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By ELIHU THOMSON

IN 1877, Professor Thomson delivered at the Franklin Institute, [Philadelphia, five lectures on electricity. The object of the lectures and the demonstrations, which were numerous and many of them original even to the employment of special apparatus constructed by the lecturer, was to show clearly that electricity, of whatever name, was the same., differing only in tension (as it was termed) and in the current flowing, or quantity (the old term), in steadiness or in wave-like character. In those days, the textbooks divided the subject into statical and dynamic electricity, with sub-divisions such as frictional electricity, voltaic electricity, magneto electricity, electromagnetism, thermo electricity, and animal electricity. The well-known Ruhmkorff coil,' or spark coil as it is now called (as when used for the ignition of automobiles), was employed to step, up a battery current to a high-tension discharge which would charge condensers, such as Leyden jars.

Jan 1, 1921

By William R. Rumbold

WHEN I was in South Africa during the latter part of 1904, there were three known tin-fields, which may be called the Cape Town, the Bushveld and the Swaziland fields. THE. CAPE TOWN TIN-FIELD. This district is situated near Kuils river, 20 miles west of Cape Town, and 5 miles from Kuils River station on the Cape Town & Stellenbosch Railway. The deposits are in granite, intrusive in the Malmesbury beds, which are supposed to be of Silurian or Cambrian age. The granite, resisting denudation better than the surrounding shales,, has formed low-lying hills, the highest of which, the Bottlelary Berg, is 1,510 ft. above sea-level. , The rock consists of quartz, orthoclase feldspar and biotite mica; tourmaline is also present. The feldspar occurs in large crystals. The rock is generally decomposed on the surface, and the decomposition sometimes extends as deep as 100 ft. This formation-granite intrusive in Silurian shales-extends for many miles to the northeast, but so far as I know the Kuils River deposits are the only ones now known to occur in it, though probably further prospecting will reveal other deposits. This particular discovery was accidental;. alluvial tin being found in the course of boring for oil. The Kuils River Deposit. This comprises both lode and alluvial tin. The lode strikes N. and S., and dips about 30° E. into the hill. It is 5 ft. wide, and composed of dense white quartz, in which pinkish-gray cassiterite is distributed in large crystals. The vein also contains considerable quantities of wolfram. Fig. 1 is a rough plan of the relative positions of the lode and the alluvial deposit, the latter, as shown, following the course of a stream, while the lode crops out on the hillside

Jan 7, 1908

COMMITTEES Committee on Arrangements DAVID H. BROWNE, Chairman BRADLEY STOUGHTON, Vice-Chairman LAWRENCE ADDICKS BURR A. ROBINSON PERCY E. BARBOUR E. MALTBY SHIPP GEORGE D. BARRON JOSEPH STRUTHERS J. V. N.. DORR E. B. STURGIS J. R.. FINLAY T. T. READ Louis D. HUNTOON R. H. VAIL

Jan 4, 1916

By H. M. Chance

Within the last 10 years the subject of mine taxation in its relation to coal-mining interests has come to have growing importance, not only to those engaged in the mining of coal, but also to the owners of land underlain by coal.

Jan 1, 1915

By R. D. Carnahan, J. E. White

ThE use of strain gages in the measurement of microplastic behavior of materials is well-known.'-3 Recently it has been suggested that similar techniques might be useful for determining stress relaation. It is the purpose of this report to comment on the use of strain gages in the measurement of strains in the vicinity of 10"6. We will also discuss observations of an anomalous anelastic behavior apparently associated with small temperature changes, which accompanies the unload portion of a load-unload microstrain test. The key to successful strain determinations at levels below 1 pin. per in. is a good gage-mounting technique and either precise ambient temperature control or a set of matched temperature-compensated gages. The importance of good mounting cannot be overemphasized, for example, as in the use of Eastman 910 contact cement. If the cement layer is not sufficiently thin and properly hardened, it is possible to observe anomalous negative stresses when small loads are removed, which relax back to zero in an orderly way with time. Such anomalous behavior, thought to be due to gage bonding, has been reported in microstrain experiments by Thomas and verbach' who observed a negative strain of -3 X lo-' upon unloading. This kind of behavior severely limits the over-all strain sensitivity which can be achieved in such tests. The relaxation of a small positive strain subsequent to unloading in a load-unload experiment is quite normal, however, and is to be expected. The occurrence of an apparent negative strain is also encountered in those instances where the elasticity of the bonding cement is exceeded—for example 0.5 pct or 5000 pin. for cured Eastman 910. An elastic strain of this magnitude can be encountered during load-unload type testing particularly in higher-strength materials (-150,000 yield strength). During the course of microplasticity studies on pure nickel and nickel alloys,' the authors have made the following observation. In a four-point bending test, two active gages are mounted one on each side of the beam as arms R1 and R z of a conventional strain-gage bridge circuit shown in Fig. l(a). This technique provides two advantages: the sensitivity is doubled because R1 and Rz experience opposite strains and temperature compensation is provided automatically because any ambient temperature change would cause both gages to see a strain of like sign whose signals would cancel in the circuit.

Jan 1, 1964

By C. S. Sivaramakrishnan, Manjit Singh, Rajendra Kumar

Regarding liquid nzetals structurally as a suspm-sion of clusters , having derivated solid-state coordination, in truly liquid atoms, the recently developed Kuvlar-Samarin technique of centrifuging- in liquid state enabled the determination of the cluster sizes inAl-Cu mid Pb-Sn systems. It is shown that the colutne fraction of the clusters does not exceed 9 pct and the energy of their formation in Al-Cu is about 5.5 kcal per g-atom and in Pb-Sn eutectic alloys about 25 kcal per y-atoni. STRUCTURAL investigations of liquid state have principally followed the following three courses: i) studies with X-ray, electron, or neutron diffraction; these investigations have shown that there is a certain amount of regularity in the structure of liquid metals which can be defined by a coordination number and that the structure is a derived function of that in the solid state; ii) thermodynamical investigations which are based on the concept of ideal behavior; these describe the liquid state in terms of free-energy values and other thermodynamic functions; although these investigations are of help in the study of the general effects of alloying, they do not provide any structural insight into the precise atomic distribution in liquid state; iii) measurements of surface tension and viscosity; although it is natural to expect that the viscosity is related to the structure in liquid state, these investigations have so far only provided information which can be used by the foundry technologists and has been little utilized in formulating models of the structure of liquid state. As it happens, investigators in the three groups have worked almost independently of each other and there is practically no structural correlation between the results of one group with those of another. The purpose of the present paper is to indicate that the experimentally measured parameters of these three groups of research are closely related to the structure in the liquid state. STRUCTURE OF LIQUID METALS Although atomic distribution in solid and gaseous states is rigorously known, that of the liquid state is only appreciated on the fringes. There is no universal model of atomic distribution in liquid state, but two diverse models are at present hotly contested. The first, largely expounded by ~ildebrand,' regards the liquids as condensed gas since many of their properties and much of their behavior can be adequately described by regarding them as fluids. The second mode12j3 considers that some form of near-solid as- sociation of large number of atoms exists in the liquid state. On the other hand, ~ernal' was able to predict rather precisely the radial distribution functions in liquids on the basis of statistical geometric approach which considered that liquids are "homogeneous, coherent, and essentially irregular assemblage of molecules containing no crystalline regions or holes large enough to admit another molecule". He introduced the concept of pseudonuclei in the otherwise random structure as aggregates of closely packed tetrahedra which gradually merge into irregularity and continually replace each other. To what extent the pseudonuclei can be regarded as regions of near-solid association is indefinite but Bernal suggested that the concept of pseudonuclei can be compromised with the latter model if the near-solid associations are regarded as extremely dense and not necessarily crystalline. The difficulty in projecting the structure of liquid metals arises because they exhibit duplicity of character as some of their properties are closer to those of crystalline solids and others to fluids. There is an increasing tendency to discuss the structure of liquid metals in terms of the second concept according to which the structure of liquid metals may be conceived as consisting of i) clusters of atoms where the aggregation is a close derivative of that in the crystalline state, ii) individual atoms which behave like true liquids in respect to degrees of freedom and iii) excess number of vacancies. It is noteworthy that the introduction of only 5 pct vacancies is sufficient to transform crystalline matter into the liquid state. At any instant of time thermodynamic equilibrium exists between i, ii, and iii, but the relative proportion of the clusters and random atoms is not known. That this is so can be appreciated by the fact that, when liquid metal is rapidly cooled, liquid state vacancies may condense in the form of dislocation loops and vacancies in excess of their equilibrium number in solid state. These dislocation loops have been observed in thin foils of aluminum prepared from rapid cooled aluminum. As temperature increases above melting point the number and volume fraction of clusters decrease but those of vacancies and random atoms increase. Clusters are transient in nature. In pure metals the cluster is an aggregation of the metal itself. In alloys, however, the nature of the cluster largely depends on the interaction between solvent and solute atoms. If the interaction between unlike atoms is greater than between like atoms: the clusters are then aggregates of unlike atoms. Examples of this kind of system are A1-Cu, Mg-Pb, and so forth, i.e., systems which exhibit negative departures from the Raoult's law. In systems where the interaction between unlike atoms is smaller than be-

Jan 1, 1968

By C. E. Nelson

THE purpose of this discussion is to outline briefly the practices commonly followed in this country for the melting and refining of magnesium and its alloys. The processes used for the various forms of primary magnesium, as far as there are differences in the physical shape or behavior, will be discussed. The refining of general fine scrap or secondary magnesium was presented in an earlier paper.1 Inasmuch as the use of fluxes is an essential part of all the melting and refining processes, the principal aim of this paper will be to deal with these in sufficient detail to point out their unique characteristics, in order to make their use more effective. TYPES OF MELTING PRACTICE All melting and refining processes for magnesium and its alloys require the use of fluxes. These fluxes have a magnesium chloride base and other halide salts or oxides are added to give a density or behavior exactly suited to the particular melting practice. The successful handling of magnesium depends upon the proper use of the correct fluxes. There are four general methods of melting, summarized in the following paragraphs and treated in more detail in the section on Melting and Refining. Open-pot Method The open-pot method makes use of No. 230 flux.* The flux provides protection during melting and a molten pool of flux into which the solid magnesium melts. It is stirred through the molten metal bath and agglomerates oxide or similar foreign bodies; then on quiet standing separates away, leaving the refined metal ball floating in an encircling layer of molten flux. It forms only a thin fluid film over the surface of the molten metal, which may be parted for hand-ladling processes and tends to cover the metal again after the ladle is removed. A very light dusting of the pot surface with fresh flux immediately after the ladle is removed is usually desirable. The open-pot method is used generally in the following processes: (I) alloying and secondary smelting in the production of ingot, (2) in sand foundries for premelting and to a smaller extent for the production of small castings requiring hand ladling, (3) in permanent-mold founding for premelting and also direct ladling to castings, (4) for continuous methods of preparing metal in the production of billets or ingots from which wrought products are fabricated, (5) in general scrap recovery. Crucible Process The crucible process makes use of No. 310 flux, which has the property of being thinly fluid at the start, to provide protec-

Jan 1, 1944

By Reno H. Sales

The present-day application of geological knowledge to mine operations owes much to Survey activities. Early publications covering developed deposits at Comstock and Eureka in Nevada, and Leadville in Colorado, aroused great interest in mine geology among mine owners and operators. In later years personal contacts between Survey geologists, notably Lindgren, Spurr, Emmons, Weed, and Ransome, to name only a few, and mine managers, mine superintendents and mine foremen, brought directly home the importance of geological mapping and study in connection with mine operations. However, the Survey had recognized from the beginning that it was not practicable, either from the viewpoint of cost or policy, to supply direct help to the miner. The situation was met by many large mining companies through the organization of geological departments to deal with problems of geology which concerned not alone the every-day mine operation but also the life expectancy of the ore deposit. The mine owner therefore looked to the mine geologist to apply the "laws of ore deposition" in estimating the future of his mine. The examination of outside properties also became a duty of the company geologist where replacements were needed or where expansion of operations was contemplated. And finally, out of this situation there developed the independent consulting geologist, specializing in geological examinations of prospects, mines, and mining districts, whose duties included the highly important but often difficult task of appraising ore reserves and ore possibilities. Thus, while it may be considered by many that the work of the mine geologist overlaps that of the Survey geologist, their respective fields of endeavor are not in conflict. The appearance of the mine geologist has lessened in no manner the need of intensive field and research work by the Geological Survey and related organizations.

Jan 1, 1935

By Reno H. Sales

The present-day application of geological knowledge to mine operations owes much to Survey activities. Early publications covering developed deposits at Comstock and Eureka in Nevada, and Leadville in Colorado, aroused great interest in mine geology among mine owners and operators. In later years personal contacts between Survey geologists, notably Lindgren, Spurr, Emmons, Weed, and Ransome, to name only a few, and mine managers, mine superintendents and mine foremen, brought directly home the importance of geological mapping and study in connection with mine operations. However, the Survey had recognized from the beginning that it was not practicable, either from the viewpoint of cost or policy, to supply direct help to the miner. The situation was met by many large mining companies through the organization of geological departments to deal with problems of geology which concerned not alone the every-day mine operation but also the life expectancy of the ore deposit. The mine owner therefore looked to the mine geologist to apply the "laws of ore deposition" in estimating the future of his mine. The examination of outside properties also became a duty of the company geologist where replacements were needed or where expansion of operations was contemplated. And finally, out of this situation there developed the independent consulting geologist, specializing in geological examinations of prospects, mines, and mining districts, whose duties included the highly important but often difficult task of appraising ore reserves and ore possibilities. Thus, while it may be considered by many that the work of the mine geologist overlaps that of the Survey geologist, their respective fields of endeavor are not in conflict. The appearance of the mine geologist has lessened in no manner the need of intensive field and research work by the Geological Survey and related organizations.

Jan 1, 1935

By O. E. Kiessling

THE Committee-on Production Control, at its meeting held during the last annual session in February, 1930, evidenced great interest in problems of stabilization affecting all mineral industries. . No immediate program of activity for the Committee as a- unit was decided on, however,, and efforts during the past pear have consisted lirgely of further stressing the economic aspects of mineral production and of the action by committee members, :.serving in their individual capacities, in sponsoring constructive changes, in specific, industries. Of greatest interest to the general subject of production control in 1930 was the very definite advance toward better coordination of demand and supply in the petroleum industry. Furthermore, since opinion both within and without the oil industry now favors a constructive program, and with a gradual change in legal precedents, it seems not unreasonable to expect greater progress in the near future.

Jan 1, 1931

By Cyril S., Smith

THE phenomenon of air-hardening is well known in connection with special steels. It occurs when the rate of decomposition of austenite to marten- site is so retarded that it takes place on free cooling in air rather than on more rapid cooling in a quenching bath. If an air-hardening steel is quenched sufficiently rapidly it will remain in the soft austenitic state, while if it is cooled very slowly it will again become soft owing to growth of the carbide particles. It depends on a critical adjustment of the decomposition velocity and diffusion rate, and such alloys are rather rare, especially in the non-ferrous field. In carrying out some experiments on some copper- rich copper-cobalt alloys, the author found that these possess very marked air-hardening properties. The alloys are covered by a patent issued to M. G. Corson (1,723,022-1919), which states that an alloy containing between 2 and 5 per cent cobalt is hardened by simple quenching from above 850° C.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. W. Highriter

THE method developed and used in this laboratory for the production of metallic uranium of such purity that it is ductile and can be cold-worked to fine wire or thin sheet by rolling has already been described1. It consists, briefly, in the electrolysis of potassium uranous fluoride (KUF5) in a molten bath composed of equal parts of sodium and calcium chlorides. The bath is contained in a graphite crucible, electrically heated to about 775° C., the crucible serving as the anode for electrolysis. The uranium deposits in finely divided form mixed with salts upon a molybdenum cathode suspended axially in the crucible. Upon com-pletion of the electrolysis the cathode is removed and cooled, the deposit broken and leached to remove salts. The metal powder is washed with water and dilute acetic acid and dried in vacuo to reduce oxidation. Suitable amounts are then pressed into pellets and heated in vacuo by high-frequency induction, using a thoria crucible. The uranium melts and flows away from the pellet, leaving a shell, which is largely oxide. In general, this method produced a satisfactory metal, although at times the uranium was not ductile. The investigations recorded here were made to find the cause of this embrittlement. It was known that the metal generally contained carbon, derived from disintegration of the graphite crucible in which electrolysis is conducted, in amounts dependent upon the thoroughness of washing the metal powder. Accordingly, analyses of several samples, both ductile and brittle, were made by combustion and absorption of C02 in Ascarite, using air instead of oxygen to reduce the temperature and rate of oxida-tion. Several of these metals were made with special precautions to reduce carbon content. The results show no relationship between ductility and carbon content in the range investigated (Table 1).

Jan 1, 1935

By G. E. Kedzie

The ore-deposits of ail that portion of the San Juan country within the borders of Ouray County are either in the tertiary ernptives or, confined to a relatively narrow zone, in the sedimentary beds just beneath them. The ore-deposits in the igneous formation

Jan 1, 1888

By Charles M. Packer, Oleg D. Sherby, Roy H. Johnson

Originally round tensile specimens of a eutectic Zn-A1 alloy develop elliptical cross sections during superplastic deformation. This observation, coupled with a detailed study of the microstructure and preferred orieniation, suggests that crystallographic slip and continuous grain boundary migration or re-crystallization are important processes during super-plastic deformation. In spite of the extensive activity in superplasticity1-15 and the numerous explanations proposed, no single model has had universal acceptance. It has been established, however, that the general requirements for superplastic extension of two-phase alloys include an extremely fine, stabilized grain size of the order of a few microns, a temperature about equal to or greater than one-half the melting point, a critical range of strain rate, and a similarity in the mechanical strength of the major phases. The proposed models can perhaps best be characterized in terms of the important phenomena associated with them. These phenomena include: phase instability,1 diffusional creep by volume diffusion3 or grain boundary diffusion4,5 slip and continuous grain boundary migration or recrystalliza-tion,= grain boundary Sliding,7-9,13,14 and dislocation glide.'5 In this paper, experimental observations will be reported which support a model involving slip and continuous grain boundary migration or recrystalliza-tion. Specifically, a correlation will be made between this model and the development of elliptical cross sections as originally round specimens are superplas-tically deformed. For the most part, superplasticity studies have been conducted with eutectic or eutectoid alloys. Probably the most thoroughly studied material has been the monotectoid Zn-A1 alloy.1,2,6,12,13,15 No attention to the eutectic Zn-A1 alloy has previously been reported, and the results discussed in this paper represent part of a general study of the superplastic properties of this alloy. MATERIALS The alloys used in this investigation were prepared by melting appropriate quantities of 99.99+ pct A1 and 99.999 pct Zn in air, mixing, and pouring into a water- cooled stainless-steel mold. Wet-chemical analysis was conducted with each heat of alloy prepared, using the procedure of Fish and smith.16 The composition of the eutectic alloy was 95.1 wt pct Zn. Ingots about 2 in. thick were rolled to 0.4-in. plate at about 300°C with a reduction of 5 to 10 pct per pass. Specimens were machined from the plate with the tensile axis parallel to the rolling direction. The specimens were round, with 0.150-in.-diam, 1.25-in.-long gage length, and 0.25-in.-diam threaded grip sections. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Specimens were mounted inside a uniform-temperature quartz tube which was surrounded by a double elliptical radiant furnace with a 12-in.-long uniform-temperature hot zone and a low thermal capacity. The tube extended through the top and bottom of the furnace and permitted rapid quenching of the loaded specimens when quickly filled with cold water at the conclusion of the test. The quench precluded any effects on specimen microstructure from a normal, slow cool. Constant stress was applied to test specimens by suspending a load on a constant stress cam of the type described by Hopkin.17 The design of this cam permitted application of a constant stress for elongations up to 200 pct. For greater elongation, approximately constant stress conditions were maintained by systematically reducing the load manually. RESULTS As part of an investigation of the superplastic properties of the eutectic Zn-A1 alloy, evidence was obtained for the development of elliptically shaped cross sections as originally round specimens were extended. For example, after an elongation of about 100 pct, a round specimen with an initial diameter of 0.150 in. became elliptical with major and minor axis of 0.128 and 0.88 in., respectively. Photographs are presented to illustrate the ellipticity developed during superplastic deformation, Fig. 1. The specimen shown was deformed at a stress of 500 psi, at a temperature of 285°C, and a strain rate of 2.28 x 10-2 min-1. The strain-rate sensitivity exponent* was measured at *The strain-rate sensitivity exponent, m, is defined as d In o/d In c where o is the steady-state flow stress and E is the strain rate. this temperature and in the strain rate range 10"3 to 10-1 min-1 was found to be about 0.5. This value is typical of those observed with superplastic materials. The material studied exhibited negligible strain hardening during superplastic deformation, the creep rate remaining constant under constant stress and temper-

Jan 1, 1969

By R. J. Hopkins, L. B. Haney

On the basis of limited experimental work conducted at the Port Pirie smelter, it would appear that, by increasing the specific surface of sinter, and possibly that of coke as well, a marked increase in the rate and degree of sinter reduction in the furnace shaft can be achieved. Fusion-point tests have shown that this increased reduction means a much higher sinter fusion point and narrower plastic zone, while the more efficient utilization of coke in the furnace is inherent in the intensification of reduction by the provision of a more reactive sinter surface. Investigations aimed at increasing the ability to operate the blast furnace with a higher lead tenor of sinter reducing fuel cost proportionately, and at eliminating the loss in reduction potential in coke entering the furnace, as shown by the presence of appreciable proportions of CO in the top gases, are reported. Several lines for future investigations that could result in improved smelting methods are proposed. A SOMEWHAT informal presentation of ideas on lead blast-furnace smelting will be given in this paper. These ideas have been developed during observations of furnace behavior at Port Pirie and earlier at Mt. Isa, and have been guided by the results of laboratory experiments at Port Pirie. The authors do not intend to propound any particularly new theories, but present their ideas as a basis for discussion which may help toward a better understanding and improved control of blast-furnace operation. Performance variations of considerable magnitude occur from time to time at most lead blast-furnace plants. While Port Pirie is fortunate in having a very regular supply of high grade concentrates, it is no exception in this respect. Such irregularities are of considerable economic importance and they constitute a challenge to present-day metallurgists in their efforts to obtain an ever greater degree of control over furnace operation. In operating as Port Pirie does with a relatively high lead charge, it has been recognized for a long time that shaft conditions are ,of the greatest importance. A practical, or engineering, attack on the problem of accretions consisted of changes in furnace design, e.g., by widening the shaft to 10 ft above the bottom row of tuyeres, and by the provision of curved ends and vertical walls.' That this attack has had a great measure of success is shown by the fact that barring down of these wide furnaces is rarely necessary, shaft conditions have greatly improved, and sensitivity to charge variations has been markedly reduced. These modifications, followed by some metallurgical changes (chiefly the incorporation of pig iron into the furnace charge in 1948), have brought furnace operation to a point where some variables which were previously masked can now be studied. Accordingly, over different periods of time during the last five years, such variables as could be given numerical values have been recorded and subjected to statistical examination. The objectives of this work were: 1—to reveal the true importance of the different variables and 2—to show the proportion of total furnace variation which is unexplained and therefore referable to causes not measured at present? e.g., shaft accretions, sinter structure, coke structure, and others. Statistical Study of Variables In this work factors relating to furnace speed and lead reduction have been examined: 1—slag com-

Jan 1, 1955

By J. Poijärvi, J. Rastas

Recently, when increasing attention has been paid to mercury for environmental reasons, the interest of several plants is directed to the removal of mercury from roaster and smelter gases. When Outokumpu Oy built its zinc plant at Kokkola in 1969, intensive development work was started to find an efficient and economic method for mercury removal from roaster gases. A process was developed, after laboratory research and pilot plant tests, to eliminate and completely recover mercury from the roaster gases. The process was commissioned in 1970. The behaviour of mercury in the roasting process and several possible methods of removing it from gases are discussed in this paper. Theoretical investigations and empirical tests show that the removal of elemental mercury from gases by sulphatization is very efficient. Further, it is stated how the technical process was built on this idea. The zinc sulphide concentrates contain small quantities of selenium, chlorine and fluorine. The role of selenium in the process is described. Similarly, the behaviour of chlorine and fluorine in the roasting, sulphatizing and scrubbing units has been discussed. Finally, the recovery of purified mercury and selenium from the precipitates is described.

Jan 1, 1973

By Thomas L. Garwood, F. C. Menk

I T is generally accepted that no method of coal cleaning except froth flotation is effective in cleaning dust. In the majority of coals mined in the United States the dust sizes contain a high percentage of impurities, hence the removal of the dust from the coarse sizes lowers the impurity content of these sizes. Dedusted coal is desired as a means of providing a better feed to cleaning plants because of increased efficiency in both dry and wet plants. In dry-cleaning plants, a dedusted feed makes for a pervious and uni¬form bed. With a dusty feed the fines tend to segregate in the feed stream and pass en masse over the air separators, causing a lack of uniform aeration and fluidity of the bed necessary to efficient cleaning. In wet-cleaning plants deducting of the feed often decreases the sludge problem to the point of eliminating the necessity of wasting wash water. It may be advantageous to eliminate sludge-settling equipment in favor of dedusting equipment, to provide the advantages of a dedusted feed to the wet-washing process. Dedusting advantages may include: (1) the removal of fusain, especially advantageous in plants washing coal intended for metallurgical coke; (2) prevention of the gradual build-up of solids in the wash water, with a consequent variation in the washing ability of the system; (3) prevention of the loss of dust to the sludge ponds, providing instead a fuel for local consumption or special markets.

Jan 1, 1943

By T. L. Chu, G. A. Gruber

Silica films hare been rleposited 011 silicon substmtes at 400° to 600°C by a chemical-transport technique using hydrogen fluoride as the transport agent ill a closed system. This transport takes place from a source materia1 1071: temperature to substrates at higher temperatures, as indicated by the thermochemistry of the transport reaction. The experimental variables of- the transport process, such as the substrate temperature, the pressure pi the transport agent, and so forth, have been studied. The rate -determining step of the transport process appears to he the ),ale of chemical reaction in the source region. The transported films are similar to thermally grown silica films in physical proper-ties with the exception of 'some what higher dissolrrtion rates. SILICA films deposited on suitable substrates serve many purposes in electronic devices. They are used for the fabrication of tunneling devices, the surface passivation of devices, and the shielding of devices from nuclear radiation: and as selective masks against the diffusion of specific impurities into semiconductors. Doped silica films can also be used as sources for the diffusion of impurities into semiconductors. Several oxidation and deposition techniques for the preparation of silica films have been developed to meet the requirements of these applications. The therma1 oxidation of silicon by oxygen or steam at temperatures above 900 C is commonly used in silicon technology. The deposition techniques are perhaps more advantageous since they usually require lower temperatures and are not limited to silicon substrates. Silica films have been deposited on silicon and other substrates by reactive sputtering and chemical reactions. The sputtering of silicon in an oxygen atmosphere is capable of depositing good-quality silica films on silicon' and gallium arenide. Many chemical reactions are known to yield silica at room temperature or higher. These reactions may involve intermediate steps. However, the final step yielding silica should take place predominately on the substrate surface in order to produce adherent films. When silica is formed in the gas phase by volume reactions, no adherent deposit can be obtained. Generally, the experimental conditions of a reaction can be varied so that the surface reaction predominates over the volume reaction. The chemical reactions which have been used successfully for the deposition of silica films are briefly as follows. The pyrolysis of alkoxysilanes in an inert atmosphere or under reduced pressure has been employed to deposit silica films on germanium3 and silicon4 at 650" to 750°C in a flow system. The deposition of silica films from alkoxysilanes has also been achieved at nearly room temperature by a low-pressure plasma. Device quality silica films have been deposited on germanium and gallium arsenide by the deposition of an amorphous thin silicon film followed by oxidation at 600" to 700" . Silica films for high-temperature capacitors have been produced by the hydrolysis of silicon tetrabromide at 950°C in argon and hydrogen atmospheres.7 We have developed a chemical-transport technique for the deposition of silica films on semiconductor substrates at relatively low temperatures. The thermochemistry of the transport reaction, the experimental variables of the transport process, and the properties of the transported silica films are described in this paper. THERMOCHEMICAL CONSDERATIONS The transport of solid substances by chemical reactions in the presence of a temperature gradient has been used for the preparation of films and crystals of many electronic materials. In this technique, a gaseous reagent is chosen so that it reacts reversibly with the solid substance under consideration to form volatile products. Since the equilibrium constants of most reactions are temperature-dependent, the transport of these products to regions of suitable temperature in the reaction system would cause the reverse reaction to take place. depositing the original solid. When the equilibrium is shifted toward the formation of the solid as the temperature is decreased, the solid is transported from a high-temperature zone to a lower-temperature region, and vice versa. This chemical-transport technique can be carried out in a closed or gas-flow system. In a closed system, chemical equilibrium is presumably established in the different temperature regions of the system, and the transport agent regenerated in the deposition region repeats the transport process in a cyclic manner. The local chemical equilibrium may not be approached in a flow system: however, this system offers a greater degree of flexibility. Silica reacts reversibly with hydrogen fluoride and this reaction was chosen for the transport process. The over-all reaction between silica and hydrogen fluoride may be written as: SiO2(s) + 4HF(g-) = SiF4Ur) + 2H2O(^)

Jan 1, 1965

By P. Greenfield, C. C. Smith, A. M. Taylor

J. E. Harris (Berkeley Nucclear Laboratories, England)—Greenfield et al.11 attribute abrupt changes in slope of their log o/log i curves for heat-treated Mg/0.5 pet Zr alloy (zA) to &apos;atmosphere&apos; locking. It is proposed here that a more reasonable explanation of the apparent strengthening at low rates of strain can be based on precipitation either during the preanneal or during the creep tests. All the tests were carried out above 0.5 Tm where solute atmospheres are likely to be largely evaporated2 and can migrate sufficiently rapidly so as not to impose any &apos;drag&apos; on the moving dislocations. McLean3 has derived an expression for determining the temperature Tc above which, due to the high-migration rate of the atmospheres, Cottrell or Suzuki locking can play no part in determining creep strength. This expression, which holds for an applied shear stress of not greater than 5 X 107 dynes per sq cm is: Tc/Tm= 7/6.8 - log10? where i = secondary creep rate The values for T, corresponding to the maximum and minimum reported creep rates at each temperature have been calculated from the data of Greenfield et al. These are given in Table VII. All the test temperatures were above T,, the margin being greater for the higher temperatures and for the lower strain rates where the breaks in the log s/log ? curves occurred. Dorn and his collaborators14, 17 have studied systematically the effect of solute hardening on the creep properties of an A1/3.2 at. pet Mg alloy. In the temperature range where strain aging occurred in tensile tests, abnormally high-activation energies for secondary creep were obtained but at temperatures above 0.43 Tm, solute alloying did not have any effect on the creep parameters. Moreover, there have been no reports of any strain aging phenomenon during elevated temperature tensile tests with ZA material.18 Instead of the observed strengthening being due to atmosphere locking, it is now proposed that precipitates play an important role in enhancing the creep strength of the material. There are two possibilities—precipitation of zirconium hydride during the high-temperature preanneal and/or precipitation of the hydride or a-zirconium during creep. On the basis of the former the results can be interpreted in terms of a critical stress being necessary to force the dislocations through or over preexisting precipitates. From the latter, if the strengthening is due to pre- cipitation during the test then hardening should be associated with a critical strain rate. At low rates of strain, time is available during the tests for precipitation to occur either directly onto dislocations (thus pinning them) or generally throughout the matrix (which would impede dislocation movements). Examination of the data of Greenfield et al. suggests that both mechanisms may be operative since they observed precipitation during creep and also found that their alloys exhibited high-creep strength in the early stages of the low-stress tests, i.e., before creep-induced precipitation had time to occur. It is not easy to understand why they considered that precipitation of zirconium hydride is unlikely to occur at 600°C while it can take place in tests in air at as low a temperature as 200°C. Precipitation of the hydride during the preanneal cannot be ruled out merely on the basis of metallographic examination. Hydride precipitates in ZA type alloys are very small and can only be accurately resolved in the electron microscope.9 For example, in this laboratory20 hydride platelets with major dimensions <(1/10) µ have been observed by electron transmission through thin film specimens of hy-drogenated ZA material. Complex interactions between dislocations and such particles are illustrated in Fig. 12. Additional evidence for precipitation during pre-annealing is provided by the data presented in Greenfield&apos;s Fig. 1 and Table IT. These show that the creep strength at 200o and 400°C increases with the time of preanneal at 600°C. Such increases cannot be explained on the basis of increases in grain size alone for further improvements in strength were observed when the material was annealed for longer times than that required to stabilize the grains. Although the main discussion is confined to ZA material, similar arguments can be used against the strain aging hypothesis proposed to explain the binary Mg/Mn alloy data. In this case no precipitation is possible during the preanneal, but precipitation-hardening during creep can occur.

Jan 1, 1962

By Raymond Mancha

THE purpose of the Coal Division&apos;s Committee on Ventilation is to cover one principal aspect of mine ventilation thoroughly each year, instead of attempting to touch upon several different subjects. The Committee for 1943 consists of four members besides the Chairman. Members, selected because of both knowledge of the current topic of mine ventilation, and diversity of occupation, are: Carel Robinson, consulting engineer with an operating background; T. G. Fear, chief engineer for the Hanna Coal Co., an operator of varied experience in mine ventilation; E. H. Denny, chief of the coal mine inspection division of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, obviously well qualified; and C. M. Smith, editor of Mechanization with a background of mine ventilation study as a member of the mining department of the University of Illinois, at present retained as a ventilation consultant by the Climax. Molybdenum Co. of Climax, Colo.

Jan 1, 1944