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By D. C. Porterfield

-4s a result of world economic conditions brought about by the European war and the consequent loss of European markets for Venezuelan crude, production in Venezuela decreased from 205,433,000 bbl. in 1939 to 186,134,000 bbl. in 1940, or 9.4 per cent. This decline interrupted a steady annual increase in production from the country, which had been continuous since 1932. The Maracaibo Lake Basin in western Venezuela accounted for 135,738,000 bbl. during 1940, or 73 per cent of the total, as against eastern Venezuela's production of 50,396,000 bbl., or 27 per cent of the total for the country. Corresponding figures for 1939 were 167,688,000 bbl., or 82 per cent of the total from the Lake Basin, and 37,744,000 bbl., or 18 per cent from the east. These comparisons indicate the increasing importance of the newer developments in eastern Venezuela, but it is unlikely that production from the east will ever exceed that from the west. In all, 429 new wells were completed in Venezuela during 1940 as compared to 438 in 1939. Of the 1940 completions, 411 were in proved areas and 18 were wildcats; 389 (95 per cent) of the exploitation wells drilled were producers, I was a gas well and 21 were dry holes, while 6 (33 per cent) of the wildcats drilled were producers and 12 (67 per cent) were dry; 263 of the exploitation wells and 4 of the wildcats were in the Maracaibo Lake Basin and 148 exploitation wells and 14 wildcats were in the east, mostly in the State of Anzoategui. Exploration of the light-oil areas in the Tia Juana and Lagunillas fields was con- tinued during the year with favorable results. Along the lake shore, drilling was confined principally to fill-in wells in the La Kosa, Tia Juana, Laguni!las and Bachaquero fields, although some important semi-exploratory drilling was done in the Pueblo Viejo area between Lagunillas and Bachaquero fields. The only other developments of particular interest in the west were the successful completion of a step-out well lying to the south of the former southern limit of Mene Grande field, which adds considerable proved acreage to that field; and the failure of two wildcats that were drilled near the Colombian border to determine whether the productive sands of the Petrolea field in the Barco Concession, Colombia, extend into Venezuelan territory. In the east no new fields were discovered during the year, although five wildcats were completed as producers. Three of these, Guario No. I, Jusepin-56 and LM-I (Leona), discovered important extensions to previously proved areas and the remaining two, Cantos-I and SPN-I (Socororo), were subsequently proved to have tapped productive sands of small extent and operations in these areas have been suspended. The greatest activity in the east was concentrated in the Oficina field, where 105 new wells were completed during the year and production was increased from 22,540 bbl. per day during January 1940 to 57,627 bbl. per day during December 1940. Important development work was also done in the Jusepin. San Joaquin and El Koble fields.

Jan 1, 1941

By Johnston, T. L.

BISMUTH is found as native metal associated with tin, copper, cobalt, silver, gold, or other metals and in a variety of ores. The more important ones are: bismuthinite (bismuth glance), Bi2S3; bismite (bismuth ochre), Bi2O3.3H2O; and bismutite (bismuth carbonate), Bi2O3CO3?H2O. Of lesser importance are the arsenate, telluride, and vanadate. The sulfide is the most common; the others are often oxidation products from this mineral. Bismuth minerals have been found in various places in the United States, principally in Colorado and Utah, but no ores are mined solely for bismuth. In the Granite mining district of Beaver County, Utah, a stratum of limestone about 6 ft. thick has been almost completely replaced by contact minerals in which bismuthinite associated with pyrite and molybdenite was found intergrown with silicate minerals. In the early days a few small lots of ore assaying 7 to 10 per cent bismuth were shipped from this district. Native bismuth has been found in the Clifton and Tintic districts of Utah. Bismuth is produced as a byproduct in the refining of lead, copper, gold and silver ores, it being recovered from the anode mud from the Betts process. Deposits of bismuth minerals exist in Argentina, Aus¬tralia, China, Japan, Germany, Spain, Peru, Bolivia, and Canada, but Bolivia is the principal, producer and could easily supply all of the present world's demand.

Jan 1, 1933

By C. M. Wayman, M. Miyagi

COMPARED to many of the binary alloys of iron, Fe-Ir alloys have received very little tud.'' Virtually nothing is known about the Fe-Ir equilibrium diagram' except for a few details concerning the liquidus-solidus positions for dilute iron-based alloys. It is reported1 that the y to a transformation temperature in Fe-Ir alloys (up to 40 wt pct Ir) is composition-dependent, varying from -900°C for pure iron to 0" to 100°C for Fe-40 pct Ir in an almost linear manner. The y to a transformation appears to be reversible,' the transformation hysteresis width increasing with increasing iridium content. In a qualitative way, the composition dependence of the y to a (and vice versa) transformations appears similar to those in the widely studied Fe-Ni system. In that the y phase (in Fe-40 pct Ir) can transform at -1000C, it

Jan 1, 1967

By G. R. Fritterer

INVESTIGATORS in the field of temperature measurement have long sought a thermoelectric couple fulfilling the following requirements: 1. It should be useful up to and including high industrial tempera-tures; i. e., 1000° to 1800° C. 2. Its thermoelectric variation with temperature should be linear and be maintained after heating to high temperatures for long periods of time. 3. It should be reproducible; i. e., different couples of the same elements should have similar calibration curves. 4. Its thermoelectric power should be large so as to allow the industrial use of rugged recording instruments. 5. Chemical reactions with, and physical changes within the elements of the couple should not alter its calibration. No thermocouple proposed to date exhibits simultaneously all of these characteristics, whereas the couple about to be described fulfills all requirements to a satisfactory degree.

Jan 1, 1933

By Roy Lindgren

Since the year 1643, when the first blast furnace in America for treating iron ore was built at Saugus, Mass., out of mica schist quarried in the neighboring district, the procurement of a suitable refractory for furnace lining has been a problem of concern to the operators of furnaces. The stacks built of mica schist continued to smelt iron ore until about 1836, when, according to F. H. Norton, the first firebrick were produced1, at Queens Run, Pa. Other writers speak of brick having been molded and burned in Massachusetts about the year 1834. In 1841, Andrew Russell began to produce medium refractory plastic clay brick near East Liverpool, Ohio, that were used for lining blast furnaces1. The well-known Kentucky clay-producing district was not opened up until the year 1871, but since then it has produced a large percentage of the linings for iron blast furnaces. While some strides have been made by the refractories industry during the 100 years that have passed since the first firebrick were produced, it has been only during the last two decades that any real progress has been made towards bettering the product, even though the method of production had improved. Perhaps the fault lies with the user of the brick rather than with the producer, for not sooner demanding a supe¬rior product. During the past 15 years the tonnage produced per lining has increased from 500,000 gross tons to 1,000,000 gross tons, and now some furnaces are producing 1,600,000 gross tons and better on a single lining. It is true that enlarged capacity of furnaces and improved practice have accounted for some of this increase in tonnage, nevertheless better quality in firebrick must be given credit for its share. However, we are not yet ready to say that we have reached a maximum life of furnace lining. We believe that a better product can be produced and that the refractories industries of America will, through their extensive research depart-

Jan 1, 1936

By J. H. Henderson, T. E. Morrisson

An irvestigation has been made of the production of oil through horizontal fractures of high capacity and large radius placed at the base of producing formations. The specific aitns of the study were to (I) determine by model studies the reservoir performance when gravity drainage is the only producing mechanism, and (2) develop a method of predicting such perfortnance from commonly measured reservoir proper-ties. Although the theoretical approach tailed to develop a rigorous analytic sorution to the transient problem, it (lid lead to a practical method of predicting performance. Predictions (Ire in good agreement with rates and recoveries observed in scaled-model experinzents. Capillary effects and the influence of relative permzenbil-ity are taken into account. The experimental program was mainly concerned with the influenre of fracture radius, fracture capacily and capillary hold-up on the total recovery and the rate of recovery. Much of the experimental work was done on a triangular model which represented one-eighth of a square well pattern, so constritcted that horizontal fractures of varying radii and flow capacity could be studied. An electrolytic model was used to relate the initial production rates to fracture radius, formation thickness and the drainage radius of the well pattern. The conclusions reached as a resrtlt of the work are as follows. I. The production of oil under gravity force alone into a well-propped horizontal fracture, whose radius is of the order of hundreds of feet, is a recovery method which combines high recoveries with very acceptable production rates. 2. The mechanism is effective in "dead oil" reservoirs as well as in reservoirs which possess the energy of solution gas. 3. A method of predicting performance has been developed which gives good agreement with experimental behavior in cases of practicnl interest. Even for very thick beds and large fracture radii, where actual conditions do not conform to the assumptions made, the method gives order of magnitude predictions which would not otherwise be possible. INTRODUCTION Gravity drainage of oil from a formation which has continuous ver- tical permeability over a reasonable depth interval is a surprisingly effective method of recovery. However, for a conventional well the production rates which result from gravity drainage are so low that the economics are seldom attractive. The same formation may produce rapidly and profitably by gravity alone through a high capacity, extensive (i.e., > 100-ft radius) horizontal fracture placed near the bottom of the pay section. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the plan. Energy in the reservoir gas is not a necessary condition for this recovery process. With a sufficiently large fracture, attractive production rates will result from gravity flow alone, and the producing GOR need only be the solution GOR. It is, of course, necessary to keep the fluid level in

By E. C. Franz

IN an effort to understand high cycle fatigue, as well as to study the mechanism of fracture in general, a number of researches have been undertaken whereby the fracture properties of a metal have been determined under conditions of repeated cyclic prestsain employing high strains with relatively few cycles. Liu, Lynch, Ripling, and Sachs' showed the effect of a definite strain history consisting of small increments of tensile or compressive prestrain upon the flow and fracture characteristics of metals after a limited number of repeated loadings. Liu and SachsW emonstrated by cyclic straining of the aluminum alloy 24s-T4 that the least reduction in ductility was obtained when the compressive stress was nearly equal to the tensile stress. Attempts have been made to correlate the reduction in ductility under such prestraining with conventional fatigue data, as was done by Liu and co-workers.' The following research was conducted to determine if such reduction as has been noted could be correlated with conventional fatigue data or whether the effect resulted from causes extraneous to the basic mechanism of fatigue failure such as strain aging. It might be pointed out in this connection that the reduction in ductility has occurred in alloys that might be susceptible to strain aging or similar behavior, such as alloy 24s-T4. In the present investigation, the test specimens were prepared from the aluminum alloy 75s-T6 and annealed electrolytic copper. Alloy 75s-T6 is a complex precipitation hardenable alloy, whereas electrolytic copper would not be expected to exhibit strain aging effects, particularly at room temperature. The experimental procedure consisted of prestraining test specimens repeatedly by increasing tension in small increments to various total prestrain values, followed by testing to failure in a tension test. The prestraining as well as the final testing was performed on a tensile machine using special fixtures9 0 maintain concentricity of the specimens. After prestraining, the specimens were unloaded as rapidly as possible and immediately reloaded so that the total time lapse between strains was held to a few seconds. Logarithmic or true natural strain was used in all calculations. The results are presented in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 1, the retained ductility, area after prestrain area at fracture is plotted against the tensile prestrain, initial area area after prestrain as abscissa with the number of stress reversals executed to attain the required prestrain plotted as parameter. Several specimens that fractured during

Jan 1, 1955

By E. A. Nesbitt

The important permanent-magnet alloys 15 years ago contained carbon and depended upon it for their permanent-magnet properties. In recent years great advances have been made in a number of new alloys substantially free of carbon. These include Remalloy,' an alloy of iron, cobalt, and molybdenum, the various iron-nickel-aluminum alloys of the Mishima2 type, and the more recent Alnico V3 in which the best properties are developed by heat-treating in a magnetic field. The Mishima and the Alnico types of alloys are very brittle and after casting must be ground to size. This article describes a permanent-magnet material4 that can be machined as cast, and when handled with some care can be rolled to thin sheet and drawn to fine wire. Optimum magnetic properties are developed by a simple heat-treatment, and at this time the ductility of the alloy disappears. If the cast alloy is heat-treated without cold-working the mag netic energy product is about 1.0 X 106. This material is called Vicalloy I (pronounced vicalloy, V for vanadium, I for iron, and C for cobalt). When the alloy is first hot-worked and then considerably reduced in area by cold-swaging, drawing or grooved rolling, it is found that after heat-treatment the magnetic energy product measured in the direction of previous extension can be increased to 2.0 to 3.5 X 106. These higher values have been obtained only after reductions in area of 75 to 95 per cent, and since the material hardens considerably during working, the reduction ordinarily can be accomplished only in fine wires, although larger sizes can be reduced by the use of powerful machinery. When the material has been cold-worked in such a manner as to improve its energy product substantially, it is called Vicalloy 11. Commercial use of Vicalloy has been made in the recording of speech. Tape 0.002 by 0.050 in. has been found superior in quality to all others tried, and is now used in the Western Electric Mirrorphone 5 In a variety of forms Vicalloy I or I1 is useful in many laboratory instruments, and in experiments in which the sizes and shapes required cannot be obtained with the other more brittle permanent-magnet materials. In 1936, during a study of other age-hardening magnetic systems, it occurred to the author that some of the iron-cobalt-vanadium alloys might be suitable for permanent magnets. The proportions of iron, cobalt, and vanadium were varied and a range of alloys of particular interest was found, as shown by the indicated area in Fig. I. The limits of this range of composition are 30 to 52 per cent iron, 36 to 62 per cent cobalt, and 4 to 16 per cent vanadium. The compositions indicated by points outside this area were also tested. Preparation and Properties OF Vicalloy I The alloys were usually cast in graphite molds into bars 3/4 in. in diameter and

Jan 1, 1946

By E. A. Nesbitt

The important permanent-magnet alloys 15 years ago contained carbon and depended upon it for their permanent-magnet properties. In recent years great advances have been made in a number of new alloys substantially free of carbon. These include Remalloy,' an alloy of iron, cobalt, and molybdenum, the various iron-nickel-aluminum alloys of the Mishima2 type, and the more recent Alnico V3 in which the best properties are developed by heat-treating in a magnetic field. The Mishima and the Alnico types of alloys are very brittle and after casting must be ground to size. This article describes a permanent-magnet material4 that can be machined as cast, and when handled with some care can be rolled to thin sheet and drawn to fine wire. Optimum magnetic properties are developed by a simple heat-treatment, and at this time the ductility of the alloy disappears. If the cast alloy is heat-treated without cold-working the mag netic energy product is about 1.0 X 106. This material is called Vicalloy I (pronounced vicalloy, V for vanadium, I for iron, and C for cobalt). When the alloy is first hot-worked and then considerably reduced in area by cold-swaging, drawing or grooved rolling, it is found that after heat-treatment the magnetic energy product measured in the direction of previous extension can be increased to 2.0 to 3.5 X 106. These higher values have been obtained only after reductions in area of 75 to 95 per cent, and since the material hardens considerably during working, the reduction ordinarily can be accomplished only in fine wires, although larger sizes can be reduced by the use of powerful machinery. When the material has been cold-worked in such a manner as to improve its energy product substantially, it is called Vicalloy 11. Commercial use of Vicalloy has been made in the recording of speech. Tape 0.002 by 0.050 in. has been found superior in quality to all others tried, and is now used in the Western Electric Mirrorphone 5 In a variety of forms Vicalloy I or I1 is useful in many laboratory instruments, and in experiments in which the sizes and shapes required cannot be obtained with the other more brittle permanent-magnet materials. In 1936, during a study of other age-hardening magnetic systems, it occurred to the author that some of the iron-cobalt-vanadium alloys might be suitable for permanent magnets. The proportions of iron, cobalt, and vanadium were varied and a range of alloys of particular interest was found, as shown by the indicated area in Fig. I. The limits of this range of composition are 30 to 52 per cent iron, 36 to 62 per cent cobalt, and 4 to 16 per cent vanadium. The compositions indicated by points outside this area were also tested. Preparation and Properties OF Vicalloy I The alloys were usually cast in graphite molds into bars 3/4 in. in diameter and

Jan 1, 1946

By Lyall, Zickrick

As a result of the studies on recrystallization and crystal growth made in this laboratory, certain theories have been developed. These are expressed briefly in a paper by Dean and Hudson.' One of the principal points brought out in that paper is that in the deformation of a crystal, the energy supplied is distributed to the atoms of the lattice, probably by the forced formation of molecules. It is found that a Maxwellian distribution of the energy among these atoms will account for the grain growth at various temperatures. According to such a distribution the number of atoms with energy above a certain critical value, E, necessary for recrystallization at the absolute temperature T is given by n = Ne-E/kT where N is the total number of atoms. It is apparent that if this line of reasoning is correct, a metal which has been cold-worked and reheated to a temperature below that of complete annealing will have the atoms with the higher energy recrystallized, that is, reduced to normal energy and there will remain only atoms below a certain energy. If this metal is again cold-worked the peak in the number-energy distribution curve will, as compaied with its position after the first cold-working, be displaced toward the regions of lower energies, that is, the temperature of recrystallization will be higher. By a repetition of this process the position of this maximum and hence the recrystallization temperature of the metal could be raised considerably. In order to check this theory, experiments have been made on copper wire. The wire was drawn from 1/4-in. rod to 22 B & S gage and then sample lots were annealed at 400 and 220° C., respectively. The wire annealed at 400° C. gave an elongation of 34 per cent., whereas that annealed at 220° C. gave only 23 per cent. These wires were then drawn by identical practice to 34 B & S gage and the elongation determined after an anneal of 3 min. in an oil bath held at various temperatures. The figures obtained have been plotted in Fig. 1. It will be seen that the

Jan 1, 1927

By R. Dawson Hall

Discussion of the paper of R. DAWSON HALL, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 105, September, 1915, pp. 2013 to 2021. R. DAWSON HALL, New York, N. Y.-The general practice in the past has been to view the roof as being somewhat subject only to shear. In fact the action of the roof under the stress of its own weight has been but little considered, not because the matter is unimportant but because it is so complicated that it has been felt that an analysis of it would not result in any conclusions definite enough to justify the inquiry. The result has been that the consideration of the subject has fallen into the hands of persons who are not experts in the study of beam and plate stress. They have been disposed naturally to view the destruction of the roof as the outcome of the simplest of stresses-vertical shear. In the lack of a careful consideration of the conditions of roof fracture it was thought that the roof consisted of a number of horizontal layers, which were each of them weak, because, no matter how strong they might be they usually lacked sufficient depth. This view of the condition of the roof would naturally lead one to expect that it would yield to bending moment, the various layers succumbing one by one to their lack of the necessary radius of gyration to meet such severe stresses. But,

Jan 5, 1916

Coal Division Industrial Minerals Division Minerals Beneficiation Division Mining, Geology and Geophysics Division Established as a Society February 26, 1957 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES J W Woomer, President A B Cummins, President-elect S D Michaelson, Past President C E Lawall, Eastern Regional Vice-President D W Scott, Central Regional Vice-President 3 D Forrester, Western Regional Vice-President R B Ladoo, Treasurer John Cameron Fox, Secretary

Jan 1, 1959

By AIME AIME

COUNCIL* PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. JAMES F. KEMP NEW YORK, N. Y.. (Term expires February, 1913.) VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE COUNCIL. S. B. CHRISTY BERKELEY, CAL. R. V. NORRIS WILKES-BARRE, PA. GARDNER F. WIILLIAMS WASHINGTON, D. C. (Term expires February, 1913.) . KARL EILERS NEW YORK, N. Y. WALDEMAR LINDGREN WASHINGTON, D. C. BENJAMIN B. THAYER NEW YORK, N. Y. (Term expires February, 1914.)

Jul 1, 1912

By Eugene F. Poncelet

GLASS squares compressed on edge by steel jaws in poor contact with them developed jagged "partial-contact" cracks caused by the formation of local tensile stresses. Compressed by steel jaws in perfect contact, they developed smooth "release cracks" during release of the pressure, caused by the formation of local tensile stresses during the release of the pressure. All these cracks were parallel to the pressure. A Microflash photograph of a disintegrating specimen under sufficient pressure reveals a network of fractures roughly normal to each other, also "release cracks" and a disintegration cloud. The Griffith theory is amended to account for the formation of a first crack. A new theory, based on the theory of thermal agitation and wave propagation, is proposed to account for the progress, velocity and forking of cracks. The network of fractures is shown to have been caused by reflection at a free boundary of pressure pulses emanating from a first crack. Postulating equal distribution of energy in the pulses emitted on either side by a crack in particles, the smaller fragments are shown to continue fracturing preferentially while some of the coarser fragments remain as residual pieces. As comminution of the smaller fragments proceeds, the solid is reduced to a collection of residual particles of smaller and smaller sizes, accounting for the disintegration cloud. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Apparatus A crushing device was built, consisting of a steel frame and two polished, hardened steel jaws to crush plate-glass samples. This device was placed between the plates of a hydraulic press (Fig. 1). For centering the pressure, the upper jaw was guided vertically and provided with a rounded top. Later it was replaced by a steel jaw ground out of a 2 1/2-in. steel ball, the lower surface being ground to an optical flat (Fig. 2). Four rollers were used to eliminate side thrust. Screws and centering blocks served to center the specimen in the crushing device. Hard steel shims placed under the shoulder of the upper jaw limited the "follow through" of the jaw after failure of the specimen. Stress distribution was first examined with a polariscope mounted on an optical bench, using monochromatic light. It was found convenient to mount polaroid, quarter wave and monochromatic plates directly on the device itself. A Microflash unit* was used as light source for the photographs. A gold-paint pattern was fused on the plate-glass specimens and connected into the spark-

Jan 1, 1944

By C. R. Hayward, H. O. Hofman

I. INTRODUCTION. THE aim of instruction in a metallurgical laboratory is to make real the principles on which metallurgical processes and operations are based, and to foster the spirit of investigation: The materials with which experiments are carried out are ores, metals, and metallic compounds. The method varies with the end sought. A class may work as a whole, each member contributing his share to the solution of a problem, or the students may carry on investigations independently; the former exemplifies class-research; the latter, individual research. It is with a branch of the former, with special reference to ore-treatment that the present paper intends to deal. In smelting an ore by a well-established process, the result is shown by analyzing the products to see whether their compositions correspond to those calculated in making up the charge; by taking account of stock to show the distribution of metal in the different products made and the losses from dust and volatilization, by casting a thermal balance to find the ,distribution and losses of heat; and by making a cost-sheet to ascertain, as far as possible, the necessary outlay of money. In, lixiviation and amalgamation, the mode of operating has to be varied to adapt a process to the individual ore. Here a number of tests become necessary. Each will consist of a series of experiments with one variable, in order to find the conditions under which the variable gives the best result; a. summary of several tests will give the best method of operating.. Working a number of charges with the best method will furnish the data desired for ascertaining the recovery of metal,

Jun 1, 1909

By Thomas, J. Elmer

WHEN the price of crude oil was advanced on July 26, 1928, with some 4,000,000 bbl. daily of potential production shut in under proration regulations, and with as much more new production shortly available from semi-proved undrilled reserves, students of the oil industry were made to realize that a new order of things now prevailed in petroleum economics. A new interpretation of the law of supply and demand had taken the place of the archaic method of influencing current production by changing crude price levels. Proration had caused the change. The long period of over-production just experienced, the prospects of a potential over-supply far into the future, had set up certain forces which brought about some fundamental changes. Their cause, effect and future influence can best be developed by a detailed study of the history of the period since war-time regulation

Jan 1, 1928

By Thomas L. Kesler

I all of the 14 million tons of kaolin produced in Georgia through 1949 had been mined from a single deposit 20 ft thick, it would represent a mined-out area of less than 1 sq mile. This measure of depletion is in such strong contrast with the large size of the area shown in Fig. 1, from which most of the output has come, that there has developed an optimistic outlook concerning future supplies of kaolin equal in grade to that already mined. Dozens of mines are widely but not evenly distributed within this area, which consists mostly of parts of Twiggs, Wilkinson, and Washington counties. There are scarcely half a dozen kaolin mines elsewhere in the state that have been appreciably productive, although the areas in which they occur may have good possibilities. Most of the efforts to find new deposits, therefore, will be confined to the area shown in Fig. 1, for it is here that the industry has established its facilities, and prospecting is encouraged by relatively numerous outcrops and opened deposits of kaolin. The Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers drain the area. They and their main tributaries have flat, swampy floodplains covered with alluvium and for the most part thickly wooded. The divides between these streams are intricately dissected by the minor tributaries, which are spring-fed in steep-walled, cirque-like heads. Gullying and under-cutting are active along the streams but are partly controlled by unusually dense vegetation. The mean altitude is about 350 ft above sea level, and locally the relief ranges up to 200 ft. The area is near the inner margin of the Coastal Plain, and is underlain by Cretaceous and Tertiary formations. Its general location is shown in black in Fig. 1. The division between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont plateau is actually a very sinuous line, the fall line, marking the extent to which erosion has stripped the Coastal Plain sediments from the southeastward-sloping surface of the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. Cretaceous Host Formation The kaolin deposits, which are described in the succeeding section, occur sporadically in lenslike bodies in a thick series of poorly sorted clayey sands constituting the lowermost of the Upper Cretaceous formations, the Tuscaloosa. The basis for this correlation has been reviewed by Cooke.1 The same formation has been termed the Potomac group by Ladd2 and the Middendorf formation by Smith' in reports on the kaolin deposits. In another report, Veatch4 called the formation the Tuscaloosa but correlated it with the Lower Cretaceous. The Tuscaloosa in this area consists of fine to very coarse sands, commonly cross-bedded, which contain widely different proportions of white, pink, and yellow kaolin and considerable white mica. A few of the coarser beds contain quartz grains up to 3 in. in length, with bodies of pure white kaolin of equal size that appear to have been formed by the weathering of feldspar grains in place. In the kaolin-producing area, gravel and cobbles occur mainly at the base of the formation. Fig. 2 shows the relations of the Tuscaloosa and its kaolin deposits to the adjacent formations. Its base, on the eroded surface of the crystalline rocks, dips southeastward 50 to 60 ft to the mile, according to LaMoreaux.5 The upper surface of the Tuscaloosa is also an unconformity,

Jan 1, 1952

By Roy E. Dickerson

No important new developments took place during the year 1937 in Cuba. Estimated figures are as follows: Bacuranao field, 100 bbl. per day petroleum; Motembo and Vesubio areas, 120 bbl. per day natural gasoline.

Jan 1, 1938

By G. W. Nabor, H. J. Ramey

A blotter-type electrolytic model was utilized to prepare flow diagrams for a field test of the in-situ combustion process. It is pointed out that the areal sweep of a combustion pattern is similar to sweep patterns that would be developed at an infinite mobility ratio, which exists (approximately) across a combustion front because of the complete removal of liquids from the sand behind it. The precision of the blotter method was tested by comparison with results obtained by other techniques and was found to be satisfactory. The blotter-type model will not furnish as much information as more elaborate and expensive potentiometric models, but its speed of operation and ease of construction make it a highly satisfactory tool to determine areal sweep patterns. A tabulation of sweep efficiency and mobility ratio is furnished for various well geometries. INTRODUCTION In connection with the first field experiment with the in-situ combustion method of oil recovery," flow diagrams for the unique well geometry and boundary conditions involved in the subject test were developed. From these diagrams, information concerning the areal sweep and distribution of flow was obtained. A survev of the literature on potentiometric models, utilized to solve two-dimensional flow problems,1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10 indicated that the information desired could be obtained by means of a blotter-type model by making certain modifications in the technique. The following discussion describes the application of the modified blotter-type electrolytic model to the solution of the problem of the flow of gases in an oil reservoir for an engineering appraisal of the progress of the combustion front during the first field experiment. Considerable information has been published on the theoretical aspects of electrical model techniques. One author stated that:' "The models are based on the observation that since the velocity of an ion in an electrolytic system is proportional to the potential gradient, just as the velocity of a fluid particle in a porous medium is proportional to the pressure gradient, the paths of the ions in the electrolytic systems must be similar to those of the fluid particles in a porous medium with the same geometry and equivalent boundary conditions." This suggestion of a real analogy has been established repeatedly by comparisons of analytic derivations with model results. The analogy between the movement of a combustion front and the model results is not as apparent, since the combustion process differs from water flooding and gas cycling in that the velocity of the burning front is different from the velocity of the injected fluid at the front in combustion. Analogy between electric current flow and movement of the burning front exists because the local velocity of the burning front is proportional to the air (mass) velocity at this point (assuming frontal temperatures are at least as high as the ignition temperature of the fuel). Most model studies fall into one of two categories: (1) electron conduction, or (2) ionic conduction models. Examples of these are models which employ as flow media either a thin metal sheet, or a porous blotter saturated with an electrolyte, respectively. Of the two, the porous blotter model, an ionic conduction model, appears to be the most adaptable to the flow problem that results when using in-situ combustion. This problem requires that the mobility of the particles in the model be controlled analogous to the mobility of gas flowing through burned sand of high permeability to gas and then through oil sand of lower permeability to gas. Although the blotter model has heretofore been

Jan 1, 1955

By F. F. Aplan

The past year has been another year of vigorous fundamental research in mineral processing as evidenced by the active publication of results, particularly in Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and USSR. It was also noteworthy for several significant meetings and conferences. The Basic Science sessions at the AIME Annual Meeting continued to attract an increasing audience and the sessions were especially notable for the active discussion of papers. The third Engineering Foundation Conference on Particulate Matter Systems,1 chaired by F. F. Aplan, was held in Milwaukee in August and attracted over 100 experts from five continents. Sessions at this week-long conference covered comminution, particle characterization, separation of fine particles, fluid-solid separations as applied to pollution control, flotation kinetics, particle-particle interactions and particle agglomeration. This popular conference will be continued under John Karpinski of Bethlehem Steel Corp. as 1968 chairman.

Jan 2, 1968