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By J. G. Kirby

According to the Bureau of Mines annual survey, there were 318 petroleum refineries in the United States with a total daily crude throughput capacity of 8,632,390 barrels as of January 1, 1956. Compared with the previous year the total number of refineries declined 8 while the crude throughput capacity increased 211,760 barrels daily. Three refinery districts accounted for 90 percent of the crude-oil capacity increase, the California district 34 percent; the Texas Gulf Coast district, 31 percent; and the Indiana-Illinois-Kentucky district, 25 percent. Decreases in capacity during the year were reported for the East Coast, Appalachian #1, and the Arkansas-Louisiana Inland districts. The capacity of the average refinery to process crude oil increased during 1955 from 25.830 barrels daily to 27,145.

Jan 1, 1956

By Stella Sigler

This publication contains analyses and related source data for 153 natural gas samples from 16 States. Of the total samples, 149 were collected during calendar year 1993. The remainder were collected earlier, but releases granting permission to publish were not received until 1993. None of the analyses have been previously published in annual reports. All samples were obtained and analyzed as part of U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Bureau of Mines investigations of the occurrences of helium in natural gases of countries with free market economies. This survey has been conducted since 1917. The analyses published herein were made by mass spectrometer and chromatograph.

Jan 1, 1994

[This is the eighth in a series of reports on properties of commercial motor fuels, made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Cooperative Fuel Research (C.F.R.) Committee and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the interior. The fir t report gave data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36.3/ The present report, covering 1,679 simples, represents the products of US companies plus those from the Pacific coast, witch were averaged by the Pacific Coast Technical Group before being submitted and arc published exactly as they were submitted. The three groups of data on samples of regular, premium, and third-grade gasolines are averred separately. the, number of samples and brands representing each grade are as follows: Regular price, 869 samples, 76 brands; premium price, 452 sample, 45 brands; third-grade 358 samples, 52 brands. In this report the same marketing districts are retained as were used in the preceding report, and as for as possible the actual sampling points in each area are indicated on table 1.]

Jan 1, 1940

By John S. Berber

Acids, neutral oils, and pitch were produced by distillation of low-temperature lignite tar and processed to upgrade them into more valuable products: The acids were separated from the distillate and catalytically dealkylated to produce phenol, cresol, and xylenol. Aromatic and naphthene fractions of the neutral oil were converted into phthalic and maleic anhydrides by catalytic hydrodealkylation and vapor- phase oxidation. Paraffins and n-olefins from the neutral oil were processed into alkybenzene sulfonate, a biodegradable substance. Aromatic materials from the neutral oil were also extracted with organic compounds and the extract hydrogenated under pressure to produce jet fuel. The pitch was processed by various means to change its characteristics and make it suitable for similar applications as high- temperature tar pitch, including preparation of carbon black and metallurgical electrodes. In most cases, products obtained from the low-temperature tar were examined for physical and chemical characteristics and for potential commercial utility. Information obtained from this research would be helpful if a new coal- chemical industry based on tar utilization were established.

Jan 1, 1973

By O. C. Blade

"INTRODUCTION This report on the properties of aviation gasolines and aviation jet fuels produced in the United States during 1952 was mode under a co¬operative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior.Analytical data are presented for 94 samples of aviation gasoline which include for the first time in this series of reports, data on five samples of grade 108/135 aviation fuel. Data also are given for 34 samples of aviation jet fuel. The analyses were made on samples typical of the manufacturers' production in their laboratories and the results sub¬mitted to the Bureau of Mines for compilation. The products of 20 manufacturers of aviation gasolines and of 16 producers of aviation jet fuels are represented.SUMMARYA comparison of certain properties of the commercial aviation gasolines produced in the United States during 1950, 1951, and 1952 is presented in table 1, the 1952 data being average values from tables 3 through 7 of the present report. Trends in certain characteristics of these fuels may be seen in figures 1 through 5 which also indicate the minimum and maximum values. As may be observed, the properties of commercial aviation gasolines have not varied greatly during recent years. A list of aviation-fuel survey reports published by the Bureau of Mines is given on page 7.Table 2 presents a summary of data from table 8 and compares properties of aviation jet fuels of 1952 with summarized data on jet fuels of October 1951."

May 1, 1953

By E. J. Murphy

"INTRODUCTION This investigation is a continuation of previous work 3/4/5/ on the gaseous products of permissible explosives with and without sheaths. The range of oxygen balance of the explosives has been considerably increased. As has been shown previously, certain approximate relations exist between the volumes of gaseous products and the oxygen balance. Further systematization of the data is not feasible, since the method of theoretioal calculatln of the gaseous product is not yet satisfactorily developed. In a previously described method, 6/ it has been assumed that the explosion occurs at constant volume and that thermodynamic equilibrium is established. Apart from the presumably less important uncertainty of some of the thermodynamic data, it is not known how the confinement of the shots in the Bichel gage or the Crawshaw-Jones gage should be treated, or whether thermodynamic equilibrium is fully attained; nor can the extent to which the equilibrium composition changes during the subsequent period of expansion and cooling be judged with any reliability. Therefore, no calculations have been attempted. However, in anticipation of possible future theoretical interest and as an aid in answering practical problems, the new data are presented in the same minute detail as was done previously."

Mar 1, 1948

By J. G. Kirby, F. S. LOTT

The mmber of petroleum refineries in the United States decreased during 1949 from 375 to 367 while the total crude-oil charging capacity of refineries continued to increase. A gain in the through-put capacity of 257,305 barrels daily raised the total to a new high level 6,696,300 as of January 1, 1950. The capacity of the average refinery to process crude-oil increased during 1949 from 17,171 barrels daily to 18,246. The four coastal refinery districts accounted for 178,900 barrels or 70 percent of the total capacity increase and the Illinois-Indiana- Kentucky district 57,950 barrels, or 23 percent. Slight declines in capacity were reported in the Texas Inland and the Arkansas-Louisiana Inland districts. The capacity building on January 1, 1950, 145,600 barrels daily, was less than half the amount under construction a year earlier. Most of the new construction involved enlargement of existing refineries and was confined to the East Coast and Indiana-Illinois-Kentucky districts. Two new refineries, however, were under construction, one in Oklahoma and the other in Texas. The shut-down capacity increased for the first time since 1946, and the 473,302 barrels daily reported on January 1, 1950, was the largest recorded since January 1, 1938. The only refining district showing a decline in the shut-down capacity was the Appalachian No. 2 district. The largest increases were reported in the Texas Gulf, Indiana-Illinois- Kentucky, California, and East Coast districts. The operating ratio of the petroleum refining industry, as indicated by dividing the January 1950 runs to stills of 5,483,000 barrels daily by the total installed capacity January 1, 1950, was 81.9 percent, compared with a ratio of 87.8 percent at the beginning of 1949.

Aug 1, 1950

By R. R. Wells, G. M. Potter, A. O. Ipsen

This paper gives results of laboratory and pilot - plant investigations of concentration of western manganese ores during the Bureau of mines manganese-development program initiated in December 1940. The data summarize results obtained from laboratory investigation of concentration of ores from three properties in southeastern Arizona . The high - grade Gray - claims lot B ore , a product of hand sorting , is marketable directly or after sintering treatment . Intermediate - grade lot A selectively mined ore would be marketable after sintering as a plus 35 percent manganese produce , but gravity concentration methods were employed effectively to produce high - grade manganese concentrates with over 80 percent recoveries . Complex association of fine - grained manganese oxides , calcite , and fluorite in a siliceous ground mass limited the recovery of high-grade manganese concentrates obtainable from the low-grade Pyrolusite -group ore . A recovery of 63.7 percent of the manganese was made by flotation in a concentrate that sintered to plus 48 percent manganese grade . The low-grade Davis ore contains iron and manganese oxides too intimately associated to permit production of marketable manganese products . However , good rejection of calcite gangue was obtained by flotation , and the enriched manganese - iron product might have value as a spiegeleisen ore .

Feb 1, 1946

By O. C. Blade

This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States was made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. This paper is a continuation of a series made in cooperation with the Coordinating Fuel Research (CPR) Committee of the Coordinating Research Council (CRC), Inc. The first of this series of reports presented data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36, and succeeding reports described motor gasolines sold during the summers and winters to and including the summer of 1941. No reports were made on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1941-42 and during the summer of 1942. However, starting with the winter of 1942-43, the semiannual reports were resumed.

Jan 1, 1949

By E. L. Garton

The Bureau of Mines for a number of years has been conducting an investigation of crude petroleum from producing fields in the United States and the Western Hemisphere and has published a series of reports on these fields. Analyses of crude-oil samples from many oil fields of Oklahoma are given in Bulletin 2913. Analyses of 21 representative crude oils from various producing zones of the Oklahoma City field are given in this report. A close study of the analyses reveals very few differences in the general characteristics and chemical properties of these oils.

Jan 1, 1932

By Robert L. Jones

The Boston Consolidated mine is situated in the Bingham mining district, Salt Lake County; Utah (fig. 1). The property has had a noteworthy production of cupriferous, gold-bearing, pyritic ore in addition to lead ore. The Bureau of Mines established a diamond-drilling development project on the property in September 1943 with the primary objective of determining the continuity of a mineralized zone in the Commercial limestone below and to the northeast of the 800-foot level (fig.2). Examination of the geologic feature at the property previous to drilling indicated that the mineralized limestone horizon would continue belay the 800-foot level, but with a flatter dip than disclosed above this level. During the project period, 36 holes totaling 4,001 feet were drilled from underground stations outlining the zone below the 800-foot level (figs. 2 and 3).

Jan 1, 1949

By John M. Devine

Hydrogen sulphide associated with natural gas was noted as early as at Point Albino, Canada. The presence of this impurity was recognized also in other of the earlier oil and gas fields, although the occurrence was by no means common. However, in recent years, with the development of the producing zones of test Texas and the Texas Panhandle, the Production of "sour" crude has increased greatly and hydrogen sulphide has proved a generally troublesome factor--frequently a major problem--in the drilling and operation of many wells in those areas. The problems arising from the drilling and producing of oil or gas wells in hydrogen-sulphide areas, fall under two general divisions: safety problems and corrosion problems. Mention is made of a third division which is closely related to the other two, that of treating--or the development of processes for the removal of hydrogen iron the standpoint of safety and health hazards, hydrogen sulphide in the petroleum industry has been discussed in a number of publications. Likewise, the problem of hydrogen-sulphide corrosion of production equipment has been given considerable attention in the literature.

Jan 1, 1931

By Rita D. Sylvester

"IntroductionThe Bureau of Mines was established in the public interest to conduct inquiries and scientific and technologic investigations concerning mining and the preparation, treatment, and utilization of mineral substances; to promote health and safety in the mineral industries; to conserve material resources and prevent their waste; to further economic development; to increase efficiency in the mining, metallurgical, quarrying, and other mineral industries; and to inquire into the economic conditions affecting these industries. The organic act of the Bureau, as amended by Congress and approved February 25, 1913, made it the province and duty of the Bureau to ""disseminate information concerning these subjects in such manner as will best carry out the purposes of this Act.""In accordance with this directive, the Bureau reports the findings of its research and investigations in its own series of publications and also in articles that appear in scientific, technical, and trade journals; in proceedings of conventions and seminars; in reference books; and in other non-Bureau publications. The number of these reports, the wide range of subjects they cover, and the variety of mediums in which they appear make the kind of list and index presented in this special publication both necessary and valuable. This issue describes reports and articles published during the period January I, 1965, to December 31, 1969. It supplements the 50-year list of Bureau publications issued from July 1, 1910, to January I, 1960;' the 50-year list of articles by Bureau authors published outside the Bureau from July 1, 1910, to January I, 1960;3 the 5-year list of Bureau publications and articles from January I, 1960, to December 31, 1964.' It includes all the material in the four annual lists of Bureau publications and articles from January 1, 1965, to December 31, 1968, as well as the Bureau publications and articles for 1969."

Jan 1, 1970

By Charles Will Wright

The purpose of this paper is to present briefly certain preliminary results of the study of mining methods by the United States Bureau of Mines; to show the relative importance of each method in terms of tonnages mined and man-hours consumed; to give to the mining engineers and particularly to the young student of mining a better understanding of the principal mining methods; and to indicate changes now in progress and to present suggestions for improvements in the art of mining. Questions of mine development and details of underground practice such as drilling and blasting, loading, hauling, hoisting, ventilating, pay systems and mine management are omitted, as these have been or will be discussed in other bureau publications.

Jan 1, 1931

By C. C. Anderson, H. H. Hinson, H. J. Snhroeder

"INTRODUCTION The Eunice field is one of a group in southeastern New Mexico producing oil and gas from so-called limestone-type reservoirs in which the productive strata are dolomite or dolomitic limestone ordinarily, wells in reservoirs of this type show wide differences in their productive characteristics, indicating erratic variations in porosity and permeability. Often there is a large difference in total footage of actual ""pay"" penetrated in neighboring wells and the vertical distribution of the ""pay"" within the productive strata varies. In the Eunice field there are few easily recognizable geologic markers to indicate true structural conditions of the oil-productive section, due to horizontal and vertical gradation in chemical compositions and lithologic characteristics of the strata. Geologic markers are found some distance above the oil-producing zones in this field and consequently they indicate only the general structure. Furthermore, no direct relation has been found between the general structure and the accumulation of oil within the reservoir.Many problems in well-completion and production practice have been met in the Eunice field because of erratic variations in porosity, permeability, in vertical distribution of ""pays,"" and the apparent departure from ordinarily accepted relations of oil accumulation to structure. A detailed study of the position and characteristics of the oil- and gas-producing zones aids production procedure. The methods employed in studying the Eunice field, discussed in this paper, may be applicable to other limestone-type reservoirs."

Jul 1, 1939

By D. Harrington

The Bureau of Mines was created in 1910 largely to determine methods of preventing coal-mine explosions; the Bureau's studies have proved that coal dust, except possibly that of some grates of anthracite, can initiate an explosion in the absence of gas and that its ability to extend or propagate an explosion of either gas or dust has been responsible for nearly all of the widespread explosions that have taken place in bituminous and other nonanthracite mines in the United States in the present century. It is believed by many persons that all atmospheric dusts may be harmful if breathed in large enough quantities for long enough time; bituminous coal dust is generally considered to be essentially harmless physiologically, yet there is abundant evidence of definite damage from inhalation of bituminous dust mixed or unmixed with the dust of other materials. Attention un¬questionably should be given to allaying dust in bituminous mines, especially at principal dust-producing sources. This publication enumerates some of the sources of dust and describes practical methods of employing water as one of the most effective of the known methods to allay dust in bituminous mines.

Jan 1, 1938

By W. W. Adams

Three hundred and twenty-eight mines and quarries, representing 36 States, took part in the twelfth yearly accident-prevention contest conducted by the United States Bureau of Mines and known as the National Safety Competition. Four underground mines and one open-cut mine (which represents the quarry and open-cut mine group), each the leader in its group, were awarded the ?Sentinels of Safety? trophy. Relative standing in the contest" was determined by the number of days lost from accidents in proportion to the total number of man-hours worked. Since 1925, when the National Safety Competition was inaugurated, an increasing interest has been taken in it by mining and quarrying companies as a means of stimulating mine and quarry safety by competition among similar plants. Each participating plant can, on a basis of its standing and record in the contest, determine to what extent its safety program is succeeding or to what extent it needs strengthening. With this information, each company that has a low standing in the contest can intensify its safety-promotion efforts the following year to obtain a lower rate and possibly win the trophy or achieve honorable mention in the competition. Except for 1929, the National Safety Competition of 1936 represented more man-hours of employment than any other year since the yearly contests began.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. E. Young, D. T. Delicate

This study was made to present the mining methods and costs of a uranium mine typical of other mines in the highly productive Westwater Canyon member of the Morrison formation in New Mexico. Four mining methods have been used at the Section 23 mine: the retreat- room-and-pillar method, a sublevel-slicing method (also called top-slicing), the horizontal-cut-and-fill method, and a modification of the ring-drill method. The application of the methods at this mine and at other mines in the area should be of benefit to operators with similar problems. Ore bodies in the Section 23 mine are irregularly shaped and vary in size, in rock strength, in moisture content, and in uranium concentrations; different mining methods are required and mining costs are not constant. A 6-month period of operation at the Section 23 mine was analyzed and mining costs, not including amortization, depreciation, or Federal taxes, averaged about $6.80 per ton.

Nov 1, 1963

By Joseph A. Cavallaro

This report describes the timed release analysis technique that was developed to serve as a tool for assessing the froth flotation cleaning potentials of fine-size coals. Using this developed technique, 16 coals from 10 different coalbeds were tested. All of the coals included in this study were quite amenable to froth flotation with float coal yields ranging from 80.7 to 99.5 percentage points. Float-and-sink analyses of the coals tested are shown to be of limited value in predicting froth flotation cleaning potential. Generally the float-and-sink analyses indicated a better product could be obtained than froth flotation could provide; although, in four of the coals tested froth flotation results were superior to those expected from the gravimetric analysis. The fixed carbon content of the samples collected was found to correlate with the floatability of the coals. The higher rank coals were the most readily floatable coals while the lower rank coals did not respond quite as well to flotation.

Jan 1, 1965

By M. C. Irani

This study is a survey of supply and demand for minerals, metals, alloys, and compounds used by the chemical industries in the Ohio River Basin (ORB) area of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia during 1967. Data for the study were obtained from completed questionnaires received from chemical manufacturers and from interviews with officials of chemical companies and mineral producers and distributors. The information includes kind, quality, quantity, values, sources, specifications, uses, and methods of transportation. Results of the study show that of the total value of mineral materials consumed by the chemical industry, manufacture of inorganic chemicals consumed 46 percent; fertilizers, 22 percent; and soaps and detergents, 19 percent. Fifteen commodities accounted for 91 percent of the total value of mineral materials consumed. Five of these--phosphates, potash, salt, sulfur, and titanium dioxide--accounted for 59 percent of the total.

Jan 1, 1970