Search Documents

By Ionel Gardescu

IN connection with some of the experiments carried out by the writer on the behavior of gas and oil in a sand reservoir,1 an interesting phenomenon was observed which may throw some new light on the problem of recovery of oil from a natural reservoir. The experiments are intended to show the effect of the surface area of the occluded gas masses, originally present in a reservoir, on the further evolution of gas from the oil and its consequent effect upon the rate of production of oil. The apparatus used in the experimental work is shown in Fig. 1. It consists primarily of a sand reservoir R and a displacement chamber D, which is used to induce small variations in volume. The reservoir and displacement chamber form a unit, and a lowering of the plunger D is equivalent to increasing the volume occupied by the oil and gas in the reservoir. The reservoir was first filled with dead oil and maintained under pressure until it was ascertained that most of the free gas had gone into solution. The volume of free gas present in the reservoir was computed from the coefficient of compressibility of the fluids by means of the dis-placement chamber D, reading to 0.005 c.c. and a special gage J reading to 0.02 lb. per sq. in. The oil was saturated with gas under pressure in reservoir S by circulating the oil for a long period of time through the gear pump B. Subsequently, the saturated oil was circulated through the sand reservoir following the circuit S6, B, S5, R4, the sand reservoir R, R1, R2, F4, F1, back to reservoir S. In the following experiments the sand reservoir R was filled with gas-saturated oil at a pressure of 415 lb. per sq. in. with no free gas present. This was ascertained by. closing off all the outlet valves, and determining the coefficient of compressibility of the system by means of the dis-placement chamber D.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. W. Vaughn, R. H. Barnett, E. E. Wilson

Soon after the search for uranium ores on the Colorado Plateau began in earnest, thousands of feet of drill core ranging from 1 1/8 to 2 1/8 in. diam became available for study. Although significant advances had been made in the technique of quantitative gamma-ray borehole logging, instrumentation was in the development stage, and complete reliance could not be placed on gamma-ray logs alone to interpret quantitatively the meaning of radioactivity in a drillhole. A method that would be faster than chemical analysis and still give reproducible and reliable results for various drill core sizes was desirable to provide additional information on the enormous footage of drill core being accumulated. A solid phosphor scintillation drill core scanner was designed and constructed. Basically the instrument was developed to measure radiation from a drill core which would not be clearly recorded by a gamma-ray logger using a Geiger tube as the sensitive element. Such data would be beneficial in constructing isorad maps to delineate ore-bearing zones. A calibration in the range 0.01 to 0.1 pct eU3O8 was provided; above 0.1 pct eU3O8 gamma-ray logs were available and were being used to calculate grade and tonnage of ore reserves. The core scanner, however, has been used to estimate equivalent uranium content of ore-grade materials containing as much as 2.2 pct eU308 with an accuracy of ±10 pct, the sample being in the form of a BX drill core. Actually, an apparent calibration of eU308 vs counts per unit time is a straight line with a slope that is a function of the sensitive element and the geometry of the counting assembly. A true calibration that will show the expected departure from a straight line is due principally to the random nature of the pulse from a radiation source and the nonlinearity of the electron circuitry.

Jan 6, 1959

While coal was undoubtedly seen by the early travellers within the state, the first mention of it was in the late 1820's when hunters put some stones from a creek bed under the logs of a large camp fire, and awoke later to find the stones on fire. The stream was later named Coal Branch; the location was at the eastern side of the present Bibbs County.1 In the Louisville Daily Journal of Feb. 11, 1831, the following short editorial note appeared: "Tuscaloosa Coal.-A small quantity of this article has reached Mobile, and has been tried in the office of the Patriot; it is said to be an excellent article. We invite such of our friends as desire economy in fuel, love a cheerful and constant fire, or would eschew a smoky room, to call and examine." On a geological map published in 1832, the "Carboniferous group" is shown and a spot near Tuscaloosa indicated as showing bituminous coal,2 and this is again alluded to in Morton's Synopsis, 1834. A brief description of the coal fields in the state in 1834 said that in winter coal was brought down the. Black Warrior River to Mobile and sold there at the same price as Liverpool coal, $1.00 to $1.50 per barrel, ($10 to $15 per ton) and that the writer was using it in his laboratory.3 At that time it was in local use by smiths and an iron foundry was using it in Shelby County.4 In 1836 some coal was mined in the Birmingham district, chiefly in the northern portion of the Coosa basin, where it was loaded on barges and taken down the Coosa Rivers.5 "William Whitman dug coal out of Wolf Creek (Walker County) in 1837," and in the same county, in 1839, the first coal shaft in the state, was sunk. This was near the mouth of Lost Creek and was known as Frierson's Shaft. It was operated by a hand windlass, using two tubs.1

Jan 1, 1942

By Georges Millot

USUALLY the search for clays is left to chance in unexplored areas. A local working by the inhabitants or an outcrop is often the only guide. If the conditions of genesis of clays were always known, a set of general rules could be drawn up that would apply to this search. For example, a certain type of clay might be found wherever the sediment indicated a favorable environment. This paper sums up the considerable amount of knowledge that has been accumulated about the genesis of sedimentary days and offers some rules to be observed in prospecting for new clays. ANALYTICAL STUDY OF SEDIMENTARY CLAYS Clays may be found in many formations, both recent and ancient. All the intermediums exist between the deep-sea deposit and the mud deposited by a stream. In order to find out whether the nature of clay deposits depends on the environments in which they were formed, the samples used in the investigation described herein were very carefully chosen from: (1) ancient sedimentary series (a few from recent ones), (2) zones where conditions of genesis are typical. Ancient Formations Ancient formations were chosen because they are less difficult to sample than the bottom sediments of present-day lakes and seas. Moreover, a geo- logical section makes it possible to define the conditions of genesis of a deposit based on its facies, fossils, stratigraphic relations, and paleography. A present-day deposit is defined only by its aspect at the moment. Its previous history may have caused mixtures, alterations, and changes of environment, which escape detection. Typical Conditions of Genesis Samples from ancient deposits were taken from zones where typical conditions of genesis prevailed. Only clays from marine, lagoonal, and lacustrine environs are concerned in this study because the nature of the original en- vironments could be affirmed. In this way an inventory of the nature of sedimentary clays has been made for rocks formed in typical and individual environments; therefore the extent of the results that may be drawn from such a study will need discussion.

Jan 1, 1952

THE New York Petroleum Club has elected the following officers for the current year: Chairman, William B. Heroy; vice-chairmen, Edwin B. Hopkins, Warren. A. Sinsheimer; secretary, A. C. Hunter. This is the local section of the Petroleum Division. It holds monthly lunch-eons, usually in the rooms of the Railway Club.

Jan 3, 1927

By Clyde Evarts Weed

SOME one once affirmed his great belief in luck, adding that he had found that the harder he worked the more luck he had. Clyde Weed is a firm believer in this method of courting the fugitive lady. He is at work early and late, often leaving his staff at Anaconda's offices at 25 Broadway breathless trying to keep up with the ideas teeming from a fertile brain and the actions those ideas entail. Miles ahead of his assistants much of the time, he still manages to be an agreeable fellow to work with, no small accomplishment as many can testify. Mr. Weed arrived in the world at Moorestown, Mich., on Aug. 8, 1890. Sixteen years later he entered Michigan Agricultural College, a lowly freshman. The following year, with the experience and wisdom expected of a sophomore, he transferred his studies from the reaping of a harvest on the surface of the earth to delving into the deeper, unpredictable bowels of the earth, his studies now shifted to the Michigan College of Mines. Last June his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Engineering.

Jan 1, 1947

One of the engineering proposals in the last Congress which was of interest to engineers was the soldiers' land settlement plan proposed by Secretary Lane, under which returned soldiers, sailors and marines would be employed on construction work in the reclamation of swamp and arid lands and would thereafter be given preference in the selection and settlement of those lands. This bill failed in the fillibuster at the end of the session. It is likely that some sort of a plan for soldiers' settlement will come before the next Congress. A new bill has been written up for introduction at the next session which proposes an "infiltration method" of buying improved farms in established communities for' the soldiers' settlement purpose, under the authority and direction of the Farm Loan Board. The contrast of this bill to the one recommended by Secretary Lane is of vital importance to engineers at this time; first, because of the broad engineering improvement program that the latter bill proposes as against no engineering improvement under the infiltration plan; secondly, the community settlement plan of Secretary Lane means improvement of waste lands requiring much engineering work.

Jan 7, 1919

By P. R. Hanes

A description of the methods used in driving two tunnels, 2 miles long each, one a 9-ft. and the other a 19-ft. diameter section, for the Owyhee Irrigation Project, Oregon. One heading of the smaller tunnel was driven 1315 ft. in 73 shifts in one month and 10,966 ft. of this section completed in ll½ months using two shifts for eight months and three shifts the rest of the time. This is a good illustration of the proper use of a mechanical shovel and the importance of careful selection of supplernentary equipment to secure best results. Large cars, speedier and heavier locomotives, 36-in. gage track of 45-lb. rail, and a good switching method increased actual shoveling time and cut down muck removal period about 45 minutes from average. The larger tunnel, after trying out standard electric revolving shovels of both the rail mounting and caterpillar tread types, was excavated with a mechanical mucker. This is the first time that a tunnel of so large a section has been handled this way. This record work was accomplished without drill carriages.

Jan 1, 1934

By Thomas S. Carnahan

UNION MINIERE D HAUT-KATAIGA operates a group of mines and metallurgical works in the Katanga province of the Belgian Congo. It is especially prominent as a copper producer, but its output of accessory metals, such as cobalt, radium, silver, tin and gold have been considerable. The Belgian Congo covers 920,000 sq. mi. of central Africa, with a native population of about 8,500,000. In addition, Belgium controls by mandate the districts of Ruanda-Urundi (formerly a part of German East Africa) with an area of some 20,000 sq. mi. and a population of about 3,500,000 natives. Most of the native population of the Belgian Congo is found on the wide fertile plains of the great rivers, living under primitive conditions in a tropical climate, where it has survived throughout the centuries in spite of tropical diseases and intertribal wars. In more recent times, especially during the last two centuries, 'the natives have been subjected to frequent raids by the slave traders, which made their existence even more precarious, and if continued much longer would probably have resulted in their complete extermination.

Jan 1, 1932

C W. ROLFE, Professor of Geology, Emeritus, has of-fered a prize of $250 for the most valuable contribu-tion toward a new, better, or increased use of any mineral resource of the State of Illinois. The prize is open to anyone engaged in research, either privately, commercially, or in connection with any univer-sity or college staff, or any state or national bureau or sur-vey. The work must have been done, or at least completed, curing the year named. Three copies of the paper or books must be in the hands of the chairman of the committee on or before 6 p. m., May 1, 1928. If an unpublished paper is submitted, it should be typewritten, double spaced, on 8 1/2 by 11-in. paper. Unpublished results of study, or papers or books pub-lished since May 1, 1927, and before May 1, 1928, may be offered in the competition; but the results of the study must show real present or prospective economic value. Address all contributions and correspondence to Rolfe Prize Committee, 209 Transportation Building, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.

Jan 3, 1928

By Burt C. Mariacher

The Minerals Beneficiation Division meets each year at the Annual Meeting of AIME. All members are invited and encouraged to attend. For the information of those who did not attend the meeting in Denver last February, this column presents a summary of the reports given and topics discussed. Technical Committee Coordination Consolidation of technical programs having common interest to MBD and the Extractive Metallurgy Division is proving a considerable success, both on the technical committee level-through the efforts of the MBD-EMD Coordinating Committee-and in special symposia. MBD Chairman, R. S. Shoemaker, noted that J. D. Prater will be serving as Chairman of both the MBD Chemical Processing Committee and the EMD Hydrometallurgy Committee for 1970-71. R. P. Ehrlich commented on the cooperative effort of both divisions in organizing the Copper Metallurgy Symposium held at the Denver Meeting. This effort, he said, was important to the success of the Symposium. H. R. Spedden discussed inter-Division coordination activities on the SME level. The forthcoming MBD-M&E-EMD Joint Lead-Zinc Symposium is yet another example of progress in this direction.

Jan 1, 1970

A FACT not generally understood about the Engineering Societies Library on Thirty-ninth Street in New York -in particular, not realized by many of the great indus-tries of the country-is that it is a free public institution. To utilize its valuable facilities one does not have to be a member of the national engineering societies (which shoul-der its financial deficit each year). Anyone, at any place in the world, can use the library. A man in California, or in South America, or in Persia, can write or cable to the Library staff and receive information on the same basis as any engineer living in New York. For example, a few months ago an American mining en-gineer in China needed additional geological information about a district which he was about to explore. He cabled his need to the Engineering Societies Library and the next steamer brought him the data he wanted. A phosphorus company in Alabama wished to obtain a translation from the Norwegian of an article on cement which they had heard about. They wrote to the Engineer-ing Societies Library; the article was located, and a trans-lation made and sent them.

Jan 12, 1927

Geology, by O. D. Von Engeln and Kenneth E. Caster, McGraw Hill Book Co., Inc., $7.00, 730 pp., 1952.The authors desired to write a book which would supplement the work of the teacher. The effort presents the facts of historical geology as an outgrowth of the understanding of physical geology-a method in keeping with the fundamental law of geology that "present agencies and forces, acting through enormous time, have shaped the world as we see it-the law of uniformitarianism." Narrative continuity is maintained throughout the text. Each historical geology period is made distinctive, provided with an identity, and shown to have particular characteristics. Elementary Heat Power, second edition, by Harry L. Solberg, Orville C. Cromer, and Albert R. Spalding. John Wiley & Sons, 1952. $6.50, 624 pp. The authors attempt to develop an understanding of the functions, principles of construction, and actual performance of heat-power machinery as a preliminary to the study of engineering thermodynamics. Matter and energy, fuels, and combustion are considered first, followed by chapters on internal combustion engines, fuel burning equipment, and steam engineering and utilizing installations. Pumps, compressors, gas turbines and refrigeration are also dealt with.

Jan 1, 1952

By J. D. Vincent

During the history of man, the term concentration has had many meanings. Early in history, it may have been construed to mean sorting and smelting. Not many years ago, its definition included only the physical beneficiation processes. Today, and in this article, the term concentration is taking on the meaning of beneficiation and chemical processing, or either separately. An alternate definition could be: concentration is the process of recovering and upgrading an element or nonmetallic mineral so that the product can be used or refined for the needs of man. For the purpose of this article, concentration will have the same connotation as it does in the mineral industry, which has come to include processing methods such as leaching and chlorinization under this heading. Usually, smelting techniques and electrorefining are excluded and classified under the heading of refining. Using the broad definition of concentration, the areas of mining processing include not only the physical beneficiation processes and flotation but also hydrometallurgy and vapor-metallurgy. These methods include sorting, sizing, crushing and grinding, gravity concentrating, magnetic processing and flotation as well as hydrometallurgy and vapor- metallurgical processing.

Jan 1, 1971

By Robert Maddin, Neng-Kuan Chen

THE (001) planes have been reported as the cleavage planes in body-centered cubic metals such as alpha-iron and tungsten.' However, in molybdenum, which is also body-centered cubic, experimental X-ray evidence indicating a similar cleavage plane still seems lacking. Tsien and Chow" observed microscopically in the extension at around 1000°C of molybdenum single crystalline wires 0.25 mm in diam that the fracture plane seemed to be parallel to the operative slip plane, which appeared to be (110) at that temperature. Zapffe' pointed out from fractographic study of polycrystalline molybdenum that "although the transgranular pattern is characteristically non-crystallographic, patterns occasionally reveal {100} cleavage." This has been generally assumed to be the case at ordinary temperatures. In the present experiments, a single crystal of Fansteel molybdenum, Vs in. diam x 2 in. long, prepared by the methods described by Chen, Maddin, and Pond" was fractured at room temperature by bending. The fracture surface appeared to be quite similar to the cleavage surface of zinc and was crys-tallographic. A back-reflection Laue photogram was made using 35 kv copper white radiation; the X-ray

Jan 1, 1952

By Thomas N. Walthier

Ocean miners seem prepared to commit upwards of $50 million, spread over the next 10 years, to develop a deep ocean capability. More and more large companies, Kennecott, Inco and Tenneco, to name a few, singly or through consortia, are spending money, often big money, to obtain a viable and profitable marine mining industry. Much of the current involvement of the mining industry in the oceans is concerned with either exploration for or engineering studies of manganese nodule deposits and most of it is considered highly proprietary. Thus, the scope of the total effort can only be surmised. The following provide a good indication as to the magnitude of the over-all effort: (1) Hughes Tool Co., Oil Tool Division, announced last March it has been performing engineering studies and ocean surveys (in collaboration with Global Marine, a subsidiary of Tenneco Oil) for the purpose of developing deep ocean mining equipment and techniques. As a result of these studies, Global Marine will build a 35,000-ton prototype deep sea mining ship for Hughes. (2) Deepsea Ventures, Inc. has been "assiduously compiling data on the location. depth, and composi-

Jan 1, 1971

The Institute is still in need of additional copies of the Bulletin for January, February and March, and will be glad to pay members the regular price of fifty cents per copy. Copies may be sent express collect, or postage may be used and the amount will be refunded in addition to the fifty cents.

Jan 10, 1916

By J. B. Mitchell

The intelligent selection of comminution systems for industrial minerals requires a broad background of comminution experience. At the same time a thorough knowledge of the specific mineral occurrence, the applicable process and the product end use is required. To illustrate the different ways to process potash ores three flow sheets have been selected for presentation.

Jan 1, 1970

By Jack White

MUFULIRA Copper Mines, Limited, conducted tests on the concentrator in 1942 to determine which type of ball mill, that is, Conical Trunnion overflow or Cylindrical Grate discharge, produced the greater quantity of finished product at the lowest cost. All the data which follows applies to Mufulira ore and to the particular degree of grinding produced with the classifiers installed at Mufulira concentrator. JACK WHITE, Member AIME, is Concentrator Superzntendent, Mufulira Copper Mines, Ltd., Mufulira, Nortltern Rhodesia. Sun Francisco Meeting, February 1949. TP 2729 B. Discussion of this paper (2 copies) may be sent to Transactions AIME before Feb. 28, 1950. Manuscript received Feb. 28, 1949. Test Procedure: The test was carried out using ball mills No. 1 to 9 (conical trunnion overflow) as the standard with which to compare No. 10 (cylindrical grate discharge mill). The conical trunnion overflow ball mills are 10 ft diam by 72 in., and the cylindrical grate discharge mill is a No. 99. Each mill runs in closed circuit with a Dorr type DSFX classifier 8 ft wide by 30 ft long. The feed is considered as being identical to all ten units. The figures for the test were derived as follows. Dry Tons Milled: For No. 10 unit (cylindrical grate discharge mill) this figure was taken from the ball mill weightometer, which was corrected for error, and then for moisture content. The weightorneter was checked twice a week during the test, and the error did not exceed 3 pct at any time. The moisture was obtained from a 24 hr moisture sample taken by the ball mill operator hourly, and placed in a closed bucket. The sample was cut where the conveyor drops the feed into the ball mill chute. The Mill Sampling Department made a daily moisture determination on this sample. To obtain the dry tons on units No. 1 to 9 the No. 10 figure was deducted from the month's dry tons milled figure, which, in turn, was taken from the crusher weightometer tons corrected for weightometer error and moisture. All tons reported in this test are short tons of 2000 lb. Ball Mill Hours: This was taken daily from the Shift Boss reports giving actual running hours for each unit. Screen Analyses: Coarse Heads (Ball Mill Feed): The monthly composite coarse heads screen analysis, done by the Mill Sampling Department, was used for the minus 200 mesh in the feed to the mills. F. X. Classifier Overflow: The ball mill operators took an hourly 24 hr sample of the overflows of units No. 1 to 9. This was a hand sample, but cut with a special cutter, and is believed to be very reliable. On No. 10 unit, an hourly 24 hr sample, and an hourly shift sample were cut in the same way. These five samples were split, filtered, and dried by the Research Department and were then wet screened on a 200 mesh screen. The average of the three shifts samples on No. 10 unit had to check the 24 hr sample within 1.5 pct to be acceptable. A weighted composite was cut each day from both 24 hr samples, and at the end of each month it was screened as follows: Wet screened through 325 mesh, the plus 325 then screened on a rotap for 15 min through 65, 100, 150, 200, and 325. This was done in duplicate. All splitting, drying, and screening of samples was done by one of the Mill Research staff, to insure accuracy. F. X. Classifier Overflow Densities: These were taken from the Shift Boss reports. Densities were taken by the ball mill operator every hour. Circulating Loads: These were taken a number of times during the test both by direct method (weighing a measured portion of classifier rake sand, and deducting moisture) and by calculation using the formula:

Jan 1, 1951

By Jack White

MUFULIRA Copper Mines, Limited, conducted tests on the concentrator in 1942 to determine which type of ball mill, that is, Conical Trunnion overflow or Cylindrical Grate discharge, produced the greater quantity of finished product at the lowest cost. All the data which follows applies to Mufulira ore and to the particular degree of grinding produced with the classifiers installed at Mufulira concentrator. JACK WHITE, Member AIME, is Concentrator Superzntendent, Mufulira Copper Mines, Ltd., Mufulira, Nortltern Rhodesia. Sun Francisco Meeting, February 1949. TP 2729 B. Discussion of this paper (2 copies) may be sent to Transactions AIME before Feb. 28, 1950. Manuscript received Feb. 28, 1949. Test Procedure: The test was carried out using ball mills No. 1 to 9 (conical trunnion overflow) as the standard with which to compare No. 10 (cylindrical grate discharge mill). The conical trunnion overflow ball mills are 10 ft diam by 72 in., and the cylindrical grate discharge mill is a No. 99. Each mill runs in closed circuit with a Dorr type DSFX classifier 8 ft wide by 30 ft long. The feed is considered as being identical to all ten units. The figures for the test were derived as follows. Dry Tons Milled: For No. 10 unit (cylindrical grate discharge mill) this figure was taken from the ball mill weightometer, which was corrected for error, and then for moisture content. The weightorneter was checked twice a week during the test, and the error did not exceed 3 pct at any time. The moisture was obtained from a 24 hr moisture sample taken by the ball mill operator hourly, and placed in a closed bucket. The sample was cut where the conveyor drops the feed into the ball mill chute. The Mill Sampling Department made a daily moisture determination on this sample. To obtain the dry tons on units No. 1 to 9 the No. 10 figure was deducted from the month's dry tons milled figure, which, in turn, was taken from the crusher weightometer tons corrected for weightometer error and moisture. All tons reported in this test are short tons of 2000 lb. Ball Mill Hours: This was taken daily from the Shift Boss reports giving actual running hours for each unit. Screen Analyses: Coarse Heads (Ball Mill Feed): The monthly composite coarse heads screen analysis, done by the Mill Sampling Department, was used for the minus 200 mesh in the feed to the mills. F. X. Classifier Overflow: The ball mill operators took an hourly 24 hr sample of the overflows of units No. 1 to 9. This was a hand sample, but cut with a special cutter, and is believed to be very reliable. On No. 10 unit, an hourly 24 hr sample, and an hourly shift sample were cut in the same way. These five samples were split, filtered, and dried by the Research Department and were then wet screened on a 200 mesh screen. The average of the three shifts samples on No. 10 unit had to check the 24 hr sample within 1.5 pct to be acceptable. A weighted composite was cut each day from both 24 hr samples, and at the end of each month it was screened as follows: Wet screened through 325 mesh, the plus 325 then screened on a rotap for 15 min through 65, 100, 150, 200, and 325. This was done in duplicate. All splitting, drying, and screening of samples was done by one of the Mill Research staff, to insure accuracy. F. X. Classifier Overflow Densities: These were taken from the Shift Boss reports. Densities were taken by the ball mill operator every hour. Circulating Loads: These were taken a number of times during the test both by direct method (weighing a measured portion of classifier rake sand, and deducting moisture) and by calculation using the formula:

Jan 1, 1951