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By J. J. Hauser, H. C. Theuerer

A cathode sputtering technique is described which elin7inates the need for ultrahigh vacuum in preparing thin films of materials sensitive to gaseous impurities. This technique uses a fraction of the atoms sputtering within an anode container to getter actice gases, such as HzO, Oz, and Nz. The gases alzd gettering metal are deposited on the container walls, thus shielding the coating zone of the system from contamination. The use of the method for preparing superconducting-normal metal couples such as Ph-Cu and Ph-Pt is described, and the properties of the individual and composite films are given and discussed. GETTER sputtering is a method which greatly simplifies the preparation of thin films in cases where composition control is critical. A major difficulty with conventional sputtering and other vacuum-deposition techniques is the contamination of the forming film caused by residual gases, such as H20, CO, Oz, and Nz, in the coating equipment. The difficulty arises from the fact that even when the residual pressure in the system is as low as 1 x 10"6 Torr, with a deposition rate of 10A per sec, there are as many contaminating gas collisions with the substrate as there are with film-forming metallic atoms. It is not surprising, therefore, that with reactive metals, such as tantalum and niobium or with semiconductors, such as silicon and germanium, films with properties far different from the starting materials are obtained. In the case of niobium and tantalum, deposited either by sputtering or vacuum evaporation in systems with reactive gases at pressures of the order of 1 x l0-' Torr, the loss of superconductivity is traceable to interstial oxygen or nitrogen. On the other hand, working in vacuum of the order of 1 x l0-" Torr, Marchand and enema' have shown that superconducting films of tantalum with properties approaching those of bulk material are possible. At this level of gaseous impurities -lo6 metallic atoms arrive at the substrate before a contaminating collision occurs again assuming a deposition rate of 10A per sec. It is evident from the above that any successful vacuum technique requires the elimination of reactive gases from the region of the system where coating is occurring. Getter sputtering accomplishes this using conventional vacuum equipment with residual pressures in the 106 Torr range. In fact? vacuum systems with residual pressures of lo-" Torr are adequate for most purposes. With this method, sputtering is confined within an anode can and, by geometric design, sputtering itself is used to purify the argon at the lower and upper parts of the system by the gettering action of the reactive metal. In consequence, the central region of the system where coating occurs is shielded from gaseous contamination. Getter sputtering is particularly useful for the preparation of alloy and compound films. With this method, if a cathode of homogeneous composition is bombarded with high-energy argon ions, transfer of material to the substrate having the same composition as the cathode will occur. This is true after an initial equilibration time, even though the constituents of the cathode may have different sputtering rates. During equilibration, the surface of the cathode changes composition due to differences in sputtering rate, but mass conservation demands a steady-state condition such that the atoms sputtered from the surface have the same composition as the cathode material from which the surface is generated. GETTER-SPUTTERING APPARATUS The original form2 of the getter-sputtering apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of a closed nickel or stainless-steel can 4 in. tall and 2-3/8 in. in diameter. Mounted symmetrically from each end

Jan 1, 1965

By E. O. Fromm, R. I. Jaffee, R. M. Evans

IN connection with a research on gallium alloys, a method for the thermal analysis of very low melting alloys was developed, which appeared to be worthy of more than passing interest. As used, the method was suitable for work in the temperature range, — 72° to 250°C. However, with suitable adjustment, the method could be adapted for use over broader temperature ranges. The Rosenhain temperature gradient furnace,' adapted for low-temperature use, was the basis for the method. The gradient was set up in a stainless steel tube. The specimens were lowered through it at a constant rate while time-temperature or inverse rate data were taken. It was essential to maintain careful control of the top and bottom temperatures of the gradient. Also essential was good heat transfer from the walls to the specimen. This was accomplished by a liquid heat-transfer medium.

Jan 1, 1953

By George F. Weaton

Although an almost continuous campaign had been carried on by various experimenters since 1885 to find a commercial process of smelting zinc by electrothermic means, no commercial success was attained in the United States. The St. Joseph Lead Co., appreciating the theoretical possibilities of such a process, such as the ability to construct units of large capacity, quality control, and the possibility of treating complex and refractory ores, decided in 1926 that the process was worthy of further investigation, and in that year, at one of its southeast Missouri plants, began the development of the electrothermic zinc-smelting process according to the invention of the late Earl C. Gaskill. Late in 1929 the process reached a stage of commercial significance, and in 1930 the erection of a modern electrothermic zinc smelter was begun, at Josephtown, Beaver County, Pa. The site is 3 miles from Monaca, which is on the main line of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, and a spur of the railroad has been constructed to the plant site. The site borders upon the Ohio River, which is navigable for 600 to 800-ton barges. This district was selected for the plant after an economic survey involving such questions as cost and availability of electric power, reduction fuel, transportation facilities, and the transportation charges on raw and finished materials, labor conditions, and taxes. The initial unit of the plant was designed to treat daily 120 tons of 58 per cent zinc sulphide concentrates from the company's mines in St. Lawrence County, New York. The plant equipment is housed in seven modern steel-frame buildings, and includes: Roasting and Acid Plants 3000-ton concentrate storage. Two Nichols-Herreshoff 21 ft. 6-in. diameter, 12-hearth roasters with usual cast-iron airshaft supporting chromium-alloy rabble arms and rabbles. SO2 gas purification system consisting of: One double-compartment hot-dust Cottrell precipitator. Cast-iron sinuous air-contact gas cooler.

Jan 1, 1937

By R. F. Davis

The evaluation and selection of coals for producing metallurgical coke is indeed a complex process simply because coal is a complex and variable substance which is sensitive to how it is treated from the time it is mined until it is transformed into coke. A review of some of the more common evaluation tests made on coal and how the test results are applied in commercial practice should be of interest. Parameters used to select coking coal blends for wet and preheated charges should also be of interest.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. C. Griffiths, D. W. Bennion

A mathematical model, which does not assume a priori that stratification exists, but was designed to test for the stratification was developed. The model segmented the reservoir horizontally into areas of common variance, then divided it vertically into strata (if strata were present). Next, trend surface techniques were used to determine the lateral extent and variation of each stratum. The model was tested on two reservoirs (sandstone and limestone) using porosity as the reservoir rock property. The sandstone reservoir contained approximately 60,000 samples from 2,000 cored wells, while the limestone reservoir had approximately 24,000 samples from 430 cored wells. Within the areas of common variance tested, the model was able to distinguish four separate lithological units or zones in the sandstone reservoir, four in the Marly section and seven in the Vuggy section of the limestone reservoir. INTRODUCTION To accurately predict the movement and production of fluids from a reservoir rock, it is necessary that the reservoir engineer have a knowledge of the rock properties and their distribution throughout the reservoir. For this study, a reservoir rock is defined as a solid containing interconnecting holes or voids which occur relatively frequently and are dispersed within the rock in a regular or random manner. The fraction of bulk volume that these interconnecting voids occupy is called porosity. The rock must also possess sufficient permeability to allow fluids to move through it and it may be composed of one or more strata or lithological units. A stratum or lithological unit as defined in this study is a body or volume of reservoir rock whose properties are so distributed that its lateral and vertical extent can be traced throughout or through a portion of the reservoir. Operationally, the existence of strata are question- able unless the variance within strata is less than among strata. Within the past few years computers have been widely used as a tool for calculating movement and production of fluids from reservoirs. Most prediction models require some type of a mathematical description of certain reservoir rock properties. In the past, most of these models have been relatively simple. Some have assumed vertical variation but no lateral variation, while others have assumed lateral variation but no vertical variation. In general, most of these models have not used functional relationships to predict reservoir rock properties as functions of position. The object of this study was to develop a model which would predict lateral and vertical variations of reservoir rock properties. Since samples are usually available from only a small portion of the total reservoir rock, it seemed logical that if measurements from these samples were to be used to infer the properties of the actual reservoir, the data should be treated statistically as a sample from the total population (reservoir). Therefore, the model developed in this study to predict reservoir rock properties was a stochastic model. The model was tested using porosity (a macroscopic reservoir rock property) measurements from two reservoirs — the first, a sandstone reservoir from which 60,000 samples were obtained; and the second, a limestone reservoir with 24,000 samples. Several investigators have proposed methods to determine the vertical and areal variation of a reservoir rock property. Stiles: Dykstra and Parsons 2 and Suder and Calhoun3 have all developed waterflooding prediction techniques which assume vertical variation but no lateral variation. Stiles developed a method to segment a reservoir arbitrarily using frequency distribution. Law4 suggested that porosity has a normal frequency distribution and that permeability has a log-normal frequency distribution. Elkins and Skov 5 proposed that when a reservoir is segmented vertically, the

Jan 1, 1967

By Joseph Mac Donald

Stripped of its romantic possibilities, mining is a commercial business, carried on for the profit there is in it; and the business of the manager, in its ultimate analysis, is to make the profit as large as possible. The general manager of a mining company should keep himself personally familiar with all the details of its operations. If he fails to do so, chaos results, labor becomes inefficient, costs go up, and profits go down. Nowhere is this emphasized more than in Mexico. If the mining operations are extensive and complex, involving, besides the work of mining the ore, its transportation and treatment by various milling operations, and the marketing of the products, the business, to be carried on properly, must be

Jan 1, 1909

By Richard Moldenke

AmonG the things that will always remain to the credit of the foundry-industry is the circumstance that nearly all the research-work of practical value in daily routine was done by active foundrymen, and the results were freely given by them to the world. Moreover, while consumers felt that to them was due a more systematic and exact method of work, the foundry-men again were the first to act in the establishment of specifications under which their product should be sold. To come to more recent times, the American Foundrymen's Association has not only made an elaborate series of tests on cast-iron, and adopted tentative specifications based upon them, but, in addition, it has urged the International Association for Testing Materials, through its American representatives, to make the testing and specification of cast-iron a distinct issue. The half-hearted support first granted was greatly augmented by the rapidly-growing recognition accorded to the enormous iron-casting industry; and when the president of the American Society for Testing Materials was instructed to ask for a special commission for this purpose, Europe was ready to cooperate. During the Buda-Pesth congress, at, which America was represented by Prof. Howe, Mr. Wood and myself, it was decided to add five members to the general committee on steel and iron, whose special duty should be to conserve the interests of the cast-iron branch of the industry. America took up the work at once, and enlarged its committee to 67 members, all of whom were actively concerned in the manufacture or study of cast-iron in all of its branches. At the organization-meeting in Philadelphia, April 25, 1903, Mr. Walter Wood was elected chairman, and myself secretary; and, within a week thereafter, the sub-committees were appointed and became active at once. The scope of the work was naturally limited to those branches of the iron-casting in-

Jan 1, 1905

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Graduate mining engineer, with 10 years' experience, having an office in New York, would like to represent a mining company as selling and purchasing agent, and general supervision if desired. Machinery agency considered. No. 259. Member, technical graduate, with several years' experience as engineer for a pyrites company, and as geologist and engineer for copper, nickel, and silver companies, desires a position as engineer or superintendent of mines. No. 260. Member, technical graduate, aged 29, with experience as draftsman, surveyor, and superintendent of iron and gold mines, and as construction engineer, is open for a position as mine superintendent, or in mine examination or construction. No. 261.

Jan 11, 1915

By W. F. Shinners

Ozark Ore Co.'s Iron Mountain mine utilizes optimum mechanization to provide ever increasing output from underground as production declines from open pit. Trackless equipment gave flexibility to meet varied mining conditions-required minimum of pre-production development.

Jan 4, 1953

By J. A. Clum, R. W. Heins, T. D. Tiemann

The use of Na-montmorillonite clay hinders (Western Bentonite) in the pelletizing of iron ore concentrates is well established as is the idea that alternative binders must be found. 1-6 This note summarizes work done7 in evaluating a Wisconsin montmorillonite clay binder. The clay occurs in irregualr beds overlying the Prairie du Chien Dolomite and the St. Peters Sandstone near Hersey, St. Croix County. The raw Wisconsin clay contained 65% quartz and 35% clay minerals. The Na20to CaO ratio was 0.234. Suspension viscosity tests of the raw clay gave results only slightly better than water alone, even after treatment with activator materials. Sedimentation treatment reduced the quartz in the decantate to 5% after 240 min (four hours). Twenty minutes of sedimentation produced a decantate with 27.5% quartz which was found as effective as the 5% quartz decantate in pelletizing behavior. The 20 min decantate was used in subsequent tests. The decantate was filtered and dried at 110°(230°F). The minus 200 mesh portion of this was added directly to the magnetite concentrate. Pellets were made in a laboratory sized disc pelletizer from pastes consisting of ore concentrate, balling water (9%) and binder (clay, or clay + resins, or resins). The pastes were premixed in a Waring blender. The binders were: (1) 1% of a commercially used Western Bentonite; (2) 1 % or 3% of the Wisconsin clay (raw, or 20 min decantate); (3) 20 min decantate washed with activator solutions, (to exchange Na for Ca in the clay); (4) decantate with activator added in the balling water; (5) decantate with organic resins; (6) organic resins. Measurements of the 0.46 m (18 in.) Green Drop Number, the Dry Strength and the Fired Strength (fired at 1260°C (2300°F) for 30 min) were made. The dry and fired compressive strengths were determined on an Instron testing machine using a C-load cell and a F-load cell, respectively. The cross-head speed was 0.004 m/sec (0.1 in./min) for both. The results of each measurement were averaged for 15 pellets. A summary of those results is presented in [Table 1]. More detailed results and procedures are presented in another report.7 In addition to the effects on pellet strength due to various binders the effect of varying magnetite concentrate characteristics is noted in [Table l]. There, a few comparative data are shown for Cornwall, PA Magnetite, which has a generally liner particle size than the Black River Falls magnetite which was used for most of the tests.

Jan 1, 1979

By J. H. Wernick

IN a study of the rate of decomposition of %-in. cubes of limestone, dolomitic limestone, and dolomite in a sweeping nitrogen atmosphere, Joseph, Beatty, and Bitsianes' found that the zone of calcination advanced at substantially a constant rate at a given temperature. The purpose of this paper is to show that their data indicate at least two processes occurring when the above carbonates decompose. It is suggested that there are two processes occurring consecutively, one the limiting process in a given temperature range and the other the limiting process over another temperature range. The data of Joseph and co-workers have been extended by use of the Arrhenius equation, Eq. 1, a relation beween the velocity constant k of a reaction and the absolute temperature T. d In k A ' dT Rr2 A is the activation energy in calories per mol (additional energy that must be added for an average molecule to react), and R is equal to 1.986 cal

Jan 1, 1955

By O. N. Cole, R. E. Davis, T. D. Brotherton

Pvfoperties of rubidium and cesium are compared with those of other alkali metals. Methods for the preparation of rubidium and cesium metal are reviewed briefly, ad hazards and safety precautions required in handling rubidium and cesium metal are described. SimPle methods for handling laboratory quantities of elemental rubidium ad cesium under oil and under argon are illustrated. CESIUM and rubidium were both discovered by Bunsen and Kirchoff in the years 1860 and 1861. Cesium was discovered while Bunsen and Kirchoff were making a spectrographic study of spring water from Durkheim, Germany. It was the first element discovered by this technique. The element was given the Latin name "caesius" for sky blue because of the color it imparted to flames. Elemental cesium was first prepared by Setterberg in 1881 through electrolysis of a molten mixture of cesium and barium cyanides.' In 1861, Bunsen and Mirchoff discovered rubidium while making a spectrographic study of the alkali content of lepidolite ore from Saxony. Two prominent dark red lines appeared in the spectrum and so the element was named "rubidius" or dark red. In 1861 Bunsen and Kirchoff first prepared elemental rubidium through the electrolysis of molten rubidium chl~ride.~ The alkali metals are very similar in their chemical and physical properties. They are the most active metals, and all exhibit a single oxidation state of one. They are so reactive that they are never found in nature in the elemental state. The reactivity of he metals increases with atomic number. Rubidiurn and cesium ignite spontaneously in air and react explosively with water. This extreme reactivity makes necessary special equipment and techniques for the safe preparation and use of the metals. The cation: of Group IA can be separated from the metallic cations of other groups with relative ease, but the separation of the individual alkali cations is much more difficult because of their close chemical similarity. This close chemical and physical similarity of alkali metals can be inferred from the atomic radii, oxidation numbers, and ioni-zation potentials shown in Table I. A difficult but the most practical physical method of separating the elemental alkali metals from one another is by distillation. Only lithium has a boiling point sufficiently far-removed from the boiling points of the other alkali metals to make this method of separation feasible without elaborate and expensive equipment. This method is not used, however, for lithium because it possesses sufficient chemical dissimilarity from the other alkalies for it to be separated relatively easily as lithium hydroxide monohydrate or as lithium carbonate. Francium, the last member of the group, has no known stable isotopes. The naturally occurring

Jan 1, 1962

[OH. O'C. Acker '86 Jinzoc Adachi '88 *Truman H. Aldrich '78 Walter H. Aldridge '89 *Anson W. Allen '87 *John H. Allen '84 *Thomas Andrews '94 *William R. Appleby'90 *W. Lawrence Austin '82 . S. Ayres'73]

Jan 1, 1946

By Walter C. Labys

INTRODUCTION Interest in multicommodity stabilization schemes has increased recently for several reasons, a most important one being the experienced wide swings in primary commodity prices. These prices rose sharply between mid - 1972 and end - 1974 giving commodity exporting countries an opportunity to gain sizeable increases in export earnings. But since then, prices have tumbled and these countries are searching for a means to stabilize if not to increase their earnings. While this problem is particularly serious for developing countries, the developed countries are concerned about the impending upward price swing, which would increase inflation before recovery from the world recession is assured. As a direct consequence of the emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly devoted to commodity problems in April of 1974, interest has been renewed in the Keynesian (4) plan for an international multicommodity buffer stock program. In particular, UNCTAD (8) is designing an integrated commodity scheme to be discussed within that body. In terms of approaches that have appeared in designing such a program, none exist which relate to the interpretation of the independence and interdependence of prices of the commodities of interest. Typical criteria for selecting commodities for the scheme have included their importance in world trade, their particular origin from developing countries, and their feasibility for storage. But the financial management of a multicommodity buffer stock requires a consideration of commodity prices, yields, and risks as does as any portfolio of assets. The approach which we take in this study is that of application

Jan 1, 1977

By K. B. McQuillin

The increasing volume of data produced by the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, Limited, during the course of coal exploration prompted the establishment of a computer based processing system for coal data. This system, known as the Coal Mine Evaluation System, consists of geological, mine planning and financial evaluation sub-systems. This paper describes the use of the geological sub-system in assessing the surface mine potential of a portion of the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa, in which more than one thousand core boreholes have been drilled to date.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. E. Lawver, B. J. Clingan, R. E. Snow

Response surface methodology is a well-known and powerful technique for determining optimum conditions in flotation systems. One disadvantage is the onerous task of the numerical calculations and curve plotting. This paper describes a system in which the investigator simply selects the range of several flotation variables after which the design of the experiment, data analysis, generation of response surface equations, and response surface plots are automatically carried out using a digital computer and a computer-driven curve plotter. Several typical response surfaces of important variables in phosphate flotation are presented as examples.

Jan 8, 1979

The next meeting of the Institute, the 113th meeting, will he held in Arizona in the latter part of September, 1916. All papers to be presented at this meeting must be published in the September Bulletin or previously. Manuscripts must, therefore, be in the hands of the Secretary of the Institute not later than July 1. In case manuscripts are given by authors to members of technical committees, or others, they must be in the hands of such persons sufficiently in advance so that they may be actually in the hands of the Secretary of the Institute by the date mentioned. In the past, the Secretary has received urgent requests for special consideration regarding manuscripts that come in after the closing date. In view of the obvious unfairness of this, the Committee on Papers and Publications has instructed the Secretary not to accept for presentation at the Arizona Meeting any papers received later than July 1, 1916.

Jan 4, 1916

By W. F. Tanner

A river delivers a given load of sand, and hence heavy materials, into the sea. The load is fixed by drainage basin characteristics and processes. Wave energy available for redistributing that load is fixed in an entirely different way. An equilibrium diagram of these two parameters (load vs energy) pennits a tentative prediction of what will happen to the heavy minerals. Alluvial rivers transport a mechanical load which consists essentially of wash load (finer than about 0.05 mm in particle diam), bed load (coarser than about 0.10 mm) and the transition sizes in between. A few rivers carry no appreciable mechanical load, and are excluded from this discussion. An example of the latter is the Suwannee River of Florida, which empties across an oyster bar into the Gulf of Mexico and does not build a delta despite the absence of significant waves or currents in that part of the Gulf. An alluvial river may deliver its load into a protected sediment trap (such as an estuary, sound or lagoon), onto a low-energy coast (where it builds a delta) or onto a high-energy coast (from which spot the river load is swept away). The nature and disposition of the load depends, obviously, on three sets of factors: 1) drainage basin characteristics and processes, which determine quantity and make-up of the load; 2) coastal structure and geomorphology, which determine the kind of river-sea coupling which

Jan 1, 1962

By R. M. Keeney

Before the outbreak of the war in 1914, the only electric-furnace smelting plant operating on a commercial basis west of the Mississippi River was an electric pig-iron plant in California; rare metal ores were not smelted, concentrates of molybdenum, tungsten, uranium, and vanadium ores being shipped East for reduction. Practically no chrome ore was being mined, and only comparatively small amounts of manganese ore. Today there are two electric smelting plants in California, one in Washington, one in lowa, and four in Colorado; two plants are under construction in California, and one in Montana. Ores of manganese, chromium, molybdenum and tungsten are now smelted in the West, and although uranium and vanadium concentrates are still shipped to the East, they will probably be treated in western plants in a short time. The four electric-furnace plants in Colorado are listed in Table 1. Table 1.—Electric Smelting Plants in Colorado Capacity. Company Location KilowattB PRoductS Tungsten Products Co........... Boulder 800 Ferrotungsten, ferromo- lybdenum. Boulder Tungsten Production Co .. Boulder 400 Ferrotungsten. Ferro Alloy Co.................. Utah Junction 1200 Ferrochrome, ferrotung- sten. Iron Mountain Alloy Co......... Utah Junction 3000 Ferromanganese. Power for all of these plants is supplied by the Colorado Power Co. The plant of the Ferro Alloy Co., at Utah Junction, contains one 750-kw., three-phase furnace, to which power is supplied by three 250-lrw. transformers, connected /Y to give 129 volts on the furnace cables, the transformer ratio being 13,200 to 75 volts. The furnace operates with an actual voltage of 120 volts, and produces about 3 tons of ferrochrome per 24 hr. from 40-per cent. Cr2O3 ore. The furnace consists of a steel shell of circular cross-section, 8 ft. (2.43 m.) in diameter by 7 ft. (2.13 m.) deep, lined with magnesite, and having three vertical carbon electrodes 12 in. (30.48 cm.) in diameter. A 450-kw. furnace, of the same size as the 750-kw. furnace, is also operated on chrome ore. This furnace is three-phase in appearance, but operates electrically as a single-phase furnace. There are three vertical

Jan 1, 1920

Established as a Division September 27, 1949 LeRoy Scharon, Chairman C. M. Cooley, Secretary 29 West 39th Street New York 18, N Y

Jan 1, 1952