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By George W. Maynard

IN the biographical notice of Thomas F. Witherbee, published in Bulletin No. 32, August, 1909 (p. xxv), it is said that ". he is believed to have been the first manager in America to use the chemical laboratory for the purpose of controlling the regular running of the blast-furnace." Since the year is not given, I cannot decide as. to Mr. Witherbee's priority; but the statement leads me to contribute a bit of history, showing an early departure from the "rule-of-thumb " blast-furnace work to the employment of a chemist. In the autumn of 1868 the department of mining and metallurgy was established at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In connection with the assay-department a laboratory was equipped for making general commercial analyses. In January, 1869, Alexander L. Holley, the manager and builder of the Bessemer plant at the Rensselaer Works of John A. Griswold & Co., the first plant erected in the United¬States under the Bessemer patents, began to send me samples of ore, pig-iron, and steel for analysis. Early in 1869 I was regularly retained as chemist for the Rensselaer Works; and while the laboratory was not located at the works, for all practical purposes it was the works-laboratory. The increase in work soon made it necessary for me to secure an assistant. I applied to Prof. Charles F. Chandler, who recommended Dr. August Wendel, who had been an assistant of Rammelsberg and had lately landed in New York. Dr. Wendel remained with me until 1873, when I left Troy. My leaving made necessary the erection of a laboratory at the Rensselaer Works, which, was done under my supervision, and Dr. Wendel was employed as chemist. During the period from 1868 to 1873 my work as consulting mining engineer frequently called me to the Lake Champlain

Nov 1, 1909

ZAY JEFFRIES, who has been awarded the Douglas medal, established in 1922 by a group of the friends of the late James Douglas for distin-guished achievement in non-ferrous metallurgy, is one of the most notable graduates of the South Dakota School of Mines where he took his B. S. degree in 1910. The following year he was manager of the Ideal Mining Co., at Custer, and in 1911 he became instructor in metallurgy at the Case School of Applied Science, Cleve-land, where he remained until 1917, and in 1918 he took his D. Sc. degree at Harvard. During all this period he was engaged in experi-mental and consulting work for the Electric Railway Improvement Co., t h e Cleveland Steel Tool Co., the W. S. Tyler Co., the Lincoln Electric Co., the Aluminum Castings Co., and the Cleveland wire di-vision of the General Elec-tric Co. He is now en-gaged in general consulting work, especially for the Aluminum Co. of America, the General Electric Co., and the National Tube Co. He has contributed to the Transactions papers on the determination of grain size in metals (with A. H. Kline and E. B. Zimmer) LIV, 594; grain growth phenomena in metals, LVI, 571; the tungsten-molyb-denum equilibrium diagram and system of crystalliza-tion, LVI, 600; grain size inheritance in iron and carbon steel, LVIII, - 669; effect of temperature, de-formation and grain size on the mechanical properties of metals, LX, 474; metallography of tungsten, LX, 588; physical changes in iron and steel below the thermal critical range, LXIII, and LXVII, 56; and the trend in the science of metals, LXX, 303. In addition to participating freely in the discussion of other papers before the Institute he has found time to contribute notable papers to the Institute of Metals (Great Brit-ain), the principal technical journals, and to write a book on "The Science of Metals" in collaboration with R. S. Archer.

Jan 2, 1927

By Willard P. Ward

IT is the object of the present paper to bring to the notice of members of this Institute, the results of experiments made during the past six months in the manufacture of the alloys of iron and manganese in the blast-furnace. The ores at hand and available for the purpose were brown hematites, containing but a very small percentage of manganese, and various manganese ores containing a small percentage of iron. It is hardly necessary here to call attention to the statements regarding the production of iron-manganese alloys from such ores, which are given by all the well-recognized authorities on metallurgy. Suffice it to say, in a few words, that they hold that the operation is practically impossible, and that in the use of oxides of iron and manganese, mechanically intermixed in the same ore, much difficulty has been found in producing spiegeleisen. Spathic ores, containing manganese chemically combined, are alone recommended for the production of spiegel, and even then it is said that well-managed furnaces produce only about 75 to 80 per cent. of spiegel, the balance of the production being white laminated pig or gray iron.

Jan 1, 1876

By H. R. Hoffman

SINCE slag is a necessary product of the reactive oxygen additions necessary to the present-clay quality steelmaking, the study of the control of its volume is being attempted. With other varying factors that may affect the volume of slag kept as nearly constant as possible, the object of this investigation is to determine what effect the one factor of varying the amounts of iron-ore additions and the time of the additions may have upon the volume of slag in producing an acid electric steel heat.

Jan 1, 1947

By Kendall F. Born

Production of crude oil in Tennessee during 1939 was slightly more than 51,000 bbl., an increase of about 10,000 bbl. over 1938. The product,ion by counties and by fields is shown in Table 1. The increased production has rcsulted from continued activity in the Upper Cumberland district, especially in Clay County, where approximately 37,000 bbl. were marketed off the lease. This figure includes a single well in the old Tinsleys Bottom pool on the Clay-Jackson County line, although the well is in Jackson County. The "Mississippi lime" produced 10,811 bbl. in Scott and Morgan Counties, a decrease of 2568 bbl. from the 1938 production. Production during the year from some half-dozen scattered wells in eastern Clay, Pickctt, and Fentress Counties, on which there are no accurate figures, is estimated at 1000 barrels.

Jan 1, 1940

By Kendall F. Born

Production of crude oil in Tennessee during 1939 was slightly more than 51,000 bbl., an increase of about 10,000 bbl. over 1938. The product,ion by counties and by fields is shown in Table 1. The increased production has rcsulted from continued activity in the Upper Cumberland district, especially in Clay County, where approximately 37,000 bbl. were marketed off the lease. This figure includes a single well in the old Tinsleys Bottom pool on the Clay-Jackson County line, although the well is in Jackson County. The "Mississippi lime" produced 10,811 bbl. in Scott and Morgan Counties, a decrease of 2568 bbl. from the 1938 production. Production during the year from some half-dozen scattered wells in eastern Clay, Pickctt, and Fentress Counties, on which there are no accurate figures, is estimated at 1000 barrels.

Jan 1, 1940

W. S. GRESLEY, Erie, Pa.: Mr. Henrich's Fig. 1 and reference thereto remind me of a section of sand, gravel, clay, etc., which I sketched near Hellesylt on Stor Fjord, Norway, some years ago. Vertical Section of Glacial Morainic Material, containing Angular Masses of Banded Sand. Observed June 29, 1887, about 14 English miles south of Hellesylt, at head of Stor Fjord, near Aalesund, Norway. The accompanying figure reproduces my sketch. It was the angular and tilted blocks of sand in this glacial débris, or moraine, that particularly attracted my notice. The sand was moist; and I could only account for the phenomenon of blocks of sand

Jan 1, 1897

By Allen R. Rowen

One of the greatest deterrents to more widespread use of manufactured lightweight aggregate is the fact that no industry-wide standards for its application exist. It is true that ASTM has specifications covering lightweight aggregate, but they are so broad as to be of little assistance in mix design work. Today even an engineer who has worked with one lightweight aggregate may be faced with re-education on his next light- weight concrete job if he is in an area served by another producer. Manufacture of lightweight aggregates has grown with the country, appearing in the patent literature at least as early as 1875, when a patent was issued covering use of burnt clay aggregate as an admixture in manufacture of artificial stone. The widely known Haydite came into the picture prior to 1920 as a result of work by Stephen J. Hayde, and there have been many others since who have contributed significantly to the growth of the industry and its technology.

Nov 1, 1956

By Willard P. Ward

It is the object of the present paper to bring to the notice of members of this Institute, the results of experiments made during the past six months in the manufacture of the alloys of iron and manganese in the blast-furnace. The ores at hand and available for the purpose were brown hematites, containing but a very small percentage of manganese, and various manganese ores containing a small percentage of iron. It is hardly necessary here to call attention to the statements regarding the production of iron-manganese alloys from such ores, which are given by all the well-recognized authorities on metallurgy. Suffice it to say, in a few words, that they hold that the operation is practically impossible, and that in the use of oxides of iron and manganese, mechanically intermixed in the same ore, much difficulty has been found in producing spiegeleisen. Spathic ores, containing manganese chemically combined, are alone recommended for the production of spiegel, and even then it is said that well-managed furnaces produce only about 75 to 80 per cent. of spiegel, the balance of the production being white laminated pig or gray iron.

By T. V. Falkie, Robert Stefanko

Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in December 1969, the most comprehensive law in the history of the coal mining industry went into effect. Hardly anyone will quarrel with the philosophy that all miners in the United States should be afforded equal protection under the law irrespective of the state in which they reside. Furthermore, it appears contrary to any sound judgment that a competitive advantage should appear to accrue to a mine operator because his operations are located in a state with less stringent (and costly) health and safety laws Yet it is recognized that the quality of state mine laws and inspection agencies has been extremely variable. Why, then, should there be such resentments over the passage of the Act? The Act was written In the highly emotionally charged atmosphere following the Consol No. 9 disaster: the technical expertise within the industry was discredited and largely ignored; and those directly involved in the writing of the Act were non- technical and largely nonmining people. The result was that the law incorporated certain requirements that were impossible to meet (automatic brakes are the classical example) and certain parts that were too ambiguous and consequently open to interpretation.

Jan 1, 1971

By L. D. Jaffe, D. C. Buffum

EARLY papers1-' reported that temper brittleness is influenced by microstructure. This conclusion was based on room temperature impact tests, the inadequacy of which has been pointed out. Pellini and Queneau7 measured impact energy absorption at —80O to +25oC for several microstructures. On the basis of the shift, associated with temper brittleness, in the energy vs testing temperature curve they concluded that tempered martensite is somewhat more susceptible to temper brittleness than is tempered pearlite. The range of temperatures was insufficient to give complete curves covering the transition from tough to brittle behavior, so it is difficult to evaluate quantitatively the shift for the different microstructures. Also, the smaller shift of pearlite might be attributed to its already being temper embrittled at its temperature of formation. Accordingly, blanks 2 3/16 in. long were cut from a heat of SAE 3140 hot rolled steel barstock, 5/8 in. diameter, on which other work has been reported? A set of blanks was austenitized 1 hr at 900°c, water-quenched, tempered 16 hr at 675oC, and water-quenched, giving a microstructure of 100 pct

Jan 1, 1954

By Fredrick C. Kruger

Risk capital for mining ventures becomes harder to get each year as the costs for exploration, construction and money continue to skyrocket in today's inflationary economy. Because of this and because mining prospects must compete for the same dollar as many other needs of a diversified company, then the success or failure of any new proposal depends on how well its return on investment compares with all other capital requests. Mr. Kruger presents case histories showing what it costs to explore for new mines, how many of these prospects reward their promoters with success and how well some of the more famous mines have paid off.

Jan 9, 1969

By L. S. Panyity

The question of natural-gas supply is receiving careful consideration in many parts of the country, as in the winter months it is quite a problem to have on hand sufficient gas to satisfy the demand. Increasing the output of wells by the application of vacuum has been tried with various results and large companies have attempted to keep up the supply with gas compressors. The possibility of storing natural gas in the sands of exhausted gas pools has been tried in a few instances with satisfactory results. This method may prove of practical value in solving the problem, especially in the case of towns that formerly obtained gas from their immediate vicinity, but now must search for new pools. Town Plant Regulator High Pressure Line Exhausted Gas Field used for Storage Producing Gas Field FIG. 1. In all cases, only part of the available supply is utilized during the warns weather, so that many wells are shut-in, yet during the winter months, the supply is not sufficient even with all the wells on the line; in such cases it would be of great value if a large volume of stored gas were on hand, obtained through wells that would have been standing idle during the summer.

Jan 1, 1919

All branches of our profession may look back 'with pride upon the patriotic service rendered by engineers during the war. That war has been won. The mortal danger which it threatened has been averted. But the effects of the torture inflicted by it still remain, a fever in the blood of the body politic. Fever begets delirium and, unless its course be checked, has a tendency to produce convulsions. The only safe course is to take immediate steps to allay the fever. The seat of the present trouble is industrialism; as production is at the foundation of civilization, a diseased condition there carries pain and consequent unrest into every member of the organism. Who shall supply the cure? Quack doctors, nostrums in hand, rush forward from all directions promising to perform miracles. But sane men know that no miracles, though invoked by star gazers of purest intention, will prevent or accelerate the orderly operations of the laws of nature and of human life. Delirium must be controlled by the firm, gentle hand of intelligent, sympathetic authority. Fever must be allayed first by removal of all poisons from the system, then by consistent ministration of cooling, quieting restoratives, then by simple, wholesome nourishment. Nature will, under such treatment, supply the permanent cure.

Jan 12, 1919

By Lawrence Addicks

F. N. FLYNN, Clifton, Ariz.-As a number-of my associates in Arizona know, for a great many years, I have felt that leaching was one of the coming problems. We are about to start experiments at Clifton, along the idea of leaching wet flotation concentrates direct, without roasting-differing in this respect from Mr. Addicks' suggestion. We are prompted in starting these investigations by the difficulty in. transporting and handling flotation concentrates, and consideration for drying and roasting dust losses. I have had the idea for 5 or 6 years past, that those very fine concentrates could best be treated by leaching at the concentrating plant, thus eliminating our transportation difficulties to the smelter, and dust losses at the smelter. Given flotation concentrate, if it must be dried and roasted, it would, in our case, undoubtedly be cheaper to smelt the calcine, but if it can be leached raw and wet and the drying difficulties- and dust loss eliminated, it would be very advantageous to leach it at the mill. I realize that it will be a difficult problem, and one which may take several years to develop, but if developed, it would pay for many years' expense of investigation, and we have been encouraged by our general manager to investigate its merits.

Jan 12, 1916

By O. Skiredj, J. F. Elliott

It has been necessary to collate the available data on the solubility of graphite in Fe-Si-Mn alloys for a study of slag-metal equilibria in ferromanganese production. That study will be reported later; the collation is reported here. The carbon content of graphite-saturated liquid iron above 1153ºC by Chipman and co-workers1 is: %C= 1.34 + 2.54 x 10~3t(°C) [l] For graphite-saturated manganese above 1322ºC it is: %C = 2.68 + 3.52 x 1CT3 t(°C) [2]

Jan 1, 1963

ON presenting the medalist, J.. V. W. Reynders said, in part: "Far the greatest progress in the art of steel-nuking has occurred in the production of lighter forms such as tool steels and steels entering into the moving parts of machinery generally, and particularly into the con-struction of automobiles and airplanes. In this highly specialized field in which the study of alloys and heat treatment has brought about such fundamental changes of design and practice, Dr. Mathews has achieved a ranking position. "As the technical head of the largest producer of special steels, his laboratory conclusions are frequently but a few steps removed from practical exploitation. The experimental determinations of yesterday must be sufficiently conclusive to form the basis for the specific plans of today, and to warrant commercial production tomorrow. His is not the complacent atmosphere of theoretical speculation, but one in which practice fol-lows close upon the heels of scientific research.

Jan 3, 1928

By J. O. Brittain, N. R. Adsit

It has been suggested that grain boundary motion during creep is a two-stage process, i.e., sliding followed by migration. Wienbergl found alternate sliding and migration of aluminum tricrystals tested in shear. He concluded that curves of grain boundary sliding (G. B. S.) vs time were not reproducible from specimen to specimen. Couling and Roberts,' who worked on polycrystalline magnesium, found that sliding and migration were interdependent. They were able to correlate the amount of sliding with the number of sliding-migration cycles, i.e., the amount of migration observed metallographically. Rhines, Bond, and Kissel found that the curves of grain boundary sliding vs time were spasmodic but they did not find any migration of the boundary. Some recent creep tests on bicrystals of high-purity zinc (99.99 pct) help to elucidate the role of grain boundary migration in the G. B. S. process. The experimental technique and apparatus are described elsewhere. The tests were conducted in vacuum or a protective atmosphere of argon. All specimens were stressed in simple shear along

Jan 1, 1961

By Oliver B. Hopkins

Peru produced approximately 15,838,610 bbl. of oil during 1938, which was 1,618,406 bbl. below its production during 1937. As in recent years, the entire output of the country came from the La Brea-Parinas, Lobitos-Restin, and Zorritos fields, which are all situated along the northwestern coast. Outside of the proven areas, the drilling of test wells was continued by the Peruvian Government on the reserved zone near Zorritos. Six wells have been completed or are drilling. Of these one is a gas well at 2619 ft. and one is dry at 1415 ft. It is reported that three standard and two rotary rigs are being used. In southern Peru, in the Pirin region north of Lake Titicaca, the Government made a geological study of the National Reserve. In eastern Peru, the Cia. Petrolera El Ganso Azul continued its activities in the montana region, where its first well was reported to have had a show of oil at 1000 feet. There was also renewal of leasing activity in eastern Peru, where approximately 380,000 acres of new leases were filed on near Contamana. La Brea-Parinas Estate.—Production of crude oil on this property of International Petroleum Co. Ltd. amounted to 13,137,988 bbl. which was

Jan 1, 1939

By Oliver B. Hopkins

Peru produced approximately 15,838,610 bbl. of oil during 1938, which was 1,618,406 bbl. below its production during 1937. As in recent years, the entire output of the country came from the La Brea-Parinas, Lobitos-Restin, and Zorritos fields, which are all situated along the northwestern coast. Outside of the proven areas, the drilling of test wells was continued by the Peruvian Government on the reserved zone near Zorritos. Six wells have been completed or are drilling. Of these one is a gas well at 2619 ft. and one is dry at 1415 ft. It is reported that three standard and two rotary rigs are being used. In southern Peru, in the Pirin region north of Lake Titicaca, the Government made a geological study of the National Reserve. In eastern Peru, the Cia. Petrolera El Ganso Azul continued its activities in the montana region, where its first well was reported to have had a show of oil at 1000 feet. There was also renewal of leasing activity in eastern Peru, where approximately 380,000 acres of new leases were filed on near Contamana. La Brea-Parinas Estate.—Production of crude oil on this property of International Petroleum Co. Ltd. amounted to 13,137,988 bbl. which was

Jan 1, 1939