Search Documents

By P. P. Scott, George C. Howard

A field remedial procedure utilizing a kerosene-cement slurry as a water plug-off agent in fractured formations was evaluated both in the laboratory and in the field. This procedure has proved to be capable of effectively shutting off water without causing permanent impairment of the oil production. Success was attributed to the fact that an immobile cement slurry, when placed in a water-producing strata, will set and form an impermeable barrier; whereas when placed in an oil-producing section the cement will retain a relatively high permeability and may be removed by acidizing. INTRODUCTION One of the most perplexing problems facing the oil industry is the selective exclusion of water production from oil or gas-producing wells. This problem has been studied by many investigators in an attempt to develop a material that is not only capable of reducing water production but is also capable of being selective in that it will not impair oil production in either fractured or intergranular type reservoirs. A study of these two types of formations indicated that two distinct types of materials for controlling water production might be required — a completely liquid plugging agent for intergranular formations and a semi-liquid or slurry type plugging agent for fractured formations. This paper is limited to the control of water production from fractured formations. A common source of water in the vicinity of oil bearing rock reservoirs is water which previously has entered and, because of its higher density, generally lies near the bottom of the formation. When the deepest point of penetration of a well into such an oil and water-bearing formation is above the level of the water, and the dynamical gradients due to the flow of oil overbalance the difference in densities between oil and water, water production becomes a problem. Then the water level rises in the shape of a cone and is produced from the lower depths. Other investigators1,2,3,4 have developed theories which define the pressure gradients and contours of this cone in a homogeneous formation and have shown that the placement of a plug in the bottom of a well is only slightly effective in temporarily reducing the flow of water. Assuming that the manner of flow of bottom water from fractured formations to a well is generally similar to the flow in homogeneous formations, then it would be expected that some form of coning, perhaps of less symmetry, would also occur. Then, because of the similarity of the manner of flow of water, placement of a vertical plug in a fractured formation would also probably be ineffectual for controlling water production. However, as has been shown by electric model flow study,' the placing of a plug in a well and an impermeable horizontal streak in the formation might prove to be a means for materially reducing or even eliminating water production in a fractured formation. An indication of the difference in effectiveness between horizontal and vertical plugs based on theory developed from study of the flow of water and oil in rock reservoirs is depicted in Fig. 1. These curves show the expected

Jan 1, 1955

J. A. MATHEWS, * Syracuse, N. Y. (written discussion?).-The reagent described by Mr. Archer seems to be a selective reagent, useful in one particular field. Nevertheless, the field is one in which it is likely to prove of considerable value, because there is a great deal of alloy steel FIG. 1.-ETCHED 1 HR. IN ARCHER'S FIG. 2.-ETCHED 1 HR. IN ARCHER'S REAGENT. PLOD 60. X 188. REAGENT. IZOD 10. X 188. heat-treated to approximately the properties mentioned in the paper. If it is found, by further tests, to be applicable to a wider range of compositions than merely chrome-nickel steels, for the most part discussed by Mr. Archer, its value will be thereby increased to just the extent to which it can be applied. In view of the fact that certain of these chrome-nickel steels, very similar in physical properties and hardness, show very different results in the Izod or notch test, and in view of the fact that when such differences are noted in the fracture the brittle steels usually

Jan 5, 1919

By R.J. Anderson

Roughly, a crack in a casting may be considered, for the moment, to be due to fracture of the alloy resulting from the stress set up by the contraction in volume on passing from the liquid to the solid state. Cracks may be external or surface, internal or deep-seated, or incipient or so-called strain cracks. Draws may appear as depressions, unevenness, and "pinching in" of the surface of a casting. Roughly, draws are due to contraction in volume and are governed largely by the same factors as cracks. A casting may be cracked, however, without being drawn. Shrinkage is a foundry term and refers to the contractio~l in volume of a metal or alloy on passing from the liquid to the solid state. Patternmaker's shrinkage is the total contraction in volume (including liquid, solidification, and solid shrinkage) that occurs when an alloy is poured into a mold. The contraction in volume of aluminum is one of the principal factors affecting the occurrence of cracks, as will be shown later, and the question of shrinkage and its control requires careful study in any treatment of cracking in castings. In the case of sand and die castings, cracks have been attributed to a number of causes, but in the case of most light aluminum alloys, they are due to the large contraction in volume on freezing and the lack of its regulation or control. The most important factors are: (1) Contraction in volume; (2) composition of alloy; (3) quality of melting charge; (4) design of casting; (5) method of molding; (6) hardness of ramming; (7) method of gating; (8) hardness and characteristics of cores; (9) chills; (10) risers; (11) melting temperatures; (12) furnace used for melting; (13) pouring temperatures; (14) inclusions in alloys; (15) hot shortness of alloys; and (16) physical properties of alloys at high temperatures. Of these, the first, second, third, and eleventh to sixteenth involve ascertainable metallurgical facts; the remainder are largely matters of opinion, judgment, and technical knowledge of men experienced in the production of castings.

Jan 1, 1923

By R. J. Anderson

Roughly, a crack in a casting may be considered, for the moment, to be due to fracture of the alloy resulting from the stress set up by the contraction in volume on passing from the liquid to the solid state. Cracks may be external or surface, internal or deep-seated, or incipient or so-called strain cracks. Draws may appear as depressions, unevenness, and "pinching in" of the surface of a casting. Roughly, draws are due to contraction in volume and are governed largely by the same factors as cracks. A casting may be cracked, however, without being drawn. Shrinkage is a foundry term and refers to the contractio~l in volume of a metal or alloy on passing from the liquid to the solid state. Patternmaker's shrinkage is the total contraction in volume (including liquid, solidification, and solid shrinkage) that occurs when an alloy is poured into a mold. The contraction in volume of aluminum is one of the principal factors affecting the occurrence of cracks, as will be shown later, and the question of shrinkage and its control requires careful study in any treatment of cracking in castings. In the case of sand and die castings, cracks have been attributed to a number of causes, but in the case of most light aluminum alloys, they are due to the large contraction in volume on freezing and the lack of its regulation or control. The most important factors are: (1) Contraction in volume; (2) composition of alloy; (3) quality of melting charge; (4) design of casting; (5) method of molding; (6) hardness of ramming; (7) method of gating; (8) hardness and characteristics of cores; (9) chills; (10) risers; (11) melting temperatures; (12) furnace used for melting; (13) pouring temperatures; (14) inclusions in alloys; (15) hot shortness of alloys; and (16) physical properties of alloys at high temperatures. Of these, the first, second, third, and eleventh to sixteenth involve ascertainable metallurgical facts; the remainder are largely matters of opinion, judgment, and technical knowledge of men experienced in the production of castings.

Jan 1, 1923

By R. F. Hehemann, S. T. Zegler

The w phase in zirconium alloys containing more than G pct Nb can form in a difjUsionless manner during quenching or with composition change during aging at temperatures below 550°C. The latter treatment establishes a metastable equilibrium between an w phase containing 5 pct Nb and a ß phase containing 45 pct Nb. The superconducting transition temperat~ire of quenched Z?-10 pct Nb and Zr-15 pct Nb alloys is increased by aging at 375°C and both alloys exhibit the same Tc after prolonged aging. The superconducting transition both in the quenched and in the aged alloys is relatively sharp (occurring ovev a temperature range of <0.5°K), and is interpreted in terms of the microstructure that characterizes the ß-w) mixture and proximity effects postulated for thin-film superconductors. At elevated temperatures alloys of the transition elements from groups 4 to 6 in the periodic table exhibit wide ranges of mutual solubility in the bcc structure. Except for compositions that are high in a group 4 element? the bcc structure can be retained at room temperature by quenching and several systematic studies of the influence of composition on superconductivity in bcc alloys have been reported.&apos;&apos;2 The high-temperature bcc form (ß) of the group 4 elements—titanium, zirconium, hafnium—is not retained upon quenching but instead transforms marten-sitically to the hcp structure (a). The Ms temperature can be lowered by alloying the group 4 metals with a solute from a higher group and with a critical amount of solute the martensitic transformation can be suppressed. The 3 phase, however, is not retained without modification. Rather, a metastable phase, w (in particular in titanium- and zirconium-base alloys), occurs over a fairly wide range of compositions above that required for suppression of the martensitic transformation.3,4 As in the formation of a, the transformation of ß to w occurs in a diffusionless manner during quenching and the temperature for its initiation (ws) is lowered by increasing solute content. The ws temperature can be well below room temperature and reversibility of the transformation allows w that forms on cooling to low temperatures to disappear again when the sample is returned to room temperature.5 In Zr-Nb alloys the w phase can also be formed during aging at temperatures below 550°c.5 In this treatment, a metastable equilibrium is established between a niobium-rich ß phase and a zirconium-rich w phase. The present study of Zr-Nb alloys was undertaken to examine the influence of microstructure: as controlled by composition and heat treatment, on the superconducting transition temperature, Tc. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE The alloys were prepared from zirconium crystal bar that was spectrochemically pure except for 30 ppm of Al, 40 ppm of Cu, 100 ppm of Fe, and 1 ppm of each B and Pb. The niobium used was 99.5+ pct pure containing according to the suppliers&apos; (Stauffer Chemical Co.) analysis a maximum of 50 ppmO, 60 ppm of N, 30 ppm of C, 5 ppm of H, 200 ppm of Ta, 50 ppm of Mo, and 15 ppm each of Fe, Co, and Ni. The alloys were prepared in the form of buttons weighing approximately 4 g by arc melting on a water-cooled copper hearth in an inert-gas atmosphere. All alloys were heat-treated in the ß-phase region for 3 days at 1000°C and water-quenched. For heat treatment, the specimens, 0.5 cm in diam by 1.0 cm long, were wrapped in zirconium foil and sealed in an inert-gas atmosphere inside quartz capsules. Quenching was done by breaking the capsules under water. Subsequent aging treatments of Zr-10 pct Nb and Zr-15 pct Nb alloys were done by placing the specimens in a lead bath at 375°C and quenching in chilled brine. The phases present in the quenched and aged alloys were identified by optical and X-ray metallography. X-ray powder patterns were taken at room temperature with a 114.6-mm-diam Debye-Scherrer camera and CuK-a radiation. Superconducting transition temperatures were determined from magnetic-permeability measurements6 in a 10 oe field. The superconducting transition temperature was determined from a plot of galvanometric deflection as a function of temperature by extrapolation of the linear portion of the curve to zero deflection. In Figs. 1 and 3 the arrows indicate the temperature range of the transitions. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Superconductivity in Quenched Alloys. In Fig. 1 Tc for alloys quenched from 1000°C is plotted against nominal composition. Indicated also in Fig. 1 are results of metallographic studies. Alloys containing less than 5 pct Nb transform martensitically to a during quenching from 1000°C and Fig. 1 demonstrates that Tc increases significantly as the niobium concentration in a is increased. On the basis of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schreiffer theory of superconductivity7 it seems most likely that this increase in Tc results from an increase in the density of electronic states as zirconium is alloyed with niobium. This increased density of states has been revealed clearly in low-temperature specific-heat measurements.8 The martensitic transformation to a is suppressed when the alloy content exceeds 5 pct Nb. In the range from approximately 6 to 30 pct Nb, quenched alloys consist of a mixture of B and w phases and the amount

Jan 1, 1967

By P.V. Roundy, G.R. Mansfield

Public lands in Florida were first withdrawn from entry by President Taft on July 2, 1910, as a conservation measure because of their possible phosphate content. The reserve thus established was subsequently modified by further withdrawals and by restorations, so that on Jan. 1, 1934, it contained 66,796 acres, of which only a small part had been definitely classified. The reserved land was in scattered parcels, ranging from less than 40 acres to 320 or more, distributed in many counties. For administrative purposes and for final disposal of any of the numerous parcels, mineral classification of the land is legally necessary. In 1934 and 1935 the United States Geological Survey, under two successive grants from the Public Works Administration, prospected some 83 tracts of these lands in Polk County, comprising in all about 3300 acres, and six tracts comprising 240 acres in Citrus and Marion Counties. The tracts in Polk County were all in the so-called land-pebble field and the others in the hard-rock field. The Survey field party was under the direction of P. V. Roundy, from whose unpublished report the material in this paper is largely taken. The foreman of the prospecting crew was J. H. Wingate of Zephyrhills, Fla. The individual tracts were identified through the cooperation of the General Land Office, by transitman Hugh B. Crawford. This prospecting work fitted well the classification adopted for Public Works projects in general: it could not be done on any considerable scale under the Survey&apos;s usual appropriations; it gave employment to unemployed labor; and it may be expected ultimately to repay the Government in royalties more than the cost of the exploration. Commercial, Prospecting Methods Commercial methods of prospeeting for phosphate in Florida have been briefly described by Mansfield.&apos; In the hard-rock field, where the floor of the phosphate deposit is extremely irregular, it is customary to drill a.:

Jan 1, 1938

By P. V. Roundy, G. R. Mansfield

Public lands in Florida were first withdrawn from entry by President Taft on July 2, 1910, as a conservation measure because of their possible phosphate content. The reserve thus established was subsequently modified by further withdrawals and by restorations, so that on Jan. 1, 1934, it contained 66,796 acres, of which only a small part had been definitely classified. The reserved land was in scattered parcels, ranging from less than 40 acres to 320 or more, distributed in many counties. For administrative purposes and for final disposal of any of the numerous parcels, mineral classification of the land is legally necessary. In 1934 and 1935 the United States Geological Survey, under two successive grants from the Public Works Administration, prospected some 83 tracts of these lands in Polk County, comprising in all about 3300 acres, and six tracts comprising 240 acres in Citrus and Marion Counties. The tracts in Polk County were all in the so-called land-pebble field and the others in the hard-rock field. The Survey field party was under the direction of P. V. Roundy, from whose unpublished report the material in this paper is largely taken. The foreman of the prospecting crew was J. H. Wingate of Zephyrhills, Fla. The individual tracts were identified through the cooperation of the General Land Office, by transitman Hugh B. Crawford. This prospecting work fitted well the classification adopted for Public Works projects in general: it could not be done on any considerable scale under the Survey&apos;s usual appropriations; it gave employment to unemployed labor; and it may be expected ultimately to repay the Government in royalties more than the cost of the exploration. Commercial, Prospecting Methods Commercial methods of prospeeting for phosphate in Florida have been briefly described by Mansfield.&apos; In the hard-rock field, where the floor of the phosphate deposit is extremely irregular, it is customary to drill a.:

Jan 1, 1938

By L. Dudley Stamp

In my last report on Petroleum in Burma and India1, details were given of production and development up to 1932. It was pointed nut, that the only statements available for Burma were those published officially by&apos; the Government of India in the Annual Review of the Mineral Production of India (Records of the Geological Survey of India), which are issued about 10 or 11 months after the close of the year. Operations in Burma are almost entirely in the hands of three companies—the Burmah Oil Co., the British Burmah Petroleum Co. (with its subsidiary, the Rangoon Oil Co.) and the Indo-Burma Petroleum Co.—and these companies preserve a policy of secrecy, so that details are not available of new wells, depth, wells abandoned, or of other figures, except in so far as the Government considers it advisable to publish the information in its possession. GeneRal Developments in 1933-1934 As predicted in 1933, there have been no spectacular developments and no new fields have been discovered. Nor are there any new indications of a likelihood of fresh discoveries. The policy of extremely careful exploitation. has been continued and intensified; production is being maintained at an almost steady level and can be so maintained for many years to come—indeed, it is the policy of the leading company to permit refinery and local market requirements to dictate the production required. Contrary to experience in practically every other part of the world, India has shown a slightly decreased demand for petroleum products—especially kerosene, but also for gasoline. The increased use of electricity would explain the lower demand for kerosene, but the falling off in the demand for gasolinc can only be attributed, according to the Chairman of the Burmah Oil Co., to the depression and to the incidence of heavy taxation. In India (including Burma) as a whole, production was 305,018,751 Imperial gallons in 1931 (8,714,822 U. S. barrels); 308,606,031 Imp. gal. in 1932; 306,009,022 in 1933 and is estimated at 308,000,000 in 1934.

Jan 1, 1935

WALLACE E. PRATT, Wichita Falls, Tex. (written discussion *).-The age of the oil in the southern Oklahoma fields, Mr. Powers concludes, is Pennsylvanian, or in part, possibly, pre-Pennsylvanian. In a later paper,1 he recognizes the Ordovician age of the small production from the Bullhead A. Daney, No. 14, in the Healdton field. But nowhere does Mr. Powers admit the possibility of oil of Permian age in southern Oklahoma. Yet shallow oil in the adjacent north Texas fields. (Electra, Burkburnett, and Petrolia), which are generally conceded to be closely related to the fields of southern Oklahoma in geological aspect, may very well be of Permian age. Dr. Udden has already discussed this question,2 noting the organic nature of the limestone, outcropping near Electra, together with other evidence that organic material was present if not abundant, originally, in Permian rocks: The Permian rocks in north

Jan 3, 1918

By H. W. Mead, C. E. Birchenall

SELF-DIFFUSION of iron in austenite is a process which may play a significant role in some of the practically important reactions which occur in solid irons and steels. It also provides a system in which the interaction of vacancies on substitutional sites and atoms in interstitial positions may be investigated. For both purposes, accurate values of the diffusivities are required. Two sets of previous measurements exist, each containing features which require checking. In the course of an investigation to determine the rate of diffusion of iron in certain steels, Garwick and Rosenqvist&apos; measured the self-diffusion coefficient of iron in a 0.10 pct* C steel and obtained a dicated that while at lower temperatures D increased with increasing carbon content, at the higher temperatures it first increased and then decreased. At the same time the activation energy decreased linearly from a value of 69,000 cal per g-atom for pure iron to 33,000 cal per g-atom at 1.06 pct C. This rapid decrease in activation energy implies that iron at higher temperatures within the austenite range would diffuse more slowly in high carbon steels than in steels of lower carbon content. Experimental Procedure The radioactive iron used in this work was obtained from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The unit consisted of about 1 microcurie each of Fe7 and Fe It was allowed to decay for two years. At the end of this time most of the Fe with a half-life of 46.3 days, had decayed, while most of the original Fe(half-life 2.91 years) still remained. The iron as chloride was extracted into an ether layer, using the method of Ashley and M~rray. After evaporation of the ether the iron chloride was dissolved in 250 ml of aqueous solution containing 2.4 gpl Fe. The compositions of the steels used are listed in Table I. Disks of ¾ in. diam and about ¼ in. thick were machined from these steels for use in diffusion couples. The disks were surface ground on both sides to ensure parallel opposite faces. One face of each disk was polished through 000 emery paper. Half of the prepared disks were plated with radioactive iron. For this, 1 ml of the radioactive iron

Jan 1, 1957

By K. G. Davis, P. Fryzuk

The diffusivity of silver in liquid tin has been determined, using the capillavy-reservoir technique, over the temperature range 250° to 500°C. The new value, D = 2.5 x 10&apos;* exp(-2480/ RT) sq cm per sec, differs from that obtained by other workers in an earlier investigation. The analysis of data from the capillary-reservoir technique is discussed. In a recent investigation of the solidification of dilute alloys, values for the diffusion constant of silver in liquid tin were required in the analysis of the formation of impurity substructures. AS a result, measurements were made of the diffusion constants in the temperature range 250° to 500°C (melting point of tin 232°C), for the alloy concentrations used in the solidification experiments and at higher concentrations, to verify previous determinations.I)2 The capillary-reservoir method was adopted, using experimental procedures similar to those followed by Ma and Swalin,1 with the main exception that radioactive silver was used in the present investigation to facilitate solute-concentration measurements. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE a) 100 ppm Samples. Glass capillary tubes of 2 mm inside diameter and approximately 5 cm- long were sealed at one end, evacuated, and filled with tin of 99.999 pct purity. The region of shrinkage near the mouth was cut off, and the tubes were then placed in a graphite holder and immersed, with the open end up, in an unstirred bath of alloy containing 100 ppm Ag 110, where they remained for periods of up to 30 hr. On removal from the bath they were cooled by an air blower. The bath was kept under a small positive pressure of argon, and the temperature controlled to within +1°C. A 10-hr diffusion period was used in the majority of the tests, scatter on runs of less than 5 hr being rather large. The procedure outlined above was chosen in preference to putting alloy in the capillary and pure tin in the bath, in order to avoid segregation when the tubes filled with alloy were first solidified. To minimize segregation when the diffusion period was complete and the capillaries again solidified, the earlier samples were held in thin-walled silica tubes which could be cooled very rapidly. Later tests were made in precision-bore Pyrex tubes, to eliminate effects caused by variations in the capillary diameter. No consistent differences in diffusivity as measured in the two types of tube were detected. After removal from the glass tubing, the samples were sectioned into 2.5 mm lengths and counted for y activity, using a scintillation counter with fixed geometry. Samples were also drawn directly from the bath and counted, so that values for C/C,, the ratio of the weight of Ag 110 in the sample to that in the bath, could be obtained. b) 5000 ppm Alloy. To check for possible effects of concentration, the silver content of the bath was increased to 5000 ppm. Complete mixing was found to have taken place in the capillary after a 10-hr period at 300°C. It appears that the greater density of the alloy was sufficient for buoyancy forces to cause instability in the alloy-tin interface, leading to rapid convective mixing. For the 5000 ppm alloy, therefore, the bath was of pure tin and the capillary tube was filled with alloy. With this arrangement, values of D consistent with those for the 100 ppm alloy were obtained, Fig. 1. CALCULATIONS OF DIFFUSIVITY The terminology used applies to a capillary of pure tin immersed in a bath of alloy. 1) Error-Function Method. under the present experimental conditions, the rod of liquid tin into which silver is penetrating may be considered semi-infinite. Assuming the concentration at the mouth of the tube to remain constant at Co, the concentration C at distance x from the mouth of the tube at time / is given by3 Plots of the inverse error function of (1 -C/Co) vs .v gave straight lines passing through the origin with slope 1/2-, x being corrected for shrinkage both on solidification and while cooling to the melting point (total correction about 6 pct at 500°C). Values for log D obtained in this manner are shown in Fig. 1. A least-squares fit to the relation D = Do exp(-Q/RT)

Jan 1, 1965

By Alex Boozenny

The results of potential measurements between 1) a titaniurn electrode in NaCl-TiCl, melts and a graphite-cizlorine reference electrode and 2) a titanium electrode in NaC1-Nu "melts and a graphite-chlorine reference electrode show that the following relationship expresses the equilibrium relationship between the TiCl, and the dissolved metallic sodium concentrations, expressed in mole fraction units, in dilute NaCl welts at 850°C. The results of potential measurenments between a graphite electrode in NaCl-TiCl, melts that were saturated with TiCl, and a graphite-chlorine reference electrode, when combined with the standard free energy data given in literature, gave the following expression for the equilibrium relationship between the TiCl, and TiCl, concentrations, expressed in mole fraction units, in dilute NaCl melts at 850°C. These relationships are for melts in equilibrium with pure titanium. In impure systems, less sodiurn and more TiCI, can be copresent with a given concentration of TiCl,. AFTER 10 years of existence, the titanium metal industry still relies on the original Kroll and the sodium reduction processes for the only important means of converting titanium-bearing ores to titanium metal via production of titanium tetrachloride as an intermediate. Through years of modification and development these two processes have evolved to a point where any further major economic advances in the field of titanium metal production must be achieved through implementation of processes which are distinct departures from simple magnesium or sodium reduction of titanium tetrachloride. Concurrently with the refinement of the Kroll and sodium reduction processes, industries and government have sponsored research and development in the field of producing titanium by electrolysis of oxides,&apos; carbides,&apos; and halides3&apos;4 in fused salt media. However, the incomplete understanding of the physical chemistry of fused salt systems has in many cases hindered the development of promising new titanium production processes to the point where they will have a clear advantage over the processes presently employed. Fortunately the volume of information on fused salt physical and electrochemistry is increasing at an accelerating pace. The first approaches tbward investigating the electrochemical behavior of fused salt systems have been the measurements of equilibrium potentials of metals immersed in melts containing their halides.&apos; Some work on the kinetics of fused salt electrochemical processes has been reported.&apos;09" Some descriptions of the structural composition of fused salt systems are also available. The work described herein is a continuation of the study of metal electrode potentials in fused salts. Specifically, this contribution to the growing store of fused salt chemistry information presents a description of the equilibrium relationships between the concentrations of titanium dichloride, titanium trichloride, and metallic sodium in fused sodium chloride. The investigation of the titanium dichloride-titanium trichloride equilibrium relationships is not completely new. Kellog and Krye and Melgren and opie15 have presented the results of chemical analysis of salts containing titanium chlorides. Flengas and lngrahaml&apos; have published the results of an investigation of these equilibrium relationships obtained by measurement of electrode potentials in a fused NaCl-KC1 mixture. The investigation described herein differed from that of Flengas and Ingraham principally in the use of straight NaCl as the solvent in place of the more costly and more difficult to purify mixture. This investigation was conducted in three parts. First, the equilibrium potentials of titanium in sodium chloride containing known concentrations of titanium dichloride were measured. A graphite-chlorine electrode was employed as reference. Second, the equilibrium potentials of titanium immersed in sodium chloride containing known concentrations of elemental sodium were measured. Third, the equilibrium potentials of graphite immersed in titanium tetrachloride-saturated sodium chloride containing known concentrations of titanium trichloride were measured. The results of these three related investigations are presented in the above order. The results are combined with the thermodynamic properties of titanium chlorides and sodium chloride, obtained from literature, to give the titanium dichloride-titanium trichloride-elemental sodium equilibrium concentration relationships. In the test, whenever a melt contains titanium chlorides in predominantly divalent form, the melt

Jan 1, 1962

By James P. Munroe

Appalling as has been the loss of life in the last 51 months, there is one slight compensation: no longer will there be in the world a cripple, in the old meaning of the term. Men handicapped by wounds or disease, there will be, unfortunately, and in numbers beyond what the world has known since the wars of Napoleon; but neither they nor the industries from which they were called off to war will be "crippled" in the sense in which both would have been had mankind not learned the lesson of conservation and come to understand that the most important field for such conservation is not in the forests and the mines but among men and women. From the beginning of the Great War, France, Great Britain, Belgium and most of the other Allies have studied the problem of restoring the soldiers and sailors injured through war to physical and economic efficiency; and from their experiences, especially from that of Canada, the United States has learned much. Consequently, our task of preparing for the return of our disabled men has been easier and, in some ways, more comprehensive than theirs. Complex as are the details of the machinery which the United States has set in motion to take care of the men injured by wounds or disease, the plan itself is simple. Taught by European experience, the Surgeon-General of the Army and the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy have provided, on both sides of the Atlantic, every known surgical and medical facility for restoring the injured or diseased man to a physical condition as nearly normal as possible. While in the hospital in Prance or England, on the transport coming to America, and in the hospital here, the disabled man is incited in every way to believe in his future efficieney, to want to be a normal worker, to desire to retake his place in that society of workers from which he went, temporarily, to do the greater work of preserving civilization. Furthermore, since purposeful occupation is now regarded as an essential form of treatment with most men in the hospital, especially in the convalescing stage, many of these men will have been actually started on the road to earning before they are discharged from the army surgeon&apos;s care.

Jan 1, 1919

By W. R. Ingalls

ThE following chronology presents the history of lead-mining in the United States in a brief form and is a useful reference in connection with the statistics of production: 1621.. Lead was mined and smelted near Falling Creek, Va., to supply the local demand for bullets and shot. This was the first mining and .smelting of lead in what is now the United States. 1632. In a report made on the minerals of New England, lead-ore is mentioned. (Bishop, I., 470.) 1650. Supposed beginning of mining by Jesuits in Pima county, Ariz. 1651. Grant of lead-mine at Middletown, Conn., to Gov. John Winthrop. 1682. Lead-ore supposed to have been discovered in Wisconsin by Nicholas Perrot. (K. D. Irving, Mineral Resources of Wisconsin, Trans., viii., 498.) 1700 Discovery of lead in Missouri by Penicaut, one of Le Sueur&apos;s party. Tile same expedition discovered lead near the southern boundary of Wisconsin in August of the same year. 1712. Grant by Louis XIV. of the Crozat patents, with special privileges respecting the discovery and operation of mines in the then territory of Louisiana. Little or no mining was done under this patent until about 1720. 1717. Transfer of Crozat patents to the Mississippi Co., promoted by John Law, which prepared for active mining. 1719. First attempt to mine and smelt lead in Missouri, made by Sieur de Lochon, in behalf of the Mississippi Co., near Meramec river. Results unsuccessful.

Jan 1, 1908

By H. F. Yancey

PHYSICAL properties have been used for a long time in characterizing different kinds of coal, and physical properties, such as friability and slacking, have been included with chemical properties in grouping coals according to the widely used system of classification adopted by the U. S. Geological Survey. Nevertheless, the usefulness of physical properties for classifying the different ranks or kinds of coal has been limited because it has not been possible to express these properties in definite form as numerical values. Because of the present wide interest in the formulation and adoption of a satisfactory system of coal classification, the Northwest Experiment Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the College of Mines of the University of Washington, has recently completed a study of the physical and chemical properties of approximately 100 different coals ranging from lignite to, anthracite. PURPOSE AND SCOPE For this investigation samples were collected in approximately 45 mines and prospects in Washington and 23 mines in other states. The following studies, in addition to proximate and ultimate analyses, were made of the samples: Determination of (1) friability, (2) slacking or weathering characteristics, (3) yield of products by low-temperature carbonization in a laboratory retort, and (4) agglutinating value. Most of the coals examined were subjected to each of the tests enumerated, but with coal of some ranks this was unnecessary in some instances, and in others it was not feasible to do the work involved.

Jan 1, 1932

By William Fink

THIS paper is the nineteenth of a series from the Aluminum Research Laboratories, presenting the results of the investigations of equilibrium relations in aluminum-base alloys made from electrolytically refined aluminum. In previous papers equilibrium) relations have been deter-mined and correlated for 12 binary systems. Equilibrium relations have also been determined for portions of the aluminum corners of three ternary systems (aluminum-iron-silicon, aluminum-magnesium-silicon and alu-minum-copper-magnesium). The object of the present paper and those to follow is to increase our knowledge of the aluminum corner of the more important ternary systems. In 1926 Dix and Keith? suggested a new method for designating the phases encountered in alloy systems. The system has been used to a very limited extent 1,2,3. The system has since been slightly modified and will be used in this and future papers. In the system as modified, a phase is designated by placing in parentheses the chemical symbols of the elements essential to the formation of that phase. The symbols in the parentheses are separated by dashes in order to clearly distinguish them from a chemical formula. Elements that are not necessary to the formation of the phase in question, but which may be present in solid solution, are not indicated in the designation. If two or more phases would have the same designation according to these rules, they are dis-tinguished by prefixing Greek letters, and are definitely identified by X-ray diffraction patterns.

Jan 1, 1936

By W. F. Dietrich

Mineral fillers are relatively inert chemically under the conditions of use but have physical properties* that modify those of the materials • The properties. uses, and other data on 15 classes of important *The pro listed in the second edition of Industrial Minerals and Rocks.l A third edition of this reference is in preparation. in which they are incorporated. The mineral fillers considered in this article are asbestos, barite, clays, diatomite, crushed limestone, limestone whiting and lime, mica, silica, talc and soapstone, and pyrophyllite. Slate and stone, other than limestone and its derivatives, are excluded because, even though used in large quantities, they are exceptionally low-cost materials generally produced close to the area where they are used. Carbon black is excluded because it is manufactured from natural gas and more than 90 pct of the output is used in rubber; hence the factors for estimating requirements are easily evaluated. OVERALL GROWTH FACTORS Table I gives the population, retail sales, and value added by manufactures in the U. S. and in the eleven western states in 1954. These data are rough guides to the proportionate part of total U. S. markets for products containing mineral fillers that may be expected in a given area. For example, the population of the eight Mountain states in 1954 was 3.6 pct, and retail sales in these states were 3.8 pct of the U. S. total, but the value added by manufactures was only 1.3 pct of the U. S. total. On the other hand, the three Pacific Coast states, with 10.3 pct of the total population, had 12.0 pct of the retail sales and produced 9.6 pct of the value added by manufactures. On an industry-by-industry basis the correlation between the three guideposts will not be as close as shown in the 1954 data for the Pacific Coast states, but in the long-term view the continuing rapid population growth in the western states is certain to result in expanded industrial production at an even more accelerated pace, which will shorten the gap between local consumption and production in most major groups of manufactured consumer goods. Of course, there will always remain favorable areas for production of specific products. Such special situations must be individually analyzed. Fig. 1 compares the population trends in the U. S., the western states, and California with Real Gross National Product from 1910 to 1957, with forecasts to 1970. It is estimated&apos; that the U. S. Real Gross National Product, as measured by the value of goods and

Jan 1, 1960

By C. W. Hamilton

In the production of crude petroleum for the year 1930 Venezuela again maintained its world rank of second only to the United States. During the latter months of the year Russia forged ahead of Venezuela in daily rate of production, and from the present outlook will probably rank second among the oil-producing countries of the world in 1931. It is now believed Venezuelan production has passed its peak. The producing fields of the Bolivar coastal district, along the east side of Lake Maracaibo, continue to be the principal source of supply. Such fields as Lagunillas, Mene Grande and La Pas were not produced to capacity throughout 1930. During the year, three new fields entered into commercial development: The Rio Tarra field in the District of Colon, State of Zulia; the El Mene de Salto field in the District of Acosta, State of Falcon and the Quiriquire field, District of Piar, State of Monagas. For 1930 the total crude production of Venezuela was approximately 137,424,000 bbl. as compared to 137,739,000 bbl. during 1929, or a decrease of 315,000 bbl. During the past year exports of crude from Venezuela amounted to 137,8.50,000 bbl. as against 130,044,000 bbl. exported during 1929. Crude oil in field storage decreased from 14,138,-000 bbl. at the beginning of 1930 to 9,600,000 bbl. as of Jan. 1, 1931— present crude stocks fill about one half the field tankage available. Drilling operations in the producing fields declined sharply but throughout the year there was maintained a satisfactory potential reserve in the shape of proven territory and closed-in producers. Of the 2555 wells which have been completed in Venezuela, 1571 wells were in production on Jan. 1, 1931. The status of these present producing wells may be classified as follows: flowing 652, pumping 170, gas-air lift 193 and closed-in 556. The ratio of closed-in wells to producing wells declined in 1930, while the number of wells produced by artificial means increased materially. In the Bolivar coastal fields there is now observed a marked decline in gas volume and well-head pressure. Lago Petroleum Corpn. and Venezuela Gulf Oil Co. each have under construction electric plants designed to generate power for pumping wells by electricity. The first units of these plants will be placed in conlmission in the early spring of 1931. Venezuela Oil Concessions, Ltd. has installed a number of stenrn-

Jan 1, 1931

By J. J. Oberly

WHILE examining lineage boundaries in germanium single crystals as described by Vogel et al.,&apos; patterns of conical etch pits were noted which reveal interesting properties of dislocations. The crystals were grown by pulling in the <100> direction, and (100) surfaces perpendicular to the growth direction were etched 4 min in a mixture of 6 cu cm HF, 10 cu cm HNO3, 6 cu cm acetic acid, 3 drops Br,. Lineage boundaries extended in any direction, but favored the <110> direction. The patterns which were noted first were composed of two or three etch pits arranged symmetrically about the lineage boundary, so that the doublets were spaced equally on either side of the boundary line and the triplets had their center pit on the boundary line. The triplets occurred less often than did the doublets; occasionally combinations were found. Two such combination patterns are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The orientation of the patterns was determined approximately by subsequently etching the same surfaces in a mixture of 5 cu cm HF, 5 cu cm super-0x01, and 20 cu cm distilled water which produced nearby random square etch pits having edges in the <110> direction. In all cases, the axis of symmetry was <110>, being parallel to the etch-pit edges. Several successive lapping and etching operations showed that the patterns tended to continue through the crystal in the <100> direction, but eventually changed or vanished. It can be seen in both photographs that the pits in the patterns are much further apart than the pits in the adjacent section of the lineage boundary. In Fig. 1, the 10 pits of the pat-

Jan 1, 1955

By Albert H. Chester

During the summer of 1875 I visited some of the iron mines of Houghton County, Mich., and was quite interested to observe the progress made there within a few years. Working in open pits is gradually giving place to underground work in most of the mines where this system is practicable. In some cases, as in the Lake Superior Mine, the body of ore is so irregular, and the deposit so liable at any time to be pinched out, or nearly so, that it. has been found impractical, if not impossible, to lay out any plan for systematic underground work. But in many other mines the deposit is so regular in character, that the work can be laid out in shafts at regular intervals, and a series of 60 feet levels. The Michigammi Mine, opened in 1872, and first worked in 1873, is arranged on this plan, though some quarrying is still done. But the men are being put at overhead stoping as fast as it can be got ready for them, and before long it will all be worked in this way. The New York Mine is undergoing a similar change to the pillar system, and several others have either been changed, or it is about to be done. My principal object in visiting this region was to obtain samples from some of the important mines, so as to be able to answer the question: "What is the average percentage of iron in the Lake Superior ores?" Most iron furnaces work on mixtures of ore, so that it is impossible to tell, from their records, just the percentage in each one.