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Since production curtailment for other than engineering reasons is gradually disappearing, and more and more wells are now producing at capacity and showing declining production rates, it was considered timely to present a brief review of the development of decline-curve analysis during the past three or four decades. Several of the commoner types of decline curves were discussed in detail and the mathematical relationships between production rate, time, cumulative production and decline percentage for each case were studied. The well-known loss-ratio method was found to be an extremely valuable tool for statistical analysis and extrapolation of various types of curves. A tentative classification of decline curves, based on their loss ratios, was suggested. Some new graphical methods were introduced to facilitate estimation of the future life and the future production of producing properties where curves are plotted on semilogarithmic paper. To facilitate graphical extrapolation of hyperbolic-type decline curves, a series of decline charts was proposed, which will make straight-line extrapolation of both rate-time and rate-cumulative curves possible. Introduction During the period of severe production curtailment, which is now behind us, production-decline curves lost most of their usefulness and popularity in prorated areas because the production rates of all wells, except those in the stripper class, were constant or almost constant. While production-decline curves were thus losing in importance for estimating reserves, an increasing reservoir consciousness and a better understanding of reservoir performance developed among petroleum engineers. This fact, together with intelligent interpretation and use of electric logs, core-analysis data, bottom-hole pressure behavior and physical characteristics of reservoir fluids, eliminated a considerable part of the guesswork in previous volumetric methods and put reserve estimates, based on this method, on a sound scientific basis' At the same time, a number of ingenious substitutes were developed for the regular production-decline curve, which made it possible to obtain an independent check on volumetric estimates in appraisal work, even though the production rates were constant. with the now steadily increasing demand for oil to supply the huge requirements of this global war, proration for reasons of than prevention of underground waste is gradually disappearing. More and more wells are, or will be, producing at capacity or at their optimum rates, as determined by sound engineering practice. With this trend, the character of producing wells seems to regain, more or less, its "individuality," and the old and familiar decline curve appears to have had a comeback as a valuable tool in the hands of the petroleum engineer. It may be timely, therefore, to retrace the development of decline-curve analysis in the past by presenting a brief chronological review of bulletins and papers published during the past three or four decades, which have

Jan 1, 1945

By Robert L. Braun, Arthur E. Lewis

A contained nuclear explosion is proposed to produce a chimney of broken ore well below the water table. After the chimney is filled with water and reaches hydrostatic equilibrium, oxygen, under pressure, is introduced near the bottom of the mass of broken rock. The increase in solubility of oxygen at high hydrostatic pressure is sufficient to initiate the oxidation of the primary sulfides, chalcopyrite and pyrite. The oxidation and dissolution of these sulfides produces enough heat to increase the temperature of the ore and water in the chimney as much as 100° to 150°C. The rate of dissolution of chalcopyrite exposed to oxygen-saturated solutions becomes so rapid under these conditions that the rate of copper extraction becomes limited by the accessibility of chalcopyrite to the solutions. Means of solution control and distribution of oxygen in the chimney have been examined in some detail. A calculational model utilizing experimentally determined solubility rates is utilized to estimate the temperature rise in the chimney and the rate of copper recovery as a function of initial temperature, sulfide content of ore, and size of ore particles. It is concluded that the high pressure and high temperature obtainable in a large ore mass broken by nuclear explosives promise the rapid and economic recovery of minerals not considered soluble by conventional in-situ leaching methods. The method should be broadly applicable to the kinds of deep deposits that must be depended on for future production and with minimum disruption of the environment.

Jan 1, 1974

Oceanographers are tooling up. Back of the build-up is Navy defense work and private business. Business is dipping toes in the ocean gingerly and not sure whether the motivation is based on logic or intuition. The problem is that new business opportunities in the oceans could explode rather than evolve. The question is when. At stake for earthlings are food supplies, mineral resources, oil and gas, weather forecasting, navigational systems, shore erosion control and sewage disposal, as primary targets. "Twenty years ago, offshore oil seemed a remote possibility for economic exploitation but today it is a reality. It became a reality largely because of the development of practical ocean seismic equipment and drilling platforms. Today the oil industry is looking at submerged-type drilling rigs. Mineral exploration in the sea is more expensive than on land now primarily because familiar land tools are being modified for sub- marine work." These were the ideas expressed by C. G. Welling of Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., at one of the many meetings that have taken place so far this year on development of marine resources. Welling's views indicate the rationale of companies that have already invested in the sea. Many companies, including those in mining, have observers who caution, "go slow." The continental shelfs and even the deep ocean floor represent to the mineral industries the age-old, enigmatic confrontation-is this the time to move? To no other industry, except Defense, are the results of correct timing so vital.

Jan 8, 1967

By Robert C. Stephenson

In 1954, a year when general industrial production declined, it is significant that industrial mineral products continued in high demand. Phenomenal growth of the cement industry, increase in filler-fibre markets such as for asbestos and diatomite, expansion of the gypsum industry, and the increasing production of agricultural raw materials all illustrate the vitality of industrial minerals fields. Pioneer development of new industrial raw materials-wollastonite as a current example-requires keen foresight, hard work, and tremendous intestinal fortitude. The present-day requirements of industry for rigid quality control and uniformity of raw materials have resulted in highly specialized

Jan 3, 1955

By Thomas A. Edison, John Birkinbine

The Transactions already contain many valuable papers on the subject of ore-concentration, but with reference more to the treatment of other ores than those of iron. In this country much money, labor and thought have been devoted to the enrichment of iron-ores by roasting to drive off sulphur and carbonic acid, eliminate water, or make the ore more friable, and by washing and screening to remove the clay and sand from earthy ores. In concentrating magnetites and hematites more has been done than is generally believed; but, unfortunately, the results up to the present time have not been encouraging. On the contrary, so many attempts have proved unsatisfactory that any system of concentration is now unjustly looked upon with doubt, and the problem presented to individual mines must therefore be approached with caution. For many years the magnetites of the Adirondack region of New York State have been roasted, reduced to proper size by means of gang-stamps, and jigged on screens in water. Latterly plunger-jigs and rotary-jigs have been introduced, and in some places crushers and rolls have taken the place of stamps. In one instance in that region a plant for reducing the ore by crushers and rolls and separating it by magnetism was put up to treat a titaniferous ore; but, the titanium occurring as ilmenite, the result was unsatisfactory, and the plant is now being reconstructed at another mine, where apatite and silica are to be separated from the magnetite. A large concentrating works was erected at Negaunee, Michigan, in the Marquette region, Lake Superior, to enrich the leaner specular ores. This consisted of crushers, Cornish rolls and rotary-jigs. The results ohtained weye not satisfactory, and it has been abandoned. Another plan to treat the lean magnetites from a large dump-pile at Republic, Michigan, by means of pulverizers and water-jigs also

Jan 1, 1889

By C. W. Washburne

FORMER studies of sedimentary strata have been based upon the mineralogical and mechanical characters of the solid components, rather than upon the open spaces between them. For present purposes let us take another point of view, and consider not the rock material, but rather its cavities, the pores and the fissures or cleaved joints which connect with them. Let us think of the geologic column not as a series of rocks, but as a mass of irregular connecting capillaries. Different parts of the column may be distinguished by the absolute size and by the relative amount of its open spaces. Porosity Each stratum of the column is characterized by a certain porosity, which would be independent of the size of the rock grains if all were of the same shape. Slichter has shown that the percentage of open space in a pile of equal spheres is practically constant regardless of the diameter of the spheres. This is approximately true of clean, assorted sand or gravel, but it is far from being the case with most natural sediments which have a widely variable porosity, the magnitude of which is determined mainly by the amount of fine and of secondary material between the larger grains. The shape of the grains materially affects porosity, round grains leaving more open space than angular or flat grains. The thin plates of kaolin and the fine plastic matter of clay fit quite perfectly when pressed together, and it is probably this close fit, determined by shape of grain, rather than the small size of a grain, that causes the low porosity of ordinary clay shale.

Jan 9, 1914

By James E. Jopling

The county of Marquette, Michigan, includes nearly all the iron-mines that have been worked on the Marquette range, which stretches in a generally western direction from the mines at Negaunee, 10 miles from Lake Superior, to those beyond Michigamme, some thirty miles further. The geographical position of this range, nearer to eastern ports than the other iron-ranges, and its ready access from the lake, gave it for a long time a controlling advantage. The country in which the mines are situated is from 800 to 1000 feet above the level of the lake, and is for the most part broken by steep hills, which rise from 100 to 200 feet; between these the land is rolling or

Jan 1, 1898

By W. A. Hooker

This portion of Mexico is quite beyond the ordinary routes .of travel, and is seldom visited. Its mines have not the record of enormous wealth which has recently attracted foreign capital to other parts of the republic; but for many centuries it has been a mining country, and at some periods evidently a productive one. In 1881 the writer visited the State and spent some time in the inspection of the mines. The absence of published information regarding its mining industry is his apology for presenting to the Institute these notes on the subject. Oaxaca is, with one exception (Chiapas), the most southerly of the Mexican States. It extends from latitude 18o 20' to 15' 45' N.— about 180 miles, by some 300 miles, in an east and west direction, and embraces a large part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The coast-line is wholly on the Pacific. The State has an area of 27,470 square miles, nearly that of the State of Maine, and a population estimated at one million, or thirty-six to the square mile. The great continental Cordillera which farther north and west expands into broad table-lands, is here converged into narrower limits and occupies the greater portion of the country; the main

Jan 1, 1887

By C. K. Leith

Conservation, narrowly and strictly considered, means the preservation in unimpaired efficiency of the resources of the earth; or in a condition so nearly unimpaired as the nature of the case, or wise exhaustion, admits. And broadly considered, it means more than the word itself implies, for it naturally includes an examination of methods whereby the natural inheritance of the human race may be improved; and still more broadly considered. and as used in popular discussion, it includes a treatment of the effects of productive conservation methods upon distribution. "Conservation means a sacrifice of the present generation to the future generations whenever it is carried too far. There is a sharp limit to the economic sacrifice that we may reasonably ask the private person to make for even the present welfare, and the limit is still sharper when we come to consider the interests of future generations." In a paper on the iron ores of America, presented to the Pan-American Scientific Congress at Washington, I have emphasized the fact that the reserves of iron ores in the two Americas are enormously in excess of the requirements of the present generation, in fact, so large that no shortage is to be anticipated for many generations in the future; that a large part of the value of iron ores is put into them by man's efforts to make them available. This fact is fundamental for the intelligent consideration of policies of conservation as applied to iron ore. As I interpret it, this fact makes it practically unnecessary that the present generation should make any especial sacrifice for future generations in the way of conservation of its iron-ore resources. Even if we were disposed to look forward to a period of 100 or 200 years, with a view to insuring the welfare of the people living at that time, it is doubtful whether any procedure we could now formulate would materially help them in the matter of iron ores, so large are the reserves available. In order that an appeal for conservation may be effective it must obviously favor the welfare of the present or immediately following generations; it must promise benefits to general and individual welfare during a period within the range of comprehension of the average man.

Jan 1, 1916

By H. W. Hardings

Nearly every mining and metallurgical engineer will recall his early experience and method of producing step- or stage-reduction in preparing ore-samples for assay, in which he employecl idea, step- or stage-reduction simply because it was a self-evident fact that it would be easier to break coarse ore with a hammer than it would be to roll it back and forth under the muller, and alter having reduced it to a size easy for a rubbing or bucking division he then placed it under the muller on the bucking-board and further reduced it in proportion to the physical energy he wished to expend, which was generally the minimum to produce results. After this step in our experience me seem to have ceased to consider stage-reduction as mechanicallg essential, probably because it did not apply to individual exertion. Moreover, me did not retain the mass under the muller until it was all reduced to pass the 80-mesh assay-oftice screen, but practiced further step-reduction by screening out the fine in order that it should not interfere with subsequent work, replacing the coarse for further reduction on the bucking-board. It was many years after the bucking-board stage of metallurgical practice that we mere brought to a full realization that there was a more economical method in applying the crushing forces usually employed in metallurgical work by taking advantage of this individual experience and applying it to mechanical ends. We have made some advance to this end in bringing out the conical ball-and-pebble mill—a device which fairly well automatically adjusts power to the results obtained, mechanically repeating the bucking-board experience. In the action of the conical mill, theory is evolved from practice, rather than practice from theory, as is commonly the case.

Jan 1, 1914

By F. N. Rhines

Sintering may be defined as the process by which powders bond themselves into coherent bodies, usually, although not necessarily, under the influence of pressure and elevated temperature. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the present survey will exclude from consideration the sintering of mixed or alloyed powders, with attendant complications, but at the risk of overlooking information of general applicability. Sintering in the presence of a liquid phase is thus automatically eliminated. The sintering of alloys involves much additional subject matter and deserves separate consideration. Since the literature of the subject is extensive and widely scattered, it will not be feasible to consider the contributions individually. Instead, the subject matter will be classified according to experimental observations and theory, and will be presented in summary form. It should be noted that the appended list of references does not constitute a complete bibliography; it includes only those works quoted below. More extensive bibliographies are included in several of the references; see particularly references 7, 9, 28, 34, 38, 50, 52, 54, a "Bibliography on Powder Metallurgy" published by the Library of Congress and a pamphlet published by the Metals Disintegrating Co. entitled "The Field of Powder Metallurgy and Bibliography." 11. Summary of Experimental Observations The following classified list is composed of general statements of established fact derived from the experimental results reported in the published literature. A few contested observations are included, because of their potential importance; these are labeled as such. Any satisfactory and complete theory must be capable of explaining all of the uncontested facts. Obviously, some important facts may be missing from this list and these may hold the key to the correct explanation of the sintering process, but the possible lack of such material should not deter attempts to understand the subject on the basis of what is available here. A, The Initial Bond at Room Temperature a. To a limited extent uncompressed powders and massive metals adhere at room temperature. Clean tin powder forms a weak "cake" on standing at room temperature, the strength increasing with time. Clean gold surfaces adhere on light con-tact, as do those of many other substances, including nickel.27 b. Upon compression the strength of the bond- is increased progres-ivelv. There is a limit of pressure

Jan 1, 1946

By F. N. Rhines

Sintering may be defined as the process by which powders bond themselves into coherent bodies, usually, although not necessarily, under the influence of pressure and elevated temperature. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the present survey will exclude from consideration the sintering of mixed or alloyed powders, with attendant complications, but at the risk of overlooking information of general applicability. Sintering in the presence of a liquid phase is thus automatically eliminated. The sintering of alloys involves much additional subject matter and deserves separate consideration. Since the literature of the subject is extensive and widely scattered, it will not be feasible to consider the contributions individually. Instead, the subject matter will be classified according to experimental observations and theory, and will be presented in summary form. It should be noted that the appended list of references does not constitute a complete bibliography; it includes only those works quoted below. More extensive bibliographies are included in several of the references; see particularly references 7, 9, 28, 34, 38, 50, 52, 54, a "Bibliography on Powder Metallurgy" published by the Library of Congress and a pamphlet published by the Metals Disintegrating Co. entitled "The Field of Powder Metallurgy and Bibliography." 11. Summary of Experimental Observations The following classified list is composed of general statements of established fact derived from the experimental results reported in the published literature. A few contested observations are included, because of their potential importance; these are labeled as such. Any satisfactory and complete theory must be capable of explaining all of the uncontested facts. Obviously, some important facts may be missing from this list and these may hold the key to the correct explanation of the sintering process, but the possible lack of such material should not deter attempts to understand the subject on the basis of what is available here. A, The Initial Bond at Room Temperature a. To a limited extent uncompressed powders and massive metals adhere at room temperature. Clean tin powder forms a weak "cake" on standing at room temperature, the strength increasing with time. Clean gold surfaces adhere on light con-tact, as do those of many other substances, including nickel.27 b. Upon compression the strength of the bond- is increased progres-ivelv. There is a limit of pressure

Jan 1, 1946

By Noel Stearn

OF THE many instruments devised for the measurement of magnetic anomalies, the ordinary dip needle, by virtue of its superior simplicity of construction, facility of manipulation, and definiteness of interpretation, seems to merit serious attention as the instrument most readily applicable to the detection of magnetic anomalies of the higher order of magnitude. , In spite of the fact that it has been used for many years for the discovery of iron ore in Europe and in the Lake Superior region of America, its capabilities as a geological instrument have not yet been thoroughly plumbed. The Wisconsin Geological Survey, under Dr. W. 0. Hotchkiss, E. F. Bean, and H. R. Aldrich, has been most thorough in developing the technique of the instrument, and the results it has obtained have aroused a general interest in a more widespread use of geomagnetics as an exploration method and the dip needle as a geological instrument. The simplicity of the instrument is an especial advantage, as it can be used by anyone, regardless of his technical training; but to insure useful results not only is a knowledge of the background of geomagnetics necessary but also an understanding of the principles of the instrument itself.

Jan 1, 1928

By P. B. Venuto, E. T. Strom, S. A. Dixon, W. F. Johnson, T. C. Vogt

Prior to assessing potential for in-situ leaching, it is advantageous to identify the nature of the probable reactants in the ore horizon, including both the uranium species and those in the gangue material. We report mineralogical data on an areally-broad suite of samples from the Westwater Canyon Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation in the Crownpoint area of the Grants Mineral Belt. Optical microscope, electron micro-probe, X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic and wet chemical analyses were conducted. In these samples, the uranium occurs predominantly as either coffinite or uraninite. The host rock is arkosic sandstone, comprised mainly of detrital quartz and feldspar. The minerals kaolinite and chlorite are present in claystone clasts and calcite occurs as a cement. Major trace elements include molybdenum, vanadium, iron, selenium and sulfur. Carbonaceous organic material is present in the ore and is intimately associated with the uranium mineral when it is coffinite. Geochemical, pyrolytic and 13C NMR analyses indicate organic material is probably a very mature, coaly-type kerogen derived from plant components.

Jan 1, 1982

By William B. Phillips

It is proposed in this paper to discuss some of the chemical and physical principles involved in the manufacture and use of this important by-product obtained in the manufacture of steel by the basic process. The name, " phosphate slag," is adopted as a sort of compromise between "Thomas slag" and "tetrabasic phosphate." By the first of these latter names, viz., " Thomas slag," it is known in Germany, Austria, France, and the other continental countries, and in England, and is more easily apprehended by those who have no special Knowledge of chemistry, while the name " tetrabasic phosphate," being descriptive of the nature of the slag, is perhaps the best. It is but seldom that a discovery of such moment to two great industries is to be chronicled in the history of technical science. On the one hand, the manufacture of iron and steel has been greatly benefited, while on the other hand, the effects already noticed, and still to follow, to the agriculturalist, are of scarcely less conseqnence. The great majority of iron ores in the world, perhaps 90 per cent. of then), are now available for the steel manufacturer, while the manufacturer, and more especially the consumer, of artificial manures is relieved from the fear of the exhaustion of the crude phosphates. We have in phosphate slag, therefore, a product of the highest importance to those who make and we steel and fertilizers. Two great industries, which heretofore have had but little in common, are thus brought into close connection with each other, and the results sure to follow, if one may judge from the history of the past ten years, cannot fail to be of great and increasing value. These results may be compared with those which followed the introduction of the cupriferous Spanish pyrites into England for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. The copper extracted greatly reduced the cost of the acid, hence that of artificial manures. Cheap manures meant better farming and cheaper farm products, and these meant better and cheaper living to nearly all classes of society. The amount of fertilizers now manufactured in the United States

Jan 1, 1889

By Edward P. Chapman

IN the Leadville district toward the close of the "intermediate mesothermal period" of mineralization, there occurred a stage of ore deposition marked by a rather complex mineral association. As bismuth minerals formed in many places during this period, it is here called the "bismuth stage" for convenience of description. The minerals so far identified with this stage, listed roughly in the order of prominence, are: chalcopyrite; several varieties of galena, differing slightly from one another in their small contents of silver, bismuth and tellurium; altaite; hessite; galenobismutite; alaskaite; aikinite; ,gold; tennantite; argentite; and perhaps sphalerite and arsenopyrite. With the exception of gold, the age relations of these minerals are difficult to determine. As shown in their descriptions, they all appear contemporaneous and hypogene. Gold may be in part contemporaneous, but most of it is distinctly later. Where minerals of this stage occur so that they can be mined alone, as at the Tucson mine, they constitute high-grade ore. Elsewhere their presence in small amounts has served to increase greatly the value of what otherwise would be low- grade pyritic or zinc-lead sulphide ore. The distribution of the bismuth ores corresponds closely to the distribution of gold ores, though not so general. It seems probable that most of the gold in the district was deposited during the "bismuth stage." These ores occur relatively near the supposed centers of mineralization in Breece and Printer Boy Hills or deep down along the Tucson-Maid fault, which is one of the well recognized channels of mineralization in the Iron Hill and Graham Park areas. Consideration of the high-grade nature of this mineralization and the fact that it appears to be found relatively close to the source of mineralization suggests that prospecting along some of the known channels, even deeper than they have yet been prospected, may offer hope of commercial success.

Jan 1, 1939

By Leo Horvitz

Microanalysis of near-surface soils for hydrocarbons is the basis of a method for locating gas and oil deposits. To substantiate this technique, evidence of vertical migration of hydrocarbons from petroleum accumulations is presented. Tabulated data relevant to hydrocarbon surveys conducted in several petroleum provinces are included. PEROLEUM and natural gas are composed principally of the saturated hydrocarbons ranging from methane, the lightest, to nonvolatile liquids and solids containing approximately thirty-five carbon atoms. A technique for locating buried accumulations of these hydrocarbons before drilling obviously requires that some of the hydrocarbons leave the deposit and migrate toward the surface of the earth where they may be detected in their original form. Earliest attempts to link near surface hydrocarbons to petroleum at depth were apparently made by Laubmeyer' in Germany and by Sokolov in Russia. These investigators collected samples of soil air from boreholes one to two meters deep and analyzed them for traces of hydrocarbons. They found that soil air over producing areas is richer in these constituents than is soil air over barren areas. Since 1936 work on petroleum exploration techniques of this type has been going on in this country. However, instead of determining hydrocarbon content of soil air collected in the field, investigators analyze samples of the soil itself for adsorbed and occluded hydrocarbons, which are released by suitable treatment and found in larger amounts than are the quantities reported for soil air. Difficulties often encountered in collecting gas samples in the field, moreover, are eliminated when soil is used as the sampling medium. Field Procedure: Sample locations are first surveyed over the area to be investigated. Care is taken to locate the stations at considerable distances from roads, pipelines, drilling wells, and other sources of contamination. The borehole pay be dug with a bucket-type hand auger or with mechanical drilling equipment. Lubricants are avoided in either case. When the desired depth is reached, a sample is brought to the surface, placed in a pint glass jar or can, and securely sealed. Sample containers are carefully labeled and delivered to the analytical laboratory. Generally a satisfactory sampling depth range is 8 to 12 ft. In some regions, however, satisfactory data are obtained from samples collected at much shallower depths. Such is the case, for example, in areas of west Texas where the limestone and caliche near the surface occlude hydrocarbons and prevent their rapid escape to the atmosphere. In carrying out broad reconnaissance surveys in search of large features, considerable time is saved by first taking samples one-fourth to one-half mile apart along profiles about one mile apart. If the analytical data indicate a hydrocarbon anomaly of interest, additional samples are taken to produce a more dense and uniform sampling pattern within the interesting area. This sampling program is particularly adaptable to areas that are sectionized. In areas covered with a network of roads, sampling along these roads facilitates the reconnaissance survey. Actual sampling density used depends upon areal extent of features expected. When flanks of piercement-type domes where accumulations may be only several hundred feet wide are sampled, stations are often no more than 200 ft apart. Analytical Technique: Of the hydrocarbons composing petroleum, only the more volatile would be expected to reach the surface of the earth. The analytical technique, therefore, was developed to determine only those constituents that exert a vapor pressure at room temperature. Actually, in near-surface soils, only a very small part of the hydrocarbons are heavier than pentane. Details of the analytical technique have previously been reported. Only a brief description of the methods will be presented here. A weighed portion of the sample, about 100 g, is first treated with an aqueous solution of copper sulphate and then with phosphoric acid in a partial vacuum. The copper sulphate prevents the reaction of the acid with carbides that may be present because the sample has been contaminated by auger particles. Such a reaction may produce spurious methane. The role of the acid is to decompose any carbonates present, thereby helping to release the hydrocarbons. The carbon dioxide is removed with potassium hydroxide and the flask containing the

Jan 1, 1955

By Irwin R. Higgins

CONTENTS A. Introduction B. System Description C. Uranium Pilot Plant Programs D. Summary INTRODUCTION The Chem-Seps Continuous Countercurrent Ion Exchange (CCIX) contactor was first conceived of in 1951 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In the 27 years that have passed, there has been a steady stream of pilot plant process development studies on a variety of processes far too numerous to mention. These have been in the area of water and waste treatment, chemical processing, ore leach treatment, and many others. Many successful production systems have been installed and operated in a variety of applications. A few of these are described herein together with a description of the system and its operational characteristics. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION Chem-Seps Continuous Countercurrent Ion Exchange* is a single loop in which various sections are separated by valves to isolate the sections performing different functions simultaneously. (Refer to Figure 1). To explain the working of a typical unit, let us use a simple configuration used in water softening or demineralization. The resin is moved in small increments by the hydraulic ram action. All solution flows are countercurrent to the flow of resin. The contaminants are removed in the process cycle and the resin is moved in the pulse cycle. A controller in the effluent stream from the treatment section senses the proper limit permissible in the effluent. In the process cycle, the influent enters through a set of distributors, moves downward and leaves through a set of collectors. Simultaneously the regenerant enters through valve RE and leaves through valve WA. The rinse enters through valve RI and its duration is controlled by an interface controller. In the process cycle, valves B, C, and D are closed, isolating all the sections. The duration of the process cycle is 4-10 minutes depending on the contaminants to be removed and is controlled either by a timer if the contaminants are fixed, or a controller in the effluent stream, if the contaminants fluctuate at short intervals. Valve A is open and resin is dropped to the pulse section simultaneously with the removal of contaminants in the treatment section, regeneration of loaded resin in the strip section, and rinsing of regenerated resin in the rinse section. As the resin drops through the valve A, it is backwashed to remove the suspended solids or resin fines. Removal of these fine particles is important to avoid the unnecessary pressure drop in the bed and plugging of the distributors. At the end of process cycle, all flows going into the unit and out of unit are automatically shut off. The valve A closes and valves B, C, and D open in proper sequence. A slug of water enters through valve PU, a predetermined incremental volume of resin moves into the regeneration section, an equal volume of regenerated and rinsed resin enters the bottom of the treatment section, and an equal volume of the loaded resin leaves the top of the treatment section and goes into the resin reservoir section. (The resin movement is plug flow with the Reynold's number being in the laminar region of the curve, and no fluidization occurs during the pulse cycle.) The total time required for proper sequencing of valves and the movement of resin is 20-30 seconds. At the end of this period, the valves B, C, and D close and valve A opens. The solution valves open and normal steady state operation begins. All valves are interlocked and properly sequenced. The resin movement is precisely controlled by sonic devices. Special Features of Chem-Seps CIIX "Downflow"*: The raw feed in the treatment section moves downward and the resin moves upward in the treatment section. The "downflow" of feed overcomes the handicap encountered in "upflow" systems. The "upflow" of feed requires a certain minimum flux during process cycle to lift the bed and keep it

Jan 1, 1979

By R. C. Canby

The American water-jacket furnace is the outgrowth of lead-smelting at Eureka, Nev., subsequently developed in Utah and Colorado. Early smelting in Virginia, New England, or the Missouri-Kansas-Illinois district seems to have had no direct influence in the development of this furnace. First Decade, 1870 to 1880. In 1870, the draft-furnace was used in Nevada, coincidentally with the first crude sandstone blast furnaces, which were 2 or 3 ft. sq., with Sturtevant fans or small Roots blowers, and sheet-iron or water-cooled tuyeres. Stetefeldt, Liebenau, Albert Arents, and 0. H. Hahn mere the early metallurgical leaders. Arents's siphon-tap and the re-establishment of the furnace-bosh mere the most important improvements of the decade. Second Decade, 1880 to 1890. At first there were ,many small local plants; but by the time Eureka had reached its maximum production of lead-ore, two custom works (the Eureka and the Richmond) were treating all the ore, the miners having learned the economy of smelting at larger and well-constructed plants. In the early eighties, most of the features of modern practice were already discernible at Salt Lake, Leadville, Denver, and Pueblo. The small square sandstone furnaces had been replaced by rectangular water-jacket furnaces, mostly 36 in. wide, and from 60 to 80 in. long at the tuyeres, which entered between cast-iron water-jackets. Subsequently, Franz Casin, at the Holden works, Denver, put the tuyeres in the middle of the jackets, and many other improvements were made by him and others, so that the cast-iron jacket became the favorite, until the possibility of

Jan 1, 1913

By Paul R. Smith

Preparation for flotation begins with dragline mining, pumping, washing, screening, and desliming. Slimes, nominally -150 mesh material, constitute large quantities of phosphate and water which are a disposal problem. Older techniques involve sizing at about 35 mesh for separate coarse and fine treatment. The plus 14 mesh fraction does not require concentration. Coarse treatment includes agglomerate spiralling, belt flotation, thickening, scrubbing with sulfuric acid, de-oiling for reagent removal, and cationic flotation of fine quartz. A recent trend is to screen at coarser than 35 mesh size and eliminate coarse particle treatment, sacrificing some grade of this product. Techniques for flotation concentration of the fine size fraction are discussed.

Jan 1, 1976