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By W. J. West, T. D. Mueller, J. E. Warren

The authors have presented valuable information on the influence of the interfacial tension and the contact angle on the recovery efficiency of the waterdrive process. It is considered, however, that the following points deserve a closer examination. 1. As pointed out by Wyllie and Spangler1 the displacement pressure PD i.e. the pressure required to initiate the displacement of the wetting phase from the core, is a measure of the maximum pore diameter dmax. If the capillary pressure Pe as a function of the wetting

Jan 1, 1956

By Louis D. Huntoon

The Porcupine gold area, located on the Hudson Bay slope of northern Ontario, has produced over $100,000,000 in gold and has paid more than $28,000,000 in dividends, since the first real production in 1912. The character of the ore has been studied by the geologists of the Bureau of Mines of Ontario, the geological staffs of the operating mines, and engineers commissioned to examine properties there. What information the Government has is free to everybody; the geological staffs of the several properties also give to the visiting engineer what information regarding ore deposition they possess, and the author wishes to express his indebtedness to the geologists of the Ontario Bureau of Mines and the staffs of the operating mines for their free discussion of geological questions. This paper is based on the examination of several properties, various petrographic reports, not only on specimens from Porcupine but from elsewhere in northern Ontario, and interviews with Government and mine staff geologists. The petrographic work has been done by Prof. R. J. Colony, of Columbia University. Geological History The geological history of the district may be summarized as follows: The outpouring of great floods of lava accompanied by beds of tuff, flow following flow; the contacts of different flows can be seen in various parts of the camp. This period mas followed by an uplift and the production of the Temiskaming sediments by erosion. Later, dynamic action turned the sediments and underlying lavas on edge; this was followed by the intrusion of igneous rocks—in the Porcupine area the quartz porphyry, which is of such great importance in connection with the gold deposits. Doctor Burrows says: "The intrusions of quartz porphyry have in some way influenced the deposition or location of the gold but it is not likely the porphyry has been the source of the gold-bearing solutions." This statement of Doctor Burrows I indorse. The formation of non-gold bearing quartz veins followed the intrusion of the porphyry. These veins occur along or near the contact of

Jan 1, 1923

For the year ending February, 1916 PRESIDENT WILLIAM L. SAUNDERS,1 NEW YORK, N. Y. PAST PRESIDENTS CHARLES F. RAND,1 NEW YORK, N. Y. BENJAMIN B. THAYER,3 NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT PHILIP N. MOORE,1 ST. Louis, Mo. TREASURER GEORGE C. STONE,1 NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY EMERITUS ROSSITER W. RAYMOND NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY BRADLEY STOUGHTON, NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 1, 1916

By Brooks J. Klimley, Daniel M. Higgins, Grover R. Castle

Measuring The Economic Viability Of Resource Projects (A Western Surface Coal Project) The bankers approach to the analysis of a new "green fields" mining project is similar but different from the approach that the pining company might take. The purpose of this paper shall be to discuss the techniques that are used by mining companies and bankers as they try to measure the economic viability of mining projects. The analysis of these new projects (by both the mining companies and the banker) is based on a projected revenue stream and not on historical earnings or past perfomance because these projects are start up situations with no history to look to. The starting point in the analysis of these projections is the choice of the assumptions to be used in preparing these projections. After the assumptions have been determined and the projections are prepared then the projections are submitted to various tests in order to determine whether the project measures up to previously agreed upon minimum standards. In order to illustrate the analytical procedures used in evaluating a mineral project the writer has constructed a hypothetical case involving the development of a western surface coal mine (Property). The basic data in connection with this hypothetical new project is described in the next section of this paper. After the Description of the Project is a section which shows the type of analysis that a mining company might prepare in order to approach a bank for a loan and the final section illustrates the type of analysis that a bank might prepare in evaluating this loan request. Description Of The Project or Basic Data In Connection With Undeveloped Western Surface Coal Property An independent mining/geological Consultant's report has been completed on the Property which confirms that the Property contains 175 million tons of economically recoverable coal subdivided into the following reserve categories in accordance with U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey definitions: Measured or Proven 90,000,000 Indicated or Probable 50,000,000 Inferred or Possible 35,000,000 The owners of the reserves have chosen to drill up those reserves that are nearest to the subcrop and have not spent as much time on those portions of the Property which are on the fringes of the deposit where the overburden is thicker because the stripping ratio and hence the operating costs and capital requirements are higher down dip. The proven reserves are based on an average thickness of 80 feet, of which a mining recovery of 90% is projected. The overburden thickness varies from 0' to 280' with an average thickness of 127'. The overburden consists mainly of scoria, sandstone, gravel, shale and silty clay. 134 holes were cored (and analysis done on five foot increments) in the measured reserve on the following spacing: 100 foot centers to define the burn line; 1,320 foot centers to define the early mining areas; 2,640 foot centers to identify the later mining areas.

Jan 1, 1985

By Ligon Johnson

. Only the acute phase of the smelter fume problem is new. The problem itself is older than the Christian era. While both lead and copper were mined and crudely smelted some 3000 years ago, it was not until the Roman occupation of the Iberian . Peninsula and the British Isles, which occurred but shortly before the beginning of the Christian era, that there was any evidence of smelting operations on a scale sufficiently large to permit a fume problem. Around Huelva, Spain, are found more than 30 million tons of slag from lead smelting conducted there by the Romans. Pliny tells US that more than 20,000 slaves were employed in the Iberian mines. Extensive mining and smelting by the Romans in England and Wales were coincident with the Iberian proceedings. These metallurgical operations were upon a sufficiently large scale to produce marked results both upon the surrounding country and the smelter workers, but, as they were those of a conqueror upon conquered soil, conducted by slaves, imperial Rome failed to recognize that such a thing as a smoke problem did or could arise, and whatever fume question there may have been at that time remained a question only to those who had no chance to answer any phase of it. The smelting operations of the Romans extended over about 400 years, and little is recorded of lead and copper smelting from that time until the 16th century. From the revival beginning at this period up to the present century, the growth of smelting has been comparatively gradual. In Great Britain, smelting was conducted almost wholly in localities where metallurgical operations were of paramount importance, and the communities .that grew up in smelter localities were due to and dependent upon the mines and smelters. This fact had much to do with the comparative freedom of British smelting from burdensome fume litigation and legislation. To a lesser degree these conditions applied to the German operations which, when coupled with the further fact that most of the early German operations were to a greater or less degree fiscal workings of Prussia, Saxony and Brunswick-Hanover, accounts for

Jan 1, 1918

By Marius R. Campbell

Does mine-sampling show the commercial value of a coal, and if so, how should it be done ? This question is often asked, but seldom answered. During the past summer, while engaged in securing coal for the Government coal-testing plant at St. Louis, I had an excellent opportunity to obtain information on t,his subject, and the results seem to furniih an answer to the question propounded above. Sampling for the U. 8. Geological Survey Coal- Testing Plant. In organizing the work of the testing-plant, it was decided that coal, in car-load lots only, would be accepted for testing; also that this coal should be loaded under the immediate supervision of a representative of the plant, so as to be certain that the car-load sample would be representative. As an additional check on the work, two mine-samples were to be collected from each mine visited, and these samples, as well as the sample from the car when it was received at the testing-plant, were to be carefully analyzed at the chemical laboratory established in connection with the plant and operated under the direction of Prof. N W. Lord of the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Mine-Samp1ing.—Mine-samples were collected with great care by me and my assistants, Messrs. J. Shober Burrows, John W. Groves and Frank W. De Wolf. The dominant idea in the regulations adopted for mine-sampling mas, that it should be done in such a manner that the sample would have the same composition as the commercial output of the mine.

Jan 1, 1906

By J. C. Wilhoit, J. B. Cheatham

Although an oil well is a long cylindrical hole with an irregular bottom, it appears likely that the nature of the stress concentration at the bottom of the hole can be ascertained from an analysis of the stresses around a short cylindrical cavity with rounded comers and smooth bottom. Such a cavity is studied primarily because it leads more readily to a solution to the problem by the use of stress functions. In this paper the stress distribution around a short cylindrical cavity subjected to bit loading, overburden and drilling-fluid pressures is determined by means of an analytical solution which approximately satisfies the boundary conditions of the problem. From this solution the stresses at the corner of the hole are calculated to be about 35 per cent lower than comparable results obtained by photoelastic and relaxation analyses. This difference is apparently due to the large radius of curvature at the corner of the cavity in the present analysis. Since good agreement is obtained between the results of this analysis and the stresses calculated for a similar loading on a semi-infinite elastic solid, it is concluded that the bit action in the region near the center of the hole is not appreciably affected by the presence of the sides of the hole. INTRODUCTION Much has been written concerning drilling "under down-hole conditions" and pertaining to the stress distribution in the rock at the bottom of an oil well.1-5 For example, it is known that identical rocks can be drilled more rapidly at the surface than under subsurface conditions of pressure and stress.6 Information on the behavior of rocks under loading can be obtained from triaxial test data.7-9 From such tests it is found that rocks exhibit brittle failure when the confining pressure and pore pressure are equal, but the mode of failure may change to ductile as the difference between the confining pressure and the pore pressure is increased. Brittle failure implies that there is very little permanent deformation before fracture, whereas ductile failure indicates that permanent deformation takes place before fracture. Some rocks are ductile at differential pressures of 5,000 psi , but other rocks are brittle even at differential pressures of more than 50,000 psi. Cuttings embedded in mud at the bottom of the hole may act as a plastic mass which the bit teeth must penetrate in order to attack the virgin rock below. 10 During drilling, the mud pressure acts as the confing pressure, and in many cases the difference between the mud pressure and the formation pore pressure IS sufficiently low so that the rock most likely falls in a brittle manner. Very little penetratiori by the bit teeth may be required for brittle failure of the rock. For these brittle materials, the elastic stress distribution is of practical interest in determicing the possible effects of a given loading on failure. The penetration of bit teeth into ductile or plastic rock has been analyzed previously ll,12 and will not be considered further in the present work. During actual drilling, many teeth act at various points ovel an irregular hole bottom. In the present analysis a solution is obtained for an idealized problem of determining the elastic stress distribution caused by only one tooth acting alone at the center of a smooth hole bottom. It obviously is not proposed that any driller should put a special one-tooth bit on bottom, but it is hoped that extensions of the simpler problems can eventually lead to a better understanding of more complex actual drilling phenomena. To obtain a solution by the use of stress functions, a short cylindrical cavity with rounded corners and smooth bottom is studied. The solution to this problem should give an insight into the nature of the stress concentration at the bottom of an oil well which is in reality a long cylindrical hole with an irregularr bottom. After selection of the proper curvilinear co-ordinate system, the stress functions are expressed as series of Legendre polynomials. The coefficient of each term in the series is then determined to satisfy the boundary conditions at a finite number of discrete points on the boundary of the cavity with least square error. Results are compared with bottom-hole stresses obtained by photoelastic and relaxation analyses.

MANY kinds of marcasite* are found since every metallic mineral, and perhaps some of the semiminerals, produces its own. I believe that [28v] rnarcasites are nothing other than the secondary materials and the menses of the conception of metals which, through insufficient time, have yet to arrive at their perfect age; and thus, because of

Jan 1, 1942

Jan 1, 1971

By The Staff of Dames & Moore

Five factors are required for the formation of uranium deposits: a source, transporting medium, host, trap, and preservation. Locating and evaluating uranium deposits requires ail integration of methods and techniques to determine if the above factors are present. A typical exploration program consists of selection of a favorable area, field reconnaissance, land acquisition, and target definition and evaluation. Target definition and evaluation utilizes a combination of geologic mapping, geochemical surveying, geophysical surveying, and drilling and logging. Each overlaps the others to some degree.

Jan 10, 1978

By A. E. Dwight, P. A. Beck

A search was made for ordered phases of AB3 composition in various combinations of Ti- and V-group elements with CO-and Ni-group elements. Three new TiNi3-type phases ZrPd3, HfPd3, and HfPt3 were found. In addition, twelve new Cu3Au-type phases TiRh3, Tilr3, ZrRh3, Zrlr3, HfRh3, Hflr3, VRh3, VIr3, CbRh3, Cblr3, TaRh3, and TaIr3 were also found. The lattice contraction for all three structures considered increases with increasing relative size of the A atom, suggesting that it is mostly the A atom that cont~acts. It was noted that, for the same radius ratio the lattice contraction is larger when the A atom is Ti than if it is Cb OY Ta. It is well known that elements or disordered solid solutions, which have structures with spherical close-packing, may be described in terms of various stacking schemes of close-packed layers. Stacking of the type abab corresponds to the hexagonal close-packed structure, and stacking of the type abcabc corresponds to the face-centered-cubic structure. In binary alloys of the first, second, and third long period transition elements various AB3 phases occur with close-packed ordered structures. It was observed that these ordered structures also may be described by suitable stacking of close-packed ordered layers, Fig. 1, as first shown by Laves and Wallbaum for TiNi3.' It is clear that the units of translation in such a close-packed layer consist of four atoms, one of which (black circle) is atom A and the three others (empty circles) are atoms B. Because of the alternation of A and B atoms in every second row of each layer, the unit-cell dimension in the layer is equal to the sum of the diameters of atoms A and B: a0 = 2(rA + rB). Stacking of such layers in the sequence abab results in a hexagonal close-packed structure of the MgCd, type. The unit-cell dimension in the basal plane is approximately double of that for the disordered hexagonal close-packed structure, but in the direction of the hexagonal axis it is about the same, so that 2co/uo = 1.63 in case of spherical close-packing. Ordered hexagonal close-packed structures of this type were found to occur in MoCo3,2 WCo3,, and UPt, .4 When the ordered layers shown in Fig. 1 are stacked according to the scheme abcabc, the resulting ordered structure is of the AuCu, type (cubic). Structures of this type were found to occur in TiPt3,5 CrPt,,' CrIr,,' and URu, .4 Finally, the stacking scheme abacabac of the same ordered layers results in a hexagonal close-packed structure of the TiNi3 type.' In this case, the unit-cell dimension is doubled not only in the basal plane, but also in the direction of the hexagonal axis, so that co/ao = 1.63. Structures of this type were found to occur also in TiPd3,5 ZrPt,," and UPd,.4

Jan 1, 1960

By William A. Johnson

The fundamental role of diffusion in many reactions occurring in solid metals has long been recognized, and there have been careful measurements of rates of diffusion in numerous alloy systems; but our understanding of the atomic mechanism by which diffusion occurs is scarcely in an advanced state.l-3 It is doubtful that this mechanism can ever be directly ascertained; rather, all imaginable mechanisms must be examined and the one that is in best accord with such data as can be obtained from suitably chosen experiments should be selected. Because of its relative simplicity, diffusion in a system containing only one kind of atomic species—commody called self-diffusion—is of considerable theoretical interest. It may be expected that diffusion theory will not be advanced appreciably until a wide variety of diffusion experiments—of which diffusion in a chemical concentration gradient and self-diffusion are two important types—are carefully performed and inter-compared. Aside from the purely theoretical interest in self-diffusion measurements, such studies will be of considerable engineering importance. The rate of any process in a pure metal requiring the movement of atoms, of which recrystallization and creep are two familiar examples, will be understood more readily with the aid of self-diffusion data.† Self-diffusion implies the diffusion of something into its exact counterpart; the detection of such a process is patently impossible, and it is necessary to substitute for it the diffusion of one isotope (in this case radioactive) into another isotope (in this case stable) of the same chemical element. There is, however, no reason to suppose that a radioactive atom will not diffuse at the same rate as its stable isotope, for all of the isotopes of the same element have exactly the same chemical properties; neither the difference in nuclear energy nor the difference in mass would be expected to exercise an important influence in this phenomenon. In this sense, self-diffusion may be thought of as the diffusion of radioactive atoms down a radioactivity concentration gradient, just as usual diffusion is the diffusion of one kind of atom down its chemical concentration gradient. The first measurements of self-difiusion were made by von Hevesy4-6 using the radioactive lead isotope thorium B in ordinary lead. The recent development of means for producing artificial radioactive elements has made possible similar measurements on gold,7, 8 copper,2, 9 and zinc.10, 11 Many of the data that have been obtained are rather poor, and no adequate reason has been given for their poorness; it appears, however, that the unsatisfactory results are characteristic of the particular experimental procedure employed, and not of self-diffusion measurements in themselves. The experimental technique that has yielded the poorer results is the deposition of a thin layer of radioactive atoms on the surface of a specimen and the determination of the rate of inward diffusion

Jan 1, 1941

By Lyman H. Hart

Some of the significant facts that will affect the supply and demand for metals during the next few decades are given in this presentation. This is important because the only hope for intelligent guidance of the national destiny depends upon presenting a consistent and accurate picture of basic problems. The metals problems now fomenting are only slightly less important than those precipitating the energy crisis. Admittedly, it is difficult to generate serious thinking on this subject when the world is enjoying easy access to all metals at modest prices. This is possible because of the current world capacity to over-produce, and United States credit standing, at least up to now, has permitted buying freely on world markets. Although both these vital conditions are subject to change, there is little doubt that if the U.S. financial house is kept in order, we can muddle along for a while on a generally expanding, metal-based economy. But should our credit standing be permitted to collapse, or should there be a tightening of world supplies of metals, the nation would immediately find itself in trouble. Unfortunately, clear signals indicate that both of these conditions are threatening. The metal age started many centuries ago, and with the exception of the noble metals, barely a dent was made in world reserves until the present century. Then, as a result of the pioneering ideas of D. C. Jackling and Paul Gemmel, and the willingness of the McNeals, Penroses and Guggenheims to back ideas with money, a virtual explosion of metal production was propagated throughout the world. It is important to examine the causes of this expansion to determine whether it is a trend that may be sustained or whether it is anomalous and therefore attributable to circumstances not likely to be repeated or continued. This period of plenty is a once only phenomenon. Vast metal resources have been sitting around here for eons, while the world was unaware of or unconcerned with their existence. But when population began to grow exponentially, and ways were discovered to use metals to develop machines to do the work of men and animals, the exploitation of raw materials increased at a staggering rate. And now the realization is dawning that minerals are a wasting asset and are beginning to present supply problems that should begin to be of concern. Two main factors have caused this condition; One is the population growth, and the other is the expanding demand for irreplaceable raw materials as nations become more developed. A group of systems analysts, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a book Limits of Growth, has warned that at present rates of population growth and resource consumption together with environmental constraints, a point will be reached within 100 years when the world population will become totally incapable of supporting itself. The authors conclude that this end result could be avoided if a planned equilibrium could be established at a lower rate of population growth and resource consumption. Fortunately, there is evidence that the population problem is moderating. The growth rate in the U.S. has decreased from 2.3% per year in 1900 to 1.1% in 1970. But, even at the lower rate, population will double in 70 years. The world rate is greater, and if it continues, world population will rise from 3.5 billion to nearly 10 billion in 50 years. All of these projections are questionable because the dangers of growing population are now being recognized. A marked decrease in growth rate has been noted in the more developed countries-in fact, it was zero in the U.S. in 1972. The other factor affecting consumption of raw materials is the increase in per capita use of most items as individuals become more affluent. Many economists believe that developing countries such as China and India represent a vast future potential market; but there are others, with whom the author agrees, who believe over-population tends to stagnate development. Nevertheless, it is a fact that vigorously developing societies increase consumption at a rate far above their population growth rate.

Jan 1, 1974

By W. W. Gerberich

SINCE the original formulation of fracture mechanics concepts,&apos;y2 relatively little work has related the fracture mechanics description of metal behavior on a gross, structural component scale to the behavior of its microstructural constituents. The purpose of this note is to suggest the utilization of fracture mechanics to describe material behavior on a microscopic scale. A Fracture Concept for Two-Phase Structures. A critical displacement concept considering the tough unidirectional phase in a relatively brittle matrix is first examined. It is assumed that a flaw exists at position 1 as depicted in Fig. 1. As the crack moves from position 1 to 2 the plastic zone could be of the shape described with the size approximated by the Dugdale3 model: where c is the half-crack length, OO is the applied stress, and oyS is the yield strength. Hahn and Rosen-field4 have presented a simple fracture criterion for homogeneous materials based upon the displacement at the crack tip. They also have shown the equivalence of the critical displacement, v*, to fracture toughness by Kc = (2v*oysE)1/2 [2] The displacement at the crack tip is given by and the displacement at any distance in front of the crack tip may be determined knowing the plastic zone size and utilizing the development of Goodier and Field.5 Recalling Fig. 1, the value of v* for fracture in material M1 may be calculated from Eq. [2] providing the critical stress intensity factor is known. As the material is loaded, when vc > vM1 the crack moves from position 1 to position 2 where it encounters the tough second phase. If vc2 < vm2, then the crack will be arrested providing the width of the M2 phase is sufficiently large. This condition is necessary since the displacement at position 2 has increased due to the longer crack length. Thus, the displacement at the distance X (representing the dimension of the second phase) in front of the crack may be larger than the critical displacement for failure in the brittle material. If v, > vm, then failure will proceed in the brittle material. The value of v, may be calculated as indicated above. This latter consideration is the same as predicting fracture of a brittle second phase at some distance in front of a crack located in a ductile matrix. Experimental Evidence. On a macrostructural scale, tungsten wires in a ductile Be-Cu matrix are seen to fracture well ahead of the main crack front in Fig. 2. Utilizing a Kc value of 14.2 ksi-in.1/2 obtained by Schroder et al.6 for as-received tungsten, the critical displacement 2v*, for fracture is calculated from Eq. [2] to be about 6.5 X 10-5 in. The crack tip displacement, 2vc, is calculated from Eq. [3] to be 0.0028 in. indicating that fracture would occur at a considerable distance in front of the crack tip. From the ratio of v*/vc and the plastic zone estimate of Eq. [I], the distance in front of the crack tip at which a tungsten wire should fracture is calculated to be about 0.195 in. As shown in Fig. 2, a fractured wire occurs at a distance of 0.140 in. (fractured in three places), not at 0.250

Jan 1, 1968

For the year ending February, 1918 PRESIDENT PHILIP N. MOORE ST. Louis, Mo. PAST PRESIDENTS WILLIAM L. SAUNDERS NEW YORK, N. Y. L. D. RICKETTS, NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT SIDNEY J. JENNINGS, NEW YORK, N. Y. TREASURER GEORGE C. STONE, NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY EMERITUS ROSSITER W. RAYMOND,.. NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY BRADLEY STOUGHTON NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 3, 1917

By J. C. Griffiths, D. W. Bennion

A mathematical model, which does not assume a priori that stratification exists, but was designed to test for the stratification was developed. The model segmented the reservoir horizontally into areas of common variance, then divided it vertically into strata (if strata were present). Next, trend surface techniques were used to determine the lateral extent and variation of each stratum. The model was tested on two reservoirs (sandstone and limestone) using porosity as the reservoir rock property. The sandstone reservoir contained approximately 60,000 samples from 2,000 cored wells, while the limestone reservoir had approximately 24,000 samples from 430 cored wells. Within the areas of common variance tested, the model was able to distinguish four separate lithological units or zones in the sandstone reservoir, four in the Marly section and seven in the Vuggy section of the limestone reservoir. INTRODUCTION To accurately predict the movement and production of fluids from a reservoir rock, it is necessary that the reservoir engineer have a knowledge of the rock properties and their distribution throughout the reservoir. For this study, a reservoir rock is defined as a solid containing interconnecting holes or voids which occur relatively frequently and are dispersed within the rock in a regular or random manner. The fraction of bulk volume that these interconnecting voids occupy is called porosity. The rock must also possess sufficient permeability to allow fluids to move through it and it may be composed of one or more strata or lithological units. A stratum or lithological unit as defined in this study is a body or volume of reservoir rock whose properties are so distributed that its lateral and vertical extent can be traced throughout or through a portion of the reservoir. Operationally, the existence of strata are question- able unless the variance within strata is less than among strata. Within the past few years computers have been widely used as a tool for calculating movement and production of fluids from reservoirs. Most prediction models require some type of a mathematical description of certain reservoir rock properties. In the past, most of these models have been relatively simple. Some have assumed vertical variation but no lateral variation, while others have assumed lateral variation but no vertical variation. In general, most of these models have not used functional relationships to predict reservoir rock properties as functions of position. The object of this study was to develop a model which would predict lateral and vertical variations of reservoir rock properties. Since samples are usually available from only a small portion of the total reservoir rock, it seemed logical that if measurements from these samples were to be used to infer the properties of the actual reservoir, the data should be treated statistically as a sample from the total population (reservoir). Therefore, the model developed in this study to predict reservoir rock properties was a stochastic model. The model was tested using porosity (a macroscopic reservoir rock property) measurements from two reservoirs — the first, a sandstone reservoir from which 60,000 samples were obtained; and the second, a limestone reservoir with 24,000 samples. Several investigators have proposed methods to determine the vertical and areal variation of a reservoir rock property. Stiles: Dykstra and Parsons 2 and Suder and Calhoun3 have all developed waterflooding prediction techniques which assume vertical variation but no lateral variation. Stiles developed a method to segment a reservoir arbitrarily using frequency distribution. Law4 suggested that porosity has a normal frequency distribution and that permeability has a log-normal frequency distribution. Elkins and Skov 5 proposed that when a reservoir is segmented vertically, the

Jan 1, 1967

By R. E. Zimmerman, Michael Sokaski, E. R. Palowitch, M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey, W. Deurbrouck, S. C. Sun

PART 1: DENSE MEDIUM SEPARATION by M. SOKASKI, M. R. GEER and H. F. YANCEY INTRODUCTION In the early days of coarse-coal treatment by the dense-medium process in Europe, loess was one of the materials used for medium solids. Newly developed cyclones were used to reclaim and thicken :he loess suspension. On occasion, when the cyclone thickener at the Maurits mine in the Netherlands plugged, the overflow was found to be filled with clean coal free of impurity. From this observation stemmed the concept of the cyclone as a cleaning device. Development took place during World War 11 in the laboratory of the Dutch State Mines under the direction of M. G. Driessen. A 15-ton-per-hour pilot plant was in operation in the laboratory by 1945, when, in September, Driessen made the first public disclosure of the process in a paper presented to the Institute of Fuel in London. In April 1945,2 operation of this pilot plant was observed by one of the authors, who was so impressed with the potential of the cyclone process that, on his return to the United States, a research program on the cyclone was started by the Bureau of Mines immediately. This work led to an AIME paper in 1946 in which the first details of cyclone operation on American coals was made available. Commercial adoption of the cyclone proceeded in Europe, initially in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. In the United States, where coal is less costly and most of the coals are so easy to clean they respond well to simpler cleaning systems, the first cyclone plant was not built until 1961.3 As of the spring of 1967, a total of 31 commercial cy- clone plants had been installed or were under construction in the United States; this does not include eight Dynawhirlpool plants. The capacity of the cyclone plants ranges from 50 to 1300 tons per hour and totals 6600. THEORY Before discussing the theory of a dense medium cyclone, a brief description may be helpful to some readers who are not familiar with its basic operation. In a typical dense-medium cyclone, illustrated in figure 10-1, the mixture of medium and raw coal enters tangentially near the top of the cylindrical section, thus forming a strong vertical flow. The refuse moves along the wall of the cyclone and is discharged through the under- flow orifice. The washed coal moves toward the longitudinal axis of the cyclone and passes through the vortex finder to the overflow chamber.

Jan 1, 1968

By M. G. Corson

THE iron-silicon alloy series has always been one of the most puzzling among the binary alloys. Examining the well known mechanical properties of the iron-rich alloys only we meet the following situation: The ultimate strength and yield point of alloys worked and annealed under the usual conditions represent nearly a straight line function of the silicon content up to 4.5 per cent. silicon (Fig. 1). Starting at the ultimate strength of 35,000 lb. and at a yield-point of 16,000 lb. for pure electrolytic iron, one reaches a -maximum strength of 93,000 lb. and a maximum yield point of 74,000 lb. at 4.5 per cent. silicon. This corresponds to an increase in ultimate strength by 13,000 lb. per each per cent. of silicon added and nearly the same rate applies to the yield point. The data mentioned are taken from the investigation by T. D. Yensen,1 and while they do not exactly corroborate the results obtained by earlier investigators, they seem to be the most correct. Plastic properties of the alloys are controlled by a much more complicated relationship. Up to 2.5 per cent. Si, the elongation stays close to 50 per cent. (in 2 in.) and the area reduction amounts to 85 per cent., a situation that forms the usual feature of all alloys representing strictly solid solutions. The plasticity of the latter is always nearly equal to that of their base metal. Beyond 2.5 per cent. silicon, the situation becomes much more complicated Yensen observed an enormous drop in elongation and area reduction at about 2.65 per. cent. silicon, where the first hardly reaches 10 per cent. and the second is still lower; he found, however, a considerable recovery in plasticity at about 2.8 per cent. Si and up to. 4.5 per cent. Si it is represented by 20 per cent. for the elongation and 30 per cent. for area reduction.

Jan 1, 1928

By R. D. Pehlke, J. V. Gluck

The limiting activity coefficient of zinc in a "binary " solvent has been described for several dilute ternary solutions by combining literature data from recent interaction studies in the terminal regions with thermodynamic data for the central regions. Results are discussed in terms of the Alcock and Richardson random solution model. The observed behavior agrees semiquantitatively with predictions using the model. RECENT efforts in the thermodynamics of dilute ternary liquid metallic solutions have been mainly concerned with the interactions between two dilute solutes, that is, the terminal region at an apex of the composition diagram.&apos;-&apos; A more general case is that of the behavior of a dilute solute over the full range of a ternary system, or, more specifically, the limiting activity of solute i as projected to the k-j binary side of the i-j-k composition triangle. An implication of this is that the interaction between i and j at the k apex should connect in some way to the interaction between i and k at the j apex. A model to characterize various types of expected behavior has been discussed by Alcock and Richardson.9,10 Such behavior can range from a simple linear relation for In yi over the 1-k binary to more complex curved relations which depend on various assumptions regarding the heat of solution in the j-k binary system and the presence or absence of clustering with solute i. Quantitative data to assess these concepts have been limited primarily to the cases of nonmetallic interstitial solutes in ferrous solutions. Alcock, Richardson, and various coworkers9-13 have discussed the behavior of oxygen, sulfur, silicon, or hydrogen in dilute solution over the range of iron + metal systems; however, the only data considered by them for substitutional nonferrous metallic solutions were the results of Elliott and Chipman concerning the activity of cadmium in the Pb + Sn, Pb + Bi, and Pb + Sb systems.9 These data were limited and did not cover the terminal regions in detail. An opportunity to extend the Alcock and Richardson considerations to the dilute solution of zinc in various "binary" solvents has been afforded by combining results of several of the recent investigations of ter-minal-region interactions with previous data from the literature for the same more concentrated solutions. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results of the analysis are shown in Figs. 1 to 5 where the log activity coefficient, (In yZn)xzn--o, is plotted vs the composition of the "binary" solvent. In these plots the end points are the values for In yzn in the appropriate binary solution with Bi, Pb, Sn, Cd, or In at the indicated temperature—usually 550°C (823°K). For the terminal regions the slopes were drawn using the first-order interaction parameters taken from various studies reported in the literature. The data points shown in the central regions were obtained by the short extrapolation to infinite dilution of the logarithm of the activity coefficient calculated from thermodynamic studies reported in the literature for the same systems. The sources of the data are indicated on each figure. Second-order effects were not considered. Reasonably smooth curves can be drawn to connect the central region with the terminal regions for the Zn-Pb + Bi system, Fig. 1, the Zn-Pb + Zn system, Fig. 1, and the Zn-Bi + Cd and Zn-Bi + Sn systems, Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, where central region data are available from two independent investigations, the agreement is quite good. The Zn-Pb + Cd system does not appear to be as well behaved as the previous four, Fig. 3; however, this type of behavior has also been

Jan 1, 1970

By David T. Peterson

Calcium metal was found to deoxidize thorizcm at 1000° to 1200° C. The reaction kinetics were determilled and related to the diffusion coefficients of oxygen in thorium. The solubility of oxygen in thorium, the minimum oxygen concentration, and the diffusion coefficient were determined from 1000° to 1200°C. This firocess results in the lowest oxygen concentrations zohich have been reported for thorium metal. FOR many years it has been known that calcium metal will reduce thorium oxide to thorium metal. This reaction has been the basis for several methods of preparing thorium metal. From the equations giv-by Kubaschewski and vans, &apos; AF" for the reaction Cao, + Tho,(,) - CaO(,, + Th(,) was calculated and found to be -3.4 kcal at 1000°C, -2.5 kcal at llOO°C, and -2.0 kcal at 1200°c. Thorium is very slightly soluble in liquid calcium, and the solubility of calcium in solid thorium is very low. Consequently these metals would be in essentially their reference states. If thorium containing oxygen were equilibrated with liquid calcium between 1000° and 1200°C, the oxygen content of the thorium would have to be below the solubility limit in thorium. Oxygen is one of the impurities most difficult to remove from thorium and is the most abundant impurity in metal prepared by almost all known methods. Fortunately, oxygen does not have a large influence on the properties of thorium because the solubility in solid thorium is very low. EvenT in thorium containing 100 ppm of 0, particles of thorium oxide can be observed in the microstructure. In view of the incompatibility of thorium oxide and liquid calcium and the low solubility of thorium oxide in thorium, the deoxidation of thorium by this method was investigated. For thorium containing an amount of oxygen well in excess of the solubility limit, the reaction should proceed in the following sequence. The oxygen content of the thorium matrix near the surface would be depleted by the diffusion of oxygen to the surface. At the surface, the oxygen would react with calcium to form calcium oxide. To maintain equilibrium within the thorium, thorium oxide would dissolve to keep the matrix saturated. Consequently, the thorium-oxide particles would disappear first at the surface and then the particle-free rim would grow in thickness. If the rate-controlling step were the diffusion of oxygen through this layer of thorium which was growing in thickness in direct proportion to the amount of oxygen removed, the well known parabolic time law should be observed. If the oxygen concentration at the surface of the thorium and at the inner surface of the deoxidized rim were known, the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in thorium could be calculated from the parabolic rate constant. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The thorium metal used in this study was prepared by calcium reduction of ThF, by the method described by Wilhelm.&apos; The analysis of this metal is given in Table I. The carbon was determined by combustion, the oxygen by the HC1-insoluble residue method, nitrogen by the Kjeldahl method, and the other elements by emission spectroscopy. A section of this ingot was hot rolled at 600°C to 1/4 and 1/8-in. thick plates. Specimens approximately 7/8 in. square were cut from these plates, and all surfaces of the specimens were cleaned and smoothed by filing with a clean file. Individual specimens were placed in 1-in. diam by 2-in.-long tantalum capsules. Approximately 1 g of clean, high-purity calcium was placed in the capsules and an end closure arc-welded in place. The tantalum capsules were sealed in Inconel crucibles to protect the reactive metals from oxidation. The entire loading procedure was done in a glove box filled with pure argon. The loaded crucibles were placed in a muffle furnace, controlled within 2OC of the desired temperature, for a measured length of time. After the specimen had cooled to room temperature, it was sectioned perpendicular to the large faces and through the mid-point of two of the sides. The sectioned specimen was mounted and polished through Linde A abrasive. The rim which was free of thorium-oxide particles could be clearly observed microscopically as mechanically polished. Twenty measurements of the thickness of the rim were made at equally spaced points far enough from the end of the

Jan 1, 1962