Search Documents

By John Guillermo Bartram

The oil industry continued relatively quiet in Wyoming in 1935, although production increased about 8 per cent over the previous year; 55 oil wells were completed in 1935, compared to 34 in 1934, and at the end of the year 44 wells were drilling, 33 in proven fields and 11 in wildcat locations. The total drilling a year ago was only 30. In the year 1935 Wyoming produced a total of 13,451,000 bbl. of oil, a gain of 912,000 bbl. over the 1934 figure of 12,539,000 bbl. Approxi-mately two-thirds of the increase, or 630,000 bbl., was from black oil fields and one-third, or 285,000 bbl., from light oil pools. Salt Creek, with production of 6,357,000 bbl., is still many times the largest field in Wyoming but in 1935 it made less than 50 per cent of the state's total, after producing more than all other fields in the state for 24 years; however, its decline was only 3.8 per cent from the previous year. Oregon Basin, a black oil field, held second place again with production of 1,163,-000 bbl., a good increase over 1934. Grass Creek, with increases in both its light and black oil, jumped into third place; and Lance Creek, with its new Sundance light oil production, was in fourth place in the amount of production. Frannie, which was in third place in 1934, dropped far back on the list because of lack of market. Byron and Garland, two other black oil fields in the Big Horn Basin, increased considerably. Big Muddy, a prominent light-oil field, was down with a natural decline; and Elk Basin, also light oil, produced less because of market conditions. During 1934 only three gas wells were drilled in Wyoming and 29 dry holes, 13 in proven fields and 16 at wildcat locations. Of the latter, 5 were on wildcat structures of considerable interest. Of the 55 wells completed during the year, 53 were in proven fields and of these 17 were small ones in the shallow Osage field and 10 were light-oil wells good for 1500 to 3000 bbl. each in the Lance Creek field. Discoveries Two of the oil wells were discoveries at Medicine Bow and Sheep Creek. Medicine Bow is a very large anticline with more than 3500 ft. of closure and is located in Carbon County in the south-central part of the state. In 1923 it showed some oil in the Upper Cretaceous Frontier

Jan 1, 1936

By John Guillermo Bartram

The oil industry continued relatively quiet in Wyoming in 1935, although production increased about 8 per cent over the previous year; 55 oil wells were completed in 1935, compared to 34 in 1934, and at the end of the year 44 wells were drilling, 33 in proven fields and 11 in wildcat locations. The total drilling a year ago was only 30. In the year 1935 Wyoming produced a total of 13,451,000 bbl. of oil, a gain of 912,000 bbl. over the 1934 figure of 12,539,000 bbl. Approxi-mately two-thirds of the increase, or 630,000 bbl., was from black oil fields and one-third, or 285,000 bbl., from light oil pools. Salt Creek, with production of 6,357,000 bbl., is still many times the largest field in Wyoming but in 1935 it made less than 50 per cent of the state's total, after producing more than all other fields in the state for 24 years; however, its decline was only 3.8 per cent from the previous year. Oregon Basin, a black oil field, held second place again with production of 1,163,-000 bbl., a good increase over 1934. Grass Creek, with increases in both its light and black oil, jumped into third place; and Lance Creek, with its new Sundance light oil production, was in fourth place in the amount of production. Frannie, which was in third place in 1934, dropped far back on the list because of lack of market. Byron and Garland, two other black oil fields in the Big Horn Basin, increased considerably. Big Muddy, a prominent light-oil field, was down with a natural decline; and Elk Basin, also light oil, produced less because of market conditions. During 1934 only three gas wells were drilled in Wyoming and 29 dry holes, 13 in proven fields and 16 at wildcat locations. Of the latter, 5 were on wildcat structures of considerable interest. Of the 55 wells completed during the year, 53 were in proven fields and of these 17 were small ones in the shallow Osage field and 10 were light-oil wells good for 1500 to 3000 bbl. each in the Lance Creek field. Discoveries Two of the oil wells were discoveries at Medicine Bow and Sheep Creek. Medicine Bow is a very large anticline with more than 3500 ft. of closure and is located in Carbon County in the south-central part of the state. In 1923 it showed some oil in the Upper Cretaceous Frontier

Jan 1, 1936

By W. W. West

MACHINERY used for size reduction of materials may be divided into three classes-depending upon the manner in which the crushing force is applied. In the first class could be listed the primary crushing units, such as the jaw crusher and gyratory crusher-which crush to coarse sizes by applying pressure intermittently between converging surfaces. In the second class may be listed crushing units, such as the hammer mill, roller mill, and ball mill, which crush principally by grinding or attrition. In the third class is the impact mill which, as the name infers, crushes by impact. The second and third classes generally include machinery used as secondary units for intermediate or fine crushing and grinding. Theory of Crushing by Impact Throw a stone into the air and give it a severe blow while it is momentarily suspended, and it shatters into several pieces. The impact crusher uses this "batting" principle, but carries it one step further. As the material to be reduced enters the crushing chamber, it receives a severe free-air impact blow by hard-hitting beaters suspended from rotor discs. The shattered particles formed are then driven at high velocity against impact blocks, where a further reduction in particle size takes place. The rebounding particles from the impact blocks are again caught by the beaters, and the process repeated until the material is swept out of the open bottom of the crusher. Impact Crushing Versus Attrition Crushing Fig. 1 shows a Hammermill type of attrition crusher. This particular mill has central feed and is reversible. Because of the central feed, an impact section can be designed into it at the feed entrance for preliminary crushing, followed by the cage bar attrition area for final sizing. The material is caught and held in a crushing chamber enclosed by grate bars or perforated plate. It remains in this chamber until it is reduced to particle size small enough to pass through the openings between the bars or in the plate. In this manner the top particle size discharged from the mill is closely controlled. As the swinging hammers pass through the bed of material, the material is broken down by a scrubbing action between hammers and material, material and grate bars, and material against material. This attrition produces a rounded particle shape, accompanied by slivers and a comparatively high percentage of fines. The crusher is especially useful in industries where the material treated is not too abrasive, such as limestone, cement or coal plants. It can be readily understood that from the maintenance standpoint, it is not suitable for hard abrasive materials such as refractories and aluminum oxides. One common type of impactor is shown in Fig. 2. The bottom of this type crusher is entirely open and the passage of the material through the crushing chamber is almost instantaneous. Liberal clearances are maintained between the impact hammers and the anvil type breaker blocks. This eliminates practically all attrition. It is the elimination of attrition that makes the impactor particularly adaptable for reducing hard, abrasive materials. The impactor is also well suited for the reduction of wet or frozen materials, which clog an ordinary Hammermill. Particles broken by impact, when examined under the microscope, show a distinct tendency toward rough, cubical shape, with a minimum of fines. Another important factor in impact crushing is that crushing is accomplished along natural cleavage lines, thus freeing foreign ores or materials.

Jan 1, 1952

By F. W. Smith

Within the Northern Pennine Orefield, England, intersections of fluorite veins are generally richest in ore, and their recognition enables investigation of the ore potential of the intersecting bodies. A method, based on routine analysis of fluorite for yttrium, has been used with success in mines of the district to predict the location of intersections in partially developed fluorite-bearing ore bodies. This short note is intended as a brief introduction; the details of United Kingdom applications are to be published at a later date. Geology The Northern Pennine Orefield is the second largest fluorspar-producing region in Britain. The associated minerals galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, barite, and witherite have all been extensively worked in the past but, with the exception of a single barytes mine, all of these operations are now abandoned. Galena alone is recovered as a byproduct of fluorspar beneficiation. At the present time two companies are producing about 38,000 tpy of fluorspar from high grade vein ore bodies, and a number of concerns are actively prospecting in old lead workings. The mineralization is localized in veins and replacement flats within favorable lithologies in an alternating limestone, sandstone, shale sequence. Since the thickness of individual beds is not great (generally less than 20 m), vein bodies tend to be ribbon-shaped, with length greatly exceeding width and height (Dunham). They thus present difficult exploration targets for conventional diamond drilling techniques. Ore grade varies greatly along the veins, which can change rapidly in character from mineral stained fault gouge to massive mineral bodies up to 10 m in width. It has been known for a very long time that the richer ore bodies tend to be associated with vein intersections in favorable beds. It is assumed that vein fissure intersections provided vertical channelways through which hot ore-bearing brines were able to ascend from deeper cavities in the sequence. Thus investigation of intersections at other horizons generally yields further ore bodies. Technique The relative concentration of yttrium in fluorite is a good indicator, in the North Pennines, of the direction of flow of mineralizing fluids. In all of the ore bodies so far studied in detail in this region, the concentration of yttrium increases markedly in the direction of vein intersections that are believed to have acted as feeder zones to the remainder of the bodies. The reason for this relationship is probably connected with the degradation of soluble rare earths-fluoride complexes by the changes in various physicochemical parameters of the hydrothermal fluids as they entered the ore body cavities from the feeder zones. The simultaneous release of free fluoride ions also contributed to the increased ore values in these intersection zones. Yttrium values in fluorite taken from a longitudinal traverse of the western ore body, Redburn mine, Rookhope, are plotted in [Fig. 1.] The position of a major vein branch and three cross veins are clearly indicated by yttrium maxima. The cross veins themselves contain up to 2.5 m of low grade fluorspar ore. The exact positions of B and C were unknown previous to the geochemical survey. Similar results have been obtained for several other veins and ore bodies in the area. Clean fluorspar was collected as bulk samples from within 300 mm of the vein wall and, since the vein infilling is simple, with mineral growth from the walls inward, analyses of the samples are considered comparable along the length of the ore body. A number of samples taken from the center of the vein show a

Jan 1, 1975

By H. A. Shaw, H. G. G. Whitton

This paper describes the use of the electric-arc furnace for the production of tough-pitch, horizontal cast copper shapes and the production of copper anodes from tank house anode scrap. This installation is the only one of its kind in the United States. SINCE the initial use of electric-arc furnaces for refined copper melting on a commercial scale at Copper Cliff in 1936, this type of melting has been of extreme interest to everyone in any way connected with copper casting and fabricating. Early in 1948, Kennecott Copper Corp. decided to build an electrolytic copper refinery at Garfield, Utah. One of the major decisions to be made at that time was the type of furnace to be used for melting cathodes for casting into refined copper shapes and for melting anode scrap for the production of anodes. Based on the results obtained from arc furnaces by the Tnternational Nickel Co. of Canada, at Copper Cliff, and by the American Smelting and Refining Co., at Baltimore, coupled with certain important economic factors such as having an adequate amount of relatively cheap power available at the Magna Central Power Plant, high cost of poles and oil in the Salt Lake District, and the lack of natural gas at that time, the final decision was to install electric-arc furnaces rather than the standard type of rever-beratory furnaces. Experience has shown certain parts of the original installation to have been inadequate or in need of modification. Although the present status of arc-furnace melting at the Utah Refinery is far from perfect, nevertheless substantial progress has been made. At the Utah refinery, copper is melted in three 15-ft diam, size "M" Lectromelt furnaces, two of which are used for melting cathodes and one for remelting anode scrap. Each furnace is energized from a 13,800-225 v, 3-phase, 60-cycle, 6000-kva (at 40°C rise) oil-immersed water-cooled transformer. Auxiliary equipment for each refined copper furnace includes a charging machine, launders, ladle, 40 ft diam Walker-type casting wheel, bosh, and inspection conveyor. The anode furnace differs in that it is charged by hand from an elevated platform and the anodes are picked off the 24-ft diam casting wheel by a takeoff hoist and loaded directly into specially designed trailers, Figs. 1 and 2. Electrical Equipment Electric power to operate the arc furnaces is generated at the Kennecott-owned Magna Central Power Station two miles distant and transmitted to the Refinery outdoor substation at 44,000 v. At this point it is stepped down to 13,800 v and carried through concrete-lined underground tunnels to the switchgear and then to the primary side of the furnace transformers. The power is conducted from the Y-connected secondary bus bars of the transformer to the electrode arms by means of 22 flexible copper cable conductors per phase. Each cable has a cross-sectional area of 1,750,000 circular mils, giving a total area of 38,500,000 circular mils per phase. The power is carried from these cables to the three individual electrode holders by means of water-cooled copper bus tubing. The electrode clamps are incorporated in the electrode holders and are released by air pressure working against a spring in the clamp control cylinder. The movement of the electrode arms is either automatic or manual. The automatic control is used during melting and is regulated by three Westing-

Jan 1, 1954

By F. M. Lewis, E. C. Johnson

Used as a classifier in a plant expanding capacity or changing to closed-circuit operation, the liquid-solid cyclone offers the advantage of being adaptable to existing conditions. This paper presents the costs involved and experience gained from operating a unit of this kind. BY now application of the liquid-solid cyclone to various classification problems in the chemical and metallurgical fields is more or less familiar. A less publicized application receiving wider consideration as time goes on is its use as a classifier in closed-circuit grinding operations. This paper presents the costs involved and the experience gained from operating a unit of this kind. In May 1951 the Tennessee Copper Co. installed in its London mill at Copperhill, Tenn., a liquid-solid cyclone in closed circuit with a 6x12-ft ball mill. The circuit in which this cyclone is used is the regrind or secondary grinding circuit of a copper flotation plant. Originally it consisted of a 7x1-ft conical ball mill in closed circuit with a bowl classifier. Changes made in the primary grinding circuit of the mill necessitated a regrind circuit of greater capacity. The bulk concentrate to be ground was raised from 900 or 1000 tpd to 1200 or 1300 tpd, and to accommodate this increase a 6x12-ft ball mill which had been in the primary grinding circuit was moved into the regrind circuit. When this was done it was found that the classifier was too small to give efficient operation. Space in the plant was at a premium, and since use of the cyclone offered considerable economy the installation shown in Figs. 1-3 was made. The unit installed is a 24-in. diam cyclone classifier with a 20" cone angle. Diameter of the vortex finder is 8 in., the feed entrance area 20 sq. in. Maximum diameter of the adjustable apex valve is 6 in. and minimum diameter approximately 3.5 in. To refer again to Figs. 1 and 2, the cyclone* is mounted motor. It is charged with 18 tons of 1-in. balls. The overflow, or fines, passes by gravity directly to the copper flotation plant. The ball mill discharge and the new feed combine in a sump from which they are sent to the cone by an 8x6 SRL pump at a rate of 497 gpm. Pressure at the cyclone is 5 psi. For reasons dictated by the nature of the ore treated, particularly the bonding of fine grains of chalcopyrite to pyrrhotite, the froth from the second cell of the copper rougher circuit is returned to the regrind mill. This flow, which somewhat complicates the standard closed-circuit calculation, is seen in Fig. 1 to be 156 tpd of solids. This combines with the cyclone classifier underflow to constitute the ball mill feed. The requirement of the regrind product is that it be 77 to 80 pct —200 mesh. The liquid-solids cyclone operating in conjunction with the 6x12-ft mill adequately met this requirement. Of primary importance is the fact that this arrangement provided sufficient classification capacity to replace the undersized classifier and was capable of building up a circulating load to 87 pct, large enough to give an efficient grind. In this instance the circulating load is taken as the ratio of sands to new feed. Any comparison of performance between this liquid-solid cyclone and the replaced classifier would of course be unfair, since the bowl classifier was

Jan 1, 1955

By R. Hastings Keller, Ralph E. Esarey

Oil and gas activities in Indiana during 1943 continued to decline at about the same rate as in 1942. New development, production, and prospecting, all showed the results of Federal regulation, low price for crude oil and shortages of labor and materials. Several local stripper-well operations were shut down, but no large-scale abandonment has occurred as yet. During the year, 277 holes were drilled for oil and/or gas, of which 99 were completed as oil wells, 19 as gas wells and 159 as dry holes. This record was a decline of 21 per cent over last year in the total number of completed tests, 20 per cent in the number of oil wells and 9.5 per cent in the number of gas wells. As in the previous year, most of the drilling (82 per cent) was in the southwestern part of the state, Gibson County ranking first, with 77 completions and 49 oil wells. Posey County was second, with 59 completions and 20 oil wells. The remaining 18 per cent of the drilling was in the old Trenton oil and gas area. The total footage drilled during the year was 482,799 ft., a decline of 18 per cent from the previous year. Of this, 146,559 ft. was wildcat footage. The total initial production of the oil wells completed was 6362 bbl. and of the gas wells was 2,562,000 cu. feet. Three tests in the old Trenton area were drilled into the Cambrian and reported nothing more than tar residue. A Devonian test was to be made in the Griffin field in the Wabash River but owing to the delay caused by Federal restrictions this test did not get started in 1943. It is expected to spud in March 1944. The new discoveries in 1943 were virtually all in the southwestern part of the state, and all, so far, one-well pools, except the North Owensville pool, in Gibson County. The latter was brought in during the month of February and by the end of the year nine wells were producing in the pool, with a reported initial yield of 1260 bbl. per day. By the end of the year it had a daily average production of 401 bbl. and an accumulated production of 39,129 bbl. The average gravity of the oil is reported to be 35.6. On the Ohio-Indiana state line, early in 1943, a new pool was opened up in the old Trenton area. The discovery well was on the Ohio side of the line. An offset well was completed on the Indiana side, with an initial yield of 64 bbl., and settled down to 5 bbl. per day. This well produced 1154 bbl. up to Dec. 31, 1943. There was no further development here, because of the Federal Conservation Order M-68, restricting drilling to one well on 40 acres. The development pattern usually followed in this area is one well to 5 acres. The E. Rogers field was extended by one pool (Table 4). Most of the development in the oil-field pools during the year took place in the Kirksville pool, in Gibson County, and the Caborn pool, in Posey County. The crude-oil production in 1943 was approximately 5,273,000 bbl., a decline of 29 per cent from the previous year. The Griffin field, of Gibson and Posey Counties,

Jan 1, 1944

By R. Hastings Keller, Ralph E. Esarey

Oil and gas activities in Indiana during 1943 continued to decline at about the same rate as in 1942. New development, production, and prospecting, all showed the results of Federal regulation, low price for crude oil and shortages of labor and materials. Several local stripper-well operations were shut down, but no large-scale abandonment has occurred as yet. During the year, 277 holes were drilled for oil and/or gas, of which 99 were completed as oil wells, 19 as gas wells and 159 as dry holes. This record was a decline of 21 per cent over last year in the total number of completed tests, 20 per cent in the number of oil wells and 9.5 per cent in the number of gas wells. As in the previous year, most of the drilling (82 per cent) was in the southwestern part of the state, Gibson County ranking first, with 77 completions and 49 oil wells. Posey County was second, with 59 completions and 20 oil wells. The remaining 18 per cent of the drilling was in the old Trenton oil and gas area. The total footage drilled during the year was 482,799 ft., a decline of 18 per cent from the previous year. Of this, 146,559 ft. was wildcat footage. The total initial production of the oil wells completed was 6362 bbl. and of the gas wells was 2,562,000 cu. feet. Three tests in the old Trenton area were drilled into the Cambrian and reported nothing more than tar residue. A Devonian test was to be made in the Griffin field in the Wabash River but owing to the delay caused by Federal restrictions this test did not get started in 1943. It is expected to spud in March 1944. The new discoveries in 1943 were virtually all in the southwestern part of the state, and all, so far, one-well pools, except the North Owensville pool, in Gibson County. The latter was brought in during the month of February and by the end of the year nine wells were producing in the pool, with a reported initial yield of 1260 bbl. per day. By the end of the year it had a daily average production of 401 bbl. and an accumulated production of 39,129 bbl. The average gravity of the oil is reported to be 35.6. On the Ohio-Indiana state line, early in 1943, a new pool was opened up in the old Trenton area. The discovery well was on the Ohio side of the line. An offset well was completed on the Indiana side, with an initial yield of 64 bbl., and settled down to 5 bbl. per day. This well produced 1154 bbl. up to Dec. 31, 1943. There was no further development here, because of the Federal Conservation Order M-68, restricting drilling to one well on 40 acres. The development pattern usually followed in this area is one well to 5 acres. The E. Rogers field was extended by one pool (Table 4). Most of the development in the oil-field pools during the year took place in the Kirksville pool, in Gibson County, and the Caborn pool, in Posey County. The crude-oil production in 1943 was approximately 5,273,000 bbl., a decline of 29 per cent from the previous year. The Griffin field, of Gibson and Posey Counties,

Jan 1, 1944

By C. W. Jr. Gennet

ANNOUNCEMENT was made in the spring of 1926 that the Boston & Maine R. R. Co. had contracted with the well known German steelmakers, Messrs. Fried Krupp, for the manufacture of 15,000 tons of basic open-hearth steel rails at the Rheinhausen Works, for delivery to Boston, Mass. The manufacture of rails in the United States has for many years been almost a national pride, and as this feeling is chiefly the result of a long-time liberal and consistent patronage of, American rails by American railroads, it is not strange that this somewhat unusual announcement should arouse more than ordinary interest. Since the end of the World War, the importation of foreign rail has been fairly large, principally because the newly created economic conditions have rendered some American competition more difficult, but the tonnage imported, for the most part, has been made up of small orders for miscellaneous use; and the contract referred to constitutes the largest single importation of foreign rail in over ten years. In 1915, the Algoma Steel Co. of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada; supplied the Illinois Central R. R. with 30,000 tons of rails,1 and various other American roads with smaller amounts. In 1902, 1903 and 1904, large tonnages of rail from abroad were purchased, the Louisville & Nashville R. R. alone obtaining 30;000 tons from German mills. It is the object of this paper, to present, in what is believed to be a new and concise form, figures showing the production and consumption of rails in the United States, and to record some of the testing and inspection results of the recent Krupp rails; also, to direct attention to two quite unique departures from American practice that were regular features of the Krupp process and which are worthy, it is thought, of careful study.

Jan 1, 1928

By Basil Prescott

In the science of evolution of the species, there is a law which, simply stated, avers that the history of the individual repeats the history of the race. Similarly, if unassisted by the experience of others, each SUCcessful engineer would perfect and develop his methods and technique from the rough grab sample up to the carefully taken, recorded and studied samples and observations which now determine and decide the expenditure of the large sums required for modern mining. Hence real progress results from the interchange of experience, as in that way the entire experience of the profession can be made available to every engineer. The literature of this subject is already voluminous, but some progress has been made in the gathering of data and in their compilation or presentation. More Romance than Developed Ore in Limestone Deposits In certain types of deposits, methods little known 25 yews ago have been developed, perfected and standardized to a degree that lifts sampling from the field of manual labor to the plane of an applied science; for instance, the modern methods of estimating the so-called porphyry coppers. With some types of orebodies, we have become familiar, and sometimes on too easy speaking terms, with millions of tons of ore in reserve and tens of millions of dollars; while with others even these once marvelous figures sink into insignificance before the array of ciphers that are presented. .In such company, the average limestone replacement orebody is entirely out of place, for its reserves seldom reach a figure to arrest the attention of the modern engineer, and more often are insignificant. It is only when the records of the production of some of the older camps are studied, which show them to have continuously produced over very extended periods, that a realization is borne home that occasionally this type is worthy of consideration even in these days of gigantic tonnage.

Jan 1, 1925

By Maurice Rey, Victor Formanek, Paul Chataignon

IT is found when floating oxidized lead ores by sulphidization, that the presence of calcium salts in the water is usually detrimental and lowers the recovery. This effect is particularly marked in dry countries such as North Africa, where the waters often carry large amounts of calcium sulphate and where the ore may even contain gypsum. This effect is particularly marked in dry countries such as North Africa, where the waters often carry large amounts of calcium sulphate and where the ore may even contain gypsum. The effect of calcium salts is readily visible. Whereas in their absence cerussite is quickly stained brown and then .black by sodium sulphide, in their presence the mineral remains very light in color. A similar- effect is produced when barium sulphide is used as a sulphidizing agent instead of sodium- sulphide. Magnesium salts have little or no effect and even tend to reduce the detrimental effect of calcium salts. A study of this phenomenon indicates that it is due to the precipitation of calcium or barium carbonate in contact ,with the mineral simultaneously with the formation of lead sulphide.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. O. Philbrook, A. H. Jolly, T. R. Henry

In the course of a study of slag-control methods, the authors devised a laboratory technique by which the basicity of basic open-hearth furnace slags could be estimated with sufficient accuracy to make the method of possible interest for slag-control purposes. The process consisted of measuring the slight basicity of an extract of the powdered slag in water. The procedure was presented, for the benefit of those who might care to experiment with it, in a paper submitted in the 1944 McKune Award Contest and presented at the 1944 Open-hearth Conference in Pittsburgh.' Interest expressed at that meeting and favorable operating experience with the method at a neighboring plant, as described in a related paper by Michael Tenenbaum and C. C. Brown,; have encouraged us to present further details of the development, technique, and pitfalls of the method and some additional data not included in our first report. At the outset it must be admitted that this method of estimation of slag basicity is not perfect; neither is any other that we know of. It is subject to somewhat greater errors than would be desirable, but compares favorably with other techniques in this respect. It has the disadvantage that it places the final determination of slag basicity in the hands of a laboratory technician rather than the furnace oper- ator, although it can be operated in a control laboratory adjacent to the furnaces. It requires close attention to certain details, as do most laboratory procedures. On the favorable side, it eliminates the "human factor" of personal judgment inherent in estimation from pancakes or powdered samples. The procedure can be placed in practice much more rapidly and presents much less of a training problem than visual methods of estimation. The principle and operation of the method are so simple that it would not be surprising if others have experimented with the same or similar procedures, but we are not aware of any prior publication of details. Our own shop has been operating fairly successfully for several years with the aid of slag pancakes. Since the past year or two have not been favorable for the expenditure of time and energy where the need was not urgent, we have not introduced the new practice for actual slag control and hence do not have extensive operating data. In presenting this method, therefore, we make no claims as to theoretical justification nor guarantees as to practical applicability, but offer it as an empirical observation. We believe it has sufficient merit to warrant its investigation by those just instituting a slag-control program or in search of supplementary methods for judging slag basicity Principle of the Method It is well known that when burnt lime or slaked lime is shaken up with water it

Jan 1, 1945

By J. R. Johnson

ZIRCONIUM'S corrosion rate by reactor fuel solutions increases with increasing reactor power. It is believed that the protective oxide film is affected by radiation damage. Observations of the

Jan 1, 1959

Jan 1, 1926

Jan 1, 1893

By P. A. Beck

In the course of work on grain growth in high purity aluminum a simple optical method was developed for detecting the presence or absence of preferred orientation in annealed specimens. The specimens were prepared by grinding, polishing and "deep etching." The etching reagent used for high purity aluminum has been described.* The resulting etch pits produced selective

Jan 1, 1949

Jan 1, 1938

By F. Z. Schellenberg

A recent visit with the engineering students of the Western University of Pennsylvania to the Keeling coal-mine on the south side of Pittsburgh furnished interesting matter to communicate, as may be the case, however, with regard to the striking features of any of our well-arranged larger collieries; for every mine surely appears unique as a whole, though description fails to give that impression, except in particulars.

Jan 1, 1900

By K. Harms, T. D. Jones

TO unload large tonnages of lead bullion cast in 100-lb. bars is a problem which has confronted the lead refineries for many years. The bars, on arrival, must be restacked for unloading by truck or hand-charged to charging machines. Selected crews of labor, capable of working at sustained speeds for five- or six-hour periods, are required for this exhausting task. Due to the fatigue involved crew personnel changes rapidly. During the war it became increasingly difficult to maintain crews, especially in critical labor areas, so that the development of casting and shipping ten-ton lead blocks from the smelters to the refineries became a must in our operating program. For many years lead refineries, when making interdepartment or intradepartment transfers, have cast lead blocks weighing five or ten tons which are easily handled by crane by merely attaching the crane hook to a steel anchor embedded in the frozen lead blocks. In previous years, the practice was to use regular smelter slag pots which, due to their rounded shape, produced what were called "buttons" by the refinery personnel. The button-type blocks were unsafe as they rolled and tipped easily and were unsatisfactory for stacking since no piling pattern could be followed. To remedy this situation, flat-bottom molds came into general use and later the bottoms were made concave to prevent slipping.

Jan 1, 1946

By Merle L. Bowser, Lawrence W. Scott, John N. Murphy

The environmental status of underground mining operations is critical to the health and safety of the miners; particularly in a large mine, the multitude of interacting parameters that can favorably or adversely affect the environmental status makes the manpower requirement of the routine checking of specific areas and conditions a formidable one. While the concept of environmental monitoring for miners has been considered for some time, until recently the availability of sensors to reliably measure the parameters of interest severely limited the utility of such systems. The status of sensors for mine use and the evaluation of environmental monitoring systems is reviewed.

Jan 9, 1979