The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-02-06
MAY MAKE USE OF
WASTE FOR FUEL
Possible to Recover More
Than Two Million Bar
rels From Refuse
YEARLY WASTE GREAT
More Than Fifteen Million
Barrels Left in Callfor.
mia Fields Alone

Tho e.rl, demand f1- pr.ro'oun
rcsulunC ,rirOy from tive in't"Hs"
~ OH burning Devices and motor
dIl,ru vehicles. forces producers oi
the essential mineral 10 take Hdvuu-
taro uf rr,rs opportunity to incr"nFr
U4 production hy gc"llug new puurcca
~ supply and, what is NOR" lW-
purttnt. 'o usr uoH methods Tor ant
.gs NOR. OF tine oil brought 10 the
wfflu. 'n1u has hcon retained hove.
tutot, 80 lu uthor kind. 0r mining
DO s Thought possible that large
additional recovery can h" obtained
90 profit hv working over 'h'
o5a,os 100 certain folds ond by us'us
moro economical methods of produr-
lion iu the future
4 survey uf tho OH districts ut
california was made .bN the bureau iu
order go ascertain whether the Nis-
lhlc Uusscs Of wasted oll-boatiug
sands would hu q profitnhl" 7outc" ot
supply From tho data collected. u
rs estimated that 2.35H.to0 barrels "f
oil valued ut moro than $4,000 .0oo.
could hc obtained from tho sand piles
about producing wells ana from the
urtrroppings iu tie vicinity uf tho
~ oil scattered over nearly the total
Oh producing hr"n might ho rccoN-
orcd from sccpnEo. Sropagc, IN Tits
,usc. TX the OH tn is permitted TO
rotuln into the ground or remain on
thc surface uf oh saturated ground.
Quoting from r,llAhlc authors Car
ruld. Ralph. and Cnrfins. V. II.
Methods ~ oil Recovery In call.
fotniH. Tech papcr 20. Bureau Of
Mines lpli u. ~; ~ lH probable
That 10 tu = per cent of the total
gross production Of the nlate has
boon wasted through sccpag" on
evaporation This represents a loss
~ 100000 barrels Of oil yearly
Probably ono-quartcr to ouc-half Of
This amount sccps Into the ground
Possible Methods.
~ possible means Of recovering a
large amount of oil from these
wastes. the following should be con
s.dcred; GD Recovering oil icft in
thc snnd that IL produced with the
oil: (2D reclaiming the OF that s"ops
into the ground through waste In
production; and t3), mining ana
treating the material In oll-bcarlng
outCrops and asphalt beds that occur
In certain sections Of tho state.
field tho rush of gus into q now well
frequently sucks oil and sand with
It IN large quantities OftentimeH
adequate means Of holding In the
well arc not available ana tho oil
is permittcd 60 flow wild" until the
gas pressure diminishes enough 10
enable controlling the we'll. This
may require days or oven months
In many instances the sand thus OK
tractcd piles to height Of ton to
fifteen feet on-the derrick, slopinF
To radius OF over fifty feet There
being no commercial use for this oil
saturated sand, II IL removed from
the Immediate vicinity Of tho wcll
or otherwise disposed OF as value
less.
Many sand Mounds.
Throughout many of the oil dis
trlcts OF California, particularly In
he San Joaquin valley, u noticeable
feature is the large cone shaped
mounds ncnr each of tho wells where
sand is produced with 'hc oil AZ
many wells the mound completely
surrounds the derrick, and IL Otter
~ 10 20 feet high, 10 provide for
The sand In districts whore con1id
crahlc Quantities arr produced
Sumps ar" cNCavntcd about ten feet
deep, and the floor Of tho derrick
Is elevated six feet These mounds
of sand haVe been hullding sinco tn,
wells started 10 produce oil, and vii
no doubt continue 20 increase II
size though at slower rate. until
the end of production
Many Of the wells have boon pro
ducing since 1903. and some wcr,
drilled az carly as 1904 and 1900
Ia - ,.l.
as n rule, between 90 and co pei
cent. and may be as high as 90 pc
cent of the gross production of th'
well, depending upon the gas pros
sure and the character OF the sand
In wells wherc tho sand is loose an,
grained aud ngitatcd by q high "a
pressure. naturally a greater amour
rises to the surface with the oil.
In the Sunset field, wells with hipl
gas pressures have produced NOR
than 800 tons or sand In two &
four years, representing nearly two
thirds of their gross production. 1
tho Midway field there TX a well pro
Aucing about 500 tons month an
wells near Il with an output uoarl
rs large. In the Kern River an
West side coalinRa fields the oil
of heavy gravity ana with the aid q
an agitator such as air, larg. amount
or sand arc liftcd to the surfaC,
Each well Yields 10 TO % barrels q
oil daily: the proportion of sand Cai
ried with Il varies between 20 and .
per cent, and probably averages 4
per cont OF tho gross production
fhe amount ~ sand per well, h,
'auso OF the small oil production.
small, hut owing 10 the greater nun
Der of wells in these districts, IN
aggregate amount Ia large.
where wells produce only a sna
amount of sand the so-called san
boxes are frequently used, Tho san
hoN j. long. narrow. open rOug
,ioscd at the ends aud fitted wit
battles running CrOsswisc Ia the tlOv
Tho oil flows slowly over the shar
battles, the sand and emulsion se'
r'e to the bottom of the box, an
are Shovclled out as often us nee
csslIN.
LOSSES Are Large.
Also, the districts that produo
heavy gravity oils, n convenient wa
ut separating tho sand and oil N I
permit the oil to flow through Ion
omen duChcs to reservoirs wheI
the free oil Is removed by n suCUo
pump. Evidently greut quantities ,
oil can ho wasted through seppac