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By Lynn B. Hales

The software systems which support the Pinto Valley Supervisory Control System are divided into three general categories. These are defined as the real-time operating system; a process data acquisition, reduction, and communication system; and a set of process-oriented systems which interface the operators and engineering staff to the process. The role of each of these three classes is reviewed. The software systems which provide reports, status displays, and trend graphs are discussed.

Jan 1, 1978

By Horace Knerr

IT has been shown1 that the resistance to corrosion of duralumin sheet is greatly influenced by the quenching medium used in heat treatment, or, more specifically, by the rate of cooling during quenching. The severity of corrosive attack after exposure to salt-water spray increases in the following order: DEGREE OF CORROSION, BY INSPECTION, QUENCHING MEDIUM AFTER 30 DAYS OF SALT-WATER SPRAY TEST; Water, cold (60° F.) Very slight. Water boiling Slight, but more than with cold water. Oil (70° F.) Slight, but more than with cold water. Air, fan blast, 65° F Severe, scaled. Air, still, 65° F Deeply scaled. The tensile strength, yield point and elongation are only slightly affected by the quenching medium, as shown in Table 1.

Jan 1, 1930

By Henry D. Hibbard

A noted ordnance engineer once said to a friend, in speaking of the production of great steel guns, " How is it ? We design our guns with a factor of safety of eight, and the guns burst." The vague way in which internal stresses and strains in iron and steel are often considered and spoken of makes it worth while to examine them, as to their nature, their causes and results, how they may, for useful purposes, be advantageously dealt with, and how, when detrimental or dangerous, they may be reduced or kept within harmless proportions. Rankine defines " strain " as a change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass produced by a stress. This definition seems intended not to cover strains due to internal stresses, and it will help us in the present inquiry to consider strain as a tendency to change as well as an actual change of form. Internal strains in iron and steel are the result of stresses within the mass of the piece, some parts pulling and others pushing in resistance to them; or, in other words, some parts are in tension and some in compression, each part striving to relieve itself from strain and make the piece assume a form in which all parts are at rest. Subdivision, so that each part could relieve its strain by motion relative to the other parts, would, if carried out far enough, practically obliterate strain. The internal strains we are now to consider are not those due to the stresses of the service which the piece is rendering, either alone or as a part of a structure, which may be termed service-strains, but those which originate or at least are contained in the piece itself. Internal stresses in a piece of metal are, like action and reaction, always equal and in opposite directions. The stresses

Jan 1, 1907

By T. S. Fuller

The tensile properties of steels at elevated temperatures have been studied by numerous investigatorsll primarily for the purpose of determining their suitability for structural uses. Tests with this objective have been confined largely to the temperature range of approximately 20" to 500' C., because of the rapidly decreasing tensile strength at the latter temperature. Tests have also been extended to higher temperatures2 for the purpose of determining the most suitable forging range. This temperature range is also of theoretical interest. The phenomenon if increased tensile strength and decreased ductility .in the so-called "blue-heat" range, approximately 200" to 300" C., is well known. It was suggested to the Bureau early in 1926 that a study of the properties of rail steels in this temperature range might prove of interest in relation to the studies of transverse-fissure failures in rails. There were available from another investigation3 several new rails from several different heats made to approximately the same specification requirements, the complete manufacturing histories of which were known. It was decided to determine, at least in the preliminary series of tests, only the ultimate tensile strength, elongation and reduction of area, because of the difficulty, time and cost involved in determining the proportional limit and yield point at elevated temperatures.

Jan 1, 1930

By W. G. Woolf, A. Y. Bethune

Filtration of hot (60°C) supersaturated zinc sulphate solution (sp gr 1.540) from slimy leach residues at the electrolytic zinc plant of Sullivan Mining Co., Kellogg, Idaho, is described. Separation of liquids and solids in the finished leach is by Burt filters modified to meet conditions of high-acid, high-density process for electrolytic zinc. Operating characteristics of the Burt filter on this pulp are presented.

Jan 5, 1950

By B. B. Zavoico, J. G. H. Crump, P. P. Gregory

West Texas was the scene of greatly increased oil activity during 1937, producing 75,743,000 bb1.l in that year as compared with 61,901,-000 bb1.2 in 1936, an increase of 22.36 per cent. The annual total of wells completed increased from 15863 in 1936 to 28062 in 1937, an increase of 76.92 per cent. Of the total completions in 1937, 2464 were oil wells,2 11 gas wells2 and 331 dry holes.2 The marked increase in the number of oil wells completed in West Texas during 1937 had a substantial effect upon the daily average production per well, which decreased 20.84 per cent from December 1936, when a total of 5310 wells3 produced 5,236,467 bbl.3 for an average of 31.81 bbl. per well per day to December 1937, when 7571 wells2 with a total production of 5,910,257 bb1.2 averaged 25.18 bbl. per well per day. Drilling blocks and checkerboard acreage were being acquired following geophysical work in the northern end of the Permian Basin area, composed of Bailey, Cochran, Hockley, Yoakum and Terry Counties, presaging extension of active development northward. During 1937, at one time 30 geophysical crews were working in West Texas, and an average of 15 to 20 crews was active in this area throughout the year. Discoveries Wasson-Denver Field.—Wasson-Denver field in Gaines and Yoakum Counties was the outstanding field discovery of the year. Production is from porous limestone found at about 5000 ft., and an average well is good for from 300 to 500 bbl. of crude oil per day through 3/4-in. choke. The discovery well was drilled by A. G. Carter and others on the Wasson Ranch, Gaines County, and the field has since been extended into Yoakum County. At the year's end 21 wells had been completed, producing

Jan 1, 1938

By R. Bakish, C. S. Barnett

IN experiments on tantalum strained in tension, Bechtold did not observe deformation-twinning even at a temperature as low as that of liquid air.' This is an unexpected behavior for a metal of body-centered-cubic structure. Therefore, it is desirable to determine whether the lack of twinning is an inherent characteristic of this particular metal, or whether the reluctance to twin can be overcome under suitable conditions. The following experiments were performed under conditions favorable to twinning and cleavage in their competition with slip, namely, with impact loading on large-grained sheet at low temperatures. The crystallography of cleavage in tantalum sheet was also investigated carefully because of the remarkable ductility of tantalum at low temperatures and because recent tests on oxygen-embrittled tantalum had disclosed unusual cleavage behavior for a metal of this structure: cleavage primarily on (110) planes and only occasionally on {100}.2 The tantalum, supplied by Fansteel, was of 99.9 pet purity, with the chief impurities being iron (0.03 pet) and carbon (0.03 pet). Coarse grains were produced by the strain-anneal method, the anneal being 4 hr at 2000°C in a vacuum of 10-3 mm Hg, followed by furnace cooling. Impact deformation was applied in various ways: a) by hammer blows on an anvil, the specimen and anvil being immersed in liquid nitrogen ( —196°C), b) by driving a precooled center-punch into the sheet, and c) by bending around a crystallographically determined axis with a hammer blow. The impact-deformation produced bands and slip lines on the surface, Fig. 1. The bands have every appearance of being deformation twins, a) They are tilted with respect to the untwinned surface. b) They have the appearance of Neumann bands in iron, thin lens shape, some having serrated edges. c) The orientation in each is different from that of the surrounding matrix and uniform within a given band, see slip lines within them in Fig. 1. d) Upon repolishing and etching, the difference in orientation and the resemblance to Neumann bands is again evident, Fig. 2. (In this micrograph the slight bend in the bands as they cross grain boundaries was noted frequently and results from the high degree of preferred orientation in the sheet.) e) The bands persist after annealing treatments that would have removed them had they been a low-temperature martensitic phase, e.g., after an anneal of 1/2 hr at 900°C. When back-reflection Laue data were plotted for single-surface analysis of several grains, every trace of the bands in each grain could be explained by (112) planes. In addition, two of the bands were located in space by traces on two surfaces, and these also were found to lie on (112) planes within the error of the stereographic plot. Since (1 12) is the anticipated composition plane for deformation twins in body-centered-cubic metals it is felt that the observations listed above are conclusive evidence for the identification of the bands as twins. Similar tests with impact at —77° and at 25°C produced no twinning. It is concluded that the critical shear stress for slip at the rates of straining used was always low enough to prevent the applied stress from reaching the value required for twinning at these temperatures. It was noted that the serrations along the edges of the twin bands exhibited parallel crystal facets. Several similarly oriented notches are visible in Fig. 1, and a remarkable set is shown in Fig. 3. It appears from Fig. 1 and similar areas that notches are frequently associated with the intersection of a slip line with a twin, although not all such intersections are at notches. In some instances a slip line appears to enter the twin, cross it, reflect from the opposite side and recross it, producing a pattern resembling a notch but without producing the notch itself, see Fig. 1. It is suggested that the stress concentration at the end of a slip line is responsible for these details. The strain energy associated with the pile-up of dislocations at a twin boundary may be lessened by untwin-ning or failing to twin a portion of the twin band, or

Jan 1, 1959

By R. Kossowsky

USING etch-pit techniques, Johnston and Gilman' have shown that the stress dependence of dislocation velocity can be represented by the expression where r, is the dislocation velocity, a is the applied stress, and oa, is the stress to produce a unit velocity. Noble and Hul12 showed that the exponent m is strain-dependent and increases rapidly in the work-hardening region. This was explained by arguing that in the work-hardened material the applied stress required for any given velocity will be greater than in the annealed material by an amount equal to a back stress due to work hardening. schadler3 has stressed the importance of substructure as a possible source of error in dislocation velocity measurements, and took care to make velocity measurements in which dislocations moved such short distances that interactions with boundaries were avoided. schadler3 also pointed out that, if standard testing equipment is used, measurements of m from flow stress data could be seriously in error in materials with a high initial work-hardening rate. Noble and Hu112 have further argued that, due to the strain dependence of m , the extrapolation to zero strain4 to obtain the true value of m can be justified only in the preyield region. Microstrain experiments in high-purity iron5,6 have led to the conclusion that aiA (Ref. 5) (defined as the stress to first produce a permanent set of 10-6 in. per in.) and oflow are not controlled by the same deformation mechanism. It has been proposed5,6 that aA is governed by the lattice resistance to the motion of screw dislocations in a given slip plane and that oflow is controlled by the lattice resistance to a full-scale cross slip. The purpose of this note is to extend Noble and Hull's argument further and to show that measurements of m from flow stress data can be in error due to the rapid increase in stress in the microstrain region6 when stress is increased beyond aA. Double z-one-refined single crystals of molybdenum (with the (101)[ 111] slip system operating and a Schmidt factor of 0.475) were used in an experimen-

Jan 1, 1968

By H. C. Fowler

No exact demarcation can be made between producfion engineering and engineering research projects which interest production engineers because the results of today's engineering research make possible many of the applied production engineering methods of tomorrow. A corollary of the development of fundamental research is that so-called practical research becomes necessary. Assuming engineering research to include all subjects related to oil and gas production on which knowledge is being increased through experimentation and through analyses of data obtained from both the laboratory and the field, a review of the work of 1932 shows that the fundamental concepts of at least three major problems have become better understood—bottom-hole pressures, solubility of gas in oil, and fluid movement—and that the established data on the relationships of oil and gas have been applied to obtain more efficient and more economic production of both. Engineers no longer are concerned primarily with the initial development of devices for obtaining the pressures at the bottom of wells. Advancement in the technique of obtaining reliable pressure readings in wells has been rapid. One of the first public suggestions regarding apparatus for obtaining precise information at the bottom of oil wells was made before the Petroleum Division of the A.I.M.E. in 1928. Even during the early development stages in East Texas, reservoir pressures were estimated from well-head observations. Soon, however, a number of proved devices and methods were available, and today bottom-hole pressures in many fields are being recorded and studied as an essential part of the production programs. The research now turns to interpretations of data, obtained with these devices, in terms of reservoir energy and to the development of methods whereby the oil and gas will be withdrawn in accordance with rational and equitable programs based on oil-gas-energy relationships. The term ((bottom-hole pressures" should not be interpreted as indicating the full scope of all research on this problem. By using pressure (and temperature) data obtained in related vertical-flow studies,

Jan 1, 1933

By Pope Yeatman

THE Committee on the Elimination of Waste in Industry, of the Federated American Engineering Societies, in its report says that "Waste in -industry is attributable to four causes: 1. Low production, caused by faulty management, of materials, plant, equipment, and men; 2. Interrupted production caused by idle materials, idle plants, and idle equipment; 3. Restricted production intentionally caused by ,owners, managers, or labor; 4. Lost production caused by ill-health, physical defects and industrial accidents. The committee sent out elaborate questionnaires, and in them divided the responsibility into Manage-ment, Labor, and Outside Contracts. These question-naires showed that in the different industries examined the responsibility of Management was from 50 to 80 per cent. and of Labor from 9 to 28 per cent. The percentage of responsibility that Management was held accountable for was much larger than any of us supposed. However, when this question is studied, we realize how necessary it is to select, in the first instance, suitable personnel, in the form of directors, managers, heads of departments, experts, etc. We would like to -believe that the percentage of responsibility of Management for waste in the mining business was less than that quoted above, but there are so many mining properties started up and operated by men of no experience in such lines, and there have been so many improvements in late years in mining and metallurgical methods not taken advantage of, that we can not believe that. the percentage will vary much from that already quoted. Quoting from a report approved by the Committee on Management of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Management is the art and science of preparing, organizing, and directing human effort applied to control the forces and util-ize the materials of nature for the benefit of man.

Jan 3, 1922

By P. Barnes

It cannot be said that this whole subject is a new one in respect to its presentation to the Institute, but the minute discussion of it has been looked upon as lying more strictly within the field of study of the societies which have to do chiefly with the construction and management of machinery as such. It must be true that the importance of close limits in steam-economy is as fully recognized among the members of this Institute as by any body of men who have to do with steam-machinery. In all directions, nevertheless, among manufacturers as well as among metallurgists, there may still be found those who do not give the same attention to exact methods in fuel-consumption as devoted to steam, as to other technical uses which, to say the least, are not more important. The study of the most efficient methods of use of fuel in operations which are more strictly metallurgical has been long-continued, and in some directions nearly or quite exhaustive. This has led to a rather close bringing-up, in those particulars, all along the line of technical work, of the establishments (and their managers) which had lagged behind. Yet, in the steam-departments of those works, there are too many reasons for believing that the name may still be legion of those whose methods and results are far from the best. If there be room in any given case to suspect any imperfect working or waste of fuel in the steam-supply, the search for the evil, the clear fixing of its cause, and the application of the remedy are, or certainly ought to be, too obvious in their pressure for attention upon a manager to call for even so scanty a mention of them as can be accorded in this paper. It is natural that men should be incredulous as to imperfections which may be noted as existing in their machinery or methods. Still more are they likely to be altogether disinclined to admit that there may be thus an actual and palpable leakage in the compartment of their money-drawer devoted to coalsupplies. But the laws which govern the combustion of fuel, the

Jan 1, 1885

By L. D. Anderson

WHEN, after years of troublous experiences in roasting sulfide ores with heavy dust and fume losses resulting from the equipment and methods first available, there appeared on the, scene of metallurgy that revolutionary process known as sintering, it was felt that at last there had been found the ideal method for preparing sulfide ores for blast-furnace reduction. Not only were the sulfides roasted but also the fine oxidized ores were bound together with them in strong porous cellular masses which were in the best possible condition for reduction. With the experiences gained in the manipulation of the Huntington-Heberlein, Carmichael-Bradford, and Dwight & Lloyd processes there developed a refinement of detail which brought the whole plan of roasting by sintering to a high plane of perfection. But that metallurgy is never stationary is revealed by the fact that changes in milling practice, particularly the development of flotation, have introduced a new set of problems in sintering itself. Inasmuch as it is felt that these problems have not yet been solved in an entirely satisfactory manner this paper is written to record the present practice of the Salt Lake Valley smelters with the hope that there will be brought forth such discussion as may perhaps lead to still better practice. By far the greater proportion of the sulfides smelted today are flotation concentrates. Usually they are high grade, sometimes as high as 70 per cent. and more in lead. They are extremely fine, many mills grinding the ore so that from 60 to 80 per cent. will pass through screens of 200 mesh. The physical condition in which many of these concentrates reach the smelters is disconcerting to the metallurgists. Some are of about the consistency of putty. Others are of a sticky, slimy nature. Others again, dried to the limit, are veritable powders. Remembering that the down-draft sintering charge for the best results must be porous enough to let air be drawn through it reasonably well, must be thoroughly mixed, and must have some coarse material in it to segregate out and form a layer on the grates, it will be understood that the advent of this extremely fine material has made necessary still further elaboration in the equipment and processes of preparing sulfides for the blast furnaces, all of which is expensive. The high metal contents of the concentrates

Jan 1, 1929

By C. O. Bundranl, Peter Dehlinger, W. H. Browne

Brief laboratory investigations are described which attempt to determine optimum .sand concentrations in gel-sand and oil-sand1 well-treatments. The investigations apply to the case where sand acts as a propping agent in formation fractures. Both analytically and experimentally it is demonstrated that optimum sand concentrations can be defined. It is difficult to translate laboratory results to field treatments, however, since the relative distribution of sand and fluid in fractures may not be the same as injected. This is because fluid may penetrate the furtherest narrow portions of fractures, which would not pass sand. Optimum concentration of a monolayer of Ottawa sand in fractures of 0.025-in. width at the usual range of pressures encountered in treatments appears to be about 95 to 2 lb/gal. of gel. An investigation of abrasion of rock-walls by sand in treatments, described in the Appendix, shows that such abrasion is not probable in significant amounts. INTRODUCTION Experience in the Spraberry formation of West Texas, as well as in other formations, has shown that. sand is a necessary and vital part of gel-sand and oil-sand treatments. Many observers of treatments have also concluded that there seems to be an optimum range of sand concentration for these injections. Brief laboratory investigations were made at Battelle Memorial Institute to study flow in fractures with different sand concen- trations. To investigate the existence and range of optimum concentrations in the laboratory, however, necessitates knowledge of the mechanism by which the sand aids in increasing subsequent production. The action of sand in fractures is usually thought to be either that of a propping agent, thus providing a greater effective formation permeability; that of an abrasive in eroding fill material in fractures; or that of an abrasive eroding rock-wall irregularities along fracture surfaces. Investigations described in the Appendix show that sand does not appear to erode rock-wall materials appreciably. In a subsequent paper it is reasoned, at least for the Spraberry formation of West Texas, that the primary action of sand is not in removing fill materials in fractures. In this formation, and probably others, too, the main effect of sand appears to be that of a propping agent. Both analytical and experimental investigations were made for the case of a monolayer of sand acting as a propper, in which sand concentrations were determined that would, after treatment, permit flow of the maximum quantities of oil from the formation into a well. If too few sand grains are injected into fractures in which the bottom hole pressure has decreased appreciably below the original formation pressure, the confining pressure in the formation may become relatively large, thus compress the rock-walls around the sand grains, essentially close fractures, and so decrease the subsequent flow of oil. Similarly, if too much sand is used, the flow of oil will he impeded by the volume of sand present. THEORY Although an analytical approach to determining optimum sand concentrations involves gross assumptions.

Jan 1, 1955

By S. B. Christy

The practice of the cyanide-process of gold-extraction has brought to light many important contradictions of familiar chemical analogies, which still obscure both the theory and the practice of the art with distinctions subtler and more difficult to make or follow than those which delighted the heart of the old-time metaphysician. Yet Nature herself has drawn these distinctions; and if we hope to succeed in this modern search for the Golden Fleece, we must be able to follow her through the winding labyrinth. There are so many phases of this question that I shall attempt to touch on only one of them at this time, but it is one that lies at the root of many others. In reviewing my paper on " The Solution and Precipitation of Cyanide of Gold,"* Mr. E. B. Wilson contends† that" in the solution of gold by means of alkaline cyanides the various reactions are determined, as to their order and intensity, by the relative position of the elements concerned in the electro-chemical series, or series of voltaic tension." In a modified form this statement is probably true. That is to say, the difference of electrical potential in any closed electrical circuit determines the nature of the reactions which ensue. But the matter is not so simple as Mr. Wilson assumes. Recent investigations show that the order of the metals in the electro-chemical series depends not only on the nature of the elements themselves, but also on the chemical composition of the solution in which they are placed; its degree of concentration; its temperature; and, in the case of gases, on the pressure. Unless all these conditions are taken into account, inferences drawn from the electro-chemical series are likely to prove more

Jan 1, 1901

This brief resume of events, transpiring in Mexico, culled from the daily New York newspapers, since the last Bulletin went to press, does not indicate any degree of improvement in the situation. MEXICAN MINISTER TO FRANCE RECOGNIZED A dispatch from Paris quotes Alberto J. Pani, Mexican Minister to France, as saying lie lead received notification that lie might present his credentials at the French Foreign Office on May 13. This notice came at the moment the Mexican press was announcing his departure for Spain because of inability to present his credentials. MORE REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES SOUTH AND NORTH Revolutionary outbreaks hulked large in advices from Mexico City at the end of May, says the New York Tribune. General Eznesto Danny, a major, four other officers and forty men, composing a train guard on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railroad, were killed recently in an attack by rebels under Felix Diaz's command. The troubles in the south, coupled with the fact that Villa's activities in the north have necessitated sending troops to campaign against him, have reacted in the capital seriously, it is reported. Military guards hi Mexico City have been doubled and machine guns have been placed on the roofs of the National Palace and the Cathedral. STRIKE AND MARTIAL LAW IN MEXICO CITY Advices from Mexico City, according to the Evening Sun, said that virtually every school teacher in the city was out on strike and that recurrent rioting was being put clown by armed trucks manned by Federal soldiers. The strike of the school teachers was clue to the fact that they had not been paid for months, but the direct incitement is said to have been the contrast between their impoverished position and that of Carranza's generals, who are described as rolling in wealth, and who flaunted their opulence on the streets of Mexico, riding about in high powered automobiles with women bedecked with diamonds and other jewelry. The city is said to be virtually under martial law with no immediate prospect. of a subsidence of the bitter feeling against the military caste.

Jan 7, 1919

By H. W. C. Prommel

While Utah remains an unimportant factor in oil production, exploratory drilling was carried on in six widely separated areas, extending from the southwest to the northeast corner of the state. One new gas field, the Last Chance or Starvation Creek anticline in Emery County, and two new gas horizons in the Clay Basin field of Daggett County, were thereby discovered during 1934. Exploratory Drilling South Central Utah Emery County—Last Chance Anticline.—The test of the Ramsey Petroleum Corporation in sec. 18, T.26S., R.7E., on the apex of this anticline (vert. closure 700 ft.; area within closing contour line, as mapped by U.S. Geological Survey, 26,000 acres) encountered gas in the Moenkopi formation of lower Triassic age at depths ranging from 2530 to 2863 ft. The total thickness of sandstone, sandy shale and -limestone beds in which gas was encountered is approximately 50 ft. The well was tested at a depth of 2755 ft., gaging 21,000,000 cu. ft. of gas, R.P. 410 lb. The well is being plugged back to the lowest gas horizon at 2771 ft. from a total depth of 3168 ft. Gas from this well probably will be used for the drilling of a second well structurally lower, to test the oil possibilities of the Moenkopi formation as well as of the upper and lower Pennsylvania formations, of which the latter so far remains untested in South Central Utah. The well was not drilled deep enough to determine more definitely the western margin of the petroliferous Paradox Basin of lower Pennsyl-vanian age of southeastern Utah. Woodside Anticline.—This field, lying immediately northeast of the San Rafael swell, contains, according to maps of the U.S. Geological Survey, 8380 acres within its lowest closing contour line 700 ft. below the apex. A well was drilled by Utah Oil Refining Co. at the apex in sec. 12, T.l9S., R.l3E., during 1924. Gas was encountered in the Moenkopi and Kaibab formations of Triassic and Carboniferous (Permian) age respectively. The flow is estimated at 21,000,000 cu. ft., R.P. 900 lb.,

Jan 1, 1935

By J. E. Berry

AII evaluation is made of the acoustic velocity log for measurement of formation porosity. Plots of field-observer1 velocities vs core-measured porosities of sandstones and limestotnes with inter intergranular porosity show that the velocity log gives a useful measure of porotity, in agreement with published data. A new method of plotting electrical and velocity log data makes it easier to recognize hydrocarbon-water coritnct~ from log darn and to make serni-quantitative estinlates of hydrocarbon saturation. Two examples of this interpretation technique are given. This paper also discusses the various factors that affect acoustic velocity and shows how corrections can be made for some of these factors. INTRODUCTION Although the continuous velocity log was developed primarily as an aid to seismic interpretation, it is finding widespread use for measurement of porosity. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate this use of the log. Results are presented for the velocity-porosity relationship in many sandstones and one limestone. Practical applications of porosity values derived from the velocity log to improve interpretation of electrical surveys are presented. Various parameters which affect velocity in porous media are considered. Porosity, composition, cementa-tion, pressure difference (overburden pressure minus fluid pressure), fluid saturation, and wellability are discussed. Some of the ideas are opinions based on general considerations of well logging problems while others are supported by published data and our own observations. Major conclusions from these studies arc given in the body of the paper and detailed discussions of some of the various factors affecting porosity are given in the Appendix. POROSITY Sandstones The primary factor affecting the velocity of sound in porous media is porosity. Wyllie, et al,1 have reported a time average equation for the relationship between velocity and porosity.* This has found considerable acceptance in the industry. Other relationships between velocity and porosity have been proposed, none of which are entirely satisfactory. It is doubtful that any one relationship will completely describe all situations. We have tried an empirical relationship based on correlating log velocities with core-measured porosities. Measured porosities were averaged over a depth interval equal to the spacing used in recording the velocity logs. The depth range for the information used was from 2,000 to 12,000 ft. Velocity measurements were normalized for the effects of depth and overburden pressure. A detailed discussion of the basis for this normalization is given in the Appendix. The change is usually insignificant and when working with individual formations it can be neglected. All velocity measurements were normalized to a depth of 10,000 ft. The velocity-porosity data for sandstones in Fig. 1 came from 20 wells scattered throughout the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast areas. The scatter of the data points is attributed to three causes: 1. There is no theoretical basis for expecting an exact velocity vs porosity relationship and it is not possible to correct precisely for the effects of such factors as impurities, grain shape, manner of cementation, etc. Some of these factors are discussed in the Appendix. 2. Porosities measured by core analysis are not necessarily representative of what the velocity log "sees". 3. Inaccuracies appear in the velocity log reading. This is particularly true of velocities from one-receiver logging tools.*" A linear-time curve (time-average equation) is plotted in Fig. 1 along with the best straight line through the points. Velocities used for the linear-time curves were 19,500 ft/sec for the matrix velocity (zero porosity) and 5,500 ft/sec for fluid velocity. For clean sandstones with velocities greater than 10,000 ft/sec, there is little difference between the velocity-porosity and the time-porosity curves. Both curves are well within the scatter of data points. The data points in Fig. 1 were restricted primarily to clean sandstones, using the SP and/or gamma-ray logs as clues to the lithology. Where a lithologic de-

By E. W. Davis

IF the tonnage of merchantable iron ore remaining in the Lake Superior district is divided by the average of the annual shipments for the past 20 years, it will be found that this ore supply will be exhausted in approximately 35 years. This computed exhaustion period would be an indication of the future activities of the iron-mining industry if it were not for the fact that merchantable ore is being manufactured from low-grade ore, of which there is an almost inexhaustible supply in the Lake Superior district. It is true that at present only the simplest of these low-grade ores are being concentrated to any considerable extent, but progress is being made with the treatment of the more complex ores, and now, in addition to 20 washing plants on the Mesabi Range, three plants are equipped with jigs for the treatment of ore that cannot be concentrated simply by washing. The latest addition to the ore-treating plants of the Mesabi Range is a magnetic roasting and concentration plant at Cooley, Minn., in which ore that cannot be concentrated either by washing or by jigging is roasted to the magnetic state and concentrated on magnetic separators. This plant is beginning its third season of operation, and while it is too soon to make definite predictions, there are strong indica-tions that this new process may make commercially possible the manu-facture of high-grade, merchantable iron ore from large quantities of low-grade ore now considered worthless. After the iron oxide contained in an ore has been converted to mag-netite, almost any desired grade of concentrate can be produced, using magnetic-concentration equipment of the types now in general use for the concentration of the natural magnetites of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The conversion of hematite (Fe2O3) to magnetite (Fe3O4) is easily accomplished by heating the ore to a dull red tempera-ture in a reducing atmosphere. The reaction is slightly endothermic, and while it requires 200 B.t.u. to heat to 900° F. one pound of hematite ore containing 45 per cent Fe, it requires only 100 B.t.u. to convert the oxide into magnetite. In the laboratory, using small quantities of ore, this conversion is very simple, but large furnaces suitable for commercial

Jan 1, 1936

By Merrill Horine

IT has been stated and accepted for many years that the automotive industry was the instigator, the principal sponsor for and the largest user of alloy steel and nonferrous alloys. The only universally recognized standard specifications and heat-treatments for these materials are those adopted by the Society of Automotive Engineers. It is this same auto-motive industry that has been the chief inspiration for and consumer of modern production machine tools. The production curve of steel ingots is more sensitive to fluctuations in automotive production than any other influence or group of influences. In every other important steel-con-suming industry, automotive materials and automotive processes are the outstanding features of modern progress. In this connection I need only mention the prefabrication of buildings, following the automotive system of straight-line, interchangeable mass production; the motorization of ships and railroads, employing automotive types of prime movers; the production of pressed-steel stoves, plumbing and furniture by methods originated in the automobile-body industry and the extensive use of rubber for the cushioning of all manner of machinery as pioneered by the automotive and tire industries. Dr. Jeffries has brought out this point in his address (p. 21), assuring us that the transportation industry is the largest user of these materials. In the transportation industry, or as we might more accurately express it, the transportation group of industries, the. automotive industry pre-dominates as a user of light alloys. One out of every four tons of aluminum produced is consumed by the automotive industry. Similarly, the automotive industry ranks first in the consumption of the following metallurgical materials: steel, 24.04 per cent; malleable iron, .57; alloy steels, 72.2; nickel, 30; lead, 39 per cent.

Jan 1, 1936

By Dennis V. D’Andrea, Joseph L. Condon

Laboratory crater tests were performed in two-dimensional plates and three-dimensional .blocks of Holston Limestone. Fractures in the blocks were exposed by sawing through the crater region, and a technique employing dye penetrants is described for examining the resulting fracture systems in both blocks and plates. Crater fracture patterns changed from extension of radial fractures to spa11 fractures parallel to the free face as charge depths were increased. The amount of fractured rock was found to be greater than the amount determined from standard crater volume measurements. Graphs and photographs illustrate these findings.

Jan 1, 1971