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By L. K. Weaver

The purposes of this Bureau of Mines report are to review the history of the domestic offshore hydrocarbon production; to project offshore oil and lease condensate production from 1971 through 1985; and to show the impact of offshore development on the onshore segment of the petroleum industry. Since 1954, offshore production has provided an increasingly larger portion of the domestic oil production. Domestic offshore oil and lease condensate production has increased from about 2.0 pct of the U.S. total in 1954 to 16.7 pct in 1970. Likewise, marketed gas production has increased from 1.0 pct of the U.S. total in 1954 to 15.0 pct in 1970. The past performance of exploration, leasing, development, and production of the offshore petroleum industry was used to make projections of offshore oil production. A comparison between onshore and offshore operations was also made. Assuming a tentative Department of the Interior offshore leasing schedule is completed by 1980, the authors estimate that by 1985, about 30 pct of domestic crude oil and lease condensate production from the lower 48 States will come from offshore areas. Currently, leasing of Federal offshore areas has been delayed due to environmental considerations. The rate at which off-shore hydrocarbons will enter the energy market will depend, to a large extent, on how soon environmental considerations are resolved. Assuming that offshore leasing will resume in the near future, U.S. offshore production of crude oil and lease condensate should be about 934 million barrels in 1985.

Jan 1, 1973

By J. W. Thompson

MINERALS OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION. The owner of minerals under a conveyance from the surface owner does not lose his right or his possession by mere nonusage of the minerals. McBeth v. Wetnight (Indiana), 106 Northeastern, 407, p. 410, October, 1914. QUIETING TITLE TO MINERALS-PLEADING. A complaint in an action to quiet title to minerals and to the min- eral rights in certain land is insufficient in the absence of a direct allegation of possession, although it avers that the plaintiff from the time of receiving the conveyance assessed the mineral interest for taxes each year and paid the taxes thereon and exercised various acts of ownership of such mineral interests, in that he caused test pits to be dug on the land for the purpose of exploring the minerals and ascertaining their quality and extent, in going upon the land and looking after them from time to time, and that he accompanied or caused his agents to accompany prospective purchasers of such mineral interests and exhibited the same to such prospective pur- chasers in efforts to sell them. Fowler r. Alabama Iron & Steel Co. (Alabama), 66 Southern, 672, p. 673, Novem- ber, 1914. SALE BY MARRIED WOMAN-VALIDITY. A conveyance by a married woman of the mineral rights in certain described land is void where she had previously conveyed the land to another grantee who had acquired title by adverse possession under the deed.

Jan 1, 1915

By Thomas C. Ruhe

The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of NIOSH conducted research to determine the safe operating conditions for using recycled (used) lubricating oil from mining equipment as a partial replacement for diesel fuel to make ANFO-type blasting agents. The use of recycled oil (RO) conserves energy, reduces oil imports, and reduces mining costs. Since RO has a variable composition, there was concern that the additives/impurities it contains may cause ANFO made with RO to be unstable (as compared to regular ANFO) at high summer ambient storage temperatures. Reactivity of RO with zinc was also a concern. Thermal stability tests were conducted to help quantify and resolve these issues. ANFO mixtures (0.66 lb/300 g) were put into sample containers made of steel, stainless steel, and galvanized (zinc coated) steel pipe fittings, which were heated in isothermal ovens. The experimental parameters were temperature settings of 140° F (60° C) and 176° F (80° C), four sample container (pipe fitting) metal combinations, and nominal heating periods of one and three days. The ANFO samples contained 6% each of the following twelve different oils/oil mixtures: No. 1 was diesel fuel, Nos. 2 thru 6 were five candidate oils (2 thru 5 were used oils and 6 was a new synthetic oil), No. 7 was 5% diesel fuel + 1 % graphite, and Nos. 8 thru 12 were 3% diesel fuel + 3% each of the five candidate oils. All samples showed no reactivity when heated at 140° F (60°C). All samples (except No. 7) reacted at 176° F (80° C) in a steel pipe with galvanized caps as follows: No. I reacted most, Nos. 8-12 reacted moderately, and Nos. 2-6 reacted least. All ANFO samples were tested and found not to be cap sensitive.

By Joseph J. Wallace

1. The Investigation shows that there are six coal beds of major importance in McDowell County from the standpoint of present production - Pocahontas No. 3, Pocahontas No. 4, Pocahontas No. 5, Sewall, Beckley, and Pochontas No. 6 - and five beds of minor importance - Iaeger, Douglas, Welch, Pocahontas, No. 9, and Eagle. The Pocahontas No. 3 bed contains the largest remaining, known reserves. 2. Known measured, and indicated reserves in all beds, based on a minimum thickness of 174 inches and on 1,800 tons per acre-foot of coal in place, are estimated at 2,217 Trillion short tons as of January 1, 1951. Of this total, 1,731 million short tons are in beds 28 inches and more thick. Areas in each bed were omitted from the estimate because available data relative to the bed characteristics are too meager to make an estimate that conforms with the definitions of measured and indicated coal adopted for this study. Should future drilling or development prove reserves in these area, such reserves should be added to he total estimated reserves.

Jan 1, 1952

By Bruce Cantrell, K. L. Rubow

"INTRODOCTIONMeasurement of the contribution of diesel exhaust to respirable aerosol in mine environments has become increasingly important because of current concerns over the occupational health effects resulting from exposure to diesel emissions. In response to this, the U.S. Bureau of Mines is developing and evaluating new sampling methods for measuring diesel aerosol in underground mines. Two such techniques are being studied by the Bureau, size selective sampling and Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) modeling. These techniques use measurable physical or chemical characteristics of a mine aerosol sample to infer the amount of diesel particulate material contained in the sample.Size selective sampling is being adapted for measurement of diesel aerosol by the Particle Technology Laboratory (PTL) of the University of Minnesota under sponsorship by the Bureau. 1 It is based on the premise that diesel and mineral dust aerosol can be physically separated by size and collected during sampling using inertial impaction. An independent effort by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to develop a size selective sampling technique was also sponsored by the Bureau.The second technique, CMB modeling, is being developed by the Bureau as an alternative measurement technique to referee the results obtained using size selective sampling.3 It compares measured trace element ""finger prints"" of aerosol sources with similar profiles of mine aerosol samples. From these, the portions of the sample contributed by each source can be determined. Results of these investigations in underground coal mines have confirmed that diesel and coal dust aerosol are of different size and can be measured separately using size selective sampling techniques.A major difference in diesel usage among underground mines is the requirement for exhaust gas cooling systems in coal and gassy noncoal mines. Nongassy mines usually employ limited exhaust conditioning in the form of catalytic converters, which have limited effect on primary exhaust particulate. The cooling system in most general use in gassy mines is the water scrubber. This device has little effect on most of the gases but removes particulate material from the exhaust. 5 Because of this, exhaust aerosol characteristics in nongassy mines are expected to be different. To see if size selective sampling techniques can be used in such mines, the Bureau and the University of Minnesota conducted a second study in three metal and nonmetal mines, two nongassy and one rated as gassy."

Jan 1, 1990

By C. W. Owings

"Coal may be and has been hauled safely at approximately the same cost with permissible2 storage-battery locomotives as with trolley, cable-reel, crab-reel, or nonpermissible storage-battery locomotives. While in general, thinking mining men readily admit the relative safety of the permissible storage-battery locomotive there are some persons who question the safety of this type; however, the greatest opposition to the widespread use of storage-battery locomotives is from those who believe them to be more expensive to operate and to be more expensive in first cost than the trolley or cable-reel locomotive. Data collected during a comprehensive study- of storage-battery and wired transmission of power in some Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal mines indicate that there is but little difference between the cost of hauling with cable-reel or with storage-battery locomotives. It would appear that if this fact were mere generally known mine operators of the more progressive type would install such equipment and avail themselves of greater safety in hauling coal.The need for greater safety in haulage in coal mines is readily understood when it is considered that during the 12 month period, July 1, 1929 to June 30, 1930, trolley or cable reel gathering locomotives caused four explosions in which 407 lives were endangered, 11 persons were injured, and 30 lives were lost. Still another disaster was averted by the vigilance of a fire boss, who discovered a stratum of gas 3 feet thick at the top of an entry into which a gathering locomotive was about to enter. Other explosions not resulting in any fatality probably have not been reported. In addition numerous fires have been caused by trolley or cable-reel locomotives, and these fires probably would have been avoided had permissible storage-battery locomotives been used."

Nov 1, 1930

By R. A. Cattell

Every finding of the year's work, obtained under stress to meet present objectives, contributed to postwar needs, because the very nature and constitution of petroleum and natural gas require that research be conducted along the same general lines whether the results are applied in peace or war. More than 40 reports were submitted to the Petroleum Administration for War and others concerned with (1) evaluation of crude oils to determine their content of aviation-gasoline base stock, (2) evaluation of base stocks for blending with high-octane, synthetically manufactured components, (3) analyses of naphthas to determine their content of various types of hydro-carbons, such as benzene and toluene, and (4) the improvement of quality of marginal base stocks to meet future requirements of aviation gasoline. This upgrading of marginal stocks is being attained by selective distillation and chemical and catalytic removal of sulfur compounds. Asphalts were studied with respect to the characteristics of their various constituents in order to compound them, in the same way that aviation fuels now are being "built" to meet exacting requirements. The work previously initiated to give the industry fundamental data on thermodynamics of hydrocarbons progressed satisfactorily, and the heats of combustion of 10 hydrocarbons in the lubricating oil -range of petroleum were determined. Thermodynamic data requiring highly specialized techniques are so broad in application that their commercial usefulness is not yet fully appreciated.

Jan 1, 1946

By F. R. Lee

[THE Bureau of Mines was established in July 1910 to conduct research and to Establish standards for mining equipment and practices which would conserve human life, natural resources, and property in the mineral industries. Several lists of equipment approved by the Bureau as permissible for use in gassy coal mines have a been issued since then. The lists covering all approved equipment except breathing apparatus and explosive have been consolidated info two publications: Bulletin 543, Permissible Equipment Approved to January 1, 1953, and Information Circular 5220, Permissible Mine Equipment Approved By The Bureau of Mines During 1953-62. The purpose of this publication is to supplement Bulletin 543 kind Information Circular 8220 with a listing of permissible equipment approved during 1963 and 1964. The schedules (standards) under which equipment listed herein have born approved are as follows (titles and dates of approval and revision are given in footnotes): Schedule 2F,3 schedule 6D,4 schedule 7C,5 schedule 8C,6 schedule 9B,7 schedule 10C,8 schedule 12D,9 schedule 22,10 schedule 24,11 schedule 25B,12 schedule 28,13 schedule 29A,14 schedule 30,15 and schedule 31.16]

Jan 1, 1966

By Lloyd Williams, H. K. Gibbs, William L. Crentz, J. W. Miller

"Reserves This investigation shows that the Poplar Creek is the most important bed in Scott County from a production standpoint. Although the Poplar Creek bed contains the largest reserve, the Big Mary has a larger recoverable reserve. Estimates of reserves also have been made for the Pewee, Red Ash, Windrock, Upper Pioneer, Jellico, and White Oak beds.Known measured and indicated reserves of coal, based on a minimum bed thickness of 14 inches and on 1,800 short tons per acre-foot of coal in place, are estimated to be 143 million tons as of January 1, 1954. Of this total, 74 million tons is in beds 28 inches and more thick. Areas in each bed were omitted from the estimate because available data relative to the bed characteristics are too meager for making an estimate that conforms with the definitions of measured and indicated coal adopted for this study. Should future drilling or development prove reserves in these areas, such reserves should be added to the total estimated reserves.Recoverable reserves of coal are estimated in beds 28 inches and more thick. This thickness is about the minimum now being mined by hand loading onto conveyors in the Appalachian region. The weighted average recovery for all beds in Scott County, as determined by this investigation, is 52.4 percent. This percentage is based on the total thickness of coal in the bed (less partings three-eighths inch or more thick) rather than on the thickness of the coal mined. Based on the weighted average percentage of recovery for all beds in Scott County, the recoverable reserves of coal are estimated to be 39 million tons as of January 1, 1954.Coal Analyses Chemical analyses of coal samples taken for this study show that the coal in Scott County is of high-volatile a bituminous rank except the Upper Pioneer bed, which is shown to be high-volatile B bituminous. The Pewee bed shows typical low-sulfur characteristics. The high ash and sulfur in the Big Mary are characteristic of that bed. The Poplar Creek is moderately low in ash and sulfur in areas where there is no parting in the bed."

Jun 1, 1956

By Charles L. Kimbell

The final 26 tables of this chapter, tables 14-39, extend and expand the statistical series on production that was started in the 1963 edition of the "Area Reports: International" volume of the "Minerals Yearbook" and that was subsequently updated and expanded in the 1965 and 1967-88 editions. In this year's edition, for the first time, a column has been added to each of these tables providing a 5 year average for 1985-89, inclusive. This should provide a clearer picture more rapidly of the role of each major producer over the 5-year period. The listing order of major producers, however, continues to be, as in past years, in descending order of rank in the year of review, 1989. With the inclusion of silver and uranium oxide in the 1988 edition of this chapter, this group of tables now includes each of the crude minerals that ranked from 1st to 19th in 1983 in terms of value of their output (as well as four others of lesser rank). These 23 crude mineral commodities accounted for 93% of the estimated value of world crude mineral of world crude mineral production in 1983. In addition, world output of five key down-stream products-aluminum, steel, cement, nitrogen in ammonia, and refined oil are included because of their significance as products.

Jan 1, 1992

By L. C. George

The Bureau of Mines measured vapor pressures of selected mixtures in the binary system SnCla-ZnC12 by the static pressure method. Equations expressing the vapor pressure) and the heat and free energy of vaporization) as functions of temperature were developed by numerical analysis based on the sigma-plot method. It was found that the vapor pressure of any SnCl2-ZnCl2 mixture) at any temperature within the range of this investigation) could be accurately calculated from the derived values for the heat and free energy of vaporization for the mixture, with a probable error of 0.01 cm Hg or less.

Jan 1, 1967

By K. T. Menzies

Over 1500 literature citations related to diesel exhaust sampling and analysis were obtained as a result of both computer and manual searches of nine data bases. Abstracts and hard copies of relevant citations were reviewed and those considered appropriate for evaluation were included in a bibliography. Based on the literature collected, available sampling and analysis methods for the following diesel exhaust contaminants were evaluated: CO, CO2, NO, NO2, Hydrocarbons, Particulates, PNA, S04, Oxygenates Emphasis was given to both laboratory and field methods for these species. Methods were evaluated on the basis of sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy and reliability and a selected list of preferred methods was developed for each compound/ class. The selected methods were additionally evaluated through communication with current investigators. Sampling and analysis methods for all compounds except CO and CO2 were observed to have some unreliability. Recommendations were made for future research to develop, improve, and validate methods.

Jan 1, 1979

By William T. Boyd

Foreign mining publications describing successful hydraulic mining installations, and successful domestic hydraulic mining in a gilsonite bed, have prompted the Federal Bureau of Mines to conduct a literature survey of foreign publications to determine if the hydraulic mining method can be applied to domestic coal mining. Most foreign publications do not give detailed data about the water pressures, water capacities, and production and manpower requirements for successful hydraulic mining, However, they do provide enough general data on mining conditions, manpower, and equipment used to show that conditions in many bituminous coal deposits in the United States may be favorable for economical coal extraction, using high-pressure water jets. Therefore, the Bureau proposes to conduct a field investigation to determine the most appropriate natural conditions, water pressures, and equipment for successful hydraulic mining of coal beds in the United States with variable dip, thickness, and hardness. In the past, technical personnel reviewing foreign mining reports assumed that a steeply pitching coal bed was necessary for successful hydraulic mining. Although the structure of the coal bed may be a factor in gaining assistance from overburden pressures or help in an integrated hydraulic mining and transportation system, the coal is broken mainly by the action of high-pressure, water-penetrating cracks, fissures, or cleats; therefore, the slope of the coal bed is not necessarily a determining factor in hydraulic mining.

Jan 1, 1959

By Ned H. Snyder

In recent years the Government and other large consumers of coal have appreciated more and more the desirability of definitely determining by chemical analysis and test the character and quality of the coal they purchase. Higher prices for coal point forcibly to the need of giving more study to engine room and boiler room efficiencies and economies; this implies an intimate knowledge of the character and quality of the fuel used. Analyses and tests of delivered coal furnish data whereby power plant results can be comprehensively studied and a continuous check maintained on the coal and on the conditions of plant operation. Under authority of acts of Congress making appropriations for technologic investigation of fuels and the analyzing and testing of fuels belonging to or for the use of the United States Government, a laboratory is maintained at the Pittsburgh station of the Bureau of Mines, where samples representing deliveries of coal purchased for Government use are analyzed and tested. The Bureau of Mines has been active in promoting the purchase of coal by the Government under specifications/ that is, by contracts that make definite requirements regarding the heating value of the coal, expressed in British thermal units, and the composition as shown by proximate analysis. Under many of these specification contracts the bidders guarantee the quality of the coal offered, and that guaranteed by the successful bidder becomes the standard of his contract. The deliveries are sampled and analyzed to determine whether the coal is of the quality guaranteed by the contractor, and if it is not, the price to be paid is decreased in proportion; but if the coal is of higher quality, the price is proportionately increased. The known analyses of coals or the guaranteed analyses offered by the bidders may sometimes be used for determining the award of a contract, but if the coals offered differ widely in characteristics, it may be difficult to determine which would prove the cheapest fuel without data on their relative evaporative efficiencies. Hence, the making of evaporative tests under service conditions may be necessary in order to determine which coal is particularly adapted for successful and economical use in a certain plant. Once a particular coal is selected, however, regardless of the procedure of determining the award of a contract, then the greatest advantage of the specification method is realized, for it guarantees the purchaser receiving coal of uniform character and quality, thereby insuring the best results in the plant. The success of the specification method for the purchase of coal and the reliability of analysis now rests largely on sampling.3 Improper sampling leads to controversies, with resulting condemnation of the specification method in general and of the value of laboratory analyses and tests in particular.

Jan 1, 1922

By R. S. Dean

In an earlier paper Dean and Hersberger5/ gave preliminary results a d discussed briefly the use in flotation of organic reagents of the type known in the textile industry as "wetting agents.? These reagents are those with a molecular structure comprising a long hydrocarbon chain attached to a. highly molar or hydrophile group in such manner that ionization is nearly complete in dilute solution and the resultant ionic grouping has a very considerable hydrophile-lipophile unbalance in the structure. As a result of this characteristic structure these reagents are more or less powerful frothers and emulsifiers. Ten the degree of bydrophile-lipaphile unbalance is sufficiently great and specific chemical factors are absent these compounds behave in flotation as noncollecting frothers insensitive to reasonable changes of pH.

Jan 1, 1937

By R. S. Dean

In an earlier paper Dean and Hersberger5/ gave preliminary results a d discussed briefly the use in flotation of organic reagents of the type known in the textile industry as "wetting agents.? These reagents are those with a molecular structure comprising a long hydrocarbon chain attached to a. highly molar or hydrorhile group in such manner that ionization is nearly complete in dilute solution and the resultant ionic grouping has a very considerable hydrophile-lipophile unbalance in the structure. As a result of this characteristic structure these reagents are more or less powerful frothers and emulsifiers. Ten the degree of hydrophile-lipaphile unbalance is sufficiently great and specific chemical factors are absent these compounds behave in flotation as noncollecting frothers insensitive to reason¬able changes of pH.

Jan 1, 1937

By V. Castranova

"A pneumoconiosis is best defined as the accumulation of dust in the lungs and the tissue's reaction to iu presence. Thus, silicosis is the name given to the fibrotic disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of dust containing silicon dioxide, primarily in the free crystalline form. Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), which was originally thought to be a variant of silicosis, results from inhalation of coal mine dust that usually contains relatively small amounts of free crystalline silica.HISTORYSilicosis is the older and more well known of these mineral pneumoconiosis. In contrast, CWP was not recognized as different from silicosis until the pivotal work of Collis and Gilchrist. 26 They noted that coal trimmers, i.e., special stevedores who leveled coal in the holds of ships at the Cardiff and Swansea docks in Wales, developed identical nodules on the chest radiograph to those of underground miners. The difference was that these men had never worked underground and that the coal was washed before it was loaded into ships; thus, it was unlikely that these men were exposed to silica. Gough54 examined the lungs of coal trimmers who died and found that the histologic appearance of the pulmonary lesions was distinctly different from the whorled nodules seen in silicosis. Gough,"" and subsequently Heppleston,"" then showed that the lung lesions in coal trimmers were similar to those in underground coal miners and different from those of classical silicosis. Nagelschmidt 78 analyzed the mineral content of miners' lungs that became available at autopsy. These studies caused him to propose a scheme in which the relative proportions of silica, other minerals, and/or coal deposited in the lungs determined the type of pulmonary response which develops, i.e., classical silicosis, mixed-dust disease, or CWP."

Nov 1, 1995

By A. S. Moore

The Bureau of Mines is doing research and development work on removing acid-gas impurities from synthesis gas made directly from coal. Since conventional gas scrubbers, packed towers and bubble-cap columns, are expensive to construct and difficult to operate with viscous solutions, one aspect of the work was developing a compact, agitated, gas-liquid contactor for use with concentrated absorbents. The efficacy of the agitated contactor for absorbing carbon dioxide in diethanolamine increased with increasing solution rate, turbine speed, diethanolamine concentration, and carbon dioxide concentration in feed gas, and with decreasing liquid-gas ratio. It was unaffected by pressure between 200 and 300 p.s.i.g. and little affected by temperature between 115 and 190° F.

Jan 1, 1961

By Harold M. Smith

Among the more important raw materials now utilized for the commercial production of synthetic organic chemicals is natural 'gas. Natural gas has been used as a fuel and source of energy almost from its discovery, but its potentialities as a chemical raw material were not realized until recently. Research in the use of natural gas for Chemical synthesis received great impetus from the discovery by Brooks and Humphrey4/ in 1918 of alcohols in the diluted ?acid oil? obtained by sulfuric acid treatment of cracked petroleum distillates. Experimental data soon showed that hydrocarbons from natural gas could be converted to these same products. Laboratory methods for chlorination of natural-gas hydrocarbons, particularly of methane for the production of methyl chloride, methylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride, and chleroform were known before that time but were not developed commercially. Methods for obtaining alcohol by oxidation of hydrocarbons derived from natural gas also were known before 1918 but had not received commercial consideration. Since 1918, and particularly during the past 15 years, the work of chemists and chemical manufacturers throughout the world has resulted in an accumulation of data regarding the reactivity of natural-gas hydrocarbons, and related hydrocarbons found in refinery gases or made synthetically. These data have been used to develop methods for converting hydrocarbons into chemical products and thus form the basis for a large and growing industry.

Jan 1, 1947

By J. H. Field

Synthesis of hydrocarbons by the Fischer-Tropsch reaction in a hot-gas- recycle system was demonstrated to be technically feasible. This project was undertaken, by the Bureau of Mines, to determine if the system was operable and to ascertain the optimum conditions for the production of gasoline. Carbon steel turnings packed with a void volume from 88 to 90 pct. were satisfactory catalysts, but steel catalysts with greater void volume, either turnings or steel wool, were not as active. Good temperature control with a pressure drop of less than 0.5 pounds per square inch (p.s,i,) per foot of catalyst bed of turnings was obtained by operating with a recycle to fresh feed ratio of 20 and by splitting the total gas flaw and injecting portions into the reactor at different entry ports.

Jan 1, 1961