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By Ralph Arnold

THE American oil 'industry has reached the critical stage where the demand exceeds the supply with no hope of permanently bettering the situation through the development of new fields in the United States. Remedies may be sought along three lines: 1. Securing a foreign source of supply. 2. Curtailment of the use of oil and its derivatives. 3. Improvement in methods of recovery (including the recovery of shale oil), refining, and utilization. The oil companies with proper government support will push the acquiring of foreign territory; the price of oil and oil products will enforce a curtailment in use; it remains for the producers and refiners to brings about improvements and economy in recovery, transportation and refining; the general public must be instructed in utilization. The solution of the problem, therefore, rests largely in the hands of the technologists of the industry -the drillers, engineers, geologists, chemists, etc. Only through an exchange of the ideas of the individuals who are conducting the industry will its technology be advanced. , Among the agencies at work to bring about this result are the United States Bureau of Mines, the American Petroleum Institute, and the A. I. M. E. The Bureau of Mines has a trained staff of experts, maintains experiment stations and a field force of technologists, and issues many technical papers helpful to the industry. The Petroleum Institute is a clearing house for useful statistics and is now. organizing a research division under the able direction of Doctor Manning, but its principal field of activities is in the realm of co¬ordinating ?the financial and commercial activities of the` oil' companies.' It remains for the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers to organize the individual technologists of the industry and provide them with means of exchanging and disseminating ideas through meetings and publications. It is the aim of the Petroleum Committee of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers to foster this exchange of ideas among oil men by enlarging the membership of the Institute among the field and office technical forces of the oil companies and thus arouse their interest in the vital problems of the oil business.

Jan 1, 1920

Jan 1, 1902

ALEXANDER BURRELL Alexander Burrell, general manager of the Furnace Creek Oxide Copper Mining Co., and' a member of the Institute for 20 years, died suddenly at the Argo mine on Feb. 13, 1917. Mr. Burrell was one of the best known mining men in Montana. He was horn at Edinburgh, Scotland, Jan. 14, 1851, and came to Chicago with his parents in 1856. His father, who was a coppersmith, died soon after their arrival, and the ,son had few opportunities to gain an education in school, but was a natural student and was possessed of a liberal education acquired through self-teaching and through his constant reading and studying, particularly along scientific lines. It was this technical knowledge both of mining, and business, as well as his experience in the practical side of mining and his ability as an executive that won for him a high place in mining circles in Montana. As a very young man he worked as a miner in Illinois and later became an operator of a coal property. Subsequently he engaged

Jan 4, 1917

Jan 1, 1902

By Thomas T., Read

IT does not seem practicable to review all the other specialized curricula that have developed in the mineral industries field in so much detail as has been given for petroleum. Nor is it easy to draw a definite line between true curricula, leading to a designated degree in the special subject, and options, which may range from the mere substitution of one or two courses for others ' in the final years to differences so extensive as almost to amount to separate curricula. Even to attempt to catalogue all the options that have been offered at one time or another would , require too much space. The remainder of this discussion, there- fore, will be confined to three topics which seem to be of major importance. Mining and metallurgical curricula will be covered in a later chapter. Geology The first, from the historical view, is geology in its relation to the mineral industries. Previous, chapters have made clear that in the early years of mineral industry instruction in the United States economic geology and mining engineering, so overlapped one another that men who were by training and experience economic geologists were appointed professors of mining, while men who had graduated as mining engineers sometimes developed into professors of geology. Even today men whose basic training was in- geology as a pure science, and who perhaps took a doctor's .degree in that subject, have attained such distinction in the mineral industries as to be universally accepted as "mining men," and their right to be regarded as mining engineers would not be questioned, even though 'they did not .take a degree in engineering. Nevertheless the distinction does exist, and has been made a concrete reality in recent years by the enactment of

Jan 1, 1941

By K. Prins

ONE of the more pressing problems faced by the coal industry today is the development of adequate means for meeting conservation laws, particularly those involving stream pollution, in various parts of the country. Discharge of dirty coal washery water into streams and rivers is almost universally frowned upon. Many states have enacted laws carrying heavy fines to curb the practice. The Prins stream-cleaner is one of the latest machines to enter the market. It is closely related to the cyclone thickener in principle. Eleven stream-cleaners are currently operating, ranging in size from 4 to 16 in. diam. In more recent installations the water enters directly in line and on a tangent with the impeller. The impeller consists of a vertical shaft up through a packing gland and bearings, and a V-belt pulley. The lower part is a tubing fastened to the shaft above, extending through the water intake compartment and provided with six vertical flat bars welded to the tubing. Portholes are situated in the upper end of the tubing, immediately below the point where shaft and tubing join together. The portholes are placed so that they are in open communication with the upper compartment of the stream-cleaner from which the processed water is discharged. The impeller is motor driven with a wide range vari-pitch drive employed between motor and impeller. The motor is mounted vertically, and the mounting provided with a vertical hinge allowing for needed adjustment of the wide range vari-pitch drive. The dirty coal washery water entering the machine under 20 lb psi pressure, flows from the compartment above the impeller, between the impeller blades, and is whirled around in the vertical section of the impeller enclosure. The speed of the impeller supplies centrifugal force and velocity required for separating suspended solids from water. The lower part of the machine consists of a cone, whose action is similar to other machines of the same type. The underflow discharge orifice is a cold rolled steel block machined to correspond with the cone angle and allows insertion of steel tubes of different diam. On 16 in. machines a 1 ¾ in. ID vertical discharge pipe is used. Provision is made for attaching a curved section of the same diam to the vertical pipe, to which, in turn, different lengths of horizontal pipe can be connected. Curved Pipe Advantageous It has been found that a curved pipe offers resistance to discharged material flow. In addition, the rotary motion of the underflow can be easily arrested in a curved pipe. Impeller speed of the 16 in. diam machine is provided from 400 to 800 rpm. A speed of about 474 rpm is suitable for maintenance of a constant underflow in coal slurry. In one installation 5x ¼ in. coal is cleaned in a Jeffrey Baum type washer at a 225 tons per hr rate. Washer installation is of the conventional type and a drag type sludge tank is used for water clarification purposes. Capacity of the water system, including the Baum washer, is about 40,000 gal. Before placing the stream-cleaner in operation, it was necessary to flush out the entire system every five days of two shift operations. The only time the system is drained now is for repair work on the sludge conveyor or the rig. The suction line of the stream-cleaner pump terminates in a number of small branch lines located at a depth of about 4 ft above the sludge conveyor. Each branch line extends the full width of the tank and is provided with four intake ports, each one with a funnel shaped inlet projecting downward. The arrangement provides an extensive pick-up area, for dirty water, and the inlets are arranged for a low rim velocity, preventing the taking in of coarse particles. The funnels are also arranged to extend up or down in the tank. They are set to pick up -60 mesh material exclusively.' The material is a high ash and high sulphur product and thus has to be disposed in the refuse conveyor. The underflow of the stream-cleaner is discharged on top of the washery refuse which is carried in a drag type horizontal conveyor, discharging into another refuse conveyor inclined at 30º with a short horizontal loading section. Some Disadvantages The impeller inherits certain disadvantages because of the nature of its construction. Additional moving parts make it subject to wear and maintenance costs. The advantage of being able to maintain a constant speed, however, to produce desired water velocity in the machine outweighs the drawbacks. Better separation between water and solids can be obtained by regulating time of residence of water through adjustment of valves in the intake and discharge lines. The amount of fines encountered during plant operation will vary because of higher or lower moisture in coal passing over fine coal vibrating screens. Even the amount of fines picked up by underground loading machines will be inconstant. Consequently, the percentage of solids will vary in water to be processed. The velocity in the feedlines to the slurry thickeners will fluctuate, with the required water velocity lacking. Another advantage advanced for the machine is its ability to operate on 15 to 25 lb line pressures at the water intake, reducing pump power required and pump maintenance.

Jan 1, 1952

By I. A. Violic, L. D. Cruz, M. A. Solari

In Exxon's Los Bronces Expansion Project in Chile, a stochastic simulation is performed to resolve the complex decision problem of matching the mine to mill system capacities from both technical and economic standpoints. The unique combination of weather conditions at the mine and the 30-km (18.6 mile) belt conveyor network for ore transport to the mill necessitates this analysis in the planning phase to optimize the design capacity of the system. Appropriate statistical distributions of major equipment performance, snow storm duration, power outage, etc., are developed from actual mine local records and manufacturers' specifications. The interactions of operational constraints including ore storage capacities, number and sizes of individual equipment, ore variations, and mine and mill production rates are studied more realistically than in a traditional planning approach. Details of the computer modeling and typical results of simulation studies are discussed.

Jan 1, 1984

By Valentin R. Garfias

The production of petroleum in the Mexican fields during 1931 followed the downward trend of the past nine years, with a decline of close to 6,600,000 bbl., or about 17 per cent from the 1930 total. The output was close to 32,964,000 bbl., the Tampico-Tuxpam fields showing the largest actual and proportional decline, while the production of the fields in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec remained practically unchanged. Wildcatting along the international border was carried on more actively than in previous years, the only successful completion being the Alberca No. 1 well located about eight miles from the international boundary, across from Roma, Tex. This well, completed at a depth of 2015 ft. and plugged back to 1550, is rated at about 6,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from a horizon between 1330 to 1540 ft., and is now connected to the gas line from the Jennings gas field, Texas, supplying the city of Monterrey. Favorable oil indications have been encountered in other exploratory wells along the border and drilling will probably continue as these lands are largely held under government concessions which require continuous development work in order to retain title. Development in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has progressed in a systematic manner, the number of successful completions during the year being considerably larger than in the South or Northern fields. The oil pipe line from the south fields to Mexico City has been completed and its operation and that of the Azcapotzalco refinery is expected to begin early in 1932. The construction of this line will Tevolutionize the transportation of petroleum and its products from the fields to the high plateau and seriously affect the revenues of the government-owned railroads. General conditions in the oil industry were reflected in Mexican operations. Low prices and the imminent threat of an American oil tariff discouraged development work necessary to maintain or increase production, and the curtailment of activities resulted in considerable reductions in personnel by all companies. Early in 1932 the Mexican Government announced its intention to create a surface tax or yearly rental on oil lands equivalent to about 31/4 U. S. cents per acre. Such additional burden on this already harassed industry will not only create little or no

Jan 1, 1932

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members. ) Member, age 33, single, desires position as null superintendent or charge of mine and mill. Twelve years' milling, cyaniding and flotation in the southwest and Mexico. Will go anywhere. No. 458. Member, mining engineer and geologist, graduated, from- mining college, age 27, single, exempt, with practice in metal mining, surveying of any kind, field geology and ore testing, desires to .engage as geologist or mining engineer with a reputable concern in the west or east of. U. S. Hard worker and reliable. No: 459.

Jan 6, 1918

By S. S. Arentz

An organized safety program has reduced accidents at Pioche because effort is first devoted to arousing and maintaining interest in safety, followed by training in accident prevention, assigning responsibility for the detection and removal of safety hazards, and finally, by keeping score through an adequate system of records. A health program is intergrated with the safety program.

Jan 1, 1950

By V. T. BERNER

THIS apparatus was designed primarily to meet the demand for a quick, efficient stopping to seal off the burning area temporarily during a mine fire, but it can be used in any circumstance where an immediate brattice is required for ventilation control. In using the old style brattice, mine-rescue workers have found it difficult, in smoke-laden drifts and stopes, to erect an effective stopping with wooden frame and canvas. Stulls must first be cut to the proper length, the canvas tacked in place, and the numerous irregularities of the walls and back must be caulked. This operation requires the employment of axes, saws, and hammers, which cannot easily and safely be handled in dense smoke. The fire fighters have often been forced to abandon their brattice, unfinished, because of the rapid approach of the fire, or because of the exhausted sup- ply of oxygen in their breathing apparatus. It is neces-

Jan 1, 1930

By U. K. Custred

To the layman, the term "strip mining" usually applies to the appearance of mined-over land after an operation is completed, not to the technique. This attitude, however, is becoming pass6 in the central Florida pebble phosphate field as eight mining companies in the area pursue a mutual program of land reclamation. The Florida phosphate industry is fortunate in this respect because it occupies an area favorable to reclamation. The terrain is flat; overburden is sand and clay which will support vegetation fairly readily; a high ground water table naturally converts mine pits into lakes. Too, this is water which readily supports marine life, not the acidic water so frequently found in the coal industry.

Jan 4, 1963

Beyond the industrial suburbs of Melbourne to the southeast are brown coal deposits just under the fertile soil of the Latrobe Valley. These deposits rank as one of the wonders of the world. The manner in which this resource is put to use is one of the great engineering accomplishments of our time and also a prime example of Australian elan. The brown coal, with over 60% water content, occurs in beds from 200 to 400 ft thick, under 50 ft of cover. Fifty thousand tons of coal per day move in a nearly continuous stream from mining face to boilers. The power plants supply two thirds of the State of Victoria's requirements, about 800 megawatts. Surge capacity between mine and power plant is sufficient for 12 hr steaming time! Victorian brown coals have been known since the middle of the 19th century. However, it took a strike of bituminous coal miners in 1915 to bring brown coal permanently into the picture as a fuel for power generation. In Australia, power generation is a State function. The great development of brown coals has been under the State Electricity Commission of Victoria.

Jan 10, 1964

By August E. Vandale

Mining of the Freeport and Pittsburgh coal seams in the Pittsburgh vicinity dates back more than 100 years, and Consolidation Coal Co., or its predecessor, Pittsburgh Coal Co., has been actively mining in the area since 1900. Over the years, Consol has acquired good legal title to the coal lands purchased from individual farm owners, with broad mining rights, and in 98% or more of its title holdings, the company has a complete waiver of surface damage or the right to subside the surface land. (Titles in Pennsylvania can be in three forms: title in fee; title to the mineral; or mining rights permitting the removal and extraction of the mineral with or without waiver of surface damage.) In the early history of Consol, individual farms overlying the seams were purchased from land owners. Many of these titles severed the coal estate from the "in fee" title, and mining rights with waiver of surface damage were conveyed in the original severance deed. In this manner, Consol was able to put together its large mineable coal reserves. Consol has practiced "full recovery" mining as far as practical from its early years of hand loading to the recent era of mechanization.

Jan 9, 1967

By W. M. Rutherford

A knowledge of the limits of miscibility between reservoir oil and possible injection fluids is required for selection of the optimum miscible-injection fluid. Limits of miscibility can be estimated from the results of equilibrium phase-behavior experiments. They can also be determined by means of displacement experiments conducted in a high-pressure sandpack. This paper describes the equipment and procedure which have been developed for determining miscibility conditions by stable displacement. A systematic series of displacements of a West Texas reservoir oil was carried out. The results indicate that, at constant pressure, miscibility is a function only of the pseudocritical temperature of the injection gas. This fact, together with improved experimental methods, makes the displacement technique a rapid, reliable means for determining miscibility conditions. In conjunction with the displacement experiments, phase diagrams were constructed for the oil with dry gas and propane and with dry gas and ethane. Phase behavior of the methane-ethane-propane system was determined at 110°F. The experimental work demonstrates the feasibility of using ethane-rich gases to reduce cost and pressure requirements for miscible displacement. INTRODUCTION In recent years, interest in the miscible displacement of oil by light hydrocarbon mixtures has been high. Many pilot and a few field scale projects have been started.1 These projects have made use of various methods for achieving miscibility: (1) the LPG-slug process, (2) the enriched-gas-drive process and (3) the high-pressure gas-drive process. Some field projects have been successful; the results of others are debatable. In general, projects which have performed best have involved the injection of an appreciable fraction of a pore volume of miscible material. Economical application of miscible displacement depends strongly on the cost of the miscible-injection fluid. If an appreciable fraction of a pore volume of material is required for successful application of these methods, a precise knowledge of the minimum requirements for miscibility in terms of composition of injection fluid is essential. Therefore, reliable experimental methods for determining miscibility conditions are important, and a procedure for estimating these conditions from the composition of the reservoir fluid is highly desirable. The subject of this paper is the problem of determining conditions which result in miscible displacement of oil by light hydrocarbon mixtures. Miscibility conditions can be estimated by means of equilibrium experiments conducted in a PVT cell, or they can be determined by means of high-pressure displacement experiments. This paper describes the equipment and procedure which have been developed for the determination of miscibility by high-pressure displacement experiments. These methods have been applied to the displacement of a West Texas reservoir oil with mixtures of dry gas, ethane and propane. In conjunction with the displacement experiments, triangular phase diagrams have been constructed for mixtures of the oil with dry gas and propane and with dry gas and ethane. The effect of injection-gas composition on conditions for miscible displacement in high-pressure sandpacks and cores has been the subject of several published papers.2-5 The experimental methods used in these investigations were such that displacements were unstable, and the effects of fingering and/or gravity layover are clearly evident in the results. Miscibility conditions were probably correct in spite of the instability phenomena, but the experiments evidently were time-consuming, and limited data were reported. Systematic high-pressure flow studies which would support a correlation of miscibility conditions have not been reported; however, Wilson5 has proposed the use of pseudocritical temperature of the injection gas as a parameter and Benham, et al,6 have based a miscibility correlation on observed and calculated equilibrium data.

By V 7. 0 / 300 dpi

THE cams at present universally used in stamp mills lift the tappets with an involute form of curve, to which the surface of the tappet is always tangent; moreover, the line of contact between tappet and cam, if produced, would pass through the center of the stem. This is no doubt a desirable feature, but the writer has long believed that it would be much more desirable if the cam were to pick up the stamp without shock, and gradually increase the upward velocity of the stamp throughout its upward movement. The involute form of cam attempts to impart instantly a considerable upward velocity to the stamp, starting it from a state of rest, and the result is a destructive blow, a great deal of noise, and much wear and vibration. The writer has developed a form of cam which will lift the stamp with a motion similar to that of the piston of an engine between the end and middle of its stroke; in other words, harmonic motion, from the point. of zero to maximum velocity. The curve will give this ideal motion only when the stamp is set for the exact drop for which the cam was designed, but the improved cam will not be as bad as the involute cam until the drop is reduced one-half. In other words, if a cam is designed for a 6-in. drop, it will be some improvement over the usual form of cam until the drop is only 3 in. Any cam, whatever its form, must of course lift the stamp in the same number of degrees of revolution; therefore, with this new form, since the stamp starts more slowly on its upward course, it must end up by going faster, the average speed being the same as with the involute cam. The stamp, after it is no longer in contact with the cam, keeps on going up a certain distance, which is easily calculated. It is therefore possible to hang up a stamp without a cam stick, if the fingers are not more than 1/8 in. longer than necessary to hold the tappet above the cam.

Jan 12, 1914

THREE regional meetings are planned for this summer and fall following the spring meeting held under the auspices of the Iron and Steel Committee and the Ohio Section at Cleveland in April and in lieu of a general fall meeting of the Institute. Plans for all of them are maturing rapidly. Excellent programs and. interesting visits to points of local tech¬nical interest are already assured. THE SALT LAKE CITY MEETING This meeting will be under the auspices of the Milling Committee and the Utah Section. It will be one of the features of the joint convention held the week of August 22 to 26 with the Western Division of the American Mining Congress. The Congress will be responsible for the general arrangements and for the program on the first day. The following general committees have been appointed:

Jan 7, 1927

By G. S. Rice

IT is evident from Professor Louis' remarks that he holds a different opinion on certain phenomena connected with a specific type of surface subsidence from mining than is held by many engineers in the United States. The question which appears to be at issue is whether or not the line or plane of "draw" produced in ground movement resulting from extraction of pillars may, under certain conditions, be vertical or even inclined toward the workings rather than inclined for- ward over the unworked mineral, as it is universally agreed occurs in mining by the longwall advancing method. In discussing this case it is well to take the simplest condition, such as specified by Professor Louis, of a flat bed, whether it be coal, iron or other mineral, where the overburden is stratified rock and where there is no overlying quicksand. Professor Louis says in effect that his experience is that the ultimate angle of draw is always positive and inclined 5" to 15" from the perpendicular over the unwrought mineral. My experience under Illinois coal-mining conditions is that .'where longwall advancing is used the draw is always positive as Professor Louis describes it, but that in extracting of panels by withdrawal of pillars, the ground movement is manifested, after the first roof' beam break, by the forming of an unstable dome over the goave. Then subsequently, by the falling of individual slabs from the under side, the dome gets larger and higher until it breaks through to the surface of the rock., Up to this time, arch stresses buttress the rocks above the solid coal or mineral. When, however, after. the dome breaks through and the central hole - #enlarges so the arch is no longer sufficiently supported -the stratified rocks cantilever out .from over the solid unworked mineral and tend to break off in masses triangular in vertical cross-section, until the broken loose material, sliding down against the solid rock, .has such a thrust that it balances the tendency ,for the solid stratified rock to break away and slide toward the excavation.

Jan 1, 1929

The Institute conducts jointly with the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Institute of Electrical Engineers, certain activities as listed below, and is joint owner with them of certain properties. United Engineering Trustees, Inc. When Mr. Carnegie made his gift which made possible a home for the engineering societies, a separate corporation was organized to act as a holding company and to manage the common property. This was long known as the United Engineering Society, but the name has now hen changed to one which more nearly reflects the real function of the corporation. It holds title to the Engineering Societies Building and to various funds placed in its charge and is managed by a Board of Trustees, of which three are chosen by each of the four societies, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical

Jan 1, 1932

By W. R. Ingalls

WHAT proportion of the national wealth is represented by' the producing mines of the country?' Or by the- mining and metallurgical industry-as a whole, for it is impossible to make-an economic distinction between the mines that produce the ore and the plant that is used to get the metals from it. The total national wealth in fixed property is about $270,000,000,000. How much for the mines? I do not know that any one 'else has ever tried to furnish answers to these questions. In making such an attempt I am conscious that the result can be nothing more than a rough approximation. Yet even that will give an idea of relative values. No separate valuation for the mines of the country has appeared in any inventory of the national wealth previous to that which I compiled and published for 1916. -In earlier census estimates mines were supposed to be included under the head of real estate. However, an examination of the laws and practices of the several states with respect to mine taxation will make it evident that no good idea of the value of the mines of the coun¬try is obtainable from the assessment rolls. In my previous estimate for 1916, I computed the value of the mines at $8,000,000,000, which was approxi¬mately 10 times their net income as reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. In making that estimate I fell grossly into error, for several reasons that it is unnecessary to explain, but chiefly because the net income of the mines of the country in that year was exceptionally large. The whole subject of valuing the mines of the country en bloc is extraordinarily difficult At the best, no one can hope to arrive at, anything more than a rough idea about it. However, elements of reason may be introduced and may be made to serve as chief bases.

Jan 1, 1921