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By E. L. Raymond

The effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and resultant notch-bar rupture life of ZNCONEL alloys X- 750 and 718 was studied. It was found that the primary effect of heat treatment in rendering these alloys notch-ductile is the elimination of any y' denuded zone adjacent to the pain boundaries. The mechanisms by which such a denuded zone can arise and be eliminated by heat treatment are discussed. InCONEL Ni-Cr alloy X-750 and INCONEL Ni-Cr alloy 718 are age-hardenable austenitic materials. Alloy X-750 is used for its corrosion and oxidation resistance and high creep-rupture strength up to 1500°F. Alloy 718 is used most effectively up to 1300°F. One of the most important areas in their development has been establishment of consistently good rupture properties, especially in the presence of a stress concentration, such as imposed by a notch. A desire to improve these properties has led to extensive studies of the effect of heat treatment on the micro structure of these alloys and their performance in stress-rupture tests. In earlier investigations"~ of INCONEL* alloy X-750, *INCONEL i s a Registered Trademark of The International Nickel Co., Inc. grain boundary carbide morphology was linked with stress-rupture properties. If, during heat treatment, the carbide MZSC was precipitated in the grain bound-ary in a cellular form, poor rupture properties re-

Jan 1, 1968

By W. R. Ingalls

IN THE years immediately preceding 1914, the American people earned an aggregate income of 33 to 34 billion dollars, of which they saved about five billion, the annual saving being expressed mainly in the form of houses and railway extensions; to a less extent in public utilities, public improvements, factories and mines; and to a very small extent in foreign investments. It appeared needful that we should save and invest annually in these ways about 15 per cent. of our aggregate income in order to keep the development of our plant, so to speak, ahead of our steadily growing needs. The common knowledge that at present our housing and railway facilities are inadequate suggests immedi-ately that we have been running behind the pre-war ratio of reinvestment. Since 1919, we have not had any carefully prepared, authoritative estimates of the national annual income. However, with some experience in this subject, I have ventured to make rough estimates, which rest on solid foundations, although some rather empirical develop-ments are involved. Such estimates would be consid-ered good work in this field if they fell within limits of 10 per cent., plus or minus. Even so, these data are more useful when quickly available than more accurate data that are belated; for recognizing that there is a margin of error we can at least get a reasonable and approximate idea of how things are going.

Jan 2, 1923

By Ahmad Saberian

Five salt samples 20 to 40 cm tall, sealed on all sides except one, were exposed to a series of dissolution tests in various brine solutions and at different temperatures. Solvents were in the 50 to 96% saturation range and the temperatures varied between 40°F and 150°F. The collected dissolution data sets for vertical salt surfaces were analyzed and three were selected to be used for developing a general relation. After various curve fitting efforts, an empirical relation for salt dissolution rate as a function of brine temperature and salinity was developed.

Jan 1, 1985

By T. Cuscino, D. D. Lane, C. Cowherd, T. E. Baxter

Three types of commercially-available dust suppressants, commonly used in the surface mining industry to control fugitive particulate emissions from unpaved roads, were tested in the laboratory for cohesive strength and resistance to reduced effectiveness by large water addi¬tions. Results indicate that each product tested varies in cohesive strength with a range of 34-300 kPa (5-44 psi). Total cohesive strength depends on the aggregate moisture content and the means by which the sample is dried. Results show that laboratory testing can be used as a decision¬making tool concerning the type of dust suppressant for a particular mining operation. Also, the road surface aggre¬gate moisture content u critical to successful dust suppres¬sant performance. Large water additions to the aggregate road surface after initial suppressant application can pro¬duce nondesirable results. A modified wet sieving analysis is presented to test the effect of water addition.

Jan 1, 1984

By L. W. Emery

Undergrorlnd combustion operations were initiated in a 60-acre Bartlesville sand "shoe-string" reservoir in Allen Connty, Kans., in 1956. Tests in separate patterns were conducted using various co~nbinations of air and recycle gas to propagate combustion fronts from the injection toward the producing wells. These patterns were made up of 6 injection and 20 prodrrcing wells Gas and liquid prorluctiorz from each pattern was measured on an individual-well basis, and comparisons were made between the three patterns to ascertain the relative effects of injected gas composition on production behavior. Breakthrough of the combustion front at a well was characterized by an increase in water production from the well followed by an increase in bottomhole temperatrrre to approximately 250" F. After burning fronts had broken through at five producing wells, operations were terminated in 1960. From the total project approximately 79,000 bbl of oil were produced during thermal operations at a cumulative produced GOR of 23 Mcf/bbl. No appreciable change in the character of the produced crude was observed. Combustion in the reservoir was maintained with injected gas compositions ranging fronz 6 per cent oxygen in recycle gas to 100 per cent air. lnjectiotz of large quantities of recycle gas resulted in higher producing GOR's from offset wells than were measured from a pattern into ~vhich straight air ~vas injected. The air required to move the combustion front through I acre-ft of reservoir was computed to be 20 MMscf. This valrre was found to be relatively independent of the quantities of recycle gas injected. The recovery efficiency from the swept area was esti~izated to be about 59 per cent. Areas swept were similar in shape to tlzose obtained with a laboratory potentiometric model. Samples of sund taken from behind the burning front by coring indicated almost total oil removal from the sand. Petrographic analysis of the core samples indicated that the sand had been heated to peuk temperature of rlbout 1,200" F. No rignificant difference in peak temperature was forrnd in two areas where compositions of injected gas were quite different. Compression costs for thermal recovery were estimated to be $1,20/bhl of produced oil. INTRODUCTION The use of the "forward combustion" process as an oil recovery method has received a great deal of attention. This method involves ignition of the formation in an injection well, followed by propagation of a combustion front through the reservoir. Combustion is maintained by the injection of an oxygen-containing gas to react with reservoir hydrocarbons. As the flame front progresses through the reservoir, oil and formation water are vaporized, driven forward in the gaseous phase and recondensed in the cooler part of the formation. In turn, the condensed fluids push oil into the producing wellbores. Completed field tests of the process were first reported by Kuhn and Koch,' and by Grant and Szasz.' Results from other tests have since been reported by Walter,3 by Moss, White and McNeil,' and by Gates and Ramey." ach of these tests essentially utilized a single injection well surrounded by four or more producing wells. Sinclair Research, Inc., elected to do field experimental work using a number of test patterns in a single field in order that comparisons between various operating schemes could be made. The site selected and purchased in 1955 for this experimental work was a 60-acre Bartlesville sand reservoir located in Allen County, Kans. Combustion operations were initiated in mid-1956. Between that time and termination of the project in mid-1960, combustion fronts were propagated from injection wells to producers in three separate well patterns, using different mixtures of air and recycle gas. The test was terminated before sweep of the three patterns was complete so that information about the effect of combustion on the swept areas could be obtained by coring. Results from the test in the form of injection and producing well performance have been carefully recorded, and these form the general basis for this paper. DESCRIPTION OF RESERVOIR The reservoir in which the combustion tests were conducted is a Bartlesville sand "shoe-string", typical of a number of small reservoirs in Southeastern Kansas. Average reservoir characteristics are shown in Table 1. Fig. 1 is an isopachous map of the producing sand showing the reservoir to be approximately 400-ft wide and 2,500-ft long. Maximum net productive sand thickness is 21 ft. Fig. 2 shows a typical core analysis obtained by coring with water-base mud. The reservoir has no appreciable dip and is closed on the sides by degradation of sand into shale. The main body of sand is heavily laminated with shale stringers, which are not continuous between wells. The main reservoir is overlain by 30 to 40 ft of laminated low-permeability sand and shale streaks. No information is available on the original properties of

By J. J. Frawley, W. J. Childs, W. R. Maurer

The object of this investigation was to determine the growth habit of bismuth and bisrrtuth alloy dendrites as a function of supercooling. To do this, techniques were developed to increase the amount of supercooling in bismuth and bismuth alloys. For pure bismuth, the growth habit was dependent on the amount of supercooling. At low amounts of supercooling, about 10" C, prismatic dendrites were obtained. With increased supercooling, about 20 C, a hopper growth habit was observed. In many cases where hopper growth had occurred, the hopper dendrites were twinned during the growth process. This twinned surface enable prismatic dendrites to nucleate and grow by a twin plane mechanism. When the amount of supercooling was increased to about 25 °C, the growth habit was a triplanar growth. With still greater supercooling, about 3s°C, a branched growth habit occurred. The exposed planes on the prismatic, hopper,, triplane, and branched dendrites have been determined. The growth habit of the dendrites which grew along the crucible wall was found to have the (111) as the exposed plane, with <211> growth direction. It is apparent that dendritic growth of a metal is dependent on its purity and the solidification variables present. One of the solidification variables is the degree of supercooling. Supercooling, although often observed, has not been studied extensively until recent years. For dendritic growth to occur in a pure metal, the metal must be thermally supercooled. After the dendrites grow into the supercooled melt, the heat of solidification raises the temperature of the specimen to the melting point of the material and the remaining liquid will solidify at this temperature. Decanting is the removal of this remaining liquid before complete solidification. This removal of the remaining liquid after recalescence had occurred is a great aid in the study of dendritic growth. In this investigation, decanting was accomplished by a vacuum-decanting technique . Other investigators1-5 have studied the growth characteristics of various low-melting-temperature pure metals and alloys as a function of supercooling. However, large degrees of supercooling were not included. For their study of dendritic growth of lead, Weinberg and chalmersl employed a decanting technique which was achieved by pouring off the remaining liquid, exposing the solid/liquid interface. This method was employed later by Weinberg and Chalmers2 for the investigation of tin and zinc dendrites. The method for obtaining a solid/liquid interface was improved by Chalmers and Elbaum. They employed a triggered spring which was attached to the solidifying section of the specimen. Upon activation, the spring jerked the solid interface away from the liquid melt. In the study of growth from the supercooled state, a metal of low melting point which exhibited a high degree of supercooling was desired. Bismuth gave very consistent supercooling when a stannous chloride flux was employed. The maximum supercooling obtained was 91°C, with an average supercooling of between 65" and 75°C. The consistency of supercooling greater than 50°C was very high. The use of vacuum to aid in the rapid decanting of molten metal has proven to be very successful in this investigation. The vacuum gives a rapid decantation, usually leaving the solidified metal structure sharply defined. The purpose of this investigation was to study the effects of supercooling and the effects of alloy additions on the growth habit of bismuth dendrites. The structure of bismuth has been variously defined as face-centered rhombohedral, primitive rhombohedral, and hexagonal. However, bismuth has only one plane with threefold symmetry, the (111) plane, and the crystal-lographic structure is considered a 3kn structure. MATERIALS The bismuth which was employed in this investigation was obtained from the American Smelting and Refining Co. of South Plainfield, N. J. The accompanying spectrographic analysis data indicated the bismuth to be 99.999+ pct pure. The tin was obtained from the Vulcan Materials Co., Vulcan Detinning Division, Sewaren, N. J. It was classified as "extra pure". Nominal analysis was 99.999+pct. In order to prevent contamination of the bismuth melt from the atmosphere, an anhydrous stannous chloride (Fisher certified reagent grade) was added to each melt. The fluxing action obtained from the use of the chloride provided a large amount of supercooling in the specimen. APPARATUS A 30-kw, 10,000-cps motor-generator set, connected to a 6+-in.-diam air induction coil, was employed to melt and superheat the specimens. The temperatures were recorded by means of a chromel-alumel thermocouple and a potentiometric recorder. The thermocouples were 0.003 in. in diam, and were encapsulated with Pyrex glass to prevent the thermocouple from acting as a nucleating agent and also from contaminating the melt. Fig. 1 illustrates the vacuum-decanting apparatus when a liquid flux was employed. A standard 30-ml Pyrex beaker was placed on top of an asbestos insulating block. A 5-mm-ID Pyrex tube with aA-in. spacer tip attached to its end was used for the decanting tube. The spacer tip contributed significantly to a successful decanting operation. The tip located the opening of the decanting tube about -^ in. from the bottom of the

Jan 1, 1969

By H. Herman, C. Chiou, M. E. Fine

From variation in Young&apos;s modulus and Vicker&apos;s hardness during GPl zone formation in A1-2 at. pct Cu the following was observed: 1) the presence of grain boundaries does not have any perceptible? effect on the aging reaction; 2) the modulus charge is orientation dependent; 3) the activation energy for zone growth is confirmed to be 11 * 1 kcal per mole; 4) reaging after reversion is preceded by an incubation time that varies with temperature. An analysis is applied to the present data and to data of other workers and kinetic laws dependent on the quenching rate are determined. In Al-base Cu alloys the decomposition product of a supersaturated solid solution at low temperatures (for example 25°C) and the first product at moderate temperatures (for example 150oC) are Guinier-Preston zones of the first kind (GPI).&apos; These zones are nonideal and are thought Jo &apos;Onsist roughly of sheets of Cu atoms up to 150A in diam and one or two atoms thick.&apos; The kinetics of the reaction, ass — a2

Jan 1, 1961

By Frank R. Van Horn

In the summer of 1908, R. B. Cochran, Superintendent of the Compania Metalurgica Mexicana at Sierra Mojada, Mexico, presented to the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at Case School of Applied Science an interesting series of silver-, copper-, and lead-ores from the Veta Rica mine. These ores contained several interesting minerals which were associated in a somewhat peculiar manner, so that I was impelled to make a closer study of their occurrence. The investigation has brought out several new facts concerning the geology of the district and the geological occurrence of the ores, and therefore has seemed worthy of record. Two papers have been published previously about the region, one by Chisml in 1887, and the other by Malcolmson² in 1902. These articles, however, treat of the district more from the stand-point of the metallurgist and mining engineer, and not much attention is devoted to its mineralogy and economic geology. 11. Geographical Location of the District. The Sierra Mojada is situated in the extreme western part of the State of Coahuila, near the Chihuahua boundary. It is reached best via the Mexican Central railroad from El Paso, Tex., to Escalon, Chihuahua, a distance of 494 miles. From this point, a branch line, the Mexican Northern railroad, runs 78 miles in a NE. direction to the mines, which are its northern terminus. The railroad was built about 1890, practically on account of the Sierra Mojada mining-district.

Jan 1, 1913

By Walter Weeks

THERE is very little useful material in the litera-ture on the construction of manometers, so each experimenter must devise his own instrument. I have experimented for a number of years and have finally built one that is satisfactory. If we are to obtain accurate friction factors in mine-ventilation problems we must use accurate instruments. The most simple and convenient instrument for the mea-surement of small pressures is the inclined manometer or U-tube. By changing the angle at which the tube is set, any desired magnification of the pressure reading may be obtained. The first question in regard to the manometer is: What liquid shall be used? Alcohol, in my opinion, is the best. It does not cling to the glass and it does not attack the rubber tubes. The next problem is the setting of the instrument at the proper angle. One method is illustrated in Fig. 1. The base plate AC is made horizontal by a level bubble. The plate AB, which carries the U-tube, is hinged at A. The angle z which AB makes with the horizontal may be made any value by pinning the end B at the calculated position on the arm CD. Such an instrument may be designed to read directly in inches of water if a liquid of constant specific gravity is used. If the specific gravity varies, a calculation is necessary to convert the reading into inches of water.

Jan 1, 1923

By W. R. Ingalls

ThE following chronology presents the history of lead-mining in the United States in a brief form and is a useful reference in connection with the statistics of production: 1621.. Lead was mined and smelted near Falling Creek, Va., to supply the local demand for bullets and shot. This was the first mining and .smelting of lead in what is now the United States. 1632. In a report made on the minerals of New England, lead-ore is mentioned. (Bishop, I., 470.) 1650. Supposed beginning of mining by Jesuits in Pima county, Ariz. 1651. Grant of lead-mine at Middletown, Conn., to Gov. John Winthrop. 1682. Lead-ore supposed to have been discovered in Wisconsin by Nicholas Perrot. (K. D. Irving, Mineral Resources of Wisconsin, Trans., viii., 498.) 1700 Discovery of lead in Missouri by Penicaut, one of Le Sueur&apos;s party. Tile same expedition discovered lead near the southern boundary of Wisconsin in August of the same year. 1712. Grant by Louis XIV. of the Crozat patents, with special privileges respecting the discovery and operation of mines in the then territory of Louisiana. Little or no mining was done under this patent until about 1720. 1717. Transfer of Crozat patents to the Mississippi Co., promoted by John Law, which prepared for active mining. 1719. First attempt to mine and smelt lead in Missouri, made by Sieur de Lochon, in behalf of the Mississippi Co., near Meramec river. Results unsuccessful.

Jan 1, 1908

By Oswald J. Heinrich

This question having been repeatedly raised, and particularly revived in a discussion at the last meeting of the Institute, I beg to submit the following remarks, based partly upon personal experience, partly upon the results of large works in Europe, establishing, years ago, the practicability of certain methods, which may therefore be considered to have passed the stage of mere experiment. Before entering upon the merits of one system or the other, it is indispensable to lay down some recognized principles, which ought to serve as guides, in arriving at fair judgments in questions of this character. In a profession like that of mining, locally so much influenced by combinations of circumstances too various to mention, it is difficult to do more than lay down the main features of a system based upon general laws and recognized facts, leaving the details to the sound judgment and experience of the engineer, who, by virtue of his education, ought to be able to make such choice and such modifications in the plans of a mine as the particular case demands. Mineral resources, in some countries the sole property of the owner of the soil, in others controlled by the strong hand of a government, are nevertheless a gift of nature, in which, indirectly, the whole of the human race has as real an interest as the immediate owner himself. This interest requires, at least, that no unnecessary waste of

By Oswald J. Heinrich

THIS question having been repeatedly raised, and particularly revived in a discussion at the last meeting of the Institute, I beg to submit the following remarks, based partly upon personal experience, partly upon the results of large works in Europe, establishing, years ago, the practicability of certain methods, which may therefore be considered to have passed the stage of mere experiment. Before entering upon the merits of one system or the other, it is indispensable to lay down some recognized principles, which ought to serve as guides, in arriving at fair judgments in questions of this character. In a profession like that of mining, locally so much influenced by combinations of circumstances too various to mention, it is difficult to do more than lay down the main features of a system based upon general laws and recognized facts, leaving the details to the sound judgment and experience of the engineer, who, by virtue of his education, ought to be able to make such choice and such modifications in the plans of a mine as the particular case demands. Mineral resources, in some countries the sole property of the owner of the soil, in others controlled by the strong hand of a government, are nevertheless a gift of nature, in which, indirectly, the whole of the human race has as real an interest as the immediate owner himself. This interest requires, at least, that no unnecessary waste of

Jan 1, 1874

By Henry M. Howe

in Cast-Iron. It has been generally accepted that the presence of silicon in cast-iron leads to the formation of graphite; and this has been explained by saying that the silicon lowers the solvent power of iron for carbon at and somewhat below the freezing-point, so that, in the presence of silicon, the iron is unable to retain in solution or combination the whole of the carbon with which it has united while molten, and therefore expels the excess of carbon in the form of graphite, during and immediately after solidification. Probably the best way to study this question would be to examine pure cast-irons, i.e., those containing nothing but iron, carbon and silicon, which at the same time should have been saturated with carbon when molten. But the data for such a study are not at hand; so we must turn to commercial pig-irons as they are made in the blast-furnace, and before their composition has been changed by remelting. Much evidence has been offered of late, tending to oppose the theory of the action of silicon above set forth. Some of this evidence will be examined here. 1. Mr. Bachman&apos;s Results. In particular, Mr. F. E. Bachman† has published a collection of analyses of cast-iron, in which the proportion of graphite at first appears to be nearly independent of the proportion of silicon present. Thus, in his Table LI., we find that with pro-

Jan 1, 1901

By Eric L. Christiansen

A dynamic simulation model for the iron blast furnace has been developed which predicts flow rates, compositions, and temperatures of the top gas, slag, and hot metal exit streams as a function of time from specification of the time-dependent tuyere inputs and raw material charges. As a matter of convenience, a previously developed steady- state model is employed to fix furnace-dependent parameters. It also provides initial conditions for the internal states of the furnace for subsequent dynamic solution of the simultaneous differential equations which describe the local rates of chemical reaction, heat transfer, and mass transfer in the stack, bosh, combustion zone, and hearth of the furnace. The dynamic model was tested by a demonstration of its ability to relax to steady-state representations of the time-averaged data from two separate industrial blast furnaces and of its ability to follow eight days of time-dependent operating data for one of them. Simulated responses to step changes in tuyere input and burden variables have been shown to be of the correct magnitude and duration. Although complex functions of many variables, a proper description of these responses is needed for the development of optimization and control strategies . The model correctly predicts the non-minimum-phase type dynamic response observed in real furnaces in which the output variables proceed through local minima or maxima, often including inverse responses (i.e., opposite signs from their final steady-state values ) .

Jan 1, 1984

By Robert C. Beckstorm

Russia produced over one-half of the world&apos;s petroleum in 1901. It dropped to a low figure in 1920 during the reorganization of the new government. Since then it has had a remarkable growth under the constant demands from the Central Bureau at Moscow. The five-year plan called for the development of all industries, many of which had permitted their equipment to gat out of repair or become obsolete, so that when the magic wand of authority demanded that they double, triple or quadruple their former production they looked to the oil industry for aid. This plan made necessary the building of new factories, dams and power stations; the developing of mines and agriculture, and in many places the building of cities and railroads. Exports were the solution and petroleum was the logical one to carry the load of development of the more backward industries. It had a ready market and fields located advantageously for transportation, which was cheap, and there was sufficient oil to meet the market demands at that time, as domestic consumption was not great. The building program demanded new and modern machinery and technical aid from abroad. FIG . 1.-PETROLEUM Money was necessary and petroleum was the impor- 1925-1931. PRODUTION IN RUSSIA tant product of exchange. This accounts for the rapid development of the old fields, the search for new ones and the building of refineries and transportation facilities. Fig. 1 shows the advance in production since 1925. There has been a. steady increase since 1920, and with the improved drilling equipment and improved methods it will increase as long as the now proved fields continue to produce new wells. The fields of Baku and Grozny have yielded 95 per cent of this production. The Cara Chukur field, which is being developed at the present time, is an extension of the Surakany at Baku and may be considered a part of the old field. New fields are being

Jan 1, 1932

By H. W. McCue

In 1944, in the Texas Panhandle, 245 oil wells were drilled with a total daily initial production of 32,886 bbl., representing an average initial production of 134 bbl, per well. This was an increase over 1943 of 121 wells drilled, and an increased initial production of 13,861 barrels. On Dec. 31, 1944, the field was operating on an allowable of 113,567 bbl. per day, but actually was producing 85,539 bbl. per day from the 5901 oil wells. The tota1 production for the year was 33,439,436 bbl., bringing the cumulative total to 5.04,537,048 barrels. Gas Sixty-three gas wells with a combined open flow of 992 million cu. ft., were drilled during 1944. This was an increase of seven wells over 1943, but a drop of 216 million cu. ft. in initial open flow. The

Jan 1, 1945

By Lester Woolsey

THE State Department can be of assistance to Americans in the petroleum business directly and indirectly. During the past few months, at the Arms Conference, it had a large hand in dealing with affairs indirectly affecting the oil problem. The conference has somewhat relieved the emphasis on naval strategy in relation to oil supply by limiting the number of naval vessels or the fleets of the Great Powers and in maintaining the "open door" in the Far East in respect of the development of the natural resources of that region by defining that policy in a nine-power treaty. The largest competitors of the. United States in the petroleum field are parties to that treaty. The Department of State also has stood steadfastly for the principle of equal opportunity in the Dutch East Indies, Mesopotamia, and Persia. The Department of State has been of indirect assistance in connection with oil problems by insisting on the recognition of treaty rights and other guar-antees, such as most-favored-nation clauses, and mandate provisions. I am not speaking as a representative of the Depart-ment of State, as L now have no connection with that institution, but my experience of several years as a member of the department and my practice since my resignation have given me opportunity to see the department from both the inside and the outside, and to measure its limitations as well as its resources.

Jan 7, 1922

By N. De Nevers

A calculation method has been developed for carbonated water flooding. This method takes into account the effects of oil viscosity reduction and oil swelling, due to carbon dioxide transferred to the reservoir oil from the carbonated flood water. It shows the effect of changes in carbonation pressure and carbonated water slug size. The method is based on a Buckley-Leverett-type linear flow model. The mathematical approach is similar to that developed by Welge, et al, for enriched gas drives. However, it contains a very important advance over the previous papers in its solution to the problem of injection of a "slug" of carbonated water rather than continuous injection of fluid of constant composition. The method also shows the chromatographic nature of the transport of Co 2 in a carbonated water flood. Sample calculations indicate that viscosity reduction is the most important source of incremental oil recovery. Swelling contributes to a lesser extent. Raising the carbonation pressure increases recovery, but this effect diminishes as pressure is increased. increasing the slug size also increases recovery, but again this effect diminishes as slug size is increased. INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been considerable interest in carbonated water flooding as a secondary recovery method. Several carbonated waterflood field tests are now in progress.1&apos;3 Yet there is no published method for predicting the results of a carbonated water flood. This paper presents a method for predicting the oil recovery for ; carbonated water flood. In a carbonated water flood. a carbonated water slug is injected into the reservoir. Then this slug is driven forward by injecting plain water behind it. The field operator must choose the carbonated water slug size and the CO2:water ratio in the slug. The calculation method presented here shows the effects of both slug size and CO2:water ratio on oil recovery. The calculation assumes that the addition of carbon dioxide to flood water increases the oil recovery by two mechanisms: 1. Carbon dioxide transfers from the flood water to the oil, thereby reducing the viscosity of the oil. At the lower viscosity, the oil flows more readily and is more easily swept out by flood water. 2. The carbon dioxide which transfers to the oil phase causes the oil phase to swell. Assume that the residual oil saturation (volume per cent of pore space) is the same whether the oil is carbonated or not. Then the same volume will contain less stock tank oil if it is carbonated, due to oil swelling. The plain water driving the carbonated water slug forward will strip the CO2 out of this residual oil., causing this oil to shrink. This swelling-followed-by-shrinking leaves behind a lower residual oil saturation than would have been left behind by a plain water flood. Since some oils swell to almost twice their original volume at reasonable CO2 pressures, this effect may be large. Two additional benefits sometimes claimed for carbonated water flooding are: 1. Adding CO2 to flood water greatly increases the water injectivity in some cases.1 (Injectivity = BPD of water injected/ft of sand x differential bottom-hole pressure, psi.) CO2 forms a weak acid in water; injecting carbonated water is, therefore, somewhat like acid treating. If a formation responds to acid treating, it will probably have a higher injectivity for carbonated water than for plain water. Although the increased injectivity increases the profitability of a carbonated water flood over a plain water flood, it does not change the production curve based on total fluid injected. Therefore, the method presented here does not show any effect of increased injectivity. 2. It is claimed in one patent4 that carbon dioxide will react with some constituents of the oil to form detergents. These detergents are expected to increase the oil recovery. There is little data available to support this idea. The calculation method presented here takes no credit for extra oil recovery due to the formation of any such detergents.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. Kendall Cork

The traditional financial objective for a single mine company has been to operate as frugally as possible and to pay out most of the earnings as dividends. If the business is cyclical (as it is for most metals) the dividends might fluctuate quite widely. When the mine is exhausted the company disappears. This is still quite a viable strategy for a single mine company. It is not however a viable strategy for the world as a whole. The mining industry is built by mine development companies who can mobilize the people and capital to bring new mines into production. Their skills must include marketing, engineering, finance and other politics. It is very rare for a property to be brought in without the support of a major company that can provide all these services. The exceptions will usually have some other form of big brother support, for example the U.S. government uranium contracts at guaranteed generous prices. The mine development company will seek as a minimum to perpetuate itself by developing new mines in order to replace those which are running out. The more common and more ambitious objective is to grow -- that is to add to its ore reserves and current production by developing more new mines. The financial objectives for that company are very different. Obviously if all the earnings were paid out in dividends there would be nothing left to work with. The first financial policy then is to spend an appropriate amount on exploration for new properties. The next is to retain enough of the earnings to provide the capital for new projects at least sufficient for the equity. There is no magic formula as to what proportion of earnings should properly be distributed as dividends by a growth-oriented mine development company. As a rough rule of thumb distributing half or more will probably leave too little to work on and 30% or so is probably a good balance. However the circumstances differ widely from company to company. It may be useful to set an objective for the rate of growth of a company&apos;s earnings. Some have picked rates such as 15% per annum compounded. Others have set a target in real terms which might appear as 10 or 11% plus inflation. Obviously the arithmetic of compound interest is very attractive; however in practice there is much variation. Indeed current returns from existing operations swing widely with the business cycle and there is no assurance that economic new properties will be found according to someone&apos;s arbitrary time schedule. For example, Western Mining Corporation Limited in Australia explored for 30 years with little to show for it, but then found the great Australian nickel deposits and more recently the huge Roxby Downs copper. That long dry spell could not have fitted anyone&apos;s arbitrary calendar of growth and yet they would not have found such orebodies without that long period of effort. Should they have abandoned the search? Once a new property has been found or acquired there has to be a threshold rate of return on the new capital to be invested against which to evaluate the property&apos;s economics. Conventionally this seems to be 15% after tax, a number common in other heavy industries as well. In some cases it is expressed as a lower number plus allowance for inflation. Discounted cash flow analysis is a very useful tool but it does not make the decision. In the end a "go" decision depends on judgment of many factors some of which are numbers used in the DCF calculation whose credibility must be examined. It is curious how frequently investment proposals come in with the rates of return very close to 15%. The project advocates know that a number much less than 15% will not fly and that a number much more is not necessary. With much higher nominal and real interest rates of recent years, even though before tax, logic suggests that the hurdle rate should also rise. The power of compound interest is so great that 20% is very hard to achieve in any cash flow projection but 18% may be a sensible yard - stick. Once again it is remarkable how many project proposals come in with an 18% return. On the record the mining industry as a whole has not been overly restrictive in choosing its hurdle rates of return. This is shown by the abundance of metals in recent years and the failure of metal prices to keep up with inflation. All of the foregoing is standard text book stuff.

Jan 1, 1985

By A. R. Oltrogge

WE have just seen? that resistance is a characteristic of an electric circuit that makes it difficult for current to flow; also, that if, by the application of voltage, we cause a current to flow through a circuit having resistance, heat is generated. This is the principle utilized in the production of heat by electric power in the arc furnace. In order to fully appreciate the problems of the arc-furnace electric circuit, let us examine the characteristics of some of the more commonly used materials that offer resistance to a flow of current and thereby produce heat. Usually the resistance material is a metal or a metal alloy, such as the nichrome ribbon in an electric toaster or the tungsten filament of an ordinary light bulb. These are the materials whose resistance-remains relatively fixed and which therefore permit the flow of a definite amount of current for a given impressed voltage. If we want more current to flow, we must either decrease the resistance or increase the voltage that is causing the current to flow. Such a resistive material has what we call a positive volt-ampere characteristic, which means that in order to get more current we must apply more voltage, and in order to reduce the current we must reduce the voltage. Such a volt-ampere characteristic can be represented by a line plotted on a graph (line B, Fig I).

Jan 1, 1947