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By Charles C. Russell

Pressures developed by the coal during the coking process have been responsible for serious trouble to many companies that operate or build by-product coke ovens. The insidious nature of this trouble is indicated by the fact that oven operators, unless they have ascertained the characteristics of the coals they use, cannot determine the existence of dangerous pressures until after the damage has been done. A rather popular misconception is that ease of pushing of the charge at the completion of the coking period indicates that no dangerous pressure has been developed, but this is far from the truth; pressures developed during the coking period are often completely dissipated by the shrinkage of the charge in the completion of coking, and so any criterion based on the ease of pushing is futile. However, methods of testing coals are available that will definitely distinguish the dangerous coals from those that are safe, and such methods have been brought to a high degree of certainty. The operator should take no risk that involves either a lack of knowledge of the behavior of coals during coking or the failure to believe that certain of the coals or coal mixtures can cause damage to the oven structure. This merely tends to minimize the problem and leads to claims that coking coals of all kinds may be carbonized with no danger of damage to the oven structure provided some particular kind of byproduct oven is used. This lack of appreciation of the true situation is in itself one of the main factors leading to damage of coke-oven structures. Coals that develop more than a certain safe pressure cannot be used in by-product coke ovens without causing damage to the side flue walls. The following paper presents a highly certain method for the measurement of the pressures developed during the carbonization of coal—a method that is the culmination of many years of work on the problem in which a number of methods for the purpose were investigated and used. While actual pressures found may appear to be small when expressed in pounds per square inch, the number of square inches in each oven wall is so large that the total pressure on the oven wall becomes an enormous load.

Jan 1, 1940

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Jan 1, 1938

By Oswald J. Heinrich

THE great improvements which have been made in late years in the different systems and instruments used to perforate the crust of the earth for purposes of testing and exploring for mineral resources or for other reasons, by means of bore-holes of greater or less diameter and to greater or less depths, are manifold. It may therefore be of interest to make an impartial comparison of them, or of such as are most commonly used. Being well aware of the difficulties which are encountered in such a task, a reasonable allowance must be made in such a comparison. It is a rare instance when even two decidedly different systems or instruments have been used in the same locality, penetrating identically the same strata to the same depth. The diameter of a borehole as well as its greater or less depth must also be considered in regard to its cost per foot, etc. But for practical purposes, for ex¬ploration at least, we may assert this rule Any borehole, of whatever diameter, which allows the means of examining the strata most carefully and completely, will be sufficient for this purpose, but that one which will do it most economically and in the least space of time, must be considered the best for it. It will, therefore, partially depend upon circumstances, what system, in spite of other superiorities, may be the best in each case, and the following remarks may aid in deciding this question. To make the attempt here to review all that has been published upon the different systems and means of boring would be out of place. Reference can be had to the able publications treating upon this subject. A difference in this respect exists in regard to the use of the hollow rods in connection with the diamond drill, used for that purpose. The great future, which appears to be evident for this instrument, will be warrant enough for any one, who has had the opportunity to test it, to give his experience to the public. Only in this way can we bring this system to such perfection, as it seems to deserve and * The drawings illustrating this paper are one-half the size of the tools represented, with the exception of the instrument used to reverse the current in the bore-hole (Fig. 17), which is one-third the actual size.

Jan 1, 1874

By J. N. Hummel

The methods of electrical prospecting, which employ contact electrodes to produce an electric field in the ground, furnish information concerning the constitution of the material beneath the surface, as indicated by the distortion of this artificially produced field and anomalies therein. To reveal the distortion of such field of known character, it is only necessary to measure qualitatively the direction of the field, using sensitive compensation methods. In such a case, the survey is relatively simple, and that is an important factor from a practical point of view. The distortion of the normal field thus determined permits an easy interpretation and gives approximate information as to the subsurface conditions, without the necessity of a thorough theoretical knowledge of the electrical field. The true field of application of the equipotential lines and search-coil methods, which are based on this principle of directional determination of the electrical field in the ground, is that of search for deposits of economic minerals for the mining industry, although they can also be used in solution of other problems; for example, in the determination of the strike of anisotropic beds. The distortion of the electric field as represented by the picture of equipotential lines or other measured curves is striking only when bodies having conductivities different from that of the country rock are embedded in the underground, or when the underground is anisotropic. It is obvious that methods based on such a simple principle and capable of solving directly many of the practical problems of mining geology have found a widespread application. However, these methods are unable to furnish any information as to the presence, depth and physical properties of layers in the underground, which have different conductivities, but are parallel, or only slightly inclined, to the surface. Where such conditions exist in the underground, the picture of the field

Jan 1, 1932

By Thomas S. West

A gravel pack completion is described which, in addition to sand screening, permits the exclusion of water and gas from the oil production. A gravel pack composed of alternate layers of different particle sizes is employed which has horizontal but not overall vertical permeability to drilling mud. A packer is run on the tubing and set in the screen member, around which the gravel layers are placed. The hydrostatic pressure of a mud column prevents the entry of fluid above (or below) the level of the packer. The producing level may be changed by raising or lowering the tubing. Vertical coning is controlled by replacing the mud column with oil and continually injecting oil into the sand section above (or below) the packer. Three well histories with this completion are described in detail. Statistics on the first 100 completions of this general type are given. INTRODUCTION Gravel pack type completions have heretofore been almost exclusively for the purpose of preventing sand production. This paper describes and presents well data on a gravel pack procedure which is primarily a selective completion method. Although complete sand screening is achieved, the exclusion of gas and water is the primary objective. The application of this procedure is therefore not limited to unconsolidated sands. Application to hard sand or limestone reservoirs is equally feasible. GRAVEL PACK PROCEDURE Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the gravel pack procedure employed. The gravel is placed by means of the frangible disc type dump bailer shown by Fig. 1.' This bailer has its lower end closed by a plate glass or steel rimmed cement disc. This disc breaks when the bailer passes over the liner allowing the gravel to be deposited around the liner. The liner employed is usually 2 3/8 in. to 2 7/8 in. OD and 1.995 in. or 2.07 in. ID (ID of 2-in. tubing or 2-in. line pipe). Two tvDes,. of slotted sections have been employed. One type employs horizontal hacksaw cut or milled slots of about 1/32 in. width opposite the producing section. The other type employs the same type,. of horizontal slot. but slots are placed in groups of six at intervals of about 8 in. A cage composed of half round vertical bars, spaced apart, is then welded to the pipe over the slotted sections. This liner has the bottom end closed, usually by bull plugging. The upper end is closed, while placing the gravel, by a cap which is held in place by means of a shear pin. This cap has a mandrel attached to it which extends downward inside of the liner to within a few inches of its lower end. The top of the liner cap is formed to fit a releasing type wire line core barrel overshot. The liner is lowered to bottom on the wire line by means of this overshot and released. The length of the liner is usually suffi- cient to extend to about 20 ft above the highest level to which gravel is to be placed, the upper end of the liner always being in the casing. The dimensions of the liner and bailer are such with respect to the casing size that the bailer will always pass over the liner. After releasing the liner the bailer is run to bottom. Passage of the empty

Jan 1, 1951

By Thomas S. West

A gravel pack completion is described which, in addition to sand screening, permits the exclusion of water and gas from the oil production. A gravel pack composed of alternate layers of different particle sizes is employed which has horizontal but not overall vertical permeability to drilling mud. A packer is run on the tubing and set in the screen member, around which the gravel layers are placed. The hydrostatic pressure of a mud column prevents the entry of fluid above (or below) the level of the packer. The producing level may be changed by raising or lowering the tubing. Vertical coning is controlled by replacing the mud column with oil and continually injecting oil into the sand section above (or below) the packer. Three well histories with this completion are described in detail. Statistics on the first 100 completions of this general type are given. INTRODUCTION Gravel pack type completions have heretofore been almost exclusively for the purpose of preventing sand production. This paper describes and presents well data on a gravel pack procedure which is primarily a selective completion method. Although complete sand screening is achieved, the exclusion of gas and water is the primary objective. The application of this procedure is therefore not limited to unconsolidated sands. Application to hard sand or limestone reservoirs is equally feasible. GRAVEL PACK PROCEDURE Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the gravel pack procedure employed. The gravel is placed by means of the frangible disc type dump bailer shown by Fig. 1.' This bailer has its lower end closed by a plate glass or steel rimmed cement disc. This disc breaks when the bailer passes over the liner allowing the gravel to be deposited around the liner. The liner employed is usually 2 3/8 in. to 2 7/8 in. OD and 1.995 in. or 2.07 in. ID (ID of 2-in. tubing or 2-in. line pipe). Two tvDes,. of slotted sections have been employed. One type employs horizontal hacksaw cut or milled slots of about 1/32 in. width opposite the producing section. The other type employs the same type,. of horizontal slot. but slots are placed in groups of six at intervals of about 8 in. A cage composed of half round vertical bars, spaced apart, is then welded to the pipe over the slotted sections. This liner has the bottom end closed, usually by bull plugging. The upper end is closed, while placing the gravel, by a cap which is held in place by means of a shear pin. This cap has a mandrel attached to it which extends downward inside of the liner to within a few inches of its lower end. The top of the liner cap is formed to fit a releasing type wire line core barrel overshot. The liner is lowered to bottom on the wire line by means of this overshot and released. The length of the liner is usually suffi- cient to extend to about 20 ft above the highest level to which gravel is to be placed, the upper end of the liner always being in the casing. The dimensions of the liner and bailer are such with respect to the casing size that the bailer will always pass over the liner. After releasing the liner the bailer is run to bottom. Passage of the empty

Jan 1, 1951

Jan 1, 1925

By H. R. Aldrich

This paper is not a treatise on the theory and practice of magnetic surveying. It presents a diagram upon which have been plotted observations taken with the simplest form of magnetic instrument, the lowly dip needle, over a large area astride the Lake Superior syncline of northern wisconsin. The exposures of the underlying formations are not sufficiently great in number nor fortunate in distribution to have provided the fuller understanding of the geology which has been secured by the use of the magnetic observations as an auxiliary tool or accessory in the hands of the geologist. The diagram (Fig. 2) in large part speaks for itself if studied in connection with the geological map (Fig. 1) for which it is the main control. It is presented to demonstrate the extent to which the use of such methods may aid in the solution of geological problems in a covered country. The diagram is probably unique in assembling the expression of such a wide range of formations, affected by so wide a range of secondary processes, and deformed by so many different structures in terms of magnetic variation. Few geologists outside of the Lake Superior country have had any first-hand experience in the taking of magnetic observations and the interpretation of the results in terms of geological conditions; nor have the Lake Superior men gone with the methods far afield from the mere tracing of iron formations. In more recent years the oil companies have gone heavily into investments in magnetometers, balances, and dip needles in the quest of concealed structural anomalies which are the favorable loci of petroleum accumulation. But these geophysicists come back from the fields with their collections of observations facing the question of interpreting the geological meaning of their magnetic anomalies. It is considered probable therefore, and certainly it is the hope of the writer, that the appended charts, or magnographs, which show how character of the country rock and its changes, structural strike and dip and their changes, depth of burial and its variation, contact metamorphic

Jan 1, 1929

By R. I. Lahring, C. G. Inks

A surfactant waterflood, using a block copolymer of ethylene and propylene oxide (PLURONIC L64*), wa., started in 1956 in Kansas to determine the commercial feasibility of such a process. The production formation was the Bartlesville sand at a depth of 1,400 ft. Leares in the test area had attained both primary and secondary production peaks, and were on a normal decline when the tests were initiated. The injection wells were taking water at a reasonable pressure and none of the operating conditions were particularly unusual. The leases were selected primarily because of normal operating conditions, and not because of any serious problems demanding remedie>,. Oil production and water injection data were recorded during the 10-year test period, and their compilation indicates that the surfactant resulted in an increase of about 9 percent in secondary oil production. Other benefits derived from the surfactant injection were lower injection pressure that resulted in reduced power consumption and reduced erosion of the pumps; and lower calcium scale buildup. These fringe benefits more than offset the cost of the surfactant used. Introduction During the past several decades, considerable research has been carried out on secondary recovery of crude oil that remains in the producing formation despite the most efficient, current primary production practices. Methods are constantly sought of increasing recovery of oil, while at the same time improving the economic efficiency of operations. One method that has received intensive study over the years is the use of a surfactant as a waterflood additive. Laboratory tests show conclusively that dilute solutions of surfactants remove considerably more oil from uncon-solidated sand cores than does water alone.'- The loss of surfactant by adsorption at solid-liquid interfaces has caused serious doubt that surfactants can be used economically as waterflooding additives. This is especially true with anionic and cationic surfactants, and to a lesser extent with nonionic surfactants. This work was undertaken to determine the effectiveness in increasing oil production by injecting water containing small quantities of a nonionic surfactant. The surfactant selected was PLURONIC L64*, a block copolymer based on ethylene and propylene oxide, having the following structure The selection of the test site, a typical shoe-string sandstone type of field located at Batesville pool, Toronto District of Woodson County, Kans., was made because of its normal primary and secondary recovery operating conditions, and not because of any serious operating problems. When the tests were begun, the field was experiencing the customary post-peak production decline of a waterflood. Using for the tests a field that was on a normal production decline, while maintaining constant all variables other than the addition of the surfactant. was of varamount importance if success or failure was to be attributed to a particular cause. It was reasoned that if a surfactant was added to the injection waters and nothing else was done to influence the oil production or injection of water, the effects of the surfactant on the flood could be determined precisely. Production History The first well in the tested field was drilled in 1935. Gas repressurization began immediately, but it was not until Aug., 1938, that the major portion of the field was developed. During the period of repressurization, 1,700 MMcf of gas was injected. As can be seen from the curves of Fig. 1, the production peak from gas injection was attained in 1937 and a normal production decline followed. Early in 1942, water injection wells were drilled and injection of water Was initiated. The amount of water injected increased as more injection wells were drilled until a peak injection rate of 2,700 BID was reached in

Jan 1, 1969

Bethlehem Steel Co. has just brought an all-new iron ore mine into production at Marmora, Canada, about 120 miles east of Toronto. High grade pellets produced at the mine from open-pit magnetite ore travel 64 miles by rail to the port at Picton, then go by Lake boat to help supply Bethlehem's Lackawanna, N. Y., plant. At full production about half a million tons of pellets a year will be shipped, and mining will be at a scale of more than a million tons per year of ore. Aeromagnetic surveys carried out in 1949 by the Ontario Dept. of Mines and the Canadian Geological Survey revealed an anomaly that interested Bethlehem geologists. By 1951 the company had put down some 40 diamond drillholes ranging from 460 to 1800 ft to block out the magnetite replacement deposit which lies in pre-Cambrian limestone below about 130 ft of Paleozoic limestone. The orebody, roughly 2100 ft long and up to 400 ft wide, averages about 37 pct iron, too low for direct shipment. Not only construction of concentrating and pelletizing facilities, but 20 million tons of stripping lay ahead before production could start

Jul 1, 1955

By H. H. Power, Charles R. Houssiere

THE development of effective and dependable methods for drilling through the so-called "heaving-shale" horizons, particularly in the Gulf Coast area, is believed to comprise a major contribution to drilling technology, and to the task of finding and developing our undiscovered oil pools. Many mechanical remedies have been proposed and are in use in troublesome areas for combating heaving shale. However, in conducting a research program it was concluded that the physical and chemical properties of shales should be investigated, and the effect of added chemicals on such properties determined. As a preliminary step, the effect of chemicals on bentonitic suspensions was determined in accordance with recent contributions in the field of ceramics. The most plausible theoretical explanations for the behavior of the clay minerals involved are offered in the paper that follows. It is hoped that subsequent investigation of actual shale from troublesome wells will be aided by the initial work done on bentonitic suspensions of known composition. INTRODUCTION Formations variously designated as "heaving shale," "sloughing shale" and "caving shale" impede and may even preclude drilling of oil wells, particularly in certain parts of the Gulf Coast. In a previous paper1 it has been stated that the development of effective and dependable methods for drilling through these troublesome beds is believed to comprise a major contribution to drilling technology, and to the task of finding and developing our undiscovered oil pools. Since the attack on the heaving-shale problem by mechanical means was principally a matter of field investigation, it was concluded that a research program should be concerned with the physical and chemical properties of heaving shales, and the effect of added chemicals on such properties. It was realized that a study of shales required an advanced knowledge of the behavior of the individual clay minerals. A thorough review of the literature led the authors to the conclusion that very recent contributions2.3 in the field of ceramics furnished the most plausible theoretical explanations for the behavior of clay minerals. Accordingly, these fundamental ideas will be used in an attempt to explain the behavior of more complex systems whose composition and replaceable ions are known. In order to obtain comparable results it was deemed important to select an easily procurable clay of uniform characteristics. Accordingly, Wyoming bentonite, which is marketed under the name of "Volclay,"* was used for the preliminary investigations. The chemical analysis reported by the distribution is given as follows:

Jan 1, 1941

By L. Burris, G. A. Bennett, P. A. Nelson

Staznless steels ave rrzuch less seuel-ely attacketl by zinc lapov than by molten zinc systems. To determine the applicubility of stainless steels fov equipment items which would be exposed only to zinc vapor, the corvosion resistance of several stainless steels to zinc vapor was investigated in 500-hr- exposuves at 900° C. Two austenilic stainless steels, Types 304 and 3-17, suffered severe intergranular attack. Loss of nickel from these steels and micro-probe crnalyses indicated the probable formation of low-melting zinc-rich phases. Good vesistance to attack by zinc vapor, as determined by metallo-9-rpaphic excr)rtination and physical testing, Loas exhibited by Type 405 stainless steel, a jevvitic steel. Type 440C stainless steel, a tnartensitic steel, although suffering considevable loss in weight, was not structurally weakened. At Argonne National Laboratory liquid zinc and zinc-rich alloys are being employed as solvent media in pyrometallurgical processes under development for recovering and purifying discharged reactor-fuel materials.' Because of the high solubility of most metals in liquid zinc,' there are few metals which can serve as container materials for liquid zinc at temperatures much above the melting point. The poor corrosion resistance of the common metals and alloys to molten zinc has been discussed by Eldred.3 DeKany, Lavendel, and Burris4 tested some of the less-common alloys of the nonrefractory metals and found that they also have poor resistance to attack by liquid zinc and Zn-Mg solutions. Of the metallic materials, only some of the refractory metals such as tantalum, tungsten, and molybdenum and their alloys have shown resistance to attack by liquid zinc.4-7 In the process-development work at Argonne National Laboratory, tantalum and tungsten vessels have been used to hold liquid-zinc alloys. These vessels are housed in stainless-steel equipment, principally to permit maintenance of an inert atmosphere and operation at various pressures. In this experimental work, it has often been observed that Type 304 stainless steel suffers little attack by zinc vapor at temperatures up to about 800 °C. In contrast, severe attack occurs in areas where zinc condenses as a liquid. The extent of attack by zinc vapor on several stainless steels was investigated because there are possible useful applications of stainless steel for equipment items which would be exposed only to attack by zinc vapor. These applications include, for example, housings around processing equipment as indicated above and vapor lines leading from zinc stillpots or retorts to condensers. EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURE The experimental procedure consisted in exposing stainless-steel test coupons to static zinc vapor for 500 hr at a temperature of about 900°C. The apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, consisted of a 12-in.-long closed tantalum tube jacketed in Type 304 stainless steel to prevent oxidation of the tantalum. A Zn-10 wtpct Mg* alloy charge of 293 g in the bottom of the

Jan 1, 1965

George IV. Goetz, Milwaukee, Wis.: Mr. Campbell deserves much credit for his interesting paper. The literature of the development of the open-hearth process is distributed in many technical journals, and is difficult of access to many engineers. Since the development of the basic process, the open-hearth furnace has been raised from a subsidiary to an independent position. Certain high grades of soft steel can be produced in the basic open-hearth furnace, which cannot be produced by any other known process. In the United States the charges for the acid process generally consist of either scrap and pig-iron or so-called wash-metal and scrap : the pig-and-ore process, as carried out in England, is practiced but very little. The introduction of the basic process has made it possible to use about four times as much pig-iron with scrap as can be used in the acid mixtures. The availability of a cheap pig-iron, very low in silicon and sulphur, and carrying several per cent. of manganese, is one of the reasons why the basic open-hearth process has developed so rapidly in Germany, as regards the output per furnace and the excellent quality of the material produced. The acid Bessemer steel has an inherent stiffness, which is plainly shown when spring steel is made by the Bessemer and by the openhearth processes. In order to get them of about equal stiffness, the open-hearth steel must have about 0.60 per cent. carbon ; whereas, the Bessemer steel must then have ahout 0.45 carbon, the remaining constituents being apparently about the same in each product. It has proved impracticable, with American coke-pig-iron, to interrupt blowing at a certain point in order to make hard steel; and experience has therefore shown that it is best to eliminate nearly all the carbon, and then to recarburize to the desired point. This practice

Jan 1, 1894

By E. M. MacKevett

The only source of uranium ore in Alaska that has been mined commercially is the Ross-Adams deposit, a gently inclined, fusiform orebody in alkali granite in which uranothorite and uranoan thoria-nit? ale the chief ore minerals. In mode of occurrence, apparent genetic association with the granite, and to a lesser extent in mineralogy, this type of deposit is uncommon. The mine is in the southern part of Prince of Wales Island (Fig. 1) at an altitude of about 950 ft on the southeast flank of Bokan Mountain. A steep unpaved road 1 3/4 miles long leads to the dock on the West Arm of Kendrick Bay, which can be reached by boat or seaplane from Ketchikan, some 35 miles to the northeast. The southern section of Prince of Wales Island is covered by dense forests interspersed with swampy tracts of muskeg. Most of the higher peaks support only sparse vegetation, and in areas underlain by alkali granite bare rocky slopes prevail to as low as 800 ft. Numerous fiord-like embayments penetrate this part of the island, and their shorelines provide near-continuous rock exposures. Rainfall is heavy, about 150 in. annually. Throughout the year the climate is relatively mild. History and Production: In May 1955 two members of a Ketchikan prospecting group, Don Ross and his wife, found the deposit while working with an airborne geiger counter. Later they confirmed their discovery by ground investigations. During the summer Climax Molybdenum acquired controlling interest in the property and started exploratory diamond drilling, resuming the drilling on a larger scale in the summer and fall of 1956. Climax began mining in July 1957, shipping the ore by barge and train to the Dawn Mining Co. mill at Ford, Wash. The open pit workings, about 370 ft long, between 25 and 75 ft wide. and 25 ft deep (shown in Fig. 2) were shut down in October 1957. As of September 1958 the pit was still inactive, although a small tonnage of known reserves remains in the southern part. The operators believe the 15,000 tons of uranium ore already produced will average 0.80 pct. GEOLOGY The Ross-Adams mine is within a small stock or boss of alkali granite, about 1000 ft from the southeast margin of the granite (Fig. 3). The area around the boss is underlain chiefly by plutonic rocks of intermediate composition and by metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The oldest rocks in the area probably are the metamorphosed volcanic rocks that are well exposed adjacent to the South Arm of Moira Sound. They are considered by Buddington and Chapin1 to be of Devonian age. These light gray to dark gray rocks mainly represent a layered volcanic sequence. They are commonly porphyritic with plagioclase pheno-crysts in an altered, fine-grained groundmass. The

Jan 1, 1960

By Thomas Egleston

The process of lixiviating silver ores, which do or do not contain gold, by means of hyposnlphite of soda is likely to assume a very great importance in the West, the conditions being such that while it is applicable to very rich ores which do not contain lead enough to smelt, it is also equally applicable to many ores that are either too poor or too impure to be treated by any other process. Western ores are generally divided into four classes: those which contain copper enough to be smelted for copper, from which the gold and silver is extracted in the wet way, as is the practice of the Boston and Colorado works; those in which there is a large quantity of lead, which can be smelted for lead, and the gold and silver extracted from it; ores in which there is neither copper nor lead enough to allow of a process of smelting, but which can be treated in pans, these ores being " free milling " if they require no metallurgical treatment, or '(rebellious" if they have to be roasted with or without the addition of salt; and ores which do not contain enough either of lead or copper for smelting, which are poor both in silver and gold, contain large amounts of sulphur, arsenic, and antimony, and cannot be treated in many places in the West by any of these processes. Roasting with salt would convert the base metals as well as the silver into chlorides, and would give in the amalgamation a very base bullion, and the expense of the process would be SO great that the margin of profit would be very small, the reason being that for the ordinary process of pan-amalgamation, which is the only one suitable for ores containing small amounts of the base metals, and poor in silver and gold, the cost of a plant for milling is so large as not to justify the expense of treating such ores. The electrolytic processes which have been partially successful in Europe have not been tried 'here. While in the near future they will undoubtedly be used, it is hardly possible to consider them now.

Jan 1, 1884

By Vincent P. Gianella

THE most intense earthquake on the Pacific coast in the last several years, and probably the second most intense shock to occur in Nevada since it was settled, was felt in many Western States shortly after 10 p.m. on Dec. 20, 1932. Be- cause the rifted area contered about the northern end of Cedar Mountain it is referred to as the Cedar Mountain, Nevada, earthquake. An idea of the intensity of the shock may be gathered from the distance at which it was felt: in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washing- ton, Oregon, California and Arizona. It is the strongest quake centering in Nevada since the Pleasant Valley earthquake on Oct. 2, 1915. Despite the strength of the vibrations and the large area over which they were felt, relatively little damage was done. The extent of the damage consisted of a few old stone buildings demolished as shown in Fig. 1, much cracked and fallen plaster, many chimneys shaken down and considerable cracking of brick walls. There were no deaths and four people were but slightly injured. The small amount of damage was due, largely, to the scarcity of structures within the area of strong vibrations, but an important factor was the aridity of the region (see Fig. 2) and the shallowness of soil cover so that there was but little water-saturated loose material in which strong secondary vibrations could be formed. Had this earthquake occurred in a region of heavy precipitation and dense population the damage to property and loss of life would undoubtedly have been large, with consequently much more newspaper publicity.

Jan 1, 1933

By C. Q. Payne

The art of crushing ores and other materials by means of rolls is a comparatively recent one. While the first record of rolls using iron crushing-surfaces dates hack to the year 1806, when they were employed in Cornwall, their principal developmcnt has taken place during the past 30 years. To Stephen R. Erom belongs the credit of the pioneer in introducing the belted high-speed roll, which has had its origin and a marked development in this country. His notable contrib'ution to the art was in the use of a single bed-plate or frame supporting the roll-shafts, and to which levers holding the mova, ble roll-bearings were pivoted. He also made use of steel tension-rods to support the crushing-strains, and of hammered-steel tires for the crushing-surfaces. These changes brought the design of crushing-rolls to a high level. Following closely thereon, about 1885, W. R. Eckart conceived the idea of the swivel or ball-and-socket support for the roll-shaft bearings. This is an excellent mechanical conception, especially for bearings held against a spring pressure, and while it may not be necessary for all types of rolls, yet it has been quite generally adopted by other roll-designers, and illustrates the refinement which roll-construction has now reached. Other engineers, as, for example, Argall, Vezin, Roger, and Sturtevant, to mention only a few among many, have also given the closest attention to the various details of rolls, such as the frame, springe, bearings, and shafts, and have developed many novel and original designs. It has remained, however, for the boldness and originality of Mr. Edison to extend the field of crushing-rolls in two new directions, and to cause them to ex-

Jan 1, 1913

By Stuart M. Buck, J. H. Bramwell, Edward H. Williams

The Southwest Virginia Improvement Company began operations in the Bluestone Flat-Top coal-field, situated in Tazewell County, Virginia, in the fall of 1881. In May, 1883, the company had built 200 coke-ovens, and by March, 188-1, had 9000 feet of entries, exclusive of air-ways, in the Nelson or Rig coal-bed of this district (which here averages eleven feet in thickness), and had extracted 200,000 tons of coal, representing an area of about twenty acres. About this opening has grown the recently incorporated city of Pocahontas, and the completion of the New River branch of the Norfolk and Western Railroad to this point enabled the company to make large contracts for supplying coal and coke, so that it was deemed necessary, on account of the limited area developed, to work the mine day and night to fill orders. At 1.30 Thursday morning, March 13th, the inhabitants of Pocahontas were awakened by a violent shock, and within a few minutes all knew that the East mine had been the scene of an explosion of so general a nature that, of the 114 men at work, not one had escaped. The daily papers gave more or less distorted accounts of the number of victims, the scenes in and about, the mine, and the probable cause of the disaster. At the request of the company, the President of the American Institute of Mining Engineers appointed the undersigned a committee of three to investigate the matter, and the committee thus constituted presents the following report, accompanied by a copy of the testimony taken daring the investigation, for preservation in the archives of the Institute. Pocahontas was reached on Thursday, April 24th, and left on Friday, May 2d. During this interval the committee made repeated visits to the mine, especially to the points, of most importance, examining it carefully in every part; and summoned a number of witnesses, twenty-six of whom appeared and testified. The mine had been left in the same state as when the bodies were

Jan 1, 1885

By C. W. Ryan

THIS paper contains a brief sketch of the geology of soapstone in the Piedmont section of Virginia, in the southern portion of Nelson County; also a description of methods of prospecting, developing quarries, quarrying and and milling methods in that section. The paper is intended for those who have little information regarding soapstone; undoubtedly men of practical experience will find many points for criticism.

Jan 1, 1929

By Cecil H. Desch

The progress of metallurgical practice and the demands made by the engineering industry on our foundries and mills have made the crystalline structure of metals a subject of far more than academic interest. Metals and alloys are made up of crystals. Even if we accept the view, so ably maintained by some metallurgists, that the crystals are separated from one another by an amorphous layer, it remains true that all but a very minute fraction of any metallic mass is crystalline. The conditions which affect the growth of crystals are therefore of importance in metallurgy. It is not only castings whose properties depend on the arrangement of their crystals, for the more we learn of the behavior of forged, rolled and drawn metals, the more certain it becomes that it is profoundly influenced by the size and arrangement of the crystals in the original ingot, determining a structure which may persist in a modified form through a long series of mechanical operations and annealings. This is mainly due to the concentration of much of the impurities in the last portions of the liquid to freeze, so that the boundaries between single crystals or groups of crystals are marked out by a zone of segregated material, differing in properties from the mass, and offering a barrier to diffusion and equalization of composition throughout the whole. The importance of this fact has been fully recognized by steel manufacturers, who have to deal with ingots which are sometimes very large, and are cast at a high temperature, containing impurities which have a marked effect on the properties even when present in very small quantity. For this reason the Iron and Steel Institute has set up a committee to examine the whole question of the heterogeneity of steel ingots,(1)† and a report has been issued, containing an account of the structure of 16 ingots, ranging in weight from 15 cwt. to 172 tons, each of which was sectioned and examined by chemical analysis and by etching. A valuable body of data concerning segregation has thus been collected. The work of the committee is being prosecuted with great activity, and at the same time researches are in progress to determine the physical

Jan 1, 1927