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By W. H. Geis

The following pages summarize the causes that led to the suggestion of unit operation of the paloma field, the organization of com-mittees, preparation of the Paloma Operators Agreement and the reasons for rejection of the plan. Introduction Long ago an Austrian physicist observed that under certain conditions the condensation of a liquid from gaseous mixtures resulted from pressure reduction. Some 50 years later he would have known that his research was not in vain. He would have seen a group of serious operators and engineers seeking to apply that principle to a conservation . program for unitized production in the Paloma gas field—but he would also have been saddened to see that forces unsympathetic to the application of science in oil production, with little or no appreciation of modern methods and the advantages of cooperation, so far have prevented the adoption of that program. Soon after the Paloma field was discovered it was realized that all the hydrocarbons in the reservoir existed in the gaseous phase. This condition was confirmed over a large area. Therefore, if the field was to be properly exploited with the greatest ultimate recovery of condensate, the hydrocarbons in the reservoir must be produced in the single or gas phase. They must be cautiously extracted with the least possible reduction of the natural pressure. If this could be accomplished, or if artificial pressure control were utilized, the condensation and underground loss of the valuable distillate would be preventable—otherwise it would not be. Wholehearted cooperation of all oper-ators was required in order to accomplish the conservation purposes of the program. To this end the production engineers of the several companies concerned lent their time and talents. They fully investigated the physical relationships of the products within the complicated gaseous mixture, prepared extensive reports on the subject and drew up a reasonably efficient plan of operations, which now is commonly called the "Paloma Unit Plan" but actually was entitled "The Paloma Operators Agreement." All of the engineers were not in perfect agreement on all the features of the plan, or even on all the engineering principles. However, it is safe to say that on all the important or essential factors there was a unanimity of opinion, particularly as to the objectives. These were fairly simple and reduce to one controlling item, "pressure control" by cycling or recycling. Organization The principal operators initiated the program by calling a meeting of all the lessees in the area, at which an organization was perfected, known as the "Paloma Operators Committee." Various subcommittees were appointed to expedite the work, including an "Engineering Committee." These func-tioned in a businesslike manner, frequently reported to the superior committee and

Jan 1, 1942

By A. E. Hall

The paper gives a general solution of ventilation net- works where densities play an important role and fans operating at different densities from branch densities are considered. Both the physics and computing techniques needed to deal with these networks are discussed.

Jan 1, 1977

By I. J. Lin

Surfactants are classified according to the size and strength of the hydrophilic and lipophilic groups of the molecule. The balance of these two opposing groups is known as the hydrophile-lipophile balance or HLB. According to this definition, a lipophilic surface-active agent is assigned a low HLB number and a hydrophilic one-a high one. The HLB value is obtained as follows, on the basis of known group values defined empirically by Davies' and listed in [Table 1:]

Jan 1, 1972

By R. W. Raymond

In connection with the discussion of the paper of Mr. James Gayley, presented at the Baltimore meeting, in February, 1892, on " The Preservation of the Hearth and Bosh-walls of the Blast-furnace,"* I offered a translation of a letter received from our distinguished honorary member, Professor P. Ritter von Tunner, concerning the use of carbon-bricks at the Donawitz furnace, then (February, 1892) in the third month of its campaign. The purpose of this brief paper is to put upon record later results of practice with carbon-bricks, both in this country and abroad.

Jan 1, 1897

Jan 1, 1966

Jan 1, 1907

By Swapan Bhattacharya

United States federal and state regulatory authorities require underground mine operators to adopt adequate measures to minimize material damage to the surface caused by mine subsidence. This paper presents an approach to define and determine the extent of material damage due to subsidence from underground coal mining. The basic steps involved in the development of adequate criteria have been enumerated together with the approaches and methodologies used.

Jan 1, 1984

By H. M. Katz, J. L. Speirs, F. B. Hill

Jan 1, 1961

Jan 1, 1901

By A. L. Holley

THE intention of this paper is not to discuss this important subject in all its bearings, but merely to point out why mechanical tests of steel, as ordinarily made, are not, alone, of any special value to engineers-certainly not to general mechanical engineers. The agents of the Barrow Hematite Steel Company, one of the largest and most successful Bessemer establishments in England, have recently distributed a report, made by Sir William Fairbairn,

Jan 1, 1874

By Kefton H. Teague

Attempts to locate domestic supplies of sillimanite have been un- successful until recently. This paper describes recent discoveries of sillimanite-bearing schists in the Southeastern States, with emphasis on geology of the deposits, mineral composition, origin, and reserves. Statements concerning possible methods of mining, milling, and utilization of sillimanite are given. Results from refractory tests on a laboratory scale are summarized.

Jan 7, 1950

By James J. Bean

Although determining and controlling specific gravity of operating medium in a heavy-media plant manually presents no problem, there are advantages to automatic recording and control. The two installations discussed employ the usual method of measurement. Pneumatic control with band control and reset features is used to regulate dilution water and hence specific gravity. Difficulties have been mechanical in nature and associated with obtaining a proper sample and maintaining tight air connections in bubble-tube piping.

Jan 3, 1950

By George Hale

(The following extracts from Mr. Hale's paper have been made by the Editor, as being of particular interest to our members.) In an address delivered on May 28, at the kind invitation of the Engineering Foundation, I briefly sketched "The War Activities of the National Research Council. "' The wide scope of my subject forced me to touch very lightly upon engineering; I therefore beg permission to return to this phase of the subject. As shown in my earlier address, the' charter membership of the National Academy of Sciences, organized in the midst of the Civil War,

Jan 10, 1918

By James Boyd

As our society grows in complexity, it becomes more urgently incumbent upon scientists and engineers to bring their experience to bear on the solution, not only of technical problems, but also on socio-economic difficulties. It is to this field that I have directed a large part of my energies. Raw Materials Basic to the Economic Process There are certain premises, frequently overlooked, which bear emphasis. As economics concerns the production, distribution, and consumption of goods, so our whole society is based on raw materials. Without the basic extractive industries of agriculture and mining, there would be no economic problems with which to deal. This principle has been expressed as: "All productivity is based on three factors: (1) natural resources, whose form, place, and condition are changed by the expenditure of (2) human energy (both muscular and mental), with the aid of (3) tools."*

Jan 3, 1967

By William H. Love

ATLAS shaft was sunk to explore at depth a portion of the eastern end of the dry belt, or silver belt, of the Coeur d’Alene mining district. The Atlas mine is a mile east of Mullan and is on the south side of the Osburn fault. Equal partners in the venture are Hecla Mining Co., Newmont Mining Co., New Jersey Zinc Co. and Atlas Mining Co., the financing being equally shared by Hecla, Newmont, and New Jersey Zinc. As outlined the project had as its goal deep exploration of prominent structures developed in the Atlas in upper levels. Plans called for deepening the shaft from the 800 level to the 2400 level with subsequent drifting, crosscutting, and diamond drilling on the 2400.

Jan 11, 1954

By Carl A. Holley

Agglomeration is very closely identified with the mining industry. Ores must be crushed finer and finer to separate minerals from gauge and the fine ore concentrates must be agglomerated so they can be handled for further processing. This paper reviews each type of agglomeration device and summarizes the areas of usage for each type of agglomerator.

Jan 1, 1980

By R. C. Ellman

In the United States, the consumption of lignite and subbituminous coals is increasing. A variety of energy-oriented companies have leased large blocks of reserves, new large power plants are in operation and being constructed, and new producing mines are being developed. The Bureau of Mines has maintained an active interest in the utilization of low-rank coals for many years. In 1951, with the completion of the Bureau's Grand Forks Coal Research Laboratory, an organizational unit was established for studies in lignite preparation. Since that time, numerous investigations have been completed. This research has dealt almost exclusively with lignite, but since subbituminous coals have many similar characteristics, the findings can often be applied to both types of coal.

Jan 1, 1970

By Mason K. Banks

A process has been developed which produces spodumene concentrates assaying 6.0 pct Li20 and 0.45 pct Fe203, with 70 to 75 pct recovery of spodumene. Two flotation separations are required: the simultaneous removal of mica, feldspar, and quartz as a froth product using a cationic collector, and the subsequent removal of iron-bearing minerals as a froth product while spodumene is depressed as a tailing.

Jan 2, 1953

By Sanjoy Shome

Recent legislation and the heightened environmental awareness of the public have brought about constraints in the location, process selection and operation of the modern electrolytic refinery. The modern electrolytic zinc process incorporating pyro, hydro, and electrometallurgy has emissions, effluents and residues which are acceptable only under severely restricted discharge conditions. Due to the necessity of maximizing zinc recovery, the additional cost of the environmental equipment has to be minimized, which may be achieved by intelligent process and location selection as well as by proper operation of the plant for maximum return to the Owner and minimum damage to the environment.

Jan 1, 1977

By T. Rosenqvist

From the chemical, metallurgical, and mineralogical points of view, the importance of thermodynamic data for metal-sulphides and sulphur dissolved in molten metal has long been realized. Such data will give a basis for thermo-dynamic calculations of processes such as roasting and the distribution of sulphur between molten metal and slags. Furthermore, it will help us understand the chemical forces which tie sulphur to the metal and to the melt. Thermodynamic studies of solid sulphides and the equilibria between solid sulphides and metals have been carried out in a rather large number of cases by several investigators. An excellent review of this work is given by Kelley.1 On the other hand, very little is known about the thermodynamic properties of molten sulphides and of sulphur dissolved in molten metal. The only system which previously has been investigated in this respect is the iron/sulphur system. The purpose of the present investigation was primarily to obtain further data for metalisulphur melts and the system silver/sulphur was chosen, not because this system was expected to be of special interest in itself, but because the silver/sulphur system is a typical example of a metal/sulphur system. Because of the low melting temperatures, the work could be carried out without appreciable furnace and refractory difficulties. The sulphur in this system possesses a rather high escaping tendency compared to most other metal/sulphur systems. By the method employed (reaction with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulphide) this gives ratios Ph2s/Ph2 up to 0.30, which may be determined accurately. 'rhermodynamic investigations of the heterogeneous reaction Ag2S +H2 —+ 2Ag + H2S have previously been carried out by Pelabon,2 Keyes and Felsing,3 Jellineb and Zakowski,4 Wat-anabe,6 and Britzke and Kapustinsky.6 Their results are in rather poor agreement. Experimental Part PRINCIPLE In the present invehgation the escaping tendency of sulphur from the condensed phase was determined by the reaction: S + H2 = H2S The ratio Ph2s/Ph2 is at constant temperature, directly proportional to the escaping tendency of sulphur and to its chemical activity in the condensed phase. (This ratio will subsequently be denoted by H2S/H2.) From this ratio and its variation with temperature and with change in the com- position of the condensed phase, thermodyrlamic quantities such as free energy and heat of reaction can be derived. The apparatus used is shown in Fig 1. The silver/sulphur alloy was placed in a crucible inside a refractory tube and mounted inside the furnace to the left. The tube was a part of a closed, gas-tight system in which the gas mixture could circulate until equilibrium was established. Circulation was maintained by the glass propeller to the right, driven by an external magnet, and promoted by the chimney action of the furnace. The gas passed up through the furnace, down into the crucible where it came in contact with the alloy, passed rapidly up through a narrow tube and out of the hot zone. After equilibrium was established between the gas and the condensed phase, the composition of the gas mixture was determined from its density. In its circulation, the gas mixture passed through a chamber (lower right on Fig 1) containing a buoyancy-balance, where the density of the gas was determined by magnetic balancing. From the measured density,

Jan 1, 1950