Search Documents

By Robert Y. Grant

This study outlines the history of metal mining in Japan and the characteristics of the industry as they existed from 1925 to 1945. Mining and milling operations are described together with the role of the Japanese Government. A description of post-hostilities conditions and the present state of the industry is included. MANY of Japan's larger and better known mines date back to the early centuries of the Christian Era. The first stimulus to mining in Japan came through the growth of Buddhism, A. D. 600 to 700, and the attendant need for copper and other metals for temple ornaments and statues. During the Feudal period, 1333 to 1568, mine operations were expanded to meet the demand for ornament metal and for financing of campaigns. After removal of the seat of government from Kyoto to Tokyo, about 1600, the Tokugawa Shogunate placed great emphasis on mining, and many new mines were opened, some of which are still operating. Toward the end of the Tokugawa period, mining had declined sharply from its earlier peak. The easily worked, high grade portions of the orebodies had been exhausted, and the mining techniques then available could not exploit the deeper, lower grade ores. Similarly, extraction of metal from the sulphide ores presented a major problem. With the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the rapid opening of the country to western ideas came a rejuvenation of the mining industry. Mining, milling, and smelting processes were greatly improved, resulting in the extension of development work into hitherto inaccessible portions of orebodies. The demand for metal during World War I stimulated activity throughout the industry; copper mining, particularly, expanded to a point where Japan ranked second among world producers.* During the depression following the war, mining underwent a severe contraction in activity, recovering slowly during the late 1920's only to undergo a further setback in the worldwide depression which started in 1929. Mineral output declined in 1930, but the beginning of Japanese expansion, 1931 to 1932, brought about an increase in the output of mine products starting between 1932 to 1934. Production continued to rise, the peak output being attained 1939 to 1943 in virtually all commodities. The greatest production of iron ore, chromite, and manganese was not experienced until 1944 when blocked imports, coupled with strong demands for steel, provided the needed incentive. Through necessity, Japan produced much of her mineral needs from her own mines at high cost during World War 11. Taking the 1932 to 1936 period as an average, however, Japanese mines produced only 16 pct of the iron available to industry, 8 pct of the lead, 33 pct of the zinc, and 68 pct of the copper. Nearly all of Japan's output of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc between 1925 and 1945 came from 30 to 49 pct of the mines for which production data are available; for example, 66 of 174 gold-silver mines accounted for 98 pct of the output of this group. Further analysis of mine output indicates that a large part of Japan's metal output was derived from a few large mines; about 10 gold-silver, 15 copper, 3 lead-zinc, 5 manganese, and 2 iron mines account for most of the production. Many of these mines have been operated for 200 to 400 years. With the

Jan 1, 1952

By A. W. Bethune, L. M. Pidgeon

The equilibrium vapor pressure of zinc has been determined over the systems: ZnS(s) + Fe(s) = FeS(s) + Zn (vapor) and ZnS(s) + 2Cu(s) = Cu2S(s) + Zn (vapor) by reacting the components in an evacuated tube containing a thin copper fiber, and allowing equilibrium to be established with respect to the brass formed and the zinc in the vapor phase. The composition of the brass formed was determined and equilibrium vapor pressure values obtained from existing data. Between 850' and 1000°C, values for the first reaction ranged from 8 to 58 mm Hg; for the second reaction from 1.8 to 22 mm Hg. THE direct reduction of metallic sulphides may be indicated by an equation of the form MS + X = XS + M [1] where X is some suitable reducing agent. In the case where M is a metal of relatively high volatility, the use of vacuum will displace the equilibrium to the right at comparatively low temperatures in the face of the usually unfavorable thermochemistry. For this technique to be feasible, MS, X, and XS, must of course be nonvolatile compared to M. In this regard, zinc becomes an obvious metal both from the point of view of its volatility and the fact that most commercial ore deposits of this metal occur as the sulphide, and its direct reduction would avoid the expensive roasting process necessary prior to present day reduction methods. Two reducing agents are of interest, namely copper and iron, with the former having the added attraction of being relatively easily regenerated by oxidation in the copper converter. The possibility of these reactions has been considered before. Imbert1 patented a process whereby zinc sulphide was reduced by either copper or iron. The process as described took place at atmospheric pressure and, at the high temperatures required, the system was molten, resulting in the formation of a matte with the consequent reduction in the activities of the reactants. Peterson2 did further experimental work on these reactions and, although promising results were obtained on a small scale, attempts to increase the size of the furnace led to excessive "blue powder" formation. The early workers failed to realize the large reduction in temperature afforded by the use of vacuum and its desirable results. More recently, the direct reduction of zinc sulphide by iron has been the subject of a thermody-namic investigation by Kelley,3 and Gross and War-rington' have studied the kinetics of the reaction in the temperature range 900" to 1000°C, their experiments being conducted using vacuum and indicating that the reaction would proceed practically to completion in 1 to 3 hr, depending on the temperature. A qualitative examination of the system ZnS-Cu carried out at this University indicated that 98 pct of the theoretical zinc in the charge could be recovered in 1 hr at 1000°C when operating under reduced pressure. The purpose of this research program was to study the equilibrium of the two reactions. During the investigation, reference to the experimental work of Schenk5 was found but, due to lack of detail in the report, it was felt that it would be desirable to continue the equilibrium measurements. Selection of Method The measurement of vapor pressure of metals presents obvious problems resulting from the high temperatures which must be employed. In the present case, the production of the "reaction pressure" introduces a further difficulty since a chemical reaction must proceed before any metal vapor pressure is produced, resulting in depletion of the re-

Jan 1, 1954

By Robert E. Green

Experiments were performed in order to investigate the influence of magnitude of driving force, recouery, and previous heat treatment on grain boundary migration in deformed aluminum crystals. The frequency of occurrence of strain-free grains possessing Preferred crystallographic orientations was studied both as a function of heat treatment and as a function of amount of deformation of the matrix crystal. Aluminum of such composition as to exhibit precipitation-hardening behavior was used. CONSIDERABLE work has been devoted to the factors influencing grain boundary migration in metals.1'52 Aust and Rutterl-9 have studied grain boundary migration into matrix crystals containing a striation substructure, which provided a thermally stable driving force during the course of the migration experiments. These authors state that, while variations in the striation pattern were sometimes observed, it was possible to obtain reasonably uniform and reproducible striation structure by careful control of the solidification conditions. Admittedly, this source of driving force is a unique one and has served well in numerous experiments. However, although the striation substructure provides a thermally stable driving force, the subject of its reproducibility from crystal to crystal is questionable. In fact, Aust and Rutter3 attribute the scatter shown in some of their experimental points and several anomalies in boundary migration rates to variations in the substructure driving force along a single specimen. A further limitation on striation-induced driving force is that the driving force cannot be varied over wide ranges in a controlled manner. More often used as a source of driving force is the strain energy stored in a crystal during plastic deformation. This type of driving force has the disadvantage that it is not thermally stable due to recovery taking place simultaneously with the grain boundary mobility measurements. On the other hand, this strain-induced driving force is very reproducible from crystal to crystal since it is very easy to grow single crystals possessing the same purity and crystallographic orientation and then to strain them identically. In order to measure grain boundary migration rates two different methods are primarily used. Most often the technique employed is the heat-cool-etch method1' which involves thermal cycling, while the other technique, developed by Graham and Cahn11 using an X-ray diffractometer and goniometer furnace, involves continuous heating only. Thus the influence of thermal cycling vs continuous heating is a factor to be considered in grain boundary migration rate measurements, particularly in cases where the source of driving force is the strain energy stored in the deformed matrix, and recovery is likely to occur. Numerous recent investigations have shown that extremely small impurity additions to zone-refined metals exert a marked effect on grain boundary migration rates1-5, 9, 12-27 and a few have considered the effect of the distribution of impurities.28-35 The concentration of impurities and their distribution as influenced by heat treatment must also be taken into account in migration-rate studies. In the present article consideration is given to the influence of the magnitude of driving force, recovery, and previous heat treatment on grain boundary migration rates. In order to vary the driving force over a large range it was necessary to use as a source of driving force the energy stored in the matrix crystal during plastic deformation. A majority of the investigations were performed on aluminum specimens which were of such compositions as to exhibit precipitation-hardening behavior.

Jan 1, 1965

By C. H. Gorski

A method for preparing titanium tetrachloride is described which consists of reducing rutile with coke and chlorinating the reduced product at 200° to 500°C. The crude distillate is purified by treatment with copper powder and distillation. Recoveries, exceeding 90 pct of the titanium in the rutile, were obtained. IN recent years considerable interest in metallic titanium has been aroused because of its outstanding physical and chemical properties. The present commercial processes for preparing titanium are modifications of the Kroll1 process and consist essentially of the reduction of titanium tetrachloride with magnesium in an inert atmosphere to produce metallic titanium with magnesium chloride as a byproduct. At present,' commercial titanium tetrachloride costs $0.32 a pound, which makes the price of the included titanium $1.28 a pound. As the titanium tetrachloride must be purified further before processing into metal, its ultimate cost obviously will be higher. Consequently, one of the prime requisites for the production of lower cost titanium metal is a source of low-cost titanium tetrachloride. Recently, Knickerbocker, Gorski, Kenworthy, and Starliper3 escribed a method for preparing titanium tetrachloride from low-grade Arkansas rutile by smelting the rutile with pyrite and coke to form a titanium matte and then chlorinating the titanium matte to prepare a crude titanium tetrachloride. This process had several inherent advantages. Low-grade rutile concentrates were utilized, the chlorination temperature was relatively low (approximately 200°C), and the reaction was strongly exothermic. However, this process had several disadvantages, chief of them being the rather low recoveries of titanium tetrachloride (65 to 81 pct) and the difficulty in purifying the crude titanium tetrachloride obtained. Because of the high-titanium and low-iron con- tents of rutile as compared to ilmenite, rutile should be of greater potential value as a source of titanium tetrachloride than ilmenite. Rutile, however, is not chlorinated directly in commercial practice, because reaction temperatures above 700 °C are required, at which point chlorine attacks most of the common materials of construction. The process now in use consists of converting the titanium in rutile to the cyanonitride by high-temperature reduction in an electric furnace, and then chlorinating this compound. The disadvantages of this process are the difficulty of producing the cyanonitride, the use of high-grade rutile concentrates in the charge, and the presence of several percent of silicon tetrachloride in the finished product. It would be of considerable interest to develop a new process for the preparation of titanium tetrachloride from rutile by chlorination at 200" to 500°C. Process Development Several investigators'-' have studied the reduction of titanium dioxide with carbon in an effort to prepare titanium monoxide. Invariably, the titanium monoxide formed in this manner was not pure, as it contained titanium carbide and one or more of the lower oxides of titanium. As these lower oxides of titanium are more reactive chemically than rutile, and as it is known that titanium carbide may be chlorinated readily, a study was made of the chlorination of carbon-reduced rutile. A sample of rutile concentrates from Hot Spring County, Ark., containing 76.19 pct TiO,, 5.65 pct Fe2O3, 4.18 pct SiO2, and 2.88 pct Al2O3, was used for this investigation. The experimental procedure consisted of making an intimate mixture of —100-mesh rutile and petroleum coke, adding water and molasses as a binder to foi-m a paste, charging into a graphite crucible that was covered, except for a vent to allow the

Jan 1, 1952

By Rollin E. Hook, Attwell M. Adair

The yield and fracture behavior of recrystallized chromiztm have been studied in order to gain an understanding of the recrystallization embrittlement-rheotropic recovery phenomenon. The duc tile-brittle tensile transition temperature of recrystallized chromium was found to vary from 225 ° to -80°C as the ratio of specimen diameter/mean planar grain size decreased. The applicability of this observation to other bcc metals is briefly discussed. Brittle fracture in recrystallized chromium was found to be initiated predominately from intercrystalline rupture nuclei. Single crystals exhibit a high degree of ductility at 23 "C. The experimental data indicate that grain boundaries play a significant part in the yield and fracture behavim. Pres training significantly reduces the transition temperature, and high temperature aging does not result in re-embrittle-ment until complete recovery or re crystallization occurs. SEVERAL theories have been used to explain the recrystallization embrittlement-rheotropic recovery phenomenon in chromium. Wain, Henderson, and ohnstone' propose a Cottrell dislocation locking mechanism due to nitrogen, and Weaver and Gross and weaver 3 propose a strain-induced precipitation mechanism involving a chromium nitride precipitate. The researches of many investigators seem to leave little doubt that brittleness in chromium is promoted by interstitial impurities. Smith and seybolt4 have shown that the ductile-brittle transition temperature is lowered as the interstitial content is reduced. weaver3 provides evidence for a 150°C reduction in the tensile transition temperature as the nitrogen content is reduced from 20 to 5 ppm. Maykuth and affee' have suggested that the amount and orientation of grain boundary impurities may be responsible for the brittle nature of recrystallized chromium. This suggestion was based on their findings that wrought iodide chromium possessing a fiberous grain structure is ductile in tension at room temperature while a recrystallized grain structure is completely brittle. Previous investigations have not studied this phenomenon sufficiently to determine its cause. Perhaps this has been largely due to previous experimental findings that brittle fracture observed in chromium has been almost entirely transgranular.' In addition McNeil and imb,' who investigated coarse-grained as-cast chromium, describe the point of initiation of fracture as cleavage, close to the (100) plane, near or at grain bound-daries, or at included particles or voids. However, Hook, Adair, and ipsitt found that fracture in coarse-grained recrystallized chromium is initiated by intergranular rupture and then propagates nearly entirely by cleavage. This result, together with their finding that room temperature ductility in bending is observed for single crystals and coarse-grained polycrystalline specimens for which the number of grains through the specimen diameter is small, suggests that grain boundaries may play an important role in the brittle behavior of chromium. The recrystallization embrittlement problem can be resolved into two questions. These are, whether the controlling mechanism is predominately one of crack initiation or crack propagation, and whether brittle fracture is initiated predominately by slip or twin induced intergranular rupture or by cleavage. The following research was designed to study the role of grain boundaries on the brittle fracture of chromium in an effort to resolve these questions. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES, RESULTS, AND DISCUSSION General Procedure. All tensile specimens (except 0.04 in. diam wires) were prepared from 1/4 in. diam swaged rod fabricated from one ingot. Details of fabrication are given elewhere. The results of impurity analysis for the swaged rod and for the

Jan 1, 1963

By A. T. Chatas

A description of the geometrical characteristics of spherical reservoir systems, a discussion of unsteady-state flow of such systems and examples of engineering applications are presented as backgmund material. The fundamental differential equation, a description of average spherical permeability and the introduction of the Laplace transformation serve as theoretical foundations. Engineering concepts are investigated to indicate particular solutions of interest, which are analytically obtained with the aid of the Laplace transform. These are numerically evaluated by computer, and presented in tabular form. INTRODUCTION A tractable mathematical analysis of unsteady fluid flow through porous media generally requires incorporation of a geometrical symmetry. The simplest forms include the linear, cylindrical (radial) and spherical. Most analytical endeavors have concentrated on cylindrical symmetry because it occurs more often in petroleum reservoirs. Nevertheless, some reservoir systems do exist that are better approximated by spherical geometry. Review of technical literature revealed but a single reference to unsteady spherical flow in petroleum reservoirs.l The motive and purpose of the present work was to remove this gap in technical information, and to provide the practicing engineer with some useful analytical tools. The mathematical details associated with the particular solutions of interest involved use of the Laplace transformation. Hurst and van Everdingen previously demonstrated the efficacy of this operational technique, and in many respects the present treatment was patterned after their earlier work.2 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS GEOMETRICAL CHARACTERISTICS Geometrically, a spherical reservoir system is defined at any instant of time by two concentric hemispheres whose physical properties of interest vary only with the radial distance. Every physical property is thus restricted to be a space function of only one variable: the distance along a radius vector emanating from the center. Such a system is composed of an outer region and an inner region, separated by a defined internal boundary. The inner region simply extends inward from this boundary, whereas the outer region extends outward from it to an external boundary. The position of the internal boundary is presumed fixed, so that the size of the inner region remains constant. On the other hand, the position of the external boundary at any given instant of time is determined by the distance into the system that a sensible pressure reaction has occurred, Thus, the external boundary may change position with time. It initially emerges from the inner region and advances outward to its ultimate position. When this ultimate position coincides with a geometric limit, the reservoir system is said to be limited. When it coincides with points subject to pressure gradients furthest removed from the internal boundary, yet short of a geometric limit, the system is said to be unlimited. In this investigation two different boundary conditions are imposed at the ultimate boundaries of limited systems. The first requires that no fluid flow occur across this boundary; the second that the pressure remain fixed at this boundary.3-5 UNSTEADY-STATE FLOW In a strict sense virtually all flow phenomena associated with a reservoir system are unsteady-state. The transient behavior of these phenomena requires accounting, however, only when time must be introduced as an explicit variable. Otherwise, steady-state mechanics may be used. Analytically, steady-state conditions prevail in a reservoir system only over that portion of its history when this relation is satisfied:

Jan 1, 1967

By C. D. Stahl, S. M. Farouq Ali

This investigation attempts to describe and simulate the alcohol displacement process by means of a cell model, as employed in chemical engineering practice. The proposed model is more simple than previously proposed models. and utilizes parameters chosen on a theoretical basis. The model successfully reproduced the formation of the stabilized bank and the breakthrough of alcohol, the latter depending on one of the model parameters, which may be correlated with the length of the porous medium. Moreover, the effects of the phase behavior of the liquid system involved, as observed in experimental studies, were reproduced. Several variations of the basic model were devised and tested on a digital computer. These included the cases in which: (1) the actual value of fractional flow was used in cell-to-cell computations; (2) the number of cells was varied within the same run; and (3) incomplete rather than complete phase equilibrium was assumed within each cell. The proposed cell model clarifies the basic mechanism of the process. Detailed concentration profiles obtained for each cell, for instance, showed the mechanism of bank formation in relation to the phase behavior characteristics. The results obtained indicated a varying degree of phase equilibrium concommitant with changes in the velocities of the phases in an actual alcohol displacement. This condition was approximated by changing the number of cells during the simulation. Interesting information was obtained on the influence of path length on the efficiency of alcohol displacement, which has been the subject of some controversy. Certain limitations preclude the use of the proposed model as a substitute for experimental studies. The results obtained were, nevertheless, of value in interpreting the experimental results. INTRODUCTION During recent years considerable effort has been directed toward an understanding of alcohol displacement, the process whereby oil and water are recovered from a porous medium by the continuous injection of a solvent. The complex nature of the physical process involved has so far defied a complete mathematical treatment. Other methods of approach, amounting to an overall material balance, have been proposed, yielding useful information on certain aspects of the process.1-3 Taber et al, in particular, defined the displacement mechanism in terms of the phase behavior of the alcohol-oil-brine system invoIved.2 Wachmann reported a mathematical treatment of alcohol displacement subject to certain simplifying assumptions? Donohue proposed the use of a "cell model" for simulating alcohol disPlacement.5 The nature of the assumptions involved limited the utility of the model. The present work attempts to examine the variables involved in the simulation of alcohol displacement and discusses several possible versions of the basic cell model. Under certain conditions the model results are similar to the experimental results. In particular, the spontaneous formation of of the stabilized bank and the effects of the system phase behavior were successfully reproduced. PREVIOUS WORK ON CELL MODELS Cell models and the theoretical plate concept are often used in solving chemical engineering problems in which an explicit mathematical solution may be difficult or impossible to obtain. Examples of such applications occur in distillation, gas-liquid chroma tography,6 reactor technology, absorption, etc. In petroleum engineering, such a model was used by Attra7 to describe non-equilibrium gas drive, and by Higgins and Leigh ton8 to calculate sweep efficiency in water flooding. Aris and Amundsen pointed out the equivalence between the diffusion model and perfectly mixed cells connected in series.9 Deans proposed a three-parameter cell model to simulate two-component

Jan 1, 1966

By Roscoe E. Bell

BETWEEN 1945 and 1948 the author made studies of the western phosphate industry and its potentialities. These included an appraisal of the opportunities for western development of the industry, studies of production costs, of market potentials, of transportation economics, and of industry location. This paper will be directed toward pointing up the factors which have an important bearing on the establishment of fertilizer plants in the western area. Industry Location Factors: There are, of course, an infinite number of possible organizational setups which might require consideration. However, the phosphate industry is simple enough so that studies of the most probable alternatives can be made conveniently. The salient factors which require special consideration in such a study are: (I) the location of the raw materials, (2) the location, size, and character of the present and potential markets, (3) the location of energy sources and materials required for fertilizer processing, (4) the location and capacity of present manufacturing facilities, (5) the cost of assembling the materials and energy needed in manufacturing, and (6) the cost of distributing the manufactured product. Raw Material Supplies: Rock phosphate is the raw material for the manufacturing of phosphate fertilizer. In the United States the important known deposits of this material are located in three general areas (fig. 1). The western deposits, comprising about 60 pct of the nation's supply, are in the four-state area—Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. The Florida deposits comprise roughly 38 pct of the national supply. The Tennessee deposits, comprising about 2 pct of the national supply, have been the most important source until recent years. The western deposits, which are virtually undeveloped, have not been used to any extent to meet the nation's need for phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizer. Fertilizer Markets: The large national markets for fertilizer are in the midwestern and eastern United States (fig. 2). The principal far-western markets are along the Pacific Coast, especially in California. Until recent years the western markets have been extremely limited, whereas the markets in the eastern United States have long been established and manufacturing facilities have been provided to meet these needs (fig. 3). In recent years the western markets have expanded very rapidly, continuing to grow throughout the war years and postwar period at a similar rate. The question always arises as to whether this is a temporary war-swollen market which will shrink back to its original size as soon as the present agricultural price levels drop. In order to answer this question consideration must be given to the character of the market (fig. 4). I have considered seventeen western and midwestern states in the western market area where transportation costs from the western deposits are equal to or lower than those from Florida. They include all states west of a line drawn through Chicago, Kansas City and the western boundary of New Mexico. In the mewar period this was a small market totaling only 37,000 tons of P,O, annually. The 1946 total for this same area was approximately 200,000 tons. Considerably more fertilizer would have been used in 1946 had adequate supplies been available. Estimates of future markets are difficult to make, but we do have some indices that are useful. The

Jan 1, 1951

By A. W. Demmler

RECENTLY, Chaudron,&apos; Montariol,2 and their co-workers published the results of their studies on zone-refined aluminum. They found their material to be capable of recrystallization at —50°C, but gave no data as to the percentage reduction or time required. Their material was found to be practically non-work hardening at room temperature, but after 96 pct cold work at a low temperature and storage in liquid nitrogen it was found to recrystallize to coarse grains in less than 3 hr at 20°C. Recently, a study was made of the room temperature recrystallization characteristics of zone-melted aluminum. An ingot 14 in. in length, with a 3hx3 in. cross section, was made in an extremely high purity graphite boat under an atmosphere of dried commercial argon. It was made by first passing the molten zone along the ingot of 99.99+ pct A1 15 times. At this point, the most impure 3 in. (the end toward which the eutectic forming impurities migrated) were replaced with more of the original starting material, and 15 more traverses were made. Each traverse of the zone along the ingot required approximately 3 hr. Three ingots were prepared in this identical fashion and the chemical analyses were made spec-trographically on two of these ingots, rather than on the one used in this investigation. The analyses were made at 1 in. intervals along the ingot, in duplicate. Over the purest 5 in. of the ingot, which were most important in this investigation, there was found an average composition of <0.00004 pct Cu, <0.0003 pct Fe, <0.0001 pct Si, and <0.0001 pct Mg. In addition, the following elements were not detected spectrographically even in the more impure end of the bar: manganese, zinc, nickel, chromium, titanium, vanadium, lead, tin, boron, beryllium, bismuth, gallium, zirconium, cadmium, antimony, cobalt, and molybdenum. The original ingot was given several cold reductions, with intermediate anneals in order to refine the grains. Owing to the extreme length resulting and the ease of deforming the material plastically, it was cut into eight equal lengths and identified as shown in Fig. 1, with the highest numbered section at the purer end (that enriched with peritectic formers). Section 6 was used in the exploratory work and was found to be of exceptionally high purity, giving more rapid rates of room temperature re crystallization than any previous aluminum studied at the Alcoa Research Laboratories. This fact suggested that the entire midsection of the ingot might be of very high purity. Accordingly, section 4 was chosen for the next study. A portion of it was rolled to cold reductions of 10, 25, 40, 60, 75, and 90 pct at room temperature, and the re-crystallization of each specimen was followed by X-ray pinhole transmission photographs. The other portion received the same treatment, except that both the specimens and the rolls were maintained at 160°F in the process of rolling. The latter ortion was retarded in its recrystallization as compared to the former, probably due to the stress relief effect of the warm rolling. Both of these portions of the fourth section were found to recrystallize at a considerably slower rate than did the sixth section.

Jan 1, 1957

By D. R. Spink

In the preparation of zirconium and hafnium metals, there are many indications that impurity levels control the physical and chemical properties of the metal. The purpose of this work was to develop methods of producing pure raw materials that could be reduced to highly pure metals. Early work by the Carbomcndum Metals Co. and others indicated that certain fused salts were highly efficient in the removal of impurities from gaseous zirconium tetrachloride. We have developed workable fused salts along with a continuous and higly efficient scrubber design which can be used to produce very pure zirconium tetrachloride. Metal made from the purified tetrachloride has been shown to approach crystal bar metal in purity. Scrubber designs are discussed with recommended materials of construction. VARIOUS methods have been used to purify zirconium (and hafnium) tetrachloride. Most of these methods involve thermal degassing initially (the removal of more volatile compounds at temperatures below that where zirconium tetrachloride exhibits a significant vapor pressure) followed by a sublimation step (which conveniently leaves the nonvolatiles behind.) While these procedures effect definite purification, such processing is batchwise and does not result in optimum purification. Early work by The Carborundum Metals Co. and others indicated that fused salts were highly efficient in the removal of impurities from gaseous zirconium tetrachloride. The objective of this work was to develop a continuous fused-salt scrubbing process that would yield high-purity zirconium and hafnium tetrachlorides. The term "fused salt" refers to the molten state of ionic compounds and as used here, specifically refers to alkali metal and alkaline earth halides. Fused salts, because of their many valuable properties, are becoming increasingly im- portant industrially. These valuable properties of the fused salts are: 1) stability at elevated temperatures; 2)low vapor pressure; 3) low viscosity; 4) ability to dissolve many different materials; and 5) good elctctrical conductivity. All but the last property enhances the use of fused salts as scrubbing agents for zirconium and hafnium tetrachlorides. Fused-salt scrubbing may be defined for our purpose as the intimate contact between a gaseous compound and a molten salt with the purpose of removing impurities from the gaseous compound. In this case, the gaseous compound is zirconium tetrachloride which submlimes at 331°C. When this gas is contacted with a molten salt, impurities such as aluminum, iron, and titanium are removed and the resulting product is considered fused-salt scrubbed. Zirconium and hafnium are sold to a purity specification. Generally speaking, normal production without scrubbing is capable of meeting specifications. There are, however, several considerations That make the knowledge of methods of additional purification highly desirable. These are: 1) the control of product analysis; 2) the production of a pure product for special applications; 3) the salvaging of off-specification material; and 4) the use of raw materials with higher impurity levels than 1 he present raw materials. You will note that items 1 and 2 are somewhat complementary to each other and that item 4 assumes that The present process has impurity removal limitations. To better understand the part that fused-salt scrubbing of zirconium tetrachloride plays in the manufacture of zirconium, Fig. 1 contains an illustrated flow sheet of the industrial production of zirconium metal. In referring to Fig. 1, we can point out the specific benefits derived from our ability to purify zirconium tetrachloride. Purification of the crude (hafnium-containing) zirconium

Jan 1, 1962

By Roscoe E. Bell

BETWEEN 1945 and 1948 the author made studies of the western phosphate industry and its potentialities. These included an appraisal of the opportunities for western development of the industry, studies of production costs, of market potentials, of transportation economics, and of industry location. This paper will be directed toward pointing up the factors which have an important bearing on the establishment of fertilizer plants in the western area. Industry Location Factors: There are, of course, an infinite number of possible organizational setups which might require consideration. However, the phosphate industry is simple enough so that studies of the most probable alternatives can be made conveniently. The salient factors which require special consideration in such a study are: (I) the location of the raw materials, (2) the location, size, and character of the present and potential markets, (3) the location of energy sources and materials required for fertilizer processing, (4) the location and capacity of present manufacturing facilities, (5) the cost of assembling the materials and energy needed in manufacturing, and (6) the cost of distributing the manufactured product. Raw Material Supplies: Rock phosphate is the raw material for the manufacturing of phosphate fertilizer. In the United States the important known deposits of this material are located in three general areas (fig. 1). The western deposits, comprising about 60 pct of the nation&apos;s supply, are in the four-state area—Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. The Florida deposits comprise roughly 38 pct of the national supply. The Tennessee deposits, comprising about 2 pct of the national supply, have been the most important source until recent years. The western deposits, which are virtually undeveloped, have not been used to any extent to meet the nation&apos;s need for phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizer. Fertilizer Markets: The large national markets for fertilizer are in the midwestern and eastern United States (fig. 2). The principal far-western markets are along the Pacific Coast, especially in California. Until recent years the western markets have been extremely limited, whereas the markets in the eastern United States have long been established and manufacturing facilities have been provided to meet these needs (fig. 3). In recent years the western markets have expanded very rapidly, continuing to grow throughout the war years and postwar period at a similar rate. The question always arises as to whether this is a temporary war-swollen market which will shrink back to its original size as soon as the present agricultural price levels drop. In order to answer this question consideration must be given to the character of the market (fig. 4). I have considered seventeen western and midwestern states in the western market area where transportation costs from the western deposits are equal to or lower than those from Florida. They include all states west of a line drawn through Chicago, Kansas City and the western boundary of New Mexico. In the mewar period this was a small market totaling only 37,000 tons of P,O, annually. The 1946 total for this same area was approximately 200,000 tons. Considerably more fertilizer would have been used in 1946 had adequate supplies been available. Estimates of future markets are difficult to make, but we do have some indices that are useful. The

Jan 1, 1951

By H. M. Davis, T. S. Jones

A methodfor accelerating the reduction of a metal oxide by carbon monoxide is to incorporate in the reduction system a nonreducible oxide which has a strong affinity for carbon dioxide and will remove it from the product gases. The effectiveness of this method was investigated by veduction experiments on specially prepared powder mixtures of SrO-ZnO ("active&apos;.) and SrCO3-ZnO (reference). Measurements at 750o and 677°C showed that the rate of reduction of ZnO by CO was as much as an order of magnitude greater in the presence of SrO. Under the experimental conditions at least as much CO2 as generated by veduction was absorbed when SrO was present. Enlzancernent of the veduction rate by SvO resulted from modification of&apos; gaseous djfitsion processes. THE specific question posed in this investigation was whether the reduction reaction CO + ZnO - Zn(g) + COa [1] could be accelerated by incorporating strontium oxide into the oxide charge undergoing reduction. Provided the strontium oxide was active enough, it could remove carbon dioxide from the product gases of ( 11 and form strontium carbonate, thus modifying Reaction [ 1] to CO + ZnO + SrO = Zn(g) + SrCO3 [ 2] This study of the comparative rates of Reactions [ I] and [2] can be considered as a particular case of a general scheme for increasing the rates of reduction of metal oxides by carbon monoxide. The limits of applicability of this scheme are indicated in the simple thermodynamic analysis presented in the appendix. This analysis primarily dictated the choice of the system, CO-ZnO-SrO, employed in this investigation. In addition, it was thought that a study of this scheme by use of the CO-ZnO-SrO reaction system would be of special interest in view of indications in the literature1-3 that the gaseous reduction of zinc oxide is prone to rate control by diffusion in the gas phase. The distinction should be pointed out between this and other efforts to increase the rates of reduction reactions through the use of addition agents. Additions of a wide range of chemicals have been tried with de- grees of apparent success varying from slightly negative to highly positive. The reasons for making additions have included the use of salts to produce effects akin to catalysis,4, 5 the alteration of the microstruc-tural details of the reduction process (including solid-state diffusion),6-8 and the conversion of an en-dothermic reaction into one that is exothermic or autogenous.9-12 The means used to attempt alteration of the enthalpy change has commonly been to incorporate lime into the charge, so that heat is generated by reaction with either of the reaction products, carbon dioxide or water. The use of lime in this way makes endeavors such as that of Edstrom and Wiberg similar to the present one. Furthermore, the basic principle behind the present work has previously been set forth.13 However, a detailed investigation of the type of reaction described in this work does not appear to have been conducted. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE From both conceptual and physical standpoints, Reaction [2] is to be considered as the sum of two reactions:

Jan 1, 1968

By N. J. Grant, C. F. Flo, F. B. Cuff

An investigation of the Ti-Cr system has shown the presence of a complete series of solid solutions in the ß phase, with a minimum in the solid us near 50 pct Cr. An intermetallic compound, TiCr2, forms during cooling from the ß solid solution. There is a eutectoid reaction at the low chromium side of the system. IN view of the recognition of the potentialities of titanium and its alloys as important structural materials there has arisen a need for a systematic investigation of various titanium binary diagrams. Of these, the Ti-Cr system was of particular interest because of the improved properties imparted to titanium by small chromium additions. A literature survey disclosed a partial constitution diagram that had been suggested by Vogel and Wenderott,¹ This diagram, shown in Fig. 1, is the result of work done on the Fe-Cr-Ti ternary system. Alloys containing less than 43 pct Cr were not investigated. In addition to this, a study of alloys in the Ti-Cr system was reported by McPherson and Fontana.² Adenstedt3 furnished a number of dilato-meter curves obtained from specimens containing 5, 10, and 15 pct Cr. Very recently, McQuillan4 submitted a proposed diagram covering the complete range of compositions between titanium and chromium. This diagram was in general agreement with the one described here. Experimental Procedure Sponge titanium (99.7 pct) and electrolytic chromium (Bureau of Mines analysis: 99.03 pct Cr, 0.40 pct Fe, 0.53 pct O2) were used for the initial determination of the system. Subsequent refinement of points, particularly for the low chromium side of the diagram, was accomplished by using iodide titanium and high purity chromium (National Research Corp. analysis: 0.050 pct C, 0.045 pct O2). The Ti-Cr alloys were prepared by melting 25 g charges in an enclosed, water-cooled copper crucible using a movable tungsten electrode. The atmosphere was helium, prepurified by first passing it through a drying agent and then through sponge titanium heated to 850°C. Particular care was taken to avoid any large scale segregation resulting from insufficient mixing of the components. Each charge was melted and kept molten for approximately 1 min, allowed to cool, inverted, remelted, and kept molten for an additional minute. In order to ascertain the amount of impurity pickup (oxygen and nitrogen) during the melting procedure, three iodide titanium specimens were melted in sequence and then checked for increased hardness. The specimens in the as-cast condition showed a relatively large hardness increase over the hardness of the as-received iodide titanium. The scattering on these readings was large. However, after the specimens had been homogenized at 840 °C for 2 hr and slowly cooled, the measured increase in hardness over the as-received titanium was small with a corresponding decrease in scatter. The reason for this hardness change is that in heat treating these specimens below the transformation temperature (885°C) there was a conversion from the as-cast structure to the more nearly equilibrium structure of the annealed specimen. The alloys were analyzed for chromium content and although the actual percentage was invariably low the deviation from the nominal composition never exceeded 0.6 pct Cr.

Jan 1, 1953

By D. J. DeLazaro, W. Rostoker, R. E. Riley, M. Hansen

KNOWLEDGE of the isothermal transformation behavior and the TTT chart method of graphically summarizing such information has been of invaluable aid to the ferrous metallurgist in understanding and developing heat treatments intended to provide specific mechanical properties. It is to be expected that similar lines of study directed to titanium-base alloys will be as profitable. This paper summarizes, on conventional TTT charts, the isothermal transformation products and pertinent reaction rate data for binary alloys of titanium containing 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 pct Mo, respectively. The results so presented were derived from metal-lographic examination. Some X-ray diffraction work was done to clarify certain points of question. Ti-Mo System To the authors&apos; k.nowledge, TTT charts have only been used to describe the reaction rates of eutectoidal decompositions. It would seem that the kinetics of decomposition of any unstable solid solution might be conveniently described in this manner. The equilibrium diagram of the Ti-Mo system&apos; is shown in Fig. 1. The similarity with the Fe-Ni system will be recognized. Additions of molybdenum serve to stabilize the /3 phase to increasingly lower temperatures. The solubility of molybdenum in the a phase is restricted to less than 1 pct at 600°C. Under normal conditions. a homogeneous ,8 structure quenched to a, temperature in the a f & field will reject a of invariant composition. The rate at which this occurs depends on the degree of undercooling and the degree of supersaturation of /3. The structural character of the rejected phase may also be expected to be related to the undercooling. Materials and Experimental Methods A sponge titanium was used which has a nominal impurity content as reported in Table I. The nominal composition of the molybdenum used is also included. The alloys were prepared in 150 g melts by arc melting in an evacuated water-cooled copper crucible of the type reported in an earlier paper.&apos; The pancake-type ingots were forged to 1/4x1/4 in. bars and homogenized for 24 hr at 1000°C in evacuated Vycor bulbs. Specimens Vi in. thick were cut from these bars for heat treatment. The heat treatment cycles followed an invariant procedure. The specimens were soaked at 1000°C for 20 min under a helium protective atmosphere prior to quenching into a lead bath held at a temperature corresponding to a chosen degree of undercooling. After a prescribed period of time at this temperature, the specimen was removed and water quenched. A series of specimens so treated for progressively longer periods served to establish the times for initiation and completion of the decomposition of the /3 phase at a particular temperature. Although heat treatment of unprotected specimens in a lead bath does permit surface contamination by lead diffusion, this method is necessary to insure sufficiently rapid quenching rates. As long as the bath treatments were of less than 1 hr duration. the contaminated surface was not unduly deep and could be removed without excessive grinding. Metal-lographically, the contaminated zone could be readily distinguished from the pure binary alloy. Transformation Characteristics of Ti-Mo Alloys Metallographic examination showed that a supersaturated p phase may decompose by one of two processes. Alloys containing 1 to 9 pct Mo, when quenched in water from the homogeneous /3 field,

Jan 1, 1953

By J. Geertsma

In order to obtain a better insight into the pressure-volume relationship of reservoir rocks a theory of pore and rock bulk volume variations is presented. The theory is independent of the shape of the pores but is restricted to isotropic porous media built up of continuous homogeneous matrix material. The main conclusion obtained from this theory is that only three elastic constants and three viscous constants are required for describing pore and rock bulk volume variations if the porosity is explicitly introduced into the treatment. In addition, reasonable approximations are introduced for various types of reservoir rock, e.g., sandstones, limestones, and shales, which lead to further simplifications of the basic formulas. In consequence there is then a further reduction in the number of deformation constants which have to be determined experimentally. It is shown how measurements of these remaining deformation constants can be performed most conveniently. Finally the application of the theory to reservoir studies is discussed and the translation of experimental results obtained in the laboratory into reservoir behavior is considered. INTRODUCTION The decline of fluid pressure in connection with the withdrawal of fluid from an underground reservoir gives rise to a change in volume of both reservoir fluids and reservoir rock. The volume variation of the reservoir rock results in a decrease of both the pore volume and the total volume of the fluid-filled formation. Whereas the variation in volume of the reservoir fluids with pressure is usually known from PVT analysis, that in the volume of the porous medium is rarely measured, as it is considered of minor importance in reservoir engineering. Nevertheless, certain experimental results&apos; suggest that in a number of cases the neglection of the variation in pore volume may introduce errors into material balance calculations of reservoirs producing above the bubble point. Only a few experimental results on the compressibility of porous rocks have been published. The compressibility of pure quartz and of calcite can be found in a paper by Adams and Williamson&apos;. Botset and Reed&apos; carried out some experiments on the compressibility of loose sands, while Carpenter and Spencer&apos; measured the compressibility of a number of consolidated sandstones, which data were supplemented by Hughes and Cooke5. Hall&apos; finally reported a number of experiments designed to study the influence of the porosity on the compressibility of oil-bearing formations, from which it appeared that, particularly in the low porosity range, the compressibility of the pore volume is important enough to be taken into account. Difficulties, however, arise in applying these experimental results to field cases. This is partly due to the fragmentary nature of the published data. Yet even if more complete data were available, the need for a theoretical background would be strongly felt. Such a background can be partially found in studies carried out by Biot,6,7 who published a theory of elastic deformations of porous materials and their influence on fluid displacement within the pores, by Lubinski8, who studied the stress distribution in an elastic porous medium neglecting pore compressibility, and by Gass-mann" who mathematically analysed the elasticity of packings of spheres. The contributions of Biot intro-duce a number of deformation constants which are impractical for reservoir rocks from an aspect of experi-mental determination. The theory developed by dass-mann is correct but difficult to read. It appeared, how-

Jan 1, 1958

By R. A. Greenkorn, R. C. Smith

Hele-Shaw cells are used to model creeping flow through porous media (where Darcy&apos;s law is valid). The effects of inertia on flow about obstructions in a Hele-Shaw cell can be calculated by a perturbation method if one can determine a solution to Laplace&apos;s equation. Results of a computer solution for flow about circular, square and elliptical obstructions are presented. These results show that or a modified Reynolds number of less than I, the inertia terms are small; and for values of less than 3, the average streamline predicts the ideal flow. Therefore, the analogy might be used for studying flow in porous media up to a modified Reynolds number of at least 3. INTRODUCTION The nature of fluid flow in porous media is of interest in the fields of soil mechanics, ground water flow, petroleum production, filtration and flow in packed beds. Because it is very difficult to study the phenomenological behavior of flow in porous media, homologs and analogs are used to study flow characteristics. A Hele-Shaw model, made of two closely spaced plates - usually glass — is often used as an analogy to two-dimensional flow in porous media. Hele-Shaw2 showed experimentally that the streamline configuration for creeping flow around an obstacle located between two closely spaced parallel plates is the same as for two-dimensional, ideal flow about the same obstacle. Stokes7 verified these observations mathematically. The usual equation of motion for flow in porous media is Darcy&apos;s law. The form of the mathematical statement of Darcy&apos;s law is identical, within a multiplicative constant, to the expression for the average velocity over the plate gap in the plane of a Hele-Shaw model. These models may be used to describe flow in both homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media. In the mathematical proof of the Hele-Shaw analogy it is assumed that the convective terms in the Navier-Stokes equations are negligible and that the equations of motion degenerate to Laplace&apos;s equation, with pressure the dependent variable. Whenever a Hele-Shaw model is used as an analogy to flow in porous media, .the validity of this assumption is in question. Riegels5 showed that if convection is not neglected, the velocity distribution around a cylindrical obstruction in the flow field depends on a Reynolds number, the plate spacing, and a dimension characteristic of the obstacle. Riegels&apos; solution, a perturbation solution, uses the boundary condition that the flow rate into the obstacle averaged over the plate gap at any point on the obstacle is zero. The method requires that a solution to Poisson&apos;s equation for the perturbation pressure be found. Riegels evaluated this solution for the case of the cylindrical obstruction. His method may be simplified by eliminating the need for solving Poisson&apos;s equation for the perturbation pressure. Instead, an analytic expression for the perturbation pressure gradient is obtained (valid for arbitrary shapes) and used to eliminate pressure from the equations for the perturbation velocities. The results show, for symmetrical shapes, that if NRe < 1, the convective acceleration terms are small, and that the average velocities represent ideal flow up to at least NRe = 3, where: L is a characteristic dimension of the obstacle perpendicular to flow, b is the plate spacing, u is viscosity, v, is velocity of approach and p is density. THEORY* Incompressible fluid flow through a Hele-Shaw model and a porous medium are analogous because the equations for the average velocity components in two-dimensional flow are identical if:

Jan 1, 1970

By W. R. Wilcox

The camphor-anthracene system was chosen as a transparent low-melting analog of the zirconium carbide -graphite system. Camphor and zirconium car -bide both grow nonfaceted, while casting of mixtures yields platelets of both anthracene and graphite. Zone melting of thin layers of organic was observed under the microscope. Irregular lamellar structures were produced at high values of the ratio of the temperature gradient G to the zoning rate V. The anthracene invariably led the camphor, indicating lower kinetic undercooling for the anthracene. The lamellar spacing was an order of magnitude greater than typical spacings for metal eutectic systems. Exact behavior depended on orientation of the anthracene. Oriented dendritic structures were produced at low values of G/V. Transient and oscillatory behavior were also observed—much of it unexpected. A.RC-CAST refractory carbide-graphite mixtures are promising thermal-shock resistant materials. Oriented structures of these materials would be superior to arc-cast materials for many applications. Mollard and Flemings1 and Cline2 have shown that aligned structures can be obtained for a wide range of Pb-Sn alloys. However, these metals both solidify in a nonfaceted manner while graphite yields platelets or flakes. In addition only small diameter samples of Pb-Sn alloys were produced because it was necessary to avoid free convection and to have high temperature gradients. The purpose of the present work was twofold: 1) To observe the solidification of a transparent low-melting analog of carbide-graphite systems and 2) to see if larger diameter samples can be produced. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE When zirconium carbide-graphite mixtures are cast, the resulting structure naturally depends on composition. Carbide-rich mixtures yield metal-like nonfaceted carbide dendrites in a eutectic matrix. Graphite-rich alloys have graphite platelets in a eutectic matrix. Empirically it was found that camphor-anthracene mixtures produce similar structures with camphor being nonfaceted and anthracene forming plates. The organic eutectic melted at 116°C and was composed of 78 wt pet camphor.3 The camphor used was U.S.P. grade from Fisher Scientific Company; the anthracene was 98+ pet fro Aldrich Chemical Co. The impurity content is judged to be on the order of 1 pet. Mixtures ranging from 50 to 88 wt pet camphor were employed for the experiments. All but one of the experiments were performed on the microscope-stage zone melting apparatus described in detail elsewhere.4 The organic mixtures were contained in horizontal cells made of microscope slides or cover glasses. In most of the cells the organic was present as a very thin layer, thus giving almost two-dimensional growth behavior. The cells were moved slowly under a heated wire, which caused a molten zone to move through the solid at rates ranging from 0.01 to 5.4 cm per hr. The temperature gradient was estimated before moving the zone by measuring the distance between the line where all solid was melted (freezing point) and that where solid first began to melt (eutectic temperature). The temperature gradient was found to be 465°C per cm in the thinnest cells used, which were made by pressing together two microscope cover slips in the organic melt and then rapidly withdrawing them. RESULTS The experimental results are described in four parts: simultaneous growth, dendritic growth, irregular growth, and transients and erratic phenomena. Steady state data are summarized in Fig. 1. Except where noted all comments are for the cells containing a thin layer of organic. A) Simultaneous Growth. Simultaneous and roughly parallel growth of anthracene and camphor was obtained over the full range of compositions investi-

Jan 1, 1970

By R. N. Thurston, E. A. Nesbitt, G. Y. Chin

A general relalionship between the amount of glide shear (due to slip) and the macroscopic shape change has been developed. Since the deformation can be large, finite strain analysis is employed. In this treatnzent, the shape change is expressed by a deformation gradient matrix, F - [axi/aXj1, where X and x refer to the initial and final positions of a particle. This matrix is readily evaluated in terms of the amounl of glide shear, a , and the direction cosines of the slip-plane normal and the slip direction for a single active slip system. In the case of deformation from slip on several systems, the product F(a) of the several deformation gradient matrices is first calculated. Then, by assuming that the final configuration is reached by a long series of small shears of magnitude a, occurring more or less alternately in the several slip sys- IN problems of crystal plasticity, it is often necessary to relate the amount of glide in the operating slip systems to the macroscopic strain components. This relationship is relatively simple when only small strains are considered. In this case the separate strain contributions from several slip systems are additive. Such a procedure is incorrect in the case of large plastic deformation. To the authors&apos; knowledge, no general treatment of the latter problem has appeared in the literature. In specific instances, Mark, Polanyi, and schmid3 have derived the relationship between glide and axial elongation during tensile pulling of a single crystal when only one slip system is active. A similar relationship for duplex slip was worked out by v. Goler and Sachs.4 Taylor and Elam5 have also studied in detail problems of large plastic deformation. Due to uncertainties as to the slip systems at the time, terns, the final deformation gradient matrix can be obtained. Mathematically, the problem is reduced to finding the limit of F(dN as N — m while a — 0 in such a way that the Product Na = 0, a ftnite conslant designatzng the accunzulated amount of shear. It turns out that this limit is simply , where F, is the matrix whose elements are the coefficients of a in the F(a) matix. Application is made of the present treatment to a fcc crystal of Perlrzalloy compressed on the (110) plane and contrained to elongate zn the [112] directzon. In addition, it is shown that one rnay readily obtain from the general analyszs the well-known formulas relating elongation, amount of glide shear, and amount of lattice rotation for crystals deforming by single and double slip under tension. however, they were mainly concerned with proving that slip occurs on {111}(110) systems in fcc metals. The present general treatment arose out of recent investigations of magnetic anisotropy in cold-worked Fe-Ni alloys6 as well as some related problems in strength anisotropy of single crystals.&apos; Detailed application of the general analysis will be provided in the case of a Permalloy single crystal compressed on the (110) plane and constrained to elongate only in the [112] direction. It will be seen that, as expected, the small strain approximation leads to significant errors after moderate straining. It will also be shown that the present general treatment yields the formulas of Mark et al. and of v. Goler and Sachs in those specific cases. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Consider a homogeneous deformation in which a material point initially at moves to both positions being referred to the same set of Cartesian axes. Such a deformation can be

Jan 1, 1967

By -1ng. B. Stampa

Introduction The author investigates the technology available for mine flow reversibility by reversing the operation of the main fans. Air bypassing, reversed sense of impeller rotation, and blade angle overturning are indentified as the most important means of achieving the flow reversibility. The axial flow fan is studied in some detail and the important variables of fan capacity, pressure, and efficiency are compared. Although some references to rotor velocity vectors are made (Fig. 1) the subject is not presented in detail in order to stay within the paper&apos;s intent. Background Where applicable, the requirements of mine air reversibility are an important part of the overall mining operation and should be given proper attention during mine ventilation design. The need for preventing mine fires in intake shafts is the reason that, for a long time, it has been a requirement in the Eastern European countries to have the feature of flow reversibility built into all main mine ventilators. In West German coal mines, this requirement does not apply since higher priority is given to safety precautions. Some metal and mineral mines in the United States are required to have ventilation currents readily reversible in order to fight underground fires as stipulated by the Title 30, Mineral Resources, and by the mining laws of some states. From an equipment performance standpoint, assuming the validity of other flow technical data, the question of the ventilator flow reversibility is of ten related to the actual scenario of the begining of an emergency. Most of the time, the system operates within half of the design capacity only and assuming that the equivalent mine orifice is stable only a quarter of the design pressure must be produced by the fan in any event. For such an operating point, the effective gradient and energy losses can be disregarded since fire emergencies usually last for only a short period of time. Equipment Comparison Fig. 2 depicts a ventilation arrangement wherein the flow can be reversed through changing the functional position of the dampers (slideplate or blade type). Both axial or radial fans can be applied in this case. For the mine exhaust operation, slide plates (guillotines) I and I11 are opened while plates I1 and IV are closed. The flow thus encounters two reroutings, which due to the reverse ventilation flow cannot be equipped with proper sheet metal deflectors, and therefore large pressure losses result during the air reroute operation. When the intake operation is considered, the dampers I and I11 are closed and the pair I1 and IV is opened. For this arrangement, almost the same flow conditions exist as for the foregoing exhaust mode; however, one additional corner must be applied. Even if a highly efficient ventilator is used in one of the previously described systems, the additional pressure losses resulting from air rerouting plus those encountered between the planes "0" and "00" significantly affect the overall energy requirements. Illustrated in Table 1 are the relative component losses of even flows for evaluation of various detour arrangements. From the aerodynamics standpoint, when these components are being designed, serious consideration must be given to the individual levels of the pressure loss coefficient, 5. Should there be an increase in the sum of the loss coefficients due to the particular component selection such that, for example, the net change is 1.2; the resulting pressure to be produced by the fan can be calculated from:

Jan 1, 1981

By A. J. Teplitz, J. K. Rodgers, E. M. Pohoriles

This note is presented in order to call attention to a newly developed laboratory apparatus that appears to have interesting possibilities for the study of lost circulation of the pressure-parting type, for a more realistic evaluation of sealing materials for this type of loss, and for investigation of other aspects of hydraulic fracturing. A study of lost circulation, conducted jointly by operating divisions of the Gulf Oil Corp. and the Gulf Research & Development Co., has been in progress for the past few years. Earlier phases of the study dealt with mechanical factors contributing to loss of returns in laminar type sediments.&apos; One aspect of this type of loss which has been widely discussed in the literature and elsewhere concerns the geometry of the fractures into which such losses occur. This subject is not merely a philosophical one, but has an important bearing on procedures for combating lost circulation difficulties and on other well operations. The further course of the collaborative studies previously mentioned has produced some information on this subject which, though limited in amount, is believed to be significant. In several typical cases of lost circulation in laminated shale and sand formations, the wells have been surveyed with instruments2,3 capable of detecting the points of loss with considerable accuracy. These wells were located in the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, in the Texas Panhandle, and in the Rocky Mountain area. In each of these instances the loss was shown to be occurring at some distance removed from the bottom of the hole and sharply confined to a very narrow interval, less than 1 ft in thickness. It is rather difficult to imagine that fractures of a vertical nature&apos; would be of the limited extent indicated by the surveys in these wells. Furthermore, the high rates of loss at relatively low pressure differentials observed in some of these instances together with the narrow intervals involved would appear to require the radial flow pattern which would be associated with a more or less horizontal fracture plane. In view of the foregoing observations and records of successful squeeze cementing operations, in attempting to construct a laboratory apparatus For simulating pressure induced lost circulation, it was decided that the design should be based on a horizontal type of fracture. It was realized that5,6 Vhe production of horizontal fractures in a formation with non-penetrating fluid requires some mechanism for transmitting vertical components of the hydraulic forces to the plane of parting. This was accomplished, as will be evident in the description of the apparatus that follows, by providing recesses in the wall of the borehole which are believed to be representative of wellbore configuration found in Gulf Coast wells. The possible influence of such borehole irregularities on both pressure fracturing and the treatment of lost circulation appears to have been neglected in many studies of these subjects. It is believed that the present apparatus, incorporating features that take into account some of the factors mentioned, will provide means of gaining a further understanding of pressure induced fracturing and possibly for more realistically evaluating the numerous sealing agents, particularly the non-time-setting materials employed in treating the pressure-parting type of loss. DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS The test cell used in the laboratory investigations is shown in Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of the entire system is shown in Fig. 2.

Jan 1, 1956