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By S. K. Asunmaa, W. D. English, N. A. Tiner, W. A. Cannon

This paper discusses the reaction of metal surfaces with fluorine. Fluorination reactions result in the formation of metal fluoride films which are "passive" toward further reaction of the metal with fluorine. These films are very adherent, and do not easily detach from the substrate metal by mechanical flexing or thermal shock. Exposure of passive films to a humid atmosphere produces hydrated metal fluorides which cause secondary fluorination reactions upon reexpo-sure of the metal surface to fluorine. The surface films formed range from 10 to 30A in thickness and they pow at the expense of surface oxide films. The apparent film formation is completed rapidly in 15 to 30 min on stainless steel and nickel surfaces. On copper and on Monel surfaces, the film at first grows rapidly, then increases slowly over an extended period of time. Passive films are formed at all fluorine pressures in the range from 0.1 to 1.4 atm at room temperature. ALL metals react when exposed to fluorine. These reactions generally produce surface films which consist of metal fluorides. The rate of reaction is largely determined by the extent to which these films are protective. Although there is an extensive literature concerning reactions of oxygen with metals, there are very few investigations reported concerning fluorine-metal reactions. Brown, Crabtree, and ~uncan' investigated the kinetics of the reaction of gaseous fluorine with copper metal which had been freshly reduced in hydrogen. The reaction rate was independent of pressure over the range from 6 to 60 torr. A logarithmic rate law was obeyed in the temperature range from 25" to 300" ~. There was some deviation at higher temperatures which could have been the onset of a parabolic law. The calculated film thicknesses ranged from about two molecular layers, 10A, for 5 hr exposure at room temperature to thirty-five molecular layers for 5 hr exposure at 200" . The authors concluded that no single mechanism could explain all the observations. O7Donnell and spatkowski2 studied the reaction of fluorine with copper at 450°C at pressures from lo to 133 torr. The reaction was found to be pressure -dependent and followed a logarithmic rate law. It was not entirely diffusion-controlled, and fluorine was thought to be the migrating species in the reaction. Miscellaneous metal-fluorine reactions were investigated by Haendler et ~1.~ Reaction products were identified but no rate data were determined. Air Prod- ucts and Chemicals, Inc., have conducted an investigation of reactions between fluorine and various metal powders at room temperature and 85° C. Fluoride film thickness as a function of time of exposure was reported on the assumption that the reaction takes place between fluorine and metal to form the normal metal fluoride. Surface areas of the powders were only estimated so the relative film thicknesses may not be exact. The data showed reaction rates which were generally logarithmic in character, the rate of film growth virtually ceasing after a few hours exposure time for some alloy powders. The effect of moisture on fluoride films was also investigated by measuring additional reaction with fluorine after exposure of passivated powders to atmosperic moisture. The fluorination of iron was studied by 0'~onnell~ at temperatures from 225" to 525" ~ and at pressures ranging from 20 to 200 torr. In all ranges, the reaction followed a logarithmic rate law and was dependent on the square root of the gas pressure. The author concluded that fluorine gas passes through pores in the film. As the film grows, the blocking of pores leads to a rapid decrease in reaction rate; hence a logarithmic rate law is observed. Jarry, Fischer, and Gunther' investigated the mechanism of the reaction of fluorine with nickel at about 600" to 700°C. On the basis of the metallographic examination of fluoride scales growing on the nickel and from separate radioautographic data, it was claimed that fluorine is the migrating species in the reaction. This is in sharp contrast to the growth of oxide films on nickel where it has been shown that nickel ions migrate through the scale to the gas-solid interface to react with oxygen. Few investigations have been reported of the reaction of fluorine with metal oxides. Such investigations should be of great significance for a better understanding of passivation in view of the ubiquitous oxide films on technical alloys. Haendler et al.3 studied the reaction of fluorine with oxides of copper, tin, titanium, zirconium, and vanadium. Copper (I) oxide reacted as follows in the temperature range 150" to 300"~: temperature above 300" ~ was required for the CuO to react to form additional copper fluoride. Ritter and smith7 also investigated the reaction of fluorine with copper (11) oxide. An oxide powder comprised of spherical particles with a fairly high surface area was reacted with fluorine, starting at room temperature and increasing to 100° C over a period of 3 or 4 hr. The initial reaction was slow until the fluoride film thickness reached about to or 15R at which time the reaction rate accelerated, then decreased again. Most of the kinetic data was obtained during this final phase of reaction. The authors conclude that the film grows slowly at first until the stresses developed in the distorted lattice are sufficient to rupture the initial

Jan 1, 1969

By Sidney Powers

INTRODUCTION THIS paper aims to present the results of an investigation concerning gravitative differentiation in lava flows, based on a quantitative microscopic and chemical study of a Triassic basalt from Nova Scotia, and confirmed by data secured from a study of certain Keweenawan ophites. At Cape d'Or, Nova Scotia, near the head of the Bay of Fundy, marine erosion has exposed a series of Triassic basalt flows in which copper has been sought for a number of years. Studies of the thickest flow of the series with regard to volumetric composition, specific gravity, and grain have been made by the junior author, and measurements by students at Tufts College, together with confirmatory observations of the same nature on this and other flows by the senior writer, and chemical analyses made by the Division of Mines, Mines Branch, Ottawa,1 all show differentiation in lava flows comparable to that in intrusive bodies. The work was made possible by the availability of the drill-cores, the property of Tufts College, and emphasizes the desirability of the study of drill-cores from other localities. Measurements of the specific gravities of certain Keweenawan lava flows of -Michigan by the senior author, from material collected in 1915, will be given as a comparison to those of the Cape d'Or flow. It has been found that the specific gravity of drill-cores, or volume per cubic foot, can be readily obtained by measuring their dimensions. This can be done to an accuracy of within 1 per cent. in pieces of core over 100 min. in length by using a micrometer gage for the diameter, and taking the average of six measurements of the diameter; and the average of four measurements of the length made with a finely graduated ruler. Then, after weighing them, the weight in grains per cubic centimeter, or what is practically the same thing, ounces per cubic foot, is obtained. System-

Jan 2, 1916

By Walter W. Bradley

Mining by hydraulic process of the important gold-bearing gravels of the Sacramento Valley in the basins of the Yuba, Bear and American rivers began in 1853, and continued at an ever-increasing rate for 30 years. In its most active days it reached an annual production of $15,000,000, and averaged $10,000,000 per year over the 30 years. During that period no provisions were made to prevent the debris from being discharged into the water courses, and ultimately large quantities of silt, sand and gravel were washed down to the lower valleys; filling channels, causing overflow of agricultural lands and difficulty in maintaining navigable depths in the Sacramento River. Agitation and suits filed because of these damages finally resulted in the injunction decision of Judge L. B. Sawyer,' in the U.S. Circuit Court, Jan. 23, 1884, which closed down practically all hydraulic mining operations not having means to restrain their debris. In 1893 (approved March 1, 1893), Congress passed the act introduced by Representative Anthony Caminetti, of California, creating the California Debris Commission, composed of three officers assigned from the Engineer Corps of the U.S. Army, and since that time it has been legal and possible within the drainage systems of Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers to conduct hydraulic mining of gold-bearing gravels behind dams built under this commission's permit and supervision. In the watersheds of the Trinity and Klamath rivers, which flow directly to the Pacific Ocean and do not affect navigation or agriculture, operating permits from the California Debris Commission are not required. There is a measure of restriction there, however, through what is known as the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District. Chap. 215, Stat. 1931, in order to secure relatively clear water for the fishing season, provides that between July 15 and October 15 each year there must not be discharged into these rivers debris that will cause a turbidity greater than a content of 50 parts per million in the

Jan 1, 1937

By J. E. Forciea, O. E. Palasvirta, L. G. Hendrickson

All pilot and commercial plants working with Mesabi Range taconite employ wet magnetic separation. Progress is being made with a dry magnetic process,9-11 but this has not yet been applied to taconite except in the laboratory and pilot plants. Flowsheets in all five plants are similar, including multiple stages of grinding, each followed by magnetic separation, which rejects a finished tailing. The flowsheet in Fig. 1 is used in the preliminary and commercial plants of the Erie and Reserve mining companies and in Unit C of Oliver's Pilotac plant. At Erie the desliming operation is omitted. In the Reserve plants two ball mills are used with each rod mill. Pilotac uses flowsheet 2 in Unit A-B and has also tested flowsheet 3. Principal differences in the three flowsheets are the number of grinding stages and the type of roughing. The terms open- circuit roughing and closed-circuit roughing are best defined by the diagrams.

Jan 12, 1958

By T. Egleston

The necessity of using a refractory material capable of much greater resistance to chemical action and having a far higher melting-point than those which contain silica, which melt and sweat off in the furnace even when not exposed to bases forming with silica more or less fusible compounds, has led to a careful practical study of all those materials which contain very refractory bases. The results of these researches, extending over several years, and made on a very large scale in many of the largest works in Europe, are of the highest interest, not only considered as a step in the progress of the study of the materials themselves, but in the application of refractory materials to metallurgical uses in general. The result of the experience of the last seven years with these basic materials, as in general with all such substanccs, is that natural products cannot be used as such. They are either too uncertain in their quality, contain substances which may in certain cases be very injurious, or, when in a condition in which they might be used, are so rare as to become practically unavailable for employment on a large scale. The materials that may he used are therefore not only limited in number. but they must be prepared artificially. When the use of basic artificial material is further extended, no doubt the number of these substances will not only be greatly increased, but the methods of preparation will be both perfected and cheapened to such an extent as to permit their application in processes for which they have hitherto proved too expensive. The quantity of refractory materials required for making ingots will he from 130 to 150 Ibs. per ton, or between 6 and 8 per cent. of the metal produced. In an establishment producing 2000 to 3000 tons of steel per week, considerable space is required to handle the basic materials properly. It is proposed in this paper to briefly discuss these basic materials and their application in the only two metallurgical processes where they have as yet been applied. These are the basic Bessemer and the basic open-hearth process, known as the Thomas-Gilchrist processes.

Jan 1, 1886

By Robert T. Howard, Morris Cohen

THE purpose of this paper is to direct attention to the lower part of the austenite transformation diagram, or TTT curves, where considerable uncertainty still exists as to the blending of the bainite and martensite reactions. The dissimilarities between these two low temperature trans- formations have been summarized recently by Troiano and Greninger.1 Of particular importance to the present work is the fact that martensite formation, unlike bainite formation, is not suppressed by the fastest quenching rates attainable. However, most of the investigations in this direction have been concerned primarily with the start of the martensite transformation [(M,)] during cooling, rather than with the quantitative aspects of the subsequent reaction on either further cooling or isothermal holding. Several years ago, Cohen2 suggested a form of transformation diagram which reconciled, at least schematically, the isothermal characteristics of the bainite transformation with the insuppressible nature of the martensite transfoi mation. In essence, the diagram consisted of a family of horizontal lines (representing the progress of the austenite-martensite reaction during quenching) which were interrupted in point of time by the bainite family of C-curves extending down from higher temperatures. This picture received later support by metallographic3 and dilatmetric4,5 studies, but the techniques employed were not sufficiently critical to substantiate some of the details. Elmendorf6 and Grange and Steward7 have shown that the Greninger-Troiano metallographic techniques may be used not only for [M,] determinations, but for studying the course of further austenite decomposition. In fact, the latter investigators have observed the amount of martensite formed as a function of temperature below [M,] in fourteen commercial steels. In the present paper, the Greninger- Troiano technique has been combined with the lineal method of Howard and Cohen9 to provide a unique, quantitative treatment of the austenite-martensite reaction. Furthermore, isothermal transformations have been similarly measured on holding at temperatures above and below M,, thus permitting a fairly detailed presentation of the lower part of the conventional austenite transformation diagram. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS Materials The steels, listed in Table I, were selected for study because they exhibit a satisfactory range of M, temperatures and have not received as much attention as the lower carbon grades. They were prepared as 30 lb induction furnace heats in the laboratories of the Vanadium-Alloys

Jan 1, 1947

By E. P. Klier, V. Weiss

IN studies of the X-ray diffraction line geometry of iron with chromium radiation using techniques aimed at minimizing the background intensity, Kp and Ka emission satellites* were resolved with three techniques. These satellite lines are present with sufficient intensity to lead potentially to erroneous structure analysis, if not properly interpreted. The techniques used were: 1) film technique with un-filtered radiation and polycrystalline specimen, 2) film technique with unfiltered radiation and single crystal, and 3) counter technique with unfiltered radiation and single crystal. An example of results obtained with technique 1 is given in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1958

By Paul Hunt

UP to June, 1923, the Park-Utah mine had shipped about 94,000 tons of a direet-smelting ore of a gross value of $4,200,000, or about $45. a ton. These values were in gold and silver only, although the ore carried small amounts of lead, copper and zinc. Freight, treatment and deductions had averaged $15.40 a ton. At the expiration of the Pittman Silver Act there was in sight about 30,000 tons of a similar ore with a gross value of about $15 a ton in gold and silver, and a large body of partly developed lead-zinc ore of a gross value of about $20 a ton, 40 per cent. of which was represented by the lead-zinc content and the balance by the silver and gold. Mine costs had been high during the life of the Pittman Act, but as a large part of the profits had gone into equipment of the mine and the orebodies were large and had good walls, we knew that mine costs could be greatly reduced. We were therefore faced by the necessity of getting lower freight and smelter rates or of concentrating the ore. We did obtain better freight rates on lower grade ore, and a favorable smelting rate on the small tonnage of siliccous silver-gold ore, but this smelter rate could not be applied to the lead-zinc ore with any profit to ourselves. The Judge mill of the Park City Mining & Smelting Co., with which we were affiliated, was running to capacity; if we built our own mill it ineant a 5-mile freight haul to a satisfactory millsite and a year's delay. Fortunately, the International Sillelting Co. had just inherited a mill at Tooele which, with some changes, was about double the catpscity required for its own ores. Flotation tests were run on Park-Utah ore and a contract entered into with a low base treatment charge per ton, the tariff being largely fixed by the metallurgical deductions. This contract has been admirably calculated so that the miner can follow a lean orenbody to its limit. Such a procedure has no doubt made it difficult for the smelting company at times, but it has resulted in finding ore extensions that otherwise might have been missed, so In the long run it has profited too. A flat rate per ton would have been like mining up to the claim endlines in a great many of the stopes. In order to offer such a contract it can be inferred that the smelting company must have been able to make high reeoveries and high-grade products on a very lean ore.

Jan 1, 1928

By J. A. Herrick

FOR a long time, especially in Europe, heavy pieces of forgings, such as cannon, armor plates, marine shafting, etc., have been steadily augmented in size, more particularly since steel has been substituted for wrought iron. To keep pace with these forgings several, very large hammers have been, from time to time, erected. The most powerful and thoroughly appointed of all now in operation is that designed and built by Messrs. Schneider & Co. at their works at Creusot, and it is the design of this communication to give to the members of the Institute a concise description of this remarkable piece of mechanism, which I have taken from an article published in the Annales Industrielles. This hammer is rated nominally at 80-tons power, but its capacity is, in reality, far greater, as will be seen by the comparative figures given later. The complete plant, comprising the hammer, the cranes, the furnaces, and the building which shelters the whole, is distin-

Jan 1, 1880

By R. M. Brick, Arthur Phillips

The Institute of Metals Division Lecture in 1936, given by R. F. Mehl, on diffusion in solid metals1, was introduced with the statement that "the phenomena of diffusion are intimately related to many basic problems of the metallic state, but in addition to this the process of diffusion is of first importance practically." In view of the scope of that lecture, it does not seem necessary to review the importance, history or present status of diffusion problems. One aspect of the subject of diffusion that has received little attention became of some immediate importance in the course of a study on segregation. When a solid solution alloy freezes, the familiar mechanism of solidification requires that the first nuclei formed be low in solute concentration, with a resultant normal segregation or coring effect during freezing. Theoretically, musion of solute atoms during solidification should result in a homogeneous solid solution. Actually, of course, it is impossible in most binary alloys to obtain a cooling rate that will permit diffusion to eliminate coring in the freezing dendrites. For a given alloy, the extent of diffusion attained up to the point of final solidification will determine the degree of enrichment in solute atoms of the final liquid phase. The flow of this liquid into dendritic contraction channels and the solute concentration of the liquid seem to be the determining factors as to whether the final gross segregation is normal, inverse or absent. The purpose of the present study of diffusion was to determine to some extent the separate diffusion rates of copper and magnesium into pure aluminum with a view to clarifying previous results on segregation in these alloys; i.e., the fact that under similar freezing conditions aluminum-copper alloys segregate inversely and aluminum-magnesium alloys segregate normally. Of concomitant interest were the questions of the homogenization times required for segregated ingots or partially melted, i.e., "burnt," structures, and the solution heat-treatment times required for cast, hardenable aluminum-copper and aluminum-magnesium alloys, for worked and annealed structures, and so forth.

Jan 1, 1937

By John C. Osmond

One of the least known geologic regions in the U.S. is the area now called the Basin and Range Province. It is paradoxical that so little geologic information has been compiled for a province that has yielded billions of dollars worth of metals and is currently producing a small amount of oil. Regional stratigraphic studies of parts of this large territory have been published only recently, and regional structural interpretations of even parts of the province are rare in the literature. This, of course, does great injustice to the earliest workers: Gilbert, Russell, Le Conte, Spur, Louderback, and others, who recognized the area as distinctively different from the rest of North America. Their simplified picture of the structure of the ranges and the province as a whole is the groundwork for present understanding and has never been superseded. Since their early works, however, geologic data from the province has consisted largely of detailed reports of widely scattered mining districts. Each district has been described as though it were an island in an unknown sea.

Jan 3, 1960

By Cyrus Garnsey

NECESSITY FOR PRICE FIXING DURING the latter part of 1916 and the early months of 1917, clue to war activities, there was a threatened shortage of coal which resulted in panic among consumers and a rush to obtain coal at once at any price. As a result of this insistent demand for immediate delivery, prices were bid up by the consumers to unprecedented heights; spot coal which had previously been selling at from $1.50 to 82 per ton was bid up to $5, $6, and, in exceptional cases, as high as $7.50 or more per ton. Then when the April, 1917, contract period arrived, contracts could be made only at prices ranging from $3 up to $5 and $6 per ton for the year's delivery. This condition caused such a demoralization of the business, and so much complaint, that some action to regulate prices was considered essential by the National Administration. LANE-PEABODY AGREEMENT In May, 1917, a committee under the chairmanship of F. S. Peabody, of Chicago, was appointed by the Council of National Defense, through Mr. Lane, to consider the whole question of bituminous coal. This committee, with the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Lane, after numerous meetings and long negotiations with the operators throughout the country, announced on June 29 an agreement between the Committee and the producers, fixing a tentative maximum price for bituminous coal throughout the country at $3 per net ton f.o.b. mines, to which was added 25 c. for selling commission to wholesalers. This plan was based on the idea of fixing a maximum price, high enough to greatly-stimulate production, with the expectation that the laws of supply and demand would, with ample production, operate to maintain fair and just prices for coal throughout the country.

Jan 9, 1918

By R. L. Orr, J. D. G. Masse, Ralph Hultgren

The relative partial molar enthalpies of gold and tin in liquid Au-Sn alloys have been measured from Xsn = 0.474 to 0.510 at 696°K, slightly above the melting point of solid AuSn. Within an average precision of 6 cal per g-atom, the data are represented by two smooth curves, which satisfy the Gibbs-Duhem relationship and which do not show any anomalous behavior in the range of composition studied. The results give no support to the hypothesis that atomic associations in the equiatomic liquid alloy resemble those in solid AuSu. LITTLE has been firmly established as to the nature of atomic distribution in liquid metallic phases. A favored hypothesis assumes the existence of atomic groupings in the liquid phase which are similar to those in solid phases occurring at lower temperatures. Beginning with this hypothesis, it is often possible to adjust the values of certain parameters (such as degree of association) so that approximate agreement is achieved with certain features of the X-ray diffraction pattern of the liquid, even though many other possible structures might satisfy the data equally well. Thus, in this manner, the structure of liquid tin has been described as a dispersion of fragments of gray tin in a matrix of metallic tin.1 Four X-ray diffraction studies2"5 have been made of the liquid alloy of composition AuSn at temperatures slightly above the melting point of the solid. Each investigator concluded, on somewhat different grounds, that the liquid consisted to a large extent of arrays of atoms similar to the solid, with admixture of more disordered arrays. Solid AuSn has the nickel arsenide crystal structure: each tin atom has six nearest neighbors, all gold atoms; and each gold atom has six tin and two gold atoms as nearest neighbors. It remains highly ordered to the melting point. The liquid alloy has a large exothermic (?H700° K = -2700 cal per g-atom6) enthalpy of formation, favoring ordering and making the hypothetical molecular association not unreasonable. The possible existence of such solidlike arrays, or of a high degree of order that occurs preferentially at a specific composition in a liquid alloy, might also be revealed by thermodynamic behavior somewhat analogous to that in highly ordered solid alloy phases. The latter often exist over wide composition ranges, within which the highest degree of order occurs at the ideal composition for which the atomic fractions are equal to the fractions of sites which are "right" for each kind of atom. On departing from the ideal composition, the excess atoms occupy "wrong" positions, raising the internal energy and making it progressively easier for additional atoms to occupy "wrong" positions. Thus, on either side of the ideal composition, there should be a pronounced rise in the entropy and enthalpy, which would be shown particularly by the change in the relative partial molar enthalpies, ?Hi, since they depend strongly on d?H/dx. In the one case where accurate measurements have been made, the solid AuCu ordered phase, the structure becomes much less ordered as the composition deviates from the ideal, and relative partial molar enthalpies change sharply as shown by the data6 given in Table I. This suggests the possibility of finding similar pronounced changes in the relative partial molar enthalpies of gold and tin in liquid alloys near the composition AuSn if the postulated solidlike ar-

Jan 1, 1967

By Harry M. Mikami

Chromite is the only ore mineral of metallic chromium and chromium compounds and chemicals. Because of this fact, chromite and chrome ore are used synonymously in trade literature. In commercial market quotations, chrome ore is the term commonly used. Chromite per se, because of properties imparted by its chromium content, is used in refractories and in special purpose molding sands for metal casting. There are many other minerals containing some, generally minor, amounts of chromium, but none are commercial sources of the element (Thayer, 1956). Chromium and chromite have many diverse uses that, directly and indirectly, critically affect vast segments of our modern industrial system. Most important are probably the metallurgical applications wherein chromium is a component of heat-, abrasion-, corrosion-and oxidation-resistant and high-strength alloys of many types. Stainless steels are the largest volume category of chrome-bearing alloys. Chromium chemicals are used in leather tanning, in pigments, dyes and mordants, printing, chemical process industries, photography, pharmaceuticals, metal plating, pure chromium metal production, and for many other purposes. Chromite is a necessary constituent in basic refractories indispensable for the production of steel, copper, cement, and glass. Under present conditions, the US and North America, with the possible exception of Cuba, have no commercial ore reserves. There are chromite deposits, as will be described, but they would be used only under highly abnormal conditions if all outside sources were cut off for an extended period. All chromite used in the US is imported from the eastern hemisphere in which are contained the principal world reserves. The main suppliers in 1980 were the Republic of South Africa (43%), the USSR (21% ), the Philippines (12%), Albania (11 %), Turkey (8%), and others (5%). The strategic nature of chromite is obvious. End Uses-Grades and Specifications As noted before, the three principal uses for chromite are metallurgical, refractories, and chemical with a fourth minor use as foundry molding sand. For metallurgical applications chrome ore is first reduced in electric carbon arc furnaces to various types of ferrochromium alloys. There are high, medium, and low carbon ferrochromiums with carbon ranging from 0.01 up to 10%. Chromium itself ranges from 50 to 73 %. Ferrosilicon chromium and ferrochromium-silicon grades have chromium from 33 to 67% and silicon from 3 to about 48%. Since iron is reduced with chromium, the Cr:Fe ratio of the ore will determine the ultimate grade of the ferrochromium whereas carbon and silicon can be controlled during processing. MgO, A12O3, CaO, and excess SiO2, are removed in slag. A small amount of pure chromium metal is prepared by alumino-thermic and electrolytic processes from essentially iron-free chrome components that have been made via the chemical route. The higher grades of ferrochromium with chromium in the 66 to 73% range can only be made from ores with not only high chromium content, but low iron, i.e., high Cr:Fe ratio. These ores, conventionally termed metallurgical grade, have Cr2O3 contents of 45 to 56% with Cr: Fe ratios of 2.5 to 4.3. A standard composition is generally 48% Cr2O3 and 3:1 Cr:Fe ratio. Very high grade ores are often blended with lower grades even with the high iron chemical grade. For some ferrochromiums, additions of high alumina refractory grade are used as slag conditioners to facilitate smelting while still contributing chromium values. A lower grade ferrochromium, the high carbon charge chrome, has become the predominant grade in use today for making chromium-bearing steel alloys. This

Jan 1, 1983

By Clarence Woods

ONCE a millionaire's plaything, the Santo Domingo mine, in Peru, is now, because of its metallurgical problem, an engineer's nightmare. It is deep in the montaña jungles of the Amazon basin, 140 mi. northeast of Tirapata, which is a rail- way station between Puno and Cuzco, and about 250 mi. east of Mollendo on the Pacific. The discovery was 111ade by Marian(-) Quispe, an Indian, who, while searching for quinine bark, was attracted by a slab of gold quartz 1x1 the rock wall of a narrow canyon. He broke off a piece, weighing 47 Spanish ounces and, that time, worth approximately $900. This he took to Francisco Velasco and Manuel Estrada, merchants of Coaza, who persuaded Quispe to lead them to the place, five days' journey on foot through a tangled wilderness. Velasco ' and Estrada denounced the claim

Jan 1, 1938

By H. J. French

WITHIN the past few years, particularly because of the rapid growth of the airplane industry during the war, considerable attention has been paid to the manufacture of light-wall cold-drawn seamless and welded steel tubing for structural purposes. While the manufacture of such tubing is not, in itself, a difficult matter, some difficulties have. been encountered in producing the same under specifications requiring definite physical properties. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the methods of manufacture and the properties that may be obtained by such methods for tubing coming within about ½ to 2 in. (12.7 to 50.8 mm.) outside diameter and 10 to 22 Birmingham wire gage (0.134 to 0.028 in. wall thickness). Such tubing is largely used as structural material in the aircraft industry, and it is of the utmost importance that the physical and chemical properties should be known, and also that the various factors entering into the manufacture should be under such control as to allow these properties to be varied and held within definite limits. In general, tubing may be divided into four classes: namely, specialty tubing, such as riveted-sheet or plate, lock jointed, etc.; brazed tubing; welded tubing; and seamless tubing. Welded tubing may be divided into hot product, such as lap welded and butt, welded, and cold product, such as acetylene and electric welded. Seamless tubing may be hot rolled or cold drawn.

Jan 9, 1919

By S. Harries Daddow

IN order to get an idea as to the strength of steel rails, it will be well to review the tests to which iron rails have been subjected. In England, Mr. Ashcroft found that the best 80 pound rails broke under a 300 pound weight, falling 15 feet. In Germany the Society of Railway tyfanage1-s determined 011 and have long applied a test of 1000 pounds falling 101/2 feet, as the standard which all first-class iron rails must reach. In this country no inspection nor test is applied, but tests made show that iron rails fro; our most reliable makers, break under a G foot fall of a 1500 pound drop as an extreme test, most of those tested breaking under a far less test; some breaking with less than a 3 foot fall of the same weight. Everywhere where steel has been used, engineers have come to the conclusion that some test is required to show the regularity and strength of the product. As compared with iron, the tests which steel will stand are wonderful. After numerous experiments partially based on the experience of the rail-mill at Graz, belonging to the Southern Railway of Austria, the Society of German Railway Managers fixed upon a test of 2000 pounds falling 138 feet. They found that this test represented the steel which suited their necessities, and also found that with steel of otherwise average purity, this test represented about one-half per cent. of carbon, and made it a rule to take no steel containing under three-tenths of a per cent. of carbon, because it was too soft. They expressed a hope that a harder steel could soon be made tough enough to stand the same test. I n England, a test was adopted of 2240 pounds, falling 15 to 17 feet on the rail on heavy bearings. This test has been found satisfactory under heavy traffic on average road-beds, and has been invariablyPILLAR of coal, which are designed and left in our mines as the means of supporting the overlying strata of our coal-beds, and securing protection to the miner, are not only insufficient for these purposes, but the most objectionable means of providing the desired security to life and property. Though such pillars are left at a great sacrifice to the owners of collieries and mineral lands, loss to the resources of the commonwealth, and ultimate privation to the public, they defeat the very ends for which they are designed, and not only do not secure life and property, but are as fatal to the one as ruinous to the other. Propositions.-It is eminently desirable that the resources of the Common wealth-particularly our mineral wealth in anthracite coal, which is limited-should be carefully utilized and made available, not only to ourselves but our posterity. Yet, speaking as an anthracite miner, we are wasting our resources of coal with a recklessness which will bring ruin in the end, unless checked, not only to the iron manufacturing interests of the East, whose chief protection, in competition with the iron-masters of the interior, lies in a cheap and abundant supply of anthracite furnace fuel, but to the best interests of the State. It is, consequently, not only desirable, but necessary, that we should realize every ton of coal from each colliery, and every acre of coal area, in order that our resources may not be wasted at present, to breed want in the future, and to realize the greatest present benefit to the mine, the miner, and the public. It is not possible, however, to secure these ends, if we continue to leave, as we do at present, from one-third to one-half our resources in anthracite as pillars in our mines. But our sad bills of mortality, our abandoned collieries, and our yawning mountain-sides, present ample evidence that even this enormous waste of coal, though left for the purpose of protecting life and property, is as totally inade-

By C. P. Lawhon, J. P. Simpson, W. M. Evans

Recent efforts to design drilling fluids for increased drifting rates have confirmed some laboratory results of other investigators, but have also produced additional data that should be considered. These data were obtained under controlled test conditions using a microbit drilling machine. Clays and some polymers have previously been reported to cause reduction in drilling rate. Recent data have shown that under laboratory conditions, suspensions of a single day or polymer have sometimes given faster drilling rates than when water was used. Measurements have been made of clay suspensions and polymer suspensions comparing filtration (I) under API conditions, (2) while drilling with temperature of 150F and differential pressure of 1,000 psi and (3) under dynamic conditions after drilling. Some correlation between instanraneous filtration (white drilling) and drilling rate has been observed. INTRODUCTION Several papers have been presented that related drilling fluids to penetration rate. Generally, it was found that a decrease in the solids concentration resulted in significant increases in the drilling rate. Of course, this change also resulted in a decrease in the viscosity of the drilling fluid.' Conclusions from investigations by this laboratory are in agreement. Data have shown that of the simple mud measurements commonly made at the drilling rig (density, plastic viscosity. yield point, API filtrate and total solids), only the density and total solids have a significant relationship to the drilling rate in Berea sandstone when attempting to correlate a single mud property individually.' More recent drilling rate experiments have been designed to study (1) effects of individual clays and polymers on drilling rates in Berea sandstone and Lueders limestone, (2) the relationship between drilling rate and dynamic filtration as measured after drilling and (3) the relationship between drilling rate and dynamic filtration as measured during drilling. Data show that drilling rates are dependent upon type and concentration of particles, type of formation and filtration of the individual fluids while drilling. Mud pressure: pressure of drilling fluid as measured after leaving the drilling chamber (Fig. 1). This is taken to be approximately the mud pressure just past the bit and at the face of the formation. Terrastatic pressure: pressure representing weight of overburden. Formation pressure: pressure of formation fluid as measured at outlet of drilling chamber (Fig. 1). This is taken to be approximately the pressure of fluid in the interstices of the formation. Differential pressure: difference between the mud pressure and formation pressure. LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AND TESTING PROCEDURE The drilling equipment was described in two previous publications."' Main components are a drilling chamber, filter-heater, rotary drive and variable-speed circulating pump. Auxiliary pumps supply pressure boosts for the mud, terrastatic and formation pressures. All equipment is designed for 15,000 psi and 500F. Capacity of the circulating system is approximately 7 gal. The mechanical design was facilitated by moving the rock down onto the bit. Data collected with this design should not differ from that obtained by a normal design where the bit moves into the rock. Drilling fluid is pumped through 50 ft of ID pipe coiled in an oil bath, enters the rotary shaft at a right angle and is pumped through the jets on the bit (Fig. 1). Most of the drilled solids are extracted by a screen mounted in the circulating system on the suction side of the pump. Data reported in this paper were obtained by controlling these parameters: mud pressure, 5,000 psi; formation pressure, 4,000 psi; terrastatic pressure, 5,000 psi; force on bit, 1,000 Ib; formation, Berea sandstone and Lueders limestone; flow rate, 7 gal/rnin; bit, 11/4-in. diameter with two 0.078-in jets; mud temperature. 150F; and rotary speed, 60 rpm. Mud pressure was controlled at 5,000 psi, thus giving a differential pressure of 1,000 psi even though the fluid densities varied. Cores of 3%;-in. diameter and 8 in. long were selected from quarry blocks to provide some control of grain size distribution, permeability and porosity. A 2-in. section was cut off each core and a I -in. diameter plug was taken from this section. Permeability to 5 percent by weight sodium chloride solution was determined and the large cores were

By A. P. Miller, T. S. Washburn

Improved procedure in the manufacture of rail steel has come as the rail user demanded better wearing qualities combined with greater unit weight. With each weight increase per lineal yard has come greater difficulty in making a product that would successfully withstand all tests that modern rails must meet. With these facts in mind, and with a sincere desire to produce a rail whose service in track would be satisfactory in all respects, the steelmaker was quick to realize that all of the factors entering into his process would have to be more closely controlled. Control of rail-steel slags was recognized as one of the most important of many interdepending factors. The object of slag control is to hold the slag compositions within a range that gives the best results with respect to economy of production, uniformity of analysis, and quality of the finished rails. The most important component of the slag from the standpoint of these production and quality factors is the ferrous oxide content. This component is a good indicator of the basicity and oxidizing power of the slag, and these largely govern the effect of the slag on the steel. Consequently, the

Jan 1, 1935

By Theodore W. Robinson

WHEREVER the amount of work renders it practicable the plan of using permanent standard solutions, in connection with the colorimetric carbon test, affords such manifold advantages that it is to be strongly recommended. That it has not attained a wider and more general application, is mainly due to the fact that, as the method is generally employed, the difficulty attending the production of the colors, and their doubtful stability when produced, have been only too evident to those who have undertaken their composition. The old method of using standard solutions made from sugar, coffee, etc., has always been hampered by the tendency of the colors to change upon exposure to the light, and the consequent liability to serious error, unless they are closely watched. Appreciating these difficulties, while recognizing the desirability of permanent colors, Mr. Magnus Troilius, at the suggestion of Prof. F. L. Erkmann, investigated the properties of cobalt, copper and ferric chlorides, with the view of determining their efficacy in the production of standard solutions. His results, as obtained, seem to have been satisfactory, but his treatment failed to eliminate many of the objections that have rendered the use of organic colors undesirable. The

Jan 1, 1888