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By K. L. Rubow

"IntroductionAir sampling for airborne contaminants requires a system for moving air, a collection method, and a procedure to determine the quantity of contaminant collected. Because occupational exposure limits and air quality standards frequently are expressed in terms of concentrations, a method of determining the volume of air sampled is also needed. The four principal components in a sampling train are shown in Figure 12-1. The inlet admits the air sample into the train; the collector(s) separates the gas, vapor, or particles from the air; the flowmeter measures the rate or total quantity of air sampled; and the pump (air mover) provides the suction required to draw an air sample through the train. Inlet sampling considerations are discussed in Chapter 21. Various types of collectors are described in subsequent chapters. Flowmeters are discussed in Chapter 7.This chapter will describe the air mover portion of the sampling train and air sampling systems that contain three or four components in a convenient package. The chapter consists of two parts. The first part contains a brief description of the different types of air movers and air sampling systems. The second part consists of tables and figures showing detailed information on a wide variety of commercially available air movers and sampling systems. ient size is filled with a liquid in which the suspected contaminant is insoluble. When the liquid is allowed to escape from the vessel, it is replaced by air from the atmosphere to be sampled. Such an air sample is an integrated sample rather than an instantaneous sample because the mass of fluid requires a finite time to empty. In fact, by employing a large vessel with controlled drainage, this method can be used to move air at low flow rates through a sample collector for extended intervals. Additional discussion of this method can be found in Chapter 17."

Dec 1, 1996

By F. W. Lee

List of GEOPHYSICAL ABSTRACTS

Jul 1, 1932

By Gerald W. Elger

To determine the feasibility of removing nonferrous metal impurities from automobile scrap by thermal treatment in a rotary kiln, the Bureau of Mines conducted four series of tests with synthetic scrap mixtures heated at various temperatures under oxidizing and reducing conditions. The treated scrap mixtures were melted in an electric-arc furnace and cast into small ingots for impurity evaluation. Analyses showed that the ingots were essentially free of residual metal impurities except for copper. Test data indicated that in an oxidizing atmosphere the percentage of copper removed increased with treatment temperature. Percent of copper removed in a reducing atmosphere was found not to be temperature dependent. A significant finding was that copper was embrittled under some of the operating conditions and was mechanically removed by fragmentation.

Jan 1, 1968

By Charles A. Sorrell

This Bureau of Mines publication reviews the structural characteristics of crystalline phases and phase equilibria data for the system NaC1-KC1-AlC13-NaF-KF-AlF3, which encompasses a large number of molten salt fluxes currently used in aluminum recycling. Its purpose is to provide guidelines for research into the relationships between molten salt compositions and their physical properties, notably vapor pressures, densities, surface tensions, and viscosities, knowledge of which is essential to maximizing fluxing efficiencies and metal recovery and minimizing hazardous emissions and disposal problems. In addition, this report describes experimental determinations of sub-solidus compatibility relationships in the system, which is of the quaternary reciprocal type, containing 12 different stable 4-phase assemblages in the solid state. The compatibility diagram serves to define the important compositional planes across which important changes in properties are likely to occur.

Jan 1, 1986

By Alton B. Cook

A material balance equation was derived for calculating (1) the initial oil volume and (2) the relationship of average reservoir pressure to net gas in storage in reservoirs used for natural gas storage operations. The equation is also applicable to secondary-recovery operations where reservoirs are completely repressured and gas cycled. Using this equation minimized two probable sources of appreciable error in conventional material balance calculations: inaccurate measuring of and accounting for produced gas, and differences between true reservoir pressure and average reservoir pressures as derived from bottom-hole pressure measurements. A new procedure is presented for calculating water encroachment. By solving the conventional material balance equation and the derived equation for gas storage simultaneously, the values for initial oil in place and net water encroachment can both be determined.

Jan 1, 1966

By H. E. Powell

A laboratory mineral-dressing investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Mines on four limonitic and four sideritic iron ores from the North Basin of the east Texas iron-ore district. The samples, composited from drill cores, were considered representative of the iron-ore reserves of the area. The objectives of this research were twofold: (1) To devise a mineral-dressing method whereby the yield from currently mined east Texas iron ores might be increased and the grade improved, and (2) to extend such treatment to include the lower grade ferruginous materials that are not amenable to beneficiation by simple washing and, therefore, are not being exploited. Of the mineral-dressing methods used in this investigation, magnetic separation of roasted are was shown to be the most effective. Results show that, by this method, a laboratory recovery of 82 percent of the iron is attainable at a grade surpassing that obtained by current plant practice and that both limonite and siderite are amenable to concentration by the process. The existence of large deposits of iron are in eastern Texas has been recognized for over 100 years. These ores were first exploited during the Civil War and were mined intermittently until about 1911. From that time until 1944 when the Defense Plant Corporation financed the erection of three blast furnaces to use these east Texas ores, production was almost at a standstill.4/

Jan 1, 1960

By R. L. Marek

The number of Persons fatally injured in the petroleum industry in California in 1930 was 50, a decrease of 20.6 per cent from 1929, when 63 men accidentally lost their lives. The decrease in the number of fatalities for 1930 has caused the first downward trend in the fatality curve of the California petroleum industry since 1927 and is coincident with a period of little active development in new fields, the shutting in of many wells, and reduced activity in the older fields of the State. That a direct relationship exists between the number of accidental deaths and the rapidity of new field development is particularly emphasized by the fact that in 1929, a year of intensive field development in California, 48 men were killed in the drilling and producing division, whereas in 1930, a year of less development work, only 25 men were killed in this division. The figures for the average number of drilling and producing wells in 1930 decreased appreciably from comparable figures for 1929 and a greater percentage of producing wells were shut-in in 1930 than in 1929.

Jan 1, 1931

By R. L. Marek

The number of persons fatally injured in the petroleum industry in California in 1930 was 50, a decrease of 20.6 per cent from 1929, when 63 men accidentally lost their lives. The decrease in the number of fatalities for 1930 has caused the first downward trend in the fatality curve of the California petroleum industry since 1927 and is coincident with a period of little active development in new fields, the shutting in of many wells, and reduced activity in the older fields of the State. That a direct relationship exists between the number of accidental deaths and the rapidity of new field development is particularly emphasized by the fact that in 1929, a year of intensive field development in California, 48 men were killed in the drilling and producing division, whereas in 1930, a year of less development work, only 25 men were killed in this division. The figures for the average number of drilling and producing wells in 1930 decreased appreciably from, comparable figures for 1929 and a greater percentage of producing wells were shut-in in 1930 than in 1929.

Jan 1, 1931

By H. B. Hill

The discovery of the Oklahoma City field and its rapid development into one of the major oil-producing districts is an outstanding epoch in the history of the petroleum industry not only of Oklahoma but also of the United States. The relatively great depth to which the wells were drilled and the large initial production of high-gravity oil are of special significance. The field has boon under proration almost from the time that its development began, and many new production problems have developed out of the changed conditions of operation. The discovery well was first tested in December 1928 at a depth of 6,402 feet, with an initial production of 4,847 barrels of 38,5.° A.P.I. gravity oil, and several months later was, completed at a depth of 6,624 feet, The large initial production, the high pressure, and the large gas volume in the different horizons of the discovery well suggested the potential possibilities of gas and oil, production in formations of Pennsylvanian and pre-Pennsylvanian age.

Jan 1, 1933

By William H. Schiffbauer

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has been investigating methods and technology that may improve safety and production when applied to existing mining machines. Toward those goals, the Bureau has developed navigation systems that provide machine positional information while in the production area. This research has been limited in the past because the Bureau had only one type of mining machine to do experiments. Addressing this problem, the Bureau, along with Carnegie Mellon University, has developed a generic vehicle emulator, in the form of a wheeled vehicle with an onboard computer, known as the Locomotion Emulator, that provides a software-selectable vehicle emulation package. Preliminary testing by the Bureau has shown that the emulator can accurately imitate the maneuvers of the software selected vehicle type. Now the Bureau can test their navigation systems on different vehicle types without having to procure each of the vehicles. This report completely describes the emulator as well as all the modes in which it can be operated.

Jan 1, 1991

By R. W. Hiteshue, R. W. Fridy, W. Kawa

A study of the production of coronene , a high - melting ( 440 ° C ) , highboiling ( 525 ° C) , polynuclear hydrocarbon , was made by the Bureau of Mines to determine the maximum yield obtainable by the hydrogenation of coal and coalderived materials . Experiments were made with anthracite and bituminous coals and with asphaltenes and centrifuged residue obtained from heavy oil produced in a pilot plant by the hydrogenation of a bituminous coal at 2,000 psi and 480 ° C. With anthracite , yields of coronene of 0.5 to 0.7 wt pct of moistureand ash - free coal were obtained at 6,000 to 8,000 psi , 700 ° to 750 ° C , and a residence time of 30 minutes . With bituminous coal , yields averaging 0.4 wt pct of maf coal were obtained at 6,000 psi , 800 ° C , and 30 minutes ' residence time . With asphaltene and centrifuged residue , yields of less than 0.02 wt pct of maf coal were obtained at 6,000 psi , 700 ° C , and 60 minutes ' residence time .

Jan 1, 1964

By A. C. Richardson, G. D. Coe, B. M. Bird

"The Hull mine of the De'Bardeleben Coal Corporation is located in the Warrior field, in Walker County, Ala., about 25 miles northwest of Birmingham. The Mary Lee bed at this point is coking coal and has been used in the manufacture of by-product coke, but at present it is sold exclusively as a domestic and locomotive fuel.The data in this paper, which is the third in a series on the washability of Alabama coals,5 have been obtained in connection with an exhaustive study of coal preparation in Alabama now being conducted by the U. S. Bureau of Mines and the University of Alabama with the cooperation of the different coal operators. The paper contains screen-sizing and float-and.-sink tests of a representative sample of run-of-mine coal, and flakiness tests and crushing tests of certain sizes.In addition, complete analyses of the ¾-inch to 3/16-inch size, raw coal, together with ash fusibility tests of the float-and-sink fractions have been made; those results are given in Tables 1 and 2. Since they indicate that the pr ration problem, like that at Lewisburg, Ala., is one of ash reduction, the further tests and the discussion have been restricted to that subject."

Apr 1, 1931

By R. F. Abernethy

Recent investigations in the United States and in other countries have produced considerable information on the nature and occurrence of minor elements in coal. The possibility of recovering certain elements, particularly germanium and uranium, from coal ash and other coal products has received considerable attention. Some flue dusts are potential sources of germanium, and certain lignite deposits are potential sources of uranium, but industrial recovery of these elements has been limited to small quantities for technical and economic reasons. Considering the large amount of coal mined annually, a small percentage of a rare element may have industrial significance if an economical method of recovery can be developed. In 1944 information on the occurrence of rare elements in coal was reviewed in Bureau of Mines Technical Paper 669 (46).3 This report is a revision of that paper with the view of summarizing published information available for United States coals, and pertinent information concerning coals of other countries. Selected references from the original paper are retained. New references do not include all preliminary reports when more permanent literature describing complete projects is available. Consequently, the list of references should not be considered complete.

Jan 1, 1963

By Kenneth L. Kreamalmyer

"The demand for open-hearth iron ore and the existence of suitable smelting facilities in the St. Louis area seemed to warrant investigation of several Missouri iron-ore deposits of the filled-sink type. Preliminary examinations were made in the autumn of 1944 by an engineer3/ of the Bureau of Nines, and in December of the same year funds were allotted for the exploration of these properties by churn drilling. Three properties, the Silver Hollow Bank and the Newbauer and Coleman properties, were drilled. Work was completed May 8, 1945.The Federal Geological Survey and the Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources assisted in the project by determining the stratigraphy from drill cuttings and by mapping the drilled areas.The properties explored are in the hilly section of east-central Missouri and are connected by all-weather graveled roads with various shipping points of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway system within 3 to 6 miles of each property.The Silver Hollow Bank, in sec., 8, T, 40 N., R. l W. Franklin County, Missouri, is in the Meramec State Game Reserve. The nearest town and shipping point is Sullivan, Mo„ which is 6 miles distant. The Newbauer property, in sec. 28, T. 41 N., R, 2 W., Franklin County, Missouri, is approximately 3 miles west of Stanton; The Coleman property, in sec. 14, T. 38 N., R. 3 W., Crawford. County, Missouri, is within a short hauling distance of the railway at Elayer, Mb. These are shown on figure 1.The region surrounding the explored areas contains a series of low-lying hills or ridges and narrow winding valleys drained by the Meramec River system. These hills seldom rise more than 200 feet above the valley floors, most of which are approximately 700 feet above sea level. Except for numerous small farms and a few small towns, the entire region is covered by a dense growth of timber and small brush. The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway system, U. S. Highway 66, and numerous all-weather State and county roads traverse the area."

Oct 1, 1945

By William A. Sloan

"In smelting operations, finely divided material called ""flue dust"" is carried by the moving gases from the roasters and furnaces; it is partly settled and recovered in the flue system. The flue dust from copper smelters contains a high percentage of copper, usually some gold and silver, and occasionally other valuable metals. It is too valuable to throw away and in present practice is returned to the smelting furnaces for re-treatment. A part of this material again passes out with the gases and forms a circulating dust load in the system. The dust that passesout of the stacks into the atmosphere is an important source of loss in copper smelting. Loss of values also occurs by dust being blown away while in transit from the flues back to the furnace, and of course the greater the amount of rehandling the greater this loss.Dust carried in the gas currents causes corrosion of the roof arches in reverberatory furnaces. Returning flue dust to the furnace increases the quantity of suspended dust. Corrosion reduces the life of the arches and shortens the length of furnace campaigns; also the corrosion of arches limits the temperature at which a furnace may be operated. Every ton of material that must be re-treated in the furnaces reduces correspondingly the amount of new ore or concentrates that could be smelted.As the present tendency is toward finer grinding in flotation plants smaller particles will need to be treated at the smelters, increasing the difficulty of preventing losses in flue dusts. Many schemes and processes for a more economical method of treating flue dust have been proposed or tried, but in the main none of them has been successful."

May 1, 1928

By Richard F. Link

The objective of this report is to explain a statistical method for the summarization, organization, and classification of multivariate assay and other data from the mineral industry. Multivariate data are those characterized by several measurements at each data point, such as assay data from a mixed metal mine, or blast furnace data. A specific method of linear discriminant analysis, the Mahalanobis d2 procedure, is explained, starting from elementary principles; the d2 procedure enables many measurements at many data points to be studied by investigating the interrelationships among the data. The relation of linear discriminant analysis to other statistical methods for treating multivariate data, in particular the eigenvalue technique of factor analysis, is also explained. Example analyses are made on data from the Frisco mine, San Francisco del Oro, Chihuahua, Mexico. The data comprise assay values for silver, lead, copper, and zinc taken at some 19,000 sample points distributed into 91 groups.

Jan 1, 1967

By Lyman Moore

This Bureau of Mines report describes 2nd evaluates iron ore resources in California and Nevada and analyzes the California and Japanese iron ore markets in which these resources will be used. The competitive position of California-Nevada ores, in these markets, was estimated by comparing regional iron ore prices, production costs, and transportation costs with those of foreign suppliers. Resources were determined to be sufficient to produce the equivalent of 585 million tons of 64-percent iron pellets at a price of less than $15 per ton delivered at California ports. Much higher tonnage could be produced at higher prices. Iron ore requirement of the California iron and steel industry will increase to an estimated 15.9 million tons by the year 2000. A study of the iron ore production potential of California-Nevada deposits and of out-of- State sources indicated that this ore requirement can be supplied most economically by California-Nevada ores. Iron ore import requirements of the Japanese iron and steel industry will increase to an estimated 150.0 million tons by the year 2000. A study of price trends in this market indicated that very little California-Nevada iron ore will be sold in Japan after 1973 when existing sales contracts expire. Iron ore-exports might be economically possible if ore could be transported from California to Japan at ballast rates as backhaul on existing petroleum shipping.

Jan 1, 1971

By Roger G. Long

This final report reviews installation, maintenance and inspection of mine pager telephone installations. A Technical Handbook was developed and distributed. Certain commercial telephone test equipment was modified and a tone source and switching circuit were developed for use in the testing of mine pager phone systems. Descriptions are included of the modifications to a commercial test set and of a tone source/ switching unit.

Jan 1, 1975

By W. S. Landers

This bulletin is a detailed study of low-temperature, entrained-bed carbonization of a Texas lignite. The lignite studied was from the Sandow strip mine and is representative of the Rockdale formation of the Wilcox formational group. Carbonization was conducted in a continuous entrained-bed reactor at several temperatures in the 8801 to 1,52°C F range, and at air-coal ratios it the 0 to 10.30 scf/lb range (moisture- and ash-free basis). Carbonization rates ranged from 97.1 to 410.0 lb/hr (as-received basis), At the higher air-to-coal ratios employed, all or most of the carbonization heat was provided by internal combustion with air in the reactor. At the lower air-to-coal ratios, parts of the heat for carbonization was supplied externally. It was demonstrated that the entrained-bed carbonization of lignite is a complex reaction and that several variables, of which carbonization temperature, air-to-lignite ratio, and the average size of lignite are important, act together to influence both the carbonization yields and the properties of the resultant products, Process variables established by pant tests were used to design the industrial scale carbonizer operated at Rockdale, Texas, by the Texas Power & Light Company as agents for the Aluminum Company of America. Properties of the carbonization product obtained from the industrial scale reactor were essentially the same as those obtained from the pilot plant reactor operated under the same conditions.

Jan 1, 1968

By C. L. Karr

U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) research has shown that fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms (GA's) have great potential for industrial process control. A technique has been developed by the USBM in which GA's are used to substantially reduce the time needed to design fuzzy logic controllers (FLC's).This technique shows promise as an efficient, robust approach to developing control systems. The research described in this report is twofold. First, the basic approach to developing an FLC using GA's is presented. The GA-designed FLC is developed for a specific physical system, a pH titration system. Second, empirical results are presented in which variations in the FLC implementation are compared. Specifically, the effects of altering five aspects of the pH FLC are considered: (1) membership function form, (2) number of fuzzy classes, (3) the center-of-area method, (4) implication operator, and (5) fuzzy rule form. Results indicate that (1) the technique in which GA's are used to design FLC's is effective, and (2) when this technique is used, variations in FLC implementation have little effect on FLC performance in a chosen control problem.

Jan 1, 2010