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By E. H. Crabtree, T. G. Chapman, V. W. Winters

This paper traces the experimental and pilot plant work completed by the authors since 1939 including the various methods which have been developed in applying coarse activated carbon to cyanidation. The methods and results developed by the authors in desorbing gold and silver from carbons are given and the possibilities for the re-use of the desorbed carbons are discussed.

Jan 2, 1950

By Raymond B. Ladoo, C. A. Stokes

This paper summarizes the economic problems of the industrial mineral industries which are essentially different from those of the metals and the fuels. Failure to understand and evaluate such factors as markets, place value, and substitutions of one mineral for another may be disastrous. The engineer should be as responsible for profitable operation as he is for technical efficiency. The Raw Materials Survey of Portland, Oregon, is described.

Jan 2, 1950

* The greatest and richest iron ore body in the world was discovered by U. S. Steel in Venezuela in April 1947, and is disclosed for the first time in this issue (p. 178), One solid mountain of ore, Cerro Bolivar, will furnish more tonnage than the famous Hull Rust pit at Superior has, or can produce. Total resources are on the order of 2 billion tons plus. Big Steel is now moving with great speed on construction to bring out this ore, and 10 million tons are scheduled for shipment into Baltimore and Birmingham by late 1952. This ore will arrive at, Pittsburgh at a price lower than present natural ores from Superior. The Venezuelan properties will be completely mechanized. •U. S. Steel and independent companies are embarking on a taconite beneficiation program of tremendous proportions, which must be speeded to completion in the 1950's (see p. 185). By 1960 over $l.2 billion dollars will be spent on Venezuela, taconite, and Labrador to solve the United States iron ore crisis. In addition, U. S. Steel will spend another $300 million plus for a new steel mill at Trenton, N. J., before 1955. •The Deister Concentrator Co. gave $500 to the 1950 Coal Division Scholarship Fund. •Howard N. Eavenson, in analyzing the bituminous coal situation (see p. 193), suggests that anti-trust laws be extended to labor unions, disinterested trustees to administer pension funds, begin pension funds now and stop the collection of all "check-offs" for union dues or funds. •Minerals and metals worth 13.9 million dollars were produced in the United States in 1949, Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman announced. Although this value was 11 pct less than in 1948, it was the second greatest in history. Nonmetallics was the only major group that in 1949 equaled the 1948 production high. Mineral fuels decreased 12 pct and metals 15 pct. • Prospects for making gas from coal are seen to be unattractive by the Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Co. because the success of operation depends on price and supply of coal which presently are not attractive. The company has shut down its gasification plant at Library, Pa. * Economic prospects for the immediate future in the United States are good and business probably will continue at its present high levels throughout at least the early part of 1950, Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer said in his year-end report to the White House based on his personal survey of business conditions. •A 467-ft well 34 miles north of Rock Springs, Southwestern Wyoming, is said to be flowing a 5 pct solution of nearly pure trona (sodium carbonate) at the rate of 10,000 barrels a day. Trona, natural soda ash, is mined for the chemical trade at Searles Lake, Calif., and from about 1500 ft underground near Green River, Wyo., and has been in short supply. •The AEC is "very much interested" in a discovery of radioactive material that has been made in Baraga County bordering Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, reported F. G. Pardee, Michigan State mining engineer. The material has been identified as uranium oxide in the form of pitchblende or uraninite. The discovery, made by a geologist of the Jones & Laughlin Ore Co., is the only instance in which the commission has certified samples of Michigan rock.

Jan 2, 1950

By T. W. Lippert

CUBA fancies herself the "pearl of the Antilles" and, by many, Jamaica is called "blessed." But far to the southward lies what is seemingly the Caribbean's most glittering jewel, the sparsely-settled, Spanish-speaking United States of Venezuela, indeed blessed by nature to a lavish degree. Not a large country, Venezuela is leaping from the donkey to the airplane under the impact of its natural wonders. Angel Falls, dwarfing Niagara and seldom seen by man, is hidden in the cold, primitive and unexplored Guiana highlands along the southeast border. A few hundred miles northwest are the low and torrid coastal plains from which gush unlimited black-gold streams of oil. About midway are the Llanos-low-lying, savanna-type grasslands, beneath which large deposits of bauxite are as yet barely touched by the explorer's diamond drill. And jutting starkly upward 2000 ft from a surrounding expanse of savanna is a small mountain (see front cover), 11 miles long and 1 mile wide. It is, or was, La Parida.

Jan 2, 1950

By Richard Hamburger

Calculating machines permit the use of the more rapid cotangent and semigraphic solutions of plane triangulation. The results of these methods are as accurate as those of other methods. Simple adjustment of the net, and ease of calculation encourage more complete field work. Errors in field work or in computation are easily localized.

Jan 2, 1950

Jan 2, 1950

JAN. 17-In what appears to be a general spirit of post-Christmas emotional malaise, most adult Americans have bidden farewell to the Forties and turned with no perceptible enthusiasm toward the Fifties. The dying decade had started amid a phoney war which verged on the romantic, stirred the pulse with excitement and seemed far away. A phoney peace dominates the new decade. The romance is no longer there. Nor is the excitement. Nor is the distance. While most of the world preferred to be chronologically correct and hold off for another year before celebrating the demise of the first half of the twentieth century, the United States with true competitive enterprise and a great whirl of words scurried into the second half a year early. This undue haste might perhaps have been dictated unconsciously by a yearning for the pattern of history to be repeated. For many centuries, ever since Roman times, the second half of most centuries tended to be far more tranquil than the first half. In Washington, Mr. Truman got on both sides of the mid-century line with all the aplomb of a good politician. He told Congress early in January that "the state of the Union continues to be good," as it nears "the midpoint of the twentieth century." Later he spoke of moving forward into the second half of the century. He promised an infinitely better life for everyone, whichever side of the mid-century line, and reaffirmed his prescription toward that end: assistance for small businesses; more houses for the middle-income groups; tougher anti-monopoly laws, retention of rent controls; development of natural resources; better insurance against the hazards of old age, idleness and unemployment; better medical care and education, civil rights legislation; new labor relations law and production payments to support farm incomes. All this was to be coupled with suggestions on how to balance the budget. The bloody and confusing 1940's had brought to most men's minds a fear of the future such as they had not known for centuries, and Mr. Truman's objective is to temper that fear. Only time will tell whether the terminal point of such a philosophy would or would not belie the old English proverb citing inability to both eat and have a cake. Brave words to the contrary, the national budget persisted in sliding off into the red. The smell of further inflation was equally persistent. And just to impart a little more zip to the trend, the American Federation of Labor announced its intention of seeking "substantial" and "large" wage increases this year. The AFL forewarns of a business slump after June and a 10¢ an hr wage in¬crease for each worker "will be enough to reverse the prospective downward trend and start a rise." Thus it goes-"the way to halt a drop in demand for labor is to raise the price of labor." Elsewhere in the harassed world, beleagured individualists in New York achieved a local triumph of sorts for one of the freedoms denied by the Soviet and Nazi systems-the right of escape, some escape at least, from the servitude to decibels. Grand Central Station weakened perceptibly at Christmas on its 5-min commercials and bore down heavily on "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing," and on New Year's Day capitulated entirely by abandoning the broadcasting of canned music and slugs of advertising slogans. In Europe, M. Bidault's Assembly majority fell away and newspaper accounts of the incredible monstrosities of political trials beyond the iron curtain were supplanted by headlines marking the birth of Princess Yasmin. The latter was surrounded by Byzantine splendor but otherwise showed no apparent deviation from the accepted norm. In Western Germany, Dr. Adenauer began to speak up more boldly, and the whole fabric of Allied policy towards the defeated enemy further dossolved under the impact of rivalry with the Russians. In the Far East both the Americans and British seem somewhat embarrassed by Chiang Kai-shek's refusal to lie down. Dual thinking regarding the "squalid and useless struggle in the China seas" is such that newspapers give sympathetic accounts to an American ship running supplies to the Communists at Shanghai while calling for help for the recognized Chinese government in Formosa. And with Britain recognizing Communist China they may well have to team up with Russia against the United States to kick the Chinese representative off the UNO Security Council, the Far Eastern Commission and the Allied Council in Tokyo. Far Eastern policy has never been a bipartisan matter and as General Chiang retreated to his final redoubts in Formosa and Hainan, a number of Republicans pecked away at Administration lassitude. Senator Smith advocated the occupation of Formosa and Messrs. Hoover and Taft asked for use of the Navy. Mr. Acheson has stood firm, however, against military aid. None the less, a study will be made of the Generalissimo's chances. Mr. Truman has a private purse of $75 million for the Far East and some $94 million in frozen ECA funds. Mr. Truman will likely trade some of this money for support of new Marshall plan appropriations, always mindful, of course, of Mr. Acheson's plan to drive a wedge between the Chinese and Moscow, and his wish to avoid any revival of imperialist nightmares throughout the Orient. Mr. Acheson is very convinced that the victories of Communism in China will be short-lived and South Asia will not fall

Jan 2, 1950

Jan 1, 1950

By J. D. Price, W. M. Bertholf

In preparing a paper on coal washing in Colorado and New Mexico, it is difficult to refrain from entering into a discussion of the historical aspects of this subject, for the story of coal washing in these states goes hack well into the last century. This phase of the subject could well make a complete paper in itself, and of necessity this present discussion must be limited to current operations. Therefore, we are taking into consideration only those washing plants which have operated for some period during the years of 1947 and 1948. Summary Of the eight million tons of coal mined in the two states in 1947. ap- proximately two million tons were washed in wet washing plants, using concentrating tables or jigs. The one table plant accounted for 70 pct of the output of washed coal, and two large Baum jig plants accounted for an additional 26 pct, leaving only a small residual tonnage to be accounted for by other types of jigs The necessity for washing coal is occasioned by the desire or necessity of reducing the ash content of the coals— sulphur is not a problem in this area. All washeries, except the table plant, are at or near the tipple, hence wash only one kind of coal. At the table plant a large number of different coals are washed. Only at the table plant is there any occasion for drying any considerable quantity of fine coal— other plants size and/or dewater on shaking screens. The results of washing at the smaller plants are judged by the number (or lack) of complaints about the quality of the washed coal. This is probably as good a system as can he devised for small, intermittent operations. The efficiency of the Baum jig ap-pears to be quite high. This is to be expected as long as the automatic control of the refuse gate operates properly. The efficiency of the concentrating table is not as high as that of the Baum jig, especially when the "difficulty" of washing is taken into consideration. When dealing with coals in which the "bone" is larger than the "coal," the table appears to be at a definite disadvantage, because of its sizing action.

Jan 1, 1950

By J. F. Myers, F. M. Lewis

The purpose of the mill tests reported herein, was to determine the relative power efficiency of fast and slow rod mill speeds on the ores of the Tennessee Copper Co. The tests were carried out at the Isabella Mill of the Tennessee Copper Co. under normal operating conditions. Every effort was made to keep the ore supply and other conditions constant, but it will be noted that some slight variation did occur. The open circuit 6 by 9 rod mill, and ore, used in these tests have been previously described.' Four motor drive pinions were available and the tests were performed in the following manner: each pinion was used to drive the mill for a period of one week. Constant sampling prevailed during the test run, and a composite sample for each speed test was made. Realizing that some slight liner wear took place during the four-week test-run, and that some slight variation of the ore may have taken place, a second and then a third series of four-week test-runs were made with the four different pinions. The screen analysis of each of the three-week run samples at the various speeds were composited and the results are shown in Table 2. The authors feel that the 22 weeks of operation consumed during these test-runs would represent fairly the effect of each mil1 speed. The data of line 37 show that within the error of sampling and plant operation, the tons of minus 65-mesh material generated per horsepower hour was the same at all four speeds. Obviously, rod and liner consumption could not be determined for each mill speed in so short a time. The rod load was maintained at a uniform level throughout the series of tests. The authors have operated rod mills at various speeds over the past several years, and it is their observation that rod consumption is directly proportional to the mill speed. Likewise, that the rod consumption per unit of work performed is a constant, providing that all other operating factors remain the same. It is a well known fact that the efficiency increases in a ball mill as the speed decreases. This is due to lateral segregation of the large and

Jan 1, 1950

By T. N. Rhodin

There can be two types of films on solids, those which are stable in mono-layers and those which tend to aggregate into three dimensional structures. A great number of metal films formed by condensation onto a solid base are unstable in the sense that they will aggregate into crystals providing the atoms possess sufficient surface mobility. The crystalline structure of the film is strongly influenced by the base in many systems and, in some cases, a single orientation prevails when the force fields around the atoms in the supporting crystal are sufficiently strong.' Relatively little is available in the literature about the nature of these forces and the role they play in promoting a preferred orientation of the atoms arriving at the substrate surface. An understanding of their periodicity and magnitude relative to the surface forces characteristic of the film itself should provide insight into the critical dependence of film orientation on the nature and temperature of the substrate. In addition, this effect may be very useful in preparing samples for surface studies. The study of the physical and chemical characteristics of pure metal surfaces has been severely handicapped by the presence of strongly adherent foreign films. Furthermore, the randomness of the surface orientation has obscured interpretation of experimental results. Evaporation of metals in high vacuum onto carefully selected substrates under ideal conditions for preferred orientation appears suited to the preparation of flat, oxide-free, oriented films for surface reaction studies. Many factors influence their structure and some understanding of the mechanism of their formation is a necessary prerequisite for obtaining satisfactory surfaces for study. The dominant factors in defining film structure are film thickness and growth rate and the nature, condition, and temperature of the substrate. GENERAL ASSEMBLY The system was enclosed in an 18 in. bell jar which rested on an L-shaped neoprene gasket on a ground steel plate as indicated in Fig 1. Rapid evacuation of the system to 10-6 mm mercury was facilitated by a 4 in. manifold, 2 in. packless valve, and an extra large diffusion pump. Suitable arrangement of valves on a secondary manifold readily permitted introduction of purified gases

Jan 1, 1950

By G. W. Jones

Phthalic anhydride is a solid having the formula C8H4O3. It is an important intermediary in production of anthraquinene, alkyd reins, and plasticizers. The combined annual production of phthalic anhydride reported by 10 major manufacturers for 112,250 tons. The raw materials in the manufacture of phthalic anhydride have been the source of numerous fires and explosions. Consequently, the need was felt to determine the temperature flammability and the ignition temperatures crude basic raw material in most phthalic anhydride production crude phthalic anhydride, and pure phthalic anhydride.

Jan 1, 1950

By James J. Dowd

During and immediately following World War II, the heavy demands for steel required the mining of unusually large quantities of coal for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. The largest demand for metallurgical coke is in the Appalachian region, which comprises central and western Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. This demand is satisfied by coke made from coals within the region; consequently, the reserves of coking coal in this region are being depleted more rapidly than reserves in other coal-producing regions. The supply A' high-quality coking coal during the war was inadequate, and some coke were forced to use inferior coals. The coke produced from these inferior coals adversely affected the rate of production. Another national emergency probably would produce a similar condition, and in the interest of -national security, the Munitions Board of the National Military Establishment requested the Bureau of Mines to evaluate the reserves of coals suitable for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. All bituminous coals in the Appalachian region are coking, and as the coal that produces the better metallurgical coke become depleted, other coal previously considered inferior will be used. The general trend is toward the use of lower-quality coals for metallurgical purposes.

Jan 1, 1950

By Robert C. Hickman

In its search for strategic minerals, the Bureau of Mines investigated the Rutherford Mine property in Amelia County, Va. The property was visited by F. W. Horton, mining engineer, and Margaret Fuller Boos, mineral technologist, of the Bureau of Mines, in company with Eugene Dawson, of the War Production Board, on July 16-11, 1943. An exploration program by the Bureau was recommended, and work was started on July 28, 1943, and continued until September 16, 1943. A total of 1,250 feet was diamond drilled in 5 holes on the property.

Jan 1, 1950

By M. K. Yen, W. R. Hibbard

Previous studies of plastic deformation of metals have emphasized the important role of bending and constraints during strain under relatively pure stresses.1"5 Some new phenomena such as early conjugate slip6 and polygonization7 are intimately concerned with the relief of bending stresses, the former by slip and the latter by a process analogous to re-crystallization. However, few analyses of the bending deformation of single crystals were found in the literature, and those8,9 are sufficiently previous to the modern interpretations of slip to invite further investigation in this area. The transverse bending mode of testing, using the two-point loading method, was selected because the center portion of the specimen may be considered as under a theoretically pure bending stress with a uniform bending moment. Considerable attention was given to both the lattice distortion and flow characteristics of the crystals during deformation. Experimental Proeedare A specimen under the action of equal and opposite couples at both ends is said to undergo pure bending. The shear and moment diagrams of a specimen under the two-point loading method of transverse bending are shown in Fig 1. The moment over the middle-third of the span is equal to PL/6, and the vertical shear is zero. Fig 2 (A) illustrates the stress distribution in the elastic range on a plane across the middle of the specimen. It can be seen that the normal stress has a maximum value at the extreme surfaces on the tension and compression sides, and decreases proportionately to zero as it approaches the neutral plane. However, when the plastic range is reached, the stress distribution is no longer a straight line relation, but changes in a manner which can be best illustrated as shown in Fig 2(B). The following calculation and stress analysis are mainly in accordance with the works reported by Timoshenkol0 and Kochendörfer.9 From the simple beam formula, the maximum normal stress will occur at the surface of the specimen. For a round specimen with a radius r and for a rectangular specimen with a height 2h and width 2b, the maximum normal stress, Sp, will be given by the following formulas: For round specimen: 2PL Sp = 3pr3 [1] For rectangular specimen: Sn = 8bh2 [2] Since it is reasonable to consider that slip takes place under the same conditions as in uniaxial loading, the resolved shear stress S?, along the operative slip direction will be as follows: For round specimen: 2PL sin x cos ? Sp = 3pr3 sin x cos ? [3] For rectangular specimen: PL S8 = 8bh2 sin x cos ? [4] where X is the angle between the specimen axis and the slip direction and X, the angle between the specimen axis and the major axis of the glide ellipse. It was also reported by Kochenclorfer9 that the critical bending moment, that is, the bending moment exerted on the specimen to initiate slip, should be higher than the value given by the equations stated above. Based

Jan 1, 1950

By W. L. Nelson

The orebodies at Copper Mounta1n lie along and within a few hundred feet of the contact of an intrusive stock of gabbro with a series of bedded volcanic rocks of the Nicola formation. These. orebodies are all entirely within the volcanic series but in many cases the centre line of the orebody at depth is directly under the gabbro contact at the surface, due to a slight overhang of the gabbro. The gabbro and volcanic rocks are cut by a number of faults and fault zones which did not materially affect early mining operations, but, as undeground openings increased in size, the faults became more important factors in determining mining methods and procedure. Caving methods were adopted to take advantage of ground weakness in fault zones, and the effect of ground subsidence which resulted from the division of the ground 1nto large, independent blocks by faulting had to be considered in planning the sequence of mining of certain ore blocks. The faults have been divided into two classes: the longitudinal system and the cross faults, or 'breaks' as they are termed locally. In addition to the two classes of faults, the zones of parallel ore fracture also control mining procedure, but to a lesser degree, in regard to caving or ground subsidence. A third structural feature which influences mining procedure is the mine dyke system. The longitudinal or main fault system roughly parallels the gab? bro contact and is made up of a number of branches and auxiliary fractures. The main fault itself is essentially vertical, but there are a number of branches and fractures on each side of it which, though parallel m strike, may dip as flat as 50 degrees toward or away from the main fault. The full width of the main fault system has not been determined, but it is known to extend beyond the zone of mine workings. A marked schistosity follows the main fault and both schistosity and chloritic alteration have been noticed along the secondary faults of this system. Several prominent orebodies lie along the main fault and its branches. The influence of the main fault system on mining is probably related more to subsidence than to actual cavi.ng, although it is effective in both.

Jan 1, 1950

By Thomas C. Poulter

Abstract The Poulter seismic method of geophysical exploration is an attempt to obtain an increased efficiency in the conversion of the energy of an m~pl06ion into useful energy which has directive properties and which contains a minimum of random frequency and random phase relations. Very little effort has been made in the past to simplify OT even control the uniformity of the seismic energy being introduced into the ground. The Poulter seismic method is also an attempt to improve the signal-to-noise ratio not merely by trying to complete the impartial filtering done by the earth on ,the continuous spectrum of primarily high-frequency energy radiated from a shot point but by applying a frequency control at the point of origin of the seismic wave. The energy from a shot-hole charge is peaked in a frequency which is much higher than will be transmitted through the ground, and its absorption introduces background interference. Only 10 to 20 per cent of the seismic energy of a shot-hole charge .is directed downward in a 90-degree vertical cone, whereas, from a pattern of charges detonated above the surface of the ground, 85 per cent of the seismic energy is included in a 90-degree cone and in some cases it is even confined to as small as a 30-degree cone. This greatly reduces the horizontally distributed energy, thereby producing a marked improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio. The frequency of the signal energy may be peaked in a rather narrow range by the proper application of two or more impulses upon the surface of the ground controlled as to direction, magnitude, and timing. These impulses may be controlled by the reflection shock wave technique, the pressure pulse technique, and the sequence firing technique, using the primary controls as outlined. The information obtained from the study of directivity of seismic energy in a high velocity, uniform material such as the ice on Taku glacier, in the Juneau ice field in Alaska, has been of great assistance in the application of the method to oilfield and mining problems.

Jan 1, 1950

By E. R. Brownscombe, Francis Collins

The pressure distribution in a reservoir producing an incompressible fluid by radial flow in a horizontal structure is a simple logarithmic function' used daily by reservoir engineers. The assumption of an incompressible liquid is equivalent to assuming that pressure is maintained constant at the well radius and at some external "radius of drainage," or, in other words, that the entire flow into the well passes across the external radius. In most cases a well is surrounded by other wells draining adjoining areas so that the "radius of drainage" is not a line of constant pressure with flow equal to the flow into the well but rather a contour of zero pressure gradient across which no flow occurs, production being due to the expansion of the liquid within the area. The radial flow steady state pressure distribution for this case does not seem to be extensively used despite the fact that the mathematical analysis has been given in detail' and the results are simple and generally applicable. 'The object of this discussion is to develop this result from a physical rather than a mathematical viewpoint, thereby aiding intuition in judging circumstances to which it may be applicable. If the production rate at a well in an unsaturated reservoir is maintained constant while no flow occurs across the outer radius a steady state will soon be reached in which the flow rate or pressure gradient is constant with time at all points in the reservoir. To preserve such a condition it is necessary that the pressure decline at the same rate at all points in the reservoir, that is, the curves of pressure versus radial distance at successive times are all parallel. Then each unit volume of oil is expanding at the same rate and contributing an equal share to the production. The rate of flow q across any circle r is thus proportional to the volume of the reservoir between r and the external radius re, or q = qw (I-r2/r2e) ......(1) where q, is the production from the well and it is assumed that rw is very small compared with re. This equation can be combined with the differential form of Darcy's law for radial flow, 2phkr dp q =—— ........(2) aµß dr ( where q is not a constant as in the incompressible flow case but is a function of r given by Equation (1). If Equation (1) is substituted in Equation (2) the variables p and r can be separated and the result integrated to obtain the pressure distribution p = pw +--------In------------- 2pkh[ rw 2re2] ......(3) This equation differs from the incompressible case only in the addition of the term proportional to the square of the radius

Jan 1, 1950

By Herbert Clark Hoover, Lou Henry Hoover

MOST illustrious Princes, often have I considered the metallic arts as a whole, as Moderatus Columella2 considered the agricultural arts, just as if I had been considering the whole of the human body ; and when I had perceived the various parts of the subject, like so many members of the body, I became afraid that I might die before I should understand its full extent, much less before I could immortalise it in writing. This book itself indicates the length and breadth of the subject, and the number and importance of the sciences of which at least some little knowledge is necessary to miners. Indeed, the subject of mining is a very extensive one, and one very difficult to explain ; no part of it is fully dealt with by the Greek and Latin authors whose works survive ; and since the art is one of the most ancient, the most necessary and the most profitable to mankind, I considered that I ought not to neglect it. Without doubt, none of the arts is older than agriculture, but that of the metals is not , less ancient ; in fact they are at least equal and coeval, for no mortal man ever tilled a field without implements. In truth, in all the works of agricul- ture, as in the other arts, implements are used which are made from metals, or which could not be made without the use of metals ; for this reason the metals are of the greatest necessity to man. When an art is so poor that it lacks metals, it is not of much importance, for nothing is made without tools. Besides, of all ways whereby great wealth is acquired by good and honest means, none is more advantageous than mining ; for although from fields which are well tilled (not to mention other things) we derive rich yields, yet we obtain richer products from mines ; in fact, one mine is often much more beneficial to us than many fields. For this reason we learn from the history of nearly all ages that very many men have been made rich by the

Jan 1, 1950

By Donald L. Katz, Michael J. Rzasa

With greater effort being devoted to the discovery of new oil and gas reserves and a consequent increase in bottom hole pressures due to greater drilling depths, the phase relationships of hydrocarbon fluids at pressures above 10,000 lb psi are becoming increasingly important. The present paper discusses the results of research with a windowed cell on a methane-Kensol 16 system to pressures of 25,000 Ib psi and temperatures to 260°F. Kensol 16 is a commercial high narrow-boiling-range oil. It is shown that for the temperature range of 60 °F to 260 °F, this particular system exists in two phases to pressures of approximately 14,000 lb psi, and data are presented giving the relative amounts of liquid and vapor phase? coexisting under these conditions. Partial phase diagrams are shown for six different mixtures of methane and Kensol 16, three of which include the critical region. In contrast to mixtures composed of substances of fairly close volatility. critical opalescence was noted for as much as 200°F of the critical temperature. The critical locus of the methane-Kensol 16 system was estimated and the conventional pressure-composition and temperature-composition diagrams were prepared. From these, the equilibrium vaporization factors for methane and Kensol 16 were estimated for temperatures from 60 °F to 700 °F and to pressures above 12,000 lb psi. The relations of this study to petroleum production problems and other phase equilibria research are discussed. INTRODUCTION A knowledge of the physical behavior of naturally-occurring hydrocarbon mixtures is fundamental to a thorough treatment of nearly all operations involved in the recovery, refining, and transportation of petroleum. The operations may involve the applications of phase relationships, and the relative

Jan 1, 1950