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By A. J. Teplitz, R. J. Goodwin

A new type water shut-off for use in air drilling has been developed. The method has been 99 to 100 per rent effective in several different formations of inter-ranular-type porosity. Since costs for materials, time and equipment used are relatively small, the process should extend economies of air drilling to many new areas. The treatment involves a new technique for forming a water-inroluble precipitate within the pores of a rock. Advantage it taken of the difference in mobility of a liquid and a gas in porous media to achieve the greatest volume of precipitate in a given pore. Reactants selected for the laboratory (2nd field tests were aluminum sulfate solution and gaseous ammonia. This process has been tested in both intergranular and fractured-type porosities. It has consistently shut-of between 99 and 100 per cent of the water flowing from formations having intergranular-type porosity and perrlreuhilities ranging from a few millidarcise to over a darcy The treatment is not particularly suitable for shutting-off water from fractured formations although plugging of the order of 50 per cent or greater has been achieved in all such applications. Among advantages of the treatment are: (I) no reaction waiting rime after a relatively short placement time, (2) a low mate-rials cost of about $3/f1 of hole treated, (3) use of common service-type equipment for treatment, and (4) no unusual requirements for mixing and placement. INTRODUCTION In rotary drilling with air or gas it has been possible to increase bit life by tenfold and more than double rate of penetration over corresponding performance when drilling with mud. These factors have amounted to as much as 22 per cent savings on total cost of drilling a well. However, these advantages are rapidly lost when water is encountered in an air- or gas-drilled well because water interferes with the removal of cuttings from the hole and also gives rise to other difficulties. In attempting to combat water troubles, operators have commonly resorted to such measures as mist drilling, treatment with cement or chemicals, converting to conventional mud drilling, or setting casing. In many cases these measures have either been costly or ineffective. In an effort to overcome this problem, studies were undertaken to develop an effective and economical water shut-off technique for use in formations possessing inter-granular-type porosity. Extensive laboratory experimentation finally led to a unique method for producing a water-insoluble precipitate within the pores of a sandstone. The unique part of the treatment is use of a liquid and a gas to form the precipitate, and in this case the reactants used were aluminum sulfate solution and gaseous ammonia. The reaction between these two materials is shown in the following equation. Al2 (SO1)3 - 18 H20 6NH2? saturated Water- Solution Cat 2A1(OH)3 . n H20 3(NH4)2SO • n H20 Solid Solid That is, a solid precipitate consisting of aluminum hydroxide and ammonium sulfate is formed when ammonia reacts with aqueous aluminum sulfate. The aluminum hydroxide is insoluble in water and the ammonium sulfate, though soluble, can only be removed from the formation pores by diffusion—an extremely slow process. Although the precipitate formed by the reaction is not particularly firm, great strength is not needed for a precipitate to bridge and plug intergran-ular-type porosity. A flow path in such a system is extremely tortuous and involves a great variety of pore

By L. J. M. Smits

A theoretical equation is developed describing membrane potentials of shaly sands as a function of the cation-exchange capacity per unit pore volume of the rock and saturating water salinity. This equation is based on the same simple physical model as that employed earlier7 describing the electrical conductivity of shaly sands. Experiments conducted with NaCl solutions showed that the equation is obeyed, except in the case of saturated salt solutions where minor deviations were observed. A possible explanation is given for this discrepancy. As the clay content and the porosity of shales may vary appreciably, shale membrane potentials also vary. It was found that membrane potentials of shales can be calculated accurately with the aid of the same theory. Consequently, changes in membrane potentials can be accounted for by simple measurement of cation-exchange capacities per unit pore volume of both shales and shaly sands. Charts are given to facilitate interpretation of the electrochemical part of the SP in terms of cation-exchange capacities and the salinities of mud filtrate and formation water. INTRODUCTION A spontaneous potential (SP) log is a record of the way in which the electrical potential of a sonde varies as it passes down a borehole. Such variations frequently reflect rock texture, e.g., permeable beds intercalated in an impermeable series often are indicated by a sharp change in potential. Nowadays it is recognized that SP logs may be interpreted in terms of formation-water salinity and formation shaliness. The four sources of the SP are illustrated in Fig. 1. El and E4 represent streaming potentials generated by the flow of mud filtrate through mud cake opposite permeable formations and through shale, respectively. An extensive review of the literature on the evaluation of these streaming potentials is given by Lynchl and will not be discussed here. The remaining part of the SP generally is called the electrochemical potential, which is divided into two parts: a membrane potential across the shale (E3, Fig. 1) and a membrane potential in the permeable sand at the diffusion boundary between formation water and mud filtrate (E2, Fig. 1). It was found by wyllie2 that the membrane potential across the shale, E3, is the most important contribution to the electrochemical potential, the shale acting as a semi permeable membrane. When the sand is clean it does not influence the diffusion process, so E2 equals the value of the so-called liquid-liquid junction potential observed when the two solutions diffuse freely into each other. When the sand contains clay, however, this interferes with the diffusion process and affects the diffusion potential generated. The greater the proportion of clay, the stronger this effect will be. Wyllie,3 Doll4 and Poupon et al.5 took this effect into account theoretically, starting from a physical

Jan 1, 1969

By T. A. Klinefelter, O&apos, R. G. Meara, Glenn C. Truesdell, Richard W. Smith

The investigation of domestic talcs was undertaken by the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the University of Alabama, at the request of the U. S. Army, on Dec. 1, 1941: "Considerable concern has been expressed by the Supply Arms and Service over maintaining continued availability of supplies of the necessary raw materials. These ceramic products are used by the Signal Corps in all army radio equipment, and to a greater degree in the new ultra-high-frequency equipment. The Air Corps has become a user of large amounts of radio-grade ceramics for' aircraft spark-plug covers required for high-altitude operations. In addition, the use of this material is essential to the proper functioning of the radio air-navigation aids of the Civil Aeronautics Board." History The use of steatite and talc in ceramic bodies goes back a great many years. If pure, talcs shrink little under heat-treatment and are very resistant to heat shock. The massive form, commonly called "steatite" by the trade, cuts and works easily, and this was naturally the first method used in obtaining articles of talc. When gas was in general use for illuminating purposes, a. large business was carried on in the manufacture of tips for gas burners.' With the development of uses for electricity, low-tension insulators were made in a similar manner; and, in fact, the forming of shapes from massive talc continues. However, as the business increased, cuttings and waste became more and more of a problem. In the twenties, one of the larger producing firms had a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Mines at its Columbus station to work out a body using the finely powdered material. Somewhat earlier, manufacturers of spark plugs used the finely ground talc as part of the body and to some extent in wall-tile bodies. Somewhat later it came into use for kiln furniture and similar products and still more recently it has been used in some dinnerwares. With the development of the radio and the high-frequency fields generated, it was found that a dense steatite porcelain was far better than even high-tension electrical porcelain, which is a clay-flint-feldspathic type of body. Until the war increased the demand, the several pioneer steatite-porcelain manufacturers were able to furnish adequate supplies. When war began in Europe and Asia, three important foreign sources of raw material were cut off; i.e., the French, Italian, and Man-churian talcs. Domestic producers of high-grade porcelain are few, and the trade

Jan 1, 1948

By T. A. Klinefelter, Glenn C. Truesdell, Richard W. Smith, R. G. Meara, O&apos

The investigation of domestic talcs was undertaken by the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the University of Alabama, at the request of the U. S. Army, on Dec. 1, 1941: "Considerable concern has been expressed by the Supply Arms and Service over maintaining continued availability of supplies of the necessary raw materials. These ceramic products are used by the Signal Corps in all army radio equipment, and to a greater degree in the new ultra-high-frequency equipment. The Air Corps has become a user of large amounts of radio-grade ceramics for' aircraft spark-plug covers required for high-altitude operations. In addition, the use of this material is essential to the proper functioning of the radio air-navigation aids of the Civil Aeronautics Board." History The use of steatite and talc in ceramic bodies goes back a great many years. If pure, talcs shrink little under heat-treatment and are very resistant to heat shock. The massive form, commonly called "steatite" by the trade, cuts and works easily, and this was naturally the first method used in obtaining articles of talc. When gas was in general use for illuminating purposes, a. large business was carried on in the manufacture of tips for gas burners.' With the development of uses for electricity, low-tension insulators were made in a similar manner; and, in fact, the forming of shapes from massive talc continues. However, as the business increased, cuttings and waste became more and more of a problem. In the twenties, one of the larger producing firms had a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Mines at its Columbus station to work out a body using the finely powdered material. Somewhat earlier, manufacturers of spark plugs used the finely ground talc as part of the body and to some extent in wall-tile bodies. Somewhat later it came into use for kiln furniture and similar products and still more recently it has been used in some dinnerwares. With the development of the radio and the high-frequency fields generated, it was found that a dense steatite porcelain was far better than even high-tension electrical porcelain, which is a clay-flint-feldspathic type of body. Until the war increased the demand, the several pioneer steatite-porcelain manufacturers were able to furnish adequate supplies. When war began in Europe and Asia, three important foreign sources of raw material were cut off; i.e., the French, Italian, and Man-churian talcs. Domestic producers of high-grade porcelain are few, and the trade

Jan 1, 1948

By R. S. Hadi, L. Svarovsky

SUMMARY This is a report of a new development in on-line particle size measurement of fine powders in dust-laden gases. A continuous sample of the solids-air suspension is drawn from the process stream via a sampling probe by means of an air operated ejector into a cyclonic separator whereby the sample is subjected to a particle size dependent separation process and split into two streams, "overflow" and "underflow". The overflow stream carries most of the fines at a relatively low concentration and the underflow stream carries the coarse particles at a relatively higher concentration. The concentration of solids in the two streams is detected by electrostatic noise level technique which utilises the electrostatic charge accumulated on the solid particles due to their high velocity in the turbulent air stream, for the mass concentration measurement. The ratio of the solids concentration of the fines stream to that of the coarse stream is then correlated against the average particle size in the main process stream by a calibration curve. The in-plant tests clearly indicate that this relatively simple instrument offers good sensitivity in the size range from 2 to 6 µm, and is capable of giving a continuous indication of average particle size for process control purposes. Although the instrument was developed for a particular application, it may be used in other situations where fine powders are conveyed in gas streams. British and foreign patents are applied for.

Jan 1, 1980

By Robert D. Pike

In November 1939, on behalf of the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., the author undertook the study of the problem of utilizing the dolomite of northwestern Ohio for the manufacture of calcined magnesia suitable for use in refractories. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the unfailing assistance and encouragement throughout this work from the executive and technical staff of Harbison-Walker Refractories Company. The dolomite of the Niagara formation that is exposed or near the surface of a wide area in northwestern Ohio1 constitutes a vast supply of almost pure dolomite. It offers a virtually unlimited supply of cheap raw material of uniform dependable analysis for the manufacture of magnesia. A typical analysis of dolomite from the vicinity of Luckey, Ohio, follows: Stone Completely Calcined CaO(Sro)a............. 30.35 57.806 Mgo................... 21.55 41.050 SiO2. ................... 0.30 0.572 R2O3................... 0.30 0.572 Ignition loss............. 47.50 a SrO about 0.06 pct. Brines containing magnesium chloride or sea water can be reacted with calcined dolomite to produce magnesia.2'3 In such reactions the MgCl2 of the brine supplies some of the magnesia and the amount of dolomite required is thereby reduced by an equivalent amount, but brines of commercial importance containing magnesium chloride are some distance away from the purest grades of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio. It was decided therefore to concentrate upon the development of a suitable process for separating the lime and magnesia of dolomite, depending upon the dolomite itself as the sole source of magnesia. This would make it possible to place a plant at the dolomite quarry, thus eliminating the cost of transporting the stone and also rendering the calcined magnesia available at a most convenient production point, considering the cost of delivery throughout the steel industry. The selection of a process depending solely upon the dolomite as a source of magnesia also necessarily entails production of the lime content of the dolomite as a by-product. It was recognized that if such a lime by-product could be produced in a suitable form, a plant location in northwestern Ohio would also be advantageous for marketing the lime. The problem, therefore, was the discovery and development of a low-cost process for separating the magnesia and lime of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio and producing each in a form relatively free from the other, and meeting the respective requirements of established markets. A satisfactory solution of this problem has been found, and it is the

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert D. Pike

In November 1939, on behalf of the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., the author undertook the study of the problem of utilizing the dolomite of northwestern Ohio for the manufacture of calcined magnesia suitable for use in refractories. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the unfailing assistance and encouragement throughout this work from the executive and technical staff of Harbison-Walker Refractories Company. The dolomite of the Niagara formation that is exposed or near the surface of a wide area in northwestern Ohio1 constitutes a vast supply of almost pure dolomite. It offers a virtually unlimited supply of cheap raw material of uniform dependable analysis for the manufacture of magnesia. A typical analysis of dolomite from the vicinity of Luckey, Ohio, follows: Stone Completely Calcined CaO(Sro)a............. 30.35 57.806 Mgo................... 21.55 41.050 SiO2. ................... 0.30 0.572 R2O3................... 0.30 0.572 Ignition loss............. 47.50 a SrO about 0.06 pct. Brines containing magnesium chloride or sea water can be reacted with calcined dolomite to produce magnesia.2'3 In such reactions the MgCl2 of the brine supplies some of the magnesia and the amount of dolomite required is thereby reduced by an equivalent amount, but brines of commercial importance containing magnesium chloride are some distance away from the purest grades of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio. It was decided therefore to concentrate upon the development of a suitable process for separating the lime and magnesia of dolomite, depending upon the dolomite itself as the sole source of magnesia. This would make it possible to place a plant at the dolomite quarry, thus eliminating the cost of transporting the stone and also rendering the calcined magnesia available at a most convenient production point, considering the cost of delivery throughout the steel industry. The selection of a process depending solely upon the dolomite as a source of magnesia also necessarily entails production of the lime content of the dolomite as a by-product. It was recognized that if such a lime by-product could be produced in a suitable form, a plant location in northwestern Ohio would also be advantageous for marketing the lime. The problem, therefore, was the discovery and development of a low-cost process for separating the magnesia and lime of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio and producing each in a form relatively free from the other, and meeting the respective requirements of established markets. A satisfactory solution of this problem has been found, and it is the

Jan 1, 1948

By E. Amott

A test is described in which the wellubility of porous rock is measured as a function of the displacement properties of the rock-water-oil system. Four displacemet operations are carried out: (I) sponlaneous displaceti?ent of water by oil, (2) forced displacement of water by oil oil in the same system using a centrifuging procetllrre, (3) spontaneous displacement of oil by water. and (4) forced displacment of oil by water. Ratios of the spontaneous displacement volumes to the total displucenlent volumes are used as wettability indicates. Cores having clean mineral surfaces (strongly preferentially water-wet) show displacement-by-waler ratios approaching 1.00 and displacement-by-oil ratios of zero. Cores which ([re. strongly preferentinlly oil-wet give the reverse resu1ts. Neutral wellability cores show zero values for both ratios Fresh cores from different oil reservoirs have shown wettabiltties in tlris te.st covering rrlti~ost 111e conlplrtt, range of thr: te.st. Notvever, nlo.s/ of tlle fresh California cores tested were slightly prcfere111icrlly wclter-\vet. The chrrnge.~ in coro u ('liabilities, as indicated hy this te.st, r~.sril/ing from various CO~P hanrlling procedures tt,ere oh.served. In sonie ca.sc,s /Ire ~,cttahilitio.c. of fresh cores were changell by drxi:~g or 11y e.x/rclct ing with iolcreiii~ or. dioxunc~; in o/h~r cases they were 1101 changed. Co~ltrrc/ of cort,.s ~.ith filtrc~t~c. from water-base rlrilling rilrrrls crlrc.sed littlc change in we/ /ahility ivhile contnct with filtrates frorii oil-hus~ ri1rlcl.s tlecrrascrl the prefcrerlcc, of the, cores for )I.NI Usitig thi,s test to ri.crl~lute n~r~ttubili~y, N .vt~ldy was iilarle of /lie correlmtio~i of wettability with wa/erfloocl nil recovery for orttcrop Ohio sand.stone and for Al~ln-tlunl. Resul/.v indicate thml no single correlatioti between these factors applies to different porous rock syste~n. It is thought that diflerences in pore gen~netry resrrlt in diflrrerrce.~ in this correlurio~z. INTRODUCTTON Most investigators who have reported on the wettahility of porous rock have described such rock as prcferentially water-wet or preferentially oil-wet. In some cases a third classification, neutral wettability. has been used. The efficiency of water floods in each of these wettability groups has been described in numerous publications. Several methods for characterizing porous rock wet tability more precisely have been reported,' " but it appears that because of one weakness or another. none of these has been generally accepted. Early in our studies in this field, it was found that the displacement efficiency of oil by water in a particular porous rock having a strong preference for water was quite different from that in a similar rock having only a moderate preference for water. Thus, there appeared to be a need for a practical, reasonably precise wet tability test. one which could classify porous rocks into 10 to 20 different groups rather than the two or three broad groups listed above. The test developed to meet this need is described in this paper. Also, changes in wettability, as indicated hy this test, resulting from various core handling procedures are discussed. Finally, data showing the corrclation of wettability with waterflood oil recovery for two different types of cores are presented and discussed. Some confusion has resulted from the failure of certain writers to define clearly some of the wettability terms they have used. Accordingly, the following commcnts concerning definitions are offered. The wc t ta-hility of a solid surface is the relative preference of that surface to be covered by one of the fluids under consideration. It is felt that this is the generally accepted definition. The fluids being considered must bc specified (or understood) before the term wettability has any significance. In the work reported here these fluids are water (3 per cent brine) and oil (kerosene). The term preferential wettability is sometimes used, but we think that the word preferential is redundant here and should not be used. Tn line with the definitions of Jennings', a preferentially oil-wet solid surface is regarded as a surface which will show an oil advancing contact angle less than 90" (measured through the oil) in the water-oil-solid system. Oil will spontaneously displace water, if both are at the same pressure, from such a surface. A preferentially water-wet surface is analogous. This is consistent with the wettability definition above. As Jennings has said, frequently the term oil-wet is used to mean the same thing as preferentially oil-wet. However, oil-wet also has been used occasionally referring to an oil-covered surface when the availability of water was limited. To avoid confusion from this source, we do not use the terms oil-wet and water-wet. DESCRIPTION OF WETTABTLITY TEST The following points were considered desirable in a wettability test for our purpose. 1. The test should be a displacement test resembling

By Harold E. Thomas, Samuel S. M. Chan, Nicholas Bada

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has developed a technique for locating and evaluating bedding plane cracks in mine roof by an air-injection and hot-film flow logging technique. It is ultrasensitive to cracks and is especially useful for detecting the early stage of crack development. Potential applications include: (1) correlation with roof sag measurements, (2) locating cracks for grouting, (3) comparison of mechanical and resin roof bolt effectiveness, and (4) possible delineation of the fracture zone to confirm the arch hypothesis. The required equipment is inexpensive and simple to operate.

Jan 1, 1975

By JAMES GAYLE

(Presented at the Washington meeting, May 3, 1905, and simultaneously sent to the Iron and Steel Institute, for presentation at the meeting of that Society in London, May 11, 1905.) IT is to be regretted that the data respecting the use of dry-air blast, which was presented to the Iron and Steel Institute at its meeting in the United States, in October, 1904, should. have been restricted to the period from August 25th to September 9th inclusive, and from September 17th to 30th inclusive. In order to present the paper at all it was found necessary to limit the record of operations to the period above stated. In the discussion of the paper it would appear from the conclusions of some participating therein, that they have been placed at some disadvantage in considering the economies obtained through the use of dry-air blast, by reason of the data covering such a short period. It is the purpose of this communication to present in detail the record of operations of the Isabella Furnaces from November, 1904, to March, 1905, inclusive, as shown by the furnace-records. The month of October, 1904, is not included, as the furnace using dry-air blast was stopped several times for repairs, and while the record was a very good one considering these interruptions, yet it was not a continuous one. The record for Furnace No. 1 using dry-air blast, and the comparison with Furnace No. 3 using natural air for the month of November, 1904, is set forth in Table I. By a reference to my former paper it will be noted that the month of November is the beginning in this country of the winter period, when the atmosphere decreases rapidly in humidity. The month of October being the transition month in the autumn and April in the spring, and furnaces using natural air approach more closely, from November on, to the conditions obtained by the use of dry-air blast. The data given in

Jul 1, 1905

Harrison W. Craver, Director The Library of the above-named Societies is open from 9 A.M. to 10 P.M., except on holidays. It contains about 70,000 volumes and 90,000 pamphlets, including sets of technical periodicals and the publications of scientific and technical societies. Members of the Institute, with few exceptions, are forced to spend a portion of their time in localities isolated from sources of information. To these the Library, through its Library Service Bureau, can render valuable service through correspondence; letters requesting information will receive especial attention. The Library is prepared to furnish references and photographic copies of articles on mining and metallurgical subjects; to determine the existence of mining maps, and to furnish general information on the geology and mineral resources of all countries. All communications should be made as definite as possible so that the information received may be what is desired and not include collateral matter which may not be of interest. The time spent in searching for such collateral matter will be saved, and the information will be sent more promptly and in more usable shape.

Jan 5, 1917

By John D. Weibmer

A strong step towards acknowledgement of mining as a skilled trade has been taken by the Tintic Division of Kennecott Copper Corp. In May 2 ceremonies, a pilot program was signed into force which, possibly for the first time in US history, recognizes mining as an apprentice trade and grants journeyman status to those who complete the prescribed training sequence. The apprenticeship standards, hammered out after months of consultation between management, labor, and government, are presently limited only to underground hard-rock mining and only within Kennecott's Tintic Division, but the architects of the program are confident that the concept will spread-first to other underground operations where miners desire documented evidence of their special skills, then to open-pit and soft-rock operations.

Jan 6, 1977

By WILLIAM COUPER

THE completion of the excavation of the tunnels through Bergen Hill for the extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad into New York City, together with the fact that the excavation for the rest of the tunnel-line has been practically completed for some time past, arouses sufficient interest to justify a description of the engineering- and contracting-work, and the organization by which it has been accomplished. The finishing of the excavation is a long step towards the completion of the entire tunnel-project. It will be interesting to the members of the Institute, who last spring were taken through a great part of this work, to know that by the excavation now completed it is possible to walk by tunnel from a, point near Sunnyside yard, Long Island, east of the 34th Street ferry, to the central passenger station site in the City of New York, and thence by tunnel to the Hackensack meadows, and by an embankment constructed across these meadows to Newark, N. J. This New York tunnel extension is being constructed as a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system by the Pennsylvania Tunnel & Terminal R. R. Co., a corporation of the States of New Jersey and New York. It extends from a point near Newark, N. J., to the Sunnyside yard, Long Island, as indicated on the accompanying plan.

Jan 7, 1908

By Robert Mehl

THE purpose of this investigation was to prepare high-purity iron-carbon alloys, to determine as precisely as possible the A3(GOS), the Acm(SE), and the A1(PSK) transformation temperatures in the meta-stable iron-iron carbide system (up to 1.4 per cent C), and to study the influence of carefully controlled and constant rates of heating and cooling (1/8 to 2° C. per minute) upon the transformation temperature and upon the resulting microstructure. Apart from the general metallurgical importance attending the completion of such a task, it will be noted that highly precise transformation temperatures are of interest and importance in the thermodynamic study of this system1. Several determinations of the iron-iron carbide diagram have been made. These suffer generally from the low purity of the alloys used, and from the application of methods of investigation of low sensitivity. Attempts to compare and weight the many data available in an effort to construct as accurate a diagram as possible have, in the main, been unsuccessful. In general, the wide differences in the results of different workers, the lack of complete analytical data, the omission of important details relating to the heat-treatment of the alloys, and the meager description of the methods of investigation applied, render such a process of averaging nearly meaningless. It may be seen from the summaries by Epstein2 and Körber and Oelsen1 that variations as great as 30° C. exist in the reported data on the A3 temperatures in iron-carbon alloys. For-tunately, the A3 temperature in pure iron is now known to be 910° C. ± 1° C.3 The best recent work on iron-carbon alloys is that of Esser4 on hypoeutectoid steels and that of Sato' on both hypoeutectoid and hyper-eutectoid steels.

Jan 1, 1937

By Tuncel M. Yegulalp, Peter G. Zambas

In planning an underground room-and-pillar mine, the selection of the shaft or portal location and the orientation of the main haulage arteries is of paramount importance, particularly in view of the high dependence of the cost of truck haulage on the proper definition of these parameters. In an effort to facilitate this selection a computer program was written which, by relating the truck characteristics to the areal configuration of the property or ore body, derives the volume-weighted total fuel and time requirements for hauling ore from every panel within the property to a specified portal or shaft location through a predetermined gridwork of haulage drifts. By varying the size and orientation of the gridwork and the location of the portal or shaft access, an infinite number of configurations can be investigated. The results of this analysis can be plotted to indicate the optimum conditions.

Jan 1, 1974

The Library of the above-named Societies is open from 9 A. M. to 10 P. M. except on holidays. It contains about 70,000 volumes and 90,000 pamphlets, including sets of technical periodicals and publications of scientific and technical societies. Members of the Institute, with few exceptions are forced to spend a portion of their time in localities isolated from sources of information. To these the Library; through its Library Service Bureau, can render valuable service through correspondence; letters requesting information will receive especial attention: The Library is prepared, to furnish references and photographic copies of articles on mining and metallurgical subjects; to determine the existence of mining maps, and to furnish general Information on the geology and mineral resources of-all countries. All communications should be made as definite as possible so that the information received may be what is desired and not include collateral matter which may not be of interest. The time spent in searching for such collateral matter will be saved, and the information will be sent more promptly and in more usable shape. HARRISON W. CRAVER, Director.

Jan 4, 1919

The library of the above-named Societies is open from 9 A. M. to 10 P. M. except on holidays. It contains about 70,000 volumes and 90,000 pamphlets, including sets of technical periodicals and publications of scientific and technical societies. Members of the Institute, with few exceptions, are forced to spend a portion of their time in localities isolated from sources of information. To these the Library, through its Library Service Bureau, can render valuable service through correspondence; letters requesting information will receive especial attention. The Library is prepared, to furnish references and photographic copies of articles on mining and metallurgical subjects; to determine the existence of mining maps, and to furnish general information on the geology and mineral resources of all countries. All communications should be made as definite as possible so that the information received may be what is desired and not include collateral matter which may not be of interest. The time spent in searching for such collateral matter will be saved, and the information will be sent more promptly and in more usable shape. HARRISON W. CRAVER, Director.

Jan 5, 1919

By H. T. Kennedy

The fact that intrusion of water into oil wells can be prevented by treating the sand adjacent to the well seems to have been only recently recognized. Swan1 mentions the process of solidifying naphthalene in strata. R. Van A. Mills2 recommends the use of materials such as sodium silicate and sodium carbonate, which react with oil-field water to form solid plugging agents. When a well is drilled in a new field the oil sands are found essentially devoid of water (Fig. 1). Unless a completely impermeable break exists over wide areas in the field, no water is found above the lower limit of the oil zone and no oil is found below the upper limit of the water zone. After considerable oil has been taken from the well, however, it is almost universal experience that water intrusion occurs. This intrusion may be of two kinds. The water may follow a path parallel to the bedding planes of the producing formation through loose streaks in the pay sand, as shown in Fig. 2, or the water level of the field may rise and enter the well by coning (Fig. 3). Water entering from the side is called "edge water," and that coming in from the bottom is called "bottom water.'' Effectiveness of any method for shutting off water depends not only on the effective treatment of the sand adjacent to the well but on

Jan 1, 1936

By H. T. Kennedy

The fact that intrusion of water into oil wells can be prevented by treating the sand adjacent to the well seems to have been only recently recognized. Swan1 mentions the process of solidifying naphthalene in strata. R. Van A. Mills2 recommends the use of materials such as sodium silicate and sodium carbonate, which react with oil-field water to form solid plugging agents. When a well is drilled in a new field the oil sands are found essentially devoid of water (Fig. 1). Unless a completely impermeable break exists over wide areas in the field, no water is found above the lower limit of the oil zone and no oil is found below the upper limit of the water zone. After considerable oil has been taken from the well, however, it is almost universal experience that water intrusion occurs. This intrusion may be of two kinds. The water may follow a path parallel to the bedding planes of the producing formation through loose streaks in the pay sand, as shown in Fig. 2, or the water level of the field may rise and enter the well by coning (Fig. 3). Water entering from the side is called "edge water," and that coming in from the bottom is called "bottom water.'' Effectiveness of any method for shutting off water depends not only on the effective treatment of the sand adjacent to the well but on

Jan 1, 1936

By E. H. Jr. Dix

THE success of the Charpy impact test in the steel industry has led those interested in aluminum alloys to investigate the possible applica¬tion of this test to aluminum and its alloys. In this paper are set forth the results of a few preliminary tests made at the Lynite Laboratories of the Aluminum Manufactures, Inc. In order to study more thor-oughly the significance of the Charpy test, slow-bending tests have been made duplicating the arrangement of the impact machine. Tests have been made on both notched and unnotched specimens of a series of copper-aluminum alloys. APPARATUS The standard American-made Charpy impact machine delivering a blow of over 200 ft.-lb. was- much too large to test aluminum-alloy specimens of the same type used for steel, so that it was necessary either to adopt a larger specimen or to have a special light-weight hammer made. Since there is no known relation between specimens of different sizes, even though geometrically similar, it was decided to adhere to the 10 by 10 mm. specimen. Accordingly, Sauveur and Boylston, the American makers of the machine, were asked to construct a special light-weight pendulum adapted to their standard machine, this pendulum to have one-tenth the capacity of the standard. The writer wishes here to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. H. M. Boylston for the personal interest and care exercised in constructing this pendulum. The machine with, the light-weight hammer in place is shown in Fig. 1. It is mounted on a concrete foundation with the concrete covering the flange on the base of the machine. Vibration is further prevented by four 5/8 -in. (15.8 mm.) foundation bolts. The large standard hammer shown against the wall was also used for some of the unnotched bars that requited more than 20 ft.-lb. to rupture.

Jan 4, 1920