Search Documents

By R. L., Fullman

During the past year there have been a number of significant investigations that have furnished evidence on the driving forces governing grain growth and on the role played by boundary impurities. Thus Burke has shown that in high purity alpha brass the rate of grain growth in the earliest stages is approximately inversely proportional to the existing grain size. This relation agrees with one derived by Zener assuming that surface energy was the driving force in grain growth. Also in confirmation of the surface energy hypothesis, Burke found that growth virtually stopped when the grain boundaries or even only the grain corners were melted.

Jan 1, 1949

The design and operating characteristics of the hydraulic cyclone elutriator were described in detail by Kelsall and McAdam (1963), and the method of operation of the commercially available version, the Cyclosizer, is described in the manufacturer's pamphlet (Anon). Complete details of the operating procedure are given in the relevant operating manual (Anon, 1964).The cyclones which form the basis of the Cyclosizer (Fig. 1) under normal operating conditions produce typical cut sizes of 44, 33, 23, 15, and 10 µm for cyclones one to five respectively for material with a specific gravity of 2·7. At the end of the selected elutriation period each sized fraction is discharged and collected for subsequent assay or analysis but all material rejected by the fifth cyclone (e.g. minus 10 \lm quartz) normally passes to waste. When this material is needed for separate study, although its amount and average analyses can be calculated by difference, it may be necessary to collect more than 250 I. of very dilute suspension, flocculate the solids, allow to settle, and decant off the supernatant liquid.This procedure is cumbersome and inconvenient and the simple technique to be described may offer some advantages. The temperature of the water fed to the Cyclosizer is maintained at a constant value for added reproducibility.PROCEDUREThe present overall treatment of the subsieve material (minus 37 \lm) fed to the Cyclosizer incorporated several refinements compared with normal operation and these may be best illustrated by anactual example. Material to be cyclosized (25 to 100 g depending on size distributIOn and specific gravity) is completely dispersed in water at 23 QC by vigorous stirrmg, using suitable dispersants if necessary, in a...

Jan 1, 1974

By Byron S. Gottfried

This Bureau of Mines report presents a method for combining the distribution curves at different specific gravities of separation, for a given piece of coal-cleaning equipment and a given raw coal feed, into a single, generalized distribution curve normalized with respect to specific gravity and, therefore, independent of the specific gravity of separation. Illustrative generalized distribution curves, based upon Bureau of Mines collected data on industrial operations, are presented for five different types of coal-cleaning equipment. The well-known concept of probable error is extended to the generalized distribution curve. It is shown that the conventional probable error is directly proportional to the specific gravity of separation. A number of sample calculations, illustrating the use of the generalized distribution curve and generalized probable error, are presented in the appendix.

Jan 1, 1977

By E. J. Burrough

Coal Reserves The Crowsnest Pass coal fields form part of a greater area which comprises the Inner Foothills belt of the Alberta coal fields and the southeastern coal fields of British Columbia. The most valuable and most extensive reserves of the bituminous coals of Canada are concentrated in this?area, of which the Crowsnest Pass fields form an important part. The extent of these coal reserves together with those of the rest of Canada were recently studied by the Geological Survey of Canada for the Royal Commission on Coal of 1946 (1). Quotin from the report, it is of interest to note that, prior to this work, the most widely known, and in fact the only Canadian-wide estimates of, coal reserves of Canada available to the Commission were those prepared by Dr. Dowling in 1913 (2). At that time it was estimated that Canada's reserves of coal were over twelve hundred billion tons. The more recent estimates of mineable coal for the whole of Canada are of the order of 10 per cent of that figure and are reported. as 99 billion tons, which is further reduced to 40 billion tons on the basis of the estimation of recoverable coal. This considerable divergence in estimated reserves is explained in part by the big difference in the bases of measurements. For example, in the original report, seams of one foot occurring at a depth of 4,000 feet were included in the estimates.

Jan 1, 1951

At the end of June, 1938, a new oil field was opened in Egypt, the Ras Gharib. Five wells were completed during the year and gave a total production of 512,988 barrels.' In the Hurghada field production was as follows: Hurghada Field Age of field to end of 1938, years..................... 25 Producing area for gas and oil, acres................ 1,050 Barrels1 Total oil production to end of 1938............... 31,207,754 Total oil production during 1937................ 1,141,356 Total oil production during 1938.................. 1,019,520 Average oil production per acre to end of 1938... 29,719 Average oil production per acre-foot to end of 1938. . . 243.6 Daily average: production in December 1938.......... 2,603.54 Daily average production per well in December 1938. . 34.90 Millions Cu. Ft. Total gas production (Aug. 1925 to end of 1938)... 4,356.7 Total gas production during 1937.................. 222.5 Total gas production during 1938....... . 167.6 Maximum gas daily average of 1938 (ill May 1..... 0.6 Wells Number of producing wells completed to end of 1938 . . 100 Number of producing wells completed during 1938..... 3 Number of wells abandoned during 1938.............. 2 Producing wells at end of 1938 (all pumping)......... 78 Abandoned wells at end of 1938...................... 22 Dry wells at end of 1938......................... 21 Feet Average depth of bottom of producing horizon........ 1,720 Average depth of top of producing horizonlt 1,598 Character of oil, approximate average ill 1938: specific gravity at 60" F'., 0.900; base, mixed. Character of gas, approximate average for 1938: gallons gasoline per 1000 cu. ft. of gas, 6.4. Main producing formation: Nubian sandstone, Cretaceous (PI; sand rock and sandstone.

Jan 1, 1939

With over one year experience, Western Deep Levels Ltd., reports satisfactory operation with new features of its 200,000 ton per month gold reduction plant. Western Deep is Anglo American group's newest gold mine. It is situated 43 miles west of Johannesburg on the West Wits Line and will ultimately be extracting ore from a depth of 13,000 ft. Although the plant was put in production in March 1962, after a three month break-in period, construction of the fifth milling section was not completed until last month.

Jan 7, 1963

By R. M. Balderrama

Bench-scale laboratory flotation and gravity separation tests were conducted on tailings samples to remove the sulfidic material, mainly pyrite, the source of acid generation. A combination of xanthate collectors, promoters, and frothers were used during flotation. Pyrite recoveries were in the range of 42 to 97%, depending on the tailings being treated. Sulfide sulfur contents of 12.8 to 0.37% in the feeds were reduced to 8.68 to 0.01% in the treated tails. Flotation tests were conducted to evaluate the ARD potential as a function of percent pyrite remaining in the tails. Standard ARD predictive tests were used to evaluate the success of the treatment. In some cases, removal of only 50 to 55% of the pyritic fraction was required, thereby demonstrating the conversion of the waste material from acidic to non-acidic. A laboratory vanning table was used to evaluate the amenability of sulfide-bearing tailings samples to gravity separation. The pyrite recoveries varied from 38 to 86%. The sulfide sulfur content of 12.8 to 0.37% in the feeds was reduced to 6.0 to 0.14% in the treated tails. Predictive ARD tests performed on tailings before and after the gravity removal of pyrite showed that most samples changed from "probably" acid producing to the "uncertain" range. Data reported and analyzed in this paper demonstrate source control for ARD prevention through the removal of metal sulfides from sulfide-bearing wastes using conventional flotation and gravity separation techniques.

Jan 1, 1995

By Joan T. May

Federal Bureau of Mines studies showed that some organic amine hydrochlorides can be used as dehydrating agents for producing anhydrous magnesium chloride from hydrates and brines. Laboratory-scale tests showed that double salts are formed by reacting 35 percent magnesium chloride brine or spray-dried magnesium chloride with pyridine hydrochloride. Heating decomposed these double salts to anhydrous magnesium chloride and recycle pyridine hydrochloride. Pyridine hydrochloride also chlorinated any magnesium oxide in the spray-dried magnesium chloride. The anhydrous magnesium chloride obtained by the method described contained less than 0.8 percent oxygen. More than 98 percent of the organic amine hydrochloride was recovered.

Jan 1, 1978

By Clement K. Chase

Since the dam of cyanidation leaching techniques for precious metals, certain manganese-bearing silver ores have been a problem due to low silver extractions. Since simultaneous occurrence of silver and manganese is common in nature, this situation has made many otherwise attractive silver deposits uneconomic in the past. Several older techniques have been useful but at $1.29 per ounce of silver, the economics were unfavorable. With the new look in silver prices and some improvements in processing technology, neglected silver districts offer new promise.

Jan 1, 1981

By G. R. Countryman, G. H. Thomas, I. Fatt

Miscible displacement in both thewetting and non-wetting phase has been studied in two-phase systems. Experimental data show that dispersion is a function of saturation and cannot be predicted from dispersion theory developed for single-phase miscible displacement. Some of the effect of saturation on dispersion is a result of the development of dead-end pores or a dendritic pore structure in multiphase systems. The presence of dead-end pores or dendritic structure is confirmed by pressure transient studies. INTRODUCTION Displacement by flooding with a miscible liquid is a possible means for recovering the estimated two-thirds of the oil that remains behind after primary production. The immense economic importance of a process that can recover such large quantities of oil has led to extensive laboratory studies of miscible displacement. As usual in production research, most laboratory studies of miscible displacement have not attemped to reproduce all of the conditions existing in a petroleum reservoir. In the early stages of investigation the need has been for information on the broad, basic principles of the phenomena involved in miscible displacement. The effects of overburden pressure, reservoir temperature, and wettability have been considered of secondary importance. However, one property of a petroleum reservoir which is expected to be of major importance and yet has been omitted from many laboratory studies is the presence of interstitial water. Two possible effects of interstitial water on the displacement mechanism in the hydrocarbon phase immediately come to mind. First, from the general1y accepted theory that capillarity governs the distribution of oil and water in porous rock one would expect that for water-wet rock the water will be in the small pores and oil in the large pores. A miscible displacement of oil carried out in the presence of water is operating in a pore size distribution shown in Fig. lb, whereas if the same test had been performed with only one phase present the pore size distribution is as shown in Fig. la. Although there is not yet a theory of miscible displacement which explains in detail the effect of pore size distribution, one would expect the differences between Figs. la and lb to influence the displacement efficiency. A second factor which may make a multiphase system different from a single-phase system is the presence in the multiphase system of dead-end pores or dendritic structure. Experiments of various kinds on reservoir rock have led to the belief that all pores in the network structure of a porous rock take part in conducting fluid during single phase fluid flow.1,2 There are then no dead-end pores and no fingers or dendritic structures containing stagnant fluid. In a multiphase system, however, the second phase may

By Ovidiu Pasca

Several improvements in converter equipment and operation at BHP Copper have reduced the converter cycle time as necessitated by an increase in flash furnace output. The resulting higher intensity performance of the Peirce-Smith Converters has had a major impact on the dust handling and off-gas cleaning systems. This paper describes work carried out on the design of a new converter hood with particular reference to the thermal analysis and hood performance aspects. Changes in converter cycle time and campaign life as result of the process and equipment improvements are discussed in a separate paper.

Jan 1, 1999

Jan 6, 1951

By M. A. Naimanbayev, Zh. A. Baltabekova, N. G. Lokhova

"Integrated utilization of natural resources using energy-saving and waste-free technologies is relevant around the world. This applies to such type of raw material as titanium-magnetite ore. Shortage of ilmenite raw materials in the Republic of Kazakhstan for titanium slag melting challenges the search of alternative titanium-containing raw materials, titanomagnetites in particular. At the same time there are deposits of indigenous titanomagnetite ores of huge reserves, which can become the complex raw material for production of iron, titanium and vanadium. Tymlay field in the South-Eastern part of Chu-Ili watershed is of particular interest, within the Karasay ore unit with iron content of 30,4 and titanium dioxide - 10%, and after beneficiation titano-magnetite concentrate contains Fe-52,4; TiO2-of 16,06%. Technology of titanium-magnetite concentrate ore-thermal melting was developed at Tymlay deposit producing hot metal and low titanium slag that can become the raw material for titanium production using chloride method. Slag produced in course of titanomagnetite ore-smelting consists mainly of alumosilicates and sodium silico titanates, magnesium and calcium titanates, titanium dioxide and lower titanium oxides. Following operations were carried out to improve titanium slag quality: slag sintering with sodium hydroxide; cake leaching with water to remove water-soluble impurities; to reduce the number of operations impurities leaching with hydrochloric acid was combined with pyrohydrolysis of titanic acid; rutile concentrate production (85% TiO2, 7,66% SiO2), silica removal by means of sodium hydroxide solution treatment, finally sellable rutile concentrate was produced with titanium dioxide 91-92% and silica 1,7 to 2,0% content. Based on research results technological scheme of titano-magnetite concentrate processing at Tymlay deposit was proposed producing hot metal and certified rutile concentrate, suitable for chlorination."

Jan 1, 2018

By T. P. Riordon

"Major swings in the silver price since 1979, along with the ever constant fight to maintain ore reserves has forced United Keno Hill Mines Limited through several unique series of events in order to survive in the 80s.This paper is specifically meant to be a description of safety and productivity improvements achieved to ensure the survival of a silver mining community ill the Yukon. There are, however, other events and conditions that must be described to complete the story and this paper attempts to do that as well IntroductionUnited Keno Hill Mines Limited, a subsidiary of Falconbridge Limited, is the only silver producer in the Yukon. Operations are located in north central Yukon, in and around the small town of Elsa, latitude 62.5 °, about 275 road miles from Whitehorse. The Arctic Circle is about 185 miles due north of the town.Temperatures in 1986 ranged from a high of 28.5°C in July to a low of -37.0°C in November, however, much lower temperatures have been recorded in previous years. Due to the mountainous terrain the town of Elsa is completely in the shade from mid-November until early February, a period of about 12 weeks.The Elsa area, as is most of the north, is considered semiarid with an average precipitation level of about 15 inches. Vegetation, however, is quite abundant though slightly dwarfed at the townsite elevation of 3200 feet above sea level: Many of our operating and exploration portals as well as our open pits are above the tree line. Permafrost in the area has been recorded up to 400 feet below the surface."

Jan 1, 1988

Jan 1, 1938

By R N. Lamb, A N. Buckley

Experiments have been carried out to establish whether time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is able to differentiate monolayer and multilayer coverage of thiol collectors on sulfide minerals. The systems investigated were those for which x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is able to provide an independent determination of the extent of coverage, and included diethyldithiophosphate (DTP) and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) on chalcocite, DTP on Ag2+MS prepared by sulfidising metallic silver, and isobutyl xanthate (BX) and MBT on galena. For monolayer adsorption of MBT on chalcocite, peaks from MBTû but not Cu(MBT)û ions were evident. For multilayer coverage, Cu(MBT)2û ions were clearly present, notwithstanding the fact that other data had identified the principal multilayer species as Cu(MBT). For adsorbed DTP on copper and silver sulfides, DTPû and metal(DTP)Hû peaks were observed for monolayer and multilayer coverage. Although the multilayer species was expected to be predominantly metal(DTP), metal(DTP)2û ions were evident for multilayer (but not monolayer) coverage. For the PbS/BX system, intact Pb(BX)2 or Pb(OH)BX ions were not detected for multilayer coverage, although Pb-containing ions heavier than PbBX were. Indeed, for all the systems studied, ToF-SIMS was able to differentiate monolayer from multilayer coverage. In general, however, the SIMS evidence alone might not be sufficiently definitive to effect the differentiation. In the case of collector adsorption on copper and silver sulfides, if the multilayer species detected had been the metal monothiolate only, and had not involved the formation of some metal dithiolate, then ToF-SIMS might not have been able to provide an unequivocal differentiation of the two coverage conditions.

Jan 1, 2005

By A. S. Moss, J. Linkous

Where difficult shaft sinking conditions exist, it may be appropriate to use a blind drilling technique. The success of the method is in part due to the presence of a drilling mud which fills the shaft void during excavation. The mud performs two important functions with respect to shaft stability: it reduces the influence of groundwater; and, due to the mud weight, gives a positive sup- port to the shaft walls. The application of the method is illustrated by a case history which traces the development of a shaft from the initial investigation to determine the shaft location, through the evaluation of wall stability and mud requirements, to the shaft sinking contract and actual conditions encountered.

Jan 1, 1986

By E. F. Kingsbury

ONE of the well-known and important uses of the noble or precious metals has been for electrical contacts. In fact, the elements of this group, comprising gold, silver and. the six platinum metals, have been called "noble" because of their ability to resist heat and corrosion, properties which. were early found to be of importance in good contacts. Of these, platinum and its iridium alloys, palladium, and silver, have been extensively used. In recent years the electrical industry has been responsible for about one-eighth of the total consumption of the platinum metals in the United States. Information is not available as to what part of this one-eighth has been used for contacts but it is certainly an important one. SUBSTITUTES FOR PLATINUM During the past 20 years a considerable number of contact alloys have been proposed in the patent literature largely with the aim of more or less replacing platinum by gold or silver, and some of these alloys are finding increasingly widespread application as the reliability of their performance becomes established. From even the partial data at hand it appears that this substitution by the less precious metals has replaced at least one-half of the amount of platinum that the entire electrical industry would otherwise be consuming at the present time. While the subject is of considerable interest to the metallurgist it is even more so to the electrical engineer and it is surprising that the literature records no systematic and' comprehensive investigation along these lines. Practically all the scattered work on noble metal contacts has centered around platinum as a standard and has had two more or less distinct aims. One of these has been the replacement of platinum by cheaper materials, and the other, the development of materials of superior electrical performance. The merit, of a contact metal has been assumed to be dependent on its infusibility, and since the more precious metals have the higher melting points there has naturally been an association of the two qualities in the sense that the more precious were

Jan 1, 1928

By G. S. Scott

In the course of tire investigation into the causes, behavior, and control of mine fires, which the Bureau of Mines is now conducting, come attention was given to the subject of spontaneous heating. It is self-evident that the temperature of a pile of broken coal will rise if the rate of generation of heat exceeds the rate of heat dissipation and will fall if the opposite is the cane. Factors that affect the rate of generation of heat are:

Jan 1, 1941

By William D. Klopp, Joseph R. Stephens

A substantial reduction in the 300°F ductile-to-brittle transition temperature for unalloyed chromium was achieved in alloys from systems which resemble the Cr-Re system. These alloy systems include Cr-Ru, Cr-Co, and Cr-Fe. Transition temperatures ranged from -300° F for Cr-35 at. pct Re to -75°F for 0-50 at. pct Fe. The ductile alloys have high grain gvowth rates at elevated temperatures. Also, Cr-24 at. pct Ru exhibited enhanced tensile ductility at elevated temperatures, characteristic of superplas-ticity. It is concluded that phase relations play an importarlt role in the rhenium ductilizing effect. The ductile alloys have compositions near the solubility limit in systems with a high terminal solubility and which contain an intermediate o phase. The importance of enhanced high-temperature ductility to the rhenium ductilizing effect is not well understood although both may have common basic features. CHROMIUM alloys are currently being investigated for advanced air-breathing engine applications, primarily as turbine buckets and/or stator vanes. The inherent advantages of chromium as a high-temperature structural material are well-known1 and include its high melting point relative to superalloys, moderately high modulus of elasticity, low density, good thermal shock resistance, and superior oxidation resistance as compared to the other refractory metals. Additionally, it is capable of being strengthened by conventional alloying techniques. The major disadvantage of chromium is its poor ductility at ambient temperatures, a problem which it shares with the other two Group VI-A metals, molybdenum and tungsten. For chromium, the problem is further amplified by its susceptibility to nitrogen em-brittlement during high-temperature air exposure. In cases of severe nitrogen embrittlement, the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature might exceed the steady-state operating temperature of the component. The low ductility of chromium would make stator vanes and turbine buckets prone to foreign object damage. The present work was directed towards improvement of the ductility of chromium through alloying, with the anticipation that any improvements so obtained might be additive to strengthening improvements achieved through different types of alloying. The alloying additions for ductility were selected on the basis of the similarity of their phase relations with chromium to that of Cr-Re. The reduction in the ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures of the Group VI-A metals as a result of alloying with 25 to 35 pct Re is well established.a4 the temperature range -300" to 750° F. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as the &apos;<rhenium ductilizing effect"; this term is also used to describe systems in which the ductilizing element is not rhenium. Other alloy systems which have recently been shown to exhibit the rhenium ductilizing effect include Cr-Co and c-Ru.= In order to explore the generality of this effect, alloys were selected from systems having phase relations similar to that of Cr-Re, primarily a high solubility in chromium and an intermediate o phase. The following compositions were prepared: Cr-35 and -40Re; Cr-10, -15, -18, -21, -24, and -27 pct Ru; Cr-25 and -30 pct Co; Cr-30, -40, and -50 pct Fe; Cr-45, -55, and -65 pct Mn. Seven other systems were also studied which partially resemble Cr-Re. These systems have extensive chromium solid solutions or a complex intermediate phase, not necessarily o. The compositions evaluated include the following: Cr-20 pct Ti; Cr-15, -30, and -45 pct V; Cr-2.5 pct Cb; Cr-2.5 pct Ta; Cr-20 pct Ni; Cr-6, -9, -12, and -15 pct 0s; Cr-10 pct Ir. The compositions of alloys in these systems were chosen near the solubility limit for the chromium-base solid solutions, since in the Group VI-A Re systems, the saturated alloys are the most ductile. These alloys were evaluated on the basis of hardness, fabricability, and ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures. In addition to the studies of alloying effects on ductility, an exploratory investigation was conducted on mechanical properties at high temperatures in Cr-Ru alloys EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE High-purity chromium prepared by the iodide deposition process was employed for all studies. An analysis of this chromium is given in Table I. Alloying elements were obtained in the following forms: Commercially pure powder — iridium, osmium, rhenium, and ruthenium. Arc-melted ingot — titanium and vanadium. Electrolytic flake — iron, manganese, and nickel. Sheet rolled from electron-bearn-melted ingot — columbium and tantalum. Electron-beam-melted ingot — cobalt. Sheet rolled from arc-melted ingot — rhenium. All alloys were initially consolidated by triple arc melting into 60-g button ingots on a water-cooled hearth using a nonconsumable tungsten electrode. The melting atmosphere was Ti-gettered Ar at a pressure of 20 torr. The ingots were drop cast into rectangular slabs and fabricated by heating at 1470" to 2800° F in argon followed by rolling in air. Bend specimens measuring 0.3 by 0.9 in. were cut from the 0.035-in. sheet parallel to the rolling direction. The specimens were annealed for 1 hr in argon, furnace cooled or water quenched, and electropolished prior to testing. Three-point loading bend tests were conducted at a crosshead speed of l-in. per min over

Jan 1, 1969