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By W. N. Lacey, B. H. Sage

An apparatus is described for the measurement of the pressure-volume-temperature relations of pure substances, simple mixtures and complex mixtures with an over-all absolute uncertainty, which is usually not more than 0.2 per cent. The equipment is suitable for studies in the gaseous, two-phase, and liquid regions. The behavior of such systems may be investigated at pressures as high as 10,000 lb. per sq. in. for temperatures between 70 and 600 F. The methods of measurement and the construction of the apparatus are described in some detail. The measurement of the volumetric behavior of multicomponent systems requires the simultaneous measurement of the pressure, volume, temperature and weight of each component of the system. In the present apparatus a sample having constant weight is investigated at a number of independently controlled pressures and temperatures, therefore it is necessary only to establish the weight of each component added before a given set of measurements. This method is in distinction to that in which the total volume remains constant and the pressure is varied by addition or removal of material, the system having variable weight. An objective in the design of the apparatus to be described was to develop equipment that would yield results involving no uncertainties larger than 0.25 per cent throughout the range of pressures from 150 to 10,000 Ib. per sq. in. at temperatures between 70" and 600" F. Although this over-all absolute uncertainty of measurement may not appear to be small, it necessitated care in the plans for control and measurement of each of the fundamental variables. In general, any uncertainty greater than 0.05 per cent in the pressure, volume, absolute temperature or weight of each component was considered undesirable; therefore the attempt was made to obtain a precision of measurement in each case such that the absolute uncertainty would be only half this amount except in certain regions near the ends of the experimental range of the variable under consideration.

Jan 1, 1940

By G. S. Scott

In the course of the Bureau of Mines investigation relative to the causes, behavior, and control f anthracite-mine fires, attention was directed toward the correlation between the temperature of oxidation and the gaseous oxidation products in the range of temperatures between 100° and 350°C4/ These tests, made on a high-grade anthracite to determine the amount of oxygen consumed and the amounts of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane evolved when air was passed through samples of the anthracite at various elevated temperatures, showed that the gases evolved and their relative proportions vary with temperature, constitute a means for determining the probable temperature of the anthracite, and thus permit detection of incipient heating before a dangerous fire hazard exists. As the relationships mentioned are affected somewhat by the amount of previous oxidation of the coal, it was deemed desirable to know to what extent they might vary owing to this cause. It was also considered desirable to have a means for estimating the extent of oxidation from the gas analysis, as this would permit a more accurate estimate of probable temperature. Finally, it seemed desirable to know how much the composition of coal might vary over an extended period of oxidation, since this was previously suggested5/ as a possible means for estimating the probable maximum oxidation temperature to which a sample of coal had been subjected.

Jan 1, 1940

Jan 1, 1940

By George T. Faust

The Southern Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the University of Alabama, is investigating the various types of clays to be found in the Southern States. In connection ,with this work, the petrographic laboratory is called

Jan 1, 1940

By Walter Miller

The focus of attention during 1939 was on increasing the octane number of gasoline. The "octane race" resumed full swing. The averagc octane number of house-brand gasoline by the end of the year had easily reached two numbers higher, with several companies in the field actually purveying house-brand gasoline of 78-80 "research" octane number, equivalent roughly to from 74 to 77 A.S.T.M. octane rating, compared with the 70 A.S.T.M. ceiling of two or more years ago. Whether this trend toward much higher octanes is the result or the cause of the many t,echnical developments in the motor-fuel field of recent, years, progress has really been startling. In addition to the advance in catalytic cracking and catalytic re-forming, other important contributions to the technical ability to produce higher octane values include: installat>ions involving increased capacity in thermal re-forming, with improved economic status both as to yields and octane number, by coupling with catalytic polymerization; more widespread adoption of catalytic and thermal polymerization, and a surge toward extensive installations of newly developed alkylation processes for making iso-octane, neo-hexanr and other high antiknock products; and greater use of improved desul-phurization processes, and application of superfractionation methods for segregation of practically pure hydrocarbons with superior octanr qualities from gas and highly volatilc liquids. The approaching of practical limits in the use. of tetracthyl lead (t,hr well-known "law of diminishing returnsn coming into the picture at the higher octane levels being approached) has given impetus to development of the methods listed above. In particular, processes that improve the octane rating and also increase ethyl lcad sc.nsitivity have had considerable study durirlg the year. CatSlytic Re-foRming Although the interesting report on the Houdry catalytic cracking process presented at the annual meeting of the American Petroleum

Jan 1, 1940

By C. R. Julian

MECHANIZATION During the last fifteen years, numerous attempts have been made to mechanize the operations of loading ore and placing till. It is to be regretted that, to date, little progress has been made in this direction. The comparative efficiency of manual labour in Spain is the factor largely responsible for the failure to cheapen costs by mechanization. The necessity for careful classification of the ore and the need for keeping all openings small also makes the problem one of difficulty. It may be of interest to describe the various attempts at mechanization that have so far been made. CONVEYORS: (1) When stoping by layout III in San Dionisio, a trial was made of transporting the filling by jigging conveyors. This method proved un-economical, as the wall building and spreading of the till could not keep pace with the delivery, with the result that the machinery was idle a great part of the shift. (2) The transport of ore from the working places to the ore-passes by jigging conveyors and belts was also tried. Although more successful than in the case of the fill, the method could not compete with that of hand tramming, principally due to the high cost of (a) maintenance caused by the abrasiveness of pyrites, and (b) labour constantly employed on re-aligning the conveyors owing to the constant settlement of the floor. In a few cases, where a sill floor was being blocked out in virgin ground, the method showed a saving. SCRAPERS: Frequent attempts at loading by scrapers have been made, but again the only success obtained has been in the blocking-out of sill floors. The principal obstacle to the successful application of scraping, other than on the sill floor, has been that the openings, which have to be small, call for a light scraper outfit, whereas, in practice, a heavy scraper and at least a 25 h.p. winch are necessary for handling satisfactorily the ore, which is heavy and which breaks somewhat blockily.

Jan 1, 1940

Jan 1, 1940

By N. P. Goss

ASTERISM appearing in X-ray Laue dia-grams is an extremely sensitive index of changes in the internal structures of indi-vidual grains of polycrystalline metals. It indicates the existence of various forms of subboundary structure or subdivision within the grain. The present viewpoint is that the grain is made up of lattice blocks having substantially the same size and shape.1-4 When these blocks all assume exactly the same orientation, the crystal is perfect and asterism is absent. Cleaves and Thompson5 observed that the hardness of iron is virtually constant over a range of grain sizes. It is quite possible that the subboundary structure caused this, and that the latter is just as important as grain size itself. While the experiments reported here are not con-clusive, they do support this viewpoint. Metals can, under certain conditions, be prepared entirely free from asterism, but this preparation does not necessarily require long heating or slow cooling, as will be shown here. In this paper a distinction is made be-tween mosaic and distorted grain struc-tures but the difference is only a matter of degree. In a previous paper9 it was shown that the grains can become distorted even during heat-treatment. The block structure exists inherently, even in a perfect crystal; the size and shape of these crystallites, or lattice blocks, varies, depending upon a number of factors. Goetz, for example,7 has shown that a metal before crystallizing from the molten state must go through a paracrystalline phase with oriented groups of atoms about 10-14 to 10-15 c.c., or 10-5 cm. in size.

Jan 1, 1940

By David Sinclair, Philip B. Bucky

THE dimensions and shapes of mine structures may at present be determined by (1) field experience, (2) structural calculations, and (3) barodynamic tests.§ None of these, however, provide information as to the stresses, their direction and distribution in a mine structure. For the design of pillars, the placing of openings relative to working places such as gangways, haulage levels, etc., this information is desirable. Photoelastic methods provide this and, while relatively new, their application in all engineering fields is assuming increasing importance. This paper, therefore, will present the method with a few applications to mining, and with sufficient reference for further study by the reader. PART I THE PHOTOELASTIC METHOD The photoelastic method of stress measurement determines the stress distribution in a two-dimensional model by optical means. It makes use of the fact that when a piece of isotropic transparent material, such as glass, celluloid, or Bakelite, is stressed and viewed in polarized** light a picture is seen which indicates by its color bands of light, or fringes, the magnitude of the stresses, their direction and their distribution. GENERAL EXPLANATION The stress at any point 0 in a structure (Fig. 1), may be resolved into two components, P and Q, each a pure tension or compression, at right angles to each other, called principal stresses.1 To fully identify the stress, the values of P and Q and their directions or angle [0] must be known.

Jan 1, 1940

By E. H. Denny

In the past few years many men, including technically trained engineers, have been asphyxiated in metal mines, coal mines, tunnels and surface wells where a few relatively simple precautions with regard to ventilation and air testing would have saved them. Death from mine gases is analogous in some respects to death from poison and from drowning. The respiratory passages of a victim who has breathed oxides of nitrogen from burning explosives are badly irritated and a few hours or even a day after exposure he may develop a quick and fatal pneumonia; if, however, he enters without respiratory protective apparatus an atmosphere deficient in oxygen (a condition that may occur in unventilated or poorly ventilated parts of all underground mines) he collapses and if not rescued dies more quickly and surely than a lone nonswimmer who falls suddenly into deep water. An example of an atmosphere virtually without oxygen was demonstrated by an air sample taken by a Bureau of Mines engineer wearing oxygen breathing apparatus in a Cripple Creek shaft some years ago, during the recovery of the bodies of two victims of asphyxiation; analysis of the sample by the Pittsburgh laboratory of the Bureau showed the presence of 18.40 per cent of carbon dioxide, 0.27 per cent of oxygen, and 81.33 per cent of nitrogen, although the atmosphere apparently was clear and normal. In a mine one can pass from good, breathable air to an atmosphere that will kill as quickly as one can dive from a board to deep water below. Some Instances of Asphyxiation by Gases in Metal Mines The following typical examples of comparatively recent instances of asphyxiation in metal mines were taken chiefly from reports of various kinds of the U. S. Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1940

By George Sachs, J. Spretnak

The process of recrystallization has not as yet been explained satisfactorily. Some definite conclusions could be drawn from recent investigations, such as, for example, that recrystallization is a process of nucleus formation and crystal growth1 and that the orientations of the nuclei correspond to some fragments of the original crystals, which have been considerably distorted during deformation.2 There are, however, a number of metals and alloys crystallizing in the face-centered cubic system, which form a particularly simple orientation if recrystallized as a sheet.3 Such a shect is almost a single crystal with the cubic axes parallel to the rolling, transverse, and normal directions of the sheet. This preferred cubic or (100) orientation of the recrystallized sheet has been considered to be very different from the rolling structure of the same metals,4 but there are two reasons why this last supposition remains open to controversial discussion. The first reason is academic: In practically all cases except the one mentioned above, close correlations and similarities between rolling and annealing orientations have been observed; for instance, in iron and steel sheet.6 Secondly, no deformed metal actually forms a simple orientation. In any thoroughly investigated case a number of different orientations and considerable scattering or deviations from the ideal orientations have been found.6 It is generally true that investigations on single crystals have shown that a definite orientation is approached in stretching or in compression of an originally undisturbed crystal.7 In the special cases, however, where the initial orientation was close to an important crystallographic direction that differed from the final "ideal" orientation, the resulting orientation changed very little by deformation, staying somewhere in the vicinity of the initial orientation.8 Such deviations

Jan 1, 1940

By A. W. Frolli

This paper, describing the open-cut mining milling, and cyaniding methods and costs at the Yellow Aster gold mine, is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on similar practices in the United States. It is presented primarily to show methods and costs of mining and treating low-grade gold ore on a large scale.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. L. Engel

In previous reports5/ of ore-testing studies, tests made by established methods on typical ores selected as representative of certain mining districts have been described in considerable detail. In addition to established test procedures, such as screen analysis, chemical analysis, microscopical examination of ores and products, sink-and- float separation, gravity concentration, flotation, ,and magnetic separation with or without roasting, it was sometimes necessary to apply other methods, such as leaching, in instances where physical separations were not feasible.

Jan 1, 1940

By D. L. Gardner, H. L. Barr

THE following report covers the history of the development of the mine, present equipment, methods and costs of mining and milling. In addition, a description of the ore deposit is given with emphasis on the origin of the fractures, mode and types of ore occurrence, and mechanics of granite emplacement. An endeavor has been made to present a complete and accurate statement of the San Mauricio mine, the highest grade gold mine in the Philippine Islands. Credit is gratefully acknowledged to the mine staff for descriptions and details regarding their particular field of work. All analyses were made by Mr. T. A. DeVore, head chemist, San Mauricio Mining Co. Messrs. Edward Wisser, J. E. Fyfe, A. F. Skerl and W. B. Meek, geologists, have contributed geologic information and ideas, for which thanks are extended. The Executive Committee of Marsman and Co., Inc., Managers of the Company, has kindly given permission for publication. Mr. J. B. Stapler, Division Manager, Marsman and Co., has had the courtesy to read the manuscript and to give critical and helpful suggestions. LOCATION OF AREA AND SCOPE OF WORK San Mauricio Mining Co. controls a group of 113 claims that lie immediately north of the town of Jose Pañganiban (formerly Mambulao), Camarines Norte, Luzon, P. I. (Fig. 1). Exploration work commenced in the spring of 1934; active development began in the fall of that year and has continued to the present date. Mill construction was begun Oct. 15, 1935, and production started March 10, 1936. Total production to June 1, 1939, is P10,499,105.15 ($5,249,552.57). [+]

Jan 1, 1940

By H. E. Strauss

The short-time tensile-strength test, while it has not attained the practical importance of the creep test at elevated temperatures, has the advantage of being rapid and is satisfactory for determining relatire strengths. For platinum and its alloys, which frequently are used at high temperatures under ill-defined conditions, the short-time test provides useful data that aid in the selection of the most promising alloy for each use. Measurements have been made upon 13 alloys, using wire 0.0031 in. in diameter, the choice of alloys and of wire size being determined by the requirements of a practical problem. Later the measurements were extended to higher temperatures by the use of heavier wire, 0.010 in. in diameter. Apparatus The use of fine wire made the necessary equipment very simple, since no effort was made to measure the elongation. A small platinum-wound horizontal furnace was used, 1/2 in. in internal diameter by 1 ft. long, with the wire threaded through it. The wire, clamped at one end while the other ran over a ball-bearing pulley, of a total length of 29 in., was loaded directly by running sea sand into an attached basket, making the rate of loading and not of elongation constant. The sand flowed from a funnel, under a head of 3 in., into the basket 3 in. below the orifice, at the rate of 170 grams per minute. Pulley friction and bending resistance of the wire as well as the force of impact of the sand could be neglected, being 3 grams and 0.5 grams, respectively. Furnace temperature was uniform within ±5° C. over a length of 3 in., although a drift with time occurred, the largest amount being 20" C. No provision was necessary for a controlled atmosphere. In making the measurements, the furnace was brought to equilibrium before being used, and the temperature was measured with a platinum platinum-10 per cent rhodium thermocouple and a high-resistance pyrometer before and after all the tests at one temperature. The wire sample, after being threaded through the furnace and attached to the

Jan 1, 1940

By K. C. Ten Brink, Allen D. Garrison, P. B. Elkin

It is the purpose of this article to present the results of an investigation of certain clay and shale suspensions having viscosities that are materially influenced by fluid motion, and to discuss the bearing of these results upon the choice of policy in the control of drilling fluids. A previous article described the design and the characteristics of an instrument adapted to measure the viscosity of plastic suspensions during continuous uniform motion and at a variety of speeds.' It has long been recognized that the viscosity of a clay suspension depends on the past history of the fluid motion. Since an abundance of literature is available on this phenomenon,2 it is not necessary to describe it in more than general terms. It is usually observed that rapid motion reduces the viscosity of a clay suspension, and that some time is required for the viscosity to fall to its equilibrium value after the steady motion is started. On reducing the speed of motion to some lower value, the viscosity again rises, but it also requires some time to attain a steady viscosity value at the slower rate of motion. Thus clay suspensions are usually observed to be increasing in viscosity as time passes when the measurement has been immediately preceded by fluid motion that was more rapid than that employed in the measurement. And it is usually observed that the viscosity falls as time passes when the measurement has been preceded by more quiescent conditions. Reed,3 and Broughton and Hand4 have reported a condition of observation of clay suspensions in which the viscosity was observed to fall during the first few moments of steady motion, and rise thereafter. The characteristics of the new instrument are particularly well adapted to studies of this kind. With it we have been able to observe all of the phenomena described above, and it is important to understand their nature because they all occur at some time during normal drill-

Jan 1, 1940

By M. F. Trice

PYROPHYLLITE is a hydrous aluminum silicate (A12Si4O10(OH)2)1 that occurs in both the foliated and the massive forms. The foliated variety resembles talc in that it has a greasy feel, a pearly luster, perfect basal cleavage, and usually is white, although in some deposits apple green, gray, brown, russet, and nearly black specimens may be found. The massive deposits of pyrophyllite yield pearl gray to light tan aggregates, some of which are so friable that they may be crushed with the hands into a fine gritty powder. Frequently specimens of the massive variety are studded with crystals of radial structure. The mineral has a specific gravity of about 2.7 and a hardness of 1 on Mohs' scale.1 The chemical composition of commercial pyrophyllite reflects the mineralogy of the deposits, which, according to Stuckey,2 contain pyrophyllite and quartz, together with chloritoid, sericite, and a few other minerals of negligible importance. The latter, he says, "are noticed in but small quantities to the extent they might occur as accessory constituents of an igneous rock or as products of regional metamorphism or weathering. . . . Quartz is abundant everywhere except in the very best grades of pyrophyllite." Analyses of specimens from several deposits are listed in Table 1, showing that the silica content varies from 57 to 73 per cent and the alumina from 22 to 33 per cent. Oxides of iron and the alkaline metals are collectively present, with one exception, to an extent of about 1 to 1.5 per cent. SOURCES At present, North Carolina is the only commercial source of pyrophyllite, although the mineral has been found in small quantities in many parts of the world. The North Carolina deposits are in the "Carolina Slate Belt," which traverses the center of the state in a southwesterly direction. This

Jan 1, 1940

By J. A. Collins

THE process of plastic extension of face-centered cubic single crystal-line rods is so well understood, since the notable studies of Taylor and Elam,1 that the change in orientation of any crystal by slip and rotation may be predicted from the measured elongation. It is customary to assume a very homogeneous deformation, wherein gliding lamellae are free to rotate so that their slip direction continually approaches the axis of the rod, until a second slip system comes into operation; whereupon conjugate slip proceeds quantitatively to an end adjustment with the [112] direction in the axis of the rod. This process has been checked in many face-centered cubic materials and readily permits the preparation of specimens that have been sub-jected to various determinable amounts of shearing action. It is clearly of interest to study in such measurably strained specimens the development of a recrystallized structure on annealing and if possible detect the source of nuclei from which the new crystals grow. Strain-annealing experiments of this character have been performed by others but not in detail sufficient to permit a study, for example, of the number of recrystallized grains vs, the amount of shear. In the experiments now reported, this was done with a wide variety of orientations covering nearly the entire range of slip on a single system and corresponding to amounts of shear (ratio of shearing distance to distance between lamellae) at the conclusion of a test of from 0.08 to 0.57. A particular point was made of determining the crystallite rotation, or small angular range assumed by the octahedral slip plane after these various amounts of shear. The mechanism of recrystallization and the magnitude and effect of recovery on the recrystallization process was investigated.

Jan 1, 1940

By Rip Thompson

ALTHOUGH the metallurgical treatment for the Ophir Hill tailings was developed more than 20 years ago and in the interim a vast amount of experimental work was done with later-developed flotation rea-gents, it was found necessary to revert to the original oil reagents and their combina-tions with specific chemical reagents in order to obtain results of economic value. This is of especial interest because in present ore-treatment investigations later-developed flotation reagents are used almost exclusively and the coal-tar deriva-tives, except in certain patented reagents, are virtually neglected. These coal-tar oils and derivatives still have a definite field of application, especially in the treatment of some oxidized ores when modified sulphidi-zation is desirable. The Ophir Hill tailings deposit is in Ophir Canyon, Tooele County, Utah, about 55 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and 25 miles south of the Tooele smelter of the International Smelting and Refining Co. A road good for trucks leads directly from the Ophir mill to the smelter.

Jan 1, 1940

[ PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 'R. W. RAYMOND 1872-1874 'A L. HOLLEY 1875 'ABRAM S. HEWITT 1876 'T. STERRY HUNT 1877 'ECKLEY B. COXE 1878-1879 'WILLIAM P. SHINNY 1880 'WILLIAM METCALF 1881 'RICHARD P. ROTHWELL 1882 'ROBERT W. HUNT 1883 'JAMES C. BAYLES 1884-1885 ROBERT H. RICHARDS 1886 'THOMAS EGLESTON 1887 'WILLIAM B. POTTER 1888 'RICHARD PEARCE 1889 'ABRAM S. HEWITT 1890 'JOHN BIRKINBINE 1891-1892 'H. M. Hows 1893 'JOHN FRITZ 1894 'J. D. WEEKS 1895 'E. G. SPILSBURY 1896 'THOMAS M. DROWN 1897 'CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1898 'JAMES DOUGLAS 1899-1900 'E. E. OLCOTT 1901-1902 'ALBERT R. LEDOUX 1903 'JAMES GAYLEY 1904-1905 'ROBERT W. HUNT 1906 'JOHN HAYS HAMMOND 1907-1908 'D. W. BRUNTON 1909-1910 'CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1911]

Jan 1, 1940