which was used in this investigation has been described by several investigators.1,2 It involves the measurements of the dimensions of a stationary liquid drop on a horizontal surface. From these dimensions and the liquid density, the surface tension of the liquid may be calculated either by means of various approximate formulas, or more accurately by means of the Bash-forth and Adams tables.- or liquid drops which exhibit a contact angle greater than 90°, by far the simplest dimensions to measure are those indicated in Fig. 1, i.e., the diameter of the maximum horizontal cross section (2X) and the maximum height (Z) above this plane. In order to calculate the contact angle and the volume of the drop, the diameter at the base of the drop (2a) and the total height (h) also must be measured. Upon investigation of the literature, the authors failed to discover a concise statement of the accuracy of the method when used in conjunction with the Bashforth and Adams tables, hence a careful examination of the tables was made and the curve shown in Fig. 2 was constructed. The "error factor," plotted as the ordinate, is the factor by which the

Jan 1, 1954

By H. A. Deans

A three-parameter mathematical model for one-dimensional flow in porous media is developed. The objective of the model is to predict accurately the longitudinal dispersion associated with the flow of either gases or liquids over a wide range of Reynolds number. A qualitative analysis of the model parameters is given. Published experimental pulse-response curves are compared with results predicted by the model. Several general types of problems are given for which the model can be used. INTRODUCTION The problem of multicomponent single-phase flow through porous media is encountered in the study of petroleum reservoirs, gas chromatographic and ion-exchange columns, industrial fixed-bed con-tacters and elsewhere. These particular examples span the wide range of flow conditions possible; Reynolds numbers of less than l0-4 are not unusual in oil-production problems, while values in excess of 103 are common in large fixed-bed operations. The study of flow-dependent transport phenomena is complicated both by the changes in the character of the flow over this range, and by the irregularity of the flow boundaries inherent to porous media. Dispersion is one of the important phenomena known to depend fundamentally on flow conditions as well as on fluid and medium properties. As used in this paper, the term "dispersion" refers to the observed mixing of fluid elements of different composition which occurs in flow systems. The actual mechanism may be one or more of a number listed below. Only dispersion in the direction of the mean flow (referred to as axial or longitudinal dispersion, or mixing) is considered here, although lateral dispersion arises as part of certain coupled mechanisms. MECHANISMS FOR LONGITUDINAL DISPERSION A number of distinct mechanisms are known3,5,7,8 to contribute to the phenomenon of longitudinal dispersion. The more important of these are as follows. 1. Molecular diffusion in the flow direction. 2. Turbulent (cell) mixing. 3. Lateral transport processes coupled with velocity and/or residence time distributions, including: (a) "Taylor" diffusion caused by the interaction of velocity profiles in individual voids with lateral molecular diffusion; (b) separation and remixing or interdiffusion of streams having different velocities around particles; and (c) the couplipg of gross velocity profiles, caused by viscous instability or inhomogeneous porosity, with lateral dispersion. 4. Finite mass-transfer rate between a porous matrix and the flowing phase, and finite diffusion rate inside elements of the porous matrix. It is a well documented fact that these mechanisms, whether acting individually or in combinations, produce essentially similar integral effects. The observed dispersion can be described approximately by solutions of the diffusion equation with a properly chosen dispersion coefficient. Necessary conditions for equivalence between dispersion and diffusion are discussed by Klinkenberg and Sjenitzer.7 Apparently these conditions are not satisfied exactly in many real systems. "Best fit" solutions of the diffusion equation often depart appreciably from measured breakthrough curves for the usual pulse- or step-forced experimental systems. In particular, pulse response curves usually show some degree of asymmetry and "tailing" which cannot be reproduced by the one-parameter diffusion model. The three-parameter model proposed herein attempts to produce these effects in a realistic manner. Asymmetry and tailing are predicted for certain sets of parameter values, while for other sets the new model agrees with the diffusion model. VELOCITY DEPENDENCE OF DISPERSION Molecular diffusion apparently controls at sufficiently low Reynolds number in both gas and liquid systems.*l3 At Re > 20, turbulent cell mixing is dominant for gases flowing at low pressure; the data of McHenry and Wilhelm8 show that the mixing cell is approximately 1 particle diameter long in random sphere packs. on the other hand, the data