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By Walter O. Snelling

Discussion of the paper of WALTER 0. SNELLING, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 100, April, 1915, pp. 695 to 704. A. C. McLAUGHLIN, San Francisco, Cal.-It seems to me that Mr. Snelling's work, if it is what it appears to be, is one of the most important contributions to petroleum technology that has been brought out iii the last 25 years. If his end products are what they seem to be, he has made a discovery, which, in my judgment, will revolutionize the petroleum industry. As to industrially carrying out these processes I do not think there is the slightest difficulty, for I have had some work recently where crude oils were handled successfully at a temperature of 750°F. and pressure of 750 lb. per square inch. WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, San Francisco, Cal.-What metal did you use, Mr. McLaughlin? - A. C. McLAUGHLIN.-Ordinary seamless tubing, extra strong. WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS.-Tests were made in Dr. Rittman's experimental plant at Pittsburgh, upon samples of residuum furnished by Mr. Bell, the residuum being the remainder of the crude oil after the lighter fractions had been removed. After the material had been run through Dr. Rittman's plant, yields of from 43 to 58 per cent. of material, boiling under 150°C. were obtained. The distillate had a peculiar odor, due to the presence of benzene, toluene, and other unsaturated hydrocarbons. W. N. BEST, New York, N. Y.-What is the difference between the Rittman and the Snelling process or system? WILLIAM A. WILLIAMs.-The fundamental difference is that reactions take place under relatively higher temperatures and pressures and with none of the oil present in its original or liquid state, while the reactions secured by Mr. Snelling and other investigators have been from the liquids in the presence of some vapors. Under such conditions as Mr. Snelling operates, the temperatures and pressures used are limited and the flexibility in the control of these variables is extremely limited when compared with the Rittman process.

Jan 1, 1916

By John R. Lotz

DEVELOPMENTS in Iran currently arousing interest in a considerable portion of the world, particularly on the part. of that country's immediate neighbor on the North and in our own country, an inseparably related to and largely dependent upon the government's attempts to strengthen its economy and improve the standard of living of its people. These efforts are encompassed by provisions of the Seven-Year Development Plan recently enacted and not, in the process of implementation. It is a fine example of what one financially sound but extremely backward and poorly equipped country has undertaken to do on its own account and with its own resources. This Seven-Year Plnil was formally authoriztld by an act of the Iranian Parliament in February 1948. Its stated objects are to carry out such plans for the development of the country and its economy as ail1 raise the standard of livinc: and standard of education of the people, and re- duce the cost of living. A seven-yrar program for carrying out the work within the limits of appropriations was assigned under the law. The total amount to be expended during the seven- year period was fixed at the equivalent of $670 millioil at current rates of exchange.

Jan 1, 1950

By Francis T. Freeland

In the West many precious-metal mines are worked in patches by lessees, under conditions which closely resemble those of what is called " tribute-work" in Cornwall.* The company has its own foreman or inspector, and usually employs the engineman, blacksmith, pumpman, and perhaps other general workmen. As an inducement to work on a new piece of ground, where no ore is in sight, the company may advance a " footage"

Jan 1, 1896

Executive SCOTT TURNER, Chairman FREDERICK M. BECKET JOHN A. MATHEWS H. A. GUESS WILLIAM WRAITH Finance HENRY KRUMB, Chairman PAUL D. MERICA ROBERT E. TALLY Admissions JOHN M. LovEJOY, Chairman GEORGE D. BARRON ERLE V. DAVELER WILLIAM H. BASSETT W. D. B. MOTTER, JR. Alternates HENRY B. FERNALD F. JULIUS Polls AMOR F. KEENE

Jan 1, 1932

William Kent, New York City: I regret that I have not had the time since the Cincinnati meeting to make as complete a study of Mr. Salom's paper as I wished. I regard it as one of the most important papers that have been presented on this subject, and worthy of complete study. I started out, on the limited time I had, on a system of study which I would recommend to any one else who has leisure to complete the investigation. I took the original report presented at the Cincinnati meeting, and selected from it' such tests as had the analyses reported along with the physical tests, giving the amounts of carbon, phosphorus, manganese, etc., taking only those in which all these elements are given.

Jan 1, 1885

By D. M. Dunbar

LONG before Columbus discovered America the original inhabitants toiled in the copper workings of the Andean Cordillera. Their best diggings appear to have been at Chuquicamata, site of the huge present-day open pit owned by the Chile Exploration Co., subsidiary of Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Located in Antofagasta Province of northern Chile, Chuquicamata is in the Atacama desert, high on the western slope of the Andes at 9500-ft elevation. In the Chuquicamata area the Atacama desert merges into the Cordillera. The climate is extremely arid and precipitation, either in the form of rain or snow, is very infrequent. The temperature varies from 50° to 85°F during the day, and drops to 20° to 40° at night. The Antofagasta and Bolivia Railroad, which connects the Chilean Port of Antofagasta with La Paz, Bolivia, passes within approximately 6 miles of the plant. A branch from the main line to Chuquicamata serves the property for outgoing copper and incoming freight. The distance to Antofagasta by rail is 163 miles. Previous to the Inca conquest, this region was inhabited by the Chuco Indians, a small tribe, descendants of the Aymaras and Quechuas. The Incas, whose capital was located in Cuzco, Peru, gradually extended their empire to the south, reaching at one time to what is now central Chile. It is believed that they built crude primitive furnaces on the banks of the Rio Salado where on a small scale they smelted copper ore from Chuquicamata. At the time of the subsequent Spanish conquest, legend has it that Diego de Almagro, on his return to Cuzco in 1536 after his invasion of Chile, obtained from these furnaces metallic copper for horseshoes. During the period from 1560 to 1879 the high grade veins of the Chuquicamata deposit were worked superficially by the Spaniards and Bolivians. The treaty signed after the war of 1879 recognized the sovereignty of Chile over this territory and Chile, realizing the importance of the district, started to develop it in an orderly manner, although only high grade veins were worked. New Process Is Key Reports on the deposit were brought to the attention of Albert C. Burrage, a Boston lawyer and financier, in 1910. Chuquicamata was described as a huge deposit of ore that was not amenable to the usual treatment by concentrating and smelting since much of the copper occurred as oxides. He had been working on a process for the recovery of copper from sulphide ore which involved a sulphating roast, leaching of the roasted product, and pre-

Jan 1, 1952

By D. Harrington

ANNUAL or necessary inspections and investigations of coal mines for various purposes were made possible through the Federal Coal Mine Inspection Act of May 7, 1941, which authorized entry to the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Mines. Primary object of these inspections is to obtain information pertaining to health and safety conditions. Among the purposes for which the data are to be used, are annual reports to Congress, the publication of inspection reports, and the compilation and publication of statistics. The act states that inspections and investigations shall be made by employees of the Bureau of Mines, who shall co-operate with other bureaus of the U. S. Department of the Interior, as well as with the official mine-inspection, safety cr health agencies of the several states and territories. The act specifies that a coal-mine inspector shall have "the basic qualifica-

Jan 1, 1946

By C. S. Finney, John Mitchell

The growing popularity in the United States of the vertical-flue even was emphasized when in 1905 the United States Steel Corp. chose the Koppers oven as the type which best suited their requirements. Heinrich Koppers was born on November 23. 1872. at a small farm in Walbeck near Geldern on the lower Rhine. When young Koppers was eight years old, however the family moved away from the farm to the industrial city of Bochum in the Ruhr. Here Koppers attended public school and subsequently served an apprenticeship to a tinsmith before taking a job as a lathe operator with a local steel company. He had ambitions to be much more than a machinist, however, and used his week-ends and evenings to improve his theoretical background by taking courses at a vocational-training school in Bochum. After winning the highest honor the school could bestow (the silver Staats-medaille), Koppers went on to continue his education at the Rheinisch-Westfalische Hüttenschule in Duisberg. One of his teachers there, Fritz Wüst who later became a professor at the Technische Hochschule at Aachen, recognizing Koppers' unusual abilities, predicted for him a great future. In 1894 Heinrich Koppers joined the firm of Dr. C. Otto and Co. in Dahlhausen, and in 1899 while superintendent of the Mathias Stinnes mine he built his first battery of ovens for Hugo Stinnes, the German industrialist. Two years later he started his own organization, and in 1902 he made Essen his headquarters. It was to Essen that a group of engineers from the United States Steel Corp. went in 1906 with an invitation to Koppers to design and supervise the construction of four batteries of ovens at the Joliet works of the Illinois Steel Co. Each battery was to consist of 70 ovens. Arriving in the United States in 1907, Koppers established a branch of his firm in Joliet, and construction began. The first battery was fired on July 27, 1908. Rugged and simple, these ovens incorporated basic design features which were to make the Koppers oven and its future modifications the choice of a very large segment of the by-product coking industry of America. The 280 ovens at Joliet were 35 ft long, 8 ¾ ft in height, and tapered from 21 to 17 in. The total daily capacity of the four batteries was 2240 tons of coke. The ovens were of the new cross-regenerative type; that is, instead of longitudinal regenerators serving an entire battery, as in the older Koppers ovens, cross regenerators for each separate oven were employed. Fuel gas was supplied from the side of the battery through ducts in the brickwork known as gun flues, which reached to the center of the battery under the vertical heating-flues. Removable, ceramic gas-nozzles fitted at the top of each gun flue helped to insure good control over the distribution of the fuel gas, and uniform heating conditions were also promoted by regulating the air supply to, and the suction in, each heating flue. A different refractory w& used for each battery. One was built of American silica brick, one of American quartzite, and two of imported German quartzite. The installation at Joliet proved to be very successful, and in 1911, 490 additional' Koppers ovens were built for the Illinois Steel Co. at the great new steelworks at Gary, Ind. By 1912 the H. Koppers Co. had established its headquarters in Chicago and was rapidly extending its business to include construction for such iron and steel companies as the Woodward Iron Co. at Woodward, Ma. (80 ovens in 1912); the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail- road Co. at Fairfield, Ala. (280 ovens in 1912); the Inland Steel Co. at Indiana Harbor, Ind. (86 ovens during 1913 and 1914) ; and the Republic Iron and Steel Co. at Youngstown, Ohio (68 ovens in 1913). In 1914 a group of men in Pittsburgh bought a major shareholding in the H. Koppers Co., and moved the headquarters of the organization from Chicago to their own city. Under its new management the company was highly successful in obtaining a large share of the contracts for by-product installations built during World War I. In 1917 the remaining German interests in the company were

Jan 1, 1961

By Waldemar Lindgren

IN spite of a world production of lead amounting to 1,300,000 tons, of which the United States produces slightly less than one-half, it appears that the mines at present are hardly able to supply the demand. For this there are several reasons. The lead deposits, geologically speaking, were formed comparatively near the surface under conditions of lower temperatures, with the richer deposits often residuary; that is, enriched by surface water, and consequently soon exhausted. Lead is practically absent from a great part of the world. The great Canadian shield, the eastern part of the Dominion, contains practically none. Scandinavia contains no lead. It is absent from geo- logical formations of great age, but does occur in large quantities in the deposits in the Rocky Mountain region. These deposits are, more or less directly, of igneous origin, but here, too, there is a tendency of the lead shoots to concentrate in the upper part, and when they go down the deposits turn to zinc-copper and some other metals. This is one of the best established facts of economic geology. The deposits of the Mississippi Valley district, from Kansas-Oklahoma, to Canada, are in comparatively accessible limestone beds, at a depth seldom more than 500 ft. Therefore, the lead is easily mined but more easily exhausted.

Jan 1, 1926

By Henry Schwellenbach

LABOR shortages, rising wages, and changes in moisture and fines content of the ore necessitated a review of the flowsheet at Warren Foundry & Pipe Co's. Mt. Hope, N. J. Mines Div. This plant had been designed prior to World War II, and started operations in January 1945. When this operation was designed there was an oversupply of labor in the area, wages were at a reasonable level, the run-of-mine ore was low in moisture, and there was a limited amount of fines. These factors all favored use of hand picking for cleaning rougher lump concentrate. Since that time, many changes have occurred. The proximity of defense industries and large military installations, has created one of the most acute labor shortages in the country. This labor shortage together with present wage levels, and the increase in moisture and fines in the ore created several problems. The increase in moisture and fines may be attributed to changed mining methods, the extensive use of sprays, and the opening of new mining areas bringing an increase in ground water. [ ] Two problems were presented by the increase in moisture and fines. The first was that lump ore arrived at the open hearth in an unacceptable condition, due to the segregation enroute of the large amount of fines that had adhered to the lumps. The second problem was that high magnetite content fines coated the large lumps, making it difficult for pickers to distinguish middling by other than the relative weight. [ ]

Jan 1, 1952

By S. J. CRAIGHEAD

IN 1912 the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company made a large investment in a number of coal properties in Utah and in 1915 a subsidiary, the United States Fuel Co., was organized to take over these properties. Operations started in 1916 and the Company soon became, and remains, one of the major coal producers of the State. It now produces approximately one million tons of coal annually, which is about 22 per cent of Utah's output. The U. S. Fuel Co. owns large reserves of good coal and is in a position to expand operations with the industrial growth now taking place in the West. Traveling through the Western States, one is struck by numerous advertising signs portraying the picture of jovial Old King Cole of nursery rhyme fame. His rotund figure and beaming countenance are the symbols of Utah King Coal, the product of the King mine of U. S. Fuel Co. King Coal is a by-word of quality coal throughout all the Western States.

Jan 1, 1948

By W. P. Sykes

In connection with a study of tungsten steels, Honda and Murakamil reported an investigation of the system iron-tungsten. This report included a tentative equilibrium diagram, photomicrographs of various alloys in the series, and qualitative measurements of hardness and magnetic properties. The present investigation originally had as its object the study of the hardness and tensile properties of a series of carbon-free iron-tungsten alloys. But, as the work progressed it became evident that the system possessed other features of interest, so the scope of the investigation was enlarged. Materials The iron powder used in preparing the alloys was obtained as follows : Iron oxalate was precipitated from a ferrous-sulfate solution by the addition of a solution of oxalic acid. This oxalate, after thorough washing, was ignited to iron oxide, which after reduction in hydrogen at about 1000" C. yielded iron powder containing but about 0.2 per cent. iron oxide and about 0.005 per cent. carbon. Tungsten metal in the form of powder, such as is used in the manufacture of filaments for incandescent lamps, was the other constituent. This material analyzed 99.8 per cent. tungsten and contained no carbon. The metal powders, in the desired proportions, were mixed by tumbling and formed, under pressure of 20 tons per sq. in., into rods 3/8 by 3/8 by 10 in. To form the alloys without contamination, sections of the pressed rods were placed on alundum slabs and heated in an alundum tube wound with a tungsten resistor and packed in heat-insulating material. While the resistor was heated, a stream of hydrogen was continually passed through both the tube and the case containing it. The tungsten winding on the tube, as well as the material heated within the tube, was thus protected from oxidation. Such a furnace will operate constantly for several days at temperatures up to 1500' C. and for shorter periods

Jan 1, 1926

By Willard P. Ward

HAVING been engaged during the past year in the manufacture of ferro-manganese in a blast furnace, I have imagined that some further information on this subject might be of interest to that large number of members of the Institute who are engaged in the iron and steel industries. The great question of the economical production of good steel, ingot metal, or homogeneous iron (we scarcely know now what to call it) from good materials, and at reasonable prices, has, thanks to the intelligence and energy of a few American engineers, been successfully solved in this country. Nearly all first-class railroads, and many that would riot rank so high, have adopted the Bessemer rail. Martin boiler-plates are rapidly gaining ground, in competition with

Jan 1, 1877

By Willard P. Ward

Having been engaged during the past year in the manufacture of ferro-manganese in a blast furnace, I have imagined that some further information on this subject might be of interest to that large number of members of the Institute who are engaged in the iron and steel industries. The great question of the economical production of good steel, ingot metal, or homogeneous iron (we scarcely know now what to call it) from good materials, and at reasonable prices, has, thanks to the intelligence and energy of a few American engineers, been successfully solved in this country. Nearly all first-class railroads, and many that would not rank so high, have adopted the Bessemer rail. Martin boiler-plates are rapidly gaining ground, in competition with

By F. W. Glaser, Benjamin Post

A LTHOUGH most transition metals form a wide variety of boride compounds, the existence of only one zirconium boride, ZrB2, had been established prior to this investigation.' The crystal structure and some properties of a hitherto unreported zirconium boride, ZrB12, are described in this paper. Only one other dodecaboride of a transition metal, UB12, has been reported up to the present.' Chemical analysis of the new compound showed 44 pct Zr and 56 pct B, compared with 41 pct Zr and 59 pct B computed for ZrB12. The difference is within the range of error of the analytical method employed. ZrB12 shows marked metallic properties. It is obtained as a fine black powder. Measurements of electrical resistivity were made at —79°C, + 22°C and +64°C. At 22°C the electrical resistivity is approximately 60 microhm-cm. Over this range the temperature coefficient of resistivity is +0.00162. The thermal conductivity at room temperature is 0.122 watts per cm per "C. The product of the electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity is therefore 8.05, which is not far from the normal Wiedemann-Franz ratio (approximately 7.5 at room temperature). These measurements were made on hot pressed samples which were not always high density specimens. The hardness of ZrB12 on the Rockwell A scale varies between 92 and 92.5. Crystal Structure Determination Single crystals of ZrB12 of a size suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis could not be obtained and powder samples had to be used. Filtered Cu radiation was used throughout. Powder diagrams were indexed on the basis of a face-centered cubic unit cell. After correction for film shrinkage, a Bradley and Jay extrapolation³ to ? = 90" indicated that a, = 7.408 ±0.002A. The volume of the unit cell is 406.5A.V he assumption that there are four "molecules" of ZrB12 per unit cell leads to an X-ray density of 3.63 g per cc. The measured density is 3.7 g per cc (as measured by the immersion method). Relative intensities of reflections were determined by integrating the intensities of diffraction peaks using the count register of a North American Philips wide range spectrometer. Intensities measured in this way showed good agreement with photographic intensities estimated visually using multiple film techniques. The usual Lorentz, polarization, and multiplicity corrections were applied to the observed intensity measurements. There are striking similarities between ZrB12, and UB12. The unit cell of the latter is also face-centered cubic and contains four molecules. a, = 7.473, compared with 7.408 for ZrB12. The radius ratio rB/rU is 0.57; rB/rZr is 0.54. In both ZrB12, and UB12 the four metal atoms in each unit cell are in special positions; only the boron positions need be determined. The latter may be inferred from the extent to which diffraction of X-rays by the 48 boron atoms reinforces or weakens the diffraction by the metal atoms. This effect is relatively much greater in the case of the zirconium compound. In their determination of the crystal structure of UB12, Berthaut and Blum' assumed holohedral symmetry (space group Oh5 , Fm3m) and reported that the U atoms are in positions 4(a): 000; 01/2 1/2; ½ 0 ½ ; ½ ½; the boron atoms were reported to be in positions 48(i) with x = 1/6: ½xx; ½xx; x½x; x½x; xx½; xx½; ½xx; ½xx; x½x; x½x; xx½; xx½

Jan 1, 1953

By W. L. Saunders

(New Haven Meeting, February, 1909.) This paper deals specifically with heading-driving as distinguished from the broader term tunnel-driving. A heading is a pilot or path-finder for the main tunnel. Some headings are complete tunnels in themselves; that is, conditions at times warrant driving a heading the full diameter of the proposed tunnel. A tunnel 10 ft. in diameter might be driven to advantage through a single heading, provided the nature of the material admits, but it usually pays to drive rock tunnels of large diameter through the heading-and-bench system. Much de-pends upon the material, as in soft ground tunnels of much larger diameter are driven in a single heading. In mines, the tunnels, drifts, cross-cuts, adits, etc., are usually of small diameter, hence the driving of headings applies to completed tunnels in minim-work, except, of course, in cases like drainage-tunnels and main entries leading into coal-mines, where conditions call for tunnels of large diameter, approximating those driven for railway-service. In building aqueducts the tunnels are driven from 6 to 8 ft. in diameter up to 15 or 20 ft., while in railway-service the dimensions vary from 18 to 30 ft. in diameter. There is no department of rock-excavation so difficult as that of heading-driving. This work. also belongs to the most expensive class in rock-excavation. A heading is driven .directly in the solid. There are no lines of lesser resistance towards which to direct the energy of the blast, but. the material must be blown out by main force. The completion of the heading simplifies all the rest of the work of excavation. It is easy, for instance, to enlarge a heading either from above, below or oil the sides, by breaking towards the open face through holes approximately at right angles to the axis of the heading; or the enlargement sometimes takes place by holes driven outside

Apr 1, 1909

By D. P. Morton

SINCE 1023, which closed the speculative era in the bituminous coal fields of the United States, there have been wide annual fluctuations in the national production of bituminous coal. These changes in annual output have been variously attributed to: (I) increased competition from petroleum products, natural gas and hydroelectric power; (2) lower unit consumption of coal; and (3) fluctuations in the general business level. The purpose of this paper is to measure, from a practical standpoint, the net effect upon the annual trend of bituminous coal production, and to give those who are interested a basis for estimating in advance the probable output of bituminous coal. It can readily be shown that changes in the level of general business affect the national production of bituminous coal more than does any other factor. Therefore it is necessary to use some standard measure of the relative business level for purposes of comparison. The Federal Reserve Board Index of Industrial Production offers the basis for such a measure.' This Index, a weighted composite of 81 different series, rests upon the averages of the years 1935 to 1939 as loo, and is presented graphically in Fig. I. Even a cursory examination of the chart will indicate a definite uptrend for industrial production over a period of years. This uptrend is due to at least two factors: (I) an actual increase in national population, and (2) a probable increase in the per capita consumption of goods. This means that there is no such thing as a fixed Normal, rather Normal is a variable, tending to increase from year to year. In order to measure the amount of annual increase in normal, the Index of Industrial Production must be studied in relation to its major components, Durable Goods and Nondurable Goods. Durable Goods are those made from the lasting materials such as iron, steel, other metals, lumber, stone, cement, clay, glass. Nondurable Goods are those for early consumption, such as foods, textiles, tobacco, chemicals, paper, gasoline, and goods made of leather and rubber. The purchase of Durable Goods may be postponed, but Nondurable Goods must be purchased currently unless the standard of living is lowered. The Federal Reserve Indexes of durable and nondurable goods are shown graphically, 1920 to 1939, on Fig. 2 (pp. 764-765 of ref. I). It is apparent that fluctuations in the production of nondurable goods are not nearly so wide as in the production of durable goods, and that the curve of Industrial Production (Fig. I) would fall between the two curves on Fig. 2. It would, however, seem logical that both curves should follow the same long-term trend, or that over a period of two to three decades the relative proportion of durable and nondurable goods, in periods of normal production, should he the same. It is neces-

Jan 1, 1941

By John C. Calhoun, Frank T. Bethel

The application of a method for analyzing pressure build-up curves to determine the effective permeability in the Spraberry is presented. Sixteen upper Spraberry wells of the Driver area arc analyzed and show variations in the in-place effective permeability of 2 to 183 md. Since these value- are much larger than the .5 md. or less reported for the matrix rock. a large part of the vertical fractures noted in Spraberry cores- must be considered native to the formation. The effectiveness of the well fracture treatment in connecting the well bore to the native fracture system is analyzed by comparison of the effective permeability as determined from the PI test to that obtained from a pressure build-up curve. These results show that the fracture treatment is sufficiently effective in connecting tile well bore to the native fractrure system to yield a flow capacity within about 50 per cent of that dictated by the native fracture system About two-thirds of the wells show some degree of local blockage. INTRODUCTION Fractured reservoirs have been known in the past.' However, during the past two years the Spraberry formation has directed the attention of the petroleum industry to a study of the performance of a fractured reservoir. The large variation in the number of fractures noted in Spraberry cores rile large variation in the producing ability of offset well.. the dramatic effect of well treatment on well ,productivity. the unknown quantity of oil stored in the fractures and matrix rock. and the unknown oil to be recovered were part of the initial Spraberry puzzle. In this type reservoir where the well treatment is an important factor in determining the productivity. it i- particularly desirable to determine the in-place flow capacity of the drainage area at distance* far removed from the well bore. This value. when compared to the flow capacity obtained from a PI measurement, will show the effectiveness of the well treatment (completion. fracture treatment, acidization. etc. in establishing a flow capacity in the vicinity of the well bore equal to that in the more remote region. The object of this paper i.; to show the application of a method of pressure build-up analysis for this purpose in studying the Upper Spraberry formation in the Driver area. STATEMENT OF THEORY The theoretical basis for the application of a pressure buildup curve to show the effective permeability of the rock at distances far removed from the well bore has been presented in detail in earlier publications.', in the previous development it was shown that pressure build-up behavior of all wells could be reduced to the same dimensionless build-up curve of Fig. 1. This mean.; that the bottom hole pressure of a well after hut-in will rise in such a manner that a plot of pressure against the logaritllm of time yields a straight line. The slope of this linp can be rlzed to calculate the effective permeability as expressed by the following equation: where: effective oil permeability md oil production rate prior to shnt in. STB/I) In practice the flow which occurs into the well bore after shut in and the variation in flow capacity in the immediate vicinity of the well bore usually cause the early part of the build-up curve to be unsatisfactory in the determination of permeability. In general the effect of these factors on the straight line section will become negligible after a time when the of the following equation is equal to 0.1. and the preferred section Of the curve for use in defining the slope lie-

Jan 1, 1953

By V. R. Garfias, C. O. Isakson

The production of petroleum in Mexico during 1930 was approximately 39,600,000 bbl., or 5,188,000 bbl. less than in 1929. The decline which has continued for the last eight years, will place Mexico in fifth or sixth rank as an oil-producing country. The production of the northern and southern fields near Tampico declined over 5,250,000 bbl., while that of the fields in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec moderately increased. The wildcat operations which have been conducted for some years near the international border along a 290-mile belt, extending roughly 170 miles northwest and 120 miles southeast from Laredo, Texas, have so far met with little encouragement, although the oil possibilities of the region warrant the belief that commercially productive fields will be discovered eventually. An interesting development during the year was the starting of construction of the oil pipe line from Palma Sola in the South Fields near sea level—over Sierra Madre at 8660 ft.—to Atzcapotzalco, a suburb of Mexico City at an elevation of 7350 ft. This line, about 146 miles long, has a diameter of 10 in. and an estimated daily capacity of 10,000 bbl., and with its terminal refinery at Mexico City will form a transporting and refining unit which should materially affect the distribution and marketing of refined products in the Republic. Development During the past year 148 wells were drilled, as compared with 214 in 1929 and 371 in 1928, the percentage of producers being 49 as against 47 in 1929. With the exception of one well in San Isidro, at the extreme southern end of the Golden Lane, the Jardln Paso Real area was the only sector of the old fields where new development could be considered as successful, all other producers brought in during the year being drilled in nearly exhausted pools to be operated as ('strippers." Northern Fields A total of 71 wells were drilled in the northern fields, of which 22 were producers; one well in Ebano was estimated at 5000 bbl. per day, while the general average of all producers was less than 300 bbl. Results

Jan 1, 1931

Jan 1, 1960