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By R. J. Marek

The number of persons fatally injured in the California petroleum industry in 1931 was 30, a decrease of 20 fatalities or 40 per cent from the number killed in 1930. As a result of the decrease in the number of fatalities for 1931, the fatality curve of the California petroleum industry reached its lowest point in nine years. Although reductions in personnel--which permitted the retention of a select and experienced class of workmen, decreased active field-development work, and curtailed production--undoubtedly have had a marked effect on reducing the number of fatalities in 1931, the decrease also has resulted from continued accident-prevention efforts. Statistics show that a direct relationship exists between development activity and the number of men accidentally killed in the drilling and producing division of the California petroleum industry. For example, when the average number of drilling wells in 1930 was 29 per cent less than in 1929, the number of men accidentally killed at drilling wells dropped 48 per cent; and when the average number of drilling wells in 1931 decreased 52 per cent from 1930, the number of fatalities at drilling wells decreased 58 per cent. The relationship between field-development work and fatality frequency is significant because each year at least 50 per cent of all the fatalities in the California petroleum industry occur in the drilling and producing division. This relationship should serve to guide the accident-prevention efforts of the industry, especially in the drilling and producing division, toward checking an increase in fatal accidents when development activity again takes an upward trend.

Jan 1, 1932

By Lester G. Morrell

AGAIN in 1963, as in nearly every year since 1946, the Canadian mineral industry has established a new national record in value of mineral production. The 1963 estimated total value of $2,976 million is 5 percent higher than the 1962 value of $2,845 million.2 As in previous years, metals made up more than half the value of total production. For selected years since 1949 the category percentages and total value are as follows: [ ] Crude petroleum, Canada's most valuable mineral product, accounted for 21 percent of the total value of minerals in 1963. In descending order came nickel 12 percent, iron ore 10 percent, copper 10 percent, gold 5 percent, and uranium 5 percent. Asbestos accounted for 5 percent, sand and gravel 4 percent, and cement 4 percent. The complete list of Canada's mineral products includes more than 50 basic commodities.

Jan 1, 1964

By A. C. Burr

This progress report covers the period from January 1949 to the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1950. Three runs were successfully completed, and one run was terminated as the result of failure of a cast reaction tube. Including the abbreviated run, the gasifier was operated for 1,915 hours, during which some 428 tons of natural and steam- dried lignite was partly gasified In producing 20 million cubic feet of gas. Gas-production rates varied from 7.8 to 16.4 thousand cubic feet per hour, the latter being the highest production rate yet reached; hydrogen-carbon monoxide ratios of the product gas varied from 1.85, the lowest ratio yet produced, to 6.5; and heat-transfer rates through the heated wall of the outer tube varied from 2,100 to 4,400 B.t.u. per square foot an hour. The general objective of the project is to establish the technology and economy of the gasification of lignite in an externally heated, metal, annular retort. Specific objectives include determination of the useful life of the metal retort tube, which is a continuing problem, and special objectives that were established for each run as part of the systematic investigation of the basic variables of the gasification process. For runs 10 and 11 the special objective was the influence of the lignite feed rate on gasification; for run 12, a comparison of dried and natural lignite, and the production of gas having a hydrogen-carbon monoxide ratio less than 2; and for run 13, the influence of a gradually increasing steam rate with steam admitted to either the upper or lower reaction zones. In addition, during each run the sulfur distribution and concentration in the product gas and char were investigated. Experimental results obtained using the lignite feed rate as the variable indicated that the gas yield per ton of natural lignite varied inversely with the feed rate. Comparison of the gasification of natural and steam-dried Dakota Star lignite indicated that the dried lignite was a superior gasification material because: 1. The hourly gas production was higher at normal combustion space temperatures under nearly equal experimental conditions. 2. On the moisture- and ash-free basis, a considerably higher feed rate could be maintained at a relatively high percentage of carbon gasified. 3. At nearly equal moisture- and ash-free feed rates, the specific gas yield was higher. The location of steam admission was found to be important because the gas yield per ton of natural lignite was higher when at least a portion of' the process steam was admitted to the upper reaction zone. Heat balances showed the potential heat in the gas and char to be 71.8 to 83.6 percent of the total heat input. The sulfur concentration in the product gas was low, being in the range of 35 to 140 grains per 100 cu. ft., of which 1.5 to 2.3 grains was organic sulfur. Careful measurements and inspection of the 310-alloy rolled plate tube following runs 11, 12, and 13 showed no excessive corrosion; however, some radial deformation had occurred indicating that deformation or creep might be the limiting factor in the life of the tube.

Jan 1, 1953

By Ludwig Schmidt

This report, the second of a series, presents the results of laboratory corrosion studies which were made in connection with a one-year test on aluminum lease tanks conducted by the United States Bureau of Mines. Part 1 of the report contains the results of the field tests. The studies were made on an oil lease in a so-called "sour district," near Borger, Tex., where free hydrogen sulphide accompanied the production of oil, gas, and salt water. Steel tanks previously used on the lease had suffered severe corrosion, because steel is inherently susceptible to attack by hydrogen sulphide. Because of the high resistivity of aluminum to the action of hydrogen sulphide, it was believed that this metal had promising possibilities as a material for the construction of lease tanks in "sour districts." The results of the one-year field test proved that aluminum lease tanks will withstand corrosion by hydrosulphide, but it as found that aluminum was susceptible to attack by salt water, which was invariably present in certain portions of the tanks, and that hydrogen sulphide accelerated this salt-water corrosion in an indirect manner, as will be explained hereinafter. In order to study corrosion conditions encountered in the tanks during the test period, a laboratory was maintained at the site of the aluminum lease tanks.

Jan 1, 1931

By Albert L. Toenges

The production of bituminous coal by stripping methods has become an important factor in some areas, especially in the Central and South Central States. In the latter, production at strip mines exceeds that at deep mines. Table 1 shows the tonnage produced at strip mines and the percentage of the total production for 1924 to 1935, inclusive, for the States in which the mines described in this circular are situated.4/ Following are references to earlier Bureau of Mines publications on strip mining of bituminous coal: Cash, F. E., and von Bernewitz, M. W., Methods, Costs, and. Safety in, Stripping and Mining Coal, Copper Ore, Iron Ore, Bauxite, and Pebble Phosphate: Bull. 298, Bureau of Mines, 1929, 275 pp. Kiessling, O. E., Tryon, F. G., and Mann, L., The Economics of Strip-Coal Mining: Econ. Paper 11, Bureau of Mines, 1931, 32 pp. Turner, Scott, and Bureau of Mines Staff; Mining Bituminous Coal by Stripping Methods: Inf. Circ. 6383, Bureau of Mines, 1930, 23, pp.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. H. Rose

This paper describing the milling practice at the Magma Copper Co., Superior, Ariz., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on milling methods and costs in the various mining districts throughout the United States. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to William Koerner, general manager of the Magma Copper Co., for permission to prepare this article; to J. S. Garrott, former mill superintendent, for the historical facts; and to Walter Cooksley, general foreman, for his assistance in obtaining the data.

Jan 1, 1930

By G. B. Sonneman

This final report summarizes the work done by The Bendix Corporation, Environmental Science Division, under contract to the Bureau of Mines to design, develop and test two improved systems for remote sampling the air at the working face of a coal mine in conjunction with approved portable methane detectors and machine-mounted methane monitors respectively. The work was started in May 1973 with preliminary design studies and was completed in May 1975. Five portable and two machine-mounted sampling systems were delivered. Contract "add-on" requirements for (1) modification of the machine-mounted system to accommodate a flame safety lamp and (2) a study of sensor response time improvement for the machine-mounted system were also completed.

Jan 1, 1975

By James Westfield

A brief résumé follows of activities of the Division of Coal-Mine Inspection that have had a favorable effect on health, safety, and the reduction of injuries at coal mines: 1. The Federal Mine Safety Code fur Bituminous Coal and Lignite Mines of the United States was issued originally by the Director of the Bureau of Mines on July 24, 1946, after consulting with management and labor representatives of the coal-mining industry. The code has been used by Federal coal-mine inspectors while inspecting bituminous-coal and lignite mines as a basis for determining the existence of unhealthful and unsafe conditions and practices in these mines. A revised code was issued by the Secretary of the Interior on October 8, 1953, after further consultations with representatives of management and mine workers and was incorporated by reference in the 1952 and subsequent bituminous -coal wage agreements. The agreement of May 29, 1946, between the Secretary of the Interior, acting as Coal Mines Administrator under authority of Executive Order 9728, and the United Mine Workers of America, covering bituminous-coal and lignite mines in Government possession, charged Federal coal-mine inspectors with the responsibility of making periodic investigations of the mines and reportin; to the Coal Mines Administrator any violations of the Federal Minis Safety Code. Federal coal-mine inspectors also had temporary authority to close mines found to be imminently dangerous, but such authority under Executive Order 9728 was removed on June 30, 1947, when Government control of the mines was terminated.

Jan 1, 1960

By Jeffrey M. Listak

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted field tests to evaluate the effectiveness of a wet head continuous mining machine for reducing dust exposure for continuous miner operators. Wet head technology delivers water via sprays to the continuous miner's cutter head as opposed to traditional standard sprays located on the boom and body of the mining machine. The sprays, positioned directly behind each bit on the cutter head, deliver water at the point of attack, serving to cool the bits during mining to reduce the potential for frictional ignitions. The sprays also flood the coal with water to potentially suppress dust generation. Dust surveys were conducted at several mines to evaluate the wet head's effectiveness to control respirable dust exposure at the continuous miner operator location and in the immediate return. Results show that the wet head miner improved air quality at both locations to varying degrees in some cases and not in others when compared to a continuous miner with a standard spray system.

Jan 1, 2010

In 1967 the United States consumed 58.8 quadrillion Btu of energy. Both the Atomic Energy Commission and the Resources for the Future, Inc., a private economic forecasting group, predict that the United States energy requirements will reach 135 quadrillion Btu by the year 2000. In 1967 bituminous coal produced 21.4 percent of the energy used in the United States and anthracite coal another 0. 5 percent. Coal Reserves Coal reserves make up about four-fifths of the United States storehouse of fuel in proven reserves. Seventy-five percent of all fuel, likely to be found and recovered is coal. Electric utilities consume more than half of the bituminous coal mined in the United States in generating 53 percent of the nation's electricity. Atomic Energy Commission analysts have proposed the development of a vast "national energy system" based upon long-distance electrical transmission from abundant untapped coal reserves in the western United States. The study predicts that even if uranium supplies are available and economic breeder reactors developed, coal requirements for electricity generation will more than double by 1980 and increase another 50 percent before the year 2000.

Jan 1, 1970

By Gerald W. Elger

This report compares the quality of zirconium metal prepared by batch reduction of zirconium tetrachloride by (1) sodium, (2) magnesium, and (3) mixtures of sodium and magnesium. Criteria for quality are based on chemical analyses and hardness testing of zirconium arc-melted from sponge. The best quality zirconium with respect to low oxygen content and hardness numbers was prepared by reaction of zirconium tetrachloride with a mixture of sodium and magnesium. It was found that this reaction could be successfully carried out by two methods: (1) addition of sodium and magnesium before the initial reaction and (2) periodic injection of sodium during reaction of zirconium tetrachloride with magnesium. The largest quantity of metal was found to be recovered from experiments in which a mixture of sodium and magnesium was used. Magnesium appeared to be a better reductant than sodium because magnesium-reduced zirconium contained less oxygen and exhibited lower hardness numbers than sodium-reduced metal.

Jan 1, 1962

By M. Vanpée, H. G. Wolfhard

Jets of hot gases issuing into explosive gaseous mixtures are efficient agents of ignition . The ignition temperature is defined as the temperature of the jet as it enters the cold explosive mixture which is just high enough to produce ignition . Such data have been published recently.5/ The investigators note especially that no correlation seems to exist between hot - gas ignition temperatures and spontaneous ignition temperatures , although there is a rather loose relation with limit flame temperatures . Before a more quantitative theory of the hot - gas ignition process can be attempted effectively , several questions must be answered : ( 1 ) Can the reactions leading to ignition be described by an Arrhenius type activation energy? ( 2 ) Is ignition preceded by an induction period ? ( 3 ) What is the rate - determining process of the ignition ? (4) And how does turbulence affect this type of ignition ?

Jul 1, 1960

By Robert C. Merritt

This report describes laboratory as well as pilot heap leaching investigations of low-grade sandstone ores from Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado. Sodium carbonate-bicarbonate solutions containing sodium hypochlorite extracted up to 86, 54, and 16 percent U308 from Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado ores, respectively. Ammonium carbonate-bicarbonate solutions containing sodium hypochlorite were less effective at leaching these ores. Acid leach in replicate pilot plant testing resulted in U308 extractions of 96, 88, and 81 percent from the Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado ores. The development of cost-effective processes for extracting uranium from low-grade ore is essential to the assurance of a continuing domestic supply of uranium.

Jan 1, 1977

By Gary M. Larwood

A study was conducted to determine the amount of transportation equipment required to move 1.2 billion tons of coal in 1985. The Federal Bureau of Mines has investigated a majority of the various practices associated with coal transportation and has gathered information on the regional origin-destination patterns, methods of movement, equipment stocks, rate structures, and operational capacities of the most important modes of coal haulage currently in use. Models employing this information were developed to establish the origin-destination pattern for 1985 coal shipments, estimate practical tonnage capacities for selected coal hauling rivers, develop modal shares for both unconstrained (by river capacity) and constrained cases, and present a range of coal transportation equipment requirements for given sets of constraints. Projected transportation shares for rail ranged from 63.7 to 72.3 percent, and for river, from 8.8 to 16.4 percent. Other coal transportation modes (truck, conveyor, Great Lakes, and tidewater) are expected to retain their historic shares of coal traffic. Equipment estimates were made for 1985 rail and water transportation based on 1973 average and best practice. Average practice estimates ranged from 675,000 to 710,000 hopper cars (100-ton) and 3,100 to 5,940 barges (1,400-ton equivalent). Best practice estimates ranged from 126,000 to 142,000 hopper cars and 1,750 to 3,450 barges. Full implementation of 1973 best practice by 1985 is unlikely.

Jan 1, 1976

By D. Bienstock

The use of alkalized alumina in removing sulfur dioxide from a coal-combustion flue gas at 625° F was investigated on a pilot plant scale. The absorber was 26 feet long and 1.6 inches ED. Counter-current gas-solids flow at gas velocities of 8 to 15 ft/sec in the presence and absence of baffles, as well as solids entrainment at gas velocities of 20 to 23 ft/sec with solids recycle, were employed. The spent absorbent as regenerated as fixed bed with the reducing gases--reformed natural .7.7d hydrogen. Of absorption-regeneration were successful completed using the alkalized alumina rolled into spherical granules 10 to 16 mesh. There was no loss in activity of absorbent toward SO2 with a modest attrition equivalent to 0.l percent of the solids feed. Supporting studies were conducted on the effect of the sodium content in the absorbent, the composition of the reducing gas, thermal treatment to increase absorbent hardness, and removal of absorbed chlorine from the absorbent. A mathematical model was formulated to describe the removal of SO2 by alkalized aluminum from fixed and falling beds.

Jan 1, 1967

By John Paul Gries

This Bureau of Mines report reviews the mineral industry of the Black Hills area, including Butte, Custer, Fall River, Lawrence, Meade, and Penning- ton Counties, S. Dak.; and Crook, Niobrara, and Weston Counties, Wyo. It includes discussion of geological occurrence, processing, and potential of 27 commodities that have been produced from the nine-county area. The value of mineral production exceeds $70 million annually. Gold and petroleum account for two-thirds of the total, followed by clays, cement, sand and gravel, and rock. The combined mineral industries annually consume 268 million kilowatts of electrical energy, 933 million Mcf of gas, and 2 million barrels of fuel oil. Water consumption is about 10,000 gallons per minute. About 2,700 persons are employed on a year-round or significant part-time basis.

Jan 1, 1974

By Kenneth H. Johnston

This report describes in detail three waterflooding projects and a pres-sure-maintenance project in Butler and Cowley Counties, Kans., that will be visited on the 1963 annual spring tour of the Kansas-Oklahoma Waterflood Association. Among the unique features of the projects are the flooding of five oil-producing horizons separately with injection water furnished by two water treating plants. Discussion of the individual projects includes information on their early history, the source and treatment of the injection fluids, oil production decline curves, and the results of water injection on oil production.

Jan 1, 1963

By Thomas Jenning, C. M. Keithly

"INTRODUCTION This report is one of a series. 4. 5. 6/ concerned with presenting historical development, and operating data on secondary-recovery projects in various States to stimulate interest in sound secondary-recovery programs. Preceding reports in this series have dealt exclusively with descriptions of and results obtained by water flooding in three states, but no recent publication of comparable purpose describes gas-injection 7/ practices. The authors intend to present material relevant to the development and operation of gas-injection projects in Illinois, with particular emphasis on those producing from oil-bearing horizons that had been depleted to a point near the economic limit of operation by past oil-recovery methods.Most operators realize that the energy expended on the movement of fluids through gas-expansion- or gas-cap-type oil reservoirs to producing wells must be supplemented to attain maximum recovery of the oil present. Under favorable conditions, many operators choose to maintain oil-propulsive forces at or near their original magnitude by injecting extraneous fluids into a reservoir or recycling produced fluids early in the life of a field. More common, and less desirable, is the practice of replenishing these forces after primary producing methods become unprofitable. The lattes practice has been adopted in many stripper fields in Illinois and most of the oil-producing States during the last 40 years, but other old oil fields, and oil properties within those fields which were partly exploited by secondary--recovery methods, also may offer favorable opportunity for further development. To encourage and, aid operators in the development of gas-injection projects in the old oil fields of the United States, four projects have been described in detail in this report."

Nov 1, 1944

By John R. Hoskins

The Bureau of Mines conducted an investigation to more exactly define the influence of some end conditions on the laboratory-determined uniaxial compressive strength of rock samples. Limestone, marble, sandstone, and granite were used to provide a range of specimen modulus of elasticity from 2.7 X 106 psi to 10 x 106 psi. Four variables were studied: Nonparallelism and surface texture of specimen ends were the specimen variables investigated; the end platen size and the adjustable or spherical head friction were the machine variables studied. It was concluded that the loading ends of small laboratory models and samples should be prepared with surface irregularities that do not vary from a plane surface by more than 0.001 inch. It was also concluded that nonparallelism of the specimen ends should not exceed 8 minutes for a rigid head load or 15 minutes for an adjusting head load. The measured compressive strength of specimens prepared with these tolerances will be statistically the same with any diameter or thickness of platen and any degree of head friction if initial alinement of the specimen is assured.

Jan 1, 1968

These proceedings consist of an overview of the in situ mining research currently being carried out by the Bureau of Mines. The following papers emphasize two general aspects of the in situ mining method: the environment and productivity. Both areas are extremely important, particularly because in situ leach mining is a relatively new mining method from a commercial point of view. Topics covered include the restoration of ground water, the selection of lixiviants, in situ mining of commodities other than uranium, in situ mining costs, the application of resistance measurements to in situ mining, an acid leach mining case history, and the use of branched boreholes for in situ mining. A bibliography of Bureau of Mines publications on in situ mining is appended.

Jan 1, 1981