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By Tony B. Szwilski, K. Unrug

INTRODUCTION Since the introduction of longwall coal mining systems, reliable predictions of roof support requirements at the face and the roof caveability in the gob area have been major contributors to the success of the longwall face by means of safety and face productivity. That is, the successful operation of a longwall is well-served by good regular caving of the gob. In recent times, with the advent of increased coal face mechanization and capital investment, the evaluation of the feasibility of longwall mining has become essential. In the United States, where a face unit for a face length of about 150 metres may cost around $6 million, a quantitative system that would assist in selecting the best equipment for the coal would prove extremely beneficial. There have been many such varied investigations in the past few years. A vast -amount of work has been invested principally by West Germany [3, 7, 8, 91 , Poland [I, 101 , United Kingdom [4, 5, lo], France [4], and South Africa [4]. It is the object of this paper to review this previous research work and give an outline that may be used as guidelines for long- wall evaluation. Essentially, for the initial design phase for a longwall system, account must be taken of the geometry of the coal panel, its position relative to the surface (depth), direction of the coal cleat system, faults and in-situ stresses and other neighboring workings in the same coal seam and other seams both above and below. The advance of the coal panel disturbs the stress field and in doing so creates an abutment zone around the face. At this stage the condition of homogeneity of the surrounding rock mass does not apply. The magnitude of the rock strata pressure may exceed the ultimate strength of the rocks and create zones of clastic, plastic and elastic material, the limits of which are difficult to determine. The collapse of the gob and resulting expansion of the displaced waste roof rock, create a statically undefined support complicating an already unclear rock structure. For example, it is often a point of debate whether, indeed, the vertical strata pressure develops to regain the original magnitude of virgin stress. Under these post-failure circumstances an analytical approach based on simplified and idealized assumptions can only be considered a very general approximation. Theoretical concepts, however, may be adequately supplemented by empirical methods that are based on numerous underground observations and surveys [3, 4, 7, 8]. These methods employ the use of rock indices that very handily correspond to the competence of the roof rock mass. Scale model work [3, 41 , using equivalent materials representing the surrounding rock mass within the coal seam zone, have given valuable qualitative and sometimes quantitative data in addressing the behaviour of the rock mass around longwall panels. To characterize the state of art of caveability predictioqthe principal concepts will be reviewed with special emphasis placed on practicality for the planning of longwall operation. It has been the general observation of the authors that many of the literature surveys published in English often neglect reference to other international mining literature. It is with this point in mind that an overall review has been written including mining concepts identified with the principal coal mining countries. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS Arching Theory For the development of this theory, assumption has been made that an extracted height, h, in a coal seam results in an extracted panel of width, w . Also, the coal seam is horizontal and the rock strata of both the roof and floor are homogeneous. The primary (virgin) stress distribution will change in the roof as well as the floor. As a result of lack of support caused by the excavation (in the gob area) an additional load is developed due to the redistribution of the load around the sides of the panel, referred to as the abutment, R, where: [ ]

Jan 1, 1982

By Sherwin Kelly

IN presenting this brief historical perspective, it is not my purpose to address myself to the geophysicists, to most of whom the story is already well known. My objective is to draw the attention of those who hold the belief that geophysics is something new, typically twentieth century, to the fact that fundamentally, whether it was known by the name of geo-physics or not, the science is an ancient and an honorable one. It began many centuries ago, and our modern civilization and its commerce owe a great debt to its founders, who today are likely to he overlooked and their names forgotten. The word "geophysics" means the physics of the earth, and is descriptive of a science that in many ways bears the same relationship to geology that astrophysics does to astronomy. When dealing with dis-tant stars or deeply buried rocks, the experimenter cannot reach them to obtain samples, which can be taken to his laboratory for study. He therefore exhibits the resourcefulness of Mahomet in the mountain episode, and makes the terrestrial globe or the cosmic universe his labora-tory, studying the effects of distant bodies on certain "fields of force"" which come to him across interstellar space, or through the rocks that make our earth. The application of these techniques of the physics laboratory to the study of the stars is the science of astrophysics, and to the investigation of the earth is geophysics. Yet the origin of the most valuable contribution to the world's trade and commerce ever made by geophysics remains lost in deep obscurity. Unknown even is the country wherein lived the unsung genius who invented the first geophysical instrument, the mariner's compass! Worse yet, it is not certain whether this invaluable guide of man had its begin-nings in Europe or in Asia. A Chinese legend tells of the Emperor Hwang-ti, who attacked his enemy Tchi-yeou on the plains of Tchou-lou in the year 2634 B.C., whereupon the latter magically raised such a fog that the Emperor could not pursue the retreating troops. Not to be outdone, the mighty ruler constructed a chariot that indicated the cardi-

Jan 1, 1938

By P. Gauvillé

The key driver for choosing a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler is the ability to burn a wide range of fuels with highly efficient combustion while meeting low emission requirements. Reduced sorbent and water consumption compared with pulverized coal (PC) plants and the ability to deal with corrosive fuel constituents while still meeting local regulations make a CFB boiler-based power plant particularly attractive. CFB-based power generation is particularly relevant in coal mining areas. During mining, a portion of the roof and floor material may be extracted along with the coal seam in order to create adequate working height for the equipment and miners. Therefore, run-of-mine coal which comes directly from the mine contains impurities. The raw coal can undergo a washing or screening process in order to improve its quality by reducing the ash content in the fuel in order to sell it on the export market or to comply with domestic customer requirements. The coal discarded from the washing process usually has a high ash content and difficult mechanical properties resulting from the initial properties, the mining, and the coal cleaning processes. It can contain a large volume of stones or can be very fine as a result of the washing treatment. To create value from burning this discarded coal, the boiler supplier has to meet several technical challenges in developing the appropriate design. This paper highlights the performance achieved with Alstom's CFB boilers developed for power generation over the last two decades to extract value from discarded coals. Emile Huchet Power Plant is the first 125 MWe CFB unit developed for burning coal slurries (called schlamms in France). The Emile Huchet discarded coal fuel is a very fine high-ash residue with an average particle diameter by mass (d50) of around 80 µm as received from the washing plant. The paper describes the performances and the basic design of the CFB boiler to manage such a fine fuel. The performances of two other CFBs of approximately 300 MWe output in operation in the USA and PR China are also mentioned to demonstrate the capability of this technology to burn either low-volatile bituminous or anthracite waste coals. The significant issues experienced during commissioning are reported, and the conceptual choices for burning such fuels are mentioned.

Jan 1, 2012

By J. D. Forrester

Many have been prone to credit the decline of professional interest in some branches of mineral industry education to the industrialists and other agencies who use our graduates. We hear the cry that industrial salaries are too low, opportunities for advancement do not exist, and the mineral industry specifically and generally is not interested in the engineer's efforts. Perhaps the time now has come when we should "dress-ranks," examine our practices, and publicize and encourage advanced technical training instead of laying all our troubles elsewhere. There can be no doubt but that industry is interested and stands ready and willing to co-operate. This is demonstrated by the numerous grants-in-aid and co-operative industrial projects which have been made available to those relatively few schools which have been encouraging graduate study and research. There is no dearth of research problems in any of the mineral industry fields and the sooner we realize the great opportunities for constructive, technical research in all areas of our profession the sooner we will reap the benefits of our engineering enterprises by closer liaison and broader understanding with industry. An analysis is offered here of the status of graduate work and research in various phases of mineral industry education in the United States. It is

Jan 1, 1949

Jan 1, 2009

By George S. Rice

The subject of violent bumps in coal mines has been again brought to attention by a recent succession of such occurrences in the coal mines of the Cumberland field of eastern Kentucky and southern Virginia, which have caused fatalities and injuries to underground employees, a report on which is being issued by the United States Bureau of Mines1. The A.I.M.E. has had two valuable papers on bumps in the No. 2 Mine, Springhill, Nova Scotia, each followed by general discussion on bumps and their causes2. This paper gives a brief review of suggested causes and remedial measures given in English, Canadian and United States reports on blimps in coal mines, and then presents suggestions arising from the writer's recent investigation of the bumps in the Cumberland mines, made at the request of the mine operators, to determine the causes and remedies. These bumps, which occur under the simplest natural conditions, provide better opportunity for analysis of causes and effects than afforded under more complex conditions. The simple conditions in this field consist of relatively thin and level coal beds and uniform roof strata free from folding and faulting. Definition of Bumps Bumps in coal mines, as defined in this paper, are sudden violent bursts of coal that usually occur without warning in the extraction of pillars and may or may not be accompanied incidentally by falls of draw slate, upheaval of bottom and smashing of timbers. They are not known to occur where the advancing longwall method of mining, accompanied by

Jan 1, 1936

By C. E. Lesher

Low-temPeRatUre carbonization needs no introduction to the literature on coal. This paper will attempt no review of that literature; it tells the story of the commercial development of one of the processes for carbonizing coal at so-called low temperatures, dealing with the technology and economics of the process rather than with the design of equipment. The process used is that covered by the patents of C. B. Wisner, with improvements and changes made by the Pittsburgh Coal Carbonization Co. The important and novel feature of the process is the phenomenon of making the product in ball form (Fig. 1). Melting coal dust into smokeless solid fuel in an apparatus as simple as a revolving cylinder of ordinary mild steel has been proved to be practical. Furthermore, it has been found that the process has a wide application, for by applying a knowledge of why and how this balling action is accomplished, the apparatus can be designed and adapted to treat any coal that has a certain minimum agglutinating property. The operating plant is 20 miles west of Pittsburgh, adjacent to the Champion preparation plant of the Pittsburgh Coal Co. The coal used is cleaned minus ?-in. or finer sizes. The products are low-tem-perature coke, tar and tar products. Present capacity is 7000 tons per month of low-temperature coke and 140,000 gal. of tar. There is no surplus gas for sale, and none of the light oils are stripped from the gas. The coke is marketed in two sizes, 1 to 2 in. and 1 to 6 in., through retail coal dealers for domestic consumption in hand-fired furnaces, and for fireplace fuel. The smaller size is bagged by dealers. Crude tar and many distillates and road tars are sold. Acknowledgments During the 10 years in which the work that is summarized in this paper has been under way, many have contributed time and effort, faithful service and fruitful thinking. Whatever success has attended

Jan 1, 1940

By R. S. Dean

The commercial production of electrolytic manganese on a small scale commenced in 1939. The writer made a short report on the progress of production and utilization in Mining and Metallurgy for January 1941. Progress during the last two years, naturally, has been more rapid. In June 1940, Congressman (now Senator) Scrugham presented a proposal to Congress for an appropriation authorizing erection of a pilot plant for " the production of metallic manganese by electrolytic or other means." As a result of this, a pilot plant, having a capacity of a few hundred pounds per day was built at Boulder City, Nev. Subsequent appropriations permitted expansion of the plant to about a ton per day. Much has been learned in this plant about electrolytic manganese, and the product even in its small way has found war uses of considerable importance. Meanwhile, the Knoxville plant of the Electro Manganese Corporation, the sole commercial producer, was expanded to about 4 tons per day to supply needed material for the war program. Other proposals for commercial plants have not been favorably received by the War Production Board. The Bureau reported on one such proposal by the American Alloys and Chemical Corporation. Practice at BouldeR City The present practice, as carried out at Boulder City, which is being described in more detail in a current paper by the Bureau staff at Boulder City, starts with a manganese dioxide ore containing about 20 per cent manganese. Currently this ore comes from the Three Kids deposit near Las Vegas. The steps for the production of electrolytic manganese, in general, are as follows: 1. The manganese in the ore is reduced to MnO. 2. The MnO is dissolved from the ore in spent electrolyte, which contains about 38 to 47 grams per liter of free sulphuric acid, 135 grams per liter of ammonium sulphate, and 10 to 12 grams per liter of Mn as sulphate. In the leaching step the manganese is built back up to 32 to 36 grams per liter of Mn as sulphate; the pH is adjusted to neutral by means of gaseous ammonia and passed through thickeners. 3. The electrolyte is purified by adding H2S, which precipitates the heavy metals. After filtering, ferrous sulphate is added to the solution and oxidized with air and the solution is filtered and clarified on a precoat filter. 4. The purified catholyte is electrolyzed in a diaphragm cell using stainless-steel cathodes and lead-silver anodes. The current density is about 45 amp. per sq. ft. Current efficiencies of 60 to 65 per cent are regularly obtained.

Jan 1, 1944

By Robert B. Parsons

"Ontario and Quebec taxpayers will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay more tax, according to budget papers tabled in these provinces in May 1993. Individuals will be hardest hit, but corporations will also have to ante up in the face of higher rates, reduced deductions, and new taxes.Up, up, and away...Somewhere in the bleak picture of the 1993 Quebec and Ontario budgets, there is a bit of good news for the mining industry.Careful scrutiny reveals:• Ontario will correct a capital tax provision which inadvertently penalizes flow through share issuers;• Quebec's flow-through incentives will be extended to December 31, 1995; and • both Quebec and Ontario will allow deductions for mine site reclamation payments.The industry may also find some comfort in the fact that Ontario's new corporate minimum tax will be profit-based (unlike the federal minimum tax), so that non-producers should not face a liability for this tax. There is some concern though, about Quebec's announcement that the refundable credit mechanism in the Mining Duties Act will be reviewed."

Jan 1, 1993

By B. Anameric, S. K. Kawatra

Pig iron nuggets were produced in a laboratory scale furnace at Michigan Technological University. These nuggets are produced from pellets consisting of a mixture of iron oxide, coal, flux, and a binder, which are heated to 1450°C.These pellets then self-reduce to produce a solid, high-density, highly metallized (96.5% Fe) pig iron. During the nugget production process, a separate slag phase forms that cleanly separates from the metal. The physical and chemical properties of the pig iron nuggets are similar to pig iron produced by blast furnaces, which is distinct from Direct Reduced Iron (DRI).

Jan 1, 2004

By Chas Dobbel

THE Chief Consolidated properties are situated in the Tintic mining district of Utah, being included in Juab and Utah Counties, about 70 miles south of Salt Lake City. The drilling referred to in this paper has been carried on in the Chief Consolidated No. 1 mine, the Gemini mine, and the Eureka Hill mine at Eureka, the Grand Central mine, above Mammoth, and the Apex Standard mine just south of Dividend. The occurrence of ore through the district is typically in lenses on bedding or breaks, and in connecting pipes, without accurate geometrical trend so that the ratio between the total length of development in drifts and crosscuts to the square feet of ore exposed is very high. A section of one of the western channels (Fig. 1) through the Tintic district, shows, roughly, the irregularities calling for excessive development work, so typical of the Tintic mines. This irregular trend of the ore constantly calls for excessive cutting up of the whole area for offshoots and the connecting links always present.. In the planning of prospecting and development, no regular system may be laid out without overlooking some orebodies or segments of orebodies. It was with these facts in mind that Cecil Fitch, the general manager of the Chief Consolidated Mining Co., decided that some method of drilling was the more feasible way of successfully cutting up and bringing about the discovery of ore believed to exist; yet this drilling had to compete with a great. margin of cost over crosscutting, as a crosscut in the Tintic district, even though barren, brings out geologic facts that, in many cases, are worth the price of the working itself. Diamond drills met with the success that might be expected in a district that has a reputation for the wear and loss of diamonds; after 6 or 8 months, this method was discarded on account of the high costs. Simultaneously, a small churn drill outfit was set up underground but a few shifts proved its inapplicability. At the same time, the ordinary hammer drill was usd to drive prospect holes with jointed steel.

Jan 9, 1925

By S. W. Ross

In 1936 a description of the plant (Fig 1) and process employed by the Electrolytic Zinc Co. of Australasia Ltd. for the recovery of zinc from zinc concentrate by the electrolytic process was prepared. † During the twelve years which have elapsed since the preparation of the earlier paper, several major changes in the metallurgy of the process have been introduced. It is the purpose of the present paper to give a general description of these changes and thus to bring up to date the description of the plant and process. Summary The major changes in Risdon practice since 1936 have been: 1. Replacement of two stage roasting by a preliminary roast followed by the flotation of all the leach residue and the roasting of the flotation concentrate. 2. Screening of all calcine fed to the pachucas. 3. Continuous leaching of calcine and improved classification of pachuca discharge. 4. Close control of hydrogen ion concentration during purification for iron removal. 5. Recovery of cobalt as a good grade oxide. 6. Production of part of the zinc output in the form of "four nines" metal (99.99 pct purity). 7. Closer spacing of electrodes thus increasing the potential output of cathode zinc per cell by 50 pct. Changes which are in prospect and for which construction work is proceeding at the present time involve the starting up of: 1. Two suspension roasters. 2. A contact acid plant to produce 150 tons‡ of acid per day and replacing the existing Mills Packard chamber plant. 3. Extra power station capacity to permit greater current flow to existing cell room units. This will increase the output of cathode zinc from about 245 to 290 tons per day. Plans for the future envisage the building of an ammonium sulphate plant, the first unit of which will produce about 50,000 tons per year, and improved treatment of zinc plant residue for the recovery of zinc, lead and other metals. At the end of this paper tables of metallurgical data are presented relating to the year ending June 30, 1948. Details of Changed Practice Output In 1936 the production of cathode zinc amounted to about 200 tons per day. This has since been increased to about 245 tons per day while plant extensions are practically complete which will permit of an output of about 290 tons per day in the near future. Roasting Division ROASTING POLICY A major change has occurred in the roasting policy. Twelve years ago the method in use was to carry out a two stage roast in the first stage of which sulphide sulphur was reduced to about 6 pct. The pre-roast calcine was re-roasted in modified Leggo furnaces using coal as fuel, sulphide sulphur being reduced to about 0.8 pct. The whole procedure was described on pp. 482491 of the earlier paper. Although this roasting procedure had certain advantages it possessed some distinct disadvantages. For instance, it appeared uneconomical to heat up the entire input of pre-roast calcine to roasting temperature by the expenditure of fuel in order to oxidise a few percent of sulphide sulphur. It was argued that if the pre-roast calcine were leached and a process could be developed for the recovery of a zinc sulphide concentrate from the leach residue, this concentrate, small in weight compared with the pre-roost calcine, would probably roast autogenously, thus virtually eliminating the expenditure of fuel as well as greatly increasing the weight of sulphur oxidised per square foot of furnace hearth area. The obvious method of producing a suitable concentrate from leach residue was by flotation. It will be recalled (see p. 495 of the earlier paper) that when two-stage roasting was practised the leach residue was classified, the granular fraction was ground and floated while the slime fraction was thickened, filtered and dried ready for shipment to a lead smelter. This process worked quite successfully. However, when trials were made of leaching a calcine carrying several percent of sulphide sulphur the granular fraction still floated well, but the slime fraction carrying 8-10 pct sulphide sulphur yielded very poor results when subjected to flotation. This fact held up the application of "pre-roast" leaching for many years. However, successful flotation of the slime fraction of leach residue was finally achieved and in August 1940 the slime flotation plant began operation, while the leach-

Jan 1, 1950

By Frank Manheim

The purpose of this presentation is to review the history of offshore non- fisheries resource development since World War II, as an introduction to a planned symposium on offshore resources scheduled for the 1996 UMI Conference. After World War II the United States became the leader in offshore oil and gas production, deep ocean drilling technologies, offshore terminals, platforms and production systems, and natural gas recovery and transport. Wartime skills in acoustic profiling and antisubmarine warfare were transferred into commercially important geophysical exploration techniques. The application of ocean drilling and geophysical techniques permitted the recognition and elucidation of plate tectonics patterns, development of seafloor spreading theory, and the transformation of our knowledge of seabed and subseabed strata. After John Mero's studies and recommendations for developing marine manganese nodules in the late 1950's interest in nonfuel minerals grew rapidly. The formation of international deep sea mining consortia in the 1960's was accompanied by a flurry of ocean engineering development, minerals prospecting and associated environmental studies The Santa Barbara Oil Spill of 1969 resulted in a moratorium on both offshore energy and minerals leasing by the Depart- ment Interior, and catalyzed the development of new Federal legislation in 1972. In 1973 the offshore energy moratorium was lifted in response to the Arab oil embargo, and offshore energy activities surged for a time. Minerals were reopened to leasing following President Reagan's 1983 executive order implementing a 200 mile EEZ. Although interest was spurred by

Jan 1, 1995

By Clarence Zener

Contents Page General Principles................................................................. 551 Equilibrium Diagrams......................................................... 551 Nucleation................................................................... 553 Kinetics of Phase-boundary Propagation......................................... 553 Kinetics of Growth of New Phase............................................... 556 Spheroidization............................................................... 560 Pure Iron-carbon System........................................................... 561 Formation of Pearlite.......................................................... 561 Interlamellar Spacing........................................................ 562 Pearlite C-curve............................................................. 563 Bainite Formation............................................................. 565 Formation of Martensite....................................................... 570 Loss of Tetragonality of Martensite.............................................. 570 Effect of Alloys upon Decomposition of Austenite..................................... 572 Pearlite...................................................................... 572 Bainite and Martensite......................................................... 574 Time-temperature-transformation Curves............................................. 576 Appendix A............................................................. ......... 579 Appendix B....................................................................... 580 Appendix C....................................................................... 580 The present investigation started in an attempt to understand certain details of the decomposition of austenite, and of the effect of alloying elements thereon. As the investigation proceeded it became apparent that not only these details, but all the general features of austenite decomposition, could be understood in terms of fundamental physical principles. Since the direct applicability of these physical principles has not been previously recognized, it was decided to incorporate the original results of the investigation into a review of the general subject of the kinetics of austenite decomposition. This review constitutes the present article. An extended summary of the results is given on pages 576 to 579. This article, which deals with the kinetics of phase transformations, may appropriately be considered as a sequel to two recent articles1,2 from this laboratory on the equilibrium relations in medium alloy steels.

Jan 1, 1947

By M. Muskat

A theory has been developed describing the behavior of wells and reservoirs producing by the action of bottom water drives. It is assumed that the pressures are maintained above the bubble point, and that the permeability to viscosity ratio of the water in the flooded zone is the same as for the oil in the oil-saturated pay. Accordingly, the treatment is based on the homogeneous fluid potential theory. The effect of the difference in density between the oil and water is neglected. .4fter deriving the proper potential distrihutions, the nature of the rise of the water-oil interface below the producing wells is calculated. The primary clean-oil-production phase is expressed in terms of the displacement efficiency, defined as the fraction of the pay flooded out by the rising water table at tlle time of first water entry. The variation of this displacement efficiency is calculated as a function of the well spacing, pay thickness, the ratio of the horizontal to vertical permeability, and the well penetration. The important parameter, other than the well penetration, is found to be the ratio of the well separation to the thickness of the oil pay multiplied by the square root of the ratio of vertical to horizontal permeability. It was found that the displacement efficiency continually decreases as this parameter increases, and for values of the latter >3.5, the efficiency varies inversely as the square of the parameter. It also increases with decreasing well penetration. Perhaps the most striking result of this phase of the analysis is the conclusion that in order to explain the delay in entry of water in wells producing by bottom water drives for periods longer than a few days normal production, with drawdowns large compared with the differential density head between the oil and water, it is necessary to assume that the vertical permeability is a very low fraction of the horizontal permeability. An analysis is also given of the production history after the water has broken through, on the assumption that the production mechanism and details of the flow distribution continue to be the same as during the phase of clean-oil production. As is to be expected, it is found that the water cut will increase at an accelerated rate as production proceeds. However, the initial differences between systems of different well penetrations or well spacings with respect to the total clean-oil production gradually decrease in terms of the variation of the water-oil ratio with cumulative production. In particular, by the time the water-oil ratio has reached values of the order of 5 or greater the cumulative recoveries will generally differ much less among various producing systems than their corresponding clean-oil recoveries. Introduction On the basis of elementary geological principles, one may classify effective water-drive fields in two groups. In the first, the entry of water into the oil-producing formation may be characterized as an edge-water encroachment. This term is used to suggest that the motion of the water proceeds largely in a direction parallel to the planes of stratification. This type of water intrusion occurs usually in thin producing zones and in strata lying along structural flanks of appreciable dip. In the second group—"bottom water-drive" fields—the water-oil interface lies in a plane of zero or slight inclination to the

Jan 1, 1947

By Paul J. Barrett

The Bureau of Mines evaluated a sulfurous acid-sulfuric acid process for recovering alumina from clay, in which clay is leached. successively with sulfurous acid and sulfuric acid. The resulting aluminum sulfite and aluminum sulfate solutions are combined and heated to produce a basic aluminum sulfate and sulfur dioxide. Alumina is extracted from the basic aluminum sulfate as sodium aluminate by leaching with dilute sodium hydroxide. After desilication, sulfuric acid is used to precipitate alumina as alumina trihydrate, which is then calcined to alpha-alumina. The estimated fixed capital cost for a plant producing 1,000 tons per day of alumina is about $74 million on a 1971 basis. For comparison with previous alumina-from-clay evaluations, the estimated fixed capital cost for the plant is about $67 million on an M and S Chemical Equipment Index basis of 24.0.0, which is equivalent to a 1960 cost level. Because the operating cost is highly dependent on fuel and electric power costs, graphs are included to show the effect of these items on the operating cost. On a 1971 basis, with natural gas costing 35 cents per million Btu and operating labor costing $4 per hour, the estimated operating cost is about $100 per ton of alumina. On a 1960 basis, with labor costing $2.30 per hour and natural gas costing 25 cents per million Btu, the estimated operating cost is about $86 per ton of alumina.

Jan 1, 1973

By K. Y. Haramy

Rock burst and coal mine bump research using static and dynamic rock mechanics instrumentation has been conducted for several decades. Research efforts typically have been conducted using static instrumentation such as pressure cells, convergence measurements, multipoint borehole extensometers, and shield loading pressure measurements; dynamic rock mechanics instrumentation, for example, microseismic monitoring, has been used to help provide precursors to those violent failures. Unfortunately, these different styles of study have never been used in tandem. We report in this study the unique opportunity to have both static and dynamic instrumentation available for monitoring a longwall panel in a deep western coal mine and show that the two methods used in tandem provide information to understand the causes of a major bump. Several static rock mechanics instrumentation sites were carefully chosen along the longwall panel in the coal seam, packwalls, roof, and floor to provide the stress history during mining, including the stress redistribution that occurred before and after the major failures. Monitoring of the shield pressure on selected shields of the longwall face revealed that the cyclical loading anticipated during normal caving processes was not occurring. In addition, by locating each microseismic event (rock noise), the areas that were not adjusting to the changing stress field were clearly delineated by a lack of microseismic activity. The area of the longwall panel that did not adjust to the changing conditions ultimately failed. The combination of static and dynamic rock mechanics instrumentation data analysis provided the necessary information to determine the interaction of the structural members and the cause of the major failures at this mine.

Jan 1, 1988

By Zay Jeffries

This paper will include a brief discussion of Prof. Howe's paper on The Supposed Reversal of Inheritance of Ferrite Grain Size from that of Austenite.l The general subject of grain refining in steel and iron will also be treated. The conclusions reached are stated in the following hypotheses which are discussed more in detail below. 1. The ferrite grain size in pure iron, the ferrite and pearlite grain size in hypoeutectoid steel, the pearlite grain size in eutectoid steel and the cementite and pearlite grain size of hypereutectoid steel are not inherited from the grain size of the mother austenite. 2. The only structural feature that is generally inherited from the austenite of hypo- and hypereutectoid steels on cooling through their transformation ranges is the position of the excess ferrite or cementite at the austenite grain boundaries, sometimes causing complete and sometimes incomplete networks which outline the old austenite grain boundaries. Rapid cooling through the transformation range will cause the non-inheritance of this structural (network) feature. 3. The austenite grain boundaries themselves are nearly always effaced in all steels and also in pure iron during the At transformations. 4. The grain-size refining of steel and iron is brought about by the combined effect of non-inheritance of the transformation products on either heating or cooling, i.e., the austenite transformation products do cst inherit their grain size from the austenite on cooling through the transformation range nor does austenite inherit its grain size from the products which form austenite on heating. 5. In general, in both iron and carbon steel the larger the austenite grain size, the larger will be the grain size of the transformation products on cooling. This, of course, assumes all other conditions constant except the austenite grain size. An exception is found to this general rule in very pure iron such as electrolytic iron. In this instance small austenite grains may form very large ferrite grains on cooling through Arg.

Jan 1, 1918

By M. Muskat

A theory has been developed describing the behavior of wells and reservoirs producing by the action of bottom water drives. It is assumed that the pressures are maintained above the bubble point, and that the permeability to viscosity ratio of the water in the flooded zone is the same as for the oil in the oil-saturated pay. Accordingly, the treatment is based on the homogeneous fluid potential theory. The effect of the difference in density between the oil and water is neglected. .4fter deriving the proper potential distrihutions, the nature of the rise of the water-oil interface below the producing wells is calculated. The primary clean-oil-production phase is expressed in terms of the displacement efficiency, defined as the fraction of the pay flooded out by the rising water table at tlle time of first water entry. The variation of this displacement efficiency is calculated as a function of the well spacing, pay thickness, the ratio of the horizontal to vertical permeability, and the well penetration. The important parameter, other than the well penetration, is found to be the ratio of the well separation to the thickness of the oil pay multiplied by the square root of the ratio of vertical to horizontal permeability. It was found that the displacement efficiency continually decreases as this parameter increases, and for values of the latter >3.5, the efficiency varies inversely as the square of the parameter. It also increases with decreasing well penetration. Perhaps the most striking result of this phase of the analysis is the conclusion that in order to explain the delay in entry of water in wells producing by bottom water drives for periods longer than a few days normal production, with drawdowns large compared with the differential density head between the oil and water, it is necessary to assume that the vertical permeability is a very low fraction of the horizontal permeability. An analysis is also given of the production history after the water has broken through, on the assumption that the production mechanism and details of the flow distribution continue to be the same as during the phase of clean-oil production. As is to be expected, it is found that the water cut will increase at an accelerated rate as production proceeds. However, the initial differences between systems of different well penetrations or well spacings with respect to the total clean-oil production gradually decrease in terms of the variation of the water-oil ratio with cumulative production. In particular, by the time the water-oil ratio has reached values of the order of 5 or greater the cumulative recoveries will generally differ much less among various producing systems than their corresponding clean-oil recoveries. Introduction On the basis of elementary geological principles, one may classify effective water-drive fields in two groups. In the first, the entry of water into the oil-producing formation may be characterized as an edge-water encroachment. This term is used to suggest that the motion of the water proceeds largely in a direction parallel to the planes of stratification. This type of water intrusion occurs usually in thin producing zones and in strata lying along structural flanks of appreciable dip. In the second group—"bottom water-drive" fields—the water-oil interface lies in a plane of zero or slight inclination to the

Jan 1, 1947

By C. H. Cheng, C. E. Birchenall

The fundamental problem in the thermodynamics of solid solutions is the determinatiorl or calculation of the activities of the components as a function of temperature and composition. Since the theory of metals is not suficiently developed to allow a priori calculation of these quantities, they must be obtained from experiment. C. Wagner1 has reviewed the literature of this subject for the period before 1940. Although several important and extensive studies have been made in the meantime, the number of systems to which any sort of quantitative information can be assigned is vanish-ingly small. These data have become of great potential importance in studies of the structure of solid solutions2 and intermetallic compounds, the nature of the diffusion process,3,4 and perhaps even the mechanism of mechanical deformation.5 For these reasons, it. seems very worthwhile to extend the experimental data in this field. Although there is little use in duplicating Wagner's review, attention should be directed to the most recently reported investigations. A brief enumeration of the methods of measurement previously employed also should be valuable. The most direct method is the determination of the partial pressure of the components in the vapor phase in equilibrium with the solution. Both equilibrium and kinetic methods have been tried in metal systems, but almost exclusively on liquid phases. Only in the ease of carbon in iron alloys and in the copper-zinc system have extensive measure- ments been made which include solid phases. When one of the components is an element, such as nitrogen or carbon, which forms compounds which are very volatile and stable at normal temperatures and pressures (CH4, Co2, CO NH3), it is frequently possible to equilibrate mixtures containing these (such as CH4-H2, CO2-CO, NH3-H2) independently with the elernents (C, X) and with the metal (Fe, Ni, etc.). Such measurernents have been made for carbon in iron, iron-silicon, and iron-manganese alloys by Smith6 and in iron and iron-nickel alloys by Toensing.7 Differences between carbon activity values at the same temperature and carbon content when carboil is introduced from CH4-H2 rnixtures or CO-CO. mixtures indicate that the effects of hydrogen and oxygen in the system are not negligible, and one can only hope that the true value lies somewhere between these sets of results, probably nearer the CH4-H2 data since hydrogen is less soluble in iron than oxygen. This is essentially an equilibrium method, although flowing gas is employed. A kirletic method has been employed which consists of sweeping an inert gas (generally hydrogen) over the alloy at a series of rates, condensing the metal vapor out,, and analyzing it. The metal content can be extrapolated to zero flow rate (equilibrium). Wejnarth's8 work on Cd-Mg and Zn-Mg is a good example of this frequently used method. A variant of this consists of equilibrating a known volume of inert gas with the alloy, sweeping it out quickly, and analyzing for metal. In common with the above method, it has the disadvantage that the "inert" gas is generally somewhat soluble in the alloy. Moreover, the former continuously displaces the system from equilihrium and may give low values if solid diffusion is involved. The dew point method applied by Hargreaves9 to the alpha and beta brasses and by Schneider and Stolll0 to A1-Zn avoids the introduction of another component to the system, but is useful only in systems in which one component is much more volatile than the other. The alloy sealed in one end of an evacuated silica tube is heated to the desired temperature. The temperature of the other end is lowered until droplets of the volatile component condense. When the temperature is raised slightly, the droplets will evaporate. By careful adjustment of temperature, the range between evaporation and condensation can be narrowed appreciably. An independent determination of the vapor pressure of the . pure volatile component is necessary to give the partial pressure over the alloy. This is the method employed here to determine the vapor pressures of zinc and cadmium over their silver alloys up to 34 pct in cadmium and 76 pct in zinc. The former involves only the a solid solution, but the latter covers the a, ß, y, and e fields. In recent determinations, Herbenar, Siebert, and Duffenbarkl1 used the

Jan 1, 1950