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By Wing G. Agnew, Albert E. Long

"SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSTests conducted at Mount Weather indicate that clear water is the best bit coolant and cuttings-removal medium for diamond drilling. All of the mediums tested did show that drilling speed increased when drilling with the faster feed ratios (greatest pressure on the bits). In no case, how¬ever, did the increased drilling speed amount to over 16 percent, and even in a long hole the slight increase in drilling speed would be more than offset by the extra time consumed in setting up.Bit wear was excessive when lubricating agents were used, the most footage per bit was obtained when drilling with clear water in the normal manner, and the next best footage was obtained when drilling with circulated water containing no lubricating agent. The diamonds showed little or no wear in any of the bits, and all bits cut well throughout the tests. They were only taken out of service when erosion of the cast metal had progressed to the point where the diamonds were about to roll out. The lubricating agents evidently hold some of the cuttings in suspension, which in turn help to cut the rock but also wear the metal of the bit.No hard-matrix bits were tested, and it is possible that one or more of the lubricating agents might increase the efficiency of such a bit by keeping it sharp and doing away with the necessity of sharpening by sand blasting. Some tests are planned with hard-matrix-type bits and the same lubricating agents used in the tests under discussion, but it is realized that any drilling advantage gained by the bits sharpening themselves may but at least partly offset by excessive wear of the Pump parts."

Jan 1, 1945

By R. V. Smith

The theory for unsteady radial flow of gas, as simplified by Aronofsky and Jenkins, has been reviewed and compared with actual well performance. This study indicated that the theory should be modified by the introduction of an empirical "rate of flow" function "Y(q)". The expansion of the theory on the flow of gas to include a Y(q) term bridges the gap between the theory of unsteady-state flow of gas and actual gas-well behavior. Apparently, the Y(q) term is a function only of the rate of flow for a given well. The completion factor or skin effect is associated with the Y(q) function in such a manner that at least two or more sets of drawdown or pressure build-up tests are needed to separate the Y(q) function and the completion factor. Since the Y(q) function used in this report represents an energy loss dependent on rate of flow near the well-bore of a gas well which is in addition to the loss required by Darcy's law, the Y(q) function is related to the exponent of the back-pressure curve for a gas well. Techniques and equations are presented which permit the estimation of stabilized and "short-time" deliver-abilities. INTRODUCTION The published theory of radial unsteady-state flow of gas through porous media may be divided into papers1-" which use Darcy's law as a premise and other papers4-7,16-10 which recognize that Darcy's law may not hold for flow into gas wells. Miller8 compared theory based on Darcy's law with actual gas-well behavior and concluded that flow into gas wells deviates from Darcy's law. Houpeurt4,5 in a thorough investigation of flow into gas wells concluded that the flow rate into a gas well is proportional to the difference between the squares of upstream and downstream pressures elevated to a power between 1.0 and 0.5. Houpeurt also concluded that the deviation from Darcy's law is caused by irreversible, kinetic energy exchange between the flowing gas and the porous media. Tek9 presented a complete evaluation of the flow problem in gas wells. Several investigators state that the inclusion of gas compressibility into flow equations based on Darcy's law does not begin to explain the flow problems suggested by gas-well behavior. For many years, natural-gas engineers have realized that gas wells by actual test exhibit behavior which cannot be explained entirely by Darcy's law. Many tests on gas wells have indicated that a value of 0.85 for the exponent in the back-pressure equation is a fair average for many wells. However, Darcy's law either for steady or unsteady-state conditions indicates that the exponent should be 1.0. The purpose of this paper has been to examine this deviation from Darcy's law and to present a reasonable mathematical means of evaluating the deviation. The method presented in this paper combines previous theory with an empirical function to provide a description of gas-well behavior. All equations in this report are for constant terminal-rate-of-flow conditions. While present methods of testing wells usually are not based on this concept, they are believed to approach the constant terminal-rate conditions closely in many tests. However, several gas wells were tested by holding the rates of flow constant in order to approach more closely the constant terminal rate of flow; the results confirm the concepts presented in this paper. REVIEW OF THEORY FOR UNSTEADY-STATE FLOW OF GAS The basic partial differential equation for the flow of natural gas has been given in technical literature; the equation for a cylindrical reservoir with the well in the center is

By Richard D. Lang

Introduction Argyle is located in the Kimberley region in northwest Australia (Fig. 1). It is a significant diamond discovery by world standards and is the first major diamond find in Australia. The deposit consists of a pipe and associated alluvial deposits. Before the 1970s, diamonds were known to exist only sporadically in Australia. They have been found occasionally in association with gold deposits in Western Australia. There is a small deposit near Copeton in New South Wales. Some alluvial occurrences have also been found in Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales. The first indicator minerals in the Kimberley region of Western Australia were discovered in January 1973. Production from the alluvial deposits at Argyle began in 1983. A $430-million construction program to develop a mine and treatment plant capable of producing 25 million carats per year was completed in December (1 carat = 0.2 grams). Ownership and management Participants in the project are known as the Argyle Diamond Mines Joint Venture. The group consists of CRA Ltd., 56.8%; Ashton Mining Ltd., 38.2%; and the Western Australian Diamond Trust (formerly Northern Mining Corp.), 5%. The project is managed by Argyle Diamond Mines Pty. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CRA. Marketing is undertaken separately by the Western Australian Diamond Trust and by Argyle Diamond Sales Ltd. (for CRA and Ashton Mining groups). History Ownership of the Exploration Joint Venture has changed over the last 12 years as various parties changed their shareholdings. The original Kalumburu Joint Venture was formed in 1972 with five participants, each holding a 20% interest. By 1983, a number of ownership changes had occurred. The end result is that two original participants have sold out. CRA now holds a 56.8% share and the Ashton Mining Group holds 38.2%. CRA also assumed project management in January 1977. Table 1 demonstrates the long lead times involved in developing a project.

Jan 1, 1986

By Murali M. Gadde, John A. Rusnak

Rock mass classification systems are extremely useful for site characterization and have been employed by the rock mechanics community for several decades. While empirical in nature, the classification systems provide a viable means to quantify the nature of rock mass, which is necessary for stability analyses. In U.S. coal mines, the Coal Mine Roof Rating (CMRR) is the most widely used classification system for several purposes, including sup-port selection, chain pillar design, assessing the stability of extended face cuts, etc. The Analysis of Roof Bolt Systems (ARBS) is an empirical method developed from the CMRR to guide selection of roof bolts as the primary support system in U.S. coal mines. In this paper, the experience of Peabody Energy in applying ARBS to sup-port design is discussed. In general, data from the Peabody mines show that ARBS predictions match well with field conditions. Peabody, however, does not use ARBS as the stand-alone methodology for support selection. Peabody uses a two-pronged approach in which the support requirement is initially estimated from the classification method, and then numerical modeling is used to select the proper reinforcement system. Such an integrated approach is necessary, as ARBS suggests only the “amount of steel” that may be used to support the roof and does not specify which type of roof bolt to use. A case study is used to demonstrate the usefulness of ARBS and Peabody’s integrated approach to support design. Also, the application of ARBS at several Peabody mines showed a very good correlation with support cost. The correlation indicated a direct relation between bolting cost and the ARBS value.

Jan 5, 2007

By E. S. Machlin

An extension of the thermodynamic theory has been made for the case of irreversible growth processes occurring by the motion of an interface. The theory is applicable to such diverse phenomena as diffusion, growth in recrystallization, continuous grain growth, growth of carbides, etc., growth of eutectoid products, growth in solidification, recovery, "slipless" flow, etc. THE publication of a recent book1 has served to focus attention on a very powerful means of treating certain irreversible processes. This method which has been formally described as the thermodynamic theory of irreversible processes is applicable to processes which involve an approach to equilibrium and for which the deviations from equilibrium are small. The irreversible processes can be classified into three groups: chemical reactions, transport processes (diffusion, heat and electrical flows), and relaxation phenomena involving a degradation of internal energy to more stable states. The limits of applicability of the theory can be precisely defined1,2 for each type of irreversible process. For example, in a chemical reaction at constant temperature and pressure, the Gibbs free energy released per mol in the process should be less than the thermal energy, RT. Another type of irreversible process, which sometimes involves a combination of the first two of the above-mentioned groups, is treated in this paper. This process is one characterized by the motion of an interface separating two regions having different values of free energy and may be briefly described as a growth process. Prigogine2 and Herring3 have treated special cases of this type of process. Previous conscious applications of the theory in metallurgy have been limited to the field of diffusion, one of the transport processes. Darken,4 Bardeen,5 Prigogine2 and others have made significant contributions in this respect. Some other applications of the theory are described in this paper. The Theory The thermodynamic theory of irreversible processes is based on the work of Onsager,6 DeDonder,7 Prigogine2 and others. A resume of the theory has been given by Prigogine2 and DeGroot.1 A brief description of the theory follows, although for a complete understanding the reader is urged to read the references. It is first assumed that the change in entropy, even for a system removed from equilibrium, is given by dS = [dU + pdV - Si µi, dn, - Sk Pk dxk]T-1 Using this expression, the irreversible entropy production in the system is calculated by subtracting the contribution to the change in entropy of the system by transfer of heat, work, or matter from the surroundings. Thus, for example, the irreversible entropy production of a system at constant temperature and pressure is given by dtS = — — dG (DeDonder7) Now it has been shown by Prigogine,2 DeDonder,7 and DeGroot1 that the rate of irreversible entropy production diS/dt, when calculated in the manner suggested, can be written as a sum of products of conjugate forces XK and fluxes Jk, i.e., d,s/ = Sk Jk Xk [I-1] dt The assumption is next made that a linear relation exists between a given flux and the forces, obtained from Eq. I-1, i.e., Ji = Sk Lik Xk (i = 1, 2, . . . n) [I-2] Generally, there is a degree of freedom in choice of the fluxes and forces. However, for all the choices consistent with Eq. I-1 the Onsager8 relations, based on the principle of microscopic reversibility, namely, Lik = Lki, are valid. The coefficients Lik, depending upon the choice of the conjugate fluxes and forces, may be more or less dependent upon the parameters defining the state of the system. In general, the proper choice of fluxes and forces utilizing Eq. I-1, makes the coefficients Lik independent of time. Also, because many of the three classes of irreversible phenomena have already been treated,1,2 a proper choice can be made by analogy. In any case, the validity of Eq. 1-2, from whatever choice made using Eq. I-1, must be tested by experimentation. The theory, thus, comprises the following steps: 1—The irreversible entropy production is calculated to yield Eq. I-1. 2—The terms in Eq. I-1 are grouped

Jan 1, 1954

By Heyer T, Wasmuth H-D

The concentrator plant of Fahrica Mine, that started production in 1977, was using nine Jones wet high intensity magnetic separators (WHIMS) of the standard type DP 317 with a 1.5 mm gap width for the production of pelletfeed concentrate. These WHIMS units were operating in parallel with a feed rate of 110 t per hour, with about 47 per cent Fe in the feed, and with a maximum of only 0.8 per cent magnetite. The field strength was about 1.2 Tesla. From 1986, the mine has adapted its production facilities to mine and concentrate larger amounts of lowgrade itabintes to maximise the use of the available iron ore reserves. An increase of up to three per cent magnetite in the magnetic separator feed, resulted in a reduction of capacity. This was due to partial clogging of the separation boxes at high field intensities, which were required for the recovery of the very fine hematite. Even by lowering the feed rate and the field intensity the problem could not be resolved. After extensive testwork in a pilot plant, with a Jones separator model DI' 90, the commercial WHIMS plant was modified into a two stage process using the existing nine Jones separators. The gap of the first stage with four machines was increased to a width of 3.5 mm, corresponding to a maximum field intensity of 0.7 Tesla. This first 'medium intensity scalping stage' is followed by a second 'real' high intensity WHIMS step with five machines operating at the original settings with 1.5 mm gap width and 1.0 Testa maximum field intensity. Feed rates of up to 320 tons per hour in the first and up to 240 tons per hour in the second stage could be achieved. The design concept of the concentrator at Fabrica mine is described using the old and new flowsheets. Details of the pilot plant testwork as well as actual performance data of the new plant section are presented.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. J. Rutledge

FULLY 60 per cent of the serious and fatal accidents in Maryland coal mines are due to falls of roof and side. Usually, the victim of the fall sustains a broken back, sometimes not only the vertebrae being fractured but the spinal cord also being severed. When the spinal cord has not been severed and yet the vertebrae have been broken or injured, it is often possible to rehabilitate the victim of the broken back. - Such accidents are classed as Permanent Total and the victim receives a certain compensation from the State Industrial Accident Commission; sometimes the amount is awarded in a lump sum, but usually it is paid weekly. When the amount allotted to the victim of such an accident has been expended, either in a lump sum or weekly payments, the victim of the accident is dependent on public charity. Some efforts have been made to physically rehabilitate the victims and make them at least partly self-supporting before the expiration of their compensation payments. The State Industrial Accident Com-mission has done some of this rehabilitation. The Maryland Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with R. C. Thompson, Supervisor of Vocational Rehabilitation, State Department of Education, and his assistants, has, through an informal cooperative arrangement, placed several of the victims in hospitals in Baltimore for treatment. Six years ago, through the efforts of the Maryland Bureau of Mines, a dozen or more broken-back victims were examined by an orthopedic surgeon and report was made to the Bureau regarding such cases and the possibility of their rehabilitation. This paper details the result of such examinations.

Jan 1, 1936

By J. Bruce Clemmer, P. E. Churchward, Carl Rompacek

The paper describes a cyclic method for processing manganese ores using sodium sulphate as the basic reagent. Sodium sulphate is electrolyzed in a diaphragm cell to give an anolyte sodium sulphate acid and a catholyte containing caustic soda, a part of which is carbonated in a cyclic manner to form soda and reduced ore is leached with the anolyte to dissolve the manganese and the impurities are precipitated by addition of catholyte. Manganese in the pregnant solution is precipitated as synthetic rhodochrosite with a carbonated catholyte, and sodium sulphate is regenerated. Calcining the manganese carbonate site a high-grade product and the carbon dioxide is returned to the carbonation step. the results of laboratory tests using cells equipped with synthetic fiber diaphragms and permselective membranes which permit transfer of using or cations during electrolysis are described. The article from which the above abstract is reprinted appears in Trans. AIME (1955) 203, p. 51; Journal op Metals (January 1955).

Jan 1, 1956

By Ahmad Amini, Hadi Abdollahi, Pouya Karimi

Due to detrimental effects of cyanidation process on the environment in gold industry, application of cyanide alternatives such as thiourea are being highly considered in recent projects. In this study, the extraction of gold from poly metal ore, using thiourea was precisely investigated. The representative sample contained 2.5 ppm Au and 160 ppm Ag. The sample was categorized as oxide gold ore, because the main part of its pyrite was changed to iron oxide and hydroxide such as goethite and lepidocrosite. According to mineralogy, the main gangue mineral was quartz. It shows that gold grains are free and interlocked with quartz matrix. Also, the presence of a high amount of silver in free and sulfide forms and also the low content of other sulfide minerals such as base metal sulfides is a remarkable point of these studies. In the gold extraction process with thiourea, there are several parameters that affect the rate of gold dissolution such as concentrations of thiourea as a gold lixiviant and ferric sulfate as an oxidant, pH and size fraction of feed and leaching time. The influence of these parameters on the gold dissolution rate were investigated and optimized. The results showed that the concentration of thiourea is the most influential parameter which could increase the gold recovery to 71% (at 10 g/kg sample). The optimal amount of ferric sulfate was determined as 6 g/kg sample. Also, the optimal levels of size fraction of feed and pH of solution were 88% under 75 micron and 2 as acidity; respectively. Leaching time was 6 hrs. In addition, this sample was leached with cyanide and the optimized values of size fraction of d88=75 microns, pH=10.45, 2500 ppm of sodium cyanide with time leaching of 24 hours were concluded for maximum recovery of gold in solution. Finally, the results of cyanidation tests were compared to the thiourea dissolution after optimizing all affected parameters in cyanidation process.

Jan 1, 2018

By Robert A. Bauer, Paul B. DuMontelle

In 1985, participants of the multi-year Illinois Mine Subsidence Research Program conducted surveys of subsidence effects on crop production from current high-extraction mining methods, selected a site to characterize the profile, strain, fracture development in overburden materials and changes in aquifers produced by subsidence from high-extraction mining, characterized floor materia1 s in three mines, and established bibliographic reference and data base files. The Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals and Twin Cities Research Center of the U. S. Bureau of Mines are coordinating State and Federally funded research.

Jan 1, 1986

By Tom Olsen, Tom Ohrling, Peter Taggart, Chris Martin

"North American Palladium commissioned the new concentrator at the Lac des Iles mine in the summer of 2001. The 15,000 tonnes per day mill replaced the existing 2,400 tonnes per day facility, as part of a major mine expansion.At Lac des Iles, the grain size distribution of the platinum group minerals (PGM) is bi-modal. Roughly two-thirds of the PGM are relatively coarse-grained, and often associated with fast floating copper and nickel sulphides. The remainder is ultra-fine, and locked in silicates, which poses a special challenge to the metallurgist. The previous mill typically recovered just the fast-floating mineralisation, but to achieve target recoveries, the new mill has to recover a substantial amount of the ultra-fine PGM. The metallurgical challenges associated with the recovery of fine-grained PGM in the talcous Lac des Iles ores, are described.The paper describes the approach used in circuit optimisation, and how metallurgical and operational optimisation raised palladium recoveries by more than 6% in six months, by tuning the circuit to recover some of the ultra-fine PGM mineralisation.BACKGROUNDThe Lac des Iles mine, owned and operated by North American Palladium Limited, is located about 115 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The mine originally opened in December 1993, and prior to 2001 included a mill capable of handling 2,400 tonnes per day of ore delivered from the nearby Roby pit.Following an intensive exploration programme conducted in 1999, and a detailed feasibility study, conducted in 2000, North American Palladium initiated a mine expansion project, the objective being to expand milling throughput from 2,400 tonnes per day to 15,000 tonnes per day. This required construction of an entirely new mill, which was commissioned in May 2001."

Jan 1, 2003

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

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

Jan 1, 1971

By Georg Keintzel

The origin and elimination of 3rd octave mill chatter is a frequently investigated topic since tandem cold mills are in operation. So far only chatter monitoring systems have been successfully deployed, but this implies speed reductions and therefore a significant loss in mill output. Primetals Technologies has developed a new system using active injection of damping in order to eliminate 3rd octave mill chatter. The new hydraulics-based ChatterBlock® Control has now been proven successfully in mill operation. 3rd octave mill chatter, typically occurring in a frequency range between 90 and 150Hz, is a self-excited vibration phenomena typically occurring in the rear stands of tandem cold mills. It can produce significant gauge variations and even cause strip breaks. 3rd octave mill chatter is characterized by a quickly diverging vertical vibration of the rolls for specific rolling conditions (material, mill speed, forces, gauge etc.). Its occurrence requires immediate speed reduction of the mill in order to avoid strip breakage and/or strip quality degradation. This phenomenon thus severely limits mill productivity. The first step to proof the industrial feasibility of the new system was its installation on stand no. 4 of a 5-stand tandem mill. The development process and first results of the industrial implementation will be presented in this paper.

Aug 16, 2017

PERSPECTIVE ?Natural resources exploration, extraction and beneficiation is complex and challenging: ?Input costs rising, complexity increasing, rising stakeholder management needs, regulatory compliance issue, etc. ?With increasing costs and complexity of managing operations are we simply getting less bang for our buck?

May 1, 2013

With the post-war expansion of mmmg activities on its Western group of mines, the management of Lake View and Star Limited has commenced a project for the improvement of underground ventilation.The major part of this project is to provide adequate return airways for the ventilation of the deep levels. To this end, the Ivanhoe South Extended shaft is being enlarged, and ultimately an exhaust fan with a capacity of 180,000 cu. ft. of air per minute will be installed at the shaft collar.Prior to 1932, the shaft was used exclusively for baling water from the 800 and 2,000 ft. levels. These two levels are the only ones connected to workings from the Horseshoe lease. After the installation of pumping plant at the Horseshoe Main Shaft, baling was discontinued, and the water was graVitated from dams to the pumps on the 1,000 and 2,000 ft. levels.Water makes into the shaft, through a series of fault planes, between the 600 and 1,500 ft. horizons. The total flow is 16 gal. per minute, of which approximately 7 gal. per minute graVitates to the 800 ft. level. As a big proportion of the water dropped uncontrolled through the shaft, a downcast current of air approximating 20,000 c.f.m. was induced. This air ventilated a limited area of workings in the Horseshoe lease, between the 2,000 and 2,360 ft. levels.In 1938, it was decided to reverse the direction of the airflow in the shaft. Work was carried out to pipe the...

Jan 1, 1948

By O Kirtel, A A. Faizan

With the rapid increase and development of high-speed trains (HSTs), the problems such as train-induced ground vibration and its dynamic effects on nearby structures have become a major environmental concern in urban areas. Ground-born vibrations produced by high-speed trains pose a great challenge for engineers to build structures in such areas that is applicable for residents. In order to study the effect of train-induced ground vibration on nearby buildings, an advanced three-dimensional finite element model for train-induced ground vibrations has been developed using PLAXIS 3D Ultimate. The results of the in situ measurements which was previously carried out by the authors were used to validate the numerical model. The field test for ground vibration due to the passage of a high-speed train was carried out on the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway in Turkey with a train speed of 250 km/h. An in-depth analysis was achieved to investigate the effect of different soil properties on the train-induced ground vibrations by using the verified model. According to the result of the vibration analysis, the relative vibration response curves in all directions (x, y, z) for different soil conditions were obtained comparatively. The obtained results of the vibration analysis are discussed in order to figure out some useful conclusions.

Nov 29, 2022

By K. C. Ko, D. A. Pifer

The theory of probability with respect to the failure of structures is discussed. It is shown that the probability of safety, probability of failure, and factor of safety are directly related to each other and that as standard deviation approaches zero, the probability curves approach a unit step function which can be interpreted as the conventional factor of safety. The factor of safety is numerically the ratio of the load to the strength of the material at a particular point or plane in an engineering structure. Mathematically, it can be illustrated as a unit step function undefined at the point where the factor of safety is one (Fig. 1). The uncertainty of variation of soil and rock strengths require factors of safety much higher than those used in other engineering structures. The factors of safety used are generally determined from past experiences with similar structures. However, the factors thus determined do not have any theoretical meaning or do not indicate any relationship to actual safety.' It seems, therefore, logical to develop a system with a sound theoretical basis to obtain a more suitable factor of safety for structures. An application of elementary theory of probability indicates that it is possible to relate this number to theoretical and practical engineering facts.

Jan 1, 1971

By Hermann Wotruba, Günther Petzold, Fabian Riedel

"Increased mechanisation in underground stoping operations results in higher waste percentages in the run of mine. A new method of reducing waste is optical sorting. Optical sorters have low maintenance costs and can be installed underground. Rejected waste can be backfilled directly without having to be hoisted, therefore increasing the shaft capacity for a more valuable product.Pre-Concentration by Optical SortingA series of tests with an optical sorter at the laboratories of the Mineral Processing Department of the RWTH Aachen have shown that it is technically possible to sort almost any kind of ROM which has even slight differences in colour (Platinum Reef, Gold Reef, Kimberlites, Industrial Minerals, Aggregates, Coal, etc.).By employing optical sorters prior to conventional sorting plants, it is possible to reduce the amount of waste to be processed. Figure one shows test results of ore which is quite similar in colour to the waste (grey). With increasing waste in the feed, the recovery decreases according to the graph. In figure two, the colour ratio parameter of the sorter was changed with a similar waste percentage in the feed. With increasing loss of ore, a cleaner product can be achieved. Before designing a sorting plant, throughput tests are carried out. Throughputs vary depending on the size range. Sorters have a limit of about 250mm top size. In this upper size range, throughputs of 150t/h can be achieved."

Jan 1, 2003

By R. S. Dean

[In E;encralt the I~8:al:ul',~,C,-J. Div:'sion conducts in\'8stigations relat-ing to the treatment of OrGR o.nd L!\3tallurl..'"lcal prod tctR froJ] t~e condi tion in :hich they are Itinod to t!1e refi!l(,u r.etal, . ' th 'the ob,icct of conserving natmal' resources .e..nd 81:mir..3.tin~ wacte by furn.i:::hir..g :nforInf'_tiou on current methods of metal11:.rgical practice, Tfu'..:.kir..g fund T!l;ntal .;;.otudie'" of metal-lurgical processe~, and de~eloping ~e~ proc6sses O~Q lloys to the point of dewonctrati:r:g the:'..r practicab'lity or va.lue}

Jan 1, 1941

By B. H. Caudle, A. R. Khan

The oil production performance of thin-oil-column type reservoirs producing entirely by natural water drive are discussed in this paper. The dimensionless production histories were obtained in a series of scaled porous-medium laboratory-model tests under varying effects of rate of production, mobility ratio across moving boundary, ratio of oil- and water-sand thickness and mobility ratio across fixed boundary including the effects of different residual oil saturations in the water-invaded regions. This scaled-model study of thin oil columns indicated that greater recovery of oil results for lower values of the following: rate of production, mobility ratio across the moving boundary, water-sand thickness relative to the oil-sand thickness, and mobility ratio across the fixed boundary or residual oil saturation in the water-invaded region of oil sand The results of the study are given as dimensionless production history plots which may be used to predict the performance of the field they represent. INTRODUCTION Oil fields producing under natural water drive can be classified into two major groups: (1) an "edge-water drive" reservoir group in which the water is encroaching from the reservoir periphery, and (2) the group of reservoirs in which the oil-sand is entirely underlain by an aquifer. Reservoirs in the second group are further subclassified as "bottom-water drive" reservoirs and "thin-oil-column" reservoirs. The latter reservoirs are characterized by their relatively equal oil- and water-sand thicknesses and by having both the oil and water zone relatively thin. When oil is produced from a water-drive reservoir by a partially penetrating well, water breaks through sooner or later before all of the displace-able oil is recovered. Many analyses of this general situation have been made with varying degrees of realism in their approaches, both theoretical and experimental5.6 in nature. Pertaining to the scaled laboratory model studies of natural water drives using porous media, detailed investigations have been made by Henley, et al.7 on bottom-water drive and by Caudle8 on edge-water drive reservoirs. No laboratory model studies, however, have been made to investigate the performance characteristics of thin-oil-column reservoirs. This paper presents the results of a study on scaled models of thin-oil-column reservoirs, operated under varying conditions corresponding to the actual field practices. SCALING PARAMETERS The object of scaling is to produce a one-to-one relationship between physical and dynamic parameters of the model -and prototype. The most comprehensive treatment of scaling techniques for oil reservoirs is given by Geertsma, et a1.,9 which covers two methods for arriving at dimensionless groups for scaling. Table 1 lists the scaling parameters suitable for creating kinematic and dynamic similarities between the model and the prototype in the variables considered for the thin-oil-column reservoirs. In order to achieve similarity it is essential that the dimensionless groups listed in Table 1 have equal values in the model and the protorype simulated. Since it has been established that the role of interfacial forces is neglible in gross fluid movement in a reservoir no attempt was made to scale capillary forces- Although there are reports describing Scaling criteria for these forces,10,ll consideration of the necessary but restrictive conditions for

Jan 1, 1970