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By Joseph E. Pouge

For the purposes of this analysis it is assumed that the petroleum industry has undergone a basic economic change whereby the degree of competition present in its operation is reduced by the collective control of production brought about by statme-directed proration. Formerly freely competitive in all its parts, the industry is now fully competitive only in its marketing, its manufacturing and transportation, its search for new oil supplies, its drilling operations (with some qualifications), and its capital movements. The practical problem before the industry in its new status is the maintenance of equilibrium, with planned control of crude-oil production (proration) substituted for competition and price as the regulatory mechanism at one point in the supply-demand system. It is further assumed that proration has become so firmly established in the legal and operating framework of the business that it may be looked upon as an institution. The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the effect of unregulated drilling upon the orderly functioning of proration. Economic Structure of Petroleum Industry The economic structure of the petroleum industry, under the current form of proration, may be visualized, in simplified form, as shown in Fig. 1. This diagram is designed to indicate the existing mechanism whereby supply and demand are equated. Demand is created largely by conditions external to the oil business, whereas supply is conditioned by a series of stages incidental to the discovery, development and production of a resource. The time elements involved in changes in demand and supply are of an entirely different order, the demand factor being much more flexible and "quicker" than the supply factors. It should be observed, also, that the position of price, formerly between "demand" and "supply," has been moved to a sidewise location where it still affects demand but influences current supply only through its bearing upon proration, drilling and search. Proration has been substituted for price as a throttle at the well head, but at this point only. The mechanism now works in this fashion: a declining price stimulates demand and the

Jan 1, 1936

By Geoffrey Gilbert

THE Montana Phosphate Products Co., subsidiary of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, operates three phosphate properties north and northeast of Garrison, Powell County, Mont. Production of all three is from the same phosphate bed, a 3 to 4-ft. member of the Phosphoria formation, whose outcrop is traceable across the mountains of the Garnet Range in a series of southeasterly pitching folds. Because of topographical differences and of variations in the attitude of the bed, each property has its own mining methods and problems. Most of the phosphate rock produced since I930 has been shipped to the plant of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. at Trail, B.C., where it is treated with sulphuric acid for conversion to phosphoric acid, which in turn is used to produce various fertilizers. HISTORY The occurrence of rock phosphate in Montana has been known. since 1910, and the Garrison area was mapped by the United States Geological Survey in 1913In the nineteen twenties William Anderson, owner of a ranch 8 miles north of Garrison, discovered phosphate on his land, and the Montana Phosphate Co., which later became the Montana Phosphate Products Co., was formed to work the deposit. Montana Phosphate Products Co. later obtained United States leases on two adjoining parcels of ground, and this combined property, known as the Anderson mine, has been the main source of Consolidated's phosphate rock. The mine now includes an adjoining parcel leased from Anaconda and mined from the Anderson workings. In 1940, the Graveley mine, a small privately owned property 6 miles east of the Anderson, was leased from the owner by Montana Phosphate Products Co., and a U. S. lease held by Graveley on some adjoining ground was subleased. In 1943 the Luke mine, on the Mineral Hill property, 1 ¾ miles south-southwest of the Graveley, a U. S. lease, which previously had produced a few thousand tons, was optioned from the lessees by Montana Phosphate Products Co., and is now being developed. At both these mines the rock is appreciably higher grade than at the Anderson mine. GEOLOGY The Phosphoria formation is the Permian member of an extensive sequence of Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks. It is underlain by Pennsylvanian (Quadrant) quartzite and Mississippian limestone, and overlain without any marked unconformity by Jurassic (Ellis) shale and Cretaceous shale and sandstone. In the Garrison area, the Phosphoria itself consists mainly of about 50 ft. Of gray to yellow chert. Immediately below the chert is the phosphate, usually 3 to 4 ft. thick. Below the phosphate occur a few

Jan 1, 1945

By R. J. Schaefer, M. E. Glicksman

Direct, in situ observation of metallic alloys during solidification reveals that in some systems crystal multiplication occurs by means of a dendrite remelt-ing process, without the necessity of independent nu-cleation events. The solidification is observed on optically clean surfaces of supercooled molten alloys. In one system (Sn-3 wt pct Bi) , a fine-grained equi-axed structure is produced by the complete disintegration, via remelting, of transient initial dendrites. In contrast, several other metallic systems show little or no evidence of remelting activity. The behavior of these metallic systems is consistent with that expected on the basis of published observations of dendrite remelting in transparent organic alloy systems. It is concluded that dendrite remelting is an important crystal multiplication process in some metallic alloys, but is velatively unimportant in some other alloys. The detachment of dendrite branches from the primary stem by a remelting process has been observed by Jackson, Hunt, Uhlmann, and seward1 during the solidification of some transparent organic alloy systems. The branches released by this remelting process can drift free of the primary stem and serve as seeds for the formation of numerous independent crystals. This proliferation of new crystals does not require repeated independent nucleation events, but only modification of the initial solidification structure. The mechanism of dendrite remelting, as described by Jackson et a1.1 and by Tiller and O''Hara,2 is dependent on the transport of both heat and solute and is, therefore, expected to operate only in alloys, and not in pure substances. It was found in the transparent organic alloy systems that remelting occurred primarily in the constricted regions near the base of dendrite branches, where the branches had grown through the solute-rich liquid layer surrounding the primary dendrite stem. It was suggested that impure solid had formed in these constricted regions at a relatively low temperature and had later become unstable as further solidification of purer material raised the temperature. Jackson et al. proposed that the equiaxed zone of metal alloy castings originates from a similar remelting process, and they demonstrated the operation of this mechanism in "ingots" poured from saturated salt solutions. Although these substances were especially selected to show solidification behavior similar to that of metals,3 the remelting mechanism has, until now, been subject to the objection that its operation has not been directly observed in a metallic system. Considering the fact that thermal properties such as diffusivity may differ by as much as two or three orders of magnitude between metals and organic compounds, this objection was considered to be possibly serious. A method has now been developed by which it is possible to make direct optical observations of metals during solidification. This method has revealed transient solidification processes which would not be detected by metallographic examination of totally solidified specimens. In particular, a grain-refinement process in a metallic alloy has been observed to be a direct consequence of the total disintegration of an initial dendritic structure. The influence of an initial, transient solidification structure on the final solidification structure is demonstrated here for the first time in a metallic system. I) EXPERIMENTAL The technique of using a transparent flux to maintain an optically clean metal surface during solidification has been described by us elsewhere.* The

Jan 1, 1968

By AIME AIME

ALTHOUGH the retiring Chairman of the Industrial Minerals Division, Charles Henry Behre, Jr., does not say "you all" he is a product of the deep South, since he was born at Atlanta, on March 16, 1896. At the Boy Scout age he moved to New Orleans, where his father owned an ice plant, which seems an intelligent business for that climate. Intelligence evidently runs in the family, for Charlie, as his friends call him, has one sister who is a professor of zoology and another who is a concert pianist. Charlie has no explanation of why, when he reached college age, he decided to go to the University of Wisconsin, other than something more than an ordinary boyish interest in science, and the reputation which Wisconsin then enjoyed. At Madison he fell under the influence of Eliot Blackwelder, chose paleontology as his objective, and transferred, at the end of his sophomore year, to the University of Chicago, where the paleontological panorama seemed more extensive. He took his B.S. there in 1918, and graduated into the U. S. Army, where he eventually became a Sergeant in the Medical Corps.

Jan 1, 1945

By C. W. Burrows

The burden a man can endure depends on its magnitude and the number of times it is applied, as well as on many other factors. The resisting power of steel likewise is dependent on many factors. The maximum load it can support indefinitely is much less than its possible momentary burden. A light load straining the metal far within its elastic limit, if repeated indefinitely, ruptures the metal. The magnitude of the stresses that may be alternately applied and removed without rupturing the material depends on the number of repetitions of the cycle; the intervening periods of rest; the thermal, electric, and magnetic conditions, as well as the presence of secondary streessses. While we are unable to formulate the law between the magnitude of repeated stresses necessary to produce rupture and the length of time during which these alternating stresses may be applied before rupture, my experience is that the time increases as the magnitude of the force decreases, according to a law which! to a first approximation, is exponential. In other words, F = Ce-t where F= magnitude of alternating stresses; t= time for which stresses are continued; C = constant, which depends on the conditions under which the operations are carried out. It is quite probable that the same type of law holds for the magnitude of a continuous force and its duration. When a rod of steel is subjected to the blows of a drilling hammer several things happen. First, one end is struck by the hammer and the other end is driven into the rock, thus causing a bodily displacement of the entire material of the steel drill. The greatest stresses involved in this bodily displacement are located at the two ends of the steel and manifest themselves by the distortion of these parts. Second, after the blow has been delivered, the steel drill, due partly to its own resiliency and partly to the resiliency of the rock, experiences a vibratory motion as a whole, this motion is quite similar to the bouncing of a rubber ball thrown violently upon a smooth pavement. Third, the free vibration of the drill is determined only by its own natural period of vibration. This motion involves all the characteristics of any vibrating body emitting sound. Certain elements of the rod will experience alternations of condensation and rarefaction and, in these regions, the individual steel

Jan 1, 1922

By David C. Russell

The Department of the Interior used to be a quiet, noncontroversial, almost boring agency. It, after all is the fifth oldest of the Departments, and as an old line Federal agency it has studiously performed its preservation and resource management functions in a caretaker mode--though some would say more "undertaker" than "caretaker"--locking up the body and soul of America piece-by-piece. Yes, quiet, serene. That is until Jim Watt showed up. And we have all seen that version of Mt. Vesuvius which resulted--only it was the environmentalists who blew their tops. Ronald Reagan chose Jim Watt as Secretary of this fine old agency to prove that one-third of our Nation's land and over a billion acres on the Outer Continental Shelf can work for this Nation. At the foundation of President Reagan's charge to Secretary Watt is a belief in the tenets of the free enterprise system, and in the individual freedoms upon which this country was founded. There are those who don't share this belief in democracy and free enterprise, and those who believe this 205 year experiment called the United States of America will fail. Nikita Krushchev said "we will bury you"--obviously he didn't agree with our system. An Italian sociologist, Franco Ferrorotti, said bureaucratic stagnation will kill capitalism. Certainly we have all felt the ravages of bloated bureaucracies. Perhaps one indicator in the United States is the Federal Register, that daily compilation of Government's largesse. In 1970, 20,000 pages of the Federal Register were published. A decade later, in 1980, that volume had quadrupled to 80,000 pages. The Federal bureaucracy can stagnate from excessive budgets as well. The Interior Department spent $60 million on administering Federal coal leasing in 1981. That's nearly two bits a ton for every ton of coal leased in 1981. You wouldn't stay in business very long if your administrative overhead on inventory was that outrageous. But the pessimism of our critics is apparent from more than red tape and bloated budgets. For decades America has been fasting--consuming too little of America's wealth of minerals, subsisting instead on a diet heavily reliant upon mid-east oil, with little emphasis or concern for inventorying and developing domestic energy and mineral resources. Economics--yes. But short-term, short-sighted economics. Excessively dependent upon foreign imports, of oil, cobalt, chrome and other strategic minerals, the U.S. measures its time before another embargo--or fallen Shah, or Soviet manipulation, or Saudi shift, or, as we witnessed in Egypt, assassination--an untimely loss to mankind and efforts to bring peace to the troubled mid-east. These disruptions, in addition to their tragic human tolls, impair the free world's security. Huge chunks of the United States have been locked away in dozens of single land use categories in the name of conservation, with only the foggiest idea of what resources might be denied the American people-and this at a time of unacceptable levels of energy and strategic mineral imports. More than half and perhaps two-thirds of all Government-owned lands are totally withdrawn from or severely restricted to development under the mining and leasing laws. We must continue to rid Government of the overly zealous restraints which have been keeping us from drawing upon that which can help restore our economy and national security. When we assumed responsibility, the United States was dependent on foreign sources for about 40 percent of its oil. In 1981, our oil import bill was approximately $83 billion--nearly 17 times what it was in 1972. Our reliance on foreign sources for essential minerals is even more disturbing. We must look to other countries--some unfriendly, some unstable--for 22 of 36 strategically critical minerals. Yet the energy resources on federal lands which are owned by the American people could meet our needs for centuries if properly managed. Eighty-five percent of the crude oil yet to be discovered in America is likely to come from public lands, as will 40 percent of the natural gas, 35 percent of the coal, 80 percent of the oil shale, nearly all of the tar sands, and substantial portions of uranium and geothermal energy. Our vast hardrock-mineral wealth includes untapped deposits of essential elements we now import, such as chromium, copper, platinum, and cobalt. The obvious question is, if these abundant resources can help to revitalize our economic strength and to preserve our national security, why aren't we using them to better advantage? To a large extent, the answer can be found in past decisions to restrict public access to the federal estate, thus deferring to us or our successors the tough decisions that flow from Congress' mandate to provide for environmentally responsible development of America's energy and mineral treasures. Here is the legacy this Administration inherited: In January 1981, 7 years after the onset of the Mideast oil embargo: ---Less than 15 percent of federal onshore lands were under lease for oil and gas development; ---No oil and gas leases had been issued in Alaska for 15 years;

Jan 1, 1982

Discussion of the paper of Frederic P. Dewey, presented at the Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912, and printed in Bulletin -No. 70, October, 1912, pp. 1075 to 1101. EDWARD KELLER, Perth Amboy, N. J. (communication to the Secretary *) :-Mr. Dewey, in his paper, offers a liberal addition of new data to those already to be found in the technical literature on this subject. However, now as before, the work issuing from the U. S. mints and assay-offices conveys the impression that systematic sampling in those institutions is more or less a secondary consideration, the chief attention being given to the principle of producing approximately homogeneous bars; recourse being taken to remelting or refining the bullion. This practice has been definitely rejected in the realm of copper-bullion sampling, for the reason that in such operations there are always unaccounted losses. Does not the same objection hold true for gold-bullions; although, perhaps,in a lesser degree ? Differences of opinion would seem justified on the following statements made by Mr. Dewey: 1. "Only two classes of alloys can form homogeneous bars-those that are solid solutions, and the eutectics."

Jan 3, 1913

By Lombard Squires, W. K. Lewis, W. I. Thompson

Clays consist predominantly of hydrated silicates of alumina. The formula is frequently assumed to be A1203 . 2Si02 . 2H20,'and certain of I. North Carolina. Low plasticity. 11. Same as I, after washing. Low plasticity. III. Tennessee. Good plasticity. IV. Pennsylvania flint fireclay. Low plasticity. V. Laredo, Texas. Very plastic. CaO/Na2O corrected for GO2. VI. San Antonio, Texas. Fine grained, highly plastic. Moisture and CO2 were determined together at 18.8 per cent. VII. Selected crude bentonite, California. " Data from R. Ries: Clays. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1927. them undoubtedly have substantially this composition, but in general the ratio of silica to alumina is considerably higher. However, they always contain water of chemical constitution, as shown by Table 1.

Jan 1, 1935

INTERNAL The year 1976 was another outstanding year in the operation of the Institute and in the success of its varied activities. Total AIME membership reached 59,773 for a gain of. 6.4 percent. Total revenue increased to $5,111,2 10, up 22.4 percent, and balance sheet assets increased to $8,479,612, up 12.2 percent from the previous year. AIME and its constituent units conducted 30 technical meetings during the year, and attendance was up at most of them. Publications issued by the Constituent Societies continued a healthy growth. During the year 9 new local Sections were established, and at the end of the year the Institute had 150 Sections, with 19 of them overseas. Details on all of these operations are on pages 2 and 3 of this report.

Jan 4, 1977

By C. F. Mabery

So far as the elementary composition of petroleum is known, it may be briefly stated. Petroleum consists principally of a few series of hydrocarbons, with admixtures of sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen derivatives in comparatively minute proportions, which may be regarded as impurities to be removed in the preparation of commercial products. But as each series is represented by many homologs, in the aggregate, crude petroleum is an extremely complex mixture of hydrocarbons and their derivatives. In part, these hydrocarbons individually conform in structure to the system of synthetic hydrocarbons whose structure is well defined and represented by the typical series CnH2n, + 2, C.H2n, the series CnH2n,-2, CnH2,-a, the members of which have not been sufficiently studied to establish their structure, and the series CnHz,e composed of the aromatic group, benzene and its homologs. Hydrocarbons of greater density contained in the portions of petroleum that cannot be distilled without decomposition doubtless have less hydrogen than is represented by these formulas. Since to every hydrocarbon there is a definite temperature, even in vacuum, at which its constituent carbon and hydrogen atoms fall apart, and since for the heavier bodies this temperature is not much above 360" C. in vacuum, it is evident that some other method than distillation must be devised for their separation if anything further is to be learned concerning their individual constitution. Classification of Petroleums There is such a wide variation in the composition of petroleum from Merent fields, it would seem possible to make a classification on this basis were it not that no single variety is entirely free from hydrocarbons contained in others. Such a classification has been suggested of the exceptionally pure Pennsylvania petroleum, the sulfur oil from Trenton limestone and other sources, the California oil with its large amount of nitrogen (quinoline) derivatives, and the Russian oil, composed chiefly of the naphthene hydrocarbons.' A commercial distinction is made

Jan 1, 1921

THE following employment items are made available to AIME members on a non-profit basis by the Engineering Societies Personnel Service, Inc., operating in cooperation with the Four Founder Societies. Local offices of the Personnel Service are at 8 W. 40th.St. New York 18; 100 Farnsworth Ave., Detroit; 57. Post St., San Francisco; 84 E. Randolph St., Chicago 1. Applicants should address all mail to' the proper key numbers in care of the New York office and include 6c in stamps for forwarding and. returning application. The applicant agrees, if placed in a position by means of the Service, to pay the placement fee listed by the Service. AIME members may secure a weekly bulletin of positions available for $3.50 a quarter, $12 a year. MEN AVAILABLE Mining Engineer, 41, married, one child, employed. Broad experience, both underground and open-pit, type mining. Exploration, development, exploitation, industrial construction, milling in northwestern United States. Desires position with progressive, established concern. M-666-259¬Chicago. Recent Graduate, 24, married, no children, B.S. mineral economics. Employed-one year's experience in development of deposits, study of problem areas. Will accept position anywhere in the world. Available immediately. M-667.

Jan 1, 1952

By P. Pietrokowsky, T. E. Tietz, J. E. Dorn

The amount of solid solution hardening in aluminum alloys was found to be dictated by two factors: the lattice strain, and the change in the mean number of free electrons per atom of the solid solution. To obtain this correlation it was necessary to assume that aluminum contributes two electrons per atom to the metallic bond. WHEN the modern scientific method of analysis was first being formulated, Francis Bacon recorded in his "Essays" (circa 1600) that "an alloy . . . will make the purer but softer metal capable of longer life." During the intervening centuries voluminous data have been reported which demonstrate that the additions of alloying elements do in fact increase the hardness and strength of the pure metals. Nevertheless, the significant details of this problem on the unique effect of each element toward enhancing the mechanical properties of alloys only recently have been subjected to systematic scientific scrutiny. The major objective of this investigation is to determine how minor additions of alloying elements affect the plastic properties of polycrystalline aluminum alloys. By means of such studies it is hoped to provide not only data on the solution strengthening of aluminum alloys, but also a body of facts which will supplement the knowledge already available on the factors responsible for solution hardening in general. A review1"10 and analysis1' of the existing data on the effect of solute elements on the plastic properties of solid solutions reveal that our current knowledge on solid solution hardening is somewhat meager, inconsistent, and inconclusive. Many of the inconsistencies are undoubtedly attributable to the influence of unsuspected factors, such as purity; or uncontrolled factors, such as grain size, on the plastic properties of alloys. Nevertheless the following conclusions might be tentatively accepted: 1. Addition of solute elements invariably increases the yield strength, tensile strength, and hardness of the host element. 2. The rate of strain hardening, in general, increases with the concentration of the alloying element. 3. The strengthening effect in ternary alloys is the sum of the individual strengthening effects of the two solute elements as measured in their binary alloys. 4. The lattice strain is one factor that affects the strengthening of the alloy but it is not the only factor. 5. A second factor might be the difference in valence between the solute and solvent metals. All of the available evidence is in complete agreement with the first conclusion; the remaining conclusions, however, are not in agreement with all of the published data, but, in each case, the major weight of the existing evidence favors these deductions. Additional investigations will be required before most of these tentative conclusions can be accepted without reservation. In the following report an extensive investigation of the plastic properties of binary aluminum alloys is described. This work was undertaken in an attempt to shed more light on the general problem of solid solution hardening. Materials for Test: Aluminum was selected as the solvent metal for the present investigation on the effect of solute elements on the plastic properties of alloys. This choice was made for several reasons: (1) There appears to be little fundamental data in the published literature on the effect of solute elements on the properties of high-purity aluminum alloys. In view of the ever increasing economic importance of aluminum, such data would be of basic interest to the metallurgists concerned with the development of new aluminum alloys. (2) Aluminum is thought to be only partially ionized in the metallic state1' and consequently it might provide more complex relationships of the mechanical properties with the concentrations of the solute elements than more simple fully ionized solvents would reveal. (3) The data on aluminum alloys will provide a broader basis for correlations between the mechanical properties of metals in general and the concentration and atomic properties of the solute elements than is now available. Some complications, however, attend the selection of aluminum: The solubility of the various elements in the alpha aluminum phase are quite restricted, and not always well known. Consequently, only dilute solid solutions are available for study. This, however, may be somewhat advantageous because the dilute solution laws presumably are simpler than those applying to concentrated solutions. In addition, strain-hardened pure aluminum is known to recover at atmospheric temperatures. Very likely its alloys exhibit slower recovery rates. Thus, the secondary factor of effect of alloying elements on recovery might complicate the data. Such compli-

Jan 1, 1951

By George F. Comstock

It seems a common opinion among metallographists that all light-gray inclusions seen with the microscope in polished sections of steel are manganese sulphide. Examples of this belief are continually appearing, as for instance in the paper by Dr. Henry Fay on manganese sulphide as a source of danger in steel railsll and in Lieutenant-Commander Cook's paper on Metallography of Steel for U. S. Naval Ordnance.² Slate- colored inclusions are considered to be silicates, and dove-gray inclusions, manganese sulphide. To show the danger in the latter unqualified assumption, it should be sufficient to examine the edge of any piece of steel that is covered with a fairly thick scale, and that has been polished in such a way as to prevent the scale from breaking away entirely below the polished surface. This can be done by protecting the scaled edge of

Jan 1, 1917

By G. H. Billings

There exists an unconfirmed opinion among many ironmasters that the combination of a small quantity of manganese, chromium, titanium, tungsten, aluminium, nickel, and some of the metalloids with iron has a beneficial effect upon the quality. And the impression prevails in some localities that the excellence of steel greatly depends upon the influence of some of these elements. Brit as the recorded experiments are so meagrely described, and made under such various conditions, the student in search of information upon the subject is somewhat bewildered by the contradiction of the opinions expressed. Observing some interesting phenomena while experimenting with an alloy of iron, copper, and nickel, I was led to determine the effect of some of the metals upon iron as free from contamination by other elements as it is possible to procure in practice, in order that the result of an alloy of an individual metal with iron might be more closely studied; for it is almost an impossibility to determine the influence of a small amount of one element upon a metal combined with a large amount of another, and the mere presence of another sometimes makes this difficult. And as most of the experiments recorded upon this subject have been made with iron containing sufficient carbon and other elements to interfere with the effect of that metal the influence of which it was desired to observe, I have endeavored to avoid these sources of error as far as practicable. In determining the specific gravity of the alloys in these ex-

By Theodore Nagel

Fuel-oil, natural gas and coke oven gas, producing the higher temperatures of open-hearth current practice, have been gradually displacing producer gas the lowest cost fuel for open hearth operations. The lower temperatures of combustion products from producer gas is caused by nitrogen dilution. Practical Application of Combustion Thermochemistry One pound of carbon burned to CO produces 3,960 B.T.U. and one pound of carbon burned to C02 produces 14,140 B.T.U. The second unit of oxygen uniting-with gasified car-bon (-CO) produces (14,140 - 3,960) 10,180 B.T.U. which is;(10,180 - 3,960) 6,220 B.T.U. more heat than produced by the first, unit of oxygen forming CO by uniting with solid carbon. A review of the relative combustion heating values of commercial gaseous fuels reveals CO requires a minimum of air for combustion, and because of minimum nitrogen dilution and the high thermal release from CO higher temperature combustion products are produced from CO than from natural gas or from coke-oven gas under similar combustion conditions. Inert nitrogen diluent lowers the calorific value of fuel gas and its diluting effect is cumulative in lowering the temperature of the products of total, combustion. It is not only logical but, practical in partial combustion, converting bituminous coal to gas, to generate the gas, with reduced nitrogen dilution.

Jan 1, 1936

By T. J. Bosworth

The effect of hydrogen pretreatment of alumina, magnesia, and zirconia crucibles on reduced oxygen levels in iron charges has been studied. Hydrogen treatment of commercial high-purity magnesia crucibles was observed to produce as high as 70 pct reduction in oxygen content in iron melts. Hydrogen treatment of the commercial high-purity grade zirconia crucibles produced a 25 pct reduction in oxygen levels in iron melts. An average reduction of Knoop hardness of 47 pct was recorded on the iron charges melted in hydrogen-treated crucibles. On the basis of the experiments and the free-energy diagram, it appears that the major source of reducible oxygen to the iron charge is the suboxides and impurity oxides rather than the major oxide of the crucible. Suitable pretreatment of the crucibles to reduce and remove these oxides yields low oxygen levels in iron melted in the crucibles. DURING the last decade, attempts to produce more pure and uniform alloyed metals have brought about the development of many new melting techniques. Notable among these are vacuum-induction melting, inert and consumable-electrode melting, the cold-mold technique, and numerous techniques for removal of impurities by chemical reaction. However great the achievements in this field, metals must still be melted in contact with media of varying reactivity; i.e., gas, ceramic, and slag. Studies have been made to attain an understanding of the reactions that take place during melting, including slag-metal reactions and equilibria, equilibrium of hydrogen and water vapor, and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide with oxygen in molten iron. These reactions have been treated quite thoroughly. There is one condition, however, that has been widely overlooked, and, to the author's knowledge, only cursive investigation has been made of it. This is the reaction between the ceramic crucible material and the iron charge. In recent years, Hadley and Bianchi' made a series of studies on hydrogen deoxidation of iron in magnesia crucibles. Bianchi2 studied crucible-FeO equilibria in the temperature range 1525°to 1650°C in high vacuum with, however, inconsistent results. Richardson and Jeffes3 in their series of articles on thermodynamic reactions in the making of iron and steel refer to Wentrup and Hieber's4 work on iron and aluminum deoxidation. Their pork included melting iron in alumina crucibles and measuring the aluminum and oxygen content in the iron. Because of the low values obtained, question has arisen of their analytical accuracy.3 Dastur and chipman5 obtained values on hydrogen-oxygen equilibrium in molten iron contained in alumina crucibles similar to those obtained in experiments in the present program. Hochmann6 studied removal of impurities in chromium irons in high vacuum. His results with respect to oxygen level in chromium-iron melted in magnesia crucibles are consistent with results we have obtained.

Jan 1, 1959

By Theodore Nagel

Fuel-oil, natural gas and coke oven gas, producing the higher temperatures of open-hearth current practice, have been gradually displacing producer gas the lowest cost fuel for open hearth operations. The lower temperatures of combusts on products from producer gas is caused by nitrogen dilution. Practical Application of Combustion Thermochemistry One pound of carbon burned to CO produces 3,960 B.T.U. and one pound of carbon burned to C02 produces 14,140 B.T.U. The second unit of oxygen uniting with gasified carbon (CO) produces (14,140 - 3,960) 10,180 B.T.U. which is (10,180 - 3,960) 6,220 B.T.U. more heat than produced by the first unit of oxygen forming CO by uniting with solid carbon. A review of the relative combustion heating values of commercial gaseous fuels reveals CO requires a minimum of air for combustion and because of minimum nitrogen dilution and the high thermal release from CO higher temperature combustion products are produced from CO than from natural gas or from coke-oven gas under similar combustion conditions. Inert nitrogen diluent lowers the calorific value of fuel gas and its diluting effect is cumulative in lowering the temperature of the products of total combustion. It is not only logical but practical in partial combustion, converting bituminous coal to gas, to generate the gas with reduced nitrogen dilution.

Jan 1, 1936

By G. S. Brooks

DURING the past few years, the Mineral Point Zinc Co. has had under consideration the improvement of various types of gas-filtering apparatus used in the removal of dust from crushing and milling plants, in the manufacture of oxide, and on blast-furnace fume and sintering furnaces. The original equipment of the various plants of the company was, of course, along lines of the standard stationary bag house. These houses required large surfaces, hand shaking, and varied only in the manner of the collection of solids and in the distribution of the gas. Early in 1908, the first trial of a mechanical bag house was made at Nassau Plant at Depue, Ill. The duty of this installation was on dust-laden gas from a fine-crushing mill. The Printz and Rau bag machine was finally adopted and put into operation. This ingenious machine embodied what were then to us two novel features in bag-house practice: 1. An intermittent crinkling and snapping of the filtering fabric to free the meshes of solids. i 2. A reversal of gas flow for a short period by a temporary connection w th the suction trunk. This equipment worked fairly well except in cold weather, when we ran into condensation troubles. Had we at that time understood more fully some of the limitations of fabric filtering work, these might well have been remedied. We were impressed by this experience, however, with the efficiency of sudden tension on the fabric under suction. After a study had been made of some of the Western blast-furnace houses using the reversal-of-flow feature, experiments were started early in 1914 with a view to developing an automatic equipment along the best lines of our past experience. The objects sought were: 1. Keeping labor out of the houses for hygienic reasons. 2. Reduction of labor costs. 3. Reduction in -size of hag houses. 4. Accessibility. 5. Ability to handle relatively hot gases where required.

Jan 11, 1917

By C. E. Lundin, D. T. Klodt

The binary alloy systems, Y-Ti, Y-Zr, and Y-Hf, have been investigated throughout their entire composition regions. There is no compound formation in any of the systems, and each system is characterized by a single eutectic reaction. The eutectic compositions and temperatures are as follows: A eutectoid reaction pct Y and 870°C occurs in the Y-Ti system, whereas a peritectoid reaction,: pct Y and 880°C occurs in the Y-Zr system. Peri-tectic-type reactions at temperatures above the eutectic levels are postulated for the yttrium and hafnium transfovmations. The development of the technology of yttrium has been given considerable attention during the past few years, and studies of binary phase equilibria have, of course, taken a prominent position in this development. In many respects yttrium, in the third group of metals of the periodic table, is similar to the adjacent group of metals, titanium, zirconium, and hafnium, and the knowledge of the phase relationships of yttrium with these metals is basic to their technology. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Materials. The metals for this investigation were supplied by the General Electric Co., Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Department. The yttrium was in the form of an arc-melted ingot, and the other metals were in the form of high-purity, iodide-Process crystal bar. Table I lists the purities of these materials. Alloy Preparation. Melting was done by conventional techniques in a nonconsumable electrode arc furnace in an atmosphere of purified argon. Melting conditions for each binary system were the same. Each alloy button was inverted and remelted several times to assure homogeneity. Accurate weights of the charges and resultant alloy buttons were obtained to indicate deviations from intended compositions. No chemical analyses were obtained since melting weight losses were consistently in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 pct of the total weight. 10- or 20-g buttons for each 5.0 wt pct composition increment were melted to survey the three individual alloy systems. Additional alloys differing in composition by 1.0 or 0.1 wt pct increments were also melted to study selected regions of the systems. Metallograpllic Techniques. Standard metallo-graphic techniques were followed for mounting and rough grinding. Preliminary polishing was accomplished using 6-u diamond paste as an abrasive on a Metcloth Lap. Final polishing was done on a Microcloth-covered wheel using 1-u diamond abrasive paste. Purified kerosene was used as a lubricant for both polishing stages. • sothermal- Annealing. Alloys were sectioned for as-cast structlure examinations and then homogenized in preparation for isothermal-annealing treatments. Homo{:enization was accomplished by cold pressing the alloy buttons followed by 72-hr anneals at 1100c. The alloys were encapsulated in Vycor or quartz for the homogenization treatments or for isothermal anneals. Resistance-wound or resistance-element tube furnaces were used for the annealing treatments. The homogenized alloy buttons were cold rolled until cracking occurred or until a -in. specimen thickness was obtained. Small -in. square) specimens for the isothermal anneals were then sawed from the alloys. Each specimen was wrapped in tantalum foil before being sealed in the capsule. Temperatures during the anneals were controlled The time at temperature necessary to equilibrate the structures during the anneals was determined for each alloy system by holding triplicate specimens of alloys at a constant temperature for three different periotls. The specimens were quenched and examined microscopically to determine the number and amounts of phases present in the micro-structure as a function of time. Melting Studies. Eutectic temperatures of the three alloy systems were established from the results of incipient-melting studies conducted on as-cast alloys. Specimens to be melted were suspended on a tungsten wire inside a graphite cylinder placed in a glass vacuum chamber. An optical pyrometer was used to follow the temperature of the specimen as it was inductively heated in a high vacuum. The temperatures were corrected for emissivity losses by standardizing the pyrometer with known-melting-point metals. Accuracy of the temperature measurements is estimated to be + 10°C. The melting point of the yttrium was determined to be 1550°C by this technique. The invariant-temperature levels were also checked by an anneal-quench technique. This technique consists of annealing a series of

Jan 1, 1962

By Francis B. Foley

Fundamentally, slag control in acid open-hearth steelmaking cannot be considered from any different viewpoint than can that in basic open-hearth melting. The same laws of mass action and distribution apply in both cases, so that while most, if not all, of the recent intensive study of slag-metal reactions have been carried on in basic furnaces the principles evolved are nevertheless applicable to acid open-hearth steelmaking and it is therefore not our intention to discuss the various possible chemical reactions in the slag and between slag and metal. The points we have to carry in mind, in considering acid melting practice, are the differences in the type of steels produced and the difference in the chemistry of both the steel and the slag. The acid furnace is used to produce, let us not say "quality" steel, for, after all, a "quality" steel for one purpose is not a "quality" steel for another, but steels that require acid melting practice to be of proper "quality." Steels that are required to have high physical properties in tests taken transversely from forgings are peculiarly the product of acid furnaces. In this class may be placed various ordnance materials, notably gun forgings and projectiles and large commercial forgings requiring high transverse ductility. Forgings requiring an extremely hard surface, polished and free from imperfections, are also typical acid-steel products. Of course, such forgings can be made of basic open-hearth steel, but not with the same assurance of success. At the start, the preparation of the slag in the acid and basic furnaces differs. Lime is charged in the beginning of a basic heat to form a slag, but in the acid furnace nothing is added for the special purpose of producing a slag when the heat is melted down. The result is that the acid furnace has much less volume of slag than the basic. The slag formed upon melting down is made up almost entirely of the oxides of elements contained in the metallic charge, notably oxides of iron, manganese and silicon, the amount of silica being augmented somewhat by erosion of the furnace lining. A typical acid open-hearth slag, when the bath is completely melted, will have an analysis about as follows: CaO, 3.40 per cent; SiO2, 51.9; Fe2O3, 1.25 ; FeO, 28.86; Al2o3, 1.82; MnO, 12.22. The high iron oxide content of the slag gives it a black appearance. The metal is high in carbon and some manganese and silicon will be present, depending on the amount in the original charge, the amount of

Jan 1, 1935