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By C. R. Kuzell, G. H. Wigton

Knowledge of the thermal capacity of gases is of great importance in making metallurgical calculations. The metallurgist is frequeqtly called upon to investigate and determine furnace efficiencies in which the heat carried into or out of the furnace by gases is a large item in the heat balance. Not only do such problems present themselves in the determination of furnace efficiency, but also in the study of the application of heat in accessory apparatus, such as stoves, regenerators, waste-heat boilers, driers, etc. The thermal effect of the use of excess air in the combustion of fuel, the theoretical temperatures of combustion, the quantity of heat in hot blast at various temperatures, the effect of hot blast on furnace temperatures, are a few more examples of frequently occurring calorific problems involving gases. So many are the applications of the data on the heat capacity of gases that the subject merits careful study. The heat in a gas maybe due to its heat of combustion, if it is a combustible gas, and to its temperature. The latter is called its sensible heat and is the heat absorbed or evolved by a gas as its temperature is raised or lowered. The heat of combustion of gases is well established and is commonly known. The values can be found in almost any modern treatise on metallurgy. The sensible heat of gases has not been so well established because it is in most cases a function of the temperature, and the values of specific heats of gases over a wide range of temperatures have only recently been determined. It is the purpose of this paper to deal with the sensible heat of gases. - The calculation of sensible-heat capacities1 from specific-heat equations is a comparatively long and tedious operation. This is especially

Jan 1, 1915

By Clarence Wright

THE average lead and zinc content of the ores mined and milled in the Joplin district is low as compared with that of other lead and zinc deposits throughout the United States. Because of this fact and of the high grade of the concentrates, the ratio of concentration is unusually high. Most of the operating companies have aimed to produce as high a grade of concentrate as possible in order to obtain the highest price for their product. They have done this at the sacrifice of the percentage of zinc recovered. The average percentage of zinc recovery is from 60 to 70 per cent. For percentage of recoveries from actual mill tests, see tables. The concentration is commonly effected by crushing the ore to h-in. (12.7 mm.) size and subjecting it to a roughing and cleaning over two or more large Cooley jigs, of the Harz type, the finer sands being treated on the usual types of sand and slime tables. The treatment of slimes by flotation is being tested at several of the larger mills. COARSE CONCENTRATION When the ore. has been hoisted from the mine it is dumped onto a chute leading to a grizzly made of iron bars, usually heavy rails, spaced 4 to -5 in. (101 to 127 mm.) apart. The oversize is caught on the grizzly, the mineralized pieces are broken with sledge hammers so as to pass through, and the boulders that are practically barren are sorted out by hand and trammed to the waste-rock pile. The proportion of waste rock thus sorted out varies from a fraction of 1 per cent to 15 per cent., depending on the nature of the rock.

Jan 10, 1917

By Edwin Ludlow

For many years, coal has been known to exist in the valley of the Sabinas river, in the State of Coahuila, and for about 15 years it has been worked by the Mexican International Railway Co., which opened mines for its own fuel-supply when the railway was built, and has been mining continuously ever since. The coal-basin worked by this company lies along the Sabinas river, principally on the SW. side. It covers a wide area and has been carefully prospected, but only in a few parts have the beds been found sufficiently thick and regular for economical operation. This Sabinas basin was considered the only one in this field, until, in the Spring of 1899, the Las Esperanzas basin was found by Messrs. J. L. Elliot and E. D. Peters, who were in Mexico looking after some copper-properties. After a further examination by Mr. James T. Gardiner, of New York, the Mexican Coal & Coke Co. was organized in June, and active work was begun on Nov. 5, 1899. The coal-field of Las Esperanzas, situated in the State of Coahuila, about 85 miles SW. of Eagle Pass, Texas, adjoins and runs parallel with the Sabinas basin—an anticlinal separating the two outcrops by about 2 miles. Fig. 1 is a sketch-map of a part of the basin. The coal-formation is in the Upper Cretaceous, and corresponds with the Laramie measures of the United States. The following geological section, taken in Nogales canon, shows the measures between the massive limestones forming the Sierra de la Santa Rosa and the outcrop of the coal: Section. Feet. Limestone,...Unknown. Blue shale,.........110 Shale and sandstone,.. 60 Bed of fossiliferous shale,. 60

Jan 1, 1902

IT is difficult to judge how much influence the success attained during its first year, 186465, by the School of Mines at Columbia had on developments in education for the mineral industry elsewhere in the immediately subsequent years. The facts are as follows: 1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology began giving instruction in February 1865, with a mining course included in its curriculum. 2. Early in 1865 the faculty of the Department of Science, Literature and the Arts of the University of Michigan requested permission from the Regents to establish "a course of study to be called the School of Mines . . . Also that the degree of Mining Engineering be conferred on students who should complete the course of study prescribed in the same." A resolution authorizing this was adopted by the Regents on March 28, 1865. 3. Samuel Hooper endowed a Sturgis-Hooper professorship of geology at Harvard in 1865 with the intention of making it a nucleus of a new School of Practical Mining and Geology. 4. Yale appointed Alfred P. Rockwell professor of mining in 1865. 5. Lafayette College appointed Henry S. Osborn professor of mining and metallurgy in 1865. 6. Washington College (as Washington and Lee was then known), rising out of the ashes of Civil War destruction, made a fresh start in 1865, with General Lee as its president, and offered a mining course in the first catalogue thereafter published. 7. Lehigh University, founded in 1866, had a mining curriculum from its beginning. 8. Rensselaer Polytechnic began offering a curriculum in mining and metallurgical engineering in 1867. It would be natural to suppose that these events were a reaction to the success of the school at Columbia, and possibly they

Jan 1, 1941

By Ralph A. Sherman, J. M. Pilcher

BY surface treatment of coal is meant the application of a material, either solid or liquid, to the surface of pieces of coal. The purposes of surface treatment are varied. They may be to identify or "trade-mark" the coal, to modify the burning characteristics, the coking tendencies, or the behavior of the ash, to prevent the freezing of wet coal, or to control the dust. The control of dust is the usual purpose of surface treatment. TRADE-MARKING COAL The application of color to the surface of coal for the purpose of identification and registration of the trade-mark has been practiced to some extent. In 1928, the Glen Alden Coal Co. began to color its coal and adopted the trade-mark, "Blue Coal." The Old Ben Coal Co. later followed a similar practice with "Green Coal." A commoner means of identification of coal has been the stenciling of designs or pasting labels on large lumps or in the distribution of small cardboard tags through the smaller sizes. The details of the method used to color coal have not been revealed. Usually all of the coal is not treated, because of the expense. Only enough pieces are colored to show clearly when distributed through the coal. The patent literature gives information on some of the methods proposed. Esselen and Weiss 1 have patented the deposition of a coloring material in the valleys of the surface of the coal. Sperr2 covers the quenching of coke with water containing a pigment or dye that will deposit on the coke. He also suggests electroplating with copper or nickel. Glinsmann 3 subjects the freshly fractured coal surface to the action of an alkali or alkali earth ferricyanide and a ferric salt. Barsky and Hanson4 specify a method for the application of the same chemicals covered by Glinsmann.

Jan 1, 1943

By Henry Louis

The object of the present paper is to call attention briefly to a novel method of analyzing the action of the ordinary gravity stamp, which has not only thrown much light upon the exact motion of the stamp-head, but promises also to be of value in determining the efficiency of a new mill before setting it to its work of crushing, and in this respect should be of service to constructors of mining machinery as well as to mining engineers. The method was devised by Mr. D. B. Morison, and developed in connection with his experiments on the comparative crushing-effects of his patent high-speed stamp and the ordinary cam-stamp, which were carried out at the works of Messrs. L. Richardson & Sons, Engineers, Hartlepool, and on which he read a paper at Newcastle in 1897.* Mr. Morison's experiments were of a very exhaustive nature; and having been consulted by him during his investigations, I had frequent opportunities of examining the methods employed and the results obtained. Experiments were first made with an apparatus resembling the indicntor of a steam-engine, inasniuch as the drum revolved alternately backwards and forwards, thus producing a closed diagram. This form was not found satisfactory, and it was therefore altered so as to cause the drum to revolve continuously in one direction, thus giving a continuous or open diagram. The arrangement is shown in plan in Fig. 1; a collar, A, surrounds the stamp-stem loosely and works between the guides B, B, which constrain it to move in a vertical line only. Immediately above it and below it, a couple of collars are clamped to the stamp-stem, so that the latter, while free to revolve,

Jan 1, 1899

By B. Ladanyi, G. Archambault

It is generally recognized to date that a rational stability analysis of slopes and foundations in rock masses is a desirable but still rather remote goal of rock mechanics.1 In principle, a slope analysis is possible provided the original state of effective stress in the ground is known and the shear strength of the earth material can be clearly defined. In a macroscopically continuous earth medium such as soil, the two basic ingredients of the stability analysis in most cases can be assessed with sufficient approximation. A much less favorable situation exists when the slope is composed of a macroscopically discontinuous medium such as rock mass containing one or more sets of geological planar structures. In such a case, both the original effective stresses and the overall shear strength of the mass are much more difficult to determine. As for the former, it is only recently that certain calculation methods and solutions concerning the stress distribution2 and the seepage forces3 in a discontinuous medium have been proposed. As the strength behavior of the rock mass is concerned, much valuable effort has been made in recent years toward reaching a proper understanding of the phenomenon of rock mass failure under stress. Probably one of the most complete investigations of the problem to date has recently been made at the University of Illinois. The study resulted in establishing a first useful working hypothesis of the shear behavior of a regularly jointed rock mass, proposed by Patton in 1966.4 The main purpose of the work described in this chapter is to establish a more general framework for the shear behavior of rock mass, one that would be directly related to some basic rock parameters and would also

Jan 1, 1970

By Godfrey T. Vivian

Very often important discoveries are made in one industry that may be used to advantage in another, but, owing to the rarity that men step out of one industry into another, these discoveries remain unknown outside of the trade or profession in which they are made. The present paper is written solely with the object of bringing to the notice of mining and metallurgical engineers a centrifugal ore-concentrator which eventually may have a great application. Ore- Grading. Fig. 1 represents the action which takes place when solids of different dimensions are stirred up in a box and allowed to settle as minerals of the same size but of different specific gravity. This principle is applied practically in grading china-clay and in enriching tin-slimes. In the latter case the slimes are stirred around in a tub with water and allowed to settle while at the same time the side of the tub is struck with a hammer. The colloidal slimes are then poured off and various slices taken off horizontally. The great drawback of this process is that the particles are deposited horizontally and all the colloids are lost. Fig. 2 represents the action in which the particles are deposited side by side. Here the drawback is the great length of the box needed in order to prevent excessive loss. The alternative to lengthening the box is to increase the force of gravity. Centrifugal force may be regarded practically as the force of gravity augmented. Fig. 3 illustrates the Gee centrifugal machine for grading ores. The drum, A, fitted with a box, B, is mounted on a shaft or spindle, C, the whole being suspended from a ball-bearing of special design at D, supported between girders, E. Rota-

Jan 1, 1913

By Howard A. Smith

Of late considerable experimental and theoretical interest has been shown in the rates of transformation from a single phase, usually a supercooled solid solution, into one or more phases. Such reactions may involve both diffusion and transformation of the major constituent, as in iron alloys, or it may simply involve diffusion, as in superstructure formation and in age-hardening systems. Most of the work has been confined to ferrous alloy1-9† although two investigations have been made on copper alloys10*". That such work may be of considerable practical importance has been demonstrated by Bain12, by the workers at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Eisen-for~chung'13, 14, and by the everyday use of precipitation and age-hardening principles15. Experiments in this country have generally followed Davenport and Bain's technique of rapid supercooling followed by isothermal treatment. In Germany16, 17 the work has been extended to the study of the influence of accurately controlled and measured rates of cooling. The work on steel indicates that there are two subcritical temperature ranges where reaction starts sooner after quenching and proceeds at a more rapid rate than at other temperatures. At suberitical temperatures above Ar" (temperature of martensite formation) where reaction is dependent upon atomic migration there is a period of time of which the length depends upon the alloy content and the temperature, before which no reaction has been detected. Davenport and Bain' find that different sorts of atoms in solid solution in gamma iron affect the length of this " prereaction" period differently, manganese probably being the most effective in lengthening it. It is very difficult to believe that nothing occurs within these "prereaction" regions, for if this were so there is no reason why any reaction at all should be observed. In the light of experimental facts and theoretical considerations it is certainly

Jan 1, 1935

By Howard A. Smith

Of late considerable experimental and theoretical interest has been shown in the rates of transformation from a single phase, usually a supercooled solid solution, into one or more phases. Such reactions may involve both diffusion and transformation of the major constituent, as in iron alloys, or it may simply involve diffusion, as in superstructure formation and in age-hardening systems. Most of the work has been confined to ferrous alloy1-9† although two investigations have been made on copper alloys10*". That such work may be of considerable practical importance has been demonstrated by Bain12, by the workers at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Eisen-for~chung'13, 14, and by the everyday use of precipitation and age-hardening principles15. Experiments in this country have generally followed Davenport and Bain's technique of rapid supercooling followed by isothermal treatment. In Germany16, 17 the work has been extended to the study of the influence of accurately controlled and measured rates of cooling. The work on steel indicates that there are two subcritical temperature ranges where reaction starts sooner after quenching and proceeds at a more rapid rate than at other temperatures. At suberitical temperatures above Ar" (temperature of martensite formation) where reaction is dependent upon atomic migration there is a period of time of which the length depends upon the alloy content and the temperature, before which no reaction has been detected. Davenport and Bain' find that different sorts of atoms in solid solution in gamma iron affect the length of this " prereaction" period differently, manganese probably being the most effective in lengthening it. It is very difficult to believe that nothing occurs within these "prereaction" regions, for if this were so there is no reason why any reaction at all should be observed. In the light of experimental facts and theoretical considerations it is certainly

Jan 1, 1935

By S. Le Fevre

THE application of electricity to the mining and beneficiation of the magnetic iron ores of the Mineville, N. Y., district, on Lake Champlain, has resulted in economies and enhanced quality of product, without which only a comparatively small quantity of the present output could be marketed. The output of the Witherbee, Sherman & Co. mines is about 700,000 tons per annum, and of this about four-fifths is treated by magnetic separation to increase the iron content and reduce the phosphorus. The use of electricity for the magnetic separation of the ore from the gangue is therefore of primary importance, and makes possible the application of electric power for mining and preparing the ore for concentration: The fact which speaks loudest in favor of the application of electricity is this: It is possible for about 25c. per ton of shipping ore to furnish all the power required to put the ore on cars. This includes mining a hard ore underground, from a depth of 900 ft., hoisting to surface, crushing to 4 or s in. in size, and separating from the gangue. This also includes lights about the works, and all miscellaneous power, such as about the shops. The first plant for the generation of electric power for use at Mineville was completed in 1903, and was one of the first for the application of electricity to mining iron ore. This was a Nordberg compound condensing steam engine, direct connected to a 750-kw. alternating-current generator, 3,300 volts, 3 phase, 25 cycles. All the plants added later use the same-current but with higher voltage. The map, Fig. 1, shows the power plants and the transmission system; Figs. 2 and 3 are views of the shaft houses and the mills.

Jan 6, 1914

By L. M. Pidgeon, W. Curlock

FREE energies of formation of zinc sulfide and magnesium sulfide had previously been estimated to an accuracy of ± 5.0 kcal per g mol. In the present work, these values were determined experimentally. As the determinations of the free energies of formation of zinc sulfide and magnesium sulfide presented different problems, separate experimental procedures were employed for each. ZINC SULFIDE It is difficult to measure the free energy of formation of either zinc sulfide or magnesium sulfide by measuring their decomposition pressures directly, as they are very stable compounds. An attempt was made by Jellinek and zakowski3 to study the equilibrium. zns(s) + H2(g) = Zn(g) + H2S(g) [I] They passed hydrogen over zinc sulfide and analyzed the gases leaving the reaction zone for H2S. They were unable to determine the true partial pressures of the H2S by this method, as some of the H2S on being cooled from the reaction temperature, reacted with the zinc in the gas to produce ZnS. Consequently, they were unable to establish any true equilibrium data for reaction [I]. More recently,' the equilibria ZnS(sphaledte) + Fe (s) — FeS(s) + Zn(g) [2] and ZnS(sphalerite) + 2Cu(s) — Cu2S(S) + Zn (g) [3] were studied. As the standard free energy of formation of Cu2S is known to * 3.0 kcal, and of FeS to ± 1.0 kcal, it should be possible upon performing equilibrium studies on reactions [2] and [3] to deduce the standard free energy of formation of ZnS (sphalerite). However, as both of these equilibria involve 2 solid sulfides, and as it is possible for these sulfides to dissolve in one another, it is necessary first to ascertain the activities of the various sulfides in these solid phases.

Jan 1, 1959

By Arthur West

IT is the purpose of this paper to describe briefly some recent large power stations for blast furnaces, where the blast is exclusively supplied by gas engines using furnace gas. The stations are given in the chronological order in which they were designed, in order to indicate the various improvements suggested by experience. Fig. 1 shows the blowing-engine station of the Bethlehem Steel Co. at Bethlehem. Although the picture shows only five blowing engines, the house now contains 11 engines. In the diagrammatic. plan the arrow shows the position and direction of camera. This station handles five modern blast furnaces of 450 to 500 tons capacity each. In this, as in all the other stations described in this paper, each furnace is blown by-two single tandem gas engines. Ten engines are thus required for five furnaces, leaving one single tandem spare engine. This spare capacity has been shown by several years' experience at Bethlehem to be adequate to insure continuous operation. The engines in the Bethlehem station are right hand and left hand, arranged in pairs. The outboard bearings of each pair are close together so that there is not room for passageway between them. On the right of the picture are shown the inclined drums communicating with the cold-blast lines outside of building, so that any engine may be operated on any furnace. The illustration shows four cold-blast gate valves with pipes passing through wall, but since the photograph was taken the drums have been extended to take care of a fifth valve for a fifth furnace. At the extreme back of the picture can be seen the tubs of three twin vertical-horizontal Southwark steam blowing engines, which, although of modern design and as good as new, are not operated because of the greatly reduced blowing cost shown by the gas blowing engines.

Jan 6, 1915

By T. D. Yensen

In the investigation of the magnetic properties of iron-nickel alloys,' it was found necessary in order to make the alloys forgeable, or malleable, to add small quantities of some other element. Iron-nickel alloys have been known for nearly a century, but have been made in commercial quantities only since 1885. Their remarkable mechanical properties were disclosed by Riley in 1889 and from that time on a large amount, of research work has been done both to discover new properties and to correlate the results obtained.2 Lately the Bureau of Standards has collected the published data in a special circular" giving in compact form an account of the properties of the iron-nickel alloys. It also contains a clear historical sketch of the development as well as a selected bibliography. The chief difficulty with the development of iron-nickel alloys was that the "pure" alloys do not forge readily. The addition of small amounts of manganese, however, made the alloys forgeable, and manganese has therefore come to be regarded as a necessary constituent of nickel steels. The present paper shows to what extent manganese is needed for various nickel contents and also what is the effect of other alloying elements on the forgeability. It also touches upon the cause of forgeability but refers to other sources for more exhaustive treatises on the subject. The alloys were prepared by melting electrolytic iron and electrolytic nickel with or without other alloying elements in the desired proportions in a magnesia crucible in a vacuum furnace under a pressure of 1 mm. mercury. The ingots, weighing about 2 kg., were allowed to cool in vacuo. If pipes or blowholes were present, the ingots were cut in such

Jan 1, 1922

By T. D. Yensen

In the investigation of the magnetic properties of iron-nickel alloys,' it was found necessary in order to make the alloys forgeable, or malleable, to add small quantities of some other element. Iron-nickel alloys have been known for nearly a century, but have been made in commercial quantities only since 1885. Their remarkable mechanical properties were disclosed by Riley in 1889 and from that time on a large amount, of research work has been done both to discover new properties and to correlate the results obtained.2 Lately the Bureau of Standards has collected the published data in a special circular" giving in compact form an account of the properties of the iron-nickel alloys. It also contains a clear historical sketch of the development as well as a selected bibliography. The chief difficulty with the development of iron-nickel alloys was that the "pure" alloys do not forge readily. The addition of small amounts of manganese, however, made the alloys forgeable, and manganese has therefore come to be regarded as a necessary constituent of nickel steels. The present paper shows to what extent manganese is needed for various nickel contents and also what is the effect of other alloying elements on the forgeability. It also touches upon the cause of forgeability but refers to other sources for more exhaustive treatises on the subject. The alloys were prepared by melting electrolytic iron and electrolytic nickel with or without other alloying elements in the desired proportions in a magnesia crucible in a vacuum furnace under a pressure of 1 mm. mercury. The ingots, weighing about 2 kg., were allowed to cool in vacuo. If pipes or blowholes were present, the ingots were cut in such

Jan 1, 1922

For some time attempts have been made to improve drilling efficiency (and therefore reduce costs) by introducing certain reagents to the flushing medium. Much of this interest is the result of the Russian book, Hardness Reducers in Drilling, by Rehbinder, Schreiner, and Zhigach, published in 1944. Before embarking on full-scale drilling tests, it was decided to investigate the effects on the tensile strength; these results would help in the selection of the proper reagent and its optimum concentration. Selection of Tensile Strength Testing A drilling system basically performs two separate operations: 1) Breakage of rock. 2) Removal of the broken pieces of rock. Both affect drilling and drill performance but are distinct and separate phases of the process. Causing rock to break during drilling is a matter of generating sufficient stress with a drill bit to exceed the strength of the rock. This strength of the rock may be termed its drilling strength; it is not equivalent to any of the well-known strength parameters. Various criteria have been employed to measure the efficiency of a given drilling system or for comparing different systems and one of the most important criteria is "speed of drilling." Speed of drilling is a function of drilling strength of the rock. Many researchers have tried to correlate the speed of drilling with the strength properties of rock and compressive as well as tensile strength values have been found to give reasonable correlation." As the strength of rock drilled increases, speed decreases. As the Brazilian testing requires the least amount of core, this test was selected. Material Tested Broken Hill lode quartzite has been used in these tests. It is composed chiefly of quartz with varying amounts of sericite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, galena, and garnet. The total porosity of this quartzite is about 11%.

Jan 1, 1973

By L. Dudley Stamp

On April 1, 1937, Burma, formerly a province of the Indian Empire, was formally separated from India and became an independent unit of the British Commonwealth. In future, therefore, statistics of oil production in India will exclude Burma and those for Burma will be separately published. The last few years have been marked by noteworthy, almost spectacular, developments in the oil fields of Burma and the Punjab. In Burma these developments have been the proving of unexpected extensions of the existing fields and not the discovery of entirely new fields. The new extensions are important not only to Burma in giving a new lease of life to her fields, but also in general as stressing some interesting geological aspects hitherto neglected. Production The production of crude oil in Imperial gallons has been: Burma India 1934 254,760,070 67,265,210 1935 251,338,974 . 71,323,362 1936 265,656,393 69,241,504 1937 (eat.) 270,000,000 70,000,000 The Chindwin Fields.—The small field at Indaw continues to produce steadily about 3,000,000 gal. a year, but no really deep test has yet been successfully carried out and resources are thus not yet fully known. The remote location of the field, inaccessible except by river and situated 22 miles from the Chindwin 270 miles up that river from its junction with the Irrawaddy, has not encouraged active exploitation. The field is worked exclusively by the Indo-Burma Petroleum Co., Ltd. (I.B.P.), using now an automatic gas-lift system, and the company formerly refined the oil at a small refinery at Pantha on the river near by. The chief market was for kerosene in upper Burma. The refinery has now been closed. The oil is stored on the field during the low-water season

Jan 1, 1938

By D. V. Carter, Dan C. Williams, Franklin M. Hackbusch

During 1939 little of consequence happened in East and East Central Texas in the way of oil discoveries. At the end of the year, there were 47 oil and gas fields in the district. Twelve other fields, 11 oil and one gas, have been abandoned. The ranking fields in order of the number of completions for the year were East Texas, Talco, and Rodessa (Texas portion). There were 511 oil wells (distillate wells included), 32 gas wells, and 257 dry holes completed in the district. Exploration, Discoveries and Extensions During the year, 113 exploratory wells were drilled, the same number as in 1938; four oil fields and one gas-distillate field were discovered. Perhaps the most important discovery, which has been named Barron field, was that of M. Samuel et al., No. 1 Barron in Limestone County. The wells in this field are of the gas-distillate type. Other than the Talco and Sulphur Bluff fields, which produce oil from the Paluxy sand (Upper Trinity), this is the first field on the Corsicana-Mexia fault zone to obtain commercial production from deeper Trinity strata. This "pay" is the Petit lime of the Lower Glen Rose of the Trinity group. The four oil discoveries were: Redland, Angelina County; Bazette, Henderson County; Rowe and Baker, Henderson County; and Marion County Shallow in Marion County. It is believed that the Bazette field, Navarro County, represents an extension of the Flag Lake field. For details concerning discoveries, extensions and important wildcat wells drilled during 1939 see Table 2. Production and Proration The district produced 175,053,729 bbl. of oil (distillate production included) which is a decrease of 4.0 per cent from the 182,369,484 bbl. (distillate production included) produced during 1938. The district's production for the year 1937 was 208,594,453 bbl. The East Texas

Jan 1, 1940

By D. V. Carter, Dan C. Williams, Franklin M. Hackbusch

During 1939 little of consequence happened in East and East Central Texas in the way of oil discoveries. At the end of the year, there were 47 oil and gas fields in the district. Twelve other fields, 11 oil and one gas, have been abandoned. The ranking fields in order of the number of completions for the year were East Texas, Talco, and Rodessa (Texas portion). There were 511 oil wells (distillate wells included), 32 gas wells, and 257 dry holes completed in the district. Exploration, Discoveries and Extensions During the year, 113 exploratory wells were drilled, the same number as in 1938; four oil fields and one gas-distillate field were discovered. Perhaps the most important discovery, which has been named Barron field, was that of M. Samuel et al., No. 1 Barron in Limestone County. The wells in this field are of the gas-distillate type. Other than the Talco and Sulphur Bluff fields, which produce oil from the Paluxy sand (Upper Trinity), this is the first field on the Corsicana-Mexia fault zone to obtain commercial production from deeper Trinity strata. This "pay" is the Petit lime of the Lower Glen Rose of the Trinity group. The four oil discoveries were: Redland, Angelina County; Bazette, Henderson County; Rowe and Baker, Henderson County; and Marion County Shallow in Marion County. It is believed that the Bazette field, Navarro County, represents an extension of the Flag Lake field. For details concerning discoveries, extensions and important wildcat wells drilled during 1939 see Table 2. Production and Proration The district produced 175,053,729 bbl. of oil (distillate production included) which is a decrease of 4.0 per cent from the 182,369,484 bbl. (distillate production included) produced during 1938. The district's production for the year 1937 was 208,594,453 bbl. The East Texas

Jan 1, 1940

By H. C. Vacher

THE limiting concentrations of carbon and oxygen which may co-exist at equilibrium in liquid iron are important in determining the degree to which liquid steel may be refined before it is deoxidized. Most refining processes depend upon the oxidation of a highly carburized iron which invariably results in contaminating the steel with oxygen. The oxygen .thus introduced presents many problems to the refiner, who in turn has attempted to rid the steel of this impurity by deoxidation with elements such as manganese, silicon and aluminum. The importance of the limiting concentrations of carbon and oxygen is accentuated in view of a number of recent researches which have indicated in many instances the existence of relations between oxide inclusions and dissolved oxygen and physical properties and chemical behavior of steel. The determination of the equilibrium concentrations of carbon and oxygen existing in iron under steelmaking conditions is obviously of fundamental importance. It has been generally assumed that the product of the equilibrium concentrations of carbon and oxygen in liquid iron is a constant and that this product is directly proportional to the carbon monoxide pressure in equilibrium with the liquid iron. Herty1,2 has computed values for this product based on open-hearth data which are all in the neighborhood of 0.01 to 0.03 (per cent. FeO X per cent. C) for temperatures in the vicinity of 1550° to 1600 C. and one atmosphere pressure. Kinzel and Egan3 have attempted to determine the value of this product by exposing liquid iron to carbon monoxide at one atmosphere pressure. The value reported by them was 0.0005 at 1550°. C. In. order to apply certain equations to the rate of carbon elimination in the open-hearth process, Feild4 found it necessary to assume. a value of 0.0102 at 1580° C. for this

Jan 1, 1931