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By Paul E. Queneau, H. J. Roorda

Cobalt consumption will increase during the next decade at an average rate at least equal that of nickel. In the past, use of cobalt has at times been curtailed by lack of availability or by high price. In the future, output of cobalt derived from copper ores and iron sulfides will continue to grow and output of cobalt from nickel ores will be greatly increased. There should therefore be an adequate supply of this metal at a reasonable price. Nickeliferous limonites constitute by far the largest known terrestrial reserves of cobalt. A process has been conceived, based upon selective reduction and aqueous chlorination for treatment of such ores. The proposed procedure permits good extraction of the ore's cobalt content, comparable to that of the nickel, and is adaptable to large-scale, automated unit operations. Chlorine leaching of the ore enhances its value as a potential source of iron and chromium. Over four thousand years ago, cobalt pigments were employed for decorative purposes in some glass and glazes of Egypt and Persia, and by 1000 B.C. they were widely used in the Middle East.' " However, prior to 1914, virtually no cobalt was produced as metal and ceramics remained the largest consumer of the element as oxide. During World War I cobalt-containing high-speed steels came into their own and the metal's merit in magnet steels was established.

Jan 1, 1971

By R. W. Heckel, H. W. Paxton

The growth of grain boundary films and Widmanstiitten plates of proeutectoid cementite in hypereutectoid steels ulas considered quantitatively in three plain carbon steels and one "pure" iron-carbon alloy. Growth was found to take place at a slower rate than would be predicted on the basis of a model invoking rate control by long range diffusion of carbon. The films in the pure alloy grew faster than those in the plain carbon steels. A possible explanation is suggested. In 1904, Nernsst' and Brunner2 postulated that ionic crystals growing in supersaturated aqueous solutions grew at rates determined by diffusion through the solution to the growing crystal interface. The gradient down which the diffusion took place was assumed to be fixed by the supersaturated bulk solution concentration, the concentration dt the crystal surface and some arbitrary distance. The flux of material to the crystal was described as Flux where D is the diffusion coefficient, A the crystal surface area, Ci the bulk solution concentration, Co the saturated solution concentration, and 6 the thickness of the diffusion zone. It is obvious that the expression is an adaptation of F+ick's3 first law of diffusion (steady state). This was the initial formulation of what will be defined here as "diffusion controlled growth," i.e., growth limited by the long range diffusion of a component either to or from the advancing interface assuming both phases at the interface to be in equilibrium. This idea of equilibrium interface concentration implies an infinite reaction rate at the interface. Volmer, Zener,' and 11schner6 have derived expressions for the diffusion controlled growth of spherical precipitates in metallic systems. These analyses agree that the growth in a given direction should be parabolic with time. Brown and Hawkes7 observed that graphite, formed both from the decomposition of cementite and from the decomposition of eutectoid austenite in cast irons, grew according to a parabolic relationship and, therefore, concluded that the laws of diffusion controlled growth, as defined above, were obeyed. They, among others, failed to consider, however, that parabolic growth is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for diffusion controlled growth. Mehl and Dube"' have pointed out that equilibrium may not be realized because the concentration at the interface cannot change instantaneously from that of the bulk to the saturation value. Furthermore, they propose that an equilibrium solute concentration in the parent phase adjacent to the precipitate would remove the thermodynamic activity gradient across the interface and, thus, stop the growth process. Frisch" has also emphasized the importance of interface concentrations that vary throughout the growth of a new phase. The variation in activity across an interface, as discussed by Onol' and Cahn and Hilliard,12 is of fundamental importance to this question. Ham13 considered the data of Turnbull14 on the growth of barium sulfate in aqueous solutions. He concluded that the data could be analyzed in terms of a radiation-type boundary condition. Flux across interface = K (c, - C,) [21 where C, is the concentration in the solution at the interface, Co the saturated solution concentration, and K the proportionality constant. The edgewise growth of Widmanstlitten plates, frequently referred to as the rate of lengthening, was first considered by Zener.'' Basing a mathematical analysis on steady-state (constant velocity) growth he concluded that where G is the growth rate, D the solute diffusivity, Ci the concentration in the bulk, Co the equilibrium interface concentration, C, the concentration in the precipitate, a a constant, Y the radius of curvature of the edge of the plate, and rC the critical radius, i.e., the radius which would increase the activity of solute at the interface at equilibrium under the influence of capillarity to that of the bulk. Zener1'

Jan 1, 1961

By W. G. Frailing, W. P. Sims

The Lakeview Pool of Kern County, California, was discovered in 1910 with the drilling of Lakeview No. 1 which blew out and produced an estimated 8,250,000 bbl of oil in 544 days of uncontrolled flow. The well has since been known as the Lakeview Gusher. Full exploitation of the pool did not take place until about 25 years later. A total of 112 producing wells were completed in the Lakeview sand through April 30, 1949. As of that date, about 30 per cent of the total wells drilled were still producing, with an average pool production rate of approximately 2000 bbl per day. The cumulative oil production was about 41 million bbl of oil, or 55.3 per cent of the tank oil originally in place. The pool is bordered on its down-structure side by a body of inactive edgewater and water production where present has been principally the result of coning. Since the depletion of the greater portion of the gas energy by the Lake-view Gusher, the pool has operated under gravity drive. Relatively high angle dips, good permeabilities and favorable fluid characteristics have made gravity drainage particularly effective. Since January, 1942, the oil recovery -has been relatively constant at about 53,000 bbl per ft drop in fluid level. Correlations between the volume of reservoir space drained and the cumulative oil produced indicate that an ultimate recovery of 63.3 per cent of the tank oil originally in place is attainable. INTRODUCTION The Lakeview Pool is an outstanding example of gravity drainage. It is one of many productive reservoirs of the Midway-Sunset Field, and is located in Kern County, approximately five miles southeast of Taft and two miles north of Maricopa, California. Its position rel- ative to surrounding pools and to the Thirty-Five anticline is shown on Fig. 1. The northern portion of the pool lies in sections 32 and 33, Township 32 South, Range 24 East, Mt. Diablo Base and Meridian, while the southern portion lies in sections 25, 26, 35 and 36, Township 12 North, Range 24 West, San Bernardino Base and Meridian. As no two sections bear the same number, they will hereafter be referred to by section number alone. The purpose of this paper is to review the performance of the Lakeview Pool in an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of gravity drive as a recovery mechanism. REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURE The oustanding structural feature is this area is the Thirty-Five anticline, the axis of which plunges South 75" East through the center of Section 35. As shown on Fig. 2, the following zones are oil and gas bearing in the Thirty-Five anticline area: Pleistocene Basal Tulare Tar Sands Pliocene San Joaquin Mya Sands Top Oil or Scalez Zone Etchegoin Kinsey Sand Wilhelm Zone Gusher Sand Calitroleum Sand Miocene Reef Ridge Lakeview Sand Sub-Lakeview Miocene Sands Monarch Sands or fractured shale equivalent Maricopa Webster Sand or fractured shale equivalent Fractured Shale-Uvigerina Zone C Obispo Sand and fractured shale equivalent Pacific Shale Zone The productive interval of the Lakeview Pool is limited to Upper Miocene and Lower Pliocene deposition. In this general area, the most prevalent type of accumulation results from stratigraphic traps or permeability pinchouts. As is the case of the Lakeview Pool, strati-graphic traps resulting from angular unconformities are present. The structure within the Miocene does not parallel that of the Etchegoin (Pliocene), as the Miocene beds were folded, and in places faulted, and subjected to erosion prior to Pliocene deposition. The Lakeview horizon consists of truncated sands which occur on the northeast flank of the Thirty-Five anticline. The direction of strike is west and northwesterly through sections 25 and 36 and continues northwesterly through sections 26 and 33, to the approximate center of section 32. At this point the strike swings to the northeast and the horizon re-enters section 33. in the northwest corner. The change in strike in section 32 affords synclinal accumulation at that point. The Lake-view sand is truncated updip by the Etchegoin overlap. To the southeast, the sand shales out, while to the northwest, the productive interval appears to be limited by a combination of stratigraphic pinchout and permeability barrier. Structurally, the Lakeview reservoir presents three areas of interest, as shown on Fig. 3. Area I in section 32 is a region in which a productive Sub-Lakeview Miocene sand is present. It occurs from 10 feet to 30 feet below the base of the Lakeview sand and attains a maximum thickness of 25 feet in Well No. 21, section 32. The producing characteristics of the Sub-Lakeview Miocene sand differ radically from those of the Lakeview sand. Water production at high structural locations and abnormally high fluid levels indicate that there was no communication with the Lakeview sand. Wells in Area I penetrated this sand and produced it in conjunction with the Lakeview sand. In Area 11, the Lakeview sand is a

Jan 1, 1950

By L. E. Murr, P. J. Smith

A study has been made by transmission electron microscopy of thin foils of 304 stainless steel fatigued external to the electron microscope in reversed bending, and of thin foils fatigued directly within the microscope in alternating tension. The build-up of stacking faults in the thin foils during fatigue zoas correlated with the dislocatirm structures found in thin films prepared fror fatigued bulk specimens. The performance of the special devices designed for fatigue of thin foils so outlined and the importance of alternative methods of preparation of more uniform fatigue specimens bY vapor deposition are emphasized. INVESTIGATIONS on fatigued bulk aluminum1,' and stainless stee13j4 have revealed the existence of dislocation substructure on examination by transmission electron microscopy of electrolytically thinned foils representative of these bulk specimens. While this technique has proved extremely valuable, it has several shortcomings. First, the method of fatiguing bulk specimens and then thinning to foil for electron-transmission observation allows only one observation of internal structure at any one portion of the fatigue life. Second, thinning the bulk fatigued specimens to foil results in the loss of at least one original surface. Thus, what one sees in the remaining electron-transparent sections is an internal dislocation or fault structure which in many cases cannot be correlated with the original surface markings. This is an undesirable feature, since it is well-known that metal surfaces play an important part in the fatigue process.5 An obvious third undesirable feature of the thinning-from-bulk technique is the fact that static observations have difficulty (in the case of fatigue) explaining the mechanism of a dynamic process. What is required then is a method whereby a selected thin area can be continuously observed either while undergoing cyclic deformation or at various fixed stages of fatigue deformation. While Murr and wilkov6 have reported some success with an apparatus designed to fatigue thin metal foils directly within the electron microscope, the nature of the specimen-mounting procedure and the mechanical features involved in the adaptation of the fatigue device to the electron microscope make this method difficult to operate. It was not possible, for example, to make frequent observations of a selected area because of difficulty in maintaining a chosen area in a stable viewing position inside the electron microscope. Except for the build-up of a dislocation substructure and what are commonly referred to as "slip striations", little else has been reported from observations on thin-foil sections prepared from bulk fatigue specimens. segal17 has found "slip striations" in stainless-steel fatigued specimens which were electropolished from both sides, but gave no explanation as to their origin or identity in terms of lattice imperfections. The research to be reported in this paper was undertaken with the following objectives in mind. First, an attempt was made to devise a technique or techniques whereby thin metal foils could be fatigued and repeatedly observed by transmission electron microscopy. Second, it was hoped that some correlation could be made between deformation striations found in fatigued thin transmission specimens and thin foils prepared from bulk fatigued specimens. These investigations illustrate quite convincingly that a feasible method is available for the direct study of the fatigue mechanism and similar dynamic phenomena in thin transmission specimens inside the electron microscope. I) EXPERIMENTAL METHODS Three modes of specimen fatigue and observation of fatigue damage were used. These involved fatigue of thin-foil specimens in a special arrangement external to the electron microscope and observation of a selected area at various stages in the fatigue life, the fatigue of thin-foil transmission specimens inside the electron microscope, and the fatigue of bulk specimens external to the electron microscope followed by thin-foil preparation for direct observation at predetermined stages. Design of the External Fatigue Clip and Specimen Holder for the Hitachi H.U.11 Electron Micro-scope. The purpose of the fatigue clip was to provide a reversed bending fatigue stress to a thin-foil transmission specimen outside the electron microscope. In order to accomplish this, a flat-bottomed, U-shaped brass clip was made as shown

Jan 1, 1965

By S. J. M. van Leeuwen, R. Feenstra

The effect of jets on bit penetration has been investigated by means of a 50-ton drilling machine and 8½-in. commercial jet bits, drilling under representative bottom-hole conditions. The conclusions apply to the drilling of impermeable rock only. Penetration rate is in all cases primarily hampered by a differential pressure effect, known as dynamic hold-down. Jet action can reduce this slightly. Major gain in penetration rate, up to 25 or 50 per cent, is already ohtained at medium-high jet power. At high bit load, penetration by soft to medium-hard-formation bits is further hampered by bit-balling. Its alleviation requires intensive tooth scavenging, which is best performed by slanted nozzles with trailing, high-velocity, high-volume jets, hitting bottom in front of the teeth. Penetration may then improve by a 100 per cent. At high bit load, bottom-balling limits the penetration of insert-type bits. In this case bottom scavenging is required, which is most effectively performed with high velocity jets from nozzles extended close to bottom. As a result of this measure, penetration may improve 70 per cent in non-friable rock, and less in friable rock. This will make the insert-type bit more versatile. Toothed hard-formation hits suffer at high bit load from both bit- and bottom-balling. Slanted nozzles, possibly much extended, with high-velocity, high-volume jets then have best prospects. INTRODUCTION For years the use of jet bits in oil well drilling has been increasing, in conjunction with ever greater hydraulic horsepower. To the same extent, the need for efficient use of the horsepower has grown.' This paper, it is hoped, will contribute to an understanding of how effective jet action may be obtained. It deals with the effect of jets on phenomena that are known' " to hamper bit penetration. To study this effect, laboratory drilling tests were performed with 8½-in. commercial bits under bottom-hole pressures representative of deep wells. The investigation has been restricted to the drilling of practically impermeable rock. In the following sections, the increase in bit penetration rates due to jetting is discussed for conditions which made the troublesome phenomena stand out one at a time. A brief definition and interpretation of these phenomena is given in Appendix A. Appendix B gives the results of measurements of fluid velocities along the hole bottom, performed in stationary flow tests. Descriptions of equipment, bits, rocks and mud are collected in Appendix C. Unless otherwise mentioned, drilling conditions were kept standard as given in Table 1. CUTTING TRANSPORT TO THE ANNULUS Jet action was for some time believed to merely improve the transport of cuttings from bottom to annulus, resulting in a clean hole bottom. Flow tests performed in 1954 at the Battelle Memorial Institute6 showed, however, that jet velocities of the order of 40 ft/sec sufficed to clear even large (0.4-in.) chips from bottom in the time between two successive tooth actions. In the field, optimum jet velocities are appreciably higher, indicating that other effects must be involved. This much is confirmed by the results of our drilling experiments in soft rocks performed under atmospheric pressure, i.e., in absence of pressure-differential effects. Fig. 1 shows that variation in the nozzle velocity from 40 to 330 ft/sec had no effect on penetration rate, unless the bit penetrated more than 7 mm per revolution, which is about half the tooth height. At such high rates—150 ft/hr at 100 rpm—cuttings would be caught in the tooth cavities, leading to bit-balling, which was noticed on inspection of the bit. The jets thus assisted in keeping the tooth cavities clean. This is just perceptibly reflected in the penetration-rate curves of Fig. 1: Much the same results were obtained in hard rocks with hard-formation three-cone bits. The conclusion is that transport of loose cuttings towards the annulus does not require a powerful jet action. In the following sections we shall see that in deep-well drilling other phenomena are of greater importance. DYNAMIC HOLD-DOWN It is generally accepted that, in deep-well drilling, bit penetration is hampered primarily by the existence of a difference in pressure between the fluid in the hole and that in the rock at the depth of cutting.2-5 In the drilling

Jan 1, 1965

By S. C. Lindsay, D. J. I. Evans

With each year that passes hydrometallurgical processes are being more widely used to recover base metals from ores and concentrates. Generally these processes involve liquid-solid separation of metal-bearing liquors from barren residues. This may be done by countercurrent decantation, thickening and filtration, or filtration or centrifuging only. Choice of method is governed by chemical and physical characteristics of the pulps; cost of labor, power, materials, and waste disposal; and even by the amount of capital available when building plans are under way. Since all these controlling factors change with time and location and with technological advances, the separation method must be re-evaluated when new plants or expansion programs are contemplated. At the Sherritt Gordon refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, an ammonia pressure leaching process recovers nickel, copper, and cobalt from the nickel concentrate produced at Lynn Lake, Manitoba.' Pregnant liquors are separated from the barren leach residues in a thickener-filter liquid-solids circuit. The decision to use this type of separation was based on a summation of economic factors during the pilot plant and design stages. Although countercurrent decantation was not incorporated in the refinery flowsheet, the problems solved in thickening the leach residues and the experience gained in operating the commercial plant are pertinent to countercurrent decantation, particularly where it is applied to slow-settling leach slurries or slurries having a relatively high vapor pressure of a valuable, obnoxious, or poisonous vapor. The nickel sulfide concentrate is leached under pressure with air and ammonia to dissolve the nickel, copper, and cobalt and most of the sulfur, leaving a residue of iron and siliceous material to be discarded.2,3 During a subsequent distillation stage to recirculate part of the ammonia used for leaching, copper is recovered from the solution as a high-grade sulfide. After further purification to remove traces of copper and undesirable sulfur compounds, the nickel is precipitated by hydrogen under pressure at an elevated temperature. The cobalt, together with unreduced nickel, is precipitated as a mixed metal sulfide by hydrogen sulfide for eventual cobalt recovery. The end solution is then evaporated to produce a crystalline ammonium sulfate byproduct. As shown in Fig. 1, the nickel concentrate is leached in a continuous, two-stage, countercurrent circuit. In the first stage, or adjustment leach, the fresh concentrate is partially leached (60 pct) in the liquor produced in the second stage, or final leach. This system is necessary to produce a solution suitable for treatment in the copper sulfide precipitation step. Both stages are carried out at 170" to 180°F under a total pressure, with air, of 100 to 120 psig in large, horizontal, water-cooled autoclaves. The autoclaves are divided by overflow weirs into four compartments to give a certain amount of staging during leaching. In each compartment a relatively slow-speed (100 to 150 rpm) agitator maintains the nickel concentrate in suspension. Adjustment leaching, carried out in two autoclaves in parallel, is followed by a thickener-filter liquid-solids separation. Final leaching is done in two parallel trains of three autoclaves using aqueous ammonia to extract metal values from the adjustment leach residues. This too is followed by a thickener-filter circuit. Here the residues are repulped once with aqueous ammonia and twice with process water and refiltered after each repulping stage, to insure a maximum recovery of soluble metal, before being discarded to the tailings pond. The adjustment leach is followed by a seven-disk Dorr-Oliver American filter, with an agitator in the filter boot to keep the residues in suspension. Agitators have also been installed beneath the four ten-disk filters following the final leach thickener. Slurry Characteristics: A typical analysis of the Lynn Lake nickel concentrate, produced by differential flotation,' is given in Table I. The concentrate comprises 35 to 49 pct pentlandite, (Fe, Ni)S; 3 to 6 pct chalcopyrite, CuFeS,; 1 to 4 pct pyrite, FeS2; and 24 to 42 pct pyrrhotite, Fe1-2S (where x varies between 0 and 0.2) together with various siliceous minerals such as actinolite, hornblende, and talc. During leaching, the sulfur in the pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and part of the pyrrhotite is successively oxidized through the thiosulfate and poly-thionate radicals to sulfate and sulfamate." Simultaneously the nickel, copper, and cobalt are converted to soluble ammine complexes and the iron in the pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and part of the pyrrhotite is oxidized to a spongy hydrated iron oxide. The hydrated iron oxide is readily broken down by the agitation needed to sustain the concentrate in suspension and to maintain a satisfactory mass transfer of the oxygen from the air to the slurry. Table I shows typical chemical, screen, and

Jan 1, 1961

By Edgar L. Weinberg, W. Horatio Brown

The Austinville-Ivanhoe lead-zinc deposit occurs in the Lower Cambrian Shady dolomite. This deposit is located in southwestern Virginia in the faulted and folded Appalachian Valley and Ridge province. The ore bodies resemble the chimmey and manto deposits of northern Mexico and are formed by replacement and filling. They are confined to certain favorable zones of the Austinville and Ribbon members of the Shady. Structural and stratigraphic factors combine to control the location and form of the ore bodies. In certain places secondary oxide enrichment of the zinc minerals has contributed to the economic development of the area. It is concluded that the ore is epigenetic and is deposited by hydrothermal solutions rising through the fault "plumbing." Classification is epithermal-telethermal.

Jan 1, 1968

By George F. Kunz

THE recently discovered occurrence of diamonds near Murfreesboro, Pike county, Ark., was brought to. our attention by Mr. Samuel W. Reyburn (Trustee for Messrs. C. S. Stifft, A. D. Cohn, August Zinsser, Jr., and himself, owners of the property), through whose courtesy we investigated the locality of the deposit. Prospecting with the diamond-drill is now in active progress ; but mining operations on a large scale have not yet been ordered. Geology.-The geology as well as the petrography of this interesting locality has been well described by Messrs. J. C. Branner and R. N. Brackett.1 Briefly summarized, the igneous rock in which the diamonds are found is a vitreous peridotite, forming a stock or volcanic neck, which has broken up through the Carboniferous and Cretaceous quartzites and sandstones. After an extensive period of erosion, during which an unknown portion of the neck and presumably a previously existent volcanic cone have been removed, the surface was covered with thin beds of Post-Tertiary conglomerate. The volcanic intrusion was accompanied by the formation of several small dikes of a rock much like that of the main body. One of these dikes cuts across the stock, while another cuts the Cretaceous sandstone, but is overlain by the conglomerate, thus giving a datum for the period of intrusion. So far as known, there was little, if any, metamorphism of the country-rock by the igneous magna, which probably followed an approximately vertical course, so that a more or less vertical extension downward of the igneous body to indefinite depths may be expected.

Mar 1, 1908

Established as a Division March 24, 1922 T C Frick, Chairman R B Gilmore, Past Chairman T A Atkinson, Vice-Chairman R C Earlougher, Vice-Chairman Glenn M Stearns, Treasurer Joe B Alford, Executive Secretary 800 Fidelity Union Building , Dallas 1, Texas

Jan 1, 1956

PRESIDENT WILLIAM KELLY, District 5 IRON MOUNTAIN, MICh PAST PRESIDENTS E P MATHEWSON, District 0 NEW YORK, N Y ARTHUR S DWIGHT, District 0 NEW YORK, N Y FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT J V W REYNDERS, NEW YORK, N Y TREASURER CHARLES F RAND, NEW YORK, N Y

Jan 1, 1923

By R. C. Gould, A. M. Skov, L. F. Elkins

Comparison of long term decline in oil production during cyclic waterflooding or pressure pulsing of part of the Driver Unit with steady injection-imbibition flooding in the Tex Harvey area led to large expansion of flood in the Driver Unit on the steady injection basis. While the flood has been successful, the major problem has been attainment of satisfactory oil production rates in most of the wells. Large volume fracture treatments of low capacity wells were unsuccessful in achieving sustained increases in production. A two-section area in the Driver Unit has already recovered 620 bbl of oil per acre by waterflood but other areas have not performed so well. Sun Andres water containing 300 to 500 ppm H,S is sweetened to 0.5 to 1 ppm H,S by extraction with oxygen-free flue gas. This prevents contamination of gas produced in the area and apparently it has reduced corrosion in minimum investment, thin-wall, cement-lined water dktribution systems. Cement-lined tubing in injection wells has mitigated corrosion as effectively as thick polyvinyl chloride films have, and at less cost. Introduction As reported in the literature the Spraberry field of West Texas has presented unusual problems for both primary production and waterflood ing. Earlier information from the Spraberry Driver Unit included conception and evaluation of cyclic waterflooding or pressure pulsing in a nine-section pilot test as an aid to extraction of oil from the tight matrix rock and as a boost to normal capillary imbibition forces An additional 5 years' operation in that area, and performance of expanded steady injection water-flood, now covering a total of 68 sq miles, are reported herein. In addition, since the Driver Unit is one of the largest waterfloods in areal extent in the U. S., many operating experiences are presented for the benefit of engineers concerned with operation of other Spraberry floods or with other waterfloods where this reservoir technology and/or water handling technology may be adaptable in part. These include: (1) attempts to improve producing well capacity through large volume fracture treatments, (2) long-term performance of water treating plants utilizing oxygen-free flue gas to extract H,S from sour San Andres water, (3) performance of thin-wall cement-lined pipe in water distribution systems including comparison between those sections carrying raw San Andres water and those carrying treated water, and (4) comparison of performance of various lining materials and subsurface equipment in water supply and water injection wells. These experiences are reported without regard to whether results are good, bad or indifferent. Since the operations reported are limited to the techniques, materials, and equipment actually used in the Driver Unit, no comparison is possible with results of other approaches used in other Spraberry floods or in waterfloods generally under different conditions. However, an attempt is made to quantify these experiences as much as possible in the space available to permit other engineers to select those parts applicable to eheir problems. Background The Spraberry, discovered in Feb., 1949, is a 1,000-ft section of sandstones, shales and limestones with two main oil productive members—a 10- to 15-ft sand near the top and a 10- to 15-ft sand near the base, having permeabilities of 1 md or less and porosities of 8 to 15 percent. Extensive interconnected vertical fractures permitted recovery of oil on 160-acre spacing from this fractional-millidarcy sandstone, but they made capillary end effects dominant. Primary recovery by solution gas drive is less than 10 percent of oil in place, with most wells declining to oil production of a few barrels per day when reservoir pressures are still in the range of 400 to 1,000 psi. Partial closing of the fractures with declining reservoir pressure is believed to be the cause of such low production rates at these relatively high reservoir pressures. In 1952 Brownscombe and Dyes proposed that displacement of oil by capillary imbibition of water from the fractures into the matrix rock might significantly increase oil recovery from the Spraberry, overcoming otherwise serious channelling of water through the fractures." A pilot test conducted by the Atlantic Refining Co. during 1952 through 1955 indicated technical feasibility of the process; but low oil production rates averaging I5 to 20 bbl/well/D failed to create significant interest in large-scale waterflooding at that time." Humble Oil & Refining Co. conducted a highly successful 80-acre pilot test during 1955 through 1958 with

Jan 1, 1969

By John B. Hastings

THE origin of the watery vapors of vulcanism has always been an object of interest and speculation to the seismologist, and as theories of the genetic origin of ore-deposits have of late years been pretty well narrowed down to the expiring forces of plutonic action, the same question has had a lively interest for mining engineers and geologists, as is well shown by the discussions of the subject in our Transactions. The important part taken by volcanic emanations in the origin of pegmatites and quartz-veins, described in my paper, Origin of Pegmatite,1 and their latent power to concentrate into useful deposits such scattered gold as occurs in the Hartsel granite, make a discussion of their derivation but a natural third and final step. It is conceded that enormous amounts of vapor accompany volcanism, though perhaps we are apt to forget that steam has 1,700 times the volume of water, besides which the column seen over Vesuvius and other volcanoes is greatly mixed with air; the immensity of such volumes compared with solids and liquids is shown by the experiment of Gautier, who, by heating dessicated granite to 100° C., evolved from it uses 20 times, and steam 90 times, its own volume. Dana appraised the average amount of water left in ordinary rocks as 2.5 per cent. T. M. Read estimated that the Mississippi river carries to the sea annually 150,000,000 tons of rock material. If these Mississippi sediments, as deposited, contained 20 per cent. of water, it would be 600,000,000 cu. ft., or 4,500,000,000 American gallons, annually. Allowing the vapor suspended over a volcanic cone to be mixed with 80 per cent. of air, this amount of water converted into steam would replenish anew, every 9 min., a column 15,000 ft. high, 2,000 ft. in diameter at the base, and 10,000 ft. at the top. Read's estimate is only half of the amount given in a more recent and probably correct one .2

Jan 5, 1908

By W. B. Tucker

UNUSUAL interest has recently centered in the Mojave mining district of California, owing to new discoveries of gold ore at the Silver Queen mine, and subsequently at other neighboring proper- ties. These finds have proved that opportunities exist for the prospector even in old mining districts, where careful search may still be rewarded. The Mojave district is characterized by a group of small hills centering around Soledad Butte, four to six miles southwest of Mojave, in Kern County. This butte is 1250 ft. higher than the surrounding desert and 4000 ft. above sea level. Four miles west of Soledad Mountain are the so-called Middle Buttes, a group of flat-topped hills. Gold was first discovered in the district in 1894, and the following productive mines developed: Queen

Jan 1, 1936

By A. U. Seybolt

In part 111' of this series it was shown that during the selective oxidation of a 3 1/4 pct Si-Fe alloy in damp hydrogen, only silica, (observed at room temperature) as low cristobalite or low tridy-mite or both, was formed as an oxidation product. In some in- „ stances where the film was fairly thin (probably well under 100A) there was some suggestion of an amorphous form of SiO2. The present investigation of oxidation rate showed that the selective oxidation of silicon-iron can be rather complicated, and apparently impossible to rationalize in an unequivocal manner. In some temperature regions, notably near 800" and 1000°C, the data seem to obey the familiar parabolic rate law. However, at intermediate temperatures complications were noted, some of which are possibly due to the order-disorder reaction in the silicon-iron solid solution. IN an earlier report' it was shown that during the oxidation of 3 1/4 pct Si-Fe alloys in H2O-H2 atmospheres only silica films were formed in the temperature range from 400° to 1000°C in hydrogen nearly saturated with water at room temperatures, or at dew points as low as -45°C. In the work to be reported here, some observations are made on the rate of oxide film formation. As in the earlier investigation, electron diffraction patterns generally showed either low tridymite or low cristobalite or both, except for some very thin films. These sometimes showed diffuse rings, presumably due to a very small crystallite size, or in a few cases, diffuse bands probably caused by an amorphous film. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Vacuum-melted silicon iron made of high-purity materials was rolled into strips 0.014 in. thick, and cut into samples 1/2 in. wide by 1 in. long. Chemical analysis showed 3.2 pct Si and 0.002 pct C. All samples were surface abraded with 600-grit paper, were solvent cleaned, and then placed in an paper,apparatus containing a "Gulbransen type"2 micro-balance. Here the gain in weight of the samples of about 5 sq cm area could be followed as a function of time during the oxidation caused by the water in atmospheres of various controlled water-hydrogen ratios. The water-hydrogen ratios can most easily be described as varying from a dew point of 0°C (PH2O-p^2 = 6.2 x 10-3 , to K (P j -40°C (PH2O/PH^= 1.3 X 10-* Most of the experiments were conducted at the 0°C dew-point atmosphere because drier atmospheres caused so little gain in weight that the accuracy of measurement was poor. Because of this, only the data obtained at PH2O,/P,,,= 6.2 x X3 will be reported. The temperature range extended from 800" to 1000°C; and most of the oxidation runs lasted for about 24 hr. The reproducibility of any reading was about ± 1 ?, but the sensitivity of the balance was about 0.2 ?. The atmosphere, flowing at 200 cm per-min, was preheated to the furnace temperature before contacting the specimen. While the gas flow caused a measurable lift on the sample, it was ordinarily sufficiently constant so that it was not an appreciable source of error. X-ray and electron diffraction checks of the samples before and after oxidation showed no evidence of preferred orientation, either on the metal samples or on the silica films formed. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The data obtained are summarized in Table I, and some are given in detail in Figs. 1 to 4. In the fourth column of Table I, kp refers to the parabolic rate constant in the expression (?/cm2)2 = kpt + c [1] where ? = micrograms gain in weight kp = parabolic rate constant in units r2 /cm4 t = time in minutes c = constant It will be noted that in many cases no value for kp is given; this is because in these instances the data did not obey the parabolic rate law. The silica film thicknesses given in the last columns are values calculated from the weight gain, an average tridy-mite-crystobalite density, and by assuming a perfectly plane surface. Fig. 1 shows the data plotted in the form of Eq. [I], hence a linear plot indicates parabolic behavior. It has been frequently observed in the literature that

Jan 1, 1960

By K. P. Mukherjee, K. P. Gupta, J. Bandyopadhyaya

Even though a lot of work has been done in the past to establish phase equilibrium in the Cu-Si system a re cent investigation casts some doubt about the existence and crystal structure of some of the phases that form in the composition range of 15 to 25 at. pct Si in Cu. The present investigation was carried out using high temperature X-ray diffraction technique along with other standard techniques to study the phases in this composition range. The high temperature 6 phase appears to be tetragonal with parameters a,, = 8.815A, c, = 7.903A, and co/ao = 0.896. The reported bcc E phase exists at room temperature and at least up to 780°C and appears to undergo a transformation near 600°C. The phase appears to be cubic but not of the bcc type. The ? phase appears to undergo a transformation, as has been indicated by earlier investigators, and the low temperature form of .? phase is tetragonal with parameters a, = 7.267A, co = 7.8924, and co/ao = 1.086. THE Cu-Si binary system has been investigated by several investigators1" and several intermediate phases,?,e,?' at lower temperatures and ?,ß,0,e, and ? at higher temperatures, were observed between terminal solid solutions of copper and silicon. Even though the existence of the e phase and the transformation in the ? phase were reported in many early works, in a recent study of this system Nowotny and Bittner6 doubted the existence of the e phase and phase at 550°C. Among the high temperature phases, the 6 phase was reported to have a complex cubic structure with parameter a, = 8.805A.7 Nowotny and Bittner, however, suggested that the structure of the 6 phase might be of CsCl type. In order to check these contradictory reports the present study was taken up to investigate the Cu-Si binary system in the composition range of 17 to 25 at. pct Si. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Weighed amounts of copper (99.99 pct) and silicon (99.9 pct) were induction melted in recrystallized alumina crucibles under argon gas atmosphere. The alloys containing 17, 18, 20, 21, 21.2, 22, and 24 at. pct Si were annealed in evacuated and sealed quartz capsules at 700°C for 3 days and subsequently water quenched. Other than this annealing, the 21.2 at. pct Si and 24 at. pct Si alloys were annealed at 550°C for 10 days, the 17 at. pct Si alloy was annealed at 750°C for 3 days, and the 22 and 24 at. pct Si alloys were annealed at 780°C for 2 days. All annealing temperatures were controlled to within *l°C. Alloys after quenching were subjected to metallographic and X-ray diffraction investigation. A solution containing 5 g FeC13 + 10 cc HCl + 120 cc H2O diluted with six times its volume with water was used as etching reagent. A 114.6 mm diam Debye Scherrer camera was used for obtaining diffraction patterns. The 17, 21.2, and 24 at. pct Si alloys were subjected to high temperature diffractometry using a Tempress Research High temperature attachment and a GEXRD VI diffractometer. For the 6 phase (17 at. pct Si alloy) powder specimen from a 750°C annealed alloy was reheated to 750°C in the high temperature attachment for 1½ hr before taking a diffraction trace. A 550°C annealed and slowly cooled phase (24 at. pct Si) alloy was first reheated to 550°C. a diffraction trace was made after annealing it for 2 hr, and subsequently it was heated to 716OC and kept at this temperature for 2 hr before taking a diffraction trace. For the e phase (21.2 at. pct Si alloy) a 550°C annealed and slowly cooled specimen was heated first to 425°C and annealed at this temperature for 2 hr before taking a diffraction trace. Subsequently, the specimen temperature was raised to 495", 540°, 603", 635", 682", 720°, and 748°C and homogenized at each temperature for 1 hr before taking diffraction traces. The powder specimen temperature was controlled to within +2oC at each temperature and argon gas, purified by passing it at slow rate through a fused CaC12 column, hot (800°C) copper and titanium chips and finally through a P2O5 column, was used to prevent oxidation of the powder. For all X-ray work copper-radiations at 25 kv, 15 ma (for Debye Scherrer technique), and 40 kv, 20 ma (for diffractometer tech-nique) were used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION At 700°C the alloys containing 17 to 21 at. pct Si showed two phases while the 21.2 at. pct Si alloy was found to be single phase. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the two-phase alloys were consistent with the phase (ßP-Mn type structure) and the phase (21.2 at. pct Si) patterns. The diffraction patterns of the 17 at. pct Si alloy quenched from 750" and 700°C were identical. According to the accepted Cu-Si phase dia-gram4,5,10 the 17 at. pct Si alloy at 750°C should be in the (k + 6) two-phase region and very close to the -phase boundary. The identical patterns possibly resulted from the decomposition of the 6 phase on

Jan 1, 1970

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period June 10 to July 10, 1915: Members AGTHE, FRED. THOMAS, Quarry Supt., Atlas Portland Cement Co., Hannibal, Mo. ARTHUR, WILLIAM SEYMOUR, Project Mgr., U. S. Reclamation Service, Williston, S. D. ASH, SIMON HARRY, Deputy State Mine Inspector 503 Alaska Bldg., Seattle, Wash. BALDWIN, C. KEMBLE, Second Vice-Pres. and Chicago Mgr., Robins Conveying Belt Co., 1315 Old Colony Bldg., Chicago, 111. BOGGs, WILLIAM BRENTON, Met Douglaston, L. I., N. Y. BROWN, RALPH DARE, Min.Engr., Asst. Genl. Supt., O'Gara Coal Co., Harrisburg, 111. COLE, A. NEWTON Genl. Supt., Pennsy Coal l O., Clarion Pa. DAVIS, JOSEPH D., Chem Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C. DEAN, DUDLEY STUART, Treas., Keweenaw Land Association, Ltd., Newport Land CO., 87 Milk St., Boston, Mass.

Jan 8, 1915

R. F. MCELVENNY.- Over 20 years ago I went back East on a little tour of copper companies to see how copper was handled and fabricated, and I met a Mr. Bassett who took me through the Waterbury branche of the American Brass Co. I have not seen this gentleman for 20 years, but I have a letter from him that I would like to read to you. 'The American Brass Co. Waterbury, Conn. May 19, 1930. To the-Salt Lake City Conference on Reverberatory Smelting Practice: Through the courtesy of Mr. Scott Turner, Director of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, Mr. G. L. Oldright has been temporarily released from his regular duties to act as your secretary. We have asked him and Mr. McElvenny to make the necessary preliminary arrangements and to present to you at the opening session the greetings of the officers and' directors of the Institute. I am very glad that it has been possible for you to come together under the auspices of the Institute and that the acceptance of our invitation has been so very unanimous. Such an acceptance of the invitation to this meeting indicates your interest in getting together for an exchange of technical data and ideas. We anticipate that this meeting will be of real service to the smelting industry through your open discussion and exchange of ideas, and we sincerely hope that you will form an organization which will arrange for future meetings of a similar nature. While it probably may not be desirable to. distribute the minutes of this conference except to the members who take part in it, we hope that later the Institute publications may be enriched by such matter as you think it desirable to have published; and also, that some of you may be able to offer technical papers for the Institute publications. I hope that you will find a permanent organization desirable and trust that it will be possible for you to form such an organization so that conferences may be regularly called. We hope that you can make use of the Institute organization and that we can be of real service to your industry. With best wishes for your success in this undertaking, I am Most cordially yours, W. H. Bassett, President.

Jan 1, 1930

By L. E. Mannion

Sodium carbonate or soda ash is one of the two principal alkalis of commerce, the other being sodium hydroxide. The use of sodium carbonate is recorded in ancient Egypt, where naturally occurring brines or solid salts were the source of impure soda for glass manufacture. In early modern times until the 19th century, soda ash, as well as potash, was recovered mainly by leaching the ashes of plants. In Europe, during the 18th century, a brown lye for laundering was produced by pouring hot water over burned seaweed. One of the better grades of this kind of material was a product from Spain termed "barilla," which analyzed 24 to 30% Na2CO3 (Hou, 1942). The birth of the modern chemical industry may be said to start with the LeBlanc process for making sodium carbonate from salt, sulfuric acid, and lime. Although invented in France in 1691, England made the most extensive use of it. In 1863 Ernst Solvay devised the ammonia-soda or Solvay process, and by 1874 the first of many Solvay plants was built. These were to supplant the LeBlanc method and dominate soda-ash production until the present time. Although of lesser importance, natural sodium carbonate deposits continued to support operations in various parts of the world. Shortages during World War II stimulated production of "natural" soda ash, particularly at Searles Lake, Calif., and at Lake Magadi, Kenya. Within the last ten years in the United States, a notable surge in production has occurred based on the vast trona deposits in Wyoming. Table 1 lists some principal producers of natural soda ash and the character of the source deposits. Uses and Specifications Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) is a white, crystalline hygroscopic powder, an aqueous solution of which is strongly alkaline. Most commercial soda ash is a product that must meet high standards of purity and uniformity. Two forms are commonly sold: a fine, powdery material called light ash, and a more coarsely crystalline dense ash; these weigh 32 to 39 and 60 to 66 lb per cu ft, respectively. Dense ash may be produced by adding a little calcium chloride to the sodium carbonate solution to control crystal size and prevent agglomeration. Specifications and typical analyses of light and dense ash in the United States are shown in [Table 2]. Sizing generally achieves about 75% of light ash and 90% of dense ash between +30 and -100 U.S. screen mesh. World use of sodium carbonate now exceeds 24 million tpy, of which the United States produces more than 7 million tons. The market for soda ash is dominated by the glass industry, which uses almost half the supply. Inorganic chemicals, including phosphates and silicates, consume about 30%. Other principal uses include the manufacture of soaps and detergents, petroleum, caustic soda, organic chemicals, and paper; and nonferrous and ferrous metallurgy. [Fig. 1] shows the percent consumption by use of soda ash in Europe, Japan, and the United States. The price of soda ash in the United States remained relatively stable during the 1960s at about $33 per ton; in 1972 it reached $35 per ton. The price in 1975 was $42 per ton. Geology Mineralogy [Table 3] is a list of the more common sodium carbonate-bearing minerals. Anhydrous sodium carbonate is almost never found in nature; only natron, thermonatrite, and trona have been used directly as sources of sodium carbonate. At Searles Lake, burkeite and hanksite are important in the reconstitution of

Jan 1, 1975

By R. W. Hyde, S. E. Eaton, B. S. Old

One of the most important problems facing the steel industry at the present time is that of maintaining at a minimum the sulphur content of many grades of steel where sulphur is known to have harmful effects On both quality and yield. The present outlook in this struggle to reduce the amount of sulphur in steel is rather gloomy since the sulphur content of the raw materials available in the United States is gradually rising, with little relief in sight. A flow sheet of sulphur in the steel process is shown in Fig I. The values used here were obtained by averaging coke oven and blast furnace data at No. 5 furnace in Cleveland and are considered typical for high top pressure practice. The sulphur evolved in the blast furnace top gas was obtained by difference and since the amount is relatively small, little significance should be attached to this particular value. From Fig I it is apparent, however, that coals used in the production of metallurgical coke represent by far the largest single source of sulphur in steel-making. As an indication of the decrease in quality of these coals as regards sulphur content the weighed average annual sulphur analysis of the coals supplied to two different steel plants, since 1925, is plotted in Fig 2} The sharp rise since 1940 is strikingly apparent. Another indication of this trend is found in estimates of coking coal reserves. Thus in the case of Pittsburgh seam coals available in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pa. as of Jan. 1937 only 25 pct of the coal reserves would contain less than 1.50 pct sulphur after washing.2.3 Many of these lower sulphur reserves have been seriously depleted in recent years because of accelerated war demands. still another demonstration of the increasing sulphur content of coals on a country-wide basis is found in a report by the Bureau of Mines4 which shows a steady increase in the sulphur content of coke made in the United States. It should be noted that this increase continues in spite of the wider use of coal washing in recent years. Sulphur occurs in coal in three forms, pyritic (FeS2), organic sulphur, and a small amount of sulphate sulphur (CaS04). The sulphur is subsequently found in the coke in combination with carbonaceous material of is composition and as calcium and iron sulphides' In considering the general problem of sulphur elimination, the Republic Steel Corp. was interested in determining which, if either, of the two major forms of sulphur in coal contributes the greater portion of sulphur to the coke. Since the ratio of pyritic to organic sulphur varies widely in different coals, it was thought that if it could be shown definitely that the major part of the sulphur occurring in coke originates from one of the two ""jar forms of sulphur in the coal, it would then be possible to select with confidence coal which, although high .in total sulphur, would yield coke of fairly low sulphur content. Using the new

Jan 1, 1949

By R. W. Hyde, B. S. Old, S. E. Eaton

One of the most important problems facing the steel industry at the present time is that of maintaining at a minimum the sulphur content of many grades of steel where sulphur is known to have harmful effects On both quality and yield. The present outlook in this struggle to reduce the amount of sulphur in steel is rather gloomy since the sulphur content of the raw materials available in the United States is gradually rising, with little relief in sight. A flow sheet of sulphur in the steel process is shown in Fig I. The values used here were obtained by averaging coke oven and blast furnace data at No. 5 furnace in Cleveland and are considered typical for high top pressure practice. The sulphur evolved in the blast furnace top gas was obtained by difference and since the amount is relatively small, little significance should be attached to this particular value. From Fig I it is apparent, however, that coals used in the production of metallurgical coke represent by far the largest single source of sulphur in steel-making. As an indication of the decrease in quality of these coals as regards sulphur content the weighed average annual sulphur analysis of the coals supplied to two different steel plants, since 1925, is plotted in Fig 2} The sharp rise since 1940 is strikingly apparent. Another indication of this trend is found in estimates of coking coal reserves. Thus in the case of Pittsburgh seam coals available in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pa. as of Jan. 1937 only 25 pct of the coal reserves would contain less than 1.50 pct sulphur after washing.2.3 Many of these lower sulphur reserves have been seriously depleted in recent years because of accelerated war demands. still another demonstration of the increasing sulphur content of coals on a country-wide basis is found in a report by the Bureau of Mines4 which shows a steady increase in the sulphur content of coke made in the United States. It should be noted that this increase continues in spite of the wider use of coal washing in recent years. Sulphur occurs in coal in three forms, pyritic (FeS2), organic sulphur, and a small amount of sulphate sulphur (CaS04). The sulphur is subsequently found in the coke in combination with carbonaceous material of is composition and as calcium and iron sulphides' In considering the general problem of sulphur elimination, the Republic Steel Corp. was interested in determining which, if either, of the two major forms of sulphur in coal contributes the greater portion of sulphur to the coke. Since the ratio of pyritic to organic sulphur varies widely in different coals, it was thought that if it could be shown definitely that the major part of the sulphur occurring in coke originates from one of the two ""jar forms of sulphur in the coal, it would then be possible to select with confidence coal which, although high .in total sulphur, would yield coke of fairly low sulphur content. Using the new

Jan 1, 1949