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THE opening session was held on Tuesday evening, October 23d. Mr. J. F. Lewis, on behalf of the local committee of arrangements, made a short address of greeting to the members assembled, and then introduced Gov. A. H. Holley, of Lakeville, Conn. Gov. Holley addressed the Institute as follows : Gentlemen, we give you cordial welcome to a mining, manufacturing, and agricultural country, of which we are not a little proud. We welcome you as an association, and as individuals. We invite you to an inspection of our resources, and to our methods of improving them. We appreciate the results of your efforts in past years, and we anticipate good from your advice and counsel in the future. You are in the vicinity of some of the oldest mining and manufacturing operations in iron in our country. It will be our pleasure to conduct you to a mine which was worked for more than a half century before our country achieved national independence, and to point out to you the spot where the products of this mine were wrought into cannon and shot during the progress of our Revolution. We can show you also a far larger area of mining country than was supposed to exist in this vicinity at that early day. There are, within a radius of thirty miles from this spot, ten mines at least that have been extensively worked, and there are as many more that have been occasionally worked, with a fair degree of success. All the mines that are wrought to any extent produce excellent qualities of iron, while many of them in various combinations produce as good material for the manufacture of steel, car wheels, axles, and many other purposes, as can be found in any country. The old Salisbury iron retains its reputation for tensile strength unsurpassed, when made entirely from the ore of the old mine. The progress that has been made in the development of these mines since the days of the pickaxe, when the product was transported in pounds upon horseback, to those of the steam-engine, which now moves hundreds of tons per day, presents, indeed, a

Jan 1, 1878

By H. W. Young

Development of high-tension outdoor substations during the past few years has been due primarily to economic reasons. The demand for power in small communities could not be met with the conventional and Fig. 1.—33,000-VOLT step-up outdoor air-break switch and substation installation outside of a powerhouse generating at 2300 volts stepping up to 33,000. Twenty-one coal mines are supplied from lines leading from this installation. comparatively expensive indoor types unless the rate for service was materially increased. To prove that the problems lncident to development have been solved successfully, it is only necessary to point to the wide adoption of outdoor substations by utility companies. Passing at once to the question as to whether outdoor substations are applicable to

Jan 1, 1920

By B. C. Craft

Louisiana experienced deeper and increased drilling during 1934, resulting in the discovery of five new fields: Bosco, Acadia and St. Landry Parishes; Lake Hermitage, Plaquemines Parish; Roanoke, Jefferson Davis Parish; Gillis, Calcasieu Parish; and Four Isle, Terrebonnc Parish. New sands were discovered at New Iberia, Iberia Parish; Lake Washington, Plaquemines Parish; Sligo, Bossier Parish; and in the Rodessa gas field, Caddo Parish. Other miscellaneous events worthy of mention are the continued leasing of prospective oil and gas lands in North and South Louisiana, extensive geophysical work in the Gulf Coastal area, and increased interest in the development of flank production on piercement type domes, resulting in the acquisition of flank acreage and the leasing of several shallow domes in the Gulf Coast and Interior salt-dome areas. The total oil production for Louisiana during 1934 was 32,529,082 bbl., an increase of 6,929,280 bbl. over 1933. The total daily production at the end of the year from 2421 wells was 102,752 barrels. North Louisiana During the year, 144 oil wells and 68 gas wells were completed in North Louisiana as compared with 111 oil wells and 47 gas wells during 1933. The North Louisiana oil production was 9,274,050 bbl. as compared with 10,023,580 bbl. during 1933, a decline of 749,530 bbl. The normal decline in the old fields and especially in the Zwolle area was partly offset by increased production in the Converse field, Sabine Parish, and by acid treatment of wells in the Zwolle, Converse and Caddo fields. There were no new fields discovered during 1934. During the year R. W. Norton enlarged the boundaries and reserves of the Rodessa gas field. A series of gas-bearing sands, was discovered in J. B. French, No. 1-B, sec. 34, 23 N. 16 W., below the oolitic lime found at 5500 ft. in which formation all previous wells had been completed. The total depth of this well was 5825 ft. Subsequent drilling has resulted in

Jan 1, 1935

By E. S. Leaver

THE purpose of this paper is to describe, in a general way, gold-dredg-ing operations in California, with particular reference to unusual features, including types of deposits and recent attempts to improve the recovery of the gold. DREDGING AREAS The gold-bearing formations that traversed the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas for a north and south distance of some 300 miles furnished the immediate source of the gold found in most of the placer deposits of California.. Erosion through a long period carried the gold, together with various forms of partly disintegrated material, to lower elevations and formed placer deposits. Through the classifying action of water in motion, the coarser gold and heavier material of various kinds were deposited relatively near the source; consequently, in' the higher moun-tain country, old river channels were worked feverishly during the early California gold-rush days because of their high gold content. With the working out of these known high-grade channels, and from the knowledge thus obtained of prehistoric stream beds, drift mining was started and flourished until about 1890. Even today many drift mines are operating with the objective of opening other old Tertiary river channels that have been covered by volcanic flows.

Jan 1, 1937

By Arthur Wilson, Frederick Carr

INTRODUCTION 1. The application of retreat longwall mining to the North American coal mining conditions is becoming more advantageous as more experience is gained. The productivity results being achieved and potential possible illustrates that this system can be keystone of future underground coal production. 2. In the American coal fields multi-entry is normally practiced as this allows profitable longwall development with existing equipment and systems. Difficulties are being experienced however in the longwall retreat phase by the collapse of multi-entry roadways and excessive use of supplemental support in the following panel tailgates. In some instances the headgate of an operating face can also be in difficulty. 3. Jim Walter Resources Mining Division is developed on a mining plan that calls for three retreat longwalls at each of its four deep mines which have varying depths of cover and immediate roof and floor conditions. The 63 Mine has experienced longwall entry difficulty and there were differing viewpoints with respect to the best development systems to adopt particularily regarding the number of entries and pillar sizes. In an attempt to reconcile these different points of view J.W.R. asked Dr. Wilson to examine the problem and this paper outlines the new approach developed.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. L. Templin

IN TREATING a cast metal by any working process such as rolling, drawing or forging, variations in the conditions present in the remelting, casting, chilling and preheating of the initial ingot will certainly have some effect on the physical properties of the final product. In considering the effects of cold working on the physical properties of metals, however, it will be assumed that these factors, being controlled according to best practice, will remain constant and therefore may be neglected. Starting with such a uniform metal ingot, the next operation in the production of wrought metal involves hot working by rolling, forging or extrusion so as to produce a slab, billet or bloom. This working must be sufficient to produce substantial grain refinement and minimize any defects occurring in the initial ingot. Even such a hot-worked product is not suitable as a starting material for determining the effects of cold working because it contains internal strains analogous to those resulting from cold working. It is necessary, therefore, to supplement the hot working with a considerable amount of cold working, followed by a proper annealing in order to obtain a material suitable for use in defining the effects of cold working on the physical properties of a metal. That is, if the effects of cold working are to be evaluated accurately it is necessary to have other effects at least constant if not absent. Such material, unfortunately, cannot always be obtained in commercial practice but the requirements just indicated certainly represent the desired goal; this goal has been attained in the treatment of some metals, one being aluminum.

Jan 1, 1929

By Basil B. Zavoico

The developments in the Russian oil industry during 1935 marked a very definite turning point from the time when the industry was being educated to the modern methods of oil-field finding and development, refining, transportation and marketing, to the time when the industry has thoroughly assimilated the modern technique and is now firmly standing on its own feet, as is shown by the remarkable qualitative, if not quantitative, progress in 1935. The oil industry promises that 1936 will be a record year in every respect with both quantity and quality approaching the desired high levels and standards. More particularly the Soviet Government is beginning to be successful in the development of new fields and such new production in geographically strategical points of the country will be in the coming years a factor of great importance in the industrial life of the country. The most notable achievements of the last year have been: the very successful development of the Ishimbaevo oil field in the Lower Oural-Permian Basin; the discovery and development of several promising oil fields in the Puta district of Azerbaijan, while large flush production of Baku area was extended 50 miles due southwest into the Saliani-Aliat district, where a 3000-bbl. well was completed early in 1936 at Pirsagat. Also, an apparently important discovery was made at Zikh, on the Apsheron Peninsula proper. These discoveries, as well as several important strikes in the deeper producing sands in the older fields of the Apsheron Peninsula, have greatly augmented the proven reserves of Russia and made them available either at the points where transportation facilities were already present or at points not too far distant from major industrial centers of the country. Of course, not all objectives were achieved during the past year, and several major difficulties remain to be solved in the coming years, the more important of which are: (1) supply of equipment and of parts; (2) the unavailability of competent technical men in sufficient numbers, which more particularly affects the distant fields; and (3) the problem of distribution of oil products throughout the country, especially the question of handling the needs of small consuming areas, which, while individually unimportant, in the aggregate require huge distribution.

Jan 1, 1936

FREQUENTLY the careful engineer puts the word porphyry in quotation marks or precedes it with "so-called," when he writes of the Porphyry Copper mines. This is done by way of serving notice that he is aware that the term is not a precise one, though no one who is informed on the subject would in any event misinterpret it. The name originated from the fact that the rock containing the copper at Utah Copper, Morenci, Nevada Consolidated, and Braden-the first four to be developed-was in each instance known as porphyry. The term was convenient; and when Ray, Miami, and inspiration came along they fell into the Porphyry category even though the ore consisted essentially of a rock called schist instead of porphyry. The word is not inclusive enough; nor as a matter of fact is it sufficiently exclusive. Numerous copper deposits occur in porphyry rocks that are not Porphyry Coppers, paradoxical as it may seem. Desiring to be more accurate and at the same time to use a word that is in some degree descriptive, various engineers have adopted the expression "disseminated copper deposits." This alludes to the characteristic scattering of grains or specks of copper minerals more or less uniformly throughout the mass of the rock. Yet here again the implication is not entirely accurate, for the following reason: in some of the ores, the proportion of copper minerals "peppered" in the rock is small, compared with that which coats the walls of cracks and minute fissures; and that which is found as veinlets along planes of fracture. Many geologists have extended their interpretation of the term disseminated to include both types of mineral occurrence. One of the most striking features of the Porphyry ores is the intense shattering and fracturing that the rock underwent at some period or periods prior to the deposition of the copper

Jan 1, 1933

By C. S. Barrett

W. Hofmann, J. Ziegler, and H. Hanemann—Having dealt with the same alloys in the winter 1941 to 1942, we want to give a short report on the generating of the hexagonal kappa phase by deforming the supersaturated alpha phase, which we then observed. This work was delivered as a Doctor of Engineering dissertation to the Technical University of Berlin by J. Ziegler in 1942. It still exists in two copies, somewhat damaged, a brief publication of it having been issued in Fiat-Review. Our work was started from the alloy Tombasil with 4.5 to 5 pct Si, 14.5 to 14 pct Zn, the rest Cu. Torpedo propellers were die cast from this alloy in Germany during the war. In order to improve this alloy, annealing was tried. By this treatment the alloy became at the same time harder and more brittle. A further research of this process was made in the Got-tingen University30 and the "Institut fÜr Metallkunde" of the Technical University of Berlin. It soon was apparent that the Cu-Si diagram at our disposal15,31,32 would not fit the observations. For this reason the pith of the matter became from then on the Cu-Si system. At that time we did not know of Smith's* and Andersen'sm latest diagrams. We first knew of them from Dr. Barrett's publication. Twenty-two alloys containing 2 to 11 pct Si were melted in a nitrogen atmosphere and generally homogenized for 2 to 4 hr at 800 °C. Part of the samples were then annealed at 700°, 600° and 500°. Annealing was followed by quenching in water. The phases corresponding to the various temperatures were identified by X-ray and microscopy. The Debye-Scherrer photographs generally were made of filings. The latter were produced after the last anneal of the samples, then equally annealed another 30 min in evacuated glass tubes and quenched in water. In the region of concentrations examined, the Cu-Si phases already known to us were observed: alpha, kappa (then called beta by us), gamma. By hot exposing an alloy of 7.69 pct Si at 800" and 750°,

Jan 1, 1951

By W. A. Schaeffer, Sidney A. Justin, Jr. H. D. Easton

Restriction and proration of petroleum production have increased materially the difficulties attendant upon the estimation of reserves, particularly in large, "flush" fields. Such practices preclude the use of decline or other curves, from which, under capacity production conditions formerly prevalent, much could be learned as to the ultimate recovery to be expected from a given field or lcase therein. In restricted fields that would produce at many times the low rate allowed by the regulations in force if allowed to flow without restraint, one is forced to use other information than production performance to predict the volume of oil recoverable. Examples are: at Kettleman Hills, California; the Conroc, Van and East Texas fields, Texas; the Iowa field, Louisiana. It is beyond the scope of this paper to apply a definite method to the determination of the reserves in any actual field, therefore the discussion will be limited to a consideration of available methods and an enumeration of important factors governing the accuracy of such estimates. The problem is to determine not only oil in place but recoverable oil in place, for a given field or tract, which is complex and depends not only on the characteristics of the reservoir but also on the plan of development, the production allocation scheme, the rate of production and many other factors. Many data must necessarily be considered, weighed as to inportance, and assigned quantitative values. Estimates of recovery in prorated fields have been discussed by Brace', Shaw2, Snider3 and others. The wide difference in estimates of ultimate recovery from a number of important recently developed fields demonstrates the inadequacy of

Jan 1, 1935

By George Gardner

THE application of wet cleaning processes for the beneficiation of bituminous coal has created in some localities a problem in the recovery and disposal of fine solids in the washery water. The maximum allowable concentration of these solids in the washery circuit that is consistent with satisfactory operation of the cleaning units remains a controversial point. It has, however, been generally recognized for a number of years that some degree of control should be exerted over the concentration of such material. Early methods of control involved intermittent or continuous dis-charge of a portion of the plant slurry into near-by streams or settling ponds, and this persisted even after the adoption of settling tanks or cones. The practice is not always economical, for two reasons: first, because of the waste of coal, and, second, because it is sometimes difficult and expensive to obtain an adequate supply of water. The latter condi-tion often is aggravated by chemical treatment of the make-up water that is necessary to prevent excessive corrosion of plant equipment. The modern approach to this problem has been the adoption of continuous thickening devices. However, because such equipment occupies consid-erable plant space and is somewhat expensive to construct, the practice of loading these thickeners beyond their rated capacity is widespread, there-fore often the performance of such units is not altogether satisfactory. In recent years, European washeries have increased the rate of settling of the fine coal from the slurry by the addition of specially pre-pared starch solutions. These reagents cause flocculation of the solid particles and thereby increase the rate of sedimentation.

Jan 1, 1939

By B. G. Ricketts, A. Kelly, P. A. Beck

The isothermal kinetics (at 200" to 400°C) of subgrain growth and of softening were studied in a 99.997 pct pure Al crystal rolled to 80 pct RA, under conditions where recrystallization did not take place. It was found that the kinetics of subgrain growth and of softening were similar, and that the correlation between subgrain growth and softening was in first approximation independent of the annealing temperature. It has been shown by Heidenreich' by means of electron transmission microscopy and by Hirsch and Kellar2 by means of an X-ray microbeam technique that the crystals of heavily cold-worked polycrystalline aluminum consist of subgrains of approximately 2µ diam, which are slightly disoriented with respect to each other. This substructure is found on cold working at room temperature, without annealing. A preliminary study has been previously published3 of the softening upon annealing at 350°C of a heavily cold-rolled aluminum single crystal. Softening and X-ray line sharpening for such a rolled aluminum crystal were later studied in more detail as a function of annealing time and temperature.4 Perryman5, 6 has studied the recovery of polycrystalline aluminum after cold rolling. By means of phase contrast microscopy he found that the subgrain size increases with the annealing temperature but does not alter very much with annealing time at a given temperature. In the present work further study was made of softening as a function of annealing time and temperature and subgrain sizes were determined by two different techniques in an attempt to find any correlation that may exist between softening and subgrain growth. Subgrain size measurements were made both by the X-ray microbeam technique and by transmission electron microscopy. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE For the X-ray studies specimens were cut from

Jan 1, 1960

By D. T. Jones

In view of the importance of the application of scientific principles to the production of oil from the reservoir, the Production Staff of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. (late Anglo-Persian Oil Co.) has been engaged for some years on an intensive program of research on the physical properties of crude oil. Problems involving the retention of crude oil in capillaries and fine fissures demanded for their solution a knowledge of the surface tension and specific gravity of the crude under reservoir conditions, and it is the purpose of this paper to describe briefly the methods adopted for the determination of these properties, and to present the more important results. A detailed article was published in volume 1 of the World Congress Proceedings (1933). Surface-tension observations on crude oil regassed at high pressures with natural gases have been made in the past by Beecher and Park-hurstl and Swartz2, but up to the time of the investigations in Iran no one seems to have carried out experiments with gas-saturated crude direct from the reservoir and kept at its original pressure. Results obtained in this manner are obviously of greater practical value for solving problems connected with the reservoir. Method of Measurement No apparatus for the measurements, under the pressure conditions involved, was available, and a suitable instrument had to be designed and constructed in the Fields workshops. Careful consideration of the matter led to the adoption of a method for measuring the surface tension which did not involve a knowledge of the specific gravity of the oils under the working conditions: the main reason for this being that up to that time no accurate determination of the specific gravity had been made under these conditions. The method adopted involves the measurement of the actual tension in an oil film, and is effected by means of

Jan 1, 1936

By Raymond Mancha

TO determine the optimum inside dimension of an airshaft, it is necessary to strike the proper balance between the cost of power for air friction and turbulence losses within the airshaft, on the one hand, and the cost of sinking the airshaft, on the other. An airshaft larger than necessary is extravagant because the increased amortization rate exceeds the reduction in power cost. Conversely, an airshaft smaller than is needed wastes more power than can be justified by the corresponding reduction in amortization rate. The airshaft power is a function of the air volume Q cu. ft. per min. and the air-pressure drop p in. water gauge across the airshaft. † The airshaft pressure drop is calculated by the formula: R X l X O X Q2 P= 5-2 X A3 wherein R is the air-friction coefficient for the portion of the airshaft 1 ft. deep, 0 ft. in perimeter and A sq. ft. in area, when passing an air volume of Q cu. ft. per minute. The airpower w kw. dissipated within the airshaft is computed by the formula: w= 0.746Q X P 6345 With a combined over-all unit efficiency of the fan and drive of E per cent, the air-shaft power requirements become W = 100w There are 8760 hours per year, so with energy at I cent per kilowatt-hour the annual cost per kilowatt for continuous operation is $87.60; therefore, with energy at C¢ per kw-hr. the annual airshaft power cost MI dollars per year becomes: M1 = 87.60W X C which, expressed by the component parts, becomes: M1 V 5.2X4' / XQ Z 0.746 X 100 X 87.60 X C V 60 X E ) The amortization rate a dollars per year per dollar invested includes both depreciation and interest on the investment. These in turn involve the expected useful life of the airshaft and available molletary interest rate. For the purpose of this discussion the cost of airshaft sinking is assumed to comprise a fixed move-in charge Y dollars, which covers the cost of transporting, erecting and removing the shaft-sinking equipment and is independent of the air-shaft size. Also, it is assumed that the cost of shaft lining, if any, is fixed at $X per cu. yd. of lining material and that excava-

Jan 1, 1947

By Quentin Singewald

SOME of the broader relations between structure and ore deposition along the London fault, deduced from a thorough study of the geology of the eastern part of the Mosquito Range, should be of general interest to economic geologists. The first part of this paper is a generalized state-ment of the geology of the region in which the London fault is located; it may be supplemented by reference to several earlier publications by the writers and to the U. S. Geological Survey's Professional Paper 148, on the Leadville district. The second part deals with the structure of both the fault and the disturbed zone adjoining the fault. The third part dis-cusses the salient features of the ore deposits, particularly emphasizing structural control. The two generalized maps are complementary to one another but contain too many data to show on a single small map. The London fault is between Leadville and Alma, and the ore deposits along it are said to lie in the Alma district. Field work in this district, during six summers since 1927, has been a part of the cooperative work of the U. S. Geological Survey, the State of Colorado, and the Colorado Metal Mining Board. The writers have made use of work by R. D. Butler, J. W. Vanderwilt and R. E. Landon. G. F. Loughlin and C. H. Behre, Jr., who have worked on the west side of the range, have con-tributed valuable suggestions. Mining men of the district have aided in many ways.

Jan 1, 1936

By Hans M. Ewoldsen

The generation and evaluation of solutions to body force problems is of extreme interest to the geotechnical profession, as all natural stress states must necessarily include some contribution from the weight of the material. In this chapter the elastic solution for the stress field around a circular, horizontal tunnel at an arbitrary depth beneath the surface of a half-space is reexamined. The influences of body force, initial stress, and free surface proximity are examined and related to in-situ cases. The solution as presented deals only with an isotropically elastic medium; this medium is further considered only in a half-space configuration. It is readily apparent that these restrictions impose severe limitations if analogies are attempted with in-situ cases where geologic discontinuities, inhomogeneities, and irregular boundaries exist. The question might be raised as to the propriety of geotechnically oriented researchers even considering such idealized conditions. There is, however, much to be gained from study of such solutions. The lack of geologic discontinuities and inhomogeneities allows the investigator to separate and leisurely examine such parameters as are included in the solution, without worry of interrelationships of a host of other parameters. Further, elastic solutions have had extensive usage prior to the development of such techniques as the finite-element solution. It is interesting to compare body force solutions with the external field solutions which in the past have been used for design purposes. Finally, the exact solution may be used to verify the accuracy of the finite-element type of solution. The mathematical solution on which this chapter is based was originally developed by R. D. Mindlin.l Because of the complexity and length of the solution, no attempt was made to determine the resultant stress fields until the advent of the present-day high-speed digital computer. How-

Jan 1, 1972

By Bailey Willis

IN 1882, Peckham put forward a provisional hypothesis to account .or the distillation of petroleum.1 He did not formally state the hypothesis, but in a discussion of facts drawn from many fields he made it clear that he regarded petroleum, and especially the petroleum of the Pennsylvania fields, as a "fractional distillate produced under high pressure and consequently at a comparatively high temperature.?2 He quotes James Hall on the geology of the Appalachians and says:3 It is not necessary here to discuss the nature or origin of metamorphic action. It is sufficient for our purpose to know that from the upper Silurian to the close of the Carboniferous periods the currents of the primeval ocean were transporting sediments, sorting them into gravel, sand, and clay, forming gravel bars and great sand beds beneath the riffles and clay banks in still water, burying vast accumulations of sea weeds and sea animals far beneath the surface. The alteration, due to the combined action of heat, steam, and pressure, of the formations of the Appalachian system from Point Gaspe in Canada to Lookout mountain in Tennessee, involving the Carboniferous and earlier strata, distorting and folding them, and converting the coal into anthracite and the clays into schists along their eastern border, could not have ceased to act westward along an arbitrary line, but must have gradually died out farther and farther from the surface (source?). The great beds of shale and limestone containing fucoids, animal remains, and even indigenous petroleum must have been invaded by this heat action to a greater or less degree, and that "chronic evaporation" of Prof. Lesley must have been the inevitable consequence. From an investigation of the relations between coal and petroleum, White has" more recently concluded as follows: (1) Petroleum is a product generated in the course of the geodynamic alteration of deposits of organic debris of certain types buried in the sedimentary strata. (2) The quantity and characters of the oils generated are determined by: (a) the composition of the organic deposit at the beginning of its dynamo-chemical alteration; (b) by the stage in the progress of the dynamo-chemical alteration of the organic substances; (c) by the elimination, under certain conditions, of the heavier and more' viscous hydrocarbons through filtration incident to migration.

Jan 1, 1920

By Jesse O. Betterton

In the Parkes process of lead refining, after desilverization has been completed by means of zinc additions, there will remain in the lead from 0.5 to 0.6 per cent zinc. At this stage in the refining practically all impurities are reduced to refined lead specifications except zinc and antimony. All excess of copper and nearly all the arsenic goes out with the silver. Silver remaining should not exceed 0.1 oz. per ton. It thus remains only to remove zinc and antimony to produce refined lead. The older practice was to complete refining by means of oxidation processes in reverberatory furnaces. Essentially this consisted of heating the lead to 1200' to 1300" I?. and allowing it to come in contact with a considerable excess of air passing through the furnace, or accomplish the same result by blowing the lead with steam by means of pipes introduced for that purpose, at the same time allowing air to enter the furnace. Usually some procedure involving alternate oxidation and reduction with fine coal or coke was employed in order to reduce the weight of dross or skim finally removed from the furnace. This practice had many elements of weakness in that the main flour of lead, after the preceding expensive operations had been performed, and the whole refining process nearly completed, was subjected to an operation at a comparatively high temperature, which involved much lead loss if the furnaces were not on bags, and the production of 3 to 5 per cent of the weight of the lead as dross or skim, which had to be resmelted and the lead either refined or produced as antimonial lead. In addition, the operating expense of the process was a considerable item. The process of dezincing with chlorine was developed as a substitute for the foregoing described oxidation process, and finally resulted in such advantages as nearly equal operating costs, a practical elimination of the lead loss, and the direct production of a very valuable byproduct, zinc chloride, that may be sold as such or retreated for its zinc and chlorine contents, both of which can be reused in the refining processes. Essentially this process consists of circulating the lead by means of a pump in a kettle through a closed reaction cylinder, gaseous chlorine entering the reaction cylinder with the stream of lead from the pump. Molten zinc chloride is thus produced and is discharged together with

Jan 1, 1937

By H. J. Struth

Gasoline is undoubtedly of major importance not only to the petroleum refiner but to the producer. To study the economic aspects of gasoline is, in a measure, a constructive effort to solve the problem of overproduction not only for the refiner but for the entire petroleum industry. After all, the prime object of producing crude petroleum is to supply motor fuel and lubricants to nearly 25,000,000 American motor vehicles, not to mention the increasing demand for these products abroad. Since gasoline furnishes the chief source of revenue to the refiner, it follows that this important product should veritably become recognized by all branches of the petroleum industry as an almost infallible index of day to day requirements of the producer and the refiner. A careful study of gasoline statistics over the past decade or more reveals that there is a definite correlation between world-wide gasoline requirements and the demand for crude petroleum, as well as all other petroleum products. This leads the writer to the conclusion that gasoline is literally the economic yardstick of the entire petroleum industry. Control of Operations That the refiner has begun to recognize the urgent need for controlling his operations is evidenced by the results of the past three years. Unfortunately, it is a difficult problem to convince the refiner that he cannot run crude in excess of the demand for gasoline, without incurring a consequent decline in the market value of this and all other products of distillation. Undoubtedly, he still has much to learn in this respect. Few commercial products have enjoyed such phenomenal growth in demand as has gasoline, and, at the same time, few products have failed, as has gasoline, to reap financial benefit from the popular demand for a national necessity. Perhaps this unprecedented demand was responsible for the overextension of retining facilities, which resulted in the excesses of recent times; at any rate, as the demand for gasoline grew by leaps and bounds, so the refining industry continued to increase its capacity for

Jan 1, 1929

By V. H. Wilhelm

During the first half of the year 1935, the oil industry in California was on a fairly profitable basis, owing mainly to the operation of the Petroleum Marketing Agency. Coincident with the discontinuance of enforced curtailment, California production surged upward from an average of about 500,000 bbl. per day (over the first five-month period) to approximately 625,000 bbl. per day (over the last seven-month period). On Dec. 9 the state production had reached a peak of over 700,000 bbl., a figure that had not been approximated since the early days of voluntary curtailment (Fig. 1). A price cut was instituted during the last half of August, but had no deterring effect on operators that were determined to take advantage of the breakdown of curtailment and produce to capacity. New reserve figures, compiled from actual potentials, available after cessation of curtailment, revealed the startling fact that California reserves were rapidly declining. This situation, coupled with the desire among operators to obtain a more equitable price for their dwindling reserves, caused a restoration in November of a portion of the August price slash. A further rise in price was effected in early December, and crude quotations at the end of the year closely approximated those in effect during the first right months. At the close of the year, the industry felt confident that the production situation was under control. In all fields where competition is keen because of close spacing, production is gradually declining. In the Los Angeles Basin especially there is no likelihood of a large amount of overproduction, unless a new pool is discovered or deeper drilling reveals a prolific source of crude. As long as the fields that are operated by a few companies, such as Kettleman Hills, North Belridge, Ventura Avenue, West Coyote, Dominguez, and some others, can be controlled, it is believed that the overproduction problem in California will be solved.

Jan 1, 1936