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By K. E. Brown, G. H. Fancher

An 8,000-ft experimental field well was utilized to conduct flowing pressure gradient tests under conditions of continuous, multiphase flow through 2 3/8-in. OD tubing. The well was equipped with 10 gas-lift valves and 10 Maihak electronic pressure recorders, as well as instruments to accurately measure the surface pressure, temperature, volume of injected gas and fluid production. These tests were conducted for flow rates ranging from 75 to 936 B/D at various gas-liquid ratios from 105 to 9,433 scf/bbl. An expanding-orifice gas-lift valve allowed each flow rate to be produced with a range of controlled gas-liquid ratios. From these data an accurate pressure traverse has been constructed for various flow rates and for various gas-liquid ratios. A comparison of these tests to Poettmann and Carpenter's correlation indicates that deviations occur for certain ranges of flow rates and gas-liquid ratios. Numerous curves are presented illustrating the comparison of this correlation with the field data. Poettmann and Carpenter's correlation deviates some for low flow rates and, in particular, for gas-liquid ratios in excess of 3,000 scf/bbl. These deviations me believed to be mainly due to the friction-factor correlation. However, Poettmann and Carpenter's correlation gives excellent agreement in those ranges of higher density. This was as expected and predicted by Poettmann. He pointed out that their method was not intended to be extended to those ranges of low densities whereby an extreme reversal in curvature occurs.l As a result of these experimental tests, correlations using Poettmann and Carpenter's method were established between the friction factors and mass flow rates which are applicable for all gas-liquid ratios and flow rates. Definite changing flow patterns do not allow any one correlation to be accurate for all ranges of flow. INTRODUCTION The ability to analytically predict the pressure at any point in a flow string is essential in determining optimum production string dimensions and in the design of gas-lift installations. This information is also invaluable in predicting bottom-hole pressures in flowing wells. Although this problem is not new to industry, it has by no means been solved completely for all types of flow conditions. Versluys,2 Uren, et al, 3 Gosline,4 May,5 and Moore, et al,6,7 were all early investigators of multiphase flow through vertical conduits. However, all of these investigations and proposed methods were very limited as to their range of application. Likewise, many are extremely complicated and therefore not very useful in the field. Only in the last decade have any significant methods been proposed which are generally applicable. The most widely accepted procedure in industry at the present time is a semi-empirical method developed from an energy balance, proposed by Poettmann and Carpenter8 in 1952. Their correlation is based on actual pressure measurements from field wells. Accurate predictions from this correlation are limited to high flow rates and low gas-liquid ratios. Although this method will be discussed in detail later, it should be pointed out that two important parameters, namely the gas-liquid ratio and the viscosity, were omitted in their correlation. The viscosity was justifiably omitted since their data was in the highly turbulent flow region for both phases, and most wells fall in this category. The gas-liquid ratio was incorporated to some extent in the gas-density term. In 1954, Gilbert9 presented numerous pressure gradient curves obtained from field data for various flow rates and gas-liquid ratios for the determination of optimum flow strings. However, no method is presented for predicting pressure gradients except by comparison to these curves. Baxendell, et al,10 proposed a method based on Poettmann and Carpenter's procedure

By D. Turnbull, J. H. Hollomon, J. C. Fisher

UNDERSTANDING of the diffusion problem has recently been furthered by the analysis of Birchenall and Mehl.1 They pursued the problem of the variation of the diffusion coefficient with composition for non-ideal solid solutions. Their analysis follows the tradition of Wagner,2 Jost,3 Dehlinger,4 and Darken,' who assumed the net flux of dif¬fusing material to be proportional to the gradient of a quantity related to free energy. The basic assumption in Birchenall and Mehl's formulation of the problem is that the net flux of diffusing material is proportional to a thermodynamic activity gradient. To estimate the applicability of the derived relations, they corrected the diffusion coefficients of carbon in austenite by utilizing Smith's' activity data for carbon, and the diffusion coefficients for zinc in copper with activity data computed from the vapor pressure measurements of Hargreaves.7 The corrected coefficients for carbon were virtually independent of carbon concentration. For the diffusion of zinc in copper a moderate variation of diffusion coefficient with concentration remained after the correction. The problem of diffusion can be formulated in another way than that used by Birchenall and Mehl. The method is that of chemical rate theory and has been used by Eyring and his coworkers8,9 as well as by Eyring and Zwolinski10 in a discussion to Birchenall and Mehl's paper. As yet the method has not been applied to substitutional solid solutions. On the basis of their assumptions, Eyring and Zwolinski derived a relation between the diffusion coefficient and activity that is identical with that of Dehlinger and Darken but which does not correct for the variation of the diffusion coefficient with concentration as well as does the relation derived by Birchenall and Mehl. It was thought that the theory of diffusion would be more complete if the inconsistency between the two analyses could be rationalized and if diffusion in substitutional alloys were analyzed on the basis of the concepts of the chemical rate theory. CHEMICAL RATE THEORY According to the theory of absolute reaction rates8 the reaction [A,+A2+ ... +.A;->X,+X2 +...+X; EqI] is viewed as taking place in two steps. First the reactants A1, A2, . . . A[i] combine to form an activated complex M with which they are in equilibrium; [A, + A2 + .. . + Ai = M. Eq 2] Second the activated complex decomposes to give the products X1, X2. . .. X[j]; [M->X1+X2+ ... +.X;. Eq3] It has been shown8 that the number of activated complexes decomposing per unit volume per unit time is given by the expression† [kT]

Jan 1, 1948

By AIME AIME

THE second session on geophysical prospecting at the February meeting of the Institute was a discussion of the mining law and the bearing of the new method of search on location of claims and assessment work thereon. Allen H. Rogers was chairman of the meeting, which he opened by reviewing the present law and the proposed changes. W. R. Ingalls commented (by letter) on the Arentz bill, as introduced into the House of Representatives in 1921 and the need for revision of the present mining law. L. W. Douglas explained (by letter) the bill that he introduced and which has been passed by the House. SAMUEL S. ARENTZ, Nevada: It is my opinion that if the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is to sell this proposition to the people in the West, they have to sell it to the lawyers, because, after all, they are heard loudly when it comes to speaking in Congress. One man tells the other, "This thing is a vicious piece of legislation"; it might not be, but they will pass it on if it affects them. If the Institute would impress on the people affected that we need a re-codification of the mining law and that such is necessary along certain lines; that things have changed during the past decade or two, so today instead of doing our prospecting alone through the sinking of a shaft, through a discovery that may be seen, we are now moving on to more modern means of discovery through geophysics, through the churn-drill, through geology, through geological inference, I think we could get somewhere.

Jan 1, 1929

Dump Truck Kenworth Motor Truck Corp. is beginning full scale production of its new heavy-duty, end-dump earth mover, model 801, a truck engineered for earth moving under the most adverse operating conditions. Payload capacity of the Kenworth earthmover is 30,000 lb and it is over-tired for safety, flotation and high tire life. The truck's body capacity, struck measure, is 9.9 cu yd, with heaped [ ] load at 11.9 cu yd. The earth-mover has a full anti-friction bearing mounted, power assisted steering gear, simplified controls, minimum turning radius and wide axle track to insure ease of handling, maximum maneuverability and high stability. The offset cab of the Kenworth visibility for the driver, before and after. Circle No. 1 Safety Equipment A compact, safe, and efficient valve assembly approved by the United States Bureau of Mines for use with MSA air line respirators, abrasive masks, and abrasive helmets has been developed by Mine Safety Appliances Co. The new MSA continuous air flow control valve regulates air flow from a compressed air source to an operator using respiratory protective air line equipment. Three parts-a centridge container, a cartridge and the air flow check valve-comprise the entire assembly of the control valve. A position action adjustment knob on the cartridge container regulates the amount of air flowing to the operator. The valve can be detached from the air line instantly by pressing the trigger on the cartridge container near the check valve. As the trigger detaches the hose, the spring loaded ball-type valve, which is attached to the end of the hose, automatically stops the flow of air. Circle No. 2

Jan 1, 1952

Jan 1, 1942

By D. B. Hobbs, L. W. Kempf, R. S. Archer

SILICON is one of the most important elements in the metallurgy of aluminum. It is always present in small amounts in the ordinary grades of "pure" aluminum, and hence in all alloys made therefrom. Within the last few years binary alloys containing up to 13 per cent. of silicon have come into extensive use for castings. Silicon is also added, beyond the amount present as an impurity, in alloys containing one or more other elements such as copper, manganese, magnesium and nickel. The binary aluminum-silicon alloys are not yet heat treated to any extent in commercial practice, although, as will be shown, their properties are affected to a very considerable degree by heat treatment. There are other aluminum alloys that develop higher strength, but the special characteristics of the silicon alloys may well lead to the application of heat-treating processes on a commercial scale. The role of silicon in the heat treatment of aluminum alloys is more important than would be indicated by consideration of the binary alloys alone, because many of the alloys that are heat treated in regular commercial practice contain some silicon in addition to that derived from the aluminum ingot as an impurity. Among these may be mentioned the heat-treated 195 alloy castings, and the wrought alloys 25S, Special 17S and 51S of the Aluminum Co. of America, and the German wrought alloy, Lautal. It is the purpose of this paper to present the results of experimental work and the conclusions derived therefrom regarding the heat treatment of the binary aluminum-silicon alloys. The products heat treated included forgings, chill castings and both "normal" and "modified" sand castings. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The literature on the heat treatment of aluminum-silicon alloys is not very extensive. The following review gives the principal references of which the authors are aware, in which appreciable information may be found.

Jan 1, 1928

By E. H. GRAFF

PREPARATION of mechanically loaded coal in mines where seams contain considerable impurities is a subject that requires careful consideration before machines are installed, unless provision is made at the tipple for its preparation. Conditions vary a great deal in the different seams, so much so that a mechanical loader may be unsuccessful in one seam and yet the same machine may make good in another where conditions are different. The effect of impurities in the coal seam on mechanical loading will also vary according to the thickness of the seam. In thin seams impurities will be more difficult to remove than from thick seams, as will appear later. For the past several years the New River Co. has done considerable experimenting with loading equipment and during this process has changed from one machine to another.

Jan 1, 1926

By Gordon W. Hodgson, Edward Tipman

INT'RODUCTION An appreciable number of the oil fields in Western Canada are accumulations of heavy black oils in more or less unconsolidated sandstones. When the crude oils are produced by conventional means, they are frequently contaminated with both sand and oilfield water. The water is usually present as emulsified water, and the sand and other solid materials are suspended in the emulsions. The presence of the solid material in the crude oils is troublesome and, in general, little is known about the behavior of suspended solid particles in emulsions. The Stokes equation describes the behavior of suspended particles in homogeneous fluids in terms of particle size, density differential, and fluid viscosity. In the case of an emulsion, particle size and density differential introduce no difficulties, but considerable doubt centers around the viscosity term. It has been reported1 that the viscosity of an emulsion is related to the viscosity of the continuous phase by an expression of the type: n = a, (1 + a C) where n is the viscosity of the emulsion, n,, is the viscosity of the continuous phase, a is a constant, C' is the volume concentration of the disperse phase. The value of 17, the coefficient of the concentration term, has been determined for various systems, and has been found to vary from a value of 1 to 4.75. The value of 2.5 has been found to be applicable to a large number of systems, and this is the value that is widely used in the equation which then becomes the Einstein equation for the viscosity of emuls~ons. It is of considerable significance that neither the particle size nor the viscosity of the disperse phase enters the expression; the expression for the viscosity of the enlulsion is based solely upon the viscosity of the continuous phase and the concentration of the disperse phase. For crude oil emulsions the Simha equation and the data presented by Fukushima and lchimurai show a non-linear dependence of the viscosity ratio on the water concentration. While it is undoubtedly reasonable to use these data for predicting the viscosity of a specific emulsion, and while it is equally reasonable to expect the calculated viscosity to predict the settling rate of a solid spherical particle in the emulsion by means of Stokes equation, there seems to be no direct evidence that this calculation is indeed sound for describing the settling rates of solid particles in emulsions of water in crude oils. PROCEDURE A direct approach to the problem was thus indicated. Laboratory equipment was designed and built for the direct determination of the rate-of-fall characteristics of solid particles in emulsions of water in oil. Although the apparatus incorporated the basic design of conventional falling-ball viscometers, the study was concerned directly with the rate-of-fall characteristics of particles in emulsions, rather than with the viscosity of the emulsions as such. The crude oil used in this study was a very heavy black crude oil—the McMurray oil obtained from oil-soaked sands outcropping on the Athabasca River in northeastern Alberta. It was produced from the sands by strip mining followed by hot-water separation of the oil in the separation plant of the Alberta Government at Bitumount'. The primary plant product was a wet crude oil containing about 5 per cent solids and 35 per cent water. The final plant product was only slightly different from the native oil, having lost only about 4 per cent of its bulk as light ends during dehydration distillations. In the present investigation two kerosene dilutions of the McMurray oil were used in addition to the dry plant product. The McMurray oil contained 1.92 per cent solids. Analysis of the solids by X-ray diffraction showed the presence of kaolinite, pyrite, and illite as major constituents. with lesser amounts of quartz. Particle size of the pyrite and quartz was less than 10

Jan 1, 1957

By William Blauvelt

THE type of gas producer in which the ashes are fluxed and run off as slag was among the very earliest made. Ebelmen built the first one in 1840 at Audincourt, France, only a year after the installation of the first gas producer of which we have record. Charcoal was used as the fuel, with blast-furnace slag and clay is flux. My interest in this type of producer began when as a boy I saw the fluxing producer at Chester, N. J., which was invented by W. J.. Taylor, and described by him in 1881.1 This producer was invented independently by Mr. Taylor to meet the difficulties he experienced in making producer gas for roasting sulphurous iron ores. It will be of interest to review briefly his description of his producer. It was built like a small blast furnace, having a hearth 24 in. in diameter and 24 in. high. The bosh angle was 25° from the vertical; the diameter at the bosh 4 ft. and at the top 3 ft.; the total height 12 ft. The producer contained one water-cooled tuyere 12 in. above the bottom, with a 1.5-in. nozzle.. Depth of the coal above the tuyere; 6 ft. Mr. Taylor mixed the coal with from 30 to 40 per cent. of basic blast-furnace slag to flux the ash. Occasionally some limestone was also used, but never limestone alone, as the use of the furnace cinder gave a larger volume of slag and made it easier to maintain a proper fluidity. . The producer was blown with a small Weimer blowing engine, delivering 300 ft. of air per minute, at from 1 to 1.5 lb. pressure. The slag was tapped every 2 hr. and was black and glassy in appearance. Broken or egg size anthracite was used. The fine sizes of anthracite could not he made to work. Mr. Taylor expressed the belief that bituminous coal could be used if not too fine, but no experiments were made with this coal. Runs were made of four weeks' duration, with no stops or changes. Mr. Taylor reported the following advantages:

Jan 12, 1913

By Robert Anderson

OLIVER C. RALSTON, Salt Lake City, Utah- (communication to the Secretary *).-The literature on the theory of flotation has been enriched, of late, by the views of a number of excellent mining engineers who unfortunately were tyros in physical chemistry and physics. Hence the obscurity and mystery with which the process is supposed to be surrounded. The present paper goes far toward explaining some of the ideas which have seemed obscure or which have been poorly expounded by the men who advanced them, but there are a number of places where the author's explanations are unsatisfactory, or where he has fallen into the same mistakes made by the original propounders of the theories involved. While recognizing the value of constructive compilation, it is nevertheless disappointing to find a paper reviewing the recent theories of flotation which presents nothing-new-not even a new viewpoint. At the bottom of page 1121, there are stated to be present the following "phases" in flotation: "solid-liquid (ore-water), solid-liquid (ore-oil), solid-gas (ore-air)," etc. The writer could not possibly have meant to apply the word "phases" to the ideas involved. Each of the pairs of phases mentioned has an interface in which exists the interfacial tension that he is talking about.

Jan 12, 1916

By C. S. Smith

The partial persistence of grain size and grain shape on melting and resolidifying crystalline substances, as well as the general effects of pre-solidifi-cation and of superheating on nuclea-tion rate, have been attributed to the presence in the liquid of crystalline impurities bearing some structural relation to the principal solid and hence capable of serving as nuclei for its crystallization. That such lattice matching does sometimes occur is well established, but it is surely improbable that a compound possessing both high-temperature stability and the requisite structural similarity should be naturally available in almost every system. It is now suggested that a mechanism for producing appropriate nuclei exists in the crystallization of all but absolutely pure substances. Impurities can he of many kinds. Some will give rise to compounds that are less soluble in the solid crystal than in the liquid. A . crystal forming from a melt or solution containing these will be supersaturated in some degree, and the foreign atoms will commence to segregate during or after solidification. They do not necessarily form pure, unstrained, crystals of the precipitating compound with its normal composition and structure. Generally—at least in the metallurgical examples that have been most studied —the first recognizable nuclei have lattice coherency with the surrounding matrix and have practically the same crystal structure and lattice spacing as the material in which they form, differ- ing only in composition. An extremely thin oxide layer formed under appropriate conditions on or in a solid metal will tend to be coherent with the metal lattice, and the first few atom layers of the oxide in contact with the metal will differ in both composition and structure from massive crystalliue oxide. It will resemble the metal more closely than the oxide. If it did not subsequently change on melting, such an oxide film would constitute an almost perfect "template" or two-dimensional matrix to hold a few atoms of the primary metal in the exact array needed to form a nucleus for solidification. Any precipitating material will adopt the correct spacing over a few atom diameters, and with appropriate substitution of other atoms of the correct sizes a precipitate can match the parent lattice over large areas of cohererlce without excessive strain. In metals, the componentsof a host of oxides, silicides, borides, nitrides, carbides, sulphides, and other compounds are always present in minute amounts. Some of these will be eliminated because of extreme insolubility in the liquid, while others will remain soluble in the solid; occasionally, however, particles will be formed in the solid by coherent precipitation—not of pure substances, but of whatever assortment of atoms best satisfies the joint requirements of availability, affinity, and appropriate average atom size. Of these, many will disappear on melting, but a few will persist unmelted as little rafts of complex composition, maintaining in the liquid a surface of the exact geometry needed to nucleate the solid on subsequent cooling. Their number and size distribution will determine the resulting grain size; the dimensions of the largest will determine the degree of undercooling that can occur before solidification commences. A similar process may operate in the case of phase transformations in solids. The coherent precipitation of supersaturated minor constituents in a low-temperature phase should facilitate the nucleation of this phase on subsequent cooling after transforming into another phase at higher temperatures. At first sight this hypothesis may seem little different from the older ones. It should therefore be emphasized that it does not depend on chance to provide the right compound to form a nucleus, but postulates that every crystal, containing minute amourlts of any of a wide range of impurities, automatically engenders particles having the correct surface structure to serve as nuclei for subsequent solidification. It could operate in any system, metallic, organic, or inorganic. The suggested mechanism is closely analogous to the production of antibodies from antigens in living organisms—indeed, it was a description of the matrix theory of this process that suggested to the writer its crystalline analogue.

Jan 1, 1950

By Ernst A. Hauser

A few years ago an Indian native of British Columbia drew the attention of white men,' to a deposit of a claylike material on King Island, at the mouth of Dean River just opposite Hunter Island in the Pacific Ocean (Fig 1 ) . The native claimed that this natural product, which is found not in solid form but either as a paste or as a thick, viscous liquid, exhibited exceptional healing properties not only for various types of skin irritation but also for internal ailments. He pointed out that the natives had been using this material very successfully for generations. Since then, systematic surveys have revealed that the deposit, covered by a humus layer of varying thickness, is far more extensive than had originally been assumed. The product as mined today is of puttylike consistency and of greenish color. If exposed to air it dries rapidly, forming a slightly gray, rather brittle product, which does not permit redispersion to its original consistency. When the natural product is rubbed on the skin, however, the presence of coarse, sandy material is revealed.

Jan 1, 1952

By Ian MacGregor

As I drove in from the airport on Sunday somebody said 'On the right you will see Duntroon, which is the military training school of Australia.' So I asked the driver, where did they get that name? 'Oh,' he said, 'from some people who built a house there. That was it's name- Duntroon.' It strikes a note with me because, that's the name of a 12th century castle on the west coast of Scotland where I spend what leisure hours I have and, therefore, it establishes the long connection between Australia and my native land. There is also a story I should tell you about the oil industry and its upsurge in Scotland recently which has resulted in great prosperity. And in Edinburgh, the walls of the banks are bulging-because of the incursion of foreign exchange and other resources. Charlotte Square, as some of you know, is the centre of the Scottish financial world and at one of the corners of Charlotte Square, where ho streets intersect, there are three stores-three emporia on the ground floor. Two of them at opposite corners are banks: The Royal Bank of Scotland, and not to be beaten by that, The Bank of Scotland. But the third building is occupied, or was occupied, by a furniture store over many years-very high-grade, high quality furniture that the elite of the Edinburgh society always supported. And suddenly, the store was cleared out and in came a bunch of carpenters and other people busily engaged in rebuilding the store, and finally the new tenants arrived on the scene.

Jan 1, 1978

Bill S.1431 for the creation of a Department of Natural Resources has received a propitious hearing before the Senate Committee on Government Operations. Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton was one of the prominent witnesses who testified in favor. The department had been proposed, Morton said, with "the conviction that the development of all natural resources would be harmonized with the most practicable possible means to protect and preserve the environment, consistent with the social and economic needs of the Nation." Another opinion on the pro side came from Atomic Energy Commissioner Clarence E. Larson, who said that a "total picture" had become essential to the establishment of a policy for developing energy resources in the best public interest. Commissioner James T. Ramey, on the other hand, was one of the AEC dissenters. Ramey said he believed the reorganization of resource responsibilities would hinder efforts to deal with energy-environmental problems and prevent the use of AEC "expertise and facilities" to the greatest advantage. As Arnold Weber, associated director of the Office of Management and Budget, pointed out, however, retiring AEC Chairman Glenn T. Seaborg is in favor of the new department. Another supporter, and one who can cast a vote on the bill, is Sen. Frank E. Moss. Final Standards for emissions from new stationary sources will be published by the Environmental Protection Agency on October 27. The initial proposals, appearing in the Federal Register on August 17, called for limiting emissions per million Btu of heat input (maximum 2-hr average) to 0.2 lb of particulate matter, and, where solid fuel is burned, to 1.2 lb of sulfur dioxide and 0.7 lb of nitrogen dioxide. While the new rules are mainly for new plants, the EPA is also proposing them for "existing plants which are modified in such a way as to increase or alter. . . their emissions."

Jan 1, 1971

By Betty M. Miller

INTRODUCTION In September 1974 the Resource Appraisal Group of the Branch of Oil and Gas Resources, U. S. Geological Survey, was asked to aid the Federal Energy Administration (FEA) in its legal responsibility to generate by June 1975 an independent appraisal of the undiscovered oil and gas resources of the United States, both onshore and offshore. As a result, the Resource Appraisal Group accelerated its ongoing efforts to develop sound appraisal methods and procedures that would permit the systematic collection and evaluation of basic data from petroleum provinces throughout the Nation. The results of this independent appraisal of the Nation's conventional oil and natural gas resources were published by the U. S. Geological Survey as Circular 725, June 1975 (1). The estimates in this report of undiscovered recoverable oil and gas resources for the United States were made: (1) by carefully re- viewing a large amount of geological and geophysical information gathered on more than 100 different provinces by over 70 geologists within the Survey; (2) by applying a variety of resource appraisal techniques to each potential petroleum province; and (3) by application of subjective probability procedures to group appraisals for each petroleum province. These methods provide a range of estimates which are summarized in terms of low, high and mean values for the various provinces and groups of provinces, or regions. The basic data and procedures used are documented and are being incorporated into a dynamic, data- intensive system that can be upgraded, updated and reevaluated periodically. These data are open to public inspection. In this study, the primary emphasis was placed on conventional crude oil and natural gas in the onshore provinces and the provinces on the continental shelf out to water depths of 200 metres; estimates

Jan 1, 1977

By Kenneth Cottingham

THE area described herein is situated on what is known as the Arches Fork anticline in Roane and Calhoun Counties, W. Va. When the area was first mapped, it was felt that well records would give a more intimate idea of conditions, both structural and lithologic, than could be expected from surface horizons. The surface formations are chiefly members of the Monongahela series, though northward the hilltop outcrops are those of the Dunkard. Neither series offers a key horizon sufficiently definite to be satisfactory, although the structure as determined from well records was later checked against two of the more persistent surface sandstones. In mapping the subsurface structure, the top of the Big Lime (Greenbrier) was employed as the key horizon. The average depth to the top of the Big Lime varies from 1600 to 2000 ft. (487 to 609 m.), while the average thickness as indicated by well records is 113 ft. (34 m.). The oil-producing formation is the Big Injun, lying just below the Big Lime. In two instances, well records show the Lime and Injun separated by a few feet of "break." The Big Injun is recorded as having a variable thickness. Seven logs report it as missing and one gives it the maximum thickness of 105 ft. (32 m.), while the entire average for thickness is 19 ft. (6 m.).

Jan 1, 1922

By C. W. Vaupell

The Huitzuco mines lie in north central Guerrero, Mexico; production has been about 90,000 flasks of quicksilver since 1873. Near-surface ores fill extinct mud geysers and the deep deposits are chambered veins, stock-works in brecciated blocks, and replacements in limestone. The epigenetic minerals livingstonite, stibnite and sulphur occur in limestone, gypsum and dolomite through a developed vertical range of 260 meters. The deepest workings expose an increased amount of stibnite, which probably indicates that the lower limit of mercury mineralization is being approached. A resurgence of heat and water formed geysers over an extended area after the period of mercury mineralization. Mud geysers, which are situated, in the outcrops, contain the secondary mercury minerals, cinnabar and barccnite in the gravel and mud filling the vents. A 150-ton flotation plant is in operation concentrating stope fills that assay 3.0 kg. of mercury per ton. In one open stope, which is more than one hectare in area and 60 m. high, 150,000 tons are available. Introduction The Huitzuco mercury mines are of interest because of the unusual occurrence of ore in extinct geyser vents and the presence of several rare mercury minerals. Some of the deposits have typical characteristics of the telethermal zone and there is a gradation towards typical epithermal mineralization in depth. Halse,1 Villarel1o,2 Mactear3 and Merri114 have described the geology and the early operations in the district, and Bar-cena5 and Mallet6 have described the rare mercury minerals, livingstonite and barcenite, found at Huitzuco. Location The village of Huitzuco lies in the north central part of the State of (Guerrero, Mexico, 27 km. (16.7 miles) east of Iguala, which is the largest and most important town in the area. Iguala is served by the Mexican National Railways and also by the Mexico City-Acapulco highway. The highway is surfaced from Mexico City to Iguala, a distance of 200 km. (124 miles) by road, and there is a fairly good, level, dirt road from Iguala to Huitzuco. The elevation above sea level is about 1000 m. (3280 ft.). The climate is warm and very dry except during the rainy season, from June to

Jan 1, 1941

By C. W. Vaupell

The Huitzuco mines lie in north central Guerrero, Mexico; production has been about 90,000 flasks of quicksilver since 1873. Near-surface ores fill extinct mud geysers and the deep deposits are chambered veins, stock-works in brecciated blocks, and replacements in limestone. The epigenetic minerals livingstonite, stibnite and sulphur occur in limestone, gypsum and dolomite through a developed vertical range of 260 meters. The deepest workings expose an increased amount of stibnite, which probably indicates that the lower limit of mercury mineralization is being approached. A resurgence of heat and water formed geysers over an extended area after the period of mercury mineralization. Mud geysers, which are situated, in the outcrops, contain the secondary mercury minerals, cinnabar and barccnite in the gravel and mud filling the vents. A 150-ton flotation plant is in operation concentrating stope fills that assay 3.0 kg. of mercury per ton. In one open stope, which is more than one hectare in area and 60 m. high, 150,000 tons are available. Introduction The Huitzuco mercury mines are of interest because of the unusual occurrence of ore in extinct geyser vents and the presence of several rare mercury minerals. Some of the deposits have typical characteristics of the telethermal zone and there is a gradation towards typical epithermal mineralization in depth. Halse,1 Villarel1o,2 Mactear3 and Merri114 have described the geology and the early operations in the district, and Bar-cena5 and Mallet6 have described the rare mercury minerals, livingstonite and barcenite, found at Huitzuco. Location The village of Huitzuco lies in the north central part of the State of (Guerrero, Mexico, 27 km. (16.7 miles) east of Iguala, which is the largest and most important town in the area. Iguala is served by the Mexican National Railways and also by the Mexico City-Acapulco highway. The highway is surfaced from Mexico City to Iguala, a distance of 200 km. (124 miles) by road, and there is a fairly good, level, dirt road from Iguala to Huitzuco. The elevation above sea level is about 1000 m. (3280 ft.). The climate is warm and very dry except during the rainy season, from June to

Jan 1, 1941

By E. C. Truesdale, W. K. Waring

The Research,Division of The New Jersey Zinc Company (of Pa.) has conducted, over a period of years, numerous tests of the reducibility of various zinc ores and the reactivity of various kids of coal, using a number of different experimental methods. Most of these tests have involved the reduction of mixtures of ore and coal. In such cases the following simultaneous reactions are believed to be mainly responsible for the production of zinc, as was shown by Bodenstein' some years ago: ZnO + CO = Zn + CO2 [i] C + COj = 2CO [2] Each of these reactions is dependent upon the other for the supply of CO and COz, respectively, and the over-all rate of formation of zinc vapor will be determined by the slower of these two reactions. An analogous pair of reactions sometimes of importance is: ZnO + He = Zn + HZO 13] C + Hz0 = CO + He U3 While it is possible to obtain an indication of the relative reducibility of various ores, or of a fine versus a coarse Ore, by testing them with a given coal, and while coal reactivities may be measured in a corresponding manner, a more direct determination of relative reaction rates is possible by carrying out the desired reactions, such as I and 2, separately and under reproducible conditions. It is one purpose of this paper to present some of the results that have been obtained by the latter method. C. G. Maier2 discusses the relative rates of reactions I and 2 and concludes that while at relatively low temperatures reaction I is faster than reaction 2, this difference becomes less with increasing temperatures, although at smelting temperatures reaction is still the faster. He also says (p. 48), "At temperatures . . . be- -tween 1100' and 1300°C., . . . the zinc oxide reduction reaction is intrinsically more rapid than its physical limitations; that is, it is limited by gas diffusion rates.'' In the course of numerous reactivity tests involving the separate use of reactions and I and 2, we have obtained data that show by direct experiment, we believe for the first time, the correctness of Maier's statements concerning these reactions. We also include data on the relative rate of reaction 3, involving reduction by hydrogen. Finally, some interesting results obtained by carrying out the reduction of ' a zinc ore-coal briquet in streaming atmospheres of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, respectively, are presented.*

Jan 1, 1944

By Herbert H. Uhlig

A STUDY of passivity in chromium-iron alloys holds considerable interest, both because of the present-day practical importance of the stainless steels, and because of the scientific importance attached to the mechanism of their corrosion resistance. Upon the discovery of the passive chromium-iron alloys in 1912, it seemed logical to attribute the observed phenomenal corrosion resistance to a thin, continuous, protective reaction product on the surface. The product was thought to be Cr2O3 or a similar oxide containing both chromium and iron. This mechanism seemed likely in view of Michael Faraday's conjecture that passive iron is not reactive in concentrated nitric acid because of an oxide on the metal surface.† Since 1912, data have accumulated that permit a further exploration into the nature of passivity and provide a new approach to the problem. A summary of the facts lends considerable weight to a mechanism based not on physical protection of an oxide or similar compound, although such compounds may be present on the surface, but to a change in tendency of surface metal atoms to react chemically. This change in reaction tendency is ascribed to chemisorbed films that effectively satisfy residual valence forces of the metal surface, but do not appreciably disturb the positions of metal atoms in the lattice. In other words, formation of a new lattice such as that of an oxide is not a necessary condition for this type of passivity. The decreased reaction tendency of the metal by reason of chemisorbed films can thereby account for low reaction rates of the stainless steels in many media, as well as a noble galvanic potential as is observed. Substances capable of adsorbing on the stainless steels, and hence accompanying the property of passivity, are typically oxygen, nitrites or chromates, but are not in any sense limited to these. Other elements and compounds can also chemisorb, and therefore may also play a major part in the mechanism of passivity in specific media. The mechanism of passivity based on chemisorption or activated adsorption begins with the interpretation Langmuir proposed for his experiments concerning adsorbed oxygen on tungsten.1 He found that adsorbed oxygen was tightly bound, remaining on the tungsten surface above temperatures at which WO3 rapidly volatilizes. The oxygen in such a state did not readily react with hydrogen even at

Jan 1, 1947