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By Jun Hino, P. G. Shewmon, P. A. Beck

THE investigations of Crussard,' of Guinier and Tennevin,' and of Dunn and Daniels," indicate that the subgrains formed in a cold worked and annealed metal are capable of growing at each other's expense during annealing, if the temperature of annealing is sufficiently high and the time is long enough. The results of Dunn and Daniels are particularly convincing in showing that subgrain growth is essentially the result of the free surface energy associated with the subboundaries. In subgrain growth, as in ordinary grain growth, energy is gained as a result of the decrease in total subboundary surface area per unit volume. Recently, Wood and Scrutton4 found that the rate of subgrain growth upon annealing increased very considerably, if simultaneously a creep strain was applied to the specimen at a low strain rate. Working with 99.98 pct pure fine-grained aluminum, these investigators found that the continuous X-ray diffraction back-reflection rings of material strained at room temperature remained continuous after heating for ten days at 250 °C. However, when heated at the same temperature under a stress of 1000 psi even for only three days, the formerly continuous X-ray diffraction rings broke up into numerous dots, which were fairly clearly separated from each other. The continuous X-ray diffraction rings were interpreted as indications of a very small subgrain size, not resolved by the X-ray diffraction method used. The breaking up of the continuous X-ray diffraction ring during annealing under stress was taken as an indication of a great increase in subgrain size, so that the individual subgrains could then be resolved. The effect of simultaneous strain at a low strain rate in accelerating subgrain growth, discovered by Wood and Scrutton and designated by them as "cell growth," is of fundamental importance. The experiments described in this note were carried out in order to confirm Wood and Scrutton's results by direct metallographic observation. Also, information was sought as to the minimum creep strain necessary to produce this effect. A fine grained high purity aluminum strip was prepared by alternate 33 pct rolling and annealing treatments for 1 hr at 350°C. Specimens cut from this strip were subjected to a relatively fast creep strain of 7.2 pct in 3.5 min at 300°C under a constant load initially corresponding to 1185 psi. The subgrains set up were large enough (about 0.015 to 0.03 mm) to be clearly observed (Fig. 1) at X200 magnification with polarized light, after electrolytic polishing and anodic etching, producing a fine oxide film." The corresponding X-ray diffraction pattern is shown in Fig. la. After the fast creep strain treatment a portion of the specimen was subjected to a creep strain of 8.3 pct in 44 hr at 350°C under a constant load initially corresponding to 320 psi. Another portion, annealed under the same conditions, but not strained, served as control specimen. The subgrain size of a typical area of the specimen annealed under strain and of the one annealed without strain is shown in Figs. 2 and 3 (X-ray diffraction patterns, Figs. 2a and 3a). Annealing without strain produced clearly observable subgrain growth (subgrain size: about 0.03 to 0.05 mm). The effect of simultaneous strain was to increase greatly the rate of subgrain growth (resulting in a subgrain size of approximately 0.05 to 0.13 mm), in accordance with Wood and Scrutton. In another experiment, the effect of the amount of simultaneous strain was studied. The initial subgrain structure was set up by fast creep, as described previously. The specimen was then heated at 350 °C under a constant load initially corresponding to 320 psi, as above, for 2.2 hr (0.24 pct strain), and 8.8 hr (0.58 pct strain). Comparison with the corresponding unstrained control specimens by means of X-ray diffraction showed that 0.58 pct strain definitely had an effect, but the effect of 0.24 pct strain was doubtful.

Jan 1, 1953

By Frank J. Tolonen

BENEFICIATION of iron-bearing formations is one of the major problems of research at the Michigan College of Mining arid Technology. Funds for this purpose hate been supplied by the State of Michigan supplemented by contributions of labor and some supplies from the Federal Government during the depression. The iron-mining companies have cooperated in securing samples and have also furnished much valuable information relative to the various formations.

Jan 1, 1937

NORTH AMERICA Number Members Alaska 36 Canada 323 Mexico 184 Newfoundland 3 United States Alabama 40 Arizona 111 Arkansas 8 California 646 Colorado 171 Connecticut 90 Delaware 21 District of Columbia 136 Florida 16 Georgia 7 Idaho 66 Illinois 208 Indiana 66 Iowa 11 Kansas 24 Kentucky 32

Jan 1, 1934

By James Norman

SPODUMENE is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodu-mene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components.1 The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manga-nese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li20 on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston, ? the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2,3 The methods described in the second publication' did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted.

Jan 1, 1940

By E. W. Davis

DURING late years, the proportion of beileficiated iron ore shipped from the Lake Superior District has increased very rapidly. By benefication is meant washing, screening, drying, sintering or any process by which the grade or structure of the crude ore is improved before shipment. In 1915, only 3,000,- 000 tons, or 9 per cent, of t6e total Minnesota shipment was beneficiated ore, compared with 13,500,000 tons, or 35 per cent, of the total Minnesota shipment in 1925. This increase is, of course, due to the fact that iron and steel can be made more cheaply after beneficiating these ores than they could have been had these ores not been so treated. Fundamentally, however, several causes contribute to the necessity for beneficiating iron ores, such as depletion of the reserves of high-grade ores, the iron ore leasing systems and taxation methods and, at the smelting plants, a better understanding of blast-furnace operations, increased operating costs and increased sulfur content of blast-furnace coke. As economic conditions change, it is by no means certain that the proportion of beneficiated ore shipped each year is going to continue to increase. Undoubtedly some of the beneficiation operations are not economically sound at the present time and what the future has in store for the iron ore industry is problematical. Generally speaking, the cost of fuel for blast-furnace operations will increase as time goes on and in order to continue to produce cheap iron and steel, some of the other costs must be lowered. Freight and labor rates probably can- not be reduced. The cost of producing iron ore cannot be reduced much below the present price. It therefore appears that the best opportunity for maintaining iron and steel prices at their present level in spite of in- creased costs of labor and raw materials is to use. less or cheaper raw materials. This, of course, contemplates an improvement in metallurgical processes all along the line and, as a matter of fact, we can confidently expect these improvements because scientific investigations will undoubtedly be even more productive in the future than they have been in the past.

Jan 1, 1926

By William P. Blake

THE occurrence of enormous masses of pure copper has given the mining district of Lake Superior worldwide reputation. The first masses brought from there excited great attention, and directed the notice of the mining world to the few particular mines from which they were taken. It may not now be generally known that nearly all the veins which are worked, and which cut across the trap ridge, contain mass copper, and that large masses are continually being raised from them. The largest continuous mass which has been taken out was probably that from the Minnesota, in 1857, which is variously stated as weighing 420 tons and 470 tons. Its length was about 45 feet, its breadth or height 22 feet, and its greatest thickness 8 feet. All such masses are very irregular and ragged in their form and thickness, thinning out generally from a foot to a few inches, and straggling through the vein until they connect with other large masses. This was the character of a mass found in the Phoenix Mine, one of the oldest on the lake, which mass altogether weighed some 600 tons. But this was really a series of masses more or less connected by strings of metal, yet no one large part of it weighed, singly, over 200 tons. A similar series of masses, weighing about 600 tons, was extracted from the Minnesota. Some of the Phoenix masses were four to five feet thick of solid copper. The Cliff Mine has yielded masses weighing from 100 to 150 tons in one piece. One of 40 tons was taken out this year, besides numerous blocks weighing from 1 to 8 tons. This mine and the Central are now yielding mass copper in abundance. It is, of course, impossible to pick, or drill, or to break out such huge masses of solid metal when they are found, by drifting upon the course of the vein. The method of extraction is as follows The miner picks out or excavates a narrow passage or chamber upon one side of the mass, laying it bare as far as possible over its whole surface. It is usually firmly held by its close union with the vein-stuff, or by its irregular projections above, below, and at the end. If it cannot then be dislodged by levers, the excavation of a chamber is commenced behind the mass, and this excavation is made large enough to receive from 5 to 20 or more kegs of powder. In one

Jan 1, 1876

By William P. Blake

The occurrence of enormous masses of pure copper has given the mining district of Lake Superior worldwide reputation. The first masses brought from there excited great attention, and directed the notice of the mining world to the few particular mines from which they were taken. It may not now be generally known that nearly all the veins which are worked, and which cut across the trap ridge, contain mass copper, and that large masses are continually being raised from them. The largest continuous mass which has been taken out was probably that from the Minnesota, in 1857, which is variously stated as weighing 420 tons and 470 tons. Its length was about 45 feet, its breadth or height 22 feet, and its greatest thickness 8 feet. All such masses are very irregular and ragged in their form and thickness, thinning out generally from a foot to a few inches, and straggling through the vein until they connect with other large masses. This was the character of a mass found in the Phœnix Mine, one of the oldest on the lake, which mass altogether weighed some 600 tons. But this was really a series of masses more or less connected by strings of metal, yet no one large part of it weighed, singly, over 200 tons. A similar series of masses, weighing about 600 tons, was extracted from the Miunesota. Some of the Phœnix masses were four to five feet thick of solid copper. The Cliff Mine has yielded masses weighing from 100 to 150 tons in one piece. One of 40 tons was taken out this year, besides numerous blocks weighing from 1 to 8 tons. This mine and the Central are now yielding mass copper in abundance. It is, bf course, impossible to pick, or drill, or to break out such huge masses of solid metal when they are found, by drifting upon the course of the vein. The method of extraction is as follows: The miner picks out or excavates a narrow passage or chamber upon one side of the mass, laying it bare as far as possible over its whole surface. It is usually firmly held by its close union with the veinstuff, or by its irregular projections above, below, and at the end. If it cannot then be dislodged by levers, the excavation of a chamber is commenced behind the mass, and this excavation is made large enough to receive from 5 to 20 or more kegs of powder. In one

By Clarence P. Linville

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) IT is recognized that, in all metallurgical operations, the greatest possible uniformity in all conditions is essential to the best results. It is the constant aim of metallurgists to secure this uniformity, and their success in this respect has been in many cases the cause of great advances in the metallurgical processes themselves. Of all such processes, the production of pig-iron in the modern blast-furnace is perhaps the most complex and the most difficult of control. Notwithstanding the great progress of recent years, there is still great difficulty in obtaining anything like uniform conditions and results in the manufacture of pig-iron. The reason is not far to seek. The ores vary in composition and physical properties, often carrying a varying amount of gangue material, unevenly distributed The coke may vary in composition, cell-structure, moisture, hardness, and other properties. The blast, the weight of which far exceeds that of any other constituent, varies in its moisture-content and consequently in its chemical composition ; and its temperature, by reason of the method of heating, is not uniform, but, besides varying from time to time with atmospheric and other outside conditions, has a maximum and minimum for every changing of stoves. Now, with regard to these variations, the modern demand for uniformity has been greatly aided. Chemical analysis has made it possible to select ores so that the composition of the charge can be kept fairly constant; coal may be obtained from a given field, and coked in the same kind of ovens under conditions which . make the fuel practically uniform ; the Gayley

Mar 1, 1910

By H. M. Chance

STRETCHING from New York southwestwardly to Georgia is a great range of hills and mountains consisting of pre-Palaeozic schists, slates, and gneissic and granitoid rocks, known locally by many different names; in Pennsylvaniaa as the South mountains, the Berkshire or Durham and Reading hills, and in Virginia and farther south as the Blue ridge. To the northwest of this range lies the " Great Valley," underlain by Lower Silurian limestones, and known as the Lehigh valley, Cumberland valley, Shenandoah valley, valley of Eastern Tennessee and Georgia and by other local names, but all these are parts of one valley, geologically and geographically continuous from New Jersey to Georgia. Lying upon and along the northern flank of this range of mountains, and dipping northwestwardly under the limestone of the valley, is the Potsdam formation (Primal or No. 1 of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey), which consists of sandstone or conglomerate overlain by slates. The latter are sometimes arenaceous and occasionally are replaced in part by sandstone. This formation varies from a few feet to several hundred feet in thickness. At the outcrop the slates are completely decomposed, oxidized or disintegrated, forming a belt of clay several hundred feet wide occupying the interval between the outcroppings of the sandstone and limestone. This clay-belt includes a more or less continuous series of iron-ore (brown hematite) deposits, which have been, and still are, extensively worked. The belt is more or less continuously mineralized with iron throughout its length, and hundreds of large deposits of ore have been developed and worked, producing many millions of tons of ore.

Sep 1, 1908

By D. B. Gillies

IN 1938 the Republic Steel Corp. announced that it had leased the ore mines and other property of the Witherbee Sherman Corp. at Port Henry, N. Y. The announcement brought forth an interesting reaction. Two questions were asked repeatedly: (1) Is the iron product high grade? (2) Is there a substantial reserve? The answer to both questions was and is a decided and emphatic "Yes."

Jan 1, 1943

By Bahngrell W. Brown

IN an age when anything short of miraculous can and does happen it is entirely too easy to become labeled as a prophet. After the first wave of hysteria over atomic weapons died down there were crystal gazers enough in that field. The mining fraternity, always anxious to get back to normal anyway, looked, was duly impressed, and passed on to more mundane affairs. After all it was just another big blast in the stopes of life. After we "laymen" had seen the effects at Hiroshima and been granted a peek into the phenomenon of Numbers 4 and 5, we saw, indeed, that it was a tremendous but understandable weapon. Now it appears that we may fall heir to much of the defensive planning of the future. If, as our military planners tell us, it will be necessary to go underground for defense, then we are the true forerunners of a race of troglodytes. The underground belongs to us as to no other profession; the subsurface is our prerogative. Already the big mistakes in planning atomic defense are being made. It is within our ability now to correct them. Surveys are being made of natural caverns to be used as a basis for military planning. This is our first big mistake. Even if the natural caverns, many of which Nature has precariously carved from cherty and brittle limestones, could withstand the seismic force of a proximate blast without major roof failures, there is a more serious argument against the blanket use of natural caverns as a first line of defense. In addi-

Jan 1, 1946

By H. C. Chang, N. J. Grant

Creep of very coarse grained high purity aluminum was studied at 400°, 700°, and 1100°F at initial stresses of 50 to 1200 psi. Local strain measurements were made across the grain boundaries and in different regions of various grains during creep, thereby permitting the drawing of component creep curves. The relative amounts of elongation as measured across a grain boundary and in the grains adjacent to the boundary depend on the temperature of testing. The significance of creep curve equations and activation energies is discussed. THIS paper presents some of the results of a research program devoted to the study of the mechanism of creep in high purity aluminum. Previous publications have dealt with the cyclic processes of alternating grain boundary sliding and migration, and the deformation in the grains caused by these processes;' the direction and the driving force of grain boundary sliding and migration;' the deformation in the grains and the restricting effects of the grain boundaries on this deformation." These previous papers were based mainly on either microscopic observations or X-ray data, or both. Sometimes creep curves across two closely spaced reference marks (about 0.6 to 0.7 mm apart) were also presented with a view to correlating the elongation values with the optical observations in general, and with certain deformation processes in particular. These curves shall henceforth be referred to as component creep curves. No attempts were made, however, to compare either the component creep curves which were obtained in different regions of a specimen, or those obtained from different specimens subjected to different creep test conditions. It is the purpose of this paper to present these component creep curves. Among the factors influencing the behaviors of these curves, those studied were stress, temperature, and grain arrangements in the specimens. It is proposed to show how greatly the deformation can vary from grain to grain and within an individual grain in a coarse grained specimen. The experimental technique and procedure have been presented.' It remains necessary to emphasize that the reference marks were produced by pressing a thin sewing needle into the surface of the specimen before the final annealing at 900°F for 24 hr and at 1150°F for 12 hr. The cold work around the needle indentations was therefore removed. The depth of these holes after electropolishing the annealed specimens was about 0.01 mm. This depth and area were negligible in comparison with the thickness of the specimens, 2.3 mm, and hence would not affect the creep behavior. Results Fig. 1 shows a development diagram of specimen P-8. The dots on the surface locate the needle point reference marks used to obtain the component creep curves. A curve obtained between two dots across a grain boundary measures not only the boundary deformation but also the deformation associated with boundary sliding occurring in the grains in the region between these indents. The original distance between two reference marks was about 0.6 to 0.7 mm. The maximum error of measurement was 0.01 mm, or in terms of percentage elongation, of the order of & 1.5 pct. Whereas the component creep curves shown in the figures to follow were drawn as a gross average of the points, in view of the fineness of some of the steps of grain boundary sliding and migration, as shown in the previous publications,¹,2 it appears logical to expect that some of the finer cycles of movement have not been delineated for the strain sensitivity of the measuring system. It seems justifiable to say that the curves are not as smooth as shown. 700°F Tests: Fig. 2 shows component creep curves across four of the grain boundaries in specimen P-8, tested at 700°F and 85 psi. These curves clearly show alternate cycles of increasing and decreasing

Jan 1, 1954

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Aug. 10 to Sept. 10, 1914: Members ALLEY, HARRY MCCAMMON, Mill Foreman .... Churchill Mining Co., Wonder,2 Nev. AMBLER, J. OWEN, Met..; ... Calumet and Arizona Mining Co., Douglas, Ariz. ANDERSON, JAMES WILLOUGHBY, Duell, Warfield and Duell, 2 Rector St., New York, N. Y. ANTISELL, FRANK L., Asst. Supt Raritan Copper Works, Perth Amboy, N. J. CARRINGTON, FRANK GAMBLE, Sec'y and Asst. Mgr., Standard Foundry Co., Anniston, Ala. CONKEY, CHARLES ROLLAND, Structural Draftsman, Barnett McQueen Co., Ft. William, Ont., Canada. COOK, PAUL RICHARDSON, Mill Shift Boss, Buckhorn Mill and Cyanide Plant, Buckhorn. Nev.

Jan 10, 1914

By W. T. Weller

In Part I, a study of pressure build-up curves calculated for conditions under which both oil and gas flow led to the conclusion that the presence of a dispersed free gas phase in an oil reservoir must be taken into consideration to estimate accurately average reservoir pressure and permeability from build-up curves. Familiar methods based on the assumption of no free gas can be extended to the two-phase case by using total compressibility and mobility in place of single-fluid compressibility and mobility. These methods give correct values for average pressure and permeability when gas saturation is small. Errors become larger as the gas saturation increases. However, for the use to which the results will be put, the methods are satisfactory for reservoir engineering purposes. An improved method of calculating the performance of depletion-type reservoirs is presented in Part 2. Because the mathematical relationships describing simultaneous flow of oil and gas are quite involved. simplifying assumptions are made to provide means of obtaining approximate solutions of reasonable accuracy. One such approximate method now in use is the constant-GOR solution. It involves the assumption that at any instant, the ratio of total gas flow rate (both free and disolved) to oil flow rate is the same at all points in the reservoir. The approach is not applicable unless the free gar saturation in the reservoir is everywhere greater than the critical gas saturation. This paper presents a modification which, by avoiding the constant-GOR assumption, makes the method applicable to all reservoir conditions, and so far appears to be more accurate than the constant-GOR solution and to he comparable in required compuctation time. PART I— BUILD-UP CURVE ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION Pressure build-up characteristics of shut-in wells have been used for many years by engineers to evaluate average reservoir pressure, effective permeability thickness of the pay section, effectiveness of well completion (skin effect) and reservoir size. A number of methods of analysis have appeared from time to time."" Without exception, these methods are based on the assumption that the reservoir contains but one fluid of constant small compressibility and constant mobility. It has been suggesteda" hat these single-fluid methods may be applied to data from reservoirs containing both oil and gas by substitution of some effective total properties of the multiphase system in place of the corresponding single-phase properties. The present investigation was undertaken primarily to evaluate this approach. METHOD A number of theoretical build-up curves were calculated for conditions of two-phase flow, under the assumption of certain reservoir and fluid properties, and were analyzed by single-fluid methods with appropriate total compressibility and total mobility values for the corresponding single-fluid properties. Results of the analyses were compared with the assumed conditions. The theoretical build-up curves were completed by procedures similar to those of West, Garvin and Sheldon." Since these calculations require a considerable amount of computer time, an attempt was made to derive an approximate calculation method. The attempt was unsuccessful for calculating build-up curves, but the effort did result in a new approximate method of calculating the performance of solution gas drive reservoirs, which appears to be an improvement over the constant-GOR method" used previously (see Part 2). The West, Garvin and Sheldon calculations involved the following assumptions: (1) the reservoir is circular and completely bounded, with a completely penetrating well at its center; (2) the porous medium is uniform and iso-tropic, with a constant water saturation at all points; (3) gravity effects can be neglected; (4) compressibility of rock and water can be neglected; (5) the composition and equilibrium are constant for oil and gas; (6) the same pressure exists in both the oil phase and the gas phase; and (7) no afterproduction occurs, i.e., the well is shut in at the sand face for build-up. These assumptions make it possible to describe two-phase flow of oil and gas by the partial differential equations:

Jan 1, 1967

By L. A. Walker

DURING the past twelve years the underground shaft of the United States mine at Bingham has been sunk an additional 2000 ft. with stations and pockets cut every 200 ft. without interrupting the mining of 600 tons of ore per day and the advancing of 1500 ft. of development per month. Following is a brief description of the way the joint work is conducted. The vertical underground shaft is a three-compartment shaft with outside dimensions of 6 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 6 in., and inside dimensions for each compartment of 4 ft. 2 in. by 4 ft. 8 in. The manway compartment of the main shaft is used as the hoisting compartment in sinking operations; it is partially lined with 2 by 12-in, lagging and a bucket is used without guides or crosshead. Preparatory work includes the placing of a bulkhead in the manway compartment, 60 ft. above the lowest station or level, the installation of a hoist, a head sheave, a fleet sheave, a-signal system, air and water lines, and a trap door for handling waste.

Jan 1, 1937

By Victor G. Hills

CONTRARY to what seems to be the general impression, the island of Cyprus was not named for the metal copper, but the reverse was the case. The origin of the name is entirely lost. The ancient city Kition, the birthplace of Zeno, is supposed to be the same as Kittim mentioned in Gen. x, 4; Jeremiah ii, 10 and Ezekiel xxvii, 6, and Josephus states that this name seems to have been applied to the city and also to the island itself. Cyprus is 50 miles off the coast of Asia Minor. The mountains on the mainland are plainly visible across the sea from where I write six miles from the shore of Morphou bay. It is 200 miles from Joppa the port of Jerusalem, and 250 from Port Said. The shape of the island is like a lizard, the tail pointing directly toward the old city of Antioch near the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. The island was once heavily timbered. Among the great trees the cedars were said to even excel the famous cedars of Lebanon. The Odyssey refers to it as the "sweet smelling island" and makes other references. But the continual wars of every race and age completely stripped it of its timber, and for centuries it has been woefully barren. There are two ranges of mountains. One borders the north coast and runs out in a slim rocky ridge forming the "tail." The other occupies the southwestern part of the island, the highest point being Mt. Troodes 6600 ft. high, sometimes called Mt. Olympus. Whether or not it be the Mt. Olympus, anyway right around there the ancient gods and godesses frequently "started things." These peaks are in plain sight 10 miles south from where I live.

Jan 1, 1926

By D. E. Menzie, D. L. Dauben

This paper discusses the physical parameters involved in the slow flow of high molecular weight polymer solutions in porous media. The interacting effects of polymer properties and porous media properties on flow performance are considered. Experiments were conducted with the polyethylene oxides, with molecular weights ranging from 200,000 to over 5,000,000. Frontal advance velocities ranged from I to 30 ft/day. The porous matrix consisted of a flow cell packed with glass beads. Polymer solutions were characterized by viscosity and normal stress measurements. Under certain conditions, unexpectedly high flow resistance was observed. This behavior was observed to be a function of flow rate, pore size, polymer molecular weight and concentration. The polymer solutions exhibit "dilatant" flow behavior in porour media in contrast with the pseudo-plastic behavior in simple flow systems. A theoretical ex-planation of such behavior is presented. INTRODUCTION The use of polymers in the injected water of a waterflood increases oil displacement efficiency by reducing the mobility (k,/pu) of the driving phase. A reduced driving phase mobility results in improvements in the areal sweep efficiency and in the vertical coverage in stratified reservoirs. This mobility reduction may be achieved by a permeability reduction, a viscosity increase or by a combination of the two. Early attempts at increasing the injected water viscosity were not successful because of the poor economics involved. The use of such materials as glycerin, sugar or glycols to increase water viscosity was not economically feasible. Attempts in using certain naturally occurring polymers were not too successful because of the high polymer losses to the rock. A high molecular weight, partially hydrolyzed polyacry-lamide was introduced 3 years ago as a waterflood additive.',' Initial work by Pye' indicated that the presence of these polymers in dilute concentrations decreases the water mobility 5 to 20 times more than would be expected from measurements of the solution viscosity. Such an effect would be of obvious economic value since only a small polymer concentration would be required to accomplish a large reduction in water mobility. This research was designed to study the basic flow mech anisms of polymer solutions in porous media. The interacting effects of polymer properties and porous media properties on flow performance are considered. This study indicates some of the conditions under which these interactions can lead to significant mobility effects. is valid only for Newtonian fluids. For polymer solutions and other non-Newtonian fluids the equation must be modified to consider that viscosity is a variable quantity. Modification of the Darcy equation to include non-Newtonian effects has been the subject of several recent investigations."" The modifications generally adopt a rheological model. such as an Ellis or Dower law model. to Dorous media by defining some characteristic channel radius. Most of these studies showed the porous media flow behavior to be predictable from viscometric data. Investigations involving the flow of high molecular weight polyacrylamide solutions through cores have generally encountered the high flow resistances reported previously by Pye. This high flow resistance has generally been attributed to an in-depth permeability reduction, as evidenced by a reduced permeability to water which has displaced polymer solution from the porous media. Marshall and Metzner" report high flow resistances, which they attribute to viscoelastic effects. In this paper, the effects of polymer molecular weight, pore size, flow rate and concentration are considered. The polymers used are the polyethylene oxides known as Poly-ox. This class of polymers was used because of its availability in a wide range of molecular weights and because of its known ability to propagate well through porous media. THEORY PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYMER SOLUTIONS The polymer molecule dissolves in water by means of hydrogen bonding, but retains some of its own structural identity while in solution. Nonionic polymers, such as polyethylene oxide, are generally considered to have a random coiling configration. This type of molecule has the ability to "sequester" or hold a large volume of solvent within its coils in a manner similar to that of a sponge. The random coil is easily deformed and under an applied stress

By Edward W. Parker, Marius R. Campbell

According to the estimates prepared by the U. S. Geological Survey, the area underlain by workable coal-beds in the United States is 496,776 sq. miles. Of this total area, 480 sq. miles contain the entire anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania. The bituminous coal-fields are estimated to be contained in areas, aggregating 250,051 sq. miles. The grade of coal between bituminous and lignite, and which is designated by the Geological Survey as " sub-bituminous," is estimated to be contained within areas aggregating 97,636 sq. miles, while the areas containing lignite aggregate 148,609 sq. miles. The coal-fields are divided, for the sake of convenience in classification, into six main provinces, as follows: 1. The Eastern. Province, containing the anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania and the bituminous coal-fields of the Appalachian region—namely, those of western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Ala bama, and small outlying areas in North Carolina. 2. The Interior Province, containing the bituminous coal-producing regions of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, western Kentucky, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. 3. The Gulf Province, containing the lignite-areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. 4. The Northern or Great Plains Province, containing the lignite and sub-bituminous areas of North and South Dakota, eastern Montana, and northeastern Wyoming. 5. The Rocky Mountain Province, containing the bituminous and sub-bituminous areas of western Montana and western Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. 6. The Pacific Coast Province, containing the areas of Washington, Oregon, and California.

Jan 1, 1910

By J. B. NEALEY

MANY nonferrous smelting plants have recently adopted natural gas as fuel with resultant economies, both in cost and efficiency of utilization. Not only has this fuel been used for roasting, reduction, sintering, drossing, and smelting, but also for power. All of the three big smelters near Salt Lake City, Utah, have been changed over from coal and oil firing to gas. Among these is the plant of the International Smelting Co., Tooele, an Anaconda subsidiary, smelters of both copper and lead ores. In the roasting division at Tooele are 32 MacDougall six-hearth roasters, each 16 ft. in diameter and 19 ft. high. Two gas burners are installed on each furnace. These burners are of the single-valve, automatic gas-air proportioning type using high-pressure gas at 10 lb.

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

THE initial meeting on Mining Methods* opened at 10 o'clock Monday morning with Scott Turner as chairman and W. Spencer Hutchinson as vice- chairman; about 60 attending. After preliminary announcements Theodore Marvin was called on for his paper,, entitled "Rock Tunnel Methods," which has been appearing serially in The Explosives Engineer. Marvin read the introduction and called attention to the account of one or' two particularly' interesting projects, such as the. Brooklyn water supply tunnel. E. D. 'Gardner, Char1e.s S. Hurter, L. D. Lamont and Spencer P. Howell took part in the discussion, Howell commenting on the fact that, in one case cited, misfires had occurred through detonator wires 'coming in contact with the case of an unapproved flashlight, .,: and that all flashlights should be approved.

Jan 1, 1931