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By J. M. Boutwell

PAGE I. Introduction,.......541 II. General Geography,......542 III. General Geology,......544 1. Sedimentary Rocks,..... 544 2. Igneous Rocks,...... 545 3. Areal Geology,.......546 4. Structural Geology......547 IV. General Character of Ore-Deposits,...548 V. Genesis of the Disseminated Ore in Monzonite,.... 549 1. General,........549 2. Character and Occurrence,... 649 3. Genesis,....... 550 4. Superficial Alteration.....553 5. Conclusion......553 VI. Genesis of the Ore in Fissures,...553 1. Character........... 553 2 Occurrence......554 3. Deposition...... 556 4. Transporting Agent....555 6. Immediate Causes of Deposition..556 6. Superficial Alteration....564 7. Conclusionl ..... 565 VII. Genesis of the Copper-Ore in Limestone...... 566 1. Character......566 2. Occurrencel .....566 3. Deposition......567 4. Relation of Fissures.....569 5. Relation of Intrusives,...571 6. Superficial Alteration....575 7. Conclusion......578 VIII. Periods of Ore-Deposition....578 IX. Dates of Mineralization.....579 X. General Conclusions.....580 I. Introduction. The object of this paper is to present a concise statement on the genesis of the copper- and lead-deposits of the Bingham

Jan 1, 1906

By Richard V. Hughes, Rudolf J. Pfister

The necessity for getting more water into sands of low permeability in any secondary-recovery water-flood operation in order to recover all the available oil always has been a major problem. In the early days of water-flooding the addition of soda ash and caustic soda to fresh input waters was recommended and tried without success in the Bradford field. The most frequent difficulty was sand plugging. The use of natural and artificial brines often has been suggested for water-flooding, in the belief that laboratory observations of decreasing fresh-water throughput rates in measuring water permeabilities of consolidated sand cores might be partially explained by swelling of clays. A review of available literature bearing on the subject and related laboratory experiments are presented herein, offering an explanation for failure in use of soda ash and caustic soda waters and supporting the recent concept that every water used for input purposes in the secondary recovery of oil should possess such physical and chemical characteristics as to keep the clay content of the producing sands in a permanently flocculated condition. Produced brines meet this requirement. Their use is recommended as a means of increasing intake rates of tight sands and oil recoveries, as a solution to brine-disposal problems, and as a means of conserving a natural resource. Introduction There is a general belief among those engaged in the secondary recovery of oil by water-flooding that one of the most important requirements for the success of any such project is an adequate supply of good, fresh water. Fresh waters have the advantages of being more easily stabilized than salt waters and of being usable about the lease for all purposes. The use of brines for water-flooding never has been given much consideration in the Pennsylvania Grade area. The use of brines in Mid-Continent operations has been considered largely as a substitute for fresh waters, which were economically unobtainable for many operations. Estimated recoveries for some water-drive fields indicate that less of the original oil in place will be left upon abandonment than with the above-average practices used in Pennsylvania Grade water-flood operations. Lower residual oil saturations than 25 pct of the pore space following the water-flooding of Third Bradford sand cores in the laboratory are unusual. In comparison, water-flushed sands surrounding any virgin oil pool are found to be practically devoid of oil. Such lower natural residual oil saturations may be the result of a time factor much longer than economic under artificial water-flood operations, but neither the producer of primary oil nor the producer of oil by secondary recovery can obtain maximum recoveries unless full advantage is taken of all natural forces and

Jan 1, 1947

By Richard V. Hughes, Rudolf J. Pfister

The necessity for getting more water into sands of low permeability in any secondary-recovery water-flood operation in order to recover all the available oil always has been a major problem. In the early days of water-flooding the addition of soda ash and caustic soda to fresh input waters was recommended and tried without success in the Bradford field. The most frequent difficulty was sand plugging. The use of natural and artificial brines often has been suggested for water-flooding, in the belief that laboratory observations of decreasing fresh-water throughput rates in measuring water permeabilities of consolidated sand cores might be partially explained by swelling of clays. A review of available literature bearing on the subject and related laboratory experiments are presented herein, offering an explanation for failure in use of soda ash and caustic soda waters and supporting the recent concept that every water used for input purposes in the secondary recovery of oil should possess such physical and chemical characteristics as to keep the clay content of the producing sands in a permanently flocculated condition. Produced brines meet this requirement. Their use is recommended as a means of increasing intake rates of tight sands and oil recoveries, as a solution to brine-disposal problems, and as a means of conserving a natural resource. Introduction There is a general belief among those engaged in the secondary recovery of oil by water-flooding that one of the most important requirements for the success of any such project is an adequate supply of good, fresh water. Fresh waters have the advantages of being more easily stabilized than salt waters and of being usable about the lease for all purposes. The use of brines for water-flooding never has been given much consideration in the Pennsylvania Grade area. The use of brines in Mid-Continent operations has been considered largely as a substitute for fresh waters, which were economically unobtainable for many operations. Estimated recoveries for some water-drive fields indicate that less of the original oil in place will be left upon abandonment than with the above-average practices used in Pennsylvania Grade water-flood operations. Lower residual oil saturations than 25 pct of the pore space following the water-flooding of Third Bradford sand cores in the laboratory are unusual. In comparison, water-flushed sands surrounding any virgin oil pool are found to be practically devoid of oil. Such lower natural residual oil saturations may be the result of a time factor much longer than economic under artificial water-flood operations, but neither the producer of primary oil nor the producer of oil by secondary recovery can obtain maximum recoveries unless full advantage is taken of all natural forces and

Jan 1, 1947

UNITED ENGINEERING TRUSTEES, INC James L Head, '51 E C Meagher, '52 Gail F Moulton, '53 ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO REAL ESTATE COMMITTEE Cleveland Dodge Herbert Hoover Paul D Merica HOOVER MEDAL BOARD OF AWARD Scott Turner, '56, Chairman Cadwallader Evans, Jr , '52 Paul D Merica, '54

Jan 1, 1951

CENTRAL EMERGENCY COMMITTEE Chairman, MRS. H. N. SPICER As no further requisition will be Made for knitted garments, for the boys of the 27th Engineers, all completed garments and wool have been collected and returned to Mr. W. R. Ingalls, and the activities of the

Jan 12, 1918

By R. S. Barneyback

Not much more is known about concrete today than was known to the Romans. For all the research only better tools have resulted to measure the quality of the materials that go into it." In this paper "some of the materials for lightweight concrete and their characteristics are considered and effort is made to indicate their effect on the end result — a structure of lightweight concrete." Lightweight concrete had noble beginnings. It is believed that the first specification for lightweight concrete was written by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the early years of his reign, 117-138 AD. Hadrian, was an engineer by trade and an Emperor by adoption. He took considerable interest in the structures sponsored during his reign, even to the point of working out the structural details and preparing working drawings for some of the more prominent works in the vicinity of Rome. In order to reduce the dead weight of the 140 ft diam dome of the Pantheon he specified that the lightweight structural concrete members supporting this concrete and tile composite dome were to be fabricated from a concrete containing pumice and scoria. Still standing after 18 centuries of abuse, this structure has been described as the master effort of a great structural genius, the ultimate achievement of Roman engineering skill.' The Romans were the first to employ many concrete techniques we think of as modem innovations. Some unnamed superintendent noted that when a carefully measured amount of pigs blood was measured into each batch of concrete during mixing, the concrete was more durable and exhibited much better resistance to freezing and thawing climates. He no doubt, attributed this success to the appeasement of one of the gods who in return provided protection for the building containing this sacrificial offering in its walls. It is known today that the blood-entrained air in the concrete tends to make mixtures more workable, resistant to moisture penetration and more resistant to frost damage.

Jan 1, 1964

By William F. Brace, Howard R. Pratt, Wayne S. Brown

In many engineering structures, the mechanical properties of large volumes of rock must be considered. Typically, such properties are assumed to be the same as those of small laboratory samples, although it is clear that the laboratory samples do not contain the joints, faults, and other natural planes of weakness of the rock mass. A cheap, convenient testing procedure is needed with which the engineer can more accurately assess the strength and elastic properties of natural jointed rock. As a first step in this direction, a test has been developed capable of determining mechanical properties of large samples in their natural undisturbed state. In the present paper, some preliminary experiments on relatively unjointed material are described. Numerous attempts have been made to measure the deformation modulus of rock masses with varying degrees of success. Rocha (1), Grimm (2), and Alexander (3) have placed flat jacks in a slot in the rock and measured the pressure required to deform the slot. Bonnechere (4) has grouted large flat jacks in granite masses and performed similar experiments using a variety of strain measuring techniques. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has conducted radial jacking tests in which a uniform radial stress is applied to the inside of a tunnel of circular cross section and radial deformation is measured by extensometers located at various depths in the tunnel fall. Plate jack tests (Rocha (5), Shannon and Wilson (6)), pressure chamber tests, and cable jacking tests (Zienkiewicz and Stagg (7)) have all been used to determine in-situ deformation modulus. Several bore hole techniques have also been used to measure rock deformation. These include bore hole jacks (Goodman (8)), bore hole dilatometers using expandable membranes (Menard (9)) and bore hole penetrometers. Most of the above tests except the radial jacking test have an unknown stress distribution and require considerable approximation to calculate a deformation modulus. These approximations include the use of elastic theory for solutions of rigid plates, thick-walled cylinders, etc., and determination of values for Poissons

Jan 1, 1971

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

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

By Peter N. Calder, Alan Bauer

INTRODUCTION One of the most important decisions involved in the design of an open pit mine is the selection of a slope angle. Despite this fact, engineering procedures have developed slowly in this field. Only recently have the instruments and know-how become available to undertake a design based on sound engineering principles. The effect of blasting on open pit slope stability is one aspect in which the state of the art has not developed fully. These effects include: a) the effects of the ground motion associated with blast waves on slope stability, and b) the fracturing of rock in the vicinity of slopes caused by blast waves. Natural rock jointing plays an important role in both of these. SUMMARY OF BLASTING EFFECTS In recent years there has been a trend to larger sizes of blast holes in open pits to the extent that today 9% in. and 12% in. diam. holes are the most common. The reasons for this have been economic. Larger machines are more efficient and produce at a lower overall cost per ton. As the size of blast holes have increased, so have the other factors associated with blasting. Bench heights have increased, the tons/ft. of hole yield has risen significantly and the explosive load per hole has increased. Quite naturally the rupture radius for a single blast hole has increased along with the vibration level produced per blast hole. Open pit blasting operations can result in two types of unwanted damage: 1. Damage to structures, such as buildings, dams and slopes by ground vibrations initiated by the blast. 2. Fracturing of ground beyond the planned excavation limits. Let us first consider item one. Vibration effects are determined by the type of blast which is fired and the type of medium through which the blast wave is being transmitted. They are strongly influenced by the weight of charge per hole, the number of holes per delay, the distance from the shot point, the mode of initiation, the point of interest relative to the blast, etc.

Jan 1, 1971

By G. F. Loughlin, C. H. Behre

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLASSIFICATION WHAT is the use of a classification of mineral deposits? From the days of Agricola, the founder of the science of ore deposits, successive authors on the subject have attempted classifications, none of which have attained unanimous indorsement of miners, engineers, or geologists. The miner and engineer naturally have little regard for a classification that does not help them to find ore. Mining geologists may share this feeling, and deplore the overemphasis that may be placed on classification by their academic brothers. Apparent effects of such overemphasis may be reflected by students or new graduates who have grown to think that each deposit must fit perfectly into some pigeonhole of the more or less arbitrary scheme that has been drilled into them. Diversity in mineral deposits as in other natural phenomena, however, is too great to be fully expressed in the usual tabular classification, and experience is essential for the appreciation of the value or usefulness of a classification. The succession of classifications has closely followed the growth of the science of mineral deposits and reflects that growth, as well perhaps as the limited or comprehensive viewpoint of each proponent. The earliest classifications were based on metal content, and were superseded by those based mainly on form of deposit. Source of materials also became a basis, and was followed by physical and chemical conditions and processes. In spite of this development it is interesting to note that in many of the latest reports on mining regions the authors adopt special classifications suited for their particular districts. Some of these, like the earliest classifications, are based primarily on metal content, and others are most conveniently based on form, and it may be convenient to modify these by reference to source of material or temperature of deposition. Some, including the writers, after noting these different usages, have refused to worry much over classification as an ultimate objective, but,

Jan 1, 1933

FRank FirmstoNe, Easton, Pa.: The effect of lead on brass seems to have been recognized by Berthier, and the facts published by him as early as 1818 (Ann. des Mines, 1st ser., iii., 1818, p. 347 et seq.). He there says expressly that copper containing lead makes " dry " (see) brass, and that, for the same reason, blast-furnace

Jan 1, 1898

By T. K. Perkins, O. C. Johnston

Because of the influence of dispersion on miscible-displacement processes, diffusion and dispersion phenomena in parous rocks are of current interest in the oil industry. This paper reviews and summarizes a great deal of pertinent information from the literature. Porous media (both unconsolidated packs and consolidated rocks) can be visualized as a network of flow chambers, having random size and flow conductivity, connected together by openings of smaller size. In such a porous medium, the apparent diffusion coefficient D is less than the molecular diffusion coefficient Do, as measured in the absence of a porous medium. For packs of unconsolidated granular material the ratio D/D, is about 0.6 to 0.7. For all porous rocks, both cemented and unconsolidated, the ratio of diffusion coefficients can also be represented as D/Do = 1/FF where F is the for- mation electrical resistivity' factor and 4 is the porosity. If fluids are flowing through the porous medium, dispersion may be greater than that due to diffusion alone. At moderate flow rates the porous medium will create a slightly asymmetrical mix zone (trailing edge stretched out), with the longitudinal dispersion coefficient approximately proportional to the first power of average fluid velocity (if composition is nearly equalized in pore spaces by diffusion). If the velocity in interstices is large enough, there will be insufficient time for diffusion to equalize concentration within pore spaces. In this region, longitudinal dispersion increases more rapidly than fluid velocity. At low velocities in interstices, transverse dispersion is characterized by a region in which transverse diffusion dominates. If the fluid velocity gets high enough, there will be a transition into a region where there is stream splitting with mass transfer but with insufficient residence time to completely damp-out concentration variations within pore spaces. There are several variables that must be con- trolled to get consistent longitudinal and transverse dispersion results, viz., (1) edge effect in packed tubes, (2) particle size distribution, (3) particle shape, (4) packing or permeability heterogeneities, (5) viscosity ratios, (6) gravity forces, (7) amount of turbulence, and (8) effect of an immobile phase. INTRODUCTION Diffusion and dispersion in porous rocks are of current interest to the oil industry. This interest arises because of the influence of dispersion on miscible-displacement processes. In a recovery process utilizing a zone of miscible fluid, there is the possibility of losing miscibility by dissipating the miscible fluid or by channeling or "fingering" through the miscible zone. Diffusion and dispersion are two of the mechanisms that may lead to mixing and dissipation of the slug. On the other hand, dispersion may tend to damp-out viscous fingers which may be channeling through the miscible slug. 58 Hence, dispersion may be detrimental or beneficial (if it prevents fingering through the miscible zone). Therefore, it is doubly important that we understand these processes. In this paper we review, summarize and interpret a great deal of information from the literature. In particular, we will briefly discuss molecular diffusion in miscible fluids. Then we will discuss what differences to expect for diffusion in a porous rock. If there is movement of the fluid through the rock, then there may be an additional mixing or "dispersion". Furthermore, the dispersion longitudinally (in the direction of gross fluid movement) and transverse to the direction of fluid movement will not be equal. We will discuss both types of dispersion as well as several variables which can affect dispersion (viscosity differences, density differences, turbulence, heterogeneity of media, etc.). This group of variables has sometimes led to difficulty when comparing literature data. DIFFUSION OF MISCIBLE FLUIDS If two miscible fluids are in contact, with an initially sharp interface, they will slowly diffuse into one another. As time passes, the sharp interface between the two fluids will become a diffuse

By C. S. Matthews, H. C. Lefkovits

Drilling progress is often delayed by sticking of the drill string. The development of preventive and remedial methods has been hampered by incomplete understanding of the sticking mechanism. A recent lahorntory investigation hns indicated that one type of sticking may be attributed to the difference in pressure between the borehole and formation. This paper shows, by means of soil mechanics, that the primary cause for differential pressure sticking is cessation of pipe movement, whereas diflerential pressre and stanrtding time determine the severity of the sticking. The analysis stresses the importance of using low-weight muds with low solids content and low water loss to alleviate diflerential pressure sticking and describes why packed hole drilling, long strings of drill collars, and a large deviation from the vertical are conducive to sticking. Finally, preventrve and remedial methods ore evaluated, and a theory is presented on the release of stuck pipe by spotting oil. INTRODUCTION Since drilling with long strings of oversize drill collars has become standard practice in many areas, the incidence and severity of the stuck pipe problem has increased. It has been noticed that in the majority of these cases the sticking could not possibly be attributed to key seating or caving of shales. It appeared that, due to the differential pressure between the mud column and the formation fluid, the collars were pressed into the wall and so became "wall stuck". Points to note about differential pressure sticking are: (1) sticking is restricted to the drill collars, (2) the collars become stuck opposite a permeable formation, (3) the sticking occurs after an interruption of pipe movement, (4) circulation, if interrupted, can be restarted after the sticking is noticed, and (5) no large amounts of cuttings are circulated out after restarting circulation. Helmick and Longleyl investigated pipe sticking by differential pressure in the laboratory and found an empirical relationship between the differential pressure, the sticking time and the required pull-out force. In this paper an explanation of the mechanism is given based on Terzaghi's theory of clay consolidation. A qualitative description is given in the following paragraphs while the derivation of fonnulas is given in Appendices. This paper is a first attempt to explain pressure differential sticking and many points will require additional theoretical and practical investigation before the problem can be fully understood. PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL STICKING AS A CONSOLIDATION PROBLEM In any borehole, where the mud pressure is higher than that exerted by the formation fluids, a mud cake is formed opposite the permeable sections of the hole and a continuous flow of filtrate takes place from the mud, through the cake and into the formation. This radial flow pattern requires a certain distribution of the hydraulic and the effective (grain-to-grain) stresses inside the mud cake. Any quantitative or qualitative change in the external pressure conditions will produce a change in the flow pattern and, consequently, also in the internal stress distribution inside the cake. In view of the low permeability and the high compressibility of a clay mud cake, the adjustment of the internal stress distribution is slow and is accompanied by a change in volume. Time dependent stresses are thus created which gradually diminish as the new state of equilibrium between internal and external pressures is approached. Some 30 years ago, Terzaghi developed his "Theory of Consolidation" to account for the time-dependent stresses and settling of clay formations under the influence of external loads. He derived a differential equation by which the time-dependent hydraulic stress and the consolidation can be computed for any point inside the layer during the consolidation process. His theory is based on the assumption that the change in stress is solely due to a change in water content and it may only be applied to one-dimensional consolidation phenomena. Other investiga-tors5,10 have expanded his theory to include processes of more than one dimension. The difference between the external pressures on the mud cake before and after sticking is a qualitative one (isolation of part of the cake by the static contact with the drill collars after pipe movement has been stopped)', and the time-dependent stresses thus created may be investigated by means of Terzaghi's theory. By this analysis the changes in the nature of the contact surface between the drill collars and the mud cake during the sticking can be explained; and the friction force between the two may be computed as a function of the sticking time, the borehole dimensions and the mud cake characteristics.

By J. B. Agan, R. J. Fernandes

This paper utilizes the layered-system approach, modified to include areal sweep efficiency, to determine the miscible-slug size required and to predict the perfort7zance of a miscible-slug process in a highly stratified reservoir having a permeability variation of 0.76. The slug size in each layer was determined from theoretical calculations and laboratory data which showed that, to maintain miscibility in the reservoir, the slug size had to be 8.2 per cent of the floodable hydrocarbon pore volume. Economic considerations, however, such as the value of the miscible product injected, the cost of injection and the cost of reprocessing the miscible product, limited the amount of miscible product which could be injected into the lower-permeability layers. This resulted in subjecting only 60 per cent of the reservoir to a slug size sufficient to maintain miscibility. Utilizing the relationship of producing gas-oil ratio and areal sweep efficiency as a function of pore volume injected (as obtained from data published by Dyes, Caudle and Erickson2), the theoretical performance was determined. This prediction is compared with actual performance to date. Actual performance reflects an increasing percentage of tniscible product in the produced fluid to a particular level, which remains static for a short period and then increases again to a higher level. This performance suggests that the reservoir has performed as a layered system. It is concluded that the layered-system approach can be used to predict performance in a highly stratified reservoir and that economic consideration is a limiting factor in determining the amount of the reservoir which can be miscibly swept. INTRODUCTION The Paloma zone in the Paloma oil field, Kern County, Calif., is comprised of several sand members separated by siltstone, shale and/or cherty sections. Rapid facies changes within the zone indicate that the sediments were deposited in a "near shore" environment. As a result, the Paloma sands have a high permeability variation, and the Paloma zone is comprised of several sand reservoirs. Since one of the sand reservoirs containing crude oil was not receiving the benefits of gas injection, consideration was given to recompleting certain wells to isolate the sand in order to perform a miscible-phase injection project and, thereby, to increase its ultimate oil recovery. Before proceeding with the project, a review of the literature was made to determine the miscible-slug size that would be required to maintain miscibility throughout the displacement process. Although the review showed that considerable information was available for homogeneous systems, insufficient information was available to determine slug-size requirements and to predict performances for a highly stratified reservoir. This paper has been prepared to describe the method used to determine the miscible-slug-size requirement and to predict the performance of the miscible-phase injection project initiated in the Paloma oil field. Although the Paloma project has only been in operation since Aug., 1958, sufficient production history has been obtained so that a comparison can be made with the predicted performance. DESCRIPTION OF RESERVOIR The reservoir in which the miscible-phase project was initiated in the Paloma field is shown on Figs. 1 and 2. Reservoir properties are as follows: average sand thickness, 43 ft; porosity, 19.1 per cent; water saturation, 47.2 per cent: oil viscosity, 0.328 cp; reservoir temperature, 250°F; reservoir pressure, 3,500 psi: gas saturation, 21.2 per cent at time of miscible product injection; and total net hydrocarbon pore volume, 19,993,000 reservoir bbl. LIMITATIONS The method described herein utilizes a layer-system approach, where injection into and production from each layer is assumed to be proportional to the layer's fractional capacity. The effects of increased fluid mobility on injection and production rates, in layers which have had breakthrough, are not reflected in this method. There has been considerable controversy over the slug size necessary to maintain miscibility throughout the displacement process. In this method, the slug-size

By C. F. Weinaug

In recent years, several methods have been proposed for correlation of physical properties and behavior of hydrocarbon systems. These correlations were found to be unsatis. factory for predicting differential gas liberation and shrinkage data now obtained experimentally. To achieve the desired accuracy, methods were developed to adjust the correlations with two experimental pieces of data. The required data are the saturation pressure at reservoir temperature and the specific volume or density at these conditions. The saturation pressure is used to adjust the vapor-liquid equilibrium-ratio correlations. The density measurement is used to determine the apparent density of liquid methane. With these adjustments, differential gas liberation and shrinkage are predicted within the experimental error. EQUILIBRIUM RATIOS Equilibrium ratios published by the National Gas Assn. of America' were used as a basis for the calculation. The convergence pressure for the sample was determined by using a hypothetical binary system, with methane as one component and the remainder of the system lumped together to form the other component. For the critical temperature of the heavy constituent, the weight average of the critical temperatures of the ethane and heavier components was used. The correlation of pseudo-critical temperature, density and molecular weight of Matthews, Roland and Katzl was used in this calculation for the hexane and heavier fractions. Points for the critical properties of methane and the hypothetical heavy constituent were placed on a chart of the critical loci of hydrocarbon systems. A critical loci for the hypothetical binary system was drawn, and the critical pressure of this system was determined at the reservoir temperature. This critical pressure became the convergence pressure for which equilibrium ratios were read from the NGAA4 charts. The NGAA equilibrium constants for C, through C, were used for the C,; through C, fractions since they were separated on the bases of normal paraffin boiling points. The correlation of Hoffman, Crump and Hocott5 as used to estimate the equilibrium constant for the C fraction. The NGAA eauilibrium-ratio charts are based primarily on paraffin systems and have to be corrected for the presence of naphthenes and aromatics. The correlations in the literature proved too unsatisfactory for determining these corrections. EXperimental data, the saturation pressure, is used with the correlation of Soloman2 to make this adjustment. The correction factors of Soloman were cross-plotted so that the factors for ethane and heavier components were made a function of the factor for methane. a2 = 0.7927 at + 0.1646 .........(1) where a, = correction coefficient for for methane NGAA equilibrium ratio, and a2t = correction coefficient for ethane and heavier NGAA equilibrium ratios. This equation and the equation for the bubble point are solved simultaneously for the correction coefficients. The bubble-point equation is anKnXn = 1.0 . . . . (2) The equilibrium constant for the saturation pressure at reservoir temperature is used. This procedure not only corrects for the relative volatility between components, but also assures that the results will be directly related to the experimental saturation pressure. METHANE DENSITY After determining a set of equilibrium ratios, the apparent density of condensed methane at 60°F and 14.7 psia was estimated. This was found to be necessary because the correlations of Standing3 ere found to be unsatisfactory. The law of additive volumes was employed to make this calculation.

By Charles E. Reed

With the increasing importance of clay in drilling operations which demand more precise and exacting control over its behavior, there has come the realization that most of our present methods of control over many of its important properties still represent more of an art than a science. Such a situation with respect to a material of such industrial significance is unfortunate, and naturally many investigations have been conducted to improve our knowledge. In general, these investigations have revealed the complex nature of clay behavior and while sometimes they may not have seemed to contribute directly to a solution of the field operator's problems they have been of inestimable importance in bringing to light the broad fundamental scientific principles upon which must be based any effective working theory correlating the known facts of clay behavior and predicting profitable new lines of attack for its improvement. Major Facts Concerning Behavior of Clays In the study of clays, as in that of most other colloidal materials, it has been impossible to make progress by the study of isolated facts. On the other hand, analysis of large groups of facts, many of which seem at first completely unrelated, can lead to a deeper insight into the structure of clays and the mechanism of their behavior. It will be well to list the major facts on which the analysis here presented is based, starting with those that have emerged repeatedly from past investigations and which thereby constitute an impregnable foundation upon which must rest any comprehensive theory of clay behavior: 1. Clays consist of hydrated aluminosilicates of extremely fine and variable particle size. 2. Suspended in water, clays exhibit variable degrees of swelling, depending upon their origin and upon the chemical and colloidal nature of any other substances present. The magnitude of the swelling is a direct indication of the extent to which the clay has become dispersed.

Jan 1, 1938

By N. Mungan

Laboratory imbibition and displacement experiments were performed using crude oil and cores drilled with water and preserved under anaerobic conditions. The purpose of these tests was to determine reservoir rock wettability and to find out if more oil could be recovered by use of NaOH solution than by conventional waterflooding. The preserved cores were found to be oil-wet. Contrary to work in the literature, these cores changed to water-wet upon contact with air. After exposure to air for a week, the cores yielded more oil by waterflooding than when preserved under exclusion of air. At reservoir temperature of 160F, flooding the preserved cores with 0.5N NaOH solution recovered more oil than an ordinary wa-terflood, and additional oil when following a waterflood. When the caustic solution was used from the beginning, all the extra oil was obtained before breakthrough; when the caustic followed a conventional waterflood, the extra oil was produced in the form of an oil bank ahead of the injected caustic. The increase in oil recovery resulted from wettability reversal. Also, use of caustic reduced the volume of injection required to flood out the cores. At room temperature, however, the caustic solution did not reverse the wettability and gave no additional oil recovery. Cores which had become water-wet by air exposure or caustic flooding were restored to their original oil-wet state when saturated with crude oil and allowed to equcilibrate at reservoir temperature for two weeks. Therefore, in the absence of preserved cores, it may be possible to restore weathered cores to their original wettability for use in laboratory floods. INTRODUCTION Waterflooding has been in use since 1865, and is by far the simplest of secondary recovery methods. Unfortunately, most waterfloods are inefficient in recovering oil, often leaving half or more of the original oil in place un-recovered. The low oil recovery generally results from low sweep efficiency and low displacement efficiency. Consequently, to increase oil recovery by waterflooding, sweep and displacement efficiencies should be improved. Sweep efficiency is primarily affected by reservoir heterogeneities and mobility ratio, while displacement efficiency is affected by the capillary forces between fluids and rock surfaces. For petroleum reservoirs, the capillary forces are expressed in terms of interfacial tension and wettability. If oil recovery is to be improved significantly in water- flooding, the capillary forces holding the oil in the raervoir porous matrix must be reduced or eliminated. One way to reduce capillary forces is to inject commercial surfactants ahead of the injection water into the reservoir. Laboratory tests of this method have shown no promise of an economical process yet, and no increase in oil recovery was obtained in the field trials which have been reported. Work is continuing in many companies to find surface-active agents which, in workable concentrations, can yield substantial added oil recovery. Another way to change capillary forces operating in petroleum reservoirs is by changing the pH of the injected water. Wagner et al.' showed that change in the pH sometimes activates the surface-active materials natural to some crudes and brings about gross wettability change. Since pH alteration can be obtained with cheap chemicals, such as hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide, the process shows promise of being economical in a field application. Pan American Oil Corp. reported oil recovery by use of caustic solution from a flooded-out reservoir.' Their test, conducted at a small additional cost, yielded results which were so sufficiently favorable and encouraging that the wettability reversal flood was expanded to portions of the field not previously flooded.13 It is important to bear in mind that changes in the pH of the water not only can reverse wettability but also can lower the interfacial tension between water and crude oil. Reisberg and Doscher4 have studied the pH dependency of the interfacial tension of Venture crude using sodium hydroxide solutions of various concentrations. Their data show that the interfacial tension was lowered from 23.0 to 0.02 dynes/cm by increasing the NaOH concentration from 0.005 to 0.5 per cent by weight. Thus, the use of NaOH may lead to additional oil recovery due to both wettability reversal and lowering of interfacial tension. Whether alteration of pH results in wettability reversal from oil-wet to water-wet and increases oil recovery depends on wetting properties of the reservoir rock and the crude. This necessitates delicate laboratory experiments, with suitable core and fluid samples from a field. Although many investigators have studied wettability reversal floods in the laboratory,1,2,5,6 these studies have been carried out with synthetic porous media, refined laboratory fluids and surface-active chemicals to simulate the process. The study presented in this paper is the first time that wettability reversal by pH alteration has been accomolished in laboratory core floods using carefully preserved natural cores, live crude and with experiments performed at reservoir pressure and temperature.

Jan 1, 1967

By O. R. Wagner, R. O. Leach

Immiscible displacement tests were performed in a consolidated sandstone core over the interfacial tension range from less thdn 0.01 to 5 dynes/cm to better define how interfacial tension (IFTJ reduction can lead to increased oil recovery. Data obtained were displacement efficiency at breakthbrough vs IFT for both drainage and imbibition conditions. These tests simulate water flooding under oil-wet and water-wet conditions, respectively. Results of the study have shown that displacement efficiency under both oil-wet and water-wet conditions can be markedly improved by a sufficient reduction in IFT. In the particular porous media used and for the low pressure gradients employed, the IFT must be reduced to a value less than about 0.07 dynes/cm to achieve increased recovery at the time of breakthrough of the injected phase. Below 0.07 dynes /cm, further small reductions in IFT result in large increases in displacement efficiency. Observed increases in recovery were obtained at pressure gradients which are well below those which can exist in the interwell area of a reservoir under water flood. The effect of pressure gradient on recovery is discussed. INTRODUCTION A residual oil saturation remains in rock which has been water flooded because, under usual reservoir conditions, the driving force which can be generated is inadequate to expel oil trapped by capillary forces. Since these capillary forces can be reduced by reducing the IFT a frequently studied method of increasing oil recovery has been the use of surfactants to reduce the water-oil interfacial tension. Mungan l observed improved recovery in both water-wet and oil-wet systems at 1.1 dyne /cm IFT, finding that the amount of improvement was greater in oil-wet systems. Moore and Blum,2 working with visual flow cell micro-models, con- cluded that recovery cannot be improved in water-wet systems by injecting surfactant solutions. They calculated that, for a pressure gadient of 1 psi/ft in their model, the IFT must be reduced to 0.03 dynes/cm to release oil trapped under water-wet conditions. Berkeley et al.3 indicated that, at representative field flooding rates, the IFT must be reduced to 0.001 dyne/cm to improve recovery, Thus, there is a wide variation of opinion about the IFT levels needed to improve recovery under field conditions. These previous investigators all have used as their experimental method the addition of surfactants to the injected water. The use of surfactant solutions to reduce IFT creates two experimental problems: (1) the loss of surfactant through adsorption on reservoir rock can obscure the true IFT value which exists at the displacement front, and (2) at very low values of IFT emulsifica-tion of oil and water commonly occurs. It is difficult, therefore, to determine whether the increased recovery is caused by IFT reduction as such, or is instead caused by emulsification. Also the properties of the available surfactants limit the IFT range which can be studied. In the present study the purpose is to better define how interfacial tension reduction can lead to increased oil recovery. A matter of great interest is the amount of recovery improvement potentially achievable in this way. The study was made using very low pressure gradients which was well within the range achievable by water flooding in the interwell region of petroleum reservoirs. A unique experimental approach was chosen to avoid adsorption and emulsification problems, and to allow convenient control of IFT. The fluid phases used were the equilibrium vapor and liquid phases of the methane-n-pentane system. The interfacial tension level was varied by changing the equilibrium pressure of the methane-pentane system over the range from 1,200 psia to near the critical pressure (2,420 psia). All tests were performed at a controlled temperature of 100F. The IFT-vs-pressure relationship for the methane-pentane system was based on the data of Stegemeier and Hough,6 and on new data obtained in this study. With this experimental approach it has been possible to study displacement at lower values of IFT than have been previously investigated.

Jan 1, 1967

By R. L. Dalton, L. A. Rapoport, C. W. Carpenter

Procedures have been developed to study the performance characteristics of unconfined pilot water floods using scaled laboratory models. The effects of operating conditions on pilot performance for variozrs well patterns have been investigated. The limitations of the laboratory model studies are outlined. Relationships between the oil recoveries of pilots and large-scale floods have been established. The applications of model studies to the prediction of large-scale waterflood performance and pilot flood design are discussed. INTRODUCTION Pilot water floods are undertaken to evaluate operational procedures and to gain advance information about the performance of an extensive water flood. In general, however, the performance of a pilot flood is not directly indicative of what can be expected from a large-scale pattern water flood. This difference stems from the fact that the over-all flow configurations are not the same for the two systems. A water flood normally consists of an array of identical well patterns. In such an array, the perimeters of the well patterns are axes of symmetry and act as impermeable boundaries. Thus, an extensive, pattern water flood can be visualized as a repetition of "confined" floods. In contrast, a pilot water flood involving only one or a few well patterns is "unconfined". Here the well patterns are not balanced by other flood units; hence, the perimeter of the pilot area does not act as an effective boundary. Accordingly, only a portion of the fluids injected (and also of those originally contained within the pilot area) is captured by the producers of the pilot. The rest escapes into the surrounding reservoir. This usually causes the amounts of oil and water produced in the pilot to be different from those recovered by a producer in an extensive water flood. Moreover, the recovery observed in the pilot can be expected to be greatly influenced by operating conditions, i.e., by the bottom-hole pressures at the injection and producing wells. The above considerations show that full utilization of pilot test results and reliable prediction of large- scale water floods require a knowledge of the relationship between the recovery performance of confined and unconfined well patterns. To date, only limited basic information is available on the behavior of pilot water floods. Craig, et al,' have investigated the effects of initial gas saturation, oil-to-water mobility ratio, and well damage on the oil recovered from a single, "normal" five-spot pilot pattern (Fig. 1). Rosenbaum and Matthews2 studied the effect of initial gas saturation and mobility ratio on the ratio of production rate to injection rate for various groupings of five-spot patterns. Paulse113 investigated the effect of mobility ratio and distance from the pilot to the edge of the reservoir on the areal sweep in a single "inverted" five-spot (Fig. 1). However, none of these studies considered the effect of operating conditions on pilot flood behavior. Moreover, hardly any of the work to date dealt explicitly with the oil-recovery performance of the pilot floods. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of interrelation between pilot flood behavior and operating conditions, to illustrate this interrelation by means of experimental data and to compare the recovery performances of dif-