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By T. Prof. Egleston

ALL industrial establishments whose operations depend upon chemical reactions use gases. In the simplest case the oxygen of the atmosphere, heated or not, as the case may be, is used, and in other cases, gases which are produced by a special apparatus of more or less complex composition. The manufacturer depends, for the success of his operations, entirely upon having these gases arrive at the right time, in the proper proportions, at the required temperature. It often requires but a slight variation in their composition to make a given process a success or a failure. In most cases the gas used is formed from fuel, and according as variations in its composition are produced by alterations in the manner of charging the grate, not only different, but often directly opposite, results are obtained. The great industrial question of the present time, and one upon which the prosperity of the world depends, is how to get the greatest amount of useful effect from fuel, whether the caloric is used directly or is transformed into horse-power. In almost all industrial pursuits this translates itself into the question of how to construct a fireplace and its adjuncts in such a way that the heat of the flame and of the products of combustion shall be made to produce a maximum effect. Unfortunately, until very recently, except by comparison, there was no means of ascertaining whether the loss of useful effect was 80, 40, or 20 per cent. of the total amount of fuel employed. It seems now strange that there should have been furnaces so constructed as to produce 20 per cent. of carbonic acid in the fireplace, but this has been proved by analysis to have been true. It does seem incredible that, notwithstanding the immense number and variety of furnaces used for different processes, and the great difference in kind, quality, and quantity of fuels consumed, there should formerly have been used for them all, the same stereotyped fireplace, varied only in its dimensions of height, length, and breadth. It is true that, with a good fireman, excellent effects may be, and have been, produced, but the manufacture is here, as in many other cases, dependent on the intelligence of the workman, a very uncertain reliance for capital to rest upon. The workman, unless he receives a prime for fuel saved, or is fined for excessive use of it, may be said

Jan 1, 1874

By C. H. White

Discussion of a Paper by Mr. C. H. White, read at the Atlantic City Meeting, February, 1904. (Annual Meeting, February, 1005.) ARTHUR JARMAN, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (communication to the Secretary*) : All designs for modern metal¬lurgical and chemical laboratories should provide each student's desk with a hood or cupboard for the removal of fumes, but I doubt the advisability of placing air-baths and similar apparatus close to the hot plate. It seems to me that unless the draft be exceptionally strong the fumes from ordinary wet assay work will corrode the iron-work of the fittings, in which case the baths would have to be removed to a general desk in order to lighten the work of the laboratory attendant. Since the laboratory described by Mr. White has been in use for two years, I should like to ask if any inconvenience has resulted from this corrosion. If not, it is certainly an important improvement to have the air-baths and similar apparatus placed -on the student's desk. The hoods described by Mr. White are supplied with a good draft by means of a fan, which gives them a great advantage over those at the metallurgical laboratory at the University, Sydney, in that no doors to the hood are needed. Each hood in the laboratory at Sydney is connected by a glazed earthenware drain-pipe with a vertical flue, 20 ft. high, having a lighted gas jet at the bottom to assist the draft. Although the draft is good, fumes of sulphuric acid cannot be drawn o$ unless the doors of the hood are lowered more than half-way. In my opinion, a fan should be used for the purpose of creating the draft, and glazed drain-tile should invariably be used for the flues because no other material possesses the same advantages. I know of a recent instance in which a laboratory containing

Mar 1, 1905

By H. J. Rose

SIXTY-FIVE million net tons of coal were carbonized in the by-product and beehive coke ovens1 of the United States during 1924. This tonnage represented 13.4 per cent. of the bituminous coal which was mined in that year. Table 1 shows production and disposition.2 TABLE 1.-Production and Disposition of Oven Coke in 1924 BY-PRODUCT BEEHIVE TOTAL Coal charged into ovens, tons 49,061,339 15,914,310 64,975,649 Coke produced (exclusive of screenings and breeze), tons 33,983,568 10,286;037 44,269,605 Average yield of coke, per cent 69.3 61.6 68.1 Disposition of coke: PER PER PER CENT. CENT. CENT. Blast furnace 82.5 82.8 82.6 Foundry 4.6 13.3 6.6 Domestic 8.3 1.4 6.7 Water gas manufacture and all other uses 4.6 2.5 4.1 Cokes having somewhat different combinations of chemical and physical properties are desired for the various uses listed above, and these properties depend primarily upon the types of coal used. American coals have a wide range of purity and coking quality, and the chief subject of this paper will be the selection of coals for the manufacture of blast furnace, foundry, domestic, and water-gas coke, in by-product coke ovens. It will obviously be necessary to include a discussion of those physical and chemical characteristics that are generally considered essential or desirable for each type of coke.

Jan 7, 1926

By Norman P. Goss

What would appear to be a very simple process on paper has proved to be overrun with a multitude of unseen difficulties. For more than 70 years attempts have been made to cast metals in a continuous manner, but it has been only within the last Io years that some degree of success has been achieved.1 Historical Development Bessemer's Experiments—Method I Bessemer was the first to try to cast molten metal in a continuous manner. His method is fully described in U. S. Patent No. 49053, issued in 1865. The patent drawing is shown in Fig. I. In this method the molten metal was poured between a pair of rolls of large diameter, which were cooled by water sprays. Means were provided to prevent moisture from coming into direct coptact with the molten metal. The width of the strip was controlled by the flanges. On paper this should work to perfection, but it is beset with many difficulties still awaiting solution. Bessemer failed to reduce his invention to commercial practice. About 1890 Bessemer's method was revived by Norton and associates (U. S. Patent No. 441375). They formed the Fluid Metal Rolling Co. at Maywood, Ill., and spent $250,000 in endeavoring to develop the technique for this simple method. Finally they had to abandon it. Naturally, they did carry the technical development far beyond anything Bessemer had done, but even so it was far from being a useful commercial success. In recent years it has undergone further development by C. W. Hazelett (U. S. Patent No. 2058447), who has succeeded in obtaining long lengths of copper, brass, aluminum, and even stainless steel. He introduced many' ingenious devices but the greatest obstacle still remained—the disintegration of the roll surface when the surface is heated and chilled in rapid succession. Difficulty is also experienced in maintaining a uniform supply of molten metal to the rolls. The patents pertaining to this method would indicate these to be the major obstacles. Experimental work by Mellen—Method 2 A departure from the method introduced by Bessemer, was tried by Grenville Mellen, of East Orange, K. J., sometime between 1914 and 1920, who obtained a number of patents.2 His method is illustrated in Fig. 2. This method failed to make an impression upon the art; however, it is of value in pointing out the difficulties the inventor ran into and the way in which he tried to meet them. The split mold sections form two endless chains. When going through the center of the apparatus, these sections engage each other to form a complete mold. As the engaged mold section moves downward at a constant speed, molten metal is teemed into it. As this is going on, another set of cooperating mold sections move into position on top of the one being filled. The molten metal is teemed into the mold through a silica tube. According to the teachings of this patent, the level of molten

Jan 1, 1945

By AIME AIME

NATURE was in a smiling mood on December 18, 1883. On that day, Chester Alan Fulton, the sixty-first President of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, was born, and she endowed him with every good quality within her reach - looks, physique, intelligence, and character. Brought up in the valley of the Hudson River, with the mighty Palisades which make it the "Rhine of America," he has lived up to his early promise - as a man, as an engineer and as a friend.

Jan 1, 1943

By P. G. Linder

The mechanical concentration of ores has not attained any considerable extent in Sweden, by reason of a scarcity of ores calling for this kind of treatment. Of rich iron-ores there is still an abundant supply; and magnetic concentration, which in the future undoubtedly will become of great importance, not being as yet demanded by necessity, has not advanced beyond a few experiments. At the copper-mines mechanical concentration has been superseded by chemical processes; the lead mines are worked out; and it is (with one exception) only the mines producing blende, or blende and galena intimately mixed, that have adopted mechanical methods for enriching their low-grade ores. While the concentrating-plants in Sweden are few and their output is comparatively insignificant, the methods employed, the general features of the work and the results obtained under extremely unfavorable conditions, may offer some points of interest to persons who are engaged in this branch of industry and have similar problems to deal with. Before going into a detailed description of the several plants, I will offer a few remarks that hold good for all of them and constitute a general review of Swedish concentration and its conditions. At all the works the ore to be treated is a mixture of blende and

Jan 1, 1895

Jan 1, 1891

By A. L. Holley

There are regularly manufactured in the eleven Bessemer steel rail mills of the United States, 119 patterns* of steel rails, of 27 different weights per yard. This list does not include patterns which, although still largely in use, are regarded by experts as obsolete, and which would swell the number to nearly 300; nor does it include all the patterns for which rolls are kept on hand to fill a passible demand; nor does it include extra patterns rolled in one finishing groove by opening or closing the rolls so as to get different weights with the same contours. The list embraces only those separate patterns which are subject to current orders. How thoroughly modern these patterns ere, is shown by the fact that of the whole 119, there are but five patterns of conspicuously bad shape; all the rest more or less completely illustrate the standard features,—a heavy head, light web and Hanges, and a good angle to hold the fish-plate. Sixty-two per cent. of the patterns have the "Chanute" head, which was not designed until 1874.† Sixty-four per cent. of the 119 patterns are embraced under five weights per yard,; three only of these vary from standard type; there are thus 76 patterns, all of them modern and standard, to represent five different weights, for which five patterns would perfectly answer. Of the 60lb. rails, there is only one of the pear-head type, while a dozen of the bevelled head templets cannot be distinguished from each other

Jan 1, 1881

By Alden Greninger

METALLURGISTS have long believed that martensite in steel forms as plates along the octahedral {111} planes of austenite. Much has been written about mechanisms whereby units of the austenite lattice are pictured as transforming to martensite by shearing movements initiated along the octahedral planes of austenite, supposedly resulting in plates of martensite lying parallel to these planes of shear. A critical inspection of two or three photomicrographs of quenched hypereutectoid steel led us to the conclusion that the orientation habit of martensite, at least in hypereutectoid austenite, could not possibly be octahedral. Inasmuch as recent studies30,31 of the martensite-type reaction in nonferrous alloy systems have established the irrational orientation habit as characteristic of this type of lattice transformation, the need for a thorough restudy of the crystallography of martensite formation in steel was evident. The present paper reports the results of such a study, extended to include both cementite and some of the products of constant-temperature decomposition of austenite. Also reported are a few of the results obtained from a microscopic and X-ray study of the austempering process in very high-carbon steel.

Jan 1, 1940

By P. E. Fitzgerald

SOME readjustments in the research programs of most of the oil companics and petroleum engineering schools have been made necessary by the war. The most obvious change has been the conversion from production engineering to problems more closely related to the nation's was effort. Many laboratories now devote much of their time to studies on products to be derived from petroleum. such as synthetic rubber, toluene, and substitutes for critical materials. Others are working to improve motor fuels including high-octane gasoline and the special lubricants required by the wide geographical range of the present conflict. Of great importance is the experience of the geophysicists, who are now devoting a great percentage of their time on instrument research and production or special apparatus required by the armed forces.

Jan 1, 1943

By Paul Soros

The cost of shipping British coal by water to domestic and ex- port users has been expensive. The traditional transportation system functioned as follows: coal in up to 50 different grades was accumulated in railway cars at several loading ports; on the arrival of a vessel, cars were dumped in the desired order to produce the required blend. It was a direct rail- road-to-water interface. Railroad freight was high because of the poor utilization of the large number of small (14, 18 or maximum 28-ton capacity) hopper cars required. Ocean freight was high because the ships were small, mostly on the order of 1500-3000 dwt and even these took a long time to load. Assembling and loading larger cargo presented a challenge in logistics to the ports, the railways and the coal washeries. The accommodation of larger bulk carriers was hampered by a tidal range of up to 24 ft which led to the development of impounded harbors, with locks that limit the size of vessels.

Jan 12, 1973

By F. O. Garrabrant

Power is furnished to the Climax Molybdenum Co. by the Public Service Co. of Colorado over two 100,000-volt lines to a bank of three 3333-kva. transformers 100/13.8 kv. These transformers are so designed that with the addition of forced cooling their capacity may be increased 33? per cent at 12,000-ft. altitude. Under present conditions, these transformers are operated at 140 Per cent of their rating with forced air cooling. On the secondary side of this bank there is a 15-kv., 1200-amp. Westinghouse oil circuit breaker provided with automatic reclosing relays allowing three successive short circuits before lockout. From this breaker 13.8-kv. power is transmitted to a central switching station (Fig. I) where all circuits radiate to the different operations of the property. Each circuit is protected by a 23-kv., 600-amp. oil circuit breaker with by-pass and isolating disconnecting switches. Mine Power at 13.8 kv. enters the mine through a ventilation raise over a three-conductor, size 1-0 varnished cambric insulated, leaded, steel-wire armored cable, insulated from 17 kv. This power is received and distributed through one switching station and four underground substations, shown in Fig. 2. No. 370 substation (Fig. 3) contains three a 13,800/440-volt, single- phase Pyranol transformers protected on the high-voltage side by a 600-amp. manually operated oil circuit breaker. This station serves 20 slusher-hoist motors, a 45-kw., three-phase, 220-volt electric furnace, a Massco hot miller for tempering and milling Timken detachable bits and a hoist with 175-hp motor on the No, 3 development shaft. Also at this shaft are three pumps. One two-stage pump, 1200 gal, per min., 500-ft. head, 3600 r.p.m., driven by a 150-hp. motor, is at the bottom of the shaft, Two deep-well pumps, 500 gal. per min., 500-ft. head, are at the collar of the shaft. under normal operation the one pumping 1200 gal. per min, is controlled by a float switch to take care of the water. If this pump fails, or if its capacity is insufficient, the first 500-gal. pump is automatically started1 and if still more capacity is needed the second 500-gal. pump automatically starts. Time delay relays are provided on the deep-well pumps, so that if power fails the column will have time to drain before the Pumps restart. On failure of any Of these, an alarm is sounded in the train dispatcher's office, so that mechanics can be sent to ascertain the cause of failure and make repairs. The cable from No. 37' substation is run to the switching station, in which are four 15-kv., 600-amp. direct-current sole-noid-operated oil circuit breakers. The current for Operating and tripping is furnished by a 125-volt storage battery. All breakers are operated from the switchboard in the compressor room. One circuit from this switching station goes to the

Jan 1, 1946

By Charles N. Becker

The practice of drying phosphate in Florida is as old as the industry, which began a little more than half a century ago. The methods, however, have changed considerably. At first, the natural process of exposure to the sun and air was used, later supplemented by wood fires beneath open-air stationary dry kilns and drying towers of various designs. It was not until the early nineties that rotary driers came into use, and at first they were of very small design and fired with wood. As the industry grew and tonnage increased, so likewise grew the number and size of rotary driers, until today the largest installations are 6 ft. up to 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and 55 to 60 ft. long, fired with crude oil. The reasons for drying phosphate rock are: (1) to eliminate freight on water in the shipment and (2) to facilitate the good grinding qualities required by the buyers in their acidulation. Phosphate pebbles vary materially in natural characteristics and each property has a direct bearing on the processing. In making comparisons of cost and operating conditions, the following are usually taken into consideration: 1. The hard dense pebbles, which contain very little interior moisture and 6 to 8 per cent total moisture, usually produced from the low-grade deposits. 2. The lighter, porous pebbles, which contain 4 to 5 per cent interior moisture and a total moisture ranging from 9 to 15 per cent. 3. The product of recovery operations using oily reagents, containing from 15 to 25 per cent moisture. 4. The size of the pebbles Usually the plus 5-mesh material is considered as "coarse rock"; the minus 5-mesh plus 24-mesh is "fine rock," and the minute particles below 24 mesh are called "concentrate." 5. The amount of moisture allowed in the dried product. The practice is generally to dry down to 1.5 to 2 per cent moisture. There is, however, an actual range in guarantee of from 1 per cent maximum to 3 per cent maximum.

Jan 1, 1938

By Charles N. Becker

The practice of drying phosphate in Florida is as old as the industry, which began a little more than half a century ago. The methods, however, have changed considerably. At first, the natural process of exposure to the sun and air was used, later supplemented by wood fires beneath open-air stationary dry kilns and drying towers of various designs. It was not until the early nineties that rotary driers came into use, and at first they were of very small design and fired with wood. As the industry grew and tonnage increased, so likewise grew the number and size of rotary driers, until today the largest installations are 6 ft. up to 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and 55 to 60 ft. long, fired with crude oil. The reasons for drying phosphate rock are: (1) to eliminate freight on water in the shipment and (2) to facilitate the good grinding qualities required by the buyers in their acidulation. Phosphate pebbles vary materially in natural characteristics and each property has a direct bearing on the processing. In making comparisons of cost and operating conditions, the following are usually taken into consideration: 1. The hard dense pebbles, which contain very little interior moisture and 6 to 8 per cent total moisture, usually produced from the low-grade deposits. 2. The lighter, porous pebbles, which contain 4 to 5 per cent interior moisture and a total moisture ranging from 9 to 15 per cent. 3. The product of recovery operations using oily reagents, containing from 15 to 25 per cent moisture. 4. The size of the pebbles Usually the plus 5-mesh material is considered as "coarse rock"; the minus 5-mesh plus 24-mesh is "fine rock," and the minute particles below 24 mesh are called "concentrate." 5. The amount of moisture allowed in the dried product. The practice is generally to dry down to 1.5 to 2 per cent moisture. There is, however, an actual range in guarantee of from 1 per cent maximum to 3 per cent maximum.

Jan 1, 1938

By E. Hornbogen

Discontinuous precipitation in a iron can occur by at least two different mechanisms. These mechanisms are compared, using observations made on an Fe-22 at. pct Zn alloy and an Fe-19.5 at. pct Mo alloy. In the Fe-Zn alloy, precipitation began on grain boundaries. These boundaries moved into the supersaturated solid solution, providing nucleation sites and an easy path for diffusion. The precipitated phase pew as lamellae, perpendicular to the PRECIPITATION reactions are called discontinuous if the nucleation of particles does not occur on individual sites in the supersaturated matrix.' In discontinuous precipitation, nucleation and growth occur on a reaction front that moves into the supersaturated solution and leaves a two-phase aggregate behind. The term cellular precipitation2 has also been used, but the term autocatalytic precipi- moving reaction front. The orientation of the depleted iron differed from that of the supersaturated iron. In the Fe-Mo alloy the growing precipitate particles apparently created dislocations in the growth front which served as nucleation sites. The precipitate grew on (110) planes of the iron, and growth occurred through volume diffision. The depleted iron retained the orientation of the supersaturated solid solution. tation seems to describe the nature of such reactions best. The basic effect of such a precipitation mechanism in a solid is that it is able to move or create sites that can catalyze nucleation. Such sites can be grain boundaries and dislocations. A mechanism of autocatalytic precipitation must, therefore, include some rational process by which a grain boundary may move into the supersaturated matrix or by which dislocations may be generated in front of the reaction. Discontinuous precipitation is always in competition with individual nucleation and growth of par-

Jan 1, 1963

By J. G. Thompson

OXYGEN, nitrogen and hydrogen are present in' practically all metals in one or more of the following forms: (1) molecular gas in blowholes or blisters, (2) combined in nonmetallic inclusions such as nitrides, oxides or silicates, and (3) in solid solution in the metal. Gaseous elements, in some of these forms, are encountered in practically all metals and alloys but possibly have received most publicity in connection with iron and steel. In fact, the entire steel industry depends upon the control of the oxygen content during the refining process, as well as in the finished material, and it was only after the adoption of the use of efficient deoxi-dizers such as manganese that the production of good steel with a low carbon content became possible. In normally clean, sound steel the amount of hydrogen is negligible and the amounts of oxygen and nitrogen vary from a few thousandths to a few hundredths per cent. However, many of the effects attributed(27,31,40,41,53,54,55.56,62) ? to the presence of these elements are important and at first glance appear to be out of proportion to the amounts of impurities involved. The presence of oxygen is believed to affect the solubility of carbon in austenite and ferrite and thereby to affect the structure of the iron or steel. Such properties as strength, hardness, ductility, elastic .limit, impact resistance, magnetic permeability, tendency toward caustic embrittlement, irregularity in carburization, the cutting life of, tools, certain corrosion phenomena, the presence of flakes, seams, bands, ghost lines and hair cracks, and the tendency to age-harden, all have been attributed to the presence of oxygen.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. P. Denny

The constitution of the Ga-In system was determined by thermal methods. An experimentally determined metastable equilibrium line (an extension of the indium-rich liquidus) was obtained. The various alloys were studied metallographically using polished samples obtained by a casting method. These low melting alloys required a special dry-ice assembly to maintain a suitable temperature. RECENT interest in alloys that are liquid at room temperature has led to rather extensive investigation of gallium-base alloys. Widely distributed over the earth, gallium could be produced in substantially larger quantities than at present, if a significant demand existed.' One study' has established its presence in 12 out of 14 zinc blends, in all of 15 aluminum ores, in 4 out of 12 manganese ores, in 35 out of 91 iron ores, and in all of 7 magnetite ores. It occurs as a rule in minute amounts, however, leading to high extraction costs. Recent quotations run from $2.50 to $7.50 per g. During the course of the present investigation, portions of the system Ga-In have been redeter-mined, and the results of this study are presented herein. Thermal and metallographic methods have been employed. Lecoq de Boisbaudran, the discoverer of gallium, conducted the first investigation" on Ga-In alloys in 1885. The temperatures of incipient melting, and of completion of melting, were determined at four alloy compositions. In 1936, Hansen' constructed a eutec-tic-type phase diagram for the system Ga-In, based on . work. The existence of a Ga-In compound was regarded as improbable by Hansen, and subsequent investigations are in agreement. French, Saunders, and Ingle3 conducted a more complete study of the system in 1938, using thermal methods. Their phase diagram is a eutectic type, containing a unique concave-upward liquidus. The solid-solution range of gallium in indium was reported as 9.5 pct by weight, and that of indium as less than 1 pct, at the eutectic temperature. The eutectic composition, determined as being bracketed by the compositions showing a true horizontal at the eutectic temperature (16°C), was reported as 76 5-0.5 pct Ga and 24 i 0.5 pct In. Experimental Procedure The preparation of Ga-In alloys is simplified by the low melting points involved. Various compositions were prepared by melting in pyrex tubes, using a cover of distilled water or parafin to prevent the alloys from wetting the glass wall. In all cases, the melts were homogenized. by stirring. Where possible, both cooling and melting curves were determined. The extensive undercooling of gallium was found to prohibit a satisfactory cooling-curve analysis of gallium-rich alloys, however, and transition points on the gallium side of the eutectic could be determined only by melting curves. The inverse rate method of thermal analysis proved to be most satisfactory and was used to a great extent. Various heating and cooling rates were used, ranging from 0.2" to 5.0°C per min. Low temperature melting analyses were conducted within a constant temperature bath, maintained at about 70 °C. The alloys were solidified (under water or paraffin) within a pyrex tube, using dry ice; the tube was then sealed within a cold Dewar flask, the unit transferred into the constant temperature bath, and periodic temperature readings taken. The high temperature melting-curve determinations and all cooling-curve determinations were made in a vertical tube furnace. At near-eutectic compositions, the furnace was placed within a refrigerated room held at —20°C. Accordingly, the furnace on cooling approached —20°C asymptotically and permitted the determination of those phase transitions occurring below room temperatures. Temperatures were measured with a 30-gage iron-constantan thermocouple, immersed directly in the alloy. To prevent contamination of the melt, the leads and junction were coated with Lucite, applied by painting with a solution of Lucite in ethylene dichloride. Electromotive force measurements were made with a Leeds and Northrup precision potentiometer, type 8662. The couples were calibrated against the boiling point. of water and, at lower temperatures, against a calorimeter thermometer having a Bureau of Standards certificate. The melting points of gallium and indium used in the present investigation were determined as 29.-77° and 156.1°C, in good agreement with previously reported values of 29.78°C° and 156.4"C.' The spec-

Jan 1, 1953

By L. D. Woodworth, E. E. McGinley

During the past several years has occurred what, in the light of future events, may aptly be called the rebirth of the acid Bessemer process. The increased attention given to the technical and metallurgical details involved in the production of Bessemer steels has been exceedingly fruitful, and indicates the value of further research and p1ant development. In times like these, when the steelmaking capacity of the country is operating at a maximum rate to supply materials for the national defense program, it behooves the Bessemer operator not only to strive to increase production but also to maintain a high standard of quality. The opportunity is ripe, it seems, to recapture fields of application once considered the birthright of Bessemer steels, but supplanted in recent years by open-hearth grades. This involves cooperation all along the line, from the blast-furnace operator to the metallurgical contact man and salesman. The metallurgist's part in this program involves the study of the many steelmaking variables and the measures necessary to ensure constancy in the finished product. It is equally important that the knowledge gained be disseminated widely to ensure the wise application of Bessemer steels in new fields. The merits of Bessemer steels for certain work are well understood. The combined properties of good weldability, machinabil-ity and stiffness are unique and fully explain the strong entrenchment of Bessemer steels in certain fields; e.g., skelp for small butt-weld conduit, screw steels machined in automatics, and certain tin-plate applications. It is the purpose of this paper to review briefly the physical properties of Bessemer steels as contrasted with those of open-hearth steels, to discuss control measures now employed in the making of Bessemer steel, and to consider the advantages derived from the use of these control measures. Physical Properties oF Bessemer vs. Open-hearth Steels A number of Bessemer blows and open-hearth heats were tested for tensile strength, ductility and impact strength. The steels selected were confined to sections from 3/4 to 1 1/4-in. diameter, inclusive, and the carbon content covered was sufficient to yield parallel ranges in ultimate strength for the comparison. Other factors, such as the extent of deoxidation of the steel and variations in chemistry, were kept as comparable as possible. Machined test pieces of 0.505-in. diameter with an 8-in. gauge length were pulled. The data obtained are shown in Fig. I, ultimate strength being plotted against carbon content. This graph shows that for equivalent carbon content Bessemer steel has on the average 15,000 lb. per sq. in. greater tensile strength and, conversely, for the same tensile strength Bessemer steel requires on the average 0.14 per cent less carbon. The average phosphorus content for the Bessemer steel was 0.090 per cent,

Jan 1, 1941

By E. E. McGinley, L. D. Woodworth

During the past several years has occurred what, in the light of future events, may aptly be called the rebirth of the acid Bessemer process. The increased attention given to the technical and metallurgical details involved in the production of Bessemer steels has been exceedingly fruitful, and indicates the value of further research and p1ant development. In times like these, when the steelmaking capacity of the country is operating at a maximum rate to supply materials for the national defense program, it behooves the Bessemer operator not only to strive to increase production but also to maintain a high standard of quality. The opportunity is ripe, it seems, to recapture fields of application once considered the birthright of Bessemer steels, but supplanted in recent years by open-hearth grades. This involves cooperation all along the line, from the blast-furnace operator to the metallurgical contact man and salesman. The metallurgist's part in this program involves the study of the many steelmaking variables and the measures necessary to ensure constancy in the finished product. It is equally important that the knowledge gained be disseminated widely to ensure the wise application of Bessemer steels in new fields. The merits of Bessemer steels for certain work are well understood. The combined properties of good weldability, machinabil-ity and stiffness are unique and fully explain the strong entrenchment of Bessemer steels in certain fields; e.g., skelp for small butt-weld conduit, screw steels machined in automatics, and certain tin-plate applications. It is the purpose of this paper to review briefly the physical properties of Bessemer steels as contrasted with those of open-hearth steels, to discuss control measures now employed in the making of Bessemer steel, and to consider the advantages derived from the use of these control measures. Physical Properties oF Bessemer vs. Open-hearth Steels A number of Bessemer blows and open-hearth heats were tested for tensile strength, ductility and impact strength. The steels selected were confined to sections from 3/4 to 1 1/4-in. diameter, inclusive, and the carbon content covered was sufficient to yield parallel ranges in ultimate strength for the comparison. Other factors, such as the extent of deoxidation of the steel and variations in chemistry, were kept as comparable as possible. Machined test pieces of 0.505-in. diameter with an 8-in. gauge length were pulled. The data obtained are shown in Fig. I, ultimate strength being plotted against carbon content. This graph shows that for equivalent carbon content Bessemer steel has on the average 15,000 lb. per sq. in. greater tensile strength and, conversely, for the same tensile strength Bessemer steel requires on the average 0.14 per cent less carbon. The average phosphorus content for the Bessemer steel was 0.090 per cent,

Jan 1, 1941

By E. C. Wright

THE bessemer process is nearly one hundred years old. William Kelly, the American inventor, was able to demonstrate that he had accomplished the pneumatic purification of molten pig iron as early as 1847; Henry Bessemer's English patent was granted in 1855. The application of this steelmaking process since then and the present position of bessemer steel are concisely discussed on pages 355 and 356 of the fifth. edition of "The . Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel." The great expansion of the automotive, machine-tool, chemical and oil industries after 1910 opened up a large market for special steels, whereas the output of steel before that time was mainly for structural purposes. The need for building more blast-furnace capacity complementary to bessemer operations, combined with the availability of the necessary amounts of steel scrap, both contributed to the extension of open-hearth plants at the expense of bessemer capacity. The ability of the open-hearth furnaces to consume virtually all types of raw materials as far as phosphorus content is concerned, and the need for selecting low-phosphorus ores of rapidly decreasing sources for the bessemer, also played a part in the reduction of bessemer steelmaking operations and the increase in basic open-hearth plants. As a consequence, the proportion of bessemer steel made in this country decreased from 65.7 per cent of the total in 1900 to 37.1 per cent in 1910, and only 6.8 per cent of the total in 1937. The metallurgical concepts existent between 1910 and 1920 caused the writing of many specifications of very low phosphorus and sulphur content, which definitely barred bessemer steel from many commodities. Now sulphur is being added to many open-hearth and bessemer steels in amounts far exceeding the maximum sulphur content of good bessemer steel. Rephosphorizing is also widely practiced for several specific applications. Even today, the chemical-analysis limits of many important steel specifications have an arbitrary and archaic tinge. The old standard "0.30 .to 0.60 per cent manganese" might be mentioned in this connection as similar to the rigid requirements for maximum sulphur and phosphorus that were established at least 25 years ago. The literature is full of vague and complex discussions of the effects of nitrogen and oxygen where these elements existed in steel in amounts less than 0.02 per cent. Many failures have been attributed to these elements without reasonable proof on which to base the conclusion. Methods of determining oxygen in steel require such complicated equipment that only a few research laboratories have the required apparatus. Even so, the accuracy of oxygen determinations in steel has been only recently reproducible. Up to the present time, no one has succeeded in obtaining a sample of molten steel that accurately indicates the full. oxygen content of the metal in the furnace or ladle because the molten sample

Jan 1, 1944