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Discussion of the paper of P. B. LIEBERMANN, presented at the St. Louis meeting October, 1917, and printed in Bulletin No. 127, July, 1917, pp. 1051 to 1062. P. B. LIEBERMANN.-As mentioned in my paper, a special investigation was made on the effect of dirt on the track, for the -express purpose of educating mine operators to the advantage of keeping their tracks clean. As to the benefit of clean tracks to the saving in battery consumption, that can be easily determined if the rate of discharge is known under existing conditions, that is, on dirty tracks. The tests have shown that tracks covered with coal dust cause an increase in draw-bar pull of about 30 per cent. The battery discharge table will show the capacity corresponding to the new rate of discharge and will thereby disclose the possible saving in battery consumption. The difference between dirty tracks and clean tracks will be found large enough to have an appreciable effect on the size of the storage-battery locomotive, and for a locomotive of any given size it may mean

Jan 1, 1918

By E. Buehler, J. E. Kunzler

High-pu.1-ity molybdenum has been heat treated, melted, and zone refined and the physical and chemical changes that are produced by these processes have been studied by making resistance ratio measurements. Pronounced effects are observed that are associated with recrystalliza-tion at about 1200°C and with melting. Melting alone is found to result in a substantial purification by the evaporation of impurities such as iron. Zone refining is found to be reasonably effective with four passes producing a three-fold decrease in resistance ratio and a minimum ratio of 0.0003. With the aid of low temperature measurenzents, it has been shown that the build-up of a deposit of the material being zone refined on the radio frequency coil used for heating can lead to contamination of the sample. CONSIDERABLE interest in high-purity refractory metals for the study of mechanical properties has developed during recent years. Also the need for highly pure metals in certain fundamental studies, such as electronic band structure, has become quite widely appreciated. Molybdenum can now be produced with sufficiently high purity to make it attractive for such investigations. The most suitable measure of chemical purity of metals used for many of these studies is its resistance ratio, R,.,o,/Ro, During the purification of molybdenum by zone refining and its subsequent evaluation by this technique, a number of informative observations were made. These observations concern the effectiveness of zone refining, the volatilization of impurities at the melting point, and the recrystallization of molybdenum and appear to be pertinent to other refractory metals. Also, the usefulness of low-temperature resistance measurements as an analytical tool for evaluating the presence of chemical impurities and physical defects in metals is again illustrated. Samples of high-purity molybdenum of known mechanical history were heated to various temperatures between 800°c and their melting point. Resistance ratios of the samples were measured after they had been given a specified treatment. The data were used, along with mass spectrographic analysis, as an aid in interpreting the nature of the processes that occurred in conjunction with each treatment. Changes in the concentrations of chemical impurities and physical defects are typical of things that effect the low-temperature resistivity. SAMPLES The starting material was obtained from Westing-house Corp., Bloomfield, N.J. It was in the form of molybdenum rods, usually 1/8 or 3/16 in. in diameter. These had been previously processed from bars, 5/8 in, in diameter, originally reduced from 4 in. diam arc-cast ingots, by hot swaging at about 1300°c. In the final step, the temperature was lowered to about l lOO°C which resulted in the production of elongated grains. Typical grains were about 0.03 mm thick and 0.6 mm long. The molybdenum was quite pure as is indicated by the results of mass spectro-scopic analysis1 given in Column 2 of Table I. Other nongaseous elements not listed in the table were not detected. ZONE REFINING AND THERMAL TREATMENT OF SAMPLES Several sample rods, 8 to 10 in. long, were zone refined or were heat treated at several temperatures. Both types of operations were performed using 3 me-

Jan 1, 1962

By R. D. Daniels, T. G. Oakwood

A study was made of the effects of small quantities of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of colum-bium. Tensile specimens, hydrogenated to concentrations of 20 to 200 ppm, were tested at temperatures of 300°, 191°, and 77°K. Although hydrogen was found to have little effect on the strength of columbium, the ductility of Cb-H alloys was found to be quite sensitive to both hydrogen concentration and temperature. At 300°K, an abrupt loss in ductility occurred at a critical hydrogen concentration, although some ductility was observed beyond the tolerance limit. A similar result was found at a lower hydrogen concentration at 191°K. At 77°K, however, a more gradual loss in ductility with increasing hydrogen concentration was observed. Hydrogenated columbium was thus observed to undergo a ductile-brittle-ductile transition. Metallographic examination of fractured specimens revealed extensive porosity at both 77° and300°K which was a distinct function of hydrogen content. At 191°K, although some secondary cracking was noted, the amount of observed porosity was minimal. These observations are interpreted in terms of hydrogen solubility and mobility as a function of temperature and in the role of hydrogen in promoting growth of microcracks. lHE effect of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of the refractory metals is not, at present, completely understood. A number of studies have shown these materials to be susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. Roberts and Rogers1 have found that vanadium can be embrittled by hydrogen. It was further demonstrated that fracture undergoes a ductile-brittle-ductile transition as the temperature is lowered from 150° to -196°C; i.e., there is a ductility minimum observed at a certain temperature. The ductility is increased by either raising or lowering the temperature from this point. A more complete study by Eustice and Carlson2 on vanadium containing 10 to 800 ppm placed the ductility minimum at about -100°C with variations reportedly due to hydrogen content and strain rate. Ductility minima have also been found at certain temperatures for tantalum containing 7 ppm H3 and 140 ppm H.4 At hydrogen concentrations above 270 ppm, however, the ductility return at low temperatures was considerably reduced.4 In the case of columbium, some disagreement exists in the literature. Eustice and Carlson,5 Wilcox et al.,6 and Imgram et al.4 failed to find a ductility minimum although a composition-dependent ductile-brittle transition was observed. Hydrogen concentrations in these investigations were 20 ppm,5 1 to 30 ppm,6 and 200 to 390 ppm.4 However, Wood and Daniels7 observed a rather pronounced ductility minimum at hydrogen contents ranging from 19 to 252 ppm. Those theories of hydrogen embrittlement involving the precipitation of diatomic hydrogen which have been applies to ferrous metals8-12 do not seem to be applicable to the case of columbium and other exothermic occluders. Such theories propose that extensive crack formation and propagation occurs by the precipitation and expansion of diatomic hydrogen at internal voids and microcracks. However, photomicrographs of hydrogenated columbium do not show any evidence of damage introduced by the sorption and precipitation of diatomic hydrogen; rather, at high hydrogen concentrations, a hydrogen-rich second phase is precipitated.13'14 In addition, a number of these theories require the development of high hydrogen pressures at voids in the structure.8'10'12 This does not appear to be feasible in the concentration ranges discussed in the aforementioned paragraphs. The possible interaction of atomic hydrogen with microcracks resulting from dislocation pile-ups15,16 remains in doubt since pile-ups have not been observed in bcc metals17 including columbium.18 Wood and Daniels7 have put forth the possibility that a hydride precipitation could be responsible for crack nucleation in columbium. Work by Longson19 has shown that hydrogen embrittlement of columbium parallels the bulk solubility limit; i.e., as the solubility increases, for instance with temperature, the amount of hydrogen necessary to cause embrittlement also increases. Although a hydride precipitation appears attractive as a means of nucleating microcracks in columbium, what require more intensive study are the low-temperature anomalies which have been observed, i.e., the ductile-brittle-d'ictile transition characteristics. Also, the hydrogen concentrations where embrittlement occurs are often below the bulk solubility limits determined by Albrecht et al.13,14 and Walter and Chandler.20 This work is an attempt to determine more definitively the effects of concentration and temperature on the mechanical properties of dilute Cb-H alloys. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Ultrahigh-purity columbium rods, obtained from the Wah Chang Corp., were cold-reduced by rotary swaging. A chemical analysis is given in Table I. The material was cut into cylindrical blanks 1.50 ±0.005 in. long. Individual specimens were either given a stress relief anneal at 750°C or recrystal-lized at 1200°C. Resulting microstructures were either a "bamboo" structure characteristic of a wrought material or a recrystallized structure with a grain diameter of approximately 100 n. All heat treatments were carried out in a vacuum of 10-5 Torr or less.

Jan 1, 1969

By T. A. Rickard

The earlier paper (Trans., xx., 463) describing this Victorian mining district, to which the present is supplementary, was mainly confined to the consideration of the "saddle-reefs," as scientifically the most interesting and economically the most important of the

Jan 1, 1893

By Roland de Wit

Conclusions reached in a paper by weertmanl are amplified in a mathematical and graphical way. It is shown that in a stressed crystal a straight dis-location may be in a position of unstable equilibrium with respect to helix development, and how a small perturbation may start the dislocation off on its helical path. Helix development occurs by diffision; bulk diffusion is necessary for development from a screw, but core diffision is sufficient for development from an edge dislocation. For a mixed dislocation helix development can take place by core diffusion if the helix also climbs; a diffusion reversal takes place when the slope of the helix equals the slope of the Burgers vector. The work done on a crystal by the external forces is graphically shown to be consistent with the direction of motion of the dislocation in helix development. Finally a detailed mechanism for tangle formation from helices is presented. In the course of helix development a glide situation may be reached where a segment of each helix loop lies in a slip plane in which it can expand by glide. Thus is it visualized how a helix can deteriorate into a tangle. A paper by weertmanl proposes dislocation-tangle formation by a helical dislocation mechanism. The present paper amplifies Weertman's arguments in a mathematical and graphical way and presents some further ramifications of the proposed model. The importance of dislocation tangles is discussed in Weertman's paper and the references cited therein. The mechanism of their formation is not yet understood. Weertman proposes that in cold-worked crystals conditions exist suitable for the conversion of straight dislocations into helices and subsequently into tangles. Helix formation occurs by a diffusion process and Weertman proposes that at low temperatures only core diffusion is important. The present paper necessarily repeats some of Weertman's work. Since the mathematical development and notation used are slightly different from his, this was thought necessary for clarity. GEOMETRY OF THE HELIX weertman2 has shown that the equilibrium form of any dislocation line is a helix if it is assumed that the energy per unit length (line tension) of the dis- location is constant. For the special case that no external forces act on the dislocation, the helix reduces to a straight line. We shall assume in this paper that the dislocation has a helical form even when it is not in equilibrium. The parametric equation of a helix is, see Fig. l: where a is the radius of the cylinder tangent to the helix, and 270 the pitch of the helix. The pitch is related to v, the number of turns per unit length (along the axis) by the relation: When a = 0 Eq. [I] gives a straight line in the z direction. The growth of a straight dislocation into a helix is now described mathematically by letting a vary from zero to its final value. The tangent to the helix is given by where is the path length along the helix. This gives the direction of t and since its magnitude is unity we must have So that dcp/ds = (a2 +p2)-"'. The curvature of the helix is given by where n = -(cos + sin) is a unit vector normal to the helix. Note that the vectors k and n always point toward the axis of the helix, Fig. 1. FORCE ON THE HELIX The external force which makes the straight dis-

Jan 1, 1963

New York Meets first Wednesday after first Tuesday of each month. W. FRANCIS, Chairman, WILLARD S. MORSE, Vice-Chairman. THOMAS T. READ, Secretary, Woolworth Bldg., New York, N. Y. P. A. MOSMAN, Treasurer. LOUIS D. HUNTOON. WILLIAM A. POMEROY. Boston Meets first Monday of each winter month. HENRY L. SMYTH, Chairman. ALFRED C. LANE, Vice-Chairman AUGUSTUS H. EUSTIS, Secretary-Treasurer, 131 State St., Boston, Mass. ROBERT H. RICHARDS, ALBERT SAUVEUR. Columbia FRANK A. ROSS Chairman. RUSH J. WHITE, Vice-Chairman. LYNDON K. ARMSTRONG, Secretary-Treasurer, P. O. Drawer 2154, Spokane, Wash. FREDERIC KEFFER, FRANCIS A.,THOMSON.

Jan 4, 1915

By J. W. Schroeder

SEAMLESS pipe, the product produced from piercing a solid round billet of steel by the Mannesmann process, was first produced in the latter half of the 19th century, the Mannesmann machine having been patented in 1885. The products of other processes also have been termed seamless pipe; for example, the cylindrical section produced by "cupping," which consists of forming a cup from a flat plate or disk and further elongating the cup into a tube by passing it through a set of reducing dies. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the more important metallurgical factors and their relationship to the economical production of seamless pipe produced by the Mannesmann piercing process. The first seamless tube plant in America was established at Shelby, Ohio, in 1891, and was employed in the manufacture of bicycle tubing. For a number of years the bicycle industry was the only user of seamless tubing, and this tubing was produced by hot-rolling pierced billets imported from Europe and finishing on the cold drawbench. At the turn of the century, the automotive industry was responsible for an increase in the demand for seamless tubing. The growth of this industry was the dominant factor leading to the phenomenal growth of the petroleum industry, which in turn created a tremendous demand for seamless pipe. In addition; the old lapweld iron boiler tubes for stationary and locomotive boilers were replaced gradually by seamless tubes. Since 1929, the production of seamless steel pipe and tubes has increased over loo pct. In 1929, 1,459,9031 net tons of seamless pipe was produced, including both hot-finished and cold-drawn material, as compared with 3,087,3122 net [ ] tons in 1948. Table I gives the distribution of seamless pipe by classes for 1948. METALLURGICAL PROBLEMS From a metallurgical standpoint, the production of seamless pipe has presented many problems. Practically every type of steel, carbon and alloy, with the exception of the superalloys developed during World War II, has been pierced and rolled successfully into tubing. This includes bessemer, open hearth, by the stationary and duplex processes, and electric steels. The range of sizes produced is no less staggering to the imagination, when it is considered that the hypodermic needle, which is 0.016 in. diam with a wall thickness of 0.004 in., and pipe for gas or oil transmission lines, with a 26 in. OD, are both seamless tubes. Between these extremes, the range of diameters and wall thicknesses meets most present-day demands for seam-

Jan 1, 1951

By Hans Lundberg

IN last year's report on the progress of geophysics, the airborne magnetometer was the featured new development. At that time only a relatively small number of surveys had been made. During 1947, the airborne magnetometer was used in making many surveys and is again one of the high lights of the year in geophysics. This report is mainly concerned with geophysics as applied to the search for minerals exclusive of petroleum. In 194,5 and 1946, the use of the magnetic method reached a peak, partly because of an active period of prospecting brought on by an active mining market, particularly in Canada.

Jan 1, 1948

By E. T. Hunter

Surrounded by the 13,000-ft high peaks of the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colo., the town of Silverton is the site of the extensive development operations initiated 20 months ago by Standard Metals Corp. Appropriately termed the Silverton Project, Standard's operation has now passed the half-way point in its program to reopen two mines that were once sizeable producers of copper, lead, and zinc ores.

Jan 1, 1961

By D. B. Rushmore, K. A. Pauly

Of primary importance in mine-installations is the hoist, which has a very direct bearing on the successful operation of a mine. Conditions vary greatly with different mines, and especially in different localities. Such factors as depth, incline, the number of levels, permissible or desirable speeds, conditions of ore, etc., are always more or less special in each case. Veins of ore are never exactly duplicated, and the nature of the ground through which shafts are sunk may considerably modify permissible values. As mining-laws are made by the different States, they necessarily vary somewhat, and, even when not fully observed, they introduce factors which qualify the conditions of hoisting men and ore. The amount of timbering required is often of importance as relating to hoisting-conditions. Methods of loading ore affect the time required, as also does the question of the use of cars or skips. Safety-precautions must be very carefully considered, and the number of men in each mine, the number of compartments, and often the method of removing water from the mine, must have careful consideration. While a general discussion of the subject of hoisting is possible, most cases are entirely special, and can be considered only in connection with the peculiar conditions pertaining to that particular installation. The cost of installation of the hoisting-plant may be an appreciable amount, while the cost of raising the ore may be but a small part of the total operating-charge. In many cases, however, the output of the mine is limited by the capacity or the hoist, and the latter thus becomes of the first importance.

Jan 1, 1911

By J. E. Hilliard

Various methods are given for estimating the number per unit volume and average size of convex particles from measurements on a projection through a slice of the structure. The determination of the size distribution is considered specifically for spherical particles. The results are applicable to any type of transmission microscopy and also to the correction of measurements made by reflected light on semitransparent materials. WITH the advent of electron transmission microscopy, the metallurgist is confronted with the problem of relating a projected image to the three-dimensional properties of the structure. This paper deals with the estimation of the number per unit volume and size of particles dispersed in a matrix. The case of convex particles will first be treated (the results will be applicable as approximations to particles of more general shape) and then spherical particles will be considered specifically. The latter represent a special case frequently encountered in practice and one which is also amenable to a calculation of the effect of overlap on the observed particle-size distribution. Although the present treatment was prompted by the needs of the electron microscopist, the results are applicable to transmission studies with any type of radiation. In addition, they can be used in the analysis of semitransparent materials by reflected light, the depth of light penetration corresponding to the thickness of the slice or section used in the transmission studies. 1) CONVEX PARTICLES 1.1) General Expression for N,. We will suppose that a "center" (such as the center of mass) is assigned to each particle. The convention used for defining the center is immaterial providing it does not depend on the orientation or location of the particle. Consider a slice through the structure having a pair of parallel faces a distance t apart. It will be assumed that the slice is randomly located with respect to its perpendicular distance from some fixed point, but it is not necessary to assume that its orientation is random. Our problem is to deduce the relationship between the number of par- ticle images seen on an orthogonal projection through the slice with the number, Nv, of particles per unit volume in the original structure.* *Symbols are listed in the Table. The expected number of particles with centers lying within the slice is Nvt per unit area. In addition, there will be elements in the slice contributed by particles whose centers lie without. The number of such elements will be the same as the number of intersections occurring on a two-dimensional plane through the structure; namely N~K, where K is the mean distance, Fig. 1, between tangent planes to a particle averaged over all particles, i.e., Where Ni is the number of particles of class i having the same shape and size, and pi (4, 8) is the probability that an i particle will have a given orientation with respect to the slice. If the particles are randomly oriented, then K is independent of the orientation of the slice and equal to the mean cali-per diameter. The total number of particle elements in the slice is therefore Nv(t + K) per unit area, but fewer will be seen as separate images on the projection plane because of overlap. If MA is the number of elements "lost" by overlap, the number of images per unit area will be NA = Nv(t + K) -MA 121 MA is a function of the slice thickness and must vanish at t = 0. As t increases, NA at first increases, reaches a maximum, and thereafter decreases as the overlap term MA becomes predomi-

Jan 1, 1962

By Donald E. Cummings

MEASURES appropriate for the control of the silicosis hazard in mining cannot be formulated precisely, but sufficient has accumulated during the past quarter century to permit the suggestion of useful, though partly empirical, rules for its alleviation. The industrial hygienist today recognizes that the peril incurred by the inhalation of harmful dust is a function of two variable factors-the degree of harmful exposure and the specific susceptibility of the exposed individual to pulmonary injury. Control of the danger arising out of prolonged contact with pernicious air- borne particulate matter is consequently best exercised by influencing both of these recognized variables. Obviously the problem has two broad aspects-one, medical; the other within the province of the engineer. I-FACTORS COMPRISING THE DEGREE OF INDIVIDUAL SUSCEPTIBILITY Thorough investigations conducted among miners who have labored for years in the presence of recognized silicosis hazards usually reveal an impressive difference in the injury incurred by men whose exposure to dust has been nearly identical. After a quarter century underground, one individual is short of breath and incapacitated with miners' complaint, while a fellow workman suffers no pulmonary embarrassment and is in good health. Physicians ascribe this oft-observed difference in reaction to individual susceptibility and express a universal regret when they deplore the fate that chose to make the predisposed youth a miner rather than a farmer. To trust the health of miners to fate at the present time is even more unfortunate, because many of the factors that influence man's susceptibility to dust are known, and can be accurately determined by competent medical methods. Among the most important factors comprising susceptibility to injury by dust are the anatomical peculiarities of the individual's respiratory mechanism, his physiological response to the inhalation of dust, his previous dust exposure, the existence of pulmonary infections or other pathological processes in his lungs, his age,

Jan 1, 1938

By L. W. Pommier, F. B. Brien, A. K. Bhasin

The diflerential movement of solid particles through solid-liquid suspensions is very important to many branches of engineering. The flow of suspensions around immersed bodies is mainly of a turbulent nature. Problems are encountered when attempts are made, as is the general practice, to extrapolate the velocity and resistance relationships of Newton, pertaining to Newtonian systems, into non-Newtonian solid-liquid suspensions. The conventional velocity and resistance relationships for turbulent flow in fluids when applied to suspensions, do not take into consideration the two very important variables: suspension particle size and solid volume fraction. A study of the effect of suspension particle size (dgb) on the velocity of falling balls leads to the concept of a critical particle size (dgc) at which the suspensions will be Newtonian. This leads to the classification of static suspensions into two types: suspensions consisting of particle of diameter dgh > dgt, and those with dgh, < dgr. Separate velocity and resistance equations for these two types of suspensions have been proposed, taking into account both the solid particle size and solid volume fraction. The agreement between the velocities predicted from the proposed equations and the measured velocities, confirms their validity. The resistance force offered by suspensions to the movement of immersed bodies has been calculated from the proposed equations, and the effects of suspension particle size and solid volume fraction on the resistance force and velocity have been examined. The movement of immersed bodies in solid-liquid suspensions is of great importance in many areas of engineering such as minerals processing, oil well drilling, suspension flow in pipelines, and hydrometallurgy. A number of mineral dressing processes deal essentially with the movement of solids in suspensions—in particular, classification, thickening, filtration, ore washing, and gravity concentration—thus a study of the fluid characteristics of suspensions is of theoretical and practical interest.&apos; A rigorous analysis of the mechanisms of momentum transport of a solid-liquid system is complex indeed. The rheological properties of the suspensions deviate from those of liquids, varying, for example, with density, solid volume fraction, size and shape of the solid phase of the suspension, and with the density and viscosity of the liquid phase. The flow of suspensions around immersed bodies is mainly of a turbulent nature and hence studies of the turbulent flow characteristics of suspensions are of par- ticular importance. Problems are encountered when attempts are made to extrapolate the velocity and resistance relationships of Newton, pertaining to Newtonian systems, into non-Newtonian solid-liquid suspensions. Due to the numerous variables present in a suspension, certain limitations and assumptions become necessary in order to produce quantitative relationships for predicting their effects. The solid particle size and the solid volume fraction are two of the more important variables. By comparing the measured and calculated Newtonian velocities of falling balls in simple static suspensions, the existing velocity and resistance relationships have been modified to take these variables into account. In order to keep the study less complex, all other variables such as the characteristics of suspending liquid and shape of the particle are maintained constant. Objective The objective of the present investigation is to modify the Newtonian velocity and resistance equations in order to take into account the suspension particle size and solid volume fraction. Theory Liquids are classified on the basis of viscosity, which may be defined as the relationship between applied shear stress and resulting rate of shear.&apos; pure single-phase fluids composed of small light molecules behave as Newtonian liquids, having a single viscosity pa-

Jan 1, 1971

COUNCIL OF SECTION DELEGATES Nicholas A D&apos;Arcy, Jr, Chairman (Southern California Section) Charles Chapman, Vice-Chairman (Florida Section) Ben H Parker, Secretary (Colorado Section) Frontier Refining Co Boston Bldg Denver 2, Colorado

Jan 1, 1956

By Webster, Wm. Reuben

THE greatly enlarged demand for small sizes of seamless copper tube which has recently occurred, due particularly to the rapid growth of the electric household-refrigerator industry, has emphasized the superiority of phosphorized to tough pitch copper for the purpose of producing this commodity. In the manufacture of this material exceedingly heavy reductions by cold drawing are employed, customary practice involving as much as 90 per cent. reduction of cross-sectional area in four runs without intermediate annealing. Although this superiority has long been recognized by tube makers, no quantitative expression of it has heretofore been published. It is believed that the data herewith presented mill serve this purpose. Recent investigators are not in agreement as to the relative mechanical properties of copper containing small amounts of oxygen as compared with copper containing sufficient oxygen to produce that condition known as tough pitch. Hanson, Marryat and Ford1 found that "oxygen has a relatively small effect on the properties of copper." Johnson, on the contrary, states "it cannot be denied that it (tough pitch copper) is inferior to deoxidized copper . . . where severe mechanical manipulation is concerned." These authorities in the reports of their investigations, as might be expected from their conclusions, do not present data of a character requisite to a conclusive determination of the question.

Jan 1, 1927

By R. D. Young, E. A. Harre

Nitrogen exists in two broad categories commonly designated as elemental nitrogen and fixed nitrogen. Elemental nitrogen is found in nature as a diatomic molecule and constitutes about 78%, by volume, of the earth&apos;s atmosphere. Fixed nitrogen is a common term used for nitrogen that is chemically bound to other elements. Although elemental nitrogen is very abundant, nonleguminous plants cannot utilize nitrogen unless it is in the chemically combined form. The content of this chapter is confined to fixed nitrogen since the uses and properties of elemental nitrogen and the fixed nitrogen compounds are different. Certain bacteria associated with legumes are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen, but not to the extent required by succeeding nonleguminous crops. The need to use fertilizers containing fixed nitrogen compounds to grow food crops has been recognized for hundreds of years, and from antiquity farmers have used organic wastes such as animal manures, vegetable wastes, sewage sludge, fish scraps, etc., containing these compounds for fertilizers. These organic materials have a low nitrogen content, however, and cannot support large-scale food production. Known commercial-size deposits of natural nitrates containing much higher nitrogen content exist only in Chile, and the possibility of the discovery of other significant deposits is remote. The Chilean deposits were the major source of nitrogenous fertilizers until the Haber-Bosch process for the production of synthetic ammonia was developed. In the Haber-Bosch process, nitrogen reacts with hydrogen at high temperatures and pressures and in the presence of a catalyst to form ammonia. Modern plants use air, water, and natural gas or other hydrogen sources to produce the ammonia that is now the key building block of the fixed nitrogen industry. Several major problems that developed in the 1970s continue with the nitrogen industry into the 1980s. These are (1) the continuing sharp escalation in the cost of feedstocks for ammonia production as well as all energy sources, and (2) the very steep increase in the investment cost of production facilities. More than 75% of the fixed nitrogen produced domestically is consumed as fertilizers. The types of materials used as fertilizers have changed significantly during the past years. There has been a trend from the use of low-analysis fertilizers to types which contain high percentages of plant nutrients. The average plant nutrient content (N + P2O5 + K2O) of fertilizers used in the United States has increased from 18% in 1930 to 32% in 1960 and today approaches an average of 44%. In the case of nitrogen fertilizers, the low analysis natural nitrates (16% N) gave way to ammonium sulfate (20% N) after about 1920. After World War II, ammonium nitrate (33.5% N) previously used in munitions, became established as the leading nitrogen fertilizer. Urea use as a fertilizer (46% N) began in the 1960s, and in the past 10 years has become the world&apos;s leading solid nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen Materials Anhydrous Ammonia-Anhydrous ammonia is a colorless gas at ambient temperatures and pressures and has a sharp pungent odor. Anhydrous ammonia is stored and transported as a liquid in high-pressure cylinders and tanks at ambient temperature, and in low-pressure tanks, barges, and ships at -28°F. Anhydrous ammonia is applied directly at 4 to 7-in. depths in the soil as a high-pressure liquid by special applicators, after which it expands to a gas that dissolves in the soil moisture or is absorbed on soil colloids. In other systems ammonia is metered into irrigation water and is thereby introduced into the soil.

Jan 1, 1983

By M. C. Flemings, F. R. Mollard

Conditions necessary for plane front growth of two-piwse solids from a single-phase melt are discussed. Alloys consideved are those from a simple binary system containing a eutectic, but are not, in general, of eutectic cornposition. It is concluded that: 1) plane front solzdification is favored by low growth rate, steep thermal gradient, and essential absence of convection; and 2) for steady-state solidification, the structure should resemble that of directionally solidified eutectics (lamellar, rodlike). Factors affecting THERE are many materials, including metals, available today with strengths in excess of 10&apos; psi when in whisker or fiber form. The challenge facing those interested in practical application of such materials has been, and remains, the economic production and incorporation of the whiskers or fibers into useful engineering composites. solute redistribution along the growth direction are described quantitatively, by numerical solution of the diffusion equation. Effects of variations in growtlz rate on average composition of the solidifying composite are significant. For alloys not too close to a single-phase region, the initial transient at constant gvowth velocity is the order of D/R where D is diffusion coefficient in the liquid and R is interface velocity. Composites consisting of the reinforcing phase within a metallic matrix have excited particular interest in recent years because of their potential for high strength at elevated temperature and for resistance to brittle fracture. Techniques employed to incorporate the whiskers or fibers in the metallic phase have included 1) liquid metal infiltration, 2) solid or liquid phase sintering, and 3) direct growth of composites from the melt, of rodlike or lamellar morphology, by directional solidification of eutectic alloys. Two recent books"2 have reviewed the status of this growing field. Concerning the last method, growth of eutectics, it has been shown that the reinforcing phase (e.g., rods)

Jan 1, 1968

By G. M. Yocom

Blowing acid Bessemer converters with oxygen-steam produces steel of below 0.002 pct N2 content. This method of blowing, combined with a dephosphorizing treatment in the steel ladle, results in low-carbon steels of low nitrogen and low phosphorous (under 0.035 pet) contents, which has physical properties equivalent to open-hearth steels of similar analysis. Using a 50-50 mixture of oxygen and steam, the refinitzg rate is increased 25 pct over blowing with natural air, and scrap charge increased from 3 to 10 pet. Bottom life is normal with proper tuyere area and arrangements, fumes are decreased, yields increased, and hydrogen content is normal. THE acid Bessemer plant at the South Works of Wheeling Steel Corp., consists of two 15-ton bottom blown converters with a monthly capacity of 57,000 N.T. The product of the shop is skelp billets for continuous welded pipe and slabs for ordinary drawing and forming quality sheets. Approximately 50 pct of ingot production is regular Bessemer steel of natural Phos content and the remainder is a dephosphorized grade of steel made by a special treatment of the blown metal as it is poured into the steel ladle. The low Phos grade of steel has certain advantages over the higher Phos grade but since both grades were produced by blowing natural air, the N2 content was in the range of 0.015 pct which limited its application. In 1954 it was decided to explore the possibilities of blowing with a steam-oxygen mixture for the production of steel of both low N2 and low Phos contents. The necessary equipment was installed to operate one converter in this manner and early in 1955 an experimental run of 160 heats was made by blowing with a steam-oxygen blast and excluding natural air entirely. During this period the proper operating techniques were established, such as blast pressures, steam-oxygen mixtures, valves and instrumental control equipment, tuyere arrangement in the bottoms, blowing times and production rates, and a thorough study made of the final steel quality. Also during this experimental period the dephosphorizing practice was improved by the use of a tap hole below the lip of the vessel. This provided a clean separation of the acid converter slag and blown metal which made the dephosphorizing treatment more effective. The results of this experimental run dictated further development of this practice and a second run of 720 heats was made in 1957. The quality features and conversion cost results were in line with expectations and accordingly a 400-ton per day oxygen plant is now being installed. The plant is scheduled for completion in September of this year. This will provide sufficient oxygen to operate both vessels on steam-oxygen blast and delete natural air blowing entirely. The steel will then be below 0.002 pct N2 bar content and the dephosphorized grades will be between 0.015 and 0.040 pct Phos. STEAM-OXYGEN BLOWING The steam for the process is fed to the plant at 220 psig pressure through a 6-in. line. The high-purity oxygen is compressed to 200 psig and conducted through an 8-in. line. The oxygen from the main line is valved down to 100 psig and passed through a steam heated heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is regulated to supply oxygen at 300°F to the steam-oxygen mixing station. It is essential that the incoming oxygen be held at this temperature to avoid condensation of the steam with resulting excessive erosion of the clay tuyeres in the vessel bottom. Oxygen is admitted to the mixing chamber by a 6-in. hydraulically operated valve driven by the ratio control regulator on impulse from the flow of steam. Steam is admitted to the steam-oxygen mixture station through a 2 1/2-in. hydraulically driven valve. The ratio control regulator acts to increase or decrease oxygen input as the steam flow increases or decreases with changing positions of the Blower&apos;s control lever. The important point to note here is that steam flow always precedes the oxygen flow as a safety measure. The control valves have sufficient capacity to afford protection should blow pipe trouble develop. A 50-50 mixture for these 15-ton heats demands an oxygen flow of 3800 standard cu ft per min along with 317 lb of steam. The Blower&apos;s stations is provided with an indicating blast pressure gage, and indicating steam and oxygen flow meters. Signal and warning lights indicate the valve positions and line pressures. A control room at the real of the Blower&apos;s pulpit room houses the ratio control and pressure regulators, as well as the various meter bodies. The hand actuated wheels used to change the conditions are mounted on a panel on the front of the meter control house. The recording steam and oxygen meters used for totalizing and accounting purposes are also mounted on this panel.

Jan 1, 1962

CONTENTS PAGE THOENEN, J. R.-Limestone Production as a Mining Problem. Discussed by Oliver Bowles, J. T. Singewald, S. R. Russell 1 GRIGGS, C. C.-Engineering in Limestone Production. Discussed by W. C. Phalen, John Rice, Samuel M. Shallcross, Oliver Bowles, Nathan C. Rockwood, George Milliron 2 WILDER, FRANK A.-Rotary Calciners for Gypsum. Discussed by L. K. Arm-strong 9 PORTER, JOHN J.-Manufacturing Problems of Cement Industry. Discussed by Samuel M. Shallcross 9 KIRKHAM, VIRGIL R. D.-Phosphate Deposits of Idaho and Their Relation to the World Supply. Discussed by F. A. Wilder, S. L. Willis, G. R. Mansfield, R. W. Stone, L. K. Armstrong 9 Limestone Production as a Mining Problem Discussion of the paper of J. R. THOENEN, presented at the New York Meeting, February, 1925, and issued, as Paper 1417-H, with MINING AND METALLURGY, February, 1925. OLIVER BOWLES, New Brunswick, N. J.-I am so thoroughly convinced of the growing importance of underground work in the production of limestone that I had the author make a detailed study of limestone mining for the Bureau of Mines and prepare a report on the principles of limestone mining. Many limestone operators, long accustomed to open¬pit work, are being forced to mining. About 6 months ago I thought there were twenty-five or thirty underground limestone operations in the United States but the author has been finding new ones until his list now runs nearer sixty. Some of these are very extensive; one at least has 4 ½ miles of underground workings. There is an ever-expanding field for the engineer in the operation of limestone mines and quarries. Some of the larger companies realize the need of skilled engineering advice, but many of the companies regard the engineer as an unnecessary expense. Although almost every metal mine, even those handling only a few hundred tons of ore per month, employs a mining engineer, many limestone operations ten times as large employ no mining engineers. Few mining engineers are at all familiar

Jan 6, 1925

By A. W. Fahrenwald

THE function of the classifier in modern fine-grinding practice is to remove a finished product from the grinding-mill discharge, leaving material that needs further comminution. The classifier, therefore, makes two products: (1) "finished" product, which overflows the rim of the classifier tank, sometimes referred to as "slimes" or as "classifier overflow," and (2) "unfinished" product, which settles to the sloping bottom of the classifier tank and is removed by dragging or raking. This product is generally referred tows "sands" or "oversize." One of the outstanding features of the closed-circuit classifier is its ability automatically to return the unfinished product of the ball-mill discharge to the feed end or scoop box of the ball mill. This is a distinct advantage because it avoids dilution of the ball-mill feed, and, furthermore, the particular method of removing the settled sand, by raking it up the inclined bottom of the classifier, gives a classifier discharge containing a minimum of water. This leads to maximum classifier efficiency, in this type of classifier, because the maximum volume of water is displaced upward by the settling sands. The closed-circuit classifier is required to deliver a finished pulp of closely specified density requirements, therefore added hydraulic water generally is not permitted.

Jan 1, 1930