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By Gerhard Derge

Metallurgists have used borax as a fluxing agent traditionally, but until recently elemental boron has played an insignificant role as an alloying element. Neither the metal nor its compounds have been regarded as important metallurgical materials and there is a surprising lack of knowledge concerning their metallurgical behavior. The new applications to steel-making of both boron and borates, which arose in part from wartime incentives and restrictions, have been seriously handicapped by this lack of data. For example, rasorite, a naturally occurring sodium borate, has been shown to be an effective substitute for aluminum as a ladle deoxi-dizer in rimming steels.' Likewise, the effectiveness of boron as an alloying agent has been demonstrated,2,3 giving deep hardening when used in restricted amounts. The exploitation of both of these uses has been retarded by the difficulty of attaining suitable metallurgical control. Recognizing that the most important information required was a knowledge of the equilibrium between boron and oxygen dissolved in liquid iron. Gurry4 calculated this relation from the best thermal data available. However, estimates of the entropy of melting of boron, the activity coefficient of boron in liquid iron and the activity coefficient of B2O3 in slag were involved, and experimental work on this problem was obviously desirable. The experiments to be described were planned to establish the boron-oxygen relations in liquid iron and to demonstrate at the same time the ferroborate slag compositions in equilibrium with various amounts of oxygen in liquid iron. Accordingly, slags containing varying proportions of iron and boron oxides were held in contact with molten iron, and samples of both slag and metal were analyzed. The limitations upon the accuracy of the data will be considered, but in a practical sense the oxygen levels that can be attained in iron by iron borate slags, and the amounts of boron in iron at these oxygen levels were established. Experimental Procedure No entirely suitable refractory was found for the mixtures of iron oxide and boron oxide used as slags. Crucibles of silica, magnesia, Ramix, beryllia, and zirconia were all tried unsuccessfully. The must satisfactory method discovered for handling them was the rotating-crucible technique, which creates a parabolic crucible of liquid iron.5,6 Even this was not entirely successful, for at steelmaking temperatures (1600°C.) the slags had such a low surface tension that they crept up to the refractory and slowly dissolved it. These difficulties made it impossible to maintain a constant slag composition for an unlimited period Of time. However, by using the rotating technique, short runs could be made in

Jan 1, 1947

By Gerhard Derge

Metallurgists have used borax as a fluxing agent traditionally, but until recently elemental boron has played an insignificant role as an alloying element. Neither the metal nor its compounds have been regarded as important metallurgical materials and there is a surprising lack of knowledge concerning their metallurgical behavior. The new applications to steel-making of both boron and borates, which arose in part from wartime incentives and restrictions, have been seriously handicapped by this lack of data. For example, rasorite, a naturally occurring sodium borate, has been shown to be an effective substitute for aluminum as a ladle deoxi-dizer in rimming steels.' Likewise, the effectiveness of boron as an alloying agent has been demonstrated,2,3 giving deep hardening when used in restricted amounts. The exploitation of both of these uses has been retarded by the difficulty of attaining suitable metallurgical control. Recognizing that the most important information required was a knowledge of the equilibrium between boron and oxygen dissolved in liquid iron. Gurry4 calculated this relation from the best thermal data available. However, estimates of the entropy of melting of boron, the activity coefficient of boron in liquid iron and the activity coefficient of B2O3 in slag were involved, and experimental work on this problem was obviously desirable. The experiments to be described were planned to establish the boron-oxygen relations in liquid iron and to demonstrate at the same time the ferroborate slag compositions in equilibrium with various amounts of oxygen in liquid iron. Accordingly, slags containing varying proportions of iron and boron oxides were held in contact with molten iron, and samples of both slag and metal were analyzed. The limitations upon the accuracy of the data will be considered, but in a practical sense the oxygen levels that can be attained in iron by iron borate slags, and the amounts of boron in iron at these oxygen levels were established. Experimental Procedure No entirely suitable refractory was found for the mixtures of iron oxide and boron oxide used as slags. Crucibles of silica, magnesia, Ramix, beryllia, and zirconia were all tried unsuccessfully. The must satisfactory method discovered for handling them was the rotating-crucible technique, which creates a parabolic crucible of liquid iron.5,6 Even this was not entirely successful, for at steelmaking temperatures (1600°C.) the slags had such a low surface tension that they crept up to the refractory and slowly dissolved it. These difficulties made it impossible to maintain a constant slag composition for an unlimited period Of time. However, by using the rotating technique, short runs could be made in

Jan 1, 1947

THE CHAIRMAN (G. H. CLEVENGER, Stanford University, Cal.).¬I would like to ask Mr. Pyne if he has had any experience inn the use of chromite as refractory under conditions that are highly reducing? I am reminded of an experience I once had with an electric furnace. I imagined that chromite would form a splendid lining, but it soon disappeared; hence it seems probable that, under highly reducing conditions at a high temperature, chromite is a very poor refractory. F. R. PYNE.-In copper smelting the atmosphere is generally neutral, or slightly oxidizing; we do not use highly reducing atmospheres at all, not even in the matting furnace. You can take the chromite brick and treat it as you would an iron ore, obtaining ferro-chrome very readily, from which the copper will separate. We have done this; in fact, at one time we considered installing a small electric furnace for the production of ferro-chrome. FOREST RUTHERFORD, New York, N. Y.-During the time I was general superintendent at the smelter of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Co., at Douglas, Ariz., a great many experiments were made on the furnaces and settlers with different kinds of brick, and I agree with Mr. Pyne's statements about chrome brick. Their power to absorb metals is very great, and as they cannot be smelted at any temperatures obtainable in a copper furnace, to get rid of the bats and extract the metal from them is quite a problem. We finally got down to using chrome brick only for lining the settlers, out of which we often got a life of upwards of 2 years, and for lining the blast-furnace bottoms, for the reason that chrome brick can be heated and wet, or wet after being heated, without going to pieces, whereas under these conditions magnesite brick will break down very rapidly. We also used a layer of chrome brick above and below an 18-in. band of magnesite brick put on the slag line of the reverberatories, in order to separate the magnesite from the silica brick, fearing that they would slag each other and let the wall drop. The idea worked, but became unnecessary on account of a change made in the method of feeding the furnaces. Chronic brick will not stand up under pressure so well as a good Grecian or Austrian magnesite brick, on account of the poorer bonding properties of the materials from which the chrome brick is made.

Jan 4, 1918

By S. A., Taylor

IT is very difficult to arrive at exact figures for the cost of maintaining excess capacity of coal mines, but we can approximate the various items. To do this, I will take the Pittsburgh district of Pennsylvania and the other districts can be compared to this one. I believe we can take the depreciation item of plant ac- count as a whole and discount it over a period of 20 years; while this is high for some items it is low for others and I believe it is not far from a safe basis. This equals 5 per cent per year, and this depreciation will take place about as rapidly when not in use as when in operation. A fair value in the Pittsburgh district to- day for plant and houses is close to $4 per ton per annum. At 5 per cent this will equal 20 cents per ton per year. The item of keeping the mine in condition, free from water, etc., will be close to an average of 2y2 cents per ton per annum.

Jan 1, 1928

By PERCY E. BARBOUR

SECONDARY copper1 has &come more or less of a bugbear generally. What is its influence is often the subject of heated argument. The inedapable fact usually quoted is that since in 1929 primary production of copper in the United States was 1,026,348 tons and secondary production was 626,550 tons, there- fore, 0.6 lb. of secondary is produced for every pound of primary, and "How can you get around that?" The matter seems very plain, now that I have reached my conclusions, but they are the result of much laborious study and research. I shall show that' the production of secondary copper is not 0.6 per lb. of primary, in spite of statistical appearances; that the production of secondary is a function of primary production rather than of price; that secondary production has 'only a sub-. ordinate influence on the price of copper and then only in abnormal times; that there is not an accumulating reservoir of secondary from which the country is some- time to be drowned in copper, as is believed by some, or a reservoir from which we are going to draw much needed and more or less inexhaustible stores in the future, as is believed by others; and finally, that the United States always produces more copper than it uses and exports the surplus. These are all controversial points, and for that reason and to anticipate argument I have set forth my reasoning in considerable detail.

Jan 1, 1931

By T. B. Counselman

Probably the earliest concentration of iron ore in this country was carried on in the northeastern magnetite areas. Magnetic concentration was relatively simple and gave a concentrate that, after agglomeration, and in spite of being high in phosphorus because of the dry concentrating methods then in use, was satisfactory blast-furnace feed. Production from the northeastern magnetite area languished after the discovery and development of the Lake Superior ores, where there was seemingly an unlimited tonnage of high-grade ore, first the Michigan ores, and subsequently the still larger deposits of Minnesota. For years only the higher grade, direct shipping ores of the Lake Superior district were mined. Those of Michigan, and of the Vermilion Range in Minnesota, were hard ores and came principally from underground mines. The softer ores of the Mesabi came partly from underground mines, but mostly from the enormous deposits that could be worked by open-pit methods. The costs of ore from these open-pit deposits, even with the high initial cost of stripping, were so low that the underground mines of the Mesabi could hardly compete. The so-called Old Range ores, of Michigan and of the Vermilion. Range of Minnesota, were hard and lumpy, and opened UP the burden in the blast furnace, therefore making possible harder driving with greater output. Also, some of these ores were of such grade and physical characteristics that they were suitable for charge ore in the open hearth. These ores, therefore, commanded a price premium, and could compete with the softer, finer, but cheaper, Mesabi ores. The big tonnage reserves, however, are on the Mesabi. and it is these big open-pit deposits that constitute our stock pile of iron ore, from which we are drawing so heavily during this war period. On the western end of the Mesabi the ore was found to be high in silica, and not suitable as furnace feed. As early as 1902, attempts were made to concentrate this so-called wash ore and by 1910 the first washing plant was put into operation. The Process was very simple, consisting essentially of a sizing and washing operation, with scalping screens, logwashers, and tables, which later were replaced by classifiers. Ore particles finer than 100 mesh were deliberately wasted, because these fines were undesirable in the furnace. Fortunately, these tailings were impounded, and already are being reworked. Before long some of the low-grade ores began to require more elaborate treatment than the simple washing operation and, tables having been discarded because of their low capacity, in favor of classifiers, jigs were next introduced. These were able to discard coarser pieces of tailing than classifiers. jigs are in active use today, various improvements having been made in their design and application. Various other machines and methods of concentration have been tried from time to time, and have in turn been discarded for more improved processes. The latest and most important process that has been

Jan 1, 1947

By T. B. Counselman

Probably the earliest concentration of iron ore in this country was carried on in the northeastern magnetite areas. Magnetic concentration was relatively simple and gave a concentrate that, after agglomeration, and in spite of being high in phosphorus because of the dry concentrating methods then in use, was satisfactory blast-furnace feed. Production from the northeastern magnetite area languished after the discovery and development of the Lake Superior ores, where there was seemingly an unlimited tonnage of high-grade ore, first the Michigan ores, and subsequently the still larger deposits of Minnesota. For years only the higher grade, direct shipping ores of the Lake Superior district were mined. Those of Michigan, and of the Vermilion Range in Minnesota, were hard ores and came principally from underground mines. The softer ores of the Mesabi came partly from underground mines, but mostly from the enormous deposits that could be worked by open-pit methods. The costs of ore from these open-pit deposits, even with the high initial cost of stripping, were so low that the underground mines of the Mesabi could hardly compete. The so-called Old Range ores, of Michigan and of the Vermilion. Range of Minnesota, were hard and lumpy, and opened UP the burden in the blast furnace, therefore making possible harder driving with greater output. Also, some of these ores were of such grade and physical characteristics that they were suitable for charge ore in the open hearth. These ores, therefore, commanded a price premium, and could compete with the softer, finer, but cheaper, Mesabi ores. The big tonnage reserves, however, are on the Mesabi. and it is these big open-pit deposits that constitute our stock pile of iron ore, from which we are drawing so heavily during this war period. On the western end of the Mesabi the ore was found to be high in silica, and not suitable as furnace feed. As early as 1902, attempts were made to concentrate this so-called wash ore and by 1910 the first washing plant was put into operation. The Process was very simple, consisting essentially of a sizing and washing operation, with scalping screens, logwashers, and tables, which later were replaced by classifiers. Ore particles finer than 100 mesh were deliberately wasted, because these fines were undesirable in the furnace. Fortunately, these tailings were impounded, and already are being reworked. Before long some of the low-grade ores began to require more elaborate treatment than the simple washing operation and, tables having been discarded because of their low capacity, in favor of classifiers, jigs were next introduced. These were able to discard coarser pieces of tailing than classifiers. jigs are in active use today, various improvements having been made in their design and application. Various other machines and methods of concentration have been tried from time to time, and have in turn been discarded for more improved processes. The latest and most important process that has been

Jan 1, 1947

By E. F. Sumner, C. K. Eilerts

A partial differential equation was developed and programmed to compute the cumulation and flow of the liquid phase of a gas-condensate fluid. It was found that such cumulation near the wellbore may attain saturations permitting liquid flow within periods of the order of 1 day. The radius at which this saturation obtains advances toward the external reservoir boundary with continued recovery, although it may move only 2 to 5 percent of that distance during the productive life of the well. This relatively high saturation can cause a serious dimunition in delivery capacity. The pressure dilferential required for flow of gas through a formation with such saturation may be as much as three times greater than the corresponding differential in a formation where saturation is less than 2 percent. Because of the radial geometry, total reservoir pressure differential required for flow with a zone of relatively high liquid saturation about the well was indicated to be two to three times greater than without the saturation. INTRODUCTION A computing program developed by the authors 1 to integrate the partial differential equation for transient radial flow of gas-condensate fluids required a prevalued function, W(Po) = kD(p0)/M(p0)z0(Po).......(1) related to cumulation of condensate in pores of the reservoir as pressure declines. Methods were available for relating mobility to saturation, saturation to liquid-vapor volume ratio, liquid-vapor volume ratio to pressure and, hence, mobility to pressure to obtain W(pD). However, certain assumptions had to be made in advance of program execution concerning movement of the liquid phase and change in radial distribution of liquid saturation as recovery progressed. Because reservoir fluid mobility and related pressure gradients are markedly dependent on liquid saturation, it was desirable to eliminate the necessity for these assumptions and in this respect improve the reliability of a result obtained by integration. Experimental research was begun to determine the relationship of variables that control the reservoir flow of low liquid-vapor ratio fluids. With the porous medium partly saturated, permeability to a two-phase flowing fluid could not be measured because the viscosity was unknown. Viscosity could not be measured without knowing permeability of the liquid-containing medium; but mobility, the ratio of permeability to viscosity, was measurable. This property, and liquid-vapor volume ratio of the flowing phases, have values determined by nature of the fluid and porous medium and, in addition, were found to be pressure, velocity and saturation dependent. A program developed by Kniazeff and Naville 2 for computing multicom-ponent, two-phase flow used polynomials to represent saturation dependence of permeabilities for gas and for liquid phases, and an effluent viscosity constant under reservoir conditions. The authors developed a program based on a partial differential equation of similar mass balance origin but designed to represent distribution of an unlimited number of components between gas and liquid phases utilizing the experimental information available as to variable dependence. Attention was given to liquid-vapor volume ratio of the flowing phases, a property which is essential as a liquid saturation boundary condition. A program for computing implicitly saturation increase at uniform intervals along the drainage radius was combined with an existing program for calculating pressures, and the two were used alternately in an iterative solution for both saturations and pressures. The function W(pD) needed for calculating pressures was replaced by the ratio of mobility to compressibility factor. BASIC EQUATIONS The partial differential equation for calculating

By P. R. Sahm, T. V. Pruss, D. A. Gandolfo

Cb 3 Sn powders were hot-pressed to estahlish densi-fication conditions and assess the possible use of such compacts in multiphase structures with ceramic or magnetic inclusions. Superconducting transition temperatures, Tc, were measured as a function of powder particle size, pressing temperature, and second-phase admixtures. The highest transition temperatures were found in coarse powder (5 to 500 u) compacts and were only weakly depended on pressing temperatures up to 1200°C. Fine powders (below 5 p), however, both single-phase CbsSn and Cb3 Sn-composites, showed a stronger dependence on hot-pressing temperatures. While Al2 O3 phase admixtures did not affect T, much more, a Pronounced T, degradation was observed upon the addition of ferrimagnetic Fe2 Mno. 5 Zno.5 O4 powders. Likewise, critical current densities, Jc, at 4.2° K were lowered appreciably in the ferrite doped samples, whereas the neutral A1203 inclusiow gave slightly improved Jc values. MULTIPHASE structures in electronically active materials have recently gained in interest as pointed out by Galasso in a review article.' In superconductors the most widely reported group are eutectic alloys which have been mostly investigated with respect to the proximity effect.2"4 In addition, "artificial eu-tectics", for example in the form of mercury-vycor glass sponge5 or fine niobium wires imbedded in a copper matrix,= have been prepared to attain higher critical fields and critical current densities. The idea was to enhance flux pinning phenomena by second-phase inclusions or ho1es. 7 Flux pinning should also be possible by the introduction of insulator inclusions into a superconducting matrix. Ceramic-metal combinations are most easily produced by hot pressing (= pressure sintering), as it permits an almost unlimited selection of material combinations. Cb 3 Sn has been prepared by vapor phase growths or in the form of thin films. Large compacts must be sintered,1° however, and normally present difficulties. At temperatures below 1350°C insufficient densities are obtained and at higher temperatures the loss of tin due to dissociation upsets the stoichiometry. Hot pressing is a natural approach to circumvent the problems, since one can obtain satisfactory densities despite low sintering temperatures. This work was mostly concerned with establishing conditions to hot press Cb3 Sn and Cb3 Sn multiphase structures (= composites), because no data are presently available, and to evaluate these with respect to their transition temperatures. However, a few measurements on critical current densities were also carried out, in particular to assess the value of ferrimagnetic inclusions. I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The experimental procedure involved the preparation of feed material and powders, hot pressing, and evaluation of the resulting ingots. As no attempts were made to synthesize Cb3Sn from the elements during hot pressing, feed material had to be produced. For this purpose, a stoichiometric Cb-Sn powder mixture was compacted into a 3-cm-diam ingot (80,000 psi) and then inserted into a quartz tube and evacuated. Rf heating was employed. Above the tin melting point (230°C) liquid tin was forced out of the ingot, but was pulled back by capillary action after approximately 0.5 hr of continuous pumping at 700°C. Thus, it appears that evacuation at this temperature caused desorption of impurity gas creating wetting surfaces which, later on, favored alloying at relatively low temperatures. After a presintering period of 17 hr at 800°C, the quartz tube was tipped off and sealed into another such larger-diameter tube which, in turn, was connected to a pump system. This configuration permitted a temperature treatment at 1400°C, carried out for 65 hr, without collapsing of the glass walls or unfavorable chemical interaction of Cb3Sn with the quartz. The resulting material was

Jan 1, 1969

By R. E. Allen

THERE was once a time when a practical oil man would appraise or buy a producing property on the basis of from $200 to $500 per barrel of average daily settled production. Curtailment-has, for the present at least, caused a virtual abandonment of the "barrel -of settled production" as a yardstick of, oil property value and in its place has come the "barrel of allowable production," which, although an artificial thing, is nevertheless now the principal factor governing the rate of ?pay out? or investment return. The potential production of a well, settled or otherwise, is of less importance in determining the present worth of a well than is the rate at which it may be produced. Speaking only of true potential for the moment, it is obvious that of two similar wells having the same potential, the one having the highest rate of allowable production would be worth proportionately more than the one of lesser allowable. The discount factor for deferred return and risk can easily vary the present values of the two wells by as much as 20 per cent when allowable rates are not greatly different.

Jan 1, 1934

By Earl S. Greiner, Eric R. Jette

ALTHOUGH the mechanical and chemical characteristics of certain iron-nickel-silicon alloys have been investigated,1 the available literature shows no results of a systematic investigation of the constitution of this system. This paper describes the results of an X-ray investigation of the constitution of the iron-rich iron-nickel-silicon alloys at 600°C. Data on the constitution of the included binary systems obtained in other investigations have been correlated with the structure of the ternary alloys. Jette and Foote2 have presented a tentative constitutional diagram of the iron-nickel system following X-ray studies on quenched specimens. This diagram shows that the alloys at 600°C. containing from zero to approximately 4 atomic per cent nickel consist of a body-centered cubic (alpha) phase, the alloys containing 4 to 24 atomic per cent nickel consist of body-centered cubic (alpha) and face- centered cubic (gamma) phases, and the alloys containing from 24 to 100 atomic per cent nickel consist of a face-centered cubic (gamma) phase. These investigators recognized that it was not possible to retain the gamma phase in equilibrium by quenching alloys containing less than approximately 25 atomic per cent nickel and that high-temperature X-ray methods were desirable to determine the gamma-phase solubility limit. In a later investigation of the iron-nickel alloys, Owen and Sulley3 determined the alpha-phase solid solubility limit to be 3.5 atomic per cent nickel at 600°C. High-temperature X-ray methods showed the solid solubility limit of the gamma phase to be 14 atomic per cent nickel at 600°C. Since the high-temperature X-ray method should reveal equilibrium conditions in these alloys better than the quench method of other investigators, the results of Owen and Sulley pertaining to the gamma-phase boundary are to be preferred. As the result of an X-ray investigation of quenched iron-silicon alloys, Greiner and Jette4 have shown these materials to consist of a body-centered cubic (alpha) phase containing from o to 26.4 atomic per cent silicon at 600°C. The alloys containing from 26.4 to approximately 50 atomic per cent silicon consist of two phases at 600°C.; namely, alpha and eta. The eta phase corresponds to the stoichiometrical formula FeSi (33.4 wt. per cent Si).* The literature pertaining to the constitution of the nickel-silicon alloys has been reviewed by Ackerman,5 who found disagreements in the results of various investigators on several parts of the system. Subsequent data on the constitution of the nickel-silicon alloys were reported by Osawa and Okamoto.6

Jan 1, 1943

By T. Sterry Hunt

WET processes for the extraction of copper from its ores have of late attracted much attention, especially in Europe, where the use of oupriferous iron-pyrites as a' source of sulphur prevails. These processes present an additional interest, when, as is often the case, the copper-ore's to be treated contain one or both of the precious metals, since the complete separation of these from copper, either in the dry or the moist way, is, as is well known, one of the difficult problems of metallurgy. The principal wet processes hitherto in use for the extraction of copper from its ores, may be included under three classes : I. Those in which the copper in snlphuretted ores is rendered soluble in water by calcining them, after a preliminary roasting which removes the greater part of their sulphur, with a portion of common salt, by which the copper is converted into a chloride (Long-maid and Henderson), or with sulphate of soda, by which sulphate of copper is formed (Monnier). Allied to these is the method by which a portion of the copper is got as soluble sulphate by roasting without addition, a process which is sometimes modified and rendered more complete by re-roasting the lixiviated residues with the addition of a portion of raw sulphuretted ore (Bankart). II. Those methods in which free chlorhydric or sulphuric acid is used to dissolve the copper- from oxidized or roasted ores. These, while simple and efficient, are too costly, except in certain localities where chlorhydric acid is a waste product. Related to them is the plan which consists in exposing the oxidized and moistened ores to the slow action of sulphurous acid mixed with air, by which a soluble sulphate of copper is formed. It has been proposed to decompose the solutions of sulphate or chloride of copper by sulphuretted hydrogen, thus separating the copper as sulphide, and using the liberated acid to dissolve fresh portions of oxidized copper. It is, however, the almost universal practice to throw down the copper from its solutions, however obtained, in the metallic state by the use of iron, either scrap-iron or iron-sponge; although in some instances

Jan 1, 1882

Since the beginning of the 20th century the world has been trying to find a new political system, even as it did at the end of the 18th century. The French Revolution instigated the destruction of absolute monarchies when Napoleon unwittingly showed the masses the advantages of freedom, as opposed to the abuses of unlimited power by the imperialists. In spite of advances in culture, science, and technology during the past 50 years, there is a hangover of laissez-faire economic principles. Failure to divert the trends of minority pressure groups has caused two world wars and is the basis for the current social unrest and turmoil. In the ebullition of ideas there have risen to the surface the dregs of ideas, old and new-Nazism, Fascism, Russian Communism-a hodgepodge of imperialistic, socialistic, communistic and capitalistic maneuverings where state monopoly of capital enables ruthless exploitation of the masses. The United States owes much of its industrial greatness to the work of pioneers in the mineral industries. The task of the pioneer was to locate and develop in a rude way the mineral resources of the nation. Today, mineral industries leaders are still in great demand, but for a different purpose-to direct intelligent utilization of the limited, waning, submarginal mineral resources. Today the need is for trained earth scientists, mineral

Jan 1, 1950

By T. C. Craig

For the year 1934, there were 382 oi1 wells completed for a total initial of 146,965 bbl. Fifty-three wells were deepened for a total increase of 8363 bbl., bringing the total volume of new oil to 155,328 bbl. As of Jan. 1, 1934, the daily potential of the field as determined by the Texas Railroad Commission was 159,740 bbl. Of this amount 26,429 bbl. is "marginal oil," and 2682 bbl. is exempt on account of water. In December, 1934, the daily potential was established by the Railroad Commission as being 297,501 bbl. with a daily allowable of 56,800 bbl. Of this amount 31,993 bbl. is "marginal oil," and 2183 bbl. is exempt on account of water. There has been no field-wide test made during the year, and as a result the rated potential of the field is in all probability much higher than the actual potential. As each new well comes in, a five-day test is made under the supervision of the Railroad Commission. The potential thus established is added to the field potential and shares its pro rata part of the market outlet, which is the allowable production, no allowance

Jan 1, 1935

By G. C. Stone

AS the term "hardness" is used with many different meanings, it should be understood that it here means resistance to deformation by compression. It was determined by measuring the pressure, in pounds per square inch, necessary to reduce by 20 per cent., the length of cylinders 1 in. (25 mm.) in diameter by 2.6 in. (66 mm.) long. The tests were made at Columbia University on an Olsen 400,000-lb. machine, the load being applied at a constant rate of speed 0.0319 in. per min. The results were obtained by Messrs. Rigg and Williams, and some of them were given in a paper read at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the American Society for Testing Materials, in June, 1913. The remainder of the results were obtained in subsequent experiments by the same authors. In all cases, the results given are the averages of three or more closely concordant tests. All of the spelters tested were of standard commercial grades and all were of compositions making them good deliveries. The accompanying table gives the results arranged in the order of increasing hardness:

Jan 1, 1919

Meeting of Mar. 26, 1915.-The following Committee on Nominations was appointed: Fred W. Bradley, Chairman; James F. Kemp, Past President; Frank M. Smith, Chairman Montana Section; R. C. Gemmell, Chairman Utah Section; Frank A. Ross, Chairman Columbia Section; Louis S. Cates, Arthur Thacher. The Committee on Precious and Base Metals and the Committee on . Coal and Coke were appointed, the personnel of which is shown in another part of this Bulletin. The President was authorized to appoint a Committee on Welfare with J. Parke Channing as Chairman. W. P. Cutter, Librarian of the United Engineering Societies' Library, was appointed a representative of the Institute on-the Committee oh Classification of Engineering Knowledge to co-operate with similar committees of other engineering societies. A vote of thanks was extended-to Edward B. Sturgis for his excellent work in arranging for the Annual Dinner. in February, of this year. The suns of $57.30 was appropriated to the New' York Section. It was resolved that in response to the courteous invitation from 36 members of the Institute in Arizona and the neighborhood, the 1916 summer meeting of the Institute be held in Arizona.

Jan 5, 1915

By O. D. Sherby, J. E. Dorn

SEVERAL years ago Zener and Hollomon1 suggested that the flow stress of metals might be related to the temperature and strain rate in accord with the functional equation: s=s(eeh/rt) [1] at the same state. The Zener-Hollomon relation also contains the significant tacit implication that the energy for activation, AH, is substantially independent of the state of the material. The utility of this method for correlating creep data with tensile data was illustrated in a preliminary reportL on the effect of alloying additions on the secondary creep rates of binary a solid solutions in aluminum as shown for Al-Mg alloys in Fig. 1. Not only do the secondary creep and ultimate tensile properties for each alloy correlate well on this plot but in addition the activation energy, AH = 17,900 R cal per mol. is identical for the various compositions. Similar types of curves correlating the secondary creep rates at 422°K (300°F) with ultimate tensile data were also obtained for a series of dilute a solid solutions of copper, germanium, zinc, and silver in aluminum. In all cases the activation energy for creep, AH, was found to be equal to about 17,900 R cal per mol independent of the type of alloying element or its concentration. The coincidence of the activation energies for these alloys is probably due to the fact that the activation energies for creep are rather insensitive to small composition changes. Alloying additions, as shown in Fig. 1, however, increased the stress necessary to obtain equivalent values of ee?H/RT. Thus the stress level in curves of the type represented by Fig. 1 gives the relative creep strengths of the various alloys. Inasmuch as these correlations between creep and tensile data were obtained for creep tests at 422°K, it appeared advisable to ascertain the range of secondary creep rates and temperatures over which correlations between creep and tensile data could be made on the basis of the Zener-Hollomon relationship. If, for example, the activation energy changes with different ranges of creep temperatures, the utility of the proposed analysis would be severely weakened. But if AH is constant not only for all dilute alloys, but also over wide ranges of temperature and secondary creep rates, confidence will be developed not only in the broad utility of the Zener- Table I. Chemical Analysis':' and Grain Size of Alloys Mean Grain Residual Impurities. Wt Pct Diam- Alloying Atomic-eter, Element Pct Si Fe Cu Mg Mn mm Aluminum 99.987 0.003 0.003 0.006 0.001 0.25 Magnesium 1.617 0.003 0.004 0.006 0.26 Copper 0.101 0.003 0.003 0.0006 0.001 0.29 Zinc 1.616 0.003 0.005 0.007 0.001 '0.26 * The authors express their appreciation to the Aluminum Company of America for the preparation and chemical analyses of these alloys. Hollomon relationship, but also in its theoretical justification. The following investigation was instituted in order to ascertain the range of validity of the Zener-Hollomon relationship when it is applied to creep and tension data. Materials, Equipment, Technique In view of rather extensive correlatable data now available on the plastic properties of a series of binary a solid solutions of magnesium, copper, germanium, zinc, and silver in aluminum, these alloys were again selected for the present investigation. Previous reports have already covered the tensile properties of these alloys at subatmospheric temperatures," and at elevated temperature," as well as their fatigue properties at atmospheric temperatures, nd their creep properties at 422°K.' Resistivity measurementsa as well as precision lattice constant determinations? evealed that these alloys are a solid solutions. After homogenization. 0.100 in. thick sheets were rolled to 0.070 in. in thickness and recrystallized to about the same grain size. Since the details of these treatments were reported previously," they will not be repeated here. In order to appropriately reduce the scope of creep tests in this investigation only the typical alloys shown in Table I were investigated. All creep specimens were machined such that their tensile axes were in the rolling direction of the 0.070 in. sheet stock. The gage section was 2 in. long and 0.500 in. wide with a reduced section of 3.50 in. Creep strains were measured by means of rack and pinion type extensometers with a sensitivity of 0.005 in. per division. Readings were estimated to 1/10 of

Jan 1, 1953

By E. C. Wright

FOR many years the cost of making pig iron and steel in the Birmingham district has been about the lowest in the United States. The close proximity of the important raw materials such as coal, iron ore, limestone, and the large available scrap supply made it possible to assemble all of the important ingredients necessary for steel- making with only nominal costs for transportation. Both iron ore and coal were being mined in this district at one time for about $1 per ton from underground operations. At that time mining wages were low everywhere and the labor rate in the South was considerably below that of other mining districts. This situation persisted until the emergence of labor unions as an economic and political force, emigation of southern labor to northern plants, and continued growth of industry in the South in the years following the depression of 1932. Since that time union organizing of miners and steel workers throughout the nation has increased labor costs in mining and steelmaking. This influence has been felt particularly in underground mining operations since the proportion of labor cost to total cost is still high. The previous advantage in basic labor rate in the South has been almost entirely eliminated by the equalization of labor rates in basic industries by national unions. Since 1945 these influences have been especially noticeable in increasing the cost of mining coal and iron ore in the South. The northern steel districts are still being largely supplied with iron ore from the Minnesota open-pit mines and the cost of this ore has not increased nearly as much as the cost of ore obtained from underground mines in Birmingham. A similar situation exists in coal mining; the thinner seams in Alabama are not so amenable to mechanization as the northern mines and, as a result, the output per man-day in southern mines is only about three tons of coal as compared to five or six tons per man-day in the large captive mines of West Vir-

Jan 1, 1950

By Thomas T., Read

E DUCATION for the mineral industry was at first a single comprehensive curriculum, but it was early recognized that the main basis of mining is physics, while that of metallurgy is chemistry. The first school to offer curricula leading to degrees in mineral industry education in the United States (1853) had separate ones in mining and metallurgy. The Columbia School of Mines (the first really successful one) had only a single curriculum when it opened in 1864, but within a few years had so reorganized its work that it offered curricula in mining, metallurgy, geology, chemistry, and civil engineering. Interest in the metallurgy or geology curricula was slight at first, and for the next 30 years the great majority of Columbia students took the mining curriculum, probably partly because it contained nearly as much geology as the geology curriculum, practically all the metallurgy, and most of the chemistry, and partly because of the degree awarded for it. Other schools kept their mining curricula equally broad, and as late as 1900-1910 men were graduating as mining engineers who were practically as well prepared to make geology or metallurgy their life work, as they were for mining. Gradually, however, the subject matter of mining geology and metallurgy became so enriched through research and development that separate curricula in them became worth while; their progressive development is the subject of another chapter. Mining curricula also began to be somewhat diversified, and schools in areas where coal mining was of outstanding importance began to offer options in coal mining, the earlier curricula having been chiefly aimed at metal mining. The petroleum industry began its meteoric rise about the same time as mineral instruction in this country, but little more of applied science attended its birth than had attended such ancient practical arts as copper and iron

Jan 1, 1941

By E. A. Anderson

In 1918 the American Society for Testing Materials held a symposium2 on what was then known as season cracking. The sessions included six papers, all on brass. During the ensuing 26 yr., many new workers have come into the field and several other metals have been found subject to failure by stress-corrosion cracking when the right combination of stress and environment is achieved. It is not surprising, therefore, that the present symposium has brought forth 29 papers covering alloys of seven important metals. The phenomenon of stress-corrosion cracking is not necessarily confined to these seven metals. Dix3 has stated, "Indeed, it is probable that ingenious investigators can find solutions which will stress-corrosion crack any known metal or alloy." Mears, Brown, and Dix4 have indicated that stress- corrosion cracking failures are not necessarily limited to metals but may include the plastics. It is to be expected that the increase in the number of metals known to crack in service and the general emphasis on such failures at a symposium such as this will alarm many to whom the subject is un- familiar. Such alarm is not justified by the record. It is true that stress-corrosion

Jan 1, 1945