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By Joseph W. Leonard

In a recent publication in the SME Transactions of September, 1975, Volume 258, entitled "Potential for Further Lowering Sulfur in Intensively Cleaned Coal at Mines", the writer discussed: (1) technical findings useful for the management of reserves to further lower sulfur in intensively cleaned coal, and (2) a future coal preparation plant concept for the intensive cleaning of sulfur. The purpose of this technical note is to ( I ) illustrate the nomographs that can be formed when recovery is phased in with previous work, (2) make note of the powerful potential for predicting future cleaning performance in unmined areas, and (3) discuss resulting mathematical interrelationships.

Jan 1, 1978

By John S. Crandall

THE mineral garnet, while ordinarily considered a semiprecious gem stone or a second-grade industrial gem, has also proved itself in the field of industrial abrasives. Its use is well known as a sandpaper grain, and as a sandblasting sand its qualities are rapidly becoming recognized in more and more industries. Production of garnet as an abrasive is confined chiefly to two areas in the United States, North Creek, N. Y., where the Barton Mines Corp. operates, and Emerald Creek, Benewah County, Idaho, where Occurrence: Garnets in the Emerald Creek area occur as disseminated crystals in beds of micaceous schists of the Belt Series, which in this section are estimated to be close to 4000 ft thick. The schists are high in alumina and silica with iron, manganese, and magnesium. Subjection of the original sediments to high temperatures and pressures caused metamorphism to take place with the resultant re-crystallization of high alumina-silica minerals such as garnet, mainly spessartite and almandite varieties, cyanite, sillimanite, chlorite, actinolite, tourmaline, biotite, and muscovite, with minor amounts of ilmenite and magnetite. Quartz is also present in considerable amounts. Fast erosion of the soft mica schists on exposure to weathering has created extensive alluvial deposits containing up to 10 pct garnet having a maximum grain size of 3/16 in. These alluvial sands and gravels are now being treated for the recovery of garnet sands. Treatment: Overburden of 1 to 4 ft must be stripped to expose the garnetiferous gravels. This operation and the subsequent feeding of the gravels to a trommel-screen washing plant are performed by a % yd dragline. The trommel-screen openings are 3/16 in., thus allowing a separation and concentration based on grain size, since over 95 pct of total free garnets are minus 3/16 in. All plus 3/16-in. material is wasted at this point. The minus 3/16-in. material is further concentrated in a sand-drag classifier, where the slimes and silts are washed out and wasted. The sand product from the classifier varies in garnet content from 20 to 60 pct according to the particular section of ground being worked. This sand product is trucked to a jig plant where two sized fractions are made in a trommel-screen. The minus 3/16-in. plus 10-mesh portion is fed to a Pan-American two cell 42-in. jig. The minus 10-mesh portion is treated in a Bendelari three cell 42-in. jig. The jig concentrates are combined to form a 98 pct garnet sand. The jig tailings contain 3 to 5 pct garnet which is mainly flat crystals and chips which will not settle into the jig hutch. Subsequent treatment of these tailings in a scavenger jig followed by drying and electromagnetic separation will, according to tests, reduce the garnet losses in the tailings to something around 1 pct. Jig treatment of this feed approaches ideal as the major portion of the garnet crystals are the natural dodecahedrons and so are, in general, close to spherical. The specific gravity of pure garnet is 4.2, while the next heaviest mineral in the feed is cyanite with a specific gravity of 3.6, then quartz with specific gravity of 2.6. The garnet concentrate is practically free of quartz. The predominant impurity is cyanite which amounts to about 1.5 pct. The rod-like crystals of cyanite appear to up-end in the jig and go into the hutch with the garnets. Some ilmenite and magnetite appear in the concentrate but in very minor amounts. Subsequent washing in a sand-drag classifier removes fine silts and iron oxides. The gravel feed to the washing plant will average 8 pct recoverable garnet content. Concentration ratio in this plant runs about 2.5 to 1. Washing-plant concentrate as fed to the jigs will average 45 pct garnet by weight. Concentration ratio of jigging runs about 2.2 to 1. The garnet concentrate is dried in a rotary oil-fired drier and then fed to vibrating screens in closed circuit with crushing rolls. Practically any grit from 10-mesh down to 150-mesh grain size may be graded to specifications in two 3-deck vibrating screens. The present production, however, is approximately 75 pct No. 36, 15 pct No. 60. and the balance No. 80 and No. 100. Metal-screen cloth is used for sizes down to 36 mesh. From 36 mesh and finer, silk-screen cloth is used since it has less tendency to blind. All garnet sand is bagged in 100 lb self-sealing, sleeve-type paper bags. Practically all shipments are made in carload lots. Car loading is convenient since the plant is in Fernwood on the tracks of a branch line of the Milwaukee railroad. Truck shipments can and are made occasionally.

Jan 1, 1951

By J. R. Johanson

With the continuing development of automatic operations, it is important that reliable discharge rates through hoppers and bins be obtained for bulk solids. In most applications a feeder is used to control the feed rate. The selection of this feeder size is usually based on the rated ability of the feeder to move material without regard to the capability of the material to flow through the opening in the hopper onto the feeder. The dis charge rate through a given hopper opening may vary from zero to a theoretical maximum depending on the flow properties of the material. This paper presents an equation for the maximum discharge rate for a bulk material as a function of the hopper shape, the opening size and the flow properties of the material. Discharge-rate tests on various materials indicate good agreement with calculated values for opening sizes from a fraction of an inch to several feet. As part of a program to develop improved design criteria for bulk storage and handling facilities, a specific study of the methods involved in calculating the rate of discharge of bulk solids from hoppers and bins has been made. This study is closely related to earlier work done on the prevention of flow problems through the choice of proper design geometry of hoppers and bins1. The present paper is an extension of this earlier work, and therefore many of the concepts previously derived and explained will be used without explanation. Two types of flow will be considered: plane-strain flow in a wedge-shaped hopper and axial-symmetry flow in a conical hopper. The literature contains many studies on discharge rate for regular-shaped dry particles2*3 such as glass beads, lead shot and coarse dry sand. However, the work is empirical in nature, and it is difficult to extrapolate the given information to apply to moist, sticky materials typical of many industries. Some studies4 have shown a decrease in discharge rate with an increased moisture content of the material. However, no attempt was made to correlate the discharge rate with moisture. The method of calculating discharge rate presented in this paper was derived analytically from the basic knowledge of the flow of frictional, cohesive, granular solids, The equation includes the effect of material cohesion (stickiness), hopper configuration, opening size and bulk density of the material. THEORETICAL WORK The basic assumptions made in deriving the discharge rate equation are as follows: 1) The material is a frictional, cohesive, granular solid. 2) The flow is considered continuous and without significant density change. 3) The material at the hopper opening forms a continuously failing arch that is in dynamic equilibrium. 4) The strength of the material in the arch, which must be overcome for the arch to fail, is caused by the pressure in the flowing mass near the hopper opening. 5) This pressure at the hopper opening can be calculated5. If we consider the dynamic equilibrium of an arch of uniform thickness such as that shown in Fig. 1,

Jan 1, 1965

By Paul A. Filteau

Asbestos ranks among the leading minerals produced in Canada. It is also mined in Russia, Rhodesia, South Africa, Cyprus, Italy, the U.S.A., Japan, China and several other countries. The most abundant variety, chrysotile, and also the most valuable form of asbestos produced, makes up 90% of the world's supply. In Canada, chrysotile is found in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Newfoundland as well as in Quebec, the latter accounting for almost 90% of all the fibre produced in this country. A number of developments emerging this year could make 1968 a record production and export year for Canada's asbestos mining industry. Asbestos fibre consumption in increasing in the U.S., Canada, up 10% to date this year, Japan and in Latin America. Demand in Western Europe is again on the upswing, following a cut-back last year. As a result, shipments from Canadian mines for the first eight months of this year reached some 916,968 tons versus 873,402 in 1967, an increase of 43,566 tons or 5%. Indications are that Canadian asbestos production will for the first time ever top 1.5 million tons in 1968.

Jan 1, 1969

By Wallace W. Wilson

This DaoerAA calls to attention for the first time, to the writer's knowledge, a purported recovery of oil by substantially horizontal gas cycling that is considerably in excess of 50 per cent of the oil originally in place. The average angle of dip along the path of travel of the gas is less than one degree of arc. The best recovery by gas cycling previously brought to the writer's attention1 occurred in the case of the Mile Six Field in Peru, where about 68 per cent of the original oil in place has so far been recovered. In this case, however. the recovery was greatly aided 1)y the high dip angle of about 17.5". An approximate estimate of recovery was made by the method developed by the writer' for the case of the Cook Ranch Field, using an average relative permeability ratio function dictated by past experience with a number of good quality sandstones. A result of about 40 per cent recovery of the original oil in place wa* obtained after the 8.5 pore volumes of cumulative gas cycling undergone by the Cook Ranch Field. Tile writer desires to emphasize what appears to him as the sound engineering practiced at Cook Ranch, and also the care attending the taking of data and the high quality of the calculations made. It is impossible to take issue on factual grounds with any of the conclusions drawn in the paper. It is, however, desired to point out the difficulty of explaining the unexpectedly favorable oil recovery on ordinary theoretical grounds. It would be of interest to know whether relative permeability ratios have been measured on the Cook sand. The operator is inclined to attribute some of the excess benefit to settling of the oil across the bedding planes into the lower part of the sand. It is difficult for the writer to appreciate the importance of such an effect, inasmuch as the concomitant opening of excessive vacated pore space in the upper part of the sand would he expected to cause excessive bypassing of the gas. REFERENCE 1. Welge. H. J.: "A Simplified Method for Computing Oil Recovery by (Gas or Water Drive." Trans. AIME, (1952), 195, 91. AUTHOR'S REPLY TO MR. WELGE Welge has poined out clearly the difficulty of applying material-balance procedures in calculating the Performance of low-pressure, dispersed gas injection operations. There can be no argument that even with the most favorable assumptions of K,/K,, and with cumulative gas cycling in excess of normal expectations, the calculated oil recovery will be considerably less than the 72.5 per cent recovery realized from this project to Jan. 1, 1951. There probably are at least two reasons for the unusually high recovery from this reservoir, the effects of which would be difficult or impossible to calculate by known methods: 1. The operator did not use the same injection wells for the entire operation, and exercised considerable control over producing GOR by changing the locations of injection wells whenever well performance indicated excessive bypassing. Fifty-six wells were used for injection, not over 29 of which were in use simultaneously. This procedure resulted in frequent shifting of the fluid movement patterns in the reservoir and undoubtedly increased the ultimate recovery. The writer knows of no satisfactory procedure for calculating the effect of this practice. 2. Vertical movement of oil across the bedding planes of the reservoir rock hy gravity drainage tended to maintain a relatively high oil saturation, and hence a favorable K,/K, ratio, in the lower sections of the reservoir. As pointed out by Welge, this condition has aggravated the tendency for high producing GOR, but at the same time it has resulted in increased oil recovery. As may be seen from the performance charts for the various battery areas, operating (GOR'S have been quite high for the last several years of reported history.

Jan 1, 1952

By E. G. Deane

A METHOD of top slicing has been devised at the Miami Copper Co.'s mine at Miami, Ariz., which differs radically in some ways from the customary methods of top slicing. The area of that section of the orebody in which top slicing is used is about 800 ft. square. The ore, while for the most part soft, is, nevertheless, considerably harder than the capping. The latter is siliceous, seldom containing any clay or other binding material, and breaks into fine particles so that it runs like sand if given the opportunity. Because of these facts, and because the ore is above the average grade of the mine ore, it has been mined by top slicing. Haulage levels are opened up 150 ft. apart, vertically, with two sublevels between at 50-ft. intervals, to facilitate the building of ore chutes. These sublevels are used during slicing for distributing air in the ventilation system. On the haulage level the drifts are spaced on 50-ft. centers, and raises along these drifts are also spaced on 50-ft. centers, except the incline raises as hereafter noted. The raises are cribbed where necessary. Where the wear will be excessive, ¼ -in. iron plates are spiked to the top of every third set of cribbing, for its protection. When top slicing was first used, an attempt was made to carry a slicing face from fifty to several hundred feet long. Timber and other, supplies were brought in through long drifts from an auxiliary shaft. Great difficulty was experienced in keeping these drifts open, the side pressure breaking the posts and the top weight breaking, both caps and posts. Furthermore, the men could not work efficiently while these drifts were .being repaired. The slicing faces advanced irregularly, due to varying conditions, and in many ways the results were not all that could be desired. It was then decided to divide the slicing area into blocks 200 ft. square and this wins later changed to 250 ft. square.

Jan 9, 1916

By Walter Miller

Although confident of its ability to meet any demands that may be made, the petroleum-refining industry is not complacent about the situation and realizes that the quantities of petroleum products to be furnished are so enormous and so far beyond what was previously estimated that the full cooperative effort of the industry must be exerted. Establishment by the President in May of the Office of Petroleum Coordinator for Defense with Secretary of the Interior Ickes at its head, plus the formation of the Petroleum Industry Council for Defense, in November, provide the channels for united endeavor within the industry and the means for gearing that endeavor in full harmony with the nation's needs. Great strides have been made and a rapid understanding of the situation and the magnitude of the task is being attained by all concerned. Refining, by constant study and development, by willingness to experiment and install new processes, and to replace older plants with more efficient equipment, had kept on a high plane of efficiency and progress. Working under the free competitive system, it built up its establishments until, as expressed in last year's report, it was easily able to supply any domestic demand that might be placed on it. Turning the United States into the arsenal not only of itself but of the united nations resisting aggression, however, in- creased the call for practically all petroleum products and in particular 100-octane aviation gasoline and high-viscosity aviation lubricating oils. Refining Capacity With over four million barrels a day of crude oil being charged to stills at the year's end, oil refining had broken all records and faced the necessity of further increasing its size to supply the ever-increasing demand for products, some of which, like 100-octane aviation gasoline, were research laboratory curiosities a few years ago. Although the refining capacity of the United States is listed at 4,860,000 bbl., about 800,000 bbl. of this is economically unavailable because of plant location or type. To meet the increasing needs, additional capacity of another half million barrels may have to be built in suitable locations and designed with an eye toward maximum production of aviation gasoline but with inherent flexibility to make it possible to vary and interchange with production of motor gasoline, furnace oils, and other products as necessity dictates. An interesting side light on this refining capacity question was an enquiry from official Washington for knowledge as to any idle refineries of something of the order of 10,000-bbl. daily crude capacity that might be purchased for bodily removal to Russia. 100-Octane Aviation Gasoline Largest of the tasks confronting refiners at the year's end was that of raising

Jan 1, 1942

By Robert J. McNally

There are three primary plant nutrients-nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium--expressed in any fertilizer compound as percent N, percent P2O5, and percent K20, in that order. This article will be concerned with the first two. The chief source of P205 is phosphate rock. As found in the western states phosphate rock is essentially tricalcium phosphate-calcium fluoride (fluorpatite). As such, it is quite water insoluble. The principal phosphate fertilizer used is single superphosphate, produced by reacting sulfuric acid with phosphate rock in the proper proportions.

Oct 1, 1956

By Frank R. Hunter

Introduction Scope of Work This paper represents the results of an investigation of the presence, amounts, and degree of concentration of heavy minerals found in the pulp of the phosphate flotation plant at Peace Valley, Fla., which is operated by the International Minerals and chemical Corporation of Chicago. In this paper, heavy minerals are those, excepting collophane, that sink in acetylene tetrabromide with a specific gravity of 2.95. Percentages of heavy minerals at several points of the flowsheet and the species of minerals have been determined. Some information as to the screen size of the minerals has been acquired. Previous Work All previous published reports or investigations of the deposits of heavy minerals in Florida have been limited to present beach sands. The mining operations conducted by the Humphreys Gold Corp. about seven miles east of Jacksonville along an ancient shore line have been described in trade journals, but descriptions of the minerals have been lacking. Commercial grades of ilmenite, zircon, and rutile are produced on a large scale. Papers have been published on heavy minerals found on the Florida beaches.1-6 Location "International's" Peace Valley flotation plant is in south-central Polk County, Fla. about eight miles south of Bartow and along the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The mine surrounds the plant and includes about 1500 acres of the phosphatic lands in this area. Geology General Setting All of the rock underlying the area is almost horizontal. The oldest bed exposed is part of the Hawthorn phosphatic limestone of Miocene age. This outcrops in the stream bed of the Peace River about one mile east of the plant. Elsewhere the Hawthorn is covered except where it has been exposed by mining operations. The Bone Valley formation of Pliocene age, which is the phosphatic stratum extensively mined in this area, unconforma-bly overlies the Hawthorn. Resting unconformably upon the Bone Valley formation are Pleistocene (?) terrace deposits of unconsolidated quartz sand which comprise the overburden of the phosphate ore. Stratigraphy Hawthorn formation: "Bedrock" of the pebble phosphate deposits is a cream to white colored, sandy, dense limestone containing varying amounts of small grains and nodules of collophane. The upper surface of the formation is undulating and irregular showing evidence of former

Jan 1, 1949

By M. Hall, Y. P. Chugh, A. Okunola

Effects of moisture absorption on the behavior of the Dykersburg shale overlying Harrisburg coal seam in Southern Illinois are presented in this paper. Cylindrical samples of the shale 2.5 cm in diameter and 5.0 cm long were studied for weight gain and swelling strains at 90, 95, and 100 percent relative humidity and under immersed water conditions. After attaining equilibrium conditions, the samples were studied for changes in the strength and deformation behavior. The depth of moisture penetration was measured using the Vickers microhardness measurements. Using the basic mass transfer concepts, effective diffusion coefficients were computed for the shale.

Jan 1, 1981

By P. E. Demmler

PHOSPHORUS combines with copper in various proportions, forming true alloys, some of which are of commercial importance. These materials find wide application as deoxidizers and as a means of introducing phosphorus into other alloys, as in phosphor-bronze. Phosphor-coppers containing 10 and 15 per cent. of phosphorus are the commercial grades that are most generally offered. Each has certain advantages when used in making other alloys. The 10 per cent. grade of phosphor-copper has an advantage over the 15 per cent. in that it has a much lower melting point and can be prepared by certain methods with a much lower loss in phosphorus. The 15 per cent. grade has the advantage of lower freight rates per unit of phosphorus and, by the method to be described, a uniform product can be prepared with practically no loss of phosphorus. Alloys of copper and phosphorus containing any desired percentage of phosphorus lower than 15 per cent. can be prepared by melting together the requisite amounts of copper and 15 per cent. phosphor-copper. Processes for making phosphor-copper may be divided into two classes as follows: (1) Those depending on the smelting of phosphate rock or superphosphate of calcium with copper or copper-bearing materials, and coal or other carbonaceous material; (2) those depending on the direct combination of metallic copper and elemental phosphorus. A number of formulas for preparing phosphor-copper according to the first method have been published. The Metal, Industry' gives-the following: Superphosphate of calcium, 60 lb.; granulated copper, 301b.; finely powdered coal, 10 lb. Similar formulas are given by Brannt2 and others, and detail 'variations are covered by patents, such as those of L A Jeffs3 and H A Webster.4

Jan 8, 1920

By C. F. Riisness, E. R. Parker

THAT grain size has a great effect on the mechanical properties of metals has been recognized for a long time. Bassett and Davis1 in 1919 did excellent work in [ ] determining the effect of grain size on the hardness of brass. About the same time Jeffries2 and Sykes3 ascertained the effect of grain size on the strength and ductility of several metals at temperatures ranging from 80°K. to their melting points. When creep was recognized as an important property of metals, those engaged in the study of this property tried to determine the effect of grain size 4-9 on creep rates. Unfortunately, most of the investigations were conducted on only two grain sizes, often designated simply as "fine" and "coarse." It is well known that at high temperatures coarse-grained test bars creep less than fine-grained bars. The relation between grain size and size of test bar, [ ] however, has been frequently overlooked. In his early work, Jeffries2 showed that the number of grains in the cross section has a more important influence on the properties of the material than the actual grain size. More recently Hanson and Sandford10 and Pell-Walpole,11 in their measurements of the creep and tensile properties of tin, tested a wide range of grain sizes and correlated the grain size with the strength. Hanson9 later established the relation between the number of grains in the cross section and the. creep rate: At high temperatures, generally a coarse-grained structure is considered superior in creep to a fine-grained structure, but it is evident that for a given bar size continuously increasing the grain size will

Jan 1, 1944

By H. L. Eiselstein, F. P. Huston, B. B. Betty

An extensive program for the establishment of creep data on high-nickel alloys has been in progress during the past seven years. This paper presents the accumulated data on two solid solution alloys, cold-drawn, annealed Monel and cold-drawn, annealed Inconel. Data on these two alloys in other conditions will be published at a later date. Monel, a nickel-copper alloy, is normally considered a corrosion-resistant material, but it will be shown that it also has considerable creep strength, validating its use at temperatures up to and including 900°F. Inconel, a nickel-chromium-iron alloy, is definitely a heat-resisting alloy possessing good creep strength and oxidation resistance up to iiooOF., and because of its oxidization resistance has been used successfully at much higher temperatures for lightly stressed parts. The literature contains but meager data on the creep properties of high-nickel alloys. Howevcr, Bennett and McAdam have presented a substantial quantity of creep data for cold-drawn Monel.1 The material as tested was not representative of mill production for it was cold-drawn to a reduction of area of 40 per cent as against 13 per cent, which is the mill standard for Monel. Twenty-two individual tests were run on each alloy in the investigation described in the following pages. The data and curves presented herein represent an integration of all the tests to obtain the most accurate picture of the creep properties of these alloys. Neither of the two alloys was found to be embrittled by the combination of temperature and stress, as evaluated by room-temperature tensile and impact tests that were made following creep testing. These data indicate that no tendency toward embrittlement exists. It is recommended that 6300 lb. per sq. in. be used as a working stress for cold-drawn, annealed Monel at 900°F. and 13,200 lb. per sq. in. for cold-drawn, annealed Inconel at the same temperature. Table 8 lists recommended working stresses, based on 80 per cent of the stress to produce a minimum creep rate of 0.01 per cent per 1000 hr., for Monel and some steels. Equipment The equipment used for these tests consists of Colville creep-testing machines manufactured by the Tinius Olsen Testing Machine Co. The load is adjusted, depending on the stress level, to give an error in the stress of not more than ± 0.1 per cent. This is based on considerations of lever sensitivity and the stress used for the standard (A.S.T.M. Tentative Standard E22-38T) 0.505-in. diameter creep specimen having a 2-in. gauge length. The single-specimen furnaces are provided with primary and secondary windings, from

Jan 1, 1945

By Eugene W. Pearson

In a marked departure from conventional practice, the Power Plate process combines the two unit operations of leaching and electrowinning into a single continuous step for direct recovery of copper from sulfide concentrates, cement copper, copper scrap, and copper oxide slurries. Considering how environmental controls are pre- venting development of smelters for additional capacity or new construction, the Power Plate process provides a welcome pollution-free alternative to the smelting-electrorefining routes. And its low capital investment and low operating costs also recommend it to copper producers who are now using or investigating various hydrometallurgical methods.

Jan 12, 1974

By H. F. Moore

AT PRESENT, I am connected with an investigation of the so-called fatigue of metals under stress. So far we have studied the more fundamental and simple case of the repeated stress, without the additional complexity of impact, which might bring in other factors. We feel that this investigation, which has been in active progress for a little over a year, has shown more conclusively than has been shown before that steel under repeated applications of stress, reversed from positive to negative, will not fail below some fairly clearly defined limiting stress that,, so far we can see, does not bear any definite relation to the ordinary elastic limit, being as large as the elastic limit in some cases and about one-half the elastic limit in others. I might be asked, first, what is fatigue. The old view is summed up "in the word "crystallization." The idea was that under repeated stress the material changed its crystalline structure. I do not know of any evidence in favor of the theory that metals materially change their crystalline structure under repeated stress. The crystals are broken under repeated stress. The second theory, advanced by Bauschinger, the German scientist, is that under repeated stress some inherent property of the material changes its elastic limit; it is an inherent property of the material, possibly some property of the amorphous cement between the crystal. The third view is that all fatigue of metals is the result of the spread of damage from little localized overstresses. I do not feel justified in stating my positive belief in the third view as against the second, but I have yet to run across a case of failure of steel or other metal, either in the laboratory or in service, that could not be explained by the gradual spread of damage from some nucleus. We have found, for example, that it is possible to subject a homogeneous steel, like Armco iron or a 0.90 per cent. carbon steel, that hag been thoroughly annealed, to one hundred million reversals f stress as high as the elastic limit of the steel with no sign of failure. We stopped the test at one hundred million because the machines Were required for other work. Forty-five days, continuous running at 1500 revolutions a minute is required to produce one hundred million repetitions. On the other hand, a complex structured steel, like a chrome-nickel steel that

Jan 6, 1921

By J. Cervik, P. C. Thakur, S. D. Lauer

Methane drainage by cross-measure boreholes on retreat longwall faces can be a viable alternative to the vertical gob degas boreholes under favorable circumstances. The research was done in a mine working Pittsburgh coal seam in northern West Virginia under USBM Cooperative Agreement No. 14-09-0050-3252. The study was the first application of this technique to Pittsburgh coal seam. A total of 14 small diameter, inclined boreholes were drilled over a retreat longwall panel from gate roads, to intersect the overlying coal seams. All boreholes were manifolded to a pipeline and the gob gas was extracted by a surface exhaust fan. The methane capture ratio was poor at 7% to 18% at various stages of the longwall panel. A vertical gob degas borehole captured an additional 20% gas. Poor results were due to premature failures of the cross-measure boreholes leading to air leakage. For better performance, the boreholes should be drilled from a point 30 to 45 m (98 to 148 ft) from longwall pillar over the largest chain pillar. The standpipe should be grouted for at least 6 m (20 ft), and the entry containing boreholes and the pipeline must be supported to ensure access for maintenance and optimization of methane capture. Coursing the ventilation air around longwall such that it forces methane migration toward cross-measure boreholes can further improve methane capture. The optimum vertical inclination is 45º ± 10º.

Jan 1, 1986

By Thomas O. Breitling

The Mill Design Session at the Annual Meeting in New York next February will have a total of four papers. All of these papers will be concerned with the subject of in-plant dust in the hard-rock mining industry. The emphasis on efficient dust collection is timely, because dust is a problem not yet adequately covered in AIME papers. In general, dust collection should be the step following dust suppression. Dust collection and its return to the ore recovery circuit, or its waste to tailing are sources of added operating cost. If possible, dust should be kept in the main stream of ore flow by suppression.

Jan 1, 1970

By R. H. Thurston

Jan 1, 1879

By M. R. Tek, F. F. Craig, J. O. Wilkes, C. S. Goddin

The waterflood performance of a water-wet, stratified system with crossflow is computed by a finite difference procedure. The effects of five dimensionless parameters on tile oil displacement efficiency, water saturation con-tour.7 and crossflow rates are evaluated in the absence of gravity forces. Crossflow due to viscous and capillary forces is shown to exert a significant effect on oil recovery in a field-scale model of a two-layered. water-wet sandstone reservoir. The crossflow is at a maximum in the vicinity of the front advancing in the more permeable layer. Under favorable mobility ratio conditions, the comparted oil recovery with crossflow always is interrnerliate between that predicted for a uniform reservoir and that for a layered reservoir with no crossflow. INTRODUCTION The important erects of reservoir heterogeneity on waterflood performance are commanding increased attention in the technical literature. Much of this attention is centered on two categories of layered reservoirs: those in which layers are non-communicating and those in which crossflow of fluids occurs between the layers. In the first category, the reservoir is assumed to consist of discrete layers, each uniform within itself and differing from the others only in such properties as thickness, porosity and absolute permeability. The performance within each layer is calculated by one-dimensional flow theory, and the performance of the total reservoir is obtained by summing individual layer performances. Capillary and gravity effects usually are not considered. Representative publications dealing with thi5 type of reservoir are those of Stiles,' Dykstra and Parsons,' Hiatt,3 Warren and Cosgrove' and Higgins and Leighton." Prediction of performance for reservoirs in the second category is considerably more difficult since viscous, capillary and gravitational forces all play important roles in causing crossflow between layers. A number of authors have investigated the simpler problem of two-dimensional displacement flow in a stratified system with a mobility ratio of unity and negligible capillary and gravity effects.'; Others have considered two-dimensional, non-steady-state flow of a single, slightly compressible fluid in a stratified reservoir. A limited number of laboratory oil displacement tests in layered models with crossflow have been reported. Miscible floods (with resultant zero capillary forces) in layered five-spot models were conducted by Dyes and Braun," who studied the effect of mobility ratio with zero gravity forces, and by Craig et al. 12 who studied the effect of gravity forces at constant mobility ratio. Waterfloods in layered five-spot models (with cross-tlow due to capillary, viscous and gravity forces) were conducted by Gaucher and Lindley,"' who showed the effect of gravity forces in causing underrunning of the injected water and by Carpenter, Bail and Bobek, 14 who demonstrated the reliability of Rapoport's" dimension-less parameters for scaling layered systems. Waterfloods in rectangular layered models were conducted by Richardson and Perkins."' who investigated the effect of velocity at constant mobility ratio and with zero gravity forces, and by Hutchinson," who studied the effects of varying mobility, layer permeability and layer thickness ratios. The differential equations which rigorously describe waterflooding in a heterogenous porous medium are non-linear and do not facilitate analytical solution. By using finite difference approximations it is possible to obtain a solution to any desired degree of accuracy. Such a solution, using an alternating direction implicit procedure (ADJP), is described by Douglas, Peaceman and Rachford.18 In the present study, a computer program using ADJP explores systematically the effects of important parameters on waterflood performance of a two-dimensional, two-layered, field-scale model of a water-wet sandstone system. Particular attention is given to evaluation of the water saturation contours and crossflow rates at the interface between layers to gain improved understanding of the crossflow mechanism. PROCEDURE BASIC: FLOW EQUATIONS The basic flow equations for two-dimensional, two-phase, immiscible, incon~pressible flow in a porous medium are:

Jan 1, 1967

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