Search Documents

By E. M. Furness, A. S. Henderson

ORIGINALLY the Babbitt experimental plant grinding circuit consisted of one rod mill 101/2 ft diam by 12 ft long in open circuit followed by two ball mills 101/2 ft diam* 12 ft long in parallel cir- the slow-speed ball mills. The next step was to improve rod mill operation by changing the speed of this mill. Such an attack would affect only one mill and would allow slower speed on the ball mills. The rod mill, as originally purchased, operated at 15.45 rpm. Additional pinions were purchased to test this mill at 16.45, 17.45, and 18.45 rpm. When the mill speed was increased by the use of these pinions, rod breakage with this short mill increased out of all proportion to the improved grinding, until at 18.45 rpm breakage became as high as 7 lb per

Jan 1, 1958

Scientific elite of the Minerals Beneficiation Div. assembled in Denver, Colo., September 17 to 20 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Froth Flotation in the United States of America. In his warm address of welcome at the opening luncheon, John W. Vanderwilt, President, Colorado School of Mines, recalled his experience in Bonanza which coincided with the early days of flotation. In those years the scientific and engineering aspects of the process which we know today were little understood and operating the flotation circuit was considered an "art." Luncheon Chairman H. L. McNeill caught the flavor of the old days in an anecdote which recalled the mill nightmares to many present with the agonized words, "Oh God, what's happened to the concentrate now!" It was an appropriate gesture when he called the names of some of the flotation greats for presentation to the assembly; and many an "artist" there was among them!

Jan 10, 1961

By Henry A. Wentworth

Electrostatic separation of ores in its present form is generally known as the Huff process, from the name of Charles H. Huff, of Boston, Mass., through whose constant and persistent labors (with the invention of Clinton E. Dolbear as a basis) the successful commercial process embracing separative machinery and the various electrifying devices has been developed step by step, and the finances for the long period of development provided, and the method finally established and recognized throughout the world as an important and successful addition to the ore-dressing department of metallurgy. The permanent field-success of electrostatic separation began in 1908 with a 20-ton Huff experimental mill built specially for the purpose by the American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Go., in Platterille, Wis., a plant which was a success from the start and was gradually increased in capacity as the market-conditions warranted to 100 tons of concentrates per day. Much credit is due to the above-mentioned company for its initial

Jan 1, 1913

The American Petroleum Institute, 250 Park Ave., New York, N. Y. Lacey Walker, Secretary. A complete price list of publications will be sent upon application. The American Petroleum Institute issues a variety of publications; in addition to the Daily Oil Digest ($25 per year) and a weekly Statistical Bulletin ($12.50 per year to nonmembers), a Quarterly is published ($4 per year to nonmembers). Books published by the Institute: American petroleum supply and demand, $3; A series of "Petroleum facts and figures" for each of the years 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931, $2 for each copy; Function of natural gas in the production of oil, $1; Bibliography of organic sulphur compounds, $4; and "Oil" (Oil Industry Series in one volume), 50 cents per copy. Volumes of the first six annual Meeting Proceedings are out of print, but the Proceedings for the 7th annual meeting in 1926

Jan 1, 1933

By OTTO HERRES

TO operate the bituminous coal industry in the United States in 1929 cost $770,237,000, of which $30,739,000 was paid for purchased power and $34,947,000 for new machinery and equipment. Equipment aggregated 3,124,000 hp. A mining industry that spends $65,000,000 a year for power and machinery is likely to be fairly well mechanized, and when the machinery in use takes three million horsepower to drive it, the probabilities are that mechanization has been in progress in at least some of the mines for quite a few years. Mechanization in its broadest sense implies machine cutting, power drilling, mechanical loading, electric haulage, mechanical sizing and cleaning, and lesser applications of machinery to mining operations. But the introduction and development of mechanical loading has been the feature of coal mining recently and its extraordinary progress is causing great changes within the industry. First, let us look at the records. The quantity of coal loaded mechanically in bituminous mines was:

Jan 1, 1933

By John A. Hansuld

Molybdenum presents a series of baffling geo- chemical puzzles. It can exist in six different valence states, possessing three different coordination numbers. As a result, it combines with other elements to form a wide variety of negatively and positively charged ions and complexes whose exact chemical nature are relatively unknown. Its rather complex chemistry might be described as "ambidextrous, bi-sexual and polygamous". It is little wonder then that the geochemistry of molybdenum is relatively unknown, and compared to most common metals its geochemical behavior is somewhat unique. The behavior of a particular element or metal, such as molybdenum, in a given dispersion media is largely controlled by the stability relations among its various oxidation products. Recognition of these products and an understanding of their stability relations is therefore a prerequisite to a proper understanding of its observed behavior. Because most secondary dispersion media represent aqueous chemical systems, stability relations are best expressed as functions of Eh and pH.

Jan 12, 1966

By Bernard E. Weichman

The oil shales of the Green River formation were deposited in an inland lake which contained abundant plant and animal life. A high percentage of sodium bicarbonate existed in the lower water layers. Digestion of the kerogen-rich mud accumulating on the lake floor lowered the pH of the interstitial waters and precipitated the sodium minerals dawsonite and nahcolite in the kerogen-rich mud. After about five million years of existence, uplift of land areas around the lake caused an influx of clastic sediments which filled up the lake. Continued tectionics gently folded the basin and caused fracturing of the kerogen-lean oil shale. Nahcolite existing in the fractured lean oil shale was dissolved by subsurface waters leaving a tremendous aquifer in a portion of the oil shale. The extent and porosity of the "Leached zone" aquifer is dependent upon the percent of kerogen and nahcolite originally deposited in the oil shale.

Jan 1, 1975

By AIME AIME

H OWEVER extensively water-lines may be laid in the mine for fire fighting purposes, there are still, usually, points being worked temporarily, development, stoping or other work of a temporary or incidental nature where it is considered that the expense of laying fire-lines is not warranted. While the laying of water-lines in some sections of the mine may not be warranted, in most metal mines it is necessary to lay an air-line to all working places. In the mine of the United Verde Extension Mining Co., at Jerome, Ariz., advantage has been taken of this fact by providing a means of by-passing the water at the end of the water-line into the air-line in case an emergency arises. By this means the 2-in. air-line can be quickly converted into a water-line for fighting fire which might otherwise be beyond the reach of the water-lines.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. L. Hazen

The uranium mill at Gunnison, Colorado, started crushing ore Dec. 31,1957, and has now been operating four months. The acid leached ore is washed by counter-current decantation through a system of four classifiers and four thickeners and most of the dissolved uranium reports in the overflow from the first washing thickener. This uranium is extracted from the aqueous pregnant solution by solvent extraction using di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid and tri-butyl phosphate dissolved in a high-flash-point kerosene as the extracting organic. The pregnant organic is then stripped with soda ash solution. The uranium bearing soda ash solution is filtered to remove insoluble carbonates and any sediment reaching that part of the circuit. The clarified carbonate pregnant solution is then acidified to 3 pH, heated to 180°F to drive off the last traces of CO2, and the uranium finally precipitated as yellow cake with MgO.

Jan 11, 1958

By R. W. Smith, C. Schroeder, R. Haddenham

Amphoteric surfactants are heteropolar organic compounds which possess at least two functional (ionic) oppositely charged groups per molecule. The ones studied are manufactured by General Mills and possess one or more long hydrocarbon chains plus a carboxyl group (s) and an amino or imino group. Hallimond tube and M. C. Fuerstenau micro flotation cell flotation tests were performed on quartz and hematite as a function of pH using amphoteric, cationic, and anionic surfactants as collectors. For the most part, flotation could be correlated with an interaction of charged groups on the collectors with oppositely charged sites on the minerals plus association of hydrocarbon chains. The comparison of flotation in a Hallimond tube and an M.C. Fuerstenau cell shows that one should use care in using the latter if one excludes an additional frother from the system. Also, it is interesting to note that sometimes greater collector concentrations are required in the Fuerstenau cell for comparable flotation recoveries.

Jan 1, 1974

US 4,152,143-Continuous precipitation of cement copper from an aqueous ore leach solution mixed with pieces of iron as the precipitant Copper depositing on the pieces of iron is loosened and removed therefrom by means of constant but regulated oscillating movement of the pieces of iron in a horizontal elongated chamber, and the loosened copper is separated and collected from the mixture E Kausel and R Nissen, assigned to Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz A G May 1, 1979 8 pp (75-100) Filed 1-12-78 (868,981) (Drawings below) [ ] US 4,156,711-Removal of metal impurities from an acidic zinc or cadmium solution prior to electrolysis. Impurities such as manganese, cobalt, nickel, and thallium are selectively precipitated by contacting the solution with persulfuric acid or an ammonium or alkali metal salt thereof while maintaining a pH value of from 1 5 to 4 5 This patent is a continuation-in-

Jan 1, 1980

On Friday, Jan. 17, the thirteenth impression of the Perkin Medal was presented to Dr. Frederick Gardner Cottrell, at a meeting of the New York Section of the Society of Chemical Industry, held at the Chemists' Club, in New York City. The presentation address was delivered by Dr. C. F. Chandler, Senior Past President of the Society. The medal was awarded for the recipient's work in the electrical precipitation of suspended particles in gases. Dr. Cottrell's career, which is so familiar to members of the Institute, was sketched by Dr. Chandler. He told at some length of the experiments leading up to the final solution of electrostatic precipitation, which has done so much to solve the problem of smelter smoke. The principal interest in Dr. Cottrell's speech of acceptance lay in his remarks about helium, the production of which has been so reduced in cost that it has practically supplanted the use of hydrogen for inflation purposes in war balloons. He said: "Two or three weeks after war was declared in 1917, Dr. R. B. Moore attended a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Kansas City. At the general session, Mr. Seibel of the University of Kansas, gave a paper on krypton and xenon in some of the natural gases of Kansas. At the end of his paper, he expressed regret that at such a time, when everyone was thinking of war problems, his paper was of a purely scientific nature and had no practical bearing on the war. Dr. Moore immediately got up and said that he did not agree with Mr. Seibel. The presence of helium in those wells could, and should, have a very practical bearing on the war, as this gas could be extracted in quantity from the natural gas and used for balloons and Zeppelins. He pointed out some of the natural advantages of helium over hydrogen, and quoted Sir William Ramsey's letter advocating the use of helium for airships. The general attitude of those present was one of scepticism, so he finally asked Dr. Cady for his opinion who stated that he believed-the thing could be done, but was very doubtful whether it could ever be made practical on account of the cost." Dr. Moore in a letter wrote: "That same day I talked to Dr. Parsons, who was present at the meeting and was returning to Washington almost immediately. I told him what had happened, and that I believed the matter should be taken up by the Bureau at once and presented to the War Department. He promised to do this as soon as he got to Washington; and I know that he did take the matter up with other Bureau officials." Dr. Cottrell continued in part: News of Ramsey's suggestions also reached this .country through other channels and eventually came to our attention. Professors Satterly and Patterson of the University of Toronto commenced experimentation of the subject Jan. 1, 1916. Col. G. A. Burrell, who headed the research department of the Gas Warfare Service at the American University, tells me that Cady's experiments had also suggested similar possibilities to him.

Jan 3, 1919

By W. C. Knoblaugh

ROTARY kilns are adaptable to many fuels, but this paper deals principally with the use of powdered coal. The observations and conclusions presented are based on rotary kilns used in the manufacture of basic refractories for steel furnaces. Solid fuels are pulverized for two principal reasons: (I) ease of control, and (2) rapidity of combustion. By the use of pulverized coal, the operator can increase or decrease the fuel supply by small increments and with very little time lag between the change of control and the resultant change in the flame. This is extremely important in this type of furnace, as the temperature range for maturing the clinker is very narrow. By fine grinding, it is possible to increase the rate of burning of the coal, thereby liberating great quantities of heat within a small space in a short time. Under given conditions, temperature is a measure of the heat liberated per unit of time. To attain the temperatures of 2950° to 3150°F., which are encountered in the manufacture of various steel-furnace refractories, it is estimated that it is necessary to liberate 125,000 to I75,000 B.t.u. per cubic foot of the burning zone per hour. The manufacture of dolomitic refractories is a ceramic process and, as is true in most such processes, the material must be subjected to a certain critical temperature for a certain length of time in order to complete the reaction. If the time of reaction is reduced, the temperature must be increased; in other words, if the rate at which the material flows through the hot zone of the kiln is increased, the temperature of the hot zone must be increased to compensate for this shorter exposure to the flame. FIRING WITH PULVERIZED COAL Fig. I is a line drawing of a rotary kiln with the attendant equipment indicated in their relative positions. The kiln proper consists of a sloping, refractory-lined steel tube rotating slowly about its longitudinal axis (0.75 r.p.m.), and is countercurrent in operation in that the raw feed is introduced at the stack end and gradually approaches the zone of highest temperature at the lower end, where the fuel is introduced. Before 1930, the usual method of firing a rotary kiln was to store the coal in the pulverized form and then feed from this storage to the kiln as needed. This proved unsatisfactory and dangerous because of dust explosions and the inability to obtain an even feed to the kiln caused by arching of the coal in storage and flooding of the coal feeders. In later years the practice has been to store the raw coal and grind it as it is needed. Such a layout is indicated in Fig. I. The coal is stored in bins, charged from the top and drawn from the bottom into recording scales and then into some type of unit pulverizer. There are a number of good pulverizers on the market, each incorporating features that the manufacturer considers outstanding.

Jan 1, 1946

By J. R. Linney

THE Eastern magnetite industry has not failed in its contribution to the war program during the past year. Man-power shortage was the critical problem in maintaining production and for the last half of the year, owing to lack of man power, it was necessary for some mines to change from seven to six days per week schedule. At Cornwall, Pa., the mine operated by the Bethlehem Steel Co. produced approximately 2,000,000 tons of crude ore and 1,200,000 tons of iron ore concentrates, a decrease of about 10 per-cent compared with the previous year. Railroad haulage in the open-pit at this mine was discontinued, being replaced by Mack trucks of approximately 30 tons' capacity. At the Mt. Hope mine in New Jersey, the Warren Foundry and Pipe Corp. produced about 195,000 long tons of crude ore obtaining 70.000 long tons of lump ore and 35,800 long tons of concentrates. An additional 24,500 long tons of concentrates was produced from a stock pile of 47.000 long tons of crude ore accumulated during the latter half of 1943, following the fire in their old dry mill. All of this material was handled through their Brown

Jan 1, 1945

By Henry R. Piehler

Continuous seven- and nine teen -filament close-packed silver-steel filamentary composites mere tested in tension. For purposes of comparison, the tensile behavior of the composite was predicted from the measured properties of the individual com-ponents. It was assumed that the axial strain is the same in both components and that the contribution of each component to the composite flow stress is proportional to its volume fraction. Good agreetnent was obtained between the observed and predicted tensile behavior. However, the composite elongation at fracture was about twice that observed when the individual steel wires were tested alone. Composites in which the filaments were widely spaced failed by the consecutive fracture of the filaments. In composites with closely spaced filaments, a composite instability preceded frachcre. These effects are explained in terms of a lateral restraint to the necking of the filaments which develops in the deforming composite. TWO-COMPONENT or composite materials are increasingly being developed and used as structural materials. Of all the composite geometries used, the filamentary configuration has proved to be the most successful. Polymer-bonded fiber-glas, the most common of the filamentary composites, has been investigated most extensively to date. One explanation of the behavior of fiberglas1 suggests that the load transfer between the glass fibers and the polymer matrix occurs primarily through friction. Bond separation between the fibers and the matrix is presumed to occur at very low stresses. Subsequently, only frictional bonding can provide for the transfer of load from the matrix to the fibers. The force normal to the fiber-matrix interface which gives rise to this friction is assumed to arise from the matrix shrinkage which occurs during solidification. The behavior of metallic filamentary-composite materials would be expected to differ from that of fiberglas in several significant aspects. Residual stresses resulting from differences in thermal contraction can be kept to a minimum by proper heat treatment. A strong wetted bond is formed between the two phases. In brazed joints,2 for example, the interphase bond is sufficiently strong that the weaker material will fail before separation occurs at the interface. Most metal filaments can undergo appreciable amounts of plastic deformation before failure. Failure by plastic instability or necking frequently occurs in metallic filaments, but not in glass fibers tested at room temperature. Differences between the behavior of fiberglas-polymer and metallic filamentary composites have indeed been observed in composites containing various types of metallic filaments in a silver matrix.3,4 At strains of the order of 10-2 pct, all the deformation was accommodated by the silver matrix. Hence, the strength of the composite depended only on the fiber concentration and not on the nature of the fiber. At higher strains, the strength of the composite increased when filaments with higher work-hardening rates were used. Surface slip line observations on a silver-mild steel composite that had been stretched 4 pct showed that an appreciable amount of deformation occurred in the filaments. Work on tungsten-copper filamentary composites5 has shown that the ultimate tensile strength for varying filament fractions followed a linear mixture rule. Assuming that the axial strains in both filaments and the matrix are equal, this linear mixture rule can be expressed as: The subscripts c, f, and m refer to the composite, filaments, and matrix, respectively. A and V are the area and volume fractions of each component. sc and of are the ultimate tensile strengths of the composite and the filaments. sm is the flow stress of matrix at a strain equal to the elongation at failure of the filaments. However, the tungsten filaments can undergo only a limited elongation before they fracture without an appreciable reduction in area. A composite containing more ductile filaments might indeed deviate from this linear mixture rule for the ultimate tensile strength, since filament failure by necking might be arrested by the matrix. SPECIMEN PREPARATION Specimens were prepared from 0.8 pct carbon steel piano wires of 0.015 in. initial diameter. The wires were given a thin nickel flash and a silver plate varying in thickness from 0.015 to 0.007 in., depending on the filament fraction desired. In order

Jan 1, 1965

By E. W. Davis

DURING late years, the proportion of beileficiated iron ore shipped from the Lake Superior District has increased very rapidly. By benefication is meant washing, screening, drying, sintering or any process by which the grade or structure of the crude ore is improved before shipment. In 1915, only 3,000,- 000 tons, or 9 per cent, of t6e total Minnesota shipment was beneficiated ore, compared with 13,500,000 tons, or 35 per cent, of the total Minnesota shipment in 1925. This increase is, of course, due to the fact that iron and steel can be made more cheaply after beneficiating these ores than they could have been had these ores not been so treated. Fundamentally, however, several causes contribute to the necessity for beneficiating iron ores, such as depletion of the reserves of high-grade ores, the iron ore leasing systems and taxation methods and, at the smelting plants, a better understanding of blast-furnace operations, increased operating costs and increased sulfur content of blast-furnace coke. As economic conditions change, it is by no means certain that the proportion of beneficiated ore shipped each year is going to continue to increase. Undoubtedly some of the beneficiation operations are not economically sound at the present time and what the future has in store for the iron ore industry is problematical. Generally speaking, the cost of fuel for blast-furnace operations will increase as time goes on and in order to continue to produce cheap iron and steel, some of the other costs must be lowered. Freight and labor rates probably can- not be reduced. The cost of producing iron ore cannot be reduced much below the present price. It therefore appears that the best opportunity for maintaining iron and steel prices at their present level in spite of in- creased costs of labor and raw materials is to use. less or cheaper raw materials. This, of course, contemplates an improvement in metallurgical processes all along the line and, as a matter of fact, we can confidently expect these improvements because scientific investigations will undoubtedly be even more productive in the future than they have been in the past.

Jan 1, 1926

By A. C. Rubel

WHAT does management expect of W and from an engineer? First and foremost, it expects that he should become, and therefore should fit himself in every way to be, a part of management so that he may assume as much and as many of the responsibilities of management as his ability and the opportunities of the job permit. Let me make clear at the start that the profession of pure, technical engineering offers but limited opportunities at the top levels because of the inherent organization of engineering work. The line of succession to top jobs may be likened to a cone with a broad base and an extremely sharp point. Consider any oil company, large or small, or any operating function of that company, and you will find few top engineering jobs in the organization. This is true by the nature of the work handled. There will be a few district engineers depending on the spread of operations, a chief petroleum and production engineer, perhaps a few research engineers, possibly some technical executive assistants, and that is usually all. The road to these jobs is a long one and the competition is tough. The larger the organization the greater the opportunity, but always the ratio of engineers to top engineering jobs is only a small one.

Jan 1, 1947

"Located on the Big Hole River, three miles from Divide, Montana, and 21.75 miles from Butte.Built in 1899.DAM: Rock-filled wooden crib, 512 ft. long and 57.5 feet high.SPILLWAY: Equipped with flash-boards 189 ft. long, 8 ft. 10 inches high.PENSTOCKS: Two 8 ft. diameter of steel, each branching and supplying two wheels.WHEELS: Four double horizontal, double discharge turbines, made by The James Leffel & Co., 1,000 h-p., 180 r. p. m., direct connected to generators, operating at 60 ft. head. GENERATORS: Four G. E., revolving field, 750 k-w., 180 r. p. m., 800 volt, 3 phase, 60 cycle alternators.EXCITERS: Two water-wheel driven exciters.TRANSFORMERS: 12 250-k-w. G. E. air blast, primary 15,000 volts, Secondary 800 volts.OPERATION: The plant operates essentially as a peak load plant. Except in flood period, there is insufficient water to operate at full load continually. In December its average output is about 500 k-w."

Jan 1, 1913

Michigan State Department of Conservation, Lansing, Mich The Department of Conservation has two divisions issuing publications which should be listed in this directory. Geological Survey Division. R. A Smith, State Geologist Land Economic Survey Division L R Schoenmann, Head. A price list of publications of either division will be sent upon request to that division Geological Survey Division.-Citizens of Michigan may obtain publications of this Division on payment of forwarding charges Prices to others for available publications are given below: Vol 5 (1881-1884): Pt 1, Geological report of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, by L L Hubbard, pt 2, Geology of Lower Michigan with reference to deep borings, by A C Lane, $125. Annual Report for 1908. Pt b, Geological section of Michigan, by A C. Lane and A E Seaman, 50 cents. Publication No 5, The Late Glacial and Post Glacial Uplift of the Michigan Basin, and earthquakes in Michigan, by W. H

Jan 1, 1933

By H. Rush Spedden

When Robert H. Richards wrote Ore Dressing, the famous four-volume work published in the first decade of this century, the ore dresser was still largely concerned, with the mechanical treatment of ores. Since then, however, economics have transformed him into a mineral processing engineer who must increasingly deal with closely integrated facilities designed to produce a commodity for manufacturing. Moreover, this change will grow marked as the complex low- grade ores of the future make it ever more necessary for him not only to use the best combination of pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical and physical separation processes, but also to integrate these processes at the mine site. Nor are economic pressures the only ones propelling the processing engineer into a new era. The ecology drive has thrown him into a new situation in which his economic base is radically altered, and it could well precipitate as drastic a revolution in his technology as that which took place when flotation was developed.

Jan 1, 1971