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By AIME AIME

In the uniform of his country for the second time, Harry Phillip Stolz. Chairman of the A.I.M.E. Petroleum Division, holds a commission as Lieutenant-Commander in the Naval Reserve and is attached to the office of Inspector of Naval Petroleum Reserves in California. During World War I he left his studies at Stanford University to join the Army and was granted a commission as Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He remained in the Army Reserve until 1938 when he resigned to accept a commission as a member of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Advisory Board. Born in San Francisco Jan. 29,1899, where his father had lived since 1880, he was in that city during the turbulent year of 1906 where the city was ravaged by fire and earthquake.

Jan 1, 1942

By William M. Agar

Now that both the national and state legislatures are seeking ways of reducing expenses, the appropriations for geological investigation and for the study of mineral resources have been greatly reduced and in some cases entirely stopped. Is this policy justified? The sums saved by these reductions are always small. If the work accomplished by these surveys has no intrinsic value to the community, but is only an interesting way of spending some of the people's money when that money is plentiful, there should be no surveys at any time. If, on the other hand, they perform a necessary function, it is indeed foolish and short-sighted to save these paltry sums to the detriment of the community. It is not my purpose to undertake a general justification of geological surveys. Rather, 1 wish to call attention to the work of one state survey that has been discontinued, and to indicate ways in which the work was valuable to the people, even though that state's mineral resources are not very important, and why it should be continued. Though at one time in Connecticut's history iron mining and smelting were important, and copper was mined in appreciable quantities in two localities, it is many years since it could be regarded as a mining state. At present Connecticut stands far down among the states in the value of its mineral products. Granite for architectural and structural purposes, trap rock, clay, agricultural lime, feldspar and quartz, together with a few other nonmetallic minerals, are produced in appreciable quantities, but the natural resources of the state consist at present much more largely in its attractive scenery, woods, lakes, shore line, and in the opportunities that these offer for rest and recreation. Is the prosecution of geological work in such a state a waste of the taxpayer's money? Or can it be that though it was formerly valuable, the work is now completed? The only way to answer these questions is to review the geological work done in the past and to consider the type of information the people want, as reflected in the requests that have been received by the director of the survey in the last few years. There have been two periods during which Connecticut has supported geological work within its borders. The first began in 1835 when Percival

Jan 1, 1935

By K. E. N. Hanney

INTRODUCTION Slurry systems and mechanical conveying, represent the main methods of transporting solids from one area of a mineral processing plant to another. A well-designed slurry handling system can assist in lowering plant capital costs by reducing building size, simplifying plant layout and reducing operating costs by lowering maintenance and labour costs. This Paper has been prepared with the object of providing a practical approach to designing slurry systems. SLURRY CHARACTERISTICS Slurry is a mixture of crushed or ground rock mixed with water or a chemical solution, and can flow under several different conditions: (a) As a homogeneous suspension; (b) As a heterogeneous suspension; (c) With a moving bed (saltation); (d) With a stationary bed. Homogeneous flow takes place when the solids are uniformly distributed throughout a pipe and when particle sizes are smaller than 325 mesh. Heterogeneous is the most common slurry suspension. In this system, there is a gradual increase in concentration of solid particles towards the bottom of a pipe. There is a fairly wide range of velocities that fall within this system. In moving bed systems, the coarse particles settle out and bounce along the bottom of a pipe. Operating under these conditions tends to minimize wear and power requirements, but because this system operates within narrow velocity limits, pipelines frequently plug. Stationary bed conditions exist when coarse material has settled in the bottom of the pipe restricting the available area. These conditions should be avoided. DESIGNING A SLURRY SYSTEM Slurry can be transported either by pumping through a pipeline or by developing a gravity head and flowing through a pipe or along a launder. When considering any slurry system, whether for the design of a new plant or to make modifications to an existing operating plant, design criteria are required. The design criteria provide the information for calculating the material balance and sizing the equipment. The quantities on the material balance can then be assigned to the flowsheet for reference. The equipment can then be laid

Jan 1, 1982

By P. LaRochelle, K. Y. Lo, A. L. Tamuly Phukan

In many civil or mining engineering works, the stresses and deformations of natural or excavated slopes due to the combined effect of self-weight and initial stresses are of interest. Because of the mathematical complexities of this problem, however, no complete exact solution exists for the simplest case, that of assuming the stress-strain relation of the rock to be perfectly elastic. Efforts have therefore been directed toward numerical and experimental technique. The stresses within an elastic slope have been obtained by LaRochelle,1 using the photoelastic and finite difference method to determine the difference and sum of principal stresses. Subsequently, Finn,2 Hoyaux and Ladanyi,3 and Duncan and Dunlop4 attempted to solve the same problem by using the finite element method. The problem was also investigated by Brown and Goodman5 and Brown and King6 who emphasize the importance of the effect of loading or unloading procedure on the stress distribution within the slope. Although the geometry of the slope and the boundary conditions involved are identical or similar, the results obtained by these various authors by no means agree. It is therefore necessary to review briefly the results of elastic analysis in order to lend credence to the methods used in the solution. Although the stress-strain behavior of some rocks may be reasonably approximated by the elastic modrl, other rocks generally exhibit an elasto-plastic behavior with strain hardening or strain softening as shown in Fig. 1. Experiments show that for most rocks, the stress-strain relationship is approximately linear from the origin to the point P (neglecting the small concave region under low stresses). At P, the curve deviates

Jan 1, 1970

By W. N. Page

Among engineers engaged in mining coal for river transportation, probably no other subject of equal importance has received so little attention as the methods of transferring into barges and other craft. The liability of all our streams to sodden freshets and their attendant drift and ice-gorges, seems to have had little effect upon the design and construction of what are commonly known as rivertipples, beyond the building of breakwaters, and other similar devices, to guard expensive structures from damage. The first method adopted for such transfer was a simple incline, with a movable cradle, which could be raised or lowered to suit the different stages of water. This system, though limited to a small capacity, and to cars not larger than those commonly used underground, possessed two advantages. The first cost was comparatively small; and, since the structure did not obstruct the channel, there was little risk from freshets, the utmost damage from which could be repaired at small expense. Its disadvantages, however, were many, the principal among them being the breakage of the coal by reason of the necessarily high dump; the damage to barges from the same cause; and the difficulties of screening and distributing the different sizes into separate barges. That system has been almost wholly abandoned of late, in favor of the basket-arrangement, lowering vertically into the barge, with the aid of counter-weights, which return the empty basket; while pipes or chutes convey the small coals into other barges, from a complete set of screens, which this method will readily accommodate. As far as my observations have gone, the latter system is now universally employed along all the tributaries of the Ohio. It

Jan 1, 1889

By Frederick T. Fischer

INTRODUCTION Post-Lower Ordovician karstification on a continental scale produced a wide-spread paleoaquifer in the upper portion of the Knox Group of the Southeastern United States. The presence of economic zinc deposits in the Knox of Tennessee is considered to be a con- sequence of this paleoaquifer(1). During The New Jersey Zinc Company's initial exploration of the middle Tennessee region the known artesian nature of modern Knox water and its potentially adverse effect upon mining activities was a matter of concern. This concern intensified as a mining situation appeared imminent and a program of hydrologic investigation was begun in early 1969 and continued through August 1972. The preliminary findings of this work were reported at the AIME World Symposium on Mining and Metallurgy of Lead & Zinc in 1970(2). This paper presents additional data acquired during subsequent stages of the program and relates the hydrologic relationships to the overall geologic framework of the area. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY The Elmwood mine is 85km east of Nashville and 8km southeast of Carthage in Smith County, Tennessee (Figure 1). Its physiographic location is in the Central Basin of Tennessee, a basin resulting from erosional breaching across the Nashville Dome of the Mississippian strata which now form the bordering Highland Rims. Both the Central Basin and Highland Rims are divisions of the Interior Low- lands Province. Outcropping rock units of the Central Basin are predominantly Middle Ordovician limestones with scattered high hilltops capped by Devonian and Mississippian strata. One outlier

Jan 1, 1977

By William M. Agar

Now that both the national and state legislatures are seeking ways of reducing expenses, the appropriations for geological investigation and for the study of mineral resources have been greatly reduced and in some cases entirely stopped. Is this policy justified? The sums saved by these reductions are always small. If the work accomplished by these surveys has no intrinsic value to the community, but is only an interesting way of spending some of the people's money when that money is plentiful, there should be no surveys at any time. If, on the other hand, they perform a necessary function, it is indeed foolish and short-sighted to save these paltry sums to the detriment of the community. It is not my purpose to undertake a general justification of geological surveys. Rather, 1 wish to call attention to the work of one state survey that has been discontinued, and to indicate ways in which the work was valuable to the people, even though that state's mineral resources are not very important, and why it should be continued. Though at one time in Connecticut's history iron mining and smelting were important, and copper was mined in appreciable quantities in two localities, it is many years since it could be regarded as a mining state. At present Connecticut stands far down among the states in the value of its mineral products. Granite for architectural and structural purposes, trap rock, clay, agricultural lime, feldspar and quartz, together with a few other nonmetallic minerals, are produced in appreciable quantities, but the natural resources of the state consist at present much more largely in its attractive scenery, woods, lakes, shore line, and in the opportunities that these offer for rest and recreation. Is the prosecution of geological work in such a state a waste of the taxpayer's money? Or can it be that though it was formerly valuable, the work is now completed? The only way to answer these questions is to review the geological work done in the past and to consider the type of information the people want, as reflected in the requests that have been received by the director of the survey in the last few years. There have been two periods during which Connecticut has supported geological work within its borders. The first began in 1835 when Percival

Jan 1, 1935

William B. Phillips, Birmingham, Ala.: The questions raised by Messrs. Wilkens and Nitze are in the highest degree interesting to owners of low-grade iron-ores, aizd no less so to blast-furnace managers. If it can be shown that ores heretofore considered worthless can be brought within the limit of economic use, many large and readily accessible deposits may come into market on the one hand, while on the other the possible increase in the output of the furnace per ton of ore used will prove of advantage to the iron-maker. It cannot, of course, be claimed that this process has been employed on a working-scale with respect to iron-ores, and in so far as concerns results on a large scale no one is any wiser than his fellow. Granting that the results obtained in an experimental way (and certainly the experiments were conducted with a great deal of care) can be attained in practice, we would still be facing the question, what it would cost to get them. In the absence of any specific data, we have to fall back on general principles, helped along, as far as possible, by indications afforded by the experiments. I must confess that as regards the Clinton ores, which I have studied to some extent, I am not sanguine of making a ton of 53 to 54 per cent. concentrates from less than 1.75 tons of 40 per cent. raw ore. It may be possible to get the iron in the heads to 56 to 57 per cent., but the lesser richness of the middlings will probably reduce this to 53 to 54 per cent. in the salable stuff. As the authors remark, it is not worth while to discuss the concentration of the better grades of " soft" Clinton ore; for the price at which they are now delivered at the furnaces, and the comparatively limited amount now remaining, render their concentration unadvisable. If it is to succeed in the Birmingham district, the process must be applied to the low-grade soft and hard ores now con-

Jan 1, 1897

By W. O. Milligan, J. L. McAtee

THE constitution and structure of the hydrous forms of aluminum oxides and hydroxides have been studied in the laboratory of the Depart¬ment of Chemistry at Rice Institute for almost three decades. Progress reports have been made from time to time 13,17,18 summarizing and evaluating the existing state of knowledge concerning the complex inorganic system A12Oa-H2O. X-ray and electron diffraction analysis, together with dehydra¬tion isobars and isotherms, have been the most useful methods for increasing the understanding of the structure and interrelationships of the various forms of alumina and aluminum hydroxides. The purpose of this paper is to bring up to date the information now available, in the hope that a clearer understanding of the structures of these materials may prove useful in aiding mineralogists and geologists in studies of the genetic significance of the aluminum hydroxide minerals, and possibly of the closely related clay minerals. Early investigators found the system alumina-water to be confusing, since, prior to X-ray diffraction examination, it was not possible to clearly identify and characterize the various crystalline forms. One could not be certain as to whether or not different investigators were working with the same chemical individuals. In later studies, including some from the authors' laboratory, addi¬tional confusion resulted from difficulty in preparing pure samples of the various aluminum hydroxides and in obtaining relatively large crystals of dimensions above the colloidal range of particle size. Even at present, it is difficult to establish sets of interplanar spacings for the several forms of the aluminum hydroxides, as illustrated by the 29 different X-ray diffraction pat¬terns listed in a current publication. The nomenclature of the aluminum hydroxides is also extremely confus¬ing, inasmuch as two different systems are employed by large groups of in¬vestigators. Plans are being made to formulate a uniform system of nomen¬clature but in this report the designations employed will agree with previous papers from the same source.13,17,18 Four forms of crystalline aluminum hydroxides may be considered to be well defined and recognized, which, together with hydrous alumina "amor¬phous to X-rays," comprise an exceedingly complex inorganic system. Several

Jan 1, 1952

By H. B. Huntington

Some of the basic problems in understanding elec-tromigration in metals are discussed, along with the attempts that are being made to handle them. One such problem is the effect of the electrostatic forces. It is now acknowledged that the momentum exchange with charge carriers plays generally a dominant role in the driving force but the question remains to what extent the electrostatic force may still be effective. The electromigration of interstitial impurities is also an area which presents some intriguing questions. For the substitutional impurity, moving by the vacancy mechanism under the influence of an electric field, the correlation considerations are somewhat more complex than have been previously recognized. Another problem of basic importance in the calculution from first principles is the strength of the "electron friction" force, say for a simple one-band metal. A related problem growing out of the preceding is the prediction of the direction of the "electron wind" force for metals with band structure involving both holes and electrons. THE term electromigration has come to be used to describe the flow of matter in condensed phases carrying high electronic currents such as metals and alloys, whereas one usually reserves the term electrolysis for situations where the current is largely ionic, particularly in the liquid state such as molten salts. It follows that the mass transport number in electromigration is always very small, of the order of 10-7. Studies of electromigration date back some 30 years but the modern period would appear to date from the work of Seith and Wever1 who in the mid 1950's first incorporated markers to display mass motion relative to the lattice and first suggested that the direction of the mass flow was primarily determined by the sign of the charge carriers. Since that time interest in the field has grown steadily and more rapidly recently as certain technological applications became apparent. Chief of these is certainly the deleterious effects that electromigration can cause, even at relatively low temperature, to current-carrying elements in integrated circuitry.2 These phenomena have been the subject of intense study and considerable ingenuity. On the constructive side electromigration has proved a useful tool in the purification of certain metals.3 The interest of this paper is, however, centered more on the basic aspects of the subject than on its technological applications. That high electric currents should give rise to mass flow in metals and that the driving force should be more directly associated with momentum exchange with the charge carriers than with the electrostatic field are ideas that no longer cause surprise or particular interest. The field has matured to the point where the general concepts are widely accepted and continued progress in basic understanding rests on more detailed and quantitative exploration. It is the purpose of this paper to point out what are some of the current problems. As a result, we expect to raise more questions than we answer. The first of these will be the role of electrostatic forces, if any, in electromigration. A second section will deal with the electromigration of interstitials. A third and final section treats with electromigration of substitutional impurities or of the matrix atoms themselves. ELECTROSTATIC DRIVING FORCE In the conceptual treatments of electromigration it has been customary to write the driving force in terms of an effective charge number Z* and to divide it into two terms F = e£Z* = e£[Zel- z(pd/Nd)(N/p)(m*\m*\)] [1] The first of these represents the electrostatic force under immediate consideration in this section and the second and usually dominating term for metals arises from momentum exchange with charge carriers, commonly called the "electron drag" term. As can be seen it is set proportional to the electrons per atom, z, and the ratio of the specific resistivity of the moving entity to the corresponding resistivity per matrix atom. The (m*/Im*I) factor takes into account the fact that the sign of the charge carrier determines the sign of the driving force. The specific resistivity of the moving entity is averaged over its path. In the case of motion of the matrix atoms by vacancies this gives rise to approximately one-half the resistivity at the saddle point since the scattering power of the atom at its equilibrium position bordering the vacancy differs only slightly from that of a normal matrix atom. Although the formulation of the "electron drag" term in Eq. [I] is based on a highly simplified model for electron defect scattering, the essential features implicit in the expression are common to all the theoretical approaches that have so far appeared in the literature.4-6 As for Zel, most treatments of electromigration have included the quantity as the parameter which measures the direct interaction of the electrostatic field with the ion and equated it to the nominal valence of the latter. However, there has been considerable discussion whether this interaction may not be 0 in many cases.6 If the moving ion is always enveloped by the same distribution of shielding charge, then clearly its motion will not involve any work done by the electric field and one can expect there will be no electrostatic force exerted on such a neutral composite. From this point of view the shielding charge around the ion would be said to be complete and hence the entity within the Debye shielding sphere would be unaffected by the electrostatic field per se. There is, however, the prospect that, as the moving ion progresses, new charge comes in to participate in the shielding action

Jan 1, 1970

By Herbert E. Field

The study of the condition and action of carbon in iron and steel is singularly complicated, because one has to consider, also, many contemporaileous reactions foreign to the one under investigation. Great difficulty is experienced in studying iron in the melted state, or during its various treatments in a solid condition, hence such an inquiry must be confined chiefly to a study of the original substance, of the conditions surrounding its treatment, and of the finished product. From a knowledge of these three things, we must form our own conclusions as to what takes place during the transition-period. Inasmuch as it is impossible to determine quantitatively the changes which take place in iron during the various processes of treatment and alteration, we are forced at once into the field of theory for an explanation of many of the phenomena for which we have to account. A recapitulation of the recognized properties of iron and carbon, and of the conditions in which they exist in iron and steel, may be useful as an introduction to the discussion of the subject. Chemically pure iron is soft, malleable and easily welded. It carmot be hardened or tempered, as these terms are understood in relat.ion to steel. In contact with a magnet, it becomes magnetic, but loses this property when the magnet is removed. It is unfitted for castings on account of its lack of fluidity. Those properties of iron which render it valuable as a commercial product must, therefore, be primarily due to foreign substances contained in the iron; and the great variety of these properties is attained by changes in the amount and nature of these impurities, and by the physical treatment of the iron while it contains them. The following properties of carbon make it a prominent factor

Jan 1, 1904

By F. Julius Fohs

TAKING into consideration the present state of geologic knowledge and present economic status of the oil industry, we have attempted to outline the six principal districts in which oil occurs and new pools may be expected. The map, Fig. 1, also shows the location of the present productive pools-about 100 in number. The unshaded areas represent territory where drilling depths to known sands are prohibitive with present development and pumping methods, or such sands are absent or give promise of such small production that deep wildcat tests are unwarranted. They include, also, territory where the oil-source materials are absent or not of the right type; and where shales are insufficient in the stratigraphic section to prevent the escape of oil and gas. Some doubtful districts are also included, such as the Pecos Valley, where the percentage of rigid beds, sandstones and limestones may be too great; and the Nacogdoches oil field, where small shallow production is obtained but where deep or large production is unlikely. The map is not offered as final but in the hope that it may prevent the expenditure of large sums in attempted development of unlikely territory and as the warning that those who drill in the unshaded territory do so at great risk. Those who drill in such territory should have large sums available for pioneering and experimenting and only attempt it if they can well afford to lose the money expended. Search in the shaded or cross-hatched areas is hazardous enough and should only be undertaken after detailed geologic surveys. Out of a total area of 256,000 sq. mi., the oil and gas districts comprise about 80,000 sq. mi.; the territory embraced in these districts is shown in the shaded portions. This may ultimately be increased somewhat by the addition of some minor districts, but such additions will be offset by territory probably now included in the unshaded areas. The shaded areas probably contain 98 per cent. or more of the ultimate production of the state, despite the fact that they represent only 31 per cent. of the total area.

Jan 3, 1924

By Darwin Soler

This chapter will outline the operating procedures at Freeport Kaolin Co.5 kaolin mining operations in Georgia, with emphasis on explaining new techniques recently introduced to reclaim mined-out areas for reforestation. Kaolin is found in the central Georgia area (See Fig. 1) in lenticular, sedimentary deposits of high purity. The beds are Cretaceous in age and vary from 4 to 60 ft in thickness, under a cover of sedimentary overburden ranging from 5 to 150 ft. The kaolin beds contain the mineral kaolinite (a hydrous aluminum silicate) and have a particle-size distribution ranging from about 20µ to the submicron level and averaging about 60% below 2µ. The only contaminants in the deposits are coarse mica, quartz particles, and minor amounts of iron and titanium oxides. These kaolin deposits vary widely in quality from deposit to deposit and also vary within individual deposits. Some of the controlling quality specifications which are determined during exploration are viscosity in water suspension, optical brightness index as measured by reflectance, amenability to bleaching, and particle-size distribution. For this reason, only a small portion of the total kaolin reserves in the Georgia belt are suitable for wet processing for the present markets being served. Kaolin clays are selectively mined by different mechanical methods and are beneficiated by both wet and dry processing to produce a number of products used as fillers and coatings in the paper industry; fillers or additives in the paint, plastic, and rubber industries; and as basic raw materials for the ceramic industry. The State of Georgia is the largest kaolin producer in the United States, with 3,206,454 tons produced in 1966, according to U.S. Bureau of Mines statistics. Freeport Kaolin Co’s processing plant is located in Gordon, Ga., about 20 miles east of Macon, Ga.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. R. Thoenen

If asked whether limestone production was a mining problem I would not hesitate to answer emphatically in the affirmative. The question, "When is a quarry a mine?" is familiar. The immediate mental picture induced by the thought of limestone production is that of an open quarry. All are familiar with the open pit in the iron-producing districts of Minnesota and Michigan and the open cuts of the so-called "porphyry" coppers of the West. If these are mines, they differ little from limestone quarries in general mode of operation; if quarries, why do they need the attention of mining engineers? During 1923, the United States produced in round numbers 70,000,000 tons of iron ore. The limestone production of the United States for the same period was something over 100,000,000 tons. In tons, it about equals the oil production of the United States. The uses of limestone are legion. A paper read by a prominent engineer of Chicago, at the meeting of the National Crushed Stone Association held last February in St. Louis says: "There is no industry in the United States today that is more basic in its operation or by itself controls more industries. There is hardly a chemical operation, hardly a metallurgical operation or building operation that a crushed-stone man does not control if he will jump in and make the full utilization of it." Some of the many uses are for road metal, concrete, railway ballast, building stone: riprap, and rubble, the manufacture of iron and steel, alkalies, calcium carbide, magnesia, carbolic and carbonic acids, asphalt filler, mineral wool, poultry grit, sulfuric acid, phosphates, nitrates, soap, baking powder, the purification of copper and prevention of coal-mine explosions, to say nothing of the quantities used in the making of lime and cement. It has been said that without iron we would revert to the Stone Age; how much iron would we have without limestone? From the point of view of the mining engineer, using the term in its broad sense to include geologists and metallurgists, the production of limestone is important because of its occurrence, volume, commercial importance, and the problems presented by its recovery and treatment.

Jan 1, 1925

By M. E. Wadsworth, K. J. Richards

The oxidation rates of tantalum in various partial pressures of carbon dioxide in the temperature range 700°to 950°C were measured with a thermo-gravimetric balance. Oxidation involved a surface -controlled reaction associated with the formation of a nonprotective layer of Ta2O5. Below about 720°C, there was a change in the rate-determining mechanism, and above 830°C the linear rate was preceded by a complex region of nonlinear oxidation behavior. The linear oxidation of tantalum has been explained quantitatively in terms of carbon dioxide adsorption, followed by a rate-controlling surface reaction. The initial adsorption has been expressed both as an equilibrium process and as a steady-state reaction. The enthalpy for chemisorption of CO, was determined to be -17.3 kcal per mole. The surface-controlled reaction had an activation enthalpy of 40.4 kcal per mole. A considerable amount of interest has been shown in recent years in the oxidation of tantalum and the nature of the oxide film produced. This interest is associated with the increasing demand in our technology for structural materials to withstand high temperatures and corrosive atmospheres. The low oxidation resistance of tantalum has severely restricted its application as a high-strength, high-temperature material. As a fundamental approach to the realization of the full poten- tials of this metal, the kinetics of the oxidation of tantalum in oxygen and air have been extensively studied; however, very little work has been reported on the effect of other gases, including carbon dioxide. According to Miller,' the only reported study of the reaction between tantalum and dry carbon dioxide is a restricted observation by O'Driscoll et al.2 at 8 atm absolute pressure and 500°C. Therefore, this study was made to investigate the reaction of tantalum with carbon dioxide. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS AND METHODS The vacuum-annealed tantalum used in this study was obtained from Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. as 0.025-mm-thick sheet stock. This material had less than 0.1 pct total impurities, and the maximum individual impurity concentrations were

Jan 1, 1964

By Clarence Fenner

THE manufacture of optical glass is a process that demands careful regulation and control at all stages in order that satisfactory results may be obtained. The product, to serve its purpose, must meet stringent requirements, which can be assured only by careful procedure in manufacture. During the greater part of the time that a pot of glass is in the furnace, temperatures should be kept within certain rather narrow limits; a departure on either side is likely to be detrimental to the glass and may result in total loss. If the temperature during melting and fining be low, the melt is likely not to fine properly and the glass will contain quantities of bubbles, or "seed," or it may become milky and unfit for use; too high a temperature, on the other hand, is severe on the pot and may cause it to leak or cast stones, or the increased solution of pot material in the melt may acid to the color of the glass and decrease its transmission. Moreover, variations in the working temperature will mean variations in the amount of selective volatilization and, consequently, variations in optical properties from pot to pot. Furthermore, in the closing stages of furnace treatment, the melt is cooled until a certain degree of stiffness is attained, when the pot is withdrawn. The quality of the glass-its freedom from striae and bubbles-will depend in large measure on whether the temperature to which cooling has been carried is suitable. For each type of glass there is a narrowly restricted range of temperature to which each pot of the given type should be cooled before withdrawal. A quick and reliable method of measuring temperatures is, therefore, of the first importance. In the optical-glass work conducted by the staff of the Geophysical Laboratory during the period of the war, much attention was given to the clatter of determining what methods would meet the requirements. This article will deal with these investigations and with the application of the results to actual practice at various plants. At the. time that the work of the Geophysical Laboratory was begun at the Bausch & Lomb plant, each melting furnace was equipped with

Jan 7, 1919

By M. Van Siclen

THE outstanding fact in connection with dust disease in the United States at present is the growing recognition of its seriousness by state officials and by the more progressive operators of mining, metallurgical and allied industrial plants. The same may perhaps be said of labor in some of its better organized centers, but the average independent non-union workman continues, .as of yore, to suffer the toll of disability and even of death from dust inhalation without realization of the source of his ill-being. Progress in the betterment of the handling of sufferers from dust disease and of the conditions creating dust hazards in mining and allied industries is pursuing a course similar to that of the now widespread campaign against accidents, in which the risk is more obvious, more severe, and was naturally recognized sooner. The coming on of dust disease is generally relatively slow and its immediate effects not infre-quently masked by or attributed to other diseases. Marked exceptions to this general rule have occurred in districts where the dust is particularly pernicious, such as the Rand and Joplin; yet such exceptions, unhappy in themselves, opened the eyes of medical men, and of those in other localities charged with the responsibility for the welfare of industry, to the much more widespread if less spectacular hazard existing from the inhalation of dust in all rock-excavating operations and all industrial operations creating inorganic dust, whether it be crushing and grinding, sand-blast-ing, granite-cutting, or what not. Advancement to date in the United States in prevention and treat-ment has been slow, yet the record shows that quantitative methods for determining the degree of hazard and means for decreasing it were being developed as far back as 25 years ago; and that more rapid progress may be looked for from now on. In 1908, in this country; F. L Hoffman?(1) discussed the mortality from consumption in dusty trades, especially brass foundries; and in 1913 E. R. Hayhurst(2) described the effects of inhalation

Jan 1, 1933

By W. G. Pfann

THE problem of forming points on wires that were from 0.002 in. to 0.010 in. in diam arose in the recent appearance of silicon and germanium point contact rectifiers as elements in microwave radar.1 In these devices a pointed tungsten wire makes a delicate contact with the surface of a semiconductor. Because the quality of such rectifiers is largely determined by the nature of this contact, considerable attention has been given to the formation of the metal point. Reproducibility of contour and freedom from burrs and even microscopic irregularities are considered essential. The operations involved must be simple and rapid enough for mass production. Previously tungsten wires had been provided with conical points by a grinding method which involved rotating a wire about its axis and causing it to bear at an oblique angle against a spinning abrasive disc. This was later complemented with an electrolytic polishing treatment which removed irregularities from the ground point and also rounded it off at the tip-a desirable feature. Finally, these operations were supplanted by the electrolytic pointing method described here. MECHANISM OF POINT FORMATION The wires to be pointed are partially immersed- in an electrolyte in a .vertical position whereupon they are provided with smooth rounded points entirely by electrochemical action. The process is independent of the depths to which the wires penetrate the electrolyte because the points are formed at the surface level. It may be used to point a single wire or many of them simultaneously and is applicable to wires of different diameters within a limited range. Solution of the immersed portion of a tungsten wire is accomplished by making it the positive electrode in an electrolytic cell, as shown in Fig I. While the wire is maintained at constant voltage the current through the cell falls continuously, principally because of the decrease in wetted area which results from solution of the tungsten. This increase in resistance occurs in a reproducible manner and is used as a control in the process. As the immersed portion of the wire dissolves, it remains cylindrical in shape except for the short section which is wetted by the meniscus. Here the rate of solution is lower and decreases as the top of the meniscus is approached. The result is the formation of a tapered section inside the meniscus. As solution continues, the cylindrical section either dissolves entirely or drops off just before complete solution, leaving only the taper which is now sharply pointed. Further action causes this point to become rounded and then quite blunt, until finally the end of the wire is almost plane. Fig 2 shows the stages in this development. Contour PF is most representative of those used in point contact rectifiers. Thus a variety of point

Jan 1, 1947

By R. B. Snow

Inclusions revealed by the ultrasonic inspection of forgings, slabs, and blooms cause costly diversion or rejection of the product. Most of those inclusions are so large that they should have floated out of the liquid steel soon after teeming and been removed when the top discard was taken from the ingot. To investigate the source of the relatively large inclusions found in the body portions of ingots, a large forging ingot was examined from top to bottom along the centerline, and special studies were made of open-hearth and BOP ingots. A study of the inclusion distribution in the as-cast 134-inch-diameter forging ingot revealed only a few inclusions larger than 15 microns in the body of the ingot. Larger inclusions may be formed by entrapment of rising inclusions in large falling dendrites rather than by the precipitation and agglomeration of oxides from the liquid steel-dendrite interface during solidification. The original top crust of the ingot investigated broke away from the hot top and sank to the bottom during the solidification process, as indicated by entrapped inclusions found in a band 12-1/2 inches above the stool. A change in the hot-top insulation practice on subsequent ingots to insure the integrity of the top crust has produced clean ingots. A ZrO2 tracer was added to the hot-topping compound and to the top surface of open-hearth and BOP ingots after teeming. The tracer was found in large inclusions in slabs and blooms from these ingots. Large inclusions in the body of ingots appear to be related to disturbances of the natural freezing and shrinkage processes in the hot- top region of the ingot.

Jan 1, 1972

By Edward S. Cook

For several years past, dating particularly from the days of serious "ore-dirt" complications at the Warwick furnace, I have been desirous of providing some safe, quick and easy method of relieving the tuyeres of slag, when the cinder- and iron-notches are chilled through loss of heat in the clucible or when, from dropping or jumping of stock, the molten slag is forcibly driven into the bellyand leg-pipes. Various methods were proposed, but objections of one kind or another always presented themselves, and the subject was postponed to a more convenient season. In the summer of 1887, while running on anthracite alone, 1 found the various expedients in use to be so utterly valueless, that the importance of a practicable tuyere slagging-valve impressed me more forcibly than ever. The holes left in the cast-iron jacket at one side of the bottom of the water-blocks were found to be of no value whatever. The swinging or hinged cap on the elbow of the belly-pipe, while convenient to permit the removal of lag after the belly-pipe was partially or wholly filled, could not be adapted to discharge the slag before solidifying, except at great risk to the men and loss of time just when the constant running of the engine and the keeping of blast on the furnace was of the utmost importance. By removing keys from the caps and holding them in place with props, the slag could be discharged through the tuyeres and belly-pipes, with the engine running, by knocking the props away at a given signal. This method is extremely hazardous to life and limb, and I have always hesitated to make use of it. When the furnace is in such condition as to require the adoption of some method of the kind, the stoppage of the engine, cooling the blast and the contents of the crucible, always aggravates the trouble. When the caps are blown open and the slag is discharged by removal of the props, it is necessary to stop the engine to replace them. An hour or more will elapse before this can be done, as the slag must be partly removed before the tuyeres can be approached by ordinary mortals, and the caps handled and fastened in place again. Any movement of the stock is liable to burn the workman, as he stands, securing the cap in front or at one side of the open belly-pipe.

Jan 1, 1889