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By W. A. Clark

The production of sand in an oil well increases operating costs because of abnormal wear in subsurface equipment, the necessity for frequent cleanouts, and the need for a means of disposing of the sand. Moreover, removal of sand from the zone can bring about the creation of cavities from which bodies of formation, sand or shale, may slough into the hole, endangering the shutoff, impeding production or collapsing the liner. The procedure known as gravel packing is attracting attention as a means of controlling these factors and contributing to the productive life of a well. That gravel packing is now substantially beyond the preliminary stage on the Pacific Coast is reflected in the 191,000 bbl. of oil produced monthly by the 66 gravel-packed wells in 11 different producing sectors. Reasons fob Gravel Packing Gravel packing, if properly carried out, can be expected to provide the following benefits: 1. Prevent the movement of sand and thus eliminate sand production and sand fills, and prevent the formation of cavities. 2. Provide a practical, relatively inexpensive, large-diameter hole, which will provide well-known theoretical advantages. 3. Support the walls of the hole by completely filling the space between the liner and the formation, regardless of its irregularities, and afford a support for liners. 4. Provide for more efficient pumping operations in wells by: (a) possibly utilizing the gravel as a gas trap in pumping gaseous fluids, (b) allowing deep submergence of the pump into the oil zone. In a conventional well—that is, where the liner is set in an open hole-. even though perforation sizes are chosen according to known rules based on analysis of sand grains from samples from the zone, there is likely to be some production of sand. This may be due to the miscalculation of

Jan 1, 1940

By Huntington Adams

The arrangement of a flow of cyanide-pulp through Pachuca tanks in agitation, so as to permit a continuous process, instead of alternate filling, agitation, and emptying, has been proposed by various writers within the last two years, and more particularly by A. T. Grothe, agent for the Brown patents on Pachuca tanks in Mexico. It was first put into practice, I believe, by M. H. Kuryla at the Esperanza mine in El Oro, Mexico. The starting of agitation in Pachuca tanks after filling may offer no serious difficulties with ores which do not settle rapidly in such tall tanks; and the adaptation of the tanks to continuous agitation under such conditions may give simply a somewhat more convenient method of treatment and greater agitation-capacity for a given number of tanks, because of the saving of time lost in filling and discharging. But in the treatment of pulp which tends to settle rapidly, as in the cyaniding of concentrates or of the whole pulp of ores containing heavy sulphides, the packing of the slime at the bottom may cause much trouble. The use of the radial air-pipe attachments near the top of the cone and of the air-valve outside of the air-lift tube at the bottom may obviate the difficulty to some extent; but the action of the radial air-pipes on the cone-sides is that of a sand-blast, and their continuous use cuts through the tanks. Moreover, even when these pipes are used, some pulps will pack tightly below them in the cones. Under such conditions the use of Pachuca tanks with intermittent filling and discharging becomes a troublesome process. Time is lost in starting agitation; large quantities of compressed air are wasted; pulp is blown over the tank-tops; and not infrequently it may be necessary to dig out the bottoms of tanks by hand. This trouble is the only important one occurring in the use of Pachuca tanks; and, since it is caused by intermittent filling, the arrangement of a continuous flow of pulp from tank to tank,

Jan 1, 1912

By K. L. Williamson, P. W. Dugan

INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been increased social awareness and government attention directed toward the mining industry. The growing influence of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has resulted in volumes of regulations governing a multitude of health and safety aspects of mining and milling. These regulations naturally have had an impact on new plant design and in some cases have necessitated retrofitting of existing plants. This paper will not examine the regulations governing the industry, since they are a matter of public record, but rather will address two specific health considerations, dust and noise, and their influence on the design of crushing and screening plants. DUST AND NOISE CONCEPTS Dust is generally defined as finely divided solids which may become airborne without any physical or chemical change except fracture. Since the purpose of comminution circuits is to reduce the size of solids by fracture, a percentage of the material is normally reduced in size to a point where it can easily become airborne. The major cause of dust becoming airborne is the air induced by falling material. When granular material falls through a distance, the induced (or entrapped) air rushes out available openings, carrying with it the fine particles that have become suspended. For this reason, the major points of dust generation are the points where the material is falling: chutes, transfer points, screens and equipment feed and discharge points. The expected dust concentration in an area is a function of the degree of size reduction (i.e., finer particles are more readily carried by air currents than heavier particles) and the volume of air that is induced. The measured dust concentration values for various operations agree with this

Jan 1, 1982

By Paul Weir

BLEACHING clays have been used extensively in the oil-refining industries for a number of years. Their use in water purification is relatively recent and less extensive. They are frequently classified as (1) those naturally active and (2) those active after artificial activation with acid. Fuller's earths fall within the general group of bleaching clays and gradually the commercial term "fuller's earth" has been applied to natural clays originating, for the most part, in the south-eastern section of the United States. Bentonitic clays are usually classed as activable and are prevalent in the southwestern section of the United States.1 Bleaching clays vary considerably in chemical and physical properties throughout the country, or even in different parts of one deposit (Table 1). TABLE 1.-Physical and Chemical Composition of Different Types of Clays Composition, Per Cent Constituents and Properties Bentonite Fuller's Mud Clay (Wyoming) Earth (P Peak)' (Alluvial) Silica (SiO2) 60.0 69.6 61.67 Alumina (Al203) 19.0 14.3 20.34 Ferric oxide (Fe203) 2.8 3.90 7.70 Titanium oxide (Ti02) 0.13 0.70 1.01 Lime (CaO) 0.5 0.80 0.00 Magnesia (MgO) 2.0 1.00 0.24 Soda (Na2O) 2.4 0.40 0.31 Ignition loss 4.7 6.77 8.51 Moisture content 8.0 10.0 20.0 Isoelectric point, pH 9.2 9.2 6.5 Average swelling volume 15.0 0.0 0.0 Weight per cubic foot, lb 55.0 40.0 65.0 Material passing 200-mesh sieve, per cent 90.0 85.0 50.0

Jan 1, 1939

By C. M. Weld

The southeastern coast of China, from Ning-Po to .Macao, represents an element in the continental mass of Asia which has at practically all times in the remote past exhibited a tendency to rise rather than to subside.' This strip of land, 1,000 or more miles long by perhaps 150 miles wide at its widest part, has in fact stood above sea level since at least early Cambrian times, while the great basins to the north and west were receiving their massive accumulations of Sinian (Cambro-Ordovician), Carboniferous, and later deposits. We find, .therefore, a coastal fringe of metamorphic and igneous rocks bordering the huge expanses of sedimentary rocks which occupy the interior. Hong-Kong is situated toward the southwestern extremity of this fringe. Hong-Kong is an island of approximately 30 sq. miles, on the north shore of which is situated the city of Victoria, with its 325,000 inhabitants. This island was ceded to Great Britain in 1842. In 1560 the peninsula of Kowloon (about 5 sq. miles), being that part of the mainland lying directly across from the city of Victoria, was added to Hong Kong. Thirty-eight years later, in 1898, a stretch of territory, including the mainland behind Kowloon and. numerous adjacent islands, was leased to Great Britain for 99 years. This last addition is known as the "New Territory of Hong-Kong" and comprises 376 sq. miles in area. A map of Hong-Kong, Kowloon, and the "New Territory" is shown in Fig. 1. My studies of this total area of over 400 sq. miles were devoted primarily to an investigation of the mineral resources. Systematic mapping of the immensely complex exposures of rocks was not possible in the time at my disposal. However, observations in, this. direction warrant a few generalizations.

Jan 2, 1914

By F. E. Wood

This paper is written primarily as a discussion of Dr. W. P. Hase-man's paper on "A Theory of Well Spacing"' and presents briefly the production records, and intensity and rate of development in a large portion of the two principal producing sands in the Salt Creek field, Wyoming. The study includes 1350 wells, 160,000,000 bbl. production, well spacings varying from two to seven wells per 40 acres and early and late development. The general conclusions to be derived from this study are: 1. It is impossible to formulate a mathematical rule to apply to well spacing in the Salt Creek field. 2. Each tract is a separate problem. 3. Tracts first drilled produce the most oil, with many exceptions. 4. Initial production is not a reliable index to the relationship between past, current, or future production. 5. Wells which have produced the most oil in the past are not necessarily yielding the greatest current production nor will they yield the greatest future production. In fact, wells which have yielded the greatest past production will, in at least one-half the cases, make less oil currently or in the future than wells which have produced a smaller quantity of oil in the past. 6. The following is a safe rule to apply in well spacing in the Salt Creek field: (a) If the drilling of an additional well on a tract results in a sustained increased production, with prospects of making a profit, the tract is not overdeveloped and additional wells might be drilled. (b) If the drilling of an additional well does not effect a sustained increase in the production of a tract, the tract is fully developed. Second Wall Creek Sand The Second Wall Creek sand, covering 20,000 producing acres, is the principal producing horizon in the Salt Creek field; 1610 wells are producing at this time from this sand. This paper deals with hut a portion of the entire field including 10,680 of the more productive acres,

Jan 1, 1930

By Clemens Jones

THE analytical history of phosphorus in its relation to the metallurgy of iron is an interesting study, the progress of which runs parallel with the development of the greatest industry in the world. Without the means of finding out how much phosphorus crude pigiron contained, the Bessemer steel process would have been impossible. To do this was originally tedious and slow work. On the other hand, the " direct" process of to-day, as well as the various special processes for steel or iron, have demanded the utmost rapidity in the operations of analytical chemistry. In general, any rapid process for the conversion of unrefined metal into a product of standard composition depends upon the rapidity of some accurate means employed to control it. Moreover, in our modern practice, it is not improbable that the differences in physical properties among the various makes of iron or steel are affected, if not produced, by the use of different methods of analysis. Recourse is always had for correction to the ((standard methods," but I incline to think that these methods are susceptible to error. It is very certain that the system of duplicates would not be resorted to, if the fact were otherwise. Even when duplicated, under the most careful and skilful manipulation, these standard methods produce disagreements. In proof of statements like these, which may sound. heretical, I hope, further on, to cite some evidence worthy of attention. I do not now mean to lay claim to the distinction of discovering the ultimate corrective. That result will come, no doubt, in. time, as the product of the experience of many workers. In the case of phosphorus, as of the other ingredients of iron or steel, a great deal has been done to accommodate the methods of analysis in rogue to the growing necessity for more rapid procedures: Much of this work has concerned what might be called the incidents of method. There is no better example of the accumulation of these incidental improvements than the work done on phosphorus; and I

Jan 1, 1890

By Newell G. Alford

The data in this paper were collected to show both the volume and speed with which bituminous mines have indefinitely suspended operation while economic advantage in the industry has so gravely declined. The study was limited to the bituminous coal-mining states east of the Mississippi River, wherein conditions affecting production and demand are more common respectively to all of the mining districts included and represent about 95 per cent of the nation's coal mining. Data for the compilation of these statistics and for the construction of these graphs have been obtained in all cases from state mine department reports, except from those of Ohio and Virginia. In Virginia essential individual mine data were secured from an authentic source, but no individual Ohio mine information is obtainable, because all Ohio fact-gathering agencies are prohibited by law from revealing such data. In other states the facts were tabulated and later checked with the cooperation of Chief Mine Inspectors. In all, excluding Ohio, over 17,000 individual annual mine returns were examined. Special information was secured from each state mine department about suspensions in 1932. Accurate information was not available from all states about nine abandonment due to exhaustion of coal reserves, and while these were completed for several states, it has not been shown because it was not perfected for all states. However, the total observed sample mas comprehensive enough to show that exhaustion accounts for a very limited part of the suspended production. Wherever mention is made of '(suspended productionJ' the largest annual output of the mine in the five years prior to suspension has been taken as the measure of its probable production had it continued to operate. A mine is not regarded in this category, as having suspended, when it merely ceases to produce. The word "suspension" is used only where there is a complete abandonment of activity for an indefinite period, as evidenced by the fact that both ventilation and pumping are discontinued.

Jan 1, 1934

By Dever Ashmead

ENGINEERS, operators, miners, and others di-rectly interested in mining will readily agree that more of well-directed illumination in mines will result in a reduction of accidents and general im-provement in the working conditions, comfort, and effi-ciency of those employed underground. Progress has been made in the amount of illumination from individual lamps carried by miners. The candle, which a great many of us can remember as the general method of lighting, was replaced by the oil lamp or torch, later by a specially prepared oil known as "Sunshine," and eventually by the carbide cap lamp. The metal mines still present a field for progress from the standpoint of general illumination, particular-ly those mines having high stopes. Attention is being more and more focussed upon the advantages of im-proved lighting in mines, in order that the underground employee may benefit as the factory workers have al-ready done. The management is vitally interested in the morale of its employees, the reduction of costly accidents and increased production, all of which, judging by results in other industries, will be sub-stantially benefitted through the means of improved general illumination. From data available to the writer, 40 to 50 per cent of the accidents in the metal mines occur at the face; they may be due to roof falls, movement of loose ore, loading of cans, handling of tools, etc. Very probably a large proportion of these accidents may be attributed to lack of light. If sufficient illumination had been present the employee could have seen what was happen-ing and taken the proper precautions. The introduc-tion of better illumination means better visibility, de-crease in accidents, and increase in efficiency.

Jan 6, 1928

By F. L. Ransome

THAT geology and mining should stand in close and mutually helpful relationship was recognized in the United States at an early period, but it is not possible to set a precise date at which the study of ore deposits became a thoroughly reputable and important branch of geological science. As early as 1850, appeared the first ,part of Foster and Whitney's report1 on the Lake Superior region, devoted mainly to the copper-bearing areas, followed, in the succeeding year, by the second part,2 on the iron lands. This appears to have been the first comprehensive report on what might, at that time at least, be called "western" ore deposits to be prepared and published under the auspices of the Federal government. An outgrowth from this work was Whitney's Metallic Wealth of the United States,3 which appeared in 1854. It was the earliest general work on the ore deposits of the country, and remained a standard reference book for marly forty years. From 1853 on, various parties were sent out by the War Department to explore routes for proposed railways and wagon roads from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Coast. Geologists were attached to most of these parties, but their work was mainly of broad reconnaissance character, little attention being paid to ore deposits. Although the

Jan 1, 1933

By Webster Hodge

MALL generators and motors are required to Soperate, in some critical applications, at temperatures where cold-worked silver-bearing copper re-crystallizes. Copper containing up to 30 oz Ag per ton has been used for many years to build the highest grades of commutators and slip rings. With failure of commutators impending because silver-bearing copper cannot withstand the stresses imposed at these higher temperatures, Cr-Cu was tried as a substitute with varying degrees of success. Cr-Cu proved difficult to fabricate because a critical heat treatment was necessary to obtain sufficient ductility. Besides, its rupture strength was shown to be low at operating temperatures, its electrical conductivity lower than desired, and its cost high. Furthermore, it often contained hidden flaws. The Nippert Electric Products Co. set out to find a better material by undertaking a research project with the stated objective of providing a material suitable for commutators that would have 1) a softening temperature above 750°F (400°C), 2) a minimum electrical conductivity of 90 pct of that of pure copper, 3) a strength not less that that of cold-worked silver-bearing copper, and 4) a materials cost of not over 1.5 times the cost of copper containing 25 to 30 oz Ag per ton. No commercial alloy met these specifications. However, it was found that copper containing from 0.18 to 0.35 pct Zr could be produced quite easily in the laboratory, and promised to fulfill the major requirements noted above. Interest naturally centered in the lower part of this composition range, since such alloys gave somewhat better electrical conductivities, and were lower in

Jan 1, 1958

By J. M. Locke

Bruckner's revolving cylinders for roasting ores, etc., are now used at a number of the mills in Colorado and New Mexico, for the purpose of roasting and chloridizing silver ores, with highly satisfactory results, even from those cylinders of small size, erected before the many improvements of recent date. AS examples of the larger improved cylinders, reference can be made to those erected at the Tennessee Reduction Works, Silver City, Grant County, New Mexico, and those which were built, in 1871, at the celebrated Caribou Silver Mill and Mines, Colorado, a mining enterprise which has proved so satisfactory as to have been lately sold to a Holland company for an enormous amount. These cylinders, as now constructed by Messrs. Lane & Bodley, of Cincinnati,,Ohio, are shown in Plate 111, in which Fig. I is an elevation in perspective, Fig. 2 a longitudinal, and Fig. 3 a transverse section. Fig. 4 is a sketch of a mill, with Bruckner's cylinder. The exterior of the cylinder is a shell of boiler iron, 12 feet long by 5 feet 6 inches in diameter. The ends are partially closed with similar material, leaving in the centre a circular opening about 2 feet in diameter, bounded by a flange projecting several inches. Upon one side is placed an opening closed by a hinged door. Upon the outside of the cylinder are bolted three bands, as shown in Fig. 1, in which the section of the first is square, and that of the third semi- . circular; the second, or middle band, is a strong spur gear. Passing through the cylinder are six pipes parallel to one another, in a plane at an angle of 15" to the axis of the cylinder; these pipes also lie in this plane at an angle of from 30" to 35' to the longitudinal .axis of the plane, as shown in Fig. 2, where the internal arrangement of the cylinder is seen, a perforated diaphragm being formed through part of the cylinder by means of perforated plates placed between

By O. H. Hahn Eureka

I HAVE lately had occasion to conduct a campaign at the works of the Empire City Company, in Railroad District, Elko County, Nevada, which, if not highly satisfactory, was at least very interesting in a technical point of view, and which I therefore think worthy of communication to the Institute. The lead ores in this district occur in lenticular masses along and near the contact of crystalline limestone with a dioritic porphyry, and consist of argentiferous carbonate of lead and galena, the latter occurring in solid blocks, or in ribbons running through the limestone. Associated with these are silicate, carbonate, and suboxide of copper, and brown and calc-spar. Adding to this, that the proportion of galena in the ore is small, and that no iron pyrites exists in the district, it is at once evident that the ore-mixture is difficult to treat. For a successful reduction by smelting, it would be necessary to introduce into the charge : 1. The proper quantities of sulphur-bearing ingredients, to effect a complete separation of copper and lead ; and, 2. Sufficient silica and iron oxide, to form with the lime and magnesia of the ore, a slag of the required fluidity. The first condition could be fulfilled only very imperfectly, there being no iron pyrites in Railroad, nor in the surrounding districts. The nearest occurrence is in Battle Mountain, whence a supply could not be procured in time. The second condition, i. e., the addition of iron ore and quartz, was easily complied with, there being an abundance of these materials in the vicinity. The furnace of the Empire City Company, is a small shaft¬furnace, with an area of hearth of six square feet, and is supplied with blast by a No. 4 Root blower. In spite of this small size the furnace smelted during this campaign, which lasted 31 days, an average of 28 tons of ore, and 13 tons of fluxes, together 41 tons of charge, per twenty-four hours. The following tables give the complete data in regard to the smelting process, and the results obtained

Jan 1, 1875

By E. A. Beck

For a number of years many attempts have been made to use thermit in order to do away with piping in ingots. Some of these attempts were successful, while others did not give the expected results. Nearly every plant had its own method of using the thermit, and no special care was taken to study the results or to find the causes for lack of success. Formerly the principle of the process was to decrease the piping by introducing a can filled with thermit, attached to an iron rod, into the head of the ingot directly after it had been poured. In this case the thermit reaction took place in the upper part of the ingot, and it was thought that through the heat produced the head would keep liquid longer and piping thus be reduced. In other words, the aim was to keep the head of the ingot open by making use of the heat of the thermit reaction, which would thereby give the gases in the steel sufficient time to escape. This result can be attained by the application of a large enough quantity of thermit, but it would not be economical in general practice, and could only he used for high-grade material. Many steel-makers abroad and in this country have had this experience. The Th. Goldschmidt A. G., Germany, has, therefore, made a special study of this question with the cooperation of a well-known steel company, and has worked out a new method for the application of thermit for this purpose. The results obtained have been most satisfactory and reliable, and this process is now used in Germany on a large scale in many prominent steel-works. The thermit is applied in cans, as in former years, but the principle of the process is entirely different. The object of using the thermit is not to heat the steel and keep it liquid,

Jan 1, 1914

By John Birkinbine

An item of considerable importance to the producers of pig-iron is the disposition of the slag or cinder from the blast-furnace; and various plans have been adopted at different works to care for the rapid accumulation of this generally waste material. The charge per ton of iron made which must be allowed for the care of cinder is sufficient in times of business depression to give plants having facilities for disposing of their slags an advantage over others less favorably arranged, and to allow iron to be produced profitably in the one case and prevent a profit in the other. The varied methods employed and the means of conveyance utilized need not be detailed. It is sufficient to say that the large outputs of American blast-furnaces, and consequent rapidly augmenting dump-piles, have brought into general favor the use of cars carrying the slag in a liquid condition. The advantages of this method are the prompt removal of the slag, the reduced space occupied by the dump-piles, and the facility of converting the slag into such forms for use as may be desired. The progress in iron-manufactlire is also marked by a more general adoption of methods by which molten metal is carried in vessels away from the point of its production; and, anticipating the prospective advance in pig-iron manufacture, it does not seem unreasonable to prophesy the early abolition of casting-houses at blastfurnaces, particularly where several are grouped together; or the casting of steel ingots away from the converters or furnaces. In some large blast-furnace plants, the iron is carried molten from the blast-furnaces to the converters or other furnaces. Even where it is cast into pigs, casting-sheds removed from the immediate vicinity of the furnace-stack would, perhaps, be superior to casting in beds in front of the furnaces. The idea of casting-sheds appears to present the following advantages : 1st. The equipment of boilers, hot-ovens, and blowing-machinery could be closely grouped around the blast-furnace stacks, permitting

Jan 1, 1887

By D. W. Fuerstenau, J. H. Brown

The paper by Professors Sun and Mitchell illustrates the value of ultrasonics as a tool for the mineral engineer. In particular, it opens up a number of possibilities to those interested in the field of comminution. The provision of desliming technique, which is thorough as well as rapid, is a distinct contribution, but the data of the paper suggest applications beyond desliming, in that the same treatments may be useful for size determination purposes. Fig. 1 shows that a marked dependence exists between particle size and the height to which it can be elevated by ultrasonic vibrations. While the curves are only extended down to a size of about 100 u, the fact that they appear to be increasing in slope in this range suggests that the separation may be even more marked here. This, we feel, is very strong evidence that a nlethod for fine sizing could be developed to use ultrasonic waves as the separating force. Professors Sun and Mitchell indicate that floccula-ti~n will present no difficulty: "During the investigation it was found that ultrasonic waves were able to dislodge the adhering gangue particles from the min- era1 surfaces and to disintegrate the soft particles into fine sizes." Thus, it appears that the use of ultrasonic waves as the power behind a size separation process may eliminate the problem of flocculation encountered in most wet sizing techniques. It would be interesting to size a fine material under conditions in which particles are known to be flocculated and under conditions where they are known to be dispersed. Use of a sizing technique of this nature may solve several problems that have long persisted in the fine sizing field. The flocculation problem may be overcome; the continuous production of closely sized fractions may be possible with a device similar to the one described; and with photoelectric methods, rapid analyses in the subsieve sizes may be possible. In general, we suggest that this paper be followed by a study of the sizing applications of the apparatus described. We feel that such a study would not only be rewarding in providing a new sizing technique, but also that the present paper almost requires such work to complete the picture of particle motion in a field of ultrasonic waves.

Jan 1, 1958

By M. B. Bever, A. K. Jena

THE heats of formation ?H at 273°K of the compound AgMg as a function of composition have been measured by solution calorimetry.1 The value at the stoichiometric composition is -4.41 kcal per g-atom. From electromotive force measurements2'3 the heat of formation at 773°K of stoichiometric AgMg has been determined as -5.19 kcal per g-atom.4 The combination of these two values results in an unusually high negative temperature coefficient of the heat of formation d?H/dT = ?Cp = -1.6 cal per g-atom-OK. By contrast, published heat contents of the compound AgMg and the component elements above room temperature5 indicate that the temperature coefficient of the heat of formation of AgMg is nearly zero. In this communication calorimetrically measured heats of formation of A.K.JENA,Junior- MemberAIME,andM.B. BEVER,Member AIME, are Staff Member, Division of Sponsored Research, and Professor of Metallurgy, respectively, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Manuscript submitted July 1, 1968. IMD AgMg below room temperature are reported and the temperature dependence of the heat of formation is discussed. The heat effects of additions of samples of the compound AgMg containing 50.1 at. pct Mg to liquid tin-rich solutions at 623°K were measured in a solution Calorimeter.6 The heat effects of additions plotted against the average of the atom fractions of solutes in the solution before and after each addition were a linear function of composition from which the heat effect at infinite dilution was obtained, Table I. The calorimeter was calibrated by additions of tin; the heat content (H623°K - H273°K) of tin was taken as 4.08 kcal per g-atom.4 The heat effect at infinite dilution of an addition of where heat of formation of AgMg at T°K, T = temperature from which samples are added (78°, 195°. and 273°K), Xi = atom fraction of i in AgMg, ?Hi = relative partial gram-atomic enthalpy of i in tin-rich solution.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. C. Jaeger

It frequently happens in engineering and mining situations that "bad" rock is encountered which consists of rock broken up into blocks a few inches or less in diameter by a network of intersecting joints. These joints may be open, or filled by veins of solid material, or covered with weathering products. Essentially, the material consists of an aggregate of small interlocking blocks. In such circumstances, major joint systems usually can be recognised and studied, but there are probably many minor planes of weakness which may cause the blocks to be of almost random shape. It is extremely difficult to determine the properties of such materials. Measurements on small specimens give the properties of the constituent rock and not the jointed material. At the other extreme, the material has occasionally been tested as loose aggregate in large triaxial pots, but this gives no information about the strengthening effect of the interlocking of the small blocks of rock. One simple approach, which has been much used, is to regard the rock as randomly jointed on a small scale and to apply soil mechanics theory to it. In this case, the normal and shear stress at failure are related by [ ] where the coefficient of friction p and the cohesion c will be those of the individual joints. Even in very bad rock, it is usually possible to drill core in small diameters of 1 to 2 in. which will contain a number of joints, both open and filled. The testing of such joints provides one simple method of determining some of the properties of closely jointed rock and will be discussed in detail in the next section. Calculations based on Eg. 1 with values of c and µ obtained in this way may be expected to give a lower limit for the strength of structures in rock.

Jan 1, 1970

By H. W. Miller, V. H. Wilhelm

During 1932 the oil industry persistently endeavored to maintain a rate of production that would permit a profitable price structure. Much effort was concentrated on curtailment of both production and drilling. The tendency in curtailment was to shut in reserves where closely held and not subjected to drainage, and to allow town-lot fields such as Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs, Playa Del Rey and Huntington Beach a greater percentage of allotment. Marginal wells were given special consideration; only a small percentage of curtailment wag required, making their operations profitable. Naturally the decline in production of town-lot fields, under slight curtailment, is very rapid, hence production that is restricted in fields controlled by major interests at the present time will profit considerably in the future, as California reserves do not appear adequate to sustain heavy withdrawals over a long period of time. California production during 1932 was much greater than additions to reserves during the year. The state produced 10,701,238 bbl. of crude oil less in 1932 than in 1931, while total stocks (all petroleum commodities) decreased 1,589,524 bbl. Had all operators kept strictly within their allotted 'production, the total crude production decline would have been approximately 20,000,000 bbl. and total stock decrease 3,000,000 barrels. Estimated proven oil reserves for California were 3,965,000,000 bbl. on Jan. 1, 1932, as compared with 3,784,120,000 bbl. as of Jan. 1, 1933, a decrease of 180,880,000 barrels. Approximately 85 per cent of the 178,127,794 bbl. of oil produced during 1932 was withdrawn from old reserves in settled fields and the remaining 15 per cent from new sources such as Kettleman Hills North Dome, Belridge, San Miguelito and Dominguez deep zone. The oil reserves of Kettleman Hills North Dome are estimated to be approximately 50 per cent of the total oil reserves, of California and they may be drawn upon at a much greater rate than the remainder of the state's oil fields.

Jan 1, 1933

By I. Iwasaki, P. L. De Bruyn

Electrical double-layer properties of the silver sulfide-solution interface in different electrolytes and the influence the properties exert on the adsorption of dodecylammonium acetate (DAA) were studied using an electrochemical titration technique. The flotation behavior of silver sulfide was observed using DAA as collector and the results were correlated with adsorption measurements. Silver and sulfide ions were identified as the potential determining ions and their adsorption densities were measured as functions of the pAg and of the ionic strength at two different pH values. The point-of-zero-charge (PZC) was observed to be at pAg 10.2, the value being independent of pH and of the nature and concentration of the electrolyte used. The surface charge of silver sulfide in these electrolytes was positive for pAg values less than 10.2 and was negative for pAg values greater than 10.2. The adsorption of amine on silver sulfide surfaces at pH 4.7 was found to be strongly dependent on the pAg. A shift in the PZC towards a lower pAg due to the adsorption of amine indicated a specific affinity of dodecylammonium ion towards silver sulfide surfaces. At pH 9.2 a strong adsorption of the undissociated amine molecule was indicated. The PZC shift towards a higher pAg and the adsorption of the amine was virtually independent of the interfacial electrical conditions.

Jan 1, 1972