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By T. S. Washburn

THE grades of commercial steel produced in large quantities can be divided into two general types from the standpoint of ingot structure-killed and rimmed. Killed steel covers a wide variety with carbon contents throughout the range of the steel portion of the iron-carbon diagram, and is the kind usually used in the production of alloy steels. Rimmed steel is normally associated with carbon ranges under 0.30 per cent, and is not yet used to a large extent in alloy practice, except for copper-bearing steels. The fundamental differences in the ingots made from these two types of steel can be seen most easily in Figs. 1 to 7. In the rimmed ingot shown in Figs. 5 to 7 there are two lines of blowholes approximately parallel to the sides and coming together at the top and at the bottom of the ingot. In the killed ingots shown in Figs. 1 to 4 these blowholes are not present. Also, the rimmed ingot has no well defined pipe, as com-pared to the deep pipe on the killed ingots, and there are numerous pri-mary blowholes in the lower portion of the rimmed ingot perpendicular to the surface and close to it, while on the killed ingot there are no blowholes of this type in the ingot shown in Fig. 1 and very small ones close to the surface in the lower part of the ingot shown in Figs. 2 to 4. With respect to the presence of pipe and the primary blowholes, the structure may vary considerably in both rimmed and killed ingots, therefore these cannot be considered as fundamental structural characteristics differ-entiating the two types of steel. The primary blowholes in rimmed ingots may be much less pronounced than those in the ingot shown in Figs. 5 to 7-as, for example, in "ingot iron," which is entirely free from them. An example of a cross section of an ingot-iron ingot is shown on page 16 of "Research and Methods of Analysis of Iron and Steel," published by the American Rolling Mill Co. (1920). A certain amount of pipe may also occur in rimmed ingots, though it is normally porous and not as well defined or deep as in the killed ingot of Fig. 1. In killed ingots, pri-mary blowholes may occur near the surface, as in Figs. 2 to 4, and

Jan 1, 1937

By M. F. Goudge

LIMESTONE surpasses any other rock or mineral in the number and diversity of its uses and in the quantity consumed fur industrial purposes. Either in the raw state or when calcined to lime it enters directly or indirectly into the manufacture of a great variety of products and its sphere of usefulness is continually expanding. The term "limestone" as here employed includes all varieties from high-calcium limestone, consisting almost entirely of the mineral calcite, to the highly magnesian variety, largely dolomite. Lime is also discussed .because lime is simply calcined limestone and often the material may be used in either the calcined or natural state. Limestone has been of service to man since prehistoric times but only in the last hundred years has it become one of the most important raw materials in industry. In every industrial country it comprises the greater part of the total stone produc-

Jan 1, 1937

By Prince Lazarovich, Hrebelianovich

I WAS asked by the chairman of one of the Sessions on Employment Problems to talk about the viewpoint of the foreign workingman. I am not a workingman. I have never done what a work-hand might call an honest day's labor; that is, I have never been in a factory or manufacturing plant or in a mine, though in truth, hard work and I are well acquainted. I was a soldier, am an engineer, have long been actively interested in the most important waterway construction in the near East, have served politics and diplomacy, written books and lectured at universities. My knowledge of the foreign workingman in this country comes from the fact that my own compatriots here at various times came to me and appealed for advice and help, and last year I was asked by the employment manager of a corporation to undertake a welfare job at one of their plants. I went out, saw the plant, talked with the superintendent and outlined certain of my ideas which he personally heartily approved, but which did not find favor with those higher up. I approach the subject of the foreign workman's point of view with the understanding that the industrial employer's effort is for the maximum of efficiency. I am conversant with labor conditions abroad both in industry and agriculture. What I have learned of industrial conditions in America as they affect the foreign immigrant has been chiefly gathered from the cases referred to of foreign workmen who from time to time have come to me with their troubles. In the course of those investigations, in order to give whatever help or advice was possible, I have been impressed with the fact that the great United States industries evidently had- pot yet sufficiently recognized the value of studying the conditions of the workingman in the lands of his origin across the seas. A careful study of that which could be called the moral element in connection with its foreign labor would give industry a knowledge of the man's reason for coming, what' grievances he brings with him, his hopes for a future, and the peculiar character of his capacities. The employer would thereby be enabled to meet the man, to be helpful to him, to aid him and at the same time promote industrial efficiency, inasmuch as a workman who believes that he is being dealt with humanly and squarely is contented and satisfied and will give willingly, and even with pride, the best that is in him; justice and a fair deal is all the man wants.

Jan 4, 1918

By H. Foster Bain

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) [SECRETARY'S NOTE.-This paper, presented in oral abstract, at the San Francisco meeting, was not at first supposed by Mr. Bain to be required for publication in the Transactions; and the excursion to Japan, in which he took part, immediately after the San Francisco meeting, delayed his presentation of the manuscript. After his return to San Francisco, Mr. Bain, in view of the importance of his paper and its discussion, kindly furnished it in full. The delay in its publication (since it was received in April last) has been due, partly to the circumstance that other contributions had meanwhile acquired the "right of way," and partly to the consideration that, the situation contemplated in Mr. Bain's paper having remained practically unchanged, the paper and its discussion would not lose force or timeliness by this lapse of time.-J. S.] No acute observer of public affairs can have failed to observe a growing disposition on the part of the public to change emphasis in government from political equality to social justice. When our own government was founded it was felt to be sufficient to secure to each individual the fullest possible freedom of opportunity, and such a scheme was excellently adapted to the rapid development of a large territory having a small population. As the number of people in a given area increases, there are more points of contact and conflict; each must move in a smaller orbit, and there must be more regulation. Germany is making faster progress in industry than is any other country. The principal reason is the insistence there on team-play. In Germany there are fewer multimillionaires and more socialists (spelled with either a big or little " S ") than in any other of the leading countries; but Germany wins trade and is steadily improving the conditions of life for her citizens. To some, the change from the freest individualism is welcome; to others it is intensely unacceptable. To this fundamental difference in view-point may be imputed much of the vigor with which the controversy regarding coal-lands has been waged. That present conditions in Alaskan coal-fields are extremely unsatisfactory is generally recognized, but there are wide dif-

Aug 1, 1912

Industrial minerals enjoyed a fairly successful year in 1978, despite the sluggish economy, inflation, and environmental restrictions. A glance at US Bureau of Mines statistics shows that, in general, production of industrial minerals increased from + 1% (salt) to as much as 26% (sulfur, other than Frasch or recovered). A few industrial minerals showed a decline; fluorspar production, for example, registered a 23% decrease in 1978 from 1977 due to the closing of three domestic mines. Bromine, natural sodium sulfate, Frasch sulfur, and vermiculite also had production decreases of 2-6% in 1978.

Jan 5, 1979

By D. B. Williams

The end of the war in Europe and the Pacific failed to curb the upward trend of production in Venezuela,- which easily surpassed that of any previous year. The total production for 1945 amounted- to 323,369, 430 bbl., which was 26 per cent over the total for 1944, the previous peak in the history of the oil industry of the country. This increase was caused mainly by the greater demand for petroleum in the last stages of the war; the fact that the danger from enemy submarines had been overcome, which allowed all oil companies to use increased shipping facilities, and the fact that more materials were available for drilling operations. However, the materials supplied were by no means adequate and considerable credit is reflected on the Venezuelan petroleum industry for the increased production obtained by utilizing all available equipment to its fullest extent.

Jan 1, 1946

By E. A. Swedenborg

The unit agreement for the Wertz Dome field, Wyoming, was approved by the Acting Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior on November 4, 1937, effective on December 1, 1937. The stated objectives of the agreement are to conserve and put to beneficial use all oil and gas produced; to make possible a uniform withdrawal of oil and gas in order to maintain equalized reservoir pressures; to provide for an orderly determination of the structural features of the productive horizons; and to permit the injection of gas for pressure maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to show by a discussion of the problems involved and the engineering practices employed by the unit operator, how well the objectives of the unit agreement have been accomplished in the development and production of oil and gas from the field. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT The Wertz Dome oil and gas field is located 88 miles southwest of Casper and 38 miles north and westerly from Rawlins, Wyoming. It is served by a state secondary oiled road connecting with U. S. Highway No. 220 at Lamont, a distance of 3 miles from the field. It has been a producing field for 27 years, first as an important producer of gas and more recently of oil. The Producers and Refiners Corp. completed Well No. 1, NE1/4SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 26 N., R. 89 W., the first productive well in the field, in September. 1921, in the Muddy sandstone of Upper Cretaceous age, at a depth of 3435 feet for an initial production of 42,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. In 1922 pipe lines were laid to Casper, Wyoming, for supplying fuel to the Standard of Indiana refinery, 'the adjoining town of Mills. and the Producers and Refiners Corp. pump station No. 6 in Mills; and to Parco (now Sinclair), Wyoming, for supplying that refinery with fuel. The gasoline content of the gas was extracted in an absorption plant located near the town of Mills. No compressors were used as the line pressure was sufficiently high to flow the gas through the absorbers. As high as 30,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day were treated in the plant extracting 6000 gallons of gasoline. In September 1937, the pipe line was discontinued and the plant was dismantled at which time 61,000,000,000 cu. ft. of gas had been produced from the seven Muddy, Cloverly, and Sundance gas wells drilled in the field. Of this volume of gas 800,000,000 cu. ft. were produced from the Frontier formation, 34,200,000,000 cu. ft. from the Muddy sandstone, 24,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Cloverly, locally called Dakota, and 2,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Sundance formation. The pipe line was discontinued because of the near depletion of the gas reserves in Wertz and nearby fields, and hecause of the local field requirements demanding the retention of the remaining gas reserves. In December 1936, the Sinclair Wyoming Oil Co. completed Well No. 10, SE1/4NW1/4 sec. 7. T. 26 N., R. 89 W., at a depth of 5886 feet. as the first Tensleep sand producer with an intial of 1700 barrels of oil per day. The well was originally drilled only 14 feet into the sand and in August 1939 was deepened to a depth of 6161 feet, 289 feet in the sand, and the daily produe tion increased to 8350 barrels of oil. In February 1948 Well No. 22, SE1/4 SE1/4 sec. 1. T. 26 N., R. 90 W., was deepened from the Tensleep to the Basal Amsden sand and completed at a depth of 6635 feet for an intial of 600 barrels of oil per day in the Basal Amsden. In April 1948, Well No. 2. SW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N., R. 90 W.. was deepened from the Tensleep to the Madison limestone and was completed at a depth of 7193 feet for an intial of 1145 barrels of oil per day in the Madison. Well No. 26, SE1/4SE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N.. R. 90 W., was deepened from the Ten-sleep to the Cambrian and in October 1948 it was completed in the Cambrian for an intial of 277 barrels of oil per day. GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTIVE ACREAGE The surface is Steele shale of Upper Cretaceous age, covered in part by gravel beds. The topography of the field is that of a rolling hill with a steep draw or gulch along the northern edge of the field. The Steele shale lies conformably on the lower formations as

Jan 1, 1949

By E. A. Swedenborg

The unit agreement for the Wertz Dome field, Wyoming, was approved by the Acting Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior on November 4, 1937, effective on December 1, 1937. The stated objectives of the agreement are to conserve and put to beneficial use all oil and gas produced; to make possible a uniform withdrawal of oil and gas in order to maintain equalized reservoir pressures; to provide for an orderly determination of the structural features of the productive horizons; and to permit the injection of gas for pressure maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to show by a discussion of the problems involved and the engineering practices employed by the unit operator, how well the objectives of the unit agreement have been accomplished in the development and production of oil and gas from the field. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT The Wertz Dome oil and gas field is located 88 miles southwest of Casper and 38 miles north and westerly from Rawlins, Wyoming. It is served by a state secondary oiled road connecting with U. S. Highway No. 220 at Lamont, a distance of 3 miles from the field. It has been a producing field for 27 years, first as an important producer of gas and more recently of oil. The Producers and Refiners Corp. completed Well No. 1, NE1/4SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 26 N., R. 89 W., the first productive well in the field, in September. 1921, in the Muddy sandstone of Upper Cretaceous age, at a depth of 3435 feet for an initial production of 42,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. In 1922 pipe lines were laid to Casper, Wyoming, for supplying fuel to the Standard of Indiana refinery, 'the adjoining town of Mills. and the Producers and Refiners Corp. pump station No. 6 in Mills; and to Parco (now Sinclair), Wyoming, for supplying that refinery with fuel. The gasoline content of the gas was extracted in an absorption plant located near the town of Mills. No compressors were used as the line pressure was sufficiently high to flow the gas through the absorbers. As high as 30,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day were treated in the plant extracting 6000 gallons of gasoline. In September 1937, the pipe line was discontinued and the plant was dismantled at which time 61,000,000,000 cu. ft. of gas had been produced from the seven Muddy, Cloverly, and Sundance gas wells drilled in the field. Of this volume of gas 800,000,000 cu. ft. were produced from the Frontier formation, 34,200,000,000 cu. ft. from the Muddy sandstone, 24,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Cloverly, locally called Dakota, and 2,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Sundance formation. The pipe line was discontinued because of the near depletion of the gas reserves in Wertz and nearby fields, and hecause of the local field requirements demanding the retention of the remaining gas reserves. In December 1936, the Sinclair Wyoming Oil Co. completed Well No. 10, SE1/4NW1/4 sec. 7. T. 26 N., R. 89 W., at a depth of 5886 feet. as the first Tensleep sand producer with an intial of 1700 barrels of oil per day. The well was originally drilled only 14 feet into the sand and in August 1939 was deepened to a depth of 6161 feet, 289 feet in the sand, and the daily produe tion increased to 8350 barrels of oil. In February 1948 Well No. 22, SE1/4 SE1/4 sec. 1. T. 26 N., R. 90 W., was deepened from the Tensleep to the Basal Amsden sand and completed at a depth of 6635 feet for an intial of 600 barrels of oil per day in the Basal Amsden. In April 1948, Well No. 2. SW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N., R. 90 W.. was deepened from the Tensleep to the Madison limestone and was completed at a depth of 7193 feet for an intial of 1145 barrels of oil per day in the Madison. Well No. 26, SE1/4SE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N.. R. 90 W., was deepened from the Ten-sleep to the Cambrian and in October 1948 it was completed in the Cambrian for an intial of 277 barrels of oil per day. GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTIVE ACREAGE The surface is Steele shale of Upper Cretaceous age, covered in part by gravel beds. The topography of the field is that of a rolling hill with a steep draw or gulch along the northern edge of the field. The Steele shale lies conformably on the lower formations as

Jan 1, 1949

By AIME AIME

AT Williams College, in the quaint old New England town where people still go to the post office for their mail, an interesting institution has come into being as one of the aftermaths of the peace conference at Paris in 1919. The war taught the world many things about economics although much remains to be learned and more to be appreciated. B. M. Baruch, H. A. Garfield, president of Williams, and others who took part in the conference at Paris or in preparation for it, feeling that benefits would accrue from informal friendly discussion of the problems that lead to political differences between peoples, called together a summer conference in 1920. This has now become an annual affair and is coming to be looked upon as an important center for developing and stimulating public opinion. Membership in the Institute is by invitation and the lists change to correspond with the particular subjects taken up. Each year a number of distinguished foreign public men are invited to be the guests of the Institute and to meet men and women from various parts of the United States interested in their special subjects. Round tables, general conferences, and public lectures are the means employed to bring out discussion. The first are organized by groups, each including usually 25 to 40 people interested in a special subject and meeting three times a week for informal discussion. Teachers, writers, economists, engineers, business men, indeed men of all vocations and many shades of opinion, are brought together. Once a week each round table presents in general conference with the members of all other groups the more general conclusions reached in its own decisions. Afternoon and evening lectures are given by the foreign guests and these are open to the public. The lectures and the general conferences are reported widely in the press but the proceedings as a whole are not printed, no resolutions are passed, and no action is taken or contemplated. The whole plan is to furnish a forum for free discussion in hopes that the difficulties of various groups and peoples may be taken up sympathetically and good understanding promoted. There is no creed, doctrine or dogma to which the Institute is committed and widely different views are currently presented. The constant effort is to bring out points of view and the reasons for them rather than to build up convincing arguments favourable to a specific action

Jan 1, 1926

By Marvin P. Barnes, John G. Simos

The Park City District, Utah, is situated in the Wasatch Range at the intersection of the westward extension of the axis of the Uinta Range. Ore has been mined almost continuously from the first discovery in 1869 to the present day, with a total production of over 14 million tons. Sediments of Carboniferous to Triassic age have been folded into the northerly plunging Park City anticline and subsequently modified by thrust faulting, diorite and diorite porphyry intrusions, and strong east-west normal faulting during the Laramide orogeny. Younger andesitic volcanics partially cover the eastern edge of the district. The ore bodies occur as both lode and bedded replacement deposits over widely scattered localities. Near surface, high-grade silver "bonanza" ores were mined in early days from the Ontario and Daly Lodes, which occur along the east-west zone of faulting near the center of the district. Other lode or fissure deposits were found along the Mayflower and Hawkeye faults to the east and southeast. Large bedded replacement silver-lead-zinc ore bodies associated with east-west zones of fissuring, have been mined from favorable horizons in the Park City Formation in the Daly West and Judge mines. A series of long, narrow, high-grade, replacement ore bodies occur in the Silver King mine at a single horizon in the Park City Formation. Ore is currently being mined from strong bedded replacements in the Humbug Formation near the apex of the Park City anticline. Factors controlling ore deposition are: magmatic source, structural feeder systems, and favorable host rocks. Ore deposition along favorable beds is primarily a function of physical conditioning and secondarily of chemical composition.

Jan 1, 1968

By G. Howell Clevenger, Bhupendranath Ray

Formerly great divergence of opinion existed in regard to the influence of copper in steel, as affecting its various physical properties. More recently the investigations of Stead,l Breuil,2 Wigham,3 Burgess and Aston: Ball and Wingham,5 Miiller; Dillner,7 and others have shown fairly good agreement in the major points. Copper steel has been shown by these investigators to possess special properties which make it valuable for certain uses. The general range of composition of the useful alloys of copper and iron, and of copper, iron, and carbon, has been quite definitely established, for the former by Burgess and Aston,8 and for the latter by Breuil9 and Stead.10 Stead11 has removed one difficulty in reconciling certain of the earlier data by calling particular attention to the influence 'of carbon in copper steels. Another point which caused confusion in the earlier investigations, particularly in regard to " red-shortness," was the presence of sulphur. Failure to note the presence of sulphur often led to attributing " red-shortness" to the presence of small amounts of copper. Turner12 has called attention to the fact that where copper exists in an iron ore it often occurs as the sulphide, so that the presence of copper in steel made from such ores might also, necessarily, mean the presence of sulphur. It is evident that the effect in this case might be quite different than where pure copper was added.

Jan 1, 1914

By B. Foley

IN THE first report1 disks of steel of known composition and history were exposed, under carefully prescribed conditions, to impacts of explosion products resulting from the explosion of 50-gm. charges of explosives having well-determined rates of detonation, or to impacts of a weight of known mass, falling through measured distances. There were available at the Bureau of Mines Experiment Station five explosives, having rates of detonation of 5716, 4470, 3190, 2296, and 1523 meters per second. It being desired to continue this exposure downward, and no explosives with a lesser rate of detonation being at hand, resort was had to the impact of a falling weight, the differences in the velocity of impact being attained by varying the height from which the weight was allowed to fall. It was expected by this means to demonstrate experimentally that the development of Neumann bands was determined by the suddenness of the deformation of the metal in which they were produced. But while progressive deformations were obtained with the explosive arges, the falling-weight method failed because the tup was ogressively deformed, also the disks were so flattened as to be unfit for metallographic examination. A return, therefore, has been made to the use of explosives as the source of energy, an air-gap being interposed between the charge of explosive and the disk, as the effect diminishes as the function of the distance between the charge and the object on which the products of its explosion, or the shock wave from its detonation, impinge. The details of the arrangement of the tests by the air-gap method were the same as those described by Foley and Howell,2 except that after the system had been set up and the desired apparent specific gravity for the explosive

Jan 2, 1926

By Baxter C. Madden

Stress corrosion is defined and certain examples are illustrated. A number of test methods, to determine the resistance of materials to stress corrosion, are being developed at Wright Field. The criterion as to the validity of a method is stated. Three types of specimens and the method of stressing each type are described. Five different corrosive conditions are set forth. The results of tests to date, although too few for any general conclusions to be arrived at, are presented. The program for the continuation of the investigation is indicated. A bibliography is included. The development of the method of loading a cantilever-type specimen, so that a nearly constant stress at a large deflection may be realized, is presented as Appendix I.

Jan 1, 1945

By Harold G. Moulton

IT is highly significant that engineers should seriously consider the interrelations of technology, economics, and government. It is indicative of the emergence of maladjustments and problems that perplex our thinking and frustrate our activities. Instead of a world in which scientific discoveries and their applications through engineering to the processes of wealth production are regarded as the royal road to progress, we now find science and engineering being made responsible, in no small degree, for our economic and social troubles; and the powers of government are even being invoked to stem the tidal wave of technology. Indeed, there is a deep-seated fear, manifested in the writings of some of our greatest scientists as well as in popular discussions, that science may destroy our civilization.

Jan 1, 1938

By Davis M. Lapham

Ore bodies at Cornwall, Pennsylvania, have been mined since 1742 principally for iron from magnetite, but also for copper (in chalcopyrite), silver (in chalcopyrite), gold (in chalcopyrite), cobalt (in pyrite), sulfur, and crushed limestone aggregate. Metallization occurs as a limestone replacement above the essentially conformable, south dipping portion of a discordant saucershaped diabase sheet. Pre-Triassic and Triassic faulting have emplaced host Cambrian limestone and two Ordovician(?) hornfels units, now for the most part resting above diabase. Thermal metamorphism of carbonate-bearing country rocks largely to calc-silicates, is ubiquitous. Metasomatism, particularly of potassium, is unique to ore zones. Associated magnetite- actinolite mineralization replaces, in a preferential sequence, all earlier metamorphic and metasomatic minerals and rarely diabase chilled margin. Mineralogical (diopside, actinolite, mica, sulfides, oxides) and chemical (Fe, Cu, S, Co) zoning of the eastern ore body is focused down dip, near its western edge, along a major vertical fault through diabase. This zoning is spatially related to magnetite veins in diabase, to an ore body within diabase, and to a shear zone that probably extends through the sheet.

Jan 1, 1968

Jan 1, 1962

By Walter W. R. May

FOR more than 25 years a few business men who represent virile private enterprise in the Pacific Northwest have been trying to awaken the community to the potential benefits of an open Columbia River. No threat of government com- petition then hung over the industry, which was adjusted to state regulation. Numerous sites were engineered and the findings were laid before the operators of heavy industry in the East, Middle West, and South -even of Europe. These engineering data became, if not the basis, the inspiration upon which the U. S. Army Engineers eventually were to "build the Columbia River Bible" - their great document known as House Document 103, the report on the Columbia River and minor tributaries.

Jan 1, 1940

By R. E. Heithecker

Almost every oil well drilled into limestone formations in Kansas is treated with hydrochloric (muriatic) acid upon completion: to increase potential capacity of well and thereby increase its "daily allowable" production; to shorten time required to produce recoverable oil; and to increase quantity of oil recovered ultimately from reservoir. Acid treating marked a forward step in the producing fields of Kansas; in fact, many old limestone fields that almost had reached their economic producing limit were "rejuvenated" with acid and their capacities to produce increased several times. It also caused a marked increase in the ultimate oil recovery of some old and nearly depleted fields of Kansas. The effect of the acid was due to the cleaning-out action by the acid at the face of the limestone, the enlargement of the small drainage channels, and the apparent penetration of the acid to previously undrained porous and saturated strata. Studies of the effects of acid were made in the Fairport field, three groups of wells in the El Dorado field and the Shutts field. Estimation of increased recoveries resulting from acid in these fields and groups of wells ranged from 1000 to 2400 bbI. per acre. Limestone structures that had been tested by drilling and found noncommercial were later completed as commerical oil-producing formations through the use of acid. The Kansas City formation, Valley Center field of Kansas, is an example. Increased oil production and revenue from the old fields justified the reconditioning of equipment, which in most cases had become in poor mechanical condition. The first treatment with hydrochloric acid of an oil well in Kansas was in October 1932, and by the end of 1937 almost 6000 wells had been treated. Many wells were treated more than once and the total number of treatments exceeded 8000 by the end of 1937. Approximately 12 3/4 million gallons of acid was required for these treatments. The report includes 15 illustrations and 16 tables.

Jan 1, 1939

By R. E. Heithecker

Almost every oil well drilled into limestone formations in Kansas is treated with hydrochloric (muriatic) acid upon completion: to increase potential capacity of well and thereby increase its "daily allowable" production; to shorten time required to produce recoverable oil; and to increase quantity of oil recovered ultimately from reservoir. Acid treating marked a forward step in the producing fields of Kansas; in fact, many old limestone fields that almost had reached their economic producing limit were "rejuvenated" with acid and their capacities to produce increased several times. It also caused a marked increase in the ultimate oil recovery of some old and nearly depleted fields of Kansas. The effect of the acid was due to the cleaning-out action by the acid at the face of the limestone, the enlargement of the small drainage channels, and the apparent penetration of the acid to previously undrained porous and saturated strata. Studies of the effects of acid were made in the Fairport field, three groups of wells in the El Dorado field and the Shutts field. Estimation of increased recoveries resulting from acid in these fields and groups of wells ranged from 1000 to 2400 bbI. per acre. Limestone structures that had been tested by drilling and found noncommercial were later completed as commerical oil-producing formations through the use of acid. The Kansas City formation, Valley Center field of Kansas, is an example. Increased oil production and revenue from the old fields justified the reconditioning of equipment, which in most cases had become in poor mechanical condition. The first treatment with hydrochloric acid of an oil well in Kansas was in October 1932, and by the end of 1937 almost 6000 wells had been treated. Many wells were treated more than once and the total number of treatments exceeded 8000 by the end of 1937. Approximately 12 3/4 million gallons of acid was required for these treatments. The report includes 15 illustrations and 16 tables.

Jan 1, 1939

By Thomas, J. Elmer

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

Jan 1, 1928