Search Documents

By Clarence Linville

IN an article published in the Iron. Trade Review 1 I gave a convenient arrangement for the installation of wet and dry bulb thermometers for use in making moisture determinations in the air being blown into a blast furnace, and also gave a chart for use in obtaining moisture values from the thermometer readings. The data from which this chart was prepared were obtained from the tables in use by the U. S. Weather Bureau.2 The work of Carrier 3 has shown that these tables are somewhat in error. He has recalculated the values for moisture as referred to, wet and dry bulb thermometer readings, and he has prepared a psychrometric chart from the values thus obtained. This work has priced the subject of psychrometry upon a correct scientific basis. I think it is proper that we should recognize the importance of his work and give him credit for one of the most interesting and valuable researches that have been published in recent years. Blast-furnace men are not ready to use, as he suggests 4 a value expressed in grains of water accompanying a pound of dry air. However convenient this may be for heating and ventilating work and other engineering problems, there are several reasons for preferring the use of a value expressed in grains of water in a. cubic foot of mixed air and water vapor, in connection with combustion phenomena and the effects of moisture on blast-furnace operation. Previous papers presented to the Institute have used such values and we have

Jan 10, 1913

By H. V. Winchell

It seems to me that uniformity of mining law in North America must of necessity start with uniformity in each country. I understand that the Provinces of Canada have the right to make their own individual laws and conditions, to prescribe the terms under which the prospector or the applicant for mineral titles may secure the same. That is not true of the states in the United States. In this country, the Federal Mining Law was made applicable to the public domain, which, at the time of the adoption of this Act in 1872, was chiefly west of the Missouri River; it is impossible to locate a mining claim in most of our eastern states. It is true, however, that there are certain holdover rights, mostly obsolete, arising from the fact that at the time of the formation of the Confederation of States, the land that belonged to each state became the property of the Federal Government. I am not quite correc-t in that, it was sometime after the adoption of our Constitution, I think it was 1778, but those rights were largely, by agreement, surrendered to the Federal Government; but it is a fact that the great acquisitions of territory in the West, with the single exception of Texas, were of domain that came into the possession of the Federal Government and our Federal Mining Law applies to that territory. No state has the right to (by legislative enactment) enlarge upon the rights given by the Federal Mining Law, governing the acquisition of mining claims in its territory, within its boundaries. Each state, however, may, and some of them do, limit somewhat the rights given to the prospector. For instance, the Federal Mining Law provides that a claim may be taken, staked upon the public domain, of 600 ft. in width and 1500 ft. in length. Some of the states, like South Dakota and Colorado, have at times said "that is an excessive amount of land for a single mining claim; we will therefore limit it to 300 ft. or 200 ft. in width." There is, therefore, not any direct and immediate need for uniformity of mining laws in the United States, such as there might possibly be if it were considered at all desirable upon the whole in Canada. The initiation of mining rights under the Federal Mining Act is the act of discovery of valuable mineral in place, referring now to the lode mining claims, but the same is true of the placer claim. It is true that the emphasis has never been laid upon the word valuable and that

Jan 1, 1920

By D. R. Parrish, W. E. Lamoreaux, W. W. Owens

Several methods are now being used by the industry for determining the gas-oil flow characteristics of reservoir rock samples. Most of the laboratory experirnerltal rlzethods can be classified either as steady-state, unsteady-state, or Hassler-type tests. Although the validity of the results obtained by any specific method is not questiorzed, in general, the complexity of these methods leaves much to be desired. This investigation dealt primarily with the development of a simplified unsteady-state (gas drive) laboratory test method for measuring kg/ko re1ationships of small core samples. A procedure for selecting uniform and representative sandstone rock samples was developetl since it was observed that the reliability of the test resu1ts was dependent upon having a sample which was uniform in porosity and permeability. The importance of factors known to influence the results of this type test, such as oil viscosity, gas expansion, and pressure differential were eva/uated. The method of calculating the test results was found to give valid data over a wide range of gas expansion. The limits of pressure differential and oil viscosity which would insure reliable results were defined. In cornparisorz with other presently used testing methods, the gar drive method requires considerably less apparatus, is less time consuming, and is more readily adaptable to a routine type core test. INTRODUCTION The detcrmination of the gas-oil flow characteristics of reservoir rocks has been given concentrated study by the oil industry for the past decade. Both analytical and experimental methods have been considered. The analytical methods have generally relied on a simplified characterization of porous materials in order that the fundamental laws of fluid flow and capillarity could be utilized. More direct experimental methods have been proposed by numerous production research laboratories with the primary goal being a simple and inexpensive, yet reliable method for measuring the gas-oil flow characteristics of reservoir rock samples. The experimental methods which have been reported in the literature generally can be grouped into one of the following classifications: 1. Steady state1,2,3,4 in which a fixed ratio of flowing fluids is forced through the test sample until equilibrium conditions of saturation and pressure gradient are established. 2. Hassler or stationary liquid method5,6,7 in which a uniform liquid saturation is attained, usually through capillary desaturation, then gas or oil is flowed through the sample at a pressure drop insufficient to disturb the pre-established saturation. :. Non-steady state method1,8,9,10 In which only the gas phase is injected into the sample, causing displacement of the oil phase and resulting in a system of continually changing average saturation and saturation gradient. The steady-state and Hassler methods have been most popular because, no doubt, of the simplicity of the actual relative permeability calculations. The problems involved in these methods were limited to apparatus design and measurement techniques. In the steady-state method, for instance, a constant flowing fluid ratio is established which, at equilibrium, results in an essentially uniform saturation over the entire length of the test sample. Therefore, the basic flow characteristics could be obtained by correlating the average saturation of the test sample with the kg/ko determined at various flowing gas-oil ratios.

Jan 1, 1957

By N. Mungan

Formation damage, i.e.. reduclion in permeability, has been generally attribuled to clay minerals which expand or disperse upon contact with water that is less saline than the connate water. Luboratory, studies show that penneahility reduction can also occur in formalions containing only nonexpandable clays such as illite or kaolinite, and can be caused also by changes in pH. Furthermore, pH changes can damage even formations that are essentially free of clays. It is suggested that permeability reduction is due to the small passages being blocked by particles, which may be dispersed clays, cemenlion material or other fine parricles. These particles are dislodged by dispersion of clays due to changes in salinity or by dissolution of calcareous cement by acids, or of silicaceous cement by alkaline solutions. In working with reservoir cores, it was found that extracted cores damaged more easily and extensively than nonextracted cores. The extent of damage depended also on tenlperatltre. INTRODUCTION Permeability is an important property of porous media and has been the subject of many studies by engineers and geologists. Many of these studies are conccrned with formation damage, i.e., reduction in permeability, resulting from exposure of oil-producing formations to water substantially less saline than the connate water. This effect causes understandable concern since during drilling, completion and production phases formations are often exposed to fresh water. The damage resulting from contact with relatively fresh water has been attributed to expansion and dispersion oF clay minerals. During laboratory investigation of the use of NaOH as a wettability reversal agent to increase oil recovery from oil-wet reservoirs, several cores used in the displacement studies suffered loss in permeability. Despite the traditional usage of NaOH for conditioning aqueous mud systems, the role of the caustic filtrate in wellbore damage seems to have been overlooked. Browning2 as recently reported on the effects of NaOH in dispersing clay minerals but he was concerned only with complications that may arise in drilling massive shale beds. The following study was made to examine the role of pH and salinity changes in core damage. Where cores from reservoirs were used, tests were performed with extracted and nonextracted cores both at room and reser- voir temperatures, since it was felt that the test environment and core condition may affect the results. Because of its limited coverage and exploratory nature, this study is not intended to provide answers to field formation damage problems. It is hoped that it will encourage research into new aspects of the permeability reduction problems, particularly those allied to new recovery and production processes. PROCEDURE In all permeability tests, fluids were pumped through the cores at a constant volumetric rate. Only deaerated fluids and reagent grade chemicals were used. The fluids were passed through two ultrafine filters before injection to remove any entrained particles. The cores, with the exception of the unconsolidated cores, were mounted in Hassler holders. Water was used to transmit pressure to the sleeve. The inlet endpiece had two entry ports which permitted scavenging one fluid with another to avoid any mixing in the small holdup volume. The cores were flushed with CO2 gas, evacuated for 5 to 6 hours and saturated with the first liquid at a pressure of 1,000 psi for 24 hours to eliminate any free gas from the cores. Pressure differences up to 20 psi were measured by transducers, calibrated in inches of water and continuously recorded. For greater pressure drops, gauges were used. All reservoir cores were cleaned with a light refined mineral oil, then with heptane, and finally dried with CO2. Compatibility tests showed that no precipitates formed when mineral oil and the crudes were mixed. Some cores were extracted in Dean-Stark-type solvent extractors using xylene and trichloroethane and dried in a vacuum oven at 450F. Each test consisted of a sequence of water, test solution, and again water flow. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION STUDIES IN BEREA CORES Salinity Contrast Berea cores 2-in. in diameter and 12-in. long were cut from sandstone quarried in Cleveland, Ohio. The clay minerals were identified by X-ray diffraction to be chlorite, kaolinite, illite and incerlayered illite. Flow of fresh water or 30,000 ppm brinc does not cause any permeability reduction (Fig. 1). However, after injection of brine the core is readily damaged by fresh water. Damage starts almost instantly as the fresh water injection is begun, and at a cumulative injection of 1.2 PV fresh water, the permeability has dropped from 190 to 0.9 md. Upon continued injection, the effluent contains clay minerals dislodged from the core. The final core per-

Jan 1, 1966

At the University Club, New York, Jan. 23, Chairman George E. Hale and other officers of the National Research Council, gave a dinner to officers of the national engineering and other societies. About thirty persons were present, including officers of the National Research Council, the four Founder Societies, American Society for Testing Materials, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., Illuminating Engineering Society, United Engineering Society, and Engineering Foundation. Letters were received from the Western Society of Engineers, which also had been invited. Gano Dunn, vice-chairman of National Research Council, was toastmaster. The proposed permanent organization of the National Research Council and possible methods of connection with the national engineering societies, either directly or through Engineering Foundation, were outlined. It was suggested that not only the four Founder Societies be represented in the Engineering Division of National Research Council, but also that the other national engineering societies be admitted to membership. It was proposed that the Engineering Division should have a chairman who should be an engineer of wide reputation and of the highest professional attainments who should devote his whole time to the establishment and development of the Division. Methods of organizing industrial research were discussed. At a subsequent meeting of the National Research Council, an invitation was issued to each of the national societies to form a research committee encouraging that committee to become active in the promotion of research within its respective field. Due recognition is to be given each committee in the general organization of the National Research Council. Dr. H. M. Howe, in a very interesting and comprehensive address, told of much important work that had been clone by the various sections of the Research Council, as that of mechanical engineering in developing the often rather nebulous devices for helping win the war and putting them in such form that they could be of direct use to the military service. The section on metallurgy, till lately under Bradley Stoughton and now under G. H. Clevenger, did much valuable work in the improvement of helmets and body armor and made very extensive ballistic tests with refractory steels for this purpose. Important work was done in investigating the fatigue of metals and results of great moment were achieved. The committee on ferro-alloys, under J. E. Johnson, Jr., did important work in effecting economy of manganese in steel manufacture with a view to reducing the necessity for importation of manganese ore, thus releasing ships for other purposes. , The section on electric welding has accomplished valuable results in the development of electric welding for ships, a new branch of industry of very great promise.

Jan 3, 1919

By W. Mostowitsch, H. O. Hofman

In our investigation of the Behavior of Calcium Sulphate at Elevated Temperatures with Some Fluxes,' we incidentally studied the decomposition of ferric oxide when heated in a current of dry air. We found that at 1,500° C., with 15-min. periods of heating, Fe²,O³, hardly changed in weight, the greatest loss being 0.23 per cent., and we therefore concluded that the compound remained unchanged at 1,500° C. in a current of dry air. In a more recent experiment we heated Fe²,O³, in a current of dry air and found that there was a decided loss in weight. A new investigation upon the behavior of Fe², O³, using a larger amount of substance and heating for a longer period of time, revealed the fact that a measurable dissocia-

Jan 1, 1910

POSITIONS VACANT (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or. other persons.) Position for a single man experienced in cyanide mill construction and operation at a small mine in Nicaragua. Salary $150 per month and expenses. No.. 39. ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Member, technical graduate, desires position in ore dressing, either experimental or operating. Has had practical experience in flotation and other special methods. No. 228. Member, technical. graduate, 10 years' experience in Belgian coal mines, five years' experience in American coal mines in connection with reorganization of companies and opening of new coal fields. Aged 37. Speaks Spanish. No. 229

Jan 7, 1915

CHARLES KIRCHHOFF, Chairman. ALBERT SAUVEUR, Vice-Chairman. HERBERT M. BOYLSTON, Secretary, Abbot Bldg., Harvard Sq., Cambridge, Mass. John Birkinbine, J. E. Johnson, Jr., J. S. Unger, William H. Blauvelt, William Kelly, Felix A. Vogel, James Gayley, Richard Moldenke, Leonard Waldo, Henry D. Hibbard, Joseph W. Richards, William R. Walker, Henry M. Howe, C. F. W. Rys, William R. Webster, Robert W. Hunt, E. Gybbon Spilsbury, Frederick W. Wood. A. A. Stevenson, J. S. Unger and C. F. W. Rys have accepted membership on the Iron and Steel Committee. The Program Committee has held two meetings- in New York and has perfected the preliminary plans for the October meeting. The Committee will meet again in September. The following provisional program has been laid out by the Program Committee, but is subject to later additions and changes :

Jan 9, 1913

By Edwin T. Wood

THE term blending as used herein refers to the mixing of ores assaying more than 0.20 pct U3O8 with low grade material assaying less than 0.20 pct U3O8. Such blending when properly understood and controlled will produce more total dollars of profit from many mining ventures. The question whether or not to blend is particularly vexing when an orebody is surrounded by an envelope of low grade material or separate tonnages of low grade exist which could be extracted coincident with the higher grade ores. Should any, all or part of this low grade be mined? If so, in what proportion and what is the limiting assay of the low grade material?

Jan 7, 1958

By D. W. Duncan, A. Bruynesteyn

An ore containing chalcopyrite was microbiologically leached in 6 ft columns at particle sizes ranging from -2 +1 ½ inches, to -3/8 + 3/16 inches. The rate of leaching increased exponentially as the particle size decreased. The controlling factor was the active leaching volume made up of the particle surface area and the depth of penetration of the bacteria and leach liquor into the particle. This volume became an increasingly larger part of the total volume as the particle size decreased. The sample under test leached poorly at larger particle sizes and it was calculated that under commercial conditions, it would produce at best a pregnant solution containing 100 mg/l (0.2 lb/ ton) of copper per 100 ft of dump height.

Jan 1, 1974

By James P. Roe

Steel has occupied such a prominent position in most minds during the last thirty years, particularly since the introduction of the basic open-hearth process (by which the field from which the raw material could be obtained has been so widened), that little attention has been made to improvements in puddling iron. In fact, the general tendency seems to have been to accept the prediction that puddled iron is doomed. Events have in a measure justified such a forecast, due in large part to the introduction of mechanical appliances and operations with large units in the manufacture of steel, from which much lower costs have resulted. But this general tendency has met checks in certain directions. This is notably the case where the finished product is a welded one, or is subject to oxidation, to shock or to vibration; and, as far as the writer's observation goes, the bond (which is largely a mechanical one) is not as close and lasting between steel and tin or zinc as between iron and the same materials. The field still open for puddled iron is, therefore, a large one, provided the low costs of steel-manufacture can be approached. The process of puddling is one of the most interesting in the metallurgy of iron, as the reactions and the changes effected are apparent. The subject has had the strongest fascination to the writer from boyhood, and has led, not unnaturally, to a close study, which long ago resulted in the conviction that it could be successfully carried out with large units and by mechanical means. That others have also drawn these conclusions is shown by many undertakings, though there have been few such attempts during the last twenty-five or thirty years. Puddling cousists, essentially, in the removal of most of the carbon and silicon, and part of the phosphorus and sulphur

Jan 1, 1903

By Charles W. Goodale

The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the Drumlummon, one of the famous old mines of the West. Mining engineers, when sent to examine new mines in old districts, or, to decide whether an old property, under new conditions, will pay to reopen, have had difficulty in learning anything authentic regarding workings which are under water, and historical facts about the working character of the ore, the total production, and the value of the ore with increasing depth. 'Not many years elapse after the pumps are pulled, before maps, books and records are destroyed, and the value of the publications of the Institute would be increased if they contained the history of many old mines now abandoned. The unsuccessful efforts of the writer quite recently in trying to obtain reliable information about a gold mine which was reported to have produced several million dollars between 1880 and 1888, the workings of which are now partially caved and under water, impressed upon his mind the desirability of having a permanent record of old properties. In this particular case, the owners insisted that under present conditions of improved methods of treatment —particularly by the use of cyanide, which was not an applied process when the mine was operated, the property could be made to pay a handsome profit on ore left in sight in the old workings, but no assay records could be found to confirm these assurances, and even the records of bullion shipments had been destroyed. If surveys and maps were made as the work progressed, no trace of them could be found, and therefore opening of the ground through a new shaft and drifts therefrom would be attended by some risk while exploring near the old workings. Fatal accidents by flooding under these conditions have occurred, and as an evidence that miners have fears of such dangers, it was urged upon the Mining Committee during a recent session of the Montana Legislature, by a delegation of

Jan 1, 1915

By K. Kobayashi, K. Ueda, K. Yamaguchi

Lead concentrates from Kuroko (black ore) mines, which contain 4-7% Cu, 55% Pb, 3-777, Zn, and 0.5-0.9% As, are pretreated by a hydrometallurgical process before electric furnace smelting with other lead resources from Kuroko. The hydrometallurgical pretreatment involves sulfuric acid leaching in the first stage and ferric leaching in the second stage. This paper describes the short history of lead recovery from Kuroko and the performance of laboratory tests and pilot plant and commercial operations.

Jan 1, 1985

By B. K. Larkin

Solutions to the diffusion equation for a line source located anywhere in a region bounded by a circular discontinuity are presented. Such solutions follow automatically from the Green&apos;s function presented by Jaeger.4 Petroleum industry applications of this problem would include transient compressible fluid flow in porous media bounded by a discontinuity. Since several recent papers have treated the subject in less general form, it would appear that many workers in this area of the petroleum industry are not aware of Jaeger&apos;s work. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In several trearments1,2,3 of the transient flow of compressible fluids in porous media it was convenient to consider a region to be bounded by a circular discontinuity. In such a region (Fig. I), the properties in Region 1, r < a, are constant but different from the properties in Region 2, r > a. Hurst, l using the Laplace transform, obtained solutions for a line source located in the center of such a porous medium. The purpose of this work is to point out that a much earlier paper by Jaeger4 presents the solution for a line source located anywhere inside the discontinuity. The assumption is made that a line source may be used to approximate a well. In the following material it is convenient to use the terms source and well as being equivalent; however, the reader should remember the distinction in applications. SOLUTIONS Jaeger presented the Green&apos;s function for a line source, or well, in the composite region shown in Fig. 1. In the most general form, the solution for a system of j wells in Region 1, each producing at a time varying rate, qi (t), is

By C. R. McEwen

This paper presents a technique for calculating the original amount of hydrocarbon in place in a petroleum reservoir, and for determining the constants characterizing the aquifer performance, based on pressure-production data. A method for doing this based on a least-squares line-fitting computationwus proposed by vanEverdingen,Timmerman andMcMahon in 1953. We found that their method would not work when there is error in the reservoir pressure data — even moderate error. The technique presented here appears to give reasonable answers when pressure data are uncertain to the degree expected in reservoir pressure determinations. The major change introduced in the present analysis is to limit the least-squares line-fitting to yield only one constant— the amount of hydrocarbon in place. The water-influx constant is then taken as proportional to the oil (or gas) in place. The constant of proportionality can be computed from estimates of effective compressibility and reservoir water saturation. It is also pointed out that the commonly used least-squares analysis assumes all of the uncertainty to be in the dependent variable. The material balance should be arranged so that this condition is fulfilled if correct inferences are to be made from statistical calculations. Examples are shown of the application of the new technique to gas reservoirs—both hypothetical and real—and to the oil-reservoir example of van Ever-dingen, Timmerman and McMahon. INTRODUCTION The amount of hydrocarbon originally in place in a petroleum resenroir can be estimated by means of the material-balance calculation. Simultaneous observations of pressure and amounts of produced fluids are required, together with the PVT data applicable to the reservoir fluids. If water encroachment is occurring, it is desirable to try to infer the behavior of the aquifer, as well as the original hydrocarbon in place, from the pressure-production data. This imposes additional demands on the method of calculation, and uncertainty in the data can result in large uncertainty in the answer. In addition, if the size of a gas cap is to be established, the whole problem becomes indeterminate, as pointed out by Woods and Muskat.1 Brownscombe and Collins2 simulated a gas reservoir and its aquifer on a reservoir analyzer and derived quantitative information on the effect of uncertainty in pressure and aquifer permeability on computed gas in place. Among the various techniques of estimating the performance of an aquifer, the method of van Ever-dingen and Hurst? based on compressible flow theory, seems to have been the most generally successful (see Ref. 4, for example). In this paper we shall confine ourselves to their representation of the aquifer. In 1953,&apos; van Everdingen, Timmerman and McMahon5 introduced a statistical technique for deriving the amount of oil originally in place and the parameters which describe the aquifer. (We shall refer to this technique as the "VTM method&apos;&apos;, as suggested by Mueller.6) Their example reservoir had no gas cap. It has been our experience that the VTM method gives a reasonable answer when the data are very accurate, but that inaccuracy (particularly in pressure) can cause the method to break down. The effect was first observed in gas reservoirs, but has since been seen in oil reservoirs also. In this paper we present another statistical method which has been successful in achieving a reasonable answer where the VTM method has failed. In the new method, one less parameter is derived from material-balance computations. It is assumed that values can be established for effective compressibility in the aquifer and reservoir water saturation independently of the material-balance calculation. The water-influx constant can then be obtained from these data and the quantity of hydrocarbon in place.

By C. V. Milikan

Allocation of allowed production in a prorated field by the use of bottom-hole pressures is a method which is sound in theory. Thus far it has had limited application because the experience in correlating bottom-hole pressures with the depletion of wells or fields is not sufficient to interpret all the pressure changes. With additional data and more general knowledge of bottom-hole pressures their use in proration will probably become common. Bottom-hole pressure is the pressure at or near the bottom of a well. It is usually determined at the face of the producing horizon. Bottom-hole pressure measured while the well is producing, may be called the bottom-hole producing pressure or bottom-hole flowing pressure. If the well has been shut in or shut down long enough for the pressure in the producing horizon within the drainage area of the well to equalize, it may be called the reservoir pressure. The allowable production from a prorated field may be allocated to the individual wells or leases by three methods: 1. Bottom-hole producing or flowing pressures. (a) The potential capacity of a well to produce. (b) A uniform differential pressure while producing at the allowed rate. 2. Reservoir pressures. 3. A combination of bottom-hole producing pressures and reservoir pressures. In most prorated fields the allowed production is allocated to the individual wells or leases in proportion to their individual potentials. This method is based on the theory that there is a direct relationship between the permeability and the porosity of the reservoir. More directly stated it means that there is a direct relationship between the amount of oil in the reservoir and the rate at which it will move through the reservoir. While in general this relationship is true, it may vary considerably in different wells. Furthermore, in many wells the capacity of the reservoir to deliver oil to the well is greater than the capacity of the flow string to deliver oil to the surface. It is especially true where the potential is determined by flowing through tubing or by pumping.

Jan 1, 1933

By W. B. Price

AT the New York meeting of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers held in February, 1926, W. H. Bassett and J. C. Bradley presented a paper entitled "Exudations on Copper Castings."&apos; The purpose of the present paper, as the title suggests, is to call attention to somewhat similar phenomena which the authors have encountered in brass and bronze. From a study of the examples given, a more-or-less speculative theory of "inverse segregation" is advanced. Protuberances on Admiralty Brass In the rolling mill of the Scovill Manufacturing Co., there have been found quite commonly bars of certain alloys which had a sort of shaggy roughness on the surface due to slight metallic protuberances. No special attention was paid to these until some bars were found on which these protuberances were heavy enough at the bottom of the bars to produce a blistered appearance. A sample of the protuberances was milled off the surface of the bar illustrated (Fig. la) and upon analysis was found to contain 66.66 per cent. copper, 4.02 per cent. tin and 0.03 per cent. lead, whereas the average composition of the bar was 70.21 per cent. copper, 1.21 per cent. tin, and 0.01 per cent. lead. A sample of the shaggy-rough protuberances at the very top of a bar was also analyzed and was found to contain 2.45 per cent. tin, indicating that it was probably of the same origin as the blistered areas. These results were not entirely unexpected for previous analyses of this alloy had revealed that the surface was richer in tin than the rest of the bar. This, of course, is contrary to what we would expect from a consideration of the equilibrium diagram and has been called "inverse segregation." Fig. 16 is a cross-section of a bar through the protuberances on the surface. It reveals that there is a decidedly different structure through the raised areas and seems to indicate that the bar originally solidified

Jan 1, 1927

By F. C. Pittman, D. W. Harriman, J. C. St. John

This paper mentions briefly the history of hydraulic jetting as applied to perforating and fracture initiation. It points out the advantages of hydraulic perforation and undercutting as an aid for creating a fracture at the point desired rather than depending upon the weakest point in the formation for breakdown. It describes early experimental work with jet nozzles in search of better nozzle materials. The effect of splash-back damage and its subsequent influence on jet body and tool design during this work is discussed. A series of cutting-rate curves for jets cutting steel and steel-cement-formation combinations is presented to show the effect of hydrostatic head and the point of diminishing returns with respect to cutting time. There is a series of photographs showing various types of rock formation in which perforation and undercutting tests were made. These stones were drilled and the casing cemented in place as in an actual well. The casing was perforated and circularly cut as if preparing for a fracturing job. The conclusion reached in the paper is that hydraulic jetting with sand-laden fluid can be used for perforating and undercutting casing, cement and formation rock for the intended purpose of inducing the formation to fracture at a desired point. INTRODUCTION Hydraulic jetting as a means of cleaning a formation during acidizing has been used for many years. The acid-jet gun was used to clean formation and for drilling cement from casing with acid. This tool was dropped to a seating ring installed on the tubing and could be retrieved by reverse circulation or wire line. In this process, the fluids were directed against the formation to clean and penetrate beyond the mud-damaged area. After the development of the hydraulic fracturing process, interest in jetting the formation with abrasive-laden fluid was renewed. The cutting action of abrasive fluid on pumping equipment, which is a well known problem, has been utilized to perforate and undercut casing, tubing and formation. In this process, surface areas are provided in the formation on which the frac- turing pressures may work to produce a fracture at the location desired. EQUIPMENT The tools used consist of bodies containing two, three or four jets in a single horizontal plane equally spaced around the circumference. The body is threaded to the end of a string of tubing and run into the well. In addition, an expendable tool is available that may be left in the hole after perforating and produced through until necessary to remove the tubing. The bottom of each tool is equipped with a ball-type back-pressure valve. The ball can be reversed to the surface and recovered. This allows reverse circulation so that loose sand which accumulated below the tool while jetting may be removed before the fracturing job. The present jetting tools are of such length that, when screwed together, the jets fall on 12-in. spacing. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM Early work with nozzles indicated that hardened steel was not a suitable material for jets and that more durable material would be required. Ceramics were tried and found to be superior to steel but still too shortlived for most applications. Tungsten carbide, which was tried and found to be the best material available, is now being used for jet nozzles. Analysis of the problems presented by this process indicated that the following information was needed. 1. The effect of submergence on a jet stream and the effect of submergence on the cutting rate of a jet stream. 2. The cutting rate and depth of a jet stream in steel. 3. The cutting rate in various formations and point of diminishing returns. 4. Size of hole or slot cut in a pipe by a given jet. 5. Fluids and sands used. 6. The flow of various weight fluids through the jet nozzle and the discharge coefficients. 7. The type cut formed in the formation by the jet stream. 8. The stretch and contraction of tubing due to temperature and pressure. The cutting effect of a jet stream on a target in the atmosphere is rapid and spectacular as most of the

By K. Torssell, U. Lindborg

The kinetics of precipitation deoxidation is considered from a theoretical point of view. The size distribution and the total content of deoxidation products are estimated statistically as a function of time, taking into account Stokes and gradient collisions between the particles and separation at the top surface of the bath. The assumption is made that two particles coalesce into one larger particle as a result of a collision. General expressions are derived and calculations are carried out numerically for the case of silica particles in liquid iron. The analysis predicts a three-stage behavior for the removal of oxygen, an incubation stage, a stage of rapid separation, and a slow final stage where the content approaches the equilibrium value. The agreement with experimentally determined size distributions and deoxidation times is considered to be good. A quantitative estimation of such growth mechanisms as diffusion from the melt and redistribution of oxygen from small particles to large ones shows that these latter mechanisms cannot explain the experimentally observed gvowth of inclusions. This also indicates that collisions provide the important growth mechanism. OXIDE inclusions precipitate when a deoxidizer like silicon or aluminum is added to a steel bath. The inclusions grow and the large particles tend to separate from the bath. For each type of oxide the growth determines the sizes of the final inclusions as well as the total inclusion content of the steel. The mechanism of growth is controversial, however. It has been suggested that an inclusion grows principally by diffusion of atoms through the melt to the inclusion particle or principally by collisions and coalescence with other inclusions. Diffusion growth is always present to some extent but recent experiments and calculations by Torssell,&apos; Kniippel et &apos;a1.,2 Sano et al. and Miya-shita4 indicate that collisions may be more important than previously realized. A detailed analysis has so far been lacking. The present paper is a quantitative, statistical analysis of the growth and separation of inclusions and is based on a collision theory. Nuclea-tion is not considered. The numerical estimates are based on the experimental conditions of Torssell&apos;s&apos; investigation and comparisons are made with his observations. Torssell&apos; studied the growth and separation of silica particles in liquid iron. Samples were taken from a 0.6 kg iron bath at various times after the addition of silicon. By a particle-counting technique developed by Bergh and Lindber~the size distribution of the inclu- sions was determined. The number of particles at the first sampling, 10 sec after silicon addition, was of the order of 3 x lo7 to 10&apos; per cu cm, the largest particles having a radius of 2 to 4 pm. The volume fraction was 0.001 to 0.004; i.e., the dispersion was very dilute. During subsequent holding the largest particles increased their radius by a factor of 10 after about a minute, and the whole size distribution was displaced toward larger values. These results were obtained with allowance for precipitation of the equilibrium concentration of oxygen during solidification. The bath contained less than 0.01 pct of C. Figs. 1 and 2 show the typical appearance of the inclusions. Most particles are very closely spherical and appear to have been liquid or semiliquid in the melt. The observed number of inclusions, about 5x 10&apos; per cu cm, is of the same order of magnitude as found by ~er~h.&apos; This is a large value. It follows that the diffusion distances are very short and that the precipitation

Jan 1, 1969

By John Hays Hammond

IT was but a few years ago that the mining engineer, and his confreres, the civil, mechanical and electrical engineer, were stigmatized by politicians of the parish? pump variety as advance agents of unprincipled exploiters of backward countries. Today he is recognized as a most important missionary of civilization in opening up new territory to contribute its mineral wealth and incidentally its other resources for the needs of mankind. An engineer, it is now conceded, is not only a benefactor of the world at large, but is a primary factor in the betterment of conditions of the inhabitants of those countries developed by his skill and indomitable courage-for courage is requisite in pioneering and his indefatigable industry. The engineer will, I believe, become a real "Ambassador of Good Will," when the slow-consenting academic mind realizes as it must that beneficent deeds are more enduring and more convincing than mere gestures of professed amity.

Jan 1, 1929