OIL FROM COAL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 1, 3 January 1939, Page 12

OIL FROM COAL

VENTURE IN VICTORIA

. Allowing for all charges, including' labour costs, oil can be produced from j , Yallourn (Victoria) brown coal at a' I cost of Is a gallon, according to a reg port which the Agent-General for Vie- . toria, Mr. Bussau, sent to the Victorian t Government. - It is understood that the cost of installing the plant would be £4,000,000. These figures are based on 60,000-ton single-unit production. It is thought that the costs could be considerably reduced if the oil was produced in conjunction with the existing electricity and briquette works, j The existing plant would be capable . of dealing with the initial stages of ) oil extraction. Lubricating and diesel j oil and all grades of benzine could be produced from the one plant. Mr. Bussau said that the scheme had been prepared by German experts. It j embodied many improvements, enab- _, ling the proposition to be placed on a I, commercial basis to suit Victorian conf ditions. The cost of production was much lower than any previously published figure. ' The report covers two processes. The first is the Fischer process, which is " highly mechanised, and which in- ' volves low labour costs. The second J is hydrogenation, which at present is * producing greater quantities of oil. 1 The main German plant covers an area of two square miles.