Borax and Borates
Borax a sodium borate and the principal sodium salt of boric acid, has been surrounded with romance and with a certain amount of mystery. Its early history is not entirely known but it has been contended that Marco Polo in his travels in the Orient introduced this material to the West during the Middle Ages. […]
Bleaching Clay
The term “bleaching clay” or “bleaching earth,” as used in the oil industries, refers to clays that in their natural state, or after chemical or physical activation, have the capacity for adsorbing coloring matter from oil. There are three common types of bleaching clays: fuller’s earth, activated clays, and activated bauxite. Composition The raw clays […]
Underground Storage for Hydrocarbon Fluids
Several categories of storage are used depending on capacity. Operational storage, which is small in comparison with the market, facilitates handling surges of a few hours’ or a few days’ duration. Seasonal storage, usually larger, permits accumulation of product during seasons when demand is low, for delivery when demand is high. In producing areas, large […]
Coke Productivity from Coal Charge Characteristics
In considering the use of a coal or a coal blend for the production of metallurgical coke, the fact is often overlooked that laboratory data can be most effectively used to determine coke plant operating conditions conducive to maximum output as well as to predict the quality of coke produced. The basic property of any […]
Economics of Long Transport Conveyor Belt
In 1955, the Ideal Cement Company decided to increase the production at its Ada, Oklahoma operations. After many studies it was decided to build a complete new plant along side the old, near the site of the original 1907 plant. The new plant was to have a production of three million barrels annually while the […]
Mineral Aggregate Specifications
The largest use of aggregates is for highway construction. Furthermore, the majority of sales for other than highway uses is dependent upon compliance with state highway specifications because it is widely accepted that, if an aggregate is satisfactory for state highway uses, it will be safe for almost any other construction purpose. It, therefore, is […]
Coal Processing Methods
More coal processing is done in foreign coal-producing countries because of their requirements for a smokeless fuel, their need to make a satisfactory metallurgical coke from inferior quality coals, and their general lack of indigenous oil or gas from which to produce chemicals or other carbon-based products. High-Temperature Carbonization Conventional Coke Manufacture The demand for […]
Dewatering and Processing Kaolin Clays
The dewatering steps discussed will include gravity settling, centrifugal dewatering, vacuum filtration, and thermal drying. Of these dewatering steps particular attention will be given to vacuum filtration and the variables affecting filtration of these kaolin clays. Kaolin consists essentially of the mineral kaolinite, which is a hydrated aluminum silicate (Al2O3·2SiO2). Commercial deposits of kaolin occur […]
Low Alkali Portland Cement
The concurrent observation of the phenomena of alkali-aggregate reaction and development of efficient dust collection systems on rotary-kilns made mandatory the process modifications to produce low alkali cements. Such low alkali cements as were available prior to these recent changes were either the rare result of low alkali raw materials, the loss of alkalies, with […]
Cultured Quartz
The technique of growing crystals from the melt, such as KI, NaBr, was already commercially in use. Quartz could not be so grown, since its utility depends on the form stable below 573° C, and, even if it could be grown from an extraordinarily viscous melt, the higher form passing through this transition becomes twinned. […]