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By Edward F. Winter, C. E. Ruoff

A silicon solid-state array image scanner is described. This paper deals with structural and performance properties of the array which basically consists of PIN photo and gating diodes, and low capacitance isolation diodes. Each chip of the array is composed of an 8 by 9 matrix of photo detector cells; each cell contains one each of the three diode types mentioned. This x-y matrix is read a column at a time with an access delay of approximately 100 nsec per column. It is designed to detect the presence or absence of illumination within 10-mil diam image spots located on a 15- by 15-mil grid. Radiant power level of an illuminated spot is low; of interest is the range around I uw with a of 8400g Structural improvements to the original array which will result THE purpose of this paper is to describe the results of a solid state scanner exploratory development activity. The scanner is intended to sense the presence or absence of low-level illumination falling upon a matrix of 10-mil wide squares arranged on a 15- by 15-mil x-y grid pattern. The light of interest has a wavelength of 8400, characteristic of radiation emitted from a GaAs lasing diode. This wavelength matches well the spectral absorption of silicon,' thus the well-developed silicon processing technology can be applied to fabricating large integrated arrays of PIN photocells to sense the radiation. The illumination state of the cells of the array is read, one column at a time, by addressing a drive line of the particular column in question and examining the state of those sense lines which are orthogonal to the drive Lines of in greater sensitivity at various wavelengths, both above and below 8400Å, and in greater speed are presented. These include variations in diffusion depth, resistivity of N and P regions, isolation techniques, and packaging. Trade-offs between access speed, cycle frequency, and sensitivity are discussed. A packaging approach to achieving an array composed of several chips is described. Requirements on this package are: 1) maintenance of 15- by 15-mil pitch of the light sensitive cell position, therefore positional accuracy of mounted 8 by 9 cell photo detector chips; 2) maintenance of inherent high array speed even though signal levels are low through high density close proximity mounting of monolithic sense amplifier circuitry. the array. One bank of N sense amplifiers is required, where N is the number of photodiode cells in each column of the array. CELL AND CHI" STRUCTURE A photograph of a single monolithic cell is shown in Fig. 1. Each cell is composed of three junctions, an isolation junction, a logic or blocking diode junction, and a photodiode junction; all of these junctions are connected electrically by a common N region. An electrical schematic of four cells of the array is shown in Fig. 2 with the associated driver and sense amplifier circuits in block diagram form. Note the common cathode configuration of the three diodes of each cell. Fig. 3, a diagram of the cell vertical struc ture, illustrates how the electrical configuration of

Jan 1, 1970

By Mark Alling

INTRODUCTION A FEW years ago, gravel mining in the ancient river beds of Sierra county was the principal industry of the county. Operating drift mines were very numerous and many large hydraulic mines were in action. Eventually the State laws put an end to hydraulic mining, it being claimed that the silt carried down the streams to the valleys filled the rivers and caused winter floods, which were damaging to the surrounding farms. The ancient river deposits which could easily be found were, in the course of 40 years, worked out or practically so. The prohibition of hydraulic mining was a severe blow to the industry in general. The deposits were not developed and the gravel-mining industry practically stood still for many years. In Sierra county, nearly all the hydraulic mines were at the points where the ancient channels were exposed to view by reason of the modern stream erosion, or, in the miner's language, where the channels "enter" or "break out of" the ridges. The claims covering them also covered large areas in which were long segments of lava-capped channels, suitable for drift mines, and the points being hydraulicked were usually the controlling points of attack. Men who have followed hydraulic mining for any length of time seldom are content to work a drift mine. Knowing the great value of their deposits and feeling that they had been robbed by the State, these men have stubbornly held to their claims. The gold that is carried in these gravel channel deposits is more or less scattered throughout the depth and width of the deposit; the percentage that can be recovered by the process of drifting ranges from 50 to 75 per cent. of the total. In hydraulicking, practically all of the deposit is put through the sluices, and as the cost per cubic yard is only about 10 per cent. of the cost of drifting, the deposits, if classed as hydraulic mines, are much more valuable than if classed as drift mines; hence the old timers have held their claims (now worthless as hydraulic mines) at prices which the drift-mining industry could not stand; and such mines

Jan 7, 1914

By W. R. Seyfried

THE -problem of extracting alumina from clay and low-grade bauxites has been the subject of considerable interest for some time. The basic reason, of course, lies in the fact that known reserves of high-grade bauxite are not inexhaustible and that the present commercial process cannot successfully cope with low-grade bauxites or clay. Ultimately it may be necessary to use these poorer raw materials for all commercial operations, An unprecedented demand for aluminum during the war emergency and the constantly threatened shortage of imported bauxite caused the United States Government to take an active role in this problem. Through the National Academy of Sciences, the War Production Board and the Defense Plant Corporation, it investigated processes and finally selected four to be used in the construction and operation of four experimental plants. Each plant was to be designed in such a way as to facilitate its incorporation into a larger commercial plant should the need arise. The Chemical Construction Corporation process, or "Chemico" ammonium sulphate process as it is better known, was one of the four selected. The extensive literature and patents on record before the war generally follow one of two process-types depending upon the extracting reagent used. One group uses an acid reagent, the other an alkali. The Chemico process uses an acid reagent. For those interested in other processes described in literature, there is a short bibliography at the end of this paper, The basic steps of all acid extraction processes are: (I) to make the aluminum silicates acid soluble, (2) to separate the released alumina from impurities and insoluble gangue, and (3) to recover the reaent for re-use. THE PROCESS AS PLANNED In April 1941, a group of chemists and engineers of the Chemical Construction Corp, became interested in the problem of extracting alumina from clays and low-grade bauxites and, under the leadership of Mr. Blakeslee Barnes, Vice President and General Manager of the Company, first drafted a process in July of that year-five months prior to Pearl Harbor. The work continued in our research laboratories and with a small pilot plant, By June 1943, the work had progressed to a point where it was possible to apply for a patent on the process which was U.S. patent 2,405,426, granted August 6, 1946. Immediately prior to the development of the Salem plant, the process was envisaged to be as follows: I. The first step was to make the aluminum silicates acid soluble. It was planned: (a) Clay or low-grade bauxite would be roasted at 700 to 800°C (1292° to 1492°F). (b) The roasted ore would then be leached .with hot aqueous ammonium bisulphate to form a slurry. In this way the

Jan 1, 1948

By Fred C. Bond

COMPRESSION TESTS THE standard method of determining the crushing resistance of rocks consists of crushing prepared shapes under slow compression, and expressing the ultimate crushing resistance at the load causing failure in pounds per square inch of crossectional area perpendicular to the crushing force, with the height approximately equal to the diameter. One-inch cubes or cylindrical drill cores are commonly used. Cubes and drill cores are cut by a high-speed steel disk with diamond dust embedded in the edges, and running under a water spray. Such a saw will cut one square inch or more of hard stone per minute. An oiled, spherical, swivel compression block of small diameter should be used to equalize the pressure. Each sample is crushed between sheets of cardboard or blotting paper extending about one-half inch beyond the edges of the stone. A cloth is wrapped around it to prevent dangerous explosive shattering. It is probably preferable to place the swivel block below the specimen, with either a rigid head or another swivel block above. Whatever the arrangement, the conditions should be selected that will develop the maximum crushing strength of the specimen, even though its top and bottom planes may not be precisely parallel. The cardboard pads may be dispensed with if the ends of the specimens are polished smooth. The use of lead pads was discontinued because of the observed tendency to split the material. The samples are weighed and measured before breaking, and the density is calculated. Cubes that contain bedding planes or veinlets are usually placed with these vertical and parallel to the crushing force, in order to develop the maximum resistance possible. A number of compression tests were made on Canadian ores, by Forrest Nagler, of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., and are listed alphabetically in Table 1. These tests were made on one inch cubes or on diamond-drill cores approximately one inch in diameter and one inch long. The drill cores represent virgin rock, while the cubes may have been previously weakened by explosives. Compression tests have been made in the Allis-Chalmers Milwaukee Laboratory on a number of ores and other materials. These are listed alphabetically in Table 2. In test No. 1339, on limestone from the Hanna Coal Co., comparison was made between 2 by 2-in. diamond-drill core segments and one-inch cubes cut from the cores in the same strata. Results for the cylinders are tabulated directly below those for the cubes. The bedding planes were normal to the compressive force in breaking the cylinders and parallel in breaking the cubes, which accounts for the lower strength obtained from the cylinders. The percentage of net linear compression at the ultimate pressure was measured in test No. 1055 for Fontana TVA quartzite as 0.30 for cube A, and 0.37 for cube D.

Jan 1, 1946

By Parke A. Dickey, Robert B. Bossler

The presence of connate water in oil sands is of far greater practical significance in secondary oil-recovery operations than it is in primary operations. The percentage saturations of oil, water, and gas in a depleted field determine whether it will be economically possible to recover oil by secondary methods, and whether water-flooding or gas-driving, or either, will be successful. It is suggested that economic recovery of oil by secondary water-flooding can occur only when a rich bank of oil is formed by the encroachingm water. If the sand has a greater effective permeability to water than it has to oil before flooding, a bank will not be formed, and water-flooding will not be successful, although gas-driving may be. Published results of laboratory work indicate that the effective permeability of a sand to oil and water depends primarily on the saturation of the sand by these phases. They also indicate that a small difference in relative saturation produces a large difference in effective permeability to the phase in question. There thus exists a critical range of saturations, wherein a small change in oil and water content of the sands will make water-flooding possible or impossible. In gas-drive operations the water saturation is less critical but no less important. The presence of connate water in a sand increases the proportion of the residual oil that may be recovered by gas drive. Sands containing oil saturations too low and water saturations too high to make water-flooding possible can often be subjected to gas drive with economic recovery of oil. The results of laboratory work on test samples that do not contain water cannot be applied to normal field operations. More tests on cores containing water as well as oil are desirable, and the improvement of coring technique is necessary. However, sufficient data are already available to enable an operator to use core data intelligently in estimating the chances of a secondary oil-recovery program. Introduction In recent years laboratory work has led to a much better understanding of the principles of oil-reservoir performance. The general principles of the expulsion of oil from sandstone by gas or water were developed by geologists of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania in the 1870lsl but only recently has the mechanism of gas or water drive been intensively investigated. Most published articles have large the facts established in the labora tory to the primary production of oil from flush fields- This Paper is not based on any new observations, but is an attempt to apply some of the conclusions obtained in the laboratory and described in the literature to the recovery of oil from depleted pools by secondary methods. One of the most important factors that determine whether or not a secondary-recovery operation is economically successful is the ratio of injected fluid to oil recovered. This ratio may be expressed as the over-all or cumulative gas-oil ratio if gas is the driving medium, or water-oil ratio if water is the driving medium. Recent theoretical and experimental work has shown that the relative amounts of

Jan 1, 1944

By R. C. Mahon

The Homer iron-ore mine is at Iron River, Mich. Because it covers a large area, 400 acres, and because there was a considerable depth of water in the glacial drift above most of the ore bodies, this mine has presented a number of unusual and often difficult operational problems. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a few of the most important problems encountered. Surface Water Mining on this property was started on one 40-acre tract. The ledge in this area was the highest on the property and, although it was a real problem, water could be handled by underground pumping. During the first period of mining, drifts were driven just under the ledge and holes were drilled through to the surface material. In later years these drifts have been extended wherever possible. Although these drifts assisted in the drainage problem, it was evident they would not be sufficient alone. Before mining on a large scale could be started on this property, the water problem had to be solved. A number of test holes were put down to the ledge, and showed that there was an average 150 ft. of water-saturated glacial drift above the ledge over the rest of the mine. The upper 70 ft. was gravel and sand and the lower 80 ft. clay and hard pan, with some narrow seams of sand and gravel. It was evident that the water above the clay seam could not be drained off through openings in the ledge and for that reason it was decided to install surface drainage wells. This method of drainage was entirely new at that time and was pioneered at the Homer mine. The sinking of the first well was started in June 1929. Immediately following the first well a number of wells were sunk, but only to the top of the clay seam. This was done with the idea that a greater capacity could be obtained in a shorter time from gravel seams where the water flowed more freely and that the cost of pumping the water above the clay seam would be considerably less than if the wells had all been sunk to the ledge at once. Before the drainage of surface water was started, 1200 gal. per min. against a head of 800 ft. was being pumped from the mine. By March of 1932, with five surface wells in operation, the mine pumping had been reduced to 150 gal. per min. At this time we were pumping 5000 gal. per min., under an average head of 110 ft. from the surface wells. The total pumping costs were 30 per cent less than in 1929 because the greater capacity was being pumped at a much lower head. From 1932 to 1936 the mine was idle and all surface pumping was stopped. Since 1936, 10 new wells have been added with a total pumping capacity of 8000 gal. per min. at the present time. The water level has been lowered 70 ft. since surface pumping was started in 1929, and it is now approximately at the top of the clay. To remove the water below the clay seam, 11 of the 15 wells were sunk to the ledge.

Jan 1, 1946

Secretary Membership Committee Increase of Membership Papers and Publications Committee Library Committee Treasurer Report of the Secretary TO THE BOARDOF DIRECTORASN D THE MEMBEROS F THE AMERICANIN STITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGICAENL GINEERS GENTLEME:N As will be shown by the special reports of the Finance, Membership, Library, Papers and Publications, Increase of Membership, and other standing Committees, together with that of the Treasurer, the year 1927 was one in which the Institute made very satisfactory progress in a number of directions. In total numbers the membership is no larger but in revenue from dues there has been a marked increase. This has been due to the promotion to full membership of Junior Associates of earlier years, to the larger proportion that come in originally as members rather than juniors, and to the keener interest in the work of the Institute reflected in prompter payment of dues. The latter is important, since experience shows that of those who fall behind a large number must ultimately be dropped for non-payment. Conditions in the mining industries have been healthy though not booming. It has been much easier for members to find employment and meet their financial obligations but there has not been that flow of young men into mining, and hence in part into the Institute, that characterized certain earlier years. Rather the tendency toward centralization and larger industrial units has restricted the number, though not the scope, of opportunities for technical men in the mineral industries. The Institute is constantly receiving resignations from members crowded out of mining into other lines of activity. On the other hand, those who remain in mining and metallurgy have a greatly increased necessity for i,dormation and contacts with technology. A few years ago many superintendents and most foremen were non-technical men. Today the reverse rule obtains and shift bosses and men who occupy even lower positions in industrial units are called upon to know and to apply such an amount of technical knowledge that graduate engineers are the rule rather than the exception. The curious situation has obtained that with a much smaller enrolment of students in the schools of mining and metallurgy there has been at times an actual shortage of young engineers for beginners' jobs. The young men retort that the conditions of employment and pay offered in mining are not equal to those in other lines and, while it is undoubtedly true that the young engineer beginning in mining is able to start under conditions markedly better as to pay, living, and responsibility than did the men who are now leaders, they are required to know much more and have usually spent more in time and money to qualify for their jobs. The whole matter is one which warrants much more attention than has been given to it. For the Institute it is important since the young men

Jan 1, 1928

By Noel Stearn

WHEN the Age of Machinery was suddenly thrust upon civilization about the beginning of the 19th century, an unprecedented demand for mineral resources sprang up. This demand brought about the rapid development of the known ore deposits and the discovery of such other deposits as could be encountered by energetic and canny prospectors. Thus in the countries now reasonably accessible nearly all orebodies have been located except those which are totally concealed even from the eyes and "senses" of experienced and expert prospectors. The high rate of exhaustion of known ore deposits and the necessity of looking farther and farther ahead for raw materials as a matter of insurance on the stupendous capital outlays involved in mining, development, and conversion operations, have resulted in exceptional activity in three different fields of effort. The first is purely geographic. Prospectors are now penetrating the few hitherto inaccessible regions in the hope of stumbling upon exposed ore deposits or locating visible indications of their presence. The second is chemical. Industrial chemists and metallurgists are seeking to facilitate the exploitation of lower grade ores or to find methods of recovering valuable metals from common substances. In the third field of effort lie the activities of the economic geologist and the mining engineer, who endeavor to locate concealed ore deposits which would remain hidden from the prospector no matter how expert or conscientious he might be. Obviously the task which such a man must face is both exacting and indefinite, and the tools which he has heretofore been permitted to bring to it are, for the most part, abstract-a knowledge of certain fundamental principles and processes involved in the origin, occurrence, structure, and distribution of deposits of natural resources and of the rocks which form the environments of those deposits; and a process. of reasoning by analogy supplemented by the use of the diamond drill, or such artificial exposure as -the test pit, trench, shaft, or tunnel.

Jan 1, 1928

By D. R. Shreve, L. W. Welch

An analysis for predicting the behavior of reservoirs exploited by a combined gas drive and gravity draintrge mechanism is presented. The method allows the prediction of gas-oil ratio, oil production rate, and cumlulative oil recovery for high relief pools in which pressure is maintained either by gas injection in the crest of the structure or by a combined gas and water injection program. The reservoir is represented by a model of communicating vertical prisms, with production or injection at the upper or lower boundaries of each prism. The theory of macroscopic gravitational segregation of two fluids within a reservoir is discussed in detail for all ranges of saturation. A description of an application of the analysis to a typical field problem is also presented. INTRODUCTION The importance of gravity drainage as a producing mechanism has become more evident during recent years. However, many of the reservoir engineering methods which have been used in the past for predicting the behavior of reservoirs producing by this mechanism have required such drastic, simplifying assumptions that the calculated performance in some cases does not resemble the actual pool behavior. The mechanism of fluid displacement in porous media has been described by Buckley and Leverett,1 and a simplified "one zone" method based on this development has been used by engineers to evaluate the performance of gravity drainage pools. Welge2 has modi- fied this approach so that the calculation time has been markedly decreased. In addition, many other authors3-9 have analyzed various phases of the gravity drainage producing mechanism during the past several years. In a high relief reservoir in which gravity may affect the recovery mechanism, there are two main types of exploitation programs which can be employed: 1. Reservoir pressure is maintained by injecting gas into the upper portions of the reservoir. In this case gas is not released from solution and, if dynamic pressure drops are small compared to the total pressure of the system, the gas and oil may be considered to be immiscible and to have constant fluid characteristics. 2. Reservoir pressure is not maintained and a "natural depletion" mechanism prevails. The term "natural depletion" can be used to describe the production history of a reservoir in which a gradual decline of average pressure and the associated release of solution gas continue throughout the producing life. In this mechanism gas is released throughout the reservoir and there is a continuous change in the characteristics of both the gas and the oil phases. It is the purpose of this paper to present the results of mathematical developments by which a method has been devised for evaluating the performance of reservoirs which are depleted by the first type of exploitation program discussed above. It should be mentioned that, although throughout the analysis gas and oil represent the two fluids existing in the reservoir, the method is equally applicable to gravity drainage in water-oil systems. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM In reservoirs of pronounced structural relief, where the closure of the oil section is great or the angle of

Jan 1, 1957

By John Wulff, Robert Kamm, M. A. Steinberg

IN a previous paper1 from this laboratory, the development of a lead grid method for exploring the distribution of strain and density within metal powder compacts was described, In that work thin lead foil with rectangular holes cut at regular intervals was inserted with the powder fill, the arrangement pressed and then radiographed to permit measurement of the deformation of the lead grid. Densities at each grid element obtained in this manner were plotted as a function of the die dimensions. From such plots it was, found that the densest part of a compact pressed from one side (the top) is at the top outer region and the least dense at the bottom outer region -of the specimen. The axial density maximum occurs more often nearer the bottom than at the top. As a result of such exploratory measurements, it appeared reasonable to conclude that variations in density could be attributed in the main to die wall friction. Thus compacts of large diameter appeared relatively uniform in density except where the die fill had been uneven. Finally it was found that lubrication of the finely finished die cavity contributed more to magnitude and uniformity of density within the compact than interparticle lubrication. Since publication of the above results, it was found that circular-hole grids could be more accurately made and, when deformed within the powder, more readily measured and analyzed. Much of the former work was repeated and new results which include the effect of lubrication, compact height, pressure, speed of pressing and vacuum pressing are reported in the present paper. CIRCULAR-HOLE GRIDS AND ANALYSES OF RADIOGRAPHS Commercial lead sheet 0.008 in. in thickness was used in all the work reported. The 0.0938-in. diam holes were punched in the sheet on 1/8-in, centers to an accuracy of 0.001 in. The finished grid used contained eight or more holes in a row and from I to 24 rows. The lead sheet was clamped between two pairs of brass strips bolted to a small milling machine table which was itself bolted to a bench in correct position near a vise which held the punch. Travel of the lead grid in two dimensions was controlled by two steel lead screws calibrated in 0.001-in. divisions. A stripper plate was used on the punch to avoid distortion of the lead foil. A high carbon-high chromium (chrocar) one-piece steel die was used throughout the work. The die cavity was 1,125 in. in diam and the clearance between plungers and die wall was 0.001 in, The die was also used for pressing from both ends with two long plungers. Finally, lapping of die and plungers gave a surface whose rms value on an Abbot profilometer was 5 micro-in. The die walls and plungers were, except where otherwise noted, lubricated with a stearic acid suspension in benzene. This was put on in multiple layers and allowed to dry before filling the die.

Jan 1, 1948

By Thomas Darlington

The obligation of an employer to the State requires certain things of him as matters of good citizenship: for instance, that his workmen shall have a living wage, that child labor shall not be employed, that injuries from accidents shall not make workmen a charge upon the State, and that the laborer's children shall have opportunity for education and to become good and useful citizens. Affairs of this kind are not taken up as philanthropy, for the officials of a corporation or a large manufacturing concern may not feel at liberty to spend the funds of their company as prompted simply by motives of kindliness; but they may spend company money on such matters because it is good business. For years, the poisonous effects of lead, phosphorus, and dust have been emphasized in books on industrial hygiene and their elimination has been urged; but the more important and everyday physiology of the workman himself has been neglected. Part of my object in writing this paper is to show how our knowledge of physiology may be applied to working conditions in everyday life. In the interest of industrial laborers, accident compensation laws have been enacted in 33 States. This has been carried forward rapidly, because it has been shown that it pays both employer and employee. A further step is the recognition of sickness and disablement independent of accidents, not only because of their immediate cost to the worker and to the employer, but because continued efficiency in work and business depends largely upon health. Some measure of the importance of health in industry can be gained by the knowledge that records kept by some companies which now make this the subject of careful inquiry show that the time lost by employees, through illness, is several times as much as that lost as the result of industrial accidents. It is true that accidents frequently result in permanent disability or death, but it is equally true that illness is also a cause of permanent disablement or death. Thus the chief difference is that the loss to the employee through accidents occurring in the course of his employment is now generally recognized as a cost

Jan 1, 1918

By Frederick Laist, H. J. Maguire

The ore from the Butte mines of the Anaconda company is quite siliceous; that is, it contains considerably less iron than is needed for the fluxing of the silica. The direct smelting of this ore, therefore, requires the addition of considerable fluxing material. The only flux available in sufficient quantity at Anaconda is limestone containing no metallic minerals. This necessarily makes the direct smelting of the ore so expensive that it is more profitable to subject the ore to a preliminary treatment by concentration. However, as the losses in the concentrator were very high, compared with the losses in the blast furnaccs, it was found, by calculation, more profitable to send ores containing more than a given percentage of copper to the blast furnaces, in spite of the higher costs of treatment. The dividing point was dependent on various factors, the chief of which was the prevailing market price of copper. It was customary, therefore, to segregate the ore as mined into two classes. Ore in the first class generally contained 5 per cent. or over of copper; this was sent directly to the blast-furnace department. Second-class ore contained less than 5 per cent. of copper, and averaged around 3 per cent.; it went to the concentrating department. With the introduction of the flotation process, it mas found possible to maintain an average recovery, as concentrates, of 96 per cent. At the same time, the cost of reverberatory smelting was very materially decreased by the use of pulverized coal. These two changes in practice made the blast furnaces unable to compete with the reverberatory furnaces on a cost basis. The distinction between first- and second-class ore was therefore abandoned, and the ore was treated by concentration. Obviously, on ores as high in iron as the Butte ores, the concentrator produces a product that is self-fluxing; in fact, it is possible to produce a concentrate containing more iron than is necessary to flux the silica. Under these conditions, the amount of basic fluxing materials required for the smelting operations became very srnall and the converter slag lost its former value as a blast-furnace flux. For this reason, a less expensive method of recovering the copper, silver, and gold contained in it than smelting in blast furnaces had to be found. It was not feasible

Jan 1, 1921

By L. W. McKeehan

The occurrence of twins in large ferrite crystals, made by a new process, was reported in a recent note.' This paper describes a typical case of such twinning and suggests, on the basis of the observed facts, why smooth slip-planes are rarely observed in this metal. Method of Preparation The material in which the crystals here dealt with were grown was made from 1/8in. Armco iron welding rod containing C, 0.04; S, 0.037; P, 0.003; Si, 0.008, and Mn, 0.02 per cent. This rod was cold drawn into wire about 1 mm. dia. A piece of this wire was supported vertically and was locally heated in hydrogen at atmospheric pressure to about 1400" C. by an alternating current (60 cycles per sec.) of about 35 amp., passed through it between a pair of traveling contacts about 8 cm. apart. The rate of travel for the case in hand was 12 cm. per hr. After some 30 cm. of the length of the wire had been heated and cooled in this manner the whole wire was immersed for a few seconds in dilute nitric acid, not restrained by alcohol. Etching was continued until, as nearly as could be judged by eye, the original smooth cylindrical surface of the wire was no longer capable of specular reflection. Measurements The wire in the etched state was next mounted in a goniometer of special form which allowed the measurement of the spherical coordinates of the normals to any plane surfaces left by the etching. These coordinates were most conveniently a polar distance, 8, from one direction of the wire axis, and an azimuth or longitude, ?, from an arbitrary prime meridian. The region to be described more particularly is shown at a low magnification in Fig. 1, which gives two different views, differently illuminated to show the spatial relationship of a crystal occupying most of the part shown and of an inclusion, or rather a series of three inclusions suspected of being twins based on the principal crystal.

By Waldemar Lindgren

At the time of the discovery of America the old world had a scant supply of the precious metals. Both the northern and the southern part of the new continent proved wonderfully rich in gold and silver and its treasures were eagerly looted; though the looting has lasted four centuries, the mines of its mountain chains are far from being exhausted. Even the later discoveries in Australasia and eastern Siberia could not rob the Western Hemisphere of its position as the greatest gold and silver producing region of the world, though finally the developments in a narrow and circumscribed area in South Africa wrested from the Americas their supremacy in the production of gold. Nevertheless the history of the two parts of the great western continent has been strikingly different. At first the Spaniards extracted vast treasures of silver from Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, while Colombia arid some placer deposits in Peru yielded a smaller quantity of gold. A couple of centuries later, a stream of gold began to flow from Brazil, the silver production from the countries mentioned above continuing strong in the meanwhile. Later on, the yield of South America diminished, but to offset this there began a wonderful series of discoveries in North America. The gold fields of California astonished the world; and when the cream of these had been skimmed off there began a no less amazing development of the Central Cordilleran gold and silver districts, which soon made the United States the greatest producer of the precious metals. Aided by ever improving technique, extensive exploration, and a system of railroads, the yield was maintained and increased. Still later followed the discoveries of the gold fields of the arctic region and silenced those who had maintained that the zenith in gold production had passed. Recently the province of Ontario in eastern Canada

Jan 1, 1917

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 Andrew B. Crichton

THE oft repeated statements of the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines that the coal reserves in the United States are sufficient for 3000 yr have given us all a sense of security hard to disturb. If we discount that statement 66 pct, which to the uninformed seems drastic, we would still have 1000 yr supply, and why should mortal man worry about the difference between 1000 and 3000 yr supply of coal. That is exactly the attitude which many who should be better in- formed have taken toward the problem. A recent brochure "How Strong is America," by the New York Herald Tribune, states there is "no end to coal * * The truth is staggering * * U. S. has enough coal to last 4000 years." What the statement actually means is that the calculator got as high as 4000 yr and decided it was pointless to go on. The President's ERP Committee on Natural Resources and others in high places continue to assure the country of our superabundance of coal. In the past few days the “Wall Street Journal" carried an item from Director Boyd of the Bureau of Mines saying that within a hundred years we would need to triple our annual coal production of 6oo,ooo,ooo tons, making it 1,800,000,000 tons annually, and at that rate we had coal reserves sufficient for 1000 yr. In my humble opinion, we cannot now or ever produce 1,800,000,000 tons annually, be- cause we do not have the reserves in the producing districts to do it. Past reckoning in geology may be, as in the Psalms, a thousand years are as yesterday, but the future must be considered more realistically, and "a thousand years" is really a "heck" of a long time. In most developed areas, mining engineers can count the coal reserves in terms of a hundred years or less, and in some important areas now producing large annual tonnages in much under fifty years. They think when they hear of thousands of years coal reserves, reference is made to distant fields and "the fields are always green far away." The estimates of our coal reserves upon which we are relying were made in 1907 under the direction of Marius R. Campbell, Director of the United States Geological Survey. It is apparent this work was not well done. It was necessarily based on rather meager data because of the little development and prospecting as of that date. There were mistakes in the correlation of seams, and they assumed the continuity of thick seams throughout large coal bearing areas where coal often did not exist. The overstatement of coal bearing areas in the Campbell figures are common. The 1907 survey includes all coals over 14 in. in thickness to a depth of 3000 ft. The total coal reserves according to Campbell were 3157.2 billion tons. The production and mining losses that year would amount to -570 million tons and

Jan 1, 1948

By Joseph Kuti

Longwall mining is the term used for the underground extraction of a wide and deep panel of coal. Such a panel may be blocked out by one or more entries on either side ("head" and "tail") of a longwall face. If all the entries are pre-driven, the panel extraction is termed longwall retreat mining. With one exception, all the longwall faces in the United States are of this type3 Prior to the general decline in the rates of production with Continuous Miners, the development of the multiple entries generally kept ahead of the longwall extraction rate. This is no longer the case: longwall extraction rates far exceed the rate of development. In addition to this problem, in newly established mines, the development of a haulage and bleeder system based on multiple entries results in a lead-time of three years or more before longwall mining can be applied. This is one reason why earlier projections and much of the optimism attached to longwall mining as a principal "savior" in the energy crisis should be viewed with some caution. The alternatives to retreat mining with multiple entries are: Modified retreat mining- where the tail-entry is being formed during the mining of-the panel ("2"-system). Some form of advance mining-where the head-entry or both head and tail entries are being formed as part of the longwall extraction process. These methods are well-known and well-established. Variants of them are being practiced in Canada, Central and South America, but not in the US. It is primarily the laws governing ventilation-conceived for room and pillar mining which prevent the rapid development of these techniques. Another aspect of longwall mining is that it requires a systematic and consistent approach in organization, roof control, ventilation and transport. It is for this reason that compliance with health and safety regulation is fairly well ensured if the longwall system has been well laid out and is subsequently well-run. Nevertheless, a management mentality raised in the great flexibility of the room and pillar system cannot always come to terms with the degree of forward planning and rigid discipline required to successful longwall mining. Research, development and other investments in the partial aspects of longwall mining are always of interest, but no massive trend to longwall can be expected realistically unless these major stumbling blocks in the basic law and basic approach are effectively removed.

Jan 1, 1980

By B. F. Fackenthal

One of the practical questions presented to the blast-furnace manager, with regard to which little help can be obtained from existing technical literature, is the manner of filling and blowing-in. This operation is often performed according, more or less, to traditions which have come down from earlier practice, and which, if not positively detrimental when followed with the large modern furnace, may at least be greatly improved, just as the running of the furnace itself, while in blast, has been improved. It is not necessary, as many of the old furnace-men believed, to make a lot of white or silver-gray iron at the start, or to spend many weeks, or months even, in bringing the furnace to its normal burden. It has seemed to me that the publication of carefully-recorded data of practice on this point may be interesting to the members of the Institute engaged in the management of blast-furnaces. The enlarged blast-furnace at the Durham Iron Works, Riegelsville, Pa., owned by Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt, of New York City, was first put in blast February 21, 1876, since which time it has made seven blasts, and is now running on the eighth. A description of the furnace-plant, together with a record of the fifth blast, was given in my paper read at the Chattanooga meeting, May, 1885 (Transactions, xiv., 130). After some of the early blasts the furnace-lines underwent considerable change, and I have thought best to accompany this paper with drawings showing the lines and the tuyere-arrangement (see Plates I. and II.), and to give also the following summary of the conditions and results of each blast. During the first and second blasts no coke was used, and the furnace ran very irregularly, showing a constant tendency to scaffold, which was attributed, in great part, to the small hearth and other defective lines. The large proportion of air required at this furnace is accounted for by the fact that the engines are defective, and do not deliver into the furnace the amount of air indicated by the pistondisplacement.

Jan 1, 1890

By Howard Thompson, H. N. Hall, Frank Nuss

Removal of bit cuttings is an important function of drilling muds. In an effort to obtain better understanding of the factors influencing the removal of cuttings, an extensive series of laboratory tests were made in which slip velocities of various sizes and shapes of particles were measured in muds of different physical properties. Empirical equations were then derived from these experimental data. These equations show that slip velocity is dependent on cutting size and shape, mud flow constants, and flow state of the mud. Applicability of these equations for field use is demonstrated by comparing computed slip velocities with slip velocities obtained from field tests. Drilling muds have many functions, but perhaps the most important is the removal of bit cuttings from the well. In a 10,000-ft well, the weight of rock which is drilled and must be carried to the surface is over 150 tons. In addition to this, the mud must remove any sloughings from the well bore. Failure of the mud to promptly remove either bit cuttings or sloughs from the well bore causes re-drilling and excessive wear on bit teeth, slows down drilling rate thereby increasing well costs, and greatly increases possibilities for stuck drill pipe when circulation is stopped for any length of time. Drilling muds lift bit cuttings to the surface by means of the upward velocity of the drilling mud in the annulus. Because a density difference exists between the rock being drilled and the drilling mud, there is a difference between mud velocity and the rate of bit cutting travel, called the net rise velocity. To evaluate the ability of any type of drilling mud in respect to lifting cuttings, some method must be known for predicting the rate of fall of cuttings through mud traveling upwards in the annulus. Equations for the rate of fall of particles through a true fluid have been satisfactorily determined by several authors. 1-6 Since drilling muds are not true fluids, but obey the laws of Bing-ham,7 it should not be expected that equations for rate of fall of cuttings in a true fluid would be applicable to plastic fluids such as drilling muds. Several authors have attempted to compute cutting slip velocities in muds using a viscosity value obtained with a Stormer viscosimeter; however, unsatisfactory results were obtained. Pigott8 took cognizance of the phenomenon of variation of viscosity with velocity in laminar Row, and calculated laminar slip velocities using a variable viscosity with Stokes law, and turbulent slip velocities using Rittingers law. Drilling muds obey the laws of plastic flow which involve factors not affect-

Jan 1, 1950

By Benjamin Tillson

The hammer drill rightly receives the credit for having made the one-man drill possible, and so many economies seem possible through the proper application of :different types of hammer drills to various mining, quarrying, and, excavating operations, that an indication of the economies effected by the New Jersey Zinc Co. at its Franklin mines may be of pertinent interest. When this company commenced its trials of hammer drills in 1907, these tools had not I been developed to one-fourth the capacity and refinement which they have at present. At that time it was frequently stated that such a small tool, drilling holes of less diameter than the reciprocating rock drill, could not drill enough holes in a shift to permit the placing of sufficient explosive to break a tonnage of ore comparable with that produced by the"' rock drills;" that the placing of small holes inclined upward, at angles steeper than 40° above the horizontal, could not be expected to produce results equal to the large flat, wet or dry, holes in the breasted back of an overhand stope, and would only shatter the ground so as to make the back unsafe. In' spite of these adverse opinions, the hammer drills first showed their superiority over both heavy and light reciprocating drills in raising and in stoping, and then in drifting and quarry work. As a result, all of the reciprocating drills at the Franklin mines were scrapped, three years ago, all of the mining work being accomplished with increased efficiency, as shown in detail in this article. With the advent of the hammer drill in this property, it was considered advisable to make comparative tests of all the tools accessible, and it has since been the policy to investigate the merits of any advance of the drilling art in order to get the maximum amount of work from the tools. The necessity of devising some means of standardizing drill tests, and of measuring the consumption of compressed air as well as the drilling speed, was early realized.

Jan 2, 1915