Search Documents

By C. M. Nickerson

The possibility of deeper production in the Buena Vista Hills was first considered in 1933. At that time, however, the heavy state curtailment program served to deter any operator from drilling test wells, which, if successful, might upset the proration schedules. Because most of the acreage was held by several major operators and the remainder by substantial independents, the adoption of a plan of cooperative development was considered desirable. Such a plan was formulated for the development of any deeper oil and gas horizons that may be found to exist. This plan, which was signed by the Secretaries of the Navy and of the Interior on behalf of the United States on July 9,1936, is now effective for the development of lands within the area shown on Fig. 1. Unlike most unit plans, the present cooperative development plan permits each operator to drill and produce his own wells. For the purpose of this plan the Buena Vista Hills field is divided into two pools. The present production is classed as the " old pool,"' while any future production below a certain marker which roughly coincides with the bottom of the Santa Margarita formation is included in the "pool" to which the provisions particularly apply. Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2 lies within the area and constitutes the major portion of the Federal leases subject to the plan. There are 39,040 acres and 27 operators within the area. Twenty-six operators controlling 99.5 per cent of the acreage have signed the agreement. Geology oF the Buena Vista Hills The Buena Vista Hills consist of a low range in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, and are roughly parallel to the adjacent Temblor range to the south. The Elk Hills oil field parallels the Buena Vista Hills a few miles to the north. The subsurface structure is a re-entrant anticline upon the major Midway-Sunset monocline. This anticline is divided into two minor

Jan 1, 1937

By E. F. Sumner, C. K. Eilerts

A partial differential equation was developed and programmed to compute the cumulation and flow of the liquid phase of a gas-condensate fluid. It was found that such cumulation near the wellbore may attain saturations permitting liquid flow within periods of the order of 1 day. The radius at which this saturation obtains advances toward the external reservoir boundary with continued recovery, although it may move only 2 to 5 percent of that distance during the productive life of the well. This relatively high saturation can cause a serious dimunition in delivery capacity. The pressure dilferential required for flow of gas through a formation with such saturation may be as much as three times greater than the corresponding differential in a formation where saturation is less than 2 percent. Because of the radial geometry, total reservoir pressure differential required for flow with a zone of relatively high liquid saturation about the well was indicated to be two to three times greater than without the saturation. INTRODUCTION A computing program developed by the authors 1 to integrate the partial differential equation for transient radial flow of gas-condensate fluids required a prevalued function, W(Po) = kD(p0)/M(p0)z0(Po).......(1) related to cumulation of condensate in pores of the reservoir as pressure declines. Methods were available for relating mobility to saturation, saturation to liquid-vapor volume ratio, liquid-vapor volume ratio to pressure and, hence, mobility to pressure to obtain W(pD). However, certain assumptions had to be made in advance of program execution concerning movement of the liquid phase and change in radial distribution of liquid saturation as recovery progressed. Because reservoir fluid mobility and related pressure gradients are markedly dependent on liquid saturation, it was desirable to eliminate the necessity for these assumptions and in this respect improve the reliability of a result obtained by integration. Experimental research was begun to determine the relationship of variables that control the reservoir flow of low liquid-vapor ratio fluids. With the porous medium partly saturated, permeability to a two-phase flowing fluid could not be measured because the viscosity was unknown. Viscosity could not be measured without knowing permeability of the liquid-containing medium; but mobility, the ratio of permeability to viscosity, was measurable. This property, and liquid-vapor volume ratio of the flowing phases, have values determined by nature of the fluid and porous medium and, in addition, were found to be pressure, velocity and saturation dependent. A program developed by Kniazeff and Naville 2 for computing multicom-ponent, two-phase flow used polynomials to represent saturation dependence of permeabilities for gas and for liquid phases, and an effluent viscosity constant under reservoir conditions. The authors developed a program based on a partial differential equation of similar mass balance origin but designed to represent distribution of an unlimited number of components between gas and liquid phases utilizing the experimental information available as to variable dependence. Attention was given to liquid-vapor volume ratio of the flowing phases, a property which is essential as a liquid saturation boundary condition. A program for computing implicitly saturation increase at uniform intervals along the drainage radius was combined with an existing program for calculating pressures, and the two were used alternately in an iterative solution for both saturations and pressures. The function W(pD) needed for calculating pressures was replaced by the ratio of mobility to compressibility factor. BASIC EQUATIONS The partial differential equation for calculating

Hermann A. Keller was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Mar. 23; 1860. He received a preliminary education at the gymnasium of Darmstadt, in Germany, and subsequently entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1881. After serving for a few months as an assistant instructor in mining and metallurgy at the University, he went to Leadville, Colo., where he became, at first, assayer and chemist, and in due time (1886) superintendent of the Arkansas Valley smelting works. In 1888, he was appointed metallurgist of the Globe works at Denver; in 1889, superintendent of the Philadelphia works at Pueblo; and in 1891, superintendent of the Parrot works at Butte, Mont., where he remained until 1896, in which year he was employed to reconstruct the smelting plant of the Mountain mines at Keswick, Cal. In 1897, he opened an office as consulting engineer in San Francisco; and from this time on enjoyed a wide practice both as metallurgical and as mining engineer. In the former capacity, Mr. Keller had already distinguished himself by the invention of the Keller mechanical roasting furnace employed at the Parrot works in Butte and the Germania works near Salt Lake. He was a frequent contributor to the technical journals, and he collaborated in the preparation of the chapter oil "Bessemerizing" in Dr. Peters's work, "Modern American Copper-Smelting." It is a curious coincidence that these two friends and collaborators died at almost the same time, Keller in Arizona and Peters in Massachusetts on the 16th and 17th of February respectively. The latter years of Mr. Keller's life were largely given to the examination and development of mines in all parts of the world-Alaska, Chile, Germany, etc. He finally established his professional headquarters in New York City. His death was caused by an underground locomotive accident at Clifton, Arizona, on Feb. 16, 1917.

Jan 5, 1917

By Francis B. Foley

From the point of view of the metallographist, the adaptation of x-rays to the study of the crystal structure of metals is of the greatest importance. While one may hardly consider the findings resulting from x-ray study as revolutionary, their positive nature, compared with the deductions we have been forced to accept from the work that had gone before, gives firmer ground on which to build and furnishes new fields for speculation. Prior to the advent of the crystallogram, the best work on the crystal structure of steel was that of Osmond and Cartaud.' They concluded, from their investigation with percussion figures formed at various temperatures, that alpha, beta, and gamma irons belonged to the cubic system and that they showed well-marked specific characteristics and could not have the same internal structure. What the internal structures were, they had no direct method of determining; but from a consideration of the fact that the 001 plane (that parallel to the cube face) is a plane of perfect cleavage and minimum hardness in alpha iron and that the 111 (octahedral) plane is by far the most important in the crystallography of gamma iron, they were led to suggest the simple cubic arrangement as that of alpha and the face-centered cubic arrangement as that of gamma iron. They suggested the body-centered cubic arrangement as that of beta iron. The atomic arrangement of the various crystal forms of iron has been quite definitely determined in recent years by means of x-rays and the work of Westgren2 and Weatgren and Phragmen3 has been rather conclusive. They not only determined the atomic arrangement of alpha, beta, and gamma iron but also that of the high-temperature modification delta.

Jan 1, 1926

By C. Wachmann

The theory presented ill this paper makes possible examination of the phenomenological aspect of secondary oil recovery by alcohol flooding. Limitutions of the theory are contingent on three primary assumptions: (1) chemical equilibrium, (2) no fingering, and (5) no dispersion. The second assumption implies one-dimensional flow. In a geometric sense the theory extends the Buckley-Leverett construction to systems of two slightly miscible fluids and to systems of three components. This is made possible by considering single-phase fluids to be made up two phases, namely of an excess of one phase and a negative amount of the other phase. The procedure is discussed in the paper. The theory also permits direct determination of the relationship between the aqueous phase saturation and the concentration of water in the aqueous phase in a zone of variable composition. The velocity of planes of constant water concentration and of constant saturation can be computted likewise and the existence of saturation discontinuities inferred. Consequently the behavior of such a Zone, which may exist at some time between a displaced and a displacing fluid, May be determined. mathematical details are given in Appendices. Problems of experimental verification are pointed out on the basis of a supporting experiment. Implications of the theory and effects of violations of primary assumptions are discussed briefly. The major conclusion is that, if the primary assumptions are met, with pure alcohol and alcohol-rich .slugs piston-like displacement of oil and water is possible. INTRODUCTION The recovery of oil from porous media by alcohol displacement has been studied for several years. Extensive experimental investigations into alcohol flooding have been carried out in the laboratory although little has been done in the field. A large amount of practical information is available, the extent being indicated by the first three papers cited 1-3 and their respecrive bibliographies. This has permitted the Formulation of inferential theories. A more analytical approach in which theories are developed primarily by reasoning from known physical principles and relationships has, however, lagged behind. In fact, an analytically derived theory of alcohol displacement has not been available. The theory presented in this paper on oil and water displacement by alcohol from a porous medium is a result of the analytical approach. The theory is idealized, as certain assumptions had to be made to make the mathematics tractable and reduce complexity of argument. In particular, major assuptions concerning conditions of equilibrium, interfacial stability, longitudinal mixing, etc., led to the exclusion of fingering, for example, from all considerations. In many laboratory experiments reported in the literature fingering could not be avoided. There is, therefore, disagreement between theories based on experimental evidence available and the analytically derived theory presented here. This theory presented is based on known physical data and makes use of the Buckley-Leverett construction and its suggested extension. The mathematical derivation of the theory is given in Appendices. Three examples relevant to alcohol displacement are discussed to explain the use of this theory: (1) system of two immiscible fluids (the Buckley-Leverett case); (2) system of two slightly miscible fluids involving an extension of the Buckley-Leverett construction; and (3) system of three components, including injection of pure alcohol or alcohol-rich fluid as a special case, which involves a more general extension of the Buckley-Leverett construction. In these discussions strict assumptions were made to impose equilibrium conditions and exclude mixing and fingering. Effects of relaxing these assumptions and consequent extensions of the theory are indicated. The complexity of the alcohol displacement process makes experimental verification of the theory essential. Some relevant evidence is offered in this paper.

Jan 1, 1965

By Simon T. Johnson

Potential applications for boom tunnelling machines requires reliable assessment of in-situ performance. The majority of existing classification schemes concentrate on the prediction of excavation rate, neglecting the important influence of tool consumption rates. A statistical approach is taken to the analysis of the performance data, which was obtained first-hand through in-situ monitoring, and laboratory testing of representative rock samples. A statistical discrimination technique is used to produce a scheme for the prediction of performance groups, each of which covers a limited range of cutting rate and/or tool consumption rate.

Jan 1, 1984

By E. I. Gordon

The electronic pickup tube is the image-to-video signal-converter or transducer in tele vision-like systems. Images may relate to visible light or IR excitation as in conventional TV systems, X-ray excitation as in some medical and production control applications, or electron excitation as in electron microscopy. The latter process is also important in some forms of light or X-ray sensitive pickup tubes as an intermediate step. In virtually all of these devices the image ends up as a stored charge pattern on a suitable target electrode and the video signal is created by periodically scanning the target with a low energy electron beam and removing the stored charge. In a major group of tubes radiation induced conductivity creates the charge pattern. In others, photoemission is used. In this paper an attempt is made to illuminate some of the device requirements placed on materials exhibiting radiation induced conductivity, some of the materials and techniques that are used, and the problems. The emphasis will be on visible light and IR sensitive targets although some attention will be given to X-ray and electron imaging. Photoconducting films as well as diode arrays will be discussed. ELECTRONIC pickup tubes find their greatest use in commercial, entertainment television, and in industrial and educational closed-circuit television. Video telephone systems, such as AT&T's PICTURE-PHONE System will become eventually the greatest user. Military use is also very important. Nevertheless the use of electronic pickup tubes in technology, science, and medicine is assuming ever greater relevance and demands the greatest diversity and perfection in the pickup tube art. Commercial television and closed-circuit television use requires visible light response, high resolution, low lag, and uniform response. Video telephone use requires the same plus extreme reliability, stability, and low cost. Military use emphasizes, in addition, sensitivity, IR response, and ruggedness. (Devices for far IR response will not be considered here.) The use of pickup tubes in medicine and biology emphasizes UV response for microscopy, X-ray response for radiology, and energetic electron response for electron microscopy. Astronomy and nuclear physics demands low light level response, storage ability, and resolution (here the tube is a successful replacement for film). The interested reader might profitably read Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics, vol. 12,' 16,2 and 22A3 and 22B4 for detailed discussion of the use, properties, and technology of electronic pickup tubes. In general, because of the importance of these uses, none of the above properties will be ignored. Nevertheless attention will be restricted to only those imaging devices, called pickup tubes, using a scanning electron beam to dissect the image with a resulting video signal for conventional CRT display. However pickup tubes have become so complex that many of them include components such as image in-tensifiers which would be normally excluded by this restriction. Thus some of the other imaging devices will not be ignored entirely. We will first review the fundamental elements and physical phenomena involved in modern electronic pickup tubes, then the relevant materials and some of the material problems and then an interesting goal yet to be achieved. REVIEW OF PICKUP TUBE PRINCIPLES In all modern television systems using pickup tubes there is an interval called the frame interval, during which the incoming radiation flux is allowed to produce a cumulative effect in the form of a stored charge pattern which is a replica of the radiation image, and a scan interval during which the stored charge pattern is converted into a video signal. The frame interval bears no fixed relation to the scan interval and may be shorter or longer. In conventional, real time television the scan interval including retrace is identical to the frame interval. Integration and storage is the key to the sensitivity of modern pickup tubes, in contrast to earlier tubes such as the image dissector. At equivalent light levels and without integration, the number of photons contributing to the video signal in the image dissector is lower by a factor approximating the number of picture elements in the displayed image, a number of order 10. Statistical fluctuations in the number of contributing photons represent a serious limitation to the attainable signal to noise ratio, resolution and contrast. As a result considerably greater light levels have to be used then in targets which integrate over the full frame period. Thus the crucial elements, common to all modern pickup tubes, are the charge storage surface and the scanning electron beam which is incident on the charge storage surface at very low energy. These are shown in Fig. 1(a). The charge storage insulator is generally very thin with a thickness of several microns or less. The surface of the insulator is held near cathode potential. The backplate potential is held at cathode potential or at a small positive voltage relative to cathode. The combination of storage insulator and backplate electrode is commonly called the "target". In the absence of incident radiation flux the electron beam scans over the storage surface depositing negative charge uniformly over the scanned part of the surface by virtue of the fact that the effective secondary

Jan 1, 1970

As described in the section on the Palabora twin crushers, the Palabora ore consists of two types: a carbonatite containing a low titanium magnetite, and a foskorite containing high titanium magnetite. As the Palabora pit was widened and deepened, more and more of the foskorite had to be mined. The 25,000 mt expansion of the Palabora plant which went into operation in early 1977 therefore takes its feed from the foskorite section of the orebody. For the expansion, a third 54 in. by 74 in. gyratory crusher was installed to crush feed for two 32 ft by 15 ft (9.75 by 4.6 m), 9000 hp (6710 kw) autogenous single -stage grinding mills. These units are located near the two existing primary crushers, and the ground ore is pumped 5277 ft (1640 m) to the expanded flotation plant by five stages of centrifugal pumps. The new gyratory is installed in a unique Figure-8 shaped enclosure with the crusher in the smaller 27 ft 11 in. (8. 5 m) diameter cylinder and the maintenance area in the 36 ft 1 in. (11 m) diameter cylinder. Cylinder walls are only 23.6 in. (600 mm) thick because their circular design permits all the concrete to be in compression. A rectangular dump pocket which sits on the smaller cylinder contains two manganese steel faced splitters to protect the crusher spider and countersunk water spray headers under the dumping positions for dust suppression. The dump pocket holds 330 st or 300 mt and is also lined with manganese steel. The crusher is mounted on a reinforced concrete diaphragm over the 363 st (400 mt) crushed ore pocket. In the back of the pocket is plastic pipe. Radioactive level control sources are lowered into this pipe from the crusher support floor. The pipe is protected by concrete covered with steel castings. Level control detectors are mounted on the front wall of the pocket. Liner plates on the crushed ore pocket walls are removed and in- stalled by the use of a circular monorail and trolley mounted on the pocket ceiling. The door in the front of the crushed ore pocket is hinged at the top rather than at the sides and is raised by an electric winch. For removal of the eccentric, rails are installed in the pocket and a unique hydraulically operated cart is moved under the eccentric. A platform is raised to receive the eccentric and lowered so that it may be removed. Crushed ore is removed from the pocket by a hydraulically powered, 8 ft

Jan 1, 1978

By Raymond D. Daniels, Frank E. Rizzo, James D. Gerber

ThIS discussion describes a method for the addition of small amounts of oxygen to columbium (niobium) in an accurate and reproducible manner. The method is based on the complete reduction by columbium of a carefully weighed amount of another metal oxide. The equilibrium Pq associated with Cb-CbO mixtures is extremely low, e.g., 10"25 atm at 100O°C, and the pressures over Cb-0 solutions are even lower. The equilibrium Pq associated with a given metal-metal oxide mixture can be easily obtained, with the aid of a Richardson-Jeffes chart.' Although columbium should effectively reduce almost any metal-metal oxide combination, the proper choice of a metal-metal oxide system is complicated by the low rate of oxygen transport in the gas phase at low oxygen pressures and the difficulty in reducing any columbium suboxide formed during the reduction of the oxygen source material. Thermodynamically, oxide formation on columbium will be avoided so long as the oxygen partial pressure over the columbium is below the equilibrium pressure associated with the mixture Cb-CbO. The logical choice of a source for oxygen would appear to be a mixture of Cb-CbO, since oxide formation would be precluded by nucleation difficulty. But calculations using the kinetic theory of gasses indicate that, for a temperature of 900°C, the reaction would proceed too JAMES D. GERBER, formerly Research Assistant, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla., is Research Metallurgist, Air Force Weapons Test Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, N. Mex. FRANK E. RIZZO, Junior Member AIME, formerly Assistant Professor of Metallurgy, University of Oklahoma, is Associate Professor of Metallurgy, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Tex. RAYMOND D. DANIELS, Member AIME, Professor of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, is an NSF Fellow, Institute de MBtallurgie Structurale, Universite de euch:tel, Neuchitel, Switzerland. Manuscript submitted October 28, 1968. IMD

Jan 1, 1970

By K. H. G. Ashbee, J. W. Heavens

One consequence of the distribution in orientation of Bragg diffracting planes in an elastically bent foil is that simultaneous diffraction occurs from ±g pairs, where g is the reciprocal lattice vector to a diffracting plane. If such Bragg contour pairs are indexed, then the variation in orientation with respect to the incident electron beam is known. This note describes a construction by means of which Bragg contour pairs may be indexed by inspection. Referring to Fig. 1, the Ewald sphere radius is l/h, where is the wavelength of the electron beam, and the half spacing of first-order reciprocal lattice planes is l/d, where d is the corresponding spacing in direct space. The angle subtended by the zero and first-order planes at the center of the Ewald sphere is a = sin-' Thus, to represent a pair of first-order Bragg contours on a stereographic projection, measure ±a from, and along the normal to, the zero-order plane. The traces of the required Bragg contours pass through these points and parallel to the zero-order trace. In practice, it is desirable to enlarge a stereographic projection of the zero-order planes before making the construction. As an example, a stereographic projection of first-order Bragg contours up to line 27 for an fcc crystal is given in Fig. 2; if required, higher-order contours can easily be added. Fig. 2 is, of course, a map of first-order Brillouin zone boundaries. One use of this construction is the measurement of large elastic fields in electron microscope specimens. Fig. 3(a) shows a pattern of Bragg contour pairs due to lattice distortions near a large precipitate. This particular example is of a T-phase precipitate in Hidu-minium 54 (A1 + 6 wt pct Cu, 0.5 wt pct Mn). Foil buckling is produced by annealing during observation and may be evidence for evaporation from the precipitate.' Comparing Figs. 2 and 3(0), it is evident that the axis of high symmetry in Fig. 3(a) is [lll]. The strain in a bent foil is approxinlately t/2r, where / is the foil thickness and ? the radius to which the foil is bent. From the projections of grain boundaries and of helical dislocations, it was estimated that ( - 3000A, and values for ? were obtained from the

Jan 1, 1968

IN order not to deviate from the proposed order both in speaking of melts and of things necessary for guns, I shall tell you at present the method by which iron balls are made. This is surely a very fine invention and a horrible one because of its very powerful effect. It is a new thing in warfare,* because (as far as I know) iron balls shot from guns were never seen in, Italy before those that King Charles of France brought here for the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples against King Ferrandino in the year 1495. Now, although I spoke to you briefly of these when I told you above of the purification of iron, it seems to me necessary to show you again in more detail here how they are made. Therefore I tell you that in addition to iron, bellows, blast furnace, and charcoal, it is necessary to have the moulds, without which they could not be cast. At first, when this work was begun in Italy, it was customary to make these moulds of bronze so as not to be obliged always to be making them of clay. Now the present masters cast the moulds of the same iron in order to save expense. Although I am aware that you should already know how to make these from the methods of moulding taught you before, still I shall tell you the method that is followed in making these, because in the practice of every particular thing there is some divergence from the general procedure. For these balls, first make a ball of wood or of clay, or have one made of lead or iron, round and of exactly the dimensions that you wish. This is if you wish to make only one in your mould; otherwise take as many as you wish it to contain. Bury half of this, or these, in a board or in clay and, having greased them with oil or lard, make a mould over them of plaster of Paris, or of clay if you have no plaster, exactly as you wish it to be in iron or bronze. Then make the other half opposite this. After having taken out the balls make little openings for the gates and vents and like- wise four holes for pegging the parts together. At the back make a stud or

Jan 1, 1942

By C. A. Stetefeldt

In a former paper (Runs., xxi., 286) I described the plant of the Marsac Refinery, and the manipulations of the process, but cou1d not, at the time, give reliable statistical results. To supply the latter is the object of the present paper. I shall give actual facts as correctly as possible, without any bias one way or the other. For all statistics I am indebted to Mr. W. G. Lamb, who has charge of the Marsac lixiviation-plant and refinery; to Mr. A. Luebeck, assayer at the Ontario mill; and to the Daly Office, Salt Lake City.* Before starting on the work of the year 1892, a most careful clean-up was made, and any remnants were charged to the refinery. During 1892 the Marsac lixiviation-works produced 48.8 tons of so-called "regular" sulphides, which contained, on an average, 11,449 ounces of silver per ton; 11.77 ounces of gold per ton; and 569.8 pounds of copper per ton. To this must be added, 266 pounds of sulphides and by-products left over from the product of 1891, which contained 1380 ounces of silver, 1.41 ounces of gold, and 63 pounds of copper. Before giving the results of the clean-up, a general discussion of the items of expense, methods of assaying, etc., is desirable.

Jan 1, 1895

MORE than 2500 members of the AIME from all sections of the U. S., Canada, Central and South America are expected to attend the 175th General Meeting scheduled for Los Angeles Feb. 16 to 21, 1953. The Southern California Section will be host for the meeting. It will be the first time the Annual Meeting has been held in Los Angeles. In keeping with the historic nature of the event, headquarters will be the fabulous Statler Hotel, recently opened in downtown Los Angeles. Meeting plans are under the direction of Henry T. Mudd, General Chairman, assisted by members of the Southern California Section, headed by Basil P. Kantzer. The annual business meeting is scheduled to be held Tuesday, February 17, at the Statler Hotel, at 4 pm. Minerals Beneficiation Div. has planned a very important program, with 10 technical sessions, the famous Scotch Breakfast, divisional luncheon, and participation in the Mining Branch and All-Institute activities. The MBD business meeting is set for the morning of Feb. 16, 1953.

Jan 1, 1952

By Leigh J. Wardle

SUMMARY This paper describes a numerical method for calculating the three- dimensional stresses and displacements induced by tabular excavations in a rock mass consisting of parallel layers of distinct material properties. The method is based on the superposition of numerical solutions for elementary displacement discontinuities in a parallel layered rock mass. The method can be used to analyse complicated excavation layouts such as those encountered in room-and-pillar or longwall mining. The method can automatically take into account the effect of the earth's surface. The method offers an economic and efficient solution to stress analysis problems which cannot be adequately modelled using two- dimensional methods and for which the expense of three-dimensional finite element or general boundary element analysis cannot be justified. INTRODUCTION Underground mining often takes place in tabular or lenticular orebodies. In many cases, for example room-and-pillar and longwall mining, the excavation geometry cannot be adequately modelled by two- dimensional methods of analysis. In these cases resort must be made to three-dimensional methods of analysis. Although in principle three-dimensional finite element models can be used for these geometries, cost limitations have restricted their application to a small number of cases. For example, room-and-pillar systems of regular pattern have been analysed by numerically modelling

Jan 1, 1984

By Charles Will Wright

THE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED heavy air transport services to mining regions, such as exist in the New Guinea gold fields and in northern Canada, have been even more essential in the development of mines in Peru. Few nations have been con- fronted with greater natural obstacles to transport than has Peru, and without the plane it would have been impossible to get the machinery and supplies for the construction of power plants and mills to many of these interior mines, situated as they are over high mountain ranges, with muleback the principal means of transportation. As the mines within a district become important producers and warrant the expenditure, the mule trail is being replaced by automobile roads to connect with the railway stations and with the airports.

Jan 1, 1940

By W. A. Knoll

THE sinking of a new shaft at the Newport mine, Ironwood, Mich., was started in May 1931 and completed on Aug. 3, 1932. During this period, 2665 ft. of shaft in granite was completed, at, an average advance of 6 ft. per 24 hr. In November of 1930, experimental work was con-ducted oil 65 ft. of shaft through 22 ft. of overburden where ledge was encountered, and this work convinced the operators that all drilling could be clone with vertical holes with the blasting relief to a 4 ½ -in. hole drilled vertically in the center of the cut. The reason for not adopting the conventional V-cut was to get away from damaging the shaft steel. The blasting in a V-cut naturally tends to throw the broken material upward, but with the cut as adopted the relief was in a horizontal direction to a large extent. The scheme of mucking employed made it necessary to keep the steel shaft sets within 511 ft. of the bottom at all times. This could not be clone without serious damage with a V-cut when blasting in granite. The cut as drilled also broke 10.53 ft. per round of drilling, which was considerably more than the experience with a V-cut in the sane material. The extended cut reduced proportionately the delays for charging, blowing smoke and handling drilling equipment in the shaft. Another advantage was the ease in drilling vertical over inclined holes, and the preservation of the proper spacing of the drill holes at the bottom of the cut.

Jan 1, 1938

By McDowell Graves, Joseph Jensen, W. D. Goold, M. L. Gwin

During the present year the Santa Fe Springs field has proved to be the most important oil field under development in the United States. Its production will exceed that of any other field. Without it, production within the United States would have been almost in even balance with consumption. The field has forced to the fore and compelled, more than any other single factor, serious consideration of the need of conserving the gas resources of the State of California. It has also contributed much to the development of new drilling equipment and important features in petroleum engineering, and has required the development of a new cement for use in deep wells because of high temperatures. It is the only oil field in the country where wells 8000 ft. deep have become so common that they are no longer given special attention. The field covers a little less than 1400 acres of land. In it 196 producing deep-zone wells have already been drilled since August, 1928, and 224 wells are still drilling. More wells may be drilled. This indicates that probably more than 450 wells will be drilled in the present campaign. In hardly a year's time it has caused the outlay of nearly $50,000,000 for drilling, and within the year 1929 it will have returned practically an equal amount of revenue. In contrast to conditions during 1923, when this field was once before an important and disturbing factor, the California oil industry has not been forced to refinance to meet the situation presented by such a large production of oil. There has been practically no unit selling and no stock selling, nor any unnecessary development far beyond the limits of the field. Production is now about 275,000 bbl. per day and gives every promisc of remaining at this figure or increasing to nearly 300,000 bbl. Six months from now the field should still be capable of producing more than 200,000 bbl. per day. Obviously, the need for conserving gas that would be blown to the air, incident to the production of so large a volume of oil, represents a problem in conservation deserving of the most serious attention of the oil industry and of the State of California.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. H. Rachford, W. P. Schultz

The use of computing machines to solve physical problems has made it imperative to represent physical data in a form computing machines can use. Although curve-fitting is an old and well-practiced art, there still seems to be some interest in questions regarding what methods can be used and why. Even though there are many good references on this subject, it may be of some value to discuss a particular method which has been found to be useful, and to make available the associated tables for its use in the hope that there can be saved a few of the tedious hours necessary to reduce many of the suggested methods to practice. Although a very brief discussion of the mathematical background of the tables is included immediately below, those interested only in their use can skip directly to the section on Use of the Tables. Direct Fit of a Set of Points A frequently encountered problem is: Given data which can be represented by a smooth curve +(x), to find an easy-to-evaluate function F(x), with only a few coefficients, which is a good approximation of +(x) on the interval 0 5 x 5 x,,. Consider F(x) as a linear combination of m + 1 arbitrary, single-valued, continuous, linearly independent functions, f,(x), Ff.r) = a,f,,(x) + a,f,(x) + . . . -+ aifi(x) + If the value of Q(x) is known or can be read from the curve at the points xj: +(x,), +(x,), . . . +(xj) . . . +(x.), and if n = m, then all the coefficients of F(x) can be determined, and F(x,) — +(x,) = 0 for j =. 0, 1, . . . n. This follows from the solution of the set of linear simultaneous equations. +(x<.) = aofu(x,) + aJI(x0) + . . . + a,,f,,(x,) =a, = f,,(x,) + a,f,(x,) + . . . + a,f,,(x,) +(x,,) = a,,f,(x,,) + a,f,(x,) + ... + a,,f.,(x,,) ...........(2) for the coefficients ai. Although the set a, from the solutions of the set of Equations 2 yields an fix) which gives an exact value of $(x,) for the n + 1 points, there is no restraint on ~(xj in the interval xi < x < xj+,. Indeed, if the points +(x,) are not sufficiently smooth, very serious differences may arise between F(x) in the interval and the smooth curve +(x). Least-Squares Fit It has been suggested&apos; that if n is made to exceed m, and the set a, is found to minimize the function the function F(x) is much less sensitive to small errors in +(xi), and usually provides a much better fit to the smooth function +(x). This is known as the best fit in the sense of the least-squares error. To minimize $, set £ = 0,i = 0,1,... iTi,.....(3) The m + 1 equations from Equation 3 are k—n k=n a.^p /,,(a) f,(xt) + a, X A: = 0 k=O k = n k = n k=0 k=0 +(x.) f,(x,),............(4) one equation being obtained for each i = 0, 1, . . . m. Inasmuch as the arbitrary functions f(x) may be evaluated for x,, k = 0, 1, . . . n, and the +(x,) are known values of the curve to be fitted, the simultaneous Equations 4 may be solved for the set a,. Particular Functions Given the functions fi(x) and the set +(xj), the solutions for require evaluating a number of sums of products as well as the solution of an m + 1 order set

Jan 1, 1956

By Lewis W. MacNaughton, F. L. Burchard

The North Texas district, as herein defined, includes the counties of Archer, Baylor, Clay, Coolie, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Montague, Wichita, and Wilbarger. This area covers generally the crest and south flank of a system of buried mountains known as the Red River uplift. The oil and gas accumulations along this feature are in traps, which, although localized by structures incident to the regional uplift, are usually modified by stratigraphic changes in the sediments. Excepting the fields in southeastern Baylor, southern Archer, and southwestern Clay Counties, all the fields within the district are on this Red River uplift. These exceptions, which have the same type of oil and gas accumulation as the other fields, are on the extreme north end of the Bend arch, which is a broad anticline plunging northward from the Llano uplift in central Texas to Archer County. The larger part of past oil and gas production has come from Pennsylvanian strata, with less important amounts from the Permian, and minor but increasingly important quantities from the Ordovician. DevELopments during 1941 Nearly 1600 wells were drilled in the district during 1941 as compared with more than 1700 in 1940. However, the ratio of successful drilling operations was higher and some 1200 oil wells were completed. Production held about even with the previous year, as did the number of producing oil wells. Known oil reserves increased slightly throughout exploration, which generally was carried on at greater depths than in former years. The average depth of discovery wells was 300 ft. deeper than in 1940. Although discoveries were evenly divided numerically between horizons above the base of the Strawn series and those below the Strawn, the deeper horizons, including the Bend series of the Pennsylvanian, the Mississippian limestone, and the Simpson and Ellenburger of the Ordovician, furnished most of the increase in oil reserves. The largest single addition to the reserves was in the Ellenburger formation in the K.M.A. field. During the year 112 wells were completed in this horizon, bringing the total developed acreage to some 4600 acres. The Straan series in K.M.A. also received considerable development in 1941, with 114 completions. K.M.A. Pressure Maintenance Satisfactory progress was made by the K.M.A. Pressure Maintenance Association in 1941. At the end of the year, 99 wells were being used for input and total monthly volume of gas returned to the reservoir reached a high of 340,548 M cu. ft. in December from a low of 208,853 M cu. ft. in February. Total volume of gas returned during 1941 was 3,306,052 M cu. ft. To the end of the year, 150 cu. ft. of gas had been returned for every barrel of oil produced from the reservoir while the input ratio for December was 397 cu. ft. Per

Jan 1, 1942

By F. L. Burchard, Lewis W. MacNaughton

The North Texas district, as herein defined, includes the counties of Archer, Baylor, Clay, Coolie, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Montague, Wichita, and Wilbarger. This area covers generally the crest and south flank of a system of buried mountains known as the Red River uplift. The oil and gas accumulations along this feature are in traps, which, although localized by structures incident to the regional uplift, are usually modified by stratigraphic changes in the sediments. Excepting the fields in southeastern Baylor, southern Archer, and southwestern Clay Counties, all the fields within the district are on this Red River uplift. These exceptions, which have the same type of oil and gas accumulation as the other fields, are on the extreme north end of the Bend arch, which is a broad anticline plunging northward from the Llano uplift in central Texas to Archer County. The larger part of past oil and gas production has come from Pennsylvanian strata, with less important amounts from the Permian, and minor but increasingly important quantities from the Ordovician. DevELopments during 1941 Nearly 1600 wells were drilled in the district during 1941 as compared with more than 1700 in 1940. However, the ratio of successful drilling operations was higher and some 1200 oil wells were completed. Production held about even with the previous year, as did the number of producing oil wells. Known oil reserves increased slightly throughout exploration, which generally was carried on at greater depths than in former years. The average depth of discovery wells was 300 ft. deeper than in 1940. Although discoveries were evenly divided numerically between horizons above the base of the Strawn series and those below the Strawn, the deeper horizons, including the Bend series of the Pennsylvanian, the Mississippian limestone, and the Simpson and Ellenburger of the Ordovician, furnished most of the increase in oil reserves. The largest single addition to the reserves was in the Ellenburger formation in the K.M.A. field. During the year 112 wells were completed in this horizon, bringing the total developed acreage to some 4600 acres. The Straan series in K.M.A. also received considerable development in 1941, with 114 completions. K.M.A. Pressure Maintenance Satisfactory progress was made by the K.M.A. Pressure Maintenance Association in 1941. At the end of the year, 99 wells were being used for input and total monthly volume of gas returned to the reservoir reached a high of 340,548 M cu. ft. in December from a low of 208,853 M cu. ft. in February. Total volume of gas returned during 1941 was 3,306,052 M cu. ft. To the end of the year, 150 cu. ft. of gas had been returned for every barrel of oil produced from the reservoir while the input ratio for December was 397 cu. ft. Per

Jan 1, 1942