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By D. L. Katz

In the management of oil properties, it is always desirable to know the future behavior of oil wells and oil reservoirs. Some estimation of the quantity of oil and gas that will be produced must be made as a basis for decisions on possible returns on investments in lifting equipment, drilling of additional wells, and other operating expenditures. In new or wildcat areas, operating expenditures are considered highly speculative, but in the completion of partly drilled and the operation of producing fields it is good business to remove as much speculation as possible. An accurate knowledge of oil and gas reserves in such cases would solve many management problems. The term "oil reserves" usually signifies the future ultimate recovery without specifying the method of production. Thus with changing methods and innovations in the production industry, reserves of any definite reservoir may be increased by increasing the portion of oil recovered. The usual reserve estimates are made by comparisons of well and formation characteristics, by using a percentage recovery on the oil content of the formation volume using porosity data, by extending production curves on non-prorated wells, or by extending bottom-hole pressure-production curves. The most reliable method would appear to be one that would estimate the initial quantity of oil and gas present and then obtain percentage recovery values for various productive methods and formations from experience. It is the purpose of this paper to describe a method of estimating the initial quantity of oil and gas present in a reservoir. The method is based on field operating data and the properties of crude oil-gas mixtures. The principles involved, the data required, the assumptions necessary, and an example of the method will be given. The method is entirely independent of sand volumes and formation porosities. Principles of Method The method of estimating the initial quantity of oil and gas present is based upon the premise that the volume occupied by oil and gas in the reservoir is constant and that a mixture of crude oil and gas will behave in

Jan 1, 1936

By D. Harrington, C. W. Owings

"The belief is now fairly general among the coal-mining people of the United States that one of the most effective methods of preventing wide-spread coalmine .explosions is that of introducing rock-dust into coal mines to reduce the inflammability or explosibility of dusts found on mine surfaces. Notwithstanding this belief it is improbable that even a small fraction of 1 per cent of the coal mines of the United States are at all adequately protected by rock-dust; in a survey made in the summer, and fall of 1927 it was found that but 463 out of more than 7,000 operating bituminous and lignitic coal mines were using rock-dust at all, and that few if any of the 463 were fully or adequately protected by rock-dusting.Inspections of a large number of mines through the United States by Bureau of Mines safety division field men have failed to reveal a single adequately rock-dusted mine, Yet there is no doubt that many of the owners and operators believed their properties to be fully protected by rock-dust against the much-feared hazard of widespread explosion. Two of the most disastrous explosions of recent years occurred at properties where the owners were definitely of the belief that the rock-dusting done had made the mines immune to widespread explosion involving coal-dust. In both instances it was found that although some rock-dusting had been done, the mines were more nearly 1 per cent than 100 per cent rock-dusted.This condition as to inefficiency or insufficiency of rock-dusting in the coal mines of the United States is almost universal, and unless our mining men awaken to its, dangers, the disaster record of the coal-mining industry is much more likely to become worse than better. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, the attention of the safety division of the United States Bureau of Mines was called to. 22 explosions With 320 fatalities in bituminous coal mines of the United States; and of the 22 explosions there were 10 with 258 fatalities in mines that were listed as having used rock-dust; upon investigation it was found that as usual the rock-dusting had been anything but comprehensive or adequate. It is probable that in a very few instances last year the relatively small amount of rock-dusting stopped the .extension of the explosion and thus prevented further expansion of the death list. In general, however, the explosions occurred in a part of the mine that had not been rock-dusted - and right here is the crux of the failure or probable failure of present-day rock-dusting in the United States, There should be no part of any bituminous or coal mine in which all of the exposed surfaces (roof, ribs, and floor) have not been thoroughly rock-dusted and kept thoroughly rock-dusted. In other words, all exposed surfaces of all accessible places in bituminous and lignitic coal mines should be kept covered with rock-dust so that the combined rock-dust coal-dust mixture at all times and in all places has less than 35 or 40 per cent combustible matter, The only exception to this rule is that surfaces which are wet (and this does not mean merely damp) need not be rock-dusted. However, a mine opening may have several inches of water on the floor and yet have much explosive dust on the ribs and roof above the water; in such places the ribs and roof should be kept rock-dusted, irrespective of the wetness of the floor."

Nov 1, 1928

By Terence Makanyire, Animesh Jha

The dissolution and chemical properties of vanadium, zirconium, and niobium in rutile lattice are analyzed by comparing the octahedral site preference energies, with respect to Ti4+ ion in the solvent phase. The oxides are often present in rutile lattice and interfere in achieving the quality of pigment grade TiO2 due to favourable Gibbs energy for dissolution in the solvent rutile matrix. Binary mixtures of V2O5 { TiO2; Nb2O5 { TiO2 and ZrO2 { TiO2 with compositions of 80, 85, 90, 95 and 97 wt% TiO2 were made, pelletized and sintered at 1100 °C for 24 hours. The solidsolution mixtures were then cooled and leached in 2M NaOH for 3 hours at 60 °C. Phase and lattice parameter characterizations, and microstructural and compositional analyses were then carried out using X-ray diraction and SEM/EDX, respectively. The leachates were analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), using which the solute dissolution model for oxides were investigated.

Jan 1, 2014

By Jack Zhang, Yunguo Tang, Baodong Zhao

"Rare earth elements (REEs) have numerous key applications in both traditional and advanced technologies. A shortage of some critical REEs is expected due to the discrepancy between the REE abundance in REE deposits and the REE demand from the market. For example, Neodymium, Europium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Erbium and Yttrium are expected to be in short supply. REE recovery and separation from secondary resources such as uranium wastes, heavy mineral sands, and recycled materials can balance the shortfall in a cost effective way.The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is engaged in the development and commercialization of complete REE recovery and separation technologies in Canada. One of SRC’s newest developments is the design and commissioning of a heavy rare earth (HREE) separation pilot plant. The pilot plant uses hundreds of stages of solvent extraction (SX) to produce high purity individual HREEs from both primary and secondary resources.This paper presents the design of an HREE recovery process for the particular case of uranium processing wastes. The separation results of a group separation are reported and discussed, as well as the issues and the challenges of the development, commissioning and operation of the continuous SX pilot plant.IntroductionSignificant amounts of strategic specialty heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) are found in uranium wastes in Saskatchewan. It estimated that about 47 tonne/a of heavy rare earth element oxides (HREO) including 27 tonne/a of Y2O3, plus 6 tonne/a of Sc2O3 are in the raffinate of every uranium mill for potential recovery. Since the HREEs are already in the raffinate, cost effective HREE production is promising in Saskatchewan.Selective precipitation including nutraulization, oxalate and double-salts precipitation, as well as sulfide precipitation, ion exchange (IX) and SX are commonly used technologies for the recovery and purification of REE solution. REE oxalate precipitation is an effective technology to remove Fe, Al, Ca, Si and other impurities by taking the advantages of the solubility difference between oxalates of REEs and impurities in acidic solution (Xu, 2005)."

Jan 1, 2017

By Frederick P. Schwarz

Sample preparation and analysis can impose devastating errors on assay data. Minimizing these errors by testing and procedural redesign may be critical to assure representative assays and project success. Replicate samples, taken at any volume-reduction and/or analytical step in a sampling procedure, generate replicate assay values whose relative differences constitute a set of data. Variance of this data judges the addition to total sampling error imposed by the step generating the replicates. A variance more than (11.5%)' is excessive for a single step. Sample volume increase and/or comminution at a step will reduce variance for that step. Rejects from well mineralized intercepts can provide bulk samples for testing.

Jan 1, 1989

By Amauri Garcia, Noé Cheung, André dos Santos Barros, Clarissa Barros da Cruz

Embora a resistência ao desgaste seja geralmente a principal propriedade avaliada decorrente da adição de terceiros elementos em ligas Al-Sn, não somente os fenômenos tribológicos são responsáveis pela deterioração gradual das peças, mas também os fenômenos relacionados à corrosão. Dessa forma, o presente estudo objetiva analisar o efeito de características microestruturais formadas durante a solidificação transiente da liga Al-9%Sn-5%Zn na resistência à corrosão em solução 0,06M NaCl investigada por polarização potenciodinâmica e espectroscopia de impedância eletroquímica. Foi observada uma morfologia microestrutural caracterizada por dendritas da fase α-Al com concentrações de Zn tanto na matriz dendrítica quanto em regiões ricas em Sn localizadas nos contornos interdendríticos. A evolução dos espaçamentos dendríticos primários (λ1) também foi correlacionada com parâmetros térmicos de solidificação. Finalmente, constatou-se que a amostra com microestrutura mais grosseira, ou seja, λ1 = 89,6 μm, apresentou comparativamente menor densidade de corrente de corrosão e maior resistência à polarização.

Oct 1, 2019

By Nidhi Kumari

This work is based on surface chemical properties of bacteria during adaptation to high grade copper minerals and the projected consequences in Bio-Flotation process. The utility of bio-processing in the beneficiation of copper ore through bio-flotation is demonstrated. An autotroph Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans bacterium is adapted to high grade mixed copper ore sample by repeated subcultures. The surface characteristics were studies by analyses at different pH and time intervals. From the studies, it was established that the mineral-adapted cells became more hydrophobic as compared to unadapted cells during bio-flotation. It was also noticed that there was no significant changes in the surface charge of bacteria before and after adaptation. Keywords: bio-flotation, copper, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, hydrophobic

Sep 1, 2012

By P. A. C. Wilson

Instantaneous outbursts of carbon dioxide in coal mines have occurred in Germany only in one part of the Waldenburg-Neurode mining district.' This mining region comprises the northeastern fold of the "Innersudetian" coal basin. The basin (Fig. 1) is in the form of a geologic trough approximately 60 km. (37 miles) long and 30 to 35 km. (19 to 22 miles) broad and is enclosed on three sides by ancient truncated mountain ranges—the Riesengebirge, the Bober-Katzbachgebirge and the Eulenge-birge. Only the southeastern part of the trough is not enclosed by mountains of older rock formation. The floor of the basin before the building up of the coal measures was formed on the western, northwestern and northeastern borders by the material from Archean rocks (gneiss and mica schists); in the northern part over this was deposited the Silurian formation. The carboniferous period is represented both by the Lower ("kulm") and Upper Carboniferous, with an unconformity between the stages; that is, the kulm was tilted up and partly eroded before the Upper Carboniferous was deposited. The kulm is a salt-water formation (with marine fauna) but Upper Carboniferous rocks are nonsaline water deposits, with fresh-water flora only. The Lower Silesian coal measures were thus formed in a lime basin fed by the running water coming down from the mountains. As already indicated, the bottom series of the Upper Carboniferous formation, termed "Waldenburg strata" were laid down unconformably on the Lower Carboniferous. Over the Waldenburg strata there are the "Weisstein strata," an intermediate barren stage without coal beds, 400 to 500 m. (1300 to 1600 ft.) thick. Another unconformity followed, which is overlain by the '(Saarbrucken" series, which contain the upper coal measures, and the ('Ottweil" strata. In the last named, it is only on the southwestern fold that beds of coal are developed.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

LIFE will not be difficult for those who attend the fall meeting of the Petroleum Division at the Conoco Club, Ponca City, Okla., Sept. 30-Oct. 1. An attractive program to appeal to oil company executives and lawyers, as well as technologists, has been arranged and the Continental Oil Co. has contributed for the occasion the buildings, grounds and facilities of the club. E. 0. Bennett, Continental Oil Co., Ponca City, is chairman of the arrangements committee, and reservations for rooms and trips, requests for information, etc., should be sent to him.

Jan 1, 1932

By Fredy Rolando Castillo Peña

El presente trabajo describe el impacto de la crisis financiera mundial en la industria minera y su interrelación con la gestión de las comunidades circundantes al área de influencia de las operaciones mineras y del Estado a través de sus instituciones públicas y locales. Es decir, la crisis financiera internacional brinda a los empresarios mineros la oportunidad de replantear el enfoque tradicional de las acciones de RSE (Responsabilidad social empresarial) y así realizar una redistribución presupuestal adecuada e involucrada en una gestión efectiva con valores estratégicos en los líderes de la comunidad y del Estado.

Sep 14, 2009

By Enrique Cervantes

Durante mucho tiempo, las vetas angostas generaron inquietud para los operadores mineros - en tanto su morfología provoca una baja productividad, así como el aspecto técnico obliga a depurar sus sistemas. En ese sentido, el presente texto refiere el método de corte y relleno como el más adecuado para la explotación de vetas puesto que puede adaptarse a las características de este tipo de yacimientos, además del alto grado de flexibilidad para adoptar algún cambio de sistema.

Sep 1, 1982

By W Skinner, C G. Kelsey, J R. Kelly

The iron ore industry has reached the end of an unprecedented period of expansion triggered by China’s demand for iron ore. Lower ore prices have led producers to focus on optimising mining operations while extracting the maximum tonnage from the infrastructure presently in place or from projects already underway. A rising global surplus is expected to further force ore prices down and lead to output curtailments, which in turn will help to restore market balance. However, investment in the development of new resources and the development of new infrastructure will inevitably become necessary. Making the right decisions in relation to future processing infrastructure in a climate of uncertain demand and price volatility will not be as straightforward as in the past, where expanding the scale of a proposed operation has been the answer to ensuring economic viability. Overall cost and environmental pressures particularly in relation to wet processing will dominate the decision-making process. IMP Technologies (IMPTEC) has anticipated the need for a dry low cost processing alternative, which can open the way for the development of lower grade magnetite deposits and ensure the sustainability of processing in Australia. The lower grade magnetite deposits are generally fine grained and require grinding to p80 of 30 to 40 microns. Historically, the cost of grinding to these sizes has been and remains a key factor determining the economic viability of a magnetite processing operation. The IMPTEC Super-fine Crusher and Cyclomag Separator are the key components of a proposed radically simplified dry processing alternative, which addresses both cost and environmental issues. This paper reports on the results of pilot super-fine crushing and cyclomag separation test work, focused on supporting the feasibility of the proposed dry processing route for the production of high-grade pellet plant feed from fine grained low-grade magnetic ores.CITATION:Kelsey, C G, Kelly, J R and Skinner, W, 2017. Dry processing of magnetic iron ores – addressing cost and environmental issues, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 215–220 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By V. N. Kolesnikov

The Sikhote-Alin part of the Circum-Pacific Ore Belt is characterized by wide distribution of Sn, Pb, Zn, W; Au, Ag, and other mineralization. This mineralization is regionally associated with the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary East Sikhote-Alin volcanic belt where it overlaps the Taukha accretiollary-wedge terrane of the Early Cretaceous age. The Pb-Zn deposits of the Dalnegorsk ore district may be grouped into the skarn (about 80%) and vein types. The skarn deposits are of major commercial value. Their geological position is controlled by the carbonate units located within tectonic melange of the Taukha terrane. Some other lithological and tectonic factors also play a significant role ill distribution of the mineralization. The ore bodies are traced to the depth of 1000-1500 m below the surface, having a pipe-lens shape and vertical zonation. Major minerals of the ores are galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotine, chalkopyrite, hedenbergite, quartz, and calcite. The minor elements of the Pb-Zn mineralization are cadmium, silver, bismuth, and copper. The paper describes relationships between mineral suites and minor element contents in the ores, as well as their significance for processing the ores. The metallurgy applied allows high recovering of the major components (Pb -93.9%; Zn -91.4%). However the tails contain some minor components that may be of commercial interest.

Jan 1, 1998

By William C. McBee

Sulfur concretes have been developed by the Bureau of Mines as construction materials with physical and mechanical properties that suit them for use in acid and salt corrosive environments where conventional concretes fail. Mixture design methods were established for preparing sulfur concretes using different types of aggregates and recently developed mixed-modified sulfur cements Bench-scale testing of the sulfur concretes has shown their potential value. Corrosion resistance, strength, and durability of sulfur concrete are superior to those of conventional materials. Field in situ evaluation tests of the sulfur concretes as replacement for conventional concrete materials are in progress in corrosive areas of 24 commercial chemical, fertilizer, and metallurgical plants.

Jan 1, 1983

By K. K. Clark

Excessive injection pressures in water injection wells may create deeply penetrating fractures, or may open up existing reservoir fractures. If these fractures are oriented toward offset producing wells, oil recovery at injected water breakthrough and ultimate recovery will be impaired. A method of calculating fracture lengths from pressure fall-off test data is presented. The method is based on a linear flow model that simulates conditions present during the early-time period after shutting in an injection well. Fracture lengths can be calculated directly if formation permeability is known. A graphical technique is presented that provides fracture lengths based on permeabilities calculated from normal fall-off tests, where those permeabilities are adjusted for flow geometry. Test data from four injection wells and results obtained from applying the method to these wells are discussed. Introduction Rates of water injection into nonstimulated wells in low permeability reservoirs frequently fall below economically desirable levels. Therefore, some form of stimulation such as hydraulic fracturing often is performed on these wells. Usually these fractures penetrate a short distance from the well — short as compared with interwell spacing — and therefore should not create problems of water channeling to offset producing wells. In the past, some operators have been tempted to increase injection pressures continually to maintain a specified injection rate. But pressures cannot be increased indefinitely. Field data indicate that continued injection above fracture opening pressure can cause excessively long fractures to approach between well distances. If these long fractures intersect or closely approach offset producing wells, premature water breakthrough can result. It is difficult to seal effectively these fractures by various workover procedures after premature water breakthrough has occurred. This paper describes testing procedures that are potentially capable of detecting premature water breakthrough before it occurs. Knowledge of fracture lengths and fracture opening pressures can assist field engineers in selecting optimum operating conditions for water injection wells. Fracture lengths should be calculated from pressure fall-off tests on injection wells, and maximum permissible iniection pressures should be determined from step-rate injectivity tests. Equipped with this information, the field engineer is in a better position to recommend for a particular injection well the optimum operating conditions that will lessen the chances of channeling to offset producers. Historically, pressure transient tests have been conducted primarily on producing wells and analysis procedures have been based on radial flow concepts. Several authors have suggested that these same procedures be applied to tests conducted on water injection wells. This application is justified for wells that are not connected to extensive fracture systems. However, if the formation is severely fractured, the interpretation methods must be modified. Several authors have presented the pressure response of various systems that are intended to simulate reservoir conditions. A paper by Russell and Truitt* on vertically fractured svstems is probablv the most useful from the standpoint bf the fieid engineer. Russell and Truitt presented the pressure-vs-time behavior of a well connected to vertical fractures with various fixed lengths. Their permeability adjustment technique is used in this paper to refine methods of calculating fracture length and interwell permeability. Theory and Definitions Three flow-system geometries are considered in analyzing injection well test data. These various geometries are applicable during specific time intervals of transient pressure tests. Schematic drawings of the flow models, and the time intervals over which they are applicable, are shown in Fig. 1 in the chronological order that they are applied to the pressure response of water injection wells in fractured formations. The very early response is simulated by an infinite linear system as shown in Fig. 1A. This representation permits the calculation of matrix surface area exposed to the fracture. The model shown in Fig. 1B is identical with the one studied by Russell and Truitt. They evaluated the transient pressure response of this vertically fractured system by finite difference techniques. The results were presented as tabulations of dimensionless pressure drop functions for a range of fracture lengths. A semilog plot of these data shows that the apparent matrix permeability can be related to the true matrix permeability by a simple exponential function. Their adjustment factor is used in this paper to improve the accuracy of matrix-permeability and fracture-length calculations.

Jan 1, 1969

By E. O. Wagner, V. F. Parry, J. B. Goodman

C. P. HEINER*—If you take out 35 pct of the total weight of the coal in the form of moisture, would that be about what it was in the case of North Dakota lignites ? V. F. PARRY (authors' reply)—That is about it. C. P. HEINER—That will be about a 35 pct loss and the final product will be about 11,000 Btu? V. F. PARRY—That is right. The heating value of the dried lignite is 10,000 to 11,000 Btu. C. P. HEINER—And the thought is not, then, to produce a commercial coal with that heavy loss, but to make other products—that is, synthetic fuel base, is that it? V. F. PARRY—The principal thought is to upgrade the coal, making it a more favorable raw material for industrial purposes, both for shipment and direct use. You see, the trouble in these lignites is that their moisture penalizes their

Jan 1, 1950

By Melinda Bissinger, Frederic Berube

Environmental considerations are important in the aerospace industry. To that effect, several elements such as engine emission, noise and materials are identified by the industry and the society as requiring significant improvements for future and current products in order to be aligned with current expectations. In this context, the industry is addressing this opportunity by investing significantly in new engineering solutions that will meet greener targets. To this effect, the impact of material choice is significant and will make a difference in the forth coming solutions. Several opportunities to develop more efficient products, quieter aircrafts using materials and manufacturing processes that will be more respectful of environmental considerations exist. The presentation will cover those elements and provide an overview of the upcoming solutions.

Jan 1, 2010

By R. M. Cox

Pneumatic coal loading and conveying systems provide alternative methods for the safe and efficient mining of the thin, high-grade coal seams found in the Southern Appalachians. Pneumatic systems eliminate most of the health and safety hazards associated with the operation of conventional mining and haulage equipment in small low-coal mines by removing powered mobile equipment from the mine. Ventilation is also improved by the coincidental removal of gas and respirable dust from the mine by the operation of the pneumatic loading and conveying system. Other significant advantages of pneumatic coal recovery systems are relative simplicity, operating flexibility, low capital cost, quiet operations, environmental benefits and ease of automation. The design considerations and field evaluations of experimental prototype pneumatic coal loading and conveying systems installed and operated in small thin-seam mines are presented in this paper. In addition, fundamental design criteria and recommendations for the installation and operation of a variety of pneumatic coal loading and conveying systems that offer alternative coal-recovery systems that alleviate the serious health and safety concerns of current small mine operations are proposed.

Jan 1, 2000

By G. Austin Schroter, Ian Campbell

ALTHOUGH there is now an extensive literature on the bleaching clays, not a great deal of material is to be found concerning the geological features of these deposits and their bearing on problems of exploration and development. At the same time, chemical and crystallographic research on the clay minerals during the past few years has laid a suitable foundation upon which to base conclusions of economic value drawn from field observations. All of the criteria and deductions herein presented are based upon extensive field work by the senior author, both in the United States and Canada, and when subjected to the ultimate tests of development and exploitation they have held up remarkably well, despite the fact that many of these conclusions apparently have not been reviewed in the literature heretofore. The nomenclature of the bleaching clays is rather confusing in the light of present-day commercial standards and has even led to litigation." The old term "fuller's earth" is largely based upon trade usage and the definition of the term therefore is dependent upon the changing standards of commerce. For statistical purposes the Bureau of Mines81 classes as "fuller's earth" all natural bleaching or filtering claylike materials that possess high adsorptive capacity without previous chemical treatmerit or activation. Conversely, the so-called activated or acid activated clays are now generally recognized as any clay mineral or mixture of the clay minerals whose adsorptive capacity has been developed to commercial standards by chemical or physical treatment. Therefore, without attempting to propose any additions to the nomenclature of bleaching clays, this paper will refer to naturally adsorptive clays and activable clays, respectively, for the two types indicated.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. C. IlsLey

A preliminary investigation has recently been made by the U. S. Bureau of Mines to determine whether or not the ordinary mine- type telephone is entirely safe in gaseous atmospheres . Two well known makes of mine- type phones were purchased for this investigation . It is not conceivable that the current necessary for talking over telephones could ignite gas . However , such phones are provided with efficient magnetos , and it was believed that danger might result from the ringing of the magneto . Again , while this type of phone has been designed to have a certain measure of dust and moisture tightness , evidently it has not been designed as an explosion- proof device . either with regard to cover joints and fastenings or strength of castings . Therefore , the problem was simplified . First it was assumed that owing to the construction of the telephones the gas would penetrate into their interior , and the question was to ascertain whether or not the gas would be ignited from the operation of the magneto .

Jan 1, 1922