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By Daniel L. Noble

Riparian communities are those related to, or near a natural watercourse (or sometimes of a lake, impoundment, or tidewater). Generally, riparian communities contrast sharply with the dominant vegetation type in an area, for example, the willow-birch-aspen- dominated watercourse in the Black Hills with its associated beaver- muskrat-trout habitat as compared to the dominant monotype ponderosa pine forest on either side of the drainage. Riparian ecosystems are valuable for the aesthetics, namely, varied landscape; photography and art; human awareness; diversity of plant and animal life, some of which may be unique to that habitat; cover, food, and water for associated wildlife and domestic animals; for recreation; for domestic water supply; and as natural outdoor laboratories. One major negative impact on riparian communities is hazardous chemicals from effluents from agricultural, industrial, and mining- metallurgical processes. One such chemical is cyanide, long used in the processing of gold and silver, and discharged previously directly into some of our natural ecosystems. With present environmental awareness, industry and government are attempting to minimize or eliminate this contamination. Homestake Mining Company began processing gold ore in the Lead- Deadwood area of South Dakota in 1878 and has remained in production at variable activity levels to the present time. The amount of cyanide (and heavy metals) entering the ecosystem during this time can only be crudely estimated, in part because of the variability in activity and the lack of understanding and concern about environmental pollution until the 1960's. Whitewood Creek, a tributary of the Belle Fourche River which flows into the Cheyenne River and

Jan 1, 1983

By G. C. Stone

IN common with many members of the Institute, I was much interested in Mr. Kent's paper on " Manganese Determinations in Steel," * read at the Virginia meeting. Having recently had an opportunity to collect a similar series of results for spiegel, I venture to offer them to the Institute, hoping that they may also prove of interest. Sample No. 1 was taken at our works, where the spiegel was made,

Jan 1, 1883

By Alan U. Seybolt

UNLIKE its sister elements, columbium (niobium) and tantalum, vanadium has not been available until recently in fabricated form. While Vanadium Corporation of America has offered the metal in fairly pure form for sale for many years in small lots for research purposes, this grade of vanadium has been brittle, probably because of a high oxygen content. Hence, when in 1950 the announcement1 was made that wrought vanadium was available as a commercial material, this represented a large step forward in the metallurgy of vanadium. While vanadium is generally regarded as a rare metal, data on its occurrence in the earth's crust show it to be as abundant as copper, zinc, and lead combined. Vanadium is widely distributed, but it does not seem to occur in massive deposits except in a few localities, principally in Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, where it is found in sandstone formations, and in Mina Ragra, Peru. Only in Colorado or Peru are ores mined solely for the vanadium content. Ores in the United States are principally carnotite and roscoelite; the former is of particular interest because of its uranium content. It is a uranium-potassium vanadate containing approximately 52 pct of UO2 and 18 pct of V2O5. Production in the United States during the war years averaged around 2000 tons a year, but dropped to 636 tons in 1946. In recent years, ferrovanadium has been selling for about $2.80 per pound of contained vanadium. This suggests that the price of the pure metal will never be as low as $2.80 per pound, but it could

Jan 1, 1953

By W. W. Gerberich

SINCE the original formulation of fracture mechanics concepts,&apos;y2 relatively little work has related the fracture mechanics description of metal behavior on a gross, structural component scale to the behavior of its microstructural constituents. The purpose of this note is to suggest the utilization of fracture mechanics to describe material behavior on a microscopic scale. A Fracture Concept for Two-Phase Structures. A critical displacement concept considering the tough unidirectional phase in a relatively brittle matrix is first examined. It is assumed that a flaw exists at position 1 as depicted in Fig. 1. As the crack moves from position 1 to 2 the plastic zone could be of the shape described with the size approximated by the Dugdale3 model: where c is the half-crack length, OO is the applied stress, and oyS is the yield strength. Hahn and Rosen-field4 have presented a simple fracture criterion for homogeneous materials based upon the displacement at the crack tip. They also have shown the equivalence of the critical displacement, v*, to fracture toughness by Kc = (2v*oysE)1/2 [2] The displacement at the crack tip is given by and the displacement at any distance in front of the crack tip may be determined knowing the plastic zone size and utilizing the development of Goodier and Field.5 Recalling Fig. 1, the value of v* for fracture in material M1 may be calculated from Eq. [2] providing the critical stress intensity factor is known. As the material is loaded, when vc > vM1 the crack moves from position 1 to position 2 where it encounters the tough second phase. If vc2 < vm2, then the crack will be arrested providing the width of the M2 phase is sufficiently large. This condition is necessary since the displacement at position 2 has increased due to the longer crack length. Thus, the displacement at the distance X (representing the dimension of the second phase) in front of the crack may be larger than the critical displacement for failure in the brittle material. If v, > vm, then failure will proceed in the brittle material. The value of v, may be calculated as indicated above. This latter consideration is the same as predicting fracture of a brittle second phase at some distance in front of a crack located in a ductile matrix. Experimental Evidence. On a macrostructural scale, tungsten wires in a ductile Be-Cu matrix are seen to fracture well ahead of the main crack front in Fig. 2. Utilizing a Kc value of 14.2 ksi-in.1/2 obtained by Schroder et al.6 for as-received tungsten, the critical displacement 2v*, for fracture is calculated from Eq. [2] to be about 6.5 X 10-5 in. The crack tip displacement, 2vc, is calculated from Eq. [3] to be 0.0028 in. indicating that fracture would occur at a considerable distance in front of the crack tip. From the ratio of v*/vc and the plastic zone estimate of Eq. [I], the distance in front of the crack tip at which a tungsten wire should fracture is calculated to be about 0.195 in. As shown in Fig. 2, a fractured wire occurs at a distance of 0.140 in. (fractured in three places), not at 0.250

Jan 1, 1968

By Richard D. Call

In any open pit, some slope instability can be expected, varying from bench sloughing to large-scale slope movement. Major slope displacements are preceded by small, but measurable, displacements and by other indicators of instability, such as tension cracks, rock noise, and changes in groundwater levels. A comprehensive monitoring pro- gram, capable of measuring and assimilating displacement related data, is essential for sound pit operation. The objectives of a pit slope monitoring program are 1) to maintain safe operational procedures for the protection of personnel and equipment; 2) to provide advance notice of instability so that mine plans can be modified to minimize the impact of slope displacement; and 3) to provide geotechnical information for analyzing the slope failure mechanism, for designing appropriate remedial measures, and for conducting future re-design of the slope. Surface displacement measurement using conventional survey equipment and extensometers has been the most widely used method, and it is still the most cost-effective. Tiltmeters and borehole inclinometers are also useful tools, and there are promising developments in micro- seismic monitoring. A monitoring system should have redundancy in both type and number of measurements, and be capable of rapid and effective dissemination of displacement information to those affected.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. Leja, J. H. Schulman

FROTH flotation is usually effected by the addition of a collector agent and a frothing agent to an aqueous suspension of suitably comminuted mineral ores. The action of collectors is to adsorb onto the surfaces of minerals to be separated, sensitizing them to bubble adherence. The action of frothers has, in the past, been accepted as that of froth formation only, brought about by a lowering of the air/water interfacial tension. Substances capable of producing froth are classed1a,b according to their relative capacities for production of froth-volume and froth stability in the simple frother-water system. The purpose of this paper is to show that the surface active agents acting as frothers become effective only when there is a suitable degree of molecular interaction taking place between collector molecules and frother molecules at the air/water and solid/ water interfaces. Further, the discussion will demonstrate that the actual mechanism of adherence of an air bubble to a suitably collector-coated particle is due to the molecular interaction collector-frother. This leads to the formation of a continuous interfacial film of associated molecules, anchored to the mineral by polar groups of the collector, and enveloping the whole bubble. The tenacity of adhesion mineral-to-bubble results from the strength and the visco-elasticity of this mixed film.

Jan 2, 1954

By J. Visman

FOR more than 25 years evaluations of coal cleaning units have appeared in many publications, and during this time considerable progress has been made in developing the theory and techniques of calculating washery results. A variety of characteristics have been defined over the years, many receiving general recognition during the first post-war Coal Preparation Conference in Paris in 1950. Coal preparation has become a science, and the approach to preparation problems is being revolutionized. Formerly, for example, if a coal operator wanted to know the performance of a given cleaning unit for a particular grade of his run-of-mine, he either shipped a carload to the manufacturer for a test run or relied on a report of a test carried out on a coal similar to the one he intended to clean. In modern practice the expensive, time-consuming test work generally can be avoided if the washability curves of the coal in question and the error curve of the cleaner are known. Normally a guarantee can be given on the strength of this information. General acceptance of modern standards has thus reduced the need for pilot-scale models of existing types of coal cleaners. Needless to say, the method requires exhaustive and accurate information on the cleaning unit and on all the additional circumstances affecting its results, in- formation that ultimately can be secured only from actual tests made in the laboratory or in the washery.

Jan 10, 1954

By R. H. Richards

In October, 1891,I read a paper before the Institute on a "A HandTelescope for Stadia-Work" (Bans., xx., 732), and promised to report at an early date some results showing the degree of accuracy attained with the instrument. I am now able to report on these results and also on certain improvements that I have made in the target since the first paper was read. I may say that I prefer the title, "Prismatic Stadia-Telescope," to that used in my earlier paper, for while the instrument can be used with perfect satisfaction for short sights up to, say, 300 to 600 feet when held in the hand, it is impossible to read milch longer distances without the use of a tripod, as a steady support for the instrument. Results are here given upon four combinations of prism and telescope. No. 1. A telescope made by Alvan Clark & Sons, 3-inch objective, 28 inches focal length, magnifying 60 diameters, the prism covering half the objective: Feet measured Reading of Distance reduced Reeding of rod pro by tape. the rod. to feet. portional to 100 ft. 127.66 1.1825 100 .92629 211.35 1.9585 100 .92666 326.59 3.0265 100 .92669 484.88 4.4925 100 ,92652 606.91 5.6225 100 .92641 Average,,92651 The value of this prism therefore is .92651 feet on the rod for 100 feet of distance, or 1 foot on the rod corresponds to 107.931 feet of distance. No. 2. A Bardou telescope having a 1-inch objective, magnifying 20 diameters, and a prism covering half the objective:

Jan 1, 1893

By F. W. Bloecher, A. M. Gaudin

Using an adsorption-column technique the partition of dodecylamine between quartz and water has been determined at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 4000 mg per liter. The adsorption varies as the square root of the concentration. Attachment of dodecylamine to quartz is reversible. The amount adsorbed in a flotation operation giving almost complete recovery is under 5 pct of the amount required for a monolayer.

Jan 4, 1950

By Francis S. Kendorski

INTRODUCTION Nuclear waste has been generated since the time of the Curie&apos;s and continues to be generated worldwide at an ever-increasing rate as the world will (and should) rely more and more upon fission (and hopefully fusion) for power. Also, the needs for strategic weapons will also generate so-called defense wastes. The largest class of high level nuclear waste (HLW) is spent fuel, the tail end of the nuclear reactor fuel cycle. At present, spent fuel is stored at the reactors producing it or at a few accepting places for away-from-reactor storage. All such storage facilities, as presently constructed, will begin to run out of usable storage space during the next decade or so. Congress enacted and President Reagan signed into law in early 1983 the National Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. This law provides for the permanent isolation of nuclear waste in deep geologic repositories. The Act sets 1998 as the date at which the first repository should be operational. This date is extremely ambitious, and the Department of Energy (DOE), which is charged with the responsibility of constructing and operating repositories, admits that this date will slip by at least a few years. The Act also provides for licensing of repositories by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in a fashion very similar to nuclear power generating reactors. This requirement imposes a very special rigor on the analyses, investigations, designs, construction, and operation of repositories so as to assure the protection of the public and the environment from radioactive contamination. In addition the states and affected Indian Tribes must be consulted, especially concerning siting, and, needless to say, no one wants a HLW repository in their back yard.

Jan 1, 1984

By Robert L. Zerga

Mining equipment and systems have been incorporated into the San Manuel mine to meet the requirements of ore development and extraction. A general discussion of the existing equipment as it relates to the specific methods is presented. A comparison is made between original and present equipment, and future equipment needs. The problems, successes and failures of mining equipment adaptation for the San Manuel mining system are highlighted.

Jan 1, 1981

By Charles R. Simcoe

The stress-strain curves in the microyield region for various Fe-C solid solutions shown by Davies and Ku are typical examples of parabolic curves defined by the expression a = kEn 111 These data, when replotted on log-log coordinates, as shown in Fig. 9, exhibit three essentially parallel straight lines. It is apparent that carbon increases the flow stresses, but does not affect the exponent n. In other words, the only factor in Eq. [1] affected by in in carbon content is the constant k. As Eq. [1] is written k is the stress at a strain of 1.0. This is unsatisfactory for examining data in the microyield region. Therefore, the equation can be altered to the form: to permit the use of the authors&apos; microyield stress at a strain of 10-6 as k. Extrapolating the curves in Fig. 9 to a strain of 10-6 gives stress values of 2000, 3200, and 5400 psi for 0.008, 0.014, and 0.02 pct C, respectively. These values do not agree exactly with the authors&apos; measured values, but this will not affect the following discussion. The effect of carbon content on the slopes of the stress-strain curves shown in Fig. 2 of the paper by Davies and Ku can be analyzed by differentiating Eq. [2] with respect to strain. Thus: where n is always less than 1.0. Since n is essen- tially constant as a function of carbon content for the data under discussion, the slopes of the stress-strain curves depend only on k and E. If the slopes are examined at various selected Plastic strains. i.e., 10-6, 10-5, and so forth, it follows from Eq. [3] that the dif-ferent slopes for the different carbon contents depend only on the different values of ke=10-6. Thus, the larger ke=10-6, the steeper the linear stress-strain curve will rise with increasing plastic strain. This

Jan 1, 1969

In the death of Professor Hofman, the world has lost a great metallurgist and a great author of metallurgical literature. Measured in time, his life was not quite seventy-two years, but measured in work accomplished it was much longer than this. He was born Aug. 13, 1852 and died Apr. 28, 1924. It is not surprising that Doctor Hofman became a great scholar, for his father, Karl Hofman, was on the faculty of Heidelberg University, and his early days were spent in those surroundings. He studied in the university under such men as Kirchhoff and Bunsen and often spoke of his

Jan 1, 1924

By F. F. Sharpless

ARRIVING at Davis Junction, after leaving Portland, we expected to wait for an hour and a half, but found the superintendent of motive power of the Southern Pacific, Mr. Williams, waiting for us with a car, and were immediately taken aboard this and whisked off to Sacramento. After dinner, we were taken to the railroad shops to see their work in reclaiming scrap steel. We saw them draw off the slag from the electric furnace, and later make a casting. At about 11 o&apos;clock, we took the train for Reno. A delegation of the Nevada Section, with Mr. Kirchen and Mr. Rives at its head, met us at the station. Immediately after breakfast, we started for the property of the Comstock Mines Co., where General Bulkeley Wells was to be our host. We had a de-lightful ride out to the mines and through the old city of Virginia, or through what was left of that old city, reaching General Wells&apos; camp at about 10:30. This contains the newest thing in cyanidation and a remarkably fine iron and concrete mill building. After a trip underground, we were called to luncheon, where about 250 sat down. The afternoon was spent in the mill, and we were taken to Gold Hill, which is a part of Virginia City, for dinner, again as the guests of General Wells, who made a consummate toastmaster. Governor Emmet Boyle was the first speaker; he was followed by President Dwight, and then came President William Sproule of the Southern Pacific. A song, "The Engineer," was followed by Senator Key Pittman, Professor Jones of the State University, Mayor Stuart of Reno, and ex-Senator Charles Hend-erson. The president of the Western Pacific and the president of the Pacific Coast Line were there, also many notable operators of Nevada and California.

Jan 11, 1922

By Richard P. Rothwell

THOUGH coal has been mined in this country for more than a century, no systematic effort was ever successfully made to ascertain the total amount produced. The production of the Cumberland Basin, Md., and the shipments from the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, have been placed upon record, thanks to the intelligence sand foresight of Mr. C. Slack in the former case, and to the late Mr. B. Bannan in the latter. For some of the years between 1822 and 1842, the production of the Richmond Basin was reported by Mr. R. C. Taylor, but since that date till the author undertook this work it was impossible to obtain any statement of the production of this field. A few of the newer fields, such as that of Mt. Diablo, Cal., have been fully reported, and a few of the newer States have also had this service performed by some intelligent private individuals.; but no statistics of coal production have ever been collected either by the State or General Government, if we except the returns for the years 1869-70 of the census report. During the year 1875, by great exertions, I succeeded in obtaining, and July 3d, 1875, gave in the Engineering and Mining Journal what, "though not an accurate statement of our coal production," was " by far the most full and reliable that had ever been published." Though that report showed the production of bituminous coal to be 23,630,094 gross tons, or about six million tons more than had ever before been reported, it was in reality two and a half million tons below the actual output. The more full returns I obtained for 1875 gave many figures for 1874

Jan 1, 1877

By W. E. Wickerman

The Magnetic Storm Monitor is an instrument that continuously records variations in the earth&apos;s total magnetic field at a fixed location. It is intended for use in conjunction with airborne magnetometer surveys. There are stormy periods when changes in the earth&apos;s magnetic field are so violent that data obtained with airborne equipment would be of little value. The Monitor provides this information so that flights may be cancelled or terminated, thus eliminating useless flying. Moreover, when some unpredictable change in the earth&apos;s field occurs during an airborne survey, the Monitor record, showing a similar event, may serve to salvage the data.

Oct 1, 1955

By Peter G. Groer

Several methods1-3 are being used to determine the WL and individual Rn-daughter concentrations in uranium mine atmospheres. The best of these methods is the one given in Ref. 3. According to this method, the WL and the Rn-daughter concentrations are determined from the total a-counts observed during three consecutive time intervals. Its only disadvantage lies in the fact that rather involved calculations are necessary to convert the observed counts into WL or pCi/l (picocuries per liter). There are, however, counting intervals that give simple weighting coefficients for the observed counts. This fact makes it possible to convert from a-counts to WL or pCi/l with the aid of a graph. After some trial runs on a computer the following equations emerged as the basis for the most practical procedure: [ ] NA, N.., and & stand for the number of RaA, RaB, and RaC atoms per liter of air. C(t1,t2) denotes the counts observed from time t. to time t2 (in minutes) after the end of the 5-min sampling period. E is the detector efficiency and V is the flow rate in liters per minute. With an accuracy loss of less than -5% one finds from [Eq. 1] by adding the corresponding terms: If the WL would have been calculated according to [Eq. 2] instead of using the graph, the result would have been 0.31. Since the values used for C&apos;s under [Eq. 3] represent the exact number of counts from a Rn-daughter mixture in equilibrium with 100/3 pCi of Rn the exact WL of this mixture can be calculated easily. The exact value is: [ ] This shows that the method is quite accurate for the 0.3 WL domain. The precision of the method excluding errors made in reading the graph can be estimated with the help of the following formula: [ ]

Jan 1, 1974

By Dirk A. Benham, William A. Warfield

INTRODUCTION Whenever a mine operator is faced with a decision between various mining methods or even equipment selection, he must be assured that his decision will have a positive effect on his economic operating goals. For instance, if a mine operator has a choice of using an LHD mining system or a slusher mining system, then his decision to use either must not only fit within the operational limitations of the mining plan (such as production requirements, physical features of the ore body, mine plant facilities, manpower requirements, etc.), but also assure that the ore is being extracted at the least possible cost. To aid in his decision making process, the operator will commonly compare acquisition costs, operating costs, maintenance costs, and the operational advantages and disadvantages of each system in addition to considering his personal observations and feelings. A decision to select a mining system using only those criteria aforementioned will not necessarily lead the operator down the path to maximizing profits. In addition, the operator should also compare the economic effects of each system upon the overall mining operation. A relatively simple method for determining the economic effects is to calculate and compare the break-even grades for each system under consideration. By implementing such an analysis, the operator can now select a mining system which can operate within the limits of the mining plan as well as extract the ores at the least possible cost, thus yielding maximum profits. This paper will present the geologic and physical conditions of a mine being operated by the Hypothetical Mining Company in the Grants Mineral District. An LHD and Blusher mining system are under consideration and are compared by examining operating costs, equipment availability, and the conventional operational advantages and disadvantages of each. Finally, the economic effects of each system upon the overall mine&apos;s operation are compared by utilizing break-even grade analysis. DESCRIPTION AND MINING METHODS The Hypothetical Mining Company has located an ore body in the Grants Mineral District. After extensive surface exploration drilling and cost considerations are evaluated, it is decided to open a mine. The following tasks must now be performed: 1. outline ore body and it&apos;s basic characteristics, 2. look at mining methods currently in use in the area, and 3. determine mining techniques and methods for exploitation of the ore body. For the sake of argument, the newly discovered ore body is located towards the western edge of the Grants Mineral Belt. The host rock for uranium mineralization is the Westwater Member of the Morrison Formation. The Westwater Canyon sands are overlain by the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation and underlain by the Recapture Member, all of Jurassic Age. Westwater Canyon sandstone is a fine to very course grained subarkosic sand with interbedded green and red mudstone. The Brushy Basin Member consists predominantly of greenish-gray mudstones and contains thin lenses of sandstone and a few thin beds of limestone. The Recapture Member consists of alternating thin beds of reddish brown, grayish red, and light gray sandstone and siltstone. The Recapture interfingers with the Cowsprings Sandstone in the area of the mine. The mineralization is based on the groundwater flow within the Morrison Formation. Primary ore distribution is based on three basic parameters: ore migration in a geochemical cell, lenticular mudstone interbedding, and enrichment along fault zones. In areas where two fault systems intersect, ore thicknesses of up to 30 m (100 ft.) are encountered. In those areas where the ore is well defined and thicknesses facilitate full face mining, the mining methods are determined more by ground or operating conditions, equipment availability, and access to working areas than they are in the fringe areas of the ore body where grade control is more important and split-shooting and break-even grade determines the mining technique. If a modified room-and-pillar mining method using systematic development is selected, better control of the ventilation, equipment utilization, and mining plan can be obtained. Figure I shows a typical mining area where the ore is thick,

Jan 1, 1982

By A. E. Jenkins, O. C. Roberts, D. G. C. Robertson

Using an inverted-cone coil at 450 kHz, it has been possible to levitate iron (FeS), cobalt (CoS), and nickel (NiS) sulfides. Important nontransition metal sulfides such as ZnS, PbS, and Cu2S have proven impossible to levitate although Cu-Fe-S ternary alloys containing 30 wt pct S and up to 10 wt pct Cu, and Cu-Co-S and Cu-Ni-S ternary alloys containing 30 wt pct Cu have been levitated. The levitation technique has been used in preliminary experiments on the vaporization from liquid sulfides and the reaction of liquid metal-sulfur alloys with oxidizing atmospheres. The course of the reactions with pure oxygen were followed using highspeed photography and two-color pyrometry. ELECTROMAGNETIC levitation is now established as a basic laboratory technique in high-temperature research but its application has been restricted mainly to metals and alloys. Applications have included alloy preparation,&apos; metal purification,2&apos;3 determination of liquid metal densities and emissivities,4,5 and studies of metal supercooling,4 alloy thermodynamics,6 and vaporization phenomena.7-9 The application of the technique to compounds has not been considered previously. The successful investigation of the reactions between dilute iron alloys and oxidizing atmospheres10&apos;1 has prompted the current physico-chemical studies involving levitated metal sulfide drops and flowing inert or oxidizing atmospheres. This paper presents the results of such a study and provides a basis for future studies involving a wide range of other compounds of metallurgical interest. The successful levitation of many metal sulfides and mattes provides a method of studying the oxidation reactions fundamental to flash-smelting and similar pyrometallurgi-cal operations under closely controlled laboratory conditions. In addition the system allows the use of a controlled atmosphere (e.g., a gas stream of a certain H2/H2S ratio) with a particular chemical potential to study the relevant thermodynamic equilibria or the mass transfer processes between the atmosphere and the levitated drop under conditions where the hydrodynamics of the system can be closely defined. The optimum frequency for the levitation melting of metals in an inverted-cone coil type inductor is within the radio frequency range 400 to 500 kHz. At frequencies lower than 10 kHz the rate of heat generation is usually insufficient to melt the levitated charge&apos; or where melting is achieved, "dripping" from the charge is encountered.&apos;&apos; At frequencies above 2 mHz the levitation force decreases. Metals, alloys and preheated elemental semiconductors such as germanium and silicon, have been levitated but the levitation of only a few metal compounds has been reported. Jostsons13 and the authors have levitated liquid titanium-oxygen alloys containing 50 at. pct 0 while clark14 has reported the levitation of mixtures of FeS and MnS for short periods. With a "cold crucible" inductor sterling15 has melted ferrites by preheating them by induction in a 4 mHz field and melting at a lower frequency. However this second type of inductor has been designed purely for the melting of materials without contamination; there is only a small gas film between the charge and the inductor and the electromagnetic levitation effect is of secondary importance. For this reason further discussion will be restricted to the use of the coil type inductor. The assessment of the suitability of a particular metal compound for levitation is based upon the following two criteria: i) thermal stability, and ii) physical "levitability". In this paper these two criteria will be considered separately. The thermal stability of a solid or liquid metal compound with respect to a gaseous environment depends upon its chemical reactivity with that environment or, in the case of an inert atmosphere considered here, its volatility. The physical criterion as to whether or not a particular compound can be levitated is based upon a comparison between those physical properties of the compound determining "levitability" which are defined by the fundamental equations of levitation theory as developed by Okress et a1.,16 and the properties of the metals. Since it is not practical to cover the vast field of metal compounds, further discussion will concentrate on the metal sulfides but the treatment would be applicable to any metal compound. THE THERMAL STABILITY OF METAL SULFIDES The temperatures usually encountered during levitation in inert atmospheres cover the range 1400" to 2000°C. The stabilities of the condensed states of the sulfides under these conditions are considered in relation to the periodic classification by reference to Table I. Two general classes of sulfides emerge. The solid sulfides of elements of group IIB and of groups further to the right are volatile while those sulfides of group IB and of groups further to the left are nonvolatile solids. The sulfides described as volatile may be dismissed as unsuitable for levitation. The stabilities of the more favorable nonvolatile sulfides under the anticipated conditions must be studied more closely From Table I it is seen that the alkali metal sulfides exist as liquids in the temperature range of in-

Jan 1, 1970

By Douglas Ragland

Two subjects certain to incite interest among a few practicing engineers and almost all engineering educators are professional recognition and decline in engineering enrollments. It is not surprising that this interest on the part of the educators is universal; it is only regrettable that such an interest on the part of the practitioners is not more widespread. In fact, it is probably the hope of the profession that some of the more penetrating searches now being made into the nature of engineering will generate sufficient cause for perplexity that members of the profession will assume a significant degree of personal concern toward purely professional matters.

Jan 1, 1963