Search Documents

By Ernest A. Hersam

The advantages of the tri-axial diagram in representing the composition of slags and silicates are well appreciated by many metallurgists. Prof. H. M. Howe* has pointed out the application of a fourth variable, in connection with the diagram, and has called attention to the usefulness of the general systern of tri-axial representation. In the discussion of Prof. Howe's paper, Mr. Firmstone† indicated how certain distances could be measured directly by projection. Prof. R. H. Thurston,‡ as early as 1877, had made use of a typtic model and of triangular diagrams, with contour-lines, rekrresenting varying physical properties corresponding to varying chemical composition. Still earlier, Prof. J. Willard Gibbs§ had used the diagram in similar work; and other scientists were thought by him to have preceded him in its use. During the period of nearly a quarter-century, following these early publications, there has been an ever-increasing use of graphic methods in numerous branches of scientific work, stimulated, in part, by the possibility of representation by three co-ordinates upon plane-surfaces. Yet the number of possible co-ordinates for graphic representation has always been, and always must be, insufficient to express many facts which are shown mathematically; while, without graphic representation, the involved nature of mathematical expression often fails to facilitate and promote research. The coming into use, therefore, of the fourth co-ordinate, permitting representation by four variables, marks but the beginning of some lines of research which could not well advance without this aid.

Jan 1, 1902

By Francis M. Rice

Before the world-wide depression, the primary purpose of most blast-furnace operators was to produce a maximum tonnage of pig iron per day for each furnace in blast. Some attention was paid to the conservation of labor and raw materials, but the idea was well established that low-cost pig iron was attainable only when each furnace was producing a high tonnage. After the depression had set in, the picture changed considerably. Each blast-furnace operator was forced to run his plant in a manner that best fitted the economical set-up of his company. A great deal of thought was expended on the different methods of operation, always with the idea of making each product in a way that would best serve his company financially. Because of this abnormal condition, the blast-furnace man was compelled to indulge in various practices of which many had been believed to be next to impossible up to that time. The ultimate purpose of these innovations was either one or a combination of the following: 1. To produce only enough pig iron for immediate consumption at a minimum cost. 2. To produce gas for boiler or mill use to supplant some higher priced fuel. 3. To consume the coke produced at the coke plant, which was often viewed as a byproduct. 4. To protect the cash position of the company. These conditions were met by diverse methods, some of which were: 1. Slow or decreased wind. In some instances the blast blown was held as low as 25 per cent of the normal volume. 2. Intermittent operation, in which the furnaces were shut down or "fanned" at frequent intervals.

Jan 1, 1935

By Paul H. Lu, Fred D. Wright

Numerous laboratory tests and field measurements conducted by different persons have indicated that most mine rocks behave viscoelastically rather than elastically. Hence, for an accurate and realistic design of underground structure, the time factor should be taken into account, and the theory of viscoelasticity can be used. By considering the time factor, the time-safe-strength may be used for economical design instead of liberal safety factors with design based on the elasticity theory. The deflection and moment distributions on an elastic roof slab resting on elastic pillars have already been studied.l In this chapter, the stress- strain analysis for a viscoelastic mine roof resting on pillars of the same material or on supports of different material is first considered theoretically. Viscoelastic solutions for deflections, moments, and shears are de- rived from the elastic plate theory on the basis of the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle. The Laplace transformation technique is employed as the operational method in the mathematical treatment. The roof slab materials are represented by four different rheological models and four different loading histories are considered. The method of finite difference equations is employed for solving the partial differential equations, using FORTRAN programs to calculate roof deflections, moments, and shears. Numerical examples are given for one of the four models under two of the four loading histories with regular and staggered pillar patterns. The results are discussed in terms of the variance with time of deflections, moments, and shears as well as their variation in space due to the dimensions and configuration of the structure system. A viscoelastic slab resting on viscoelastic pillars or on elastic supports

Jan 1, 1972

By R. B. Campbell

One of the three power plants that will be in the Curecanti Unit of the Bureau of Reclamation's Colorado River Storage Project is the power plant at Morrow Point Dam. Presently under construction, the Morrow Point Power Plant is between Gunnison and Montrose on the Gunnison River in west-central Colorado. (Fig. 1). Morrow Point Dam will be a thin, double-curvature, concrete-arch dam, 465 ft high and will impound 120,000 acre-ft of water. Two 60,000-kw hydroelectric generators will be housed in an underground power plant in the left abutment just down- stream from the dam. The power-plant chamber will be an unlined opening 205.5 ft long, 57 ft wide and 65 to 134 ft high. The arch-type roof with a rise-to-span ratio of 1 to 4 will be supported with rock bolts and chain link fence. A description and discussion of the design considerations for the power-plant opening and rock bolt design are given by William H. Wolf, Gilbert L. Brown, and Ernest D. Morgan in "Morrow Point Under- ground Powerplant," ASCE Power Division Specialty Conference, Denver Colorado, August 18-20, 1965. The Morrow Point site is in a moderately active region of mild earth- quakes, as evidenced by recent earthquakes in 1960 and 1962. Therefore, the Bureau of Reclamation undertook an investigation of the effects on the underground power-plant chamber when subjected to an earthquake. The art of earthquake engineering has been directed primarily at developing methods of analyzing the nature of ground surface motions and designing surface structures to resist damage from vibrations impressed on the structure by the ground motions. The mechanism of straining an underground cavity by an earthquake

Jan 1, 1968

By Francis M. Rice

Before the world-wide depression, the primary purpose of most blast-furnace operators was to produce a maximum tonnage of pig iron per day for each furnace in blast. Some attention was paid to the conservation of labor and raw materials, but the idea was well established that low-cost pig iron was attainable only when each furnace was producing a high tonnage. After the depression had set in, the picture changed considerably. Each blast-furnace operator was forced to run his plant in a manner that best fitted the economical set-up of his company. A great deal of thought was expended on the different methods of operation, always with the idea of making each product in a way that would best serve his company financially. Because of this abnormal condition, the blast-furnace man was compelled to indulge in various practices of which many had been believed to be next to impossible up to that time. The ultimate purpose of these innovations was either one or a combination of the following: 1. To produce only enough pig iron for immediate consumption at a minimum cost. 2. To produce gas for boiler or mill use to supplant some higher priced fuel. 3. To consume the coke produced at the coke plant, which was often viewed as a byproduct. 4. To protect the cash position of the company. These conditions were met by diverse methods, some of which were: 1. Slow or decreased wind. In some instances the blast blown was held as low as 25 per cent of the normal volume. 2. Intermittent operation, in which the furnaces were shut down or "fanned" at frequent intervals.

Jan 1, 1935

By Keith G. Kirk, Lawrence E. Welborn, Patrick A. Ley

Over the past two years the Office of Surface Mining in conjunction with Energy & Minerals Technology Assessment, ENCORE Systems Inc., and Boeing Computer Services has developed the Economic Coal and Ore Reserve Estimation (ENCORE) Coal Seam Modeling System. This system is being used by OSM, certain states, and industry for mine planning and mine plan permit review. The ENCORE system enables the mining engineer to start at the reserve estimation stage of surface mine planning and continue through the entire mine planning process and into the permit preparation process. The ENCORE system enables the state and federal regulatory authorities to assess a given mining and reclamation plan permit application in a rapid and efficient manner and greatly speeds up the mine plan review and permitting process. The ENCORE system is user friendly and menu driven thereby permitting the engineer with minimal computer training to rapidly learn and utilize the system. Data are input both through digitized map files and bore hole information files and stored in a data base that is an integral part of the ENCORE system. The system performs reserve estimation through standard polygon methods, least square methods, and geostatistical (kriging) techniques. Geostatistical routines permit rapid evaluation of coal and overburden quality and quantity. System outputs include drill hole sumnary and resource summary reports, cross sections, isopach maps, structure contour maps, premining topography maps, postmining topography maps, and three-dimensional perspective views. The maps can be displayed on a high-resolution, color graphics terminal or generated by a high quality plotter and are suitable for direct inclusion in the mining and reclamation pl an permit application. This paper gives detailed examples of ENCORE'S use together with example outputs.

Jan 1, 1983

By A. J. Ardell

SASS and cohenl (S-C) have recently reported some transmission electron microscope observations of an interesting effect which they call "veining". They observed veining in thin foils of solution-treated and (in certain cases) aged samples of a Ni-10.3 at. pct Ti-0.6 at. pct A1 alloy (assumed equal to 10.9 at. pct Ti). S-C suggest that veining in solution-treated samples is due to the selective electrolytic etching of titanium-rich regions in alloys which are otherwise homogeneous. They associate the veins with the discrete titanium-rich regions detected in a magnetic study of aging in this system by Ben Israel and Fine,' and they also suggest that the initial strengthening of aged Ni-Ti alloys is due to these titanium-rich regions, rather than the formation of the coherent precipitate (Ni3Ti, L12 crystal structure).

Jan 1, 1970

By D. J. Hawthorn

The widespread interest shown during the past year in the study of subsurface pressures warrants brief reference to its early development. Though it is impossible to set an exact date when constructive thinking on the subject first began, nevertheless, evidence is available that thought was given to the problem as far back as 16 or 1.7 years ago. There is record in one of the foreign journals of actual subsurface tests made by crude methods in one of the Rumanian fields in 1918 and 1919.' These tests were performed in conjunction with studies made on wells produced by bailing and, incidentally, the final outcome of the work led to the development of the so-called "duplex bailer" which is reputed to have trebled volumetric bailing efficiency. From this time on to 1927 a few scattered bottom-hole pressure determinations were made with makeshift instruments of one form or another, but probably not until 1927 was any great amount of concerted effort directed to the subject. At this fall meeting of the Petroleum Division four years ago was presented one of the first papers2 to appear in this country written for the express intent of advocating the value and importance of subsurface pressure determinations. It is thought to have been the first to present direct data on subsurface pressures obtained through the use of a specially designed recording instrument. As might be expected, the instrument had its limitations, but reasonably accurate results were obtained and, to say the least, it constituted a progressive step in the right direction. During the period from 1927 to 1931, many noteworthy improvements were made in the design and perfection of subsurface pressure instruments suitable to meet all conditions. Because of the magnitude of this task much credit is due the men who pioneered this work. They should feel a keen sense of satisfaction in the thought that their efforts have paved the way for the continuation of this most valuable study. At the present time more than a dozen companies are operating subsurface pressure instruments in the Mid-Continent field. Engineers in

Jan 1, 1933

THE Geophysics Education Committee has devoted several years to a consideration of the problem of training geophysicists. Past reports have dealt largely with fact finding and with the discussion of particular aspects of geophysical education. In the present report it is proposed to review the subject more comprehensively. This involves the question of what educational qualifications the geophysicist of the highest professional standards should possess, and the related question of what changes must be effected in existing educational institutions in order that prospective professional geophysicists may obtain instruction of the desired quality. The type of geophysicist here contemplated is one familiar with what is known already in the several branches of earth physics, and capable not only of following contemporary progress in any of these branches, but of contributing to that progress in a research capacity. Geophysics in its broadest sense, as has been emphasized repeatedly by this Committee, is the study of the physics of the earth and of terrestrial processes. This includes both the static and the dynamic characteristics of the gaseous, the liquid, and the solid portions of the earth, as well as its gravitational, thermal, and magnetic and electrical manifestations. Some branches of earth physics have been cultivated but slightly; others have reached an advanced state of development. Those branches whose development is sufficient to warrant explicit recognition in the form of organized Sections of the American Geophysical Union are: geodesy, seismology, tectonophysics, and volcanology, dealing with the rock constituents of the earth; oceanography and hydrology with the aqueous constituents; meteorology with the atmospheric constituents; and terrestrial electricity and magnetism with the electromagnetic manifestations. At present, instruction on the professional level in any of these branches of earth physics can be obtained in but few universities in North America. In most institutions where such instruction is undertaken different subjects are given in different and independent departments. Geodesy and hydrology are taught, if at all, as a part of civil engineering. The nearest approach to volcanology and tectonophysics ordinarily is represented by petrology and structural geology given

Jan 1, 1944

By Bradley Stoughton

FRom 1886 to 1889, approximately, Henry M. Howe was engaged most actively in preparing his Afetallugy of Sieei, which became the foundation for his leadership in the science of physical metallurgy of steel. During the same period, Hadfield was developing the first of the industrially-important alloy steels, and Riley was initiating the commercialization of nickel steel. Both of these alloys are treated briefly in Howe's book; indeed, he missed practically nothing of interest in all the steel literature preceding 1889. There had been many good books on steel before his, but none of the same character. His genius, like that of Aristotle and Francis Bacon, manifested itself in the painstaking collection of data, followed by their coordination and interpretation. Not only manganese and nickel steels were discussed, but several which most of us, with our tendency to overlook the past, are wont to regard as exclusively recent developments, such as: silicon, chrome, copper, tungsten, vanadium, titanium, chrome-tungsten and many other steels. But Howe never devoted much special attention, in his writings, to alloy steels; the science of the relations of iron and carbon offered field enough even for his capacity for constructive thought. And, today we find the science of alloy steels in much the same condition as was the metallurgy of steel before Howe wrote his first great book. Many, many important facts have been presented to the world, especially by Sir Robert Hadfield, James Riley, Henri le Chatelier, Kotaro Honda and his associates, Maunsel White, Harry Brearley, and a host of others. Several books have been devoted wholly or chiefly to alloy steels, such as those by Hibbard, Mars, Heyn and Wetzell, Grube, Burnham, Gillett and Mack, Billón, Brearley, Monypenny, Becker, Savoia, Sauveur, Guillet, Tammann, Guertler, Goerens, Guia, Wuest, Ledebur, Schenck, Aitchison, Osann, Guettier, Buchetti, Escard. The vast number of data on the subject are indicated by a bibliography' which was collected in preparing this address. It covers the years 1911 to

Jan 1, 1927

By Robert Schorr

PAGE 1. Introduction,........... 82 2. Characteristics of Briquettes,........ 87 3. The Manufacture of Coal- and Coke-Briquettes,.... 89 Binders, Organic and Inorganic,...... 90 Mixing,...........94 Presses, Continuous and Intermittent Action,....95 Cost of Briquettes and Sales-Prices in Various Countries,.. 99 4. The Manufacture of Peat-Briquettes,......101 Solid Peat-Slabs,.........101 Solid, Carbonized Peat-Briquettes,......103 Estimates of Cost of Operating Peat-Briquetting Plants,... 105 5. Manufacture of Mineral-Briquettes for Metallurgical Processes,.. 108 6. Manufacture of Artificial Stone-Masses,......112 7. Bibliography,...........115 Introduction. Briquetting is apparently a very simple operation, yet it has offered so many mechanical and chemical difficulties that it required almost a century to place it on a commercial basis. Since 1860, however, the progress has been steady and satisfactory, and to-day, for most of the European coal companies, the briquette-plant is a very profitable investment. Among the many applications of scientific knowledge to further economy by recovering and utilizing by-products and raw materials, there is possibly none which deserves the attention of Americans to a higher degree than briquetting. The recent miners' strike in Pennsylvania, which resulted in a scarce and irregular supply of coal at a high price, has advanced the possibilities for briquetting, and as a consequence public interest has grown rapidly. While the manufacture of coal-briquettes is not new in the United States, adverse conditions and sometimes lack of

Jan 1, 1905

The beginning of Colorado's mining industry is linked on one side with that of the Appalachian districts and on the other side with that of California, because the first discoveries were made by pioneers when on their way from Georgia to California. In the summer of 1849 a party of seven Georgians were taking a herd of thoroughbred horses across the continent to the Pacific coast. They reached Camp Lyon, on the Arkansas river, in October, and, meeting James Dempsey, a Government guide, they were persuaded by him that it was too late to cross the mountains that season. His advice was accepted, and, moving northward, they established a winter camp at the junction of Cherry creek with the Platte, close to the site of the city of Denver. Upon a sand-bar, lining the south side of the river, they built two cabins. During the closing months of 1849 they prospected the alluvial banks of Cherry creek, but they made no attempt to penetrate into the mountain canyons, near them, westward, for fear of the Indians.* They found gold in several places along Cherry creek, and particularly at a spot 16 miles up the stream from their camp. From the feathers of the wild geese that they shot they obtained quills in which they placed their gold-dust. This party of Georgians consisted of Dr. L. J. Russell and his brother, Green Russell, also A. T. Lloyd, G. W. Kiker, and P. H. Clark. Early in 1850 they crossed the main range of the Rocky Mountains by the Bridger pass and went on to California. They mined near Downieville, and were successful. Occasionally mention was made by them of the gold

Jan 1, 1932

By H. O. Hofman

In the blast-furnace smelting of lead, copper and other non-ferrous metals, the largest part of the product obtained is slag. Its formation consumes more of the heat-energy of the fuel charged than any other chemical reaction that takes place. It is therefore of importance to know at what temperatures the different slags will form, so as to be able to choose in a given case the slag that will form at the right point in the operation, will keep the products thoroughly fluid, so as to insure a satisfactory separation, and will permit the consumption of fuel to be reduced to the lowest practicable point. While practical experience has brought out in a general way the leading differences as to the formation-temperatures of Rome silica—iron —lime slags, accurate details are still wanting. The object of the investigation here described was to supply some of these.* Prominent among the men who have worked on the fusibility of silicates are Lampadius, † Sefström,‡ Berthier,§

Jan 1, 1900

By A. R. Kinkel

THE Shasta copper-zinc district of northern California lies in the foothills of the Klamath Mountains at the northern end of the Sacramento Valley. It contains two main areas of base-metal ore deposits, the East Shasta and West Shasta districts shown in Fig. 1. The East Shasta includes the area from the Afterthought mine, near the settlement of Ingot on U. S. highway 299 East, to the Bully Hill mine, on the north side of the Pit River, 9 miles to the northwest. The West Shasta, a well-defined northeast-trending district about 8 miles long and 2 miles wide, west of the Sacramento River, Fig. 2, is the western part of the ore-bearing area formerly known as the Shasta copper belt. Referred to in the older writings as a copper arc, this belt was thought to form a crescent extending entirely around the head of the Sacramento Valley, the convex side to the north. Recent studies by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the California State Division of Mines show that there are two districts, one at each end of the so-called copper arc, which are distinct in geologic structure and ore occurrences, and that there is only sporadic and unconnected copper mineralization between them. Ore deposits of the two districts are similar in mineralogy, that is, they are largely massive pyritic ores containing copper and zinc with minor amounts of gold and silver, but the structure and structural control of ore deposition are different. The ores of the East Shasta district are replacements of steeply dipping shear zones in Triassic rhyolite and shale, whereas those of the West Shasta district are replacements of gently dipping rhyolite of Middle Devonian age and are essentially flat-lying. Thus there is marked lateral control of orebodies by shear zones in the East Shasta district and equally marked vertical control of orebodies by the stratigraphy in the West Shasta district. Geologic Setting The Paleozoic rocks of the West Shasta district range in age from Middle Devonian (?) to Missis-sippian. The oldest formation exposed is the Copley greenstone, probably Middle Devonian. It is composed of volcanic flows, volcanic breccias, and tuffs, all of mafic composition, but contains minor amounts of shale and rhyolitic tuff. Largely submarine in origin, it rests upon a base of older marine sediments, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3. The lower part of the formation is made up principally of flows, many of which are ellipsoidal, and the upper part contains most of the pyroclastic material. The formation is at least 3700 ft thick. The Balaklala rhyolite overlying the Copley greenstone is made up of many rhyolitic flows and beds

Jan 1, 1956

By E. H. Dix

During an investigation of high-strength manganese bronze by til Engineering Division of the Air Service, at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, particles of a "blue constituent" were noted in the microstructure of most of the bronzes examined. The constitution of the simple copper-zinc base alloy is still a matter of dispute in spite of the fact that the copper-zinc series is one of the oldest industrially important groups of alloys, and has received thc carly co~l+itlcl-ntio11 of scirntific rcsc:trch. Thc diagram, according to the rnost rcrent \vork.' IS shown in Fig. 1. The disputed questions involve the tcrmi~r:~tiorl of the beta field and the lint at 470' C. The parliest expc~imc>ntcr, Rol)erts--~1~11stcri, detectrd an arrest in some of his cooling curves :it approximately this temperature and ascribed them to the formation of a cutectic; it has since been proved that there arc no eutectics in this series. Shepherd? was unable to detect any thermal arrests at this temperature, his. diagram was essentially as shown in Fig. 1, except that the line at 470" ('. was omitted and the beta phase carried down to normal temperature. 1,:ttcr. carpenter and Edwards, by a very painstaking research, definitely established the authenticity of the line but attributed it to the breakdown of the BETA constituent into a cutectoid of alpha and gamma. microscopic evidence of the formation of the cutectoid is doubtful and it seems more likely to he due to an allo-tropic change in the beta constituent as shown by Fig. 1. At least for practical purpose?, it is more convenient to think of the structure of a 60-40 brass as a mixture of alpha and beta prime crystals rather thin alpha plus an unresoluble eutectoid of "apparent beta" as it has often been called. * Chief, Metals branch, Engineering Division, Air Service. 1 0. F. Hudson: Jnl. Inst. of hlvtals (1913) 12, 2 E. S. Shepherd: Jnl. Phys Chrm. (10141 8, 421. H. C. H. Carpenter and O. A. Edwards: Jnl, Inst. of Metals (1911) 5, 127.

Jan 1, 1923

By E. H. Dix

During an investigation of high-strength manganese bronze by til Engineering Division of the Air Service, at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, particles of a "blue constituent" were noted in the microstructure of most of the bronzes examined. The constitution of the simple copper-zinc base alloy is still a matter of dispute in spite of the fact that the copper-zinc series is one of the oldest industrially important groups of alloys, and has received thc carly co~l+itlcl-ntio11 of scirntific rcsc:trch. Thc diagram, according to the rnost rcrent \vork.' IS shown in Fig. 1. The disputed questions involve the tcrmi~r:~tiorl of the beta field and the lint at 470' C. The parliest expc~imc>ntcr, Rol)erts--~1~11stcri, detectrd an arrest in some of his cooling curves :it approximately this temperature and ascribed them to the formation of a cutectic; it has since been proved that there arc no eutectics in this series. Shepherd? was unable to detect any thermal arrests at this temperature, his. diagram was essentially as shown in Fig. 1, except that the line at 470" ('. was omitted and the beta phase carried down to normal temperature. 1,:ttcr. carpenter and Edwards, by a very painstaking research, definitely established the authenticity of the line but attributed it to the breakdown of the BETA constituent into a cutectoid of alpha and gamma. microscopic evidence of the formation of the cutectoid is doubtful and it seems more likely to he due to an allo-tropic change in the beta constituent as shown by Fig. 1. At least for practical purpose?, it is more convenient to think of the structure of a 60-40 brass as a mixture of alpha and beta prime crystals rather thin alpha plus an unresoluble eutectoid of "apparent beta" as it has often been called. * Chief, Metals branch, Engineering Division, Air Service. 1 0. F. Hudson: Jnl. Inst. of hlvtals (1913) 12, 2 E. S. Shepherd: Jnl. Phys Chrm. (10141 8, 421. H. C. H. Carpenter and O. A. Edwards: Jnl, Inst. of Metals (1911) 5, 127.

Jan 1, 1923

By Herbert H. Kellogg

RECENTLY the long-chain primary amines have been used extensively for the flotation of silicate minerals. The use of amines to float sulphide minerals has been investigated by several authors1-5,18 but most of this work has been done with the short-chain (less than six carbon atoms) primary amine compounds or the more expensive secondary, tertiary and quaternary amines. Perhaps the fact that the long-chain amines are good collectors for the common gangue minerals has led investigators to omit them from consideration as collectors for the selective flotation of metallic sulphides. The work reported in this paper was designed to investigate the use of a typical long-chain amine salt, lauryl amine hydrochloride, as a collector for the flotation of galena-sphalerite ores. The results show that lauryl amine hydrochloride (LAmHCI), when used in small amounts, is a good collector for the selective flotation of sphalerite and galena from the common gangue minerals. The differential flotation of sphalerite from galena was not accomplished but the amine flotation of sphalerite after the standard xanthate flotation of galena is possible. The experimental work reported herein is not complete enough to be able to say whether amine flotation of lead-zinc ores would prove superior to xanthate flotation, or whether the method is even applicable to a more complex ore than the one used for this work. However, the apparent reagent costs for the flotation operations described in this paper seem to be less than for xanthate flotation. This fact alone should be sufficient to encourage the millman to investigate the use of these amine reagents, especially as these reagents are available on a commercial scale at a reasonable price. This paper has as its secondary purposes to illustrate how contact-angle measurements have aided in this investigation, and to bring forward some evidence concerning the mechanism of the collecting action of primary amines. CONTACT-ANGLE TESTS The contact-angle measurements were made by the method described by del Giudice6 and used in recent work by Taggart and his collaborators.7-9 The mineral specimens for the contact-angle tests were carefully chosen, to avoid cracks and inclusions of other minerals. All specimens were mounted in "transoptic" plastic mounts and the surfaces were cleaned by polishing with levigated alumina on a cloth-covered glass polishing wheel. Distilled water was used on the lap during the polishing and at all subsequent steps in the contact-angle tests. The mounted mineral specimens were handled with glass forceps and special care was exercised to prevent exposure of the dean surface to air or any other source of contamination.

Jan 1, 1945

By R. C. Hepworth

Heaving in roads built on the Mancos Shale is a serious problem in east-central Utah. Heaves are expressed as local bumps, general rises and severe cracking of the pavement. The heaves usually occur in shale road cuts and generally show a seasonal cycle, which reaches a maximum development in the winter. The presence of certain salts, absorption of moisture and physical properties of the subgrade materials were considered, in Utah, to be the main factors in the heaving mechanism. Work done on similar problems elsewhere and studies conducted by the author indicate that the latter two factors are the most important. Results of this investigation indicate that heaving areas are associated with slaking shale or expansive clays, with and without salts present. Laboratory studies show that the initial moisture content of remolded samples and the desiccation history of un- disturbed samples have a major effect on swelling. Swell tests on compacted samples at various temperatures indicate that water has more influence on swell than temperature, except for samples containing sodium sulphate, which swelled with decreasing temperature. Chloride salts inhibited swelling. Tests on shale cores indicate that the stability of slaking shale can be preserved by maintaining its original moisture content. It is concluded that shales and expansive clays, when exposed in road cuts, become desiccated and are subject to expansion when moisture is subsequently available. The seasonal cycle of heaving may possibly be explained by the annual moisture excess and deficiency. To minimize the problem, freshly exposed shale should be kept wet, and the thickness of the subbase and base courses should be increased. The Utah State Department of Highways has been plagued for many years with a distressed condition that develops in roads constructed on the Mancos Shale. Locally these distressed areas are known as heaves, frost boils and alkali boils. These names refer to the surface expression, time of year

Jan 1, 1965

By Andrew B. Crichton

The oft repeated statements of the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines that the coal reserves in the United States are sufficient for 3000 yr have given us all a sense of security hard to disturb. If we discount that statement 66 pct, which to the uninformed seems drastic, we would still have 1000 yr supply, and why should mortal man worry about the difference between 1000 and 3000 yr supply of coal. That is exactly the attitude which many who should be better informed have taken toward the problem. A recent brochure "How Strong is America," by the New York Herald Tribune, states there is "no end to coal * * The truth is staggering * * U. S. has enough coal to last 4000 years." What the statement actually means is that the calculator got as high as 4000 yr and decided it was pointless to go on. The President's ERP Committee on Natural Resources and others in high places continue to assure the country of our superabundance of coal. In the past few days the "Wall Street Journal" carried an item from Director Boyd of the Bureau of Mines saying that within a hundred years we would need to triple our annual coal production of 600,000,000 tons, making it 1,800,000,000 tons annually, and at that rate we had coal reserves sufficient for 1000 yr. In my humble opinion, we cannot now or ever produce 1,800,000,000 tons annually, because we do not have the reserves in the producing districts to do it. Past reckoning in geology may be, as in the Psalms, a thousand years are as yesterday, but the future must be considered more realistically, and " a thousand years" is really a "heck" of a long time. In most developed areas, mining engineers can count the coal reserves in terms of a hundred years or less, and in some important areas now producing large annual tonnages in much under fifty years. They think when they hear of thousands of years coal reserves, reference is made to distant fields and "the fields are always green far away." The estimates of our coal reserves upon which we are relying were made in 1907 under the direction of Marius R. Campbell, Director of the United States Geological Survey. It is apparent this work was not well done. It was necessarily based on rather meager data because of the little development and prospecting as of that date. There were mistakes in the correlation of seams, and they assumed the continuity of thick seams throughout large coal bearing areas where coal often did not exist. The overstatement of coal bearing areas in the Campbell figures are common. The 1907 survey includes all coals over 14 in. in thickness to a depth of 3000 it. The total coal reserves according to Campbell were 3157.2 billion tons. The production and mining losses that year would amount to 570 million tons and

Jan 1, 1949

By John I. Yellott

Since the days of Newcomen and Watt, when men first sought to turn the energy of fuels to useful purposes, coal-generated steam has supplied most of the power needed for both stationary and mobile applications. The low efficiency and large water requirements of the nineteenth century steam-power plant caused many engineers to turn their thoughts toward more direct means of converting heat into power. As far back as 1791, John Barber secured an English patent on a combination' which he might well have called a "gas turbine." He proposed to generate producer gas from coal or charcoal, to burn it under pressure in air obtained from a reciprocating compressor, and to drive a turbine wheel with the resultant hot combustion products. With the optimism characteristic of the inventor, he hoped that the turbine would not only operate his compressor but also perform useful work. There is no record that Barber ever built his machine, but if he had done so he would have learned that useful power can result from such a combination only when both turbine and compressor are highly efficient and when the temperature of the gas entering the turbine is not far below 1000°F. Hot-air prime movers continued to attract attention, and both Stirling in England and Ericsson in America2 built reciprocating engines that operated with some success upon coal-heated air. The internal-combustion engine, burning liquid fuels, supplanted the hot-air type, and, for the first time, challenged the supremacy of both the steam cycle and its familiar fuel, coal. Liquid Fuels Compete with Coal As the increasing use of the automobile multiplied the demand for gasoline, the supply of residual fuel increased rapidly, and heavy oil declined in price to the point where it became competitive with coal. First in the marine field and later in stationary plants in areas adjacent to refineries, oil began to be widely used. Oil's greater convenience and higher heating value per pound of weight or per cubic foot of bunker space have caused it to take over much of the marine field. The introduction of the highly efficient diesel engine, capable of burning a fuel that is cheaper than gasoline, again threatened the position of coal, for the operating costs of the diesel became directly competitive with those of coal-burning equipment. In isolated power plants and smaller marine installations, the diesel provided the medium by which oil again successfully invaded fields formerly dominated by coal. The diesel engine, provided with an electrical transmission, found an excellent application in railroad service. The high availability of diesel-electric locomotives, resulting in part from freedom from water

Jan 1, 1947