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By Willard P. Ward

Having been engaged during the past year in the manufacture of ferro-manganese in a blast furnace, I have imagined that some further information on this subject might be of interest to that large number of members of the Institute who are engaged in the iron and steel industries. The great question of the economical production of good steel, ingot metal, or homogeneous iron (we scarcely know now what to call it) from good materials, and at reasonable prices, has, thanks to the intelligence and energy of a few American engineers, been successfully solved in this country. Nearly all first-class railroads, and many that would not rank so high, have adopted the Bessemer rail. Martin boiler-plates are rapidly gaining ground, in competition with

By Y. C. Liu, R. H. Richman

The effects of gel,manium and tin on the deformation and 9-e-crystallization textures of copper have been explored in detail with in the copper-rich terminal solid solutions. Addition of solute to copper produces a change in deformation texture from the copper type to the 70 :30 brass type. This transition has been measured quantitatively The types mid proportions of recrystal-lization components have been determined as a function of com-position, and correlation of recrystallization components with specific deformation components is discussed. On the basis of information available in the literature, it has been suggested that the effect of solute elements on the recrystallization texture of copper

Jan 1, 1961

By H. M. FRENCH

ARC welding can be defined as a process whereby two A pieces of metal are brought together, heated to a molten state by the heat of an electric arc, and fused into one piece. There are several kinds of arc welding: the metallic arc, the carbon arc, the atomic hydrogen arc and the shielded arc methods. A short description of each, together with its major applications, will serve to distinguish between them. Metallic arc welding involves an arc drawn between a metal electrode and the material to be welded, called the work or the "parent metal." It may be further subdivided into hand and automatic welding, depending on whether the electrode is fed to the arc by hand or by motor drive. This form of arc welding can be applied to most welding operations. Exceptions to its use consist of applications where very thin metals are to be welded; where it is desired to join the work with- out adding metal; or where extreme ductility may be required:

Jan 1, 1930

By R. W. Jenkins, O. J. Neslage

The need for mechanized drilling to decrease mining costs has resulted in the development of the jumbo from column-and-bar drill carriages to hydraulically controlled jib jumbos. Resultant savings from use of improved jumbos have been high enough usually to retire the machinery investment within a year. The jib jumbo unit has been applied successfully to development and preparation programs and flat-bedded stopes, and an even wider field is forecast for its use.

Jan 1, 1950

By L. S. Chabot

The bibliography of mining methods in the past few years has contained many articles dealing with the use of the diamond drill for blasthole drilling. In the Canadian mines, this method has been used with great success in stoping at Noranda, Aldermac, Waite Amulet, East Malartic and Sladen Malartic mines in the Province of Quebec. It has also been used at the Dorchester and Beattie gold mines in Duparquet, Quebec. The method has found useful application at Copper Mountain mine, British Colombia, and at Flin Flon mine in Manitoba. In the United States, the diamond drill blasthole method has been used at Cornwall Iron Ore Mines in Pennsylvania and at the Republic Steel Corporation magnetite properties in the Port Henry district of northern New York. In the Lake Superior iron district, the method has been used at the Anvil-Palms mine of Pickands, Mather and Co. at Bessemer, Mich., and is also used at the Book mine of the North Range Mining Co. at Alpha, Mich. Other companies in the district have also experimented in some degree with the method at some of their properties. This Paper is being offered as a prelimi- nary report on the use of the diamond drill method of stoping at the Book mine. Sufficient work has been done with it to prove its worth and it is the purpose of the article to present some results, operational details, equipment ideas and recommendstions which we have found in its use at our mine. Location and Description The Book mine is situated about a mile north of the village of Alpha, in the NE-NE1/4 and the SE-NE1/4 of set 12-42-33, between the Dunn mine and the Balkan-~~d~~~ mine, and about four miles southwest of the village of Crystal Falls, on the menominee Range of Michigan, The property was found to have ore near surface in sufficient quantities for open-pit operations and stripping was begun in the latter part of 1942 to prepare it for ore production in 1943. During 1943, 288,447 tons of direct shipping ore were produced from the open pit and 382,933 tons in 1944 While the mine was being operated as an open pit some 350,000 tons of lean ore were stockpiled for later treatment. This material is beilng treated in a washing and jig plant and concentrates are produced during the shipping season. The ore bodies at the Book mine are characteristic of the Menominee Range. They are found on the flanks of sharply folded anticlines which have a fairly steep pitch to the northwest. The open-pit operatiOns in 1943 and 1944 revealed two of these anticlinal structures. A detailed study and classification of the old diamond drill records, coupled with the information of some new holes drilled, has established the

Jan 1, 1949

By H. C. Kenny

THE annealing or softening temperature of cold-worked copper is appreciably increased by almost unbelievably small amounts of silver. As indicated by some data in this paper, the softening temperature of high-conductivity, tough-pitch copper may be increased from 200° to 350° C. by the addition of only 15 oz. per ton (0.052 per cent) of that element. Because it has this higher annealing temperature as compared with the silver-free metal, silver-bearing copper finds considerable use in industry. For example, when hard-rolled copper is used in operations that involve soldering or tinning, silver-bearing copper insures against loss of strength, whereas silver-free copper becomes "dead soft." Yet-though several investigators, beginning with Caesar and Gerner1 in 1916, have shown that small amounts of silver do definitely raise the softening temperature of copper-data are lacking on the problem: What is the specific influence of different amounts of silver on this tem-perature? It was to help in filling this gap in the knowledge of what might be termed "alloy coppers" that the data given herein were obtained. The softening of cold-worked copper depends, of course, on a number of factors, of which the composition of the material is only one. Other highly important factors are the degree to which the material is cold-worked and the time it-is held at the annealing temperature. The method of cold working and the grain size of the metal produced are also signifi-cant. All these variables were taken into account in the investigation reported here, and the influence of silver on the electrical conductivity and on the working was also considered.

Jan 1, 1934

By C. A. Stetefeldt

In May and June, 1885, I was engaged in examining the goldores of Las Minas, in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, with a view of finding a cheap and efficient method for extracting the gold. The following minerals could be plainly seen in the ore : magnetite, pyrites of iron, pyrites of' copper, quartz, and garnet. Neither galena nor zinc-hlende mere visible, but the ore contained a trace of lead, and in some samples of ore from the Muertos mine, 1.19 per cent. of zinc mas found. Antimony and arsenic were not present. Native gold could scarcely be seen in specimens of' the ore, and it only appeared—mainly in extremely fine particles—after pulverizing and washing. Magnetite was in every instance the most prominent mineral, its quantity varying between 43 and 67 per cent. Determinations of copper and sulphur showed that from 3.5 to 7 per cent. pyrites of copper, and from 3 to 22 per cent. pyrites of iron were present. The gold-value of the ore varied between 0.3 oz. and 0.8 oz. per ton. I do not speak of specimens, but of average samples of large quantities of ore put through the battery. In ore that had been crushed through a No. 40 screen, the gold appeared, in part, as free gold, the rest being thoroughly mixed with the magnetite and pyrites, both minerals containing about the same percentage of gold. If this free gold was brought in contact with pure quicksilver it (lid not amalgamate readily, even if the quicksilver was charged with sodium amalgam.

Jan 1, 1886

By Friedrich Wellmer

INTRODUCTION The Ramsbeck Pb/Zn Mine is located in the northern Sauerland area of West Germany, 150 km N of Frankfurt and 120 km E of Cologne. This is a vein deposit which has been worked from the middle of the 19th century to 1974. About 15 million tons of ore were mined and milled. The ore district contains several vein deposits and is roughly 14 km in length and 4 to 5 km in width. The host rocks are strata of Lower Middle Devonian age. The strata strike 60° to 70° NE and where overturned have a dip steeper than the veins (Fig. 1). The galena-sphalerite mineralization is in quartz veins, which are mineralized where they cut the "Main Ramsbeck Quartzite" horizon, a very competent host rock. Vein structures strike at 65º to 75º, dip about 20° to 25º SE and cut the quartzite at approximately 60 m intervals. The main or "steep veins" within each vein structure dip at 10º to 80° SE with an average of 30° and are offset by thrust faults dipping 5º N to 40° S with an average of 5º S. "Flat veins" usually weakly mineralized occur in the thrust faults between the "steep veins", thus forming the overall step-like vein structure. The mineralization is very irregular and changes a- long strike and down dip. It consists of thin veins of pure sphalerite and galena with quartz and pyrite. The thicknesses of the pure sphalerite and galena veins

Jan 1, 1977

By Jos. Van Ackeren

Although the Siemens regenerator principle was introduced into byproduct coke-oven design about 40 years ago, many problems of construction, and particularly of heat distribution and pressure conditions, have not been fully solved. Heat should be applied to the walls of a coke oven in such a way that the coking of the charge of coal will be completed everywhere at the same time, and at approximately the same temperature. This means that the application of heat should be uniform from the top to the bottom of the coal mass (except for the thin layer at the top that is purposely kept at a somewhat lower temperature to reduce cracking of the byproducts); also that a little more heat must be applied to the coke end than to the pusher end, because the coal mass is a little thicker at that end. As a modern coke oven is about 40 ft. long and 12 ft. high, a real problem is involved in the proper application of heat to the oven walls so as to secure quick coking time (without endangering the walls through local overheating) and produce coke made at a uniform temperature. Design of Ovens In all regenerative ovens, the points of combustion are arranged in duplicate sets, one set operating in one-half the area of the heating wall and the other set alternately operating in the other half. Because of the reversal of the flow of gases, the points of maximum and minimum temperatures are alternately located at the same places, thus preventing dangerous local overheating. The practicability of the principle of reversal of flow seems to have been recognized at an early date, and has been applied with every conceivable flue arrangement, combustion chamber, and means of air and gas supply. To summarize the various principles that have proved useful for the control of oven-wall temperature, the best practice seems to have resulted from the acceptance of the use of vertical flues; the separate supply of air and gas to the base of these flues, with the resulting flame

Jan 1, 1923

By Jos. Van Ackeren

Although the Siemens regenerator principle was introduced into byproduct coke-oven design about 40 years ago, many problems of construction, and particularly of heat distribution and pressure conditions, have not been fully solved. Heat should be applied to the walls of a coke oven in such a way that the coking of the charge of coal will be completed everywhere at the same time, and at approximately the same temperature. This means that the application of heat should be uniform from the top to the bottom of the coal mass (except for the thin layer at the top that is purposely kept at a somewhat lower temperature to reduce cracking of the byproducts); also that a little more heat must be applied to the coke end than to the pusher end, because the coal mass is a little thicker at that end. As a modern coke oven is about 40 ft. long and 12 ft. high, a real problem is involved in the proper application of heat to the oven walls so as to secure quick coking time (without endangering the walls through local overheating) and produce coke made at a uniform temperature. Design of Ovens In all regenerative ovens, the points of combustion are arranged in duplicate sets, one set operating in one-half the area of the heating wall and the other set alternately operating in the other half. Because of the reversal of the flow of gases, the points of maximum and minimum temperatures are alternately located at the same places, thus preventing dangerous local overheating. The practicability of the principle of reversal of flow seems to have been recognized at an early date, and has been applied with every conceivable flue arrangement, combustion chamber, and means of air and gas supply. To summarize the various principles that have proved useful for the control of oven-wall temperature, the best practice seems to have resulted from the acceptance of the use of vertical flues; the separate supply of air and gas to the base of these flues, with the resulting flame

Jan 1, 1923

By B. K. Parekh, W. M. Goldberger

A novel process is proposed for continuous removal of ash and unreacted solids which become suspended in the oils obtained during coal liquefaction. The proposed method uses water in direct contact with the oil under conditions which cause the suspended residue solids to transfer from the oil to the water phase. Separation of the phases yields a product oil essentially free of suspended solids. The water is cooled, clarified or filtered by conventional low-cost systems, and recirculated. The paper describes experimental work leading to development of the novel concept and includes the result of batch experiments that establish the feasibility of the process.

Jan 1, 1980

By E. W. Davis

Iron-ORE beneficiation methods are determined largely by blastfurnace requirements. There are still many millions of tons of direct furnace ore in the Lake Superior district and blast furnaces are designed and operated for the most efficient use of this material. Beneficiated ore must be so prepared that existing furnaces may use it without alteration in design or radical changes in practice. Many attempts have been made to develop new furnaces or processes for smelting iron-ore concentrate not suitable for blast-furnace use, but these processes have gained little importance. It is, therefore, the endeavor in beneficiating iron ore to make a product that will give at least as good results as direct furnace ore in existing blast furnaces. The term "beneficiation," as applied to iron ore, does not necessarily mean concentration, but more accurately means "dressing up" the ore so that it is more acceptable to the blastfurnace operators. In modern blast-furnace practice the structure of the ore is quite as important as the chemical analysis. Certainly, the higher the iron content and the lower the silica, phosphorus and sulfur, the more desirable the ore bccomcs; but if the structure is bad, that is, if the blast-furnace gases can penetrate the charge only with difficulty, the ore is undesirable regardless of its analysis. This means that the ore should be as uniform in size as possible and free from fines, and also that the individual particles of ore should be pervious to the reducing gases of the furnace. Structure and purity are the primary requirements for a furnace ore and structure is just as important as purity. Iron-ore beneficiation processes can be divided, therefore, roughly into two main classifications: (1) processes that primarily improve the structure, and (2) processes that primarily improve the chemical analysis. During the past 10 years approximately 25 per cent of the ore shipped from the Lake Superior district has been beneficiated. Of this about half has been crushed and screened, a simple operation that primarily improves the structure but in some cases also improves the analysis slightly. The other half of the shipment of beneficiated ore, amounting to an average

Jan 1, 1935

By Eric J. Bradshaw

For several hundred years the petroleum industry has flourished in Burma and at the close of the eighteenth century there were over five hundred producing wells in the Yenangyaung field. These were laboriously dug by hand and were exceedingly primitive, yet even today a small part of India's total production is obtained from hand-dug wells. The Indian Empire, the cradle of the oil industry, today produces but an unimpressive fraction of the world's supply of petroleum, not because the size of her contribution has diminished, but because it has remained more or less stationary while other countries have far outstripped her during the prodigious increase in the world's production of petroleum in recent years. Though for the past 10 years the total production in India has been remarkably constant, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain this output and at any rate from the older fields a slow decline may be anticipated unless new productive horizons are discovered. Production figures for the 10 years 192&1929 (the last year for which figures are available) are given by fields in Table 1. Crudes of Burma and Assam The bulk of India's production comes from the Yenangyaung and Singu fields, from which the crudes are very similar, the only important difference being that the oil from the Singu-Yenangyat structure contains a higher percentage of lighter fractions. The Burma crudes resemble that of the Panhandle of Texas and have a high content of solid paraffin, though strictly speaking the oil is of mixed base with a low content of asphaltum. With the exception of the negligible production from Sabe, the Burma crudes do not require dehydration; the sulfur content is very low and is innocuous. A small amount of naphthenic acids occurs in the kerosene and intermediate oil fractions while the lubricating fraction is practically free from acid. The ash content is low and the average A.P.I. gravity of mixtures of Yenangyaung and Singu oil is 36.4. Burma crudes require only light refinery treatment and practically dl the fractions are merchantable. Part of the gasoline supply is stripped

Jan 1, 1931

By G. W. Healy, J. C. Schottmiller

Molten silicates were found to exist in the Cr-Si-0 system at temperatures above 1450°C. one atom of oxygen is readily removed from CrzOs in the presence of Si02 at 1700°C, forming a silicate melt. Steam-hydrogen ratio measurements made at this temperature indicate that the free energy of the reaction: Cr20s(c) + Hz = 2CrO (in Si02 -saturated melt) + H20 is approximately 5600 * 1500 cal. A deep-blue chromous silicate, probably Cr2Si04, forms from these melts at about 1400" to 1500°C, and is characterized by.its distinctive X-ray diffraction pattern and optical properties—distinct pleochroism and high refractive indices. THE question of the state of oxidation of chromium in slags has vexed metallurgists for many years The experiments of Koerber and Oelsenl suggested the probable presence of divalent chromium in silica-saturated slags equilibrated with high-chromium melts. Hilty and coworkers2 had also found chromium at lower valency, as Cr304, in inclusions formed from oxygen-saturated Fe-Cr melts with as little as 10 pct Cr. In both cases, disproportiona-tion of the lower oxide to CraO3 and chromium was found to occur to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon the rate of cooling from the high temperature. The work on Cr304 was sufficiently detailed for chipmans to derive its thermodynamic properties, but Oelsen's experiments in the silicate system were not extensive enough since most of his runs were made with slags containing large amounts of manganese oxide in addition to iron and chrome oxide and silica. The present study describes experiments carried out to map out an approximate liquidus diagram in the CrzOs, "CrO", SiOa portion of the Cr-Si-0 system, and to measure the partial free energy of solution of oxygen in the system. EXPERIMENTAL 1) Approximate Melting-Point Determinations. Preliminary trials showed that when an equimolar mixture of Cr20s and SiOa was treated with hydrogen in the temperature range 1500" to 1600°C, copious amounts of steam were evolved, and a low-melting liquid formed which could be quenched to a blue, crystalline, material having a distinctive X-ray diffraction pattern. It was found that the identical material could be produced by heating intimately mixed, finely divided Cra03, Cr, and SiOa, held in a tungsten crucible, under purified argon. Thus, it was possible to prepare mixtures containing any desired proportions of chromium, silicon, and oxygen, pel-letize them, heat to temperature in the furnace shown in Fig. 1, and observe, after cooling, whether the pellet remained unchanged or showed signs of incipient, partial, or complete melting. 2) Free Energy of Solution of Oxygen. This was studied by measurement of steam-hydrogen ratios for the reaction: H20 (gas) + O (dissolved in charge) + Ha (gas) The experimental method chosen was to prepare a

Jan 1, 1964

By L. S. Darken

IT has long been recognized that the driving force in an isothermal diffusion process may be regarded as the negative gradient of the chemical potential (partial molal free energy) of the diffusing substance. This equivalence is exactly analogous to the fact that a mechanical force is the negative gradient of the potential energy. Nernst1 in 1888 expressed these driving forces in terms of osmotic pressure, which is directly related to the chemical potential and free energy. The relationship between the diffusivity, mobility and activity coefficient of electrolytes in aqueous solution has been developed in great detail by Onsager and Fuoss2 with results which have recently been confirmed experimentally by Harped and Nuttall.3 This interpretation of the driving force in isothermal diffusion has been discussed earlier by the author 4.6 who pointed out4 that "for a system of more than two components it is no longer necessarily true that a given element tends to diffuse toward a region of lower concentration even within a single phase region"; departure from the behavior of an ideal solution may be so great that the concentration gradient and the chemical potential gradient, or activity gradient, may be of different sign, thus giving rise to "up hill" diffusion. Since, in the discussion of that paper,4 some skepticism as to the validity of this conclusion was expressed, it seemed desirable to adduce experimental evidence to support it. Evidence of such diffusion in nonmetallic systems has already been reported. For example, it was observed by Hartley11 in a series of experiments in which sodium chloride diffused from a saturated solution in about 5 pct acetone in water into a solution virtually free of salt but with essentially the same acetone concentration. Specifically, a wine glass containing crystalline salt and saturated solution was totally immersed in a large glass cylinder containing the acetone-water solution without salt; the difference in specific gravity was such as to prevent convection. Diffusion of salt was accompanied by a marked depletion 0f acetone in the wine glass; after 3 days the acetone concentration decreased from 5.37 pct at the top of the glass, where the salt concentration was low (0.93 pct), to 1.84 pct at the bottom where the salt concentration was high (21.64 pct). This "uphill" diffusion was found to be such that the partial pressure (activity) of acetone was essentially equalized throughout the system when a steady state gradient of sodium chloride was maintained. In order to demonstrate the existence of such diffusion in metals, a series of four weld-diffusion experiments was made. In these measurements pairs of steel of virtually the same carbon content, but differing markedly in alloy content, were welded at the end and held at 1050°C for about two weeks. Subsequent analysis showed that carbon had diffused so as to produce an inequality

Jan 1, 1948

By C. E. Sims, H. M. Banta, S. L. Hoyt

OVER the past few years, metallic arc welding has been extended to steels of the hardenable type. As compared with other methods of fabrication, production has been facilitated, service performance frequently has been improved, and the overall results have been so favorable that engineers and production men have placed great emphasis on this application of welding. The metallurgist and welding engineer, however, have been confronted with new problems, since, for one reason, the harder steels are more apt to crack and special precautions must be taken if sound joints are to be procured. Some of the factors that are pertinent to this problem are metallurgical, and it is an object of this contribution to discuss steel manufacture and processing methods and to show how their control assists in reducing the hazard of cracking. By this time, the problem of cracking specifically underbead cracking, or "hard cracks," or parent-metal cracks-is well known, and a large amount of work has been published, both here and abroad, dealing with this subject.1 The tests described are made under restraint to facilitate cracking and, are so designed that a semiquantitative, or at least a relative, value of the cracking tendency is obtained. As one would expect, it has been reported that the incidence of cracking increases with the carbon and alloy content of the steel. More specifically, the cracking tendency is said to increase with the hardenability of the steel, though it is now recognized that the situation is not so simple. The phenomenon itself, on the other hand, has been but loosely described, and it is in only broad generalizations that this cracking has been related to steel metallurgy. Thus, while it has been abundantly demonstrated that the hardenable aircraft steel, S.A.E. 4130, must tend to crack when arc-welded, the problem still remains of why two lots of the same composition and the same hardenability can vary so greatly in cracking tendency, or what it is about the prior metallurgical history that so strongly affects the results. Further, while the efficacy of preheating and postheating in preventing cracking is recognized and utilized in production, the mechanism by which they function seems not to have been described. These points are thought to be significant in the production of steel for fabrication by metallic arc welding and, hence, of interest to mill and process metallurgists and welding engineers. Consequently, it is another object of this paper to discuss the mechanism of parent-metal cracking, including the influence of the condition of the steel and the control of cracking by manipulation of the time-temperature conditions during and after welding. A new method of rating the cracking. tendency is also discussed, and the results of the test are related to steel composition and structure or prior history. The work to be described was the outgrowth of work in 1940-41 at Battelle Memorial Institute 0n two projects, one

Jan 1, 1945

By Harry J. Evans

DURING the fury of the conflict it was believed quite generally that World War II was being fought for and would accomplish a permanent peace. Yet, before the guns were actually stilled on all fronts, the American people realized that the devastated world would continue to be dominated by suspicion and uncertainty. The misunderstandings which rapidly developed indicated that it may prove unwise to rely wholly on mutual international agreements and contracts to avoid war. Before the celebrations of V-Day died down serious thought was being given toward measures for preparedness for the next conflict. Along with a realization of the enormous loss of life caused by the destructive forces of war, the American people came to understand the seriousness of the rapid and unwarranted depletion of our natural resources. During the last half of 1945 the question of stock-piling strategic and critical raw materials for a future national emergency became an intensely live subject.

Jan 1, 1946

By H. M. Howe

I WISH to present to you a few thoughts on some of the phenomena and laws of iron smelting. Owing to the great complexity of the subject, to the great variety of points to be taken into consideration, many of which are very poorly understood, and to the meagreness and even conflictoriness of our information with regard to some of the most important laws which govern the subject, the fruits of such thoughts as I venture to offer you must be received as speculations, not as facts. Nevertheless, in discussing old phenomena from new standpoints, thus furnishing a metallurgical parallax, if I may say so, these theoretical speculations may have their value in helping to a clearer comprehension of the phenomena and laws we now know, and in suggesting new lines of inquiry. While an increase of height in blast furnaces is not always followed by increase in their power of production, experience proves that it tends to increase it; for while we have many cases of short furnaces producing more iron than longer ones, yet enormous productions, such as those of the Lucy and Isabella furnaces of Pittsburgh, and of the furnaces of Esch sur l'Alzette, in Luxembourg, have never been reached in short furnaces. We may safely infer that height is an element essential to great production, though of course not the only essential element, and that, in the case of high furnaces which are not capable of great production, some other essential element is wanting. Moreover, experience teaches that within limits increase of height tends to increase the producing power in a still higher ratio. Thus, in the Esch furnace, which is 19.8 meters (65 feet) high, 393 tonnes (or 387 gross tons) of 312 per cent. Ore

Jan 1, 1877

By Henry M. Howe

I wish to present to you a few thoughts on some of the phenomena and laws of iron smelting. Owing to the great complexity of the subject, to the great variety of points to be taken into consideration, many of which are very poorly understood, and to the meagreness and even conflictoriness of our information with regard to some of the most important laws which govern the subject, the fruits of such thoughts as I venture to offer you must be received as speculations, not as facts. Nevertheless, in discussing old phenomena from new standpoints, thus furnishing a metallurgical parallax, if I may say so, these theoretical speculations may have their value in helping to a clearer comprehension of the phenomena and laws we now know, and in suggesting new lines of inquiry. While an increase of height in blast furnaces is not always followed by increase in their power of production, experience proves that it tends to increase it; for while we have many cases of short furnaces producing more iron than longer ones, yet enormous productions, such as those of the Lucy and Isabella furnaces of Pittsburgh, and of the furnaces of Esch sur l'Alzette, in Luxembourg, have never been reached in short furnaces. We may safely infer that height is an element essential to great production, though of course not the only essential element, and that, in the case of high furnaces which are not capable of great production, some other essential element is wanting. Moreover, experience teaches that within limits increase of height tends to increase the producing power in a still higher ratio. Thus, in the Esch furnace, which is 19.8 meters (65 feet) high, 393 tonnes (or 387 gross tons) of 31 1/2 per cent. Ore

By W. T. Thom

Many able men have contributed to the subject of coal classification, and recent publications on the subject have indicated a crystallization of opinion in that connection which promises the development in the near future of a scheme of coal classification which will be of real and increasing value to coal producers and users, as well as to those interested in coal on more exclusively scientific grounds. It is obvious that such a classification must be simple; must be based upon readily ascertainable factors; and if properly developed will apply to the whole range of coals between peat and anthracite and not merely to certain types of coal. Many of the numerous schemes of classification proposed in the past have given quite satisfactory results when applied to the higher rank coals, but have broken down when applied to the younger coals of higher moisture, and, as previously pointed out by the writer,' this breakdown has been due to the practice of ruling out "moisture" as an essential component of the volatile matter reported in the customary proximate analysis of coal, whereas a review of the mode of formation and natural history of coal satisfies us that moisture is a normal and natural ingredient among its volatile constituents; and a knowledge of analytical practice shows that the "moisture" and "volatile matter" reported are both mixtures of moisture and volatile matter, rather than sharply differentiated distillation fractions. After an extended consideration of the subject the writer regards the conventional proximate analyses of coals as affording the information essential for a both practically and scientifically satisfactory c1assification—assuming that the coal samples compared have been collected and analyzed according to standard methods. Two variables are required for a workable classification, and these appear to be afforded by the calorific value and proportion of volatile constituents (including moisture) credited to the coal on an ash-free basis. The writer originally proposed that the figures used for classification purposes be those given for the "air-dried" and "ash-free" form of the proximate analysis,

Jan 1, 1930