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By T. D. Mueller, H. Dykstra

This paper describes a method for obtaining compositions of gas and oil phases in equilibrium with each other at a given reservoir temperature and pressure as lean or enriched gas is injected into a reservoir oil not in equilibrium with the gas. The method is based on calculation of equilibrium constants, K, from the equation log Kp = A + B F, where p is pressure and F is component characterization factor. A and B are constants that vary with a composition parameter. The paper explains how A and B could be determined with a minimum amount of data. The method consists of calculating equilibrium constants as a function of liquid composition and using the K's to calculate changes in compositiort of injection gas as it successively contacts original resetvoir oil at the gas-oil front and the change in composition of reservoir oil as it is successively contacted by the injection gas in the vicinity of an injection well. An iterative process is required. Two examples of the method are given which show how oil and gas compositions and properties are calculated with the aid of a computer. INTRODUCTION The calculation of recovery from lean-gas or enriched-gas injection into a saturated or under-saturated reservoir oil requires a knowledge of how phase properties change in a reservoir between injection well and producing well. To determine the phase compositions or properties experimentally would be difficult and time consuming, especially if one wanted to look at the effect of various injection gas compositions. For some fields an engineer would want to make preliminary calculations on the economics of gas injection before he makes the decision to spend a corrsiderable sum of money for laboratory work to obtain the necessary fluid properties. A method for calculatine compositions and properties based on a minimum of laboratory data is described. The minimum amount of data required is injection gas and reservoir oil composition and injection gas solubility as a function of pressure for an undersaturated oil, or the compositions of mixtures of reservoir fluid with two or more enriched gases, which mixtures have a bubble-point pressure that is the same as the expected average displacement pressure. On the other hand, if the economics appear to be attractive, more laboratory data can be obtained in the form of equilibrium constants for three or more mixtures of the reservoir fluid and injection gases. The method is based on the calculation of K's from the equation, log Kp = A + B F, where K is equilibrium constant, p is pressure and F is component characterization factor. This method of plotting K data by means of the above equation is described by Hoffman, Crump and Hocott.1 A and B are constants that vary with a composition parameter. It is shown how experimental data are used to determine how A and B vary with composition. BASIS OF METHOD EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANTS Equilibrium constant (K) data are required for this method. The K of each component is obtained from an equation that gives the product of K and pressure as a function of component characterization factor. The characterization factor F = b(l/Tb — l/T), where b is a constant characteristic of a given component, Tb is the boiling point in OR at atmospheric pressure of the given component, and T is the temperature of the system in OR. This method of plotting K data is described by Hoffman, Crump and Hocott.l The straight-line equation of the log Kp - F plot is log hp = log Kop +BFi, where Kop is at F =0, i designates the component, and B is the slope of the line. The factor F can be

Jan 1, 1966

By PHILIP N. MOORE

THE development of the power of the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals has become a matter of political interest as well as engineering possibility. The controversy over it has been so active that the facts have been obscured, the possibilities exaggerated. Although the members of the American Institute of Mining & Metallurgical Engineers are not generally specialists in hydroelectric development, those who visited Muscle Shoals in October, following the Birmingham meeting of the Institute, were interested, and many of them surprised to learn the actual conditions. These have long been familiar to those who have studied the matter through the reports of the U. S. Engineers on the subject. The approved plan contemplates three dams-No. 1, a low dam close to the City of Florence, planned in the interests of navigation, since the construction of the other dams has rendered impossible the use of the river without it. No. 2-named the Wilson Dam is now under construction. Concerning it political argumentation has waged. No. 3 Dam-much smaller, is planned to be erected several miles above No. 2.

Jan 1, 1925

By J. J. Gilman, T. A. Read

S URFACE effects in the cleavage of brittle crystals have been known for some oftime,1, 2 but our knowledge of surface effects in the plastic deformation of crystals is of relatively recent origin. In 1936, Roscoe9 eported his observations comparing oxidized and clean cadmium crystals. He found that cadmium crystals 1/2 mm in diam when covered by an oxide film less than 1200 atoms thick had critical shear stresses about twice those for clean crystals. This effect is anomalous in that it cannot be caused by the inherent shear strength of a normal oxide film. Either an interaction between the film and the crystal causes the large increase in strength, or the oxide film has an abnormal mechanical strength. Several authors since Roscoe have studied surface effects in crystal plasticity. A complete review of the literature will not be presented, but most of the results may be summarized as follows: 1—The critical shear stress for slip is increased markedly by very thin oxide films on zinc4 and cadmium crystals;" ' also, the entire stress-strain curve is raised by an oxide coating;3,4 both effects increase with decreasing specimen radius. 2—Surface active substances such as oleic acid destroy the hardening effect of oxide films.4, 6-8 The time required for the reduction of the hardening effect to begin increases with the viscosity of the solvent4~ 3—There has been dispute in recent years about the effects of surface active substances themselves on plastic deformation. Rehbinder, Lichtmann, and Maslenikov9 state that surface active substances reduce the strength of metal monocrystals markedly and increase the number of slip lines per unit length at a given strain. The effect varies with orientation for tin crystals being smallest for x, = 0, largest for x, = 45", and intermediate as x, + 90°.10 Several workers claim to have disproved the results of Rehbinder')"." but Rehbinder and Lichtmann9 have defended themselves and Masing with his collaborators" has confirmed some of Rehbinder's results. 4—Immersion of metal specimens in electrolytes such as sodium chloride reduces their strength12,13' and subsequent cathodic polarization increases the strength reduction. For noble metals, the strength reduction occurs for both anodic and cathodic polarization," increasing with increasing polarizing voltage. 5—Electroplated copper coatings effect the creep rates of zinc monocrystals. Poly crystals are not affected." 6—Immersion in dilute acid destroys the hardening effect of an hydroxide film. When an acid solution is applied to a steadily creeping crystal, the creep rate jumps to a very high value and then drops gradually to a steady value which is higher than the initial steady rate.*' " If the hydroxide film to be removed is very thin (about 100A thick), the creep rate does not change measurably, but a small rapid strain-increment is observed when dilute acid is applied." 7—Crystal plasticity depends on specimen dimensions. This was observed by Lichtmann and Ven-stroml" for monocrystalline tin and by Andrade and Kennedy" for polycrystalline lead. 8—Immerson of copper crystals in mercury has no effect on their stress-strain curves.'" 9—Bombardment of creeping cadmium crystals with a particles which penetrate the surface to only 0.005 mm may increase their creep rates as much as five times.''' The experiments which will be described in this paper pertain to: (a) the effect of a crystal's shape on its plastic deformation, and (b) the effect of metallic surface films on plastic deformation. For the work pertaining to (a), crystals of zinc, tin, and lead were grown which had various shapes. These were tested in simple tension. Macroscopic rotations about the tension axis which are unpredicted by the classical theory of slip were observed, and serrated edges were observed in tin crystals. For the work pertaining to (b), the effects of evaporated and electrodeposited films of copper, nickel, gold, and zinc on the mechanical properties of zinc, tin, and lead crystals were determined. The films influenced both slip and twinning of the crystals in creep and tensile tests. Experimental Details Chemically pure zinc, tin, and lead were used in this investigation. The zinc was 99.999t pct pure;

Jan 1, 1953

By R. E. Cook

This paper presents results of a study to determine to what extent errors in estimated free gas saturation affect the results of static pressure calculations from build-up curves in two-phase systems. Use is made of the method of pressure build-up curve analysis developed by Miller, Dyes and Hutchinson1 , with modifications for two-phase flow advanced by Perrine2. Cornhined fluid compressibility of gas-oil mixtures is included, with special attention given to the discontinuity that occurs in fluid compressibility at the saturation pressure and its effect on static pressure calculations from build-up curves. The sensitivity of static pressure calculations to errors in gas saturation is considered over wide ranges of formation and fluid properties and reservoir pressure conditions. It is concluded from this study that for analyses of two-phase pressure build-up curves (I) the use of under-saturated crude compressibility data, even when producing GOR's are at or near solution values, will result in very significant negative errors in calculated static pressrrre, and (2) except for large values of buildup curve .slope and/or very low crude gravities, rather large errors in calculated gas saturation can he tolerated without .significant effect on calculated static pressures. The conc1usions arc qualified as referring only to the effects of gas saturation and excludc possible errors in the nuumerous other factors that enter into the ancllysis of pressure build-up curves. INTRODUCTION As part of the analysis of basic data for several major Eocene reservoirs in the Bolivar Coastal field (Western Venezuela), it was necessary to analyze a large number of pressure build-up curves for oil permeability and static reservoir pressure. From performance data it became apparent that gravity segregation is very active in these reservoirs. As a result of this performance it was recognized that the free gas saturation within the oil leg of the reservoirs would be small but would be subject to certain errors in calculation due to the inaccuracy of relative permeability data in the low gas saturation region. Since all of the various methods of build-up curve analysis were originally derived for sin- gle-phase, constant compressibility systems, and since the presence of a small but rather indeterminate gas saturation would greatly affect the reservoir fluid compressibility, a study was undertaken to investigate the effect of gas saturation on the results of two-phase pressure build-up analyses. TWO-PHASE BUILD-UP CURVE ANALYSIS The method of analysis used in this investigation is basically that originally developed by Miller, Dyes and Hutchinson1, with modifications for two-phase flow advanced by Perrine2. Miller, et al, showed that the original equation for single-phase permeability away from the well bore, held for two-phase flow except that the calculated permeability is the effective permeability to oil away from the wellbore. This finding was acknowledged by Per-rine, who also presented the equation for effective gas permeability* as Since Eqs. 1 and 2 contain no terms influenced by fluid compressibility, no distinct problem should develop in calculating permeability from two-phase build-up curves. In regard to the calculation of static reservoir pressure from build-up curves in single-phase systems, the modified Miller, et al, method as presented by Perrine is briefly as follows. 1. From build-up curve data, PVT data for the reservoir fluid and the well spacing and sand thickness, calculate the climensionless shut-in time corresponding to the highest value of actual shut-in time (t, hrs) on the straight-line portion of a semi-log build-up curve. Dimenrsionless shut-in time is related to actual shut-in time by the relation, t- 0.000264 kt 2. From a graph of dimension less shut-in time vs dimensionless pressure difference (Fig. 1 1 ) find the value of dimensionless pressure difference corresponding to the value of 7 calculated under (1) above. Dimen-

By D. Weinstein, F. C. Holtz

AS a possible method of improving the elevated temperature strength properties of zirconium, an investigation was initiated on the feasibility of producing a dispersion-strengthened material. Because of the high reactivity of zirconium, its high solubility for oxygen, and the stability of the Zr-0 solid solution, the major problem in such a development is choice of a suitable dispersant. Thus, in the present investigation we were concerned primarily with the stability of various dispersants in the zirconium matrix. The experimental procedure consisted of blending powders of zirconium and a dispersant, followed by cold compaction and extrusion. The best available source of -325 mesh zirconium powder contained between 1500 and 3500 ppm Oz; to this material, powders of zirconium carbide (5 p max), vanadium carbide (5 p max), alumina (0.03 p average), lan-thana (0.8 to 2 p), ceria (0.8 to 2 p), yttria (0.8 to 2 p), calcia (44 p rnax), or thoria (0.6 to 0.8 p) were added in amounts of 7 vol pct and compacted at 65 tsi. A cylindrical compact having a density between 70 and 80 pct of theoretical and dimensions of 1 in. diam by 1-114 in. high was thus produced. After canning in copper, these billets could be extruded (5: 1) on a 54-ton capacity, slow-traverse hydraulic press with the billet temperature at 1550°F and the extrusion die at 900°F. However, lack of densifica-tion of some of the extruded billets necessitated ratios of at least 23 :1. Ultimately, all billets were successfully extruded at 1500°F to 0.190 in. diam (32 :I), fully dense rods using a 200-ton capacity press and a ram speed of 90 ipm. The microstructures of as-extruded Zr-7 vol pct LazOS and Zr-7 vol pct Y2Os are shown in Fig. l(a) and (c), respectively. These structures are similar to all the as-extruded materials and consist of an elongated, single-phase zirconium matrix dispersed with oxide or carbide particles. Very little porosity is observed, and the interface between matrix and particles appears satisfactory. The size and distribution of particles, however, are not ideally of the type desired for dispersion strengthening. Since the primary study was of particle stability with respect to zirconium, no attempt was made to overcome agglomeration during powder blending and fabrication. Some areas exhibit fine, well-distributed particles; undoubtedly, a small proportion is submicroscopic and has the

Jan 1, 1963

By James P. Sloss

A PERMANENT assay office is commonly established as part of the general plant equipment of operating gold and silver properties, but during the development stage of a mine, the cost of such an office is usually so assay work must be done elsewhere. In most instances only a few samples will be taken each day, but if the mine is to be developed scientifically, the analyses of those samples will guide further development. Under such circumstances, the time element in assay returns is important, since the lapse between the taking of the samples and the receipt of results may determine the success or failure of a small-mine operator. The following description of fur-

Jan 1, 1935

By J. B. Hiskey, G. Ramadorai

This paper presents the kinetics of leaching pure wulfenite (PbMoO,) with sodium sulfide solutions. Wulfenite dissolves in the presence of sulfide ion according to the following reaction: PbMoO , + S= PbS + MOO;. Synthetic galena is formed and molybdenum is released to solution as molybdate ion. The reaction follows the shrinking core model and the leaching mechanism involves mixed kinetics where both diffusion and chemical reaction are rate controlling. Molybdenum extraction is explained in terms of temperature, particle size, and sodium sulfide concentration.

Jan 1, 1977

The Alligator Ridge Project is owned jointly by Amselco Minerals Inc. and Occidental Minerals, with Amselco being the operator. It is the latest of Nevada' s gold heap leaching operations , having gone into operation in October of 1980 after a design and construction period of only seven and one-half months. Alligator Ridge is located about 77 km (48 miles) northwest of Ely, Nevada. Three separate but adjacent ore bodies will be mined: Vantage I, II and III. The first lies virtually at the surface and is totally oxidized; the second is somewhat deeper and contains some carbonaceous material; and the third is at the lowest horizon and contains substantial carbonaceous ore. The ore is a Carlin- type siltstone which has been silicified, especially at depth, and contains finely disseminated free gold. Exploration drilling on Alligator Ridge resulted in the defining of an ore reserve of about 4.54 million mt (5 million st) averaging 4. 12 g Au per mt (0. 12 oz Au per st). A pilot heap leaching program was run during 1979. Because of the high content of fine material in portions of the ore body, one test heap of 5,000 tons was leached, after being crushed to 19 mm (314 in.), in the conventional manner using cyanide and caustic while a second heap of 2,500 tons of ore was agglomerated with cement before leaching. Results of this work were reported at the 1980 American Mining Congress meeting by Paul Chamberlin (see Bibliography). The test work clearly indicated the superior leaching qualities of the agglomerated ore, and the plant was designed on this basis. Run-of-mine ore is crushed in an open-air crushing plant using a jaw crusher followed by two cone crushers, one standard and one shorthead. Provision was made to bypass the shorthead when the ore is wet from rain or snow. Crushed ore at 19 mm (314 in.) size is mixed with cyanide solution and cement, with the ratio of the latter to the ore being 2 to 5 kg per mt (4 to 10 lb per st). The resulting moisture content is about 870, and the fines are effectively bound to the coarse particles so that migration of the fines in the heap does not take place during leaching. For agglomeration, Amselco uses a rotating drum 2. 75 m 0 by 6 m long (9 ft 6 by 20 ft). For the same agglomeration, Candelaria uses three "grasshopper" conveyors, with introduction of caustic- cyanide solution at the conveyor transfer points. Provision was made for future addition of cement slurry at these same points.

Jan 1, 1981

By Henry M. Bates, Roscoe Pound

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I accepted your Chairman's invitation to speak to a group of experts in this field with the greatest hesitation, because I know little or nothing about it. Certainly I can make no detailed suggestions, or suggest planning along very definite lines. You cannot do that sort of thing in a vacuum, and as I have suggested, my knowledge of the whole oil problem is next to nothing. It is possible that as a student of our public law, constitutional law particularly, for a number of years, I have acquired a perspective that may enable me to offer, for what they are worth, some general thoughts on these problems. I think that nothing in the whole field of law requires more definitely and clearly the functional approach than does the problem of a sound legal solution of the difficulties of the oil and gas industry. The industry is dealing with substances that are peculiar, and one must know how those substances act and what has been the history of the industry, to undertake to make anything like specific suggestions. I certainly am not qualified.

Jan 1, 1935

By P. E. Fitzgerald

SOME readjustments in the research programs of most of the oil companics and petroleum engineering schools have been made necessary by the war. The most obvious change has been the conversion from production engineering to problems more closely related to the nation's was effort. Many laboratories now devote much of their time to studies on products to be derived from petroleum. such as synthetic rubber, toluene, and substitutes for critical materials. Others are working to improve motor fuels including high-octane gasoline and the special lubricants required by the wide geographical range of the present conflict. Of great importance is the experience of the geophysicists, who are now devoting a great percentage of their time on instrument research and production or special apparatus required by the armed forces.

Jan 1, 1943

By Roland Kammel

For electrolytic recovery of silver from dilute aqueous solutions improved mass transfer is necessary to achieve favourable current efficiencies and high space-time yields. The many cell designs proposed for this application can be divided into two different groups: cells from which the silver must be redissolved and cells from which the deposit can be reclaimed as a metal. Introduction Electrolytic silver recovery methods have proven advantageous under technical and economic aspects for the treatment of rinse water, still rinses and spent silver solutions in the electroplating and surface finishing industry, of exhausted fixing baths from photographic processing, bleed electrolytes from silver refining processes and leach liquors. Examples of the compositions of typical dilute silver solutions are listed in Table I.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. S. Shoemaker, F. W. McQuiston

CARLIN GOLD MINING COMPANY 1974 Operating Data to October MINE LOCATION: 40 miles from Elko, Nevada ORE DESCRIPTION: Gold with minor amounts of mercury occurring in siltstone and carboniferous limey shales. TYPE OF MINE: Open pit ORE HAULAGE TO MILL: By trucks up to a distance of 12 mi1es MILLING CAPACITY: 2500 tons per day ORE GRADE: 0.20 oz per ton oxide ore 0.25 oz per ton carbon type ore PRODUCTS: Gold bullion 993 fineness, by product quicksilver RECOVERIES: Oxide ore 887'0 Carbon ore 83% POWER FOR GRINDING: 7 Kwh/T POWER, other than grinding: 14 Kwh/T WATER SUPPLY: Pumped from wells 2- 112 miles through 13,000 ft of 8" buried pipe 6 ft underground. Consumption 0.60 tons of new water per ton of mill feed. TAILINGS: By 10" woodstave pipe a distance of 2500 ft to mine waste filled dam. RUNNING TIME: 10 ft x 10 ft mill on oxide ore, 98% 7 ft x 8 ft mill on carbon ore, 937'0 Principal causes of lost time, power outages and problems of feeding gaseous chlorine to carbon ore agitators. LABOR, TONSIMAN SHIFT: See detailed data sheet ILL BUILDING DESCRIPTION: Framed structural steel with sandwich type walls of marine plywood, then packaged pre - fabricated insulation and outer sheeting of galvanized corrugated steel.

Jan 1, 1975

By E. P. Mathewson

W. W. (Pop) Adams' contribution is short and to the point. "I went to Pueblo about March, 1881, and started working for the Pueblo Smelting & Refining Co. in the sampling room, going from there to the assay and chemical departments, and ending in charge of the lead refinery on the night shift. I was there about two years, returning to California in 1883. The plant was under the management of Mather and Geist, plus Charley Ballard; Herman Schlapp was the metallurgist. Herman Schlapp's name remains prominently in my recollection of Pueblo for his never-failing kindness and charity to the young men who were trying to learn the Pb. game. John Allen, Walter Koehler, George Westcott, Charley Molson, and Alfred de Ropp were there with me. Schlapp and Koehler I have never seen since I left Pueblo; the others I have met often. , Alfred de Ropp I have often met-here, as he was manager of the Selby Smelting & Lead Co. of San Francisco, for years. 'He tells me that I gave him the rudiments. of American profanity at Pueblo; an apt pupil, for since then, by his own efforts, he has added largely to his vocabulary..

Jan 12, 1923

By Nathaniel Herz

PARTING of bullion before shipment to the mint had been considered by the Homestake Mining Co. at various times, but had never been attempted before 1933, be- cause the margin of profit appeared to be too small to warrant the complications in refining. When the gold standard was abandoned by the United States in the spring of 1933, however, parting of the bullion was decided upon. The method selected was the Miller or chlorine process, which consists of the passing of gaseous chlorine into a bath of molten bullion, converting all metals other than gold into chlorides, and remov-

Jan 1, 1935

By W. O. Crosby

WASHINGTON CAMP, in Santa Cruz county, Arizona, is a small and little known mining district situated on the lower, eastern slope of the Patagonia mountains, about 20 miles east of Nogales and a like distance south of Patagonia Station on the Sonora railroad, which connects it Benson, 83 miles from Nogales, with the main line of the Southern Pacific. This district is also about 4 miles north of the international boundary, 35 miles west of Bisbee and 40 miles north of Cananea, in Sonora. The topography of the district, which lies at a general elevation of 5,500 ft. above the sea, is only very moderately rugged, and presents no obstacles to mining operations. Although some of the claims of the camp, including the Pride of the West, Belmont and Holland, were extensively worked for silver 25 years ago, they passed, at moderate depths, as in so many other districts, out of the argentiferous lead carbonate and sulphide into zinc, copper and iron sulphides; and for two decades the camp was abandoned and almost forgotten. In recent years, however, its apparent possi¬bilities as a copper producer have led to a revival of mining activity; but not, as yet, with conspicuous success. Although economically relatively unimportant, the deposits of Washington Camp are, mineralogically and structurally, nevertheless, typical examples of ore-bodies developed in connection with the garnet ledge now recognized as a normal feature of granite-limestone contacts; and, in the opinion of the writer, this is an instance where a minor example is yet essentially normal and capable of throwing important light upon the origin and genetic relations of the type.

Nov 1, 1905

H. W. NICHOLS, Secretary-Treasurer, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ill. , R. S. BONSIB, H. B. PULSIFER, . HORACE H. CLARK, H. T. WALSH. Seventy-four members of' the two organizations attended a three-day joint field meeting of the Chicago Section and the Illinois Mining Institute at La Salle, Ill., on May 17, 18 and 19. The meeting began with a technical session in the rooms of the Illinois

Jan 7, 1917

By Read Winterburn

This study of the relationship of the accumulation and drainage of oil to the structural conditions in the Wilmington oil field is presented with the hope that the data contained herein will aid in efficient exploita-tion of other fields where similar conditions exist. It is also probable that the conditions observed in this field will enable accurate comparisons of various well-spacing programs as to efficiency of production and ultimate recovery. Formations in Wilmington Field Age Formation Thickness Lithology and Remarks Quaternary and Pleistocene. San Pedro 1000 t Fresh-water sands, gravels and clays Pliocene Upper Pico 800 t Alternating sands and silt- Stones Pliocene Middle Pico 0-200 ± Sands and siltstones Unconformity Pliocene Repetto 875-1150 Gray and green shales, silt-stones and sands at top grading to interbedded gray-ish brown shales and fine-grained sands toward bot-tom Miocene Puente 4100± Hard brown shales and sands. Sands are fine and uncon-solidated at top, becoming firmer and coarser grained toward bottom. Top por-tion contains layers of lam-inated diatomaceous shale Unconformity Schist The data included herein are not complete as to all areas and zones, being confined mostly to the area south of Anaheim Street. The sections presented are illustrative of edge-water conditions in the Terminal zone and Tar zone, but have not been extended down the structure far enough

Jan 1, 1940

By Herty, C. H.

The effect of temperature on the physical properties of structural materials has been the subject of many investigations during the past decade. The literature on the effect of elevated temperatures. is voluminous, and during the last four years a great deal of experimental work has been carried out on the effect of low temperatures on the impact properties of steel. For many engineering purposes it is important to know the shock resistance of steels at low atmospheric temperatures, and with the ever-developing field of refrigeration and separation of materials at low temperatures, the normal limits of atmospheric temperature have been exceeded in practice. Iron and its alloys in the unnotched condition have a high impact strength at low temperatures, but in practice variations in type of notches result either from design or accidentally through scratches and surface or internal defects. A study of notched bar impact tests is, therefore, highly important to the engineer. A survey of the literature on low temperature impact testing indicates that chemical composition, heat treatment and method of testing have been the variables which have been considered in most previous work. In only a few instances has any mention of the steel- making method been mentioned and in these the comparison was between steel-making processes and not between steel-making methods on the same process. In view of the wide variations in impact properties at room temperature, in quench and strain ageing and in grain growth of steels of identical chemical composition, (by this is meant the usual five element analysis reported), it was felt

Jan 1, 1957

By Herty, C. H.

Present-day interest in the question of "dirty steel" has arisen primarily from the increasingly rigid specifications on various grades of steel and from the growing conviction that non-metallic inclusions are the source of many of the difficulties in meeting these specifications. The importance of inclusions has unquestionably been over-emphasized in many cases, but on the other hand many unpublished instances could be recorded where all evidence pointed to inclusions as the primary cause for the failure of steel in rolling or in service. The solution of the problem of dirty steel is not a matter of a few years. There are almost numberless types of inclusions. They segregate in steel ingots in an entirely different manner from other impurities, and, at best, only a start has been made in developing correct analytical methods for their determination. Most of the writers in the field have expressed opinions rather than given facts, and so many variables enter into the manufacture of steel that a study of plant conditions is difficult unless definite facts on certain phases of the inclusion problem are available. This statement is not intended to convey the idea that little work has been done on this problem. On the other hand, the number of investigations has been large, but in most cases too many variables have been present to allow definite conclusions to be drawn. In the body of the text, reference to previous investigations is made at suitable points. Rather than burden the reader with a lengthy review of the literature on the general subject of inclusions, reference to the particular works pertinent to the subject matter of the bulletin has been discussed. Three excellent bibliographies b on the subject have been lately published: one by the Committee on

Jan 1, 1957

By Thomas V. Falkie

The use of operation research and computer techniques in the mineral industries continued to gain acceptance during 1966. There are generally at least five sources of information for researchers and practitioners in the field: (1) Technical periodicals like MINING ENGINEER- ING, Mining Congress Journal, etc. (2) Proceedings of the Symposium and Short Course on Computers and Operations Re- search in Mineral Industries, held last year at Penn. State University and jointly sponsored by the University of Arizona, Stanford University, Colorado School of Mines, Penn. State University and the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME. (3) Various local conferences, such as the 1966 Rocky Mountain Minerals Conference held in Denver. (4) United States Bureau of Mines publications. (5) The AIME annual meeting in New York and the SME Fall Meeting in Tampa.

Jan 2, 1967