SEARCH FOR OIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 25 July 1929, Page 3

SEARCH FOR OIL

—_, 4f*~ — LECTURE BY DR. H. 0. ASKEW : PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY MICIC'I [NO IHCLD LAST NiOUT The lecturer at the Kelson Thilnsophical Society's reguliir Sathoring last nighl was Dr. 11. I.). Askew. His sub jecl was "The Search I'or Oil Fuel." Hi. Askew (icall with bis subject very interestingly and al the conclusion of Ihu lecliire a vote of thanks was carried l)V ace.laiiialinii. I >i. Askew spoke as follows: "Prilnilive man, in every clime from Lapland to Patagonia, managed mainly uithniil fuel : he was a savage. We. ill what is called the temperate zone, cannot live except in wanned houses; we ret pi ire conked meals three times a day; as wo gel older anil Time lakes his revenge by snatching al our forelocks, we require more and more warmth : every chemical reaction seems to require ariilicial heat, and we cannot maintain our civilisation without abundant chemistry. "We arc thus reminded that Urn quest ion of llie best methods of utilising the world's store of fuel is exercising the minds of many people in nearly all countries al I lie present time. So many warnings having been given (lull a luel famine may not be very far distant it is nol surprising thai (here is intense 'activity in fuel questions. And this necessitates thai advances be made in the practical ulilisati ,■!' the energy locked up in coal and oil. In so doing we are on a fair way to the fulfilment of the dictum of Sir William Ramsay, made many years ago. thai "real gain, real progress consists in how heller to employ energy-how better to effect its transformation." "Down lo the 13lh century wood was (he almost universal fuel, but since coal was first mined it has become more and more the immediate source of energy mi which civilisation depended, and until very recently ii occupied a pre-emi-nent, position. But within very reeenl times oil fuel has largely ousted coal from many of ils strongholds so filial now we have motor trains, motor vessels and oil-tired furnaces in great numbers.\ "In past years in the cases of both coal and oil very little trouble was taken (<> ensure, either their'efficient production or their efficient use. We are now faced with the position that the world's visible slocks of both coal and natural oil are rapidly being depleted; the store may not fail in our lifetime but we owe it lo posterity that we shall not .squander pur inheritance. Our present civilisation could nol very well carry on without oil from some source or otheroil has become such a necessity. "Hence attention is now being paid lo the production of oil from coal, since the slocks of coal appear to be greater and would appear to last longer than Ihe stocks of natural oil. "Now, there are what wo might call the primary and secondary methods of obtaining oil from coal. The first would include methods whereby the whole of the coal was converted into liquid fuels, and Hie second methods whereby oils were obtained as a by-product. "Into the second of these classes falls carbonisation of coal in.retorts for gasmaking whether at high or low temperature. By high temperature working as in the ordinary gas-works only about 2\ gallons of refined motor spirit can be obtained per Inn of coal. In the U.S.A. i 1 has been shown that as the years go by llie proportion of motor spirit' used which has come from gas-works and coke-ovens has become smaller and smaller, so that there is not much hope ol' a solution of the oil problem in this direction.

"At the present time low-temperature carbonisation is being put forward as a means of obtaining fuel oil. By this method of treatment the. yield of crude tar is about three times that obtainable at high temperatures, and by washing the gas produced a small quantity of motor spirit is obtainable. But the relining losses are very higfc so (hat in the end only about 2i gallons are obtained per ton of coal—practically the same as al high temperatures. By healing the tar to high temperatures and decomposing it more motor spirit is obtained, but even with this addition the maximum yield of spirit, per ton of coal is only 7-ltf gallons. There is one great advantage of I his low-temperature spirit

-il is an anti-knock fuel. Lubricating nils are also obtained, and the crude tar .an be used as a fuel ill Diesel engines: but it has the disadvantage that it will not mix with the ordinary American or As"ialie fuels. Hence again we are led lo the conclusion that only a small proportion of the world's need can be supplied from this method of treating coal. The primary methods are much more promising: two will be considered, the Bergius process whereby coal is treated in the solid state, and the Fischer process whereby coal is first turned into gas and this gas treated by catalytic methods for production of motor fuels. "The French chemist Bert helot in 1870 first showed that carbonaceous materials could yield oil-like bodies by suitable treatment, and the Austrians Daferf and Miklanz in 1911 showed that a petroleum-like product could also bo obtained. Although all these used high pressures the first really high pressure experiments were made by the Russian Ipatiev who worked at pressures of about 3000 pounds per square inch and at high temperatures. His work was the foundation for a process used greatly in Germany during the war lor llie production .of the synthetic fuel "telralin." "Ipatiev did not use coal in his experiments. Hut doubtless J'.ergius obtained his idea of healing' coal with hydrogen gas under high pressures at elevated temperatures from that work. Bergius was led on to this work when

he was attempting to prepare artificial coal from cellulose, and this work has now developed so much that in Germany several large plants are operating and producing some millions of barrels of oil products per year. "The principle of the process is this: finely ground coal is heated with hydrogen lias under a pressure ol' about 30G0ilis in the square inch, and at a temperature of about 450 degrees Centigrade. Tin- coal is partially liquified hv 1 In' absorption of hvdrogen, the product bcin- a thick black liquid from wiiich the various grades of oils are obtained by the usual refilling processes. About bO per cent, ol' the Veal is i-orr verted into, oils, the yield of motor spirit being about. 140 gallons per ton of coal. This process is now practically a commercial success ; bill the development ol the process required huge sums of money and ibe putting forth of great mechanical ingenuity in overcoming the problems involved. 'l'hc total expenditure it! t'.eridus' plain alone ban been estimated at about \\ millions ol pound:; 11. hers have worked out similar pro- .-._.;.-.:•; so Ih.lt now a wuietv 01 process..'• 1 availablo and itu: > can be worlvd si; i- to ■'.-.■, .-,iiv Jeviicd tvpe ot piodnct, and o has b.=en recentlv reported that |.i.,...c.,Uv the wholj ot the carbon oi the coal'can l<. convened into motoi ;pint ' ' Wh:.t then are the notabilities for

Iliis iunci.'.-::; in Now Zealand '! T'lliii country's consumption of motor spirit is iihoul. 45 million gallons per year. A plant costing £400,000 would yield b million gallons of spirit, hi once at tin: lirescnl. ral<! of consmiipl.ion nine such plants would bo rt'qrtirctl to moot ilu: demand. This rale <>'' working would n>(]oiru om> million tons of coal per an Hum ')'• aljijut lialf the .total produoeu annmillv in IMew Zcukiii I, and in otlj'jr wiirds, "four limes the total quantity oi coal carbonised each year in all tin.! gasworks of the country. The proi:es.-.| depends largely for its success, or otherwise, commercially, on Ihe cosl o) hydrogen. Our coals couluin largo ijuanlilics of oxygon which is an undesirable i i.insiil iicni for this process, and, again, II,,• sulphur toiili-iil ol our coals is high,' line. ;i ••;r. Wntlld lie obtained which would he cosily In purify before being sciil oiii for usi? in linnws or in industry. ''The jiroeesses we have considered so far have treated the coal in the solid state The. Fischer process uses coal in U.e east oils slate, or in oilier words, coal or coke is treated with steam to produce tin gases carbon monoxide and hydrogen. .These two- gases, as was shown many years ago by Labatier, can be made in unite In form either gaseous hydrocarbons or liquid alcohols. But ii is only recently that a. way has been found ol obtaining: liijitid fuels of high value from these gases. This is done by lho r'ollowing method. The gases are p.i.v.ed n\er nickel or iron, with other metallic compounds also present, at a I'aiily h'gh temperature and either under ordinary pressure or under high pressures. I'y suitably arranging the conditions either alcohols are obtained, or ninlor spirit, or heavy oils and even soli Is like vaM-line. The only difficulty seems to he that nature does not like to produce eiltyl (or common) alcohol —any oilier one bat this one is readily obtained: This process is being worked on a large scale in several European cottn!lies and is a commercial success, i.suecally for the production of methanol, or w< i d spirit. "S.. thai finally, as Dr. Fiddlier of the U.S. Bureau of Alines says, 'Re-:-,earth and technical development, along these lines constitute one of the most brilliant chapters of modern chemistry an I ecginei ring. The practical achievements already iwmplishcd are noteworthy, and they show the unexpected utilitarian application that is so often made of research conducted solely for the advancement of science. Neither Bergiua when he sought; to produce artificial coal from cellulose, nor J.ahatier when ho studied the effects of catalysts on the reaction between carbon monoxide- and hydrogen had any idea of providing motor fuels for future generaf.icns "