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By Eugene McAuliffe

SINCE 1917, the bituminous coal industry has surged, violently at times, across the nation's social, industrial and economic foreground. To-day a silent, yet more active, force is working within the industry, and the movement now taking place, if allowed to continue, will cause serious consequences when coal is again wanted at the rate of 550,000,000 tons annually instead of at the rate of 400,000,000 tons, the apparent requirement for 1921. I refer to the shift of tonnage from the highly unionized fields of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to the non-union fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Alabama and certain western states, and to the so-called union fields in Kentucky and Colorado, on which the union saddle rests lightly. This movement, in the absence of the usual winter transportation shortage, is taking place rapidly and will be accentuated if, as is probable, work is suspended in the union mines on March 31 next. This drift of tonnage has been made possible by the unit wage reductions in the non-union fields and by the modification of the so-called conditions that have been saddled on all mines wherever the United Mine Workers have gained a foothold; these changes permitted the first reduction in mine cost, which made possible the securance of contracts; better running time assisted in making further reductions, and the transfer of ton-nage served to increase the unit cost in the field from which it was transferred. This situation not only opposes the highly unionized operation but brings about a transfer of traffic from the roads serving such mines to those that serve in a primary or secondary manner the more favored localities. The net result is evidenced in (a) the migration of union labor to the non-union mines; (b) the deteriora-tion and decadence of union properties; (c) the neces-sary curtailment in the purchase of new equipment and in the maintenance of existing equipment and track facilities on the part of the carriers serving the union fields. This, in turn, when business is restored to normal or to the point above normal that invariably follows an adverse swing of-the business pendulum, will cause (d) a shortage of coal and coal transportation facilities; (e) an era of coal speculative debauchery with exorbitant prices and serious deflection in the matter of quality; (f) a period of labor unrest followed by de-mands for increased wage rates supplemented by a marked loss in individual efficiency, with, resultant strikes, business unrest, and the pressure of new eco-nomic theories. In 1918, the labor status with respect to relative tonnage produced was approximately as follows: pro-duced in highly organized fields, 62 per cent.; produced in partly organized fields, 21 per cent.; produced in unorganized fields, 17 per cent. During the strike of November and December, 1919, the mines that remained at work attained 35 per cento of the nominal production of soft coal, a situation made possible by the migration of union labor to non-union mines and the concentration of the nation's coal trans-portation facilities on the rails of the carriers serving the non-union fields. The history of the efforts made by the carriers to untangle the car scrambling which took place during this period and which sent the self clearing battleship type of car into western territory where it could not be readily unloaded, and the western gondola type of car to New England and the seaboard, is yet painfully recalled. -This confusion proved a serious factor in the coal car shortage that continued throughout the following year. We are drifting toward a similar situation now, propelled by economic forces rather than by a sudden strike.

Jan 1, 1922

By G. Derge, R. E. Grace

Diffusivity of bismuth in liquid Pb-Bi alloys has been measured by the capillary reservoir method as a function of temperature and composition. Fair agreement between theory and experiment is found for the measured diffusion coefficients and activation energies of diffusivity and viscosity in dilute lead alloys. The measured diffusion coefficients in the high bismuth alloys describe mass transport in special concentration gradients. THE study of diffusion in liquid metals has been restricted largely to the amalgams over small ranges of temperature and composition. In contrast to this, diffusion and transport of ions and molecules in aqueous and organic solvents have been studied extensively for the past 50 years. The general difficulty of measuring diffusion coefficients in both gases and liquids at high temperatures has been that of eliminating convection currents. Measuring techniques based on freezing and sectioning after the diffusion period1 are not particularly satisfactory because of the volume changes and segregation which occur during freezing. The most promising technique which is currently being developed for liquid metals is the capillary reservoir method. This eliminates convection currents from the diffusion zone and requires measurements only of the length and initial and final compositions of the alloy within the capillary. Anderson and Saddington' have measured the diffusion coefficient of tungstate anions in aqueous Na,W04; Wane4' and Hoffman- ave studied structure and self-diffusion in water and self-diffusion in mercury, respectively, by similar techniques. Selection of the Pb-Bi system for initial study was made for several reasons: I—It afforded a low temperature system for development of techniques which would be suitable for high temperature measurements in liquid iron. This research on diffusion in liquid iron is now in progress as a part of a general program on the rates and mechanisms of slag-metal reactions. 2—Activity data on liquid Pb-Bi alloys of all compositions are available from the emf meas- urements of Strickler and Seltz.9 3—Some data are available on the diffusion of bismuth into solid lead. The measurements on solid alloys were made by von Hevesy and Seith7 for the concentration range of 0 to 2 pct Bi. An appropriate solution to Fick's law (unsteady state) for the capillary reservoir has been found by considering the mass flow which passes through a unit area of surface on a slab of infinite thickness as a function of time. This is the first application of this solution to diffusion measurements, although a similar solution is available for identical boundary conditions.' By analogy with heat conduction, the problem reduces to a perfectly insulated infinite slab at temperature C,, one surface of which is quenched to C, for all times, t. Heat is permitted to flow from quenched surface of the slab to an infinite supply of coolant at C.' (see Appendix). For the corresponding solution for diffusion in liquids, these terms become Where Cu is the initial concentration of component A" in entire capillary at t - 0, C, is the final con- In this case. component A is bismuth, and C, = 0. centration of component A in entire capillary at t = t, C, is the concentration of component A in bath for all t, 1 is the length of the capillary in centimeters, t is the time of diffusion period in seconds, and D is the diffusion coefficient in square centimeters per second. By comparison with solutions to Fick's law used in the solid state, this solution for liquids is similar to the Grube solution for solids, where the change in D with chemical composition is not taken into consideration. Difficulty is to be expected if large concentration gradients are employed and if the concentration gradients extend over an appreciable length of the capillary.

Jan 1, 1956

By J. L. Carne

ORE control is a matter of planning and supervision based on a foreknowledge of the content and distribution of ore. The Inspiration orebody is predominately a copper-sulphide blanket, overlain by an oxidized zone of copper silicates, copper carbonates, and barren capping. Most of the ore is treated by leaching, and the optimum requirement of this method is the goal toward which the mining schedule is aimed. Both open-pit operations and underground mining are used. The problems of ore control at Inspiration are: I—maintenance of metallurgical balance, 2—conservation of oxide ore, and 3—mining out of the orebody at an average grade which parallels that of the reserve figure. Prior to the fall of 1926 all of the Inspiration division ores were treated by flotation, but the mixed ores of the Live Oak—Keystone section carried too large a proportion of copper in the form of chrysocolla for satisfactory flotation. For this type of mixed ore the leaching process now in use had been worked out, and the plant was put into operation in the fall of 1926. The process is known as the ferric sulphate leach, and the leaching solvents contain both ferric sulphate and free sulphuric acid. Sulphide copper in the form of chalcocite is leached by the ferric sulphate, and the oxidized copper minerals are dissolved by the sulphuric acid. From the beginning of operations to the present time the plant has treated some 67 thousand tons of ore having an average copper content of 1.142 pct, of which 0.605 pct has been in the form of oxidized copper minerals. The plant is currently being operated at the rate of 11,500 tons per day, 7 days per week. However, this tonnage is produced in 6 days of mine operation. The average current grade is approximately 1 pct copper, of which about 50 pct is present as oxidized or acid-soluble copper. Close control of metallurgical procedures is a vital factor in operation of the plant and is in turn dependent upon careful regulation of feed. An excess of sulphide copper requires the presence of more ferric sulphate in the leaching solvents. On the other hand, an excess of ferric sulphate in the presence of a low sulphide feed seriously reduces the efficiency of electrolytic precipitation in tank house operations. This condition must be avoided at all costs. An additional factor must be considered. It is known that the sulphide content is predominant in the ore which remains in the reserve. To maintain the necessary sulphide-oxide proportion, so that the entire reserve will mine out at both a grade and a sulphide-oxide ratio that will be permissible throughout the remaining life of the property, it is obvious that the oxide reserve must be currently preserved to as great an extent as possible. Fortunately much of the oxide reserve is found in the open-pit operation. This happy circumstance adds flexibility to the procedure and makes it possible to maintain the close regulation necessary to insure best overall results, both mining and metallurgical. The two ore streams from the pit and underground operations join at the coarse-crushing plant, and proper control must be exercised before the ore reaches this point. The open pit is currently providing about 55 pct of the ore and underground operations the balance of production. Both operations are under a single superintendent so that the closely interrelated problems may be more readily controlled. The least flexible of the two producing units is the underground mine, where the mining method is block caving. Although a block of ground may be undercut and developed, characteristics of the material determine its caving action. The ore in the chutes must be drawn. The area currently mined from underground is in a zone predominately sulphide and is generally

Jan 1, 1953

By J. Orkiszewski

A method i.s presented which can accurately predict, with a precision of about 10 percent, two-phase pressure drops in flowing and gas-lift production wells over a wide range of well conditions. The method is an extension of the work done by Grifith and Wallis and was found to be superior to five other published methods. The precision of the method was verified when its predicted values were compared against 148 measured pressure drops. The unique features of this method over most others are that liquid holdup is derived from observed physical phenomena, the pressure gradient is related to the geometrical distribution of the liquid and gas phase (flow regimes), and the method provides a good analogy of what happens inside the pipe. It takes less than a second to obtain a prediction on the IBM 7044 computer. INTRODUCTION The problem of accurately predicting pressure drops in flowing or gas-lift wells has given rise to many specialized solutions for limited conditions, but not to any generally accepted one for broad conditions. The reason for these many solutions is that the two-phase flow is complex and difficult to analyze even for the limited conditions studied. Under some conditions, the gas moves at a much higher velocity than the liquid. As a result, the down-hole flowing density of the gas-liquid mixture is greater than the corresponding density, corrected for down-hole temperature and pressure, that would be calculated from the produced gas-liquid ratio. Also, the liquid's velocity along the pipe wall can vary appreciably over a short distance and result in a variable friction loss. Under other conditions, the liquid is almost completely entrained in the gas and has very little effect on the wall friction loss. The difference in velocity and the geometry of the two phases strongly influence pressure drop. These factors provide the basis for categorizing two-phase flow. The generally accepted categories (flow regimes) of two-phase flow are bubble, slug, (slug-annular) transition and annular-mist They are ideally depicted in Fig. 1 and briefly described as follows. RUBBLE FLOW (FIG. 1A) The pipe is almost completely filled with the liquid and the free-gas phase is small. The gas is present as small bubbles, randomly distributed, whose diameters also vary randomly. The bubbles move at different velocities depending upon their respective diameters. The liquid moves up the pipe at a fairly uniform velocity and, except for its density, the gas phase has little effect on the pressure gradient. SLUG FLOW (FIG. 1R) In this regime, the gas phase is more pronounced. Although the liquid phase is still continuous, the gas bubbler coalesce and form stable bubbles of approximately the rame size and shape which are nearly the diameter of the pipe. They are separated by slugs of liquid. The bubble velocity is greater than that of the liquid and can be predicted in relation to the velocity of the liquid slug." There is a film of liquid around the gas bubble. The liquid velocity is not constant—whereas the liquid slug always moves upward (in the direction of bulk flow); the liquid in the film may move upward but possibly at a lower velocity, or it may move downward. These varying liquid velocities will result not only in varying wall friction losses, but also in a "liquid holdup" which will influence flowing density. At higher flow velocities, liquid can even be entrained in the gas bubbles. Both the gas and liquid phases have significant effects on the pressure gradient. TRANSITION FLOW (FIG. 1C) The change from a continuous liquid phase to a continuous gas phase occurs in this region. The liquid slug between the bubbles virtually disappears, and a significant amount of liquid becomes entrained in the gas phase. Although the effects of the liquid are significant, the gas phase is more predominant.

By F. W. Jessen, James N. Howell

INTRODUCTION The determination of cloud points has to date been limited to rather transparent oils, visual observation of the formation of a solid phase being the criterion for the standard ASTM D 97-47 method. The need for a quiclc and simple method for determining cloud points under dynamic conditions for opaque crude oils became necessary in a study of fundamental aspects of paraffin deposition from crude oils. PREVIOUS WORK The determination of cloud points in opaque oils by viscosity temperature curves is fairly new, Young' described a method employing the capillary tube principle. No information exists relative to the determination of cloud points of crude or refined oils under dynamic conditions. Shock' noticed that deposition of paraffin from crude oils took place at temperatures at or below the temperature at which a sharp inflection point occurred in the viscosity-temperature curve. This observation indicates a possible correlation between this temperature and the cloud point of the crude oil. Reistle and Vietti1 have reported that when crude oils containing small amounts of asphaltic materials were heated to temperatures sufficiently high to solubilize these materials and immediately cooled the pour point of the crude oil was lowered as much as 70°F. Sachanen\ asribes this effect to the action of colloidal asphaltenes in preventing the formation of the crystalline structure necessary to maintain the oil in a rigid state. At high temperatures, asphaltenes are peptized, and the paraffin crystals formed at these temperatures adsorb the colloidal asphaltenes on their surface thereby hindering further growth of the crystals. Reistle" found, however, that such heating and cooling of crude oils had no effect upon the cloud points. This latter work dealt with a crude oil of fixed composition, and the question immediately arises as to the effect of varying the concentration of asphaltic materials on the cloud point. APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE All viscosity measurements were made with a Bendix Ultra-Viscoson. The Bendix Ultra-Viscoson, which consists of a vibrating probe and an electronic computer. measures viscosity by exciting a thin alloy steel blade on the end of a probe by short electrical pulses in damped oscillation at 28 kilocycles. The blade vibrates longitudinally with an amplilude of less than 55 micron or 20 millionths of an inch. Energy to protlucc this excitation is generated in he computer and transferred to the probe through the connecting cable. The oscillating blade is magnetostric-tive, i.e., it is capable of transforming electrical energy to mechanical energy in the ultrasonic range. Ultrasonic waves are produced in the material surrounding the blade by the oscillating motion of the blade causing layers of the material to slip back and forth over one another at a known frequency. The electronic computer calculates the energy required to produce the sliding motion which is in turn proportional to the viscosity of the material. Actual values of viscosity times density (centi-poise X grams/cc) are indicated on the computer and a continuous D-C signal is provided which is fed into a type 153 Electronic Recorder (manufactured by Brown Instruments Div. of Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co.) The liquid sample container was fabricated from a Lucite cylinder and jacketed by a Luicite water bath. Early experiments using glass and steel sample containers were not satisfactory. since the Ultra-Viscoson was apparently affected by the alterzltion of the magnetic fields surrounding the probe by stresses set LIP in the glass and steel as it cooled. The procedure for determining viscosity-temperature curves was relatively simple. The temperature ot the sample was raised sufficiently high to solubilize all paraffin and asphalts present. After heating, the oil sample was immediately transferred

Jan 1, 1957

By Leons Kovisars

Introduction Competitive analysis is the collection and evaluation of data on a product, a product line or on an entire industry. Much of the focus of competitive analysis centers on production volume and the price targets of the competitors. In actual practice capacity may be used in place of production volume. Similarly, unit production costs and individual producing units - mines, mills, smelters, refineries - may be the targets of the analysis. The purpose of competitive analysis is to provide information for strategic planning. The analysis will locate the position of the company in the industry and define the competitive margin -- or lack of a margin - between the company and other producers. The analysis can show the current situation and may be expanded to examine the outlook for the future. The forecast option is particularly valuable because it will show the opportunities for new project development or the expansion of current production. Similarly, the forecast will show the potential threat from new entrants, and may provide early warning to reconsider operations that may become uncompetitive in the future. Production cost analysis is a clearly understood means to evaluate producers and estimate the outlook for their profitability. The cumulative cost for the industry outlines the supply structure and defines the marginal cost of production used in developing price forecast as explained in the sub- sequent section of this paper. Competitive analysis is particularly important to the mining industry, notably to metal producers. The final product is typically a purified metal conforming to standards, and interchangable with the output of other producers, i.e. a fungible commodity. Brand loyalty is questionable in the mineral industry. Consumers will show a preference for specific brands, but this preference will be limited to a premium of several percent over the general market price. Price and assurance of supply are the keys to marketing success. Assurance of supply depends on geopolitical considerations and production capabilities. Price will be closely related to cost of production and a thorough competitive analysis should describe the cost structure of the industry. This snapshot will locate one's own position and provide an immediate and readily understandable evaluation of the hazards and opportunities inherent in this position. In the following section we shall discuss elements, methods and sources for competitive evaluation. ELEMENTS OF COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS The practice of systematic collection and analysis of data on competition is hardly a new concept; see, for example, Wall (1) or Porter (2). However, most discussions have been in the context of conventional industrial or manufacturing industries, with a focus on product lines and brand marketing. These considerations are not irrelevant to mining but they do have only a limited application. The key to success in the mining industry is minimizing the cost of production. However, this simple concept becomes complex when we consider relevant costs and the planning horizon. Production costs include the factors consumed in production, namely labor, fuel, energy, materials and supplies. The cost also includes purchased and contracted services such as freight, smelting and refining, sampling and sales required to convert ore to the finished metal. Royalties and ad valorem taxes paid on gross production are direct expenses, as is the cost of administration required by the production units. The sum of these outflows is the total cash cost, the expense that has to be paid in cash in order to continue production. Indirect costs incurred by a producer will commonly include allocated headquarters expenses, as well as the capital charges associated with equity investment and debt. Profit is not generally considered an indirect cost even though it represents the cost of using the owner's capital; similarly, income taxes represent the government's participation in the profits of the enterprise. Interest payments are considered as a direct expense in some cost studies, but many competitive evaluations would consider

Jan 1, 1985

By George W. Crawford, W. P. Aycock, E. W. Hough

Forty oilfield brines have been examined so far by a polarographic technique new in petroleum engineering called the "tensatnmetric method" by the team of biochemists who perfected its use in their field. Samples of brine were obtained from various oil fields in which the wells were known to be producing fluid from oil productive zones in well-known geologic formations. Most of the reservoirs from which the samples were obtained are believed to have an active water drive under the prevailing conditions of operation. The 40 samples represent brines produced front 16 different formations of various geologic ages. Graphs have been prepared of the data obtained in the testing of each sample, and the distinctive waife-like curves so obtained are characterized by reproducible profiles, called "response curves." Careful comparison of the response curves of salt water coming from different fields producing from the same geologic formation reveals that the curves are similar. The response curves of salt water coming from productive zones of different geologic formations are characteristically different. Preliminary work offers the further hope that response curves of an oilfield brine indigenous to a particular oil-bearing formation and hence representative of a particular geologic environment, such as deposit-ional and all subsequent morphological conditions, may be of value in reservoir engineering in the interpretation of surface and interfacial phenomena. For example, the wettability of the rock matrix and more specifically, the classification of productive oil-bearing strata as hydrophyllic or hydrophobic may be determinable. However, many more brines must be examined and the resulting response curves analyzed in comparison to known causal phenornena before this objective is achieved. INTRODUCTION One of the perennial moot questions in the literature of petroleum engineering is whether the reservoir rock is oil- or water-wet. Possibly an answer to this question could come from a careful examination of oilfield brines. None of the conventional methods of examining brines (chemical analysis, pH and electrical conductivity measurements, and the like) answer the question. Careful analysis of reservoir behavior observed in the exploitation of oil fields, particularly in the application of fluid injection, has been fruitful to the extent that a few reservoirs are believed to be properly classified. Physical chemistry suggests the behavior of reservoir brine and rock may be due to something in the brine in small amount. The ever increasing development and modification of theory in the general field of surface and interfacial chemistry has, and is, contributing to a better understanding of the problem, particularly as theory is verified by data. The work herein reported was begun in 1953 by Hough and Roebuck 1,2 who employed a new form of alternating current polarography, i.e., tensammetry, developed by Breyer, et a13,4 and who studied eight oilfield brines in adapting tensammetry to petroleum engineering needs. THEORY AND DEFINITIONS Tensammetry is a new technique of inquiry into surface phenomena. Specifically, a weak alternating current voltage is superimposed upon the direct current voltage applied to a dropping mercury electrode in contact with an electrolyte containing a small amount of a surfactant. The resultant alternating current can be measured and provides the experimental data for this new area of research. Under the influence of the direct current voltage, polar molecules arrange themselves in a double layer at the electrode. This double layer may be compared to a variable condenser, the capacitance of which is a function of the imposed direct current voltage. The direct current voltage determines the degree of adsorption of the surface active molecule on the electrode. Whenever the molecules are strongly adsorbed on the electrode, the capacitance of the double layer is low and the alternating current through the cell is low. Desorption occurs at some values of the direct current voltage, and at these voltages the capacitance of the double layer is high, resulting in an increase in the alternating current through the cell. The direct current

Jan 1, 1958

By A. T. Corey, J. H. Henderson, M. R. J. Wyllie, C. H. Rathjens

The results of three-phase relative permeability tests on nine water-wet consolidated Berea sandstone samples are presented as composite ternary diagranls showing isoperms of oil, water and gas. Capillary pressure control was exercised over the flow of gas and oil in the presence of water. The water saturations ranged from 17 to 71 per cent pore volume. A method of calculating both the oil and water permeabilities of a three-phase system from the easily measured gas relative permeability is presented. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND RESULTS A renewed interest has been shown in three-phase relative permeability as a result of recent developments involving underground combustion processes, steam injection, and other multiphase displacement processes. The experiments and results described here involved simultaneous flow of oil and gas in consolidated Berea sand with brine present as the wetting phase. Gas and oil relative permeabilities were measured on nine cores with CaC12 brine present as the wetting phase in saturations ranging from 17 to 71 per cent. The average residual liquid saturation of the cores was approximately 20 per cent. In order to make certain that brine was the wetting phase, the test cores were saturated with brine before contact with hydrocarbons. As an added precaution to avoid having oil displace brine from the wetting position as a result of changing wettability, each core was only used twice, i.e., first with a fixed percentage of brine and then for a gas-oil permeability determination with no brine present. The results, therefore, are presented as composite ternary diagrams representing the flow tests on nine individual cores having very similar properties. All tests were made using a modification of the capillary pressure techniquc described elsewhere. The effective oil permeability was measured before gas was introduced using a very small pressure gradient (a few centimeters of oil). This determination was made without selectively wet barriers in contact with the core. The cores were then placed between capillary barriers and gas-oil relative permeability curves obtained. The capillary barriers had been made water repellent with a silicone treatment. In determining gas-oil-water relative permeability in this fashion, control was exercised over the capillary pressure existing between the gas and oil. No control was exercised over the pressure difference existing between the oil and water. Athough an equal pressure gradient was applied to the gas and the oil phases, this pressure gradient does not exist in the water phase. Since the pressure gradient across the core was always much less than the displacement pressure of the fully saturated core, the pressure gradient can have caused only a very slight distortion of the oil-water interfaces. This slight distortion of the oil-water interfaces had a negligible effect on the validity of the oil permeabilities measured. The oil permeability, measured in the presence of water but with no gas present, was in every case equal. within experimental error, to the gas permeability of the gas-oil system when the oil saturation was the same as that of the water. Gas and oil relative permeabilities were plotted as a function of total liquid saturation. It was found that the gas relative permeability curves obtained on cores with brine present were identical with those obtained on the same cores with no brine present. The denominator for calculating oil relative permeabilities was the permeability found by extrapolation to infinite mean pressure (A la Klinken-berg). Fig. 1 illustrates gas-oil relative permeability results obtained on a typical core. The solid permeability curves represent the experimental data. The dashed oil relative permeability curve was calculated using the relationship;

Jan 1, 1957

By Whitman E. Brown, Louis J. Erck

L. A. ROE*—This paper is one of great value to the iron ore industry. The Humphreys spiral is a relatively new tool and gives promise of being quite useful in solving certain problems of iron ore beneficiation. Spirals have been tested on a martite ore at the Benson mine of Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp. in northern New York State. Our New York ore is considerably different, physically and mineralogically, than the one mentioned in this paper, and contains only 25 pct iron. This ore can be processed on spirals to give a concentrate containing 62 pct iron with an 85 pct recovery. On our particular ore we found operating difficulties when the spiral feed was coarser than 14 mesh. These were chiefly due to excessive "build-up" of locked middlings in the spiral circuit. In extreme cases these middling particles would accumulate to such an extent that the plant had to be shut down and the spiral surge tanks cleaned out. It is interesting to note that there exists a close relationship between the results of tabling a given iron ore and concentration of this same ore on Humphreys spirals. The size range of the ore must, of course, be within those limits acceptable to spiral concentration. Comparative tests on several of our mar-tite ores showed tabling results to be the same as spiral results. The authors make no mention of the use of a tailing stream splitter (now available from the spiral manufacturer) which is a useful tool in studying iron losses in the tailings stream. 011 our particular martite ore we found a considerable accumulation of fine-sized iron ore particles in the outside portion of the tailings stream. This fraction may be amenable to further treatment. E. H. ROSE*—The authors have concluded an interesting piece of work and this paper is an excellent factual account of a rapid and somewhat unusual transi-;ion in practice in the plant described. Perhaps it was modesty on their part which caused them so casually to limit to one sentence the fact that "several other methods of concentration on the fine ores representative of the Hill Trumbull group . . . failed to produce consistently an acceptable grade and recovery of finished product." The fact is that they were confronted by a difficult mineral-dressing problem and they are to be congratulated on their courage and persistence in staying with it until a satisfactory solution was evolved. A visitor to the plant might have been mildly astonished, as I was, to see one type of concentrator handling that part of the load early in the 1947 season, its experimental replacement by another a little later, and then in 1948 to see that both types had simply disappeared and their place taken by the spirals which were operating as placidly as though they had been there all the time. In working out economic methods of beneficiating Alabama red ore, most of which development is still ahead of us, it is likely that we also will pass through a period of successive disappointments, for we too have a problem where it is next to impossible either to "guess 'end right in the first place," or, because full-scale operating cost is such an important factor, to lay the ultimate answer on the line in advance by means of laboratory experimentation. Iron ore being what it is instead of what it used to be, it is encouraging to have the example the authors have given us today that a tough nut that will not crack on the first blow or the second is apt to do so on the third or fourth.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. C. Ellis

IN an ingot of germanium solidified progressively from the bottom by a method' devised by J. H. Scaff and H. C. Theuerer, examination discloses ex- IH. C. Torrey and C. A. Whitmer, Crystal Rectifiers. p. 364. 1948. New York. McGraw-Hill Pub. Co. tensive twin relationships. A slice taken about midway in a cylindrical ingot approximately 3/4 in. in diameter and 1 1/2 in. in length, after etching and polishing to delineate different orientations, is shown in fig. la. The orientations of the regions designated with letters were determined by Laue X-ray back-reflection methods and plotted on stereograms. The orientation relationships of the designated components were determined by comparing the values for the nine angles between the three respective cube poles of each orientation with the values calculated in a formal treatment of octahedral multiple twinning in cubic crystals. Germanium, diamond cubic in structure, has the octahedral twinning habit. I am indebted to K. H. Storks for the calculation of the angular relationships of cube poles in octahedral twinning to four orders. The set of values for the nine angles is distinctive of the order of twinning. Confirmation for a multiple twin relationship is obtained from the determined indices of the mirror planes. These exist for all orders of twinning through the third and for some of the fourth." If the orientations are not those for twinning, then the nine angles for the cube poles do not correspond in value and distribution to those formally calculated. Since all nine angles must correspond in values and distribution of values to the calculated ones, the Laue method with a precision of one or two degrees is adequate to establish or deny with confidence the existence of multiple twins. Regions of the same orientation can also frequently be identified by the optical reflections. For example, the narrow twin bands in A at 2: 00 o'clock have orientation B1. The interesting twin relationships shown schematically in fig. lb were found for the section in fig. la. Most of this slice was made up of orientation, A, appearing in widely separated regions. Of the four possible first order twins of A, three were present in this slice and are designated by B with subscripts. Four second order twins of A are designated by C with subscripts. It is worth emphasizing that two of these, C, and C,, are second orders of A through the first order missing in this section. Two regions, designated by D with subscripts are third order twins of A. D2 is a sixth order twin of D,. All orientations found were ascribable to multiple twinning, as if the orientations in this section originated earlier in solidification from a single nucleus. The presence of extensive multiple twinning to- gether with the absence of other orientations appears to be a characteristic result in many instances of solidification of germanium. Fertile conditions for twinning probably exist in the array of atoms in the diamond cubic structure. The high order twins in the section shown, it is reasonable to presume, are the result of progressive octahedral twinning through several generations in the material freezing earlier. Some of these generations do not appear in this section, it is suggested, because their orientations with respect to the growth direction were unfavorable for survival. The extensive twinning is probably promoted during solidification by constraint imposed by volume increase, and to an irregular growth front. Twinning may also be due, in part, to the attempt of the solidifying region to attain the orientation most favorable to the growth direction (maximum thermal gradient). The nucleus for a twinned orientation could have its origin in a "stacking fault" on the close-packed octahedral plane. Further work is being done in which the course of twinning throughout an ingot is being studied. The results appear to be important in the general theory of solidification.

Jan 1, 1951

By U. N. Bhrany, N. Arbiter

F. C. Bond (Consulting Engineer, Processing Machin-Dept., AllisChalmers Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee) This is a very comprehensive paper. It deals with 1) size distribution functions, 2) energy-particle size relationships, and 3) criteria for grinding efficiency. The method of analysis used consists of tracing the increase and decrease of successive Tyler scale screen fractions as grinding progresses. The treatment is based upon the assumption that the work done in grinding is concentrated entirely upon the coarse size fractions in the mill. It is postulated that when a feed consisting entirely of particles of one size fraction is batch ground that finer fractions increase at a constant rate as grinding progresses, until finally each in turn begins to be ground and to decrease in amount. It is shown that under these conditions the empirical Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann log-log size distribution plot can be logically explained. It is difficult to imagine any condition of ball mill operation, or any probability analysis, which would result in no grinding contacts on the finer particles present. However, the authors' postulate must be accepted if their conclusions are to be sustained. They conclude that the equation expressing the for mation rate of each size fraction can be resolved into the G.-G.-S. size distribution equation, and that the curvilinear portion of the log-logsize distribution line represents the only particle sizes which are being ground as well as produced. The author's statement that the G.-G.-S. Eq. 4 applies only to the finer portion of the size distribution while the Rosin-Rammler Eq. 6 applies over the whole size distribution range certainly supports the view that an exponential equation of the Rosin-Rammler type corresponds more closely to actual size distribution than does the power law G.-G.-S. equation. However, the G.-G.-S. equation is used to derive Eq. 8 and Eq. 9, which state that the energy required to grind a ton through a particular mesh varies inversely as the particle size to the exponent -a , whic h is the slope of the extended G.-G.-S straight line. This is stated to apply to both batch and continuous grinding. The G.-G.-S. slope exponent thus becomes very important in all crushing and grinding analyses by this method. The authors include some data which can be used to test their conclusions, as described below: We will consider grinding a feed composed of 14 mesh (1190u) to -200 mesh (74u). The average of 17 Allis-Chalmers grindability tests on quartz gives a work index (Wi) of 12.77. The -200 mesh product should have 80 pct passing 41.6u or P = 41.6. The equivalent 80 pct passing size of the 14 mesh feed particles is considered to be the particle diameter, as is true for spherical particles. Thus F is 1190u. In the work index equation 10 wi 10 wi 127.7 127.7 P f 41.6 1190 = 16.1 kw-hrperton. In Table I the ball mill exponent for quartz is 1.0 and from Eqs. 9 and 10: w=kw-hr/ton =Constan/(do/di) = 16.1 ton so that (1190) Constant/ Constant and the Constant equals 259. The tons per horsepower-hour value is 0.0464, in agreement with Table IV. The exponents for other minerals are listed in Tabl e 11. In Table IIA, the kilowatt hours per ton required to grind these minerals between the same sizes as the quartz, both by the authors' method and the work index equation, are listed. According to the authors kw-hrperton = 259/(16.1)".

Jan 1, 1961

By W. C. Leslie

W. C. Leslie (Edgar C. Bain Laboratory for Funda mental Research)—This investigation, with its com bination of high-purity metal, calorimetry, and metallography, will serve as a model for annealing studies for a long time to come. The evidence for a competition between recovery and recrystalliza-tion is particularly convincing. The demonstration of edge-nucleated recrystallization was so clear that it may obscure the necessity for other types of "nucleation" sites; otherwise, single crystals of aluminum could not be recrystallized after cold work. At least three types of sites have been found to operate in iron: 1) high-angle boundaries, probably in the same manner as in aluminum, 2) matrix sites, 3) inclusions or second-phase particles. In each instance, the cells developed during cold work and perfected during recovery are the "nucle for recrystallization. Observations by ourselves and others of the dislocation structure of cold-worked metals and of the structural changes that occur during annealing have led us to doubt the validity of the basic assumption of the Lucke-Detert theory, and of the modification developed by Gordon and Vandermeer, that during recrystallization of a metal containing foreign elements in solid solution a high-angle boundary is ad vancing into a cold-worked matrix having a random distribution of solute atoms. We contend that an es sential part of the cold-working and annealing of solid solution alloys is the trapping of solute atoms by the low-energy "wells" afforded by individual dislocations and by dislocation arrays. If cells are formed during cold work, the cell walls are stabilized by this concentration of solute atoms. Thus, solutes inhibit recrystallization not only by decreas-ing the rate of high-angle boundary migration, but also by preventing the formation of high-angle boundaries by subgrain growth or coalescence, i.e., solutes can inhibit both "nucleation" and growth. In addition to stabilizing the dislocation Structure, the solute-dislocation interactions may produce clusters of solute atoms which are not as readily assimilated into the recrystallized grains as are individual solute atoms. There is an additional complication. The dislocation structure formed upon cold working a dilute solid solution may not be the same as that formed during cold working of the pure solvent metal. The solute can either enhance or minimize the formation of cells during cold working. Both effects have been observed in binary alloys of iron. The annealing process is inextricably connected with the mechanisms of strain hardening and solid solution hardening. Although the correlation between experimental boundary migration rates and the predictions made from the theoretical equations are impressive, it should be mentioned that in at least four other instances (Pb-Ag and pb-Au,15, Fe-Mn,16, Fe-Mo)17 the agreement was rather poor. In brief, while it is probable that the migration of high-angle boundaries is held back by solutes in the manner described, this is only a partial explanation of the total effect of solutes upon recrystallization of cold-worked alloys. Paul Gordon and R. A. Vandermeer (author's reply)— The authors first wish to thank Dr. Leslie for his compliments of this work. It is perhaps worth pointing out that some of Dr. Leslie's remarks are directed toward subject matter covered in two earlier papers in our work.18,19 We agree with Dr. Leslie's main contention that the exact nature of the metal structure in the vicinity of a boundary should have an effect on the boundary migration. The theory of Lucke and Detert does not take such detail into account, nor does it account for orientation effects on the migration rates. We assume that since our data checks the theory so well, the effects of detailed structure are statistically averaged out by the polycrystalline techniques used just as are the effects of orientation factors.

Jan 1, 1963

By F. G. Tahmoush, N. J. Grant, E. P. Abrahamson

The effect of grain size on the brittle -ductile transition temperature of pure iron and three dilute Fe-W alloys has been investigated by slow bend tests. The brittle-ductile transition temperature for pure iron increased with increasing grain sizes from 8000 to 500 grains per sq mm where the transition temperature then decreased with further increase in grain size. The dilute additions of tungsten lowered the transition temperature for fine grain sizes, suppressed a reversal of the curve in the coarse grained portion, and raised the transition temperature for this region. The frequency of twin occurrence increased with increasing grain size and decreasing temperature. The object of the present investigation was to re-examine the effect of grain size on the brittle -ductile transition of pure iron and several dilute Fe-W alloys. Current literature normally presents a simple relationship between grain size and the brittle-ductile transition temperature, namely, that the transition temperature increases with increasing grain size. Heslop and etch' have studied the transition temperature of mild steel by V-notch Charpy impact tests for the grain size range between 200 and 6000 grains per sq mm. The result was a linear plot of In 1-1/2 vs brittle-ductile transition temperature, where 1 is the grain diameter. Recent experiments by sipos2 revealed the possibility of a reversal in the slope of the grain size vs transition temperature plot for pure iron; however, his investigation was limited in scope, and the data obtained were insufficient to permit a definitive curve. The present investigation was undertaken in an effort to confirm or extend the grain size effect observed in iron by Sipos. PROCEDURE All alloys were vacuum induction melted, using 99.95 pct Fe containing 0.03 pct 0 and 0.004 pct C. Four ingots were made, ranging from pure iron to iron with 0.035 pct W. The chemical composition of each alloy, after processing, is given in Table I. The four alloys were prepared as 45 lb heats and cast into 4 in. diam by 16 in. molds. They were then extruded into 3/4 in. rods at 1800oF. Specimens for chemical analysis, taken from various positions along the rods, revealed no variation in tungsten content along the length. The extruded rods were reduced to 0.156 in. diam stock by a series of cold swaging operations involving intermediate vacuum annealing treatments. This procedure yielded a final cold reduction in area ranging from 10 to 90 pct. The swaged rods were chemically cleaned, cold pressed to a cross section of 0.10 by 0.18 by 1.0 in. long (2.54 by 4.73 by 25 mm). The specimens were wrapped in iron foil and vacuum sealed (10-4 mm Hg) in quartz. Various heat treatments at temperatures from 700" to 1300oC were utilized to produce grain sizes from 8000 to 1 grain per sq mm. Grain sizes were determined by measuring the average area of grains in a polished section. In specimens with grain size greater than 20 grains per sq mm, the total number of grains in the cross section was counted and then divided by the area to yield grains per sq mm. Grain size was measured both for longitudinal and transverse cross sections. The average of the two measurements was plotted vs transition temperature. An Instron Table Model testing machine was used to determine the transition temperature of specimens tested in three point horizontal bending. The specimen was supported by two 1/4 in. dowels one in. apart. Bending was accomplished with a push rod, the end of which had an 1/8 in. radius. The head speed was 50 in. per min. Temperatures were established through the use

Jan 1, 1963

By E. I. Alessandrini, A. U. Seybolt

Selective oxidation (preferential oxidation of a single alloy component) can be an important oxidation mode in the case of alloys such as Si-Fe, Al-Fe, and so on, when heat-treating in atmospheres of low oxygen potential. It was the purpose of this work to identify the oxide films formed on iron containing 31/4 pct Si at low oxygen potentials, and to make some observations on the H2O/H2 ratios required to form them. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD HYDROGEN of varying water content offers a very convenient method of establishing a wide range of oxidizing power, or oxygen potential. The method chosen to provide a desired H2O/H2 ratio was to nearly saturate hydrogen at room temperature by bubbling the gas through water at room temperature, and then to wring out the excess water by passing the wet gas through a long glass spiral immersed in a refrigerated liquid at a desired dew point. After oxidation, the samples were examined by electron diffraction in order to identify any film which might be present. PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF SAMPLES The samples were prepared from a Si-Fe alloy made in the laboratory using electrolytic iron and 96 pct ferro-silico11, vacuum-induction melted, hot-rolled then cold-rolled to 0.015-in. thickness. After the cold-rolling the samples were annealed at 1000°C. Transmission Laue X-ray patterns showed very little evidence of preferred orientation, but it is likely that a weak texture could have escaped notice. The chemical analysis was as follows: 3.34 Si, 0.01 Al, 0.001 0, 0.006 C, 0.002 N. Before each sample was oxidized, it was polished through 4/0 emery paper, cleaned and dried using benzene, carbon tetrachloride, acetone, absolute alcohol, and ether. The method of oxidizing the samples was as follows: Samples about 1/2 by 1 by 0.015 in. were held in the upper, cool part of a vertical vacuum furnace until the desired temperature was established in the furnace, Fig. 1. The sample was then lowered into the uniform hot zone where it was heated quickly to the desired temperature, and subjected to hydrogen of controlled moisture content (dew point) as mentioned previously. Temperatures from 400" to 1000°C were used, and dew points from room temperature to —78°C were explored. In general, the runs lasted about 6 hr, but a few runs were of different duration, as will be indicated later. After the predetermined period of time had elapsed, the specimens were withdrawn by the hollow stainless steel-quartz holder to a cool zone at the top of the furnace. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The results are summarized in Table I. Most of the electron-diffraction patterns were obtained by glancing-angle reflection, but in a few cases it was possible to strip the oxide films from the surface by a total immersion in a 3 pct bromine-methanol solution. Some of the thinner stripped films yielded quite satisfactory transmission patterns. However, both diffraction techniques yielded the same results; the patterns while most frequently showing a (low) tridymite, also showed a (low) cristobalite in some cases. A few patterns showed evidence of both phases. Because of the known nonequilibrium behavior of silica, it is not surprising that both forms of silica could coexist on one sample. It was noted that at fairly low dew points such as —40°C, there was a tendency for diffuse diffraction rings, suggesting a very small crystallite size. Also some subsequent experiments to be reported later show that thin silica films can be amorphous.

Jan 1, 1959

By A. L. Lee, M. H. Gonzalez, R. F. Bukacek

Experimental viscosity data for methane are presented for temperatures from 100 to 340F and pressures from 200 to 8,000 psia. A summary is given of the available data for methane, and a comparison is presented for that data common to the experimental range reported in this paper. Correlation of the data is presented, and predicted values are given for temperatures up to 460F and pressures up to 10,000 psia. INTRODUCTION The increasing ranges of temperature and pressure at which fluids are produced, transferred and processed in the petroleum and chemical industries stress the need for accurate information on physical properties, both for engineering calculation and for improving the methods used to estimate physical properties. A survey of the literature reveals that disagreements between published data on the viscosity of methane are common and that most investigations have been conducted over restricted temperature and pressure ranges. This situation made it desirable to undertake an investigation with a scope common to most of the literature data available. APPARATUS AND MATERIALS The apparatus used in this investigation was the capillary tube viscometer'described by Dolan,10 with modifications introduced in the general design and operation of the instrument. It has an effective pressure range from 14.7 to 10,000 psia and a temperature range from room temperature to 400F. The design of the viscometer is based on the establishment of a manometric head between two vessels containing the test fluid and a volume of mercury. The reservoirs are connected by a capillary tube through which the test fluid flows and a tube through which mercury flows. A pressure gradient is established by elevating one of the vessels above the other, the resulting flow of mercury displacing the test fluid through the capillary. The schematic diagram of the system (Fig. 1) shows the arrangement of the equipment auxiliary to the viscometer. The density cells assembly (E, Fig. 1) was not used in this investigation since reliable data are available on methane. 23 The assembly consists of a bank of eight 316 stainless steel pycnometers. Experimental values of the density of a natural gas19 and i-butane14 samples have been obtained for pressures up to 8,000 psia and temperatures up to 340F. The methane used was obtained from the Southern California Gas Co. Mass spectrometric analysis showed a composition of 99.8 percent CH4, 0.1 percent C2H6 and 0.1 percent C3H8. EXPERIMENTAL VALUES AND ACCURACY OF DATA Determinations were carried out at several temperatures. With the temperature in the cabinet controlled at a given level, a series of runs were made at various pressures. To establish pressures lower than that obtained from the methane cylinder, it was necessary to vent the gas slowly to the atmosphere until the desired pressure was reached. The consistency of the test run time for a particular condition can be used as a criterion for the accuracy of the data. A further check is obtained by comparison of the viscosity values obtained using different driving heads. To establish the instrument's reproducibility, a large number of runs were made at three completely different conditions of temperature and pressure. Data obtained were analyzed statistically to determine the most reliable value for the variance of the experimental data. It was found that the variances of the data taken at different experimental conditions were not statistically equivalent, but they were small. The largest variance was found at 8,000 psia and 100F, where the standard deviation was 0.385 micropoise. Therefore, 99.9 percent of the data can be expected to fall within 1.15 micropoises of the population mean, except for the intervention of systematic errors in operation.

By Robert G. Nisle

In conducting a pressure build-up test on an oil well, it is often necessary to shut-in the well for a short time prior to initiation of the test. The effect of such a short tern shut-in on the resulting pressure build-up curve is derived. The derivation is based on the Kelvin point-source solution and is a straight forward extension of the fundarnental theory. The magnitude of the effect is evaluatecl and illustrated by an example. It is shown that if the production subsequent to the short term shut-in is at least 10 times the duration of the shrct-in, the effect will he less than 10 per cent. INTRODUCTION It often happens that before a pressure build-up test can be made an additional valve must be mounted on the wellhead, or on arrival at the well, it might be learned that the well had been shut-in several hours the previous day because of a shortage of tankage. In such cases the question is How will such an interruption of production affect the results of a pressure buildup test This work explains how to take account of such a short term shut-in in order that the test can proceed without further delay. The solution presented here makes use of the Kelvin point-source solution used by Horne1 in his treatment of the pressure build-up in wells. Use is also made of the super-position theorem. MATHEMATICAL DERIVATION The well is assumed to have been in production at a constant rate for a relatively long time (several days or more). It is then shut-in for a short time, after which it is again placed in production at the previous constant rate. It continues to produce at this rate until shut-in for a pressure build-up test. The Kelvin point-source solution is expressed by Eq. 1. The sequence of production rates is listed in Table I. TABLE 1 — SEQUENCE OF PRODUCTION RATES Time interval Production Rate At time AT the pressure will be the resultant of the sequence of production rates shown in Table 1. An expression for the super-posed effects may be derived from this table. (Effect of + q for T + ? T) + (Effect of - q for T + ?T-t,) + (Effect of + q for T + ? T - t,) + (Effect of - q for ? T) = Resultant........(2) The desired result is obtained by substituting the effect defined by Eq. 1 for the terms in Eq. 2. The result is Eq. 3. When the logarithmic approximation is made for the exponential integrals and the terms collected the result is Eq. 4. Let T — t2 = T = flowing time following short term shut-in t2 — t1 = 6 = duration of short term shut-in Then T - t1 = r + 6 Substitution of these quantities in Eq. 4 gives p(rw ?T) = P,, -When d<<t - AT then d—&apos;-, T— approaches 1. r + AT In this case the effect of the short term shut-in may be ignored. In order to get some idea of the numerical magnitudes involved take the worst possible case, when AT = 0, that is at shut-in. If the error is made less than some maximum acceptable value at this time, it will be less than the maximum for all subsequent times. d + r Let the difference between the value of y-— and 1 be less than 0.1. Then —6+r — 1 < 0.1 S < O.l T Therefore, if the flowing time following a short term shut-in is at least 10 times the duration of the short term shut-in, the error introduced by ignoring the short term shut-in will not exceed 10 per cent of T+AT A T

Jan 1, 1957

By Ed L. Reed

INTRODUCTION The most efficient development of a mine plan for in-situ leach (solution) mining must be based upon an understanding and application of the basic hydrologic characteristics of the aquifer containing the mineral values. Similar knowledge of the overlying and underlying aquifers is also required. This paper summarizes the hydrologic properties of a ground water system and describes some of the more important conclusions that can be drawn from a detailed hydrologic study. Basic to an in-situ leach mining operation is the flow of fluids through porous rock from place to place. The degree to which these movements of fluids can be predicted and controlled determines to a large extent the efficiency of the ore recovery operation. HYDROLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS The principal hydrologic characteristics of a porous medium (sand, intercrystalline or vuggy limestone, fractured basalt, etc.) influencing fluid flow are: Porosity Permeability Thickness Transmissivity Storage Coefficient Water Table or Piezometric Surface Hydraulic Gradient Briefly these parameters can be defined as follows: Porosity: the void space in a unit volume of rock. Permeability: the ease with which fluid will flow through a porous medium. Thickness: the height of the formation which contributes flow to a well. Transmissivity the product of permeability and thickness. Storage Coefficient. the volume of water released from the reservoir per unit drop in head. Water Table or Piezometric Surface: the level at which water will stand in a well: the top of the zone of saturation in a gravity aquifer; the height to which water will rise above the confining bed in an artesian system. Hydraulic Gradient the direction and rate of dip of the water table or piezometric surface. A properly designed pumping test will provide numbers for transmissivity, storage coefficient and the water table or piezometric surface. Drilling records or bore hole logs provide aquifer thickness data from which permeability can be calculated. Ground elevations applied to measured depths to water enable one to calculate the direction and rate of dip of the water table or piezometric surface. Porosity can be determined from core analyses or density logs; it can be estimated from grain size distribution curves in sands or sandstones and from, microscopic examination of drill cuttings derived from carbonate aquifers. CHARACTERISTICS OF FLUID FLOW The characteristics of fluid flow that are vital to an understanding of leach mining include: Velocity Direction Flow Path Radius of Influence The velocity of fluid flow is of paramount importance in planning and managing a leach mine operation. Velocity is directly proportional to the permeability and hydraulic gradient and indirectly proportional to the effective porosity The permeability determined from a pumping test is an average value for the interval stressed; therefore, the velocity calculated from data derived from a pumping test represents average conditions. Under actual conditions discrete portions of the aquifer open to the screen may have permeabilities several times as high as the average and minimum permeabilities only a fraction as much. An injection front will be irregular to the extent that the reservoir rocks are heterogeneous An important consideration is the direct relationship of velocity to head. A reservoir which would provide a velocity of 0.05 feet per day under conditions of equilibrium would allow fluid flow of 36 feet per day under typical leaching operations, i.e. 12-foot injection head, 12-foot pumping level and 50 foot five-spot pattern. The direction of fluid flow is also vital both inside and outside the mine area. In the pattern area the direction of flow is determined by the geometry of the well field and can be approximated by mathematical modeling techniques. Outside the well field, the direction of flow is influenced by both natural conditions and the degree to which production and injection volumes are balanced. Flow directions (and velocities) are critical to an understanding of leachate excursions and their control.

Jan 1, 1979

By J. R. Kyte, V. O. Naumann, C. C. Mattax

Imbibition and waterflooding tests at reservoir conditions show that conventional tests at room conditions sometimes lead to recovery estimates that are too low. Core samples which are of intermediate wettability at normal test conditions may be strongly water-wet at reservoir conditions. This was found to be true for samples from two of three reservoirs investigated. For the other reservoir, less difference was observed between the wettability of samples at normal test conditions and at reservoir conditions. Samples which became more water-wet at reservoir temperature and pressure also water flooded more efficiently at reservoir conditions. These results show that core analysis tests on intermediate wettability samples should be performed at reservoir conditions to obtain representative data. INTRODUCTION Throughout the oil industry, core analysis tests normally are performed using refined oils and at room temperature and pressure. This procedure has always been subject to question because the possibility is generally recognized that the reservoir environment may influence displacement behavior. Burkhardt, et al,&apos; have performed waterflood tests at reservoir conditions on East Texas cores. They found little difference between results obtained at reservoir conditions and results of conventional flooding tests at room conditions. As they pointed out, however, this situation might not be general since they obtained data on only one rock and crude-oil system. This paper presents data which demonstrate that it is sometimes necessary to perform core analysis tests in a simulated reservoir environment to properly represent the reservoir wettability and displacement characteristics. The work is specifically concerned with reservoirs which were thought to be of intermediate wettability on the basis of conventional test results at room conditions, i.e., core samples imbibed only small amounts of either oil or water and exhibited no decided preferential wettability characteristics. Tests were performed on cores from three such reservoirs to determine their behavior in the reservoir environment. lmbibition and waterflood tests were used to demonstrate the effect of reservoir environment on reservoir rock wettability and displacement characteristics. Results of tests performed at reservoir conditions were compared with results from conventional tests. Imbibition tests were performed on samples from all three reservoirs. Waterflood tests were performed on samples from only one reservoir. Fluid properties for the three reservoirs studied are shown in Table 1. Tests at reservoir conditions were performed using bottom-hole crude oil at reservoir temperature and pressure. The aqueous phase used in these tests was a synthetic brine approximating the reservoir brine composition. Conventional tests were performed at room conditions with refined oils and synthetic reservoir brine. The oil-to-water viscosity ratios were adjusted to the reservoir values. The cores used in all the tests were taken from the reservoirs using either brine alone or a bentonite-car-boxymethylcellulose mud without additives as coring fluids. Previous tests show that these fluids have no significant effect on the wettability of reservoir rock samples.1 The cores were preserved in brine at the wellsite to prevent wettability changes during shipment and storage. Wellsite imbibition tests have been performed on fresh samples from several reservoirs (including Reservoir A) and compared with later laboratory imbibition tests on samples preserved in brine. The comparison showed that the wettability of the preserved cores was the same as that of fresh, surfaced cores at the wellsite.2 IMBIBITION TESTS Conventional imbibition tests were performed on preserved cores using the apparatus and procedures described by Bobek, et al.2 A sketch of the apparatus for imbibition tests at reservoir conditions is shown in Fig. 1. The preserved samples were first centrifuged to expel excess water and then placed in a stainless-steel container which served

By Elton A. Youngberg

J. H. HEARDING, Jr.*—Extremely hard ferruginous chert (taconite) was encountered in driving a drift at the Fraser underground mine near Chisholm, Minn., on the Mesabi Iron Range. In order to get better results in drilling in this ground, it was decided to try tungsten carbide bits. In the beginning, 1½ in. tungsten carbide bits and 1 1/8 in. round-lugged alloy steel drill rods with "jack-stud" inserts were used. Considerable difficulty was encountered because the jack-stud became loose in the drill rods. Because there was not enough alloy steel drill rod on hand, we began to insert jack-studs in the ordinary high carbon drill rods and found, to our surprise, that there was less trouble with jack-studs working loose in these rods than there had been with the alloy steel rods. As a result, use of the alloy steel rods has been discontinued entirely. Under the heading "Drilling Procedures" the statement is made that all holes are started with detachable bits or conventional steel to prevent undue strain on the tungsten carbide bit inserts when collaring a hole on uneven ground. This practice was followed in our work originally for the same reason. It was soon found, however, that the holes could be started with the tungsten carbide without injuring the inserts if the drill operator was careful and did not give the drill too much air until the bit had a chance to seat itself in the rock. J. C. FRANZ*—In a discussion of other technical papers with reference to percussion drills and the use of carbide tungsten bits, it was my impression that the authors reported one of the first difficulties experienced with the use of standard, conventional percussion drills, was insert bit failures due to crushing of the bit inserts when the bits became dull. During the past few years, some of the rock drill manufacturers, I am told, have adopted an air drill for use with the carbide bits that have a lighter blow and faster rotation than the regular machine. This machine has been tested and the carbide bit failures have been considerably reduced. L. W. DUPUY†—The difficulties Mr. Youngberg mentions that were had with rod and coupling breakage call to mind similar troubles experienced at the Picacho mine in California near Yuma.6 The commercial couplings then available were found to be tempered almost to brittleness. Rod breakage was usually in the threads near the end of the rod. The highly-tempered couplings would break as soon as the rod broke. The solution was to thoroughly anneal the couplings and to put in only a very mild temper. Subsequently the alloy used in making the couplings was changed from the original by the manufacturer, but still only a very mild temper was used. The result was that the softer coupling would give but would not snap and release its hold on the broken rod thread. Fishing jobs were reduced to the few where the rods broke at the rod end of the thread. Thread breakage on the rods was further reduced by thorough annealing prior to tempering. The data Mr. Youngberg presents regarding the use of carbide inserts on long blasthole drilling is most interesting and it would appear that the use in this manner of percussion drills and carbide bits will have many applications. W. M. WOODWARD*—How many feet of hole, on the average, do you get from a tungsten carbide bit, and is there much variation from this average? E. A. YOUNGBERG (author&apos;s reply) —In recent months the 2 in. tungsten carbide bit footages in long hole drilling hake varied from 115 .to 140 ft monthly. The footages obtained from individual bits vary from several feet to over 300 ft, however the life of a majority of the bits will be within 25 ft of the average.

Jan 1, 1950

On the following pages are abstracts of papers published by the Institute during the year 1932 as Technical Publications, Preprints, in bound volumes and in Mining and Metallurgy. For abstracts of papers that appear in bound volumes in 1932 but that were published as Technical Publications in 1930 or 1931, see the Transactions for those years. Papers that appear in this volume are not abstracted here. Many of the Technical Publications have been reprinted in bound volumes. Information regarding this disposition, and number of pages in each paper, may be found in the list beginning on page 309. Volume numbers are given as listed on page 3 and in the paragraph at the beginning of the index, page 315. The abstracts are grouped as follows: Page Page Metal Mining.................... 265 ferrous Alloys)................. 279 Milling and Concentration......... 268 Coal Division.................... 287 Iron and Steel Division............ 270 Petroleum Division............... 292 Nonferrous Metallurgy (Reduction Nonmetallic Minerals............. 299 of Ores)....................... 277 Mining Geology.................. 301 Rare Minerals and Metals......... 279 Mining Administration (Accounting, Institute of Metals Division (Found- Taxation, Industrial Relations). . 304 ing and Metallography of Non- Geophysical Prospecting........... 304 Metal Mining The Mineral Industry. By Scott Turner. (Min. & Met., June, 265. 3500 words.) Abstract of an address delivered before the Royal Canadian Institute, Toronto, April 16, briefly outlining the importance of mining in the United States, in Canada, and in the world. Comparison is made of the mineral production for 1886, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1929, showing that in the 43 years from 1886 to 1929 that of the world increased nearly tenfold, of the United States over twelvefold and of Canada thirtyfold, but that Canada&apos;s output was equivalent to only 2 per cent of the world total and to 5 per cent of that of the United States in 1929. Statistical tables and graphs show value of production, percentage of world production contributed by Canada and the United States, etc. The mining situation in Canada is briefly reviewed: only those American engineers who have had occasion to examine the figures appreciate the rapidity of growth of Canadian mineral production. The treatment of minerals involves vast complex industries. When we are producing, say, 6 billion annually, the employment of 2 million workers provides indirect support to perhaps 10 million people. Exploiting mineral deposits is peculiar in certain ways, for the deposits are exhaustible, are of rare occurrence when measured in terms of outcrop area compared to total earth area, and may suddenly be handicapped or superseded by new discoveries; moreover, the economic position of the contained metals is &apos;affected by the use of scrap metal and the existence of invisible stocks. The largest and most valuable of the mineral deposits are not the metals, but rather the fuels. The record of the coal industry in recent years is one of brilliant technical achievement; its economic position is far from satisfactory. A so-called world fuel

Jan 1, 1932