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By Walter E. Mingramm

THE construction of rescue-apparatus on the principle of furnishing the wearer with air from a tank containing it under high pressure was given up by inventors about 20 years ago. Such an apparatus must supply continuously, for not less than two hours, nearly 50 liters of pure air at atmospheric pressure per minute, or a total of 6,000 liters (210 cu. ft.); and a cylinder containing this amount of air, under 2,000 lb. pressure, would weigh 180 lb. or more. Although apparatus has been recently constructed utilizing liquified air, no experiments have been made to determine the regularity with which the air is generated, nor has its chemical composition been determined. Moreover, the chief objection to such an apparatus is the' difficulty and cost of keeping on hand a large quantity of liquified air. The system of furnishing the wearer of a breathing-apparatus with air which has given the best results, and has found employment in all the devices now in practical use, is that in which the air contained in the human lungs at the beginning of the work is regenerated by the apparatus. By means of chemicals, such as caustic potash and caustic soda, the carbonic acid gas, CO., exhaled is absorbed, and the oxygen that has been consumed is replaced from a tank containing this gas under high pressure. The pressure of the oxygen (which is 1,875 lb. in the two cylinders at the beginning of the work) is automatically reduced to 75 lb., and is sufficient to keep the air inside of the apparatus in constant circulation, and to force it to pass through the chemicals provided for the absorption of the CO, gas. In the attempt to construct an apparatus which would (1) furnish the wearer with a sufficient supply of air; (2) replace the amount of oxygen used up by the lungs during the time of

Jan 7, 1908

By J. F. Ednie

SCRAP metals to the value of more than a billion and a half dollars were recovered in the United States in 1939 for further use in industry. Few people have any true conception of the magnitude of the secondary-metal industry as related to that engaged in the production of the primary, or virgin, metals; of its importance, particularly when a shortage of primary metals exists, as at present; or of the advance that has been made in standardizing and improving the quality of its products. Of the iron and steel produced in the United States in 1939 (the data used in this article are largely taken from Bureau of Mines reports for that year) just over 50 per cent came from scrap and slightly less than 50 per cent from ore. Of the principal nonferrous metals-aluminum, anti-mony, copper, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc-63 per cent came from domestic ores and 37 per cent from scrap. Fig. 1 presents graphically the relative tonnage and value of primary and secondary production of ferrous and nonferrous metals. In this chart only purchased secondary metals are considered, the figures being exclusive of "home" or "plant" scrap which amounts to rather large figures in the iron and steel industry. Incidentally, the chart shows that from the tonnage standpoint the iron and steel industry is some twenty times larger than the nonferrous industry, though with regard to the value of the product the ratio drops to about two to one.

Jan 1, 1941

By T. A. Simpson

The search for ore continued at its relentless pace throughout 1967. Canada, South Africa and Australia plus a few scattered localities on the globe reported minerals finds of significant importance. Many of the reported finds were not high grade ore, but they nonetheless will assist in sup- plying a highly industrialized, mineral hungry world. No longer does inaccessibility and remoteness close an area to mineral exploration and development. The communication and transportation systems of today have closed the gap and, moreover, the demand for essential mineral commodities is causing price shifts which encourage exploitation of deposits heretofore considered uneconomical.

Jan 2, 1968

By T. D. Yensen

AT the symposium on gases in metals held at the Annual Meeting of the Institute in New York in February, 1933, a suggestion was made1 that the term "gases in metals" as now employed is unsuitable as descriptive of the substances usually involved in that term. The Executive Committee of the Iron and Steel Division thereupon appointed a subcommittee, composed of the authors of this paper, to study the "nomenclature involved in the general subject of gases in metals, including the name itself" and to report its findings to the Executive Committee. The subcommittee decided at once to discuss the subject with an "Advisory Council" composed of representative metallurgists, metallographers and analytical and physical chemists in the Pittsburgh district.2 As a result of conferences held by the subcommittee and with the Council, a report with recommendations was submitted to the Executive Committee at an open meeting on Oct. 5, 1933, during the National Metals Congress in Detroit. The report and recommendations were accepted, and the subcommittee was instructed to proceed with the dissemination of the report for the purpose of having its recommendation generally adopted either as it was or in a modified form as a result of further discussion.

Jan 1, 1934

By LeRoy Scharon

EACH year it becomes apparent that geophysical activities in the fields of mining and engineering are increasing in the number and variety of applications. Many mining companies are including, as part of their exploration programs, geophysical surveys. The value of geophysics in highway and structural foundation investigations has been realized and is now an important part of subsurface investigations in conjunction with soil and rock borings. United States of America One of the major orebody discoveries of the year is that of the Grace mine near Morgantown in Berks County, Pa. This orebody, now under development by the Bethlehem Steel Co., was discovered by an airborne magnetometer survey carried out by the Aero Service Corp. of Philadelphia. The orebody, the geological occurrence of which is similar to those existing at Cornwall, Pa., was found at a depth of 1500 ft under a cover of Triassic sediments and is reported to have a reserve of well over 100 million tons. Shaft sinking and other construction work has started at the site. Resistivity work was carried out at proposed dam sites in New York and in connection with the search for fluorspar veins in Kentucky. Spontaneous polarization investigations were pursued in the Appalachian region at various localities from North Caro¬lina up into Virginia. This work was done in connection with the search for sulphide-bearing structures. Several indications were proven by subsequent drilling to correspond to unknown sulphide deposits, a few of these occurring in the vicinity of properties long under exploitation. Refraction seismic methods applied to bedrock depth determinations as related to water problems on the Marquette Range and the extension of the. regional gravity survey on the Menominee Range to learn the major structural features of the area have been reported by, Lloyal O. Bacon. A gravity survey has been completed in the vicinity of Tioga, Bradford County, Pa. with a gravity profile being observed from Tioga east to the Delaware basin. The Indiana Geological Survey is concerned with a state-wide gravity survey. Judson Mead, University of Indiana, reports that the bulk of the State Survey's geophysical work, however, has been "seismic refraction work in connection with drift thickness problems. The survey has made almost 1000 determinations in areas of moderately thick drift. The results of this work are of interest to both the coal mining industry and to the stone industry." In the southeastern Missouri lead belt, magnetic electrical resistivity, and electromagnetic applications for the discovery of new lead deposits have been used with success. A gravity survey of the residual-barite deposits in Washington County, Mo., was made during the summer season with preliminary computations of tonnages checking with tonnages mined. Robert M. Dryer, of the University of Kansas has had considerable success in mapping structural features in southwestern Kansas with the gravity meter and is now engaged in tracing shoestring sands in eastern Kansas by resistivity surveys. Several, foundation sites were investigated in greater St. Louis using electrical resistivity and seismic refraction methods with success. A minimum amount of drilling data was available for checking and interpreting the geophysical results (Fig. 1). It is to be noted that geophysical methods are finding a place in subsurface investigations for highway and foundation problems. Interest has been so keen in this field that the American Society for Testing Materials, at its annual meeting in June of this year, devoted one session of its symposium on surface and subsurface reconnaissance to geophysical papers involving the application of the electrical resistivity and seismic refraction methods to subsurface studies. At least three major mining companies in the United States have entered the field recently in geochemistry. The program of research and development of geochemical techniques by the U. S. Geological Survey continues. Experimental field projects were conducted over lead-silver, cobalt, copper and zinc deposits in Idaho, Oregon, California, Wisconsin and Montana. Similar experiments were carried on by M. P. Nackowski in the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district and in the Tri-State Zinc district by R. Maurice Tripp with favorable results. Geophysical activities of the U. S. Geological Survey for 1951 were extensive and varied. About 21,000 miles of airborne magnetic and 10,000 miles of airborne radioactivity traverse were flown in 1951 by the U. S. Geological Survey. A total of 35,000 miles of aeromagnetic traverse were compiled, 57 aeromagnetic maps were published and 14 preliminary maps were placed on open file. Airborne surveys were made in Aroostook County, in the Katahdin and Dead River areas in Maine; in northwest Washington; over the Mother Lode district in California; in northeastern and northwestern Minnesota; and in the New York-New Jersey highlands. Of special interest were the surveys in Washington, where highly magnetic Eocene lavas gave information on structures in the overlying Miocene sedimentary rocks and in northeastern Minnesota over the Duluth gabbro. The latter survey was made following the discovery of nickel-copper mineralization in the gabbro near its contact with the Virginia slate. The principal ground geophysical surveys for metalliferous deposits and related purposes were made in the Colorado Plateau region, where electrical surveys assisted in prospecting; in Aroostook County, Maine, where ground magnetic surveys, following aeromagnetic surveys, have permitted tracing

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry J. Miller, Marcella Linderman

During some experiments made by Henry J. Miller, partly in Germany and partly in the United States, in which it was found necessary to melt metals in quantities up to 60 kg. in a vacuum or under low pressures of hydrogen, molybdenum was tried as the resistor in the electric melting furnaces. Molybdenum ribbons 16 by 0.55 mm. and 18 by 0.45 mm. were used as resistors. The furnaces were of the type shown in Fig. 1. About the heating tube, Y, are wound parallel resistors of molybdenum ribbon from the water-cooled electrodes, El, Ez. The whole is within a copper container having outlets for the removal or introduction of gases and a window, W, for observation, the space about the heating tube and electrodes being filled with insulating material. The life of the molybdenum used as the resistor was found to depend very much on the manner of using it, its failure being due in some cases to thinning by evaporation or chemical reaction and in others to hardening, which prevented it from following the expansions and shrinking of the heating tubing without cracking. As such failures are often rather expensive in commercial work, it was thought worth while to determine the causes. The factors influencing the behavior of molybdenum resistors used in this manner may be briefly stated as follows:

By Howard N. Eavenson

ALL of the matters so far taken up by the Institute Committee on Stabilization of the Coal Industry will be of help, but it seems to be that under present conditions not very much can be expected until the railroad situation has been improved. As an instance of this, I would cite the fact of our experience at our mines in West Virginia and Kentucky. During 1917 and 1918 at our West Virginia plants we produced for our own consumption, practically entirely in the Chicago district, about 4,750,000 net tons of coal. In 1919 our output was reduced to 3,500,000 tons, this being caused partly by the shortage of orders in the few months following the armistice, but more particularly by The car shortage which began last September and continued throughout the remainder of the year, with the exception of December. This car shortage has been more acute since the first of the year, and while we now have an actual capacity here of 20,000 tons daily and have the equipment to produce it, with the possible exception of a few houses, we are able to average only about 12,000 tons, and in consequence, about 30 per cent. of our by-product ovens in the Chicago district are idle, and a number of blast furnaces are down for the want of coke. These figures, of course, refer to conditions before the strike of switchmen in April was started.

Jan 1, 1920

By V. R. Garfias

Although the work on which this paper is based was carried on by the writer as Special Commissioner of the Petroleum Department of the Mexican Government, the opinions expressed are only his personal views for which the Mexican Government can in no way be held responsible. Notwithstanding that the appointment covers all phases of the so-called petroleum question, as the one question of immediate importance was that relating to taxation, it was decided to devote all the time to this phase of the work. The present report has been divided into two closely related parts, the first dealing with the production and marine transportation of Mcxican petroleum, and the second, with the Mexican taxation on petroleum and its products. The writer wishes to acknowledge the loyal cooperation rendered by Mr. M. C. Ehlen, who had charge of the statistical work, and by Miss S. Stern and Messrs. E. P. Heiles and J. E. Morrissey. The aim throughout the work has been to pave the way for a thorough understanding between the Mexican Government and the oil operators and to present a true and clear statement of facts relating to the questions at issue. Mexican Oil Fields Development The salient features in the development of the Mexican oil fields may be summarized as follows: 1901. First commercially productive well in Ebano field. 1902. Tehuantepee field came in; Diaz Government granted concession to Pearson & Son on practically all Federal lands along the Gulf of Mexico. 1907. First producing well in the Furbero field. 1908. Dos Bocas well caught fire, advertising tremendous productivity of Southern oil fields of Mexico.

Jan 1, 1921

By Hans Lundberg

AFTER the war years, great activity has been shown in geophysical exploration for ore. The appreciation by mining and government geologists of geophysical techniques and results is largely responsible for the popularity of these methods. In Canada, plans are being made to study, by geophysical methods, the structure of a portion of the Pre-Cambrian shield in the hope that such studies will not only give a clearer picture of the geology, but will be of direct aid to the mining companies when selecting areas for detailed prospecting. Although geophysics thus has become more popular, some engineers are still reluctant to employ the methods to their full extent. Allotted funds are often rather low, so that the least expensive

Jan 1, 1947

By Thomas A. Wright

No symposium on die casting could be complete without consideration of the methods of formula and impurity control. No consideration of control would be complete without discussion of that new tool of the analytical chemist and inspector, the quartz spectrograph. Just as there is an increased appreciation of the possible applications of the die-casting process and of die castings, so too is there, slowly but surely, of the spectrograph. At present the role of the instrument might well be compared with that of brass or magnesium die castings. Neither is as widely understood or known as they will be. Product specifications are increasing and are getting more explicit and often more rigid. The designer, metallurgist and production engineer or superintendent will be forced to depend more and more on the chemical laboratory. Sampling, as well as analyses, testing and inspection problems will grow. The chemical laboratory must meet its increased responsibility and use of the spectrograph will become more common. Advantages of increased precision, greater speed, lessened labor and often lower costs cannot be ignored. It will be the purpose of this paper in part to outline the respective fields of chemical and spectrographic analyses and to indicate where one may overlap the other and in part to indicate certain possible sources of contamination of zinc-base die-cast alloys in particular. COMPOSITION Aluminum.-Aluminum die castings are expected to conform to the specifications of the American Society for Testing Materials1† and the Society of Automotive Engineers2. The A.S.T.M. has recognized seven

Jan 1, 1935

By G. B. Gould

FROM the very inception of the price-control experiment in the bituminous-coal industry, the problem of price differentials was of major importance. In fact, assuming that there will be no legal or Govern- mental obstacles to price control, the successful maintenance of the present or any other method designed to control bituminous-coal prices will depend upon the discovery of some satisfactory way to determine these differentials in price, among: individual mines and groups of mines. Being of organic origin, bituminous coal is a commodity that presents an almost infinite variety of qualities. It is inevitable, therefore, that a work- able price-control system must attempt

Jan 1, 1935

By E. Miller, N. Chou, K. Komarek

The solid solubilities of the compounds PbS, PbSe, and PbTe have been determined by equilibrating single crystals with two phase alloys. The solubilities were determined by measuring the Hall coefficient of the equilibrated samples. The observed maximum deviations from stoichiometry on the lead rich and the chalcogen-rich side of the phase fields were: at. pct excess Pb at pct excess S at 850°C; PbSe--4 x 10'" at. pct excess Pb at at. pct excess at 800°C; and PbTe-2.8 x 10 4 at. pct excess Pb at 780°C, 10"1 at. pct excess Te at 720°C. The previously developed theory of retrograde solubility has been expanded to include intrinsic disorder in the compounds, and the experimental results are in agreement with the theory. THE solid solubility limits of intermetallic semiconducting compounds are of considerable interest, since many of these compounds have potential use as thermoelements in thermoelectric devices, as infrared detectors, or in semiconductor devices. The solidus curves of a significant number of these compounds have been reported to be retrograde with the maximum solid solubility occurring between the eu-tectic and the maximum melting temperatures. In a previous paper,' equations were derived which permit calculation of the maximum solid solubility of an AB compound exhibiting retrograde solubility. Derivation of these equations was based on the assumption that the compound is a nondegenerate semiconductor at the temperature under consideration, that the defects were unassociated, and that the vibrational contribution to the entropy of the compound could be evaluated by the Einstein approximation. It was shown that at the temperature of the maximum solid solubility The entropy term ASS is composed of the entropy of formation of the solid stoichiometric compound (AS$)*, and the entropy due to deviations from stoichiometric composition which is the sum of a con-figurational term (aS*), a vibrational term (AS,), and an electronic term (AS,). In the previous paper the positional entropy was evaluated considering the con- N. CHOU, Member AIME, formerly Graduate Student, New York University, N. Y., is with IBM, Yorktown Heights, N. Y. K. L. KOMAREK, Member AIME, formerly with New York University, is Professor, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. E. MI LLER, Member AIME, formerly with New York University, is Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, California State College at Long Beach, Calif. The paper is based on a thesis submitted by N. CHOU to the Graduate Division, School of Engineering and Science, New York University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science. tributions from defects arising from deviations from stoichiometric composition. The derivation is generalized in the appendix to include intrinsic disorder. The electronic entropy term is also recalculated in the appendix. Of the various semiconducting compounds, the solidus curves of Pbs,' and ~b~e,~ have been most extensively studied. The solidus of PbSe has also been determined, but the temperature of maximum solubility has not been accurately established.5129 The present investigation was undertaken to compare the experimental solid solubility data for these systems with the values predicted theoretically. Since the temperature and composition of the maximum solubility of PbSe has not been accurately determined, experimental emphasis was placed on determining the solidus curves for PbSe in the region of maximum solubility, although experiments were also performed on PbS and PbTe at several temperatures. X-ray diffraction studies were also made on carefully prepared powder samples of PbSe to determine the variation of lattice parameter with composition. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The procedure of Brebrick and Allgaier was employed for determining the solidus data. Monocrystal-

Jan 1, 1970

By J. R. Dawson, J. A. Glunt

VESTA No. 4 and 5 mines supply most of the high volatile coal required for Jones & Laughlin's byproduct coke plants. Until 1944 all coal produced in these mines was loaded by hand. Pressure to mechanize at Vesta was brought on by the manpower shortage in World War 11, and in 1943 a decision was made to change to mechanical loading. It was the opinion of those concerned that by use of selective mining the coal would be clean enough to be processed by the existing preparation plants. At that time coal cleaning at Jones & Laughlin consisted of hand picking the larger sizes at the mine tipples and wet washing at plants located at the Pittsburgh and Aliquippa Works. A typical section of the Pittsburgh seam as it occurs at Vesta is shown in Fig. 1. The 14 to 16 in. of drawslate immediately over the coal is too soft to be used for roof and must be taken down, leaving the rooster coal just above for roof. In selective mining an attempt is made to mine the coal under the drawslate first and then load out the drawslate separately as refuse. In full seam mining slate and coal are shot down at the same time and loaded out. Mechanical loading at Vesta created new problems. It was found that selective mining, even when carefully applied, increased the refuse in the raw coal to such an extent that the washers at the mills were unable to handle it. Large tonnages of refuse were being transported, a reject disposal problem was created, and good metallurgical coal was being loaded out and lost. In addition, the selective method handicapped operation of the loading machines. Fig. 2 shows how the ash content of the raw coal increased as mechanization proceeded at No. 5 mine. New Preparation Plant: After an exhaustive study of this situation by J & L management, is was decided that a preparation plant should be constructed at the mines, capable of handling full seam mined coal and large enough to process full production of both No. 4 and No. 5 mines. It was decided that from the standpoint of inside operation and haulage the new plant should be located as near as possible to the old No. 5 tipple on the Monongahela River near Vestaburg. Full seam mining at Vesta could be expected to produce a tremendous volume of refuse along with the coal, since 14 to 16 in. of slate would be mined with an average 78 in. of coal. Disposal of this refuse required serious consideration in selecting a plant site. The only area near Vestaburg large enough for disposal of the plant refuse was across the Monongahela River at LaBelle. Ample space was available here, and construction at this location would not interfere with operation at the No. 5 tipple. It had been noted over the years that the sulfur content of the coal produced at Vesta was gradually increasing, and there was every indication that this increase could be expected to continue as the mines developed further from the river. It was decided to construct a three-part separation plant with complete blending facilities to produce both metallurgical and steam coal. In this system an attempt is made to reduce the sulfur in the metallurgical coal in a secondary cleaning process. Construction of the new preparation plant got under way early in 1947 and continued until the spring of 1950. The plant was designed to handle 2400 tph of raw coal containing 30 to 35 pct refuse. Cost of outside buildings and equipment was about $14 million. Total cost of the plant, together with improvements and changes made at this time, was approximately $21 million.

Jan 1, 1957

By H. O. Hofman

The sudden decease, April 1, 1910, in Chicago, of Dr. Franklin R. Carpenter was a shock to his many friends. He died in his sixty-second year, of heart paralysis. To most fellow-members of the Institute who have followed the progress of the last twenty-five years in the mining and treatment of non-ferrous ores, the work of Dr. Carpenter in that line is familiar; but very few, even of those who knew hinl well in the later years, are acquainted with his earlier struggles to satisfy an inborn hunger for knowledge. The story of his life resembles that of the pioneer who opens up new country; overcoming hardships with indomitable courage, meeting doubts and difficulties with an alert and open mind, and exercising in the face of reverses an unconquerable perseverance. It seems appropriate to place on record in the Transactions a brief outline of the life and work of this eminent engineer. During the past 15 years of his life Dr. Carpenter was much interested in genealogy. In the pursuit of this study as an avocation, he traced his own ancestry to the time when ((Hugh," called "le Charpentier" on account of the dexterity with which he had swung his battle-axe as a crusader, settled in Sussex on lands received from William the Conqueror. The Carpenters came to this country with William Penn. A prominent member of the family was Joshua Carpenter, the founder of Christ Church, Philadelphia. Dr. Carpenter's branch of the family moved from Pennsylvania into that part of Virginia which is now West Virginia, where his grandfather settled in Harrison county, while the grand-uncle went further west, and built the first iron-furnace at Hanging Rock, Lawrence county, Ohio. In fact, since early times, the Carpenters appear to have been iron-masters. Franklin R. Carpenter mas born, Nov. 5, 1848, in Parkers-

Jan 1, 1911

By William Kelly

I AM-glad to have the opportunity at this time to say that I consider it a very great honor to be elected President of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. It fulfills the proudest hopes of my ambition. There is, ,however, one drawback to my personal gratification-a feeling of unworthiness to have my name placed on the list with former Presidents of the Institute, with the brilliant Raymond who guided our society for so many years, with the versatile and lovable James Douglas, my first employer and my friend, a most generous benefactor of our Institute, with the skilful Holley, who gave to the manufacture of steel in this country, its first great impulse, to mention only three of the accomplished men who have preceded me. I assume that the honor of my being elected President of the Institute is not merely a personal one but that it should be considered a tribute to the wonderful progress in the art of mining, both underground and in open pits, and in the beneficiation of native copper and iron ores, which have been shown in the Lake Superior District and also a recognition of our members there and elsewhere who are living at the mines and directing the operations, upon the success of which the whole mineral industry depends.

Jan 1, 1924

By J. H. Brophy

Experimental evidence in recent years shows that nickel coated hydrogen reduced tungsten powder can be sintered to 98 pct of theoretical density at 1100°C. New data indicate that the sintering rate is the same for nickel contents ranging from 0.125 wt pct (mon-atomic layer) to 5.0 wt pct Ni coated on 0.561. tungsten powder. Nickel tungsten made by coreduction from oxides sinters in a kinetically similar way, but the rate tends to increase with higher nickel contents. The activation of sintering can be accomplished with a minimum amount of nickel if coated powder is used. Transverse rmpture strength was found to increase in specimens containing 0.25 pct Ni as density increased during the initial stage of the carrier-phase sintering process. Upon the onset of grain growth in the final stage, strength was found to decrease. With increasing nickel contents up to 4 pct, strength increased. Maximum strengths in three-point loading were observed at 73,000 psi for 0.25 pct Ni and 93,000 psi for 5 pct Ni. These were comparable to that of massive tungsten recrystal-lized in the presence of nickel and tested in the same way. The results were sensitive to the mode of powder treatment and ductility was negligible in all cases. The study and application of sintered bodies of nickel and tungsten is not new; however, the analysis of the mechanism by which small additions of nickel increase the sintering rate of tungsten promises to Contribute new information regarding sintering theory in general. Initial experimental evidence was presented by the authors showing that nickel-coated hydrogen-reduced tungsten powder may be sintered to 98 pct of theoretical density at 1100°C in 16 hr.' Simultaneously, a kinetic analysis of the process showed that it took place in two distinct stages. In the first stage, nickel evidently served as a carrier phase through which tungsten atoms could move. This stage was kinetically similar to the 'solution-precipitationo step postulated when the carrier phase is liquid3 although in the nickel tungsten case, there is no evidence of the existence of a liquid phase either in equilibrium phase relationships or in mi-crostructures at the temperatures under consideration. In the present work, new data for nickel-coated tungsten powder are offered in support of the proposed mechanism, and a more explicit study of the second stage of densification is presented. Concurrently, the sintering kinetics of these coated powders are compared to Ni-W powder made by coreduction of oxides. In this way the present work can be compared to earlier results in nickel activated sintering of tungsten in which the coreduction process was emplyed. The ultimate utility of such an activated sintering process will be determined to some extent by the mechanical and physical properties of the final prod-

Jan 1, 1962

By L. J. W. JONES, B. H. Bennetts

THE removal and disposition of large quantities of slag from blast-furnaces is a question of great importance in the design of works, and various methods have been devised, from time to time, in order to take the best advantage of local conditions. In blast-furnaces treating copper-ores or lead-ores, it is necessary to use a fore-hearth, or matte-settler, in order to collect, if possible, every particle of valuable matte which, otherwise, would be carried away with the out-flowing slag. In all of these cases, the slag overflowing from the fore-hearth is caught in pots and then conveyed to the dump. If the slag is of no value and the necessary water-supply, grade and dumping-space be available, the disposal of the slag by granulation is by far the cheapest and best method. It involves a minimum of labor, both at the furnace and at the dump; and it permits a continuous outflow of slag from the furnace- or settling-pot, thereby avoiding frequent tapping and plugging. When the conditions of water-supply, grade and dump-area will not permit slag-granulation, there are three other methods in common use. Large steel or cast-iron pots, or ladles, supported by trunnions on heavy cars which are moved by steam-, air-, or electric locomotives; some type of mechanical conveyor; and small pots or buggies moved by hand. The pots on the slag-cars are generally circular or oval in shape, and each one contains from 15 to 40 or more en. ft. of molten material. The mechanism for tipping them is more or less elaborate; and, as a general rule, the slag is dumped alongside, and quite close to, the track. They are more or less costly to construct and to keep in repair, and, in order to use them to best advantage, it is necessary to have a good elevation of track above the dumping-ground; furthermore, the rails must be of heavy weight, and well-supported on heavy ties. Other disadvantages of the slag-pots are-1, that the slag cannot be removed continuously

Mar 1, 1905

By E. DeGolyer

WAR has wrought sharp and sudden changes in the pattern of the oil industry. The most obvious and most striking of such changes have been in the fields of transportation and refining. A third of the world's total oil production formerly started to market, tanker-borne, over the waters of the Gulf and Caribbean. Most of this oil went to our North Atlantic ports, supply points for the world's greatest consuming center. This tremendous traffic, disrupted by the loss of tankers as a result of requisition for military purposes and by the activity of enemy submarines, has had to be substituted largely by such lines of supply as could be improvised without loss of too much time. No single solution for this gigantic problem has been found nor is it likely to be entirely solved for some time to come. It has been solved in part, however, by rearrangement, reversals, and patching up of existing pipe-line systems; by overland transport of crude and products in tank cars on a scale never before attempted; by barging over inland waterways; and through the construction at long last of the "big-inch" line, the first leg of which is just being put into operation as far as Norris City, III. The tank-car traffic alone, reaching a peak of deliveries of 856,710 barrels per day into District 1 during the week ending Sept. 19, 1942, and accomplished at an expense of millions of dollars in extraordinary transportation costs, defrayed by the Defense Supply Corp. and by the mobilization of tank cars from all over the nation, is a story worth the telling but by some of those who directed it.

Jan 1, 1943

By Charles Will Wright

ITALY is by- far the poorest in mineral resources of the so-called great pou7ers of Europe. Before the World War this shortage was not so serious as the essential minerals that could not be mined domestically at a profit were bought in the world markets. In those days tourist trade and remittances from Italians abroad helped to provide Italy with foreign exchange. During the World War, when certain mineral products were scarce and when prices rose in some instances to several times normal, the Italian Government began to regulate consumption and imports. It was not until later, when the Fascist regime established the corporate state, that Italy seriously considered adopting a of self-sufficiency. Private industry was grouped under separate corporations, for the principal industries; including mining and metallurgy and the heads of the large producing companies, became members of these corporations. Industrialists were thus able to regulate their own affairs and to advise the Government as to the measures necessary to meet domestic or foreign trade demands upon their industry. Labor was or-

Jan 1, 1939

By F. E. Poulson

The discovery of two new fields, Van, in East Texas, and Darst Creek, in the Balcones fault zone, is the outstanding development in 1929. The first six months was one of the most inactive periods in the history of East Texas. Five of the interior salt domes, which had been so eagerly sought as a result of the Humble Oil & Refining Co.'s strike on the Boggy Creek dome in 1927, were drilled with discouraging results, and the Boggy Creek field itself had fallen far short of expectations. Kelsey, a structure of considerable magnitude and extent in Upshur County, was equally disappointing; the Amerada Petroleum Corpn.'s initial test on this structure was dry. The situation improved in the latter half of the year. On Oct. 13, 1929, the Pure Oil Co. discovered the Van field. This gained for East Texas a permanent place in point of future potential production. There was a similar reaction in the Balcones fault zone. The Salt Flats (Bruner) field, the important discovery of 1928, proved its rating as a second Luling, but on account of repeated failures to extend the productive zone, wildcatting during the first half of 1929 in the Luling district was dilatory. In July, however, Darst Creek, a third fault-line field of majori mportance producing from Edwards limestone (Lower Cretaceous), was discovered. Retarded as development in this field has been by various attempts at proration, interest in the Balcones fault zone fields centered on Darst Creek as the year 1929 drew to a close. Development in East Texas Fields Discovered during 1929 Van.—The discovery well, Jarman No. 1 of the Pure Oil Co., is near the town of Van in the southeastern part of Van Zandt County, Texas. It is 55 miles northeast of the Powell field in Navarro County and 45 miles west of north from the Boggy Creek field in Cherokee and Anderson counties. Early in 1927, the Van area was submitted to seismographic exploration and outlined as a large anticline, the apex of which seemed to be

Jan 1, 1930