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By J. G. Richardson, K. H. Coats

During the initial growth of a gas bubble in an aquifer storage reservoir the injected gas tends to override the water. The resulting low displacement efficiency and high rate of gas travel down-structure make it difficult to maintain water-free production. This paper illustrates the use of two-dimensional, two-phase calculations to simulate this gas-water displacement. Calculations were performed for a stratified aquifer and for several homogeneous sands differing in permeability, porosity and thickness. Results are discussed and compared with performance predictions obtained from the simpler Buckley-Leuerett and Dietz formulas. This comparison indicates the necessity for the two-dimensional calculations in realistically simulating the gravity override of the water by injected gas. INTRODUCTION In recent years natural gas has been stored near markets in aquifers where insufficient storage capacity is available in depleted fields. Operators of these aquifer storage reservoirs have encountered technical problems relating to the gas-water displacement accompanying initial growth of the gas bubble. Injected gas tends to override the water, with a resultant low displacement efficiency and high rate of gas travel down-structure toward spill points. Low displacement efficiency makes if difficult to sustain water-free gas production. Sometimes the fingering of gas down-structure may be so pronounced that the injection rate must be severely curtailed, which excessively lengthens the time required for bubble growth. This paper is concerned with estimating — for given aquifer characteristics and fluid properties — the displacement efficiency, rate of gas movement down-structure and rate of gravity drainage of water behind the gas front. Several published articles relate to simulative capability necessary to handle this problem. The Dietz formula1 and Buckley-Leverett2 method have some applicability to the problem; Woods and comer3 reported one-dimensional, radial calculations which accounted for the two-phase flow of gas and water. Most recent research directed toward understanding aquifer behavior in relation to gas storage has concentrated on single-phase flow in aquifer.4 Douglas, Peaceman and Rachford5 presented a method for calculating multidimensional two-phase flow in reservoirs; their method has been applied in work reported by Nielsen and Tek,6 Blair and peaceman7 and Goddin.8 Refs. 5 and 7 show comparisons between experimental data and calculations similar to those employed here. One purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of two-dimensional, two-phase flow calculations in simulating the difficult problem of water displacement by gas in a vertical cross-section. The pronounced fluid density and viscosity differences combine with the disparity in horizontal and vertical dimensions of the cross-section to pose one of the more difficult problems in reservoir simulation. The calculations described account for capillary and gravity forces, relative permeability and reservoir heterogeneity. An example reservoir is described and calculated results are presented for a variety of injection rates and values of permeability, reservoir thickness and dip angle. A second purpose is to compare the two-dimensional calculations with results obtained from the Buckley-Leverett and Dietz formulas. For this reason most calculations were performed for a simplified example reservoir to which the latter techniques might reasonably be applied. However, the computer program employed applies equally well to cases involving arbitrary spatial variations of permeability, porosity, reservoir thickness and dip angle.

By Nick Holonyak

Halogen vapor-transport synthesis of Ga(As,-,Px) and its preparation into laser junctions are described. Electrical and optical properties of Ga(As,-,PX) laser junctions are discussed. The present limitations in these properties are related to material proble?vzs and the very early state of development of Ga(As,-,PX), and are discussed in this context. Inhonzogeneity problems, fluctuation of As :P ratio, and problems with deep-level contaminants are described and related to Ga(As,-,PX) junction performance. Laser junctions are demonstrated which operate to wavelengths as short as 6470 A (77°K). The prospect that Ga(As,-,P,) will operate to wavelengths perhaps 100A shorter is mentioned. IN this paper we wish to describe some of the more important features of almost 1 year of experience in the preparation and properties of Ga(As,-,P,) p-n junction lasers. Because much data so far available are far from complete, some of the results still must be considered tentative and subject to correction and revision as work on Ga(As,-,P,) crystal problems progresses. Although the electrical, optical, and device properties of Ga(As,-,P,) junction lasers are understandably of considerable interest, the work to date points out that by far the most serious problems extant and those deserving first attention are problems involving the growth, doping, and perfection of Ga(As,-,P,) crystals. One of the most formidable of these is to grow Ga(As,-,P,) sufficiently free of deep levels, either due to contaminants or to structural imperfections, to allow fabrication of laser p-n junctions which can be cooled and not suffer from "freeze-out" of carriers on deep levels (and consequent double-injection behavior). In addition to the problems of growing crystals adequately free of deep levels and generally of the highest perfection, so that the best possible laser junctions can be realized, the further goal remains of increasing the phosphorus content well beyond 40 pct in an attempt to determine the practical lower wavelength limits of laser action in the Ga(As,-,P,) system. Even though the laser junctions prepared in Ga(As,-,P,) are of importance in their own right, we have considered them at this point mainly a means to study the growth and crystal problems of the material. It can be concluded that the laser junctions now available are almost completely limited by the purity and structural deficiencies of Ga(As,-,P,) crystals, and cannot be fairly compared with, for example, GaAs p-n junction lasers until Ga(As,-,P,) crystal growth has been more extensively developed. The basis for the statements above will become evident in the following sections which describe Ga(As,-,P,) crystal and junction preparation, and laser-junction properties. G(As,-,P,) CRYSTAL GROWTH As previously reported,2 we have found it convenient to employ the halogen vapor-transport process3 for synthesizing Ga(As,-,P,) crystals for use in laser junctions. Commercially available GaAs and Gap, separately prepared by halogen vapor tranport, are sealed in the desired ratio in a quartz vessel with a quantity of column-VI donor and a small quantity of metal halide which supplies the halogen for transport. The sealed ampoule, as shown in Fig. 1, is heated at a temperature in the range from 1025" to 1100°C at the position of the source GaAs and Gap. The GaAs and Gap are simultaneously vapor-transported and deposited as Ga(As,-,P,) at one end of the ampoule

Jan 1, 1964

By R. J. Stokes

This paper compares the room-temperature mechanical behavior of magnesium oxide crystals containing 'fresh' and 'grown in' sources. 'Fresh' dislocation sources introduced by cleavage or mechanical contact move and multiply to generate slip bands at 3000 psi. Macroscopically the crystals yield smoothly at 6000 psi and can be quite ductile. When 'fresh' sources are eliminated by chemical polishing the crystals have to rely on 'grown in' sources to initiate slip. They then deform elastically up to extremely high stresses (-30 to 50,000 psi) yielding with a sharp stress drop down to the level at which Ifresh' sources operate. Grown in' sources are considered to be associated with impurity wecipitate particles or inclusions. Annealing crystals at 2000°C dissolves these particles thereby eliminating sources for slip. The crystals then become consistently stronger (> 70,000 psi) approaching within 1/10 of the theoretical strength. Dislocations of the grown-in network do not move under stress to nucleate slip. It is proposed that they are locked electrostatically. DISLOCATIONS were originally conceived to resolve the large discrepency between the theoretical and real strength of solids. The idea that slip propagates by the movement of dislocations is now well confirmed both by electron transmission and etch pit studies. But this by itself is not sufficient to explain the low yield strength of crystals for there is still the need to understand where slip dislocations originally come from. Theoretical estimates place the stress to generate dislocations homogeneously in the lattice at approximately 1/30 of the shear modulus,' a value 104 to 105 times greater than the stress at which the very first manifestations of plastic deformation have been observed. Only an special cases can the theoretical strength be approached; in crystals of high perfection such as whiskers2 where dislocation sources do not preexist and in covalent crystals where the dislocations present at room temperature are almost completely immobilized by the bond character of the solid.3,4 For the most part it is necessary to assume that the yield strength of ionic and metallic solids corresponds to the motivation and multiplication of dislocation sources present beforehand. The question as to their origin appeared to be answered by the suggestion of Frank and Read5 that dislocations forming part of the grown-in structure could operate as a mill for the large scale production of dislocations. The Frank-Read mechanism is still widely accepted as the source of dislocations but a number of observations have been reported which are in serious disagreement with it. One of the most intriguing of these is that under normal testing conditions dislocations of the grown-in network appear to play no role in the plastic deformation of rock salt structure ionic solids. This was first reported in the etch pit studies on lithium fluoride by Gilman and Johnston6 and is true also for magnesium oxide. To explain the comparatively low yield stress of lithium fluoride it was proposed by a number of authors7,9 that small unresolved prismatic loops formed by vacancy condensation were acting either directly or indirectly as the dislocation sources. This proposal led Gilman10 to perform a series of detailed and careful experiments on lithium fluoride to try to identify the sources responsible for the initiation of slip. He concluded that prismatic loops played no general role and that other sources were more important. Dislocation sources in ionic crystals can be divided into two general categories. First, there

Jan 1, 1962

By S. Leber

Pole figures and pole distributions were used for the quantitative detevinination of the preferred orientations in swaged tungsten rods and the effect of subsequent wire drawing on the texture. In the swaged rod, the preferred orientation could best be described as a pseudo (111-112) [110] cylindrical texture. A secondary component was assigned the indices (110) [001]. Further reduction by swaging retained these cylindrical textures. Wire drawing caused lattice rotations about the wire axis, converting the cylindrical texture into a normal fiber texture. The conversion was initiated and proceeded lnost rapidly in the center of the wire. The (110) /001] component was converted into a (110) fiber texture by wire drawing. The effective rotations were about axes contained in the lransverse plane. The preferred orientation associated with tungsten wire usually has been assumed to consist of a (110) fiber texture. This implies rotational randomness around the wire axis. Leber1 has shown that rotation about the wire axis may be restricted resulting in a preferred orientation designated as a cylindrical texture. Specific crystal planes tended to remain aligned parallel to the wire surface. This texture seemed to be the result of the swaging operation used in the intermediate stages of fabrication. Bhandary and cullity2 detected similar textures in swaged iron wires. Peck and Thomas3 suggested that the preferential alignment of crystal planes parallel to the wire surface was the result of tangential flow, characteristic of swaging. Wire drawing, following swaging, twisted the crystals about axes parallel to the wire axis, converting the cylindrical texture into a normal fiber texture.4 In this investigation, quantitative techniques were used to more accurately characterize the cylindrical texture and to study its conversion into a normal fiber texture. PROCEDURE The material investigated was lamp-quality tungsten. Three ingots were rod-rolled and swaged to 112 mils diameter, and were then drawn to 10-mil wire. Samples were obtained after each drawing pass. (110) and (200) pole figures were obtained from samples prepared as shown in Fig. 1. To form the sample shown in Fig. l(a), l-in. lengths of wire were glued side by side to form a l-in. square. The composite was ground and electropolished to form a diametral reference surface. For certain specific tests, samples were prepared as shown in Fig. l(b). This composite was made from 10-mil-thick strips prepared by grinding on parallel longitudinal planes. The polished reference surface in this case was, in essence, the wire surface. The two forms of samples [~igs. l(a) and l(b)] were related by a 90-deg rotation around the wire axis. Because of ease in preparation, most data was obtained from the diametral samples. The X-ray data were obtained using a Siemen's pole-figure goniometer. These data were not corrected for absorption or defocusing effects, since only the angular locations of the intensity maxima were of interest. Regions of the pole figure more than 80 deg from the center were not investigated. Partial monochromatization was achieved by the use of unfiltered copper radiation and a krypton-filled proportional counter. No evidence of spurious white radiation effects5 could be detected. Therefore, more elaborate X-ray techniques were not required. Intensity levels were chosen to show all pertinent details of the orientation distributions. The reference plane for the pole figures was the diametral section. The orthogonal reference directions, shown in Fig. 1, were the wire axis, the radial axis per-

Jan 1, 1965

By Pedro Bolsaitis, Paul M. Sullivan

The activities of zinc in liquid Zn-A1 alloys in the temperature range of 1000' to 1160°K were determined by means of the isopiestic technique. The results are in reasonable agreement with the previous values determined by the radioactive tracer dew point method. Slightly negative excess entropies of mixing were found. The measured activities suggest that the a function for these alloys is not a constant, as has frequently been assumed, but is better represented by two straight line segments of different slopes. THE thermodynamic data of Al-Z alloys have been the subject of investigation by many authors. However, in the recent compilation of such data by Hult-gren et al.,5 the conclusion is reached that none of the previous measurements are reliable or consistent with each other. Since then two new sets of measurements have been reported,2, 8 both laying claim to good accuracies, yet showing very significant disagreement in the measured activity coefficients of zinc in Zn-A1 alloys and in the magnitude and sign of the excess entropies of mixing. Information on the thermodynamics of the system is of particular interest for interpreting results of the Bureau of Mines research on refining of zinc by distillation of die cast scrap. The present study was undertaken as an independent check on the recent values obtained from dew point measurements 8 and electromotive force measurements.' The isopiestic method, first introduced by Herasy-menko,' was chosen because it is one of the few thermodynamic techniques which, in principle at least, is carried out under perfect equilibrium conditions. The disadvantage of the method is that data are obtained at various random compositions and temperatures, which makes the interpretation somewhat cumbersome. The random errors arising from temperature gradients and fluctuations appear to be comparable to those of other techniques, as evidenced by the magnitude of the estimated uncertainties in the calculated integral thermodynamic quantities. An advantage of the method is that each run provides a relatively large amount of data; thus, it is less time consuming than those methods where samples of each composition must be measured individually. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The activities of zinc in liquid Zn-A1 alloys were measured by the isopiestic method which uses the principle of the tendency toward equilibrium of a series of samples at various temperatures under an imposed vapor pressure of the more volatile component (i.e., zinc, in this case). The basic apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. The small graphite crucibles that contained the metal samples were 15 mm ID and 13 mm deep with approximately 3 mm wall thickness. Each crucible was notched at the top and bottom to allow easy passage of vapor from one to another. At the beginning of an experiment each crucible was weighed on an analytical balance. Zinc and aluminum of spectrographic purity (99.999 pct) were then weighed into the crucibles. The amounts of each metal added were such that initial compositions varied above and below equilibrium values. One crucible contained only pure zinc. After weighing, the crucibles were stacked with the pure zinc on the bottom (corresponding to the lowest temperature in the furnace) and richest aluminum alloys at the top. The entire stack of crucibles was then placed in the silica glass container "E" which was then sealed under vacuum. Sixteen to twenty calibrated Chromel-Alumel thermocouples were attached by wire along the length of the silica tube, one or more adjacent to each sample.

Jan 1, 1970

By J. S. Crump, H. L. Stone

Laboratory studies have indicated that displacement of oil from a reservoir by means of a condensing gas drive results in extremely high oil recovery, approaching 100 per cent under the most favorable circumstances. A condensing gas drive is defined as a gas drive in which the gas utilized is appreciably soluble in the oil it is displacing. The laboratory studies consisted of a number of gas drive displacement experiments, all using a horizontal, sand-packed, steel tube as the laboratory reservoir. The experimental results indicate that the more soluble a gas is in the oil to he displaced, the more efficient that gar is as a displacing fluid. Experiments were conducted utilizing both a light, volatile crude and a heavy, asphalt crude as the in-place oil. In both cases, oil recovery was appreciably enhanced by solubility of the displacing gas. It is believed that the use of condensing gas drives would result in increased oil recovery from many reservoirs during either primary or secondary phases of production. INTRODUCTION Since the early days of the oil industry there has been an increasing awareness of the problems of oil recovery. During the last few decades particularly a growing recognition of the problems has led to widespread attempts on the part of the industry to increase oil recovery by improved technology. One method which has been used to increase recovery is the maintenance of reservoir pressure by injection of gas. Part of the beneficial effect resulting from this gas injection was to prevent evolution of the gas dissolved in the reservoir oil, since such evolution would cause the oil to shrink and become more viscous, thereby adversely affecting oil recovery. In most instances, the gas injected was predomillantly methane, and so the possibility of oil recovery by retrograde vaporization existed. Laboratory investigations of displacement of reservoir oils by methane, carried out at high pressure, have indicated that considerable additional recovery of light oils could be effected by vaporization, but only at the cost of a severe volumetric shrinkage of the residual oil which would cause a decrease in relative permeability to oil in the reservoir. Consequently, recovery of oil by physical displacement would be impaired. The study suggested, therefore, that recovery of oil might be enhanced by injecting into the reservoir a gas known to be appreciably soluble in the oil at reservoir conditions. Swelling of the oil due to solution of gas should result and yield a consequent increase in the relative permeability to oil. The work described in the following sections was, therefore, undertaken to investigate the possibility of increased recovery by this mechanism. Research similar to that reported in this paper has been conducted by The Atlantic Refining Co.1,2,3 In these studies, Whorton, et al, and Slobod, et al, used methane-rich gas to displace oil from model reservoirs. Solubility of the gas was achieved by keeping the reservoir pressure greater than the saturation pressure of the original oil, and the degree of this solubility was varied by operating at different reservoir pressures. Thus the Atlantic project was primarily a study of the effect of reservoir pressure upon oil recovery by gas drive. The objective of the work reported in this paper was to study the effect of gas composition upon oil recovery while holding the reservoir pressure constant. DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTS The discussion of the preceding section suggests that

Jan 1, 1957

By C. R. Johnson, R. A. Greenkorn, L. K. Shallenbarger

This paper describes a study, based on core data, of the directional permeability of a sandstone reservoir. Directional air permeabilities are explained and correlated with lithology by the tensor theory of permeability, which is extended to the more general case of heterogeneous anisotzopic porous media. In this case, the permeability tensor is made up of two components: (I) anisotropy (variation around a point) which correlates with bedding, and (21 heterogeneity (variation from point-to-point) which correlates with grain size. INTRODUCTION Previous studies of directional permeabilityl.5-8 have concerned themselves only with anisotropy at a point, rather than with both point-to-point differences and local anisotropies. In this paper, we present the existing tensor theory of permeability for anisotropic porous media and then extend it to the more general case of heterogeneous anisotropic porous media. The laboratory measurements of directional permeability are explained in view of this extended theory and the data are discussed in terms of the lithologic factors that correlate with it. The results show what the heterogeneity and anisotropy of the reservoir element are, and that the directional permeability correlates with lithology. Data used in this paper are measurements of air permeability in eight directions, spaced at 45° intervals, on 142 2-in. vertical plugs from 30 cores. The core data are meaningful in terms of directional permeability because the cores were oriented to within 45O during drilling and coring.3 Although we initially thought that only 60 per cent of the core material was reliable, subsequent study showed that almost all of it was reliably oriented. After determining the air permeabilities, the data were reduced to three independent variables for each plug: the major and minor permeability axes, and the direction of the major axis. These were obtained by converting the permeability data to the reciprocal square root of permeability and fitting the transformed data with ellipses according to the tensor theory of permeability.8 The point-to-point areal variation of the minimum permeability axis is related to grain size. The direction of the permeability axes, where the major axis exceeds the minor axis by at least 5 per cent (measured variation is about 4 per cent), correlates with the bedding. The permeability tensor used in this study must be considered as the sum of a scalar and a tensor, with the scalar being the minor axis permeability as a function of position, and the tensor the directional effect, which is additive permeability over the minor axis. In this case, the point-to-point variation or heterogeneity (minor axis) is substantially larger than the variation at a point or anisotropy. It may be important that this separation of "directional permeabilities" be recognized when considering migration of fluids due to permeability variation. Local migration may be due to anisotropy and point-to-point migration may be due to heterogeneity, but the direction and magnitude of these may not be the same. Furthermore, in truly heterogeneous systems, one would expect that anisotropy would be the smaller of the two effects. THEORY TENSOR THEORY OF PERMEABILITY FOR ANISOTROPIC POROUS MEDIA8 Darcy's law for flow in porous media in its usual form is where qis the flow rate vector, k is the permeability, is the viscosity, is the vector differential operator, and P is the Pressure. Consider flow, q, through a unit area in the direction of the unit vector n from elementary flow tubes parallel

Jan 1, 1965

By Fred H. Poettmann, J. K. Welchon, A. F. Bertuzzi

A series of gas-lift tests was made which verified conclusions reached from previous studies and which showed that gas-lift performance could be calculated if reasonably accurate data on the producing characteristics of the well are available.' The test installation is described. Its essential features consisted of a rate-of-flow controller to regulate the input gas and an auxiliary string of small diameter tubing to conduct the input gas to the point of injection in the eductor tubing. In general, it was shown that for continuous gas-lift operation, injection should be as deep as possible consistent with available gas pressure and rate of production desired. Calculated curves are presented which completely characterize the gas-lift performance of the well tested. INTRODUCTION A correlation based on field data from a large number of flowing and gas-lift wells, covering a wide range of oper- ating conditions, was developed which permitted the logical design and prediction of the performance of continuous gaslift installations.' The procedure made it possible to calculate the depth, pressure, rate at which to inject gas, horsepower requirements, and the effect of production rate and tubing size on these quantities. As a result of these calculations certain significant facts were brought to light or re-emphasized. The presence of efficient ranges of operation and an optimum injection depth for a given rate of production were shown to exist as well as the fact that the lower the tubing pressure the less the horsepower requirements to lift the reservoir fluids. The fact that the gas lift performance can be predicted by calculation does not mean that any given installation will perform over the entire range predicted. Many of the conventional continuous gas-lift installations will not permit operation over the entire range predicted by calculation (particularly in the efficient range of operation) because of the performance characteristics of the installation. Consequently, field tests were initiated for the purpose of investigating and arriving at a simple continuous gas-lift installation which would operate under all conditions predicted by calculation. The first series of tests involved the use of mechanically operated valves. These valves were slip-joint type valves which are opened and closed by lowering or raising the tubing at the surface by means of a hydraulic jack. These valves were chosen because it was hoped that they could be opened or closed at will and did not depend on the gas pressure in the annulus or the pressure of the fluid in the tubing for their operation. Unfortunately, the valves did not operate satisfactorily and it was imossible to open or close each valve at will. Some limited data were obtained, however, which verified the predicted benefits resulting from the use of lower tubing pressures. In the next series of tests the valves were removed and the gas was injected from the annulus through a 14/64-in. orifice equipped with a reverse check valve. A packer was set below the valve to seal off the space between the 2-in. tubing and 5-in. casing. The injection point was located at 3,810 ft. This arrangement provided satisfactory mechanical operation. However, it was impossible to obtain low rates of liquid production at low tubing pressures as predicted by calculation. A minimum gas injection rate existed below which steady flow was impossible. Liquid pro-

Jan 1, 1953

By Kenneth E. Skiff

INTRODUCTION United Nuclear Corporation and Homestake Mining Company are partners in a major uranium mining and milling venture near Grants, New Mexico. The partnership was formerly called Homestake-Sapin Partners and was recently renamed United Nuclear-Homestake Partners (UN-HP). The mill, originally built in 1958, had a capacity of 1,650 tons per day. With subsequent improvements and the addition of the adjacent Homestake - New Mexico Partners mill, the UN-HP mill is currently rated at about 3,500 tons per day. An alkaline type leach process is utilized by the mill. Milling consists of five basic steps: A. Ore handling and preparation B. Extraction C. Solid-liquid separation D. Precipitation and purification E. Product preparation MILLING Ore Handling and Preparation The primary source of ore for the UN-HP mill is from its four

Jan 1, 1983

By A. T. Aldred, K. M. Myles

The vapor pressure of chromium over solid V-Cr alloys has been measured by the torsion-effusion method in the temperature range 1450" to 1650°K. The chemical activities as well as the free energies, entropies, and enthalpies of formation of the alloys have hem computed from the vapor-pressure data. The activities of both chromium and vanadium exhibit fairly small negative deviations from Raoult's law over the entire composition range. The values of the excess entropies and the enthalpies of formation found at 1550°K are considered in terms of the changes in the clzaracteristic properties of vanadium and chromium that occur upon alloying. RECENT interest in the theory and properties of transition-metal alloys has shown the need for relevant thermodynamic data. The present investigation of the V-Cr system was undertaken as part of a more general study of thermodynamic properties of transition-metal alloys. The system was chosen because of the reported complete solid solubility of the components at all temperatures1 and because the difference in magnitude of the vapor pressures of vanadium and chromium allowed a simple effusion technique to be used. The torsion-effusion method was employed to minimize compositional changes in the alloys during the experiments. EXPERIMENTAL Equipment. The torsion-effusion apparatus, shown diagrammatic ally in Fig. 1, consists of a torsion system suspended inside a vertical vacuum chamber whose lower end is surrounded by a high-temperature vacuum furnace. An auxiliary optical lever and screen are used to determine the angle of rotation of the effusion cell. The torsion fiber is an annealed, high-purity, tungsten wire usually between 0.003 and 0.007 cm in diameter and about 43 cm long. The wire supports a concave mirror and a rigid tantalum connector tube. The effusion cell is fastened to the lower end of the connector tube by a dovetailed yoke and har- ness arrangement. The cells, which are 1.27 cm in diameter and 4.4 cm long, were made by electron-beam welding tantalum endcaps onto a 0.025-cm-wall tantalum tube. The two orifices, formed by drilling, have similar areas ranging from 0.011 to 0.031 sq cm. The noninductive sheath-type furnace consists of a single-phase tantalum heating element 6.35 cm in diameter, 15 cm high, and 0.013 cm thick; the element is completely surrounded by radiation shields in an evacuated chamber. The power system includes a 17-kva self-saturating saturable core reactor with an integral magnetic amplifier and a water-cooled, 15-kva, step-down power transformer with a multitap secondary. Temperatures are controlled to within ±1/2o at 1600°K by means of a unit that includes a reference voltage source, a dc electronic null detector, a current-adjusting proportional band relay, and the self - saturating reactor. At 1650°K the temperature variation within the cell, vertically and horizontally, is 3/4oK. Unwanted motions of the torsion system are damped by the movement of an aluminum vane, which is mounted on the connector tube, between the poles of an electromagnet. When not in use the magnet is withdrawn and rotated 90 deg to prevent its interaction with the rotation of the system. Measurements. The vapor pressure, p, is re-

Jan 1, 1964

By N. A. Richard, A. E. Austin, R. E. Maringer

AS part of a detailed study of the structure of metallic meteorites, the concentration and distribution of iron and nickel in the various phases of meteor -itic iron have been measured using an electron-probe microanalyzer. The specimen used was cut from a position about 3 in. below the surface of the Grant meteorite, a one-half-ton iron specimen (containing 9.35 pct Ni) found in New Mexico some years ago. A photomicrograph showing the general Widmanstztten structure, somewhat typical of iron meteorites, is shown in Fig. 1. The line across which the analyses were made is indicated by arrows. This area was chosen so as to evaluate the iron-nickel concentration in the three principal phases visible in Fig. 1. These phases, in the language of meteoritics, are kamacite, taenite, and plessite. Kamacite is the a-

Jan 1, 1960

By W. J. O'CONNOR

THE production of lead in the United States for the period from 1720 to 1912 was 10,432,668 tons valued at $924,600,000. The average price during this period was 4.4c. a pound, although lead sold at times below 3 cents. We know that in the early days of lead smelting in Montana lead was deliberately lost in the slag and only enough reduced as bullion to collect the silver. This bullion was freighted by ox team to Corinne, Utah, the terminus of the railroad at that time, and shipped to Swansea or Omaha, Neb., for refining. The slag from some of the above mentioned operations contained as much as 15 per cent lead and has since been resmelted. Since 1921 the production of lead has increased each year and the price and tonnage have been as follows :

Jan 1, 1926

By G. S. Hume

During the war years the drilling activity in Canada has been steadily increasing and still further increase is expected in 1945. The production of oil, which in the past has come largely from the Turner Valley field in Alberta, shows a decline since 1942, the peak year. New discoveries made in 1944, however, give promise of replacing the decrease from Turner Valley where the crude-oil production in 1944 was nearly 1,800,000 bbl. less than in 1942, but with an increase of 145,000 bbl. in natural gasoline, a product of great value to the war effort. A very considerable part of the decline in Alberta has been offset by new production of more than a million barrels in 1944 from the Norman Wells field, in the Mackenzie River area of the Northwest Territories. It should not be forgotten, however, that this is largely due to the Canol development, a war project, the future of which is dependent on many factors not connected with an ordinary commercial operation. The year 1944 has been the best in new discoveries in Alberta for all time. The discovery of a new deep field at Jumping-pound, 20 miles west of Calgary, with the hopc of a type of product similar to that of Turner Valley is the culmination of many years of effort to interpret the subsurface structures in relation to the complicated surface foothills faulting and folding. In this case the subsurface structure on the Paleozoic limestone was inferred from geological investigations but precisely defined by seismograph. In addition to Jumpingpound the discovery of oil of 34.5 gravity at a depth of less than 5000 ft, in the Devonian of the Plains at Princess, 125 miles east of Calgary, is of great significance since this is the first substantial production from the Devonian in Alberta, although previously some oil had been obtained at two places from the Devonian in the foothills. The effect of this discovery is already apparent in the number of wells now drilling to the Devonian in the southern Plains. In southern Alberta a new producing area has been found in a Lower Cretaceous sand at Barnwell, a few miles west of Taber. Also, at Conrad, 20 miles southeast of Taber, an important new discovery has been made at a depth of about 3000 ft. in a sand in Jurassic shales, in a strali-graphic trap on the northeast flank of the Sweetgrass arch. In northeast Central Alberta an important extension has been found in the Lloydminster area, where only a few wells have so far been drilled. A new well 3 1/2 miles south of the previous producers found a coarser sand at the productive horizon and as a result will have an increased daily yield. At Blackfoot, 9 miles west of Lloydrninster, a new producing area in the Lower Cretaceous may have been discovered at a depth of 2004 ft. At the end of 1944 the well was being tested. Forty-four unsuccessful wildcat wells were drilled in Alberta in 1944. The decline of Turner Valley, the major producing field, was anticipated at the beginning of the war and in an effort to offset this and encourage new development the Dominion Government put into force tax concessions and other measures that,

Jan 1, 1945

By Gunnar Almgren

Hole deviation has great consequences on mining economy, especially for long hole drilling technique. First of all the bore hole datas are concerned but also such factors as development, loss of ore and waste rock dilution are influenced. Hole deviation for sublevel open stoping is illustrated with examples from some mines. The deviations are indicated as mean values but also as standard deviation values, owing to their statistical distribution. The economic influence of the hole deviation is especially studied for steep, small lowgrade orebodies, mined with big hole blasting. Hole deviation can thus influence costs up to US$ 3-4 per ton for operating, development, losses of ore and rock waste dilution. This cost is of the same magnitude as the total operating costs for many sublevel stoping mines. The economic savings in accurate drilling are therefore substantial and are worth all attention.

Jan 1, 1981

By D. H. Gray, G. Bergamini, I. Fatt

A method developed by soil scientists for measuring permeability anisotropy of soils has been adapted for use in studies of sandstone permeability aniso-tmpy. Studies on Berea and Bandera sandstone show that permeability of these materials decreases upon application of simulated overburden pressure. Permeability reduction of Berea and Grubb sandstone cores subjected to simulated overburden pressure is shown to be a function of the ratio of radial to axial stress. INTRODUCTION The effects of mechanical stress on reservoir rock parameters are now generally accepted as being important in reservoir engineering calculations. In several oil fields the unique behavior of the reservoir has been attributed to the influence of overburden pressure or internal fluid pressure on rock permeability or fluid content. l Although the gross effects of overburden pressure on permeability, porosity, waterflood efficiency, electrical resistance and sonic velocity have now been established,3-9 there are some very interesting, and perhaps important, details of rock behavior under stress that have not heretofore been studied. In this paper we will show that permeability anistropy of several sandstones is a function of overburden pressure. We will also show that permeability reduction of cylindrical samples of two sandstones, when subjected to mechanical stress, is a function of the ratio of radial to axial stress. Most studies of overburden pressure effects made in the past have attempted to duplicate reservoir conditions by applying hydrostatic external pressure on all surfaces of the sample. Assuming perfect elasticity, that is, no viscoelastic flow during geological time, reservoir rock in situ cannot be under hydrostatic stress as is apparent from the value of 0.25 for Poisson's ratio for most rock. In the absence of tectonic forces the horizontal stress component If there are directional permeability effects, as has been reported from field and laboratory studies, l0,11 then one would expect hydrostatic stress as used in the laboratory to give a different permeability reduction from that occurring under reservoir stress conditions. The influence of stress on directional permeability was measured by a modification of the method first described by Maasland and Kirkham for use on soil samples.12 Their method permits calculation of the permeabilities along each of the three mutually perpendicular axes of a cubic sample. The modification reported in this paper extends the method to observing these permeabilities when the sample is under hydrostatic stress. The Hassler sleeve type of core holder is satisfactory for studying overburden pressure effects on permeability if a known force is applied to the end plugs. Wyble6 used a sleeve core holder but did not load the end plugs. In this paper we combine sleeve pressure and axial force to give permeability changes which we believe are close to those occurring in reservoirs when reservoir pressure changes. The combination of sleeve pressure and axial force assumes, however, that the sleeve pressure simulates both vertical stress and horizontal stress in one direction. METHOD PERMEABILITY ANISOTROPY The Maasland and Kirkhaml2 method of measuring permeability anisotropy uses a cube of porous material which is Open On three faces and has discs with a Center hole for an air inlet cemented to the other three mutually perpendicular faces (Fig. 1). The rate at which air pressure falls in a bottle of known volume, and pressure slightly above atmospheric, when the bottle discharges through each disc, is

By H. F. Silliman, Daniel R. Hull, John R. Freeman

In the normal operation of a brass-rolling mill, sheet and strip has, for the most part, been finished in comparatively thin gauges, involving a substantial amount of cold-work and a considerable number of anneals. This condition has been disturbed by the preponderance of cartridge brass, which is not rolled to thin gauges, and particularly by brass for artillery cartridge cases, on which the mill may finish its work at a thickness between 0.400 and 0.900 in. Obviously, the amount of rolling and the number of anneals to which such a product can be subjected are small compared with strip that is carried to a thickness of a few hundredths of an inch. As a result, critical examination into the internal condition of metal has been made on an extensive scale at a stage of manufacture that would not, in normal times, have been chosen for complete inspection. Under these conditions, a type of defect has been recognized that is not seen at thinner gauges. It might be more accurate to call it the appearance of a defect, since it refers to an apparently laminated, discontinuous structure, which, in fact, does not exist as such, and disappears after suitable treatment. For this reason it has been called a phantom lamination, which the authors consider an appropriate term. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the phenomenon and the conditions of its occurrence and, at least tentatively, to discuss its nature and cause. Great numbers of phantoms may be found in 2:r brass, either hot-rolled or cold-rolled. They are also found in 70-30 brass, sometimes when hot-rolled and generally when cold-rolled. It is not believed that phantoms are confined to these alloys but this paper is limited to them for the purpose of description. Hot-rolled 2:1 Brass For illustration, therefore, a typical cake of hot-rolled 2:I brass has been chosen. This was rolled to a slab 36 in. thick, from a casting 5 in. thick by 24 in. wide by 18 in. high, which was believed to have been sound. After hot-rolling and cooling, the slab was sheared and a portion of such a shear cut is shown in Fig. I. It would be difficult to convince anyone viewing this specimen that the metal was not unsound. The impression would be confirmed by the appearance of a tensile break, as shown in Fig. 2. This is an ordinary tensile-test piece from metal just described. Although there was nothing in its tensile strength or elongation that suggested unsoundness, it appeared run through with pipes and laminations. To question the reality of such a condition would imply questioning the obvious. But, considering the history of the metal, it would be difficult to believe that it could be so bad as it appeared. It seemed reasonable, though, that if the defects were what they appeared to be, they could be traced back from the sheared or broken face.

Jan 1, 1945

By R. T. DeHoff

Saltykov's meihod for the determination of the size distribution of spherical particles from measurements made on random plane sections is extended to particle shapes which are not equiaxed. The analysis permits the deterrrzination of the size distribution of aggregates of ellipsoidol particles provided all particles have tlze same shape. V ARIOUS solutions to the problem of the determination of the size distribution of spherical particles from measurements made on random plane sections have appeared in the literature since the original solution was first published by Scheill in 1934. Solutions have been offered utilizing measurements of the diameter1y2 or area3'4 of circular sections that result when a test plane is passed through an aggregate of spherical particles, and the length of intercept5y6 that results when a test line is passed through the aggregate. To the best of the knowledge of the author, no method has been proposed which permits the determination of the size distribution of particles that are not equiaxed. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method which permits the determination of the size distribution for a specific class of particle shapes which cover awide range of axial ratios; namely, ellipsoids of revolution. In the interests of simplicity, it is necessary to limit consideration to aggregates of particles which are all similar in shape; that is, the ellipses which, by rotation about one of their axes, generate the particles, all have the same axial ratio. The size distribution, which is to be determined by the analysis, is arbitrary. It is also assumed that the section, or sections, upon which the measurements are made represent the average of all possible sections through the structure. This ideal condition can be approached as nearly as may be desired by observing a sufficient area of sections taken at random positions in a randomly oriented aggregate, and in random positions and orientations in an aggregate that has one or more axes of orientation. SIZE DISTRIBUTION FOR PROLATE ELLIPSOIDS Consider an aggregate of cigar shaped, geometrically similar particles (prolate ellipsoids), dispersed in an opaque matrix. Let the size of each particle be specified by the length of its minor axis, By Fig. 1, and the shape, q, be defined by the ratio of its minor to its major axis, B/A. Let the index, j, refer to dimensions of ellipsoids in a particular size class, and the index, i, to dimensions of an ellipse resulting from the intersection of a test plane and a particle. The size of such a section is specified by the length of its minor axis, b. Let the particles be arbitrarily divided into k size classes, and let the increment of size between each class be A, where A = &,$, B,,,being the minor axis of the ellipsoids in the largest size class. Since all sections are represented on the test plane, the minor axis of the largest of the sections observed, results from the intersection of the test plane with an ellipsoid in the largest size class at its center, and is therefore equal to Bmax Thus the increment, A = The final result will consist of the k numbers which represent the number of particles in each size class per unit volume of aggregate:

Jan 1, 1962

By C. W. Carpenter, P. T. Bail, J. E. Bobek

This paper presents the results of model studies made to demonstrate the validity of applying the "basic" waterflooding scaling relationships of Rapoport1 to water-wet reservoirs composed of communicating strata of different permeability. Results demonstrate that these relationships can be validly applied, and also show the combined effect of variables on recovery. This demonstration was needed to confirm that the sizable effects of communicating strata on waterflood behavior, observed in model studies, were actually representative of field behavior. INTRODUCTION Rapoport1 Collins2 and others have presented scaling laws for modeling water-oil displacements. The validity of these laws has been experimentally demonstrated for homogeneous systems only. Recently, however, several investigators have presented the results of multilayer model studies made to determine the effects of viscous, capillary and gravitational forces on oil recovery in systems composed of communicating layers of different permeability. Dyes and Braun,3 using miscible displacements to simulate water flooding, showed that vertical communication adversely affects recovery at unfavorable viscosity ratios in the absence of capillarity. Ogandzhanyants and Egorova, 4 Gaucher and Lindley,5 and Richardson and Perkins6 modeled water-oil displacements in layered systems using immiscible fluids with capillary forces present. These investigators found more efficient behavior than in the miscible system of Dyes and Braun. However, since the scaling laws had not been verified for heterogeneous systems prior to or during these tests, it was necessary to assume that the results were representative of field behavior. This report presents the results of model studies made at Jersey Production Research Co. to find out if the waterflooding scaling relationships are valid when applied to water-oil displacements in heterogeneous reservoirs with vertical communication. Data obtained in the study show the combined effects of viscous, capillary and gravitational forces on oil-recovery behavior. The studies were performed in strongly water-wet systems where strong imbibition forces were present. For systems of different wettability, the effects of capillary imbibition would be somewhat different than those presented. APPROACH The scaling laws studied were those developed by Rapoport1 and designated by him as "basic" scaling laws. These relationships require that the model be scaled to the geometry of the prototype, and that the model and prototype be operated at the same viscosity ratio and have identical relative permeability curves, contact angles and boundary conditions. It is also necessary that the groups** be identical in the two systems, although any of the parameters making up the groups may be different. Finally, the capillary pressure of one system must be directly proportional to that of the second. Studies were conducted in two four-layer models, representing quadrants of five-spots, which were geometrically similar and which had the same glass-bead packing. The fluids used assured the same wettability in both models. Thus, the contact angles and relative permeabilities of comparative sand layers in the two models were identical and the capillary pressures were directly proportional. However, one model had a characteristic length three times that of the other. To make the scaling groups equal and to check the scaling laws, it was necessary to adjust the rate, water-viscosity level, interfacial tension and water-oil density difference to compensate for the difference in model sizes.

By Shiou-Chuan Sun

SHIOU-CHUAN SUN (author's reply).-Thanks are extended to Professor Hassialis for his recognition of the usefulness of a new tool, the cataphoretic cell, as an adjunct to the bubble machine and the abstraction test. His questions concerning adsorption, dielectric constant, floatability, activation, and depression are interesting and worthy of discussion. I According to Mueller,28 it is questionable that any of the present formulas gives absolute values of zeta potentials which are completely accurate. The problem is further complicated by the question" of whether the "dielectric constant" has any meaning at all for such a microscopically thin layer. With these in mind, the results in this paper should be considered in the relative sense as a first approximation and not as absolute quantities. Adsorption Referring to item a of Fig. 8, the dielectric constant and the viscosity of the xanthate solutions are the same for galena, sphalerite and quartz. If dielectric constant and viscosity (but not the adsorption) were the first-order variable of the cataphoretic system, as claimed by Professor Hassialis, then the magnitudes of zeta coefficient of galena, spha)erite and quartz would have been similar to each other. These are not. The big difference of zeta coefficient of these three minerals in the same xanthate solutions is not altogether unjustified to be attributed to their difference in adsorption of xanthate ions. This is supported by the results of chemical abstraction tests reported by Ince.14 Again, the big difference of zeta coefficient between wollastonite, calcite, and fluorite in the same laurylamine hydrochloride solutions (p. 118, Figs. 58, 59, and 60 of ref. r5) also indicates that the cataphoretic system is not governed chiefly by the dielectric constant. Beside the data shown in Fig. 8, other experimental evidences15 which support the idea of correlation between adsorption and zeta coefficient are: (I) there is a qualitative parallelism between the zeta coefficient curve and the chemical abstraction curve of sphalerite in solutions of various concentrations of sodium cyanide, (2) there is a qualitative parallelism between the zeta coefficient curve and the chemical abstraction curve of sphalerite in solutions of constant concentration of copper sulphate at different pH values, and (3) there is a qualitative parallelism between zeta coefficient curve and chemical abstraction curve of quartz in solutions with constant concentration of barium chloride at different pH values. The above mentioned experimental results are generally in agreement with Gouy's double layer theory,1-5 and support this idea that the concentration and the kind of ions adsorbed at the mineral surface and in the adjacent surrounding liquid chiefly govern the electrokinetic phenomena. Dielectric constant and viscosity of the liquid medium may be of somewhat lesser importance. It follows that the correlation between the coefficient and adsorption as claimed in this paper is justified. Dielectric Constant The term "dielectric constant " was first introduced into the electrokinetic equations by Perrin.30 In a footnote of his publication he states that Holmheltz has forgotten to include the dielectric constant. The conversion of the moment29 to the zeta potential involves an additional difficulty and confusion not involved for the moment, namely, assigning a value to the dielectric coefficient. This is conventionally assumed to be constant and equal to the dielectric constant of the bulk liquid. 21 The published literature 10, 12 indicates that the values of dielectric constant for dilute chemical solutions have been assumed as those of pure water.

Jan 1, 1947

By A. Keil

TO measure the absolute conductivity of metallic specimens it is generally necessary to have exact geometrical shapes and good electrical contact with the test-piece. To overcome limitations of the standard methods, an electronic conductivity-meter* Trade name, Sigmatest; model Dr. F. Forster; Reutlingen, Ger-many. has been developed, which works on the principle of inducing high frequency eddy-currents in the specimens and measuring the reaction of these curients on a measuring coil.',' To attach the instrument to the test specimen, a flat area of about 10 mm diam is all that is necessary. The reading is taken off a scale calibrated in pet of International Annealed Copper Standard. The induced eddy-currents are propagated in a circular motion parallel to the surface. Thickness of the layer included in a measurement depends on the frequency used. With a frequency of 60 kc per sec, the penetration of the currents was 0.8 mm at the upper limit of the scale, and 2 mm at the lower limit. The method is limited to nonferrous metals and other applications have been described elsewhere." The object of the present investigation was to detect the formation and growth of surface layers of differing conductivity, and to determine the depth to which these changes could be observed. A well known phenomenon which illustrates the problem is the internal oxidation of certain silver alloys containing base metal solutes, such as copper or cadmium, when they are annealed in an oxidizing atmosphere.4, 5 Until now, the only methods available for following these phenomenon have been metallo-graphic examination and hardness tests.0, 7 Changes in mechanical properties of copper alloys by internal oxidation were recently discussed in a more general way by Martin and Smith." When measuring these conductivity changes it must be remembered that the only absolute values of conductivity are those of 1) the nontreated homogeneous specimen, and 2) the final values obtained with a surface layer of depth comparable to the penetration of the eddy-currents. All intermediate values refer to the mixed conductivities of the transformed surface layer and the untransformed alloy, and are thus readings of relative value only. Experimental Results Specimens were annealed for 1/2 hr at 800°C in hydrogen, and the internal oxidation was carried out by thermal treatment in air at 800°C. Fig. 1 shows the results of the first series of experiments. With internal oxidation of a solid solution of 8 pet Cd in silver, the conductivity rises continuously until the surface layer formed has become thick enough to be the deciding factor (about 400µ). Precipitates of CdO are mainly in the form of points, Fig. 2, and, as a result, the electric contact between the silver crystals is not distorted by them. Brine11 tests were run with a 1.25 mm ball and a 7.812 kg load. The specimen annealed in hydrogen and oxidized to a depth of 400µ had a hardness of 40 Bhn,

Jan 1, 1959