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By A. R. T. Denues

This investigation was made under a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, and the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory. Funds were supplied by the Chile Exploration Co., whose executive offices are in New York City. The support, cooperation, and services of these agencies made the work possible and are acknowledged gratefully. The writer wishes to express his particular indebtedness to the staff of the Explosives Division of the Bureau of Mines for services and assistance, particularly Dr. Wilbert J. Huff, consulting explosives chemist, J. C. Holtz, J. E. Tiffany, and A. B. Coates; to F. O. Gardner, treasurer of the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory; to G. B. Holderer, consulting engineer in connection with liquid-oxygen explosives for the Chile Exploration Co.; to the Enos Coal Mining Co. of Oakland City, Ind., particularly to G. H. Utterback of the staff of the mine for providing facilities that made field tests possible; and to full-time assistants J. W. Rothhaar and J. G. P. Weinheimer and to W. S. Hiller, part-time assistant, who were employed under the cooperative agreement.

Jan 1, 1940

By F. S. Crawford

A large number of operators of various industries in the United States do not appear to realize the great returns in dollars and cents which result from intelligently directed safety work . Managers of co 1 mines , metal mines , open-pit mines , quarries , steel mills , cement mills , oil rei meries , iron works , or other industrial operations , should by all means realize the great waste resulting from accidents , in order to appreciate the necessity for a continuous accident -prevention policy . While the prevention of accidents is worth while from the humanitarian standpoint alone , it has an equally important economic side , and before our mining industrial operations will be made as safe as they should be , it is apparent that this dollars and cents viewpoint must be given full recognition in order to bring before many of the men who run the industries the great importance of this phase of industrial management . : There is a tendency upon the part of the opera or who has not given thought to the cost of accidents ( and there are many mining operators of this type) to insure his company against compensation losses and against catastrophes for which he can secure insurance , and think he has done his duty ar an executive . Even though industrial operations were not compelled to pay compensation , and even if the management were not moved by humanitarian motives to try to stop accidents , it would pay many times over to carry on accident prevention work vigorously and continuously. : In some parts of the United States , the state compensation and insurance requirements are such that the operator does not receive a reduction in his insurance rate per men employed upon having made safety installations or upon having achieved a reduction of accidents in his plant . Under such conditions the management frequently does not feel encouraged to emert much effort in bettering the accident rate . However , when the responsible officials of a company realize the much greater harm to an operation which results from doing no accident - prevention work , and the great benefit in reduced costs which usually follows effective safety work , they should be inclined to do almost everything possible to reduce accidents , regardless of considerations as to accident compensations . There are enough indirect costs resulting from accidents to wreck many types of business ; excessive accidents result in disorganization and failure , while immunity from accidents usually means a smoothly running efficient organization .

Sep 1, 1930

To improve the level of hearing protection by providing workers with an inexpensive, easy-to-use device to check earplug fit. Background Approximately 30 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise on the job, placing them at risk of permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, and other disorders. Although the preferred solution is to eliminate noise through engineering controls or to reduce noise exposure through administrative controls, hearing protectors are critical when noise is unavoidable. Studies of hearing protector users have shown that average protection values in the real world are much lower than the labeled noise reduction ratings determined in laboratories with trained and motivated subjects. Even worse, many hearing pro­tector users get virtually no protection at all because of poor fit. The studies also show that users have a harder time achieving adequate protection levels with earplugs than with earmuffs. It?s difficult for users to tell if earplugs are working well just by looking at them. A more accurate approach is to check how much they block or ?attenuate? noise. Earplugs vary in their attenuation characteristics, with most providing a maximum of 20?35 decibels of noise reduction when worn correctly. Any earplug that?s suitable for use in noisy settings will attenuate noise by at least 15 decibels. Personal fit testing is an effective way to help hearing protector users improve the fit and protection levels of the devices. However, existing fit-testing systems are expensive and unsuitable for use at many industrial worksites.

Dec 1, 2008

By L. D. Tracy

"This paper represents work conducted by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Illinois Geological Survey and the Engineering Experiment Station of the University of Illinois.IntroductionThe present report covers conditions and mining royalties in District VIII of the coal fields of Illinois, as designated by the Illinois Geological Survey. The various districts have been described in the reports on the Illinois coal-mining investigations, carried on cooperatively by the Illinois Geological Survey, the engineering experiment station of the University of Illinois, and the U. S. Bureau of Mines. This district includes Vermilion and Edgar Counties, but as the coal-mining operations in Edgar County amounted to only 827 tons in 1923, the data here given have been confined to Vermilion County.A similar report on District VI (Williamson and Franklin Counties) has been issued as Serial 2722 of the Bureau of Minos.A description of geological and mining conditions, and a discussion of market and transportation facilities, have been included because these have an important bearing on the royalties specified and the general conditions of the lease.Mining ConditionsDistrict VIII is better known as the Danville district and in 1923 produced 4,177,000 tons of coal, or approximately L per cent of the total output for the entire State for that year, which was 79,300,000 tons."

Apr 1, 1926

To develop a safety training module for surface miners and road construction workers exposed to the hazards of highwalls. Background Investigators collaborated to develop a new training module that would address the hazards of working around highwalls. Such a module would be applicable to surface mines and road construction sites, both of which require personnel to work under and on top of steep and often unstable slopes.

Aug 1, 2004

By A. J. Kraemer

This paper is the second and concluding report of the results of the Bureau of Mines' twenty-second semiannual survey of motor fuel marketed in the United States. The first paper Was published as Report of Investigations 30634 and reported data relating to gravity, vapor pressure, and distillation range of the samples. The present paper deals particularly with results of the determination of copper strip corrosion (method 530.22),5 color (method 10.11),6 sulphur content by the lamp method, 7 copper dish evaporation residue (method 530.1),8 and "gum" content as given by the steam-oven method as developed by the Bureau of Mines. 9 The price at the time the sample was taken and the tax are also stated for each sample. The sample numbers used throughout this report are identical with those used in Report of Investigations 306310; ?for example, No. 225 of this report is the same sample as No. 225 of Report of Investigations 3063.

Jan 1, 1931

By John P. Powell

The increasing demands for petroleum and its products and the steadily increasing cost of discovering and developing new oil fields are factors that emphasize the importance of increasing the recovery of oil from known petroleum reserves. Water flooding is a valuable conservation measure, not only preventing premature abandonment of stripper leases but also reviving interest in many areas previously abandoned. The use of water flooding as a means for recovering additional oil from partly depleted oil-bearing formations was first tried in Oklahoma in 1931. Early water-flooding operations were confined to the area of shallow Bartlesville-sand formations in Nowata and Rogers Counties, where many of the projects were outstandingly successful. The results of these operations stimulated activities in other pools in Oklahoma, and by the end of 1949 water flooding had been tried in 25 of the 49 oil-producing counties in the State (fig. 1). Approximately 33 million barrels of oil, or 1,806 barrels per acre, had been recovered by December 31, 1949, from 18,221 productive acres included in the 162 active and abandoned projects in Oklahoma by injection of approximately 449 million barrels of water.

Jan 1, 1952

By Bill Linville

During fiscal year 1969, the Bureau of Mines was engaged in 66 projects to improve methods for producing and utilizing petroleum. Programs directed toward the continued conservation of this natural resource, including crude oil, natural gas, and oil shale, were carried out through research performed at four laboratories supervised and supported by administrative personnel of this Bureau of the Department of the Interior. Over 100 technical papers and reports were published by the Bureau or others based on this research, and numerous other reports were prepared for U.S. Government agencies, State agencies, and organizations of the petroleum and natural gas industry engaged in cooperative research programs with the Bureau.

Jan 1, 1971

By W. C. Holliman

This report on the characteristics of commercial aviation gasolines is one of a series of such reports. It presents compilations of' inspection data furnished on their products by 15 manufacturers of commercial grades of aviation gasoline and special data obtained in Bureau of Mines laboratories on 68 samples of these gasolines. Data are presented for 18 samples of grade 80, 20 of grade 91/98, 21 of grade100/130, and 9 of grade 115/145 aviation fuels. The gasolines are designated January 1948 production, although some of the samples actually were produced at a later date.

Jan 1, 1948

By Fred C. Turin, Jasinder S. Jaspal, Alan G. Mayton, William J. Wiehagen

Dump site injuries occur in all major mineral industries. Working in elevated areas near an edge is a common hazard for operators of off-highway mobile mining equipment. In this Information Circular (IC), serious injuries involving haulage trucks working at dump sites are examined for the period 1988 to 1997. Data were acquired from injury reports gathered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The IC is organized into three sections. The first presents an overview of the frequency and severity of injuries. The second analyzes injury characteristics using MSHA-defined data fields and author-defined injury classifications. Key findings are discussed in the third section. In summary, 370 serious injuries were identified that involved trucks at dump sites, of which 26 were fatalities. Although haulage truck activities at dump sites resulted in a small proportion of the total number of injuries at surface mines, these injuries were much more likely to result in death or significant amounts of lost time than most other surface mine injuries. These findings support the belief that haulage truck activities at dump sites are worthy of continued study by those interested in improving the health and safety of workers at surface mines.

Jan 3, 2001

By Robert J. Evans

The Bureau of Mines is sponsoring a variety of long-term, high-risk research to advance state-of-the-art technology in U.S. underground coal mining. This report reviews the status of many Bureau projects that support fundamental underground coal mining operations; the project areas include cutting coal from the solid (extraction), hauling coal from the face (transport), and activities that sustain daily operations (logistics). Innovative equipment and technology have been developed, with these major objectives: to significantly improve coal mine productivity, to further advance coal recovery and personal safety within the mining industry, and to reduce the time needed to develop longwall panels. The majority of the prototype equipment covered in this report either has undergone or will undergo comprehensive evaluation at Bureau surface test facilities so that performance and reliability can be improved before the equipment is tested and evaluated in a working section underground.

Jan 1, 1988

By James A. Powell

A seismic system which utilizes in-mine geophones to detect trapped miners has been developed. Tests at the Bureau of Mines Safety Research Mine at Bruceton, Pa., and at two operating mines indicate such a system has a maximum detection range in excess of 1,000 feet. The system is fieldworthy and portable and requires less than 30 minutes to set up and check. Real-time detection is possible.

Jan 1, 1976

By P. Nicholls

Patent records show that the idea that the burning of fuels can be improved by mixing or pretreating them with chemicals 6 dates back to the early years of the last century. By 1845, English and French patents included the specific beneficiations of elimination or reduction of smoke, soot, and clinker; reduction of the ashes, presumably meaning the total weight of refuse from the ashpit; elimination of sulphur fumes; increase in the rate of burning; increase in the time a given charge of fuel would last; and, in most patents, a saving of fuel. The earlier patents specified additions up to 80 pounds or more per ton of fuel, but after 1860 the quantity was rarely more than 4 pounds. There is no record of the extent to which these patents were commercialized, but after 1884 many American patents were assigned to companies specializing in treatment of coal, so it is probable that the products were marketed on a considerable scale at least as early as that date. From 1900 on, many companies marketed proprietary products that were sold under the general name of "fuel savers." Since its establishment in 1910, the Bureau of Mines has continually received inquiries about these products and, at the request of other govern-mental departments, has tested some used in accordance with the instructions of the purveyors; the results were all negative and, within the accuracy of measurements, the products had no effect on the burning.

Jan 1, 1937

Objective To develop a passive, inexpensive technique for monitoring explosion overpressures within sealed areas in underground coalmines. Background From 1994 to 2000, seven explosions of methane and/or coal dust occurred within the worked-out, sealed areas (gobs) of underground U.S. coal mines. These explosions, believed to have been started by lightning, destroyed many seals and caused much damage external to the sealed area. One gob explosion went undetected until the mine operator reopened the sealed area and discovered the damage. Fortunately, these gob explosions did not cause any fatalities or injuries. Because lightning occurs in just about all mining areas, several questions arise. Could gob gas explosions be occurring in other sealed areas and going undetected? If so, what is the magnitude of the resulting explosion overpressures? The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) undertook a study to identify and evaluate passive measuring devices to monitor and quantify the overpressures associated with such explosions. This work was done in parallel with full-scale explosion experiments for evaluating the strength characteristics of seals used for isolating areas in underground coal mines. Approach Evaluation studies were done in PRL's 20-liter explosion test chamber and in the full-scale Experimental Mine at Lake Lynn Laboratory to evaluate the response and accuracy of various commercially available automobile tire pressure gauges to overpressures generated from gas and dust explosions. The first series of tests was done in the 20-liter chamber, which is used to study the explosibility and inerting of fuel dusts and gases. Data from the tire pressure gauge tests were compared to the pressure-time data obtained from the 20-liter chamber 's traditional electronic strain gauge pressure transducer recorded on a high-speed data acquisition system. To evaluate the tire pressure gauges, the valved inlet (tip) of the candidate pressure gauge was removed and the body of the gauge was cemented with epoxy into a 0.25-in pipe elbow and attached to the outside of the test chamber. A second series of tire gauge evaluation tests was done at Lake Lynn during explosion-resistance testing of seals used in underground coal mines. Full-scale seals (20 ft wide by 8 ft high)were constructed as one wall of a 2,000-ft3 chamber and exposed to a series of methane explosions. Average overpressures ranged from20 to 80 psi. The seals were built with various strength materials ranging from 7 to 48 in thick. The modified tire gauges are attached on the outside of the chamber to a 0.25-in NPT pipe that extends into the chamber (figure 1). The axis of the gauge is mounted at a right angle to the plane of the seal to minimize the coupling of any seal movement to the stem of the gauge that may cause inaccurate readings. The internal explosion pressure history is recorded with a strain gauge pressure transducer mounted inside the chamber. Methane is injected into the chamber, mixed with air, and ignited with an electric spark located at the geometric center of the chamber. Maximum explosion overpressures are recorded and compared with the tire gauge pressure.

Jun 1, 2001

By W. E. Robinson

Oil-shale kerogen was processed into oil and oil products before the first oil well was completed by Drake in 1859. However, because of economic and other advantages, natural petroleum has been the principal source of liquid fuels and lubricants since 1859 and is a convenient root of many [organic] chemicals in common use today. In recent years the difference has narrowed between the cost of producing liquid fuels from well petroleum and other sources. This narrowing of cost difference has resulted both from the increased cost of finding new sources of petroleum in the United States and the experimental demonstration of lowered costs for synthetic liquid fuels by the Federal Bureau of Mines and by industry. Available petroleum resources of this country are being reduced and eventually may be inadequate to meet the demand. Alternate means of assuring an adequate supply of liquid fuels for this country include the development of processes for utilizing other carbonaceous materials such as oil shale and coal.

Jan 1, 1960

By Lindsay D. Norman

Computer models for simulating the construction and for calculating the properties of particulate solids in two- and three-dimensional systems (coverings of circles and packings of spheres, respectively) were developed. By simulating the physical process of constructing circle coverings and sphere packings, in which the circles or spheres were randomly selected from many different distributions of sizes, physically realizable loose random assemblies were simulated whose physical and geometrical properties were predictable with the computer. Many of these properties, such as the number of contacts, are extremely-difficult to measure accurately, or considerable ingenuity is required in their determination. All of these properties were easily and accurately calculated by the computer models for many different coverings and packings constructed from equal, discrete, uniform, and log-normal distributions of particles. In addition to the loose random assemblies, dense random covering and packing constructions were simulated whose properties are ideal upper limits for those of the loose random coverings and packings. The properties of the dense random coverings and packings, heretofore only obtainable by theoretical analysis, were also simply obtained. The statistical geometry of loose random coverings and packings was studied, and several new interpretations of the area-covering or space-filling requirements in these systems were made. In two dimensions, it was found that the properties of all loose random coverings are predictable by taking suitably weighted averages of the corresponding properties of just four kinds of polygons whose edges are defined by connecting the centers of mutually tangent circles in the covering. The distributions of these polygons that permit area-covering were determined, and empirical equations for predicting the density, average coordination number, and average pore area in loose and dense random coverings were formulated. The properties of loose packings were determined by performing a simplicial division of the computer-simulated assemblies to produce a unique set of minimum volume, space-filling tetrahedra whose edges connected the sphere centers in each packing. A simple empirical equation was formulated that permits the calculation of the average number of contacts in any sphere packing, random or regular. Some of the statistical geometrical properties of the simplicial tetrahedra in the computer-simulated packings were analyzed. The tetrahedron edge length distributions in all the loose random packings were nearly identical when the edges were presented in terms of sphere diameters, regardless of the sphere population in the packing. Moreover, the gap lengths in the loose packings were to an excellent approximation representable by a uniform distribution of sizes. The distributions of spheres in tetrahedra resulting from the simplicial division of the loose random packings also existed in the tetrahedra in dense random packings. These observations were employed in developing a unique method for predicting the geometrical properties of loose random packings without simulating the assembled packing. Instead, the space-filling simplicial graph could be predicted for any given density of packing of any sphere population. The cumulative packing properties of these tetrahedra were shown to be nearly identical to those calculated by all loose random packing simulations attempted in this investigation. The simplicial tetrahedra completely describe a packing and can therefore be used to predict all properties of interest.

Jan 1, 1971

By John P. Walsted

Because of the absence of an iron-producing industry, the Pacific Northwest is working under an economic handicap. This is particularly apparent in the gray-iron-foundry industry because of the high price of pig iron imported from foreign sources or shipped in from producing ?areas within the United States. The high prices and sometimes short supply of ferrous metal products has put a brake on industrialization, which has been only partly compensated by the availability of cheap electric power. The economic condition of the gray-iron-foundry industry could be improved by establishing a small iron-producing industry based on the locally available ores. Moreover, establishing a local iron smelter would create a market for resources now dormant. Low-grade ores of manganese, chromium, and nickel would become usable in industry when combined with the iron ore from Scappoose. Pig iron produced in even limited quantities would level out the fluctuation in supply. The ore deposits, being small, would not supply enough pig iron to satisfy the entire demand. This condition necessitates designing special pig irons that will carry abnormally high proportions of scrap in the cupola charge.

Jan 1, 1955

By K. K. Kelley

The entropy values at 298.1° K. for the elements and inorganic compounds, on which sufficient data were available for calculation in 1931, were discussed in a previous publication (96).3 Since that time the specific beats at low' temperatures of many more inorganic substances have been determined, and considerable advances have been made in the realms of spectroscopy applicable to the determination of thermodynamic properties. Moreover, a critical study of the existing vapor-pressure data made by the author (98) furnishes entropy of vaporization results suitable for obtaining approximate values of the entropies of a number of gases from the entropies of the solids or liquids. Consequently, it appears worth while at the present time to supplement the former publication, giving the new values now obtainable and making such revision in the older values as the data warrant. The methods of calculating entropies were discussed in previous publications (96, 98) and will not be repeated here. ENTROPIES AT 298.1° K. FOR INORGANIC SUBSTANCES In the following pages, the same arrangement is followed as in the previous publication (96). All entropy values are expressed in 15° gram-calories per degree Kelvin per gram-formula mass of substance. The figures given for gases do not include the effect of nuclear spin, as is nearly universally customary at present. The estimates of accuracy in the case of the values obtained from heat-capacity data apply only to the existing measurements and to the necessary extrapolations as they are made. It is assumed usually that the substances are in such an energy condition at the lowest temperatures reached in the specific-heat measurements that the usual normal type of extrapolation may be made. No allowance is made for error in this assumption. The recent work on Gd2SO4. 8H2O and FeC13 illustrates the difficulties that may arise in obtaining the entropies of some paramagnetic substances. Also the data and calculations for such substances as CO, H20, and N20 show that the correct entropy is not obtained in all cases by indiscriminate application of the usual

Jan 1, 1936

By James Westfield

This report covers the calendar year 1953 and has been prepared and submitted in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 106(a) and Sec. 212(c) of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act (66 Stat. 692; 30 U.S.C. Secs. 451-483). During this first full calendar year of operations under the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act, the coal-mining industry of the United States attained the best injury records in its history - improving the former best records (made in 1952) by 91 fatal and 10,020 nonfatal injuries. Whereas, the mandatory provisions of the act were intended and designed to prevent major mine disasters, apparently the effects have reached beyond the scope thereof in reducing mine accidents generally.

Jan 1, 1954

The Interior Department's Bureau of Mines is the Federal Government's primary research arm in the mineral and fossil-fuel fields. In accordance with its Organic Act of 1910, the Bureau's responsibilities have been reinforced since the passage of the Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act of 1966, the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, and the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970. The 1966 and 1969 acts deal specifically with the development of safe working conditions and a healthful working environment for those engaged in the mining industry, while the third sets the national policy as follows: " ... to foster and encourage private enterprise in (l) the development of economically sound and stable domestic mining, minerals, metal, and mineral reclamation industries; (2) the orderly and economic development of domestic mineral resources, reserves, and reclamation of metals and minerals to help assure satisfaction of industrial security, and environmental needs; (3) mining, mineral, and metallurgical research, including the use and recycling of scrap to promote the wise and efficient use of our natural and reclaimable mineral resources, and (4) the study and development of [ ]

Jan 1, 1972