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By F. W. Jessen, G. F. Sears

Cavities in massive salt for the purpose of storage of liquid hydrocarbons have assumed a prominent position in recent years. This paper describes a program to facilitate leaching operations for the formation of specifically shaped storage cavities. Various forms and sizes of cavities may be possible through use of the techniques developed. INTRODUCTION The creation of large under ground storage facilities for natural gas and liquified petroleum gases has been practiced for many years. Use of cavities obtained through solution of salt for this purpose is a fairly new and novel approach, but has gained increasing importance due mainly to the economics of this type of mining operation opposed to hard rock mining or surface and pit storage.1 The idea of controlling the shape of any cavity dissolved from massive salt has not been a prime consideration of companies engaged in the formation of storage space. This has been due mainly to an insufficient knowledge of the mechanics of the leaching process and a dearth of published information dealing with both the desirability and ease of control possible for this type of operation. Two distinct advantages are readily ascertainable. From a stability standpoint (i.e., the ability of the completed cavity to withstand stress imposed by overburden pressure and lateral tectonic stresses) a controlled cavity may be generated which will yield the most favorable attitude to these external forces and remain in operable use for longer periods of time.2 A second advantage is that for a given volume, a sphere (which is one controlIed shape possible) represents the minimum surface area exposed. This may become more important in the future when dealing with refrigeration and product losses in underground cavities. The basic solution mining process, without regard for controlling the final shape, is quite simple in that the equipment and materials required to dissolve a cavity in a salt dome or layered salt section are a source of fresh water, a circulating pump, several strings of tubing and a means of disposal of the return brine. To add control measures involves the use of an inert blanket material above the position at which solution proceeds. Initially the annulus of the largest wash pipe is filled with this blanket down to the top of the proposed cavity. The bottom of the proposed cavity is determined by the depth of the original drilled hole or a blanking plug. The blanket material is added incrementally in stages and displaces the water in the enlarging cavity downward. Where the blanket material has displaced the water, no further solution takes place. The rate at which to add this controlling blanket material so as to be able to form specifically shaped cavities of any particular size is of considerable importance. THE PROBLEM It is desirable to have as much information as possible as to the behavior of the mining operation since visual observation obviously is impossible. It would be advantageous, for example, to have a step-by-step program showing how much salt is to be removed, at what rate and the time required. This type of program would facilitate procurement of surface equipment and provide for proper management of manpower requirements, as well as yield a host of intangible benefits. As mentioned earlier, only rule-of-thumb estimates were available until recently and made this type of pre-planned operation haphazardous at best. Recent work3-' has done much to clear up the ambiguities and inaccuracies attendant to solution mining of salt and has helped to place the operation on a more scientific basis. This study attempts to correlate much of the information thus far developed into a complete mining program; to extend the idea of controlled solution mining to include not only spheres, but solid conic sections of the ellipsoidal variety; and to refine the computation of the rate of removal of salt during the various stages of mining. Dommers3 and IIemson4 made extensive laboratory

Jan 1, 1967

By L. D. Clark

Pay-out, the ratio of capital expenditure to annual cash return can be very revealing when employed to gage the merits of a proposed mining venture. It is a quantity, numerically but not physically equal to a factor, by which cash return may be discounted to equal required investment. The fewer the pay-out years, the greater the average annual earning power of the project. Considerable material has been written in the past about the most important and difficult problem mining management faces in evaluation of a property: the optimum production rate for the venture. What daily capacity should be adopted for the proposed operation that it may be the most rewarding to those underwriting it? H.C. Hoover has said, "The most important objective is the least cost per ton mined; and minimum working costs can only be gained by the most intensive production." Theoretically and practically, the quicker the ore is removed, the more profitable should be the venture because of the saving in fixed charges, the consequent lower unit costs and the interest unearned by the profit from the unmined ore. Yet, such performance will be tempered by policy and a restraint imposed by the ratio of capital expenditure to annual cash return. * The 'Annual net profit after taxes but including depreciation and depletion allowances. former will be based upon an analysis of the economic climate anticipated, with its many ramifications including the demand for the product, prices, tax laws, the conduct of labor and related wage scales. The variables and intangibles involved in estimating the optimum production rate for a mine do not readily lend themselves to mathematical relationships or equations and the problem can become complex indeed. The more readily applicable and relatively faster appraisal method will be used which, in addition to being reasonably adequate in most cases, will serve as a guide, should a more expanded and detailed estimate be desired. The first question is what is company policy with respect to the rate of investment return? This will depend on that significant period of time referred to as the pay-out, which can be defined as the estimated interval during which capital investment is returned through application of annual cash return to its recovery. Expressed another way, it is the ratio of capital expenditure to the annual cash return. For example, if the capital investment is $C and the annual cash return is $A (after Federal tax), then $C/$A = the pay-out period in years. That is to say, if $C = $1,500,000 and $A = $214,000, then which is the mathematical expression for the period of time it takes to recover the funds originally invested in a mining enterprise. The relationship yp = $C/$A can be useful — an expression which requires only the significant tern yp to be fixed; in other words, the long range investment policy. For what is the pay-out period but an expression of that policy in terms of the speed, within practical limits, with which an individual or company may want to recover capital expenditure? A policy by which pay-out will be fixed is imperative. This ratio must lie within relatively narrow limits governed by what is economically feasible. It cannot be too low, rendering the ratio impractical or absurd, nor too great, delaying the return of capital for reinvestment beyond a commensurate interval. What pay-out will govern this policy? Federal corporate taxes would seem to present the best measure. Consider mining in Canada where new mines are exempt from Federal income tax for 3½ yr from date of first production. This exemption expressly allows The Act states: "A corporation . . . i s not required to include the profits . . . for the period of 36 months commencing with the day on which the mine came into production in reasonable commercial quantites." a company to recover capital expenditure during the early stages of production. With such an incentive, it is logical to strive for as much capital redemption as possible during this period. Thus, 3½ yr would be a major contribution to the pay-out in Canada. Furthermore, it generally takes from 1½ to 3 yr to develop

Jan 1, 1963

By S. K. Tarby, A. E. Rathke

A series of 0.21 pci carbon steel melts was processed under conditions which sinzulated industrial vacuum degassing practices. The results indicated that the efliciency of carbon deoxidation was not significantly increased by vacuunz degassing at chamber pressures below 100 torr. The two common phenomena of vacuu?rz carbon deoxidation, i.e.,an unaccountable carbon loss and nonequilibrium deoxidation, were observed in this study. Oxygen from adsorbed and chenzically combined water of certain refractory structures was probably responsible for the unaccourttable carbon drop. The nonequzlibrium deoxida-tion phenomenon was adequalely correlated by a bubble nucleation )mechanism. Although the major limiting factor in oxygen removal from these melts contained in alumina crucibles could not be eslablished with certainty, there was some evidence that melt-refractory interactions were not the most imp-portant limiting factor. CONSIDERABLE attention has been given to the use of carbon in conjunction with vacuum degassing* as a deoxidation technique. An advantage of utilizing the reaction: for deoxidation purposes is that the reaction product is gaseous and hence can be effectively removed from the melt. The pressure dependency of Eq. [I] is illustrated by the expression for the thermodynamic equilibrium constant, K: where pco is the partial pressure of carbon monoxide, and hc and ho are, respectively, the Henrian activities of carbon and oxygen in molten steel. The thermodynamic aspects of the C-0 reaction in molten Fe-C-0 alloys have been investigated extensively. Theoretical predictions based on Eq. [2] indicate that, at the chamber pressures reached in most vacuum degassing units, carbon is the most effective deoxidizer that can be obtained. ~ornak' has compared industrial values of carbon and oxygen contents with values calculated from theory, and has shown that on a commercial basis vacuum carbon deoxidation has not achieved the degree of success that is predicted from theoretical considerations of the C-0 reaction. The use of industrial units to determine the reason for this deviation is limited by economics and the difficulty in controlling critical process variables. Therefore laboratory-sized experiments in this area should yield valuable information. Investigations on vacuum carbon deoxidation have been made in experiments conducted under vacuum induction melting conditions where pressures in the low micron range, long treatment times, exposure to highly dynamic vacuum conditions, and relatively quiescent bath conditions have been maintained. Inve~ti~ators~~~ utilizing vacuum induction melting for the production of high-purity iron by carbon deoxidation have concluded that, under high vacuum conditions, melt-refractory interactions constantly supply oxygen to the melt. Thus, it has been suggested that refractory dissociation rather than the C-0 reaction establishes the lowest possible oxygen content of a melt. Thomas and Moreau4 and Bennett, Protheroe, and ward5 have studied carbon deoxidation of Fe-C alloys melted in magnesia crucibles under reduced pressures. The results of both studies differed considerably from those predicted by theory, and the limiting factor for lower oxygen contents was attributed to melt-refractory interactions. Because the refractory material used in both investigations was magnesia, no quantitative measure of crucible reaction could be made and the amount of carbon consumed during treatment was utilized as an indirect indication of the extent of crucible reaction. Studies concerned with the determination of the minimum oxygen content attainable in pure iron and Fe-C alloy material vacuum-induction-melted in various crucible materials have also been conducted."' The suitability of a crucible refractory for use under vacuum conditions appears to depend upon the major refractory constituent, the amount and type of impurity oxides, and the composition of the melt. Meadowcroft and Elliott9 have presented a theoretical review of the type and extent of various refractory reactions which should be considered in vacuum refining. ~eadowcroft'~ considered the vacuum degassing process to be dependent upon the "carbon boil" and has proposed that a part of the difference between the experimental and theoretical results for vacuum carbon deoxidation may be explained by the fact that the pco term in Eq. [2] is not the chamber pressure. Instead, the pressure necessary for carbon monoxide

Jan 1, 1970

By R. B. Burt, J. A. Barr, I. S. Tillotson

DISCUSSION Howard Howie (Knoxville, Term.)—The authors are to be congratulated on the presentation of a paper containing so much valuable information on the pipeline transportation of phosphate, as there is very little literature on the subject. The writer is especially interested in the paper, as he conceived the arrangement of the Akin and Godwin plants and was in charge of the design work and the engineering incident to their construction. The Akin and other phosphate deposits in the Tennessee phosphate area lie on beds of limestone that are very irregular. The limestone beds, after the phosphate matrix has been removed, are similar in appearance to land severely eroded by the action of water and denuded of top soil. Depressions in the limestone, called cutters, are irregular in depth with vertical or overhanging walls, having the general appearance of cracks in dried clay. They change abruptly in direction, width, and depth, and vary on the Akin tract from 1 to 25 ft in depth and from 1 to 50 ft in width. Pinnacles of limestone commonly occur in the cutters which appear, when exposed, like small clifflike islands in a river. Limestone floats also occur. The phosphate matrix fills the cutters and covers the uncuttered areas, the thickness of the cover varying continually and sometimes rather abruptly. It occurs generally as stratifications of phosphate rock and clay of varying thickness. The phosphate rock in the matrix varies in hardness and in percents of silica, lime, iron oxides, and fluorine, and the clay varies in toughness. In some places the deposit consists of narrow strata of rock almost devoid of clay streaks. In other nearby locations the clay will predominate. When it is excavated, the phosphate rock breaks into thin irregular lumps, locally known as plate rock. Limestone lumps are also excavated with the matrix. Akin plate rock is generally much softer than that occurring in other deposits in the area. Because of the above described physical and chemical variations of the excavated material, the resultant slurry varies in size distribution, specific gravity, and percent of slimes. When the rock is soft or when there is an increase of clay, the slime fraction is greatly increased as it passes through pumps and pipelines, resulting in reduced pipe friction. It is obvious that the longer the pipeline the greater the reduction of coarse fractions into fines, causing a decrease in pipe friction that cannot be accurately evaluated. The matrix is mined with a dragline that drops it into a hopper with a grid composed of 9-in. parallel bar spacings located above the hammer mill. The matrix on, and passing through the grid, is subject to the action of powerful sprays which wash it down to the hammer mill, together with any limestone lumps that are not removed before passing through the grid. The hammer mill reduces the feed to lumps of plate rock and clay, most of which will pass through the 8-in. pump suction. The mixture discharges into a pool containing the pump suction pipe. Water from a hydraulic nozzle moves the mixture to the pump suction intake. The pump, driven by a variable speed motor, is the same size as the pumps mentioned on p. 279. Provision is made to remove any lumps that lodge in a bend in the suction pipe in a manner similar to that used in the Florida phosphate fields. The hammer mill and pump units are mounted on wide steel skids so that they can be moved as the mining operation progresses. The discharge from the pump flows through an abrasion-resistant spiral welded steel pipe 81/4 in. actual inside diam, 8 in. nominal diam, for a maximum distance of 2200 ft, which is the limiting pumping distance for one pump. This pipeline, referred to hereafter as pipeline A, discharges into a ball mill without balls, which in turn discharges into a rotary screen attached to it that separates the slurried matrix into 11/4-in. oversize and undersize fractions. The oversize is returned to the mill for further reduction; the undersize is pumped to a Dorrco washer and then flows into a hydroseparator 160 ft in diam. In spite of the size reduction in the hammer mill and the blunging and washing of the slurry in its passage through the pump, pipeline, mill, and washer, the discharge to the hydroseparator frequently contains mud balls almost perfectly spherical. Sometimes the discharge from the 16,000-ft pipeline at Godwin contains mud balls the size of bird shot and smaller. This pipeline will be referred to subsequently as line B. Liquid caustic is added to the slurry at the Akin plant before its passage through the hydro-separator, which decreases the size of particles in the overflow by dispersion. In passing through pumps 1, 2, and 3 and pipeline B, the slime fraction in the underflow is increased by abrasion and blunging and also by continuing dispersive action of the caustic. The matrix for use in the experimental tests referred to on p. 279 was obtained from three small surface openings on the Akin tract that were made previous to the purchase of the tract by the Authority. Matrix used in the 2 and 4-in. experimental pipeline tests was taken from the three openings and proportioned to obtain a sufficient quantity that would be fairly representative of the average in the Akin deposits. Prospecting samples of matrix had been obtained from drill holes which showed no small variation in physical and chemical properties. Some of the physical variation is evident from the size distribution of solids in samples taken during the tests covering line B flows so thoroughly made by the Authority und'er the direction of Mr. Burt, see Table V, p. 280. Hydraulic gradients for a pipe of 8-in. diam were derived from the 2 and 4-in. pipeline tests using the so-called representative matrix as above described, and plotted on the profile of pipeline B. Gradients of other materials in slurry form passing through pipelines that bore some similiarity to the Akin matrix slurry were also plotted. After a study had been made of the hydraulic gradients plotted on the profile and the varying slurry flow that would probably occur during actual operation, three pumps were ordered, referred to as No. 1, 2, and 3 on p. 279. No. 1 and 2 pumps were installed and the third kept in reserve should the operation of 1 and 2 pumps prove satisfactory, since installation of the third pump would require an attendant, as well as the laying of 5400 ft of pipe to supply it with seal-water from the Akin plant. Subsequently, it was found desirable to install the third pump to maintain capacity when the slime fraction was low and the coarse fractions were large. Reference to Fig. 6 will show that the flow in B line goes upgrade in three locations. At the outlet at Godwin, the slurry flows between two 45" bends for an approximate distance of 18 ft to rise above the ground a sufficient height to discharge into a launder feeding the first classifier. This condition requires extra energy, which is taken care of by keeping the hydraulic gradient a sufficient distance above the high points. Although there are rather heavy upgrades in the line, the choking condition that might occur at the

Jan 1, 1953

By A. H. Larson, R. J. McClincy

The activity of Sb,03 in PbO-Sb,03 slags containing less than 50 mol pct Sb,03 was determined by the inert-gas saturation method at 700°C. In this composition range, the activity gf SbzO3 shows a strong negative deviation from ideality. The activity of PbO in these slags was calculated by application of the Gibbs-Duhem iniegration to the Sb203 activity data. The calculated activity of PbO in slags containing more than 63 mol pct PbO was found to deviate in a positive direction from ideality uthile a negative deviation was found for slags containing less PbO. The standard Gibbs free energies of formation of Sb,03 and PbO. Sb203 have been calculated and compared with existing data in the literature. The activity of Sb203 in PbO-Si0,-Sb203 (PbO/SiO, = 2) slags containing less than 25 mol pct Sb,03 was also determined by the inert-gas saturation method at 700°C. In this composition range, the activity of Sbz03 shows a very large negative deviation from ideality. VERY little experimental work has been published in the past to determine equilibrium data in the oxide systems connected with the refining of lead. These data are of value since impurities such as antimony, arsenic, and tin must be removed from lead and recovered for further treatment. Equilibrium studies on antimony and arsenic systems are also of interest for the design of new processes for lead refining and lead dross treatment. Maier and ~incke' first determined the liquidus curves for the PbO-Sb203 system and identified the compound PbO . Sb203. They found the phase diagram for this system to be two simple eutectics located on either side of the congruent melting compound. They also determined a very limited amount of vapor pressure data for Sb406 abbve PbO-Sba3 melts at 697"~. A second phase diagram investigation on this system was reported by Hennig and Kohlmeyer' who confirmed the existence of the compound PbO . Sb203 as well as the form of the diagram. A disagreement was noticed, however, in that their liquidus temperatures over nearly the entire composition range were higher than those reported by Maier and Hincke. Barthel~ and pelze14 redetermined the liquidus curve at the PbO-rich end of the PbO-Sb@, system and agreed very closely with the results of Maier and Hincke. None of the investigators mentioned above reported any mutual solid solubility in the PbO-SbD3 system. Zunkel and Larson5 have determined the phase diagram for the PbO-rich end of the PbO-Sb203 system by slag-metal equilibrium studies in the Pb-PbO-Sb203 system and by thermal analysis studies in the PbO-Sbz03 system. A maximum solid solubility of 5.6 mol pct Sb203 in PbO was observed at the eutectic temperature of 604°C. Their results for the phase diagram agree favorably with those of Maier and Hincke. The vapor pressure of Sb2O3 in the temperature range from 470" to 800°C has been determined by Hincke, using a modification of the transportation meth~d.~ His results for temperatures below the melting point of Sba3 are the only data reported in the published literature. The predominant vapor species has been shown to be Sb,06 by Norman and staley.? Myzenkov and Klushin,8 using the boiling-point method, have determined the pressure of Sb406 above liquid SbD3 in the temperature range from 715" to 1025°C. The agreement between these two studies is not very close. A portion of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Hincke used silica crucibles, which were attacked by the liquid Sbz03 at high temperatures. This fact does not account, however. for the large difference observed at the melting point. ~aier' gives a brief summary of vapor pressure data for Sb,O, above pure liquid Sbz03 which agree quite well with the data of Myzenkov and Klushin at temperatures near the melting point. This paper describes the determination of Sb2O3 activity data in the PbO-Sb203 and Pb0-Si02-Sb203 (PbO/SiOz = 2) systems by the inert-gas saturation method. These activity data are compared with the data calculated by Zunkel and arson. EXPERIMENTAL Materials. The materials used in this investigation were analytical reagent-grade PbO (99.8 pct PbO, 0.14 pct insoluble in CHsCOOH, 0.02 pct not precipitated by HB, 0.1 pct CaO, and 0.08 pct SiOz), Sbf13 (99.6 pct Sb203, 0.004 PC~ C1-, 0.005 PC~ SO;-, 0.15 p~t AS, 0.001 pct Fe, and 0.03 pct other heavy metals such as Pb), and SiOz (chromatographic grade). Apparatus for Vapor Pressure Determinations. The apparatus used in this investigation consisted of a transportation reaction system with two separate gas trains. The argon transporting gas was first mixed with a small amount of hydrogen, metered, and dried by passage through silica gel and anhydrone drying tubes arranged in series. After this preliminary drying, the argon was passed through copper wool at 500°C to convert the residual oxygen to water vapor which was removed by three anhydrone drying tubes. A second stream of argon was metered and dried and then passed around the outside of the alumina reaction tube to flush away the volatile species to pre-

Jan 1, 1970

By R. L. Schmidt, J. D. Verhoeven

The diffusion coefficients and electrotralzsport mobilities of aluminum, gallium, and arsenic have been determined in molten germanium with the capillary reservoir technique. The diffusion coefficients are slightly higher than those determined by the solidification technique of Brirton et a1.1 It was found that aluminium and gallium migrate to the cathode in molten germanium) whereas arsenic migrates to the anode under an electric field. A possible technique for producing p-n junctions by means of electric field freezing is discussed in view of the experimental data. In the past decade or so the literature has abounded with articles concerning the solid-state properties of the semiconducting elements germanium and silicon. It is surprising by comparison how little has been published concerning the liquid-state properties of these materials. In the production of doped germanium or silicon the diffusion coefficient of the dopant in liquid germanium or silicon is an important quantity. Yet, to the best of our knowledge, no one has ever made a direct measurement of the diffusion coefficient of solutes in either molten germanium or silicon. A number of authors'-4 have determined some diffusion coefficients by the indirect technique developed by Burton et al.1 This technique appears to give numbers of the correct order of magnitude but it does depend upon a number of assumptions in the analysis and also requires prior knowledge of the viscosity of the melt. In the present work a more direct measure of the diffusion coefficients of arsenic, gallium: and aluminum in molten germanium has been made. It has been shown independently by two groups of authors5, 6 that, when an electric current is passed through the interface of a solidifying metal containing an impurity, the resulting electrotransport in the liquid boundary layer at the interface offers a mechanism for control over the redistribution of the impurity accompanying the solidification. These authors show that the degree of control is proportional to the mobility, U of the impurity atoms in the liquid boundary layer, where the mobility is defined as the drift velocity relative to the solvent per unit electric field. In principle the results apply to the solidification of a doped semiconductor and offer an interesting technique for control of the doping of a semiconductor. In the present work the mobilities of aluminum, gallium, and arsenic were determined in molten germanium in order to evaluate the potential usefulness of electro-transport as a technique for solute control when applied to the solidification of doped germanium. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Both the diffusion coefficients and the mobilities were measured using high-purity alumina capillaries and a resistivity technique for analysis. A schematic diagram of the electrotransport apparatus is shown in Fig. 1 and the details of the cell design are shown in Fig. 2. For the mobility experiments electrical contact with the bottom of the capillary was made with graphite, as shown in Fig. 2. In order to prevent electrical contact with the melt the graphite was coated with a thin layer of alumina using a plasma spray torch. The cell assembly, a graphite electrode, and another assembly containing two blank capillaries were fastened to the lavite disk shown in Fig. 1. To make a run the system was evacuated and the doped germanium was outgassed at the operating temperature of 1030°C. The cell and blank capillaries were then submerged beneath the melt and a slightly positive pressure of helium was introduced to fill them. After passing current through the cell for a given time the cell and blank capillaries were raised from the melt and the furnace was shut off. The temperature of the cells dropped below the freezing point of germanium within 1 to 2 min after the furnace was shut off.

Jan 1, 1968

By F. F. Craig

Many full-scale waterflooding operations are preceded by pilot floods, one purpose of which is to provide an estimate of recoverable oil. A laboratory model study was made to determine the influence of the producing wells' effective productivity on the oil recovery efficiency of single five-spot pilots, as well as single injection well pilot floods. The effective productivity is indicated by the value of Condition Ratio, defined as the actual well productivity to that of on undamaged and non-stimulated, normal-sized well in the same formation. The effects of initial gas satrcration and mubility ratio on recovery eficiency were also investigated in this model study. Model test results skowed that at favorable mobiliry ratios, a five-spot pilot flood can provide a direct quantitative estimate of the recoverable oil in the pilot area. If the pilot producer's Candition Ratio is 2.2 or more, upwards of 90 per cent of the recoverable oil in the pilot area is recovered from the inside producer, regqrdless of the mobility ratio or initial gas saturation. This Condition Ratio can be achieved with preyent fracturing techniques. Model studies also showed that over the range of imposed injection pressure differences and regional pressure gradients normally encountered in field operations, there was no effect on the recovery efficiency of a five-spot pilot waterflood. Model studies of single injection well pilot waterfloods showed that with no initial gas saturation, the total oil recovery at the offset producing wells can indicate the oil recovery possible by full-scale waterflooding. It is essential that the Condition Ratios of the offset wells be above 1.4. If an initial gas saturation exists prior to water injection, the recoverable oil cannot be directly evaluated by a single injection well pilot flood. However, the production per formance of such a flood can be used to provide information on volumetric sweep efficiency. INTRODUCTION Oil reservoirs are conlplex structures and cannot always be fully studied in the laboratory. Therefore, many operators consider it prudent to evaluate a waterflood prospect by means of a pilot flood. Pilot waterfloods generally involve one of two well arrangements: a single five-spot pilot waterflood, involving four injectors and an internal pilot producing well; and a single injection well pilot flood (sometimes called an inverted five-spot pilot) having one injector and four sur- rounding pilot producers. Some pilot floods are composed of multiple five-spot pilot patterns. To yield information applicable to field-wide performance, the pilot must be located in a representative portion of the reservoir. Pilot floods generally are conducted for one or more of the following reasons: (1) to determine whether water could be injected at desirably high rates, (2) to determine whether an oil bank or zone of increased oil saturation is formed by water injection, and (3) to estimate the oil recovery by waterflooding. Many of the early pilot water-floods were conducted for only the first two reasons. As soon as a buzz in oil production was obtained in the pilot, water injection was initiated throughout the entire lease or field. A number ot laboratory studies have been directed toward determining conditions under which a pilot flood could yield a quantitative estimate of the oil recovery possible by full-scale pattern flooding. One of the early studies of single five-spot pilot flooding' showed that well damage to the inside pilot producer could reduce the total amount of oil recovered. In a study of the single injection well pilot flood pattern,' the results indicated that if the model boundaries were no closer than a half-well spacing beyond the pilot pattern, the pilot performance in the laboratory is unaffected by these boundaries. In another study,? he effect of initial gas saturation and mobility ratio on the ratio of production to injection rate for various groupings of five-spot patterns was defined by mathematical and analog methods. In a study4 involving both potentiometric and flow model experiments at a mobiliry ratio of unity, four different pilot patterns were studied. These included a single five-spot, a single injection well pilot, a cluster of four single injection well pilots and six inverted five-spots. In this study the ratio of well diameter to the distance between injection and producing wells was held constant at 1:1000. The effect of the 7 ratio-—the ratio of the pressure drawdown at the producing wells to the pressure build-up at the injection wells on the pilot performance-was studied. The values of 7 ratio ranged from 0 to 0.34. Results showed that both the total oil recovery and the total fluid production from the pilot relative to the cumulative injection increased with increasing values of the 7 ratio. The effect of both the ratio of injection to producing rates and mobility ratio on the oil recovery performance of a liquid-saturated single five-spot pilot flood was studied in a series of flow model tests.5 Rate ratios ranged from one to four, and mobility rates ranged from 0.1 to 10. Resulls of these tests showed that at low rate ratios, the pilot producers may recover up to four times the recover-

Jan 1, 1966

By A. S. Odeh

The mechanism of two-phase flow in porous media has been a subject of wide controversy. One of the properties essential for understanding the dynamic behavior of two-phase flow is relalive permeability. Relative permeability to a certain phase is defined as the ratio of the effective permeability of that phase to its permeability when it is the only fluid present and powing. In this research, a theoretical analysis was made to determine the effect of viscosity ratio between the non-wetting and the wetting phase on relative permeability. Experimental work was conducted to test the validity of the derived equations. The experiment was conducted on four natural cores. Four oils were used as the non-wetting phases with a viscosity range of 0.42 to 71.30 cp and two wetting phases with a viscosity range of 0.86 to 0.96 cp. Oil and bring were made to flow simultaneously at various ratios, and relative permeability curves were constructed. A total of eight relative pertileability cycles representing eight viscosity ratios were run oil each sample. It was found that relative permeability to the non-~cletting phase varies with viscosity ratio. The relative effect of this variation on relative permeability values was a function of the sample's single-phase permeability, decreasing with its increase. It was concluded that, for .samples of single-phase permeability over I darcy. the effect of viscosity ratio could be disregarded, and relative permeability would be, in effect, a function of satrtration only. INTRODUCTION Two-phase as well as multiphase flow occurs in many fields of science. This type of flow is of particular interest in petroleum production. The knowledge of relative permeability, which describes the dynamic behavior of two-phasc as well as multiphase flow, is essential for solution of problems arising in that field. Thc relative permeability ot a porous medium to a given phase in multiphase flow. is generally considered to be only a function of the saturation of that phase, independent of the properties of fluids involved and ranging in value from zero to unity. Work by Leverett' and Leverett and Lewis' apparently supports this concept. In his experiments Leverett used a clean, packed unconsolidated sand of high permeability (3.2 to 6.2 darcies) with two phases (water and oil) flowing and a viscosity ratio range of 0.057 to 90.0. His results showed that the wide range of viscosity had practically no effect on relative permeability-saturation relationship. Recently accumulated evidence from work performed by several laboratories and a paper by Nowak and Krueger,2 in which relative permeability to oil of a few core samples in the presence of interstitial water was considerably greater than single-phase permeability to water, cast some doubt on the conclusions reached by Leverett' and subscribed to by a large number of individuals in the oil industry. One explanation advanced to explain this behavior states that it is caused by the variable extent of hydra-tion of clay minerals present in the sand. The greater the water saturation, the greater will be the area of contact between water and clay minerals; therefore, the greater will be the extent of swelling with corresponding reduction in permeability. Yuster4 presents another explanation for the recently accumulated evidence. Utilizing Poiseuille's law, he analyzed concentric flow in a single capillary where the non-wetting phase flows in a cylindrical portion of the capillary and concentric with it. The wetting phase flows in the annulus between the non-wetting phase and the capillary wall. The equations obtained indicate that relative permeability to the non-wetting phase is a function of saturation and viscosity ratio. Although Yuster's equations show that fractional rel-ative permeability to oil could be greater than unity, as was indicated by the data of Nowak and Krueger,1 they failed to present an explanation to the experimental data of early investigators such as Leverett.1 Due to the importance of relative permeability in understanding the flow behavior of petroleum reservoir fluids, this work—theoretical as well as experimental —was undertaken to determine whether relative permeability is a function of saturation only as was concluded by Leverett1 or a function of saturation and viscosity ratio as was theorized by Yuster.4 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS An equation will be derived for the rate of oil flow through a porous medium that is initially filled with water. Based on this equation, an analytic expression for relative permeability will be developed. The porous medium will be assumed to consist of .straight circular capillaries of different radii. It will also be assumed that there are no interconnections among the capillaries and no mass transfer across the oil-water interface. Consider a porous sample initially saturated with a wetting phase (water). As a non-wetting phase (oil) is

By O. D. Gonzalez

Existing measurements for the steady-state permeation of hydrogen in a iron above 100°C have been examined for contribution of determinate errors. The analysis leads to a recommended equation for the permeability of hydrogen in a iron: o= (2.9 ±0.5) x 10-3 exp - (8400 ± 400)/RT cu cm (ntp H2) cm-1 sec-1 atm-1/2 THE permeability of a iron to hydrogen has been the subject of numerous investigations over the past 40 years, and at present there are thirteen sets of published results for the rate of steady-state permeation of hydrogen in a iron above 100°C. The numerical values in each set of results are entirely self-consis-tent, but the spread among the sets is too large to be attributed solely to experimental error, i.e., to error other than in the specimen itself. Several reasons have been advanced to explain the disparities, but to date the relative importance of experimental inaccuracy to the spread remains uncertain. The purpose of this report is to examine in detail the sources of determinate errors inherent in the experiments and to assess as far as possible the contribution of the errors to the results. The ultimate goal is the selection of values for the permeability and heat of permeation most nearly representative of hydrogen in a iron. The analysis is limited to those experiments in which the permeation rate was observed at steady state—a condition in which traps for hydrogen within the metal are filled to a fixed level15 so that the trapping mechanism is not reflected in the rate of passage of the gas. Furthermore only data are examined in which surface processes are judged to have little or no influence on the flow. It is hoped with these restrictions to obtain values of the permeability and the heat of permeation which will be as closely related as possible to the mechanism of lattice diffusion. I) DEFINITION OF TERMS; UNITS In this report the data for permeation are given in terms of a coefficient oj permeability, ?, which is defined by the equation: jt=?A/?x{p1/2-po1/2) [1] where jt is the total flow of gas normal to the surface of a membrane of planar geometry, e.g., a disc, of area A and thickness ?x; pi and po are the pressures in the input and output sides, respectively. For flow radial to the walls of a membrane of cylindrical geometry, e.g., a tube, the corresponding equation is: where 1 is the length of the cylinder, and ri and ro are the inner and outer radii, respectively. The flux normal to the surface is given by Fick's law: j= -D(dc/dx) [3] At steady state the concentration gradient will be constant, and integration of Eq. [3] gives for the total flow through a disc of area A and thickness Ax: h =-DA(co - ci) [4] where c, and ci are the concentrations of solute at the output and input surfaces, respectively. When surface control is absent, co and ci are given by Sievert's law c = Kp1/2, and substitution therewith into Eq. [4] gives directly Eq. [I] where ? = DK. Integration of Fick's Eq. [3] in cylindrical coordinates will give Eq. [2] where again ? = DK and is thus shown to be independent of geometry (provided that surface control is negligible). The coefficient of permeability, or simply the permeability,* must be expressed in proper units. In *The term permeability will refer in this report always to the coefficient defined above; permeation will be used to specify the general phenomenon of gas passage through a membrane. this report ? will be expressed in the units of cu cm (ntp H2) cm-1 sec-1 atm-1/2. The variations of D and K with temperature are given by D = Do exp(-Ea/RT) and K = KO exp(-?Hs/RT) where E, is the activation energy for diffusion and AH, the heat of solution, each usually expressed in calories per mole of solute. The variation of permeability with temperature will thus be given (for conditions where surface control is negligible) by ? = ?o exp(-?Hp/RT) where ?0 = DoKo and ?Hp = Ea + ?Hs. The units of ?0 are the same as those of 6, and??Hp will be expressed in calories per mole H. 11) SUMMARY OF PERMEABILITY RESULTS Table I gives the values reported to date for the permeability of H2 in a iron in terms of ?o and ?Hp. Except where noted the parameters listed were taken directly from the numbers reported by the various investigators with only a change in units. The temperature limits within which the listed ?o and ?Hp hold are given in column 7; the limits marked in parentheses in this column indicate the entire temperature range covered in each investigation. The listed values of ?o and ?Hp are those giving a linear plot of ln? against T-1 at the higher temperatures in each set of measurements, and thus presumably represent the case for which surface control was negligible. Column 6 gives values of 9 at a representative tem-

Jan 1, 1970

By D. M. Milne, R. F. Stoner, W. Bakiewicz

The Lower Indus Basin deposits form a substantial unconfined alluvial aquifer of excellent quality. This aquifer contains basically highly saline groundwater, overlain in places by considerable amounts of fresh water whose origin can be traced to the present and historical courses of the River Indus. In the past, the main source of groundwater recharge has been direct river seepage and water tables were generally deep. Since the establishment of a perennial irrigation regime however, deep percolation from the increased irrigation supplies has predominated and the water table has risen to within a few feet of the surface. The river system itself is being progressively devel-oped for irrigation and very shortly a situation will arise where the entire low winter flow will be utilized. Fresh groundwater will then be exploited to supplement the surface supplies, and at the same time a drainage system, mainly based on wells will be used to stabilize the water table at safe depths. This paper discusses some of the methods used to ensure optimum economic development of the fresh groundwater and describes the general design philosophy evolved by the authors' firms for both irrigation and drainage wells, with respect to both well configuration and operation. Water quality standards are discussed insofar as they affect subsequent use of the groundwater. A few particular aspects are considered, including the values of the relevant aquifer constants, the construction of wells, and the determination of screen losses. A major problem solved during the Lower Indus Project investigations has been the design of wells to produce fresh water from layers overlying saline water. This solution is also discussed. The recent interest in the groundwater of the Lower Indus Plains of West Pakistan has two main aspects. Firstly, soil waterlogging and the associated salinity hazards caused by rising water tables are a serious problem in agriculture, and the ease with which drainage requirements can be met by aquifer pumping makes this an obvious solution. The second interest stems from the rapid intensification of irrigation agriculture and the growing shortage of water supplies. In the areas where the groundwater is of suitable quality it can be used immediately for irrigation at relatively small cost and with large financial returns. In addition, the aquifer forms a potential storage reservoir which could be recharged from high river flows and depleted by pumping at times of scarcity. SOURCE OF GROUNDWATER The Lower Indus plain is a relatively long and narrow alluvial basin on a north-south axis, some 23,000 sq miles in area, bounded by higher land to the east and west. One hypothesis to explain the distribution and quality of groundwater in the region1 presupposes a river system considerably larger than, but very similar to the present river. This is characterized by a single mainstream, with subsidiary overspill channels in times of flood, running along the crest of a self-deposited ridge and with an extensive advancing delta. Sea water is contained in the alluvial pores of the advancing delta, forming the native groundwater. This has been partially displaced from two sources, namely direct seepage of fresh water from the river channel in meander flood plain areas and percolation from flood spillage in cover flood plain areas. Percolation has been subject to much re-evaporation and is thus slightly saline even as it reaches the groundwater. The whole complex has been further affected by two main influences: evapotranspiration from the land surface that tends to salinize the groundwater and down-valley flow that tends to bring fresher water

Jan 1, 1970

By R. B. Burt, James A. Barr, I. S. Tillotson

DISCUSSION Howard Howie (Knoxville, Term.)—The authors are to be congratulated on the presentation of a paper containing so much valuable information on the pipeline transportation of phosphate, as there is very little literature on the subject. The writer is especially interested in the paper, as he conceived the arrangement of the Akin and Godwin plants and was in charge of the design work and the engineering incident to their construction. The Akin and other phosphate deposits in the Tennessee phosphate area lie on beds of limestone that are very irregular. The limestone beds, after the phosphate matrix has been removed, are similar in appearance to land severely eroded by the action of water and denuded of top soil. Depressions in the limestone, called cutters, are irregular in depth with vertical or overhanging walls, having the general appearance of cracks in dried clay. They change abruptly in direction, width, and depth, and vary on the Akin tract from 1 to 25 ft in depth and from 1 to 50 ft in width. Pinnacles of limestone commonly occur in the cutters which appear, when exposed, like small clifflike islands in a river. Limestone floats also occur. The phosphate matrix fills the cutters and covers the uncuttered areas, the thickness of the cover varying continually and sometimes rather abruptly. It occurs generally as stratifications of phosphate rock and clay of varying thickness. The phosphate rock in the matrix varies in hardness and in percents of silica, lime, iron oxides, and fluorine, and the clay varies in toughness. In some places the deposit consists of narrow strata of rock almost devoid of clay streaks. In other nearby locations the clay will predominate. When it is excavated, the phosphate rock breaks into thin irregular lumps, locally known as plate rock. Limestone lumps are also excavated with the matrix. Akin plate rock is generally much softer than that occurring in other deposits in the area. Because of the above described physical and chemical variations of the excavated material, the resultant slurry varies in size distribution, specific gravity, and percent of slimes. When the rock is soft or when there is an increase of clay, the slime fraction is greatly increased as it passes through pumps and pipelines, resulting in reduced pipe friction. It is obvious that the longer the pipeline the greater the reduction of coarse fractions into fines, causing a decrease in pipe friction that cannot be accurately evaluated. The matrix is mined with a dragline that drops it into a hopper with a grid composed of 9-in. parallel bar spacings located above the hammer mill. The matrix on, and passing through the grid, is subject to the action of powerful sprays which wash it down to the hammer mill, together with any limestone lumps that are not removed before passing through the grid. The hammer mill reduces the feed to lumps of plate rock and clay, most of which will pass through the 8-in. pump suction. The mixture discharges into a pool containing the pump suction pipe. Water from a hydraulic nozzle moves the mixture to the pump suction intake. The pump, driven by a variable speed motor, is the same size as the pumps mentioned on p. 279. Provision is made to remove any lumps that lodge in a bend in the suction pipe in a manner similar to that used in the Florida phosphate fields. The hammer mill and pump units are mounted on wide steel skids so that they can be moved as the mining operation progresses. The discharge from the pump flows through an abrasion-resistant spiral welded steel pipe 8 1/4 in. actual inside diam, 8 in. nominal diam, for a maximum distance of 2200 ft, which is the limiting pumping distance for one pump. This pipeline, referred to hereafter as pipeline A, discharges into a ball mill without balls, which in turn discharges into a rotary screen attached to it that separates the slurried matrix into 11/4-in. oversize and undersize fractions. The oversize is returned to the mill for further reduction; the undersize is pumped to a Dorrco washer and then flows into a hydroseparator 160 ft in diam. In spite of the size reduction in the hammer mill and the blunging and washing of the slurry in its passage through the pump, pipeline, mill, and washer, the discharge to the hydroseparator frequently contains mud balls almost perfectly spherical. Sometimes the discharge from the 16,000-ft pipeline at Godwin contains mud balls the size of bird shot and smaller. This pipeline will be referred to subsequently as line B. Liquid caustic is added to the slurry at the Akin plant before its passage through the hydro-separator, which decreases the size of particles in the overflow by dispersion. In passing through pumps 1, 2, and 3 and pipeline B, the slime fraction in the underflow is increased by abrasion and blunging and also by continuing dispersive action of the caustic. The matrix for use in the experimental tests referred to on p. 279 was obtained from three small surface openings on the Akin tract that were made previous to the purchase of the tract by the Authority. Matrix used in the 2 and 4-in. experimental pipeline tests was taken from the three openings and proportioned to obtain a sufficient quantity that would be fairly representative of the average in the Akin deposits. Prospecting samples of matrix had been obtained from drill holes which showed no small variation in physical and chemical properties. Some of the physical variation is evident from the size distribution of solids in samples taken during the tests covering line B flows so thoroughly made by the Authority under the direction of Mr. Burt, see Table V, p. 280. Hydraulic gradients for a pipe of 8-in. diam were derived from the 2 and 4-in. pipeline tests using the so-called representative matrix as above described, and plotted on the profile of pipeline B. Gradients of other materials in slurry form passing through pipelines that bore some similiarity to the Akin matrix slurry were also plotted. After a study had been made of the hydraulic gradients plotted on the profile and the varying slurry flow that would probably occur during actual operation, three pumps were ordered, referred to as No. 1, 2, and 3 on p. 279. No. 1 and 2 pumps were installed and the third kept in reserve should the operation of 1 and 2 pumps prove satisfactory, since installation of the third pump would require an attendant, as well as the laying of 5400 ft of pipe to supply it with seal-water from the Akin plant. Subsequently, it was found desirable to install the third pump to maintain capacity when the slime fraction was low and the coarse fractions were large. Reference to Fig. 6 will show that the flow in B line goes upgrade in three locations. At the outlet at Godwin, the slurry flows between two 45" bends for an approximate distance of 18 ft to rise above the ground a sufficient height to discharge into a launder feeding the first classifier. This condition requires extra energy, which is taken care of by keeping the hydraulic gradient a sufficient distance above the high points. Although there are rather heavy upgrades in the line, the choking condition that might occur at the

Jan 1, 1953

By A. H. Tousley, C. L. Vickers

The author presents a history of the development of the Port of Long Beach from its beginning in 1905 to the present construction of a new bulk loading facility. In describing this new facility, emphasis is placed on such aspects as rail car and truck handling, gravity yard, rotary car dumping, bottom dumping, car dumping equipment, feeding and conveying, ship-loader-stockpiler, stockpiling and reclaim, dust control, and construction problems. Development of the Port of Long Beach, Calif. (see Fig. I), began in 1905. In that year private Long Beach interests acquired 800 acres of marshland in the Inner Harbor area and initiated a program of channel dredging and land reclamation. Efforts to establish a municipal port began a short time later and culminated in the opening of Pier 1 in 1911. An event of even greater significance to the port future also occurred in 1911. This was the tideland grant enactment by the state legislature that conveyed to the city of Long Beach all of the state's rights in the tidelands located within the city boundaries. The grant stipulated that all revenue produced from the tidelands be used for the development of navigation, commerce, and fisheries. During the next 15 years up to 1926, the port's commercial growth was steady, although relatively slow. During this period, several fundamental steps in the development of a major harbor were accomplished. These included the creation of the Board of Harbor Commissioners in 1917, the dredging of the Inner Harbor and entrance channel to accommodate deep draft vessels, and the correction of a serious silting problem through construction of the Los Angeles River Flood Control Channel. These efforts bore fruit during the ensuing 10 years in the establishment of more than $30,000,000 worth of industrial plants and private marine terminals in the Inner Harbor. Commerce over municipal wharves also increased more rapidly, and it became necessary to start the development of the harbor in a seaward direction. In 1936, oil was discovered in the harbor area, and the first Harbor Dept. well was brought in 2 years later. It soon became evident that the city of Long Beach would receive substantial revenue that, under the terms of the state grant of 1911, must be used in the development of the port. It was further realized that to properly guide and coordinate such development, a long range comprehensive plan was essential. The Board of Harbor Commissions contracted with G. F. Nicholson and J. F. Collins, consulting engineers, for the preparation of such a report that was completed in 1940. The Nicholson-Collins report proposed the development of an East Basin, between the entrance channel and the Los Angeles River, and a West Basin in the area now occupied by the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Twenty full-size berths were to be provided in the East Basin and more than fifty berths in the West Basin. The report recommended extensive modern terminal facilities for handling waterborne cargo. Attention was given to improvement of the street and highway system to give better vehicular access and to avoid congestion within the port. To a large extent the recommendations of the Nicholson-Collins report were followed in the subsequent development of the East Basin. This development was greatly accelerated by World War 11, with its need for increased oil production and additional shipping facilities. The wartime and immediate postwar construction was largely concentrated on Pier A, with the development of Piers B, C and D following in more recent years. An important factor in the planning of these piers was their dual function as oil drilling sites and cargo piers. The Navy's acquisition of the West Basin area made it necessary to depart from the Nicholson-Collins plan and find other areas for future expansion. At the present time only one Inner Harbor Port-owned area having protected deep water frontage remains undeveloped. This is the property fronting on Channel 2 in the Inner Harbor acquired in December 1957, from Pacific Dock and Terminal Co. The growth of the port has been in a southerly direction since the construction of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in the West Basin area. Recent extension of Piers F, G and J into the ocean follows typical port construction methods developed during the expansion of the Middle Harbor during the last 20 years.

Jan 1, 1963

By Carle R. Hayward

GENERAL conditions in the lead industry have registered a distinct improvement. The first signs of a strengthening market were found in an increasing demand for scrap. There is keen competition for old battery plates both by large and small dealers. The large operator smelts them either alone or in combination with ores or other lead-bearing material, giving an antimonial lead for which there is brisk demand. The small operator usually has three alternatives. He may simply melt out the metallics in a kettle at low temperature, giving an antimonial lead and a pulverulent lead oxide; he may fuse under oxidizing conditions, giving a soft lead and lead-antimony slag; or he may fuse under reducing conditions, giving a relatively low-grade antimonial lead and a low-antimony slag. In each case the metal product is used or sold, and the dross or slag sold to a large smelter. It will be interesting to see what the final outcome will be of this situation which is generally conceded to be unsatisfactory.

Jan 1, 1937

By S. FROES ABRUE

No new oil fields were discovered in Brazil during 1945. Production for the year reached a total of 79.329 bbl., all coming from the four fields in the Baia basin; the Lobato-Joanes field produced 6728 bbl.; Aratu, 6717 bbl.; Candeias, 36,663 bbl. and Itaparica, 29,211 bbl. The total cumulative production from the Baia basin from 1939 to 1945 inclusive amounts to 210,000 bbl., all of which is utilized locally.

Jan 1, 1946

By James J. Bean

F. M. Lewis—I believe that density recorders are a prerequisite to all well operated ore concentrators. Well designed density instruments are very accurate and give an excellent record of the steadiness of the operation. Controlling the density of a pulp with an instrument, as described by Mr. Bean, is new and the experiences in developing this controller at the American Cyanimid Co.'s Mineral Dressing Laboratory are very interesting and should be extremely helpful to others who are planning on designing or installing controlling density instruments. Instruments for recording the density of the classifier overflow or flotation feed are rather common in ore concentrators, but there are a number of profitable uses for these instruments that are not too well known. Density recorders with bubble tubes submerged to different depth in a classifier pool give an excellent record of the classifier operation. The loading and unloading of the machine, that is so easily masked in the density of the overflow, can be easily recorded if the instrument is installed at some depth in the classifier pool. On some occasions, two instruments with bubble tubes at different depths give a more candid picture of the irregularities in the classifier operation. When cleaner machines are operated in closed circuit with roughers, a record of the density of the cleaner tails will indicate the circulating load in the circuit and is very helpful in coordinating different operators, because quite often the circulating load will be increasing for some time before the analyses of the products will change. Density recorders are used to record the variations in the dilution of the underflow from thickening tanks and in at least one plant the instrument controls the underflow.

Jan 1, 1951

By V. J. Sikora, T. S. Hutchinson

This paper presents a method for making a water-rlrive ana1gsis without prior knowledge of aquifer geometry and uniformity using a standard desk calculator. Although it is necessary to know the initial oil in place to use this method, this is a minor limitation to the scope of (he method since in most reservoirs it is possible to obtain reasonably accurate volumetric oil-in-place estimates. An equation is developed which relates pressure at the water-oil contact to the water influx rate as a function of time by a factor called the resistance function. The resistance function introduces the composite effect of the aquifer geometry and flow resistance disrribution. It is pointed out that the characteristic shape of this function makes it possible to start with on approximation of the function and successively improve the approximation until the correct resistance function curve is obtained. In this fashion water-drive estimates can be made without the limitation of assuming simplifed aquifer shapes and flow distributions. This is the novel feature of this development. Methods are given for extrapolating the final curve to calculate future aquifer behavior. Equations are developed for adjusting the pressures and water influx rates where it appears that possible errors in these quantities make it difficult or impossible to obtain a useuble resistance function curve without this adjustment. Application of the pressure build-up analysis techiiique to estimate. some of the aquifer properties is also presented INTRODUCTION A great many oil pools are the result of oil accumulation in some type of trap in an otherwise large and continuous porous stratum. The void space of this stratum outside of the oil pool itself is filled with water or brine. In analyzing performance of the oil pool surrounded by this water aquifer, it is quite necessary. in most cases, to include behavior of the water. When the pressure at any point in a fluid system is lowered, such as by opening a well in an oil sand, fluids in the immediate neighborhood of this point will begin flowing towards this lower pressure sink. As pressure in this area drops due to flow towards the sink, fluids from farther out will start to flow towards the lower pressure. As more and more fluid is removed from the system, the distance from the sink or well within which flow is occurring will continually increase; that is, thc region of disturbance will grow. If some rigid boundary such as a fault is reached by the disturbance, this area will cease to grow; but if some movable boundary is reached, such as a water-oil contact, the area will grow on out into the water, although rate of growth may and almost always does change. The relation between amount of pressure drop and amount of fluid flowing at any point and at any time in an aquifer depends on such factors as compressibility and viscosity of the fluids, the porosity and permeability of the rock, geometry of the whole system and withdrawal rate or pressure drop. With these factors known, it is theoretically possible to calculate the pressure-flow behavior of the system, However, in practice true solutions to the problem are next to impossible due to complexity of reservoir systems. A number of approximate methods of solution have been developed based on various simplifying assumptions. One frequent assumption is that the water-oil contact can be located and equations defining oil reservoir and aquifer solved separately by assigning values to various parameters so as to match past pressure and production history. Usually the properties of the aquifer are not known, since few, if any, wells are drilled through the aquifer; but the water influx and the pressure at the reservoir boundary are known over some time. If it can now be assumed that the aquifer is circular, pie-shaped, or linear, and that it has uniform properties, it is possible to fit a theoretical dimensionless curve to the past aquifer performance history and therefore calculate future water drive. These theoretical curves are available in the literature,1,2,3 Of course, the assumption of uniform aquifer properties is almost always somewhat in error. Fortunately, however, moderate variations from the average have little effect on behavior of the system; and, hence, the best fit of a theoretical curve is frequently satisfactory. In other cases variations in aquifer properties and geometry are large enough that none of the available theoretical curves will give an acceptable fit of the data. In these cases, methods of fitting the data with various electrical analyzers have been developed.1,2' It is the purpose of this paper to present an approach

By James J. Bean

F. M. Lewis—I believe that density recorders are a prerequisite to all well operated ore concentrators. Well designed density instruments are very accurate and give an excellent record of the steadiness of the operation. Controlling the density of a pulp with an instrument, as described by Mr. Bean, is new and the experiences in developing this controller at the American Cyanimid Co.'s Mineral Dressing Laboratory are very interesting and should be extremely helpful to others who are planning on designing or installing controlling density instruments. Instruments for recording the density of the classifier overflow or flotation feed are rather common in ore concentrators, but there are a number of profitable uses for these instruments that are not too well known. Density recorders with bubble tubes submerged to different depth in a classifier pool give an excellent record of the classifier operation. The loading and unloading of the machine, that is so easily masked in the density of the overflow, can be easily recorded if the instrument is installed at some depth in the classifier pool. On some occasions, two instruments with bubble tubes at different depths give a more candid picture of the irregularities in the classifier operation. When cleaner machines are operated in closed circuit with roughers, a record of the density of the cleaner tails will indicate the circulating load in the circuit and is very helpful in coordinating different operators, because quite often the circulating load will be increasing for some time before the analyses of the products will change. Density recorders are used to record the variations in the dilution of the underflow from thickening tanks and in at least one plant the instrument controls the underflow.

Jan 1, 1951

By John V. Beall

When the mineral seekers came, they brought romance, excitement and, too often, transitory riches. It has been so for uncounted centuries. While the rich ore lasted, living was high and money flowed-mostly out of town. The whole creation was like a circus. The headframe went up like the center pole of the big top. The reduction works was an ingenious affair; an opportunity for self-expression by the mining engineer on the job. When the high grade gave out or the bottom dropped out of the market, the whole show folded. Machinery was scavenged for the next location. About all that was left were the raw footings, like giantsteps on the hillside; and the headframe above the silent diggings. Mostly, the people went away too. Arizona Territory was like that at the turn of the century. It can still happen. But, in copper, the age-old pattern has been disrupted. From Mineral Park in the northwest to Chino in the east and Cananea in the South, a growing number of companies have emerged-large, stable, productive. Southwest copper is truly a mighty industry, accounting for one fifth of world new copper production. In this period of scientific development, changes are fast, often dramatic. But even mining engineers, or possibly more so because they have an intimate knowledge of the industry, fail to appreciate the evolutionary changes that have shaped Southwest copper into what it is today.

Jan 10, 1965

By S. L. GILLAN

OF the forty or more excursions provided for the delegates to the World Engineering Congress at Tokyo, the trip to the Ashio copper mine stands out as one of the most enjoyable. In every detail looking to our comfort and pleasure the Furukawa company, our hosts, were admirable. This company operates five other copper mines, also gold and coal mines. Ashio is the largest with an annual production of about 14,000 tons of copper. It has been continuously worked since 1620, and doubtless was one of the sources of copper used in the gigantic statues of Buddha of many hundred years earlier date.

Jan 1, 1930

By James F. Kemp

Discussion of the paper of D. Foster Hewett, Bulletin To. 27, March, 1909, pp. 291 to 310. JAMES F. KEMP, New York, N. Y.:-Mr. Hewett's paper is one of exceptional interest, because it not only adds an important contribution regarding one of the rarer, valuable elements, but also because it introduces compounds hitherto unknown and in associations no less novel. While we have occasionally dis¬covered and recorded asphaltite in metalliferous deposits, for example in the Joplin and Granby districts, we have not seen a metallic ore in a deposit essentially asphaltite. The source and method of introduction afford a subject well worth serious reflection. Vanadium was first discovered and recognized as a distinct element in the slags obtained in smelting the titaniferous magnetites at Taberg, Sweden. For a long time, therefore, we looked upon the titaniferous magnetites as its hone. Analyses proved, years ago, that it was present in the ores of this type in New Jersey and in the Adirondacks. It was quite rarely determined, but when looked for it was, I think, invariably found, although the Amount seldom exceeded 0.5 per cent. of V,05., In just what combination it exists in the titaniferous ores is uncertain. One might imagine V2O3 replacing some of the Fe2O3 of magnetite; or, since in the lead series vanadates and phosphates are closely akin, one might wonder if a lime-vanadate could take the place of apatite. Yet no lime-vanadate has been found in nature, and apatite itself is usually rare in the titaniferous ores. When percentage-curves are plotted for a series of analyses of the ores, the line of vanadic oxide shows a curious sympathetic behavior with the line of chromic oxide;' but the data are somewhat limited, and no compound has sug¬gested itself which throws light on the matter. Dr. W. F. Hillebrand has discussed the occurrence and dis-

Oct 1, 1909