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By Paul J. Axtell

Self-hardening cement-bentontie (c-b) slurry walls were constructed as shear walls to stabilize the downstream slope of Tuttle Creek Dam near Manhattan, Kansas. The slope stabilization was required to protect the existing pressure relief well system located at the downstream toe of the dam. The wells require protection from slope deformation induced by liquefaction of the foundation sands during or immediately after the design seismic event. The shear walls are transverse to the axis of the dam, unreinforced, and relatively brittle members that may be exposed to relatively large shear strains, and possible cracking, during or immediately after shaking. An extensive laboratory investigation was conducted on recovered core samples to optimize the mix design and stabilization scheme. Furthermore, as is the topic of this paper, a portion of the laboratory investigation was to determine the large-strain, or post-peak, shear strength of the c-b material for use in limit-equilibrium slope stability analyses and numerical deformation modeling to assess the magnitude of permanent deformation caused by the design earthquake. These data may be beneficial to other projects that are considering the use of unreinforced c-b slurry walls for seismic retrofit purposes.

Jan 1, 2010

By Lon Santis, David Buckwalter, Ken Steinmetz

This paper describes a magazine security system using two readily available cellular telephone-based technologies. The system is comprised of vibration sensors and remote cameras. The system is used at a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) licensed explosives storage location in Pennsylvania to comply with PA Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) regulations. The system provides instant notification to the licensee via cellular modems, text messaging, phone call, and e-mail. Likewise, the licensee can control the system remotely over the internet and using text messaging commands. The vibration sensors attach to the door of the metal type I magazines magnetically and detect any movement or vibration. The cameras trigger on movement and thermal radiation changes and can also be triggered manually to check alarms received from the vibration sensors. The previous system was comprised of a base unit and magnetic strips. The magnetic strips were powered by a hard line from the control unit and mounted on the doors and top of magazine creating a bond, that when broken triggered an alarm. Our main issues with the unit were the delay in alert times and tech support. Because of these issues, we decided an upgrade was necessary. Compared to that previous system used at this site, these new systems are highly affordable, carefree and reliable.

Jan 1, 2014

By Giovanni Rubinich Moraes, Giorgio de Tomi, Irfan Ullah

The study examines productive and unproductive hours in four underground mine shifts: 6 h, 8 h, 10 h, and 12 h. Moreover, two sub-scenarios of single or two blasts examined the effect on mine utilization regarding effective working hours in underground mines. Cuiabá Mine data, the Brazilian’s largest and deepest underground gold mine, was used in both sub-scenarios. Under the first sub-scenario, which assumes two blasts per day, the 6-h shift had an effective work time (EWT) of 13 h and 30 min or 56.3% of the day. The EWT was 15 h and 20 min, 63.9% of the day, in the 8-h shift scenario. The 15-h, 30-min EWT took 64.6% of the day in both 10/12-h shifts. The 6-h scenario had an EWT of 16 h and 15 min (67.7%) in the second sub-scenario with a single blast daily. The 8-h scenario boosted EWT to 18 h and 25 min (76.7%) daily. An EWT of 18 h and 35 min daily (77.4%) was found in 10/12-h shifts. Comparisons of both sub-scenarios show that EWT positively correlates with shift length. Sub-scenario 1 has a 7.6% incremental step from 6 to 8 h, while sub-scenario 2 has 9%. EWT increases from 8-h to 10/12-h shifts by 0.7% for single and two blasts daily. Compared to the two sub-scenarios, halting operations for blasting once daily improves the EWT average by 12.5%. Reducing blasting and changing underground mining shift duration might boost economic viability.

May 21, 2024

By Zay Jeffries

IT has been known for a number of years that certain aluminum alloys could be hardened by quenching from a temperature of about 500° C. Immediately after quenching the total increase in hardness is not marked, but the hardness increases gradually so that after about 4 days, it has reached a maximum. The actual increase in hardness probably continues for weeks or even months, but in order to detect the differences after 4 days, it is necessary to make tests at rather long intervals. So far as is known to the authors, Alfred Wilm was the first to discover these properties in aluminum alloys.1 The aluminum-copper alloys are amenable to this treatment and the addition of magnesium makes the heat-treatment effect more pronounced. Until recently heat treatment of aluminum alloys has been confined to the worked alloys in the form of sheet or extruded products. The alloy that has been most used in this connection is known commercially as duralumin and has about the following composition: copper not exceeding, 6 per cent.; magnesium not exceeding, 2 per cent.; manganese not exceeding, 1 per cent.; commercial aluminum,2 balance. A typically good alloy in this range consists of: copper, 4 per cent.; magnesium, 0.5 per cent.; manganese, 1 per cent.; commercial aluminum, balance. This alloy can be rolled into sheets or extruded; and in this condition it can be heated in the ordinary furnace atmosphere to a temperature near 500° C. and quenched in water. After about 4 days it will have the following physical properties: tensile strength 55,000 to 60,000 lb. per sq. in. (3866 to 4218 kg. per sq. cm.); elongation in 2 in., 15 to 20 per cent. No harmful effects of the furnace gases or even the air, if the heating is affected in an electric furnace in an air atmosphere,

Jan 9, 1919

By W. A. Gibson, Zay Jeffries

It has been known for a number of years that certain aluminum alloys could be hardened by quenching from a temperature of about 500' C. Immediately after quenching the total increase in hardness is not marked, but the hardness increases gradually so that after about 4 days, it has reached a maximum. The actual increase in hardness probably continues for weeks or even months, but in order to detect the differences after 4 days, it is necessary to make tests at rather long intervals. So far as is known to the authors, Alfred Wilm was the first to discover these properties in aluminum alloys.' The aluminum-copper alloys are amenable to this treatment and the addition of magnesium makes the heat-treatment effect more pronounced. Until recently heat treatment of aluminum alloys has been confined to the worked alloys in the form of sheet or extruded products. The alloy that has been most used in this connection is known commercially as duralumin and has about the following composition: copper not exceeding, 6 per cent.; magnesium not exceeding, 2 per cent.; manganese not exceeding, 1 per cent.; commercial aluminum,2 balance. A typically good alloy in this range consists of: copper, 4 per cent.; magnesium, 0.5 per cent.; manganese, 1 per cent.; commercial aluminum, balance. This alloy can be rolled into sheets or extruded; and in this condition it can be heated in the ordinary furnace atmosphere to a temperature near 500° C. and quenched in water. After about 4 days it will have the following physical properties: tensile strength 55,000 to 60,000 1b. per sq. in. (3866 to 4218 kg. per sq. cm.); elongation in 2 in., 15 to 20 per cent. No harmful effects of the furnace gases or even the air, if the heating is effected in an electric furnace in an air atmospherc.

Jan 1, 1921

By B. M. Larsen, T. E. Brower

An increasing amount of attention is being paid to the possible influence of oxygen, in its several modes of occurrence in steel, upon some of the properties of the metal; but clearly investigations along this line are unlikely to yield significant results until reliable analytical methods for the determination of oxygen have been established. This paper presents some results of a study of an improved Ledebur method which aims to determine a definite portion of the oxygen; namely, that which presumably is present in diffusible form in the solid steel. These more or less preliminary results lead us to believe that the oxygen so determined has some significance; their presentation at this time will, we hope, stimulate discussion of, and focus attention upon, certain rather neglected aspects of the problem. Considerable work has been done recently on methods of estimating inclusions and on the vacuum-fusion method for oxygen; with results which, however, are of somewhat questionable significance. It is commonly presumed that the oxygen in a bath of molten steel in a furnace is present partly as a separate phase consisting of suspended particles of oxides or silicates, partly in solution, the latter being probably the more important. Upon addition of a deoxidizer, it reacts with some portion of the dissolved oxygen and precipitates it as additional suspended particles; the oxygen not eliminated in this way, which remains in solution in the liquid steel, may be regarded indifferently either as dissolved oxygen or as dissolved FeO. When the steel is poured, some of the suspended particles rise towards the surface, others remain trapped in the finished steel, appearing as nonmetallic inclusions in amounts corresponding usually to about 0.01 to 0.03 per cent Oz in the steel. The dissolved oxygen may be partly eliminated as CO during freezing of the ingot, but some remains either in solution or in part precipitated as FeO. Finished steels may thus contain oxygen in several forms: (1) In non-metallic inclusions which are probably quite insoluble in the solid metal at all temperatures; (2) in solid solution which at lower temperatures may be supersaturated; (3) in FeO particles produced by relief of this

Jan 1, 1932

By C. E. Violet, R. J. Borg, E. M. Howard

The miscibility gap in the Au-Ni system has been determined by Mossbauer spectroscopy, with used as a probe. The phase boundaries were determined from the compositional dependence of both the isomer shift and Curie temperature. X-ray diffraction measurements were also used to confirm the Mossbauer results. 1 HE purpose of this research is to demonstrate the application of Mbssbauer spectroscopy to the determination of phase boundaries and to redetermine the miscibility gap by an independent and novel technique. The techniques evolved in this study are readily applicable to other polyphase systems and are generally as quick and accurate as the more conventional methods, e.g., metallography, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and so forth. To be sure, not all polyphase systems will lend themselves favorably to Mijssbauer investigations, but this is a problem met in the use of conventional methods as well. The Mbssbauer spectrum responds to a different set of physical parameters, and consequently provides an entirely independent method of analysis. It is especially useful if the system has either a ferromagnetic or an antiferromagnetic transition. The Au-Ni system was selected because alloys containing more than -60 at. pct Ni become magnetically ordered at low temperatures; also the miscibility gap is quite well established (see Ref. 7 for a compilation of pertinent references, also Fig. 11, and thus provides a reliable test of this novel procedure. As Fe is the most commonly used Mijssbauer isotope, there exists a wealth of information concerning its behavior in iron-containing alloys and compounds. However, as yet there have been relatively few experiments using it as a probe to investigate nonferrous systems. By choosing a nonferrous alloy system, we are able to demonstrate that its use is not restricted to systems containing iron as one of the major constituents. Wertheim and ~ernick' have used the same method to investigate Cu-Ni, and demonstrated that one can obtain a systematic variation in the isomer shift and magnetic hyperfine field. However, we believe this to be the first time these techniques have been used to establish phase boundaries. Two hyperfine interactions were measured and used to determine the phase boundaries, viz., the magnetic hyperfine splitting and the isomer shift which in this alloy system are both strong functions of composition. Calibration curves were established based upon single-phase solid solutions obtained by quenching from temperatures well above the maximum of the miscibility gap, see Fig. 1. Solid solutions containing 25, 50, 65, 75, 85, 92, and 96 pct Ni as well as pure nickel were used in the calibration procedure. Fig. 2 shows the Curie temperature, TC, and the isomer shift, v,, as determined from the Mbssbauer spectra, and variation in lattice parameter as determined by X-ray diffraction, as functions of composition. The compositions of the two-phase systems quenched from temperatures within the miscibility gap are obtained by comparing their respective values of TC and v0 with the calibration data. I) EXPERIMENTAL Mbssbauer sources were made by fusing the component metals in a tungsten arc melter, which has a water-cooled copper hearth. Both nickel and gold were 99.999 pct pure, and the melting was done in an atmosphere of purified argon. The alloys were rolled, diced,

Jan 1, 1969

By D. Savile Davis

D. Savile Davis* (Member): The members of the Chamber of Mines Research Laboratories, headed by Dr Cook, indeed deserve all the plaudits that have been given for the original conception of the rock-cutter, and for the research work that has gone into designing the equipment now being tested. Underground trials with the rock-cutting machines at the Doornfontein Gold Mining Company Limited have been encouraging to the extent that 29 square fathoms of rock have been cut in the past three months with two modified prototype machines. Both the hangingwalI condition of the stope and the control of stoping width have been excellent. So far, however, the rate of production has been too slow and does not compare with conventional stoping methods, due firstly to the time-consuming operation of moving the machine forward and resetting it in its next cutting section and secondly to mechanical defects. Although great strides have been made in improving the tungsten carbide cutting tool, further progress is dependent upon engineering development in the design of a more reliable and versatile machine within economic limits. Commenting briefly on the experiments that have been carried out on the Gold Fields mines, the rock-cutter, when used at the Luipaards Vlei mine, some 600 ft below surface, cut very nearly perfect slots above and below the reef on a stope face but was unable to cut slots in the reef itself. At the Doornfontein mine, however, where the tests are currently being carried out at a depth of 8,000 ft below surface and where there is a much greater pressure acting on the rock face, vertical fracture planes can be clearly seen in the hangingwall running parallel to the face. Owing to the presence of these fracture planes it has been found impossible to cut slots of any depth and the action of the machine is more one of spalling than of cutting, resulting in slabs of combined reef and waste falling from the face as the cutting tool advances. This is accentuated by the existence of a well-defined hangingwall parting plane. Most of the slabbing takes place from the slot cut below the reef to the hangingwalI of the stope. Since waste sorting in narrow conditions and poor lighting is not an efficient operation, the reef together with a proportion of waste rock, has to be removed from the stope. The ripping action of the machine as opposed to slot cutting under these particular conditions may not be a great disadvantage, as the volume of waste which can be packed depends on the ratio of reef width to stope width and with a narrow reef body some waste has to be removed to the surface. In these circumstances mining at depth with this type of machine should not be viewed as selective mining but more correctly mining without explosives. Another type of rock-cutter is being tested by the Gold Fields Group, consisting of a diamond studded rotating disc, which has, to date, cut slots 10 ft in length and averaging 7 1/2 in. in depth. It is, however, too early to comment on the practicability and economics of such a cutter. The great interest that is at present being shown in breaking rock without the use of explosives warrants comment on the Robins raise-borer, recently introduced into South Africa, and used for the first time with great success at the Doornfontein mine.

By Mah Alla D.

Previously existing heat-of-formation values for the oxides of vanadium were rudimentary. They were subject to uncertainties of 1 to 5 kilocalories per gram-atom of contained oxygen. This fact has been the only adverse influence on the accuracy of thermodynamic calculations involving these substances, as the requisite entropy and high-temperature heat-content data are known with reasonable accuracy. This report presents new heat-of-formation data for four oxides of vanadium (VO, V203, V02, and V205), obtained by combustion calorimetry. It is believed that the uncertainties have been reduced to 0.1 to 0.3 kilocalorie per gram-atom of contained oxygen. The new heat-of-formation data were combined with existing entropy and high-temperature heat-content values to obtain free energies of formation of the four oxides at temperatures up to 2,000° K.

Jan 1, 1961

By Randall Head

The drilling at the Taum Sauk Reservoir was a unique compilation of the latest technology and everyday common sense. This site is comprised of rhyolite, which is 30 times harder than limestone in comparison. Using some of the most state of the art drills, coupled with GPS guidance, angular drilling systems, and an ordinary piece of string, some of the most amazing drilling feats were accomplished. By constructing the new dam on top of a mountain that had been blasted once before nearly 50 years ago treacherous conditions for the drills and crew were a challenge. The drills had to be flown in by cranes to get to their locations, where they then drilled anywhere from 2.5 to 6 inch (6.4 to 15.2 cm) holes at angles up to 24.4 degrees. Custom drill bits were designed by the drilling crew to tackle feats such as drilling holes up to 120 feet (36.6 m) deep. A main challenge was the shape of the reservoir, as it is not in a straight line, but rather round, so no technological way was readily available to use to drill. Common sense came in and an ordinary piece of string was used to aide in drilling the hole. A revolutionary step was that our drill was used to core our own samples. By using our own equipment, we were able to complete this task for one-third of the cost of having a third party contractor obtain the core samples. On this unmatched jobsite, it has been established that technology has come a long way, but when all else fails, a piece of string will do just fine.

Jan 1, 2010

By George H. Deike

UNDERGRADUATE interest in coal mining engineering has dropped to an alarmingly low level. Most companies having co-operative scholarship programs have been forced to abandon them for the duration.

Jan 1, 1944

By Donald S. Skufca

This chapter focuses attention on major factors pertaining to plant design and general arrangement of equipment. Considered are efficiency of operations, coordination of maintenance and repairs, plant testing of reagents and possible future plant expansions. The design and general arrangement of equipment considers accessibility for maintenance and isolation for repairs, minimum personnel for operations and cleanup, safe working conditions with minimum interruptions to operations. The constant introduction of new reagents requires eventual plant testing and the manner of isolating a “line” or part of the facilities to allow comparisons in the testing of new reagents is discussed. As technology improves and process changes occur, additional equipment or plant expansions are inevitable. Space for these eventualities must be considered while the general arrangement drawings are in the development stages.

Jan 1, 1986

By Gerhard Derge

The extension of metallurgical control of steelmaking processes has always made it desirable to have some quick method for determining the oxygen content of molten steel. To meet the practical demands of the steel industry, this method must also be simple enough so that the sampling can be done by the regular furnace crew. This requirement was kept in mind continually in the work to be described. An oxygen value is required for proper control, whether it be of a rimming steel or of a fully killed steel. However, two factors have discouraged the development of such direct methods: i. The reaction C + FeO Fe + CO is rapid enough to make the correct sampling Of the bath a difficult problem. The most generally accepted means of circumventing this difficulty have been the aluminum-killed bomb test of McCutcheon and Rautiol and the aluminum-killed spoon test of Herty.2 The theory of these tests is that all of the oxygen in the iron is converted to Al2O3, which can then be determined by chemical methods. Even when simplified so that the analysis is made by a measurement of turbidity, this method is too slow to be used in routine control. Furthermore, the results obtained have never been entirely satisfactory, and some of the reasons for this will be discussed later in this paper. z. The ordinary chemical methods of analysis for oxygen in steel are not reliable. The only analysis that seems to possess sufficient dependability to be of value is vacuum fusion,3 and the apparatus and technique developed for this have been too complex and slow for routine work. Indirect Methods Indirect methods of estimating the oxygen have been resorted to in mill practice. Generally these depend upon the chemical equilibria involved. The oxygen in the bath is related to other components in the slag or metal that can be analyzed the readily. These methods have many difficulties in common. Steelmaking processes involve a complicated set of interrelated reactions, all of which tend to approach equilibrium at varying rates. The degree to which any particular equilibrium is approached is not well established. Moreover, a proper use of theoretical equilibrium constants requires a more extensive knowledge of the activities of the con- than we now have. This is well illustrated by the irregularities observed when trying to determine the oxygen in the metal by its ratio to the iron oxide in the slag. Equiliblium relations may be used mole readily if they are evaluated by plant experience, but the extent of approach to equilibrium remains an undetermined variable and lack of an entirely satisfactory mean, of determining oxygen for the calibration is felt keenly, For example, the statistical analysis of the relation between carbon and oxygen4.6 illustrates that even iia a single plant wide variations exist under llormal conditions of operation. Never. theless, this is one of the best methods now

Jan 1, 1943

By R. M. Leibrock, C. W. Ziemer, R. P. Vincent

The Stanolind flowmeter, which employs a hot-wire anemometer connected in a Wheat-stone bridge circuit, has proved useful for determining the relative productive ability of individual sand members of gas wells. The operation of this instrument in measuring gas velocities in the well bore above each producing member has provided both a direct and accurate means of analyzing reservoir performance. Results of tests conducted with the well flowmeter in the Hugoton gas field of western Kansas have indicated some rather unusual production characteristics. In two cases it was found that all or the greater part of the total gas produced was coming from one section in wells where four "pay" sections had been perforated individually. These actual measurements contradict in many instances the indications of data obtained from electric logs and from core analysis; the fact that these latter sources often give incorrect results, demonstrates the necessity of a method, such as is provided by the well flowmeter, for accurately determining the amount of gas coming from each producing member. Introduction In any gas well where a number of pay sections have been perforated individually and are producing to a common outlet, the question arises as to the relative amounts of gas being passed through each set of perforations. In the past it has been the policy to depend on core analysis to estimate relative productivities, or, where the sections were not cored, to obtain some idea of production characteristics from electric-log studies. The weaknesses in these methods are readily apparent and indicate the need for more reliable means of measuring gas flow from each zone. The Stano-lind flowmeter* was developed for this purpose. Preliminary tests were made with the instrument in the Katy gas field near Houston; however, the bulk of the routine work with the well flowmeter has been confined to the Hugoton gas field in western Kansas, where results obtained have been encouraging. A description of the instrument, the field technique employed in testing, and a few of the results obtained in the Hugoton area are discussed in this paper. Description or Instrument The well flowmeter is 1¾ in. od and 7 ft long; it is entirely self-contained, can be run through tubing as small as 2 in. id in wells with high pressure (4500 psi) and temperature (210°F) and is lowered on a wire line commonly used for other instruments of the bottom-hole type at falling rates up to 500 ft per minute. It will detect gas flow as low as 10 ft per minute linear velocity, and yet withstand and record velocities of 1000 ft per minute without damage to the detecting element. Killing the well is not required nor desirable for running a production profile when using the instrument, and it is necessary to stop flow for only a short time. The detecting element of the instrument is a hot-wire anemometer connected in a

Jan 1, 1948

By Mohamed Mortada

A practical analytical method is developed in this paper which provides the practicing reservoir engineer with a handy method for analyzing oilfield interference problems. The procedure employed entails the principle of superposition of individual eflects. A set of charts has been developed and can be used to evaluate the individual effects. The charts represent non-steady state pressure distribution in an extensive aquifer due to a constant rate of production from an oilfield which can be approximated by circular geometry; they are constructed from solutions to the diffusivity equation considering a circular sink as distinguished from a point sink. The solutions are obtained partially from mathenlatical considerations and partially from analog and digital computations. By virtue of the method of images, the charts can be used also to treat the case of production near a fault. In addition, provisions are made for treating oil fields, which are produced by partial water-drive. Treating an actual field case is deferred to a subyequent writing; however, illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the method of application. The pressure distribution in linear and limited radial aquifers is currently under study. INTRODUCTION With the increasing difficulty of discovering new oil reserves, attention is necessarily focused on the efficient development and production of existing reservoirs. Efficient production depends on the availability of reliable means for predicting the pressure-production behavior of oil fields. The prediction is usually performed by analytical methods or computers. Analytical methods are often limited to systems which can be approximated by simple geometry. However, analytical methods have the distinct advantage of being readily performed without special equipment. Analog and digital computers lend themselves to a variety of problems, but are not always locally available and consequently their use is limited. One particular situation in which analytical techniques are needed involves studies of multiple, water-drive oil fields sharing a common aquifer. Such oil fields are in hydrodynamic communication. Therefore, production from any of the oil fields is accompanied by a pressure decline which is transmitted through the aquifer to the other oil fields and manifested as pressure interference. The rate of propagation of the pressure decline is such that the pressure may be significantly reduced many miles away from a producing pool. An example of pressure interference is found in the Woodbine formation in East Texas. There. a dozen or more pools, including several of major size, draw on the Woodbine formation for water drive. The pressure in the water-bearing portion of the formation has been significantly reduced over an area of several thousand square miles. This reduction of pressure has been such that when the Hawkins pool was discovered in 1940, the pressure in it had already been reduced 280 psi below the initial value in the aquifer. This resulted from prior production from other Woodbine sand pools, including, in particular, the East Texas field some 20 miles to the east of Hawkins.' The above example indicates that the interference effect can be significant and should be taken into con-

Jan 1, 1956

By Gerhard Derge

The extension of metallurgical control of steelmaking processes has always made it desirable to have some quick method for determining the oxygen content of molten steel. To meet the practical demands of the steel industry, this method must also be simple enough so that the sampling can be done by the regular furnace crew. This requirement was kept in mind continually in the work to be described. An oxygen value is required for proper control, whether it be of a rimming steel or of a fully killed steel. However, two factors have discouraged the development of such direct methods: i. The reaction C + FeO Fe + CO is rapid enough to make the correct sampling Of the bath a difficult problem. The most generally accepted means of circumventing this difficulty have been the aluminum-killed bomb test of McCutcheon and Rautiol and the aluminum-killed spoon test of Herty.2 The theory of these tests is that all of the oxygen in the iron is converted to Al2O3, which can then be determined by chemical methods. Even when simplified so that the analysis is made by a measurement of turbidity, this method is too slow to be used in routine control. Furthermore, the results obtained have never been entirely satisfactory, and some of the reasons for this will be discussed later in this paper. z. The ordinary chemical methods of analysis for oxygen in steel are not reliable. The only analysis that seems to possess sufficient dependability to be of value is vacuum fusion,3 and the apparatus and technique developed for this have been too complex and slow for routine work. Indirect Methods Indirect methods of estimating the oxygen have been resorted to in mill practice. Generally these depend upon the chemical equilibria involved. The oxygen in the bath is related to other components in the slag or metal that can be analyzed the readily. These methods have many difficulties in common. Steelmaking processes involve a complicated set of interrelated reactions, all of which tend to approach equilibrium at varying rates. The degree to which any particular equilibrium is approached is not well established. Moreover, a proper use of theoretical equilibrium constants requires a more extensive knowledge of the activities of the con- than we now have. This is well illustrated by the irregularities observed when trying to determine the oxygen in the metal by its ratio to the iron oxide in the slag. Equiliblium relations may be used mole readily if they are evaluated by plant experience, but the extent of approach to equilibrium remains an undetermined variable and lack of an entirely satisfactory mean, of determining oxygen for the calibration is felt keenly, For example, the statistical analysis of the relation between carbon and oxygen4.6 illustrates that even iia a single plant wide variations exist under llormal conditions of operation. Never. theless, this is one of the best methods now

Jan 1, 1943

By F. M. Stewart

A paper by Hurst and van Ever-dingen in 1949 led to the practical solution of many nonsteady-state flow problems.' Subsequently, applications of this material have been discussed by several authors. The purpose of this note is to outline a simplified direct procedure for water-influx pressure predictions for pressures above the bubble point. The prcposed procedure is unique in that after the "time-conversion factor" and the "influx constant" are obtained, predictions are made without trial and error. The elimination of trial and error is made possible by expressing certain PVT characteristics as explicit functions of pressure. The procedure is applicable to fields producing at pressures above the bubble point and under radial water drive from an infinite aquifer. In the usual applications it is required to predict (1) withdrawals given future pressure history or (2) reservoir pressure, given future withdrawals or production. The theory, assumptions and conditions under which the nonsteady-state solutions hold are covered in the references and are not repeated. The simplified direct procedure outlined here has been developed from published solutions for the so-called "pressure case". A similar direct procedure for the same special conditions has been developed for the "rate case"; however, in this instance the procedure is lengthy and offers no advantage over the trial-and-error solution. Consequently, this paper covers only the procedure based on the pressure case. DISCUSSION Under the pressure case prediction of withdrawals from a water-drive field, given the future pressure history, involves the use of a nonsteady-state water-influx term together with the material balance equation. The solution of a particular problem requires the following steps: (1) division of past pressure and production data into equal time intervals; (2) computation of cumulative water influx vs pressure drop for each time interval of past history using the material balance equation; (3) determination of the best values for the "time-conversion factor" and the "influx constant" by equating the nonsteady-state influx term with the influx computed in Step 2 (this requires a trial-and-error procedure); (4) prediction of influx for a given pressure drop using the influx term and the computed factors from Step 3; and (5) calculation of fluids produced using the predicted influx in the material balance equation. A forecast of the water-oil ratio or water production rate is required to complete the calculation. It is assumed that a reliable estimate of original oil in place is available, as well as the production and pressure history, and data on reservoir fluid characteristics. If the original oil in place is unknown, it may be computed simultaneously with the tinie-conversion influx factors2,3. However, the oil in place so computed may be considerably in error3; consequently, it is usually preferable to use oil in place estimated from pore-volume data unless there is considerable doubt as to its accuracy. The Material Balance Equation Above the Bubble Point Above the bubble point the simpli-

By R. M. Leibrock, R. P. Vincent, C. W. Ziemer

The Stanolind flowmeter, which employs a hot-wire anemometer connected in a Wheat-stone bridge circuit, has proved useful for determining the relative productive ability of individual sand members of gas wells. The operation of this instrument in measuring gas velocities in the well bore above each producing member has provided both a direct and accurate means of analyzing reservoir performance. Results of tests conducted with the well flowmeter in the Hugoton gas field of western Kansas have indicated some rather unusual production characteristics. In two cases it was found that all or the greater part of the total gas produced was coming from one section in wells where four "pay" sections had been perforated individually. These actual measurements contradict in many instances the indications of data obtained from electric logs and from core analysis; the fact that these latter sources often give incorrect results, demonstrates the necessity of a method, such as is provided by the well flowmeter, for accurately determining the amount of gas coming from each producing member. Introduction In any gas well where a number of pay sections have been perforated individually and are producing to a common outlet, the question arises as to the relative amounts of gas being passed through each set of perforations. In the past it has been the policy to depend on core analysis to estimate relative productivities, or, where the sections were not cored, to obtain some idea of production characteristics from electric-log studies. The weaknesses in these methods are readily apparent and indicate the need for more reliable means of measuring gas flow from each zone. The Stano-lind flowmeter* was developed for this purpose. Preliminary tests were made with the instrument in the Katy gas field near Houston; however, the bulk of the routine work with the well flowmeter has been confined to the Hugoton gas field in western Kansas, where results obtained have been encouraging. A description of the instrument, the field technique employed in testing, and a few of the results obtained in the Hugoton area are discussed in this paper. Description or Instrument The well flowmeter is 1¾ in. od and 7 ft long; it is entirely self-contained, can be run through tubing as small as 2 in. id in wells with high pressure (4500 psi) and temperature (210°F) and is lowered on a wire line commonly used for other instruments of the bottom-hole type at falling rates up to 500 ft per minute. It will detect gas flow as low as 10 ft per minute linear velocity, and yet withstand and record velocities of 1000 ft per minute without damage to the detecting element. Killing the well is not required nor desirable for running a production profile when using the instrument, and it is necessary to stop flow for only a short time. The detecting element of the instrument is a hot-wire anemometer connected in a

Jan 1, 1948

By N. C. Gay

The quantitative evaluation of the performance of fill materials placed in gold mine stopes is achieved by (i) measurement of the in-situ load- displacement, or stress-strain, characteristics of the materials; (ii) an objective comparison between the observed fill performance and that predicted from suitable computer modelling techniques; and (iii) objectively comparing conditions in backfilled and conventional stopes. Considerable problems have been experienced with the development of sufficiently robust instrumentation which can be installed within filled pad- docks and give reliable information over a long period of time. However, at most mines where backfill performance is being monitored, it has been possible to correlate stress measurements within the filled paddocks with strain measurements adjacent to the paddocks. The resultant stress-strain curves agree relatively well with those determined in the laboratory. Measurements in the hangingwall strata of filled and unfilled stopes indicate that the placement of fill does reduce the amount of inelastic convergence due to bed separation. Moreover, in some stopes, the rate of convergence with respect to face advance does reduce to that of the theoretical elastic convergence. Quantification of changes in the conditions at the stope face due to placement of fill has proved difficult. Observations indicate that, provided the fill is placed close to the face (- 5 m), and adequate temporary face support is used, conditions in filled panels are superior. In addition, in filled panels the damage caused by a rockburst in the stope and, particularly, in gullies is generally much less than would be expected in an unfilled stope. To quantify these improvements, parameters such as stope height, face advance and the frequency of falls of ground are being monitored.

Jan 1, 1988

Quickly and cheaply consolidate underground slimes to facilitate their use as backfill and permit their easy handling for other reasons. Approach: The slurry containing slimes is pumped into active stopes and electrokinetically dewatered to provide consolidated back fill. How It Works: To densify slimes electro-kinetically two electrodes are placed in the material to be dewatered and densified. Typically, the electrodes are pieces of wire mesh fencing. One is placed on the bottom, and the other is suspended in the slurry near the surface. Figure 1 is a simplified section of a test. A d-c voltage of 100 to 400 volts is applied across the slurry. This causes the solid particles which are in suspension in the water (usually these are negatively charged) to migrate toward the anode; simultaneously, the water moves toward the cathode. Water immediately adjacent to the negatively charged solid particle surfaces contains an excess of dissolved positive ions. When these ions are attracted to the electrode and move towards it, they also exert

Jan 1, 1976