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G. M. TAYLOR,* Colorado Springs, Co1o.-I do not think the plan outlined in this paper would work at Cripple Creek. Most of our men have had a pretty good education. The Cripple Creek district is a lessee district-I do not think there is one mine operating in Cripple Creek to-day that does not have the leasing system. We have as many men leasing on our property as we have mining and every plan who is working for wages is looking for n lease-everyman has mined for him- self, he has been his on7n boss on n lease, either on our own property or

Jan 1, 1919

By J. D. Vincent, Pierre R. Hines

INTRODUCTION OF FROTH FLOTATION INTO THE UNITED STATES "The introduction and development of the flotation process have proved to be of such momentous importance to the mining industry of the United States that they deserve to be considered historically ." T. A. Rickard l James M. Hyde installed the first froth flotation process in the U. S., about Aug. 1, 1911, at the Basin Reduction Co. plant, Basin, Mont., which was then under lease to the Butte and Superior Copper Co.2 Two months later, the Minerals Separation Ltd.. filed suit in the U. S. District Court of Montana against Mr. Hyde char& him with infringement of their Patent 835, 120/1906. The U. S. District Court decided in favor of Minerals Separation Ltd. on July 28, 1913. This decision was reversed by the Ninth Court of Appeals in San Francisco on May 4, 1914. Then the U. S. Supreme Court, on Dec. 11, 1916, upheld the patent on three counts only but restricted it to 'the use of less than one percent of oil.” The Miami Copper Co. was sued by Minerals Separation on Oct. 10, 1914, for infringement of Patents 835,120 and 962,678, and 1,099,699. The Miami Copper Co. was operating under John M. Callow's froth flotation process Patent 1,104,755/~uly 23, 1914. Miami lost this suit in the District Court of Wilmington, Del., and appealed to the Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, Philadelphia. The Third Court of Appeals decided against Miami, May 24, 1917. The case was referred to a Master and hearings to determine profit and damages were not settled until 1923. Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. was sued Sept. 9, 1919, and Magma Copper Co. was sued Jan. 10, 1920. Thus, the first ten years of froth flotation in the U. S. were beset by patent litigation. This litigation suppressed the free circulation of new discoveries or useful information that might be cited in a patent suit against the originator; it accounts for many of the blank spaces in the historical record. T. A. Rickard3 has reviewed the history of flotation and has given the chain of discoveries, patents, and processes that resulted in froth flotation. He has re- ported also on the patent litigation beginning in 1911 and ending in November 1923, when Minerals Separation's Patent 835,120 expired. He comments on

Jan 1, 1962

By E. C. Skinner

Cardox, which consists essentially of a steel tube containing carbon dioxide compressed to the liquid state, is a trade name designating a device used principally in coal mines to break down coal. The use of Cardox to break down coal was developed in the Middle Western coal fields around 1927 or 1928. At first, a large, heavy tube was used, requiring many parts. Through experimentation and technologic improvement, the weight of the tube has been brought down from 88 lb. to 20 lb. and the new, light tube makes use of larger volumes of CO2 at lower pressures than formerly was thought possible. This blasting method is extensively used today in coal mines and probably one tenth of the bituminous coal produced in the United States is prepared with Cardox. Construction and Application As used in the coal mine, Cardox looks like a piece of steel pipe 2 to 3 in. in diameter and 3 to 5 ft. long. When it is necessary to fire a shot, the tube is wired with two leg wires that are long enough so that when the tube is pushed the desired distance into the hole the wires will protrude 5 to 6 in. It has been found that No. 18 insulated copper annunciator wire is the best material for leg wires. A two-conductor rubber-covered shot-firing cable of sufficient length is then attached to the leg wires. A 2 to 6-volt current is applied, either by means of shot-firing batteries or the standard type of shot-firing generator. Upon the application of the current, the charge in the cartridge is set off. Because the breaking action upon the coal is supplied by the relatively slow physical expansion of the carbon dioxide gas rather than by the rapid chemical formation of gases as in more familiar explosives, the result is a slow heaving action, somewhat similar to that produced by black powder, rather than a shap detonating effect. Permissible powder does its work at roughly ten times the pressures in use with Cardox. The escaped gas from a Cardox shot apparently works along the planes of weakness in the coal face, such as the coal cleats, the edges of the cut, and along the top of the seam, breaking off the coal toward the free faces and heaving the mass of coal outward. Cardox tubes are manufactured in various sizes to take care of variable conditions of seam size, undercut depth, cleatage, coal hardness, and so forth. The tubes range in diameter from 2 to 3 in. (Table I) and the normal CO2 charge is from 24 to 96 oz. For any one tube size, several sizes of shear disks are available, thus excellent control of the type of shooting desired is possible. In general, local experience and experimentation dictate the size of tube chosen for any particular job. For high coal, and deeper or wider cuts, a larger size is chosen to start with, and the opposite is true for low coal, softer coal, or small cuts. After the tube size has been experimentally selected, tests are run in the mine to determine how many shot holes are needed and where the holes should be placed. The size of the disk,

Jan 1, 1944

By E. C. Skinner

Cardox, which consists essentially of a steel tube containing carbon dioxide compressed to the liquid state, is a trade name designating a device used principally in coal mines to break down coal. The use of Cardox to break down coal was developed in the Middle Western coal fields around 1927 or 1928. At first, a large, heavy tube was used, requiring many parts. Through experimentation and technologic improvement, the weight of the tube has been brought down from 88 lb. to 20 lb. and the new, light tube makes use of larger volumes of CO2 at lower pressures than formerly was thought possible. This blasting method is extensively used today in coal mines and probably one tenth of the bituminous coal produced in the United States is prepared with Cardox. Construction and Application As used in the coal mine, Cardox looks like a piece of steel pipe 2 to 3 in. in diameter and 3 to 5 ft. long. When it is necessary to fire a shot, the tube is wired with two leg wires that are long enough so that when the tube is pushed the desired distance into the hole the wires will protrude 5 to 6 in. It has been found that No. 18 insulated copper annunciator wire is the best material for leg wires. A two-conductor rubber-covered shot-firing cable of sufficient length is then attached to the leg wires. A 2 to 6-volt current is applied, either by means of shot-firing batteries or the standard type of shot-firing generator. Upon the application of the current, the charge in the cartridge is set off. Because the breaking action upon the coal is supplied by the relatively slow physical expansion of the carbon dioxide gas rather than by the rapid chemical formation of gases as in more familiar explosives, the result is a slow heaving action, somewhat similar to that produced by black powder, rather than a shap detonating effect. Permissible powder does its work at roughly ten times the pressures in use with Cardox. The escaped gas from a Cardox shot apparently works along the planes of weakness in the coal face, such as the coal cleats, the edges of the cut, and along the top of the seam, breaking off the coal toward the free faces and heaving the mass of coal outward. Cardox tubes are manufactured in various sizes to take care of variable conditions of seam size, undercut depth, cleatage, coal hardness, and so forth. The tubes range in diameter from 2 to 3 in. (Table I) and the normal CO2 charge is from 24 to 96 oz. For any one tube size, several sizes of shear disks are available, thus excellent control of the type of shooting desired is possible. In general, local experience and experimentation dictate the size of tube chosen for any particular job. For high coal, and deeper or wider cuts, a larger size is chosen to start with, and the opposite is true for low coal, softer coal, or small cuts. After the tube size has been experimentally selected, tests are run in the mine to determine how many shot holes are needed and where the holes should be placed. The size of the disk,

Jan 1, 1944

Albert Arents, Alameda, Cal.: From Mr. Furman's description of his crucible-assays I infer that he regards iron nails as a necessary or advisable adjunct. Against such a notion I must beg leave to protest. Nails should not be used in

Jan 1, 1896

By Robert B. Fulton

Staurolite, an iron aluminum silicate mineral, is used industrially as a high value-in-use sand-blasting agent, as a premium grade foundry sand, and as the source of aluminum in portland cement manufacture in areas where the aluminum constituent is not economically available from shale or argillaceous limestone. It is produced by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. as a coproduct in titanium mineral production in Florida where it was first recovered on a commercial scale in June 1952 from the Pleistocene sand deposit known as Trail Ridge. In the Trail Ridge deposit it comprises about one-fifth of the heavy minerals, the principal other heavy mineral constituents being ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile, zircon, kyanite, sillimanite, and tourmaline. Staurolite and the other silicate nonconductive heavy minerals are separated from the conductive titanium minerals on high-tension separators. The silicates are then separated from one another magnetically, the staurolite being relatively magnetic. In the total processing, 200 tons of raw sand yield 7 tons of heavy mineral concentrate from which about one ton of staurolite is recovered. This process yields staurolite concentrates of the characteristics given in Table 1. These concentrates are sold as three products with the size distribution of subrounded particles shown in Table 2. All three grades are used in sand-blasting for cleaning metal, for paint removal, and for cleaning buildings. Staurolite compares favorably with lower unit cost abrasives, such as boiler slags and mineral aggregates, in applications where the abrasive is used only one time and is not recovered. Because it is hard, fine, clean, and dense it can reduce blasting time, with less material reportedly being required [ ]

Jan 1, 1983

By A. M. Skov, L. F. Elkins

First response to large-scale water flooding in the fractured very low permeability Spraberry sand has led to a new unique cyclic operation. Capacity water injection is used to restore reservoir pressure. This is followed by marly months production without water irzjection and the cycle repeated. Expansion of the oil, rock and water during pressure decline expels part of the fluids but capillary forces hold much of the injected water in the rock. At least with reservoir pressure restored and with partial water flood development, field performance has proved this cyclic operation is capable of producing oil from the nzatrix rock at least 50 per cent faster and with lower water percentage than is imbibition of water at stable reservoir pressure. INTRODUCTION The Spraberry Field of West Texas presents unusual problems for both primary production and water flooding. Extensive interconnected vertical fractures in the fractional-md sandstone permitted recovery of oil on 160-acre well spacing, but they made capillary end effects dominant. Primary recovery by solution gas drive is less than 10 per cent of oil in place. The concept of displacement of oil from the sand matrix by capillary irnbibition of water has led to field techniques which promise greatly increased oil recovery. Free exchange of laboratory research, reservoir information and results of field pilot tests among the various companies has been very important in development of this technology. Five units covering a total of 170,000 acres have been formed for water flooding, and 10 other areas covering an additional 175,500 acres are in various stages of unitization. Part of the Driver Unit reaching fillup first has demonstrated very unusual waterflood behavior and indicated numerous operating problems that will develop within and among the various units. SPRABERRY ROCK AND PRIMARY PERFORMANCE The Spraberry, discovered in February, 1949, is a 1,000-ft section of sandstones, shales and limestones with two main oil productive members: a 10-15 ft sand near the top and a 10-15 ft sand near the base. In part of the field some thinner intermediate sands are oil productive, and others are water bearing. All sands have permeabilities of 1 md or less and porosities of 8-15 per cent. Ordinary core analysis and electric and radiation logs are ineffective in differentiating between oil productive and nonprcductive sands. Sands capable of containing producible oil are best identified by mercury injection capillary pressure measurement and, in some cases, by core water saturation. About 3,500 wells have been drilled in the 500,000-acre trend. Vertical fractures were observed in practically all Spraberry cores. Continuity and interconnection of fractures were confirmed by pressure interference among wells during early development.' Major fractures trend northeast-southwest as indicated by oriented cores and confirmed by five fluid injection tests, by analysis of the pressure transients observed during development,''' and by three interference tests in the Driver Unit Water Flood reported herein. Fracture spac- ing probably averages inches to a few feet. Spraberry wells typically produced 100-400 BOPD initially after hydrauLic fracture treatments. By 1962 oil production had declined to an average of 12 bbl/well/day, near the economic Limits of operation. Reservoir pressure had declined from 2,300 psi initially in the Upper Spraberry and 2,500 psi in the Lower Spraberry to 500-1,000 psi. Partial closing of the fractures with declining reservoir pressure is believed to be the cause of such low oil production rates at these relatively high reservoir pressures. Cumulative recovery of 208 million bbl of oil is 80 to 90 per cent of that recoverable by primary means. Performance of the entire reservoir is summarized in Fig. 1. IMBIBITION WATER FLOODING By 1952 reservoir performance indicated low primary recoveries. Most engineers, expecting serious channeling of injected fluids through the fractures, held little hope for secondary recovery. With its extensive background of research on the fundamentals of fluid flow within reservoir rocks, Atlantic's Research and Development Division on short notice in 1952 conceived that displacement of oil by capillary imbibition of water into the rock might significantly increase Spraberry recovery. Laboratory data reported by Brownscombe and Dyes scaled to probable reservoir conditions showed potential waterflood recovery equal to or greater than primary recovery with a 10-15 year flood life.= A pilot test using three 40-acre injection wells, one central producing well and 18 surrounding observation wells demonstrated technical feasibility of the process. Injection of 1.5 million bbl of water from November 1952 to August 1955 proved water entered the rock and displaced oil

By Walter Miller

Although confident of its ability to meet any demands that may be made, the petroleum-refining industry is not complacent about the situation and realizes that the quantities of petroleum products to be furnished are so enormous and so far beyond what was previously estimated that the full cooperative effort of the industry must be exerted. Establishment by the President in May of the Office of Petroleum Coordinator for Defense with Secretary of the Interior Ickes at its head, plus the formation of the Petroleum Industry Council for Defense, in November, provide the channels for united endeavor within the industry and the means for gearing that endeavor in full harmony with the nation's needs. Great strides have been made and a rapid understanding of the situation and the magnitude of the task is being attained by all concerned. Refining, by constant study and development, by willingness to experiment and install new processes, and to replace older plants with more efficient equipment, had kept on a high plane of efficiency and progress. Working under the free competitive system, it built up its establishments until, as expressed in last year's report, it was easily able to supply any domestic demand that might be placed on it. Turning the United States into the arsenal not only of itself but of the united nations resisting aggression, however, in- creased the call for practically all petroleum products and in particular 100-octane aviation gasoline and high-viscosity aviation lubricating oils. Refining Capacity With over four million barrels a day of crude oil being charged to stills at the year's end, oil refining had broken all records and faced the necessity of further increasing its size to supply the ever-increasing demand for products, some of which, like 100-octane aviation gasoline, were research laboratory curiosities a few years ago. Although the refining capacity of the United States is listed at 4,860,000 bbl., about 800,000 bbl. of this is economically unavailable because of plant location or type. To meet the increasing needs, additional capacity of another half million barrels may have to be built in suitable locations and designed with an eye toward maximum production of aviation gasoline but with inherent flexibility to make it possible to vary and interchange with production of motor gasoline, furnace oils, and other products as necessity dictates. An interesting side light on this refining capacity question was an enquiry from official Washington for knowledge as to any idle refineries of something of the order of 10,000-bbl. daily crude capacity that might be purchased for bodily removal to Russia. 100-Octane Aviation Gasoline Largest of the tasks confronting refiners at the year's end was that of raising

Jan 1, 1942

By Walter Miller

Although confident of its ability to meet any demands that may be made, the petroleum-refining industry is not complacent about the situation and realizes that the quantities of petroleum products to be furnished are so enormous and so far beyond what was previously estimated that the full cooperative effort of the industry must be exerted. Establishment by the President in May of the Office of Petroleum Coordinator for Defense with Secretary of the Interior Ickes at its head, plus the formation of the Petroleum Industry Council for Defense, in November, provide the channels for united endeavor within the industry and the means for gearing that endeavor in full harmony with the nation's needs. Great strides have been made and a rapid understanding of the situation and the magnitude of the task is being attained by all concerned. Refining, by constant study and development, by willingness to experiment and install new processes, and to replace older plants with more efficient equipment, had kept on a high plane of efficiency and progress. Working under the free competitive system, it built up its establishments until, as expressed in last year's report, it was easily able to supply any domestic demand that might be placed on it. Turning the United States into the arsenal not only of itself but of the united nations resisting aggression, however, in- creased the call for practically all petroleum products and in particular 100-octane aviation gasoline and high-viscosity aviation lubricating oils. Refining Capacity With over four million barrels a day of crude oil being charged to stills at the year's end, oil refining had broken all records and faced the necessity of further increasing its size to supply the ever-increasing demand for products, some of which, like 100-octane aviation gasoline, were research laboratory curiosities a few years ago. Although the refining capacity of the United States is listed at 4,860,000 bbl., about 800,000 bbl. of this is economically unavailable because of plant location or type. To meet the increasing needs, additional capacity of another half million barrels may have to be built in suitable locations and designed with an eye toward maximum production of aviation gasoline but with inherent flexibility to make it possible to vary and interchange with production of motor gasoline, furnace oils, and other products as necessity dictates. An interesting side light on this refining capacity question was an enquiry from official Washington for knowledge as to any idle refineries of something of the order of 10,000-bbl. daily crude capacity that might be purchased for bodily removal to Russia. 100-Octane Aviation Gasoline Largest of the tasks confronting refiners at the year's end was that of raising

Jan 1, 1942

By J. R. Bell, W. J. Childs, J. H. Bucher, G. A. Wilber

A technique for determining recrystallization times as short as 0.10 sec was developed utilizing the "Gleeble", a commercially available testing system designed for the study of short-time, high-temperaLure themal and mechanical processes. The procedure consisted of heating a small tensile specimen to a given temperature of hot deformation, loading to a given reduction in area, unloading, delaying various intervals at temperature, and then reloading- to failure. The magnitude of the ultimate load obtained upon reloading decreased with delay lime as recrys-lallization proceeded. The technique was applied to austenite recrystallization in AISI 1010 and AISI 1010 uith 0.02 pct Cb steels. For each steel the reduction in area given the specimen on the first pull was mainlairred at 30 ± 5 pct and recrystallization times deterntined at various temperatures. The results indicaled a significantly slower rate of recrystallization for the columbium-modified composition, suggested the presence of- a recovery stage in the softening process , and indicated a greatly increased softening rate at a temperatuve where significant allotropic transformation to a partially ferritic Structure could occur. In recent years increasing attention has been paid to the fact that the process of recrystallization of austenite deformed at elevated temperatures is far from instantaneous at many practical hot-working temperatures.1-3 This realization has given rise to such terms as hot cold-working1 or warm-working,2 These terms generally describe processes where the recrystallization rate at the temperature of deformation is slow enough to have an appreciable effect on mechanical properties despite a relatively high deformation ternperature. The mechanical properties of interest can be either the properties at the deformation temperature as in hot-workability studies4 or the room-temperature properties after cooling as in the many recent studies of various thermomechanical processes172 where heat treatment and deformation are intentionally combined to give a unique set of room-temperature properties. Because of this interest in processes where the austenite recrystallization kinetics can be an important variable, the development of quantitative methods of following the course of short-time, high-temperature recrystallization has received increasing attention.l,3,5 The experimental methods to date have, in general, relied upon rapidly deforming the austenite, holding at temperature for various brief intervals, quenching as G.A.WILBER and W. J. CHILDS, Members AIME,are Research-Fellow and Professor, respectively, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y. J. R. BELL and J. H. BUCHER, Member AIME, are Research Engineer and Research Supervisor, respectively, Graham Research Laboratory, Jones & Laughlin Steel Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. Manuscript submitted March 13, 1968. IMD. rapidly as possible, and then using room-temperature measurements to follow the recrystallization process. Although such methods can be successfully applied to certain alloy steels, the existence of the allotropic transformation during cooling of plain-carbon or low-alloy steels tends to obscure the results. Thus, such room-temperature measurements as hardness and X-ray line widths do not correlate well with the extent of austenite recrystallization before quenching,5 and results based on room-temperature microstruc-tural observations are dependent upon the success in correlating the observed structure with the prior aus-tenitic grain structure.1,3,5 The purpose of the present work was to develop a quantitative method for the determination of short-time, high-temperature recrystallization rates, based on measurements made at the temperature of deformation. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE The basic technique consisted of heating a small tensile specimen to a given temperature of hot deformation, loading to a given reduction in area, unloading, delaying various intervals at temperature, and then reloading to failure. The data were obtained in the form of traces of load and elongation as a function of time. Due to the high deformation temperature, the strain hardening introduced during initial loading was progressively annealed out with holding time after unloading and the loads obtained upon reloading decreased as this softening proceeded. Although the value of the second load at any Consistent point On the load-elongation curve could have been used as a measure of the degree of softening, the most convenient to use was the ultimate load. The softening indicated by the decrease in the second ultimate load with time is essentially a process of annealing of cold-worked material at a high deformation temperature. Although some recovery grain growth may contribute to such a softening process, it is generally considered that the major softening which must take place to achieve complete removal of substantial Strain hardening will occur by the formation of new, stress-free grains. As the results of this work indicate that essentially complete removal of strain hardening did in fact occur. the primary softening process will be attributed to recrystallization, and specific reference made where it appears that other mechanisms may be contributing to the total observed softening. It would, of course, be of interest to attempt to correlate the results of this work with the actual austenite fraction recrystallized as determined by other techniques. This was not attempted in the present work because it would have required running a large number of additional specimens and, as discussed previously, there is limited assurance that the results would accurately reflect the prior austenite fraction recrys-

Jan 1, 1969

By Raymond D. Sloan

Dropping from third position among the oil-producing states of the nation in 1942, Oklahoma ranked fourth in 1943 with a total output of 121,431,ooo bbl., a decline of 11.9 per cent from the previous year's total of 137,792,000 bbl. Production ranged from a maximum of 346,900 bbl. daily in February to a low of 322,800 bbl. daily in October, and at the close of the year was averaging 330,000 bbl. daily from 52,096 wells, or an average of 6.3 bbl. per well. The state's well, average at the close of 1942 amounted to 6.7 bbl. At the turn of the year, it appeared reasonable to assume that Oklahoma's producing rate would continue its downward trend during 1944 unless reversed by greater than normal discoveries. To Jan. I, 1944, Oklahoma has produced 5,188,466,-ooo bbl. of crude oil. Development and Exploration A total of 1287 wells was drilled in 1943, representing an increase of 77 wells, or 6.4 per cent over the preceding year's total of 1210. Of the wells completed, 587 (45.6 per cent) were oil wells with an average initial production of 319 bbl.; 127 (9.9 per cent) were gas wells with an average initial of 8,639,000 cu. ft.; and 573 (44.5 per cent) were dry. A total of 333 wildcats was drilled (25.9 per cent of all wells), an increase of 13 (4.1 per cent) over the 1942 total of 320. Of the*wildcats drilled, 46 (13.8 per cent) were oil wells with an average initial production of 235 bbl.; 27 (8.1 per cent) were gas wells with an average initial of 8,249,-ooo cu. ft.; and 260 (78.1 per cent) were recorded as failures. Reconditioning of wells throughout the state led to a total recompletion of 230 wells. Of these, 131 were oil wells with a combined initial production of 8360 bbl., 31 were gas wells with a total initial of 211,950,000 cu. ft., and 68 were abandoned. The 46 successful wildcats opened 33 new producing areas, one of which produced from three separate horizons, and led to the development of production in new horizons in 11 old pools. While none of the 1943 discoveries have as yet developed into what might be termed major pools, the West Moore pool, in Cleveland County, and the West Edmond pool, in Oklahoma County, are the two outstanding new areas opened to production. The West Moore pool, sec. 29, 10 N., 3 W., discovered in December 1943, was completed for an initial production of 248 bbl. of oil in 3 hr. through small tubing chokes in the second Wilcox sand from 8787 to 8800 ft. One well was drilling in this area at the close of the year. The West Edmond pool, an April discovery in sec. 32, 14 N 4 W., is producing from the Hunton lime at a depth of approximately 6950 ft., the world's deepest Hunton lime pool. To the end of the year, 15 oil wells had been completed, with no gas wells and no failures. Accumulated production to Jan. I, 1944, amounted to 474,300 bbl. of 41" gravity oil. There were 29 active operations in the field at the end of the year. The West Edmond and West Moore pool discoveries established the first commercial production west of the Granite Ridge,

Jan 1, 1944

By Raymond D. Sloan

Dropping from third position among the oil-producing states of the nation in 1942, Oklahoma ranked fourth in 1943 with a total output of 121,431,ooo bbl., a decline of 11.9 per cent from the previous year's total of 137,792,000 bbl. Production ranged from a maximum of 346,900 bbl. daily in February to a low of 322,800 bbl. daily in October, and at the close of the year was averaging 330,000 bbl. daily from 52,096 wells, or an average of 6.3 bbl. per well. The state's well, average at the close of 1942 amounted to 6.7 bbl. At the turn of the year, it appeared reasonable to assume that Oklahoma's producing rate would continue its downward trend during 1944 unless reversed by greater than normal discoveries. To Jan. I, 1944, Oklahoma has produced 5,188,466,-ooo bbl. of crude oil. Development and Exploration A total of 1287 wells was drilled in 1943, representing an increase of 77 wells, or 6.4 per cent over the preceding year's total of 1210. Of the wells completed, 587 (45.6 per cent) were oil wells with an average initial production of 319 bbl.; 127 (9.9 per cent) were gas wells with an average initial of 8,639,000 cu. ft.; and 573 (44.5 per cent) were dry. A total of 333 wildcats was drilled (25.9 per cent of all wells), an increase of 13 (4.1 per cent) over the 1942 total of 320. Of the*wildcats drilled, 46 (13.8 per cent) were oil wells with an average initial production of 235 bbl.; 27 (8.1 per cent) were gas wells with an average initial of 8,249,-ooo cu. ft.; and 260 (78.1 per cent) were recorded as failures. Reconditioning of wells throughout the state led to a total recompletion of 230 wells. Of these, 131 were oil wells with a combined initial production of 8360 bbl., 31 were gas wells with a total initial of 211,950,000 cu. ft., and 68 were abandoned. The 46 successful wildcats opened 33 new producing areas, one of which produced from three separate horizons, and led to the development of production in new horizons in 11 old pools. While none of the 1943 discoveries have as yet developed into what might be termed major pools, the West Moore pool, in Cleveland County, and the West Edmond pool, in Oklahoma County, are the two outstanding new areas opened to production. The West Moore pool, sec. 29, 10 N., 3 W., discovered in December 1943, was completed for an initial production of 248 bbl. of oil in 3 hr. through small tubing chokes in the second Wilcox sand from 8787 to 8800 ft. One well was drilling in this area at the close of the year. The West Edmond pool, an April discovery in sec. 32, 14 N 4 W., is producing from the Hunton lime at a depth of approximately 6950 ft., the world's deepest Hunton lime pool. To the end of the year, 15 oil wells had been completed, with no gas wells and no failures. Accumulated production to Jan. I, 1944, amounted to 474,300 bbl. of 41" gravity oil. There were 29 active operations in the field at the end of the year. The West Edmond and West Moore pool discoveries established the first commercial production west of the Granite Ridge,

Jan 1, 1944

By C. S. Matthews, H. C. Lefkovits

The performance of depletion-type reservoirs at the stage in which the gas is at such low pressure that gravity is essentially the sole driving force has been investigated both theoretically and by use of scaled models. A simple theory is developed which completely explains the scaled model experiments. It also agrees with some field data. When the range of production rates to be considered is less than 25, the theory predicts that the production rate decline curve for homogeneous reservoirs in which there is a free surface will be of the hyperbolic type with n = 2: The theory gives a physical significance to the parameter y. INTRODUCTION This investigation was undertaken to determine a method for prediction of performance of reservoirs where gravity is the sole driving agent. Depletion-type reservoirs fall into this category after the pressure has fallen to some low value. Some examples of this type are found at Healdton ('Oklahoma), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Midway-Sunset (California), and East Coalinga (California). Generally the production rate per unit thickness is quite low in such reservoirs, with the conse- quence that this stage is sometimes called the stripper stage. However, per well production rates may be of the order of 50 B/D because of the considerable sand thickness open in some of the reservoirs. In the past, predictions of behavior of such reservoirs have been based on empirical extrapolation of the rate of production to the economic limit. Difficulties arise when new wells are drilled in the field or when production is artificially curtailed, since in such cases the decline rate of individual wells or leases changes and no clear trend can be detected. It was hoped that the present study would lead to improved methods for evaluation of such reservoirs. The study was initiated by building a scaled model for a particular field and by running a number of experiments on this model. Later a simple theory was developed which explained the laboratory results completely. The theory led, as shown below, to a hyperbolic-type decline equation which had been used previously' in a completely empirical manner. THEORY The General Case The problem to be treated here is the following: We are given a homogeneous cylindrical porous reservoir with exterior radius r, wellbore radius r., and height h,, containing, from the bottom up to a height hit oil, some gas, and interstitial water (see Fig. 1 A). The portion of the reservoir between K, and h, is filled with gas at low pressure, with residual oil, and with interstitial water. If at a time t = 0, the level of the oil in the wellbore is lowered to a height h,, what is the production rate from the reservoir at a time to The configuration within the reservoir at some instant

Jan 1, 1957

By Granville S. Borden

The fruits of industry are divided between capital, labor, and governments. Capital takes its redemption and remuneration through profits or dividends; labor takes its share through wages; governments take their share through taxes. Each must have a just share, and the question of what is a just share and the question of who-shall make the allocation are vital current political and economic issues. Certain political philosophies con- tend that government should take all the fruits and that some dictator or politician should have irrevocable discretion and power to distribute the fruits. Believers in democracy and free enterprise adhere to the view that capital is entitled to redemption and fair remuneration; that labor shall have a fair wage; and that governments shall make equitable levies. But since all human beings, both individually and in groups, are inherently selfish, there are many variable views in regard to the question of what ratios shall be applied in a division of the fruits and who shall have the power to fix these ratios. Perhaps all parties should devote more energy to means of increasing the crop, and not so much time to quarreling over a division of the existing crop. Moreover, all three parties must guard against killing the goose that lays the mineral eggs. For example, if the tax burden becomes oppressive and the taxpayer refuses to carry it, then business stagnates, with consequent unemployment, reduction of profits, and curtailment of government revenue. If a producer assumes the increased tax burden, marginal operations must be closed down, and again the consequences are increased unemployment and diminished government revenue. Quite often an increase in a rate of tax results in a reduction of government revenue. Perhaps the worst detrimental feature of selfishness and greed on the part of any one of the three distributees of the fruits of industry is the retardation of expansion of the enterprise. Growth means new jobs, more government revenue, better trade, and better standards of living. Explorations and discoveries have resulted in tremendous contributions

Jan 1, 1959

By G. R. Belton, Y. K. Rao

A galvanic cell, using liquid MgCl2 or MgC12-CaC12 mixtures as the electrolyte, has been used to determine activities in Mg-A1 liquid alloys between 700' and 880°C. The incovporation of a chlorine electrode in the cell also allowed measurements to be made of the standard free energy of formation of MgCl2(l). The results are shown to be in good agreement with thermo-chetrlical values from the literature, and this is taken as evidence that the small, known solubility of magnesium in iMgCl2 introduces no significant error in galcanic cell measurements. Within experimental error, the activity coefficients and relative partial molar enthalpies at 800°C are shown to be represented by the following "subregular" solution equations: logy~~ =-0.68(1 -xMgj3 log yAL =-1.02(1 - XMf + 0.68(1 - XMf H.M = -4400(1 - %)3 / cal Mg 7Ag' HZ =-6600(1 - xA1)' + 4400(1 - XMf cal SCHNEIDER and toll' have used a transpiration technique to measure the vapor pressures of magnesium over Mg-A1 alloys between 544" and 594°C. amsstad,' however, has since suggested that the extrapolation to zero flow rate, used by these authors in interpreting their apparent pressure vs flow rate data, gives unreliable results. Rogers, Tomlinson, and Richardson,3 in interpreting the results of solution equilibria between Mg-A1 alloys and liquid MgC12, also considered the measurements of Schneider and Stoll to be unreliable and preferred to derive activities for the alloys from the earlier boiling point determinations of ~eit~ebel~ and the partial molar heats recommended by Kubaschewski and ~atterall.~ These latter heats were based substantially on the early calorimetric work of Kawa-kami but, unfortunately, his work on other systems has sometimes been found to be inaccurate.7 Rogers et al., in the above-mentioned paper,3 tentatively concluded that the most likely species responsible for the limited solubility (0.3 mole pct at 800°C) of magnesium in MgC12 were Mg° (neutral) and Mg2++. Two more recent studies8,9 have supported Mg2++ as the soluble species. In the present study, activities in Mg-A1 alloys have been determined by means of a galvanic cell involving liquid MgCl2 or MgC12CaCl, mixtures as the electrolyte. Since the reactive nature of magnesium precluded simple Faraday yield experiments, a chlorine electrode was incorporated in the cell in order that the performance of the cell could be checked by measurements of the heat and free energy of formation of MgC12. This procedure was considered necessary since it has been suggested1' that the solubility of a metal in a molten salt might introduce electronic conductivity; also, previous determinations of the standard electrode potential for MgC12 differed by as much as 70 mv11-13 EXPERIMENTAL Materials. Analyses of the materials used in preparing the alloys and the electrolyte mixtures are presented in Table I. The alloys were prepared by induction melting weighed amounts of the metals in a graphite crucible held under an argon atmosphere. Pure anhydrous magnesium chloride was prepared by heating the mixture MgCl, . 6H20 +NH4C1(1:1) to 650°C, followed by melting under dry argon. The melting point of the dry MgC12 was found by differential thermal analysis to be 714.8oC, which compares well with the accepted value of 714C.14 This agreement was taken to be an indication of the high purity of the dried salt. Table I. Compositions of Materials, wt pn Impurity Mg Al MgCI2 CaCI, Ba - - 0.005 Ca - - 0.010 Cu 0.02 0.02 Fe - 0.10 0.001 0.010 Pb 0.01 - 0.001 0.005 Mn 0.15 0.001 Si - 0.10 Sr - - 0.005 MBSO* - 0.040 ARGON TUNGSTEN CHLORINE LEAD—411 11 II ALUMINA 'A I / ave GRAPHITE on irA~_ ( ^"l ROD MAGNESIUM S>ILICA~^ /, OR ALLOY-. I /A] ___________ -«^- _ ELECTROLYTE I y FRITTED DISCS Fig. l—Arrangement of chlorine and metal electrodes in electrolytic cell.

Jan 1, 1970

By J. R. Kyte, R. L. Dalton, V. O. Naumann, R. L. Ridings, R. W. Greene

This paper presents a one-dimensional numerical method for calculating dissolved-gas-drive behavior for a single well or a linear reservoir. Pressure and saturation distributions can be calculated, including the effects of capillary and gravity forces. The analysis has been programmed for solution on the IBM 7090 digital computer. A comparison of experimental and calculated behavior for two linear models demonstrates that the method is suitable for calculating dissolved-gas-drive behavior under reservoir conditions of flow. Dissolved-gas-drive tests were run, at different production rates and with oils of different viscosities, on short (6.ft) and long (173ft) flow models. For tests approximating reservoir pressure gradients and flow rates, there was excellent agreement between experimental and calculated results. A series of calculations of well behavior for thin, horizontal, homogeneous, dissolved-gas-drive reservoirs shows that ultimate recovery is independent of production rate or well spacing in such cases. These calculations also show that Muskat's method and similar material-balance analyses are not applicable under some conditions particularly for high pressure drawdowns. INTRODUCTION The problem of calculating dissolved-gas-drive reservoir performance has received a great deal of attention throughout the oil-producing indusfry for many years. Really significant advances, however, have been made only in recent years. The rapid evolution of high-speed computing equipment and techniques has opened up new approaches to the problem and led to realistic, quantitative analyses free of many of the assumptions and limitations of earlier methods. The one-dimensional numerical method described in this paper includes the effects of both gravity and capillary forces. A number of test calculations, based on different rates, spacings, and rock and fluid properties, have shown that the method is adequate for systems that can be reasonably represented by a one-dimensional model (linear or radial) and in which fluid segregation perpendicular to the direction of flow is not important. Along with the development of mathematical methods, an experimental program was conducted and the data were used to test the validity of the theoretical basis of the mathematical method. Linear models were used and all experiments were run using 1,000-psig bubble-point oils. The use of long, high-pressure models enabled us to more closely approach reservoir gradients and flow rates. MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS The differential equations describing dissolved-gas-drive behavior in one dimension dare summarized here. They include Darcy's law for flow of oil and gas (Eqs. 1 and 2) and the equations for conservation of mass for oil and gas (Eqs. 3 and 4). The oil and gas pressures are related by capillary pressure (Eq. 51.

By Bernard Schneider

The diversity of methods available to engineers and geologists for studying rock masses is a reflection of the fact that, despite the rapid and encouraging progress made over the last few years, there is still no unified and comprehensive method which can be used to predict the over- all behavior of a foundation. Nevertheless, it is agreed that the fundamental characteristic affecting the engineering properties of rock is fissuration, and this paper de- scribes a few new or improved methods of studying fissuration and its influence on major engineering factors such as permeability, deformability, or internal stresses in the rock volume. TESTS ON SAMPLES Conventional tests on samples using thin slices can be improved by staining the slices before cutting with certain ionic dyes which have an affinity for certain types of surface. This shows up the microdiscontinuities. For example (quoted terms are French trade names) : "Turquoise Motylhne JSA" will show up porous alteration of basic feldspars. "Vert brillant SA" is used for acid feldspars. "Fushine ASA" will show up voids in all rocks. A mixture of "Turquoise" and "Rhodamine BSA" will show up zones of alteration in all types of feldspars. With this technique, it is easy to make an optical classification of the different structural types, e.g.: (1) rocks completely free from voids; (2) rocks with microfissures, which in turn can be subdivided into (a) rocks with microfissures secant to the mineral structure, (b) rocks with microfissures parallel to the mineral structure, and (c) rocks with ran-

Jan 1, 1970

By Thomas Bannon

PROSPECTING for oil in Spain has been going on for many years but only in a very haphazard way and without adequate geological or technical advice. Shallow wells have been drilled in several provinces but, for the most part, they have been doomed to failure from the beginning because of unfavorable geological locations, inadequate drilling equipment inexperienced operators, or lack of sufficient capital. Geologists seem to agree that the most favorable chances for commercial fields are in the northern part of Spain where the petroliferous Triassic beds underlie Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments. The prov-vinces of Santander, Burgos, Alava, Vizcaya, Navarra, and Guipuzcoa seem to offer the most promising localities. Several shallow wells have been drilled near Villamartin about 60 Km. northeast of Cadiz. One of these wells produced a small quantity of light oil but was never operated. The Spanish Government has been drilling on a well in this district for some time, using the Russian free-fall drilling system. The present depth is about 3000 meters. Several years ago the Compania Petrolera Franco-Espanola drilled a well to a depth of about 700 meters near Elorrio, province of Vizcaya. A diamond-core drill was used. The well was located on vertical Cretaceous beds near an igneous dike. The same company, in March, 1923, made a new location about 500 meters away from the first well and the same distance from the dike, in beds dipping about 80°, and is now drilling its No. 2 well. The last depth reported was about 200 meters.

Jan 3, 1924

By S. P. Kinney

Sulfur has been one of the most troublesome elements encountered since the earliest days of iron smelting, and this problem will become of increasing importance as the higher sulfur coke is used, because of the rapidly diminishing supply of low-sulfur coals suitable for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. The deleterious effect of sulfur in iron and steel is well known; therefore, except in special cases, it is desirable to make the iron produced by the blast furnace as low in sulfur as possible. Sulfur enters the furnace in all of the raw materials, but principally in the coke. It comes out of the blast furnace distributed between the iron and the slag; very little passes out of the furnace with the gases. The mechanism of the reactions that cause the sulfur of the coke to pass into the slag and iron has not been studied to any great extent, although the character of the end products, and the conditions controlling the distribution of the sulfur between the iron and slag, are fairly well known. In the iron, the sulfur occurs as ferrous sulfide; or manganese sulfide in case of iron high in manganese. In the slag, the sulfur is present mostly as calcium sulfide. The presence of free sulfur1 and sulfates in blast-furnace slags is to be accounted for on the basis of oxidation of the calcium sulfide after the slag is tapped. The generally accepted reaction for the relation between the ferrous sulfide in the iron and in the coke, and the calcium sulfide in the slag, is that given by Howe? FeS + CaO + CDFe + CaS + CO

Jan 1, 1923

By S. P. Kinney

Sulfur has been one of the most troublesome elements encountered since the earliest days of iron smelting, and this problem will become of increasing importance as the higher sulfur coke is used, because of the rapidly diminishing supply of low-sulfur coals suitable for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. The deleterious effect of sulfur in iron and steel is well known; therefore, except in special cases, it is desirable to make the iron produced by the blast furnace as low in sulfur as possible. Sulfur enters the furnace in all of the raw materials, but principally in the coke. It comes out of the blast furnace distributed between the iron and the slag; very little passes out of the furnace with the gases. The mechanism of the reactions that cause the sulfur of the coke to pass into the slag and iron has not been studied to any great extent, although the character of the end products, and the conditions controlling the distribution of the sulfur between the iron and slag, are fairly well known. In the iron, the sulfur occurs as ferrous sulfide; or manganese sulfide in case of iron high in manganese. In the slag, the sulfur is present mostly as calcium sulfide. The presence of free sulfur1 and sulfates in blast-furnace slags is to be accounted for on the basis of oxidation of the calcium sulfide after the slag is tapped. The generally accepted reaction for the relation between the ferrous sulfide in the iron and in the coke, and the calcium sulfide in the slag, is that given by Howe? FeS + CaO + CDFe + CaS + CO

Jan 1, 1923