Search Documents

By Lawrence Burkhart, S. B. Joo

Axially unsymmetric ordered circulation patterns on the surface of a hemispherical constant volume drop with forced Internal motion were considered as a manifestation of hydrodynamic instability, which was affected by internal flow as well as by the properties of the interface A simplified mathematical model was analyzed In order to study the mechanism of onset of interfacial circulation from a non-circulatory basic state. Values of the critical Reynolds numbers were obtained when the basic state became a fully developed rotational flow and the values changed for different interfacial properties. The work describes a heretofore unreported surface flow pattern on drop surfaces From a practical point of new, any motion in the interface of a droplet can have a significant effect of mass transfer rates in solvent extraction processes Although surface motion in droplets actual processing equipment is very complex, continued study of the fundamental nature of such phenomena should ultimately lead to more effective equipment design procedures.

Jan 1, 1981

By P. E. Chapman, J. E. Worthington, I. T. Kiff

Increases in the price of gold starting about six years ago, and rapid fluctuations since then, have created a substantial popular interest in the noble metal. Gold prospecting had been at a low ebb since the end of World War II in most of the United States, except for a flurry of activity in Nevada after the Carlin and Cortez discoveries. The last few years, however, have seen a great awakening of interest in gold exploration as well as an opportunity for education for many explorationists in the geology and other vagaries of gold deposits. The writers have participated over the last few years in a search for gold deposits throughout the United States. This search was greatly influenced by the geologic studies of Dr. William Spence at the Haile gold mine in South Carolina, as reported in a companion paper. Spence's studies resulted in definition of a geologic model that has proven useful in a number of other geologic environments in the United States. These programs were all carried out under the auspices of Cyprus Mines Corp. and permission by Cyprus to present these results is gratefully acknowledged. The writers, however, reserve for themselves all responsibility for the results and conclusions. The exploration program to be described began in the southeastern United States. Spence's studies provided a reasonable basis for interpreting and understanding the geology of the Haile deposit, and also provided a means for predicting additional occurrences. This concept was then expanded to other gold occurrences in the Piedmont, and became an effective tool for evaluating other prospects. Finally, it became evident that the concept could be applied in some western gold districts. The following discussion will then include descriptions of other Piedmont examples and a few western districts that also appear to fit the pattern.

Jan 1, 1981

By E. P. Pfleider, W. D. Lacabanne

ROTARY-percussive drilling is a new method of drilling hard rock. Designed to give variations in thrust, revolutions per minute, and torque ranges, these drills combine the high efficiency of the rotary system in soft rocks with an increasing amount of percussive action in rocks more difficult to fragment. Fundamentals of the rotary, percussive, and combination systems have been described in detail in various papers-most recently by C. Fairhurst and W. D. Lacabanne1-but there is still much basic work to be done on the interplay of actions in the rotary-percussive system to enable the drill designer to achieve the highest efficiencies. Whereas the original units struck light blows of only 15 to 30 ft-lb, adequate for medium hard rocks, the present trend is to piston blows of 50 to 65 ft-lb in order to cope with the granites and other rocks having Shore hardnesses of 75 or more.

Jan 7, 1957

By George C. Toland

In 1950 the phosphate fertilizer market warranted the design and construction of a new fertilizer plant by Cominco at Kimberley, B.C. The initial rated capacity of the plant was 70,000 tons per year of high- grade ammonium phosphate. The plant was placed on-stream in 1953. One of the major problems in operating the fertilizer plant was the disposal of the gypsum tailings slurry which was a by-product of phosphoric acid manufacture. The original weight of dry tailings produced by the mill was 500 tons per day. This quantity increased over the years until a projected 2200 tpd was selected for the pond design described in this paper. The original gypsum tailing area was located south of the fertilizer plant and adjacent to the St. Mary's River. By 1965 the original disposal area had proven inadequate and Cominco's engineering staff had selected a 500 acre disposal site to the east of the plant.

Jan 1, 1971

By H. E. Sadler, B. Silliman

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. THE research here recorded was undertaken early in the present year, and has been prosecuted steadily for about eight months. While the work has been under my constant supervision and advice, the labor has all been performed by Mr. Sadler, to whom is chiefly due the development of the successive steps which have led to the final result. The process is better than I dared to hope, and we are able to place at the command of chemists and engineers interested in the matter an apparatus of continuous and uninterrupted action, and methods of analysis by which the daily averages of the two variable and inconstant factors of illuminating gas, ammonia and sulphur, may be determined with all needful accuracy, even by those little skilled in chemical manipulation, and with very little loss of time. This research has been carried out in the laboratory of the New Haven Gaslight Company. B. SILLIMAN. October 17th, 1876.

Jan 1, 1877

By A. Haas, L. Bubenicek

The Lorraine deposit of minette iron ore has been mined for more than a century. During this time, the economic conditions have changed frequently, and especially during the past decade. Thus, it has become economically prudent to proceed to new iron ore reserves with consideration of many and varied parameters. In the past, only traditional mining parameters were considered. Today, the quantity of information that must be taken into account is of such magnitude that the only practical means of data processing is by use of a digital computer and a mathematical model. One such model, based on geostatistics, was developed by G. Matheron. Much of the required input information, such as the petrology of ores, has been generated through IRSID investigations. This paper deals with several aspects of data processing in mining including information recording, reserves calculation, and stages of shrinking data in the calculation of mining iron beds, variograms, kriging, and tonnages.

Jan 1, 1969

By A. V. Deforest, C. W. Macgregor, A. R. Anderson

One of the important problems in the design of structures and machine parts subjected to rapidly applied loads is the determination of the strength and ductility of the material itself under such conditions. Realizing the need for such information, many investigations have been carried out in the past. Most of these experiments have been made using notched bars in bending either with the Charpy or Izod impact machine. While yielding valuable data on the effect of notches in the energy absorption of the material and on the condition of heat-treatment, this form of test does not lend itself readily to a determination of fundamental stress-strain relations. For this and other reasons, more attention has been paid recently to the tension impact test. An extensive literature already exists on the subject and only those investigations somewhat closely related to the present paper will be mentioned. For a more comprehensive list, the reader is referred to the Symposium on Impact Testing or the A.S.T.M., 1938. The work of Mann.' Clark and Dätwyler,2 Nádai and Manjoine,3 Winlock and Leiter,4 Deutler,5 and Brinkmann,6 however, deserves especial mention. In most of the previous investigations on the subject, when stress-strain relations were obtained under high rates of loading, it was the common procedure to determine stresses based on the original area and strains based on the original length. Stress-strain curves were then constructed by P ALo plotting So = 1/A0 as a function of eo = ALr,o where A0 and Lo refer to the original area and gauge length, respectively. At present there exists a paucity of true stress-strain data in the impact problem. The advantages of constructing so-called true stress-strain curves in order to reveal the fundamental physical properties of the material for the tension test were discussed recently by one of the authors.7'8 It was shown that the true physical behavior of the material in the tension test could best be represented P by plotting the average true stress, S = 2P as a function of 6 = q' = log —r = log ~9L where P, A, L, S, E, and q' refer to the load, the cross-sectioned area while the load P is applied, the actual gauge length, the average true stress, the true strain and true reduction in area, respectively. Besides giving a better physical representation, the method has certain additional advantages in that the stress-strain curve so plotted becomes a straight line from the maximin load point to fracture. The construction of such curves, however, while comparatively simple for the slow rates of loading customarily used in the tension test, presents certain dificulties for tensile impact in that both loads and diameters are required throughout the test. The continuous measurement of test-piece diameters to fracture under impact conditions offers considerable experimental difficulty. In order to make it feasible to

Jan 1, 1942

By A. V. Deforest, A. R. Anderson, C. W. MacGregor

One of the important problems in the design of structures and machine parts subjected to rapidly applied loads is the determination of the strength and ductility of the material itself under such conditions. Realizing the need for such information, many investigations have been carried out in the past. Most of these experiments have been made using notched bars in bending either with the Charpy or Izod impact machine. While yielding valuable data on the effect of notches in the energy absorption of the material and on the condition of heat-treatment, this form of test does not lend itself readily to a determination of fundamental stress-strain relations. For this and other reasons, more attention has been paid recently to the tension impact test. An extensive literature already exists on the subject and only those investigations somewhat closely related to the present paper will be mentioned. For a more comprehensive list, the reader is referred to the Symposium on Impact Testing or the A.S.T.M., 1938. The work of Mann.' Clark and Dätwyler,2 Nádai and Manjoine,3 Winlock and Leiter,4 Deutler,5 and Brinkmann,6 however, deserves especial mention. In most of the previous investigations on the subject, when stress-strain relations were obtained under high rates of loading, it was the common procedure to determine stresses based on the original area and strains based on the original length. Stress-strain curves were then constructed by P ALo plotting So = 1/A0 as a function of eo = ALr,o where A0 and Lo refer to the original area and gauge length, respectively. At present there exists a paucity of true stress-strain data in the impact problem. The advantages of constructing so-called true stress-strain curves in order to reveal the fundamental physical properties of the material for the tension test were discussed recently by one of the authors.7'8 It was shown that the true physical behavior of the material in the tension test could best be represented P by plotting the average true stress, S = 2P as a function of 6 = q' = log —r = log ~9L where P, A, L, S, E, and q' refer to the load, the cross-sectioned area while the load P is applied, the actual gauge length, the average true stress, the true strain and true reduction in area, respectively. Besides giving a better physical representation, the method has certain additional advantages in that the stress-strain curve so plotted becomes a straight line from the maximin load point to fracture. The construction of such curves, however, while comparatively simple for the slow rates of loading customarily used in the tension test, presents certain dificulties for tensile impact in that both loads and diameters are required throughout the test. The continuous measurement of test-piece diameters to fracture under impact conditions offers considerable experimental difficulty. In order to make it feasible to

Jan 1, 1942

By A. F. Henderson, C. F. Cornell, A. F. Dunyon, D. A. Dahlstrom

IN processing magnetic taconites several steps of crushing, grinding, classification, and magnetic separation are required to produce a 60' pct Fe concentrate. Usually the final concentrate is in a slurry form of 55 to 70 pct solids by weight and is further characterized by a particle size of 60+ pct —325 mesh. In taconite plants already completed or under construction the conventional method used to obtain pellets suitable for blast furnaces is to filter the concentrate slurry, ball the filter cake, and then harden the green pellets in a traveling grate or in a vertical shaft furnace. Large tonnages must be handled in minimum floor space, with reduced maintenance and lowest possible operating cost. Filtration must therefore achieve two objectives: I) high filtration rate—in terms of pounds of dry solids per hour per square foot of filtration area—at a low filtrate solids concentration, and 2) a filter cake moisture that will always permit efficient balling within the normal fluctuations of ' plant operating conditions. If moisture contents are too high, balling may be impossible or result in a mushy ball .without enough green strength for the firing operation. Development work has met these objectives. At low investment and operating costs, filtration rates of 250 to 600 dry lb per hr per ft2 have been attained for concentrates of 60' pct —325 mesh. By combining the disk-type continuous filter with proper agitation, the Agidisc filter produces a homogeneous filter cake, easily discharged from the disk sectors. This application provides the lowest initial cost per square foot of filtration area, minimizes floor space, reduces down time for changing filter media to a negligible factor, and simplifies process control and maintenance for the operator. It is now possible to predict very closely the taconite concentrate filtration rates for a wide variety of conditions—either by experience or with a few simple leaf tests. When balling and pelletizing operations began on a continuous basis, it became apparent that moisture content of the filter cake was a critical factor and must always be controlled by the filter operator below some maximum allowable value. Accordingly the Reserve Mining Co. and the Eimco Corp. joined in a study of the many variables affecting filter cake moisture content. The study was conducted at the Reserve Mining Co. taconite plant at Babbitt, Minn. To process plant tonnage the Babbitt plant utilizes a 6-ft diam Agidisc filter with six disks and an 8-ft diam drum filter with 10-ft face. However, most of the plant filter investigations were made on the Agidisc because of its superior performance. A considerable amount of small-scale test work was first carried out to study more closely the individual variables and ascertain their effect on filter cake moisture content. A general correlation method was then developed which allowed reasonable prediction of moisture content at any operating conditions. This step was made necessary by the fact that in full-scale filtering, operating variables usually interact to produce a combined rather than a singular effect. Studies were then made on the full-scale filters to prove the validity of the correlations developed, and past operating records were examined to ascertain whether or not significant variations could be traced to any single factor or to a combination of factors.

Jan 1, 1958

AS I told you before in the treatise on ores, once these are found (whether they are ores of metals or semiminerals) it is necessary to assay them in order to know what is in them, since the judgment of the sight is not sufficient for recognizing the quantity or even what substance they contain. For this reason, it is necessary to come to assaying and, with the knowledge of experience, to weigh their virtues and to proceed with the work or withdraw from it and its expense; and also through knowledge to make provision for their defects if some evilness harms the ores. For if you should have need of a thing that would help them and should not find it, all that you have done would be lost; and, on the other hand, if you should find that the ores are abundant and rich and easy to smelt, you take courage to continue without respect for anything. Therefore, in the following book I shall tell you first in general how the assay of all the metals should be made. I shall enlarge in particular on silver more than on any of the others since it is more important. Then I shall tell you how the ores should be prepared for smelting and also how blast furnaces and other furnaces for smelting such ores should be constructed, and finally how all elemental mixtures of metals are to be separated one from the other with the ability and power of art, and how they are reduced to their final perfection and fineness according to their species.

Jan 1, 1942

By R. S. Shoemaker, D. L. Harris

PST investigations into the possibility of concentrating the low-grade iron ores of the Gogebic Range in Wisconsin have been hampered by the complex association of the constituent minerals. In part the problem arises from the fact that the iron occurs essentially as two minerals, hematite and goethite, having nearly the same chemical composition but exhibiting different physical properties. Individual grains of these minerals are usually so small that the ore must be ground to a size finer than 325 mesh if substantial liberation of the minerals is to be secured. Appraisal of beneficiation tests on this iron ore requires, therefore, some method of determining quantitatively the contents of constituent minerals in the various products of the beneficiation. Because of the chemical similarity of the two iron minerals, chemical analyses do not provide a means of differentiation. Although the minerals are different physically, they are both opaque and friable, and as the ore must be ground to a very fine size for liberation to be secured, quantitative microscopic methods of analysis are extremely difficult at best. In an effort to overcome these analytical problems, a quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis method has been developed at the University of Wisconsin for the research program on iron ore beneficiation. The X-ray diffraction analysis of chemical compounds of crystalline form has proved of inestimable value for structure studies and rapid qualitative analytical purposes in a number of fields.' In some cases X-ray diffraction analysis has been found suitable for quantitative determinations. H. P. Klug2 found that quantitative procedures for quartz powders when mixed with calcium fluoride were reproducible within ±1.0 pct. Talvenheimo and White3 reported quantitative analyses of clay minerals to be accurate within 10 pct and also detected 1 pct of bentonite in 99 pct illite. In other investigations,'" powders of quartz and mica have been analyzed quantitatively with accuracies from 1 to 5 pct. A powder of tungsten carbide was analyzed similarly by Redmond7 and Rooksby8 reported the determination of small amounts (0.11 pct) of calcium oxide in magnesium oxide. In the most generally practiced use of X-ray diffraction, traces of the diffracted beam are recorded as lines on a film much as lines of elements are recorded on an optical spectrograph film. As with the spectrograph, the darkness of the lines denotes the amount of the constituent in the sample. If the film is replaced by a Geiger tube assembly and a graphic recorder or a scaling unit, the intensity of the diffracted beam can be registered as a peak on a chart or energy impulses per unit of time on the scaler. Several methods of quantitative measurement have been investigated and reported in literature. Klug2 used manual operation of the goniometer and a counting technique to determine the difference in counting rates at the diffracted angle and for the background. In another case3 the area under the recorded diffracted peak was the basis for the determination. In other instances the height of the recorded diffraction peak above background, measured while the goniometer was moving, has been the basis for the measurement. The sizes of particles most suitable for diffraction techniques are reported in the literature as follows: for tungsten carbide a maximum of 40 microns7 and for quartz a maximum of 5 microns.' Very fine sizes of crystals are known to cause a broadening of the diffused beams; hence some workers have set a lower limit of 0.1 micron for quantitative results. Guinier10 has indicated that broadening of the diffracted X-ray beam is not appreciable for crystallites larger than 0.02 to 0.03

Jan 1, 1956

By R. C. Hyslop

The object of this experiment was to obtain a usable set of field curves for determining the susceptibility of rocks with the vertical magnetometer. The need often arises for determining the susceptibility of rocks in the field in order to interpret magnetic anomalies obtained. This is particularly true when diamond drilling has been done and the relation to the surface rocks of the samples taken is desired. Many methods of measuring rock susceptibility have been developed, but in general they require careful shaping of the sample or pulverizing it in addition to delicate laboratory measuring instruments designed for the purpose. The requirements for a practical method for the determination of susceptibilities are as follows: 1. There should be as little alteration as possible of the specimen. 2. A minimum of time should be required in the preparation of the specimen and the calibration of the equipment. 3. Theequipment used should be portable. 4. An accuracy within the limits of the survey at hand should be obtainable. 5. A means of measuring the remnant magnetism should be available. Laboratory Procedure With these ideas in mind, the problem was approached in the manner in which Koenigsbergerl developed his method using the principle of the electrical theory of images of Lord Kelvin and applying it to the magnetic case. This solution of the problem states that the apparent change in the magnetic field intensity AZ due to the proximity of a specimen is given by: mk AZ = 2a2 Where k is the susceptibility of the specimen, m the strength of the pole of the needle, and a its distance from the surface of the specimen, as shown in Fig. r.2 This relation is true only for an infinite body and corrections are necessary for a finite body. Koenigsberger used in his work a variometer of special design. He suggested that a Schmidt vertical balance or horizontal magnetometer, as well as some other instrument, might be used. The Colorado School of Mines horizontal torsion magnetometer operates on this principle. In the

Jan 1, 1946

By R. C. Hyslop

The object of this experiment was to obtain a usable set of field curves for determining the susceptibility of rocks with the vertical magnetometer. The need often arises for determining the susceptibility of rocks in the field in order to interpret magnetic anomalies obtained. This is particularly true when diamond drilling has been done and the relation to the surface rocks of the samples taken is desired. Many methods of measuring rock susceptibility have been developed, but in general they require careful shaping of the sample or pulverizing it in addition to delicate laboratory measuring instruments designed for the purpose. The requirements for a practical method for the determination of susceptibilities are as follows: 1. There should be as little alteration as possible of the specimen. 2. A minimum of time should be required in the preparation of the specimen and the calibration of the equipment. 3. Theequipment used should be portable. 4. An accuracy within the limits of the survey at hand should be obtainable. 5. A means of measuring the remnant magnetism should be available. Laboratory Procedure With these ideas in mind, the problem was approached in the manner in which Koenigsbergerl developed his method using the principle of the electrical theory of images of Lord Kelvin and applying it to the magnetic case. This solution of the problem states that the apparent change in the magnetic field intensity AZ due to the proximity of a specimen is given by: mk AZ = 2a2 Where k is the susceptibility of the specimen, m the strength of the pole of the needle, and a its distance from the surface of the specimen, as shown in Fig. r.2 This relation is true only for an infinite body and corrections are necessary for a finite body. Koenigsberger used in his work a variometer of special design. He suggested that a Schmidt vertical balance or horizontal magnetometer, as well as some other instrument, might be used. The Colorado School of Mines horizontal torsion magnetometer operates on this principle. In the

Jan 1, 1946

By Frank J. Tolonen, Nicholas H. Manderfield, Paul Jasberg

EARLY in the study of the low grade iron formations of Michigan, wide variations in their structure and texture became evident. Because of these variations no simple method of concentration is possible, and those portions of the formations that can be exploited profitably under a given stage of metallurgical progress and existing economic conditions must be searched for carefully. Both structure and texture of the formations have an important bearing on their amenability to bene-ficiation. By structure is meant the banding planes of easy fracture, the porosity, and the degree of leaching. Texture, which includes grain sizes, shapes, and degree of interlocking, determines the amount of grinding necessary to liberate the mineral grains. Structure determines the liberation of portions richer in one mineral. Structure and texture may be termed the gross features of the formation. Earliest surveys of the formations were conducted to outline the parts that could be concentrated at % in. (3 mesh). Operators agreed on this size because anything finer required sintering or other agglomeration processes. At 3 mesh only the structural features, as defined above, would be liberated. With suitable ores concentration was easy, as any of the gravity methods could be used. Sink-and-float gave good results, but with this method only limited portions of the iron formations yielded a desilrable product.1,2 n general, the iroa content could be raised to shipping grade, but the silica content remained too high—sometimes 20 pct—instead of 9 or 10 pct. Grinding did not greatly increase the liberation ofsilica until 2010 mesh or finer was reached. To find the reason fpr this T. M. Broderick began micros~opic examin'ations of the formations in 1933.3 Procedure: The purpose of this discussion is to correlate the appearance of typical portions of the iron formations with their amenability to concentration. As liberation is essential before separation becomes possible, much of the work is based on measuring the liberation achieved by crushing and grinding. Both heavy media and magnetic tube tests were used in this work. On the basis of general structural features such as banding, degree of alteration, and leaching, a specimen was selected from each part of the iron formations studied. The specimen represents the gross features of the formation and not necessarily the particular formation quantitatively. One half of the specimen was polished for macro-study, and the remainder was used for analyses to obtain the grades represented by variations appearing in the macrosection. Specimens for microscopic examination were also prepared for each variation in gross appearance. For correlation of microstructure with liberation, the previous work by sink-and-float methods was supplemented by magnetizing roasting followed by magnetic separation. The results show the liberation of silica to be very important at the sizes used, because any silica particle with iron minerals occluded would be held in the concentrate. A magnetizing roast changes the crushing and grinding character of the sample. For partly leached soft samples the change is slight, but with harder types and those in which there is a considerable change in crystal structure of the minerals, the increase in liberation of the iron minerals may be 30 pct more than that of unroasted samples at the same crusheH size. Gogebic Range Iron Formations: The Gogebic Iron Range is located in the extreme western and southern parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, extending westward into Wisconsin. Samples for this study were obtained from the Ironwood formation, comprising three chief members—the Plymouth, Norrie, and Ahvil—with several intermediate slates and thick overlying slates. (The slates are not considered in this discussion because grinding finer than present practice is usually required to liberate the iron minerals.) The predominant iron mineral is hematite, about half of which is hydrated to goe-thite. Limonite occurs in some of the partly leached areas, and siderite in parts of the formation.

Jan 1, 1958

By Robert W. Bartlett

A computer model for predicting the rate of oxidative leaching of copper from fragmented low grade sulfide ores is presented. The model involves the kinetics of the dissolution of chalcopyrite grains and solution diffusion of oxygen within rock pores. Adjustable curve fitting parameters are not used. The model was tested by comparing computed extraction curves with experimental results for a -11 inch ore obtained by block caving and leached at 90°C and 400 psi oxygen for one year at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories.

Jan 1, 1973

By P. Greenfield, C. C. Smith, A. M. Taylor

J. E. Harris (Berkeley Nucclear Laboratories, England)—Greenfield et al.11 attribute abrupt changes in slope of their log o/log i curves for heat-treated Mg/0.5 pet Zr alloy (zA) to &apos;atmosphere&apos; locking. It is proposed here that a more reasonable explanation of the apparent strengthening at low rates of strain can be based on precipitation either during the preanneal or during the creep tests. All the tests were carried out above 0.5 Tm where solute atmospheres are likely to be largely evaporated2 and can migrate sufficiently rapidly so as not to impose any &apos;drag&apos; on the moving dislocations. McLean3 has derived an expression for determining the temperature Tc above which, due to the high-migration rate of the atmospheres, Cottrell or Suzuki locking can play no part in determining creep strength. This expression, which holds for an applied shear stress of not greater than 5 X 107 dynes per sq cm is: Tc/Tm= 7/6.8 - log10? where i = secondary creep rate The values for T, corresponding to the maximum and minimum reported creep rates at each temperature have been calculated from the data of Greenfield et al. These are given in Table VII. All the test temperatures were above T,, the margin being greater for the higher temperatures and for the lower strain rates where the breaks in the log s/log ? curves occurred. Dorn and his collaborators14, 17 have studied systematically the effect of solute hardening on the creep properties of an A1/3.2 at. pet Mg alloy. In the temperature range where strain aging occurred in tensile tests, abnormally high-activation energies for secondary creep were obtained but at temperatures above 0.43 Tm, solute alloying did not have any effect on the creep parameters. Moreover, there have been no reports of any strain aging phenomenon during elevated temperature tensile tests with ZA material.18 Instead of the observed strengthening being due to atmosphere locking, it is now proposed that precipitates play an important role in enhancing the creep strength of the material. There are two possibilities—precipitation of zirconium hydride during the high-temperature preanneal and/or precipitation of the hydride or a-zirconium during creep. On the basis of the former the results can be interpreted in terms of a critical stress being necessary to force the dislocations through or over preexisting precipitates. From the latter, if the strengthening is due to pre- cipitation during the test then hardening should be associated with a critical strain rate. At low rates of strain, time is available during the tests for precipitation to occur either directly onto dislocations (thus pinning them) or generally throughout the matrix (which would impede dislocation movements). Examination of the data of Greenfield et al. suggests that both mechanisms may be operative since they observed precipitation during creep and also found that their alloys exhibited high-creep strength in the early stages of the low-stress tests, i.e., before creep-induced precipitation had time to occur. It is not easy to understand why they considered that precipitation of zirconium hydride is unlikely to occur at 600°C while it can take place in tests in air at as low a temperature as 200°C. Precipitation of the hydride during the preanneal cannot be ruled out merely on the basis of metallographic examination. Hydride precipitates in ZA type alloys are very small and can only be accurately resolved in the electron microscope.9 For example, in this laboratory20 hydride platelets with major dimensions <(1/10) µ have been observed by electron transmission through thin film specimens of hy-drogenated ZA material. Complex interactions between dislocations and such particles are illustrated in Fig. 12. Additional evidence for precipitation during pre-annealing is provided by the data presented in Greenfield&apos;s Fig. 1 and Table IT. These show that the creep strength at 200o and 400°C increases with the time of preanneal at 600°C. Such increases cannot be explained on the basis of increases in grain size alone for further improvements in strength were observed when the material was annealed for longer times than that required to stabilize the grains. Although the main discussion is confined to ZA material, similar arguments can be used against the strain aging hypothesis proposed to explain the binary Mg/Mn alloy data. In this case no precipitation is possible during the preanneal, but precipitation-hardening during creep can occur.

Jan 1, 1962

By C. H. Mathewson, H. M. Day

The constitution of the system silver-mercury has attracted the attention of many investigators during the last two decades, but since their results are for the most part in poor agreement, there is little need for a review of their individual contributions. It remained for the very careful thermal and microscopic investigation of Murphy1 in 1931 to give the constitutional diagram in its present and unquestioned form, which is shown in Fig. 1. He devised methods for taking cooling curves on alloys under high pressures and for the microscopic observation of alloys which contained liquid mercury as a structural constituent at ordinary temperatures. The compositions of the intermediate phases were confirmed and supplemented through X-ray analyses by Preston2 and Stenbeck.3 According to Murphy, at 2760 C. silver is able to dissolve 44 to 45 weight per cent of mercury, which may increase at lower temperatures to about 50 per cent. Preston concluded that the saturation boundary occurred at 46 ± 2 per cent at 100° C. From the values reported in the literature, these are the only ones that may be accepted as lying even in the right region. Preparation of Alloys The silver used in the present investigation was supplied by the United States Metals Refining Co. through the courtesy of the Committee on Industrial Uses of Silver and, since a complete spectrographic and chemical analysis was furnished, no attempt was made to purify it or to further establish the impurities present. The analyses reported by the company are shown in Table 1. Milligan4 has found that the magnesium content is probably less than 0.0005 per cent.

Jan 1, 1938

By H. M. Day, C. H. Mathewson

The constitution of the system silver-mercury has attracted the attention of many investigators during the last two decades, but since their results are for the most part in poor agreement, there is little need for a review of their individual contributions. It remained for the very careful thermal and microscopic investigation of Murphy1 in 1931 to give the constitutional diagram in its present and unquestioned form, which is shown in Fig. 1. He devised methods for taking cooling curves on alloys under high pressures and for the microscopic observation of alloys which contained liquid mercury as a structural constituent at ordinary temperatures. The compositions of the intermediate phases were confirmed and supplemented through X-ray analyses by Preston2 and Stenbeck.3 According to Murphy, at 2760 C. silver is able to dissolve 44 to 45 weight per cent of mercury, which may increase at lower temperatures to about 50 per cent. Preston concluded that the saturation boundary occurred at 46 ± 2 per cent at 100° C. From the values reported in the literature, these are the only ones that may be accepted as lying even in the right region. Preparation of Alloys The silver used in the present investigation was supplied by the United States Metals Refining Co. through the courtesy of the Committee on Industrial Uses of Silver and, since a complete spectrographic and chemical analysis was furnished, no attempt was made to purify it or to further establish the impurities present. The analyses reported by the company are shown in Table 1. Milligan4 has found that the magnesium content is probably less than 0.0005 per cent.

Jan 1, 1938

By T. S. Lundy, J. I. Federer

A graphical method has been developed and tested for separating the effects of grain boundary and lattice diffusion in polycrystalline materials. The method is based on the assumptions that for unidirectional diffusion from a plane source of radioactive material, the penetration of activity far into the specimen from the source is due solely to grain-boundary effects, and 2) pure grain-boundary penetration is described by a linear plot of log activity vs the perpendicular distance x from the source. The former is based on the fact that at any temperature the grain-boundary diffusion coefficient is always very large relative to the lattice diffusion coefficient; and the latter is based on the derivation of Fisher.1 Using these criteria along with appropriate penetration data (in this case, data for the diffusion of Cb95 in pressed and sintered UO2) one first plots the data as log activity vs x2 and as log activity vs x, as shown by curves 1 and 2, respectively, in Fig. 1. A tangent line to curve 2 for large x (curve 3) is then transferred to the x2 plot as curve 4. The subtraction of curve 4 from curve 1 yields curve 5 which represents only lattice diffusion and may therefore be related to the diffusion coefficient by using the appropriate solution to Fick&apos;s second law. It should be noted that the method has inherent inaccuracies for small and large values of x2 and only the subtraction at intermediate values can be used. For the illustrated specimen the calculated diffusion coefficient is 3.4 X 10-11 sq cm per sec at1445°C while data using a single crystal of UO2 at the same temperature yielded a value of 2.9 x 10-11 sq cm per sec.2 The same method of subtracting grain-boundary diffusion effects to obtain lattice diffusion coefficients has been successfully used to determine self-diffusion coefficients of Th230 in polycrystalline thoria.

Jan 1, 1962

By E. S. Messer

A knowledge of the magnitude of the irreducible inter.;titial water in a porous medium is so important to petroleum engineering that its determination has become routine in core analyses. The method of determination, being a production problem, should encompass the basic requirements of simplicity in technique and calculations, with reproducible results obtainable in a short interval of time. The results of the evaluation tests outlined in this report indicate that the evaporation method for determining the irreducible water is a technique which meets the requirements. The procedure consists, as the name implies. of permitting the saturant in the pore spaces to evaporate until only an irreducible volume remains. The determination of this volume can be made either graphically or by a mathematical comparison of fluid flows; the time required for each determination being dependent on the fluid used. When fluids other than those having reservoir characteristics were used, a volume factor had to be calculated which was based on the relative volume of various liquids adsorbed on grain surfaces and retained in pores. This factor made possible the calculation of an irreducible water volume when more volatile fluids such as toluene and benzene were used as the saturants. Also presented is the theoretical discussion necessary for the calculation of the capillary pressure as determined from the evaporation curve. A comparison is made between the calculated values and those obtained by experimental means. INTRODUCTION In all geological formations there exists, in the pore spaces of the rock structure, water that is held in a state of equilibrium between capillary and hydrostatic forces. "Interstitial water" is the term given to this water and is defined as that water coexisting in the pore space with the oil prior to exploitation. The term &apos;&apos;connate water" has often been used synonymously with this term; however, this can be true only by a specific definition since, geologically, it means the water in place at the time the rock structure was formed. The quantity of the interstitial water is a variable factor in any formation, since it depends on the hydrostatic forces present in any multiple-phase system. These forces may become unbalanced by the introduction of an extraneous force such as the raising or lowering of the "water table" or the migration of oil into a water-filled formation. Any unbalanced force results in a change in the interstitial water. There exists, however, an irreducible interstitial water. for a particular sand, that is the fraction of the pore space occupied by water when the capillary pressure at the particular point in question is at an equilibrium with the hydrostatic head of the oil sand in the reservoir. For this discussion the term "irreducible water saturation" will be used in place of "irreducible interstitial water saturation" for the sake of brevity; however, they are understood to be identical. A great amount of work has been devoted to the theory and methods for studying the irreducible water saturation and its related capillary pressure. As a result of the publications of Leverett;&apos; Hassler, Brunner and Deahl;2 Calhoun and Lewis;3 and others, the role of capillary pressure studies is being accepted by the industry as a tool for studying suhsurface phenomena. Many techniques have been developed and published for determining the capillary pressure and irreducible water. In general, these techniques may be grouped into three classifications. One of the first was the capillary pressure method described by Leverett1 and expanded by Bruce and Welge.4 The experimental results were compared with water saturation of cores obtained using oil-base mud. Thornton and Marshall compared the irreducible water saturation of core samples determined by the capillary pressure method and by salinity and reported good agreement between the two methods. The second classification for determining the irreducible water and capillary pressure may be referred to as the "centrifugal force method." The general technique is similar to the capillary pressure method except that the force driving the reservoir fluid from the sample is of a centrifugal nature. A complete description of this method was presented by J. J. . McCullough and F. W. Albaugh.6 A process, the reverse of the capillary pressure method, was presented by W. R. Purcell.7 Mercury under pressure is driven into the pores of the rock and the saturation of the core determined at each applied pressure. The resulting capillary pressure curve is used to evaluate the irreducible water saturation. The techniques mentioned are singular in their approach to the irreducible water saturation. In all cases. an external force was applied to the core. The forces employed in the evaporation method are the vapor pressure of the liquid causing evaporation, the kinetic diffusion forces. adsorptive forces and. to a lesser degree, the viscous forces resisting flow to the surface. The basic definition of irreducible water is that water held in a state of equilibrium between capillary and hydrostatic forces This water has been described by previous investigators as being held in the microcapillaries too small to support fluid flow. Actually, this fluid volume is made up of the water in the microcapillaries and as a film adhering to the surface of the crystals. All capillaries. therefore, possess some liquid as a film, the thickness of the film being dependent on the properties of the fluid and solid. A discussion of experiments with references pertaining to the measurement of this immobile layer next to the solid surface can be found in the text by J. J. Bikerman.8 Eversole and Lahr calculated the thickness of this layer to be in the order of 10 &apos; to 10&apos; cm for aqueous solutions and glass. Between two quartz surfaces they found the thickness to be 2 x 10 cm. The work of Volkova, on the capillary movement of water and toluene in quartz grains, indicated the thickness of the Immobile layers to be near 10&apos; cm. Since any measurement is an average value, it is easy to understand that an absolute value would depend on the roughness of the surfaces involved and the complexity of the system. A calculated effective pore radius of 2 x 10 cm is obtained at the, irreducible saturation of a porous media in a water-air system when a capillary pressure of 100 psi is applied. Since the separation of the sand grains is of the same approximate magnitude as the immobile layer.

Jan 1, 1951