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By H. S. Coe

ENGINEERS have long recognized the desirability of correlating the data obtained from small-scale slime-settling tests with commercial work as carried on in large tanks. This need, though most apparent in designing new installations, frequently arises also in existent plants, since a large range of experimental work can be performed without interfering with regular operation. GENERAL SETTLING PHENOMENA In order to develop rational methods of laboratory testing, it becomes necessary to study the general phenomena of settling. Since it was desired to give the public the benefit of these methods at as early a date as possible, together with the knowledge of the general principles of slime settling necessary for a clear understanding of the laboratory tests, we have ventured to discuss the subject in so far as brought out by the work which we now have under way. We realize that certain of our preliminary conclusions may be subject to modification, but it seems probable that, with but few exceptions, the general laws enunciated will cover the settling behavior of all pulps encountered in metallurgical plants. However, it must be recognized that there is still a vast amount of work to be done upon certain phases of the subject; therefore, at this time we will attempt only a discussion of the behavior of ore pulps during the process of settling or dewatering, under certain given conditions. The laws and principles controlling these conditions are not fully established, so that a complete discussion of them will not be attempted in this paper. In metallurgical practice, slime pulp consists of water, finely divided sand

Jan 3, 1916

By Chester R. McKee, Robert W. Terhune, Merle E. Hanson

The relationships describing the enhancement of permeability by firing explosives in boreholes have been derived and combined to yield permeability enhancement as, [ ] or the case in which the stress decays asymptotically as a power law kc and nc represent permeability and fracture density at the edge of the pulverized region near the cavity wall, f is a geometric attenuation factor, m is the dissipation due to real material effects, ko is the original permeability and rd is the scaled radius. This relationship has been compared with available measurements from the American nuclear shot "Hardhat", the French nuclear events in Hoggar granite and the chemical explosive shot in coal near Kemmerer, Wyoming. Significant correlation between this theory and the experimental measurement is observed. A comparison between single and multiple detonations shows that permeability enhancement falls off steeply near the shot; however enhancement can be considerable midway between two shots spaced 10 cavity radii apart. The degree to which enhancement, can be significant depends on material properties and fracture density. Porosity distribution from the explosive 1s the dominate parameter in permeability enhancement. Existing theories of permeability enhancement have also been reviewed.

Jan 1, 1976

By Thomas V. Falkie

4.3-1. Introduction. DEFINITION OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. Surface mines, like most other mining and manufacturing operations, are usually organized along functional departmental lines. Frequently a mine manager will have his responsibilities divided among production, maintenance, administrative, and engineering functions. Often these are separate departments, but various combinations and variations of these functions can be found in mining companies throughout the world. The production function is responsible for physically removing the ore from the ground, processing it, and shipping the product to its market. The production manager supervises and is responsible for all man-machine systems necessary to extract and process the ore. The maintenance function, which is sometimes included within the framework of production, has the task of insuring the maximum availability and longevity of equipment needed to produce the ore. The administrative function is responsible for accounting, personnel, industrial relations, purchasing, public relations, property, and other related staff functions. For purposes of this chapter, engineering can be described as the function which plans, designs, and supervises construction of physical plant and equipment. In this context engineering includes mechanical, civil, chemical, electrical, and mining engineering. However, another phase of engineering is to prepare plans to insure that the various man-machine components function in an optimum way towards the single most important goal of any enterprise-the maximization of return on the investors' money. Along with the planning, another duty of engineering is to audit all phases of the operation for the purpose of recommending improvements toward this same general goal. These latter two ideas form the basis for a discussion of production engineering and systems engineering. Production engineering is a catchall, problem-oriented function whose duties can include: 1) solution of day-to-day production problems, 2) short-

Jan 1, 1968

By John. C. Reed

THIS paper presents briefly some of the principal results of 3 ½ months field work during the summer of 1938 in the Chichagof mining district, southeastern Alaska. The report is preliminary and presumably will be followed later by a more complete report to be published by the Geological Survey. The paper is concerned principally with the structural geology of a block of steeply dipping graywacke as revealed underground in the Hirst Chichagof and the Chichagoff mines, the two principal mines of the district. The two mines have produced about $16,000,000 worth of gold and silver. The attitude of the graywacke, which is locally cut by dikes and sills of aplite, is remarkably uniform and trends about N. 62° W. The average dip is about 67° SW. The graywacke is cut by large faults, the best known of which are the Hirst and the Chichagof, whose average trends are about N. 30° W. and average dips about 75° SW. The faults at some places split into the bedding of the graywacke and at others are deflected from their normal trends for considerable distances along the bedding. The relative movements along the faults was northwest and up at about 30° for the south-west or hanging-wall sides. The ore bodies are elongate quartz lenses in the faults. Most of the quartz is mineralized but locally large quartz masses are too low grade to be mined. The emplacement of the ore bodies appears to have been structurally controlled in large part by the intersections of the faults with the bedding surfaces. Places where the faults split or are deflected appear to have been particularly favorable places for ore deposition. There has been some post-quartz movements along the faults but it is thought that such movements have not been extensive enough to greatly modify the original positions and shapes of the ore bodies.

Jan 1, 1939

By Donald R. Reichmuth

Most brittle solids are relatively weak in tension and this weakness can be very significant in determining their performance in structures and excavations. Consequently, accurate knowledge of the tensile strength of brittle materials has long been recognized as important. In the past, measurements of the tensile strength of materials such as concrete, ceramics, and particularly rock have been hindered by problems encountered in fabricating test specimens and in accurately loading them. These difficulties have resulted in a scarcity of published tensile strength data. This can be readily seen in tabulations such as Wuerker's "Annotated Tables of Strength and Elastic Properties of Rocks."1 There are now three distinct approaches being used to determine the tensile strength of brittle materials. These are shown schematically in Fig. 1. The first method consists of simply pulling the specimen apart by applying an axial load. Although this procedure is the easiest to understand, the technical problems encountered during testing are numerous. Specimens cannot be readily fabricated into dumbbell-shaped specimen* like those customarily used for testing inetals. Cylindrical specimens cannot be loaded in jaw-clamps because adverse stress conditions arise at the clamping points, which causes unreliable results. An innovation developed by Niles Grosvenor at the Colorado School of Mines, in which the load is applied through steel-end caps glued to the ends of the specimens, has considerable merit, hut the samples are costly to prepare.2 All tests using a direct pull are further handicapped by the possibility of small amounts of bending being present, the specimen's surface condition, and

Jan 1, 1968

By G. H. Kesler, C. E. Dryden, J. H. Oxley

Rates of heat- and mass-transfer from rods to recirculating air were determined within a one-quarter-scale model of a metals deposition bulb. The dependence of local and averaged rates of transfer upon outlet geometry, number of rods, position upon a rod, and airflow rate was established for flow patterns created by radial and tangential air inlets. The results are given a qualitative interpretation in terms of rates and distribution of metal deposition in a prototype deposition bulb. IT is well known that a number of metals can be prepared from volatile compounds containing them by causing dissociation of their compounds to occur at heated surfaces. Examples of such metals include silicon, titanium, zirconium, and aluminum, which can be prepared from their halides. While the ability to prepare high-purity metals by this technique is of importance in itself, the rate of deposition of metal also is important in considering the commercial potential of such a process. If the over-all process of deposition is broken down into separate steps of transport of materials to and from the heated deposition surface and establishment of chemical equilibrium at the surface, as was described in a recent paper,1 then since surface temperatures are usually high and surface equilibrium is attained very rapidly, the rate-controlling step can be considered as either that of transport of reactants to the surface or of transport of products other than deposited metal away from the surface. These two transport steps are related through the reaction stoichiometry. It can be shown1 that the rate and distribution of metal in such a transport-controlled process are determined by the over-all and local mass-transfer coefficients in conjunction with the equilibrium conversions at the hot surfaces. The rate relationship is: w = [KA(y a-y s)] B.E where the bracketed group is the rate of arrival of the reactant at the surface of area A as determined by the mole fraction driving force (y a - y s) and the convective transport constant K. The factor B is the weight fraction of metal in the reactant, and E is the equilibrium fractional conversion to metal. Numerical values of y, and y, are fixed by the vapor composition and the equilibrium compositim of reactant at the surface; and E can be determined by thermodynamic calculations or by experiment. However, values for the convective coefficient K are available generally only for systems of simple geometry, such as cross-flow past a rod or sphere or parallel flow past a flat plate or through a tube. Often it is necessary to work with systems of more complex geometry and in which the vapor flow may not be uniform or exactly parallel or perpendicular to the surface. It is possible, of course, to establish working correlations for these more complex systems by direct experiment; but the experiments usually are costly in both time and money. To circumvent this objection and to aid in arriving at an understanding of the relationships and interactions of the process variables, it is helpful to construct a model of the flow system in which air, water, or other convenient fluids can be substituted for the process vapors and with which mass-transfer measurements or analogous he at-transfer measurements can be made upon a simulated deposition surface. By this means, a large number of measurements can be made in a reasonable time, and the correlation of these results can be applied to the prototype system. Examples of the application of these techniques are to be found in the literature (e.g., Ref. 2). It is the purpose of this paper to illustrate these techniques by description of a model study which was done at Battelle Memorial Institute. The work to be described was of a preliminary nature; the investigation subsequently was extended to develop quantitative relationships among the significant dimensionless transport, geometric, and flow parameters. This more detailed study will be the subject of a future paper.

Jan 1, 1962

By F. L. Toy, C. E. Sims

PNEUMATIC processes for converting molten pig iron to steel were the major producers of steel during the latter half of the 19th Century and until shortly after the turn of the century, when these processes began losing ground to their rival—the basic open hearth process. The first pneumatic process for converting molten pig iron to steel was introduced almost simultaneously by Sir Henry Bessemer in England and by William Kelley in the United States during the decade 1850-1860, but it was Bessemer who pushed it to a successful commercial operation. The process itself is so basically simple that it has not lent itself to many extensive or revolutionary improvements since its inception. During the first 30 yr, numerous' designs of vessel and many modifications of practice were tried before the industry standardized on something resembling current practice. The evolution in construction has resulted in proportions and arrangements based more on mechanical expedience than on metallurgical requirements. Many of the early converters were stationary and had to be tapped similarly to the cupola or open hearth furnace. Such types were used for many years in Sweden and Germany, but the rotating or tilting types were favored in England and the United States. There was evident trouble with bottom tuyeres, becAuse about half of the early designs were constructed for side blowing with tuyeres submerged below the metal-bath surface. Even portable tuyeres, introduced from above, were tried. The principal advance, which made bottom blowing practical, was the invention, in 1863, by Henry Bessemer, and subsequent improvement by A. L. Holley, of a detachable bottom so that the tuyere section could be renewed. In the meantime, it was the demonstration, by Robert Mushet, of the value of manganese in overcoming hot-shortness in converter steel, that made the process metallurgically feasible. At first, only the acid practice was used, and Swedish pig iron, because of its low sulphur and phosphorus, was in great demand. The development of a suitable basic lining, by Sidney G. Thomas and Percy G. Gilchrist in 1876-1879, made the process applicable to the high-phosphorus ores of Europe. From the beginning of the use of the Thomas-Gilchrist process, trouble was experienced in obtaining sufficiently high temperatures in the blown metal, particularly in small heats. It is necessary, of course, to have the low-carbon blown metal at a considerably higher temperature for handling from vessel to ladle to molds than is needed for the molten pig iron. All of the increase in temperature in a pneumatic process must be obtained from the heat of combustion of the elements contained in the pig iron plus that from silicon when ferrosilicon is added. In bottom blowing practice, carbon is almost completely burned, but inasmuch as it cannot be oxidized to a higher state of oxidation than to CO when in contact with liquid iron, only a minor portion of the heat-producing capacity is utilized. Under such conditions, it is not considered to be an efficient source of heat. In the acid practice, therefore, silicon and manganese are the large heat producers, are quickly oxidized, and are efficient fuels. Too much manganese, however, thins the slag greatly and tends to promote excessive slopping or throwing of slag and metal from the converter during the blow. Most operators, therefore, like to keep the manganese content of the iron below 0.60 pct, and thus the main source of heat is the silicon, which must be at least 1 pct and sometimes 2 to 3 pct for small blows such as for castings. Ferrosilicon is sometimes added during the blow to obtain an adequate temperature level. In the basic (Thomas) practice, even more heat is required, because cold lime is added to flux the phosphorus after it is oxidized, and the basic slag must be maintained at a proper temperature. Silicon

Jan 1, 1951

By Marcus Nadler

WAGES in the United States, in spite of the wage freeze, have increased materially. Overtime payments have become standard practice in almost all industries. Now efforts are being made to place wages on an annual basis, and if this is adopted, it will result in an increase in the cost of production. Organized labor today is more powerful than ever before; union membership is large and steadily increasing, and in many instances membership in the union is a prerequisite to employment. The treasuries of many unions are strong as a result of the large membership and full employment. The unions, therefore, today are in a much better position than ever before to carry on long strikes. Politically, too, the unions are more powerful today than they ever were. On the basis of their strength, one may expect that some of the demands that the labor unions will make in the not distant future will be granted. It is, therefore, quite evident that before long, particularly when the curtailment in war production reaches about 40 per cent, this country will be confronted with a serious labor problem.

Jan 1, 1945

By Burnham E. Field

The chemical industry is constantly looking for new materials which either are more resistant to corrosion than those now available or have improved physical properties to meet the requirements of higher temperatures and greater pressures. Attack by acids is one of the more important forms of corrosion and in the last few years the development of acid-resistant alloys has been quite rapid. Perhaps the most notable example is that of nitric acid, the problem of which has largely been solved by the chromium-iron and chromium-iron-nickel alloys. Sulfuric acid may be handled in lead, iron, or the iron-silicon alloys, depending on conditions. As to hydrochloric acid, no metal or alloy can be called entirely satisfactory for handling this acid under plant conditions.' The results of our investigations on the resistance of the nickel-molybdenum alloys to hydrochloric acid have been confirmed by those of Guertler, Rohn, Schulz, Jenge, and others12 but thus far only one such alloy has approached commercial production in Germany; this contains approximately 15 per cent. chromium and 7 per cent. molybdenum with the remainder chiefly nickel. Dr. S. W. Parr, as far back as 1914, developed a complex alloy known as "illium," with a nickel base and containing some molybdenum. 3 Dr. Parr was primarily interested in an alloy for lining bomb calorimeters, and while illium does show good resistance to acid it is too expensive for general use. Two United States

Jan 1, 1929

By Herbert Dlaska

The BBU - rotary hearth treats lead concentrates and battery scrap by the roast-reaction process. It corresponds in principle to the long-known Newnam hearth, however its hearth-basin is not straight but curved to a closed ring. In operation this annular hearth is filled with liquid lead and rotates around a central blast-box. The charge, heated to a glowing-red, floats on top of the lead bath, into which air is blown from the blast-box through a horizontal slot-type tuyere. Ore pellets and brown coal are continuously charged onto the reacting mass from two storage bins. Lead is set free by the roasting reactions and trickles through the charge into the lead bath from where it is tapped from time to time. The reacting mass is continuously stirred by a mechanical agitator and backed, by a mechanical shovel, against the water-jacketed wall of the blast-box. The gangue of the charge forms lumps of scorified character, the so-called hearth slag or grey slag, which are discharged from the hearth. The waste gases are collected in a hood and conducted to a baghouse from where the fumes and dust are automatically transported to the pelletizing installation and are recycled with new material. The daily output of lead bullion depends mainly on the lead content of the charge. With lead concentrates containing 74% lead, about 24 tons of lead bullion per day are produced on the hearth at a direct lead recovery of about 89 per cent. Approximately 10 per cent of the lead content of the new material passes into the hearth slag from where it can be recovered in a blast furnace or in a rotary furnace. For small lead smelters the BBU-process represents the most economical way of melting high-grade lead concentrates. The process requires a relatively small capital investment, consumes little fuel, utilizes cheap fuel and is very flexible. Further, of great importance, is the fact that battery scrap can be treated by the BBU-process with very good results.

Jan 1, 1970

By C. W. Davis, R. S. Dean

The purification of iron ores by means of hand magnets dates back more than 100 years. The first record in the United States Patent Office of a machine for the magnetic separation of ores shows that on Feb. 20, 1849, U.S. Patent 6121 was issued to Ransom Cook for improvement in electromagnetic ore separators. The patent covered the use of a revolving cylinder, or drum, with poles of electromagnets in its periphery for the purpose of separating magnetic oxide of iron from substances with which it might be associated, by causing the electrornagnets when revolving as component parts of the cylinder to be successively charged to take up the ore and discharged to part with it. Since this patent was issued the science and technique of magnetism have advanced more than most other fields of endeavor. The development of electrical machinery has required and obtained better and better magnetic materials, and the science of applied magnetism is as completely and satisfactorily developed as any branch of physics. Nevertheless, the patent of Ransom Cook, issued in 1849, comes close to covering everything that is now being applied in magnetic separation. The cynic may conclude that this proves the uselessness of modern science and may point in confirmation to flotation, which has grown in a few years, practically without benefit of science, to be the most versatile and useful of concentration methods. On more careful study, however, it appears that an accurate determination of the magnetic properties of minerals and their amenability to control by mechanical and heat treatments has not heretofore been made. The first essential, therefore, in the design of improved magnetic separators has been missing. In spite of this hiatus in scientific data inventors have been busy, and patents are on file covering mineral separations by means of nearly all known magneto-mechanical effects. Because of a lack of knowledge of mineral properties, most of these inventions never worked well enough to find commercial use. The Metallurgical Division

Jan 1, 1935

By Laurence Hicks

CONSIDERATION of the past work on the subject of the diffusion of chromium into iron suggested that additional information might be given by the use of X-ray spectroscopy in following the concentration changes through the diffusion zone. Grübe and Fleischbein1 packed rods of electrolytic iron in a mixture of alumina and chromium. These specimens were heated in an atmos-phere of purified hydrogen for varying lengths of time. After treatment the specimens were examined metallographically and showed the usual structure, consisting of a border of radially oriented columnar grains ending in a sharp boundary line. Reference is made to the fact that etching with certain reagents will attack only the material inside the border of columnar growth and also to the fact that polishing seems to develop a ridge at the position of the boundary between the etched and unetched areas. By chemical analysis of thin layers turned off on a precision lathe, the authors were able to obtain depth-concentration curves. These curves, reproduced in Fig. 1, show that 'in most cases a pronounced change of slope occurs, corresponding to the position of the boundary of the columnar grains. In a later paper Grübe extends his work to other systems which show the same characteristics.2 He concludes that the reason for the break in the curve is that a hindrance of diffusion occurs at the place where the regularly oriented grains of the diffusion zone meet the random grains of the interior portion, on the assumption that the diffusion velocity in one direction in a grain may be greater than in another direction, and that the grains in the diffusion zone orient themselves so as to give the maximum diffusion rate. Kelley3 points out that Grübe has failed to note that the boundary line does not consistently cross all grains and

Jan 1, 1933

By Rossiter W. Raymond

(Read at the Amenia Meeting, October, 1877.) IN the case of The Eureka Consolidated Mining Company v. The Richmond Mining Company of Nevada, recently tried at San Francisco, California, the real defendant was the Richmond Consolidated Mining Company, of London; but this being a foreign corporation, holds its mining property in Nevada through the Nevada corporation of similar name, in which the London Company owns all the stock, except the few shares necessary to "qualify" the American directors. The trial would naturally have taken place in the Circuit Court at Carson City, Nevada, and before a jury. But by stipulation of the parties, the case was tried in San Francisco, before Hon. Stephen J. Field, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Hon. Lorenzo Sawyer, United States Circuit Judge of the Ninth Circuit, and Hon. E. W. Hillyer, United States District Judge, for the District of Nevada. The hearing began July 23d, 1877. The witnesses occupied two weeks, and the argument of. counsel three days. Very eminent lawyers were. engaged on both sides ; for the plaintiff, Messrs. Solomon Heydenfeldt, R. S. Mesick, John Garber, and H. J. Thornton ; for the defendant, Messrs. S. M. Wilson, Thomas Wren, and J. J. Williams. The court held the case under advisement until August 22d, when Mr. Justice Field delivered its unanimous opinion in favor of the plaintiff. The action was a complaint in ejectment, and an appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court. The questions at issue between the Eureka and the Richmond Company in this suit, comprised several points in the construction of the mining law of the United States, and its relation to the customs and regulations of the mining districts, which possess an importance and an applicability far beyond the limits of the case in which they arose. It is my purpose to state these points, the arguments

Jan 1, 1878

By J. S. Ross

Although the opinion has prevailed for several years that bottoni-hole choking under certain flow conditions should effect an increase in flow efficiencies, the use of bottom-hole chokes until recently has been limited in application mainly because of mechanical difficulties encountered in their construction. Within the past year, however, bottom-hole choking, through the development of a removable type of choke, has been applied successfully under various conditions of flow in many Mid-Continent fields. The observation of these field tests indicates that bottom-hole choking, although not applicable to all flow conditions, has an important place in the operation of oil and gas wells. This paper gives briefly the conclusions drawn from the data obtained from the experiments with this bottom-hole choke under various flow conditions, and a description of the choke and its operation. Purpose of Bottom-hole Choking Since, in a normal well, the velocity with which the column of gas is moving generally has a direct bearing upon the quantity of oil it can lift, probably the main purpose of bottom-hole choking is to accomplish an increase in the velocity of this- rising column, particularly in the lower portion of the tubing string. This it does first, by expansion of the free gas accompanying the oil; next, by liberation and expansion of some of the occluded gas normally carried in the oil to the surface; and lastly, by atomization, which results in a more intimate and uniform mixture of the oil and gas. It is apparent, then, that if this velocity, particularly in the lower portion of the flow string, at a given rate of production, is inefficiently low, owing either to an insufficient supply of gas or to excessive surface choking, and slippage takes place, bottom-hole choking should bring about an increased velocity of the gas and hence an increased lifting capacity. But if the velocity of the column of gas at this same rate of production through a surface choke alone is at or above a velocity necessary to lift the oil efficiently, increasing the velocity by bottom-hole choking would probably serve no useful purpose, other than to steady the flow by the better mixture of oil and gas and to lower delivery pressures.

Jan 1, 1932

By Burnham E. Field

The chemical industry is constantly looking for new materials which either are more resistant to corrosion than those now available or have improved physical properties to meet the requirements of higher temperatures and greater pressures. Attack by acids is one of the more important forms of corrosion and in the last few years the development of acid-resistant alloys has been quite rapid. Perhaps the most notable example is that of nitric acid, the problem of which has largely been solved by the chromium-iron and chromium-iron-nickel alloys. Sulfuric acid may be handled in lead, iron, or the iron-silicon alloys, depending on conditions. As to hydrochloric acid, no metal or alloy can be called entirely satisfactory for handling this acid under plant conditions.' The results of our investigations on the resistance of the nickel-molybdenum alloys to hydrochloric acid have been confirmed by those of Guertler, Rohn, Schulz, Jenge, and others12 but thus far only one such alloy has approached commercial production in Germany; this contains approximately 15 per cent. chromium and 7 per cent. molybdenum with the remainder chiefly nickel. Dr. S. W. Parr, as far back as 1914, developed a complex alloy known as "illium," with a nickel base and containing some molybdenum. 3 Dr. Parr was primarily interested in an alloy for lining bomb calorimeters, and while illium does show good resistance to acid it is too expensive for general use. Two United States

Jan 1, 1929

By C. H. Fulton

Page Introduction........................... 280 Distillation Products from Reduction of Zinc Ore........... 281 Preliminary Investigations..................... 290 Equilibrium of Reaction Zn + CO2 + ZnO + CO in Temperature Range of Condensation........................ 293 Requisites for Successful Condensation................ 299 Discussion............................ 300 Introduction The study of the condensation of zinc from its vapor was undertaken to shed light on certain problems encountered in large-scale electric zine-furnace work. recently conducted. It is a matter of common knowledge that one of the disadvantages of the arc type, electric zinc furnace, is the production of a large amount of blue powder and proportionately little liquid spelter, for, as stated by Stansfield,l "A notable defect in the electric smelting of zinc ores is the difficulty experienced in obtaining the distilled zinc in the liquid state; ...... when zinc ores are smelted electrically, very little liquid metal is commonly obtained, nearly all of the zinc being in the state of powder." This difficulty was not encountered in the electric furnace used12 the main difficulty being the destruction of the fire-brick lining of the large condenser, in certain parts, and the formation of .some oxide and dross coatings on the condensing surfaces. The reason for these difficulties could readily be explained by the infiltration of air whenever the condenser was changed from one retort base to the other, the zinc absorbed in the fire-brick forming oxide and causing rupture by its expending volume. Two facts, however, tended to disprove this theory for the rupture of the fire-brick lining: first, the large distilling retort, lined with fire-brick, which was shifted from charge to charge on alternate bases at temperatures between 1200 and 1300 C., fully exposed to the air, showed no signs of disintegration whatever; second, marked disintegration in the condenser occurred .only in places that were at tempera-

Jan 1, 1919

By John D. Sullivan, Chester R. Austin, Edwin J. Rogers

The problem of making a building unit combining the necessary physical and mechanical properties and good thermal insulation has been foremost in the minds of architects and ceramic and construction engineers for many years. This paper presents the results of studies on thermally expanding shales or clays to produce lightweight cellular products suitable for making building units. An expanded clay block suitable for building purposes should be large enough qo that substantial savings may be effected in labor costs in laying the wall. The permeability should be low and it should have sufficiently good "dry-wall" characteristics to permit exposing the exterior surface to the elements, and to permit plastering directly the inside wall surface. The thermal conductivity should be low and the mechanical properties should be adequate. Obviously, a unit possessing satisfactory qualities for constructing an - outside wall would be satisfactory for interior walls and for back-up purposes. The results of studies on bloating various shales or clays† and the properties of the expanded products are reported. In another paper1 basic factors involved in bloating of clays are discussed. Manufacturers of ceramic products, partitularly structural clay, may encounter bloating of the ware during burning, and precautions must be followed to avoid this phenomenon. About 1927 the C. F. Burgess Laboratories, Madison, Wis., while carrying on an investigation for the American Face Brick Research Corporation, conceived the idea of intentionally bloating clay while holding it in a restrained condition, with the hope of producing a unitary cellular mass. Work was carried on until about 1931, when studies were terminated because of business conditions. These studies were continued later by The Western Brick Co., Danville, Ill., which developed a process of "inwardly expansive bloating."² The major purpose of the latter investigation was to produce back-up tile to compete with concrete blocks made from Haydite or cinder aggregate. Haydite is a light-weight aggregate formed by heating certain clays or shales rapidly in a rotary kiln. While the investigations at the C. F. Burgess Laboratories or at Western Brick Co. were not carried far enough to lead to the commercial production of material for the construction of walls, particularly outside walls, they showed that certain clays could be thermally expanded and that it was possible to produce a material of low permeability with a large percentage of the total voids or cells closed. commencing in 1939, the Ozark Chemical Co. sponsored a research program at Battelle Memorial Institute for the Purpose Of determining whether it is technically feasible to make thermally expanded building units, and specifically to get answers to the following questions:

Jan 1, 1942

By John D. Sullivan, Edwin J. Rogers, Chester R. Austin

The problem of making a building unit combining the necessary physical and mechanical properties and good thermal insulation has been foremost in the minds of architects and ceramic and construction engineers for many years. This paper presents the results of studies on thermally expanding shales or clays to produce lightweight cellular products suitable for making building units. An expanded clay block suitable for building purposes should be large enough qo that substantial savings may be effected in labor costs in laying the wall. The permeability should be low and it should have sufficiently good "dry-wall" characteristics to permit exposing the exterior surface to the elements, and to permit plastering directly the inside wall surface. The thermal conductivity should be low and the mechanical properties should be adequate. Obviously, a unit possessing satisfactory qualities for constructing an - outside wall would be satisfactory for interior walls and for back-up purposes. The results of studies on bloating various shales or clays† and the properties of the expanded products are reported. In another paper1 basic factors involved in bloating of clays are discussed. Manufacturers of ceramic products, partitularly structural clay, may encounter bloating of the ware during burning, and precautions must be followed to avoid this phenomenon. About 1927 the C. F. Burgess Laboratories, Madison, Wis., while carrying on an investigation for the American Face Brick Research Corporation, conceived the idea of intentionally bloating clay while holding it in a restrained condition, with the hope of producing a unitary cellular mass. Work was carried on until about 1931, when studies were terminated because of business conditions. These studies were continued later by The Western Brick Co., Danville, Ill., which developed a process of "inwardly expansive bloating."² The major purpose of the latter investigation was to produce back-up tile to compete with concrete blocks made from Haydite or cinder aggregate. Haydite is a light-weight aggregate formed by heating certain clays or shales rapidly in a rotary kiln. While the investigations at the C. F. Burgess Laboratories or at Western Brick Co. were not carried far enough to lead to the commercial production of material for the construction of walls, particularly outside walls, they showed that certain clays could be thermally expanded and that it was possible to produce a material of low permeability with a large percentage of the total voids or cells closed. commencing in 1939, the Ozark Chemical Co. sponsored a research program at Battelle Memorial Institute for the Purpose Of determining whether it is technically feasible to make thermally expanded building units, and specifically to get answers to the following questions:

Jan 1, 1942

By J. Parke Channing

ALTHOUGH the original thought of investigating waste in industry came from a mining engineer, Herbert Hoover, and although the chairman of that committee was a mining engineer (although the real work was done by the vice-chairman, L. W. Wallace), it is an interesting commentary that when the report first saw light, at St. Louis, on the first of June, 1921, some people most violently went up in the air when it was submitted by the representatives of the mining engineers. At the time they resented most markedly the report of the committee that 50 per cent. of the waste in industry, or as Mr. Ingalls in his paper has properly said, inefficiency in industry, was to be laid upon management. The reason for that seems to have been that, as a whole, the mining industry is pretty well organized and is superior to a large number of manufacturing industries including those studied by the Report. However, this very meeting shows that even the min-ing engineers have finally realized that there is waste or inefficiency in mining and that a large proportion of it can, with propriety, be assessed against management.

Jan 3, 1922

Jan 1, 1902