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By N. P. Weymont

A first step towards using advanced control and optimization techniques at Kaiser Aluminum's Baton Rouge Plant has been the decision to utilize digital process control equipment exclusively throughout the plant. This paper describes the philosophy and strategy which has been used to successfully implement this program for both existing plant facilities and plant expansions. Some of the problems that have been encountered include system selection, vendor support, soft- ware development, system security and system reliability. How these problems arose, were overcome and how they can be prevented in future projects is discussed. A key element of the success has been the organization of the technical, engineering and maintenance efforts and also training has been found to be extremely important. Finally, the effect of these experiences upon present thinking is discussed.

Jan 1, 1984

By Walter Kauenhowen

The production of crude oil in Germany during 1933 totaled about 1,669,521 bbl., a slight increase over the 1,608,558 bbl. produced in 1932. This is an extension of a yearly increase which has continued uninterruptedly since 1928. The 1933 increase in production is due chiefly to developments in the Nienhagen field. The production of the Wietze and Oberg fields remained rather stable, while the Oelheim-Eddesse and Volkenroda fields showed decreases. Nienhagen Field.—This field furnished about 61 per cent of the total German oil production in 1933. Most of the drilling activity centered the north district near the village of Nienhagen, where the trend of

Jan 1, 1934

(The following list contains the names of those members of the Institute of whose connection with military service we have only recently become acquainted; it also includes the names of a few who have recently been promoted or transferred. A complete list was published in the Year Book, issued as a supplement of the Bulletin for March, 1918.) ANDREWS, CLARENCE W., 2d Lieutenant, 12th Batt. Infantry Replacement Regiment. ANDREWS, JOSEPH C., Ordnance Dept., U. S. A. ARLUCK, A. A., Headquarters, 1st Corps of Artillery, A. P. O.. No. 759, A. E. F.

Jan 9, 1918

By B. Das, V. Hucka

Two different types of filtration methods for in-situ gasification of coal are described. The different factors, i.e., geological, technological, and others, which affect in-situ gasification are given. The layout and operation of filtration methods of in-situ gasification are described in detail. The results of a case history are described.

Jan 1, 1977

By E. N. Pennebaker

A PRESENT, a comprehensive account of the geology and ore deposits of the Robinson mining district, in eastern Nevada, is not warranted. Though several years' work has been done, the district is so large that it will be some time before the investigation nears completion. In this paper I purpose merely to discuss methods of study and the application of geologic data to the search for ore. In the first place, the purpose of a geological depart¬ment in a mining organization is to collect and correlate all geologic and engineering data likely to be useful. In an extensive and well developed mining camp this involves a detailed study of the structure and stratigraphy of the district as a whole, as well as careful analysis of the orebodies exposed. The problem then is to find continuations or similar ore environments in other parts of the district in which like phenomena have been active, and to explore these for new orebodies. Experience gained in other similar mining districts is useful but one must always remember that a great many mining districts are unique and that exploration rules and procedure applying to one cannot always be transferred to another of apparently similar character and be made to work. One also has to be careful in moving from one to another part of the same district. The geologist must first examine the region critically to determine its individual characteristics. .

Jan 1, 1932

By O. C. Wheeler

The production of oil in Colombia during 1933 was at the lowest level since the completion of the loop of the Andian pipe line in 1927. The commercial production amounted to 13,157,641 bbl., all of which was produced from the Infantas and La Cira structures of the Tropical Oil Company. One of the most important developments was the discovery of what may be commercial production on the Colombian Petroleum (Gulf) Company's Tarra anticline on the Barco Concession in eastern Colombia near the Venezuelan border. This promises to become the second commercially productive area developed in Colombia and, perhaps, one of major importance. Applications made in 1931 for concessions under the new Colombian petroleum law were ratified covering the Putana application of the Tropical Oil Co. and others of local Colombian and French interests west of the Carare River. On none of these concessions has any development work yet been initiated. South American Gulf Oil Company The following information covering the activities of the South American Gulf Oil Co. was furnished by E. S. Bleecker, chief geologist of the company. Magdalena Valley.—No development work was undertaken during the year either on the Valenzuela property acquired from the Colombian Syndicate or on the lands obtained from the Leonard Oil Development Co. near the Sogamoso River. The Valenzuela property was relinquished and a portion of the material was removed therefrom to the Leonard property near by. Colombian Petroleum Co.—The Colombian Petroleum Co., controlled by the Gulf interests, pursued an active development campaign on the Chaux-Folsom or so-called Barco Concession in the Department of North Santander. The drilling of the first well was begun early in the year on the north Petrolea dome of the Tarra anticline and at 490 ft. a heavy flow of oil, gas and salt water was encountered. On blowing in unexpectedly, the well caught fire, and after being extinguished was controlled only by pumping large quantities of cement into the formation and plugging the well. The drilling of the second test, No. 1-A, approximately one kilo-

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1946

By S. J. Rothman, A. L. Harkness, L. T. Lloyd

Self-diffusion in Y uranium has been measured using U235 as the tracer isotope. The diffusion coefficient fits an Arrhenius-type equation D = 2.33 x 10 -3 exp (- 28,5000/RT) cm2/sec The values of Do and Q are unusually low and are not consistent with the values expected from theories based on a simple vacancy mechanism of diffusion. CYLINDRICAL samples, 1 cm in diam and 1/2 to 1 cm long, were prepared from high-purity uranium containing 0.0343 pct u235, Table I. The samples were water quenched from 690°C (the a-ß transformation is at 668°C) to remove preferred orientation, and annealed at 450 "C to minimize residual stresses. One end of each cylinder was polished on a 1-µ diamond lap and electropolished in a phosphoric acid solution. After a final cleaning by cathodic sputtering, a 1- to 3-µ thick layer of the tracer isotope, uranium containing 93 pct u235, was sputtered onto the sample.' To prevent contamination during the diffusion anneal, the diffusion couples were placed in a tantalum cup and covered with another piece of uranium, and the whole assembly was sealed off in an evacuated quartz tube. Annealing temperatures were constant within +2.0°C. The samples were heated and cooled slowly between room temperature and the ß-? transformation (774°C) in order to minimize distortion of the sample surface that might arise from aniso-tropic thermal expansion and density changes during phase transformations. After machining off 1/16 in. from the radius to

Jan 1, 1961

The attached tables show that in 1935 production of crude oil in Poland slightly decreased (minus 14,450 tons) and that gas production

Jan 1, 1936

The attached tables show that in 1935 production of crude oil in Poland slightly decreased (minus 14,450 tons) and that gas production

Jan 1, 1936

By Richard Lee

SINCE the economics in the blast furnace resulting from enriching iron ores are so great, much attention, has been paid during the past few years to the various methods of concentrating lean ores, and, as the concentrated ore is usually of extreme fineness, various methods . of agglomeration and sintering, of more or less value, have been put 'into operation. The resulting agglomerated concentrates are generally obtained in the form of briquettes or nodules. The briquettes naturally divide themselves into two classes: (1) those made by the mixture of some binding agent, and then formed into briquettes under great pressure; and (2) those made by sintering the concentrates, the latter either being formed into bricks before exposure to heat or the sintered mass broken into fragments afterward. Of the first class I will not speak, as they are not used on an extensive scale in this country. The second class of briquettes, or those made by sintering, are simply masses of melted or fused silicate and oxide of iron mingled with more or less silicates of aluminum, lime, and magnesia. The fact that the material in a briquette is sintered is proof positive that there are no pores in the material. There are, however, quite a number of holes of greater or less diameter through the substance of the briquette. They are not pores in the common acceptance of that term as applied to ores by furnacemen, as the sides of the holes and channels are fused. In reality the material is simply mill cinder. It is practically untouched by the gases in the upper part of the furnace, and the iron has to be reduced by solid carbon in the boshes and hearth. Briquettes sometimes show a little saving in fuel in the furnace over an ore mixture of large lumps, but that saving is made simply because, owing to the numerous holes and channels through the mass, the briquette is practically composed of numerous small or fine lumps, and, as is well known, the finer the

Jan 10, 1913

By Richard P. Rothwell

In January last I published in the Engineering and Mining Journal a table giving, with a considerable degree of accuracy, the production of anthracite coal for the year 1874. At that time it mas impossible to give any correct estimate of the production of bituminous coal, for the returns I had been able to secure from such distant and scattered districts were not always forwarded punctually, and the work of .obtaining anything like a true estimate of the coal mined in districts from which I was unable to obtain official returns was both laborious and tedious. As will be seen from the detailed reports furnished herewith, I have succeeded in obtaining tolerably accurate returns of 20,093,704 tons; and upon careful revision by numerous well-informed local authorities, my first estimate of the amount of coal not officially returned to me has grown very considerably; indeed, as I get more information on the subject I find that our bituminous coal production greatly exceeds the amount we have been accustomed to hear it placed at, aggregating as it does, 26,465,704 tons. Mr. Andrew Roy, State Inspector of Mines for Ohio, has reported the production of Ohio at 4,168,445 tons, while his first estimates were but 3,820,000 tons; and similarly, in other cases, the more full the returns direct from the mines the more incorrect do I find all previous reports. I am able now to furnish, not an accurate statement, indeed, but by far the most full and reliable one that has yet been published of our coal production. The amount of labor involved in obtaining this admittedly imperfect report has been simply enormous. In the following tabular statement it will be perceived that Pennsylvania produces nearly one-half of all the bituminous coal mined

By J. M. Lovejoy

Tests are described that show that back pressure on flowing wells is a waste rather than a conservation of natural forces. Stop-cocking, however, gives encouraging results. VARIOUS estimates have been made as to the percentage of oil left in a field after the wells have become so small that it is no longer practical to produce them. Engineers have given the matter much study and can substantiate their figures by data taken from fields from the Appalachians to California. The average oil sand has a porosity of about 20 per cent., which gives a capacity per acre-foot of approximately 1500 bbl. The sand thickness in Oklahoma pools averages 20 ft. With 20 per cent. porosity and a 20-ft. sand thickness, the capacity per acre is 30,000 bbl., yet these pools will seldom yield more than 5000 bbl. to the acre. These figures support the theory that at least 50 per cent. of the oil remains in a sand after all known methods to recover it have been used. Certainly we can never recover all the oil, unless in years to come oil becomes so rare and yet so necessary that the price will justify sinking shafts into the abandoned fields and regular mining methods of drifting and stoping. However, with improved methods of production and conservation of the natural agencies of expulsion, we should be able to increase recovery. It is with this in mind that this paper, relating to the effect of back pressure on wells, is presented. Except in the fields where production is caused by hydrostatic pressure, the chief agency for getting, oil out of the sand into the hole is the gas that occurs with the oil. After the pressure has declined, probably gravity also is a factor, but not an important one. With a given amount of oil in a sand and a given amount of gas occurring with the oil, the ratio of gas volume per barrel of oil is the key to the ultimate recovery from that sand. Our efforts should be along lines that will, lower this ratio and make the gas, the agency given us by nature, do its work better and yield more of the oil, of which it is a part.

Jan 1, 1924

By H. P. Reid

PORTLAND cement is manufactured under either of two general proc-esses, the wet or the dry. The raw materials in general consist of limestone, shells, marl, cement rock, clay, shale, blast-furnace slag, etc., so proportioned that when calcined the desired composition will be obtained. In the wet process the combined raw materials are ground to extreme fineness in the presence of water, to a resulting slurry of from 30 to 50 per cent moisture content. The moisture of the slurry may be reduced by thickening or filtering processes for feed to the cement kiln or the slurry may be fed to the kiln with its full percentage of water. The dry process differs from the wet in that the surface moisture of the raw materials is removed prior to grinding. For the drying of these materials heat is required and in most cases is produced by burning of raw fuel either on grates or stokers before the dryers or in suspension in the form of pulverized coal, oil or gaseous fuel. The power required for making the cement is sometimes purchased from outside sources; sometimes it is generated from the heat in the waste gases leaving the cement kilns, or generated at the plants direct from raw fuel. We have, then, as the possible requirements of fuel in the cement industry: (1) fuel for power generation, (2) fuel for drying raw materials, including coal before pulverizing, and (3) fuel for burning the raw materials to cement clinker. There is no essential difference in quality required in fuel for burning the materials by the wet and dry processes.

Jan 1, 1932

By M. G. Schuerger, D. W. Park

An improved gage for monitoring fractures in underground openings was successfully developed using the reflection photoelastic technique. The gage may be used to detect crack initiation in mine openings or tunnels so reme¬dial action may be taken to prevent further deterioration. Fringes concentrated around the cracks were spread by using rubber backing. Crack growth as little as 76µm (0.003 in.) up to as much as a 2.54-mm (0.1-in.) width were detect¬ed in this study. Variation of gage materials will provide alternative ranges. The feasibility of the method was tested and calibration was made in a laboratory study. Field study successfully demonstrated the capability of applications in detecting mine roof crack development.

Jan 1, 1984

By L. H. Hart

Because of a widely recognized association between breccia pipes of one form or another and many important copper deposits, conditions under which breccia pipes develop have been of great scientific interest for many years. Since these phenomena first attracted attention, many theories have been advanced to explain their origin. This is not unexpected, since it is likely that they have been formed by and under a wide range of conditions. Moreover, the entire subject is confused by the fact that the term breccia pipe is applied to a wide variety of occurrences. To discuss any part of the subject intelligently, therefore, it is necessary to start with definitions of the terms used. In their discussion of the Toquepala deposit, Richard and Courtright have carefully defined the terms they have used in their presentation of a very logical geo- logical history of Toquepala breccias. This is a real contribution, as there is no reference in the literature known to the writer where the history of a series of breccia pipe epochs, confined essentially within one channelway, may be read with the degree of certainty that appears to be possible at Toquepala.

Jan 6, 1958

By E. C. Nelson

An equation is derived for calculating approximately the solubility of nitrogen in an alloy steel over a temperature range from 1200" to 1900°C using data on the effects of alloys on the activity coefficient of nitrogen in iron at 1600°C. Calculated values are compared with experimental data. STUDIES involving the solubility of nitrogen in complex iron alloys have been aided by a system devised by Lanenberg for calculating the solubility of nitrogen in ternary and higher alloys of iron at 1600C using available data on the activity coefficient of nitrogen in binary alloys. Calculated nitrogen solubilities agree well with experimental determinations on complex alloys,' and the calculation procedure is useful when experimental data on specific alloys are not required. A method for extending calculations of nitrogen solubilities in alloy steels to temperatures other than 1600°C would be useful because of the paucity of experimental data in this area. Assumptions which must be made to permit this calculation introduce an element of approximation; however, the calculation is useful in cases where a large number of alloys and temperatures are under consideration, and the precision of experimental measurements is not required. The activity coefficient can be freed from the isothermal restriction of Langenberg's calculation if it is assumed that the solution is "regular". This is a reasonably good assumption for solutions of nitrogen in iron alloys, because usually they are dilute and the heat of solution is relatively small. The presence of large amounts of certain alloying elements would make this assumption less tenable.3 One of the properties of a regular solution is: when "f" is the activity coefficient of a solute and "T" is the temperature in OK. If the activity coefficients at temperatures T and T2 are denoted by subscripts 1 and 2 respectively: The activity coefficient of nitrogen in a complex alloy then can be calculated at any temperature from the sum of the effects of the other solutes on the activity coefficient of nitrogen at 1600°C. It will be convenient to incorporate this expression into an equation which will give directly the logarithm of the solubility of nitrogen at any temperature in the presence of alloys. Two constants, the solubility of nitrogen in pure iron at 1600 "C and the partial molar heat of solution of nitrogen in iron are required. The heat of solution value of 1400 cal at 1600 °C quoted by Kubaschewski and vans will be used. The accuracy of the calculation will suffer if the heat of solution should change materially with temperature. In the absence of experimental data on the temperature dependence of this quantity, it will be expedient to restrict the application of the calcula-

Jan 1, 1963

By William B. Stephenson

The paper describes efficient and effective methods of automatically controlling sand pump installations. Particular reference is made to liquid-level controls actuating variable speed pump-driving units. Included is a discussion of various combinations of equipment, with schematic drawings.

Jan 7, 1950

By William B. Plank

PRESENT enrollment of 182,361 students in the engineering schools of the United States and Canada represents an increase of 6.6 pct over the enrollment in these schools in 1951-52. Thus is brought to a halt the steady decrease in engineering enrollment that began with the close of the 1947-48 academic year, five years ago. The mineral engineering student picture is similarly encouraging. In the United States schools, 9453 students are preparing themselves for positions in the Mineral Industry. This is an increase of 8.3 pct over last year as compared with an increase of 6.6 pct in the total United States engineering enrollment. The rate of recovery for the mineral engineering group is thus more rapid than for the engineers as a whole.

Jan 4, 1953

Jan 1, 1969