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By J. M. Flaitz, A. S. Parks

OF the various methods of sampling gas-condensate wells, a method that secures a continuous representative sample of the well stream is desirable. Such a method, consisting of a sampling tube introduced into the well tubing, has proved satisfactory. The method is sufficiently accurate for operating and engineering problems A portable testing apparatus can be used with the sampling tube to obtain data useful in studying the economic and technical aspects of the development and operation of gas-condensate properties. Introduction The recent discovery and development of gas reserves that contain hydrocarbons that condense with reduction of temperature or Pressure, or both, to form a product known as condensate, has brought many new problems to the oil and gas industries. With further discovery of deep, high-pressure fields it is presumable that many more gas fields of this type will be added to the steadily increasing number. Such gas reserves are found either associated with oil as a gas cap or in separate formations. There seems to be no positive correlation between the physical or geological nature of the reservoir, and the chemical composition or phase characteristics of its contents. Knowledge of the chemical make-up and phase behavior of gas-condensate reserves is needed to cope with many problems. A knowledge of the chemical composition and phase characteristics of the reservoir material is necessary to properly design a gasoline or recycling plant, to estimate natural gas and condensate reserves, to enable the operator to study the economic and technical aspects of various methods of operation and development, and to carry Out the plan of operating subsurface and surface lease equipment. This information is often useful in questions of mineral ownership, proration, legal position, and taxation. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss methods used by the writers to determine the chemica1 composition and phase characteristics of the fluids produced from a condensate well. The scope of the paper includes a discussion and description of the method of sampling, the results of tests on the accuracy of the sampling method, a description of a portable testing apparatus used to examine the phase characteristics, typical results of tests on wells from several condensate fields, and some of the applications of these data to production problems. References to previous work on this subject are cited at the end of the paper. The Problem At reservoir conditions of temperature and pressure, the fluids produced from a condensate well exist in a homogeneous vaporous condition. The consequent reduction of temperature and pressure that occurs as this gas enters and flows up the well tube results in condensation of some of the hydrocarbon material to form a liquid. The relative amount of liquid condensed at any point in the flowing system

Jan 1, 1942

By J. M. Flaitz, A. S. Parks

OF the various methods of sampling gas-condensate wells, a method that secures a continuous representative sample of the well stream is desirable. Such a method, consisting of a sampling tube introduced into the well tubing, has proved satisfactory. The method is sufficiently accurate for operating and engineering problems A portable testing apparatus can be used with the sampling tube to obtain data useful in studying the economic and technical aspects of the development and operation of gas-condensate properties. Introduction The recent discovery and development of gas reserves that contain hydrocarbons that condense with reduction of temperature or Pressure, or both, to form a product known as condensate, has brought many new problems to the oil and gas industries. With further discovery of deep, high-pressure fields it is presumable that many more gas fields of this type will be added to the steadily increasing number. Such gas reserves are found either associated with oil as a gas cap or in separate formations. There seems to be no positive correlation between the physical or geological nature of the reservoir, and the chemical composition or phase characteristics of its contents. Knowledge of the chemical make-up and phase behavior of gas-condensate reserves is needed to cope with many problems. A knowledge of the chemical composition and phase characteristics of the reservoir material is necessary to properly design a gasoline or recycling plant, to estimate natural gas and condensate reserves, to enable the operator to study the economic and technical aspects of various methods of operation and development, and to carry Out the plan of operating subsurface and surface lease equipment. This information is often useful in questions of mineral ownership, proration, legal position, and taxation. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss methods used by the writers to determine the chemica1 composition and phase characteristics of the fluids produced from a condensate well. The scope of the paper includes a discussion and description of the method of sampling, the results of tests on the accuracy of the sampling method, a description of a portable testing apparatus used to examine the phase characteristics, typical results of tests on wells from several condensate fields, and some of the applications of these data to production problems. References to previous work on this subject are cited at the end of the paper. The Problem At reservoir conditions of temperature and pressure, the fluids produced from a condensate well exist in a homogeneous vaporous condition. The consequent reduction of temperature and pressure that occurs as this gas enters and flows up the well tube results in condensation of some of the hydrocarbon material to form a liquid. The relative amount of liquid condensed at any point in the flowing system

Jan 1, 1942

By Paul Tyler

THE ferroalloying elements are connecting links between the steel industry and the nonferrous metal industries. Although ferroalloys are distinctly nonferrous themselves, they serve the steel industry either in the manufacturing process or in modifying the product-in some cases so that it may compete in the markets with nonferrous metals. Of the 92 elements generally accepted by chemists as constituting the primary building blocks of matter, all but the very rarest have been investigated with a view to employing them in steel manufacture. The surprising thing is that so few have been found commercially acceptable. Despite the relatively small number of elements involved, the employ-ment of alloys in steelmaking is one of the most complicated and probably one of the least well understood of modern industrial enterprises. A great deal has been written regarding the action of individual elements and a profuse and somewhat acrimonious literature covers pretty much the whole field of ferroalloy ore supplies. In the middle ground between the miner and the steelmaker developments are less carefully watched by most observers, and except for an occasional description of the technique of some conversion process or the tariff hearings in Congress, very little is said about them. The purpose of the present paper is to describe in relatively nontechnical terms this highly complex industry and to study its relations to our national progress.

Jan 1, 1933

By Waldemar Lindgren

Introduction To the miner, as well as to the geologist, the eastern part of Cuba is a most interesting region. Here we find, in contrast to the moderate relief predominating elsewhere in the island, an imposing mountain range, the Sierra Maestra, extending east and west parallel to the coast, its precipitous front facing the blue Caribbean Sea.. In a geological sense this range is largely an unknown land, the only well-explored region being that in the vicinity of Santiago. The range also contains the most important mineral deposits of the island. They comprise, first, a series of iron deposits yielding a partly hematitized magnetite with low content of phosphorus; second, a remarkable copper-bearing vein at El Cobre; and third, various manganese deposits. Probably more deposits will be found, for the larger and western part of the range is as yet little explored and its slopes are covered by a thick tropical jungle. The following notes are based on a short visit by the senior author in January and February of 1914 to the mines at Daiquiri, El Cobre, and Mayari. For many courtesies and great assistance he is deeply obliged to Charles F. Rand, President of the Spanish-American Iron Co.; to George W. Pfeiffer, General Manager, and to the several members of his staff.

Jan 10, 1915

The Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo. M F Coolbaugh, President. Since 1906 the School of Mines has issued a journal, known as the Quarterly of the Colorado School of Mines, which carries many articles on matters of general interest as well as other articles of a technical nature There is no regular subscription price to the School of Mines publications Anyone interested in back numbers should write and find out the conditions under which individual copies may be obtained, whether a price is set on them or whether they are free Some back numbers are not now available but efforts will be made to supply copies from the files of alumni or other friends of the School Vol 23, No. 3 of the Quarterly (July, 1928) is an index of the publications complete from July, 1906 to July, 1928. A selected list of the technical articles appearing in the Quarterly is given here: Vol 3, No. 3, Rare metals. uranium and vanadium, by H. Fleck (1909), vol 3, No 4, Tungsten in Colorado, by H R Van Wagenen, vol 4, No 3, Preliminary report of the radioactivity of the carnotite of southwest Colorado, by H Fleck and W. G Haldane (1909), vol. 8, No 1 (1913), Some recent developments at Leadville, by G. M Butler, vol 8, No. 3, Physiography of

Jan 1, 1933

By R. V. Lundquist

R. T. Hukki (Finland Institute of Technology, Helsinki, Finland)—Two schools of thought are developing concerning the order of the rate of flotation. The paper by Morris is intended to show experimental evidence in favor of the first order rate. Arbiter, on the other hand, has presented an earlier paper" to demonstrate the validity of the second order rate equation. Unfortunately his method of plotting is open to criticism, as pointed out by Morris." A more sensitive method of plotting has been described by the writer,= whereby the data presented by Arbiter demonstrate the superiority of the second order plot. The general rate equation may be written in the following forms for the integrated first and second order equations: (A) t =------In—-------- (first order) [4] 1 1 (B) — = — kc, + KC°²— (second order) [5] t R As a first approximation the value of C, may be taken as a unity, 100 pct or 1. Whether or not this is the case in all tests performed by Morris is impossible to judge, owing to the fact that the flotation times are extremely short, e.g. 150 sec in tests A. It would, indeed, be very interesting to know what the total recovery R would be after 1 hr of flotation, for example, instead of after 150 sec. Certainly there are circumstances when C, approaches unity within a very small

Jan 1, 1954

[ ] (14) SCREENS: Description of Allis-Chalmers' complete line of vibrating screens for the mining industry is contained in a new 8-page bulletin. Primary scalping, secondary scalping, and conventional screens for wet or dry sizing and screens for heavy media separation are included. Also given is a typical fiowsheet showing how horizontally operated Low-Head screens are used in the sink and float process. (15) MILLS: Forty-six years of experience and 4000 installations throughout the world lie behind the seven basic types of mills illustrated in a recent bulletin from the Hardinge Co. Fields of application and materials handled in various installations are listed. (16) BLOWERS & COMPRESSORS: A brochure describing the manufacturing facilities and the axial and centrifugal blowers and compressors made by the Sawyer Bailey Corp. is now available. (17) LINATEX: The first catalog of the Linatex Corp. of America has been issued, outlining the advantages claimed for this special form of natural rubber, when used in corrosion, abrasion, and vibration resisting applications. (18) WIRE ROPE: Twenty-four pages packed with concentrated wire rope data is the way E. H. Edwards Co. describes a booklet which they are now making available. It was condensed from the Edwards general catalog to provide users with a concise guide to every important phase of wire rope production, maintenance, and use.

Jan 1, 1952

By Charles R. Fettke

The Bradford and Richburg oil fields are the only pools where artificially conducted water drives on an extensive scale have been economically successful. Field practice has progressed from the original accidental or intentional circle flood, through the line flood development plan, to the intensive complete development plan, which is the most-recent and generally considered to be the most successful. Of the intensive development plan the five-spot arrangement of wells is the one that has been used most extensively. A further development associated with the latter method is the application of additional hydraulic pressure to that of the hydrostatic head of the column of water in the intake well. In conjunction with this method is the practice of delayed drilling of the oil wells until the water from the intake wells has entered even the less permeable portions of the sand and developed a "bank" of oil at which time all oil wells are drilled as nearly simultaneously as possible. The five-spot pressurc flood with delayed drilling gives more rapid return on investment than any other method. The seven-spot and nine-spot patterns are rarely used. No chemicals, such as sodium carbonate and other so-called flooding agents, are being added to the water at present since the field tests carried on in 1926 gave no positive results. All air and gas drives have been discontinued.

Jan 1, 1930

By R. W. Heckel, J. H. Smith, H. W. Paxton

The habit plane of proeutectoid cementute precipitated from austenite was studied using a two-trace surface (analysis coupled with a direct X-ray back-reflection determination of the orientatzon of the parent Matrix. The results were the same as those obtained by earlier workers1 - 2 who used Indirect methods to determine the orientation of the matrix. The data indicate that a range or habit planes in the parent phase is operative which is not in agreement with accepted existing theories. In 1933, Mehl, Barrett. and smith1 obtained a non-unique result in a study of the Widmanstätten habit plane of proeutectoid cementite. Their data are shown in Fig. 1. These results were verified by Greninger and Troiano,2 although they did not pre-sent any data. Both of these investigations relied upon indirect methods of determination of the matrix lattice orientation. Theoretical considerations of Widmanstatten precipitates have usually proved or assumed an orientation relationship between matrix and precipitate; the habit plane expressed relative to the matrix is generally unique, although it may be irrational.3 Opinion is divided as to the factors influencing the choice of habit plane. Mehl4 felt that a nucleus which was plate shaped to minimize strain energy and surface energy during its formation could maintain this shape by the point effect of diffusion; the

Jan 1, 1961

By S. Edward Drummond, Charles D. Haynes, Stephen H. Stow

This paper is a preliminary report on the occurrence and distribution of economically interesting heavy minerals (kyanite, sillimanite, staurolite, zircon, monazite, ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile) in sands from the sea floor surface of the offshore area, Alabama-Mississippi. Weight percent of heavies derived from the +60 portion of 97 samples is contoured in [Fig. 1]. Five hundred grains from 42 of the heavy mineral separates were identified and sized microscopically; the data were converted to weight percent for each mineral species and are summarized in [Table 1]. Heavy Mineral Distribution In the Gulf, there is a general westward decrease [(Fig. 1)] in maximum abundance of heavies from 2.4% north of Sand Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay to slightly over 1.0% south of Petit Bois Island and a corresponding decrease in the Mississippi Sound from 1.4%, north of Dauphin Island to slightly over 0.25% north of Horn Island. Average concentrations of heavies for different areas are found in Table 1. There is westerly longshore transport in this area; the interaction of the longshore current with discharge from Mobile Bay and disruptions of the current by Sand Island, possibly aided by a shoaling effect, appear to be the cause of the preferential deposition and concentration of heavies (2.4%) north of Sand Island in 10 to 14 ft of water.

Jan 1, 1977

By P. K. Guerrero, Nathaniel Arbiter

The correlation of power consumed by a tumbling mill with the dimensions, speed, and load has been attempted by three principal methods. One of these, the torque formula, has been reviewed critically elsewhere. This approach, while analytical, disregards the individual motion and speed of the tumbling bodies and assumes that the gross geometry of the entire load is sufficient to establish the power requirement. A more general approach, using dimensional analysis, has been applied in this laboratory by the present authors, and more recently by Rose. This disregards the internal conditions within the mill entirely and in effect is an empirical procedure for correlating data. Finally, the complete analysis of tumbling mill dynamics as first made by Davis attempts to develop the power requirement from individual ball and rod paths and velocities. Although Davis' result is applicable only at a single speed for a given size and load it could be useful, since his optimum speed is at the upper limits of conventional tumbling mill practice. Where power values predicted by the Davis equation were compared with actual mill requirements, they were found too low for small mills and much too high for the largest mills. This suggested that the agreement with actual intermediate range requirements might be fortuitous, and the development of the equation was examined critically.

Jan 5, 1960

HENRY A. VEZIN, Denver, Colo. (communication to the Secretary, February, 1897): I have read Mr. Austin's paper with considerable interest, more especially as the designing and study of such works have been an attractive occupation for me during the last twenty-five years. Mr. Austin says that a " plant on a terraced site has generally been considered the most advantageous," and also that " many advocate a level site," while he himself " is disposed to advocate a modification of the latter plan, utilizing an extended surface with a moderate slope."* Among the advocates of the terraced sites as against level ones, I do not recollect ever meeting a metallurgist who had even made an attempt to plan his works for level ground, or who had, in a lucid interval, figured how much he gained or lost by one or the other method. The average metallurgist starts with the assumption that it is rational to conduct his material down hill because its movement is aided by gravity, while to elevate ore or furnace-material by machinery he vaguely believes to be not alone wrong in principle, but also unnecessarily expensive. Let us look into the expense of elevating and see whether it really is prohibitory of the successful operation of smeltingworks on a level site. Hoisting or elevating material in the

Jan 1, 1897

By Milton C. Head, Aulton E. Roland, William E. Hawes

INTRODUCTION Uranium mining in the Grants Mineral Belt has undergone changes from methods pioneered during the 1950's and has now become fairly standardized throughout the district. The orebodies vary in size and shape and have been most successfully mined by using modified room and pillar methods with pillar recovery. This paper will expand on methods and equipment that are being used and modifications of these that will increase productivity and efficiency. GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND The petrology of the Grants Mineral Belt consists of alternating layers of sandstone and shales (mudstone), with occasional thin layers of coal. The sandstones are aquifers which are generally artesian to some extent. The shales are bentonitic and decompose into extremely sloppy mud when exposed to water. Figure 1 shows a typical geologic section. Most of the uranium produced in the Grants Mineral Belt comes from the Westwater Canyon member of the Morrison Formation and occurs as scattered ore bodies throughout the formation. This formation consists of layers of bentonitic shale and sandstone of varying degrees' of cementing and grain size. It is also a very significant artesian aquifer. The unconfined compressive strength of the various formations is not high, as shown in Table I. It is important to note that these represent average values and a great range may exist within a single formation, especially In the Westwater which is the ore formation. [ ]

Jan 1, 1982

By Theodore Nagel

Fuel-oil, natural gas and coke oven gas, producing the higher temperatures of open-hearth current practice, have been gradually displacing producer gas the lowest cost fuel for open hearth operations. The lower temperatures of combustion products from producer gas is caused by nitrogen dilution. Practical Application of Combustion Thermochemistry One pound of carbon burned to CO produces 3,960 B.T.U. and one pound of carbon burned to C02 produces 14,140 B.T.U. The second unit of oxygen uniting-with gasified car-bon (-CO) produces (14,140 - 3,960) 10,180 B.T.U. which is;(10,180 - 3,960) 6,220 B.T.U. more heat than produced by the first, unit of oxygen forming CO by uniting with solid carbon. A review of the relative combustion heating values of commercial gaseous fuels reveals CO requires a minimum of air for combustion, and because of minimum nitrogen dilution and the high thermal release from CO higher temperature combustion products are produced from CO than from natural gas or from coke-oven gas under similar combustion conditions. Inert nitrogen diluent lowers the calorific value of fuel gas and its diluting effect is cumulative in lowering the temperature of the products of total, combustion. It is not only logical but, practical in partial combustion, converting bituminous coal to gas, to generate the gas, with reduced nitrogen dilution.

Jan 1, 1936

By Theodore Nagel

Fuel-oil, natural gas and coke oven gas, producing the higher temperatures of open-hearth current practice, have been gradually displacing producer gas the lowest cost fuel for open hearth operations. The lower temperatures of combusts on products from producer gas is caused by nitrogen dilution. Practical Application of Combustion Thermochemistry One pound of carbon burned to CO produces 3,960 B.T.U. and one pound of carbon burned to C02 produces 14,140 B.T.U. The second unit of oxygen uniting with gasified carbon (CO) produces (14,140 - 3,960) 10,180 B.T.U. which is (10,180 - 3,960) 6,220 B.T.U. more heat than produced by the first unit of oxygen forming CO by uniting with solid carbon. A review of the relative combustion heating values of commercial gaseous fuels reveals CO requires a minimum of air for combustion and because of minimum nitrogen dilution and the high thermal release from CO higher temperature combustion products are produced from CO than from natural gas or from coke-oven gas under similar combustion conditions. Inert nitrogen diluent lowers the calorific value of fuel gas and its diluting effect is cumulative in lowering the temperature of the products of total combustion. It is not only logical but practical in partial combustion, converting bituminous coal to gas, to generate the gas with reduced nitrogen dilution.

Jan 1, 1936

By Woo-Zin Choi, Ting Chuen Pong, Roe-Hoan Yoon, James R. Craig, Robert M. Haralick

Detailed analysis by conventional techniques and by the General Image Processing System (GIPSY) has revealed that the conmunution of base metal-containing, complex, fine-grained sulfide ores results in the selective concentration of some ore minerals as a function of size fraction. The ores studied are massive, metamorphically recrystallized, pyrrhotite-rich masses with 10-30 percent pyrite and several percent each of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite; gangue minerals - amphibole, mica, and quartz - constitute approximately 10 percent of the ore mass. Examination of samples from laboratory grinding experiments, - from +35 to -250 mesh - produced by both Impact and attrition grinding, reveals that there are significant differences in the mineralogical content of the various size fractions. No single fraction is representative of the bulk mineralogy of the sample. Pyrite is highly enriched in coarser fractions, whereas chalcopyrite, sphalerite, magnetite, and gangue minerals are concentrated in the finer size fractions. Concentration of the ore minerals in the finer fractions is attributed to their common presence as interstitial, grains along the grain boundaries of the more dominant pyrrhotite and pyrite. As such, they tend to be somewhat preferentially liberated as small fragments during the initial stages of crushing and grinding. The relatively coarse-grained pyrite, up to 1 cm cubes, is brittle and readily fractures into coarse fragments which are seen in larger size fractions.

Jan 1, 1984

By H. K. Livingston

THE first person to investigate intensively the vast field of surface phenomena and capillary effects was the eminent English scientist, Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919), who laid down most of the fundamentals of this subject. This work was greatly amplified by Irving Langmuir,1 who, in connection with research for the General Electric Co., spent 25 years on the study of the surface chemistry of films, finally receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1932 in recognition of his work. At present, William Harkins,2 of the University of Chicago, is the world's foremost authority on surface-tension measurement and his independent work, when combined with that of Langmuir, resulted in the orientation con-cept of solubility and surface activity, which is now an important funda-mental in chemistry. The theory laid down by these men was first applied to practical considerations regarding petroleum reservoirs by F. E. Bartell,3 of the University of Michigan, in connection with an American Petroleum Institute research grant. The latest and most advanced application of Bartell's work is contained in an article published in 1935 by Allen Garrison,4 of Rice Institute, in which he relates Bartell's measurements to the ratio of oil to water produced by wells and shows the types of petroleum reservoirs where the effects studied by Bartell are significant. This article is intended as a minor extension of such work.

Jan 1, 1938

WHEN Georgius Agricola, in 155o, dedicated his now famous De re Metallica to the rulers of Saxony, Thuringia, Meissen, and other, smaller principalities, he included in his review of previous works on similar subjects reference to two books written in German: one, an "anonymous, rather disorganized account of assaying for metallic content and of metals," which must be the Probierbüchlein, the other, "dealing - with veins, written by Calbus of Freiberg, a well-known physician."* Calbus is mentioned a second time-and cited-at the end of the Third Book of De re Metallica. Comparison of the citation with the Bergbüchlein leaves no doubt that Agricola considered Calbus of Freiberg the author of the latter work, although all the editions of the Bergbüchlein known now were published anonymously. It is generally accepted by those who have dealt with the bibliography of the Bergbüchleint that Calbus was Ulrich Rülein von Kalbe, who served the City of Freiberg, in Meissen, as health officer in 1497, as member of the City Council in 1509, and as mayor in 1514 and 1519. He died at Leipzig in 1523. In connection with the very garbled description of the mining compass toward the end of Chapter 3 of the Bergbüchlein it is of interest that von Kalbe is supposed to have been not only a physician of repute but a mathematician, astronomer, mine sur-

Jan 1, 1949

By George M. Schwartz

WHEN reviewing the progress made in mining geology for the year 1953, one might say that not much has been accomplished and, indeed, in a subject such as economic geology not much progress should be expected in the 10 months of the year which elapsed before this article was prepared. This seeming lack of progress, however, disappears when the facts are investigated a bit. There undoubtedly are more economic geologists at work than ever before. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that more geologists are now employed by a single company in the Lake Superior district than were employed in the whole district 20 years ago. In most mining districts geologists are busy with numerous problems of production, development, and exploration and some give an occasional thought to the scientific problems of the science, or rather the art, of mining geology. In fact, this very intense activity of mining geologists is one reason why progress seems slow; they do not have time to write up results of investigations. There is also a great amount of work being done which is not released because of company policy. Conditions have improved very much in recent years but mining corporations, in general, have some distance to go before attaining par with the petroleum industry in this respect.

Jan 2, 1954

By E. H. Rose

It must be evident to almost everyone by now that a massive transformation is occurring in our iron ore economy. Its equal has been seen only once before in the entire history of the North American steel industry, and not even once before within the personal memory of anyone now engaged in it. The lone precedent was the beginning of ore shipments from the Mesabi Range in October, 1892, which was before anyone still short of normal retirement age had been born. No younger observer, in the steel industry or in any other, has ever known anything else than that the Lake Superior region-in which the Mesabi is the giant-has supplied all but a small fraction of total North American blast furnace ore for the use of three generations of steelmakers. Directly or indirectly, it was the discovery of the Mesabi which created most of the prime and satellite companies that have since come to prominence in the various ore-consuming phases, and it was the same discovery that had broader effects on the entire spectrum of their technologies than any other single event that has ever happened since, although the advent of byproduct coke is a close runnerup. It affected every sector of the national economy and was a keystone in making our standard of living what it is today.

Jan 9, 1961