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By A. B. Dyes, P. H. Braun, B. E. Cole

This paper presents a reservoir engineering analysis of the performance data for a waterflooding project in the Johnson Lease, South Ward field. This type of engineering analysis adds to the knowledge of the mechanics of water flooding. This study reveals that in general (a) high ultimate areal sweep-out efficiencies (95 to 100 per cent) can be expected, and (b) cross-flow among strata of different permeabilities during the fill-up phase can have an important influence on the behavior and should be dealt with in studying reservoirs for water flooding. The analysis further showed that the recovery predictions based on what was considered a consistent interpretation of core data and logs were low because little contribution was assumed from the low permeability, oil-bearing sand sections which have apparently yielded considerable waterflood oil. This project has yielded in excess of 2 1/2 times as much oil by water flooding as by primary depletion. These very favorable results were achieved without the use of any special injection well completion techniques. However, all of the low permeability material war included in the section open to injection despite its poor estimated primary yield. LEASE PERFORMANCE HISTORY The South Ward field lies in the southeast corner of Ward County near the southern tip of the tremendous Yates trend. Deposition of sand bodies along the seashore reefs during the latter part of the Permian period established what have turned out to be ideal conditions to form a great number of independent productive sands. Probably, these reservoirs in Ward and Winkler counties are providing operators with some of the nation's richest sources of secondary oil reserves through the use of waterflooding techniques. In South Ward field water has been very successfully used to flood oil from the Bennett sand occurring at a depth of about 2,300 to 2,400 ft. About 150 ft above the Bennett sand reservoir, the Grand Falls sand produced gas from a large cap extending over most of the field. The Atlantic Refining Co.'s 320-acre W. D. Johnson lease (Fig. 1) is on the northwest edge of the structure with only gas cap apparently present in the Grand Falls sand. The Bennett sand under this lease is oil productive, however, having a gross sand thickness averaging about 80 ft with a net of 18 ft of fairly clean, highly permeable sand, and about 36 ft of oil-bearing sand with low permeability and high water saturation. The lower permeability sand is interbedded with numerous layers of lime, shale, and anhydrite. Radioactivity logs from 12 wells and cores from two, examples of which are shown in Fig. 2, reveal that the total Bennett sand pore volume is about 71,000 bbl/acre. The estimated initial water saturation averages 41 per cent in the 54 ft of sand considered to contain oil; thus, also considering an estimated 18 per cent oil shrinkage, the lease originally contained about 34,000 bbl of oil per acre. Original pressure was probably about 1,400 psig. PVT correlations indicate that the reservoir fluid was originally saturated with gas. After discovery of the field in 1930, Atlantic completed the first well on the Johnson lease in March,

Jan 1, 1958

By George W. Doffing

Numerous contradictory statements have been made in the past regarding the importance of the seasonal influence of demand for motor fuel on prices of oil securities. It has often been said that the time to buy oil securities is in the spring, or just prior to the heavy consuming season for gasoline. The fallacy of this argument is brought out in the following paragraphs. Seasonality of Oil-security Prices The indexes used in this paper as indicators of prices of oil securities and general industrials are those compiled by Standard Statistics Co. The oil producing and refining stock index includes 14 representative petroleum companies, while the all-industrials index is made up of 347 issues. All figures are stated as relatives, with 1926 = 100. The primary basis of the index, and one that gives a good weighting of the relative importance of the company within the industry, is the total market value of the stock issue outstanding; i.e., the market price times the number of shares outstanding. Adjustments are made for the addition or elimination of issues from the group index, for stock dividends, split-ups, stock rights, et cetera. At the present time the oil producing and refining index includes the following companies: Atlantic Refining Co., Consolidated Oil Corporation, Continental Oil Co., Gulf Oil Corporation, Humble Oil & Refining Co., Ohio Oil Co., Royal Dutch Co., Shell Union Oil Corporation, Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Standard Oil Company of California, Standard Oil Co. (Indiana), Standard Oil Co. (New Jersey), Texas Corporation, Union Oil Company of California. In calculating the seasonal for oil-security prices several periods have been selected as indicat,ive of major changes in the industry, as follows: 1. 1918 through 1936. This gives an over-all picture of the industry during the motor-vehicle, motor-fuel era. 2. 1927 through 1936. This period includes the control stages, both voluntary and coercive. 3. 1927 to September, 1933. This is the pre-code period of control.

Jan 1, 1937

Meeting, of Jan. 22, 1915.-Dr. Albert R. Ledoux was unanimously nominated-by the Board as one of the representatives of this Institute upon the Engineering Foundation Board. The following Tellers to count the votes for officers and directors on Feb. 16, 1915, were appointed: David H. Browne; Arthur S. Dwight, and Bradley Stoughton; and the following Tellers to count the ballots, on the amendments to the Constitution: Arthur L. Walker, Max Roesler, and Burr A. Robinson. Karl Eilers was appointed a member of the Library Board of the United, Engineering Society, representing this Institute in place of C. R. Corning, ;resigned. The Pick and Hammer Club of the University of Oklahoma was established as an Affiliated Student Society. The sum of $150 was appropriated to the Columbia Local Section. The sum of $29.50 was appropriated to the Chicago Local Section.

Jan 3, 1915

By B. D. Saklatwalla

FOR the proper understanding of the inclusion of certain elements in this review it seems necessary to state the meaning of "rare metals." Certain elements occur in deposits limited in extent or concentration, so that the extraction of the element in relation to market conditions becomes uneconomical. Others may occur in extensive and rich deposits but the reduction of the metal may be difficult and costly. Both these conditions effect the same result, namely, make the metal rare and costly. As an example of the first kind may be mentioned radium and of the second, calcium.

Jan 1, 1939

By George L. Heath

This paper is devoted chiefly to the coal-fields of the western part of the province of Chili and the eastern part of the province of Shansi; but the outline of this belt will give some idea of the extension of the coal-fields over northeastern China. This part of China is topographically divided into: (1) the mountainous peninsula of eastern Shantung; (2) the coastal plains, extending W. and SW. from the gulf of Pechili; and (3) the mountains and table-lands N. and W. of the coastal plains. The plains extend N. and W. from the gulf to within from 10 to 25 miles of the Great Wall, while their SW. extension covers western Shantung and reaches W. along the Yellow river almost to the southern boundary of Shansi. A line joining the mapped coal-fields, shown in Fig. 1, almost gives the western boundary of the plains; since these areas lie on the border of the plains—except the Tsê Chou field, which is on the table-land, 20 to 25 miles from that border. The coal-fields which have been mapped and investigated by the author are shown in Fig. 1. The one at and around Tongshan is known as the K'ai-p'ing coal-field; the one W. of Peking has been called the Wang-p'ing coal-basin; the one SW. of Pao-ting and N. of Chêng-ting may be called the Lingshan coal-field; and the one at and around Tsê Chou is known as the Tsê Chou coal-field. I. The K'ai-p'ing Coal-Field. As is shown in Fig. 2, most of this field lies in the coastal plains, and is therefore covered by alluvium and loess, which have buried the older rock-beds, and the more gentle and older topographic outlines, to such an extent that most of the re-

Jan 1, 1902

By S. E. Bretherton

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) DURING the year 1878-79, Anton Eilers, who was then interested in the lead smelting and refining business near Salt Lake City, Utah, made a somewhat radical departure from the regular practice at that time, which was to use but little lime in the slag, with a high percentage of iron. Lime was not only a cheaper flux than iron, but it enabled the metallurgist to make a more siliceous slag, an economical advantage in smelting where the smelting companies had to purchase either iron or lime to neutralize the excess silica, and penalize the ore shippers accordingly. The larger amount of both lime and silica in the slag also made it of lighter specific gravity, and a better separation of the metals and mattes was secured. This change in the formation of slags for lead smelting was brought about by Anton Eilers, prior to the Leadville mining excitement of 1879. We must also give Mr. Eilers credit for the general introduction of the hollow water-cooled cast-iron jacket for the blast furnace. Again referring to the use of more lime and less iron in the formation of slags,. there is no doubt but that it prevents the formation of a great many so-called "sows" in the lead crucible, such as were made in the early history of lead smelting in the Rocky Mountains; these sows consisted of lead, iron, arsenic, sulphur, copper, and other metals, including gold and silver, mixed with unconsumed fuel, and often, after vain attempts to cut them up or melt them to a suitable size for handling, were buried in the slag clumps to get them out of-sight. Another advantage derived from the adoption of high-lime slags. when smelting ore containing arsenic is the production of less speiss (a by-product heavier than matte, resulting from careless operation of the furnace, the lead being driven out of the crucible and sows built up). This speiss, while usually not as rich in precious metals as matte made at the same time, is too valuable to be thrown away; but it is difficult to treat, and it was thrown away or piled on the slag clumps in the pioneer clays of lead smelting in this country.

Jan 8, 1915

By B. H. Sage, R. T. Carter, W. N. Lacey

The phase behavior of a number of binary systems consisting of parafin hydro-carbons has been determined in recent years. In addition, the composition of the coexisting phases of mixtures of crude oil and natural gas has been investigated.~ However, the latter study did not include information concerning the influence of the concentration of a component upon its distribution between two coexisting phases. Owing to the paucity of such information it was considered desirable to investigate in some detail the composition of the coexisting phases in the methane-propane-n-pentane system throughout the greater part of the two-phase region at a tempera-ture of 100°F. Information of this nature also permits the establishment of the critical behavior of this ternary system. Method The compositions of the coexisting phases in this ternary system at 100°F. were deter-mined by withdrawing samples from a pres-sure vessel containing a heterogeneous mixture of the three components that had been brought 10 equilibrium by mechanical agitation at the desired pressure and tem-perature. The samples were withdrawn under such conditions that the equilibrium was not disturbed and the composition of each of the phases was ascertained by means of the conventional low-temperature fractionation procedure. The apparatus employed in this investi-gation was nearly the same as that utilized in an earlier study of the methane-pentane system.~ Several minor modifica-tions in the arrangement of the apparatus were made in the interest of simplifying the procedure and avoiding the possibility of condensation in the tubing connecting the equilibrium apparatus with the analyti-cal equipment. The pressures were meas-ured by means of a pressure balance with a precision of 0.5 lb. per sq. in. It is believed that the equilibrium pressure was ascer-tained with an uncertainty of not more than 2 lb. per sq. in., even though small varia-tions in pressure obtained during the withdrawal of the samples. The tempera-ture of the equilibrium equipment was maintained by use of an automatically controlled oil bath. The bath temperature was determined by means of a copper-constantan thermocouple, the electromo-tive force being determined by means of a potentiometric circuit of such a nature as to reduce the uncertainty of the tempera ture to less than O.I f. The fractionating column employed in the determination of the composition of the gas phase had a diameter of 0.12 in. and was approximately 4 ft. long, while the column employed in the analysis of the liquid phase was 0.18 in. in diameter and about 5 ft. long. Each column was equipped with the conventional constant-volume receivers, which were maintained at a constant temperature by means of an automatically controlled oil bath. In nearly every case the distillation in thr neighborhood of the transition between

Jan 1, 1941

By W. N. Lacey, R. T. Carter, B. H. Sage

The phase behavior of a number of binary systems consisting of parafin hydro-carbons has been determined in recent years. In addition, the composition of the coexisting phases of mixtures of crude oil and natural gas has been investigated.~ However, the latter study did not include information concerning the influence of the concentration of a component upon its distribution between two coexisting phases. Owing to the paucity of such information it was considered desirable to investigate in some detail the composition of the coexisting phases in the methane-propane-n-pentane system throughout the greater part of the two-phase region at a tempera-ture of 100°F. Information of this nature also permits the establishment of the critical behavior of this ternary system. Method The compositions of the coexisting phases in this ternary system at 100°F. were deter-mined by withdrawing samples from a pres-sure vessel containing a heterogeneous mixture of the three components that had been brought 10 equilibrium by mechanical agitation at the desired pressure and tem-perature. The samples were withdrawn under such conditions that the equilibrium was not disturbed and the composition of each of the phases was ascertained by means of the conventional low-temperature fractionation procedure. The apparatus employed in this investi-gation was nearly the same as that utilized in an earlier study of the methane-pentane system.~ Several minor modifica-tions in the arrangement of the apparatus were made in the interest of simplifying the procedure and avoiding the possibility of condensation in the tubing connecting the equilibrium apparatus with the analyti-cal equipment. The pressures were meas-ured by means of a pressure balance with a precision of 0.5 lb. per sq. in. It is believed that the equilibrium pressure was ascer-tained with an uncertainty of not more than 2 lb. per sq. in., even though small varia-tions in pressure obtained during the withdrawal of the samples. The tempera-ture of the equilibrium equipment was maintained by use of an automatically controlled oil bath. The bath temperature was determined by means of a copper-constantan thermocouple, the electromo-tive force being determined by means of a potentiometric circuit of such a nature as to reduce the uncertainty of the tempera ture to less than O.I f. The fractionating column employed in the determination of the composition of the gas phase had a diameter of 0.12 in. and was approximately 4 ft. long, while the column employed in the analysis of the liquid phase was 0.18 in. in diameter and about 5 ft. long. Each column was equipped with the conventional constant-volume receivers, which were maintained at a constant temperature by means of an automatically controlled oil bath. In nearly every case the distillation in thr neighborhood of the transition between

Jan 1, 1941

By E. J. Harris

Mathematical solutions to complex mine ventilation problems are possible, but often the airway network is so complex that the mathematical solution becomes tedious and impractical. A fluid network analyzer, designed and built for analyzing mine ventilation problems has been in service at the Bureau of Mines' Pittsburgh station for approximately nine years. Using this analogue as a model, the mine ventilation network is simulated electrically by a combination of series and parallel circruits laid out to conform with actual mine airways. A tungsten filament lamp, referred to as a Fluistor, is used to simulate mine airway resistance. With the analogue ventilation model established, voltages of the proper amplitude to represent ventilating pressures are impressed across the circuit at points where mine fans and airshafts are located. Comparison of mathematical solutions of complex systems against analogue results showed a maximum variance of 3% for pressures and 2% for quantities. An electrical fluid network analyzer, designed and built especially for analyzing mine ventilation distribution problems, has been in service at the Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, for approximately nine years. It is a nonlinear, low voltage, fluid network analyzer of the type developed by the late Malcolm S. McIlroy, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, who cooperated with G. E. McElroy, of the Bureau of Mines, in adapting the instrument to mine ventilation systems. Several modifications have been made since the original installation, but a considerable part of this paper is drawn from G. E. McElroy's original description of the analogue.' The analysis of water or gas distribution systems2,3 led to the development of this type of network analyzer. Several similar units are now employed by utility companies for this purpose; however, the Bureau of Mines unit is the only one designed specifically for mine airflow problems. Other airflow analogues employing a similar principle have been used at the Central Research Station of the Netherlands State Mines,4 in England,5 and in South Africa.6 Information on these devices indicated they were somewhat inflexible because commercial lamps with a sufficient range of resistance are difficult to obtain. Computers for mine ventilation analysis have been developed in Germany which instead of lamps use a variable resistance to adjust for turbulent flow laws. These units are expensive, but excellent results have been reported in their application. THE ANALYZER Theory of Application: As airflow generally follows the law of turbulent fluid flow, resistance to flow is nonlinear; consequently, the problem has been to find a nonlinear resistance element of suitable range that can be used for electrically simulated airflow. Tungsten filament lamps operated on alternating or direct current approximate the square-law resistance characteristics of mine airflow over a large range below maximum or rated voltage; that is, the voltage drop varies approximately as the square of the current. Consequently, the heart of the network analyzer is a nonlinear resistor known as a Fluistor, which is simply a custom-made low voltage, tungsten filament lamp that is available in a progressive series of relative resistance values ranging from 0.05 to 500 in nominal 5% steps. However, variations in manufacturing large groups result in differences of 1 to 3%, but series arrangements required for high-loss branches can be matched within about 1%. Utilizing a combination of Fluistors and load circuits, the mine ventilation system is duplicated electrically. Intake load circuits are connected from power intake to primary points of the circuit network; segments of unregulated flow along intakes and returns are represented by Fluistors, regulated splits and leakage paths are represented by load circuits and Fluistors of proper capacity; and mine exhausts are connected to ground from the last point of the network to complete the circuit. For the special purpose of representing booster fans or natural draft conditions, boosters or separate source circuits are provided that can be inserted between any two points of a network to increase voltage to the required value. Physical Layout: The analyzer consists of three 42

Jan 1, 1963

By R. A., Pallanch

THOUGH the flotation of gold ores has come into the lime- light largely in recent years, it is not a product of recent economic conditions but rather as old as flotation itself. It could hardly be other- wise, since gold, when in the right state of comminution and surface condition, is one of the more readily floated of minerals. In early practice it was not generally recognized that gold was floated as well; it was - thought that the gold was bound up with sulphide minerals that floated, but now we know that free gold must have been floated as well.

Jan 1, 1935

By J. A. Bownocker

THE production of oil in Ohio, in 1924, was characterized by no marked or surprising change. Low prices and the absence of promising territory made the year quiet. As is well known, Ohio has reached a state of "settled production," and the most that can be expected for the ensuing few years is to maintain the output at approximately the present figure 1921 7,335,000 1922 6,781,000 1923 7,085,000 Geographically, the Ohio fields may be divided into three areas, each of which gets its main supply of oil from a different stratigraphic horizon.

Jan 3, 1925

By M. G. Corson

THE iron-silicon alloy series has always been one of the most puzzling among the binary alloys. Examining the well known mechanical properties of the iron-rich alloys only we meet the following situation: The ultimate strength and yield point of alloys worked and annealed under the usual conditions represent nearly a straight line function of the silicon content up to 4.5 per cent. silicon (Fig. 1). Starting at the ultimate strength of 35,000 lb. and at a yield-point of 16,000 lb. for pure electrolytic iron, one reaches a -maximum strength of 93,000 lb. and a maximum yield point of 74,000 lb. at 4.5 per cent. silicon. This corresponds to an increase in ultimate strength by 13,000 lb. per each per cent. of silicon added and nearly the same rate applies to the yield point. The data mentioned are taken from the investigation by T. D. Yensen,1 and while they do not exactly corroborate the results obtained by earlier investigators, they seem to be the most correct. Plastic properties of the alloys are controlled by a much more complicated relationship. Up to 2.5 per cent. Si, the elongation stays close to 50 per cent. (in 2 in.) and the area reduction amounts to 85 per cent., a situation that forms the usual feature of all alloys representing strictly solid solutions. The plasticity of the latter is always nearly equal to that of their base metal. Beyond 2.5 per cent. silicon, the situation becomes much more complicated Yensen observed an enormous drop in elongation and area reduction at about 2.65 per. cent. silicon, where the first hardly reaches 10 per cent. and the second is still lower; he found, however, a considerable recovery in plasticity at about 2.8 per cent. Si and up to. 4.5 per cent. Si it is represented by 20 per cent. for the elongation and 30 per cent. for area reduction.

Jan 1, 1928

By H. Rees

This paper supplements and brings up to date a report prepared earlier this year and presented at the Eleventh Pan American Railway Congress in Mexico City. Most of the original report is contained in this paper in order to acquaint the reader with the project background. On December 1, 1961, construction of this locomotive was completed. Stationary testing started immediately, and a host of problems in various areas were uncovered. Many of these had no relation to the use of coal in a direct fired gas turbine. All of them emphasized the problems which plagued previous projects of this kind. In 1944 the Locomotive Development Committee of Bituminous Coal Research, Inc., was formed to study the problems of combustion, coal handling, and fly ash removal which would have to be solved before coal could be used to fire a gas turbine. By 1947 this committee was composed of the chief executive officers of nine eastern railroads and five eastern coal companies. All of the members of this committee were vitally concerned in a coal fired gas turbine because coal cost only one-fourth as much per heat unit as fuel oil. A number of research projects were started to develop and test components on a small scale. This included work at John Hopkins University, Battelle Memorial Institute, Institute of Gas Technology at Chicago, Purdue University, and Southern Research Institute. By 1946 a pilot plant had been installed at the Dunkirk, New York plant of Alco Products Div. of American Locomotive Co. The U. S. Bureau of Mines made available to the Locomotive Development Committee (hereafter called LDC) a Houdry process gas turbine plant, originally destined for a Russian oil refinery. The full scale pilot plant was used to evaluate the results obtained from the small scale studies under actual gas turbine conditions. Operation of this plant disclosed a number of problems which had not been discovered in the small scale tests. By 1951 four 250 hr tests had been conducted with the Houdry gas turbine to test out a variety of equipment. The major problem concerned the removal of abrasive fly ash from the products of combustion so that wear on turbine blades would not be excessive. The first 250 hr test showed that the original fly ash separating equipment was inadequate. Large ash particles passing through the turbine blading were nicking the leading edges of the first row blades. At the conclusion of the second 250 hr test, erosion was so severe that the first row of stator and the first row of rotor blades were replaced. At the end of the third 250 hr test, it was necessary to replace the first three rows of stator blading. The fourth test was used to test out a new design fly ash separator developed by LDC and named the Dunlab tube. This device gave more encouraging results than any of the others tested. Early enthusiasm for overcoming major difficulties had resulted in placing an order in 1946 with Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. for a 3750 hp regenerative gas turbine. The gas turbine, together with associated combustion and ash removal equipment, coal handling equipment, generators and gear reduction unit was installed at Dunkirk by 1951. A 750 hr test was made in 1952 with the LDC-Allis Chalmers gas turbine power plant. At the end of this test it was necessary to replace the first four rows of both rotor and stator blading. Rows 5 and 6 did not require replacement. In 1953 the American Locomotive Co. joined with LDC and assumed an active role in equipment development and manufacture. During 1954 LDC-Alco operated the rebladed gas turbine 300 hr to determine if a new fly ash separator was adequate. Performance of the improved separator was considerably better, but trouble was experienced with clogged blowdown lines from the Dunlab tubes. When these lines clogged it permitted the passage of abrasive particles. In 1955 a total of 1421 hr was run. This included 243 hr of cycle operation on Union Pacific coal from the D. O. Clark mine at Superior, Wyoming. During the 243 hr a total of 370 tons of coal was consumed. The purpose of this test was to determine if U.P. coal was suitable for use in a coal fired turbine. It was the unofficial opinion that it was as good or better than the eastern coals that had been tested.

Jan 1, 1964

By R. G. Davies

THE effect of ordered structures upon steady state creep has not been extensively studied although it has been demonstrated that the brass,' ie,' and Fe3Al3 superlattices increase the creep resistance. Suzuki and Yamamoto observed an acceleration in the creep rate of Ni3Fe below the critical temperature for order, (T, - 505"), for both the ordered and disordered states, and that the activation energy for creep was independent of the applied stress. They concluded that a dislocation climb creep mechanism was operative down to 300°C which is - 1/3 TM where TM is the absolute melting temperature. This is quite remarkable in that it is usually observed that climb controlled creep in both pure metals and alloys ceases below - 1/2 TM (590" for ie). With this anomaly in mind it was decided to reinvestigate creep in a 75 at. pct Ni-25 at. pct Fe alloy. The creep apparatus and operating conditions have already been decribed. Since Ni-Fe alloys order very slowly, it is possible to have a disordered alloy at a temperature below T,. A long anneal at a temperature just below T, produces considerable long-range order;5 the ordering treatment in the present investigation was 150 hr at 485°C which gives an antiphase domain size of-SOW

Jan 1, 1963

By Laurance S. Reid, Joe A. Porter

Gas dehydration plays an important part in the production of natural gas. Effective dehydration prevents formation of gas hydrates and the accumulation of water in transmission Systems,2,6,7 insuring uninterrupted gas deliveries at maximum efficiency under the most adverse weather conditions. At the present time, most gas companies require a maximum water vapor content of seven lb per million standard cu ft of gas. so that virtually all gas tendered for sale must he dehydrated to meet this specification. For a number of years it has been common practice to produce gas and gather it at a common point for dehydration prior to discharge into the transmission system.1,3,11,16,17 However, higher transmission line pressures, long gathering lines and relatively low ground temperatures have made it necessary to dehydrate gas at. or near. individual. wells in order to gather gas from a number of newly developed fields without unusual difficulty. Where gas has been dehydrated at pressures ranging from 300 to 800 psi in the past. future trends indicate that these processes may be operated at pressures as high as 2,000 psi. Economics of gas dehydration are of great importance, partitularly where facilities must he provided to process relatively small quantities of gas, such as the production from an individual well. Although the adsorption of water vapor from gas on a granular sorbent material such as activated bauxite, activated alumina, or one of the alumina-silica gels is highly effective and produces virtually "bone dry" gas, the cost of a small unit of this type is substantially greater than that of an absorption process which, through proper selection of the absorbing liquid, will dehydrate the gas sufficiently to meet pipe line specifications. For this reason, a great deal of emphacis has been placed on the development of small, inexpensive dehydration units8,24 and the search for more effective absorb. ent liquids has been intensified. A wide variety of methods for dehydrating gas are known' and many of these have been used in industry. Earlier applications of the absorption process employed concentrated solutions of calcium and lithium chlorides as the absorbent. The severe corrosion problems inherent in handling these solutions and the relatively small dew point depressions obtained caused early abandonment in favor of, or conversion to. diethylene glycol when it was found that aqueous solutions of this organic liquid were more hygroscopic than the brines and were non-corrosive. Processes employing diethylene glycol-water solutions are widely used for gas dehydration at pressures ranging as high as 1,200 psi.13,14,15 At nominal pressures a dew point depression of 45° to 50°F may be be and the data of Russell et al." indicate that a minimum dew point is obtained from the effluent gas at a pressure of approximately 1,200 psi when the gas is in equilibrium contact with a 95 per cent by weight diethylene glycol solution. In a number of instances the dew point depression obtained with diethylene glycol-water solutions is not sufficient to produce a specification product without cooling the inlet gas. In a recent search for a better absorhent, triethylene glycol was used in a small commercial dehydration unit and subjected to rather exhaustive field tests.' The data obtained were encouraging and indicated that, at pressures ranging from 300 to 500 psi, triethylene glycol porduced a substantially greater dew point depression than diethylene glycol. These results led to an investigation of the system natural gas-water-triethylene glycol in an effort to obtain vapor-liquid equilibrium data, to determine pressure limitations, and to develop other data pertinent to the design of gas dehydration processes. A review of the literature has failed to reveal any data which permit reasonably accurate calculation of the vapor-liquid equilibrium conditions for a solution of water and triethylene glycol in contact with natural gas at high pressure. Since these constituents form a non-ideal system, the Poynting equation18,21 or the usual combination of Raoult's and Dalton's laws19,20,22 would not be valid. Correction of Raoult's and Dalton's laws by the use of activity coefficients2' is not feasible for available data are insufficient for the prediction of the actual increase in the ratio of the activity of one component in the vapor phase to its activity in the liquid. Therefore. experi-

Jan 1, 1950

I-Institute of Metals Division* PAUL D MERICA, Chairman ZAY JEFFRIRS, Vice-chairman W M CORSE, Secretary Executive Committee T R FREEMAN JR, Local Section S SKOWRONSKI, Papers Committee R S ARCHER Non-ferrous Data Sheets H C JENNISON, Membership Committee C BAIN, Journal Committee L W SPRING Local Section Committee J R FREEMAN, JR, Chairman R J ANDERSON Cincinnati R L DOWDELL Minneapolis R S WILLIAMS, Boston H CLAMER, Philadelphia W A SCHEUCH, Chicago R F WOOD, New York Papers Committee S SKOWRONSKI, Chairman H S ARCHER-Aluminum W K FRANK-BRONZE F W HARRIS-Copper H BASSETT-BRASS G O HIERS-Lead Alloys M CORSE-White Nickel Base Alloys PAUL D MERICA-Nickel

Jan 1, 1923

By Ralph Monaghan, Arthur Youmans

General principles of scintillation counter-type instruments for radioactivity logging are discussed and the various possible causes for instability are examined. It is shown how instrumentation problems are solved. Means are discussed for minimizing drift and instability due to "fatigue" of the photomultiplier tube and neutron activation of the crystals. INTRODUCTION Neutron and gamma-ray logs made with logging instruments employing scintillation counters are now routinely available from most of the logging service companies. The superior characteristics of scintillation counters by comparison with older types of detectors promises to bring about important improvements in quantitative interpretation of radioactivity logs. Moreover, new types of logs can be made with scintillation counters which are not possible with other detectors. But in spite of the obvious superiority of these counters with respect to efficiency, speed, and versatility, they suffer from a number of inherent difficulties and weak- nesses. Unless these inherent diffi-culties are fully recognized and satisfactorily overcome by sound engineering of the associated instrumentation, scintillation counter logs are particularly likely to exhibit drift and instability of sensitivity. This defect in logs when they are intended for quantitative interpretation is intolerable and more than outweighs any advantages over the older type of instrumentation when the latter is operating correctly. SCINTILLATION COUNTER OPERATION In general all radioactivity logging instruments consist of a detector sensitive to gamma radiation or to neutron radiation coming from the strata. This radioactivity is either due to naturally decaying radioactive elements in the rock, radioactivity induced in the rock by a neutron source in the instrument, or scattering by the rock of neutrons or gamma rays coming from a source in the instrument. In the scintillation counter the gamma radiation or neutron radiation reacts with the scintillation phosphor to produce light pulses. These light pulses are then converted to amplified electrical pulses by the multiplier phototube. Basically the problem of making a good scintillation counter logging instrument is to make the radiation sensitivity of the system as nearly constant as possible. The size of each scintillation counter pulse is dependent on the energy of the individual quantum of radiation being detected. In normal radiation logging, gamma rays of all energies, up to some maximum value, reach the detector. If a suitable scintillator is used, such as a sodium iodide crystal, each gamma ray produces a number of photons proportional to the energy absorbed by the crystal from the impinging radiation. The light flashes are detected by means of a photo-multiplier tube which contains not only a photo-sensitive cathode from which photoelectrons are collected, but also an amplifier, called an electron multiplier, built inside the photomultiplier tube; the electron multiplier usually has about 10 stages, having an over-all gain of perhaps 500,000. In an ordinary gamma-ray log one wishes to detect all gamma rays down to the lowest possible energy; therefore, one wishes only to reject the "noise" pulses which are invariably present due to thermal emission of electrons from the photo-cathode of the photomultiplier. In other radioactivity logs it may be desired to measure the radiation within a particular energy band, or above

Jan 1, 1958

By Edward Griffith

The anthracite industry, which produces about 50 million net tons of coal annually, has been talked of as being able to last for another century; but if the water record of the past century continues into the expected century, this expectation of many years production still to come out of the remaining reserves will not be attained. The industry will be a submerged one in fact as well as in name. A recorded forecast of what has since occurred appears on page 34 of the Mine Inspectors' reports of 1897: It should also be noticed that bodies of water had accumulated in parts of abandoned mines before duplicate surveys of the same were required by law; and as a result we have today to contend with bodies of water, the exact location and position of which are not correctly known. Since that date, 47 years ago, the implications of the foregoing comment have grown enormously. This is shown in Fig. I and in the following table showing flooded and partially flooded areas that have come into existence since the early 1930's in the northern anthracite field: Number of Year Flooded Areas 1932...................... 2 1933...................... 3 1934..................... 3 1935...................... 5 1936...................... 7 1937...................... 9 1938.................... 11 1939...................... 11 1940...................... 11 1941...................... 14 1942...................... 14 1944...................... 26 Similar conditions exist in other fields in the anthracite region. In the period between 1923 and 1940, abandonment of collieries in the southern field resulted in the flooding of approximately 60 sq. miles (30 per cent) of the field. The ahandonment of collieries in this field has imposed additional expense for pumping on the collieries still operating. This condition will be aggravated by the extension of developments and cause suspension of operations if economic conditions do not justify the assumption of additional pumping costs. During the years, the region's rainfall has not altered, but the quantity going inside the mines through breakages in the surface, brought about by extraction of the coal, has increased materially, as indicated by the ratio of tons of water pumped to tons of coal produced underground for one of the large companies in the northern anthracite field: Year Ratio 1920................. 8.4:1 1925.................. 10.6:I I930.................. II.4:I 1935................. 26.2:1 1940.................. 32.7: I 1942.................. 30.3:I The data in Table I shows the total amount of water pumped and its ratio to underground production for one of the large companies in the southern anthracite field, and shows a rapidly growing serious situation. Rainfall quickly affects the workings in all the fields. In mine inspection district 7 of the southern field the rainfall in 1935 was 92,083,000,000 gal. The total water pumped was 36,274,000,000 gal. (39.4 per cent of the rainfall). The operating mines

Jan 1, 1947

By Edward Griffith

The anthracite industry, which produces about 50 million net tons of coal annually, has been talked of as being able to last for another century; but if the water record of the past century continues into the expected century, this expectation of many years production still to come out of the remaining reserves will not be attained. The industry will be a submerged one in fact as well as in name. A recorded forecast of what has since occurred appears on page 34 of the Mine Inspectors' reports of 1897: It should also be noticed that bodies of water had accumulated in parts of abandoned mines before duplicate surveys of the same were required by law; and as a result we have today to contend with bodies of water, the exact location and position of which are not correctly known. Since that date, 47 years ago, the implications of the foregoing comment have grown enormously. This is shown in Fig. I and in the following table showing flooded and partially flooded areas that have come into existence since the early 1930's in the northern anthracite field: Number of Year Flooded Areas 1932...................... 2 1933...................... 3 1934..................... 3 1935...................... 5 1936...................... 7 1937...................... 9 1938.................... 11 1939...................... 11 1940...................... 11 1941...................... 14 1942...................... 14 1944...................... 26 Similar conditions exist in other fields in the anthracite region. In the period between 1923 and 1940, abandonment of collieries in the southern field resulted in the flooding of approximately 60 sq. miles (30 per cent) of the field. The ahandonment of collieries in this field has imposed additional expense for pumping on the collieries still operating. This condition will be aggravated by the extension of developments and cause suspension of operations if economic conditions do not justify the assumption of additional pumping costs. During the years, the region's rainfall has not altered, but the quantity going inside the mines through breakages in the surface, brought about by extraction of the coal, has increased materially, as indicated by the ratio of tons of water pumped to tons of coal produced underground for one of the large companies in the northern anthracite field: Year Ratio 1920................. 8.4:1 1925.................. 10.6:I I930.................. II.4:I 1935................. 26.2:1 1940.................. 32.7: I 1942.................. 30.3:I The data in Table I shows the total amount of water pumped and its ratio to underground production for one of the large companies in the southern anthracite field, and shows a rapidly growing serious situation. Rainfall quickly affects the workings in all the fields. In mine inspection district 7 of the southern field the rainfall in 1935 was 92,083,000,000 gal. The total water pumped was 36,274,000,000 gal. (39.4 per cent of the rainfall). The operating mines

Jan 1, 1947

By Edgar C. Bain

Jan 1, 1932