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By John M. Kelly

New Mexico produced 31,913,816 bbl. of oil in 1942, the lowest annual production since 1936, and dropped one place to rank eighth among oil-producing states. This production decreased 7,838,052 bbl., or 19.71 per cent, from the 1941 figure is the result of transportation difficulties caused by the dislocation of tanker sailings to east coast ports. The average per-well allowable in New Mexico on Jan. I, 1942, was 43 bbl. and at the end of the year was 38 bbl. Allocations as set by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission followed the recommendations of the Petroleum Administrator for War. After setting the daily outlet, however, the average daily pipe-line runs were 87,545 bbl.—11.06 per cent short of these allocations. Production for Lea County was 26,812,949 bbl., Eddy County 4,624,578 bbl., northwestern New Mexico 473,609 bbl., Chaves County 2,680 barrels. Drilling activity for New Mexico in 1942 was approximately 84 per cent of that in 1941 with 339 completions. Of these completions 254 were oil wells, II gas wells, and 74 dry holes. Proven fields accounted for 55 of the dry holes and 19 were wildcats. Three new oil fields and one new gas field were discovered as the result of wildcat drilling. Extensions were made to one oil field and one gas field. By the close of the year, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission had designated 59 areas as proven for oil and/or gas. Southeastern New Mexico Lea County Monument was again the largest producing field in the state, with 5,729,336 bbl.; Eunice was next, with 5,217,965; Vacuum produced 3,295,624 and Hobbs 2,973,488. The Hobbs field has the largest accumulated production, which at the close of 1942 totaled 100,381,417 bbl. The 100-million-barrel mark for Hobbs focused attention on the fact that this is the first field in the state to attain this figure, and also that, as Hobbs has been under continuous proration since July 1930, or approximately the entire life of the field, this 100-million-barrel recovery was obtained with 86 per cent of the wells in the pool still flowing and having a drop in bottom-hole pressure of only 3.5 Ib. per million barrels recovered. Hobbs stands out as perhaps the best regulated major oil field in the world. Two new oil fields were discovered in Lca County, the most inlportant being the area designated as East Lusk, consisting of the south 4 tiers of Sections in T. 19 S., R. 32 E. The discovery well was drilled in the SW. SW. 1/4 of sec. 21, T. 19 S., R. 32 E., by Culbertson and Irwin, Inc., and others. It was completed at a total depth of 2751 ft. in the Seven Rivers formation of Permian age. The initial potential of the well was 237 bbl. per day on pump. The oil produced has a gravity of 24.10 A.P.I., with sulphur content of 0.9 per cent. This oil has an asphaltic base and because

Jan 1, 1943

By C. G. Rhodes, D. Kramer

The kinetics of precipitation of transient a phase during the transformation in U-16 wt pct Mo between 400° and 550°C were studied using quantitative metallography and electrica1 resistiuity measurements. The volume percent of a phase goes through a maximum in time, corresponding to a critical degree of progress of y' formation. prior to its re-solution after prolonged annealing. The fastest rate of a precipitation oc-cuvs at 500°C with a concomittant lowest peak of 9.5 vol pct a. At 450°C, 14 vol pct a, greatest fov any temperature, was observed after 24 hr witlz an associated slowest rate of formation. a precipitation at 400°C ceases after approximately 160 hr and the amount of a present remains unchanged after long times at temperature; no y' was observed metallographically at this temperature. IN the U-Mo system at 16 wt pct Mo, an ordering reaction takes place below 600°C, see Fig. 1, whereupon the random bcc solid solution, y, transforms to the ordered bct phase, y'."2 The new unit cell is constructed of three old unit cells somewhat distorted. While attempting to study the kinetics of this transformation it was observed that an unexpected phase was precipitating out early during the transformation anneal reaching appreciable amounts before disappearing after long times. The y' appeared in the presence of this new phase and after long times constituted the whole sample. Owing to the high optical activity of this unexpected phase under polarized light, it was suspected to be the a phase. Subsequent X-ray powder pictures confirmed this belief. The kinetics of a phase formation and disappearance is the subject of this paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE A) Alloy Preparation. Alloys for this study were prepared by vacuum induction melting normal reactor grade uranium and 99.5 wt pct Mo pellets in thoria crucibles. Two ingots were prepared, and sections of the top and bottom of each ingot were chemically analyzed for uranium and molybdenum content. The results of the analyses appear in Table I. B) Metallography. Samples of 16M were wrapped in tantalum foil, sealed in evacuated (5 X 10"6 mm of Hg) quartz capisules, and annealed at 1110"C prior to being transferred directly to the transformation temperature. They were examined metallographically after increasing times to determine the progress of the transformation at 400°, 450°, 500°, and 550°C. The samples were prepared for metallographic examination by mechanical polishing with diamond paste and electrolytic polishing with a solution of glacial acetic acid and chromic acid. Since the y' phase is tetragonal, its presence can be detected by viewing the sample in polarized light. To increase the contrast between y' plates, the samples were electro-etched in a 10 pct oxalic acid solution. To reveal a phase in bright field (it can be seen in polarized light in the "as-polished" state), the samples were electro-etched in a solution of citric acid and nitric acid. To determine the vol pct a phase, a variation of the one dimensional systematic point count method as described by Hilliard and cahn3 was used. The

Jan 1, 1962

By AIME AIME

THIS year the Petroleum Division holds its fall meeting at Houston, Texas, Oct. 2 and 3, with head- quarters at the Lamar Hotel. Technical sessions will be held in the morning and afternoon of both days. A smoker on Friday afternoon will afford an opportunity to get together socially. Saturday evening is left free for private parties to the beach at Galveston, where a wide variety of entertainment is available. On Oct. 4 there will be an excursion to Sugarland oil field, with luncheon at Boling and a visit to Boling sulfur mine and plant in the afternoon. There are nine technical papers on the program for Friday. Saturday morning will be devoted to oil production control and it is planned to make the discussion more

Jan 1, 1931

By F. C. Noyes

DAME Nature was in a generous mood when she distributed widely over the face of the globe numerous deposits of phosphate rock from which man can make phosphatic festiIizer to replace the phosphate re- moved from the soil by crops. The principal deposits are readily accessible to the world's greatest consuming areas and most of them are such that mining operations can be carried on at relatively low cost. The world's known reserves shown in Table 1 are sufficient to last well over 2000 gears at the present rate of consumption. Before giving a brief outline of the phosphate rock industry of foreign countries let us try to get a picture of the movement of phosphate rock throughout the world in 1938, the last full normal calendar year where it came from and where it was consumed. Table 2 shows the origin and finial destination of world shipments in 1938 by grand divisions. Table 3 (p. 499) shows shipment9 of phosphte rock to each country in Europe. Europe is seen to be by far the world's greatest market and the French North African mines the world's most important producers outside of the U. S. A.

Jan 1, 1944

By Charles T. Baroch, Charles J. Baroch

Nuclear energy probably has greater potentialities for changing the world's way of life than any other recent discovery. The atomic-bomb bursts over Hiroshima and Nagasaki suddenly changed the concepts of war. Peaceful uses of nuclear energy are advancing so rapidly that no study of economic trends is complete without giving them consideration. The minerals specialist, especially, must be aware of this new force in our lives, as minerals and metals are essential in harnessing the new force, and atomic energy itself is rapidly improving its competitive position in the energy field. Future historians may chronicle December 2, 1942, as the beginning of the Atomic Age. On that day Enrico Fermi and his co-workers at the University of Chicago produced and controlled the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Lie many inventions, the first application of nuclear energy was as a weapon of war. However, its potential usefulness in man's work and welfare far outweighs in economic importance its destructive use in war, unless its military effect would be considered so great and all-embracing that no major power will hereafter chance a world conflict. Recognition of this potential has generated a vast international effort to exploit the atom for peaceful beneficent purposes. Like its physical manifestation, the advent of nuclear energy has unleashed chain reactions that have pervaded the political, social, and economic environments of the world. The impact of nuclear developments in one of many fields is exemplified by the uranium mining industry. Uranium was discovered in 1789 and in the next century and a half it found only an insignificant use as a ceramic coloring agent; in fact, in the latter part of that period, it was a largely unsalable by-product of the radium and vanadium industries. Up to 1940 the total quantity of uranium metal produced was not more than a few grams, of doubtful purity. Thus the production of 12,400 pounds of pure

Jan 1, 1964

By George C. Heikes

ALTHOUGH the application of light metals in war materiel increased during the year, based on the number of uses, the trend in aluminum and magnesium production in 1944 was characterized by a sharp decline in the production of both metals accompanied by a further accumulation of large Government reserve stocks. Several primary reduction plants were curtailed to prevent building excessive inventories. By the end of the year, however, a lively revival of war production took place when resistance stiffened on the western front in Europe. Production of primary aluminum ingot was reduced from over 90,000 tons per month at the start of the year to 45.000 tons per month by the end of the year.

Jan 1, 1945

By A. B. Kinzel

IT is with sincere appreciation and a deep sense of responsibility that I accept the honor of delivering the Howe Memorial Lecture. In our time metallurgical research has delved into phenomena ever more complex in character, so that much of this work must be done by organized teams. We, of the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories and the Electro Metallurgical Co., are truly a team and the lecture which is to follow is due largely to a few of the outstanding members of that team here cited and well known to you in their own right: John Lamont, whose work deserves special recognition, Walter Crafts, William Forgeng, William Binder, Robert Fowler, and David Swan. Thus it is a fitting pleasure to accept this honor for the research institution which I represent. Henry Marion Howe was truly inspirational and his breadth of view was such that he could use either the method of rigid proof or implied mechanism to further the broad understanding. But perhaps his outstanding characteristic was his sound judgment and his ability to weigh observations. The following is replete with observations and judgment as to their implication. We would like to feel that it is the type of dissertation which Howe, himself, would have enjoyed. Chromium carbides in stainless steel have, in a sense, been a key to the progress of the stainless steel industry. Brearley's first stainless steel, containing approximately 0.30 pct C, was successful because it differed from previous Fe-Cr alloys in that the carbides were present in such amount and form as to provide the stainless and cutting properties. Again, the 12 pct Cr die steels with a carbon content of 1.5 pct or more achieved their properties by virtue of the form and distribution of the chromium carbides. In the straight chromium steels with from 12 to 25 pct Cr, chromium carbide amount and distribution are once more the determinants with respect to physical properties and corrosion resistance. In each of the cases just cited the role of the carbide is in essence similar to that of iron carbide in carbon steel and this story is so well known that we need not dwell on it. In the austenitic stainless steels, the chromium carbide plays only a minor positive role with respect to mechanical properties, and for corrosion resistance the objective is to achieve maximum homogeneity. Thus the tendency has been to ever lower the carbon and correlatively the chromium carbide content of the austenitic steels. Today stainless steels with carbon less than 0.03 pct are beginning to find their true place, and this is being aided in major degree by our Company's introduction of a new type of ferrochromium having negligible carbon. The role of carbon in these austenitic steels has long been recognized, and a truly enormous amount of research has been devoted to the subject. Much has been learned about corrosion resistance, but the attack on the problem from the point of view of carbide precipitation and the nature thereof has left much to be understood. Because of its fundamental importance to the future of stainless steels, further study of the mechanism of carbide formation in austenitic steels is of interest. In the 18-8 Cr-Ni steels, which are typical of the austenitic class of steel, carbon is soluble in the aus-tenite to the extent of approximately 0.15 pct at 1832°F (1000°C). The solubility becomes less with decreasing temperature, so that at 1652°F (900°C) the solubility limit is approximately 0.06 pct, at 1472°F (800°C) it is about 0.03 pct, and at 932°F (500°C) it is approximately 0.01 pct. Obviously this is the ideal situation for the classical precipitation phenomenon. It is true that, in a sense, 18-8 austenite resulting from annealing is in a metastable state, and the phenomenon of ferritic precipitation from this austenite should be considered. However, in a so-called fully austenitic 18-8 steel this is secondary with respect to the carbides and can be neglected. A wide variety of chromium carbides is known. Only one chromium carbide, Cr,,C,,, frequently referred to as Cr,C, has been found in unmodified low carbon 18-8 steel. This, fortunately, simplifies the study of the precipitation phenomena. For this study an A.I.S.I. type 304 stainless steel of commercial quality was selected. Analysis showed C 0.07 pct, Mn 0.49 pct, Si 0.33 pct, Ni 9.34 pct, Cr 18.91 pct, and N 0.033 pct. As expected with this composition the steel was homogeneous after annealing except for a few pools of ferrite, which were disregarded in that their location was not coincident with subsequent carbide precipitation areas. On corrosion testing the steel was normal and typical of good commercial quality. Specimens 1/2xlx4 in. were annealed and subjected to precipitation heat treatment for 100 hr at 100" temperature intervals from 1000° to 1500°F and for ten selected intervals ranging from 5 min to 64 hr at 1300°F. These blocks were then cut into small pieces for metallographic studies. The first problem

Jan 1, 1953

By A. M. Turkalo

IT is a well-known fact that martensitic steels show a greater resistance to brittle fracture than do pearlitic and bainitic steels. It was, therefore, thought worthwhile to investigate the mode of brittle fracture with respect to structure by studying the effect of various austenite decomposition products on the propagation of brittle fracture in steel by means of electron microscopy. Newly developed replication techniques together with the advantages of the electron microscope such as great depth of field, available high magnification and easy adaptation to stereophotography make electron microscopy very suitable for fracture studies. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE An essentially plain carbon steel containing 0.56 pct C, 1.30 pct Mn, 0.02 pct P, 0.03 pct S and 0.22 pct Si was used in this investigation. The following table gives the heat treatments used to obtain the various austenite decomposition products: The resulting austenite grain size from the 870°C austenitization treatment was about an ASTM No. 7 grain size. The specimens which were 2 in. long, 1/4-in. diam bars were austenitized in a tube furnace through which argon gas was blown. The tube was not, however, air-free and the specimens were not completely oxide-free. Isothermal treatments were done in a lead bath. With the exception of the fully hardened specimen and the one as-isothermally transformed at 300°C the heat treated specimens were notched in the following fashion with a jeweler's saw. A cut about 0.08 in. deep was made perpendicular to the length of the bar. The specimen then was rotated about 45 deg and another cut about 0.08 in. deep was made. In the case of the hard martensitic and bainitic specimens, only one cut was made and the depth was not controlled. The design of the two-cut notch caused fracture to initiate at the point of intersection of the two saw cuts. The specimens were broken at -196°C in a Charpy impact testing machine. In order to hold the specimens securely in the impact machine two square pieces of mild steel were made about 5/8 in. long having the same cross section as that of a standard Charpy specimen but containing a hole 1/4 in. diam through the center of the cross-section. These adapters were slipped over the ends of the test specimen which was then secured tightly by means of set screws in the adapters. The specimen with the adapters was cooled to -196°C in liquid N,, then placed in the impact machine and broken within 3 sec. One half of the broken specimen was used for the electron microscope study of the actual fracture surface. The other half was nickel-plated and a cross section through the notch and fracture was polished for electron microscope examination. Carbon replicas of the fracture specimens for the electron microscope study were made essentially according to Bradley's evaporation technique.' Both direct carbon and two-stage carbon replication techniques were used. In the case of the direct carbon technique, a thin layer of carbon was evaporated first at an angle of about 45 deg to the mean fracture surface and then another film of carbon was evaporated normally to the fracture surface. The carbon replica was freed electrolytically.2 The specimen was made an anode in a 10 pct Nital polishing solution. It was etched intermittently by shutting off the power now and then. The freed replica was washed in 40 to 50 pct water solution of nitric acid for 10 min or so, then washed in water and picked up on a screen for examination. The two-stage carbon replication technique involved first making a primary replica of cellulose * acetate from which a carbon replica was then made. One side of a strip of cellulose acetate wet with acetone was pressed lightly against the surface of the specimen, allowed to dry and then stripped. Prior to the deposition of carbon, which was done at 90 deg to the cellulose acetate replica surface, chromium was evaporated at 45 deg. After the carbon evaporation the cellulose acetate was dissolved in acetone according to the Jaffe method3 leaving the carbon replica preshadowed with chromium for examination.

Jan 1, 1961

By E. D. Gardner

The Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act (58 Stat., 190; 30 U.S.C. Sup., Secs. 321- 325) was approved by Congress April 5, 1944; it directed the Bureau of Mines to build demonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels from coal, oil shale, and agricultural products. The most important oil-shale de- posits in the United States are in the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The oil shale of western Colorado generally is more amenable to exploitation, more persistent, and apparently richer than elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region. It occurs at the top of a high plateau surrounded by bold, nearly vertical escarpments 500 to 600 ft in height. The top 400 to 500 ft of these escarpments comprises an oil-shale measure that averages 15 gal of shale oil per ton; the bottom 70 to 100 ft of the measure, called the Mahogany Ledge, averages over 30 gal per ton. The full measure in a 1000-square-mile area is estimated to contain 300 billion barrels of shale oil;' the Mahogany Ledge is estimated to contain 100 billion barrels of oil. These estimates are based on numerous surface samples and on core-drill holes drilled by the Government and by private enterprise. The oil-shale beds are undisturbed and lie nearly horizontal. The name

Jan 1, 1949

By E. L. Bruce

THE district of. Patricia, in the province of Ontario, lies northwest of the Albany River and extends northward to Hudson's Bay. Formerly this was the unorganized district of Keewatin, the southern part of which was divided in 1912 between the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The interprovincial boundary now runs north from Lake of the Woods for 275 mi. and thence northeast 375 mi. to Hudson's Bay. This district is comparable in size to all the older part of Ontario south of the Canadian Pacific Railway east of Lake Huron-thus it is roughly one-third of the whole of the present provincial area. The central part of this great triangle is one of the least accessible parts of Canada. From it streams flow southward to the English River, southeastward to the Albany, northward to Hudson's Bay and the Hayes River, and westward to Lake Winnipeg. None of the streams is large and canoe travel is not easy. The only industry it has ever had is the trade in furs. Until the development of the airplane on a commercial basis, the only means of travel was by canoe or dog-train. There is not a mile of railway in the whole district. The two areas to be dealt with lie in the southwestern part of Patricia. Red Lake is 50 mi. east of the Manitoba boundary and 75 mi. north of the transcontinental railway from Cochrane to Winnipeg. Woman Lake is 50 mi. farther east and slightly farther north. The late Dr. D. B. Dowling, of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Red Lake and spent some time there during his exploration survey from Lac Seul to Berens River in 1893. He also visited the Woman Lake basin during the same journey, but his examination of it was much less detailed, the great area covered by him during the one field season making it impossible to make more than a hurried reconnaissance. Some prospecting in the Red Lake district followed Dowling's exploration, but the distance from railway was too great for any systematic work to be done.

Jan 1, 1928

By Burt C. Mariacher

To note that environmental considerations had a major im¬pact on the minerals processing industry in 1971 would be something less than a profound observation. The degree of its importance was demonstrated by MBD when it established the Environmental Committee as a new unit committee within the Division to achieve greater participation in exchange of information relating to the technologies and problems involved. It is appropriate and necessary to devote special attention to this timely aspect of minerals processing, as its influence penetrates the research, engineering and operations of almost all unit technologies that comprise minerals processing. The pollution abatement aspect of this industry has been such a dominant factor in recent years there is reason to wonder whether progress in unrelated technologies has been curtailed. Perhaps so, to some degree, but unit committee reviews presented in this article suggest rather that it would appear to have served as a catalyst for accelerated progress in development of new methods and improvement in more conventional ones. Present concepts regarding primary metal or mineral recovery and by-product potential may change considerably as a result of improved technology in waste product treatment.

Jan 2, 1972

By A. W. Furbank

IN reviewing the aerial cameras produced in different countries, it becomes apparent that in nearly all of them an attempt has been made to secure the greatest possible angle of view. This angle, of course, is determined by the objective. The objectives most commonly in use in aerial cameras have a maximum angle of 65°. The objective developed for this new Zeiss camera combines freedom from distortion and brilliant definition, with an angle of 95°. Aerial mapping, it is claimed, has been placed on a different economic basis, and new possibilities presented, par-ticularly in connection with automatic stereoscopic plotting instruments, to which some short references are made. One way of enlarging the angle of view is to couple several instruments with their axes convergent, thereby producing a multilens camera. Typi-cal of cameras of this sort in the United States is the Bagley four-lens camera, which later was developed into the five-lens camera (T3-A) of the U. S. Air Corps. More recently, in order to get away from the unfavorable Maltese cross image field of the five-lens camera, and to obtain a more practical form, two five-lens cameras were combined. By using them in tandem and rotating them by 45° relatively to each other, a ten-lens camera was produced, covering an octagonal ground area, with a total angle of view of 140°. Similar designs have been evolved in other countries. In all of them, however, a number of difficulties have arisen, quite apart from their large weight and high cost. Because of their complex mechanism, numerous shutters and magazines, and the high precision with which these parts must be interadjusted and synchronized, these cameras are far from dependable. Moreover, a multilens camera by itself does not yet constitute a complete outfit for producing pictures suitable for photogrammetric survey. Because all the component pictures, except the central one, are obliques, it is always necessary to employ rectifying apparatus which transforms the marginal views to the perspective of the central one. In multilens cameras with many individual magazines, it is not convenient to

Jan 1, 1938

By John A. Gann

The following investigation constitutes a brief réumé of the more important binary magnesium alloys from the standpoint of metallo-graphic technique, and the effect of heat treatment on structure and properties. The comparative newness of the subject justifies this procedure as a preface to a more detailed study of each individual series of alloys. The work was started with the idea of practical application in the industry rather than as a theoretical investigation. The alloy compositions studied were selected as those most likely to show whether heat treatment would produce beneficial results. Furthermore, it was considered satisfactory to use commercial 99.9 per cent. magnesium, the best commercial grade of alloying ingredients, and to limit the time of heat treatment at the expense of incomplete equilibrium. These facts must be kept in mind when examining the results obtained, and the conclusions drawn. Preparation of Alloys All melts were made in an oil-fired cast-steel pot, approximately 12 in. dia, by 12 in. deep. Approximately 15 lb. of flux and 50 lb. of magnesium were melted and the calculated amount of alloying metal was added. After thorough alloying and puddling, the metal was chill cast in a graphite mold with four 1/2 by 1/2 by 4 in. bars fed from a common sprue and runner. The next higher composition alloy in a given series was made by adding the calculated amount of metal to the heel from the preceding cast. The pot was thoroughly cleaned after each series and new flux then introduced, thus avoiding possible contamination from earlier melts. The percentage compositions given in Table 1 are the calculated values. While not all alloys were analyzed, enough were checked to indicate that the reported compositions are correct to a few tenths of one per cent. A more detailed description of the foundry methods employed has been given in a previous paper. 1

Jan 1, 1929

By John A. Gann

The following investigation constitutes a brief réumé of the more important binary magnesium alloys from the standpoint of metallo-graphic technique, and the effect of heat treatment on structure and properties. The comparative newness of the subject justifies this procedure as a preface to a more detailed study of each individual series of alloys. The work was started with the idea of practical application in the industry rather than as a theoretical investigation. The alloy compositions studied were selected as those most likely to show whether heat treatment would produce beneficial results. Furthermore, it was considered satisfactory to use commercial 99.9 per cent. magnesium, the best commercial grade of alloying ingredients, and to limit the time of heat treatment at the expense of incomplete equilibrium. These facts must be kept in mind when examining the results obtained, and the conclusions drawn. Preparation of Alloys All melts were made in an oil-fired cast-steel pot, approximately 12 in. dia, by 12 in. deep. Approximately 15 lb. of flux and 50 lb. of magnesium were melted and the calculated amount of alloying metal was added. After thorough alloying and puddling, the metal was chill cast in a graphite mold with four 1/2 by 1/2 by 4 in. bars fed from a common sprue and runner. The next higher composition alloy in a given series was made by adding the calculated amount of metal to the heel from the preceding cast. The pot was thoroughly cleaned after each series and new flux then introduced, thus avoiding possible contamination from earlier melts. The percentage compositions given in Table 1 are the calculated values. While not all alloys were analyzed, enough were checked to indicate that the reported compositions are correct to a few tenths of one per cent. A more detailed description of the foundry methods employed has been given in a previous paper. 1

Jan 1, 1929

By T. E. Evans, C. T. Baroch

ZrB2 was produced in batches of 4 to 6 Ib by interaction of ZrO2, B4C, B203, and carbon at around 2000°C in a simple graphite resistance furnace. Techniques of production are discussed and the final design of a suitable furnace is described in detail. Several other borides were made by the same technique and the process appears to have possibilities for commercial production. N seeking out new hard and refractory com- pounds, many researchers have turned to the investigation of the borides and excellent papers have been published on the properties of these compounds. Few papers, however, have appeared on the techniques and problems concerned with the production of these high temperature substances. This report describes progress made in developing a method for preparing zirconium diboride, ZrB2, on a pilot plant scale. The literature of the borides and other refractory hard metals recently has been reviewed, annotated, and classified so completely' that it is needless to attempt such an outline here. It is enough to say that three borides of zirconium have been reported: ZrB, ZrB2, and ZrB12.2 ZrB2 is the most stable of these and is especially stable in the presence of carbon up to and including its melting point of around 3000°C. Like most borides, it can be prepared in several ways. It can be prepared by synthesis of the elements, but these are expensive and difficult to produce in a high state of purity. Obviously, production directly from the oxides would have decided economic advantages. In electrolytic production such as that of calcium boride,:' the product is recovered as a sludge mixed with electrolyte; and separation of product from adhering electrolyte and regeneration of the electrolyte is an involved and difficult process. The work on borides was started on a small scale in 1948. Late in 1949, Naval Ordnance expressed a specific interest in ZrB2 and the project then centered on this compound. After the usual experimental work necessary in a new field, ZrB2 of good quality was produced by heating mixtures of B4C, ZrO2, B2O3, and carbon to a temperature of about 2000 °C in a resistance-type electric furnace. Over 100 lb was made for experimental use tests, and the method of production probably could be expanded into a commercial operation. A similar process has been described by Kieffer and coworkers.' The main chemical problems were the development of proper charges to insure complete reduction of the elements, determination of the proper temperature range at which these reductions took place, and adoption of techniques necessary to pre- vent inclusion of such impurities as carbon and nitrides. The mechanical problems consisted of developing a simple practical furnace that would attain the high temperatures required and permit use of a controlled atmosphere when necessary and determining of suitable refractories. Both problems were solved by designing a crucible resistance furnace. Crucible Resistance Electric Furnace Attempts were first made to produce ZrB2 in an electric arc furnace, but such a furnace would not provide the degree of carbon control required for producing clean graphite-free borides, so it was decided to try working in a crucible. Obviously, the furnace would have to be constructed of graphite, as the temperatures required are too high for other refractories or heating elements. Crucibles were made by hollowing out segments of graphite electrodes, which were fitted with a cover and clamped between two electrodes so that the current passing through the thin wall of the crucible would generate heat, using the principle of the Helberger crucible furnace."? Preliminary tests with this type of furnace were encouraging and led to the furnace design shown in Fig. 1. The essential components were a thin-walled graphite crucible resting on a graphite block, which formed the lower electrode assembly, and a top electrode assembly swung from a pipe column making contact with the top of the crucible. The space around the crucible was filled with graphite prepared from waste electrodes crushed to about ¼ in. This packing had excellent insulating properties, both electrically and thermally, and could be removed easily and quickly from around the crucible by means of an industrial vacuum cleaner. The largest resistor crucibles were machined from 8 in. electrode stock and were 26 in. long, with a side wall Yi in. thick and a 1 in. bottom. Temperatures were determined optically by sighting down a 1 in. hole drilled longitudinally through the top electrode and the crucible cover. Sealing this hole at the top was a water-cooled brass sight-glass assembly, shown in Fig. 2. An opening was provided for a light flow of helium to keep the sight opening clear of smoke, and a glass prism above the sight glass changed the line of sight to the horizontal for easier reading. More recently, the prism and optical pyrometer were replaced by a photoelectric recording pyrometer. At first the charges were placed directly in the resistor crucible but this meant that everything had to be withdrawn from the furnace every time the charge was emptied. Later, smaller crucibles were made up that could be placed inside the resistor

Jan 1, 1956

By Paul C. Merritt

Samuel Hopkins, an 18th century inventor from Philadelphia, has been little noted nor long remembered by History, but it was he who on July 31, 1790, obtained what no other man can ever achieve -the first patent issued by the Government of the United States. Signed by President George Washington, the patent guaranteed to Hopkins the protection of the American Government for his "improvement, not known or used before, . . . in the making of Potash . . . by a new Apparatus and Process." The patent itself is no longer important, but it serves as a milestone in the development of an industry that is now rapidly moving to fulfill its role as a mineral to feed the world. Potash ranks as one of the oldest products of Man, having been used as a condiment by the habitants of Gaul a thousand years before Athens achieved its Golden Age of culture. By Hopkins' time, the uses of potash had changed considerably, going primarily into glass-making, tanning, soap, and explosives, yet the same sources and techniques of manufacturing potash used during the earlier 2000 years-that is, leaching of plant ashes in iron pots with water, followed by water evaporation and crystallization of the potassium salts-were still being used.

Jan 10, 1966

By E. E. Schumacher

IN a laboratory devoted to the furtherance of the science of communication, the breadth and variety of the problems encountered are challenging to a metallurgist. In my own long association with the Bell Telephone Laboratories, our metallurgical group has dealt with a vast number of alloys, both ferrous and nonferrous, and with many materials in the border range of metallic properties., The objectives of our design engineers embrace every phase of telephony, and the properties they desire in metals are generally unusual, frequently unique, and often conflicting. Commercial alloys have not always been available with properties to meet a special requirement in the telephone plant, and many alloys have had, therefore, to be custom-made. Anyone who has had the opportunity to observe the results of tests of all types on numerous such alloys, both commercially and specially produced, or who has taken part in the development of an alloy of some necessary, but new or unusual combination of properties, could not fail to be impressed by the frequency with which a desired goal has been reached or adequately approached through the presence of decimal quantities of alloying elements. Nor could One fail to be struck by the occasions when, conversely, of a minute amount Of impurity element has rendered an alloy useful. It is no exaggeration to state that the content be- hind the decimal point often spells success or fail-ure, and the critical content is sometimes far to the right of the decimal point as I shall later illustrate. The great effects of small additions have long been recognized and have, in fact, been described by many investigators. The importance of the minute, however, cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, in this discussion, I propose to illustrate for you some of the startling instances, drawn primarily from our own experiences, wherein small, even vanishingly small, proportions of stranger elements in otherwise common aggregates have com-pletely changed the customary pattern of behavior. No one property has a monopoly as to being dis-proportionately affected by minor elements. Nearly all properties are affected, but there is time here to include only a selected few. I have chosen, there-fore, three of general interest: strength, magnetic, and electrical properties. I shall inquire into both the mechanisms and consequences of these disproportionate effects and try to share with you the fascination and challenge of this field. Strength Properties of Lead and Lead Alloys To illustrate the effect of the minute on strength properties I have selected lead and its alloys, with which we have worked extensively for many years. Lead has the advantages of being available in quantity in a state of high purity and of being fairly easy to melt and fabricate without contamination to any extent detectable by the spectrograph. It has the interesting disadvantages of recovery and recrystallization at room temperature. Whether I

Jan 1, 1951

By R. E. Wade

The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific electrification is of peculiar interest, in an incidental way, to the entire mining fraternity, and especially the engineering branch, not only in this great Northwest country but throughout the entire Western mining country, which is rich in minerals and water power. It is probably fair to say that the prime object of mining and smelting engineering is to reduce the cost of production, and in the case in hand the relative location of mines and smelter brings the cost of transportation of ore to the front. While some might assign this item to the railway people, it is inseparably a part and parcel of the general scheme of the production of metal from the ore. In considering the electrification of the B., A. & P. railway the mining and smelting engineer, above all, wants to know what saving will be effected by the change in motive power. Unfortunately the new power has been in use during a very limited period and on the Smelter Hill section of the road only, and no reliable data, from actual service conditions, can be obtained until the entire electrified section has been in service for a reasonable length of time. Any remarks on this subject at the present time, therefore, must of necessity be general in nature and more or less descriptive. The railway, electrical and mining worlds and the country in general are indebted to the B., A. & P. railway for the pioneer work it is now doing, as it undoubtedly marks the beginning of the electrification, within the comparatively near future, of all transcontinental roads between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast. Together with this goes the development of an untold wealth in water power and all natural resources within the same territory. For the first time in the history of electric railway work, in this country, direct current at a potential of 2,400 volts is being used. With this potential there is a great saving in transmission of energy to the locomotives and there are only two substations, one at either end and 26 miles apart, for supplying the power for the movement of trains of heavy tonnage over the main line and for switching movements at terminal and intermediate yards, and comparatively little feeder copper is required.

Jan 1, 1914

By H. H. Alexander

IN the early part of the last century textile fabric was used for the filtration of products of combustion and lampblack was obtained by passing smoke through a series of canvas bags. Natural draft was, used to draw and force the smoke through the bags. About 1850 bag filtration was used for collecting zinc oxide. Around 1876 it was introduced for collecting the fume from lead-ore hearth smelting in. Missouri. Shortly afterward it was used, first at Portland, Me., and later at Canon City, Colo., for the collection and production of zinc-lead pigment in treating mixed zinc-lead sulphides. In 1890 the Globe Smelting & Refining Co., at Denver, Colo., installed a bag house containing 1,458 bags for the recovery of fume from silver-lead blast furnaces. This installation was too small to handle all of the gases and was increased to approximately 2,300 bags. . In 1900 the number of bags was again increased, making a total of approximately 2,800: The usual difficulties incident to new installations were encountered, but they were gradually overcome and the bag house became accepted as standard practice for this class of smelting. As all of the bag houses built since have followed the general lines of the Globe installation, a short description may be of interest. The general construction of the Globe bag house is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The building is 149 ft. 8 in. long by 67 ft. 4 in. wide and 40 ft. 2 in. high from the basement floor to the eaves of the roof, having brick walls 26 in. thick from the foundation up to the thimble floor, from there an 18-in. wall for 16 ft. and a 13-in. wall from this point to the top, a distance of 14 ft. 2 in. Additional stiffening is given to the walls above the basement by pilasters located every 16 ft. The end-wall construction is similar to that of the side walls with the exception of the spacing of the pilasters, which is somewhat greater. The roof is made of corrugated iron laid on 1-in. boards and supported by a timber frame work spaced 16 ft. apart resting on the basement partition walls. On top is a louver running the

Jan 8, 1914

By H. H. Alexander

In the early part of the last century textile fabric was used for the filtration of products of combustion and lampblack was obtained by passing smoke through a series of canvas bags. Natural draft was used to draw and force the smoke through the bags. About 1850 bag filtration was used for collecting zinc oxide. Around 1876 it was introduced for collecting the fume from lead-ore hearth smelting in Missouri. Shortly afterward it was used, first at Portland, Me., and later at Canon City, Colo., for the collection and production of zinc-lead pigment in treating mixed zinc-lead sulphides. In 1890 the Globe Smelting & Refining Co., at Denver, Colo., installed a bag house containing 1,458 bags for the recovery of fume from silver-lead blast furnaces. This installation was too small to handle all of the gases and was increased to approximately 2,300 bags. In 1900 the number of bags was again increased, making a total of approximately 2,800. The usual difficulties incident to new installations were encountered, but they were gradually overcome and the bag house became accepted as standard practice for this class of smelting, As all of the bag houses built since have followed the general lines of the Globe installation, a short description may be of interest. The general construction of the Globe bag house is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The building is 149 ft. 8 in. long by 67 ft. 4 in. wide and 40 ft. 2 in. high from the basement floor to the eaves of the roof, having brick walls 26 in. thick from the foundation up to the thimble floor, from there an 18-in. wall for 16 ft. and a 13-in. wall from this point to the top, a distance of 14 ft. 2 in. Additional stiffening is given to the walls above the basement by pilasters located every 16 ft. The end-wall construction is similar to that of the side walls with the exception of the spacing of the pilasters, which is somewhat greater. The roof is made of corrugated iron laid on 1-in. boards and supported by a timber frame work spaced 16 ft. apart resting on the basement partition walls. On top is a louver running the

Jan 1, 1915