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By Grover J. Holt

A detailed description of the many variations in iron mining and transportation practice in Minnesota would require much space. Since a fairly detailed description of the practices then in use was published in the guidebook issued in connection with the meeting of the Institute on the iron ranges in 1920, and subsequent developments have been described by E. E. Hunner, M. H. Barber,2 and A. E. Anderson, J. M. Riddell and G. J. Holt,³ it will not be necessary here to do more than review the highlights of current practice. Details on any points of interest can be obtained through correspondence with the operators involved. † The iron ores of Minnesota, which have been formed through enrichment of the iron formation in which they occur, largely by the removal of silica, are usually covered by a blanket of glacial drift known locally as "surface." Surface material, including sand, clay, hardpan and boulders, makes up the greater portion of the stripping in open-pit operations. In some instances, stripping also includes taconite and paint rock," directly below the surface material and overlying the ore. Tacenite is the iron formation, a ferruginous chert with inter-bedded slate layers. :'paint rock" is a local term for oxidized slate layers inter- bedded in the iron formation, high in phosphorus, alumina and moisture. The iron ores fall into two classes: (I) direct shipping (merchantable ores or ores requiring no treatment except possibly crushing or screening to make an acceptable sized product), and (2) ores requiring beneficiation (such as sintering, drying, washing, jigging, high-density treatment, or magnetic separation in the case of magnetite). The Mesabi Range produces chiefly soft Bessemer and non-Bessemer ores. The Cuyuna Range produces mainly low-manganese brown ore and high-manganese black ores, with some iron ore. The Vermilion Range yields mainly Bessemer and non-Bessemer iron ore, with some hard or lump ore that finds use in the open hearth. Open-pit mining is limited to the Mesabi and Cuyuna Ranges but underground mining is done on all three. The choice of mining methods is determined by the relative economics of overburden-removal and shaft-mining costs. Stripping Practice Common practice has been to remove the bulk of the overburden during the winter season and to mine during the summer, In- the present emergency many operators are forced to forego the economies attained by year-round utilization of paper. and to equip for, and carry on, stripping and mining simultaneously. In the normal years or lean years to come, most properties probably will be overequipped and high depreciation charges Will have to be absorbed.

Jan 1, 1943

By A. M. Gavdin, F. W. Bowdish

Mineral dressing is an industrial art concerned with the treatment and separation of solids suspended in fluids. Knowledge and evaluation of the area of solid-fluid interface is important in all cases except those involving only large pieces of solid. In fact, many problems relating to comminution, to flotation, to thickening and classification, could be dealt with more rationally if the interfacial area were known. A number of methods have been proposed for the measurement of the surface of certain finely divided solids. Among them are methods using rate of dissolution of the solid,? its magnetic remanence,³ the turbidity of its suspension," and the character of the size distribution of the material.9 The first two are limited to one mineralogical species per sample; the third has certain optical limitations, especially for mineral mixtures, and the fourth is based on an extrapolation of uncertain validity. The need of a better and more general method of surface determination has long been felt, therefore. The method of P. H. Emmett,4 based upon the low-temperature adsorption of vapors, appears to fulfill this need. This method consists in determining the amount of nitrogen that is adsorbed by a given sample of solid at the temperature of boiling nitrogen. The more surface there is on the solid—both internal and external—the more nitrogen is abstracted. In actual operation, the method is somewhat less simple than has been stated so far, in that the nitrogen is adsorbed in an incomplete layer, the completeness and thickness of the layer being related to the pressure of the nitrogen in contact with the sample.2 This circumstance makes it necessary to determine the nitrogen adsorption for three or more values of the nitrogen pressure. Apparatus In the Richards Mineral Dressing Laboratories an Emmett apparatus has been built and tested (Figs. I and 2). A mechanical vacuum pump B and a mercury diffusion pump A work in series to give a high vacuum. The sample, placed in bulb D, can be evacuated by this pump train by suitable operation of the stopcocks in the glass tubing that connects the various parts of the apparatus. C is a McLeod gauge, used to ascertain the order of magnitude of the vacuum obtained, and not for accurate pressure measurements. Pressure measurements are made in the mercury manometer F and gas-volume measurements in the gas burette E. Gases are stored in flasks L (nitrogen) and K (helium), arranged so that definite quantities of these gases can be introduced into

Jan 1, 1947

By A. M. Gavdin, F. W. Bowdish

Mineral dressing is an industrial art concerned with the treatment and separation of solids suspended in fluids. Knowledge and evaluation of the area of solid-fluid interface is important in all cases except those involving only large pieces of solid. In fact, many problems relating to comminution, to flotation, to thickening and classification, could be dealt with more rationally if the interfacial area were known. A number of methods have been proposed for the measurement of the surface of certain finely divided solids. Among them are methods using rate of dissolution of the solid,? its magnetic remanence,³ the turbidity of its suspension," and the character of the size distribution of the material.9 The first two are limited to one mineralogical species per sample; the third has certain optical limitations, especially for mineral mixtures, and the fourth is based on an extrapolation of uncertain validity. The need of a better and more general method of surface determination has long been felt, therefore. The method of P. H. Emmett,4 based upon the low-temperature adsorption of vapors, appears to fulfill this need. This method consists in determining the amount of nitrogen that is adsorbed by a given sample of solid at the temperature of boiling nitrogen. The more surface there is on the solid—both internal and external—the more nitrogen is abstracted. In actual operation, the method is somewhat less simple than has been stated so far, in that the nitrogen is adsorbed in an incomplete layer, the completeness and thickness of the layer being related to the pressure of the nitrogen in contact with the sample.2 This circumstance makes it necessary to determine the nitrogen adsorption for three or more values of the nitrogen pressure. Apparatus In the Richards Mineral Dressing Laboratories an Emmett apparatus has been built and tested (Figs. I and 2). A mechanical vacuum pump B and a mercury diffusion pump A work in series to give a high vacuum. The sample, placed in bulb D, can be evacuated by this pump train by suitable operation of the stopcocks in the glass tubing that connects the various parts of the apparatus. C is a McLeod gauge, used to ascertain the order of magnitude of the vacuum obtained, and not for accurate pressure measurements. Pressure measurements are made in the mercury manometer F and gas-volume measurements in the gas burette E. Gases are stored in flasks L (nitrogen) and K (helium), arranged so that definite quantities of these gases can be introduced into

Jan 1, 1947

By J. L. Gregg

A STUDY of copper and silver base alloys was made with the object of finding, if possible, useful alloys subject to dispersion hardening. These studies led to the discovery of several alloys showing considerable dispersion hardening, the most important of which, the alloys of copper with iron, nickel, cobalt and chromium silicides, have since been very ably reported by M. G. Corson.1 This paper is offered as a few notes covering alloys other than those described by Corson and some further data on the silicide alloys.

Jan 1, 1929

By Daniel R. Hull, H. F. Silliman, Earl W. Palmer

The brass-rolling industry has not had a great deal of experience with antimony in its product. There have been some recent excursions with antimony as a corrosion inhibitor in tubes, but in sheet brass it has been regarded with apprehension and generally avoided. This is not to say that contaminations have never occurred, and probably a great many brass mill men have had their own ideas on the effect of such contamination. Our own views were based upon certain experiences some years ago with strip castings that split lengthwise in the early stages of rolling. The nature of this splitting is shown in Fig. I, from a photograph taken in 1922 as a record of 20 bars of 65-35 common brass made with an antimonial brand of copper. These bars were cast 6¾ in. wide by I in. thick by 45 in. long. In the first pass through the rolls, 19 of the 20 split lengthwise throughout their length, while each half curved outward in a wide arc as it emerged from the rolls. In those days, if splitting was not a frequent occurrence, it was not unfamiliar. One can recall periods of short duration when large amounts of common brass would behave in this way. There was nothing imaginary about these spells. The affected metal would split lengthwise in the breakdown rolls, and no maneuvering of mill practice made any difference. The condition would descend like a plague, demoralize the mill for several days, and disappear. It is doubtful if anyone knew the cause—however many explanations may have been current. In 1921 a quantity of split brass was traced to the use of fired small-arms

Jan 1, 1943

By H. F. Silliman, Daniel R. Hull, Earl W. Palmer

The brass-rolling industry has not had a great deal of experience with antimony in its product. There have been some recent excursions with antimony as a corrosion inhibitor in tubes, but in sheet brass it has been regarded with apprehension and generally avoided. This is not to say that contaminations have never occurred, and probably a great many brass mill men have had their own ideas on the effect of such contamination. Our own views were based upon certain experiences some years ago with strip castings that split lengthwise in the early stages of rolling. The nature of this splitting is shown in Fig. I, from a photograph taken in 1922 as a record of 20 bars of 65-35 common brass made with an antimonial brand of copper. These bars were cast 6¾ in. wide by I in. thick by 45 in. long. In the first pass through the rolls, 19 of the 20 split lengthwise throughout their length, while each half curved outward in a wide arc as it emerged from the rolls. In those days, if splitting was not a frequent occurrence, it was not unfamiliar. One can recall periods of short duration when large amounts of common brass would behave in this way. There was nothing imaginary about these spells. The affected metal would split lengthwise in the breakdown rolls, and no maneuvering of mill practice made any difference. The condition would descend like a plague, demoralize the mill for several days, and disappear. It is doubtful if anyone knew the cause—however many explanations may have been current. In 1921 a quantity of split brass was traced to the use of fired small-arms

Jan 1, 1943

By Warden A. Moller

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) THE Fushun coal-field, now being opened up by the South Manchurian Railway Co., is connected with the main line by a branch, 30 miles long, from Sui Chia Tun, 10 miles south of Mukden, the capital of Manchuria. The coal-field, which lies on the southern bank of the Hun river, 25 miles east of Mukden, consists of a long narrow valley,. running east and west between hills composed of granitic and volcanic rocks. At the foot of the northern hills, the Hun river flows westward towards the Liao river, which drains the greater part of South Manchuria. At the foot of the southern hills, resting immediately upon volcanic rocks, and overlain by 20 ft. of alluvial, is a thick layer of Tertiary shales, carrying near the base two coal-seams. In many places the lower of these two seams is in immediate contact with volcanic lauds and basalts, the flows of which were evidently both prior and subsequent to the formation of the coal-seams. This contact has practically destroyed the lower seam for commercial purposes. The value of the field lies in the upper seam, which, for a length of nearly 8 miles, varies from 100 to 130 ft. thick. Of this seam, 85 per cent is good coal. The seam dips to the north conformably with the shales, at angles of from 25° to 30°, and appears to have an uninterrupted dip for about 1.5 miles before being possibly cut o$' by the northern hills. The coal-bearing shales extend east and west for a length of about 20 miles, but towards the east the continuity of the seams is broken by intrusive rocks. The coal is of the sub-bituminous variety, low in ash, bright in appearance, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. It has the usual qualities of Tertiary coal-quick steam-raising and poor stacking-qualities. Pieces of resin, varying in size from

Apr 1, 1910

By Carl G. Hogberg

DURING recent months, the acute shortage of steel scrap has necessitated the use of higher percentages of hot metal in the open-hearth charge. With these higher percentages, the sulphur content of hot metal has become an increasingly important factor in the control of the quality of steel. Thus, the blast-furnace operator is faced with a demand not only for more output but for a higher quality of product. More than go per cent of the sulphur charged into the blast furnace is contained in the coke. With the tremendously increased demand, the trend of coke quality has been toward higher sulphur, higher and more variable ash, and poorer physical characteristics. This has been brought about by less selective coal mining, increased production rates in coke plants and resumption of operations of many beehive ovens. In a single month last year, one blast-furnace plant in the Pittsburgh district operated with coke obtained from 52 sources. The effect of variability and quantity of coke ash on blast-furnace operation is well known. The improved results obtained with furnaces operating on coke made from washed coals compared with results on coke made from raw coals is ample proof of the effectiveness of low and uniform ash. Coal-washing plants, however, require a large capital expenditure, and are impractical for most of the large number of small producers, whose operations are confined chiefly to periods of abnormally high demand. Furthermore, not all coals are physically adaptable to washing. PRINCIPLES OF IRON DESULPHURIZATION IN FURNACE Although investigations of the blast-furnace process have not clearly revealed the detailed mechanism of iron desulphurization within the furnace, they have been sufficiently extensive to permit a postulation of the following general principles: I. Iron, in its travel from furnace top to hearth, continues to pick up sulphur until it has reached tuyere level. The zone of iron desulphurization is relatively narrow, being confined to a vertical distance extending approximately from tuyere level to the iron-slag interface in the hearth.1 2. Combustion of coke is confined to spherical zones extending approximately 40 in. from the nose of each tuyere.2 Coke ash is released as the coke burns in these combustion areas. 3. With a constant amount of sulphur in the charge, the sulphur content of the metal product is a function of hearth temperature, final slag analysis, slag viscosity, and slag volume. Both hearth temperature and slag analysis affect slag viscosity. For a slag of constant analysis, viscosity always decreases with an increase in temperature;

Jan 1, 1943

By Harrison Souder

UNDER the stimulus of steadily in- creasing 'demands of the steel industry at home, and with the supply of available ores from abroad appreciably diminished owing to vigorous rearmament campaigns in Europe, production of Eastern magnetite ores reached an all- time peak in 1937. Although the figures given in the accompanying table are partly estimated (actual figures were available for eleven months only), it appears that 1937 production was nearly 47 per cent higher than that of 1936.

Jan 1, 1938

By B. H. Sage

ATTEMPTS have been made to predict the volumetric and phase behavior of naturally occurring hydrocarbon mix-tures1-5 but these methods have not been extended to the higher pressures and tem-peratures that are currently encountered in some producing formations. Furthermore, the methods of prediction at present avail-able have not been tested in a sufficient number of cases to ensure their applica-bility to all naturally occurring hydrocar-bon mixtures, even at the lower pressures and temperatures. For these reasons the behavior of a number of hydrocarbon mix-tures from a field in which the subsurface pressures are above 4500 lb. per sq. in.? and the temperatures are in the neighbor-hood of 250°F. was investigated.

Jan 1, 1940

By Clark L. Corey, Bogdan Lisowsky

Electrical resistivity, X-ray line positions, degree of order, and microstructures have been investigated for Ni-A1 alloys near the Ni3Al composition. The results indicate that Ni3Al undergoes disordering between 1250oC and the mp; also supersaturated y, produced in y + y' alloys by gas quenching, is extensively ordered prior to y' (Ni3Al) phase separation. The latter reaction, if not both, must follow the cooperative phenomena model. Shifts in line position as a function of quench-indulced super satulration are shown. Lattice pavarneters of equilibriunz and nonequilibrium phases are given. THE objective of this investigation was to determine the mechanism and kinetics of the reactions which occur in Ni3A1 and hypostoichiometric Ni3A1 alloys. The results are of particular significance relative to pre-precipitation phenomena. Early work on Ni-A1 binary compositions near the Ni3A1 composition (13.6 wt pct Al) has been adequately reviewed by Hanssen,1 whose phase diagram is presented in Fig. 1. williams2 verified the suggestion made by Taylor and Floyd3 and others4 that y', Ni3A1, may precipitate coherently on (100) planes of the y phase (see Fig. 1 for phase nomenclature); he further suggested a two-step precipitation mechanism consisting initially of probably short-range ordering followed by actual precipitation of y'. The precipitation stage in low-aluminum hypo-eutectic compositions has been studied by a number of investigators;*"7 short-range order or "zone" formation have been suggested as explanations for various diffuse X-ray scattering effects. The ordering reaction in Ni3A1 alloys is characterized by a) a very rapid rate of ordering in nonstoi-chiometric compositions, b) absence of a disordered phase region for the stoichiometric compound, y', or Ni3A1, c) precipitation phenomena as a dominant aspect in hypoeutectic alloys, and d) an increase in elec-trical resistivity on ordering.' The latter two factors were found by Newkirk to characterize ordering in Co-Pt, for which an extensive and detailed analysis was made.' An electrical-resistivity increase on ordering has also been reported for cuAu3.10 PROCEDURE Ni-A1 alloys in the form of 1300-g chill-cast ingots were prepared by vacuum melting electrolytic nickel and high-purity (99.99 pct) aluminum. Very small heats prepared from high-purity carbonyl nickel, supplied through the courtesy of Dr. Goff of the Naval Research Laboratory, were used for comparison with the larger ingots and no differences were noted. The cast material was homogenized in purified argon for a minimum of 72 hr at 1200°C and water-quenched from 1350°C. Compositions studied are given in Table I. The 10 pct A1 alloy was both hot- and cold-rolled. X-ray superlattice line intensities and peak positions were obtained from -270 mesh filings, using CuK, radiation with a LiF crystal monochromat adjusted to receive both 01 and a2. One-degree slits and a 1/8 deg per min scan rate were used to record line traces. A standard tungsten powder, obtained through the courtesy of G.E. Research Laboratory, was used to calibrate line positions.

Jan 1, 1968

By K. C. Heald

THE places where, yesterday, oil was unknown contain tomorrow's fields. Unquestionably, some states that now yield little or no oil have great potentialities, and developments in these states, although perhaps of less immediate interest than those in regions where great pools now exist, may easily be of greater ultimate importance than the results of exploration closer to known fields. Not long ago, Montana had only a quarter of an oil pool, and that was regarded by many as an accident that had strayed from Wyoming. More recently, the northern line of Louisiana was a dead line that would not be crossed by any Louisiana operator who valued his reputation for sanity. Within the past few months, Colorado has shown that it is far from being a negligible factor in the oil supply of the Rocky Mountain states, and it is now known that western Kansas, long shunned by many reputable geologists and operators, should be reckoned with. There may be a vast difference between what a wildcat well yields and what the well signifies. The fact that no commercial production is encountered may be lamentable and may well be disastrous to an individual or a company, but the same well that spells ruin to one may convey to another the information that will result in opening a new field. In presenting the conclusions, in this paper, the writer recognizes fully the possibility of erroneous deductions, particularly since he has had contact with only a few of the wells that are mentioned. Information comes principally from the scout. maps and files maintained at the Geological Survey by M. E. Latimer and G. K. Drach, without whose cooperation this summary would not be possible, supplemented by some personal contact and second-hand information gained by. conversation and correspondence. However, it is felt that the data contain few errors, and that the conclusions are at least reasonable.

Jan 3, 1924

By Grover J. Holt

A DETAILED description of the many variations in iron mining and transportation practice in Minnesota would require much space. Since a fairly detailed description of the practices then in use was published in the guidebook issued in connection with the meeting of the Institute on the iron ranges in 1920, and subsequent developments have been described by E. E Hunner,1 M. H Barber,2 and A. E. Anderson, J. M. Riddell and G. J. Holt,3 it will not be necessary here to do more than review the highlights of current practice Details on any points of interest can be obtained through correspondence with the operators involved.† The iron ores of Minnesota, which have been formed through enrichment, of the iron formation in which they occur, largely by the removal of silica, are usually covered by a blanket of glacial drift known locally as "surface." Surface material, including sand, clay, hardpan and boulders, makes up the greater portion of the stripping in open-pit operations. In some instances, stripping also includes taconite and "paint rock," directly below the surface material and overlying the ore. Taconite is the iron formation, a ferruginous chert with interbedded slate layers. "Paint rock" is a local term for oxidized slate layers interbedded in the iron formation, high iii phosphorus, alumina and moisture The iron ores fall into two classes- (I) direct shipping (merchantable ores or ores requiring no treatment except possibly crushing or screening to make an acceptable sized product), and (2) ores requiring beneficiation (such as sintering, drying, washing, jigging, high-density treatment, or magnetic separation in the case of magnetite) The Mesabi Range produces chiefly soft Bessemer and non-Bessemer ores. The Cuyuna Range produces mainly low-manganese brown ore and high+manganese black ores, with some iron ore. The Vermilion Range yields mainly Bessemer and non-Bessemer iron ore, with some hard or lump ore that finds use in the open hearth. Open-pit mining is limited to the Mesabi and Cuyuna Ranges but underground mining is done on all three. The choice of mining methods is determined by the relative economics of overburden-removal and shaft-mining costs. STRIPPING PRACTICE Common practice has been to remove the bulk of the overburden during the winter season and to mine during the summer. In the present emergency many operators are forced to forego the economies attained by year-round utilization of equipment and to equip for, and carry on, stripping and mining simultaneously. In the normal years or lean years to come, most properties probably will be overequipped and high depreciation charges will have to be absorbed

Jan 1, 1942

By W. F. Holbrook, C. E. Wood, E. P. Barrett

The high-frequency laboratory induction furnace with a rotating liquid crucible enables research workers to conduct certain investigations heretofore very difficult or impossible to realize because vessels are not obtainable that are capable of resisting the physical conditions or the chemical actions to which they are subjected. Applications for patents covering commercial uses of centrifugal liquid crucibles were filed in the United States in 1919,' in France in 1925, in the United States and Germany in 1926,2 and in France in 1927.3 In 1928, Schuette and Maier,4 of the Bureau of Mines, reported the construction of a whirling table beneath a high-frequency induction furnace. Shape and Size of Centrifugal Liquid Crucibles When a vessel containing a liquid is rotated, the inner surface of the liquid takes the shape of a paraboloid under the simultaneous action of centrifugal force and gravity. The internal dimensions of the paraboloid rotating liquid crucible are governed by the diameter of the container and its speed of rotation. Melted Wood's metal was poured into cylinders 2 1/2 in. in diameter, which were rotated at 180, 300, and 468 r.p.m. When the metal was solid, a slurry of plaster of Paris was added, and rotation continued until the plaster had set. Fig. 1, a photograph of sections of the cylinders, shows the effect of speed of rotation of the containers upon the shape of the inner surface of the rotating liquid crucibles. Types of Furnaces Three types of high-frequency induction laboratory furnaces using liquid-metal crucibles were designed and constructed by the Blast

Jan 1, 1939

By W. F. Holbrook, C. E. Wood, E. P. Barrett

The high-frequency laboratory induction furnace with a rotating liquid crucible enables research workers to conduct certain investigations heretofore very difficult or impossible to realize because vessels are not obtainable that are capable of resisting the physical conditions or the chemical actions to which they are subjected. Applications for patents covering commercial uses of centrifugal liquid crucibles were filed in the United States in 1919,' in France in 1925, in the United States and Germany in 1926,2 and in France in 1927.3 In 1928, Schuette and Maier,4 of the Bureau of Mines, reported the construction of a whirling table beneath a high-frequency induction furnace. Shape and Size of Centrifugal Liquid Crucibles When a vessel containing a liquid is rotated, the inner surface of the liquid takes the shape of a paraboloid under the simultaneous action of centrifugal force and gravity. The internal dimensions of the paraboloid rotating liquid crucible are governed by the diameter of the container and its speed of rotation. Melted Wood's metal was poured into cylinders 2 1/2 in. in diameter, which were rotated at 180, 300, and 468 r.p.m. When the metal was solid, a slurry of plaster of Paris was added, and rotation continued until the plaster had set. Fig. 1, a photograph of sections of the cylinders, shows the effect of speed of rotation of the containers upon the shape of the inner surface of the rotating liquid crucibles. Types of Furnaces Three types of high-frequency induction laboratory furnaces using liquid-metal crucibles were designed and constructed by the Blast

Jan 1, 1939

By C. E. Reinhard

A USEFUL accelerated weathering test should be capable of placing any series of metals quantitatively in the same order of endurance as that noted under a particular set of actual exposure conditions. The development of such a test must necessarily depend to a considerable extent upon data obtained from a wide variety of exposures. This paper offers preliminary data from exposure tests on nine metals placed in 11 locations in the Lehigh Valley, within a radius of 20 miles from Palmerton. The exposure conditions vary from a severe industrial atmosphere to a pure rural atmosphere. The data are offered as evidence of the necessity for the identification and evaluation of the variables of corrosion and as illustration of some of the variations to be considered in the development of a useful accelerated test. It is quite clear, from this evidence, that a useful accelerated test must be versatile to the extent of showing the probable variations of corrosion resulting from differences in atmosphere as well as from differences in the metals. The paper is presented solely with the object of pointing out the wide variations in relative merits of several common metals in resisting corrosion and without any thought of initiating controversy regarding the, merits of particular metals. For this reason the metals are designated only by symbols in the tables and no key is given to these symbols.

Jan 1, 1929

By PHILIP N. MOORE

IT is a pleasure to realize even at that day the dignity of the engineer's calling was upheld. May I also add my firm belief that today there be many engineers who will qualify to the specifications of our interesting author. Since that time, the development of the world has been chiefly due to the engineer, and so far as human brain can foresee, the material tasks of the future will continue to follow the directions of his judgment. Popular opinion says this is the age of the engineer; literature, which in the long run, voices public sentiment, shows it in the number of engineers who figure as characters of fiction. The engineer has been doing the big things necessary to increase the comfort and efficiency of mankind, but while a certain amount of fame and repute falls to him, too often he figures as the hired man of the entrepreneur, using that term not in the offensive sense of a mere promoter, but to mean the great visioned master of enterprise who has seen ahead of other men, recognized the coming needs of the world, and through ability to inspire others and to hire capital for his use has also been able to hire engineers as needed. Justly enough, therefore, to such men comes the fame as well as the prize of the game.

Jan 1, 1926

By Frank Firmstone

In April, 1873, No. 2 furnace at the Glendon Iron Works being out of blast, it was decided to alter it from an open to a closed top. The three side flues, through which a part of the gas was formerly taken off, were 15 feet below the top, and as, for various reasons, it was not convenient to cut new flues through the brickwork at the top, as is commonly done with closed-top furnaces, a modification of Coingt's charger was employed. This apparatus, as figured by De Vathaire,* consists of a cup or hopper, like that used with the cup and cone, and a central pipe for taking off the gas, which descends some distance into the furnace, and has a projection around it forming a seat for a ring of a triangular cross-section, which closes the opening between the cup and the central gas-pipe. The charge is put into the cup, and by lowering the ring, is thrown into the furnace, a part going outside of the ring toward the walls, and a part through the inside toward the gas-pipe. In this form the apparatus was not applicable, for: 1st. With a gas-pipe three feet in diameter, in a top eight feet in diameter, the openings left by lowering the ring would not be large enough to let lump coal pass through. 2d. For the charger to shut tight, the ring must bear equally against the projection made for it on the gas-pipe, and against the edge of the cup. This would not be difficult to effect when the apparatus is first put up, but a comparatively small change in the relative position of the parts, such as is almost certain to occur from expansion, would cause the ring to touch the pipe or the cup, whichever happened to be the lower, first, and leave a leak between it (the ring) and the other. In the plan adopted (Figs. 5 and 6, Plate I), the central opening in the ring is closed by the bottom of the gas-pipe, whereby more room is left for the passage of the stock when the charger is open, than if the pipe descended into the furnace; and the pipe, instead of being rigidly supported, rests on the ring, when the charger is closed, and follows it for two or three inches as it opens, until stopped by the counter-balance lever C. When the ring is raised to close the furnace top, it comes in contact first with the bottom edge of the gas-pipe, then both are raised together, until stopped by the ring touching the edge of the cup. In this way a good joint is made at both places.

By A. F. Henderson, C. F. Cornell, A. F. Dunyon, D. A. Dahlstrom

IN processing magnetic taconites several steps of crushing, grinding, classification, and magnetic separation are required to produce a 60' pct Fe concentrate. Usually the final concentrate is in a slurry form of 55 to 70 pct solids by weight and is further characterized by a particle size of 60+ pct —325 mesh. In taconite plants already completed or under construction the conventional method used to obtain pellets suitable for blast furnaces is to filter the concentrate slurry, ball the filter cake, and then harden the green pellets in a traveling grate or in a vertical shaft furnace. Large tonnages must be handled in minimum floor space, with reduced maintenance and lowest possible operating cost. Filtration must therefore achieve two objectives: I) high filtration rate—in terms of pounds of dry solids per hour per square foot of filtration area—at a low filtrate solids concentration, and 2) a filter cake moisture that will always permit efficient balling within the normal fluctuations of ' plant operating conditions. If moisture contents are too high, balling may be impossible or result in a mushy ball .without enough green strength for the firing operation. Development work has met these objectives. At low investment and operating costs, filtration rates of 250 to 600 dry lb per hr per ft2 have been attained for concentrates of 60' pct —325 mesh. By combining the disk-type continuous filter with proper agitation, the Agidisc filter produces a homogeneous filter cake, easily discharged from the disk sectors. This application provides the lowest initial cost per square foot of filtration area, minimizes floor space, reduces down time for changing filter media to a negligible factor, and simplifies process control and maintenance for the operator. It is now possible to predict very closely the taconite concentrate filtration rates for a wide variety of conditions—either by experience or with a few simple leaf tests. When balling and pelletizing operations began on a continuous basis, it became apparent that moisture content of the filter cake was a critical factor and must always be controlled by the filter operator below some maximum allowable value. Accordingly the Reserve Mining Co. and the Eimco Corp. joined in a study of the many variables affecting filter cake moisture content. The study was conducted at the Reserve Mining Co. taconite plant at Babbitt, Minn. To process plant tonnage the Babbitt plant utilizes a 6-ft diam Agidisc filter with six disks and an 8-ft diam drum filter with 10-ft face. However, most of the plant filter investigations were made on the Agidisc because of its superior performance. A considerable amount of small-scale test work was first carried out to study more closely the individual variables and ascertain their effect on filter cake moisture content. A general correlation method was then developed which allowed reasonable prediction of moisture content at any operating conditions. This step was made necessary by the fact that in full-scale filtering, operating variables usually interact to produce a combined rather than a singular effect. Studies were then made on the full-scale filters to prove the validity of the correlations developed, and past operating records were examined to ascertain whether or not significant variations could be traced to any single factor or to a combination of factors.

Jan 1, 1958

By Frank Firmstone

IN April, 1873, No. 2 furnace at the Glendon Iron Works being out of blast, it was decided to alter it from an open to a closed top. The three side flues, through which a part of the gas was formerly taken off, were 15 feet below the top, and as, for various reasons, it was not convenient to cut new flues through the brickwork at the top, as is commonly done with closed-top furnaces, a modification of Coingt's charger was employed. This apparatus, as figured by De Vathaire,* consists of a cup or hopper, like that used with the cup and cone, and a central pipe for taking off the gas, which descends some distance into the furnace, and has a projection around it forming a seat for a ring of a triangular cross-section, which closes the opening between the cup and the central gas-pipe. The charge is put into the cup, and by lowering the ring, is thrown into the furnace, a part going outside of the ring toward the walls, and a part through the inside toward the gas-pipe. In this form the apparatus was not applicable, for: 1st. With a gas-pipe three feet in diameter, in a top eight feet in diameter, the openings left by lowering the ring would not be large enough to let lump coal pass through. 2d. For the charger to shut tight, the ring must bear equally against the projection made for it on the gas-pipe, and against the edge of the cup. This would not be difficult to effect when the apparatus is first put up, but a comparatively small change in the relative position of the parts, such as is almost certain to occur from expansion, would cause the ring to touch the pipe or the cup, whichever happened to be the lower, first, and leave a leak between it (the ring) and the other. In the plan adopted (Fig's. 5 and 6, Plate I), the central opening in the ring is closed by the bottom of the gas-pipe, whereby more room is left for the passage of the stock when the charger is open, than if the pipe descended into the furnace; and the pipe, instead of being rigidly supported, rests on the ring, when the charger is closed, and follows it for two or three inches as it opens, until stopped by the counter-balance lever C. When the ring is raised to close the furnace top, it comes in contact first with the bottom edge of the gas-pipe, then both are raised to¬gether, until stopped by the ring touching the edge of the cup. In this way a good joint is made at both places. * Etudes our lea Haut Fourneaux, page 108.

Jan 1, 1874