Search Documents

By Nathaniel Arbiter, Edward L. Vickers

Complete automation of concentrator operations through computer control has been under increasing consideration by American engineers for several years. Although justification for full-scale automation of a mill must ultimately be economic- added profits exceeding instrumentation and development costs-the technical feasibility of automation will be determined by the availability of requisite, detailed knowledge of the various unit operations in the plant. This poses problems. BASIC PROBLEMS WHICH MUST BE CONSIDERED A hypothetical porphyry copper mill will be used here to illustrate these problems. Its flowsheet will involve: mining, crushing, storage, grinding and classification, flotation, product de-watering, and disposal.

Jan 8, 1962

By V. Rajaram, H. W. Earnest, A. W. Jenike

Mine backfilling is a desirable method for the disposal of retorted oil shale. Hydraulic, mechanical and pneumatic transport and stowing methods were investigated, and the mechanical transport and stowing method using conveyors was selected as the most promising system. Transport of retorted oil shale at the rate of 2700 t/h (3000 stph) to the backfill level, situated about 610 m (2000 ft) below surface, with skips or conveyors is uneconomic. Hence, borehole transport utilizing gravity flow was investigated. This Paper describes the theory of flow, flow properties of retorted oil shale, and the design of a borehole and hopper system.

Jan 1, 1980

By P. Barnes

The complete and uccurate filtration of water (if the word accurste map be thus Used) for the feeding of boilers, and for many similar industrial purposes, although somewhat practiced both at home and abroad, has heal by no means common. Even if the exact line cannot be defined at which filtration begins to be called for, ad will be found profitable, it is certain that in a large number of cases it may be employed with real advantage in the economy of fuel, and also in the greater durability of the boiler or other form of apparatus in

Jan 1, 1882

By W. E. Wickerman

The Magnetic Storm Monitor is an instrument that continuously records variations in the earth's total magnetic field at a fixed location. It is intended for use in conjunction with airborne magnetometer surveys. There are stormy periods when changes in the earth's magnetic field are so violent that data obtained with airborne equipment would be of little value. The Monitor provides this information so that flights may be cancelled or terminated, thus eliminating useless flying. Moreover, when some unpredictable change in the earth's field occurs during an airborne survey, the Monitor record, showing a similar event, may serve to salvage the data.

Oct 1, 1955

By P. Barnes

THE complete and accurate filtration of water (if the word ,accurate may be thus used) for the feeding of boilers, and for many similar industrial purposes, although somewhat practiced both at home and abroad, has been by no means common. Even if the exact line cannot be defined at which filtration begins to be called for, and will be found profitable, it is certain that in a large number of cases it may be employed with real advantage in the economy of fuel, and also in. the greater durability of the boiler or other form of apparatus in

Jan 1, 1882

By N. Mohan, A. K. Biswas, V. Y. Sampat Kumar

At low sodium-oleate concentration, calcite flotation is substantially improved by the use of CO2 instead of air. Electrophoretic mobility measurements indicate that carbonation results in the accumulation o f positive charge on the calcite particles. This heightens adsorption of oleate anion, an effect confirmed by tracer-technique measurements. Fundamental insight is obtained as to how CO2 serves better as an activator than some mineral and organic acids, how oxalic acid acts as a depressor, and why the influence of Ca++ ions, liberated during carbonation, on flotation behavior of calcite is insignificant and sometimes adverse.

Jan 1, 1972

By F. W. von Batchelder

The principles of microradiography and their application practically coincided with the discovery of X-rays. These principles were first used in the metallurgy field by Heycock and Neville1 in a study of the dendrite structure of alloys of Au-Na, Au-A1, Cu-A1, and Ag-A1. The method was introduced in the USA by clark2 after a visit to France. Scores of papers have been written, and a very complete bibliography on this subject was compiled by the Eastman Kodak company. Although a number of papers have discussed X-ray

Jan 1, 1959

By Evert Hoek

SYNOPSIS It can be shown that the properties of intact rock are relatively unimportant in rock slope stability and that failures are controlled by structural discontinuities such as bedding planes, joints and faults in the rock mass. The frequency, orientation and inclination of these discontinuities as well as their strength characteristics are important factors to be considered in any rock slope analysis and their influence will be demonstrated by means of a number of practical examples. Methods for determining the mechanical properties of discontinuities will be reviewed and the interpretation of the strength test results for use in stability computations will be discussed.

Jan 1, 1971

By D. A. Sangrey, D. Marcus, S. A. Miller

A methodology was developed wherein the increase in compressive strength, mineralogical changes, and pore water composition were studied simultaneously as a function of moisturized spent shale curing time. From these results the relationship between the nature of cementation process and the composition of pore water was established. Heavy metals were entrapped in the cementing constituents and the pore water became mainly a solution of alkaline sulfates. The specific data are applicable only to the material studied. But the methodology and general conclusions are useful for evaluating the environmental factors in spent shale disposal and expected leachates composition.

Jan 1, 1986

By H. R. Deeth

NEPHELINE syenite is a sodium, potassium, aluminum silicate rock occurring in many countries. Large deposits have been investigated in Russia, India, and Norway and in the U. S., where it is known to occur in Arkansas, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. There are extensive areas containing nepheline syenite in south-central Ontario, a region surveyed in 1905 by Adams and Barlow. By 1925 considerable interest had developed in searching for aluminous raw materials that could be used by the glass industry. This finally focused attention on the nepheline syenite described by Adams and Barlow in 1910.1

Jan 11, 1957

By David K. Hylbert

This study investigated roof falls in room-and-pillar drift coal mines in eastern Kentucky and utilized geologic methods for Predicting roof conditions in advance of mining. In the Highsplint mine, the roof was classified in four categories or conditions: Condition A and B (Laminated Shale); Condition C (Rolling Sandstone with Shale in Pockets); and Condition D (Zone of Major Sandstone Roll(s)). Structure contour and isopach maps of the Darby coal bed and associated immediate roof rocks were used to project axial trends of the sandstone roof. Trend mapping in the mine and on outcrop provided more detailed control for roof projections.

Jan 1, 1979

Delay in classifying the war minerals claims geographically and by minerals' has resulted because a part of the claims is in the hands of the commission which is holding hearings at points easy of access from the mining districts. It was necessary for the commission to take many claims for use at these hearings. Twenty days will be allowed claimants to file typewritten or printed briefs based on the record made by the commission's findings. At the end of twenty days, the case will be finally submitted to the Secretary of the Interior. No new facts will be considered, those which have been submitted to the commission only being given consideration. The Attorney General has issued a decision whereby only such claimants as were directly requested by the government to start operations will receive consideration under the War Minerals Act.

Jan 9, 1919

By F. R. Morral

HOT-DIPPED heat-treated zinc coatings on sheet steel were examined with X-rays. The phases identified were compared with those listed in the modern literature of the zinc-iron system. The zeta (FeZn13) phase is shown to correspond to the phase found by Schueler (1925) in heat-treated zinc coatings. An investigation was undertaken to determine the phases present in hot-dipped FIG. I.-SYSTEM IRON-ZINC ACCORDING TO J. SCHRAMM.11 heat-treated zinc coatings on steel sheets and wire. This kind of coating on wire was studied some years ago by Schueler1 by microscopic and chemical methods. He reported a new phase, FeZn10. Later, Clark and Stillwell,2 using X-ray crystal analysis, identified a new phase in ordinary galva-nized wire, which was assumed to be the FeZn10 phase.

Jan 1, 1940

By Stuart Buckley

THE application of hydrocarbon equilibrium data to various problems encountered in refining and in natural gasoline recovery is an old and well established practice. Both generalized data and data on specific hydro-carbon systems have been made available by a number of investigators. More recently such data have been applied to the relations governing the separation of oil and gas both in the reservoir and at the surface. Most of the applications to production problems, however, have been based upon examinations of surface samples of oil and gas. This paper describes a technique that has been used satisfactorily in a number of cases to calculate directly from the hydrocarbon analysis of and auxiliary laboratory data on a subsurface sample of the reservoir fluid the behavior of the oil and gas during the various stages of separation at the surface incident to production.

Jan 1, 1938

By Julian Nardi

Pumping solids through a pipeline is not new but until very recently other means of transportation were cheaper. Many proposed pipelines for transporting solids, while technically feasible, have not been attractive enough to warrant the financial risk involved. In some instances, the difference in transportation cost was negligible. In others, the threat of pipeline competition resulted in a slashing of rates on existing transportation to the point where a pipeline could no longer be justified. In others, a competitive product was cheaper. FIRST IN PLACERS The earliest record of solids being transported in a pipe was in the late 1850s in California placer mines. Water under pressure was used to force gold-bearing gravel up through a pipe, from 30 to as much as 55 ft, to a point where it could be discharged into a flume or sluice.

Jan 9, 1959

By Henry Carlisle

W. W. Mein: One of the most amusing things in Nevada City – I was born and was going to school there - was that my mother made overcoats for us, and because they were different from other boys’ overcoats, we’d hide them under a bridge and pick them up on the way home. I left Nevada City with my parents when I was about eleven years old, and moved to Oakland. This was caused by the closing down of the hydraulic mines and my father being send to the El Cayo mine in Venezuela, which was then one of the richest gold mines in the world. Hamilton Smith operated the hydraulic mines in California, and when they were closed down by the Sawyer decision, he was persuaded by the Rothschilds to go to London. There, together, they formed the London Exploration Co.

Jan 1, 1964

By E. L. Jr. Spain

This study was undertaken primarily to determine the reasons for certain varia-tions in the soundness of gravel aggregate taken from a number of widely separated points on the Tennessee River. Under laboratory tests, concrete made with these various aggregates it some cases exhibited marked differences in specific gravity, crushing strength and durability. Gravel was studied in detail from Chattanooga to the mouth of the river and to a lesser extent from Chattanooga to Knoxville. The causes of variation were determined, and variational curves were constructed, which accurately predict the composition of aggregate at any point on the river and therefore its relative suitability for use in concrete. The aggregate at any point is suited for making sound concrete; the variance of suitability is due to varying percentages of sandstone and weathered material, which are less sound than other constituents.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. M. Snook, F. C. Langenberg

FOR a better understanding of the melting and refining processes, the oxygen content of the steel bath should be determined. The oxygen content influences many process and product variables such as the efficiency of alloy recoveries, the ingot structure (through reaction with carbon in the steel), certain reaction rates, cleanliness (formation of indigenous oxide inclusions), and mechanical properties. Many methods of sampling liquid steel for oxygen have been devised. These methods can be divided into two main groups: 1) taking samples directly in the furnace or ladle;'-'0 2) removing the metal from the furnace or ladle in a sampling spoon and pouring it into a mold, or drawing the metal from the spoon into a sample holder.11-l4 The advantages and disadvantages of the two general sampling methods are presented in Table I. The bomb-sampling technique described by Huff, Bailey, and Richards8 has been used by the Crucible Steel Co. in certain research projects where oxygen contents were needed. It was recognized that a localized boiling condition could result when the mold is introduced into the steel bath, although the work of Gilbert and Bailey9 seems to indicate that the carbon boil occurring in the bomb-sampler cavity has a negligible effect on the oxygen content. In order to confirm the reported negligible effect of a carbon boil, additional work was done with adaptations of the conventional bomb sampler. The methods used are shown in Fig. 1 and are as follows: 1) Type A: aluminum wire (0.125-in. diam) coil in cavity; steel cap over mouth 2) Type B: aluminum cup in cavity; aluminum cap over mouth, 3) Type C: aluminum cup in cavity; steel cap over mouth, 4) Type D: fine aluminum wire (0.013-in. diam) in cavity; steel cap over mouth. The amount of aluminum wire in the Type A and D samples varied from 0.8 to 1.2 pct of the sample weight. The aluminum cups averaged 2.0 pct of the sample weight; the latter were used to ensure that the steel contacting the walls of the bomb cavity was fully killed. Samples were taken from plain carbon heats made in open-hearth furnaces. This grade of steel before silicon additions is essentially an Fe-C alloy and the effects of other alloying elements on the oxygen activity can be neglected. The results of sampling with the bomb samplers is shown in Fig. 2 where the percent oxygen is plotted against the percent carbon on log-log paper. Spoon sample results on the same grade of steel where the sample was killed in the spoon are shown in Fig. 3. The oxygen contents were determined by the vacuum fusion method. A comparison of Figs. 2 and 3 shows that the oxygen concentrations obtained with the spoon-sampling method (metal killed in the spoon after slag removed

Jan 1, 1960

By C. D. Cochran, F. H. Deily, M. M. White, Victor Horner

A laboratory study of the effects of physical and easily measured rheological properties upon dynamic filtration was carried out. The purpose was to determine the factors affecting dynamic filtration and thus learn how to control this important property. The recommended procedure for determining the amount of fluid loss prescribed by API Code RP 29 "Field Procedure for Testing Drilling Fluids,"' is very useful for mud conditioning purposes, but inadequate for comparing filtration properties of different muds under dynamic conditions. Where dynamic filtration control becomes important for purposes such as logging and coring, other means of evaluating filtration properties are needed. A special device and testing technique were developed to provide reliable data on filtration characteristics of different fluids under dynamic conditions. Liquid saturated rock samples were drilled with a microbit, and the amount of connate liquid displaced by the fluid being investigated was measured. The empirical testing procedure was considered reliable. A large number of laboratory-prepared and field-mixed dritling fluids with a wide range of physical properties were studied. These properties included: (I) shape of consistency curves, (2) apparent viscosity, (3) plastic viscosity, (4) yield value, (5) density, and (6) API filter loss. Test results indicate that very little, if any, trend could be established between changes in these fluid properties and dynamic filtration. INTRODUCTION During the process of drilling, excessive loss of liquid from the mud to the formation is undesirable for many reasons. Filtration can reduce production-zone permeability, cause sloughing of formations, affect electric log curves, and render the fluid data obtained from cores unreliable. Thus, it is very important that we gain a knowledge of the factors that control filtration. It is generally agreed that in any type of filtration (static, dynamic, or combinations thereof), the mechanics of filtering depend in great part upon the composition of the fluid. Moreover, it is also true that the physical and rheological properties are influenced by the composition of the fluid. Indirectly, then, it was hypothesized that a relationship existed between dynamic filtration and physical-rheological properties, two effects of a common cause—fluid composition. This paper discusses an attempt to relate filtration-while-drilling to physical and easily measured rheological properties. It is believed that the results of this study may prove useful to others in the industry who are working on the problem of understanding filtration. The industry accepted practice for determining fluid loss from drilling mud is described in API Code RP 29. The practice is to measure the amount of filtrate that passes during a given interval of time from a quiescent drilling fluid under applied pressure through a piece of filter paper. This is primarily a test of static filtration properties. Other investigators have studied filtration under dynamic conditions. Williams5 and Pro-kop5 studied radial filtration and filter-cake buildup by circulating fluid through a porous cylinder under conditions similar to actual mud flow. Nowak,4 Krueger,3,4 and Vogel3 studied the effect of filtration upon permeability by flowing mud past the face of rock Samples. In their tests, the bit action was simulated by mechanical scrapers that kept the filter cake from building up. Ferguson and Klotz2 studied three types of filtration: static, dynamic, and beneath-the-bit. They investigated each type separately, using a model well in which bottom-hole hydraulics and mechanics were closely approximated.

Jan 1, 1958

By M. C. Miller, M. R. Tek, D. L. Katz

Previous studies have shown the influence of geometric variations on the drawdown and buildup behavior of a well completed in a homogeneous, porous medium containing a single-phase fluid. Other papers have shown the influence of leakage across caprocks on drawdown tests on water wells and aquifers. This paper presents two additional cases: the influence of an adjacent, expansible source of fluid, and the effect of caprock leakage on the measured in situ permeability and compressibility. Methods are developed for evaluating the influence of these two deviations from a uniform aquifer upon the in situ permeability and compre.ssibility indicated by pump tests. INTRODUCTION In relatively uniform porous media, saturated with a single-phase fluid, the effective reservoir permeability and compressibility of the water porous bed system may be obtained from drawdown and build-up data on wells, such as the initial wells drilled in aquifer storage reservoirs (Homers and Katz et al.7). In considering the drawdown and build-up behavior of wells adjacent to storage reservoirs, or of wells in an aquifer adjacent to an unknown gas field, questions arise as to the quantitative effect of the presence of compressible fluid on the measured permeability and compressibility of the formation. The solution to this problem is presented, using a constant pressure line source at some distance from two wells, one of which is pumped and the other used as the pressure observation well. The solution is presented in terms of the geometry of the wells and their relationship to the constant pressure line. It is known that caprock leakage can interfere with the determination of an aquifer in situ permeability and compressibility (Mantush4, Hantush and Jacob3 and Witherspoon and Muellerll). This paper presents an added case of the effect of leakage through a caprock of known thickness and permeability on well tests starting with a reservoir of constant pressure above the caprock and contributing to the aquifer as a result of the pump test. Again, both a pumping well and an observation well are postulated. These two cases are presented together since both a compressible fluid nearby and. caprock leakage show similar deviations from expected in situ permeability and compressibility results, and the solutions are similar in form. EFFECT OF A NEIGHBORING CONSTANT PRESSURE SOURCE ON IN SITU MEASUREMENTS Bixel, Larkin and van Poollenl presented a paper showing the influence of a discontinuity of the properties of a fluid formation system on drawdown and build-up performance. Their case is related to the present study but may be distinguished from it in that their numerical work and resulting graphs relate only to the performance of the pumping well itself. Incorrect values for in situ reservoir properties may be obtained from pump test data if the skin effect of the well and after-flow are not considered. Analysis of this problem by the authors indicated that the more reliable method of evaluating the influence of an adjacent gas field or expansible source was to use one well for pumping and another well at some distance from it for observing the aquifer pressure performance. An expansible source of hydrocarbon near a pumping well may be approximated by a line of constant pressure for a pump test. Fig. 1 illustrates a pumping well and an observation well near a line of constant pressure. Pressure behavior of an observation well during a drawdown pump test near a line of constant pressure is given by the diffusivity equation:

Jan 1, 1967