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By Eli T. Conner

WITH Thomas G. Fear, chairman of the Coal Di- vision, presiding, the coal miners opened their program Monday morning with a general session at which three papers were presented. The first, "The Classification of Coal for Stationary Steam Generation," was presented by the author, Thomas W. Harris, Jr. In discussion, H. T. Coates inquired if it would not be possible to pick out a geographical coal section, certain seams or a group of mines, which would rank high in a desired feature or features, perhaps giving different -- - local sections or different mines something to designate a rating ("good," "fair," and "poor"). This might be done relative to anti-clinkering, free-burning, ,anti-slagging, smokelessness, friability and grindability. These might be listed or arranged on a map or diagram so that the prospective customer could find a coal that rated particularly high in desired characteristics. C. A. Reed pointed out, in part, that coal producers and sellers have found a bad but necessarily present condition in the country, especially with the smaller user of coal. This is entirely due to the fact that the employer expects his purchasing representative to be a genius and have expert knowledge of everything he buys, coal included, whereas in the larger plants he has and uses expert knowledge from the active organization when necessary. J. B. Morrow said that size rating was important in classifying coal and he emphasized that it was impossible to come to a definite basis on analysis alone.

Jan 1, 1933

By M. C. Fuerstenau, D. W. Fuerstenau

Long-Chained aliphatic amine salts have been used for the separation of sylvite (KC1) from halite (NaC1) by flotation. It is puzzling how these two minerals, which are so similar chemically and crystallographically, can be separated by this method. Gaudin as postulated that the difference in floatability of halite and sylvite with salts of primary amines depends on ionic size: In the case of amine flotation, the cation would attach itself to the chloride. I have a speculation there, which I cannot prove, that the ammonium group, that is the –NH3 group in the amine, floats potassium chloride because the dimensions of this group as it has been measured in other compounds is almost identically the dimensions of the potassium ion, quite different from the sodium ion, and so it fits where potassium had been, in place of it and not attached to it.

Mar 1, 1956

THE problem of reaction rates in the open-hearth process is essentially that of trying to form a fairly clear picture of the "chemical mechanisms" in the bath. Quantitative data on reaction rates would not be very useful even if they were available; however, what few , approximate data there are, can be used in combination with data given in Chapters XVI and XVII to sketch a picture of the "chemical mechanics" of the open-hearth process that is consistent with essentially all the present available evidence. The result may later be found incorrect in many details but even so it will illustrate certain useful methods for obtaining a clearer understanding of the process. As discussed in the last portion of Chapter XIII chemical reactions in general involve the following factors: 1. The reacting molecules are mixed together in space in such fashion as to favor collisions among them. 2. A certain number of collisions occur per unit time among the reagent molecules, depending on their concentration and on temperature. 3. A certain percentage of these collisions result in reaction, these being the collisions between those molecules possessing at the moment energy levels above certain minimum values. The temperature factor enters mainly through (3), and its effect is very marked. (What is called temperature is really the mean energy content of all the molecules of the substance involved; at any one temperature a certain proportion of the molecules will have much higher energy content than the mean value.) Various reaction rates measured at around room temperatures have been found to be speeded from 1.6 to 4.0 times by an increase of only 15 to 20°F., simply because increasing temperature produces a rapidly increasing percentage of molecules with energy levels above the minimum needed to produce chemical reaction in a collision.

Jan 1, 1944

By Thomas V. Falkie

4.3-1. Introduction. DEFINITION OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. Surface mines, like most other mining and manufacturing operations, are usually organized along functional departmental lines. Frequently a mine manager will have his responsibilities divided among production, maintenance, administrative, and engineering functions. Often these are separate departments, but various combinations and variations of these functions can be found in mining companies throughout the world. The production function is responsible for physically removing the ore from the ground, processing it, and shipping the product to its market. The production manager supervises and is responsible for all man-machine systems necessary to extract and process the ore. The maintenance function, which is sometimes included within the framework of production, has the task of insuring the maximum availability and longevity of equipment needed to produce the ore. The administrative function is responsible for accounting, personnel, industrial relations, purchasing, public relations, property, and other related staff functions. For purposes of this chapter, engineering can be described as the function which plans, designs, and supervises construction of physical plant and equipment. In this context engineering includes mechanical, civil, chemical, electrical, and mining engineering. However, another phase of engineering is to prepare plans to insure that the various man-machine components function in an optimum way towards the single most important goal of any enterprise-the maximization of return on the investors' money. Along with the planning, another duty of engineering is to audit all phases of the operation for the purpose of recommending improvements toward this same general goal. These latter two ideas form the basis for a discussion of production engineering and systems engineering. Production engineering is a catchall, problem-oriented function whose duties can include: 1) solution of day-to-day production problems, 2) short-

Jan 1, 1968

GENTLEMEN Submitted herewith are the report of the Treasurer for the year 1938 and reports for the same year of the following standing committees: Admissions, Membership, Papers and Publications, Mining and Metal¬lurgy (Magazine), Library, Speakers for Local Sections and Student Societies, and Student Relations. To these reports members are referred for further details. Membership.-The end of the year 1938 saw Institute membership at an all-time peak: 12,474, made up of 2898 Student Associates and 9576 members of other classifications. The next highest level had been reached at the end of 1921 when corresponding figures were: total, 10,329; student members, 1450; all other classifications, 8879. The net gain for the year was 1495, of which 751 were Student Associates and 744 in the other categories. Two factors contribute to the growth of membership: (1) the enrolment of new members; and (2) the retention of members already on the roll as reflected in a relatively small number of resignations and suspensions for nonpayment of dues. For the first, much credit goes properly to the general Membership Committee that functioned for a second year under the chairmanship of Clyde E. Williams. With the cooperation of Institute members in general, to whom Mr. Williams expresses appreciation in his report, the Committee has been successful in acquainting eligible nonmembers with the purposes, activities and advantages of the Institute. The result has been the receipt during the year of 1162 applications, exclusive of Student Associates. This compares with 1212 during 1937 and 1266 during 1936. However, in considering this modest decline, account must be taken of the somewhat less prosperous conditions prevailing in the mineral industries and, consequently, among engineers engaged ?in those industries.

Jan 1, 1939

By E. Miller, R. Geffken, K. L. Komarek

The thermodynamzc properties oJ liquid Cd-Sb alloys were investigated using the cell arrangement measurments were obtained every 2°C at a heating and cooling rate of 12°C per hr and at equilibrium every 2O0C frorn 500°C down through the stable liquidus. The S-shaped asCd US composition curve was used in the cotnposition regzon near Cd,Sb, to calculate a tempeerture-dependent inleraction coefficient from quasichemical theory. Rapid changes in a scd were observed at a transition temperature varying from 400" to 465°C depending on con/kosition. It could not be determined if the changes in aScd were discontinuous, but tlze composition dependeke of the magnitude of the change is indicative of a second-order phase transformation in the liquid. The values of the experimental changes in ASCd are in agreement with calculations from the slope of the transition temperature, using the concept that a second-ovdev phase transition occurs in liquid Cd-Sb alloys. II is suggested that the transformalion is associated with the formation of Cd4Sb3 molecules in the liquid. ThE structure of liquid alloys is the subject of many investigations. X-ray, resistivity, and thermody-namic data have been interpreted as indicating varying degrees of short-range order in the liquid in alloy systems forming inter metallic compounds. In general, the melting process is not a transition from an ordered to a completely disordered state, but some degree of order is retained in the liquid. Maximum ordering in the liquid state occurs close to the melting temperature of the compound and the arrangement of atoms becomes more random at higher temperatures. Of special interest in this respect is the Cd-Sb system. It is one of the few metallic systems which form both stable and metastable compounds when liquid alloys are cooled at normal rates. The stable system exhibits an intermetallic compound, CdSb, melting at 459"c.l A second compound, CdrSbs, has also been reported,' melting close to this temperature. The metastable system has one compound, CdsSbz, melting at 420"c.I Resistivity measurements on liquid Cd-Sb alloys close to the liquidus temperatures have been interpreted in terms of a complex ordering behavior which changes rapidly with increasing temperature.3 The resistivity-composition curve is characterized by two maxima corresponding in composition to CdSb and CdsSbz. The resistivity-temperature plots show sharp breaks for alloys in the composition range of 45 to 70 at. pct Cd on cooling through a transition temperature close to the stable liquidus. Fisher and phillips4 investigated the influence of temperature and composition on the viscosity of liquid CdSb alloys. The viscosity of some alloys increases sharply on supercooling below the stable liquidus. A maximum in the viscosity-composition curve occurs at the composition CdSb. The thermodynamic properties of liquid Cd-Sb alloys have been investigated by Seltz and ~e~itt' and Elliott and chipmane by the electromotive-force method and their results are in good agreement. However, these investigations were carried out at temperatures well above the liquidus temperatures of the alloys, and the temperature coefficients of the electromotive force, dE/dT, were obtained from experimental points for each alloy at a few temperatures considerably above the liquidus temperature. Scheil and ~aach' investigated the thermodynamic properties of this system by the dew point method in the temperature range from about 100°C above the stable liquidus down into the supercooled liquid region. They reported several anomalies, i.e., the activity of a melt on heating differed from that on cooling, and the activity increased sharply in the limited temperature interval immediately above the liquidus temperature of the stable alloy, followed by a sudden decrease below the liquidus. Values obtained on heating and cooling were not in agreement. A reinvesti-gation of a few alloys by Scheil and Kalkuhl' by the electromotive-force method failed to confirm these observations. The authors concluded that the anomalies were due to inhomogeneities in the starting alloys and they discarded their previous results. The present investigation was undertaken in order to obtain thermodynamic data close to the liquidus temperature and in the supercooled region where the anomalies were originally reported, employing the electro motive-force method. This method is quite precise and will most easily permit observations of small changes in activity and partial molar entropy with temperature. Measurements were taken every few degrees so that the dE/dT values could be calculated over the entire temperature range and small changes in the thermodynamic properties close to the liquidus temperature could be observed. I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Specimens were prepared from 99.999+ pct Cd and Sb (Cominco). Surface oxide was removed by scraping and then melting the metals under vacuum and filtering through Pyrex wool. Appropriate amounts of the metals were weighed on an analytical balance to k0.1 mg, sealed in double Pyrex capsules under vacuum,

Jan 1, 1968

By John Philip Zannaras

John Philip Zannaras (Registered Professional Engineer, Congress, Ariz.)- The authors show in their [Fig. 4] the cumulative results of grinding with two sizes of bails, one 30 mm and the other 20 mm. The Gaudin-Meloy probability for breakage for a single fall used by the authors in their paper is given by their [Eq. 6]. Another form of [Eq. 6] is given by Gaudin-Meloy in their paper as follows: [ ] From the definition of A given by Gaudin-Meloy it is obvious that A30 is greater than A., it therefore follows from the foregoing equation that according to the Gaudin-Meloy formula the probability of breakage for a single fall of all the balls in the 20-mm experiment was more than 2.25 times the probability of breakage in a single fall of all the 30-mm balls which is contradicted by the authors' experimental evidence in [Fig. 4] in which is shown that much more grinding took place with the 30-mm balls. In fact the authors present convincing evidence that the Gaudin-Meloy work is erroneous because their work is based only on a geometric configuration and on ambiguous and uncertain definition of A and disregards the fact that the distribution of fracture depends on other important and indispensable factors including the intensity of stress caused on the feed grain by the balls. That there is an immense and chaotic variation of stresses caused on the feed grains by the balls is shown by a formula, derived by this writer and published in 1955. The derivation of this formula is given in the Appendix of this discussion; it contains the variables in the operation of ball mills and is based on the science of mechanics-not on probabilities. [ ] where T is the unit stress in pounds per square inch produced by the moving load, h is the height in feet through which P has fallen, E is the modulus of elasticity of the rock, P is weight of one ball, and L is the size of the grain (assumed to be a cube of side L). It will be shown by this writer's formula that when a 30-mm ball strikes any size of feed grain it will cause 1.837 times higher stress than the 20-mm ball when striking the same size grain. It will be shown that when the 30-mm ball or the 20-mm ball strikes a feed grain of 0.1 mm it will cause 90 times more stress on the grain than when it strikes a 2-mm grain.

Jan 1, 1974

By J. B. Morrow, D. H. Davis

THERE are two general approaches to the problem of increasing profits from an operation. One is to lower expense; the other is to raise income. Mechanical preparation of coal may be used for either purpose but a prudent consideration of many details must precede any decision lest the results be negative instead of positive. It is quite possible that any net gain will result from a combination of the two. Since mechanically prepared coal invariably is a better product qualitatively than a hand-picked coal from the same mine, it is a reasonable expectation that the customer will be willing to increase the producer's income by paying a higher price. Or there may be the possibility that a combination of mechanical mining plus mechanical cleaning will give a lower over-all production cost for the coal in the railroad car. More likely, there will be found a combination of these two factors. From the customer's point of view, the competitive delivered cost per B.t.u. considered in relation to such incidental factors as dust nuisance, handling properties, ash disposal, and ash fusibility determines what he will pay. In-a bulk tonnage such as coal, freight is a very considerable part of the delivered fuel cost, and obviously freight paid on incombustible ash has no economic attractions. INCENTIVE FOR CLEANING Coal is prepared in four major ways: l (1) by screening or sizing, (2) by mixing or blending, (3) by cleaning, including hand picking and mechanical cleaning, (4) by dustless treatment. By a combination of any or all of these methods, coal can be prepared to standard specifications. It is easily possible to have good cleaning and still get a poor final product because of faulty screening or mixing, while it is possible to produce a very acceptable product from mediocre cleaning if the coal is well screened and mixed.

Jan 1, 1950

TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGICAL ENGINEERS Gentlemen -It is pleasant to be able to report that the year just closed has been a prosperous and successful one for the Institute As is shown by the reports of the Treasurer and the Finance Committee, the business affairs of this organization are in excellent condition With property valued at more than three-quarters of a million dollars, and with con¬siderable sums in various funds and endowments, it is possible to spend on each member of whatever class $22 65 each year, more than the maxi¬mum amount of dues received from any one, and substantially twice the average amount, $10.94, received from all To do this has required close management and a strict regard for our limitations In 1926, when the Budget was made up, the estimated expenditures for the work which it was felt the Institute must do exceeded the estimated receipts by some $14,000. At the close of the year, despite a` number of unexpected decreases in receipts, it had proved possible to accomplish substantially all the work laid out and close the books with the usual transfer of initia¬tion fees to the General Reserve, and still only reduce the cash balance $2,074 54. This was made possible by the hearty and loyal cooperation of the whole staff of employees and the extremely large amount of gratui¬tous service rendered by the officers, the members of the Divisions and technical Committees, and the membership generally Even so it was impossible, because of limitations of funds, to undertake many things it is highly desirable for the Institute to do, and it was necessary to refuse the publication of important papers and committee studies, because of the lack of funds.

Jan 1, 1923

By Neil Styler

This paper presents an analysis of measurements of inter-burden deformations above six longwall faces. An attempt is made to demonstrate some correlation between the movements at the various sites, and to examine their importance with respect to predicting caving height, disruption of overlying seams, and disruption of aquifers. This analysis demonstrates some significant differences between predicted surface subsidence, and inter-burden deformation. In addition it is shown that the caving height above a longwall face is equal to 8 to 12 times the extraction height, with a zone of fractured rock extending to approximately 50 times the extraction height above the seam.

Jan 1, 1984

E. DEGOLYER,-New York, N. Y. (written discussion*).-Since the eastern part of the Gulf Coastal Plain is receiving considerable attention from various operators at the present time, it occurs to me that it brief review of most recent operations may be of interest in this connection, as well as a discussion of some of the points suggested by Mr. Hager. During the latter part of January, 1918, the Alahoma Oil Co. completed and abandoned a 3400-ft. (1036-m.) dry hole in Section 25, Township-8 North, Range 1 West. This well was drilled near the axis of the

Jan 4, 1918

By Burnham E. Field

TAE chemical industry is constantly looking for new materials which either are more resistant to corrosion than those now available or have improved physical properties to meet the requirements of higher temperatures and greater pressures. Attack by acids is-one of the more important forms of corrosion-and in the last few years the development of acid-resistant alloys has been quite rapid. Perhaps the most notable example is that of nitric acid, 'the problem of which has largely been solved by the chromium-iron and chromium-iron-nickel alloys. Sulfuric acid may be handled in lead, iron, or the iron-silicon alloys, depending on conditions. As to hydrochloric acid, no metal or alloy can be called entirely satisfactory for handling. this acid under plant conditions.1 The results of our investigations on the resistance of the nickel-molybdenum alloys to hydrochloric acid have been confirmed by those of Guertler, Rohn, Schulz, Jenge, and others,' but thus far only one such alloy has approached commercial production in Germany; this contains approximately 15 per cent. chromium and 7 per cent. molybdenum with the remainder chiefly nickel. Dr. S. W. Parr, as far back as 1914, developed a complex alloy known as "illium," with a nickel base and containing some molybdenum.3 Dr. Parr was primarily interested in an alloy for lining bomb calorimeters, and while illium does show good resistance to acid it is too expensive for general use. Two United States

Jan 1, 1929

By Herman Poole

When finely divided ferrous sulphide, FeS, is roasted at a moderate, carefully-regulated temperature, the iron and sulphur are oxidized, the first products being probably ferrous oxide and sulphurous acid. In the presence of oxygen of the air the ferrous oxide soon becomes ferric oxide, and, in the presence of oxygen and the ferric oxide, the sulphurous acid oxidizes to sulphuric acid. These facts are well known, having been established by Plattner many years ago. As a further reaction, some of the sulphuric acid parts with a portion of its oxygen to oxidize more ferrous oxide to ferric oxide, and a portion of it escapes uncombined, or else unites with the iron oxides to form sulphates. Ferrous sulphate is usually soon oxidized to ferric sulphate, and if the heat becomes sufficient, this is then decomposed into sulphuric acid and ferric oxide. As a result of these reactions a mass of more or less pure ferric oxide is formed which is generally made porous by the escaping gases and, if rabbled properly, practically all the sulphur is expelled. If ferric sulphide or ordinary pyrites, FeS2, is roasted, a portion of the sulphur sublimes and usually burns to form sulphurous or sulphuric acid, although at times and under favorable conditions, some of the sulphur is driven off uncombined, and can be collected as such. Under ordinary methods of roasting, however, only a small portion escapes combustion. By the combustion of the sulphur an increase of heat is developed and, as a consequence, the reactions mentioned take place more rapidly and actively,—more sulphuric acid is formed and the oxidation is more complete—nearly all the iron being left as ferric oxide with practically no sulphate or ferrous oxide. When the iron sulphide is in lumps the roasting proceeds generally as with fines, but with some changes due to mass. The

Jan 1, 1906

E. M. Fitchett (Johnstown, Pa.)—The fact stated by the authors that: "In the laboratory, without marked efficiency decreases, the authors have deposited zinc successfully from solutions containing as high as 1 g per liter of germanium," (p. 465, paragraph 3) is most unusual. A similar statement is made in the summary and conclusions: "Germanium alone, within normal operating limits does not cause large efficiency losses." The limits are not defined. These facts are directly contrary to much of the published history on the effect of germanium in zinc electrolysis. A description of the conditions leading to such a successful electrolysis would be of interest to all engaged in the production of electrolytic zinc. It is unfortunate that the authors of this paper did not determine the actual concentration of germanium and cadmium in the solutions which they electrolyzed after a zinc dust purification. This purification will take out a variable amount of these impurities, depending upon the composition of the dust, type of agitation, presence of activating agents, etc. Probably every electrolytic zinc plant in this country has accurate methods, both wet and spectrographic, for determining germanium and cadmium. These specific methods, adopted from the standard analytical literature, are often available to educational institutions for the asking. The headings of Fig. 2 and of the two tables, with their definite concentrations of germanium and cadmium (which are not so definite according to the footnotes) could possibly be somewhat misleading, since the actual amounts of germanium and cadmium present during electrolysis are not known. Even the 1 hr electrolysis time might be too short for a study of this type; 12 or 24 hr tests might be much better. Commercial solutions have been known that gave over 90 pct ampere efficiency during the first hour of electrolysis, but no metal at all after 24 hr.

Jan 1, 1953

By M. Muskat, R. D. Wyckoff, H. G. Botset

The flow of liquids through porous media is known to follow Darcy's law which states that the velocity of flow is proportional to the pressure gradient. This law is but a statement of the facts obtained from experimental studies and is, therefore, uncontroversial. It should be men-tioned, however, that it applies only when the flow is viscous in nature and that at excessive velocities which tend to produce turbulence, the velocity is proportional to some power of the pressure gradient, the exponent ranging from 1 to 0.5 as the degree of turbulence increases. However., experiments with media having permeabilities corresponding to those of actual producing horizons show conclusively that the actual flow of liquids in a producing horizon must be viscous except perhaps in the immediate vicinity of a well producing at a high rate. Therefore, one is justified in assuming Darcy's law to hold for cases of practical interest, as will be implicitly assumed in this discussion Given this basic law of flow it is possible, theoretically to obtain solutions to any problem of viscous flow of dead liquids1 by the usual methods of potential theory. However, problems of practical interest often present such complex geometrical configurations of sources and sinks (driving sources and output wells) as to make the analytical solutions extremely difficult or even impossible. It is useful, therefore, to note that Darcy's law is precisely equivalent to the law of electrical conduction, so that the pressure distribution in steady state porous flow of liquids is exactly the same as the potential distribution in an electrical conducting medium.2 This analogy permits the use of electrical models wherein the potential distributions may be measured with far greater facility and accuracy than is possible in actual fluid-sand models. Such electrical models were used in determining the pressure distribution about complex arrays of wells, an example of which will be shown later in the discussion of the 5-spot flood. One phase of the porous flow problems which is of considerable practical interest involves the tracing of an advancing fluid front. Thus,

Jan 1, 1933

By Burnham E. Field

The chemical industry is constantly looking for new materials which either are more resistant to corrosion than those now available or have improved physical properties to meet the requirements of higher temperatures and greater pressures. Attack by acids is one of the more important forms of corrosion and in the last few years the development of acid-resistant alloys has been quite rapid. Perhaps the most notable example is that of nitric acid, the problem of which has largely been solved by the chromium-iron and chromium-iron-nickel alloys. Sulfuric acid may be handled in lead, iron, or the iron-silicon alloys, depending on conditions. As to hydrochloric acid, no metal or alloy can be called entirely satisfactory for handling this acid under plant conditions.' The results of our investigations on the resistance of the nickel-molybdenum alloys to hydrochloric acid have been confirmed by those of Guertler, Rohn, Schulz, Jenge, and others12 but thus far only one such alloy has approached commercial production in Germany; this contains approximately 15 per cent. chromium and 7 per cent. molybdenum with the remainder chiefly nickel. Dr. S. W. Parr, as far back as 1914, developed a complex alloy known as "illium," with a nickel base and containing some molybdenum. 3 Dr. Parr was primarily interested in an alloy for lining bomb calorimeters, and while illium does show good resistance to acid it is too expensive for general use. Two United States

Jan 1, 1929

By Burnham E. Field

The chemical industry is constantly looking for new materials which either are more resistant to corrosion than those now available or have improved physical properties to meet the requirements of higher temperatures and greater pressures. Attack by acids is one of the more important forms of corrosion and in the last few years the development of acid-resistant alloys has been quite rapid. Perhaps the most notable example is that of nitric acid, the problem of which has largely been solved by the chromium-iron and chromium-iron-nickel alloys. Sulfuric acid may be handled in lead, iron, or the iron-silicon alloys, depending on conditions. As to hydrochloric acid, no metal or alloy can be called entirely satisfactory for handling this acid under plant conditions.' The results of our investigations on the resistance of the nickel-molybdenum alloys to hydrochloric acid have been confirmed by those of Guertler, Rohn, Schulz, Jenge, and others12 but thus far only one such alloy has approached commercial production in Germany; this contains approximately 15 per cent. chromium and 7 per cent. molybdenum with the remainder chiefly nickel. Dr. S. W. Parr, as far back as 1914, developed a complex alloy known as "illium," with a nickel base and containing some molybdenum. 3 Dr. Parr was primarily interested in an alloy for lining bomb calorimeters, and while illium does show good resistance to acid it is too expensive for general use. Two United States

Jan 1, 1929

By Paul Torrey

IN his recent article, Stanley C. Herold described some of the principles involved in oil-field rejuvenation. The purpose of this paper is to present certain facts, based upon observations of systematic water flooding of oil sands in the Bradford and Allegany fields of northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York, which, it is believed, will partially substantiate Mr. Herold's opinions. The writer gratefully acknowledges his obligation to the Forest Oil Corpn., the Kendall Refining Co., the Petroleum Reclamation Co., W. J. Healey, of Bradford, Pa., and the Producers Oil Corpn., of Olean, N. Y., for information included in this article; and he is especially indebted to Jerry B. Newby, of the Petroleum Reclamation Co., for helpful suggestions and criticism in the preparation of the paper. It is obvious that, in the calculation of mathematical formulas for the prediction of oil recovery, uniform conditions must be assumed; otherwise, the applicability of the results of such work will be, by necessity, restricted to the area or individual property for which they were designed. Geologic and physical conditions are so variable throughout the fields where water flooding is practiced that it is difficult to devise methods that can be universally applicable. However, it is believed that there are certain fundamental principles which, when applied with specific modifications designed to meet the conditions existing in local areas or individual properties, may yield considerably greater recoveries of oil.

Jan 1, 1927

By R. C. Beckstrom

Russia's first "Petaletka'' has ended. Technically it did not succeed but practically it has been a great achievement in the petroleum industry. Out of the chaos of revolution and civil war Russia has developed her oil industry to second place in the world's production. For 1932 production of crude oil is estimated at 150,000,000 bbl. and refined products at 145,000,000 barrels. Russia has been able to give the petroleum industry every advantage that a government can extend to a fast growing industry. She has obtained all of her property by confiscation. Under government ownership, operation and control, her petroleum industry is not handicapped in any way by state rulings or by unnecessary competition in production, refining and marketing. There are no damage suits resulting from offsetting, flooding, repressuring, laying of pipe lines, building of docks or other necessary work. Russian oil fields2 have been easy to develop and operate. They lie advantageously to transportation for foreign markets. The chief disadvantages have been a lack of credit and technical cooperation, but the former is being overcome by the sacrifice of the people. They go without the comforts of life that all salable articles may be exported for the imports of modern machinery. Modern machinery is fast replacing the obsolete and worn-out equipment. Technical cooperation has been difficult because it has been necessary to train thousands of adults to do technical and mechanical work. Great quantities of pipe, tools and electrical equipment were necessary for the rapidly developing fields and refineries. The supplies have been inadequate and the quality poor. This lack of equipment, along with the untrained technical supervision, has been the cause of the proposed quota falling short. Fig. 1 shows the production for 1931 and 1932. During 1932 a large percentage of the oil was produced in the proven fields of the Caucasus.

Jan 1, 1933

Discussion of the paper of E. J. Hall and C. W. Drury, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 78, June, 1913, pp. 1059 to 1066. A. M. SMOOT,* New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary +) :-The nails method is given in many text books on assaying as a standard method for gold or for gold and silver in ores. It appears to be taught in the laboratories of technical and scientific schools as a standard method, and to some extent it is used by assayers in actual practice, although the class of ores to which it may be applied is limited to those free from reducible metallic compounds, the metals of which would enter the lead button. The experiments of Messrs. Hall and Drury show the inaccuracy of this rnethod for silver, in heavy sulphides, but not so clearly the short-comings with regard to gold. It seems certain that low silver is caused by the solubility of silver in iron-alkali sulphide as compared with its solubility in molten lead; that is, silver is distributed between iron-alkali sulphide and metal in the charge in proportion to solubility at the particular temperature of the fusion. Lead is a fixed quantity in these assay charges, but iron-alkali sulphide increases with increased sulphur, so the more sulphur in the charge, the lower the silver results.

Jan 11, 1913