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By Joseph Pogue

THE past year in the petroleum industry was one of overproduction, rising inventories, low prices, and meagre to vanishing profits. This outcome was the result of a long period of intensive and uncompensated effort on the part of both financial and industrial interests, to stimulate supply on the theory that the primary problem facing the petroleum industry was the development of an adequate reserve of raw material to protect a large and ever-growing investment. The stimulus was applied in various forms and through diverse channels: capital had, long flowed into the industry in excessive amounts under the attraction of large expected profits; the price level for crude petroleum had persistently been influenced -by speculative considerations, with the result that prices declined slowly in periods of flush production and were quick to advance in anticipation of statistical improvement, thus maintaining a superfluous degree of stimulus on wildcatting and on drilling; speculation in inventories had led to the unsound, or at least unusual, business practice of accumulating huge stocks of oil; and, above all, the industry had directed the potent force of technology to the expansion of supply and achieved radical results in accelerating oil discovery, speeding up the rate of oil extraction, and enlarging the recovery of gasoline and lubricating oils from the raw material. In short, the economic conditions of 1927 were exactly those to which the objectively driven enterprise of the petroleum industry had long been directed; and the undesirable financial consequences arising. therefrom reflected no lack of success in what had been set out to be achieved, but rather the failure to have established concurrently the necessary means of economic control to prevent the immediate conversion of reserves into current supply, and likewise the oversight in neglecting to apply the technological force to the enlargement and diversification of the market for petroleum products. Perhaps, when viewed in its longer perspective, 1927 will stand out as the turning point in the economic policy of the petroleum industry, when the technique of rationalizing production made its, initial claim for recognition.

Jan 1, 1928

By W. M. Hirthe, E. H. Greener, D. R. McCann

It has been proposed1'2 that, at low temperatures, point defects are a strengthening factor in inter-metallic compounds whereas, at high temperatures, the deformation is diffusion-controlled and, therefore, an increase in the concentration of point defects tends to soften or increase the plasticity of a compound. More recent investigations, including those of Bloem and Kroger' on PbS, Kramers and smith4 on TiO, and Nadeau5 on LiF, have extended this concept to ionic crystals. Rutile (TiO2) is a tetragonal transition metal oxide which has a defect structure over at least the compositional range. The defect in near-stoichiometric rutile is either an oxygen ion vacancys or a titanium ion interstitial.' This investigation does not contribute to resolving the defect question but either defect would satisfy the results obtained. Six specimens having the same orientation, see Fig., 1, utilized in an independent investigation1' were cut with a diamond saw from a single-crystal boule purchased from the Linde Co. Three specimens were annealed in air at 1200°C for 4 hr and slowly cooled to room temperature in a period of 12 hr. The remaining specimens were reduced in a vacuum of l0 mm Hg at 1200°C for 4 hr and cooled at the same rate in vacuum. The reduced specimens were weighed before and after reduction and, assuming the weight loss to be oxygen, the corresponding oxygen-to-metal ratio is 1.998. All specimens were chemically polished and etched utilizing the techniques described by Hirthe, Adsit, and Brittain." The specimens were embedded in acrylic resin and mounted on a leveling vise in a Kentron micro-hardness tester. A 200-g load was applied to a Knoop indenter with a descent time of 18 sec and a dwell time of 20 sec. Eight indentations were made on a near (171) surface, approximately 3 deg from the (lii) plane, for each orientation of the major axis of the indenter relative to the crystal structure. The dependence of microhardness on orienta-

Jan 1, 1963

By James P. Kimball

THE object of the present memoir is to put on record some practical experiments by the writer in smelting a silicious native magnetite with no other flux than the silicates of its own gangue: This work was undertaken in the spring of 1878 for Messrs. Naylor & Co., of Boston, to whom I am indebted for the privilege of here communicating its results, these having hitherto only been simply announced.* So far as I am aware these are the first instances of the kind in this country that non-calcareous; or rather non-carbonated, magnetites have successfully been used strictly alone as self-fluxing ores in the blast furnace; that is, without the addition of calcareous flux in the form either of limestone, quicklime, calcareous ore, or basic (calcareous). slag. Previous to the spring of 1878, when the Chateaugay magnetic ore was first brought to my notice, its use had been limited to Catalan forges, after "separation" at the ore bed. The blooms and billets made from it in the several forges of Messrs. Weed & Williams, and of Mr. Williams, were well known in the trade as among the best in the market. The Chateaugay ore beds proving of great magnitude, and the ore exceptionally low in phosphoric acid, it commended itself for blast-furnace purposes to Messrs. Naylor & Co., who employed nee to blow-in the charcoal furnace at Pittsford, Vt., on this ore in the spring of 1878., a previous trial of this ore in the same furnace in the fall of 1877 having proved abortive. This was therefore the first time that Chateaugay ore was successfully smelted in a blast furnace, although since well known as a blast-furnace ore possessing superior and exceptional qualities. The Pittsford furnace, although rebuilt in 1844, and subsequently improved by the former owner, the late J. Prichard, is one of the few furnaces of the old type with open breast (Sumpfofen) still active in this country. Its improvements on furnaces of the period, * Bulletin American Iron and Steel Association, XII, 1878, 132, 156.

Jan 1, 1881

By Oswald J. Heinrich

The serious objections to the Leblanc soda process may be enumerated as follows: 1st. The total loss of sulphur employed, equal to about one-third of soda produced. Various processes have been proposed to regain this sulphur, but none have come into practical operation on a large scale. 2d. The great balk of waste products, equal to nearly twice the amount of soda, which forms a serious annoyance about the works. 3d. The complicated series of operations necessary. 4th. The large amount of labor and fuel required. 5th. The prodoction of noxious gases which necessitate extensive condensing arrangements. 6th. The large capital necessary for the . erection and maintenance of the plant, These objections have long been recognized, and many attempts have been made during the last thirty or forty years, to discover and introduce a cheaper and more direct method for the manufacture of this important staple. The reaction between bicarbonate of ammonia and common salt, whereby bicarbonate of soda, insoluble in a solution of chloride of ammonium, is precipitated, has been closely studied for the last twentyfour years, on account of its simplicity and the purity of the product it affords. This ammonia-soda process is now so far developed, that while it is not in position to entirely replace the Leblanc process, yet it can successfully compete with it where the conditions and localities are favorable. The advantages of the ammonia-soda process may be summed up as follows : 1st. It is independent of the essential agent in the Leblanc process, via., sulphuric acid, and hence can be established in those localities where salt is abundant, and yet where sulphuric acid could not be made, or where it could not be transported profitably. 2d. The ammonia-soda process being a " wet" process, the evaporation of salt brines to obtain the solid salt required in the Leblanc process, is rendered unnecessary. 3d. The direct conversion of chloride of sodium into bicarbonate of soda, which can readily be converted into the maketable monocar-

Jan 1, 1879

By Harry Roeser

Short cuts for determining the constants of oil decline curves, with the method of least squares as a starting point, are presented and applications made to practical examples. The nature of the raw data does not justify rigid adherence to the orthodox theory but does lend justification to convenient methods of approximation within reasonable limits. If the conventional form y = kxn were changed to y = k(x + c)', methods of determining the curves would be simplified and greater uniformity in calculated results would probably follow. As A result of the publication, several years ago, of some articles on determining the constants of empirical formulas, the determining the constant's of types of curves used for estimating the production decline of oil wells was brought to the writer for study. Methods requiring a minimum of time and labor and a maximum of rigor were sought, as it appeared that the nature of the data from which such curves are computed and the relative uncertainty of occurrence of the events predicted from them did not justify close adherence to the theory on which the solution of such problems is ordinarily based. The technical deficiencies of the solutions presented in this paper, from the standpoint of the method of least squares, are readily apparent to those familiar with that method, but their presentation in detail here is irrelevant to the subject matter. However, it is the author's conviction, after a rather exhaustive study of the problem, that the value of the solutions lose little by the approximate application of the conventional theory. It must be understood by those who use these formulas that the solutions herein given, and the formulas based on them, are merely facilities to aid the valuation engineer in forecasting future events. It is assumed, also, that before application is made of them, prescient judgment based on the circumstances in each case, shows that the forecast has some probability of realization. On this basis only will these formulas be found useful.

Jan 6, 1924

ONE of the fundamental reasons for the extreme rapidity with which the Porphyries developed after the trail had been blazed at Bingham was the amenability of the deposits to prospecting and proving of the ore either by churn-drilling or by diamond-drilling. At Ray churn-drill data formed the principal basis for early calculations of ore reserves; and in 1913, Inspiration floated its first bond issue for $6,000,000 on the strength of the estimate of 45,000,000 tons of sulphide ore assaying just over 3 per cent copper. The money was obtained in spite of the fact that no one ever had actually laid eyes on more than a minute fraction of that ore. The customary method of developing a copper deposit before the Porphyry era had been to sink shafts or drive adits and then to follow and expose the veins or lodes with horizontal and vertical underground workings-drifts, crosscuts, raises, and winzes. The excavated material sometimes was sampled in bulk; but always the walls of the openings would be channeled at intervals to obtain small samples representative of the ore left in place. This process was known as "blocking out" ore. It was costly and it required a great deal of time to prove the existence of immense tonnages. The early development at Utah was done in this way; likewise, at Miami. This fact helps to explain why only 3,000,000 tons of ore was reported as being developed when J. Parke Channing wrote the report on which the original Miami financing was based in March, 1908. Fortunately, his 3,000,000 tons averaged 3'per cent copper. At Ray, Seeley W. Mudd estimated 3,000,000 tons of ore in June, 1908, developed principally by underground working; but by the end of 1909, Henry Krumb was able to report 50,000,000 tons as the fruit of a little more than a year of churn-drilling.

Jan 1, 1933

By E. W. Steele

IN THE copper-casting department of a modern electrolytic copper refinery there are two kinds of casting furnaces: the first, or anode furnace for casting crude copper into anodes for electrolysis; the second, or refined-copper furnace for casting the cathodes resulting from electrolysis into market shapes, such as ingots, wire bars, and cakes. Both furnaces are reverberatories of practically the same general design and are operated intermittently, putting through a charge normally in 24 hours. The treatment of the copper in both furnaces is similar, in so far that oxidation followed by skimming and reduction (poling) is carried on in both; but in the refined-copper furnace, the work must be done with greater care and it is of extreme importance that not the slightest trace of impurity be introduced into the copper. The furnaces usually hold from 150 to 300 tons of molten copper, which constitutes the daily charge. Except in the case of furnaces in the Lake district, where the concentrates from native-copper ores are charged through the roof, the furnaces are charged through the side doors by charging machines similar to those used in open-hearth steel practice. In 1916, at the Perth Amboy plant, of the American Smelting & Refining Co., located at Maurer, N. J., a study was made of the possibility of firing the copper refinery furnaces with pulverized coal instead of by hand. The proposed method possessed obvious advantages over hand firing and coal was a much cheaper fuel than oil at that time. It was realized, however, that there were several objections to its use, the principal ones being the liability of increasing the sulfur content of the refined copper, and the additional slag that might be produced from the ash. The increase of the sulfur content of the refined copper was the more serious, as more than 0.002 per cent. sulfur is objectionable. In the case of the slag, any increase would be expensive as the copper in this slag would have to pass again through the entire smelting and refining process.

Jan 3, 1925

By L. I. Cothern

The introduction of mechanized mining has created a demand for long working faces. It has also prompted mining men to contest the old theory that longwall methods can be used only where roof conditions are ideal and where pack-wall material is plentiful. "Longwall" as used in this paper means "modified longwall," "semi-longwall," or any of the various ''wall" or "long-face" methods of mining. Many mines are now using long conveyor faces that differ only in their methods of development, types of roof support and method of loading coal onto the conveyor. Some types of longwall operations are being carried on successfully under conditions heretofore considered impossible by men experienced in longwall mining. With possibly one or two exceptions, long-face methods in Alabama are a direct result of the need for lower mining costs. The advantages over room-and-pillar systems were clearly expressed in an article by Messrs. Fies and Lacy of the DeBardeleben Coal Corporation1 as follows: (1) increased tonnage per miner; (2) increased percentage of lump coal; (3) reduction in cost of development; (4) elimination of the cost of room yardage; (5) reduction in the cost of haulage, from ability to use larger cars; (6) reduction in the cost of machine cutting; (7) reduction in cost for tracks; (8) reduction in the cost of deadwork; (9) reduction in the cost of supervision. An attempt on the part of the operator to gain these advantages by changing from room-and-pillar to longwall requires considerable courage, and credit should be given to those men who have done their bit to meet the competition of rival fuels. The initiatory problems to be solved are in reference to: (1) retreating or advancing system, (2) length of wall, (3) method of roof support, (4) method of entry development, (5) type of conveyor or loader, (6) hand vs. machine loading (onto conveyors), (7) hand vs. machine loading in entries, (8) control of roof pressure,

Jan 1, 1940

By Wilbur A. Nelson

In 1839, Gerard Troost,1 the first State Geologist of Tennessee, reported the occurrence of zinc ores in east Tennessee, in connection with the iron ores at Embreeville; in 1844,2 he refers to the zinc deposits of east Tennessee, especially the apparently rich deposits occurring in Jefferson and Claiborne Counties, while his ninth annual report 3 s a description of the zinc deposits of Jefferson County and a description of the most improved processes by which zinc is extracted from its ores. Yet, only during the last few years have these ores been successfully worked. As far as can be learned, prior to the systematic development of the Mascot district in 1911, no large-scale or successful operation of any of the zinc deposits was carried on. But in that year, after several companies had made considerable progress in developing the Mascot area and had proved a relatively extensive body of low-grade sulfide ore, the American Zinc Co. entered the field. It introduced modern methods of prospecting and mining and from the first was successful. Too great credit cannot be given this company for its pioneer work in a previously unimportant field. Throughout the history of its operations, the American Zinc Co. has confined its efforts to underground mining of the sulfide ore, sphalerite. This company has found that successful results in zinc mining in east Tennessee can be achieved only by expending large sums in prospecting and blocking out bodies of pay ore in sufficient magnitude for large-scale operations. At Mascot are located the mines of the American Zinc Co. of Tennessee, the mines being situated along the Southern Railway in the Ilolston River Valley, Knox County, about 13 miles northeast of Knox-ville. At first only open pits, which were worked for oxidized ores, were operated and the production was small. In 1900, the Roseberry Zinc Co. was organized and sank to a depth of 187 ft. what is now known as No. 3 shaft of the American Zinc Co. The upper 30 ft. was in residual clay,

Jan 1, 1925

THE first mention of the mining and use of coal in the Pittsburgh district refers to the mine under Duquesne Heights that furnished coal for the garrison at the fort at Pittsburgh in 1760. Coal had been dug and used as fuel just outside of Brownsville, Fayette county, in 1759, but this was not a regular mine as the opening was in an outcropping. Maps of Ohio in 1770 showed "Cole Mines" at various points. The Penns purchased all the coal south of Kittanning in southwestern Pennsylvania from the Chiefs of the Six Nations for a reported price of $10,000. During the Revolution, coal from Herron Hill, Minersville, and Coal Hill, all within the present city limits, was used in Pittsburgh. There is today one custom pit opened in Coal Hill (Duquesne Heights). The first steam engine was set up in Pittsburgh in 1794 and used coal as fuel. The first mine in the Youghiogheny gas district was opened in 1796. In 1803, the first shipment of coal by water was made from Pittsburgh down the Ohio river and landed at Philadelphia, where it sold for approximately $9.50 per ton. The mines along the Monongahela were naturally the first to be opened. With the completion of locks and dams in 1844, permitting slack-water navigation, the industry began to thrive. The No. 8 field of Ohio and the Fairmont region of northern West Virginia were opened in the period 1840 to 1855. From that time on there has been a continuous development of the coal resources of this district, until at present-productive capacity is enough to supply 30 per cent. of the country's needs of bituminous coal. The original method of working the Pittsburgh seam was to drive under cover at some .easily accessible point on the outcrop with a single entry, usually 1 1/2 yd. wide. Rooms or gangways were turned to the

Jan 10, 1926

By Howard J. Smith

For several years this Institute has recorded in its Transactions the various discoveries of potash‡ in America, and the successive stages in the development of an independent domestic potash industry. This paper is intended primarily to continue the record through the year 1935. In retrospect it is not inappropriate to note that public interest aroused in 1910 resulted in the production of some 1090 tons of pure potash in 1915, as a small beginning in the domestic inorganic potash industry, and that the infant industry thus begun reaches its majority this year, following a record production in 1935 of about 600,000 tons of potash salts and exports to no less than 22 foreign countries, including six countries in Europe. This production, with an estimated 200,000 tons of pure potash, may be compared with a production in 1934 of 430,157 tons of salts with an equivalent of 144,342 tons of pure potash. Mine and Plant Improvement During 1935, the American Potash & Chemical Co., at Searles Lake, Calif., began to reap the benefits of its previously enlarged plant facilities, which increased its productive capacity to 180,000 tons of muriate annually. The United States Potash Co., at Carlsbad, N. Mex., improved its operations by installing trolley locomotives and other haulage facilities and is maintaining its development headings two years in advance of operations, with projected plans for orderly mining for years to come. The hoisting shaft at its mine is now equipped to hoist at the rate of 1,000,000 tons annually, and the refinery to produce 150,000 tons of muriate containing less than one per cent of impurities. The Potash Co. of America, at Carlsbad, N. Mex., completed the conversion of its plant from a prospecting to an operating basis late in 1935. The coarse-crushing plant, with a capacity of 150 tons an hour, formerly on the surface, was installed underground, with ore pockets

Jan 1, 1938

By H. Margolin, E. Ence

In order to understand the effect of zirconium on properties of Ti-Cu-A1 alloys, Ti-Zr alloys were examined for the presence of ordering or compounds at the following compositions in weight percent: 24.1 pct Zr (lZr:GTi), 32.2 pct Zr (lZr:4Ti), 38.8 pct Zr (lZr:3Ti), 49.0 pct Zr(1Zr:ZTi). Alloys were prepared as 15-g buttons by non- consumable arc melting under argon atmosphere from Bureau of Mines titanium (Bhn 63) and Reactor Grade zirconium (Bhn 150). Weight losses during melting did not exceed 1 pct of the initial button weight. Prior to heat treatment, buttons were hot-rolled at 600" to 700°C to rods of about 6 mm diam. Contamination after hot-rolling was found to extend to a depth of less than 0.5 mm. Specimens for heat treatment were wrapped in molybdenum sheet, annealed in argon-filled quartz capsules, and quenched by breaking the capsules under iced brine. Annealing times were as follows: 700°C — 7 days; 600°C— 14 days; 575°C-1 and 2 months; 525°C-2 months; 500°C-2 months. Prior to heat treatment, all Ti-Zr alloys were vacuum annealed at 900°C to remove hydrogen. The reanneal of 575°C specimens for an additional month produced no observable microstructure changes. The results obtained by microstructure and X-ray diffraction are shown in Fig. 1, together with data of Hayes et al.' No other phases than a or P were found. Small amounts of retained P were detected by X-ray in the 49 pct Zr alloy. The data of the present investigation suggests that ß and a transus boundaries are at considerably lower temperatures than those of Hayes et al. The work of Hayes et al. is based on sponge titanium and Bureau of Mines zirconium, both of which contained 0.15 pct 0. Since melting was performed in

Jan 1, 1962

By Dorsey Hager

DORSEY HAGER, Tulsa, Okla.-I have been asked why the Dexter region is dry. I would like to know myself. I drilled two dry wells on that same anticline which has production to, the east and west and south and north. That same anticline has seven domes that have been drilled and only three have proven productive out of the seven. In other words, you have one well-defined anticline with seven domes along its length, all mappable, all checked carefully, and only three of those seven have produced. Now why the others did not produce, I do not know. L. L. HUTCHISON, Tulsa, Okla.-There is no appreciable difference in the character or structure of the sands? DORSEY HAGER.-NO, I have never .been able to see any appreciable difference in the sands where we got production and Where we did not get it. I will say that the deepest wells we drilled, in the vicinity of Dexter, had no sands at the point where they got the production farther north. I. N. -KNAPP, Ardmore, Pa.-I first went to the Kansas-Oklahoma field in 1895 and occasionally thereafter until 1899, when I began drilling; for oil. I started close to wells that were producing gas and which, when drilling, lead made good oil showings in a sand above the gas. I thought these showings were good enough evidence of an oil pool for me without looking for any anticline and I made a paying development in what' I was afterward told by geologists was probably a synclinal trough. If I remember correctly Dr. Orton's report on the lola gas pool (about 1898) he distinctly said that he found no evidence of anticlinal structure and concluded from the records of a large number of wells that there, was a terraced structure of the productive gas sands, of which there were no surface indications.

Jan 4, 1917

By T. V. Moore

IN many of the important problems of the petroleum engineer, it is necessary to know accurately the laws governing the flow of gas and liquid mixtures in vertical' pipes. Although much work has been done along these lines, no satisfactory solution to the problem has been found. A good theoretical discussion of the energy balance in a gas¬lift has been published-by Versluys.1 One of the most important factors affecting the efficiency of the flow of oil and gas mixtures is slippage, and in most of the experimental work that has been done no provision has been made for the measurement of this quantity. As Versluys pointed out, since there is no method now known to estimate it from the data usually taken; slippage must be determined empirically. This paper presents the results of some work carried on to, measure slippage in short experimental gas-lifts. As shown herein, slippage can be easily calculated in a vertical pipe carrying a mixture of oil and gas if the fractions of the pipe occupied by liquid and gas respectively are known. In this work, the fraction of the pipe occupied by the liquid was measured under a wide variety of conditions and the relationship between this fraction and other quantities, which are easily measured in ordinary work, was determined. It was hoped that the quantitative relationship obtained from this work could be used-for making accurate calculations in flowing or gas-lift wells, but unfortunately it did not check satisfactorily when applied to actual wells. Apparently flow in long flow pipes is mote efficient than in the short ones used for the experimental work. Nevertheless, it is felt that the data themselves are of interest; that the method of attack may be of value in future work and that the relationship derived between slip and the relative velocities is a contribution toward the solution of the gas-lift problem.

Jan 1, 1931

By R. V. Lukes, H. W. Scheeline

Knowledge of a large number of the physical properties of the hydrocarbons is needed in the calculations and studies of the production engineer. Since experimental data on these properties of the individual hydrocarbons and their mixtures are available in only a relatively few cases, the use of generalized correlations has developed rapidly in the last decade. The generalized correlations of pressure, volume and temperature,' enthalpy2 and vapor-liquid equilibria13 on the basis of reduced temperatures and pressures, are outstanding examples of this development. These correlations are of particular value to the production engineer interested in the flow of oil and gas, since they can be used to estimate the conditions under which segregation of phase occurs as well as the composition, density, and relative amounts of the phases. The technique of using the correlations for such estimations has been published by several authors4 and will not be considered in this paper. A considerable number of data have been obtained to check the generalized pressure-volume-temperature correlations, and these data indicate that such relations hold for the hydrocarbons from methane to heptane. The accuracy is in general sufficient for most engineering pressure-volume-temperature calculations. However, the generalized correlations of enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria have in general been developed from the pressure-volume-temperature correlations by thermodynamic calculations and only a relatively few experimental data are available to check these calculated values. The calculations from pressure, volume and temperature are likely to lead to large errors in the calculated enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria. Thus, in the calculations of enthalpies, slopes of the pressure-volume-temperature data are employed, and determining these slopes can greatly amplify small errors in the original data. In the vapor-liquid equilibria calculations it is necessary to have the pressure-volume-temperature relations of the mixture, and the latter propertics are much more questionable than those of pure components, particularly in the critical region. A considerable number of experimental data are

Jan 1, 1939

By R. E. Head

Some mixtures of sulphide and oxide ores from the Tintic district in Utah are of a sufficiently good grade to be shipped to the smelter without beneficiation. In mining this type of ore, however, a material tonnage of ore of a similar composition but of lower grade is obtained. It is a question of economics whether such ore should be shipped with a certainty of a small return or concentrated if that would yield a sufficiently increased return to amortize plant construction and upkeep and yield a higher rate of profit than at present. It may be assumed that the tonnage of this borderline ore is constantly increasing and that eventually it will attain such proportions as to justify plans for milling on a relatively large scale. Under existing conditions, the producer of mixed sulphide and oxide ores is not greatly concerned about the physical characteristics of his ore or of its mineralogical complexities, since his contract with the smelter calls for payment on the basis of chemical analysis. When concentration is contemplated an entirely different picture is presented. Percentages of valuable metal content must then be con-sidered in terms of minerals, for it is in the form of minerals that recoveries are made and losses sustained. In describing the performance of a given flotation mill and reagent combination, it may be stated as a generality that a specific percentage recovery of valuable elements is made. Technically, however, the concentrator is really constructed and the reagents are selected to recover the valuable minerals. These considerations must be given prominence in discussing borderline ores from the Tintic district because of their physical characteristics and mineralogical composition. Because of these peculiarities they may be justly termed complex, since their lead, silver, and copper contents are each represented by two or more minerals of different chemical composition and presenting widely divergent physical properties. This paper sets forth the results of a microscopic study of a type of borderline ore from the Tintic district that is now being treated by direct smelting. A

Jan 1, 1939

By R. V. Lukes, H. W. Scheeline

Knowledge of a large number of the physical properties of the hydrocarbons is needed in the calculations and studies of the production engineer. Since experimental data on these properties of the individual hydrocarbons and their mixtures are available in only a relatively few cases, the use of generalized correlations has developed rapidly in the last decade. The generalized correlations of pressure, volume and temperature,' enthalpy2 and vapor-liquid equilibria13 on the basis of reduced temperatures and pressures, are outstanding examples of this development. These correlations are of particular value to the production engineer interested in the flow of oil and gas, since they can be used to estimate the conditions under which segregation of phase occurs as well as the composition, density, and relative amounts of the phases. The technique of using the correlations for such estimations has been published by several authors4 and will not be considered in this paper. A considerable number of data have been obtained to check the generalized pressure-volume-temperature correlations, and these data indicate that such relations hold for the hydrocarbons from methane to heptane. The accuracy is in general sufficient for most engineering pressure-volume-temperature calculations. However, the generalized correlations of enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria have in general been developed from the pressure-volume-temperature correlations by thermodynamic calculations and only a relatively few experimental data are available to check these calculated values. The calculations from pressure, volume and temperature are likely to lead to large errors in the calculated enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria. Thus, in the calculations of enthalpies, slopes of the pressure-volume-temperature data are employed, and determining these slopes can greatly amplify small errors in the original data. In the vapor-liquid equilibria calculations it is necessary to have the pressure-volume-temperature relations of the mixture, and the latter propertics are much more questionable than those of pure components, particularly in the critical region. A considerable number of experimental data are

Jan 1, 1939

By James P. Kimball

The object of the present memoir is to pot on record some practical experiments by the writer in smelting a silicions native magnetite with no other flux than the silicates of its own gangue.' This work was undertaken in the spring of 1878 for Messrs. Naylor & Co., of' Boston, to whom I am indebted for the privilege of here communicating its results, these having hitherto only been simply announced.* So far as I am aware these are the first instances of the kind ill this country that non-calcareous; or rather non-carbonatbed, magnetite have successfully been used strictly alone as self-fluxing ores in the blast furnace; that is, without the addition of' calcareous flux in the form either of limestone, quicklime, calcareous ore, or basic (calcareous) slag. Previous to the spring of 1878, when the Chateaugay magnetic ore was first brought to illy notice. its use had been limited to Catalan forges, after " separation " at the ore bed. The blooms and billets made from it in the several forges of Messrs. Weed $ Williams, and of Mr. Williams, were well known in the trade as among the best in the market. Tile Chateaugay ore beds proving of great magnitude, and the ore exceptionally low in phosphoric acid, it commended itself for blast-furnace purposes to Messrs. Naylor & Co., who employed me to blow-in the charcoal furnace at Pittsford, Vt., on this ore in the spring of 1878, a previous trial of this ore in the same furnace in the fall of 1877 having proved abortive. This was therefore the first time that Chateaugay ore was successfully smelted in a blast furnace, although since well known as a blast-furnace ore possessing superior and exceptional qualities. The Pittsford furnace, although rebuilt in 1844, and subsequently improved by the former owner, the late J. Prichard, is one of the few furnaces of the old type with open breast (Sumpfofen) still active in this country, Its improvements 011 furnaces of the period,

Jan 1, 1881

By E. A. Swedenborg, J. S. Ross

Oil-field waters enter into many underground problems with which the petroleum engineer has to deal. Whether the problem is one of infiltration or natural encroachment, it is always desirable to determine the source of the water before commencing repair or remedial work. The usual mechanical tests for determining the source of extraneous water in wells are slow and expensive. An excellent means for the identification of oil-field waters may be afforded by their chemical characteristics when the chemical character of waters from the various sands has been established by careful sampling and analysis cautiously interpreted. In the Salt Creck field, Wyoming, a fairly high degree of efficiency has been attained in the control of field operations by utilizing the information afforded by the analysis. All of the operating companies appreciate this means of identifying waters, with the result that water-sampling has become general practice. Most of the chemical work dealing with Salt Creek waters has been done since the laboratories of the Midwest Refining Co. and the U. S. Geological Survey, were established in the field; the former in 1922, the latter in 1924. A spirit of cooperation has existed between the company and the government personnel by which many of the data for this paper were made available. Sands of the Salt Creek Field The principal sand horizons in the Salt Creek field are the Shannon, First, Second, and Third Wall Creeks, Dakota, Lakota, Sundance and Tensleep. Of these the important oil producers are the First Wall Creek, Second Wall Creek, Lakota and the Sundance. The Third Wall Creek is lenticular and is productive in only a few wells in the southern end of the field. There are also a number of shale wells, but they do not produce water in any appreciable amount. The stratigraphic position of these sands and their relative thicknesses are shown on the condensed composite section of Salt Creek

Jan 1, 1929

By Joseph E. Pogue

Proration in the petroleum industry has come to mean a method for curtailing the production of crude petroleum by artificial effort, and it is in this sense that the term is employed throughout this paper. Although a contrived curb on supply has been invoked at various times in the past in particular fields and to meet specific situations, it is not until the past few years that this procedure has become general and assumed a dominant role in the oil business. In the sense that we now understand it, proration had its inception in the Seminole area of Oklahoma in 1927, from which time and place the practice spread to include practically all the flush oil fields of the country, especially those of California, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. At present there is perhaps no phase of the oil business that commands more attention than proration, nor one that engages more time and effort on the part of executives in the business. The practice of proration, indeed, has not only become an integral part of the policy of most companies and operators, but it has also taken on the aspects of a "movement" involving two schools of thought with considerable feeling, and at times some bitterness, on both sides. In this atmosphere it is difficult to find calm, dispassionate consideration of proration, for most discussions are either vigorous exhortations by its proponents, or else sharp condemnations by its opponents; although it appears that the majority of the industry is clearly "in favor of" proration. It is hoped that this analysis will be taken as an attempt to appraise the movement as an economic force, without bias and without regard to the incidence of the conclusions upon any preconceptions that the industry may entertain. Evolution of Proration To appreciate the causes that brought proration into being, it is necessary to view briefly the development of the petroleum industry over the past twenty years, approximately the span of the gasoline era., For the first ten years of the period, the industry was seeking capital

Jan 1, 1932