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By W. N. Poundstone, P. C. Thakur

Introduction Horizontal drilling in coal mines is a relatively new technology. The earliest recorded drilling in the United States was done in 1958 at the Humphrey mine of Consolidation Coal Co. for degasification of coal seams. Spindler and Poundstone experimented with vertical and horizontal holes for several years. They concluded in 1960 that horizontal drilling in advance of underground mining appeared to offer the most promising prospect (for degasification) but effective and extensive application would be dependent upon the ability to drill long holes, possibly 300 to 600 m, with reasonably precise directional control and within practical cost limits (Spindler and Poundstone, 1960). Mining Research Division of Conoco Inc., the parent company of Consolidation Coal Co., began a research program in the early 1970s to achieve the above objective. The technology needed to drill nearly 300 m in advance of working faces was developed by 1975 and experiments on advance degasification with such deep holes began in 1976. Preliminary results of this research have already been published (Thakur and Davis, 1977). To date nearly 4.5 km of horizontal holes have been drilled for advance degasification and earlier results were reconfirmed. In summary, these are: • The greatest impact of these boreholes was felt in the face area where methane concentrations were reduced to nearly 0.3% in course of two to three months from original values of nearly 0.95%. • The methane concentration in the section return reduced to 50% of its original value immediately after the boreholes were completed, indicating a capture ratio of 50%. • The total methane emission in the section (rib and face emission plus the borehole production) did not increase but rather gradually declined with time. • Initial production from 300 m deep boreholes in the Pittsburgh seam varied from 3 m3/min to 6 m3/min but then slowly declined as workings advanced inby of the drill site (well head) exposing a larger surface area parallel to the borehole. Encouraged by these results, it was decided to design a horizontal drilling system that would be mobile and compatible with other face equipment. A mobile horizontal drill can be divided into three subsystems: the drill rig, the drill bit guidance system, and borehole surveying instruments. The drill rig provides the thrust and torque necessary to drill 75- to 100-mm diam holes up to 600 m deep and contains the mud circulation and gas cuttings separation systems. The drill bit guidance system guides the bit up, down, left, or right as desired. Borehole surveying instruments measure the pitch, roll, and azimuth of the borehole assembly. Additionally, it also indicates the thickness of coal between the borehole and the roof or floor of the coal seam. Thus, it becomes a powerful tool for locating the presence of faults, clay veins, sand channels, and the thickness of coal seam in advance of mining. In recent years, many other potential uses of horizontal boreholes have come to light, such as in situ gasification, longwall blasting, improved auger mining, and oil and gas production from shallow deposits. The purpose of this paper is to describe the hardware and procedure for drilling deep horizontal holes. The Drilling Rig [Figures 1 and 2] show the two components of the mobile drilling rig: the drill unit and the auxiliary unit. The equipment (except for the chassis) was designed by Conoco Inc. and fabricated by J. H. Fletcher and Co. of Huntington, WV. The drill unit. It is mounted on a four-wheel drive chassis driven by two Staffa hydraulic motors with chains. The tires are 369 X 457 mm in size and provide a ground clearance of 305 mm. The prime mover is a 30-kw explosion-proof electric motor which is used only for tramming. Once the unit is Crammed to the drill site, electric power is disconnected and hydraulic power from the auxiliary unit is turned on. Four floor jacks are used to level the machine and raise the drill head to the desired level. Two 5-t telescopic hydraulic props, one on each side, anchor the drill unit to the roof. The drill unit houses the feed carriage, the drilling console, 300 m of 3-m-long NQ, drill rods, and the electric cable reel for instruments. The feed carriage is mounted more or less centrally, has a feed of 3.3 m, and can swing laterally by ± 17°. It can also sump forward by 1.2 m. The drill head has a "through" chuck such that drill pipes can be fed from the side or back end. General specifications of the feed carriage are: [ ] The auxiliary unit. The chassis for the auxiliary unit is identical to the drill unit but the prime movers are two 30-kW explosion proof electric motors. It is equipped with a methane detector- activated switch so that power will be cut off at a preset methane concentration in the air. No anchoring props are needed for this unit. The auxiliary unit houses the hydraulic power pack, the water (mud) circulating pump, control boxes for electric motors, a trailing cable spool, and a steel tank which serves for water storage and closed-loop separation of drill cuttings and gas.

Jan 1, 1981

Frank Clemes Smith, Deadwood, 8. D. (communication to the Secretary): The reading of Mr. Chance's interesting paper suggests a few ideas relative to his discussion of certain Black Hills gold-ores. Mr. Chance refers to his examination, in 1897, of " the (Carboniferous) limestone plateau-country which encircles the central area of the Black Hills," and says that " it had been generally assumed that the mineralization of this formation was confined to the northern area;" further, that he "found, however, a general mineralization, extending in zones or belts throughout the region," and that the ores, being more or less specially

Jan 1, 1900

Charles Catlett, Staunton, Virginia (communication to the Secretary*): I have had occasion to examine a few of the irondeposits in the immediate section of which Mr. Watson speaks, but have not had an opportunity to visit any of the well-known manganese-deposits. I find the former can be very safely read in light of the information which it is possible to get from the same measnres farther. north, where they are less completely decomposed. In the same way all of his conclusions in regard to the geology of the manganese-deposits bear out their occurrence in Virginia, when we allow for the far more complete decomposition in the section he has so carefully studied. Judging from the same measures farther north, I think he will be safe in agreeing even further with Penrose as to the origin of these ores. Some years ago I carried on prospecting work in these measures in Virginia, in which the iron-ore and manganese-ore were followed down to undecomposed material, and in which their occurrence along a definite line of stratification, and apparently a part of the original bedding, was plainly shown. This is unusual, however, even in the section of which I speak. At Crimora, Virginia, the decomposition is quite complete; at the same time the results of some hydraulic work, which has been done there, disclosed, at the time of my last visit, the manganese interbedded in the residual clay along a definite and distinct plane parallel to the bedding of the underlying quartzite, and which, as is shown at other points, corresponds with the plane of the original material. In view of the phosphorus reported by Mr. Watson as existing in the Cartersville ores, and the not uncommonly prohibitive amount in southern ores, I am interested to know whether

Jan 1, 1904

By Peter Greenfield, Paul A. Beck

Thirty binary systems of vanadium and chromium group transition elements with second and third long period transition elements were explored in regard to the intermediate phases formed. It was found that the phases predominating in these systems are s, AB type with ordered a-tungsten or C8 structure, close-packed-hexagonal with small unit cell dimensions and, finally, phases isomorphous with 1-manganese. IN recent years, considerable information has become available concerning the intermediate phases in binary systems of the transition elements. Thus, the s phase has been found to occur in most of the binary systems of vanadium, chromium, and molybdenum with the group of elements manganese, iron, cobalt, and nickel.' It was observed that, while the rr phases formed by chromium with manganese, iron, or cobalt possess a considerable temperature range of stability, particularly in the Cr-Co system, the corresponding s phases with molybdenum are limited to a temperature range of less than 400" above about 1200°C. Goldschmidt' reported v phases of tungsten with iron and cobalt, and these are apparently stable only at (and above?) 1400°C." Exploratory work in this laboratory with Fe-W and Co-W alloys of approximately 60 atomic pct W annealed at 1300°C did not produce X-ray patterns suggesting the presence of a phase. It appears then that the phases of iron and cobalt with the chromium group elements decrease in stability as the two components are chosen from long periods further removed from each other. From the available information, it might be concluded that the controlling factor is the increasing difference in atomic radii between the components. In contrast to the a phase, the phases formed by iron and cobalt with chromium group elements' are stable only when the latter have large atomic radii (molybdenum and tungsten); the corresponding phases with chromium do not occur. When the difference in atomic size becomes still larger (r,/r,, approaching the ideal value of 1.225), the u and p phases are replaced by Laves phases (AB,), as in the alloys of iron and cobalt with columbium," tantalum." and titanium."-" However, atomic size certainly cannot be the sole determining factor, since, for instance, in contrast to the very stable (Mo, Co)p phase, no such phase occurs in the Mo-Ni system even though the atomic diameters of cobalt and nickel are nearly the same. Similarly, chromium and cobalt form a a phase in a wide temperature range," but the corresponding s phase in the Cr-Ni system is missing. It has been shown that the composition of the u phase in various binary and ternary systems of transition elements in the first long period may be correlated in a fairly quantitative manner with the number of electron vacancies. The influence of electronic structure is probably present also in binary and ternary phases' and to some extent, apparently, even in Laves phases." " Although the absence of phases in the Cr-Ni and Mo-Ni systems has not as yet been explained on the basis of electronic structure, it appears reasonable to suspect a connection. One of the great difficulties in arriving at well founded rules in regard to the alloying behavior of transition elements lies in the lack of reliable information concerning the details of their electronic structure in the metallic and alloy form. The theoretical penetration of this field appears to be beset by very considerable difficulties, even when the complications due to alloy formation are disregarded. Another great source of uncertainty is the scarcity of phase diagram information even for binary systems of the transition elements so that only a very limited basis is provided for generalizations as to the occurrence of intermediate phases. For instance, very few binary phase diagrams of second and third long period transition element systems have so far been published. The present work was undertaken in order to survey the various types of intermediate phases occurring in 30 binary systems of elements of the group vanadium, columbium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten with the elements rhenium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, and platinum. For most of these binary systems phase diagrams are very incompletely or not at all known, as will be further reviewed.*

Jan 1, 1957

E. E. Olcott, New York City: Prof. Kemp's valuable description of the Lancaster Gap mine is in line with many other able contributions on the origin of mineral deposits that the Institute has lately brought forward. The splendid contribution that Prof.

Jan 1, 1895

By R. J. Lutton

Empirical data from 91 rock excavations have been used to construct a family of slope curves on a chart relating excavation height and inclination. The highest and steepest slopes from each excavation are plotted and connected by a line. The 31 1ines appear to establish one or two geometrical slope fields through which the curves are projected. The curves apparently represent a lumped eflect of many factors too complex to be considered individually. Important factors such as geological structure or ground-water conditions can dominate the picture, but where these factors do not overshadow others, the slope chart should be useful for estimating or checking optimum inclination. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAE) has been engaged since 1962 with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in a joint research program to develop nuclear excavation technology. The Corps is responsible for collecting the requisite data on engineering and construction problems associated with nuclear excavation. The ultimate objective is to develop a capability to use nuclear explosives as a construction tool on public works projects such as harbors and canals. The present study on empirical inclination-height curves for conventionally excavated slopes is an outgrowth of an investigation' sponsored by the USAE Nuclear Cratering Group on applicability of data from existing excavations in establishing guides for engineering judgment in crater excavation. Data were generously contributed by over 50 mining companies among other organizations. Inasmuch as several companies preferred that their contribution be anonymous, all data are treated so here. Some Factors Affecting Stability Many factors affect or are suspected of affecting the stability of excavated slopes, e.g., adverse structural orientation, degree of structural ordering, ground water, climatic conditions, mechanics of excavation, and plan-profile configuration. Such factors are lumped together in developing a slope chart. Obviously geological structure and ground water can overshadow all other factors. Where such is the case, the simplification of slope charts may give an erroneous picture (not conservative enough). A further complication results from the fact that the concept of stability may vary according to the use of the excavations. For example, slope adjustments that would be regarded as failure in a powerhouse excavation, might be tolerable in a mining operation. Mine slopes are continually being modified by further excavation, and instability that would develop in a similar permanent excavation slope over a period of years might not have time to develop in a mine. Inclination vs. Height Charts Charts of inclination vs. height for particular formations or conditions have been used in the past as an aid for designing excavation slopes. Some of these have been based upon empirical analyses of collections of data and experience. MacDonald" and Lane have presented slope tables and charts for excavated and natural slopes in relatively weak sandstone and shale. Coates' has shown an inclination-height chart for slopes in incompetent rock. Most organizations have developed slope design criteria which relate bench widths, heights, and inclinations to use in various rocks. Slope data collected in present studies can be similarly used to develop inclination-height charts; however, a plot of all slopes on such a chart shows very little because of the wide spread of the data. Reasons for the dispersion of points are: (1) many slopes are not carried at optimum inclination, particularly in mines where maintaining roadways and following irregularities of ore bodies are more important than achieving steep inclinations; (2) many engineers and geologists with varied backgrounds and viewpoints have been involved in designing these slopes; and (3) each slope is characterized by a unique combination of factors affecting stability and in turn optimum inclination. Significant curves can sometimes be constructed where the points can be grouped into related clusters from the same excavation. The essence of this approach appears when only two slopes from each excavation are considered—the highest slope and the steepest slope, connected by a line segment (Fig. 1). This reduces considerably the usable data because in many cases only one of these two slopes is available. Nevertheless, the concession seems justified. Construction of Slope Curves Ninety-one pairs of points and connecting line segments were assembled in this study. The line segments were assumed to approximate a geometrical slope field (Fig. 2), and a family of curves has been visually projected through to represent the slope field. It should be

Jan 1, 1971

By C. E. Lundin, D. T. Klodt

The binary alloy systems, Y-Ti, Y-Zr, and Y-Hf, have been investigated throughout their entire composition regions. There is no compound formation in any of the systems, and each system is characterized by a single eutectic reaction. The eutectic compositions and temperatures are as follows: A eutectoid reaction pct Y and 870°C occurs in the Y-Ti system, whereas a peritectoid reaction,: pct Y and 880°C occurs in the Y-Zr system. Peri-tectic-type reactions at temperatures above the eutectic levels are postulated for the yttrium and hafnium transfovmations. The development of the technology of yttrium has been given considerable attention during the past few years, and studies of binary phase equilibria have, of course, taken a prominent position in this development. In many respects yttrium, in the third group of metals of the periodic table, is similar to the adjacent group of metals, titanium, zirconium, and hafnium, and the knowledge of the phase relationships of yttrium with these metals is basic to their technology. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Materials. The metals for this investigation were supplied by the General Electric Co., Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Department. The yttrium was in the form of an arc-melted ingot, and the other metals were in the form of high-purity, iodide-Process crystal bar. Table I lists the purities of these materials. Alloy Preparation. Melting was done by conventional techniques in a nonconsumable electrode arc furnace in an atmosphere of purified argon. Melting conditions for each binary system were the same. Each alloy button was inverted and remelted several times to assure homogeneity. Accurate weights of the charges and resultant alloy buttons were obtained to indicate deviations from intended compositions. No chemical analyses were obtained since melting weight losses were consistently in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 pct of the total weight. 10- or 20-g buttons for each 5.0 wt pct composition increment were melted to survey the three individual alloy systems. Additional alloys differing in composition by 1.0 or 0.1 wt pct increments were also melted to study selected regions of the systems. Metallograpllic Techniques. Standard metallo-graphic techniques were followed for mounting and rough grinding. Preliminary polishing was accomplished using 6-u diamond paste as an abrasive on a Metcloth Lap. Final polishing was done on a Microcloth-covered wheel using 1-u diamond abrasive paste. Purified kerosene was used as a lubricant for both polishing stages. • sothermal- Annealing. Alloys were sectioned for as-cast structlure examinations and then homogenized in preparation for isothermal-annealing treatments. Homo{:enization was accomplished by cold pressing the alloy buttons followed by 72-hr anneals at 1100c. The alloys were encapsulated in Vycor or quartz for the homogenization treatments or for isothermal anneals. Resistance-wound or resistance-element tube furnaces were used for the annealing treatments. The homogenized alloy buttons were cold rolled until cracking occurred or until a -in. specimen thickness was obtained. Small -in. square) specimens for the isothermal anneals were then sawed from the alloys. Each specimen was wrapped in tantalum foil before being sealed in the capsule. Temperatures during the anneals were controlled The time at temperature necessary to equilibrate the structures during the anneals was determined for each alloy system by holding triplicate specimens of alloys at a constant temperature for three different periotls. The specimens were quenched and examined microscopically to determine the number and amounts of phases present in the micro-structure as a function of time. Melting Studies. Eutectic temperatures of the three alloy systems were established from the results of incipient-melting studies conducted on as-cast alloys. Specimens to be melted were suspended on a tungsten wire inside a graphite cylinder placed in a glass vacuum chamber. An optical pyrometer was used to follow the temperature of the specimen as it was inductively heated in a high vacuum. The temperatures were corrected for emissivity losses by standardizing the pyrometer with known-melting-point metals. Accuracy of the temperature measurements is estimated to be + 10°C. The melting point of the yttrium was determined to be 1550°C by this technique. The invariant-temperature levels were also checked by an anneal-quench technique. This technique consists of annealing a series of

Jan 1, 1962

By H. J. Ramey

As fluids move through a wellbore, there is transfer of heat between fluids and the earth due to the diflerence between fluid and geothermal temperatures. This type of heat transmission is involved in drilling and in all producing operations. In certain cases, quantitative knowledge of wellbore heat transmission is very important. This paper presents an approximate solution to the wellbore heat-transmission problem involved in injection of hot or cold fluids. The solution permits estimation of the temperature of fluids, tubing and casing as a function of depth and time. The result is expressed in simple algebraic form suitable for slide-rule calculation. The solution assumes that heat transfer in the wellbore is steady-state, while heat transfer to the earth will be unsteady radial conduction. Allowance is made for heat resistances in the wellbore. The method used may be applied to derivation of other heat problems such as flow through multiple strings in a wellbore. Comparisons of computed and field results are presented to establish the usefulness of the solution. INTRODUCTION During the past few years, considerable interest has been generated in hot-fluid-injection oil-recovery methods. These methods depend upon application of heat to a reservoir by means of a heat-transfer medium heated at the surface. Clearly, heat losses between the surface and the injection interval could be extremely important to this process. Not quite so obvious is the fact that every injection and production operation is accompanied by transmission of heal between wellbore fluids and the earth. Previously, the interpretation of temperature logs',' has been the main purpose of wellbore heat studies. The only papers dealing specifically with long-time injection operations are those of Moss and White3 and Lesem, et al.' The purpose of the present study is to investigate wellbore heat transmission to provide engineering methods useful in both production and injection operations, and basic techniques useful in all wellbore heat-transmission problems. The approach is similar to that of Moss and White:' DEVELOPMENT The transient heat-transmission problem under consideration is as follows. Let us consider the injection of a fluid down the tubing in a well which is cased to the top of the injection interval. Assuming fluid is injected at known rates and surface temperatures, determine the temperature of the injected fluid as a function of depth anti time. Consideration of the heat transferred from the injected fluid to the formation leads to the following equations. For liquid, Eqs. 1, 1A and 2 are developed in the Appendix. These equations were developed under the assumption that physical and thermal properties of the earth and wellbore fluids do not vary with temperature, that heat will transfer radially in the earth and that heat transmission in the wellbore is rapid compared to heat flow in the formation and. thus, can be represented by steady-state solutions. Special cases of this development have been presented by Nowakl and Moss and White.3 Both references are recommended for excellent background material. Nowak' presents very useful information concerning the effect of a shut-in period on subsequent temperatures. Since one purpose of this paper is to present methods which may be used to derive approximate solutions for heat-transmission problems associated to those specifically considered here, a brief discussion of associated heat problems is also presented in the Appendix. Analysis of the derivation presented in the Appendix will indicate that many terms can be re-defined to modify the solution for application to other problems. Before Eqs. 1, 1A and 2 can be used, it is necessary to consider the significance of the over-all heat-transfer coefficient U and the time function f(t). Thorough discussions of the concept of the over-all heat-transfer coefficient may be found in many references on heat transmission. See McAdams5 or Jakob," for example. Briefly, the over-all coefficient U considers the net- resistance to heat flow offered by fluid inside the tubing, the tubing wall, fluids or solids in the annulus, and the casing wall. The effect of radiant heat transfer from the tubing to the casing and resistance to heat flow caused by scale or wax on the tubing or casing may also be included in the over-all coefficient. According to McAdams, on page 136 of Ref. 5>

By T. S. Plaskett

A striated structure perpendicular to the growth axis was observed by the copper-decoration tech-nique in dislocation-free, .float-zoned silicon crystals. The striations, which were spaced about 100 p apart, fitted the relationship d = f/u , where d is the spacing, f is the growth rate, and u is the crystal rotation rate. Each stria was resolved into an UNDOPED silicon crystals pulled from quartz crucibles by the Czochralski technique usually exhibit a striated structure perpendicular to the growth axis.'-' This structure has been attributed to oxygen segregation, with the oxygen being introduced from the quartz crucible. If the crucible is rotated, the level of oxygen contamination has been reported as high as 10° atoms per cu cm.10 These striations are similar to solute striations commonly observed in doped Czochralski-grown crystals. The periodic nature of the striations is caused by a periodic variation in the growth rate",12 which is attributed mainly to thermal gradients in the melt.13 A finer striated structure14 attributed to constitutional supercooling is sometimes observed between the coarse striae. The oxygen striations have been observed by infrared transmission techniques,' by the copper-decoration technique,' by X-ray diffraction microscopy,6-8 and by 9 p absorption measurements3 on crystals pulled from the melt both with and without dislocations. In this investigation float-zoned dislocation-free crystals were examined by the copper-decoration technique. The level of oxygen for float-zone material is less than 1016 atoms per cu cm the lower limit of detection by 9 p absorption measurement. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE The crystals were grown by the float-zone process with the rf heating coil outside of the quartz envelope containing the silicon. All float zoning was done under an atmosphere of purified helium. The Dash technique15 was used to grow the crystal dislocation-free. This involves growing the crystal initially with a diameter between 2 and 3 mm and at array of starlike precipitates of copper. The strucLure was not .found at the surface tor a depth of about 1.5 mm, or in a region of similar width ahead of a dislocation network. The structure is postulated to consist of vacancy clusterings or dislocation loops. very rapid rates, about 20 mm per min, for a distance of about 3 cm. The diameter of the crystal is then increased to the diameter of the source of silicon, which in this case was about 19 mm. Because of the arrangement of the apparatus, the zone was passed downward rather than upward, contrary to the standard float-zoning practice. Also, the source was rotated rather than the seed. ziegler17 has made dislocation-free crystals by a similar technique but has passed the zone upwards. The starting material was zone-refined and had a p-type resistivity of 150 ohm-cm. The major impurity was boron; the total impurity excluding the boron was reported by the supplier (Dow-Corning) to be typically less than 2 x 1013 atoms per cu cm. The crystals were examined by the Dash copper-decoration technique18'19—a method in which about 10" atoms per cu cm of copper are diffused at a temperature between 900" and 1000°C into silicon which is then quenched to room temperature. On quenching, the copper precipitates on crystalline defects which are then visible when viewed by transmission infrared microscopy. The photomicrographs shown were taken either of the infrared image tube screen or directly on infrared film. All sections prior to decorating were chemically polished and, for some sections, given a sirtlZ0 dislocation etch-pit examination. After decorating, the samples were mechanically polished. RESULTS A photomicrograph, taken in transmission of a decorated cross section, is shown in Fig. 1. The portion of the section shown is near the surface of the crystal. The entire cross section showed no dislocation etch pits after being given a Sirtl etch treatment. It is seen that the copper precipitated randomly. Each precipitate, as has been reported by others, was found to have a starlike structure.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. J. Dulis, G. V. Smith

AS reported several years ago,' nitrogen may be taken up from the atmosphere by austenitic Cr-Ni steels during creep or creep-rupture tests. This was indicated by chemical analysis and by the appearance of a new microstructural phase, or phases, tentatively identified as chromium nitride (S), at the surface or at the intergranular cracks associated with fracture. The nitrogen pickup was observed to be dependent on time, temperature, and deformation. In a more recent investigation, a sample was obtained in which there was sufficient of the precipitate to suggest that it could be readily identified by X-ray diffraction. This sample had been taken from a 1/4 in. diam creep-rupture specimen of annealed, type 304L stainless steel of the following initial composition: C, 0.03 pct; Mn, 0.65; P, 0.010; S, 0.019; Si, 0.54; Cr, 19.50; Ni, 12.02; N, 0.031; and Al, 0.005. The specimen had ruptured after 10,470 hr at 1500°F (2000 psi). In this case nitrides were distributed across the whole section of the sample, Fig. 1. The precipitate occurred both at the grain boundaries and within the grains; the latter precipitate had in some cases the appearance of pearl-ite, and in others was distinctly Widmanstatten. Chemical analysis of the sample after test showed 0.64 pct "soluble" nitrogen (soluble in 1:1 hydrochloric acid: water) and 0.18 pct "insoluble7' nitrogen (insoluble in the hydrochloric acid solution but dissolved by fuming sulphuric acid). For identification of the precipitate by X-ray diffraction, the matrix in the surface layer of the specimen was dissolved by prolonged attack in an alcoholic solution of picric and hydrochloric acids. The appearance of the specimen surface after such etching is shown in Fig. 1c. The diffraction pattern of the surface-concentrated precipitate was obtained with a recording spectrometer in both the forward and back-reflection regions (the latter by adapting a special fixture to the conventional X-ray unit). The observed X-ray diffraction lines, Table I, show the presence of Cr,N and CrN; the agreement with interplanar spacings calculated from reported data2,3 is quite good. Since it has been suggested' that CrN dissolves only in concentrated sulphuric acid, whereas Cr2N dissolves in dilute hydrochloric or sulphuric acids, an effort was made to distinguish between the two nitrides. This proved possible, inasmuch as etching in a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid gave a sample in which microscopic examination showed that much of the Widmanstatten-pearlitic precipitate within the grains had been eaten out, leaving the grain boundary precipitate in relief, and which, when examined by X-ray diffrac-

Jan 1, 1953

By R. Q. Shotts

This paper is a review of recoverable reserves of bituminous coal in the Southern Appalachian area, according to the latest published estimates. A few comparisons are made, some apparent trends are discussed, and some comments are made regarding the limitations of present estimates. The definition of Southern Appalachian area used in this report is somewhat arbitrary. It includes all the bituminous coal deposits of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. All of West Virginia has been excluded. The East Kentucky and Virginia counties included were selected in connection with a literature study the writer made in 1959 of possible coal supply areas for the Tennessee Valley Authority. The selected counties were considered to be the only ones from which TVA might expect to obtain coal. The availability of coal from some of these counties is doubtful, but no other East Kentucky counties were considered more than remote possibilities. With these limitations, the Appalachian area covered is that from which producers of electric power and steel and commercial coal users, located in the Southeastern U. S., may expect to obtain their supplies of coal. Of course, it is recognized that coal from the eastern interior fields is also available to many of these same organizations. RANK AND QUALITY OF THE COALS Practically all the coals in the Southern Appalachian region are of high volatile A bituminous rank. An occasional sample indicates a slightly lower rank, but such samples may be oxidized or otherwise not representative. Some thin beds in Lookout Mountain and Sand Mountain in Alabama and Georgia, are low volatile bituminous coals, but they have not been mined extensively in modern times. There is a possibility that some of the deeper beds along the southeastern edge of the Warrior field of Alabama are near the Low-medium volatile bituminous dividing line. The Sewanee bed and some other minor ones of the Southern Tennessee field, some of the lower beds in Virginia, many beds in Sand and Lookout Mountains in Georgia and Alabama, one or more beds in the Coosa field, possibly some lower beds in the Cahaba field, and most of the beds along the southeastern edge of the Warrior field and the southern end of the Sequatchie anticline of Alabama, are of medium volatile bituminous rank. The quality of the Southern Appalachian coals is highly variable. Some of them, particularly such prevailingly thin ones as the Black Creek bed of Alabama and the Straight Creek bed of Kentucky, are unusually low in mineral matter— probably the lowest in the U. S. With the exception of certain beds and local areas, Alabama and East Kentucky coals probably have as low average ash and sulfur content as can be found in any sizeable coal area in the country. The sulfur content of Southern Appalachian coals is also variable, but few beds are consistently high in sulfur. In Alabama, sulfur generally increases from southeast to northwest across the Warrior field, but this trend is not quite as clear in the other states. A few beds in Northern Tennessee are prevailingly high in sulfur. All Southern Appalachian coals are potential coking coals if they can be prepared to meet chemical requirements. Only a comparatively small part of the medium volatile A bituminous coal, but most of the medium volatile bituminous coal mined is actually used for coking purposes. An estimate of reserves of coking coal under the requirements of present practice, could be compiled comparatively easily, but this probably has never been done. The reserve of coal that can be coked as an ingredient of a suitable blend is probably many times the size of the reserves of coal that will yield suitable blast furnace and foundary coke without blending. WHAT CONSTITUTES ECONOMICALLY RECOVERABLE COAL RESERVES? When one first realizes the vast extent of the coal-bearing rocks in the Southern Appalachian area, (see Fig. 1) the thought is likely to occur that the supply of coal is inexhaustible. This is particularly true on realizing that in some of the basins of thicker coal-

Jan 1, 1962

By C. J. Leith

A study of the effect of rock composition, rock structure and degree of weathering on the stability of cut slopes is being sponsored jointly by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the North Carolina Highway Commission. In 58 mountain and piedmont counties of North Carolina the percentage of failed cut slopes is greatest in micaceous metasediments, gneisses, and schists, and in saprolite and soil derived from these rock types. Soil slope failures outnumber rock slope failures by two to one. Joints and similar planes of separation exert a strong influence on size and shape of the sliding mass. They may or may not act as failure surfaces, depending on their orientation with respect to the active forces. Climatological data, though indicative of weathering conditions, do not correlate well with slope failure frequency. Because of the presence of joints and similar planes of weakness in soil and rock materials, conventional methods for analyzing slope stabilities are not directly applicable. Empirically derived modifications of these methods are being investigated. A study of the stability of highway cut slopes, sponsored by the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads and the North Carolina State Highway Commission, began in 1962 at North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh. As part of this study all slides, rockfalls and other types of cut slope failures on Federal and State highways in the 58 mountain and piedmont counties in North Carolina were located and described, and the data catalogued in a punched card file system. A major objective of the project is to relate slope failures to properties and physical conditions of the geological units in which the slopes were constructed, and to correlate soil type and/or geological unit with type and frequency of slope failure. The complexities of the problem of slope stability and the limitations which these complexities impose on methods for analyzing slopes have been recognized for many years. A great variety of factors and processes may lead to slides, often making it almost impossible to analyze theoretically the conditions required for stability of slopes. One of the principal factors determining maximum safe slopes is the shear strength of the material in which the slopes are cut, but unfortunately there are very few data available concerning shear strengths of residual soils. Vargasl tested clay derived from gneiss and granite in southern Brazil; the properties of decomposed granite occurring near Hong Kong were determined by Lumb.2 These data are being used, when applicable, to supplement the test data obtained in the present study by Yorke.3 The locations of the North Carolina slope failures, more than 400 in number, are shown on Fig. 1. This map, adapted from the Geological Map of North Carolina,4 suggests the possibility of a relationship between frequency of slide occurrence and rock type. However, the evaluation of this possibility requires consideration not only of the type of rock, but also of its large and small scale structural features, its susceptibility to and degree of weathering, and the composition and structure of the weathering products. Soil slope failures in thoroughly weathered soil material and saprolite outnumber rock slope failures two to one. INFLUENCE OF ROCK TYPE The agricultural soil type involved in each soil slope failure was identified and each failure was catalogued in terms of the parent material from which the soil was derived. These data indicate that most of the slope failures, whether in the rock or in the derived soil, are associated with metamorphic rocks (see Fig. 2a). The data may be skewed somewhat because of the relative sizes of the total areas underlain by the various rock types, but Leith and Gupton5 have demonstrated that the preponderance of failures in metamorphic rocks is of much greater magnitude than could be accounted for by the areal factor alone. The dominance of metamorphic rocks is emphasized when soil slope failures are considered in terms of the specific rock types from which the soils were derived (see Fig. 2b). In particular, mica schists and mica gneisses account for more slides

Jan 1, 1965

By T. A. Rickard

Freeman, the English historian, said that he had learned from Macaulay "never to be afraid of using the same word or name over and over again if by that means anything could be added to clearness or force. Macaulay never goes on, like some writers, talking about `the former' and `the latter', `he', `she', `it', and `they', through !clause after clause, while his reader has to look back to see which of several persons it is that is so darkly referred to". He might have learned also from Macaulay that a preposition makes a' feeble ending for a serious statement. How often do you hear `the former' and `the latter' in conversation? Good conversation is a guide not to be dis¬dained. When you must use `the latter', do not confuse it with `the last'. Cheap labor, cheap fuel, and cheap transport are essential, the latter [last] being particularly important in base-metal mining. The apparatus may be used to determine such gases as hydrogen sulphide, chlorine, oxides of nitrogen and some others, as well as sulphur dioxide. In the case of the latter two, etc. The two last mentioned are "sulphur dioxide" and "some others". He should have stated which two, and he should have avoided that wretched phrase "in the case of ". Pinning may be partly prevented by use of chalk, oil, or turpentine. The latter [last] is best. I "Partly prevented" is a poor phrase. `Prevented! is a word that does not lend itself readily to modification. He means `checked' or `corrected'.

Jan 1, 1931

By Robert Gillham, Victoria Yablonsky, Grover R. Castle

INTRODUCTION The commercial paper market, unique to the United States, is a direct exchange of funds between high-grade borrowers and large lenders; because it eliminates both the bank's role as middleman and also some significant transaction costs, commercial paper is the lowest cost short term instrument in the world. For this reason, virtually all borrowers would like to enter the market, but only issuers with the highest rating from Moody's and Standard & Poor can attract purchasers at the best rates. COMMERCIAL PAPER The commercial paper market, in existence for over 100 years, has traditionally been used for short-term financings, with most paper maturing within 30-45 days. Under the U. S. Securities Act of 1933, (section 3(a)3) industrial paper can avoid registration only if it matures within 270 days and is used for current transactions. It was first used to finance the short-term seasonal working capital needs of manufacturing companies. Since World War II, commercial paper use has grown steadily, serving in the 1950's as the market in which finance companies financed the explosion in consumer credit purchases of heavy consumer durables. LETTER OF CREDIT BACKING As far as is known, the use of letters of credit to support energy-related commercial paper began about 13 years ago with an arrangement to finance the nuclear fuel for Con Edison's Indian Point 3 Plant. Goldman, Sachs was the architect of this financing and Chemical Bank provided the letter of credit support. After an early burst of interest, this type of financing wobbled severely in the difficult credit markets of the mid-seventies before regaining serious momentum in 1976 and 1977. A mining project would not normally qualify as a borrower in the commercial paper market because of its credit standing and because its large capital needs require long term financing. However, lately, commercial paper has begun to take the place of a bank term loan in limited recourse project financings. L/C backed commercial paper took this new and startling turn in 1982 when it was used as part of the $700 million financing for the development of the Newlands-Collinsville coal mines of Mount Isa Mines Ltd. in Australia. This was the first use of L/C backed commercial paper in a long-term limited recourse project financing. First Boston acted as financial advisor and, again, Chemical Bank provided sole letter of credit support of $155 million. The $785 million BHP financing for the acquisition of the Queensland (Australia) coal assets of Utah International from General Electric Company followed the next year; there we acted with two other Front Banks to provide $270 million of L/C support. These two important transactions indicate that not only has commercial paper become an integral part of a long-term financing package, but also that it is no longer the exclusive domain of the best known U. S. companies. Lesser-rated companies and a multitude of foreign borrowers have gained access to this "exclusive club." How has this become possible? OPERATION OF AN L/C An instrument of the commercial banks, the "direct pay" letter of credit, has enabled lesser-rated companies to issue commercial paper in their own names. The letter of credit allows the issuer to substitute the credit rating of the supporting bank for its own. The L/C in effect allows a lesser-rated company to rent the bank's credit rating. This upgrading is possible because the bank is unconditionally obliged to pay the note-holders at maturity and then turn to the Issuer for reimbursement. The Issuer commonly "rolls over" a new short-term issue and reimburses the supporting bank from the sale of the new issue until cash flows from the project allow the borrower to reduce the level of paper outstanding. The commitment for an L/C facility, up to 12 years in the case of the Broken Hill transaction, governs the life of the commercial paper tranche of the financing. The term of the L/C commitment thus has the power to extend the ordinary 30-45

Jan 1, 1985

By John E. Young

U.S. Steel Corp.'s Winifrede mine is operated by Lynch District in the mountainous region of eastern Kentucky. This region is characterized by narrow finger ridges and precipitous slopes, which present both an opportunity and challenge in the design and selection of coal-handling facilities for the movement of coal from the section belts to the railrod cars. Lynch District selected diesel-powered locomo¬tives and 100-ton articulated cars capable of negotiating sharp curves. The drop¬bottom mine cars are equipped with longitudinally hinged doors that are auto¬matically opened and closed. Lynch District selected a large-diameter steel-lined borehole for lowering the coal approximately 1000 ft from the seam level to the valley floor railroad load-out point. Taking advantage of gravity, the presized coal is "lowered" vertically approximately 720 ft to existing entries of a previously abandoned mine. The coal is then conveyed horizontally into storage. The coal¬handling facility from the mine-car dump to the railroad load-out point is fully automatic through use of tone control. TV cameras are installed along the facility to continuously monitor the strategic points. The diesel locomotives are either directly operated or remotely radio-controlled, depending on the functions Per¬formed. U.S. Steel Corp.'s Winifrede mine is operated by Lynch District in the mountainous region of eastern Kentucky. This region is characterized by narrow mountain ridges and precipitous slopes which present both an opportunity and challenge in the design and selection of coal-handling facilities for the movement of coal from the section belts to the railroad cars. The narrow finger ridges precluded use of under¬ground haulage and, thereby, presented the opportunity to use high-capacity equipment on the outside bench. The precipitous mountain slopes, steepest at the Wini¬frede seam horizon, presented a challenge to select a solution for lowering the coal approximately 1000 ft from the seam level to the valley floor railroad load-out point. It was evident from the start of planning that these two factors predominated; namely, rail haulage and coal lowering, and solutions to these would determine the final design of the Winifrede mine coal-handling facilities. The Winifrede mine derives its name from the Wini¬frede Seam which comprises the total reserve recov¬erable from this facility. The seam is 5 ft high with a good siltstone bottom and competent shale or sandstone roof. The seam is at an elevation of 2700 ft where the mountain ridges are long and narrow. This configuration of the reserve was ideal for conveyor belt installation to transport the coal from the working face to the outside bench. The preclusion of underground rail haul¬age permitted an opportunity to review the type of locomotive power and to select high-capacity equipment without the limitations associated with underground systems. Since the basic electrical design of the mine was al¬ternating current, with rectification to direct current for shuttle cars required only in the face areas, there was no point in bearing the burden of additional cost of dc trolley installation. And, since the haulage would re¬quire only a few tunnels to negotiate sharp points and to reach the back side of the reserves, diesel power was selected for the haulage locomotives. To provide stability on the almost continuously curv¬ing track and to provide the maximum width of haul¬age equipment, both locomotives and mine cars, stan¬dard railroad gage was chosen to offer the largest choice of equipment. The decision was made to select a standard 45-ton railroad diesel locomotive but to lower the cab height to reduce tunnel excavation requirements. The mine car was the next challenge. Past experience in Lynch operations indicated that drop-bottom cars would be a successful application with the free-flowing coal. The search was for a drop-bottom car within the dimensions of the locomotive to discharge the coal in the shortest time. Numerous types were considered and visits made to various sites to observe cars in operation.

Jan 1, 1972

By J. H. Polhems, R. B. Brackin, D. B. Grove

THE heavy media separation process plays an outstanding role in the concentration of 4000 tons of zinc ore per day at the Mascot mill of the American Zinc Co. of Tennessee. Of the total tonnage, 72 pct is treated in the heavy media separation plant to reject 56 pct of the ore as a coarse tailing, which has a ready market. Concentrates from this separation are beneficiated further by jigging and flotation. Approximately 25 pct of the total zinc concentrate production is made in the jig mill. Jig tailings are ground and pumped to the flotation circuit where the balance of the production is made. Fig. 1 shows a generalized flowsheet of the mill. The Mascot ore is a lead-free, honey-colored sphalerite in dolomitic limestone, with lesser amounts of chert and some pyrite. A mineralogical analysis is given in Table I. After 10 years of successful operation with galena medium and treatment of nearly 10,000,000 tons of ore, a decision to convert to ferrosilicon was made early in 1948 because of the increasing price of galena and consequent high operating costs. The conversion was made on Nov. 6, 1948, and the results obtained since that time have shown remarkable improvement over those made with galena. The Table I. Mineralogical Analysis of Mill Feed, Pct Calcium carbonate 49.5 Magnesium carbonate 35.2 Iron oxide and aluminum oxide 1.5 Zinc sulphide 4.5 Insoluble 9.3 100.0 Table II. Comparative Data, Galena and Ferrosilicon Ferro- Diner-Gelenaa siliconb ence Operating costs per ton milled, ct. 21.21 9.12 12.09 Medium consumption per ton milled, lb 0.80c 0.15 0.65 Reagent consumption per ton milled, lb 0.45 0.02 0.43 Tailing assay, pct Zn 0.310 0.297 0.013 Concentrate. oct Zn 12.08 10.33 1.75 Heavy medla ieparatlon recovery. pct 89.38 90.22 0.84 Mill feed rate, tons per hr 153 166 13 Heavy mesa separation feed rate. tons per hr 100 10 0 Tons milled per heavy media separation man shift 350 620 270 Mill feed to coarse tailings, pct 51.0 56.7 5.7 Lost mill time, pct 5.6 5.0 0.6 Power consumption, kw-hr per ton 2.06 1.92 0.14 a 1947. " First 6 months of 1950. c Net consumption after deducting credit for reclaimed waste galena. Consumption of new galena was 1.320 lb per ton milled. For entire life of galena operation, a credit of 40 pct of the value of the new galena added was realized from the sale of waste galena. comparisons given in this report cover the first 6 months of 1950 as representing the ferrosilicon operation, and the year 1947 as representing the galena operation. This was the last full year in which galena was used exclusively and is representative of the best work done during the 10 years of operation with this medium. After only 2 years' operating experience, with ferrosilicon and treatment of 1,807,585 tons many advantages have been revealed and are summarized in Table 11. Development Prior to the introduction of the heavy media process, all the mill feed was crushed through 5/8 in. and treated by jigging. A finished tailing assaying 0.66 pct Zn was made on rougher bull jigs, and cleaner jig tailings were ground for treatment by flotation. The first test work on the sink-and-float method of mineral beneficiation was carried out at Mascot in 1935, using a 3-ft cone and galena medium for batch tests. The following year a 6-ft cone was installed for pilot-plant work. This unit became a part of the mill circuit on March 1, 1936, and handled a gradually increasing tonnage in the next 2 years as the process developed to the point where it could treat all the + 3/8-in. material in the mill feed. Coarse jigging was then discontinued on March 1, 1939, and all coarse tailings have been made by the heavy media separation plant since that time. Feed Preparation: The original feed preparation plant consisted of a drag washer followed by two 4x10-ft Allis-Chalmers washing screens. A surge bin and two additional 5x12-ft AC washing screens were added in 1943. Use of primary and secondary washing screens was found essential to provide the cleanest possible feed for the cone and thereby avoid excessive contamination of the galena medium. Improved washing was obtained by replacing the drag washer with a 7x20-ft Allis-Chalmers scrubber, shown in Fig. 2, which has been in service since May 1944. Throughout the life of the galena operation, delivery of extremely muddy ore to the mill overloaded the medium cleaning system, and it frequently was necessary to cut off the feed and clean the medium for several hours until its normal viscosity had been re-established. The cleaning circuit

Jan 1, 1952

By Pradeep K. Rohatgi, Clyde M. Adams

Structures produced upon solidification of the eu-tectic composition (33 wt pct Cu) aluminum copper alloy have been examined as a function of freezing rate dfs /d? , the rate of change of fraction solid (fs) with time (8). Slow (dfs/d? = 0.0016 sec-1), intermediate (dfs/d? = 0.02 sec-1) and rapid (dfs/d? = 0.4 to 7.30 sec-1) freezing rates were used. The lamellar Al-Cual2 eutectic is arranged in the form of rod-shaped colonies at rapid freezing rates. The colonies are aligned parallel to the direction of heat flow, whereas the lamellae within the colonies are aligned at various angles, as high as 90 deg, to the direction of heat flow. The colony spacing (C) is proportional to the square root of inverse freezihg rate. The relationship is C = 15.5(dfs/d?)-1/2 where C is in µ and 8 is in sec. The ratio of colony spacing to lamellar spacing is greater than 20.0 and increases with a decrease in the freezing rate. A duplex dendritic structure is produced at intermediate freezing rates. A fine lamellar eutectic is arranged within the dendrites (exhibiting side branches at an angle close to 60 deg from the main stem) and a coarse irregular eutectic appears in the interdendritic regions. The duplex eutectic structure is also produced at slow freezing rates. However, at slow freezing rates there is a Platelat of CuAl2, along the center of the main stem of each dendrite and the other lamellae are arranged perpendicular to the central platelet. THE eutectic between CuA12 and a! aluminum has been reported to freeze in a lamellar form by several workers.'-3 chadwick4 has measured the interlamel-lar spacing as a function of growth rate. Kraft and Albright2 have reported on irregularities in the lamellar structures, and have proposed growth models which account for the formation of faults during solidification. In certain instances the lamellar eutectic has been found to exist in colonies. The colony formation315 has been attributed to the breakdown of a planar liquid-solid interface due to rejection of impurities. The aim of the present work is to study the structures produced from the eutectic aluminum-copper alloy under relatively fast solidification rates, such as encountered in casting and welding operations. The solid-liquid interface presumably remains planar under conditions of slow unidirectional freezing which produce lamellae aligned parallel to the direction of heat flow. The local growth velocities are the same over the entire interface and are equal to the rate of growth of the all-solid region. The spacing between the eutectic lamellae is inversely proportional to the square root of the growth rate of the all-solid region. Under the freezing conditions used in the present study, the solid-liquid interface is cellular or dendritic and the local growth velocities are different in the different regions of the interface. The relationship between the growth rate of the all solid region and the local growth velocities varies with the location and the shape of the interface. The growth rate of the all-solid region is, therefore, an inadequate parameter to describe the eutectic micro-structures which depend upon the local growth velocities. For this reason the structures have been examined as a function of freezing rate, dfs/d?, where fs is the fraction solidified at time 0. The freezing rate was varied by a factor of 4000. The relationship between the freezing rate, dfs/d?, and the growth velocit of the all solid region depends upon the specimen geometry and the shape of the interface. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES The A1-33 pct Cu alloy used throughout this study was made in an induction furnace, using electrolytic copper and aluminum of commercial purity (99.7 pct), the primary impurities being silicon (0.12 pct), iron (0.14 pct), and zinc (0.02 pct). Three ranges of freezing rates were investigated: 1) A spectrum of rapid freezing rates (ranging from 0.40 to 7.30 sec-1) was obtained in arc deposits made on 2-in. thick cast plates of the eutectic alloy. The arc was operated at constant power and was made to travel at constant velocity on the surface of the plate that was in contact with the chill surface during solidification. The pool of liquid metal formed under the moving tungsten arc solidified rapidly by heat extraction through the unmelted plate. Conditions of unidirectional heat flow were achieved near the fusion zone interface, especially in the center of the arc deposits. The great advantage of the arc technique is that rapid cooling and freezing rates can be varied in a qualitative way. The correlation between the arc parameters and the solidification rate is given by the following relationship:6-8

Jan 1, 1970

By R. G. Ward, D. R. Gaskell

Using the maximum bubble pressure technique, the densities of iron silicates at 1410°C have been measured blowing helium, nitrogen, and argon. By ensuring equilibrium between the melt and the blowing gas with respect to oxygen potential and by minimizing tempcrature cycling of the furnace, iron precipitation in the melt has been prevented. Thus the previously reported effect of blowing-gas composition on the densities of the melts has been eliminated. Consideration of the oxygen densities of the melts gives an indication of the structural changes accompanying composition change. The density-composition relationship of iron oxide-silica melts in contact with solid iron has been the subject of several investigations1-7 and considerable disparities exist among the various results obtained. Of these investigations, all except one5 have employed the maximum bubble pressure method. In the most recently reported of these investigations1 the density-composition relationship obtained blowing nitrogen differed from that obtained blowing argon. The measured densities obtained under nitrogen were greater than those obtained under argon, the difference being a maximum at the pure liquid iron oxide composition and decreasing with increasing silica content. This observation rationalized the disparities existing among the results of the earlier investigations, showing that two lines, one for nitrogen and the other for argon, could be drawn to fit all the earlier results. No explanation for this phenomenon could be offered. Chemical analysis of rapidly quenched samples of melt for dissolved nitrogen, and direct weighing measurements, excluded solution of nitrogen in the melt from being the cause of the increase in density. The range of blowing gases was extended by Ward and Hendersons who measured the density of liquid iron oxide bubbling helium, nitrogen, neon, argon, and krypton. The measured density was found to decrease smoothly with increasing atomic number of the bubbling gas. The work reported here is a continuation of the program initiated by Ward and Sachdev7 to study the densities in multicomponent melts in which the iron oxide-silica system is the solvent. As such it is necessary to explain or eliminate the anomalous densities of iron silicates under different atmospheres, and the present rede termination was carried out towards this end. EXPERIMENTAL The maximum bubble pressure method of density determination was again employed and the experimen- tal apparatus used was essentially the same as that used by Ward and Sachdev.7 A molybdenum-wound resistance furnace heated an ingot iron crucible of internal diameter 1 in. containing a 2-in. depth of melt. The bubbling gas was blown through a 1/4 -in.-diam mild steel tube onto the end of which was welded a 2-in. extension of 1/4 -in.-diam ingot iron rod, drilled out to 5/32 in., and chamfered to an angle of 45 deg. The blowing tube was introduced to the furnace through a sliding seal and its position was controlled by a vertically mounted micrometer screw which allowed the depth of immersion to be determined with an accuracy of ± 0.01 cm. A Pt/Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouple was located below the crucible and temperature control was effected initially by means of an on-off controller and later by a saturable core reactor. The bubble pressure was determined by measurement of a dibutyl phthalate manometer using a cathetometer. PREPARATION OF MATERIALS Iron oxide was produced by melting ferric oxide in an inductively heated iron crucible in air. The liquid was quenched by pouring onto an iron plate. Silica was prepared by dehydrating silicic acid at 650°C for 12 hr. RESULTS Before any measurements of the density of a melt were made, the density of distilled water at room temperature was measured bubbling helium and argon. Both gases gave the density as 1.00 ± 0.01 g per cu cm which showed that the density of the manometric fluid (dibutyl phthalate) was not affected by contact with the blowing gas. With the furnace controlled by an on-off temperature controller an attempt was made to measure the density of pure liquid iron oxide by bubbling argon. The furnace atmosphere gas and bubbling gas were dried over magnesium perchlorate and deoxidized over copper turnings at 600°C. It was found that the pressure required to blow a bubble at a given depth increased slowly with time, and thus it was impossible to obtain a unique value for the density of the melt. Inspection of the blowing tube after removal from the furnace showed that rings of dendritic iron had precipitated from the melt onto the immersed part of the tube. This is shown in Fig. l(a) where the various "steps" correspond to different depths of immersion. The precipitation of iron was considered to be due to one or both of two possible causes: i) The composition of the liquid iron oxide is that of the liquidus at the temperature under consideration and can be expressed by the equilibrium

Jan 1, 1968

By Malcolm J. McPherson, Michael Hood

Sunnyside Mines, owned and operated by the Kaiser Steel Corporation, are situated near the city of Price, Utah. The complex comprises three adjacent mines, named simply Nos. 1, 2 and 3, all connected underground. Two seams, the upper and lower Sunnyside have been worked. These dip at about 10 percent to the north-east. The surface cover is variable due to the mountainous nature of the topography. The Sunnyside upper seam varies from 5 1/2 ft (1.7m) to 9 ft (2.7m) In thickness whilst the lower seam remains at about 6ft (1.8m). The separation between the two seams has ranged from 7 to 45 ft over the mined area (2 to 14m). Longwall mining has been practiced at Sunnyside for over 20 years due to difficulties of roof control encountered when using the roan and pillar system. Number 3 mine is bounded on the north and south sides by mines Number 1 and 2 respectively. Whilst current production is concentrated into Number 1 mine, much of the future of the complex lies in the further development of deeper reserves in Number 3 mine. Workings in this latter mine were curtailed in 1978 due to difficulties in ventilation. Present developments are ventilated partially from the neighboring Number 2 mine where no workings are in progress. The layout of Number 3 mine is illustrated on the schematic Figure 1. Trunk airways extend down dip from the surface at No. 2 Canyon and the Water Canyon for a distance of some 9,600 ft. (2930m). The area between the two sets of trunk airways has been worked extensively in both seams as have the corresponding reserves on either side in the connected adjacent mines. At the present time exhausting fans are sited at the top of a shallow shaft in No. 2 Canyon and an 8 ft (2.4m) diameter shaft sunk to a depth of 1013 ft (310m) closer to the current developments (Figure 1). The current airflow system, even with an additional 116,000 cfm (55m3/s) entering from No. 2 Mine, is adequate only for the development work now in progress but will be unable to support new longwall faces further downdip. The basic ventilation problem of this mine may be stated quite simply. In a situation where all intake and return airways pass through extensive old workings, a ventilation system design was required that would be effective, efficient and economic for the foreseeable future of the mine. ORGANIZATION OF THE PLANNING PROCEDURE The procedure followed during the study is illustrated on Figure 2. Initial ventilation surveys established the current state of the airflow system and provided the necessary data for setting up a Basic Network File in a computer store. The data in this file was a mathematical model of the ventilation system of the mine. The basic network was analysed by a ventilation network analysis program in order to correlate the measured and computed airflows and to establish the basic network as a true representation of the mine as it stood at the time of the surveys. The network model could then be extended to simulate the future development of the mine and alternative ventilation designs investigated. The remaining sections of the paper outline the work involved in each of these main phases of the planning procedure. VENTILATION SURVEYS Conduct of Surveys Two types of measurements were conducted simultaneously throughout the air-carrying routes of the mine: (i) Airflow measurements were made by anemometer traverse or smoke tube at 221 selected stations. Anemometer traverses were repeated at each station until at least three gave results to within 5 per cent. (ii) Pressure drop measurements were made across ventilation doors, regulators and, wherever possible, across stoppings. Additionally, frictional pressure drops were measured along airways where such pressure drops were significant (above 0.01 inches of water gauge or 2.5 Pa over a 100m distance). The trailing hose method was used to determine these frictional pressure drops. This involved laying out 100m of abrasive resistant plastic tubing (3 mm internal diameter) with a 4 ft. pitot-static tube facing into the airflow at either end and a low range pressure gauge connected into the line. The trailing hose method was preferred to the alternative barometer technique for this study because of (a) the relative ease of access between measuring points and (b) the greater accuracy within individual airways. The anemometers used were Davis Biram Type A/2-3" (30 to 5,000 ft/min) and Airflow Developments AM-5000 digital (50 to 5,000 ft/min). The pressure gauges employed were Dwyer magnehelic instruments. These were preferred to liquid in glass manometers because of their portability and dependability under adverse mining conditions. A checklist of the equipment used in the survey is given in Appendix 1. The instruments were calibrated before and after the surveys in the mine ventilation laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. The survey occupied two teams, each of three men, for ten working days. The work consisted

Jan 1, 1982

By A. Gatti, R. L. Fullman

A very fine dispersion of aluminum oxide is produced by internal oxidation of solid-solution alloy of 0.14 pet A1 in Ag. The particle size of the aluminum oxide is approximntely 50 to 100A in radius. The yield strength of the alloy is increased markedly by internal oxidation. A further increase in strength is produced by cold working the internally oxidized alloy. Recrystallization is retarded by the finely dispessed aluminum oxide particles, so that the strength increase resulting from cold work is retained on annealing at temperatures 14 to about 700°C. MANY workers'-3 in the past have studied various aspects of the internal oxidation of aluminum-silver alloys. This paper is an extension of these studies with emphasis placed on the effect of time and temperature of annealing on the strength of these alloys after oxidation and subsequent cold working. Two general conditions are necessary to internally oxidize an alloy. First, oxygen must diffuse through the base material more rapidly than does the addition; otherwise oxidation will take place as a surface layer. Secondly, the affinity of oxygen for the addition must be greater than for the base material. After internal oxidation of certain alloys takes place, a marked increase in hardness accompanied by higher yield stress and improved creep properties is noted, presumably as a result of the highly dispersed oxide within the base material. Meijering and Druyvesteyn1 also noted that the internally oxidized portion of a partly oxidized alloy failed to recrys-tallize under annealing conditions that led to coinplete recrystallization of the unoxidized part. EXPERIMENTAL-METHODS AND PROCEDURES Few alloys can be made to contain a second phase that is extremely stable at high temperatures. Silver plus aluminum in solid solution was chosen for these internal oxidation studies because of the high rate of oxygen diffusion through silver and the very stable nature of aluminum oxide. Two alloys were vacuum cast. The nominal compositions were: Alloy A—1 pct Al, balance Ag; Alloy B—0.1 pct Al, balance Ag. Chemical analysis, which does not distinguish between aluminum and aluminum oxide, showed the conlposition to be: Alloy A—1.6 pct Al, and Alloy B—0.14 pct Al. The ingots were machined for surface cleaning, swaged and drawn to 0.020-in. diam wire. A sample 20 ft long of the 0.020-in. dianl wire of each composition was annealed 24 hr at 800°C in pure dry hydrogen. Each wire was then cut into two equal pieces. Photomicrographs of the 0.14 pct A1 alloy are shown in Fig. 1, the annealed 0.020-in. wire at the left and the oxidized wire to the right. The oxidation treatment for the first set of data was 1000 hr at 800°C in air. After this treatment the 1 pct A1 proved to be brittle. It is assumed that high alunlinum oxide concentration at the grain boundaries was responsible. The 0.14 pct Al wire remained ductile and all further data were derived using this alloy. One-half of this wire, about 5 ft, plus 5 ft of as-homogenized wire, was then drawn cold to 0.005 in. diam. All tensile tests were conducted with an Instron Engineering Corp. tensile-testing machine, Model TT-B. Unless otherwise indicated, the tests were made at room temperature with a strain rate of 0.1 per min. All metallographic samples were etched with an aqueous solution of 2 pct each of CrO3 and H2SO4 . EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION PARTICLE SIZE DETERMINATION A study was made of the particle size of the aluminum oxide produced in the samples of Ag + 0.14 pct Al, oxidized 1000 hr at 800°C. A cross section of the as-oxidized wire was mounted in bakelite, polished, and etched with an aqueous solution of 2 pct each of CrO3 and H2SO4. The specimen was then thoroughly cleaned by stripping successive coatings made by applying 10 pct nitrocellulose in amyl acetate. The final replica of the cross section was made by applying 2 pct nitrocellulose in amyl acetate. The replica was stripped, transferred to a copper screen, shadow cast with chromium at 10 deg and photographs taken using a Phillips Metallix electron microscope at an accelerating potential of 100 kv. A photograph of an etched sample of the as-oxidized material is shown in Fig. 2. We believe the pits in the photograph are places were A12O3 inclusions were sitting in the matrix. By inspection, it appears that the volume fraction ob-

Jan 1, 1960