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By H. M. Ziesemer, George Mieyr

Prior to 1909 that mountain of porphyry known as Sacramento Hill had hardly been touched though it had always been thought to contain ore. During that year, exploratory work was started by underground methods; drifting and raising continued until 1913. It was proved that a mineralized zone existed, the limits of which had not been determined ; so, because of the lower costs of exploratory work and the greater desirability of vertical sections, it was decided to prove the extent of the ore zone by churn drills. Drilling continued until 1917, when it seemed almost certain that the horizontal limits of the orebodies had been determined. Ore continued in depth in one direction beyond a point where it was economical to explore by churn drilling; this extension is still being developed by underground methods. The irregularities of the boundaries of the ore zones, together with the variable grades of ore encountered, made it necessary to drill on the corners of 100-ft. squares. Two ore zones were proved, known as the East and West Orebodies. The Sacramento Hill porphyry stock intruded into the Dividend fault. The fault ran roughly east and west with a dip to the south, having pre-Cambrian schists on the north against Paleozoic limestone on the south. This intrusion was accompanied by a silica breccia on the south periphery, along the limestone contact side. The ore lay in the silica breccia and in the porphyry, some distance from the breccia. NO ore was found in the heart of the porphyry mass on the north side, along the schist contact. The West Orebody is elliptic in shape, having a major axis of 1200 ft. (366 m.) and a minor axis of 800 ft. (244 m.); these diminish with depth until, at 300 ft., the axes are 500 ft. and 300 ft., respectively. The ore consists of chalcocite, some bornite, chalcopyrite, and considerable pyrite in a siliceous gangue. About 30 per cent. of the copper is caused by

Jan 1, 1923

Chairman James F. Kemp :—I call upon Prof. Albert Sau-veur to open the general discussion on the subject of sound steel ingots. Albert Sauveur, Cambridge, Mass.:—I believe that I have the privilege, this instant, of opening one of the most important, significant and far-reaching discussions ever held before this Institute. I believe that our talk this morning will be heard far and wide, not only on this side of the water, but also on the other side. Everywhere, in short, where steel is manufactured. I welcome the opportunity of expressing my mind in regard to the production of sound steel ingots, a subject about which I entertain Rome very decided opinions. I shall not attempt to discuss the relative merits of the various processes that have been described. I shall, on the contrary, confine myself to a general consideration of the important questions before us. So intensely do I feel regarding the production of sound steel ingots that I have put my remarks on paper in my desire to present my views. I have always remembered my astonishment, not to say dismay, some twenty years ago, when I beheld for the first time a steel ingot, a rail steel ingot, that had been split open from top to bottom. There was the pipe! There was an enormous cavity extending from a short distance from the top to nearly one-third of the length of the ingot; and when I was told that manufacturers seldom discarded more than one-tenth of the total length of the ingot it became evident to me that a large proportion of piped, and therefore, defective, or at least weak and dangerous, rails were manufactured; in fact, probably one rail out of six, nearly 17 per cent., of dangerous rails.

Jan 1, 1914

By W. T. Lankford, Low J. R., Gensamer M.

The problem of sheet metal formability is one which has received a vast amount of attention during recent years. In spite of the great amount of study and experimental work which has been devoted to this problem, many of its fundamental aspects are still not well understood. No generally satisfactory test has been developed which is capable of providing a reasonably adequate evaluation of sheet metal formability, particularly in borderline cases. Anomalies persistently arise in which a lot of supposedly satisfactory material exhibits excessive breakage when formed. This lack of suitable technological tests greatly hinders the design of new parts and the substitution of new materials in parts of existing design, frequently necessitating considerable costly trial and error experimentation on an actual production basis. When, at the beginning of World War 11, it became apparent that mass production methods of forming would bc required in the aircraft industry if the large numbers of military aircraft needed were to be supplied, renewed attention was focussed on the problem of sheet metal formability. It was widely recognized that the formability requirements placed on sheet metals had been steadily increasing in severity through the years, especially as greater and greater emphasis was placed on streamlined designs with the resultant freer application of doubly curved surfaces. The recent advent of several new high strength aluminum alloys of more limited formability than some of the older alloys also served to emphasize the need for new approaches to the problem. It seemed evident that progress in the technology of sheet metal forming would depend to a great extent on the development of more reliable criteria for the evaluation of formability. Although the problem is admittedly very complex, the most logical approach appeared to be through studies of the fundamental material properties of sheet metals, especially under complex stress conditions simulating those prevailing in actual forming operations. Most previous investigations have failed to make full use of existing knowledge of fundamental material properties, and in many instances have attempted correlations with properties which are now recognized as being ambiguous in nature. This investigation was undertaken, therefore, with the aim of developing methods for the study of the flow and fracture of sheet meta1s under combined stresses, and of making use of such methods as might be developed in

Jan 1, 1947

By C. E. Sims, C. A. Zapffe

AN investigation of the behavior of inclusions in steel several years ago1 led to the conclusion that some of the commonly occurring inclusions in steel have appreciable solubilities, particularly in liquid steel. In the belief that further study and clarification of this matter was warranted, a laboratory study of oxides in liquid steel was started. These oxides are generally the result of deoxidation treatment, and the basis of an understanding of their behavior must be, therefore, the behavior of the deoxidizer in liquid iron. The Fe-Si-O system was selected for the first study, and the apparatus used and experiments conducted are described herein. APPARATUS The apparatus is shown in Fig. I and the system is shown by diagram in Fig. 2. Furnace Atmosphere Commercial hydrogen (1) passes through an orifice (2) into a manometric system that measures the tankside pressure (3) and the back pressure (4) in the system. A water trap (5) guards against excess tankside pressure. A by-pass with stopcocks (6 and 7) is provided, so that the hydrogen can be routed directly from the tank to the furnace if desired. When stopcock 7 is closed and stopcock 6 is open, the gas proceeds through the conditioning train, of which the first unit is a furnace (8) that contains platinized asbestos at 350°C. The temperature is measured by a thermo-couple and potentiometer (9) and is controlled by a slidewire resistance (10). In [ ] this furnace free oxygen is converted to water vapor. The exiting gas passes over a water bath (11) kept slightly below boiling temperature by an auxiliary heating unit (12). This unit also heats a surrounding copper coil (13) containing water, and the heated water rises through a collar (14)

Jan 1, 1942

By C. R. Fulton

The idea of making permanent magnets by sintering is not a new one, but until the introduction of the iron-nickel-aluminum permanent-magnet alloys there was little need for such a process. Permanent-magnet alloys in use up to the time of this development could be forged and machined to the exact size or shape required without too much difficulty. These new Fe-Ni-A1 alloys, which have become known as Alnico in this country, soon became very popular because of their superior magnetic properties, but when they were made by casting they did have some disadvantages when compared with the older type of permanent-magnet steels. Among these disadvantages were the following: 1. It was almost essential that they be cast to size, since they could not be readily forged or machined. The material could be ground but this was quite expensive, particularly for small magnets in large quantities. 2. The material had a large grain size and was mechanically weak. 3. Close tolerances could not be held and on small magnets this meant grinding almost the entire magnet. Because of the brittle nature of the material, there was considerable loss due to chipping and cracking during these grinding operations. 4. Because of its high aluminum content, the molten alloy had a high surface tension. It was difficult to prevent loss of aluminum by oxidation during the melting operation. In view of these difficulties it is not hard to understand why a process for sintering alnico was developed, or why sintered alnico has come into such widespread use in recent years. It might be well to qualify this by saying that it has come into widespread use for small magnets weighing 2 oz. and less, of the type shown on Fig. I. In this size range, sintered alnico has been able to compete in price with cast alnico. Magnets larger in size, of the type shown on Fig. 2, can be made but they do not compare favorably in price with the cast material. An idea of the range of sizes that have been produced is given by Fig. 3, which shows a small magnet weighing 0.006 oz. and a large magnet with a steel insert weighing 4 lb., both made from sintered alnico. Magnets weighing more than 2 oz., however, should not be made from sintered

Jan 1, 1945

By Theodore Simons

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) DURING the last half century a great amount of ingenuity and energy has been devoted to the invention of appliances for the recovery of valuable minerals from very fine sands and slimes. The reason for this is that in almost every dressing plant the greatest losses of values, considered relatively as well as absolutely, occur in the treatment of slimes. The natural aim of mill operators to minimize these losses has in recent years received another impetus, from the fact that the gradually diminishing occurrence of high-grade ores makes a more intense recovery of values from existing resources absolutely necessary for profitable operation. The results of such attempts are found in the appearance of a great number of machines and appliances which make it profitable to-clay to rework old dumps, containing the tailings of older processes. A constantly growing difficulty of obtaining skilled labor and the increase in wages made it prohibitory to employ those types of machines which required much attention, and in the middle of the nineteenth century the various concentrating tables of the percussion type, which automatically discharge their products, began to take the place of the intermittent tables, on which, when the bed had reached a certain thickness, operation had to be stopped in order to allow the skimming by hand of the separate layers formed on the table. In the course of years, two general types of machines evolved for the treatment of fine sands and slimes : The so-called concentrators and vanners, on the one hand, and the buddies and round tables on the other.1 For the profitable treatment of the very finest slimes, round tables have as a last resort proved more satisfactory and economical than other machines.

Jan 7, 1913

By A. W. Fahrenwald

PRACTICALLY all fine grinding is done in a ball mill or some modification of a ball mill. Millions of tons of material are ground each year. The cost varies from, say, a minimum of 10 c. to a maximum of 35 c. per ton. It is thus obvious that even small improvements, which may result in increased grinding efficiency, would be welcomed by mill operators. A review of literature shows that various phases of the subject have been studied independently by many investigators. Also, it is now a subject of investigation at various laboratories in the United States and in foreign countries. Notwithstanding this extensive investigation, ball milling still remains a subject of some speculation. This paper presents the results of an experimental study of some of the factors entering into ball mill grinding.

Jan 1, 1931

By C. D. King

THE advances in basic open-hearth practice which have occurred during the past decade, have been principally in the direction of the physical development of larger units, decreased fuel consumption and increased length of furnace campaigns. However gratifying the economies which have resulted from these improvements are, it must be granted that like advances in chemical, physical-chemical and metallurgical knowledge pertaining to open-hearth practice would have added greatly to these already attained reductions in costs and it is the purpose of this paper to stimulate the discussion and study of these phases of cooperation and their relation to ingot yields. DEFINITION AND CALCULATION OF LOSSES In discussing basic open-hearth yields, the writer refers to the ingot yields obtained in the process of converting pig iron, scrap and ore to steel. In this conversion some scrap is produced. The difference between the total weight of ingots and scrap produced and the original metallic charge, constitutes the loss. Basic open-hearth yields vary considerably, and while some of the divergencies can be explained metal-lurgically because of differences in slag analysis, proportion of pig charges, and character of steel made, there often remain differences that apparently do not readily disclose themselves. In reconciling yields by the usual accepted methods of calculation, one is often forced to evaluate large losses as "unaccounted for." Such a system is prone to accept these large losses as inherent to the operation and not susceptible of appraisement and correction. It is obvious that if the ingot yield, plus the scrap recovered subtracted from 100 per cent. determines the loss, a drop in yield may increase the loss or the scrap, and both contribute to a monetary loss. To be sure, one can subdivide these unaccounted for losses into various components, such as metallics in slag, free Fe in slag, spillage, etc., and thereby reduce the amount of losses considered as "unaccounted for." If empirical methods could indicate with some degree of accuracy all losses, however slight, the undetermined losses become appreciably smaller and resultant calculations will check actual

Jan 1, 1929

By Robert Henry Bradford

This investigation was undertaken at the suggestion of Prof. Henry M. Howe, of the Department of Metallurgy, Columbia University, who, in a letter to the author, dated October 23, 1900, wrote as follows, suggesting the subject of this dissertation : "The extraction of silver from copper mattes by either the Ziervogel or the Augustin process depends upon converting the silver into silver sulphate by means of the sulphuric anhydride evolved from the decomposition of ferrous sulphate and cupric sulphate, which are formed during the roasting operation itself from the iron and copper sulphides present. "It occurred to me, some time prior to the autumn of 1897, that these processes might be made much easier by adding to them, at the proper stage, ferrous or cupric sulphate, or both, in the form of green or blue vitriol. That is, instead of having to rely solely on our ability to generate these sulphates in this very delicate roasting operation, my idea was that we could add a small quantity of already-prepared sulphate at the proper state of roasting, viz., at or before the period when the solphatizing of the silver occurs. The comprehensive audit of the accounts of a mining company is extremely important in its relations to the legal situation and obligations of the corporation, the personal liability of the directors, and the interests of the investing public. A consideration of the subject as affecting the professional duties and fixing the responsibility of a mining engineer engaged in the expert examination of a mine or in charge of mining operations, is equally important, though this phase of the question is not often presented systematically.

Jan 1, 1903

By George Mieyr, H. M. Ziesemer

Prior to 1909 that mountain of porphyry known as Sacramento Hill had hardly been touched though it had always been thought to contain ore. During that year, exploratory work was started by underground methods; drifting and raising continued until 1913. It was proved that a mineralized zone existed, the limits of which had not been determined ; so, because of the lower costs of exploratory work and the greater desirability of vertical sections, it was decided to prove the extent of the ore zone by churn drills. Drilling continued until 1917, when it seemed almost certain that the horizontal limits of the orebodies had been determined. Ore continued in depth in one direction beyond a point where it was economical to explore by churn drilling; this extension is still being developed by underground methods. The irregularities of the boundaries of the ore zones, together with the variable grades of ore encountered, made it necessary to drill on the corners of 100-ft. squares. Two ore zones were proved, known as the East and West Orebodies. The Sacramento Hill porphyry stock intruded into the Dividend fault. The fault ran roughly east and west with a dip to the south, having pre-Cambrian schists on the north against Paleozoic limestone on the south. This intrusion was accompanied by a silica breccia on the south periphery, along the limestone contact side. The ore lay in the silica breccia and in the porphyry, some distance from the breccia. NO ore was found in the heart of the porphyry mass on the north side, along the schist contact. The West Orebody is elliptic in shape, having a major axis of 1200 ft. (366 m.) and a minor axis of 800 ft. (244 m.); these diminish with depth until, at 300 ft., the axes are 500 ft. and 300 ft., respectively. The ore consists of chalcocite, some bornite, chalcopyrite, and considerable pyrite in a siliceous gangue. About 30 per cent. of the copper is caused by

Jan 1, 1923

By William Crane

OPERATORS of diamond drills have long been familiar with thread-like markings or riflings on cores but apparently have given but little serious thought to the conditions that are responsible for their production. The opinion generally held by those who have observed the phenomena is that the riflings are produced directly or indirectly by vibration, but so far as the writer is aware no systematic attempt has been made to demonstrate the fact. A careful search through the literature on diamond-drilling practice has been rewarded by only one reference to such markings of cores. J. N. Justice1 writes, "Of the peculiarities met with in the core, I will mention only one. The core from the "H" drill, at about 360 ft. came out rifled and pentagonal. The change from the circular to the pentagonal was sudden, and for 9 ft. this structure was maintained, when suddenly it returned to the circular. I have not been able to find any one who can explain the cause of this change of form. The drill men marveled at it and suggested vibration, six-stone bits, and several other hypotheses Which need not be mentioned." The writer became interested in the matter of core riflings some 10 years ago while in the Flat River lead region of Missouri, where many remarkable examples of "rifled" cores were observed and collected. Since that time similar phenomena have been observed in various localities throughout the United States and Canada, and samples have been gotten together illustrating a large number of variations in form. After a careful study had been made of the material at hand it seemed desirable that certain data should be obtained from the experience of others regarding the normal action of diamond drills in forming cores, portions of which are occasionally rifled, before an attempt was made to draw any conclusions as to their cause.

Jan 5, 1916

By C. G. Grant, Wm. B. Price

This investigation of low copper-nickel silvers was untiertaken to check the work of Lèon Guillet on special brasses and to determine, more accurately, the effect of the addition of nickel on the mierostructure of the binary alloys of copper arid zinc. It was hoped that the results could be successfully applied to the practical production of low copper-nickel silvers. To explain the results of his investigations on special brasses, Lèon Guillet evolved his conception of "fictitious compositions." He states,' in his general conclusions, that on the introduction of a small amount of a third metal to a copper-zinc alloy, it enters into solid solution with the normal constituents up to saturation, but by so doing it brings the ternary alloy into a state microscopically equivalent to a binary copper-zinc alloy of fictitious composition, and physically more nearly like the latter than the brass containing copper-zinc in the ratio actually present. The physical properties of the ternary alloy, when compared to the same properties of an actual brass of the fictitious composition, are modified by the natural properties of the third element. Beyond the point of saturation, a special constituent appears and the above generalization no longer holds. For example, if a 60:40 brass has 4 per cent. of tin substituted for 4 per cent. of zinc, the actual composition would analyze 60:36:4. Assuming that 1 per cent. of tin plays the same part as 2 per cent. of zinc, the proportions of copper and equivalent zinc may be stated as 60 parts of copper and 44 parts of zinc, which, figured to 100 per cent., gives an analysis of 57.7 per cent. of copper and 42.3 per cent. of zinc, the fictitious composition for a 60:36:4 tin brass. The relation between ternary alloys containing copper and zinc together with a third metal, and the microscopically equivalent binary alloy of copper and zinc, may be expressed mathematically.

Jan 1, 1924

By Norman P. Goss

It is generally agreed that cold-working mechanically refines the grains into smaller fragments and with continued working these are oriented with certain crystallographic directions bearing a relation to the direction in which the metal is worked. Some of the energy expended on the metal during plastic deformation appears in the form of heat, but a very small portion remains in the metal as stored energy. The entropy, specific heat capacity, temperature at which recrystallization will just begin, density, ductility, elasticity, tensile strength, and resistance to corrosion are affected. These properties have been studied extensively and some of the changes in the physical properties due to cold-working were attributed to lattice distortion.l-8 The broadening of the Ka lines on the X-ray diffraction diagrams of plastically deformed metals is believed to indicate lattice distortion, and consequently the existence of internal stresses. The evidence supporting this theory rests solely upon the observed experimental fact that the diffraction lines are broadened and the Ka doublets are completely diffused. Elam9 has reviewed the matter of lattice distortion in relationship to the hardening of metals by plastic deformation. The X-ray diagrams of plastically deformed metals differ in general from annealed metals. The hardening of a metal was believed due to lattice distortion.9 The resolution of the doublet is lost when a metal is cold-worked and the Laue spots are elongated. At one time this elongation was thought to indicate the elastic bending of the crystal planes. However, more careful work showed that the asterism was due to new orientations developed within the fragmented grains during plastic deformation. Some theories attributed the hardening to fragmentation of the grains into smaller units. Jeffries and Archer,ll after carefully considering the problem of work-hardening from many angles, came to the conclusion that cold-working mechanically refines the grains into smaller crystal fragments, some of which at least differ in orientation from the parent grain. The increase in

Jan 1, 1940

By Low J. R., Gensamer M., W. T. Lankford

The problem of sheet metal formability is one which has received a vast amount of attention during recent years. In spite of the great amount of study and experimental work which has been devoted to this problem, many of its fundamental aspects are still not well understood. No generally satisfactory test has been developed which is capable of providing a reasonably adequate evaluation of sheet metal formability, particularly in borderline cases. Anomalies persistently arise in which a lot of supposedly satisfactory material exhibits excessive breakage when formed. This lack of suitable technological tests greatly hinders the design of new parts and the substitution of new materials in parts of existing design, frequently necessitating considerable costly trial and error experimentation on an actual production basis. When, at the beginning of World War 11, it became apparent that mass production methods of forming would bc required in the aircraft industry if the large numbers of military aircraft needed were to be supplied, renewed attention was focussed on the problem of sheet metal formability. It was widely recognized that the formability requirements placed on sheet metals had been steadily increasing in severity through the years, especially as greater and greater emphasis was placed on streamlined designs with the resultant freer application of doubly curved surfaces. The recent advent of several new high strength aluminum alloys of more limited formability than some of the older alloys also served to emphasize the need for new approaches to the problem. It seemed evident that progress in the technology of sheet metal forming would depend to a great extent on the development of more reliable criteria for the evaluation of formability. Although the problem is admittedly very complex, the most logical approach appeared to be through studies of the fundamental material properties of sheet metals, especially under complex stress conditions simulating those prevailing in actual forming operations. Most previous investigations have failed to make full use of existing knowledge of fundamental material properties, and in many instances have attempted correlations with properties which are now recognized as being ambiguous in nature. This investigation was undertaken, therefore, with the aim of developing methods for the study of the flow and fracture of sheet meta1s under combined stresses, and of making use of such methods as might be developed in

Jan 1, 1947

By Jay A. Carpenter

IN six years the construction of Hoover Dam and the power plants probably will have reached the operating stage and this vast new source of power will then be continuously available for industry. The height of the darn will be 580 ft. and the average annual flow of the Colorado River is calculated at approximately 24,000 cu.ft. per sec. If this full head and average flow can be maintained the year round, about one million horsepower will be generated. The U. S. Reclamation engineers, taking into consideration the probable range in flow and head, have set the figure for power contracts at 660,000 firm horsepower, which can be assured at all times of the year. During the months of heavy run-off of water from the Colorado River Basin the power plants should be able to generate the full 1,000,000 hp. capacity of the power plants, so there will be 340,000 excess or secondary horsepower. The cost of firm power at the switchboard will be close to 2.15 mills per kw.-hr., equal to $14.05 per hp.-yr., and the cost of the secondary or off-peak power will be close to 0.8 mills per kw.-hr., or $5.22 per hp.-yr. In no place in the country can such cheap power be obtained today. The electrochemical industry is in a state of flux because the power costs from its old sources have increased so much (to $30 per hp.-yr. at Niagara) that the industries have had to seek new sources, so they have gone to Canada and Norway and built new plants.

Jan 1, 1932

By Franklin Bache

THERE seems to be in the public mind, and even in the minds of some coal-operators not experienced in mines subject to dust-explosions, a feeling that there has been something mysterious at the bottom of a number of recent American colliery-explosions. It has been declared in cases of accidents in mines regarded as particularly well equipped, in which every preventive precaution was said to have been taken, that the explosions were incomprehensible, and resulted from causes beyond the present knowledge of the practical coal-operator. But it is safe to say that no explosion has taken place which could not be explained by reasons well understood by most operators. The LT. S. Geological Survey Test Laboratory, recently inaugurated at Pittsburg for the reported purpose of investigating scientifically the matter of explosions in mines, will discover no new explanation of explosions. It call, however, co-ordinate the previous investigations of similar boards in England and on the Continent; and it may do a vast amount of good by promulgating widely, and in a form comprehensible by the most unlettered miner, certain facts and obvious deductions that cannot but have an effect in reducing the number and extent of the mine-disasters which, in the last few years, have been so terrible in frequency and magnitude. The only possible sources of explosions of any magnitude in coal-mines are : (1) explosives stored in quantity in the mine; (2) gases generated or liberated in the mine; and (3) coal-dust. Combinations of any of the three may, of course, take part in the result. The danger of any great loss of life from stored explosives alone is very remote. The simplest ordinary precaution forbids the presence, in one place underground, of any considerable quantity of explosives, and it would require an

Aug 1, 1909

By William J. Priestley

In the manufacture of gun forgings and other steel parts that, in service, are subject to sudden high stresses and shocks, it is most desirable to use steel possessing the greatest toughness and ductility possible without sacrifice of strength. In order to obtain this condition, it is necessary to procure steel that shows the highest possible elongation and reduction of area without lowering the tensile strength and clastic limit. Proper heat treatment of the steel can control this condition within certain limits. When heat treatment has failed to produce the desired results, metallurgists have used steels containing molybdenum, zirconium, vanadium, chromium, tungston, etc. The purpose of this paper is to describe a method by which these desired physical properties may be procured—by the elimination of certain impurities that inherently exist in steel made by the open-hearth process, and without the use of expensive alloys. Design of Gun Forgings In the manufacture of gun forgings, a certain elastic limit is fixed by the designer, and the walls of the gun arc made of the proper thickness, allowing a suitable factor of safety for the high stresses and sudden shocks that occur during gun firing. The clastic strength of the gun is about 1.4 times the stress set up at any point along the bore of the gun during firing with the maximum powder charge. As the stresses set up in the walls of the gun during firing are mostly "tangential," all physical tests are taken in this direction. Due to the length of the forgings, these tangential test bars are always taken at right angles and transverse to the direction of flow of the metal in forging. Furthermore, test bars taken across the grain of the metal will more frequently expose defects and foreign inclusions in the steel than will bars

Jan 1, 1922

By C. K. Ferguson, J. A. Klotz

This paper describes experimental investigations conducted at the California Research Corporation's model oil well. The first part describes filter loss from several drilling muds through bore hole walls during mud circulation and drill string rotation. The effect of mud properties and drill string rotation with mud circulation is described. Filtration from a bore hole full of drilling mud, not circulating, but under pressure for extended time periods, is also discussed. The second part describes filter loss to permeable formations from beneath a drilling bit where filter cuke has no opportunity to develop appreciable thickness. If potential flow theory is applied to predict filtrate invasion from this hole bottom, targe invasions arc calculated. But model well experimentation shows that filtrate invasion from the hole bottom is controlled by mud particles that penetrate the formation ahead of the bit. This experimentation provides data to estimate the effect of mud particle penetration on fluid loss to formation. The third part presents an estimate of mud filtration during drilling of a well. INTRODUCTION As oil wells are drilled by the rotary method, drilling mud circulates up the annulus between drill pine and well wall. Drillers adjust mud density so that the pressure at the bottom of the mud column is several hundred psi greater than the pressure of reservoir fluid. As a result of this pressure difference, the liquid part of the mud filters into the rock around the bore and mud solids deposit as a filter cake on the well wall. For many reasons the petrogleum industry, within the past 20 years, has spent much money and energy to determine the volume of mud filtrate that enters rock around the well bore and dedicated much research effort to reduce this volume. Among the reasons for attempts to determine the volume of mud filtrate and to reduce this volume are the following: 1. If filtrate damages the permeability of oil sand, the resultant damage to oil well productivity will depend on the distance that the filtrate invades the oil sand; reduction of filtrate volume may, therefore, increase well productivity. 2. Filtrate that penetrates shale sections may cause the shale to swell and to slough into the well bore. Uncontrolled sloughing may stick drill pipe. Reduction in filtrate volume may reduce drilling trouble. 3. Electric log resistivity curves are changed by invasion of a mud filtrate; the change depends on the depth to which filtrate invades. Knowledge of this depth is necessary before resistivity logs can be interpreted accurately. For these reasons, specifications the place an upper limit to drilling mud filter loss are now written into almost all drilling programs. These specifications are based on APT Recommended practice 29, Standard Field Procedure for Testing Drilling Fluids,' which describes a static filtration test operated at 100 psi filtration pressure and at ambient temperature. Although this test is adequate for mud control, it cannot be used to compare filtration properties of different muds. Schremp and Johnson' showed, for example, that mud with a low API filter loss does not necessarily have low filter loss at bottom hole temperature and pressure. Also, no information has been available about the effect of bottom hole mechanics (mild circulation, drill string rotation, and bit action) on mud filtration. This paper discusses filtration data measured in the California Research Corporation's model oil well, which models closely oil well bottom hole geometry and hydrodynamic conditions. The filtration processes that

Jan 1, 1955

By Jeffrey L. Thompson, Kenneth A. Gutschick, Robert C. Freas, Robert S. Boynton

Lime, the "versatile chemical," is, generally speaking, a calcined or burned form of limestone commonly known as quicklime, calcium oxide or calcia, or, when water is added, calcium hydroxide or slaked lime. Almost 40 different lime products are available, a fact which has contributed to the rather loose use of the term lime as well as to much confusion and misunderstanding. The term is frequently, albeit erroneously, used to denote almost any kind of calcareous material or finely ground form of limestone or dolomite. Lime is usually made from high-calcium or high-magnesium limestone, generally having a minimum of 97% combined carbonate content. Normally, high-calcium limes contain less than 5% MgO. When the lime is produced from a high-magnesium limestone, the product is referred to as dolomitic lime. Calcination, or the production of lime, has its origins in the earliest days of alchemy, with the general reaction class having been identified in an Arabic text printed in 1000 A.D. It was much later, however, in the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s before this basic reaction became understood from a scientific perspective. The production of lime has been so basic and simple that its underlying scientific principles have over the years received only intermittent investigation. Rather, much of the thought and inquiry has been directed toward the development of kilns. Thus, it has only been in the last 15 to 20 years that lime has received any concentrated scientific investigation relative to the thermodynamics and kinetics of the calcination and hydration reactions. Calcination refers to a broad class of reactions, of which the lime/limestone reaction is just one, wherein a substance is heated to less than its melting point, resulting in a weight gain or weight loss. In the calcination of limestone to produce lime, the basic chemical reaction is as follows: [CaCO3 (limestone) + heat (1000° to 1300°C)= 100 CaO (quicklime) + CO2 T 5644 or CaCO3 • MgCO3 (limestone) 10084 + heat (900°C to 1200°C) CaO • MgO (quicklime) + 2CO2 T 56 4088] While there is nearly universal agreement about the equilibrium conditions related to the limestone/lime reaction above, there have been numerous and varied calcination models developed for the reaction. Recent investigations have resulted in the development of the model shown in Fig. 1. From this model it can be seen that calcination is a function of both temperature and CO2 pressure. It does not, however, provide any indication of the rate at which the reaction takes place. Calcination is strongly time variant with different limestones. In a very broad sense this relates to the fact that the calcination reaction starts on the exterior surface of the limestone and then proceeds toward the center. As the calcination reaction takes place, the CO2 released at the reaction interface must make its way through the lime to the exterior surface. Therefore, because calcination is limited by gas diffusion to the surface of the partially calcined limestone, natural impurities in the stone, differences in crystallinity, grain boundary chemistry, density variations, and imperfections in the atomic lattice all play a significant role in

Jan 1, 1983

By O. Jay Myers

The war effort has furnished the necessary impetus for better magnesium foundry practice. Four or five years ago, there were but a few formulas in general use for core-sand mixtures for magnesium castings. Certain sands, binders, and inhibitors were specified and the proportions of these materials in each mixture were maintained between very narrow limits. As more and more war industries entered the field, much research was carried out and methods and practices were improved. Magnesium founding is still in a state of flux; therefore it is not uncommon to find one foundry spraying inhibitors on its cores, and another foundry using sand mixtures with incorporated protective agents. The basic core or dry-sand mold mixture for magnesium in use today is compounded with sand, core oil or resin binder, cereal, and moisture. Core oil or resin binder are added for baked strength while the cereal binder and moisture are for green strength. The normal mixtures (based on the weight of the sand) contain from o.5 to 1.5 per cent of both cereal binder and core oil, and the moisture content variesbetween 1.5 and 5 per cent. The ratio of core oil to cereal binder varies from 60:40 to 40:60, while the correct amount of moisture depends upon the method of coremaking. Protective Agents In all magnesium practice, protective agents are used in conjunction with the core and molding sands to prevent oxidation of the metal. The use of these inhibitors is not novel, but publications covering this field are not entirely adequate. Beck1 says: Magnesium alloys decompose water to form magnesium oxide, hydrogen being liberated in the process (Mg + H2O ? H2 ?+ MgO). This reaction results in the blackening of the skin and the appearance of areas of porosity on the casting surface, the cavities of which are filled with a grey oxide powder (these are termed 'burns'). Although sand cores for magnesium castings are thoroughly dried during the baking cycle, burning will take place on the casting5 unless the metal is protected properly. This type of burning is more difficult to define than the "water-magnesium" reaction cited by Beckl A possible explanation may lie in the following equation: 2Mg + O2—> 2MgO Here, the source of the oxygen is not water, but the air in the mold cavity, together with the chemically combined oxygen in the core-binding media. Generally, two methods are used to prevent this reaction from taking place.

Jan 1, 1945