Search Documents

By A. W. Ambrose

The underground losses of oil exceed by hundreds of thousands of barrels all the oil that has been lost in storage, transportation, or refining. The quantity lost is, of course, indeterminate; but when it is considered that the contents of an entire oil field have been excluded from recovery by invading waters, some idea of the amount wasted may be gained. Similarly, enormous quantities of gas have been lost underground. Conservation of the oil, therefore, should start before it is brought to the surface rather than after it is placed in storage tanks. Water is one of the most important causes for underground losses and the operator should give as serious consideration to an underground flood of water as he would to a destructive surface flood. The best insurance, of course, is to have the wells drilled in such a manner that water has no access to the productive oil and gas horizons, and on abandonment the wells should be properly plugged. The encroachment of edge water and the occurrence of waterin;the base of an oil sand present a very serious problem to an oil company sooner or later these waters are bound to cause considerable damage, if they do not entirely destroy the possibilities of further production. Too often, however, a field has been considered to be in a hopeless condition, whereas wells in as bad a condition in other areas have been repaired and the life of the field appreciably lengthened. The corrections are very often suggested by technical study. Very successful results have been accomplished by detailed underground work in the California oil fields, in Cushing, Oklahoma, and in other areas. The purpose of this paper is to outline briefly1 general methods of analyzing oil-field water problems in a producing or in a producing and developing oil field, with a view to suggesting repair work on offending wells. Reference is continually made to producing oil wells; the same general method of procedure, however, should be adopted in a gas field.

Jan 1, 1921

By L. W. Davies

ONE of the most important applications of the zone-melting process of Pfann1 concerns the refining of materials with respect to impurities whose distribution coefficient k differs from unity. The repeated passage of molten zones along an ingot concentrates the impurities for which k < 1, for example, towards the end to which the zones move. It is desirable to know the ultimate distribution of impurity after the passage of an infinite number of zones of constant length; this is also the distribution which is unchanged by the passage of a further molten zone.

Jan 1, 1959

By W. N. Tanner

The wire-rope hoisting conditions at the mines of the Anaconda Coppcr Mining Co. in Butte, Mont, are very severe because of the conditions under which it is necessary to operate. A study was made, in the fall of 1919, for the purpose of changing these conditions in order to obtain longer rope and sheave life. There are at present in Butte hoisting engines equipped with wire rope as follows: 9 main hoists using flat ropes. 7 main hoists using 1 1/2-in. rope. 5 main hoists using 11/4-in. rope. 6 shafts using 11/8-in. rope. 2 chippy hoists using 11/4-in. rope. 9 chippy hoists using 11/8-in. rope. 15 shafts using 1-in. rope. 7 shafts using 7/8-in. rope. 1 shaft using 3/4-in. rope. In addition, there are a number of sinking engines wing 5/8-in, 3/4-in., 7/8-in., and 1-in. (15.9, 10, 22, and 25 mm) rope. THe flat ropes run from 1/2 by 71/2 in. (12.7 by 1905 mm.) to-3/8 by 4 1/2-in (9.5 by 114 mm.) and are used on the older hoisting engines, which arc set comparatively close to the shaft. Because of swelling and moving ground at some of the shafts, these ropes present certain difficulties ill operation that are more pronounced than with round ropes; they are, therefore, being superseded by round ropes as newer engines are being installed. They are, however, much more easily inspected and repaired than round ropes. In general, the practice in Butte is to use hoisting engines equipped with 12-ft. (3 7 m.) cast-iron drums, smooth faced, for 11/2-in. rope and 6-ft. cast-iron drums, smooth faced, lagged with 3/8-in. steel plate for 11/4 l1/8 and 1-in. (31.7, 28.6, 25 mm.) rope in main and chippy shafts. Cast-iron head sheaves, 12, 10, and 6 ft. in diameter, with grooves

Jan 1, 1923

By W. N. Tanner

The wire-rope hoisting conditions at the mines of the Anaconda Coppcr Mining Co. in Butte, Mont, are very severe because of the conditions under which it is necessary to operate. A study was made, in the fall of 1919, for the purpose of changing these conditions in order to obtain longer rope and sheave life. There are at present in Butte hoisting engines equipped with wire rope as follows: 9 main hoists using flat ropes. 7 main hoists using 1 1/2-in. rope. 5 main hoists using 11/4-in. rope. 6 shafts using 11/8-in. rope. 2 chippy hoists using 11/4-in. rope. 9 chippy hoists using 11/8-in. rope. 15 shafts using 1-in. rope. 7 shafts using 7/8-in. rope. 1 shaft using 3/4-in. rope. In addition, there are a number of sinking engines wing 5/8-in, 3/4-in., 7/8-in., and 1-in. (15.9, 10, 22, and 25 mm) rope. THe flat ropes run from 1/2 by 71/2 in. (12.7 by 1905 mm.) to-3/8 by 4 1/2-in (9.5 by 114 mm.) and are used on the older hoisting engines, which arc set comparatively close to the shaft. Because of swelling and moving ground at some of the shafts, these ropes present certain difficulties ill operation that are more pronounced than with round ropes; they are, therefore, being superseded by round ropes as newer engines are being installed. They are, however, much more easily inspected and repaired than round ropes. In general, the practice in Butte is to use hoisting engines equipped with 12-ft. (3 7 m.) cast-iron drums, smooth faced, for 11/2-in. rope and 6-ft. cast-iron drums, smooth faced, lagged with 3/8-in. steel plate for 11/4 l1/8 and 1-in. (31.7, 28.6, 25 mm.) rope in main and chippy shafts. Cast-iron head sheaves, 12, 10, and 6 ft. in diameter, with grooves

Jan 1, 1923

By R. S. Schechter, T. R. Guilinger, P. Bobeck, J. G. Price, L. W. Lake

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the rate of uranium and molybdenum extraction from a flow reactor. Specific variables tested are fluid throughput and flow rate, lixiviant cation, and injected pH and carbonate concentration. The ore tested was from the Felder mine in southern Texas. It contained substantial quantities of marcasite and molybdenum disulfide that competed with the uranium ore for oxidant. Flow studies showed the oxidation of molybdenum disulfide under field conditions is mass transfer controlled, whereas the uranium oxidation is limited by surface reaction rate. The rate of uranium oxidation decreased with decreasing pH. The total carbonate levels, on the other hand, were unimportant. Ammonium carbonate appears to greatly decrease, if not completely halt, the reaction of marcasite with the oxygen. This effect was not found using either sodium or potassium carbonate.

Jan 1, 1986

The Institute maintains a dual relationship with students: (1) an individual relationship with a Student Associate; and (2) a relationship with local organizations of students, known as Affiliated Student Societies or Student Chapters. 1. The conditions of Student Associateship are set forth in Section 9, Article I, of the Bylaws of the Institute (see page 64 and following pages). During 1934, sundry amendments were made for the purpose of improving the student relationship. Postgraduate students are now eligible; and associateship can be maintained, with the payment of the regular dues of $2 per year, for 18 months following graduation in June. With his regular dues, each Student Associate is entitled to receive during the year his choice of MINING AND METALLURGY, METALS TECHNOLOGY, MINING TECHNOLOGY, PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, or two "classes" of Technical

Jan 1, 1943

By E. C. Pechin

THE Lucy furnace, owned by Messrs. Carnegie, Kloman & Co., and located on the Alleghany River, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, is a splendid modern furnace, 75 feet high, and 20 feet bosh. She had been working well on low grade ores of about 50 per cent., producing daily 68 to 75 tons. There was on stock 500 tons of Republic ore, one of the purest and best of the Lake Superior ores, averaging over 68 per cent. of iron, which had been procured for the purpose of making a trial for Bessemer iron. This was charged by itself, and Mr. Skelding, the founder, reports that he did not succeed in getting a single cast when it came down, before the furnace chilled from the hearth to the top of the boshes, some 25 feet. Every effort was made to save her, without avail, and the disagree-

Jan 1, 1874

By H. Rush Spedden

R. T. Hukki has extended his study of ball mill grinding at supercritical speeds with an excellent mathematical analysis of tumbling mill grinding. When he speaks of supercritical speeds he is referring to the original Fahrenwald critical-speed formula. He said that, as an example of the use of supercritical speeds, if a fine grinding mill of any type is wet-grinding ore of 3.5 sp gr with steel balls at a certain conventional subcritical speed, the same power input and capacity should be obtainable with autogenous medium of 3.5 sp gr at a speed 100 to 120 pct of the critical in a grate- type mill of the same effective size. In addition, he introduced what he calls the base mill concept which, he stated, makes it possible to compare performances of mills of different sizes grinding with a metallic medium or with an autogenous medium of any specific gravity and at any speed. He showed the use of this concept and explained how it makes possible the evaluation of mill sizes and motors for any grinding purpose at any accuracy well within the conventional standards of design in milling practice. He further stated that the maximum capacity in pilot plant mills with various media, either metallic or autogenous, has always been found to be within the supercritical speed range. In his discussion of this paper he substantiated these findings with statements showing the increased capacity obtained in a milling plant in Finland which followed his principles.

Jan 7, 1960

The Maas patent drill-hole compass, for determining the direction and dip of drill holes, is successfully used to a depth of 3,000 ft. APPARATUS FOR SURVEYING DEEP DRILL HOLES. The compass is placed in a thermos bottle or glass tube with hot liquid gelatine and lowered in a water-tight phosphor-bronze case, with a tube containing hydrofluoric acid. When the gelatine is cold the rods are pulled, the direction of the needle is marked on the tube which contained the acid, and the direction and inclination of the hole determined from this tube in a goniometer. There is nothing to get out of order and the compass can be used by any drill foreman, the mark and etching on the tube making a permanent record of direction and inclination. (See Fig. 1.)

Jan 1, 1916

By Edmund C. Pechin

The Lucy furnace, owned by Messrs. Carnegie, Kloman & Co., and located on the Alleghany River, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, is a splendid modern furnace, 75 feet high, and 20 feet bosh. She had been working well on low grade ores of about 50 per cent., producing daily 68 to 75 tons. There was on stock 500 tons of Republic ore, one of the purest and best of the Lake Superior ores, averaging over 68 per cent. of iron, which had been procured for the purpose of making a trial for Bessemer iron. This was charged by itself, and Mr. Skelding, the founder, reports that he did not succeed in getting a single cast when it came down, before the furnace chilled from the hearth to the top of the boshes, some 25 feet. Every effort was made to save her, without avail, and the disagree-

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

I. Oxides of Silicon. 11. Oxides of the Semi-Metals : Tellurium, Arsenic, Antimony, Bismuth ; also Molybdenum, Tungsten. III. Oxides of the Metals. The Fifth Class, that of the OXIDES, is subdivided into three sections, according to the positive element present. The oxides of the non-metal silicon are placed by themselves, but it will be noted that the compounds of the related element titanium are included with those of the metals proper. This last is made necessary by the fact that in one of its forms TiOz is isomorphous with MnOp and PbOz. A series of oxygen compounds which are properly to be viewed as salts, e.g., the species of the Spinel Group and a few others, are for convenience also included in this class.

Jan 1, 1922

Year of Election 1959 Andrew Fletcher, New York, N Y "For his outstanding leadership in the lead and zinc mining industries, and for his able and devoted services to the Institute as its Treasurer and President, and as a Director for many years " 1917 Herbert Hoover, New York, N Y 1955 George M Humphrey, Cleveland, Ohio 1950 Zay Jeffries, Ptttsfield, Mass 1942 Essington Lewis, Melbourne, Vic, Australia 1959 John M Lovejoy, New York, N Y "For his distinguished service to the Institute, for his outstanding contributions in furthering the professional status of petroleum engineers, for his pioneering in application of engineering to petroleum production, and for his outstanding record of public service on behalf of the petroleum industry " 1957 Donald H McLaughlin, San Francisco, California 1957 C H Mathewson, New Haven, Connecticut 1938 Albert M Portevin, Parts, France 1957 Fred Searls, Jr, New York, N Y

Jan 1, 1960

By Walter Crafts, C. M. Offenhauer

IN a previous study&apos; of the carbide phase of chromium steels, it was shown that chromium carbide (Cr7C3) is a more stable carbide than cementite (Fe3C) at tempering temperatures above about 500°C. in quenched steels containing from about r1to 7.5 per cent chromium. Below this temperature the carbide phase was found to consist of cementite in all of the steels examined. In the present investigation it was found that a similar change in the carbide phase takes place in molybdenum and in chromium-molybdenum steels at approximately the same tempering temperatures. The approximate ranges of occurrence of the alloy carbides Cr7C3, Cr4C, and Mo2C have been determined in steels containing up to 5 per cent chromium, 1 per cent molybdenum and 0.60 per cent carbon. The experimental steels were made in small high-frequency furnaces from Armco ingot iron, low-carbon ferrochromium and calcium molybdate and were poured into 2-in. ingots, which were forged to 1-in. round bars. Sections of the bars were heated to the carbide-solution temperature and cooled rapidly to induce austenite transformation at relatively low temperatures. The steels were subject to some segregation, therefore comparatively high temperatures were necessary to dissolve all of the carbides. The microstructure of the quenched specimens was examined to verify the belief that the carbides had been dissolved, and also to determine the nature of the nonmartensitic structure of incompletely hardened steels. Ferrite and pseudomartensite were present in some of the specimens, but all specimens were quenched at such a rate that pearlite was not formed, in order to ensure the formation of the carbides at temperatures lower than about 500°C. It had been found previously&apos; that in chromium steels the chromium carbide could be produced by transformation of austenite in the pearlite range above 500°C., and, in order to start the tempering treatment with the carbide present as cementite, the absence of pearlite was considered to be essential. The specimens were tempered for 64 hr. to permit the formation of the stable carbide. After tempering, the specimens were submitted to microscopic and X-ray examination. The carbides were separated either electrolytically in a 5 per cent HCl electrolyte or with an acidified copper-potassium chloride solution. The crystal structure of the carbide phases was determined by the Debye-Scherrer type of X-ray patterns. The X-ray patterns obtained from specimens near the boundaries between two types of carbides were generally weak and diffuse as compared with the other patterns. For this reason, and because the more soluble components may be masked, the boundaries between the phases could not be determined precisely. However, the X-ray analysis of electrolytically separated carbides has given consistently reproducible results

Jan 1, 1943

By Henry D. Hibbard

A noted ordnance engineer once said to a friend, in speaking of the production of great steel guns, " How is it ? We design our guns with a factor of safety of eight, and the guns burst." The vague way in which internal stresses and strains in iron and steel are often considered and spoken of makes it worth while to examine them, as to their nature, their causes and results, how they may, for useful purposes, be advantageously dealt with, and how, when detrimental or dangerous, they may be reduced or kept within harmless proportions. Rankine defines " strain " as a change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass produced by a stress. This definition seems intended not to cover strains due to internal stresses, and it will help us in the present inquiry to consider strain as a tendency to change as well as an actual change of form. Internal strains in iron and steel are the result of stresses within the mass of the piece, some parts pulling and others pushing in resistance to them; or, in other words, some parts are in tension and some in compression, each part striving to relieve itself from strain and make the piece assume a form in which all parts are at rest. Subdivision, so that each part could relieve its strain by motion relative to the other parts, would, if carried out far enough, practically obliterate strain. The internal strains we are now to consider are not those due to the stresses of the service which the piece is rendering, either alone or as a part of a structure, which may be termed service-strains, but those which originate or at least are contained in the piece itself. Internal stresses in a piece of metal are, like action and reaction, always equal and in opposite directions. The stresses

Jan 1, 1907

By D. T. Farnham

The shale used at the Renton plant of the Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Co. for the manufacture of vitrified paving brick occurs in a hill rising from 200 to 300 ft. above the level of the valley in which the plant is situated.

Jan 1, 1915

By Ferris E. Sainsbury

As most mining companies utilize contractors rather than in-house drilling departments, it is difficult for most mining engineers to become familiar with drilling techniques This chapter will explain the various drilling options available to the mining industry through the services of a drilling contractor. It will also suggest improvements in program planning and specification writing by the mining company representatives to enable them to derive maximum benefit from the contractor.

Jan 1, 1979

By S. J. Aresco, A. A. Orning

This paper presents a scheme for determination of precision for the various steps in coal sampling, sample preparation, and analysis. It also gives resulting data on 100 American coals from various coal fields covering all ranks from lignite to low-volatile bituminous. The variances of the various steps of the process are studied as a function of the coal preparation, the top size of coal as sampled, and the ash content. To understand the variables that control the overall precision of coal sampling, sample reduction and analysis, there is need for measurement of the variances due to successive steps of the process. The purpose of the present paper is to study these variances as a function of the coal preparation, the top size of the coal as sampled, and the ash content. The sampling data included are from 100 individual preparation plants from various coal fields in the United States and cover all ranks of coal from lignite to low-volatile bituminous; various types of preparation; deep, strip and auger mines; and, in many instances, mixtures from two or more coal beds or types of mines. The collection of data is continuing, but sufficient work has been done to draw some important conclusions. Since the work was done in conjunction with the Bureau of Mines sampling of coal, the time that could be spent at any one preparation plant was limited. This, in turn, limited the number of samples that could be taken for each coal. For this reason, the results from various plants were pooled in blocks. Two major blocking categories were "raw" and "washed!&apos; The raw coals had no preparation other than crushing and/or screening. The washed coals were prepared further by some combination of wet or dry mechanical cleaning. The categories were further divided ac-

Jan 1, 1965

By B. Ladanyi, B. Hoyaux

One of the most important problems in underground works is the assessment of the stability of underground openings and the determination of loads on eventual supporting structures. Under certain stress conditions, a hard and sound rock around an unlined opening may show a tendency to rock bursting, which can be prevented by appropriate measures. On the other hand, a less competent rock even if it fails in a less violent manner may give rise to a rock load because within limited regions surrounding the opening, the failed material may have a tendency to flow into the opening; this condition should be prevented by designing a proper supporting structure. The stability of the opening, as well as the value of the design loads acting on the supports in the latter case, depends clearly on the shape, extent, and location of the failed regions, which are often called “plastic zones.” It has been known for some time how the plastic zones develop in some very simple cases, such as in the case of a circular opening in an elastic ideally plastic medium subjected to a nongravitational stress fie1d.l However, to the knowledge of the authors, no information has been available up to now about the extent of the plastic zones in a more general case and for rocklike media. ASSUMPTIONS ON ROCK BEHAVIOR MADE IN THE CALCULATION The solution shown in this chapter is valid for a horizontal tunnel of circular cross section driven through a rock medium at a finite depth.

Jan 1, 1970

THE first session of the production engineering group on Wednesday, morning, with J. B. Umpleby as chairman, recorded the principal developments since the Fort Worth meeting. Added to this was a lively discussion of pressure maintenance. Recent advances in the air-gas lift have resulted from the need of applying the method to smaller wells at lower costs. In many places intermittent flow has given excellent results, and numerous mechanical de-vices for its automatic control have been, developed. Papers by C. V. Millikan on the Mid-Continent field and by A. H. Bell on California, fields formed the basis for discussion. The maintenance of initial sand pressures was ably discussed for two Texas fields by t. V. Foran in a paper that not only outlined the technic of operation and the results obtained but also contained noteworthy cost data in terms of increased ultimate production. Mr. Foran recommends the use of air in the first stages of pressure maintenance as a means of determining sand conditions and directions of flow, later turning to gas, if available, because of its greater solubility on oil. A round table discussion on petroleum engineering educational problems, with H. G. George as chairman, brought out much interesting discussion that is difficult to summarize. The other Wednesday morning session was a refinery engineering symposium with T. G. Del-bridge as chairman and the economical application of heat for the general topic. A paper on the modern pipe -still, by H. S. Bell, and another by C. W. Stratford on the modernization of the cylindrical still elicited a lively discussion.

Jan 3, 1928

By Avnulf Muan, Egil Aukrust

Activity-composition curves jor cobalt oxide and manganese oxide in solid solutions with spinel-type structure have been determined by studying the equilibrium between the spinel phase and a coexisting solid-solution phase in the tewzperature range 1100" to 1400"C. Within limits of experimental error, the system displays the behavior of a regular solution. The excess integral free energy of mixing is represented by the equation . The standard free energy of formation of cobalt manganite, CoMn,O,, from the oxide components COO mzd Mn2OS at 1200°C is calculated to be -8.6 kcal. AMONG the technologically and theoretically most important oxide phases are those which crystallize with the same structure type as the mineral MgO . A120,. Although the name spinel originally was used only for this mineral, the term is generally used today to designate the whole group of oxide phases with this same structure type. It is in this wider meaning that the term is being used in the present paper. The previous literature on spinels is very extensive. There are two aspects of spinels which have attracted particular attention: the structure, including the nature and distribution of the cations present, and the physical properties (electric, magnetic). The status of knowledge in these fields has been well-summarized in recent review articles.1&apos;2 By contrast, thermodynamic properties of spinels are virtually unknown. Delineation of the activity-composition curve over the whole composition range of a solid-solution series with spinel-type structure is the objective of the present work. The system at elevated temperatures (>1000"C) constitutes such a series. The activity-composition curves for this system can be calculated from a study of the equilibrium between the above spinel solid solution and a solid solution (Co,Mn)O with sodium chloride-type structure. Data for the latter solid solution have become available recently.3 The system, in contact with metallic CO at 1200°C, obeys Raoult&apos;s law. The determination of the activity-composition curve for the spinel phase is based on the following relations. Consider the reduction-oxidation equilibrium for cobalt ions according to the equation: Because it is impossible in practice to measure single activities of electrically charged constituents, we will treat the equilibria in terms of electrically neutral components. Eq. [I] can then formally be written as follows: where and the activities of cobalt oxide in the (Co,Mn)O and the spinel solid-solution phases, respectively, K is a constant at constant temperature, and Pa is the oxygen pressure of the gas phase. The numerical value of K can be determined from a determination of the oxygen pressure P& for the equilibrium coexistence of Cos04 and COO in the binary system Co-0. Under these circumstances be set equal to 1, and hence K = [Po Eq. [3] can therefore be written

Jan 1, 1964