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By J. Van Oirbeek

The ash-fusion gas producer, blown with air preheated to a high temperature, was perfected by the Société des Houilléres de Saint-Etienne during the years 1920 to 1925, for the treatment of a mixture of ashy fuel and limestone. The temperature, about 1800° C., obtained by using hot air in running the producer, ensures the fusion of all the slag and the transformation into carbon monoxide of every particle of carbon contained in the materials treated.

Jan 1, 1937

By Harold J. Bennett

A comprehensive knowledge of the availability of mineral resources to evaluate and assure a dependable supply is a prerequisite in establishing and maintaining a viable national economy. Since no nation is self-sufficient in all its mineral needs, its prosperity depends to a great degree upon its developing and maintaining an effective national minerals policy. This must be preceded by a systematic inventory of mineral resources that may be available to that nation. The U.S. Bureau of Mines is implementing a mineral deposit inventory program of domestic and foreign mineral occurrences, with initial emphasis on the domestic. In order to provide an in-depth appraisal of minerals availability, the approach includes not only realistic estimates of quantity and quality, but other essential factors such as costs, technology, environmental constraints, and development-time requirements. Analysis of this information provides usable relationships of quantity, price, time, and associated degrees of confidence of the occurrence of identifiable mineral resources. Keeping pace with a changing minerals industry and handling the large volume of information required in this undertaking demands that computer methods be employed.

Jan 1, 1977

Jan 1, 1968

By E. F. La Vigne

On Aug. 10, 1884, the Retsof Mining Co. began the sinking of an 18 by 12-ft. shaft at Retsof, N. Y. Rock salt was reached in 1885, in September, at 1008 ft. below the surface. The first salt was shipped in the fall of 1885. A timber breaker was built in 1886. In July, 1895, there was a consolidation of the Retsof Mining Co., the Greigsville Salt & Mining Co., the Livonia Salt Co., and the Lehigh Salt & Mining Co. These consolidated salt companies are now known as the Retsof Mining Co., a subsidiary of the International Salt Go. Eventually all of the mines were closed except the mine of the Retsof Mining Co., at Retsof, Livingston County, New York. On July 6, 1921, about 1/2 mile south of the original shaft arid plant of the Retsof Mining Co., a new 9 by 28-ft. concrete-liried shaft was started. The shaft is 1063 ft. deep from the top of the shaft collar to the bottom of the salt bed. At the same time a reinforced-concrete breaker and other buildings were erccted. This new plant began operations on Dee. 15, 1923. It was designed for a capacity of 3000 tons in 8 hours. Geology The workable rock-salt bed is 1063 ft. below the surface and 326 ft. below sea level, and varies in thickness from 9 to 10 ft. The total thickness is greater than that but is contaminated with shale above and below the pure mineral. The characteristics of the formation are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The bed dips uniformly 0.87 per cent to the south. Prospecting As the salt deposil in New York State is known, very little prospecting has been necessary. Before the sinking of the Retsof No. 1 shaft, a well was drilled to prove the existence of salt. No. 1 shaft was sunk where the well was located. The several salt wells drilled in Livingston Courlty proved generally the existence of salt throughout the county. (See U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 669: Salt Resources of the U. S.)

Jan 1, 1938

By Charles J. Lipton

Third World countries have lately taken a variety of actions to improve their revenues from the development of their mineral resources. Increasingly, their governments seek to negotiate production agreements on the basis of feasibility studies and discounted cash flow projections. Developing countries are now more selective in giving incentives to encourage investment in the mining sector. They recognize the value of their contributions to mining projects by way of guarantees and the provision of infrastructure. Third World governments now seek to participate in the basic decision making which determines profitability, such as loan-equity ratios, plant capacity, and processing and sales arrangements. They are alert to the benefits of large-scale development and appreciate their risks. They seek to increase their benefits from foreign exchange earnings and the multiplier effect of mining projects. New forms of arrangements are being used to insure that the mining sector is developed in harmony with the national objectives of the Third World.

Jan 1, 1977

By W. A. Tiller, J. D. Harrison

HOT pressing of powder particles has gained importance recently, since it affords a method in which high densities are rapidly attained. In a recent study on hot pressing of alumina powders, Mangsen, Lam-bertson, and Best1 have shown within the limits of their experiment, the validity the rate equation for densification in hot pressing, originally proposed by Murray, Livey, and Williams.2 i.e., where D = fraction of theoretical density, t = time, P = pressure and 77 is the viscosity, all in appropriate units. This equation was derived from earlier work of Shuttleworth and Mackenzie3 which is based on the closing of spherical pores under the action of surface tension. The integrated form of this equation yields a straight-line relation between log (1 - D) and t. Such conditions were found by Felten4 to be true only after extended periods of pressing. In an endeavor to quantitatively evaluate the exactitude of this equation in the initial sintering stage, i.e., prior to sealing of the pores, spherical anti-

Jan 1, 1962

By Henry M. Howe

in Cast-Iron. It has been generally accepted that the presence of silicon in cast-iron leads to the formation of graphite; and this has been explained by saying that the silicon lowers the solvent power of iron for carbon at and somewhat below the freezing-point, so that, in the presence of silicon, the iron is unable to retain in solution or combination the whole of the carbon with which it has united while molten, and therefore expels the excess of carbon in the form of graphite, during and immediately after solidification. Probably the best way to study this question would be to examine pure cast-irons, i.e., those containing nothing but iron, carbon and silicon, which at the same time should have been saturated with carbon when molten. But the data for such a study are not at hand; so we must turn to commercial pig-irons as they are made in the blast-furnace, and before their composition has been changed by remelting. Much evidence has been offered of late, tending to oppose the theory of the action of silicon above set forth. Some of this evidence will be examined here. 1. Mr. Bachman's Results. In particular, Mr. F. E. Bachman† has published a collection of analyses of cast-iron, in which the proportion of graphite at first appears to be nearly independent of the proportion of silicon present. Thus, in his Table LI., we find that with pro-

Jan 1, 1901

By Lawson P. Entwistle

One of the important reserves of mangani-ferous iron ore is at Boston Hill, near Silver City, New Mexico. The area consists of a faulted block of gently dipping Lower Paleozoic shale, dolomite, limestone and sandstone, which has been intruded by a roughly circular mass of quartz-bearing monzonite porphyry and subordinate dikes. Prom a noselike protuherance of the intrusion radiate many premineral faults, which have localized much of the hypogene mineralization. Three important stages of hypogene mineralization can be recognized: (I) mesitite, a manganiferous iron magnesite, (2) quartz sulphides, and (3) barite-galena The carbonate stage is widespread but stronger near the intrusion. The quartz may have been derived from hydrothermal alteration of the igneous rocks. Barite-galena is most important in the Chloride Flat mining district, about one mile north, where argentiferous galena provided silver for the supergene ore. The hypogene carbonate, lean in iron and manganese, has been oxidized and consequently enriched by meteoric waters containing an excess of oxygen and carbon dioxide to form ore bodies of intimately mixed hematite and pyrolusite. The ore bodies, at one place attaining a length of 1600 ft., a width of 300 ft., and a thickness of 25 ft., are largely confined to areas of brecciation and to spreads from faults in Silurian dolomite beneath soft Devonian shale. Boston Hill comprises three rolling hills southwest of and adjoining the town of Silver City (pop. 5044), Grant County, N. Mex. The mining district covers less than 2 sq. miles. Silver City, on a branch line of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, is a supply point for the important mining communities at Santa Rita, Hurley, Hanover, Tyrone, and Mogollon. The Chloride Flat mining district adjoins Boston Hill on the north. History and Production Bonanza-type silver ores were discovered in the Chloride Flat mining district during the silver boom of the seventies and eighties, at which period it has been credited with as much as $5,000,000 production. In 1916 manganiferous iron ore was first shipped from the Boston Hill mining district to Pueblo, Colo., where it was mixed with manganese ore from Lead-ville and smelted into spiegeleisen. During 1926 and 1927 the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. mined and churn-drilled part of the district. Mining operations ceased during the depression of the thirties, but production was resumed in 1937. Since 1916 the Boston Hill mining district has produced about 600,000 long tons of ore averaging about 12 per cent manganese and 35 to 40 per cent iron.

Jan 1, 1949

It took the US coal industry 55 years to increase domestic coal production by about 11%-from 568 million tpy in 1920 to today's level of about 630 million tpy. With such a growth record, it would take a few hundred years to double coal production. FEA planners think that it can be doubled in 10 years. "With all the obstacles continuously imposed on coal, the industry's real problem is not growth but survival," says Ray Albrechtsen, board chairman of Mountain States Resources Corp., and "we should consider ourselves lucky if, by 1985, the coal industry won't have been legislated and regulated out of existence."

Jan 5, 1975

By Klaus Schwerdtfeger

The rate of formation of silicon monoxide from silica spheres has been measured at 1500°C in H2, H2-H2O, H2-He, H2-Ar, and CO-CO2 gas mixtures. Indications are that in the hydrogen-containing gases the reaction rate is mainly determined by convective diffz~sion. In the CO-CO2 mixtures the rate approches a constant value which is independent of sphere diometer (and gas velocity). This suggests that a surface reaction becomes rate controlling in CO-CO2 gas. WHENEVER silica is exposed at elevated temperature to a strongly reducing atmosphere there occurs, inevitably, a volatilization of silica by the formation of gaseous silicon monoxide. Because of the importance of this reaction in metallurgical processes and laboratory experiments, its kinetics were studied in the present work. EXPERIMENTAL The spheres made of vitreous silica were suspended by a molybdenum wire in the hot zone of a gas-tight high-purity recrystallized alumina furnace tube of 3.1 cm internal diam and 100 cm length. Molybdenum wire resistance heating was used. A purified H2, H2-H2O, H2-He, H2-Ar, or CO-CO2 gas mixture was passed through the tube, from top to bottom. The amount of silicon monoxide formed was determined by weighing the silica balls before and after the experiments. The silica balls were made from commercially available translucent fused quartz glass. In experiments with hydrogen-containing gases the silica stayed vitreous during the experiment, whereas in experiments with CO-CO2 mixtures, which were performed over longer times, the balls were always crystallized to cristobalite (as determined by X-ray examination) at the surface. Constant-pressure head capillary flowmeters were used to control the composition of H2-He, H2-Ar, and CO-CO2 gas mixtures. The oxygen and water vapor were removed from the gases containing hydrogen by passage through columns containing platinized asbestos (450°C) and an-hydrone. The CO was purified from O2 and CO2 by passing it through activated copper (200°C) and through ascarite. The H2-H2O gas mixtures were prepared by passing purified Hz through a mixture of oxalic acid dihydrate and anhydrous oxalic acid held at a constant temperature in a water bath. The equilibrium water vapor pressures of oxalic acid dihydrate-anhydrous oxalic acid mixtures were taken from the available data.1 The furnace system was checked for sufficient gas tightness at regular intervals. As an additional check, the H2O and CO2 contents were measured in the exit gas and were found to agree closely with the metered contents when H2-H2O or CO-CO2 mixtures were used. When purified H2 was used, H2O pressures found in the exit gas were always below 0.1 mm Hg. These contents originate either from an incomplete reoxidation of silicon monoxide in the cold part of the furnace or from small leaks which cannot be avoided. If the latter is the case, such small uncontrolled H2O contents decrease the partial pressure of SiO in equilibrium with SiO2 by less than about 7 pct, which is considered small in comparison to other experimental uncertainties. The temperature of the furnace was controlled automatically in the usual manner. The reported temperature was measured with a Pl-Pt/l0pct Rh thermocouple and was accurate to ± 5°C. TRANSPORT-CONTROL LED RATE OF REDUCTION The gaseous convective diffusion from the surface of a sphere can be predicted from the semiempirical relationship obtained by Ranz and Marshall2 in a study of the evaporation of water and benzene drops in air. The following equation applies:

Jan 1, 1967

By B. G. Klugh

(New York Meeting, February, 1913.) THE present paper represents a preliminary investigation of the ultimate structure of iron-bearing materials which have been subjected to heat treatment for the purpose of agglormer-ating the fines, or for chemical changes, or for both. Primarily, the object of this inquiry was to determine the relation of the microstructure of each of these materials-to its specific susceptibility to the action in the blast-furnace. It is hoped that this small contribution will serve as a nucleus to a line of research that will throw some light upon the debated questions involved in blast-roasting. Thus far the investigation has been conducted along lines of analogy of known principles, rather than through the applica-tion of any well-defined system of microscopic petrography. This is obviously due to the fact that we are dealing with materials which are the artificial products of a new art, rather than with the natural materials from which the essence of the pure science has been evolved. In the limited tune allowed for this research, it has been conducted upon those materials the chemical content of which allows of their use commercially in the blast-furnace.

Jan 5, 1913

Jan 1, 1927

By P. R. Sperry

Aluminum alloy 3S was examined to determine the relationship between the applicable phase diagram and the microstructures produced under conditions tending toward non-equilibrium as well as equilibrium. The only phases present in the alloy were aluminum, (Mn,Fe)A16, aAI(Mn,Fe)Si, and silicon. It was found that the alloy behaved essentially as though it belonged to the Al-Mn-Si system. The effects of various solidification rates and of various homogenization treatments were studied. Particular attention was given to a nonuniform precipitate distribution which reflected the solute distribution in the cast aluminum solid solution. Some possible explanations for the solute distribution based on characteristics of the Al-Mn-Si or AI-Mn systems were discussed. ALUMINUM alloy 3s (aluminum plus 1.25 pct Mn) is one of the oldest and the most widely used of the wrought aluminum alloys. In spite of this fact, there are some aspects of the metallography of 3s which have not been revealed or which have not been brought to the attention of the metallurgist working with the alloy. The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate in general how some of the fundamentals of equilibrium phase diagrams may be applied to the study of an alloy and to show specifically the origin of certain metal-lographic features of aluminum alloy 3s. It is hoped that this information can serve as a basis for solving specific problems relating microstructure to such things as mechanical properties, recrystallization, grain growth, and surface finish. Literature Survey Considering that alloy 3s contains only one alloying addition, manganese, it seems reasonable that it would have characteristics pertaining to the A1-Mn system. However, those characteristics might well be altered by the impurities in the commercial alloy, especially iron and silicon. Therefore, not only the simple binary but also more complex systems had to be reviewed. One characteristic of the A1-Mn system worthy of mention is its sluggishness, which leads to conflicting solubility data1,'2 and makes it relatively easy to supersaturate the solid solution and shift the eutectic composition during rapid solidification.3'4 Another characteristic is the strong influence which small amounts of impurities, especially iron, exert in lowering the solid solubility of manganese. Undissolved manganese is ordinarily present in an intermetallic phase, MnAl,, having an orthorhombic crystal structure. A metastable precipitating phase designated as "G" has been reported but small amounts of iron and silicon suppress this phase entirely." Raynor has established that MnA1, can dissolve a considerable amount of iron by a substitution of iron for manganese atoms up to 50 atomic pct.'" Consequently, in the Al-Mn-Fe liquidus diagram, the eutectic valley separating the primary aluminum and (Mn,Fe)Al, fields is fairly close to a constant Mn + Fe content." This is an important consideration in regulating the composition of 3s and also other aluminum alloys with high manganese additions."

Jan 1, 1956

By William H. Shockley

There was an extensive mining and industrial exploitation of Russia, about 20 years ago, by Belgian, French and British capitalists; but the results were discouraging. It is said that the Belgian and French public together lost approximately $400,000,000, chiefly in the coal and iron industry of southern Russia. This loss is largely accounted for by the fact that most of the companies were formed, as usual in " boom" times, to sell stock; and that thorough investigations were not made. I11 1906, renewed interest was taken in Russian mines, especially in those of gold and copper, and a considerable literature is growing on this subject; but as yet I have seen no account of one of the large Russian mining estates. The following notes on such property, where the conditions are so different from those in the mining regions of the United States, should be of interest: This inadequate and probably somewhat inaccurate account is made up, partly from my own notes made on the ground, in the summers of 1904 and 1905, and partly from a volume on the geology and resources of the estate issued several years ago, containing surface- and mine-maps, and from a pamphlet published in 1904, giving a general account of the condition and prospects of the property. This pamphlet includes a report made in 1899 by Arthur L. Pearse, a member of this Institute. Both these books are in Russian, and were prepared by the Bogoslovsk Mining Co., which owns and operates the property. Articles in many other languages have appeared dealing with various matters connected with the estate; but I know of no other general account of it. In numerous books and articles on the Urals and Siberia, however, localities are described in which somewhat similar conditions prevail. Recent papers by

Jan 1, 1909

By J. W. Pamplin

SOME 40 miles east of Tampa is the center of the Florida pebble phosphate deposits. These are of Pliocene age and consist of several members of the Bone Valley formation.' Physically the phosphate-bearing formation, locally called the “matrix," varies in thickness from nothing to about 25 ft., usually averages 10 ft., and consists mainly of clay, quartz and phosphate pebble, the latter particles varying in size from colloidal to one inch diameter. The pebbles range in color from dark gray, through white, to cream, and in hardness from that which must be broken with a hammer to that which can be scratched with the fingernail. They assay from 66 to 80 per cent bone phosphate of lime (called "B.P.L." in the trade) or tricalcium phosphate (Ca3P2O8) and are secondary apatites. They form from 15 to 50 per cent by weight of the matrix. Over the matrix lies a varying thickness (5 to 40 ft.) of overburden composed of quartz and clay. Briefly, mining consists of two operations2 in open pits about 200 ft. wide by ½ mile or more in length. In the first step overburden is removed by large electric draglines at the rate of about 700 cu. yd. per hour. This is followed closely by hydraulic mining of the matrix at the rate of about 300 cu. yd. per hour. This matrix yardage is moved from an improvised sump in the floor of the pit to an ore-dressing plant, some- times a mile distant, by one, two or three "pit-cars" (pumping units) working on a 12-in. pipe line called the "rock line" to distinguish it from the high-pressure water line feeding the hydraulic giants, which is known as the “hydraulic line." This 700 yd. of overburden and 300 yd. of matrix-1000 yd. in all- amounts to about 1500 tons of material moved each hour. The over- burden is dumped into the mined-out pit alongside the pit being mined. The matrix moves to the ore-dressing plant at the rate of about 7 ½ long tons in 4000 gal. of water per minute-a ratio of approximately one to two by weight, or one to six by volume. This constitutes the "mill heads," but in the pebble district it is called the "matrix."

Jan 1, 1938

By Martin T. Broome

INTRODUCTION The Luanshya Mine is situated in the southern part of the Zambian Copperbelt. The copper ore deposit is stratiform, and is preserved in a synclinorium known as the Roan/ Muliashi basin. Roan shaft (formally called No.14 shaft) is located at the eastern end of the syncline and is theoldest of the presently operating hoisting shafts, being sunk during the 1930's. It presently hoists some 45 per- cent of the total Luanshya Mine production. A cross-section through the shaft is shown in figure 1. The ore formation on the south limb is unmined on this section because until recently it was believed that such mining might cause damage to the shaft. This paper examines the influences of adjacent mining on this so-called 'shaft pillar', and describes the mechanics of subsidence of the pillar itself. GEOLOGY AND STRUCTURE Figure 1 shows the general form of folding in the vicinity of Roan shaft. The north and south limbs of the main syncline approach parallelism, with the bottom of the trough fairly smoothly rounded. The axis of the - trough plunges to the west-north-west at 6° - l0°. A brief summary of the major lithologies present in the Roan basin is given in table 1, however, the performance of the overall structure during progressive mining of the ore horizon is controlled by the following features in addition to the mining method. Intraformational Contacts These are characteristically weak in most geological environments. The BC/RL7 contact is an unconformity between moderately weak quartz-biotite schists below (unconfined compressive strength 40 - 80 MN/M 2), and strong quartzites above (U .C .S. 170-200 MN/M2) Subsequent formations are conformable, and planes of weakness are generally the result of contrasting lithology (see below). Weak Interbeds The Rt7, RL6, RL5, RL3 and RU2 horizons consist predominantly of quartzitic rocks, i.e. conglomerates, quartzites and argillites, and as such are generally strong and considered suitable for the positioning of development. Between these however, lie two much weaker dolomitic horizons, the RL4 and RU1. The Rt4 is the main hangingwall aquifer, and must be drained prior to mining. Drainage results in an extremely weak, blocky cavernous horizon which usually requires support if exposed by development. Similarly, the RU1 formation is comprised mainly of dolomites and dolomitic arqillites which are weak and cavernous. In the eastern part of the Roan/

Jan 1, 1981

By James B. Cathcart

Marine phosphorite deposits occur in Braxil, in the Bambui Group of late Precambrian or Early Cambrian age. The phosphorite is laminated, isoclinally folded, and is composed of black, elongated apatite pellets and quartz grains cemented by quartz and muscovite. Abundant, narrow quartz veinlets cut through the .rock at right angles to the elongation direction of the pellets. The phosphorite is 0 to 80 m thick and contains 5 to 30 percent P2O5. The deposit is elongate towards the northeast, and the central, thickest, and richest part is bounded by faults. Measured reserves are about 250 million tons that average a bout 13 % P205. Preliminary testing indicates that grinding, scrubbing, and desliming will produce a material usable for fertilizer manufacture at a cost competitive with imported phosphate fertilizers.

Jan 1, 1979

By G. R. Speich

A cellular precipitation reaction in which cells consisting of an Ni3Ti (DO24) phase and austenite are formed has been studied in an austenitic Fe-30 Ni-6 Ti alloy. The variation of the growth rate and interlamellar spacing of the Ni3Ti cells with temperature has been determined m the range 400" to 975°C; the interlamellar spacing is proportional to the degree of undercooling; the growth rate can be expressed by an equation of the form G = K?T)2 exp(-Q/RT). The habit of the Ni3Ti lamellae is (001)Ni3Ti (111)y;[010]Ni3T2 [010]y. An almost perfectly coherent interface is formed between Ni3Ti lamellae with this orientation rela -tionship and the intervening austenite. This first Ni3Ti cellular product is subsequently consumed by a second cellular reaction of much coarser spacing. CELLULAR precipitation reactions have been studied in copper-base,1,2 Au-Ni,3 pb-sn,4 and iron-base ferritic5,6 solid solutions, and this mode of precipitation has been treated theoretically by smith," Turnbull,8,9 cahn,10 and more recently by bohm.11 In the case of substitutional austenitic iron-base alloys little or no data are available, Cellular precipitation reactions are well known in austenitic nickel-base alloys12,13 but usually these reactions do not proceed to completion because of general precipitation occurring in the matrix, and they have not been studied in detail. Precipitation from an austenitic Fe-30 Ni-6 Ti alloy was studied as part of a larger investigation of the mechanisms of precipitation from substitutional iron-base alloys. This alloy, austenitic at high temperatures, decomposes at lower temperatures by a double cellular precipitation reaction. The first decomposition product consists of alternate lamellae of an Ni3Ti(DO24) phase and austenite. The reaction proceeds to completion, consuming all of the original austenite. This first cellular product is subsequently consumed by a second cellular reaction of much coarser spacing. The first cellular reaction was studied in detail by light and electron microscopy, hardness measurements, and by X-ray and electron diffraction. Interlamellar spacings and growth rates were measured during isothermal aging in the range 400" to 975°C. The orientation relationship between the Ni3Ti and austenite lamellae was determined and indicates that an almost perfectly coherent interface exists between the two phases. This first Ni3Ti cellular reaction is of particular interest because it occurs over such a wide temperature interval. This allows cellular growth rates and interlamellar spacing data to be obtained for much larger degrees of undercooling than reported hitherto. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The Fe-30 Ni-6 Ti alloy was prepared from electrolytic iron, Mond nickel shot, and sponge-purity titanium* by vacuum melting in a zirconia crucible

Jan 1, 1963

By John T. Norton

In spite of the very general errlployment of nitride hardening, there is still considerable doubt as to the real nature of the mechanism involved. Experience has shown that the addition of small amounts of hardening elements to iron or steel results in a wide variety of desirable properties in a nitrided case. Perhaps the foremost of these elements is aluminum and in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the behavior of aluminum during the hardening process. It is believed that the establishment of a complete atomic picture of the metal at various stages of the process will indicate the relationships between the several kinds of atoms and their individual influences on the physical properties in a clear and direct fashion. A consideration of the problem suggests a surprising similarity between the mechanisms of nitride hardening and of age-hardening. It is now generally understood that age-hardening may take place by one of two distinct processes, the first involving the precipitation of a finely dispersed phase and the other being concerned with the modification of an existing phase. Following much the same line of reasoning, two theories of nitride hardening have been suggested. The first explanation, which has been generally discussed, particularly by Fry,' states in brief that the presence of aluminum causes the precipitation of aluminum nitride during nitriding and that this finely dispersed phase is the primary cause of hardening. The second explanation, which has not been published but which has been freely discussed by those interested in the problem, postulates the substitution of aluminum atoms for certain of the iron atoms in the several iron-nitrogen phases in the same manner that the substitutional iron-alurninurn solid solution is formed. The marked increase in hardness, as compared with the aluminum-free system, is attributed to the severe lattice distortion accompanying this replacement.

Jan 1, 1934

By E. T. Turkdogan

In this theoretical paper, a transport-reaction mechanism is suggested for the enhancement of the rate of vaporization of metals, or other materials, brought about by the process of convection and condensation. Based on theoretical reasoning it is predicted that, when there is a temperature gradient surrounding the heated object, a slight increase in the rate of vaporization brought about by natural convection is enhanced further as a result of condensation of the vapor close to the surface of the object. In order to derive the effective vapor-concentration profile, consideration is given to the super saturation of the vapor necessary for the homogeneous nucleation of the condensed phase from the vapor. For the formulation of the rate equation based on this mechanism, adequate information should be available on the transport properties of gases and vapors at elevated temperatures and the method of calculating nucleation pressures of the vapor. The methods of deriving such data are discussed in the paper and a rate equation is calculated for the vaporization of iron in helium for various temperature gradients in the boundary layer. Considerations are also given to the effect of oxygen on rates of vaporization of metals under isother ma1 and nonisotherma1 conditions. THE study of the methods of enhancement or retardation of basically transport-controlled vaporization reactions is of theoretical interest with possible practical implications. There are several ways of bringing about such effects. For example, Turk-dogan, Grieveson, and Darken1 demonstrated that the rates of vaporization of metals under isothermal conditions were increased by several orders of magnitude, up to the maximum rate attainable in vacuo, by introducing some reacting gas into the inert atmosphere surrounding the metal. Such an effect is brought about by the interaction of the counter-diffusing reacting gas and metal vapor in close proximity of the metal-gas interface. Another case which is often experienced in practice is that of vaporization affected by natural convection. Although several theoretical and experimental studies of this problem have already been made, no detailed consideration has been given to the possible effects of condensation of the vapor in the boundary layer on vaporization rates, which constitutes the subject matter of this paper. BASIC CONCEPT OF ENHANCED DIFFUSION-LIMITED VAPORIZATION When a heated object, for example a metal sphere, is submerged in a fluid medium, heat is transferred from the surface of the object to its surroundings by four simultaneously occurring transfer processes: i) free-molecular conduction at the gas-solid interface over the distance equal to the mean free path of the gas, ii) conduction and convection through the fluid-dynamic boundary layer, iii) latent heat of mass transferred, and it!) radiation. The free-molecular conduction becomes pronounced only when the total pressure in the system is very low, e.g., below 1 mm Hg. Therefore, this term may be neglected for ordinary pressures. At low mass-transfer rates, due to vaporization of the object, the contribution of process iii) to the heat transfer can also be neglected. Finally, since the temperature profile is not affected by radiation, the latter need not be considered. The natural convection is brought about by gravitational body forces arising from a decrease in the

Jan 1, 1964