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By J. H. Henderson, R. J. Wygal, J. Naar

Experimental work is reported which shows that consolidated rocks and unconsolidated porous media exhibit different imbibition flow behavior. At a given saturation the imbibition nonwetting permeabilities for a rock are smaller than the drainage permeabilities. The contrary happens for unconsolidated aggregates — imbibition nonwetting permeabilities are larger than drainage ones. A similar difference is observed for the wetting phase. Imbibition permeabilities are larger than drainage ones for a consolidated rock but smaller than drainage permeabilities for an unconsolidated medium. The results of these differences are examined for two cases. 1. Flooding Efficiency — Craig's1 scheme for the computation of production history of a five-spot water flood is shown to agree extremely well with experimental results obtained when using a system packed with glass spheres if imbibition relative permeability curves are used. 2. Alcohol-Slug Displacement — Published theory 2 on oil displacement by alcohol slugs has been questioned despite the apparent agreement between predicted and observed results. The present work suggests that, if imbibition relative permeability curves characteristic of the unconsolidated media used in the early experiments had been available to make the predictions, the inadequacy of the theory would have been immediately evident. The experimental work shows that poorly consolidated formations tend to behave like unconsolidated media. Finally, it is shown that the difference in imbibition behavior is directly related to pore-size distribution and cementation. PART 1 — THE FLOW BEHAVIOR OF UNCONSOLIDATED AGGREGATES Experiments on scaled models of field reservoirs are useful for studying new displacement processes which are incompletely understood. Even when a mathematical description is possible, the solution might be difficult and complex. An answer obtained from a scaled model is extremely valuable in such cases. A great amount of work$-5 therefore, has been devoted to the derivation of scaling laws. Similarity groups have been defined which assume (1) that the relative Permeability curves of the prototype and the model are the same whether the displacement is an imbibition or a drainage process and (2) that there is a linear relationship between the capillary pressure of the model and the prototype. For practical reasons (simplicity in the preparation of models, duration of the experiments, etc.), the porous media of laboratory models are usually unconsolidated packs of sand or glass particles. Hence, unless the capillary and flow characteristics of unconsolidated and consolidated systems are identical, the model data are applicable only to unconsolidated formations. The usefulness of scaled-model studies may then be seriouslyrestricted since most oil-bearing sands are consolidated. Perkins and Collins6 suggested the use of model and prototype curves normalized with respect to both relative permeability and saturation to improve compliance with scaling criteria. Even this technique does not give a satisfactory model-prototype match. This paper reports an observation of two-phase flow in unconsolidated sands which shows that, for most displacements, "scaling" in the strict sense of the word is not even qualitatively feasible with a sand model. It provides, however, a firm foundation for testing a theory by matching it with observed performance of laboratory-size models. EXPERIMENTAL AS a part of a basic study of packed aggregates, the relative permeability of glass-spheres and sand-grain packs was measured with capillary control. The fluids were oil and air' The spheres were packed in plastic cylinders 1-in. in diameter;

By I. M. S. Moraes

Caraiba Metais has a plant for the purification and the cristallization of the crude nickel sulfate removed from its copper electrolyte purification system. In November 1994, an interdepartmental group was formed to study the Q.F.D. method, through its application on the improvement of the quality of the nickel sulphate hexahydrate. The team, formed with representatives of the following areas : production, technology, marketing, sales, maintenance, laboratory and TQC office, had also the task of checking the applicability of the method to other products of the comp any. This paper describes the main steps such as the survey of customer's demands, the preparation o1 the quality matrix, stablishing the planned quality matrix, the planned and the designed quality, and the consequent identification of the engineering bottlenecks. It is also shown how these bottllenecks were studied and solved. The application of the method allowed the team to identify means of increasing the production capacity by 40%, to improve the intrinsic quality of the product (including packaging), and to increase the reliability of the process.

Jan 1, 1997

By A. D. Nicholson

This paper presents an approach to quantitatively calculate the neutralization of acid by silicate minerals, based on the chemical kinetics of acid reacting with silicates. This approach incorporates incongruent dissolution mechanisms and the effects of silicate iron content on net acid consumption, and offers guidelines for considering the extent to which specific silicate minerals will react. This approach differs from previous methods of estimating silicate buffering: it is based more on the fundamental chemistry of acid generation, and less on potentially misleading empirical measurements of acid neutralization.

Jan 1, 2002

By K. P. Davey

In 1998 an initial objective was given to the author, to process valuable off grade High Carbon Ferro Manganese (FeMn) metal fines profitably. The previous attempts that had been made to re-melt these metal fines through the furnaces had resulted in poor furnace operation, mainly to do with lack of electrode penetration and furnace bed permeability. It was decided that the method to resolve these problems was to agglomerate the metal fines. During the study on the agglomeration of the metal fines, a decision was made to use furnace baghouse dust and stockpiled furnace baghouse dust and sludge (DSF) as a ?filler? in the metal fines. The primary reason for using baghouse dust was to eliminate an environmental hazard, whereas the secondary reason for using the DSF was to utilize manganese units contained in the dust. The off-grade metal fines and dust were compacted using a brick press, with cement and aluminum rich plastic clay as a binder, to obtain agglomerate that was cost effective. Through the re-melting of the agglomerated off-grade metal fines, it was realized that this agglomerate concept could have other uses, that of replacing ores on the furnace, at a lower cost. The agglomerate recipe was changed to create an agglomerate that had a high manganese to iron ratio, this replaced Comilog ore on the furnaces, thereby reducing overall furnace unit costs. Future work concerning agglomeration, is to reduce furnace costs further through agglomerating .0.5mm ultra ore fines and .0.3mm Gloria and Nchwaning sludge. Using this agglomerate replaces a portion of the Gloria and Nchwaning lumpy ore on the furnaces at a lower cost. This would eliminate problematic material that exists at the ASSMANG Manganese mines.

Jan 1, 2004

By E. Lampard

Mines must manage variability from within their operations as well as those imposed upon them by external forces. This paper provides a framework to manage both internal and external variability through the review and adjustment of the mine plan where applicable to minimize lost production and maintain operational safety. KEYWORDS Mine plan, mine schedule, variability, safety, lost production, float days, update, adjustment, operations, Maintenance

May 1, 2011

By Roman Y. Poderny, Vladimir V. Rjevskii

In the USSR, the Moscow Institute of Radio Electronics tronics and Mining Electro-Mechanics (MIRGEM) has started what it hopes will become a nationwide movement to educate mining students in the precise specialties that industry has come to require. Courses for mining engineers, the MIRGEM faculty proposes, should dovetail as exactly as possible with specific jobs available in the mining profession. Acting upon this thesis, MIRGEM revised its own curriculum in 1962 and has since presented an over-all plan for Soviet mining education before two mining school conferences as well as the Ministry of Higher Education and a number of major Soviet industrial ministries. The plan was universally approved with some suggested revisions. SOVIET MINING EDUCATION TODAY At present, mining education in the Soviet Union covers the exploitation of solid minerals and raw materials, including coal as well as ferrous and nonferrous metals. The extraction, storage, and refining of oil and gas is treated as a separate discipline. In all, there are 33 Soviet universities and institutes that train mining engineers for careers in the industrial, research and educational fields.

Jan 9, 1966

By A. E. Bellis

The problem of heat treating high-speed steel becomes more and more important as the design of cutters becomes more and more complicated in increasing the efficiency of mechanical operations. Hundreds of dollars' are spent in the design and manufacture-of milling cutters of special form ,for rapid production of duplicate or interchangeable parts, and then, as the heat treatment is faulty on the one hand, or scientifically executed on the other, the tool fails after a few operations, or its efficiency is greatly increased. The practical operation of giving these complicated tools the right temperature necessary to bring out the best cutting qualities, and at the same time bring the tool out "clean," is a difficult: one and calls for no small amount of skill. In order to be on the safe side, the average tool hardener uses a temperature much too low to give the best results with the high-speed steel he uses. In the case of cutters which are finished to a given diameter before hardening, it is impossible to grind the tool after hardening, so that it is essential that the surface be-protected from oxidizing or de-carbonizing. It is the aim of this paper to describe some experiments on hardening high-speed steel, in which metallographic means were used to determine the correct hardening temperatures. The accompanying table and plates show the results of hardening experiments on five different high-speed steels. The analyses for carbon, tungsten, chromium and vanadium of each steel are given in the accompanying table. Six specimens from the same bar :of each: kind of steel

Jan 1, 1917

By Herbert R. Mosley, Paul M. Tyler

Strategically situated in almost the heart of the leading fertilizer-consuming area of the United States, Tennessee long has ranked second only to Florida as a phosphate-producing state. Since 1932 its share of the national output of phosphate rock has increased steadily, and in 1937 its production mounted to an all-time record. More significant even than the increase in tonnage are the forward strides in technology. The Tennessee Valley Authority's research program has led to quasicommer-cia1 operations using hydroelectric power to manufacture concentrated phosphatic fertilizer that is used to further the farmer education program designed to streamline the fertilizer business and halt the appalling waste of farm land by soil erosion. Even more stimulating to chemically minded imaginations is the production of elemental phosphorus by a private company that not only has succeeded in extracting it from the phosphate rock in electric furnaces but actually has contrived to capture it and to transport it safely in tank cars. New values have been created for low-grade phosphate deposits, and the economic life of reserves has been lengthened while the waste of former years goes back into the mills for recovery of its values by modernized methods. Tennessee's phosphate-mining industry dates from the discovery of blue rock in Lewis County in December 1893. Its known reserves are of the order of 101,500,000 tons, which compares with the production of 825,099 tons in 1937; that is, 21 per cent of the phosphate-rock output of the whole nation. The total output reported from 1894 until July 1. 1938, was approximately 19,000,000 tons. Offcial estimates of reserves are overly conservative and evidence submitted before a joint Congressional committee in November 1938 places "probable" reserves at more than 6,000,000,000 tons.

Jan 1, 1942

By M. E. Hawkins

Mineral analyses and electrical resistivity measurements of 324 representative samples of oilfield brines from 24 oil-productive counties in Mississippi and Alabama are presented in tabular form. Results of the mineral analyses, which include calcium, magnesium, carbonates, bicarbonates, sulfates, chlorides, sodium, and barium (with strontium if present), are reported in milligrams per liter. Electrical resistivity measurements in ohm-meter2 per meter at 75° F are reported in ohm-meters in the tables. Chemical analyses of formation waters are helpful to operators having water problems associated with petroleum recovery; electrical resistivity values are helpful in making interpretations from electric logs.

Jan 1, 1963

Railway cuttings require the highest care in design and construction, as the pro- bability of failure concept does not allow any risks to be taken with hundreds of lives being dependent on continued stability. The usual geological influences on stability such as bedding dip and faulting are often discus- sed, but other major problems may come from the presence of sheet joints, cross joints differential weathering and seasonal or daily changes of ground water level. The design of rail cuttings has taken little note of the problems imposed by cons- truction methods, and low cost quarrying methods may seriously weaken a designed shape. The presence of berms and drainage ditches is often difficult to achieve as blasting imposes cumulative stresses and jointing on rocks. Contractors face difficulties in bidding extensive rock cuttings as variations in rock properties are often concealed and overshoot- ing the toe of a batter can easily occur. Modern blasting methods offer some solutions, but the best guide to safe successful cuttings is extensive investigation and the continued involvement of engineering geology at the stages of feasibility, design, construction and maintenance. Two case histories show the influence of folding, faulting and construction methods in the case of slope failure and slope stability.

Jan 1, 1979

By M. Muskat, R. D. Wyckoff

The general problem of the simultaneous movement of water and oil in a connected sand is of considerable practical interest from two points of view. First, there is the situation usually described as "edge-water encroachment." Here the water in the sands contiguous to and flanking the oil sand begins to enter the latter as the oil is removed and the reservoir pressure declines. The physical questions involved concern an understanding of the mechanism of the advance of the water and its control, so as to aid the oil recovery rather than to hinder it. In so far as the entry of the water into the oil sand means at least the partial replacement of the oil from the region of the encroachment by the advancing water, it is quite appropriate to consider this type of situation as one of natural water-flooding. For the present discussion, however, we are primarily interested in the problem of artificial flooding. Here the water is deliberately injected into the oil sand with the intention of displacing the oil and removing it through prearranged output wells. For the practical development of such a procedure rather large areas are included in the flooding program and the injection and output wells are arranged in regular patterns or networks, which are felt to be most favorable for a high oil recovery. Although remarkable success has already been obtained in such flooding programs, especially in the Bradford field of Pennsylvania, essentially by the application of the lessons of practical engineering experience, a more thorough physical analysis of the problem appeared to offer promise of leading to results of some interest and value. Another phase of the problem, which stimulated both the experimental and mathematical analysis, is that it is susceptible in large measure to empirical field tests. It, is in itself but an example and illustration of the general theory of the flow of dead (gas-free) liquids through porous media, in which the authors have been interested for the last several years. From the point of view of its applicability to actual petroleum technology problems, however, water-flooding is a particularly favorable

Jan 1, 1934

By Q-c Li, G-l Gao

Cyanided tailings produced by gold processing operations may cause environmental problems, because they contain pollutants such as arsenic, sulfur and cyanide compounds. Moreover, tailings containing economic metals such as Au, Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn, are potentially valuable resources. In this article, cyanided tailings are catalytically oxidised by nitric acid in the presence of air or oxygen. The resulting solids may be leached to recover Au and Ag. The solution can be used to prepare ferric sulfate or iron pigment. Gases released in the reactions were recycled and reused by oxidation and absorption. All of these greatly improve metal recovery and the reuse prospects of cyanided tailings. Under the following conditions where the initial temperature of oxidation is 80¦C; initial concentration of nitric acid is 30 per cent (by weight); feed proportion (nitric acid to cyanide tailings mass ratio) is 3:1 and reaction time is two hours, the conversion ratio of cyanided tailings is 90.06 per cent. At the same time pyrite in the cyanided tailings is oxidised effectively, gold recovery is as high as 92.3 per cent and nitric acid loss per cycle is only five per cent because of NOx recovery.

Jan 1, 2007

By Francis Foley

WITH the possible exception of high-speed tool steel, the service demanded of rock-drill steel is probably more precarious than that of any other tool steel. Unaided by the helpful influence of alloys and dependent solely on the efficiency of the heat treatment applied for its ability to stand up under the abuse to which it is necessarily subjected, rock-drill steel is worthy of intensive study. For its heat treatment the smith has his fire, an oil fire perhaps, and a quenching bath; he judges' the temperature by his eye. There are shops where excellent drills are produced by this method, but there are more where the product varies between very good and very bad. Pyrometers with specially designed equipment are used in but few cases. But the responsibility for rock-drill failures does not rest entirely on the smith. Little has been published concerning the efficiency of drill steel, though the Canadian Mining Journal' published the breakage record of a large number of hollow drill steels. This record indicates that most of the breaks occur during the early life of the steel and that as a given batch of steel is used, its percentage of breakage decreases. This fact, the article points out, is at variance with the much-talked-f theory concerning failure from crystallization and fatigue. It seems to point to the fact that the greater part of drill-steel failure from breakage is traceable to faulty manufacture, resulting in defects in the bore of the hollow steel from inclusions of slag or oxides, etc. As this defective material meets with early failure, it is weeded out. In addition, some breakage may be caused by a lack of proper condition with respect to heat treatment of the steel as furnished by the manufacturer. In the article mentioned, the breakage of 1 ¼ -in. (3.17 cm.) hollow steel is given as 4.62 per cent. for the early period of use, with a decrease to 3.35 per cent. and 2.67 per cent. With time in use. For 1-in. (2.5 cm.) hexagonal hollow steel, the figures for breakage are 0.18 per cent. and 0.06 per cent.; attention is called to the "enormous decrease in breakage by the use of smaller diameter drills." The figures are given as so many "drills sharpened," but there is no way of determining the percentage of

Jan 6, 1921

By Lyle Dennis

Emphasis on increased production while maintaining rigid quality standards has necessitated a change in blasting technology at Dacotah Cement's limestone and gypsum quarries. The following three methods implemented during the past three years have yielded an increase in production through improved fragmentation.

Jan 1, 1996

The importance, validity, and acceptability of the Paley Report has become the great issue of the minerals industry. A 12-man panel made up of representatives of various facets of the industry sat down at the 1952 Mining Congress Show in Denver in an attempt to clarify the many opinions currently held concerning the report. Howard Young, deputy administrator of the Defense Materials Procurement Administration, noted that the report had caused more discussion and serious thinking than any other government report, He did not subscribe to the "have not" principle, however, but called it a "need more" principle. Horace M. Allbright, president of U. S. Potash Corp., believes industry should continue to develop the report. He cited the editorial appearing in the September, 1952 edition of Bining Engineering,,, "Don't Let It Die," as expressing his feelings. Edward Snyder, president of Combined Metals Reduction Corp., says the statistics used in the report were used to promote a false international policy. He sees the report as a master plan for the development of the superstate. He also stated that the-ore reserves given in the Pales, report represent only 10 pct of what is actually available.

Jan 1, 1952

Simple parameters, capable of easy observation on-site under operating conditions without interruption to production, are outlined for the operational assessment of underground conveyor systems. Recording techniques, methods of analysis and deduction of operational characteristics are discussed for batch inputs to several points of a multiple belt conveyor system with limited inter-belt storage capacity. Particular attention is given to input and output load- time distributions, utilisation of inter-belt storage capability and system shutdown behaviour. Actual data, observed for a transfer feeder located between two trunk conveyor belts in an underground coal mine, is used to illustrate the operational assessment of an underground system. Load sensitive feedback systems-are briefly considered.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. W. Staley

This paper discusses the design of small head frames that will fill the needs of prospectors and small operators whose operations are conducted through shafts. The head frames considered were designed to handle relatively small tonnages. It was assumed that the shafts in which buckets are used would not exceed 300 feet in depth and that not over 60 tons of rock would be hoisted, in, 14 hours. In the design of the larger head frames, a hoisting capacity of about 250 tons per 6 hours from a depth of 300 to 500 feet was assumed. Under these conditions, hoisting speed, rate of acceleration, and weight of rope have a negligible effect on the head frame design and, therefore, have been ignored in the following, discussion. Because timber is relatively cheap and easily obtained in most mining areas, the discussion has been confined to timber construction.

Jan 1, 1937

By C. H. Hopper

DIAMOND drills have played an important part in the development of mines for many years. Recently. they have also entered the production field arid the use of diamond drills m the primary breaking of ores has become a big branch of the industry. The writer has estimated roughly that the total diamond drilling in Canada during 1942 was 5,625,000 feet, of which 2,250,000 feet, or 40 per cent, was for blast-holes. This accounts for 6,750,000 tons of ore broken, using the conservative factor of 3 tons per foot of hole. Many consider that the use of diamond drills for blast-holes is the most important advance in mine practice of the past decade, and the industry owes a great deal to the staff of Noranda Mines, Limited, for the pioneering they have done in the development of long-hole mining methods and for publishing their results. A great many mines have followed Noranda's lead. At the Waite-Amulet, Aldermac, Flin Flon, Canadian Malartic, Hoyle, and Matachewan Consolidated mines, most of the ore is broken by long-hole blasting. While the mines were developing new methods, the diamond-drill industry was developing mechanically-set bits and better machines. Through the effective use o smaller, cheaper diamonds, as well as more efficient setting, bit costs per foot are only one-half what they were ten years ago. Few people realize that a diamond bit is relatively inexpensive. The common EXT coring bit, for example, contains some 200 small diamonds, weighing altogether about 2.70 carats which, at $3.40 per carat, cost $9.20. After use, the equivalent of about 100 of these diamonds may be recovered. Therefore the true cost of the bit is only $7.00, made up of $4.60, the cost of the diamonds lost, $2.00 for setting, and $0.40 tax. The trend in machines has been toward specialization for the different classes of rock in blast-hole work. Light, high-speed machines have been developed for soft ores and higher powered machines for hard ores.

Jan 1, 1943

By J. Winter, W. C. Setzer, A. J. Goldman

ANISOTROPY in cold worked tempers of commercial aluminum alloys is manifested in deep drawn products as protuberances or ears 45 deg to the rolling direction. This reflects the {123}(412) rolling texture.' In fully annealed material, 0 to 90 deg ears in and per-

Jan 1, 1970

By William G. Pariseau

A small displacement-small strain finite element technique utilizing the constant strain triangle and incremental constitutive equations for elastic-plastic media that are nonhardening and obey a Coulomb yield condition has been applied to the analysis of gravity flow initiation in a V-shaped hopper containing a powder under lunar environmental conditions. Three methods of loading were examined. Of the three, the method of computing the initial state of stress in a filled hopper prior to drawdown by adding material to the hopper layer-by-layer is superior (as expected). Results of the analysis of a typical hopper problem show that the initial state of stress, the elastic moduli, and the strength parameters have an important influence on material response subsequent to the opening of the hopper outlet.

Jan 1, 1971