Search Documents

By R. L. Slobod, C. Gatlin

This .study defines the basic mechanism of the mis-cible displacerrzent of oil and writer from porous Medici by various water-driven alcohol .slugs. Three distinct alcohol slug processes were .studied. Considerable data concerning the quanity of alcohol required for oil recovery were also obtained. All data were obtained in a 1-in. diameter, 100-ft long, unconsolidated core. The porosity of this system was 35 per cent. and the permeability was approxitrlately 4 darcies. Total core pore volume wax 5,716 cc. All displacements were conducted at a constant injection rate of 5 to 6 cc//min, which corresponds to a frontal advance of 5 ro 6 ft/hr. The first portion of this paper is concerned with 111 use of one alcohol—isopropyl—a\. the slug material. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is completely miscible with both oil rind water; however, miscibility of the threc-component systems, oil-water-IPA, requires a relutively. high concentration of IPA. Hence, the displocement is not of the misoible type unless the IPA concentration is maintained above some critical value. A slug of IPA equal to only 13.5 per cent of the pore volume was jound to be sufficient to obtain complete recover?, of residua1 naphtha. In later studies two distinct process variations were developed. The firsr of these utilized methyl alcohol (MA) and IPA as slug materials. It was shown that methyl alcohol may he substituted for IPA at the front and rear of the slug with no loss of oil recovery. A .slug of 4 per cent MA-4 per cent IPA-4 per cent MA was sufficient for complere oil recovery. Because MA is considerably cheaper than IPA, this represents an important step toward economic application. A .second process variation used normal butyl alcohol (nBA) and MA as the composite slug, the nBA segnzent being injected first. This technique requires the smallest total slug size (approximately 10 per cent) of all processes studied. The high cost of nBA, however, precludes commercial application. It is possible that this basic process, subject to changes of alcohol type, may lead to a commrercicil process. INTRODUCTION Within the last 10 years, considerable study has been devoted to the general mechanics of miscible phase dis- placements in porous media. These studies have. in general, dealt with two-component displacernent. All reported field trials to date have been modified gas drives of one type or another. These utilize either lean gas at high pressure, rich gas at lower pressure or an LPG slug. The irreducible water content of the reservoir remains immobile during these processes. Although these techniques hold great promise. certain drawbacks do exist. Poor areal sweep efficiency, inherent in any displacement having a highly unfavorable mobility ratio, is one disadvantage. Furthermore, the miscibility of all processes which use gas is dependent on pressure. These pressure limitations may prohibit application to shallow reservoirs. There are also many areas where large quantities of LPG and natural gas are not readily available. These factors emphasize the need for improved techniques. The alcohol slug process is also a miscible-phase displacement process. It differs from the previously mentioned two-component techniques, however, in that both the reservoir oil and water are displaced by the slug. This behavior is a consequence of the miscibility of certain oil-water-alcohol systems. In the simplest case, a relatively small volume (slug) of an alcohol (such as isopropyl) is injected into the system. Water is then used to drive the slug through the medium. Thus. three components—-alcohol. oil and connate water-—exist at the front side of the slug. Miscibility is obtained at some alcohol concentration, this being dependent on the solubility of the particular system. Miscibility is maintained within the slug until the alcohol concentration falls below that value required to maintain miscibility. When miscibility is lost, the process reverts to a water flood. Certain inherent benefits of this technique are apparent. High pressures are not necessary to obtain miscibility in these liquid systems. Furthermore, water is a more desirable driving agent than gas because of the improved mobility ratio and the attendant improvement in areal sweep efficiency. The main disadvantage is, of course, the relatively high cost of alcohols. The use of an alcohol slug to recover reservoir oil is not a new idea." ' However, this process has received only limited study, presumably due to the lack of industrial interest caused by the seemingly prohibitive cost of alcohols. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of the displacement of oil and water by various alcohol slugs and to develop process modifications aimed toward possible commercial application.

By W. O. Philbrook, A. E. El-Mehairy

The reduction by hydrogen of individual particles of dense hematite implanted in beds of inert spheres is controlled by single-particle kinetics. No evidence of reagent starvation was found down to low flow rates established by pressure gradients as low as 0.01 in. H2O per- in. of depth in beds of spheres as small as 3/16 in. diam. The optimum size for most rapid reduction of beds of homogeneous ores results from the effect on reducing potential of the gas of competing factors of supply and consumption. A recent publication1 presented the results of a study of the rate of reduction of iron ore in a fixed bed by hydrogen introduced at constant pressure differential. Under these conditions the reagent flow rate varied directly with the bed permeability, which was a function of particle size and shape and bed voidage, and inversely with the temperature-dependent viscosity of the gas. The present note adds data from supplementary experiments designed to reveal whether or not any partial reagent starvation arising from a flow-dependent transport resistance in the gas phase might have been operative. Kinetic studies were made of the reduction of individual spheres of iron oxide inserted into beds of inert spheres, so that the reagent flow rate and aerodynamic conditions were again determined by bed characteristics and temperature. The experimental techniques and apparatus were similar to those previously described.' The synthetic iron ore spheres were wet-rolled by hand from powdered, reagent-grade* Fe2O3 and subsequently dried and then fired in air at 1250°C. The indurated pellets has almost no porosity as indicated by their specific gravity of 5.10. The beds were made of dense alumina spheres, closely sized to the same dimension as the iron oxide spheres, in the following diameters: 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 in. Each bed was hand-packed of particles of a single size to a controlled voidage of 0.32 and depth of 3 in. within a capsule having an internal diameter at least 10 times the particle diameter. A few weighed iron oxide spheres were individually planted in the central plane of the bed of inert spheres at points away from the wall. Reduction was carried out at atmospheric pressure by purified hydrogen at 670°, 800°, and 985°c. The reagent was supplied at precisely controlled pressure differentials of 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 in. of water per in. of bed depth. This gave a range of flow rates similar to that used in the study of beds of ore and comparable with blast-furnace practice in terms of mols of reducing gas per hr per sq ft of cross-section. Viscous flow prevailed in all beds under the experimental conditions of this study. The reduced particles were checked for loss in weight and then sectioned for metallographic examination. Occasional particles were found to have contained minute internal cracks that interfered with the concentricity of the reduction interfaces, and data for such particles were rejected. An experimental rate constant for the reduction of the imbedded Fe2O3 spheres was calculated on the assumption that the rate was proportional to the metal-oxide interface area by an equation that has been found by McKewan2 to describe the reduction of single spheres

Jan 1, 1962

By M. Muskat, R. D. Wyckoff

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

Jan 1, 1934

By J. Philip Neal, Carroll P. Rogers

Feldspars, the most abundant minerals of the igneous rocks, occur in numerous forms and mixtures. The feldspars of commercial significance are found in widely distributed pegmatites as large crystals usually free of iron- bearing impurities and thus suitable for hand-cobbing, and also in larger bodies where the ore contains various types of feldspar inter- mingled with quartz and relatively free of iron- bearing impurities, or at least readily unlocked from impurities present at relatively coarse mesh. The latter type of ore includes some pegmatites, and the ''alaskite" bodies so common in the Spruce Pine district of North Carolina. On the west coast of the U.S. and in Oklahoma there is-r has been--commercial recovery of natural feldspathic sand as a source of alumina in glass and ceramics. "Aplite" in commercial terminology is a light-colored igneous rock with a granitic composition and a fine sugary texture, often banded with readily removable iron impurities. Two areas in Virginia produce aplite for the glass industry: one located in the vicinity of Piney River, Amherst County, and the other near Montpelier in Hanover County. According to Deer et al. (1966) the word feldspar derives from the Swedish feldt or falt (field) and "spath:" chunks of rock appearing in tilled ground overlying granite. Castle and Gillson (1960) indicate a Germanic origin, citing "spat," which is said to refer to any transparent or translucent material which is readily cleavable. The term "spar" has in the past been applied to minerals other than feld- spar, such as barite, calcite, and fluorite. It is correct to call the latter "fluorspar." There is a true barium feldspar, but it is rare and of no present economic importance. What is recognized as feldspar or "spar" by present producers and consumers consists of three silicate minerals which, if pure, would have the formu- las KAISi,O, (microcline or orthoclase), NaAlSi,O, (albite), and CaAl,Si,O, (anorthite). These are almost never found in pure form in nature, but occur together in great abundance in a three-component system. A considerable number of different combined ratios of these three exists, with the exception that isomorphism between potassium spar and calcium spar is very limited. User specifications for feldspar products are largely built around the prevalent naturally occurring ratios. Pas- sages following will refer to "K-spar," "Na- spar," or "Ca-spar." Nomenclature and Descriptive Terms Relating to both the mineralogy and the economics of feldspar are certain terms whose coverage it is useful to specify. Commercially, aplite is a feldspathic rock mined and beneficiated in two locations in Virginia, in which both titanium and feldspar minerals are present-the latter now being the major, if not the only, economic product. Technically, the term aplite when applied to this rock is of questionable accuracy. But, in light of accepted commercial usage, the term will be here used to designate it. Regarding the Virginia rock, Ross (1941) is cited.

Jan 1, 1975

By L. J. Buteau, R. E. Reed-Hill, W. A. Slippy

In a zirconium {1121} twins tend to have coherelzt boundaries and thus do not usually taper to a point when they intersect a grain boundary. Under the proper conditions, a (1121) twin may deform a boundary in such a manner as to clearly rcveal the twinning shear. Measurements of these grain-bounrlary rotatzons yield a value of 0.63 for the (1151) twinning shear. The magnitude of the observed shear and its shear sense are in excellent agreement with the assumption that the second undis-torted plme (K2) for this form of twinning is the basal plane (0002). The present value of the tzvinninz shear, which is approximately three limes larger than Rapperport&apos;s value? is in excellent agreement with reported results of Sokuskii and Prolsenko.5 RECENTLY westlake&apos; reported a study of the twinning modes of zirconium based on ~ap~er~ort&apos;s2 values for the twinning elements. He observed that two of the modes, (1012) and {1122), can be explained by relatively simple dislocation models. A workable model for (1121) twinning, however, proved to be very complex and questionable. Because Rapperport&apos;s second undistorted plane, (K2), for (1121) twinning has large indices, {ll2l6), it is possible that the difficulty in defining a model for (1121) twinning lies in an incorrect value for K2. A measurement of this twinning element has therefore been made, using a method based on observations of the shear displacement of grain boundaries at positions where they are intersected by (1121) twins. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES The zirconium specimens were deformed in tension on an Instron machine either at the temperature of liquid nitrogen (77ºK), or prestrained at liquid nitrogen temperature and then further deformed at room temperature. Straining at 77°K was employed in order to nucleate (1 121) twins in large numbers, since simple ropm-temperature tensile deformation favors (1012) twinning. Specimens were machined from 1/2-in.-thick plate. The material was arc-melted sponge zirconium annealed to an ASTM grain size 4 and containing, in parts per million, 380 Fe, 880 0, <40 Hf, 32 N, and < 5 H. The specimen gage length and diameter were 1.25 and 0.130 in., respectively. To insure a gage section initially free of twins, the last 60 thousandths of the specimen diameter was removed by acid machining.

Jan 1, 1963

By Caner Zanbak

Deformational behavior of a rock mass can be modeled with a constitutive law based on theories of elasticity, and plastic and viscous deformation. For most rock types, such constitutive models may be used with confidence because there is no geochemical interaction between the rock-forming minerals and water. However, if volume changes in the rock due to geochemical phase transitions are predicted, then these volume changes must be converted into mechanical parameters and must be included into the constitutive laws. In this paper, geochemical phase transitions between anhydrite (CaS04) and gypsum (CaS04-2H20) will be brought to the attention of researchers in rock mechanics. Hydration of anhydrite to gypsum may yield volume increases up to 62.6 percent and dehydration of gypsum to anhydrite may cause volume decreases up to 38.5 percent. If one were to convert the volume increases in hydrating anhydrite into strains and calculates the required stresses to restrict the expansions, the magnitude of stresses will be found at GPa levels. Such stresses on swelling anhydrite layers cannot be provided by geologic media. Therefore, the host rocks will deform under these high stresses. On the other hand, under increasing stresses, geochemical transition of anhydrite to gypsum may stop after some hydration of anhydrite, and anhydrite and gypsum systems may become stable. Changes in temperature and solution compositions in the anhydritel gypsum system also control the stability of the geochemical system, and therefore, the extent of volume changes. A similar conceptual model can be drawn for volume decreases due to dehydration of gypsum to anhydrite. In this case, stress reduction on the gypsum layer may cause extensive fracturing and changes in the state of stress in the host rock mass.

Jan 1, 1984

By Carle R. Hayward

LEAD ore smelting plants have been operating in general at reduced capacities and secondary lead has assumed relatively more importance during the last year. Present smelting practice results in a large amount of dross, often over 25 per -cent, from blast-furnace lead. This is usually treated at a fairly high temperature in a reverberatory furnace to remove part of the lead and produce a matte-speiss product which is shipped to a copper plant. Few smelters are satisfied with this &apos;treatment. The fume losses are high and the matte-speiss contains considerable lead. It would seem that a fruitful field for research was open here.

Jan 1, 1934

By M. E. Wadsworth, I. B. Cutler

Coprecipitation of anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes has been applied to floccula-tion of several mineral systems. Results obtained in a study of the flocculation of kaolinite and hematite suspensions of polycationic and polyanionic electrolytes are presented. Greatly increased settling rates were observed following precipitation of positive and negative polyelectrolytes on the surface of finely divided minerals in aqueous suspension. The ratios of polycationic to polyanionic electrolytes required to produce maximum sedimentation have been shown to correspond closely with the equivalence points obtained by light scattering studies of systems containing the positive and negative polyelectrolytes by themselves. DISPERSION of colloids has been of interest to surface chemists for many years. Flocculation studies have been employed to evaluate the limits of colloid stability. In water suspensions, colloids become unstable and flocculate when the ( potential, the potential of the kinetic solvation sheath, falls to a value at which van der Waals forces may act to draw the particles together. This may happen through an adjustment of the pH of the suspension or by addition of a salt. Optimum conditions for rapid formation of large flocs are found in the region of minimum ( potential. In addition to these well known considerations, colloids in water suspensions are known to be flocculated by certain large organic macromolecules. These polyelectrolytes in some cases minimize the i potential and in other instances increase the attractive forces by supplying sites for hydrogen bonding.&apos; Use of organic polyelectrolytes in flocculation of mineral colloids has increased rapidly in recent years. These materials are now recognized as indispensable aids to fluid-solid separations in many extractive metallurgical operations. They have been found to increase both the settling rate in thickeners and the filtration rate of filters. In the elucidation of the characteristics of these organic reagents as floc-culants in this laboratory, it was discovered that interaction of certain polyelectrolytes had a surprisingly good effect on flocculation of mineral colloids. Experimental Procedure: The anionic flocculants used in this study were Lytron 886 and 887, produced by Monsanto Chemical Co. Both reagents are copolymers of vinyl acetate and maleic anhydride. Lime is added to Lytron 886, whereas Lytron 887 is all organic. These reagents possess two carboxyl groups for each acetate group and are therefore anionic in character. The cationic reagents used were the Peter Cooper Co. 1-X and 2-X glues. The structures are not definitely known, but the re- agents are amines and are cationic in character. The glues were prepared in the chrome-alum form. Both types of reagents may be classified as polyelectrolytes in that they are high molecular weight polymers and ionize in water. All data presented are in terms of sedimentation rate, measured in 250-ml glass-stoppered graduated cylinders. With suitable precautions such measurements are fairly reproducible and provide a sensitive means for selecting important parameters such as pH, reagent concentration, and floc size and density.2 Agitation was standardized with five complete end over end cycles of the suspensions in the stoppered graduated cylinders.

Jan 1, 1957

By Carl Zapffe

JUST as 85 per cent of the total ore produced annually in the United States comes from the Lake Superior region, so does one of its six producing districts-the Mesabi --dominate that region both as to production and total reserves; also in ore Treatment, Mesabi practice is dominant. Therefore, in discussing future reserves or ore treatment one may visualize one big district with five smaller districts as so many satellites. In considering the future less thought need be given to processes than to, economic policies. For thirty years experimental work has now been in progress and every possible ore-treatment process now known has been given attention. This work was started when there was no recognizable danger of running short of ore because of rapid consumption. Thirty years ago the annual production had just progressed beyond the twenty-million bracket for the first time. Today fifty million tons is considered a small production, and last year the aim was for 65 million. At the recent rate of production the life of the estimated reserves of good ore is about 35 years. All who know the local terrain are convinced that, unlike thirty years ago, the chances for discoveries of new big deposits are nil; treatment of lean ores obviously is to become an all-important topic.

Jan 1, 1938

By Wallace Thorneycroft

FOREWORD This paper by Mr. Thorneycroft, Past President of the Institution of Mining Engineers (Great Britain), and chairman of its Subsidence Committee, is a valuable contribution to the assemblage of data on ground movement and subsidence from coal mining. It deals with the effects of advancing longwall, a method almost universal in Europe but as vet little used in the United States outside of Northern Illinois and in a few scattered places elsewhere, in thin coal beds, as in the Lexington field, Missouri, Canon City field, Colorado, and the Birmingham field, Alabama. Although by advancing- longwall, a maximum recovery of coal is obtained and it has to be employed where there are weak shale roofs, especially in deep mines, it is a more expensive method of operation unless the mining conditions are favorable, which is unusual in the United States. On the other hand, there is a growing use in this country of what is essentially retreating long wall, with an approximately straight break-line as described by Rayburn.1 With this method, in which the pillars are substantial, it was shown that the ground movement effect is practically identical with that of advancing longwall, hence the value to mining engineers of the precise data given by Mr. Thorneycroft. His study is unusual in several respects; it deals with conditions connected with ,the mining of a coal bed 20 in. thick, about 490 ft. below the surface, over a mined-out area in a 5-ft. bed about 90 ft. below, which had been mined about 12 years earlier. Both mines passed under Plean House, a building of massive cut stone construction built over a century ago, in which Mr: Thorneycroft resided throughout the under-mining period. Slight cracks opened in the walls as the longwall face approached the house in mining the upper seam, and closed after the face passed and subsidence took place. In the northwest wall, the last wall the face passed under, some stone blocks were broken, which was attributed to a strike period when the advance of face came nearly to a standstill. Other than this there was no perceptible permanent damage, as indicated by the photographs taken by the undersigned in 1923 (Figs. 1 and 2). Mr. Thorneycroft used a novel means of studying the successive positions of the corners of the building: he hung plumb bobs from the eaves and traced the paths of the respective plumb bob points on level surfaces. The angles made by the house walls with the plumb bob lines gave measures of the slope of the subsidence wave at the respective points. A slight upward wave was indicated by the surveys ahead of the subsidence, which would appear to be due to a tilting over of the massive sandstone stratum in the roof measures near the surface, the edge of the subsidence area acting as the fulcrum.

Jan 1, 1931

By Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer

IN recent years considerable interest has been shown in surface-alloyed metals, particularly those of chromium (chromized steels), which have excellent corrosion [ ] resistance under a variety of severe conditions, and may undergo bending and flanging operations without spalling. An early method1 employed to produce a high-chromium case on steel was developed by Kelley in 1921. It consisted of heating a low-carbon steel in intimate contact with powdered chromium in the presence of hydrogen at temperatures sufficiently high to permit diffusion of chromium into the steel. The usefulness of this process was limited because the extremely high temperatures of 1200° to 1400°C. (2200° to 2550°°F,) caused excessive grain growth and warpage, Louenstein and Ulmer2 packed iron castings in ferrochromium and com- [ ] mon salt, and heated for approximately three hours at 930° to 1040°C. (1700° to 1900°F,). A recent and more practical method of depositing chromium on steel surfaces has been developed in Germany by Daeves, Becker and Steinberg3-8 and in Russia by Izgaryshev and Sarkisov.9 This process consists of passing gaseous chromium chloride over the steel to be chromized at temperatures of 900° to 1000°C., or packing them in a porous, ceramic material that previously had been saturated with chromium chloride. They reported obtaining a chromized layer, 0.004 in, thick, on low-carbon steels. Later, Daeves4 established a relationship between the carbon content

Jan 1, 1942

By Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer

IN recent years considerable interest has been shown in surface-alloyed metals, particularly those of chromium (chromized steels), which have excellent corrosion [ ] resistance under a variety of severe conditions, and may undergo bending and flanging operations without spalling. An early method&apos; employed to produce a high-chromium case on steel was developed by Kelley in 1921. It consisted of heating a low-carbon steel in intimate contact with powdered chromium in the presence of hydrogen at temperatures sufficiently high to permit diffusion of chromium into the steel. The usefulness of this process was limited because the extremely high temperatures of 1200° to 1400°C. (2200° to 2550 F.) caused excessive grain growth and warpage. Louenstein and Ulmer2 packed iron castings in ferrochromium and com- [ ] mon salt, and heated for approximately three hours at 930° to 1040°C. (1700° to 1900°F.). A recent and more practical method of depositing chromium on steel surfaces has been developed in Germany by Daeves, Becker and Steinberg3-8 and in Russia by Izgaryshev and Sarkisov.9 This process consists of passing gaseous chromium chloride over the steel to be chromized at temperatures of 900° to 1000°C., or packing them in a porous, ceramic material that previously had been saturated with chromium chloride. They reported obtaining a chromized layer, 0.004 in. thick, on low-carbon steels. Later, Daeves4 established a relationship between the carbon content

Jan 1, 1942

By Kent W. Pilz

Wet dust suppression can be achieved by 1) confinement of the dust within the dust producing area with a curtain of moisture, 2) wetting of the dust by direct contact between the particles and droplets of moisture or 3) the formation of agglomerates too heavy to remain airborne, or too heavy to become airborne, by combining small dust particles with each other and with the droplets of liquid. From the standpoint of economy, availability and safety, water is the ideal fluid; however, it is not as effective for dust suppression as when small percentages of specially formulated dust control compounds are blended with it. Performance of dust control com pounds is related to surface active agents and surface activity. In all liquids there is an attractive force between molecules which varies inversely as the sixth power of the distance between molecules. Thus, in the liquid phase where molecules are crowded together, the intermolecular forces are powerful; whereas in the liquid-vapor phase where the molecules are relatively far apart, these forces diminish rapidly. In the body of a fluid there is an uneven distribution of forces resulting in an inward pull called surface tension. The force which keeps two surfaces apart or causes them to coalesce is termed interfacial tension. Fluids of high surface tension exhibit poor wetting, spreading and penetrating qualities. Water has the unusually high surface tension of 72.75 dynes per cm at 20°C.

Jan 7, 1972

By J. A. SINGMASTERN

THE New Jersey Zinc Co.&apos;s vertical retort plants are believed to have been in continuous operation through the whole year. At Palmerton metal purer than that made from the same ore in the old plant has been produced and has been able to compete successfully with very pure electrolytic metal in die castings and other special uses where extreme purity is worth money. A new plant using this process was put in production by the Grasselli Chemical Co. at Meadowbrook, W. Va., early in the summer. It is said to be working very satisfactorily. It is understood that this plant will not produce high-grade metal. Two patents issued to Bunce and Mahler (Nos. 1,749,126 and 1,749,127) describe a method of operating the vertical retort so that practically lead-free metal can be obtained from ores containing consider- able lead. The zinc vapors and other gases leaving the reaction zone are filtered through a column of material maintained at a temperature high enough to prevent much zinc from condensing. The filtering medium is either periodically or continuously changed.

Jan 1, 1931

By J. R. Linney

THE Eastern magnetite industry has not failed in its contribution to the war program during the past year. Man-power shortage was the critical problem in maintaining production and for the last half of the year, owing to lack of man power, it was necessary for some mines to change from seven to six days per week schedule. At Cornwall, Pa., the mine operated by the Bethlehem Steel Co. produced approximately 2,000,000 tons of crude ore and 1,200,000 tons of iron ore concentrates, a decrease of about 10 per-cent compared with the previous year. Railroad haulage in the open-pit at this mine was discontinued, being replaced by Mack trucks of approximately 30 tons&apos; capacity. At the Mt. Hope mine in New Jersey, the Warren Foundry and Pipe Corp. produced about 195,000 long tons of crude ore obtaining 70.000 long tons of lump ore and 35,800 long tons of concentrates. An additional 24,500 long tons of concentrates was produced from a stock pile of 47.000 long tons of crude ore accumulated during the latter half of 1943, following the fire in their old dry mill. All of this material was handled through their Brown

Jan 1, 1945

By Wilson Lundy

THE history of the production of sulfur from salt domes in Louisiana and Texas originated with the operations of the Union Sulphur Co. at Sulphur, La., followed by the Freeport Sulphur Co. at Bryanmound, Tex. Including the present development of Grande Ecaille by the Free-port Sulphur Co., which constitutes the tenth dome to be equipped for the production of sulfur in the Gulf Coast, less than 10 per cent of all the known domes have proved to contain sulfur in commercial quantities. The Grande Ecaille salt dome is in the tidal marsh of the Mississippi River delta in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. It is 10 miles southwest of the right descending bank of the river approximately 45 miles below the city of New Orleans and is within 4 miles of the shore line of the Gulf of Mexico.

Jan 1, 1934

By J. E. Papin

MORENCI ores contain as an average about 0.015 pct molybdenite, MoS2. Incidental to the concentrating operations applied for the recovery of copper minerals, approximately two-thirds of the molybdenite is floated and appears in the final copper concentrate. The economic importance of molybdenum and the success achieved in its recovery in milling operations elsewhere encouraged research directed toward its recovery in marketable form. Several procedures are utilized to effect separation of molybdenite from copper and iron sulphides, but only two have wide application. In the better known of these two methods the molybdenite in the copper concentrate is depressed in a flotation operation using soluble starch as the depressant. The tailing from this treatment thus becomes a low-grade molybdenite concentrate which after thickening, filtering, and low temperature roasting is repulped with water and subjected to additional flotation steps for recovery of the molybdenite. A thio-phos-phate collecting agent is employed in flotation of the copper minerals. Presumably the stability and lasting effects of that collector type necessitated the practice of depressing molybdenite followed by subsequent roasting to insure elimination of copper and iron sulphides from final molybdenite concentrate. The second important method of recovery is applied at various southwestern plants. In those plants xanthates are in use as copper collecting agents. It has been found that xanthates are relatively unstable and their collecting power for sulphides is destroyed by very simple procedures. The method generally applied is to subject the xanthate-acti-vated concentrate, in the form of a pulp, to prolonged heating using steam as the heating medium. A concentrate thus treated may then be subjected to a flotation operation for recovery of the molybdenite, using mineral oil collecting agents, and the copper and iron sulphides will be depressed. Neither of the above processes was applicable to Morenci concentrates. Morenci uses a thio-phos-phate collecting agent in its flotation operation. However, it was established that soluble starch was not a depressant for Morenci molybdenite; therefore the first step in that process was not applicable. AS would be expected the copper and iron sulphides in Morenci concentrates could not be depressed by the heating methods used on xanthate activated concentrates. Low-temperature roasting did eliminate the effects of the thio-phosphate but had to be rejected as uneconomic in as much as the tonnage of concentrates involved was too great. Preliminary research having established the above facts, it became obvious that new methods would have to be developed for the recovery of molybdenite from Morenci concentrates. A broad laboratory investigation was initiated along two general lines, both directed toward depression of copper and iron sulphides. One approach was through the use of water-soluble oxidizing agents with the objective of destroying the thio-phosphate in the concentrate and thus eliminating its collector effect. The other approach involved the use of soluble sulphides, which have long been recognized as sulphide depressants. These efforts resulted in laboratory processes which showed promise. Research was then extended to a pilot plant having a daily capacity of several tons of concentrate. This operation soon demonstrated that soluble sulphide—basically sodium polysulphide—when applied to a pulp made slightly acid with sulphuric acid, proved to be the most effective sulphide depressant. The rate of concentrate treatment in this plant and the low molybdenite content of the concentrate prevented carrying the process to a conclusion, namely, production of molybdenite concentrate of marketable grade. Laboratory treatment of pilot plant concentrate indicated that a marketable product could be made from it, given a tonnage suited to available cleaner flotation machine capacity. Accordingly, the molybdenite plant was enlarged to permit treatment of the total copper concentrate from the extension plant, maximum of approximately 800 tons per day. In the enlarged plant a major difficulty was encountered. No criteria could be established as a basis for control of the process. In the early stages of flotation, because of the small amount of molybdenite involved, there was no visual evidence of the relative floatability of molybdenite with respect to

Jan 1, 1956

By J. T. Pardee

INTRODUCTION PLACER is a Spanish word, the definitions of which include "an extensive bank of sand or gravel" and "a place where currents of water deposit particles of gold."l The term, probably first used in the western hemisphere by Spanish or Mexican gold miners, is now generally applied to all detrital deposits that yield valuable minerals by washing. In the Western States placer products other than gold, including the silver alloyed with it, are chiefly sapphires, produced in Montana, and platinum alloys recovered in California and Oregon. During the war tungsten ore (scheelite) was obtained from placers in the Atolia district, California, and a number of diamonds have been found in the Sierra Nevada gold belt. Small amounts of stream tin have been produced in the Black Hills of South Dakota and a little monazite sand in the Boise Basin. Idaho. Magnetite, chromite, ilmenite, zircon, and other useful minerals are more or less abundant in the beach placers of the Pacific coast and in the heavy residues of placer mining elsewhere, but the problems of profitably separating and marketing them remain to be solved. Minerals of lead, quicksilver and other metals occur in many of the placers and although not plentiful enough as a rule to be worth recover-ng, their presence has, in several instances, led to the discovery of valuable lodes, notably at Leadville, Colorado. Historical summary.-In New Mesico, Arizona, and Southern California, placer gold was mined by Mexicans and Spanish priests in the first half of the 19th century or earlier. With these exceptions history of placer mining in the Western States begins with Marshall&apos;s discovery of gold in northern California in 1848. During the next twenty years placers were found in all of the principal mining districts that are known today. The richer deposits were soon mined out but a relatively large production was maintained from the leaner deposits chiefly by hydraulic

Jan 1, 1933

By C. A. Hartnagel

During- the past 10 years the annual production of petroleum in New York has averaged close to 5,000,000 bbl., the total for the period being 49,881,000 bbl. In 6 of the 10 years, the production was slightly in excess of the 5,000,000 mark. The 1944 production of 4,697,000 bbl. represents a 7 per cent decline from the previous year. Of the total 1944 output, the Allegany County district, which includes two small areas of Steuben County, contributcd 3,614,065 bbl., a decline of 5 per cent from 1943, and the contribution of Cattaraugus County, which represents the northern extension of the Bradford pool of Pennsylvania into New York was 1,082,935 bbl., a decline of more than 14 per cent. Since March 1942, the posted price of New York crude oil has remained at $3.00 per bbl. On lug. I, 1944, a Federal subsidy of 75¢ per bbl. was granted to oil producers, thus making the price actually $3.75 per bbl. Since all of the oil produced in New York comes under the designation "stripper well operations," it is entitled to the Federal subsidy. During the last few years there has been little change in the number of wells drilled annually. In the Allegany field, which accounts for three fourths of the oil produced in the state, 1240 wells, including water-intake wells, were drilled during 1944 as compared with 1223 in 1943. There was no marked increase in the number of wells drilled after granting the subsidy of 75¢ per bbl. of oil on Aug. I, the increase being but 14 wells during the last half of the year over the preceding six months. In flooding operations it is not to be expected that even a substantial increase in the price of crude oil will be reflected quickly in an increase of the number of wells drilled or in a marked increase in production of crude oil. In flooded areas, oil is obtained through a program extending over a number of years. This program involves the drilling of the water or input pressure wells, drilling of the oil wells, building up the oil flood to maximum production, and finally the watering out of the well when the amount of oil produced in proportion to the water becomes so small that pumping is no longer profitable. The various operations may extend over a period of 10 years or more, during which time the price of crude may have fluctuated greatly. Although the rate of production can be controlled to a limited extent, it is evident that a flood when once begun must be continued regardless of the price of crude. During the past seven years New York crude has had a price range from $1.68 per bbl. in 1938 to the present price of $3.75 per barrel The field pattern now in general use for wells in a flood project is the "five-spot." Under this arrangement, the lease is divided into squares with a water well at each corner and an oil well in the center. In the all-over pattern of the lease each oil well is acted upon by four water wells and each water well supplies part of the pressure to four oil wells. Spacing between the input water wells and the oil wells usually varies from zoo to 225 ft. or, on an acre basis, there is one oil well and one water well for each 2 1/2 acres. In recent years there has been a tendency to increase

Jan 1, 1945

By P. D. Southgate

VIBRATION, both ultrasonic and sonic, can affect the course of a variety of metallurgical processes. Reports of work on this subject have appeared at intervals over the last twenty years and a thorough review has been made by Hiedemann,&apos; who gives a full list of references. It has been established that both refinement of structure and outgassing of the melt can be produced in most metals with sufficiently intense vibration. Many of the experiments in this field have been carried out using alloys of direct commercial interest in production- type casting equipment. Here a different approach is adopted, and simple binary alloys which exhibit different types of structure are used to facilitate examination of the effects produced under well-controlled conditions. Results from this kind of experiment should enable the basis of larger scale experiments with similar types of materials to be better substantiated. The alloys selected for this work are: 1) aluminum of 99.2 pct purity, the principal impurity being iron, near 0.4 pct; 2) A1-1.8 pct Fe, which is near eutectic composition; 3) A1-4 pct Fe—the second phase, of composition FeAl3, forms distinct acicular crystals; and 4) A1-12 pct Si—although this is of eutectic composition, the silicon normally appears in the form of large plates. Experimental Method There are three practicable methods by which acoustic vibration can be transferred to liquid metals: a) vibration of the whole of the container; b) electromagnetic induction; and c) insertion of a vibrating probe into the liquid. Method c is chosen here, and a frequency of 8 kc per sec is used. The end of the probe is electrically heated so that the metal near it will be the last to solidify. This ensures that vibration is transmitted directly to the liquid metal without passing through any solidifying and pasty intermediate region, which would attenuate acoustic waves severely. In addition, the heating prevents solid metal adhering to the probe, with consequent detuning. The transducer assembly is shown in Fig. 1. A stack of Permendur laminations 30 cm long acts as a half-wave vibrator and a winding along its length carries polarizing and energizing currents. It is joined by a half-wave coupling bar to a mild steel exponential horn, which tapers from 3.8 to 1.1 cm diam. A stainless steel stub 3 cm in length is welded on the free end. The assembly is supported by a plate located at the node of the coupling bar. Acoustic radiation losses are minimized by allowing the free end of the transducer to protrude above the surface of the cooling water. The exponential horn serves the function of matching the acoustic output impedance of the transducer to the radiation resistance of the probe into the melt. Electrical drive is provided by a 1 kw generator. Measurements of probe vibration amplitude during melt treatment are obtained from a gramophone pick-up with the needle attached to the wide end of the horn. This device is calibrated with a microscope before use. Liquid aluminum is very actively erosive and solution of materials with which the molten metal comes into contactcauses difficulties. Erosion of the probes in particular can be severe since it is greatly accelerated by the vibration. Tests of various acous-

Jan 1, 1958