V o l . 25. No. 183. J a n u a r y 1939

IR A N IA N PE T R O L E U M IN A N C IE N T AND M ED IE V A L TIM ES.*

B y L a u r e n c e L o c k h a r t , B.A., Ph.D., Member of the Association Française des Techniciens du Pétrole.

S y n o p s i s .

B itum en used for various purposes in Southern I ra n as far back as 5000- 6000 years ago. L ack of archaeological evidence in th e case of liquid petro leum . C ontroversy over origin of th e w ord “ n a p h th a .” Petro leum gas th e fuel, in m any cases, of th e “ e te rn a l ” fire of th e ancient Iran ians.T he fire-tem ples a t Shiz an d M asjid-i-Sulaim an. H ero d o tu s’s account of th e oil-well n ear A rdericca. L egendary use of n a p h th a by A lexander th e G reat. P lin y ’s descrip tion of occurrences of petro leum an d b itum en in Iran . Petro leum used for incendiary arrow s and la te r em ployed as one of th e ingredients in Greek fire. The oil springs a t B aku described b y various A rab an d E uro p ean travellers. Iran ian use of w hite n a p h th a for fireworks. T he H in d u fire-tem ple a t Surakhani. P e te r th e G reat orders pe tro leum to be sen t from B aku to R ussia. N adir Shah uses burn ing n a p h th a to scare th e e lephan ts of th e M ughal a rm y a t th e b a ttle of K arn a l in 1739. Origin of th e w ord “ m um m y ” an d n a tu re of th e substance know n as “ m um iya ” (pissasphaltos). Supposed cu rative properties of “ m um iya ” cause i t to be m uch sought a fte r and very h ighly prized in I ra n in m edieval tim es. E uropean trav e lle rs’ accounts. Ownership of petro leum rig h ts in Iran . R evenues vested first in th e C aliphate an d la te r in th e crown.

T h e history of Iranian petroleum dates back to very remote times, but it is not by any means a continuous story. Every now and again there are breaks in it, some covering periods of several centuries, and we have at times only a very slender basis of fact on which to build up the narrative ; sometimes, indeed, when facts are lacking, we have to fall hack on con­jecture.

I. B i tu m e n , L i q u i d P e t r o l e u m a n d P e t r o l e u m G a s .

Archaeological researches at Susa (Shush) have revealed that bitumen was used there in Sumerian times—that is, some five or six thousand years ago, when it was employed not only as a bonding material (as in Mesopo­tamia, in particular at U r),f but also for the purpose of fixing the blades of tools into their handles and as a setting for jewels, j Subsequently, bitumen

* T his p ap er is based largely upon “ P ersian Petro leum in A ncient an d M edieval T im es,” a n a rticle which I con trib u ted to th e Proceedings o f th e I I e Congrès M ondial d u P é tro le in P aris, in 1937. As I have in th e m eanw hile ob tained some fu rth er in form ation on th e sub ject, I have tak en th e op p o rtu n ity to m odify in certa in respects som e o f th e views expressed in th a t article .— L. L.

f See P la te 12 on p . 54 of R . J . F o rb es’s B itum en and Petroleum in A n tiqu ity (Leiden, 1936). As Professor H erzfeld has s ta te d in h is article on M asjid-i-Sulaim an (see The N a ft M agazine, Vol. V, N ovem ber 1929), b itu m en w as n o t so used during e ither th e A chæ m enian or Sasanian periods. I n th e form er epoch th e m asonry consisted of dressed stone he ld together b y iron c ram ps; th e Sasanians, on th e o ther han d , used m o rta r o f ex trem ely good q u ality in th e construction o f th e ir buildings.

% R . de M ecquenem ’s “ C ontribu tion à l’É tu d e des Outils en P ierre trouvés dans les R uines de Suse,” in L ’Anthropologie (Paris, 1923), Vol. X X X II I .

A

2 LOCKHART : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

was used for water-proofing pottery, as a cheaper alternative to glazing, and for caulking sea-going vessels and river craft.

Whilst archæologists have been able to establish these facts regarding bitumen, which is a solid substance, they have necessarily failed to prove whether liquid petroleum was exploited and made use of in those distant times. In the absence of archæological evidence, we have to turn to linguistics and philology, and even then to make a leap of many hundreds of years. In so doing, however, we are confronted with a serious difficulty— namely, the true origin of the word naphtha. Is it Iranian or Semitic ?

Professors Herzfeld and Bailey state that nafta, from the verbal root nab, meaning “ to be moist,” came to be used in the Old Persian language to denote “ petroleum,” and that, in the Avestan language (which has been identified with that of the Medes),* nafta was changed into napta .f From the tongues of the Medes and Persians, nafta was, according to these autho­rities, borrowed by the Chaldeans, Hebrews and Arabs.

On the other hand, Monsieur Dhorme, the Director of the École des Hautes Études at Paris, has expressed the view that the Akkadians formed the word nafta from the verb napatu, meaning “ to blaze,” and that it passed from the Akkadian into the Assyrian and Babylonian languages, and thence into Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin and, ultimately, into the modern European languages. J It is beyond the scope of this paper to take an active part in this controversy, and all that can be said here is that, what­ever the origin of nafta may have been, the word was certainly used in Old Persian in the sense of “ petroleum.” It therefore follows that liquid petroleum was known in Iran in Achæmenian times, and it was doubtless utilized then for fighting, and also perhaps for medicinal purposes.

We are on more certain ground when we come to consider petroleum gas, as we know that it played, in certain cases, an important part in the religion of the ancient Iranians as the fuel of the “ eternal ” fire. Although these people were not, in reality, fire-worshippers, fight and fire were among the dominating ideas of their religion, § and it was therefore natural that they should build many of their temples over places where petroleum gas escaped from the ground, thus providing them with a constant and inexhaustible supply of “ miraculous ” fuel. The Iranians termed these fires ayvarishnik, which means “ not requiring food.” || Such temples were constructed at Baku (as this place and its oilfields were for so many centuries within the confines of Iran they undoubtedly come within the scope of this paper),

* D arm este ter’s Études Iraniennes, Vol. I , pp. 12 an d 13 (it is to be n o ted , how ever, th a t Germ an authorities like Geiger and Spiegel do n o t accept D a rm este te r’s view).

f I t is curious to note th a t w hen naphtha was in troduced in to M iddle E nglish , it was given th e form of napta.

% See Le Culte du Feu dans ses Rapports avec les “ Feux Eternels ” et el “ N aph te ,” by Messieurs Maurice Mercier and André Seguin, P a ris, 1938.

§ See Professor H erzfeld’s article en titled “ M asjid-i-Sulaim an,” in T he N a ft Magazine, Novem ber, 1929.

|| Professor Herzfeld’s Archæological H istory o f Ira n (London, 1936), p . 93.*[ T h0 late Professor B arthold , in his article on B aku in th e Encyclopaedia o f Islam

(Vol. I , p . 609) s ta ted : “ The assum ption th a t th e n a p h th a wells o f B ak u w ith th e ir eternal fire ’ played an im p o rtan t p a r t in th e fire-worship of P ersia . . . rests on

no historical foundations ; fire-worship was n o t b rough t here till th e e igh teen th cen tu ry by Ind ians and In d ian Parsees.” Professor H erzfeld has, how ever, inform ed m e th a t m ore recen t researches a t B aku show th a t th e above s ta tem en t b y Professor B artho ld is incorrect.

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIM ES. 3

near Damghan * (180 miles east-north-east of Tehran) and elsewhere. The famous Arab traveller and geographer Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali, better known as al-Mas‘udi (who has not inaptly been termed “ the Herodotus of the Arabs ” ), travelled through Persia in a .d . 915. He stated that “ there was in the land of Fars what was known as a source of fire and a temple was built over it ” ; f al-Mas‘udi does not, however, give the name of the place where this temple was built.

The celebrated Grseco-Arab geographer Yaqut, in his M u‘jam u’1- Buldan, quoting from a tenth-century writer and traveller named Mis'ar ibnu’l-Muhalhal, gives an interesting description of the great fire-temple at Shiz, the remains of which Sir Henry Rawlinson believed to he identical with the mass of ruins between Maragha and Zinjan that is now known as the Takht-i-Sulaiman (“ Solomon’s throne ”).£ According to Mis‘ar,§ there was in Shiz

“ a magnificent fire-temple . . . from which the fires of the Magians from the east unto the west are supplied. . . . And one of the wonders of this building is that they have burnt (the fire) in it for seven hundred years, and there is no ash whatsoever found in it nor has it ever for one hour been extinguished.”

This description (if we can accept it as correct) suggests the ayyarishnik fire.

Professor Herzfeld has expressed the opinion [| that, as the ancient Iranians, by reason of their religious ideas,

“ were predisposed to attach a religious significance to places like the Persian oilfields (i.e., Masjid-i-Sulaiman, one of the principal fields of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., Ltd.) . . . we may expect that some sort of temple has existed at Masjid-i-Sulaiman at least since the Iranian occupation (about 596 B.C.).”

There thus seems some basis for Sir Henry Rawlinson’s supposition that it was in a fire-temple on this spot dedicated to Anahita or Nansea that Antiochus the Great was murdered in 187 B.C., and one might perhaps go further by surmising that it was in this temple that Neemias (as related in

* T his tem ple m ay have been s itu a ted a t a sp o t called Shah K u h B ala (18 miles n o rth -n o rth -eas t of th e p resen t tow n o f D am ghan), w here there are petro leum seepages.

f See th e M u ru ju ' dh-Dhahab (edited, w ith F rench tran s la tio n , b y C. B arb ier de M eynard and P av e t de Courteille, P a ris, 1861-1877), Vol. IV , p . 79.

t “ M em oir on th e Site of th e A tro paten ian E cb a ta n a ,” in Vol. X , p . 70, o f th e Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. R aw linson’s opinion is supp o rted b y P ro ­fessor Pope in his article “ W here Rom e F a iled ,” in The Tim es, 18th Feb ru ary , 1938; accom panying th is article is an excellent aerial view of th e top of th e T akh t-i- Sulaim an.

§ M u'jam u 'l-B u ldan (edited b y F . W iistenfeld, Leipzig, 1868), Vol. I l l , pp . 353 and 354.

|| The N a ft M agazine, Vol. V, N ovem ber 1929.*T Sir H . R aw linson’s “ N otes on a M arch from Zohab . . . along th e M ountains

to K h u z istan (Susiana) and from Thence th rough th e Province o f L u ris tan to K irm an- shah, in th e year 1836,” in th e Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (London, 1839), Vol. IX , p . 85. Sir H en ry only saw th e ru ins o f th e tem ple from a fa r; he w as unable to v is it them because o f th e very u nse ttled conditions th en prevailing in th a t d is tric t.

Book II, ck. 1. of the Maccabees) poured water upon the stones after the sacrifice had been consumed,

“ when . . . there was kindled a flame . . . when the mat^ ^ s known, it was told the King of Persia . . - then the K ^ g enclosmg the place made it holy. . . . And Neemias and his party_called the thing Nephtar, which is as much as to say a cleansing, ygenerality it is called Nephtai.

This passage raises two interesting questions—nam ely: (1) was the“ water ” really petroleum (naft), and (2) was Nephtar or Nephtaiderived from the word naft ? _ . >

The ruins of the temple now known as the Masjid-i-Sulaiman ( Solomon s Mosque ”), which have given their name to the oilfield mentioned above, are according to Professor Herzfeld,* those of a fire-temple belonging to the Arsacidan (Parthian) age, and may date from the period immediately preceding the Christian era. One is tempted to jump to the conclusion that the Mobads (priests) of this temple (and previous edifices on the same spot) may have used petroleum gas or liquid petroleum as their fuel. Geological evidence shows, however, that there could never have been an escape of natural gas from the earth just where this temple was built. Crude liquid petroleum from the adjacent seepages could not have been burnt in a fire-temple, as it would have given off quantities of smoke; since smoke was abhorrent to the Magians and Zoroastrians, who regarded it as an emanation of Ahriman, the spirit of evil, they would never have polluted their temple in this w ay.f As it is most unlikely that the people of those parts had, in that remote time, any knowledge of refining, J it seems unlikely that petroleum in any form was burnt in this temple unless the priests utilized the lighter and clearer oil resembling kerosine which, for an unknown number of years, has been collected from wells or pits dug close to the seepages at Naft-i-Safid (“ White Oil ”), 331 miles south-south-east of Masjid-i-Sulaiman.

This account of fire-temples and their fuel has necessitated some de­parture from chronological order, and it is now necessary to revert to the fifth century B.C., when Herodotus, the first Western writer to mention Iranian petroleum, gave (in Book VI, 119, of his “ History ”) the following description of the manner in which it was then being exploited in Iran § :—

“ Ardericca . . . is 210 furlongs (stadia) distant from Susa, and 40 from the well that is of three kinds whence men bring up asphalt (bitumen) and salt and oil. This is the manner of their doing i t :

4 LOCKHART : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

* The. N a ft M agazine , Vol. V, N ovem ber 1929.t W here petro leum gas w as n o t available, the Mobads b u rn t sandal-w ood or

tam arisk , which th ey laid on th e fire w ith silver to n g s ; th ey th en sp rink led incense over th e burn ing logs. So careful were these p riests to avoid defiling th e sacred flame, th a t they wore veils over th e ir m ouths and noses (like the surgeon an d the a tte n d a n t nurses a t a p resen t-day operation).

J Mr. Forbes, in his B itum en and Petroleum in A ntiqu ity (pp. 35-391 outline of the h isto ry of re fin ing ; th e earliest m ethod was th a t described bv G*'P liny (C. P lin ius Secundus) in his N aturalis Historia (Books XV , 8 and X X IV 249 who showed how “ ta r oil can be ob tained by stre tch ing a hide over a cauldr ’ ta in ing boiling p itch and th en w ringing o u t th e condensed liqu id .” n con '

§ This trans la tion is by A. D. Godley (Leob Classical L ibrary , L ondon, 1922)

F i g . 1 .

O IL S E E P A G E A T D A L IK I, N E A R B U S H IR E .

N -B -— T h 'S pho tograph was tak en some 35 years ago.

EP A G E I N A C R E E K A T M A S JID -I-S U L A IM A N N E A R W H E R E OTT w « S T R U C K IN L A R G E Q U A N T IT IE S IN 1908.

{To fa ce p . 4 .

F i g . 3 .

T H E A N C IE N T T E M P L E O F T H E F IR E W O R S H IP P E R S AT S U R A K H A N I N E A R B A K U , (jReproduced fro m J . D . H e n ry 's “ B a k u " by k in d perm iss io n o f M essrs . Constable & Co.)

F i g . 4 .

T H E R U IN S O F T H E A N C IE N T F IR E -T E M P L E AT M A S JID -I-S U L A IM A N ( “ T H E M O SQ U E O F SO LO M O N ” ) .

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES. 5

a windlass is used in the drawing, with a skin made fast to it in place 0 a bucket; therewith he that draws dips into the well and then P°^rs into a tank, whence what is drawn is poured into another tank, nd goes three ways; the asphalt (bitumen) and the salt grow forth­

with solid; the oil, which the Persians call Rhadinace,* is dark andevil-smelling.”

It is unfortunate that Herodotus gave no clue to the direction of Ardericca in relation to Susa; if his distances are correct, Ardericca would have been some 25 miles from that place, whilst the oil-well would have been 5 miles from Ardericca. There are a number of ruined towns situated between 20 and 25 miles of Susa, but there are no oil indications of any importance near these. Sir Henry Rawlinson sought to identify the seepages at Qirab (literally “ pitch-water ”), 39 miles to the north-north-east of Susa, with the well near Ardericca, although (as he himself admits) the distance is greater than that given by Herodotus, f If, like Rawlinson, we assume that Herodotus’s distances are incorrect, it seems just as, if not more, reasonable to suppose that Masjid-i-Sulaiman (62 miles east-south-east of Susa) was the site of the Ardericcan well, because the oil seepages there are more abundant and the oil itself less viscous than at Qirab.

There is a passage in Book VIII, 52, of Herodotus describing the siege of Athens by the Iranians in 480 B.C. which reads :—

“ The Persians sat down on the hill over against the acropolis . . . and besieged them (i.e., the Athenians) by shooting arrows wrapped in lighted tow at the barricades.”

Is it possible that these incendiary arrows were dipped in petroleum before being ignited and discharged ? This conjecture is not perhaps as far-fetched as it may at first sight appear, since it is known that, in later times (see below), the Iranians adopted this m ethod; it may well be doubted whether burning tow would keep alight when made to pass swiftly through the air, unless it were previously steeped in petroleum.

In some editions of Plutarch’s Life of Alexander it is stated that the Macedonian conqueror, when travelling through Babylonia, was amazed at seeing flames issuing from the ground at some place “ in the province of Ecbatana.” He was likewise astonished when “ the barbarians of this country ” sprinkled liquid naphtha in the street leading to his quarters and ignited it, the flames instantly running the whole length of the street. This spectacle led to the well-known experiment that was tried on Alexander’s unfortunate page, Stephen, who narrowly escaped with his life. j

Strictly speaking, the above incidents should not be mentioned in this article, because there is reason to believe that they took place in Mesopo­tamia (possibly near where Kirkuk now stands). No part of Babylonia can be said, without exaggeration, to be “ in the province of Ecbatana,”

* Rhadinace is n o t a P e rsian w ord, b u t i t w as no d o u b t th e te rm used a t th a t tim e in Susiana (b u t n o t in I ra n as a whole) to denote petro leum . I t is possible th a t i t m ay have been a su rv iva l from th e agg lu tinative speech o f th e aboriginal in h ab itan ts ofth a t p a r t. ,,

t R aw linson, “ N otes on a M arch from Zohab, e tc ., p . 94.X P lu ta rc h ’s L ife o f A lexander, in h is Vitae Parallelae, B ook X X X V .

6 LOCKHART I IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

and in the more authentic texts of the Life of Alexander these words are omitted (it was not until later that Alexander entered the province of Ecbatana where, incidentally, there are no indications of petroleum).

Firdausi, the great epic poet of Iran, who flourished nearly 1300 years after Alexander, endeavours, in his Shah-Nama (“ Book of Kings ”), to show that the conqueror had Iranian blood in his veins and that he ruled Iran for a number of years. Firdausi gives two instances of the use of naphtha by Alexander which, though legendary, are nevertheless of sufficient interest to be mentioned here. In the first of these instances, Alexander, when ruler of Iran, is said to have built a great wall along the north-east fron­tier of that country in order to keep out Gog and Magog. This wall was very strongly built, the materials being fused into one homogeneous mass by means of burning naphtha and clarified butter.*

Secondly, Firdausi gives the following description of how Alexander, during his invasion of India, invented a device for scaring the elephants of Fur (Porus) f :—

“ Then the ShahAssembled all th e m aster-sm iths of R um ,Of Misr, and P ars , twelve hundred m en in sum ,W ho m ade a horse, w ith saddle and w ith riderComplete, of iron, fastening th e jo in tsW ith bolts and rivets. H orse and m an were furbished.They charged it w ith black nap h th a , and th en ra n it On wheels before th e troops. A t sight thereof Sikander was well pleased for, being wise,H e felt th e gain thereof, and bade to m ake A thousand such and m ore : w ho’er beheld On chargers dappled, chestnu t, black, an d grey An iron host 1 The m a tte r took th e m onth ,A nd th en th e w orkm en rested from th e ir labours.Thus led th ey fo rth on wheels an iron h ost T h a t of all th ings resem bled horsem en m ost.

Now w hen Sikander was approaching F ur,A nd from afar one host beheld th e other,On bo th sides rose th e shout and d u st of b a ttle ,A nd eager for th e fray th e w arriors Advanced. They lit the n a p h th a in th e steeds :F u r’s troops were in dism ay. The n a p h th a b lazed :F u r ’s troops recoiled because those steeds were iron.W hereat th e elephants, w hen th e ir own tru n k sW ere scorched, fled likewise, and th e ir drivers m arvelled.Thus all th e In d ian host and all those huge,H igh-crested elephants were p u t to flight.

The “ robots ” described in the above passage, although purely

* The Shahnama of F irdausi. Translated into English by A . O. W arner and E . W arner (London, 1912), Vol. V I, p . 165.

f Ib id ., Vol. V I, pp. 115 and 116. A different version of th is legend w as cu rren t in Iran a t the tim e w hen A dam Oelslager (Olearius) w as there (in 1638); according to th is version, A lexander, being unable to defeat th e H ebbes ( ? th e H abash is or E th io ­pians), consulted A ristotle (who, according to th e legend, was w ith h im on th is cam ­paign). A ristotle advised A lexander “ to ru b over w ith N efte a heap of R eeds, to get them a-fire and to cast them am ongst th e E lephan ts , which were so s ta rtle d a t th e fire, th a t th ey were p u t in to disorder, w hereupon th e H ebbes were defeated , and forced to su b m it.” (The Voyages and Travels o f the Ambassadors fro m The D uke of Holstein to the Great Duke o f M uscovy, and the K ing of Persia, L ondon, 1662, Book V I, p . 334.)

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIM ES. 7

imaginary,* are strangely suggestive of the modern tank. Curiously enough, there is, as will be seen on p. 14 below, an historical instance of the use of burning naphtha by an eighteenth-century Iranian monarch for the purpose of terrifying the elephants of his Indian adversary.

There is a further reference to petroleum in Plutarch’s Life of Alexander,f but, as it relates to the finding of oil by the banks of the Oxus, it is doubtful whether it can properly be regarded as coming within the scope of this paper.

Strabo, in his Geographilcon, quotes Eratosthenes (circa 276-194 B . C . )

as having said that the liquid kind of bitumen “ which is called naphtha ” was found in Susis.J In another passage, Straho, after describing the wall, temples and the royal palace at Susa, states that these, like the palaces and houses of the Babylonians, were built of baked brick and asphalt (i.e., bitumen).§

Pliny, after describing in his Naturalis Historia (Book II, ch. 108) the occurrence at Samosata, in Syria, of a natural mixture of wax and pitch called maltha (in Greek, ¡idXda or fiaXOrj), refers as follows to naphtha : “ naphtha is a similar substance; it is so called around Babylon and in the land of the Astaceni in Parthia, flowing like liquid bitumen. It has a great affinity to fire which leaps towards it from afar, wherever it is seen.” ||

He then refers to volcanoes, such as Etna, and to what were evidently petroleum gas flares; these latter phenomena occur “ in Media and Sittacene, on the borders of Persia : also in Susa at the White Tower, (the flames emerge) from fifteen openings the greatest of these (flares) being visible during the day.” Pliny’s meaning in regard to the “ White Tower ” is obscure; the words suggest a number of petroleum gas vents in a heaped- up mass of gypsum. There is a spot 20 miles to the south-west of Susa (Shush) where there are some burnt m arls; no gas is escaping there at the present time, but it is possible that, at or about the time when Pliny wrote, there may have been some burning gas there; these marls and the presence of gypsum in their neighbourhood might account for the “ White Tower.”

Speaking of the country farther to the south, Pliny says :—

“ The river Granis which is navigable by vessels of moderate size flows through Susiana; on its right bank dwell the Deximontani, who exploit bitumen.” **

As it seems clear from the record of the voyage of Nearchus that the Granis was one of the rivers of Persis or Pars and flowed into the sea a few

* Mr. R o b ert B yron has suggested to m e th a t th e poet m ay possibly have h a d in m in d th e m echanical horsem en, clad in silk, who were grouped in phalanxes round a m arvellous artificial tree a t th e court of th e ‘A bbasid Caliphs a t B aghdad , in th e te n th cen tu ry a .d . These horsem en could be se t in m otion b y m eans of th e ir in te rn al m echanism (see Mr. B yron’s The Byzantine Achievement, p . 225).

t B ook L V II.I Geographikon, Book X V I, 1, 15.§ Ib id ., Book X V , 3, 2.|| Book I I , 109 : “ Similis est n a tu ra n ap h th ae : i ta ap p ella tu r circa B abylonem

e t in A stacenis P a rth iae , profluens, b itum in is liquido m odo. H uic m agna cognatio ignium , tran s iliun tque p ro tinus in earn undecum que v isam .”

If B ook I I , 110 : “ F lag ra t in Medis, e t Sittacene, confinio Persid is : Susis quidem ad T u rrim a lbam , e X V cam inis, m axim o eorum e t in te rd iu .”

** Book V I, 26 : “ F lum en G ranis m odicarum nav ium capax, p er Susianem flu it : d ex tra ejus accolunt D exim ontani, qui b itum en perfic iun t.”

8 LOCKHART : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

miles north of where Bushire now stands,* Pliny is in error in saying that it flowed through Susiana. The Granis is apparently the Hilla Rud, some 30 miles to the north of which (and therefore on its right bank) is the Dasht-i- Qir ( Plain or Pitch ” or “ Bitumen ”), where there are extensive seepages. It seems reasonable to suppose that the Deximontani (whoever they may have been) obtained their bitumen from these seepages.

The historian Ammianus Marceflinus, who accompanied the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate on his campaign against the Sasanian monarch Shapur II, stated that Median oil was made in Iran. The Iranians, he said ,| prepared it by soaking the leaves of a certain plant in ordinary oil. When the leaves had been steeped sufficiently, the residue was thickened by the addition of a substance “ similar to common oil, a natural product of the soil . . . which is called naphtha among the Persians.” An arrow dipped into this mixture, and then lighted, would set fire to anything to which it became affixed, provided that it was not discharged too forcibly from the bow, for a rapid flight through the air would extinguish the flame. If water were employed in order to put out the fire caused by this mixture, it would only become more intense, and the sole method of extinguishing it was to smother it with sand.

The above description lends some colour to the suggestion made on p. 5 above that the Iranians who besieged Athens in 480 B.C. may have utilized a similar mixture to render their incendiary arrows more effective.

Nearly two centuries after Julian’s campaign against Shapur, the Iranian defenders of Petra £ used burning oil to destroy the battering-rams of the Roman besiegers. Procopius states, in his History of the JTars,§ that the Persian garrison :

“ had filled pots with sulphur and bitumen and the substance which the Medes call naphtha and the Greeks ‘ Medea’s oil,’ and they set fire to these and began to cast them upon the machines of the battering- rams, and they came near to burning them all.”

A hundred years later, when the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius was

* N earchus anchored off th e m o u th of th e Granis soon a fte r v isiting Mesembria (now th e B ushire p en in su la ); i t was n o t u n til some tim e la te r th a t he reached the river Arosis (now know n as th e H ind iyan), which form ed th e boundary betw een Susiana an d Persis (see W illiam V incen t’s The Voyage o f Nearchus, London, 1807, pp. 398-401, and Sir A. T . W ilson’s The Persian G ulf, Oxford, 1928, p . 41).

f .Rerum Gestarum, Book X X II I . The L a tin te x t is as follows :“ In hac regione oleum conficitur M edicum, quo illitum telum , si emissum

len tius laxiore arcu (nam ic tu ex stingu itu r rapido) h aeserit usquam , tenaciter c rem at, e t si aq u a vo luerit abluere quisquam , aestus ex c ita t acriores incendiorum , nec rem edio ullo, quam jac tu pu lveris consopitur. P a ra tu r au tem hoc modo. Oleum usus com m unis herba quadam infectum condiun t harum rerum p en t), ad d iu m ita te m servan tes, e t coalescens d u ra n t ex m ate ria venae na tu ra lis , similis oleo c ra ss io ri: quae species g ign itu r apud P ersas, quam . . . n ap h th am vocabuloadpellavere gen tili.”

In th e above connection, see also B. B rissonius’s De Regio Persarum principatu (Paris.1 5 9 9 ) , p p . 431 and 432. . . ,

I T he P e tra m entioned here is th e fortress in th e Caucasus, and is n o t to be contusedw ith th e place o f th e sam e nam e in A rabia. „

§ Book V II I , xi, 36. See also G ibbon’s Decline and F all o f the Roman Empire

^ T h o ° fo c t^ th a t P liny ,’ A m m ianus M arcellinus an d Procopius all say th a t petroleum w as called naphtha in I ra n is no tew orthy .

ANCIENT AND M EDIEVAL TIM ES. 9

10 LOCKHART : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

invading north-west Iran, he destroyed a number of fire-temples, in some of which petroleum gas was used as fuel.*

Contemporaneously, the Greek architect Kallinikos discovered the process for making the incendiary mixture that was generally known thereafter as “ Greek fire ” ; it was often referred to by Byzantine historians (such as Cinnamus) as “ Median fire ” ( 7 7 u p M t j S i k o v ) , because the petroleum which formed one of its principal constituents was obtained for the most part from Media (i.e., north-western Iran, probably the Baku district).!

The upheaval in Iran caused by the Arab invasion in the middle of the seventh century a . d . is responsible for a hiatus in the narrative of Iranian oil which lasted for over 200 years.

I t is stated in the Darband-Nama that in the year 272 a . h . ( a . d . 885/886) the Caliph of Baghdad (al-Mu‘tamid) granted the revenues from the naphtha springs and salt pits at Baku to the inhabitants of Darband. Eighteen years later a man named Bi Shutur was appointed Governor of Darband; he confiscated these revenues and utilized them for his own purposes, whereupon the inhabitants of the town, “ being thus deprived of all means (of subsistence), gave themselves up to trade and other employments, and there soon appeared amongst them disorder and corruption.” f

Al-Mas‘udi, as already stated, visited Iran in a . d . 915.§ Among the places which he saw was Baku, where he was much struck by the oil in­dications ; to use his own words :—

“ . . . vessels sail to Baka (Baku) and (there is there) a spring of white naphtha and other (kinds) and there is not in the world—and Allah is the most knowing—white naphtha except in this spot, and it is (on) the shore of the kingdom of Sharwan (Shirvan), and in this naphtha-district (nafata) there are chimneys (i.e., craters or vents) which are sources of the sources of fire which ceases not to burn.” ||

The anonymous author of the very rare tenth-century geographical work in Persian entitled the Hudud al-‘Alam (“ Regions of the World ” ) states therein that all the petroleum used in the Dailamite country (situated to the north and north-west of Qazvin) was brought from Baku.!/

Yaqut ( a . d . 1179-1229) said that Baku was :—

“ a town of the neighbourhood of Darband in the district of Shirwan in which is a large naphtha spring ; it produces every day one thousand dirhams (drachms), and by its side is another spring from which flows white naphtha like oil of mercury (dahnu’z-zibaq) (and it) ceases not by day or n igh t; its yield is like that of the first (well). And one of the merchants who is worthy of credence informed me that he saw there

* H ans H öfer, Das Erdöl (Petroleum) und seine Verwandten (B runsw ick, 1888),p . 11 .

t L. C hrétien-L alanne, Recherches S u r le Feu Grégeois (Paris, 1845), p . 68.} See p . 136 o f th e Darband-Nama or H istory o f Darband translated fro m a select

T urkish version by M irza A-K azem -Beg (th is book, w hich w as w ritte n b y M uham m ad Awabi A qtashi a t th e close of th e six teen th cen tu ry or beginning o f th e seventeenth, w as based on an earlier Iran ia n w ork th a t is no longer e x tan t).

§ See p. 3 above for h is reference to a fire-tem ple in F ars.II M uruju 'dh-D hahab , Vol. I I , ch. X V II, p . 25.1Í See p . 145 o f Professor M inorsky’s English tran s la tio n o f th is work.

AJNCJLENT AND MEDIEVAL TIM ES. 11

a bit of land from which fire does not cease issuing forth day and night. I think that a fire has fallen there from some person and that it does not cease because the (combustible) mineral sustains it.” *

The early thirteenth-century Iranian author who is known to us only as Ibnu’l-Balkhi (“ son of the man from Balkh ” ) refers, in his Fars-Nama (“ Book of Fars ” ), to lamp oil (raiujhan-i-chiragh) of good quality being in use at the town of Siniz (now Bandar Dilam), at the northern end of the Persian Gulf.t This oil may have come from the springs at Naft-i-Safid (it is known that, in later times, lamp oil from there was sold as far afield as Isfahan and even Tehran). J Ibnu’l-Balkhi omits all mention of the oil seepages at Dasht-i-Qir or Daliki.

We now come to the first medieval European to describe Iranian petro­leum. Marco Polo, who travelled through the northern part of Iran in 1271-1273 gives the following description of what was evidently § the Baku field :—

“ On the confines (of Armenia) towards Georgiana (Georgia) there is a fountain from which oil springs in great abundance, insomuch that a hundred shiploads might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not good to use with food, but ’tis good to burn, and is also used to anoint camels that have the mange. People come from vast distances to fetch it, for in all the countries round about they have no other oil.” ||

Hamdullah Mustaufi, the well-known fourteenth-century historian and geographer of Qazvin, makes the following statement regarding petroleum :

“ Naphtha. There are many springs of this, but the most abundant in this kingdom of Iran is that at Baku. Here over a tract of land they have dry wells to get down to the Naphtha source, and the water which rises in these wells carries the Naphtha on its surface.”

A little over 200 years after Marco Polo made his journey, another Venetian, named Giosafo Barbaro, was at Baku. He described the oilfields there in these terms : —

“ S’ul mare di q’sta parte e un altra citta nominata Bachu, dalla- quale piglia il nome il mar di Bachu : appresso la quale e una montagna che butta oho negro, di gran puzza; ilqual si adopra ad uso de lucerne per la n otte; ad uncione di cammelh due uolte a l ’anno; perche no gli unguendo, diuentano scabiosi ” **

* M u ‘jam u 'l-B u ldan , Vol. I , p . 477.t F ars-N am a (Cam bridge, 1921), p . 150.X Curzon’s Persia and the Persian Question, Vol. I I , p . 520.§ In th e opinion of Sir H enry Yule, th e ed ito r o f th e L ondon, 1921 edition , th is view

appears to be correct.|| Vol. I , p . 46. A previous E uropean traveller, F r ia r W illiam o f R u bruck , passed

w ith in a few miles of B aku in 1254, b u t says no th ing o f th e oil springs in th e reco rd of his journey.

Nuzhatu'l-Qulub (Le S trange’s E nglish tran s la tio n , L ondon, 1919, pp . 198 and

** Viaggio dello istesso M esser Iosaphat Barbaro in Persia (Venice, 1543), pp . 55 and 56. The use o f petro leum as a cure for certa in h u m an ailm ents an d for th e sk in diseases of cam els and other a n im a ls goes b ack to ancien t tim es; see P liny , Book X X X v , 51.

12 LOCKHART : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

William Thomas (who was hanged at Tyburn on the 18th May, 1554, for conspiracy against Queen Mary) translated Barbaro’s Viaggio into English; his version of the above passage is as follows :—

“ Upon this syde of the sea there is an other citie called Bachu, whereof the sea of Bachu taketh name, neere vnto which citie there is a montaigne that casteth foorthe blacke oyle, stynkeng horryblye, which they, nevertheless, vse for furnissheng of their lightes and for the anoynteng of their camells twice a yere. For if they were not anoynted they wolde become skabbie.”

According to Mirza A. Kazem-Beg * a stone was discovered in the Baku oilfields early in the nineteenth-century which bore the following inscription in Arabic :

“ There is no strength and no power save in Allah the most high and the most great. Verily, Allah-Yar discovered and bequeathed this well to the Sayyids (presumably of Darband) in Rabi‘ II 1003.” (December, 1594-January, 1595).

In 1574 Geoffrey Duckett, a factor in the Muscovy Company, visited Iran and described Baku petroleum as follows f :—

“ There is a very great riuer which runneth through the plaine of Iauat (Javad), which falleth into the Caspian sea by a towne called Backo, neere unto which towne is a strange thing to behold—for there issueth out of the ground a marueilous quantitie of Oyle, which Oyle they fetch from the vttermost bounds of all Persia; it serueth all the countrey to burne in their houses. This Oyle is blacke, and is called Nefte; they vsed to cary it throughout all the countrey vpon kine and asses, of which you shall oftentimes meete with foure or fiue hundred in a companie. There is also by the said towne of Backo an other kind of Oyle, which is white and very precious, and is supposed to be the same as that here which is called Petroleum.”

Twenty-six years later, another Englishman, the preacher John Cart­wright, who travelled from England to Isfahan in 1600, gave a very similar account of Baku and its oil. J

Cartwright was followed, thirty-seven years later, by Oelschlager or Olearius, to whom reference has already been made. When the Duke of Holstein’s mission was at Ardabil in 1637, on its way to Isfahan, the Governor gave in its honour an elaborate display of fireworks in which there were :—

“ several very excellent and ingenious inventions, as of little Castles, Towrs (sic), Squibs, Crackers, etc. In these Fire-works the Persians make use of white Naphtha, which is a kind of Petroleum ; but in

* A Kazem -Beg, op. cit., p. 143.f F if t Voiage in to Persia ,” pp. 439 and 440, in Early Voyages and Travels in Russia

and Persia, H ak lu y t Society, London, 1886.X O bservations of M aster Jo h n C artw right in his Voyage from Aleppo to H ispaan

and back againe,” (in Purchas his Pilgrimes), L ondon, 1625, P a r t I I , Book IX , p. 1431.

AJNULENT AMD M EDIEVAL TIMES. 13

regard this Drugg is seldome found in Europe, there may be used to the same effect, the spirit of Turpentine rectified.” *

Elsewhere in his account Olearius describes the lamps used by the Iranians as being “ fill’d with Rags dipp’d in Suet and Naphta.” f

Strictly speaking, one ought to end off the paper at this point, because one cannot, in the ordinary way, regard the Middle Ages as extending further into the seventeenth century. However, as the methods of petroleum exploitation in Iran—and, indeed, in many other parts of the world— underwent no radical change until another two centuries had elapsed, it may not perhaps be out of place to continue this record a little further.

Sir John Chardin, who spent a number of years in Iran in the latter part of the seventeenth century, stated that both the black and the white varieties of naphtha were found in the northern province of Mazandaran. The mineral, besides being used as varnish and as an ingredient in the manufacture of paint, was also used medicinally “ for curing the cold humours.” J Chardin stated, in addition, that petroleum was used as fuel in Iran, but he regarded “ as a good joke ” (“ une bonne plaisanterie ” ) the stories that had reached him of the manner in which the people in the neighbourhood of Baku used the petroleum gas there as fuel for cooking purposes; § they used to insert a tube or reed a few inches into the ground, set fire to the gas which immediately issued forth, and then placed a pot over the flame. These stories were nevertheless true, as we learn from other travellers’ accounts.i|

B y Chardin’s time Hindus from the Panjab had evidently revived the ancient fire-worship at Surakhani (10 miles to the north-north-east of Baku), because he said that the Guebres (Zoroastrians) “ who are the survivors of the fire-worshippers,” showed, at a place two days’ journey from Shamakhi, the spot where the “ eternal fire ” was burning. “ They assure us,” he said, “ as a constant truth, that the sacred fire is still there and that those who go there for devotional purposes see it in the form of a flame.” The well-known English traveller and philanthropist, Jonas Hanway, who visited Iran in 1743-1744, has given a good description of the temple at Surakhani. It is clear from what he says of the habits and peculiarities of the priests and pilgrims that they were not Zoroastrians, but Hindus.**

* O learius, op. cit., pp . 236 and 237. The use o f pe tro leum as an ingre­dien t in Iran ian fireworks evidently dates back a considerable tim e. The fam ous th irteen th -cen tu ry poet Sa 'd i used th e te rm naft-andaz, m eaning, literally , “ oil- th ro w er,” for a k ind of firework. F o r a com paratively recen t (early n ineteen th - century) description of th e use of burn ing n a p h th a b y a professional “ fire-eater ” in Ira n , see M orier’s Travels (London, 1812), Vol. I , pp . 112 a n d 113.

t Olearius, op. cit., pp. 235 and 236. L ieut.-Colonel Chesney, speak ing of petro leum and its uses in I ra n a cen tury ago, sa id th a t rags well s a tu ra ted w ith i t w ere b u rn t lr). an iron fram e raised a few feet from th e ground, an d thoroughly ligh ted th e co urt of a khan or o ther enclosure (see his w ork The Expedition for the Survey o f the Euphrates and Tigris, L ondon, 1850, Vol. I I ) .

f Voyages du Chevalier Chardin en Perse (Paris, 1811), Vol. I l l , p . 359, an d Vol. IV , p . 87.

§ Ib id ., Vol. I I , p . 311.|| G. F o rs te r’s Voyage du Bengale a Saint-Petersbourg a travers les provinces sep-

tentnonales de VInde, Vol. I I , pp. 346-351, an d Vol. I l l , pp . 369-371.K Chardin, op. cit., Vol. I I , p. 311.** A n Historical Account o f the B ritish Trade over the Caspian Sea, with a Journa l of

Travels from London through R ussia into Persia (London, 1753), Vol. I , p. 381.

14 LOCKHAKT : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

A further proof of this fact is that the Surakhani fire-temple bore on its walls a number of inscriptions in a Panjabi dialect and written in the Nagari script; the earliest date recorded in these inscriptions was equivalent to 1713. This fire cult continued at Surakhani until 1880.*

When Peter the Great’s troops seized Baku in 1723, he sent orders to them to arrange for a quantity of petroleum to be sent from the neigh­bouring wells to Russia, and each one of the officers and men who formed the Russian army of occupation received a daily ration of petroleum.

When the Iranian conqueror Nadir Shah gave battle to the forces of the M u g h a l Emperor Muhammad Shall at Ivarnal in hebruary l/o 9 , he used a stratagem to frighten the Indian elephants which was very similar to the one which, according to Firdausi, Alexander had employed against the Indian king Porus (see p. 6 above). It is said % that Nadir :—

“ caused a number of stages to be made, and fixed across two camels. On these stages he laid naphtha and a mixture of combustibles, and ordered them to be set on fire. It is well known with what terror these huge animals (the elephants) behold this element, so instead of overturning the Persian army, at the approach of the camels the elephants turned about, and put a great part of the Indian army into confusion.”

At this point we may bring the history of Iranian petroleum in the Middle Ages to a close, as there is nothing further of any interest to record until Messrs. Hotz (in 1884) and the Persian Bank Mining Rights Cor­poration (in 1891-1892) introduced modern drilling methods into Iran. The story of their failure and of the subsequent success of Mr. D ’Arcy and the Concessions Syndicate belongs to the history of modern times.§

II. M u m m y ( P i s s a s p h a l t o s o r M u m iy a ) .

Although the origin of the word naphtha is very controversial, there can be no dispute over the Iranian derivation of the term mummy. I t has often been asserted that it is of Egyptian or Coptic origin, but that eminent Egyptologist, Sir E. A. Walhs Budge, has proved that this is not the case.|| The substance known as mummy is a natural blend of pitch and bitumen, and the Iranians and Arabs gave it the name of mumiya because of its similarity to wax (mum in Persian). Dioscorides called it pissasphaltos.

By degrees the Arabs came to apply the term mumiya to bitumen generally. It so happened that the Egyptians used for preserving their

* Colonel C. E . S tew art’s “ A ccount of th e H indu F ire Tem ple a t B a k u ,” in the Journal oj the Royal Asiatic Society, 1897, pp. 311 and 312.

f See Soimonov’s “ Auszug aus dem Tage-Buche des ehm aligen S c h i f - H a u p t m a n n s und jetzigen Geheim en R a th s u n d G ouverneurs v on Sibirien, H e rrn I w a n o w i t s c h Soimonow, von seiner Schiffahrt au f der Caspischen See,” in G. F . M üller’s Sammlung Russischer Geschichte, Vol. V II , pp . 332 and 333,

t H anw ay, op. cit., Vol. IV , p . 166.§ I have given a b rie f account of these operations in m y article e n title d “ H istoire

du Pétro le en Perse ju sq u ’au Com m encem ent d u X X e Siècle,” in th e Revue Pét­rolifère, P aris, 1938.

Il The M um m y (Cambridge, 1925), p . 201.

AJNCiEJNT AJN1) MEDIEVAL TIM ES. 1 5

dead an artificial mixture consisting of spices, resins and some bitumen. * In consequence of its bitumen content this artificial mixture also became known as mumiya, and a body preserved in this manner was termed mumiyya-, mumiya passed into Byzantine Greek (as ¡xovyia or fidifuov), into Latin as mumia (about a . d . 1000), and eventually into French and Eng­lish as, respectively, momie and mummy.'j" Both the natural and artificial kinds of mumiya were reputed to have extraordinary curative properties. Sir E. A. Walhs Budge has described how the mumiya was scraped off the mummy wrappings and how, in time, in consequence of the high prices realized, a trade in mummies ensued. The demand grew to such an extent that corpses were bought or stolen, filled with ordinary bitumen and then treated to look like real mummies.

The first mention of natural mumiya in Iran that I have come across is in al-Istakhri’s geographical work the Masaliku’l-Mamalik (“ Ways of the Kingdoms ”), dating from the first half of the tenth century a . d . J This writer states that the mumiya was found in a cave in the side of a mountain near Darabjird, in the province of Fars (Pars); it was so highly esteemed for its healing powers that a guard was always stationed at this cave, and, at an appointed time every year, it was collected and taken to the Sultan (i.e., the Beglarbegi) or Governor of the province.§

Yaqut, on the authority of a writer named Muhammad ibn Ahmad of Isfahan, stated that the cave was in a mountain near Arrajan,|| and that in this cave “ there gushes forth a liquid like sweat from a rock and there is (obtained) from this white mumiya of good quality, and over this cave is a door of iron . . . ” (then follow details very similar to those given by al-Istakhri as to the collection of the substance).

* Sir E . A. W allis Budge, op. cit., p . 201; see also F o rb es’s B itum en and Petroleum in A ntiquity , p. 93. This b itum en cam e from th e D ead Sea. N asir-i-K husrau , a fam ous Iran ia n traveller an d Ism a‘ili p ropagandist, has described how, in h is tim e ( a . d . 1046), th e substance w as ob tained from th e D ead Sea; see h is Safar-N am a, p. 17 of th e Persian tex t, an d pp . 57 an d 58 of C. Schefer’s F ren ch tran sla tio n , en titled Relation du Voyage de N assiri Khosrau (Paris, 1881).

f Sir E . A. W allis Budge, op. cit., p . 202; th e sam e w ord w as em ployed to denote bo th n a tu ra l m um iya and preserved bodies. The following q uo tations from Shake­speare are of in te re s t :—

The M erry Wives o f W indsor, Act. I l l , Scene V.F a ls ta ff: “ I h ad been drow ned b u t th a t th e shore w as shelvy an d shallow ;

a death th a t I abhor, for the w ater swells a m an , an d w h a t a th in g should I have been when I h ad been swelled ! I should have been a m o u n ta in of m u m m y .”

Then again, in Macbeth, A ct IV , Scene I , we g e t : “ Scale of D ragon, to o th o f wolf, w itches’ m um m y.”

I H is full nam e was A bu Ish aq a l-F arisi a l-Is tak h ri (i.e., o f Is ta k h r or Persepolis). The seventeenth-century w riter A m in A hm ad-i-R azi, quo ted , in his H a ft Iq lim ' Seven Quines ’), a sto ry th a t h ad m uch currency in P ersia in h is tim e to th e effect th a t one of the officers of the (legendary) king F a rid u n , w hen h u n tin g near D arab jird , CTued a saw th a t Hus bird , a fte r consum ing som e m um iya, was com pletely

A rabicorum iku '1 M am alik>’’ m Vol. I , pp . 154 an d 155 of th e Bibliotheca Geographorum

|| M. Streek, in his article on A rra jan in th e Encyclopaedia o f Isla m (Vol. I p 460) s ta tes th a t m um iya is found in a gorge close to th e K uh-i-B ehbehan , a few miles to th e north-w est of the ru ins of A rrajan. This K uh-i-B ehbehan therefore seems to be th e m oun ta in referred to b y M uham m ad ibn A hm ad (Streck is in erro r in saying th a t th e ™ 'I)f of f a] a? a r® 37 miles from S h iraz ; as a m a tte r o f fact, th ey are 140 miles w est-

30 4 1 ' l ^ i t i s , i n reality , 3 ^ 3 0 ' inC° rreCt “ o f A rraJan asIf Mu‘jamu l-Buldan, Vol. I , p . 194.

16 LOCKHART : IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN

Hamdullah Mustaufi, of Qazvin, after mentioning a source of mumiya near Arrajan, stated that it was also obtained at the village of Ayi in the district of Shabankara (Marco Polo’s “ Soncara ”) in the province of Fars.*

Sir Thomas Herbert, who was one of the suite of Sir Dodmore Cotton, the English Ambassador to Shah ‘Abbas the Great, makes reference to the occurrence of mumiya near Jahrum, terming i t :

“ a moist redolent gum . . . sovereign against poison; and (if we may believe them) a catholicon for all sorts of wounds whatsoever, so as when other princes send Shaw-Abbas gold, pearl or like costly presents, he returns them a little of this balsam as a suitable requital.” f

Engelbert Kaempfer, in his Amoenitatum Exolicarum, confirmed the above statement by Herbert, saying that the Iranians regarded mumiya more highly than pearls and precious stones, and that they gave it the honorific title of qudrati— that is to say, “ derived from the divine power ”—because it seemed to them that natural mumiya was a spontaneous gift of this power. {

It is noteworthy, however, that, notwithstanding the extraordinary value which the Iranians of those times attached to mumiya on account of its supposedly marvellous curative properties, the foreign courts to which the Iranian monarchs were in the habit of presenting small quantities of it as a mark of their very special esteem did not always express appreciation of it. For example, when Muhammad Reza Beg, the ambassador whom Shah Sultan Husain sent to Louis X IV ’s court in 1715, presented the French King, as a gift from his own sovereign, with two gold boxes con­taining a small quantity of mumiya, he was the only person at Versailles to believe that his master had sent anything of particular value, and “ there was indignation both at the court and amongst the public at such niggard­liness which they attributed to the ambassador himself.” §

Dr. John Fryer, who passed through the Shiraz district some fifty years after Herbert, says :—

“ On the right hand of the King’s Highway between Siras (Shiraz) and Gerom (Jahrum) at Derab,|| on the side of a Mountain issues the Pissasphaltum of Dioscorides, or Natural Mummy, into a large Stone Tank or Storehouse, sealed with the King’s Seal, and that of the Calentures (i.e., Kalantars or mayors) and all the Noblemen of that City, and kept with a constant Watch, till at a stated time of the Year they all repair thither, to open it for the King’s use, to prevent its being stole; which notwithstanding, though it be Death if discovered, yet many Shepherds following their Flocks on these Mountains, by chance light on great Portions of the same Balsam, and offer it to Passengers to Sale, and sometimes play the cheat in adulterating it.” ^

* Nuzhatu'l-Qulub (Leiden, 1913), p . 207.t Travels (edited by Sir W illiam Foster, L ondon, 1928), p . 61.t P. 516.§ M. H erb ette ’s Une Ambassade Persane sous Louis, Vol. X IV , p . 183.|| I am unable to iden tify D erab. I t canno t be in tended for D arab jird , as th a t

place is situated 54 miles to the n o rth -east of th e nearest p o in t on th e S h iraz-Jah rum road.

If Travels into Persia (London, 1698), p . 318.

ARGUËNT AND M EDIEVAL TIM ES. 17

Chardin, a contemporary of Fryer, devoted a page of his Voyages to the subject of mummy or mumiya, of which, he said, there were two kinds in Iran. One of these was obtained from human bodies which had become petrified in the sands of Khurasan and the other, which he described as “ a precious gum which distils from the rock,” was to be found in Kerman and Khurasan. It was, he went on to say, the Prophet Daniel who taught the Iranians how to prepare and use mummy.*

When Chardin was in Tiflis, he met Father Raphael, a Capuchin friar who was chief physician to the Prince of Georgia. This Father Raphael made Chardin “ spend two Hours with an old Woman that practis’d Physic-k by the help of an infinite Number of Receipts, of which he caus’d me to write down some that he had heard People make the greatest Brag of, in my Table-Book.” Amongst these recipes were the two following f :—

“ For Inward Pains of what sort soever, Take Potions of Mummy.”“ For all sorts of Falls, Bruises and Hurts, Take Mummy in Drink,

wrap up the Patient in a Cows Hide, and let him Blood.”

Although the annual ceremony of the collection of mumiya ceased to be held after the fall of the Safavi dynasty in 1722, the Iranians continued to hold it in high esteem. In 1784 £Ali Murad Khan, the nephew of Karim Khan Zand, sent in a gold box an ounce of the substance to the Empress Catherine II of Russia. The French traveller Comte de Ferrières-Sauve- bœuf, who visited Iran during the reign of the above-mentioned ‘ Ali Murad Khan, stated % :—

“ A mountain close to Shiraz produces this precious mummy, so celebrated throughout Asia for curing in less than 24 hours all fractures, even of the most delicate bones. I have seen an experiment made on a fowl that had had its leg broken. It was made to swallow some of it mixed with butter after the fracture had been rubbed with it (i.e., the mixture), and it was completely cured on the following day. Mirza Rabbi, the Prime Minister of ‘Ali Murad Khan, wished thus to con­vince me of the effects of mummy which were so s u r p r is in g that I could not have believed them before I witnessed this example.”

Baron de Bode, the Russian diplomat who travelled extensively in Iran a century ago, referred to the occurrence of mumiya in the southern part of the country, and said :—

“ The author of these pages has himself experienced the efficacy of the Persian mumia, on applying it to a bruised side occasioned by a fall down some rocky cliffs.” §

Although small quantities of mumiya are still collected from time to time near Behbehan, and are used to cure animals of mange, etc., it is no longer sought after as it was in the past, and it seems certain that the rapid spread

* Voyages, Vol. I l l , pp . 311-313.J ' .Th® above q u o tation an d th e tw o recipes a re tak e n from p . 234 o f th e E nglish

edition ot C hardin s Voyages, w hich w as published in L ondon in 1691.Historiques, Politiques et Géographiques des Voyages fa its en Turquie, en

dePu™ 1 '8 2 jusqu 'en 1789 (P a ris , 1790), Vol. I I I , p . 33i TrrtvtLa Tte L u n sta n and Arabistan (London, 1845), Vol. I , p 324

of education and of modern medical methods in Iran will very soon deprive it of the small measure of importance which it retains.

I I I . T h e O w n e r s h ip o f P e t r o l e u m i n I r a n .

As it is on record that the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mu‘tamid (who reigned from a .d . 870 to 892) had the revenues of the oil springs in the Baku dis­trict in his gift (see p. 10 above), the oil rights there had evidently become vested in the caliphate at an earlier date, probably by right of conquest. Mumiya, as is shown by various authorities (see pp. 16 and 17 above), had been Crown property from early times. Nothing appears to be on record as to the ownership of the exploitation rights at Masjid-i-Sulaiman or Naft-i-Safid in antiquity, but there is reason to believe that they were vested in the crown until some time in the Safavi period ( a .d . 1500-1722), when one of the shahs of that dynasty converted these rights into a waqf or pious bequest for the upkeep of the shrine at the small village of Haft Shahidan, which is situated a few miles from Masjid-i-Sulaiman. Some members of an eminent family of Sayyids (descendants of the Prophet) of the neigh­bouring town of Shushtar were appointed managers or rather trustees of these rights,* and they allowed the local tribes-people to exploit the oil and bitumen at Masjid-i-Sulaiman in return for the payment of certain dues. The money so accruing was used for the maintenance of the Haft Shahidan shrine. In consequence of their functions in this respect, these Shushtari Sayyids became known as the Qiri (i.e., “ the pitchy ” or “ the bituminous”) Sayyids. The Qiri Sayyids subsequently undertook the exploitation of the oil and bitumen themselves, but they employed the proceeds in the same manner as before. In modern times these rights (which relate merely to the surface exudations in one particular locality, and not to the subsoil rights even there) have formed the subject of agreements between the Qiri Sayyids on the one hand and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Ltd., on the other.f

Elsewhere in Iran similar rights appear always to have been Crown property.

1 8 IRANIAN PETROLEUM IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIM ES.

* Sayyid ‘A bdullah ibn N uri’d-Din. a m em ber of th is fam ily, w rote a h isto ry of his native town entitled the Tadhkira-yi-Shushtariya in which he s ta te d , inter alia, that bitum en from near Shushtar (doubtless from M asjid-i-Sulaim an) w as used for the caulking of Iran ian river-craft which took p a r t in N ad ir’s M esopotam ian cam paign against the Turks in 1733.

t I am indebted to m y friend Dr. H . Naficy, of T ehran , for th e g reater p a r t of this inform ation regarding the Qiri Sayyids.

1 0

PE T R O L E U M A ND B IT U M E N IN A N T IQ U IT Y .*

By R. J. F o r b e s , Chem.Eng. (Delft).

Of late years many petroleum technologists have shown a great interest in the early history of petroleum technology and science. Whereas for­merly the only sources of information about this subject were the rather vague passages in classical literature about bitumen or petroleum, a wealth of information has now been placed at our disposal. The large number of excavations in the Near East have not only revealed a great many ancient applications of bitumen, but several inscriptions and a few texts relating to this subject have now been deciphered and published. Our knowledge of this earliest period in the history of the petroleum industry has thus been enriched to such an extent that, although not nearly all the problems have yet been solved, this phase can now be broadly outlined, and it is no longer necessary to rely on the few and often erroneous statements occurring in most petroleum handbooks.

The petroleum industry originates in the Near East. Its oldest phase is practically terminated by the fall of Babylon in 538 B.C. and the founda­tion of the Persian Empire. The Persians neglected the knowledge gathered by former generations; the Greeks did not take any appreciable interest in these matters, and in the Roman Empire petroleum also played only a minor part. In Greece and in the Roman Empire petroleum was found in a few places on ly; besides, the bituminous mortar so commonly applied in Mesopotamia was scarcely ever used in classical Antiquity, which made an ample use of the natural stone and the excellent natural mortars at its disposal. Wood-tar and pitch had come to replace bitumen.

The exploitation of bituminous products in the Near East was limited to the domains of the oldest civilizations : Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Meso­potamia. These countries form a semi-circle of fertile soil, which was aptly characterized as the “ Fertile Crescent ” by the American archaeologist Breasted. The exploitation was restricted in these earliest times by the

primitive stage of technique and science. These restrictions make it a gooddeal easier for us to interpret the evidence in old documents. The three principal restrictions were :

i<t1. All bituminous products containing substantial quantities of

gasoline or other volatile constituents were excluded from general application owing to their inflammability. As distillation methods were not discovered until the second century a . d . , and not applied to petroleum before the sixth century a . d . , it was impossible in An­tiquity to render these inflammable petroleums suitable for use.

2. Geological knowledge was restricted in these days to a description of minerals from their visible characteristics. No knowledge of stratigraphy existed. It was therefore impossible to presume or detect the presence of petroleum or allied products in deeper strata.

3. Even if this geological knowledge had existed, it would have been

* Sum m ary o f lecture delivered to th e Society for th e S tu d y o f A lchem y an d E arly C hem istry on 19th October, 1938, a t U n iversity College, Gower S treet, W .C. 1.

2 0 FORBES : PETROLEUM AND BITUMEN IN ANTIQUITY.

impossible to produce petroleum from a great depth. Pit-mining to a depth of a few hundred metres was admittedly applied, but the drilling technique, so characteristic of the petroleum industry, was completely unknown in the Ancient Near East. This is all the more remarkable because the Chinese already possessed a fairly developed P r i l l i n g technique a few centuries before our era.

This leads to the conclusion that the petroleum industry in Antiquity was of necessity confined to the production of heavy or non-volatile petro­leum products found on the surface of the earth. The sources exploited in the first place were petroleum and bitumen seepages, deposits of natural asphalts or asphaltites and bituminous rocks rising to the surface. The exploitation therefore consisted exclusively in placer-mining and open-cut mining.

Gas wells were also known, of course; they are mentioned in the oldest literature of Mesopotamia, and burning gas wells, situated near sanctuaries, are illustrated on classical coins. In Persia the burning petroleum gases were worshipped by certain religious groups; in Mesopotamia they were only known as a natural phenomenon, though they sometimes played a part in omina and other texts making use of natural phenomena to predict the future.

Crude petroleum seems to have been scantily applied in Antiquity for illumination and heating. The thick, sulphurous crudes of the Near East seem to have given too much trouble to be generally used for such purposes. Crude petroleum was employed to a small extent in medicine and pharmacy. Yet the application of crude petroleum and allied products was practically restricted to semi-solid or solid bitumens, and it may be said that the petroleum industry of preclassical Antiquity was essentially a bitumen industry.

This bitumen industry had its beginning in the centuries between 3500 and 3000 B.C. From the results of modern archaeological research it appears that this highly remarkable period was a turning-point in the history of civilization. Within a few centuries a neolithic, rustic population, which was scarcely differentiated, developed into the two large centres of ancient civilization : Egypt and Mesopotamia, where architecture, mining, metal­lurgy, etc., had reached an advanced stage of development.

Egypt plays only a minor part in the early history of the bitumen industry. Bitumen was scarce in the country itself, and according to the most reliable scientific investigations—for instance, those of Lucas—it was not applied to any marked degree until the Roman era. In this later period Dead-Sea bitumen was imported from Palestine and employed in cheap mummifica­tion processes. There are three different words in the old Egyptian papyri which have frequently been translated by “ bitumen.” A thorough study of the texts has shown that only one of these terms indicates a kind of glance pitch or Gilsonite from Syria, a product which, from its appearance, could be taken by the old Egyptians to be a kind of resin; as a matter of fact, it is always mentioned in conjunction with resins. In other cases the words do not denote bitumen, but animal or vegetable oil. The frequently mentioned ancient use of bitumen for mummification can therefore be ruled out as an inadmissible generalization.

Although many deposits of bitumen were known in Antiquity in Syria and Palestine (the Dead Sea), no data or relics are known to us showing that bitumen was also applied there.

In preclassical antiquity the bitumen industry of Mesopotamia was therefore pre-eminent. As bitumen occurred there on the surface of the earth, there were three possibilities of producing it.

The products to be considered in the first place were the asphaltites (glance pitch or Gilsonite). However, being hard and difficult to melt, and occurring in small quantities only, they were not of great importance.

In the second place, it was, of course, possible to exploit the rich bitu­minous rocks abundant in the mountains round Mesopotamia. Bitumen could be obtained from this source by melting down the richest parts of these rock-asphalts. For this purpose the Mesopotamians probably possessed a process : “ destillatio per descens (or) ium,” a jar containing the bituminous material was heated and the molten bitumen dripped through a screen into a jar underneath. This method continued in use in Europe until the nineteenth century. Agrícola, for instance, gives a clear illustration of the apparatus used. There are indications that bitumen was produced in this way in Mesopotamia, but this process could never become an important one in a country devoid of wood. It is evident from old contracts that the price of this “ épuré ” was substantially higher than that of other types of bitumen.

The third type, natural bitumen, produced from pools, especially in the surroundings of the town of Hit on the Euphrates, flows up to the surface from deeper petroleum strata with gases and water. The purity of this natural bitumen equals that of the grades now obtained by distilling petroleum, and its melting point is sufficiently low for the preparation of mortars and mastics. It seems to have been sold either in its crude, natural form or freed from occluded water by pressing and heating.

Probably, a similar type of bitumen was produced by thickening the petroleum from the seepages by heating and evaporation, distillation being unknown. Some indication in this direction is found in the fact that Pliny mentions a process which he calls “ hardening.” Yet this process is not likely to have been extensively applied, because of the expensiveness of fuel already referred to.

That the bitumen from the seepages at Hit was actually the most im-

FORBES : PETROLEUM AND BITUM EN IN ANTIQU ITY. 21

portant product of the bitumen industry in ancient Mesopotamia also follows from the fact that the name of this product forms the stem of the words for the different forms of bitumen. It is represented by a cuneiform sign connected with that for “ source,” so that the word for bitumen “ ESIR ” seems to mean “ a liquid oozing up from the earth ” or from the subterranean Ocean Apsu, in which the Sumerians believed. It is clear from the terminology used in Mesopotamia for bituminous products that

'■p' various kinds and forms were known. The study of this terminology isfacilitated by a peculiarity in Sumerian philology. The country was first inhabited by the Sumerians, who had laid the foundations of civilization and governed the country until about 2000 B.C. From 2700 B.C., and not­ably towards the end of this period, the country was exposed to the inroads of Semitic tribes, who, after 2000 B.C., settled there in such large numbers that they took definite possession of it. From this time onward the old

22 FORBES : PETROLEUM AND BITUMEN IN ANTIQUITY.

Sumerian (non-Semitic) language was gradually ousted by the Accadian (Semitic) dialects of the Babylonians and Assyrians, and relapsed to the state of a holy or temple language. The Accadians required Sumerian- Accadian dictionaries to understand this dead Sumerian language. Many of these “ dictionaries ” on a variety of subjects are now known to us. The Sumerian language distinguished groups of words referring to allied matters ; names were formed for the various substances separately by adding “ determinatives ” to a radical (root or stem) common to all the members of a group. From the radical of a word it is therefore to be seen how the Sumerians classified a given substance, and from the determinative how this substance was recognized by its characteristics. A study of these lists of words shows that the Sumerians chose as the radical for bituminous products the name of the product from the pools of Hit, namely “ ESIR.” The various bitumens were distinguished by the determinatives placed after this radical. The Sumerians evidently knew many bitumens ; for the determination of the grades we may also make use of the texts (which we could wish to be more numerous) giving information on price and application. Natural bitumen from Hit actually proves to be the cheapest, costing about 3-4 shekels per ton. This “ ESIR-LAH ” is sold in quantities averaging 2900 kg., which shows that we may actually speak of a bitumen industry. In addition to this, the texts mention small quantities of rock- asphalt from the mountains or of the “ épuré ” prepared from this, at twice this price or higher.

The bitumen was used for the preparation of bituminous mastics or mortar, for which purpose it was melted and mixed with sand and loam. It has become evident from the examination of samples collected from excavated monuments that two kinds of mixtures were made : very rich mixtures with about 35 per cent, of bitumen for mortars and less rich ones with about 25 per cent, of bitumen for mastics or mastic asphalt composi­tions. Compared with the mixtures now employed, these ancient mixtures were very rich in bitumen, but they had the advantage of possessing the right painting or trowelling consistency at fairly low temperatures. They became soft, of course, in the sun’s heat, but the old Sumerians knew a way out of this difficulty by adding a small percentage of chopped straw, reed or other fibrous material, thus preventing the mastic from flowing in the sun. The analysis of old mastic samples containing this fibrous material presents the advantage that we get to know something about the vegetation of Mesopotamia in those days.

The mastics were usually prepared on the spot; though tbis substance “ ESIR-E-A ” (literally building-bitumen) also occurs in contracts of sale, cnly small quantities are mentioned and (owing to the high price of fuel) it was twice as expensive as it is at present. Unlike the other bitumen grades it was sold by volume, not by weight, for, after being prepared, the hot mastics were cast to cakes in flat baskets or other moulds. This may be clearly seen from a lump of mastic found in the “ Flood Layer ” of Ur.

These mastics were chiefly applied in floorings or for the sealing of brick- u ork, mostly in those parts of important buildings where rain or river water might damage unprotected bricks, since the Mesopotamians frequently used unbaked bricks made of sun-dried clay.

The bituminous mortar was applied in the joints of pavements of stone

FORBES : PETROLEUM AND BITUM EN IN ANTIQU ITY. 2 3

slabs, as well as in the masonry (of braked bricks) in temples and palaces. In combination with bricks which, being baked at a low temperature, were highly porous, this mortar gave a firm masonry, which has resisted the ages. This is borne out by the embankment built about 1350 B.C. at Assur which is still watertight in spite of the fact that the level of the river has risen considerably. In addition to being widely applied in architecture and civil engineering (which excited the admiration of the classical authors) bitumen was used in small quantities for sealing or repairing ships (guffahs) aqueducts, etc.

That an extensive use was made of bituminous mastics is proved by a recently found clay tablet, which mentions, in a detailed list, the quantity of bitumen required for laying a mastic asphalt floor of given thickness and area.

Special Applications.

The cores of statues were frequently made of mastics and cast in m oulds; these cores were then covered with copper or gold foil so as to make the impression that highly intricate sculpture had been cast in metal.

Ornamental inlay-work or mozaic panels of mother of pearl and coloured stones in mastics are very common.

Natural asphalt itself—i.e., the bituminous rocks from the mountains— was also used for sculpture. The Sumerian sculptors have shown that with this plastic material they could achieve more than might be presumed from the frequently clumsy statues in natural stone, which for them was very costly and rare.

Bitumen was extensively employed in medicine and magic art; many applications in agriculture have become known from classical authors.

These are the principal facts about the oldest phase of the petroleum industry.

References.1 R . J . Forbes, “ B itum en an d Petro leum in A n tiq u ity ” (E dition B rill, Leiden, 1936,

Price 5s.).2 R . J . Forbes, “ Sketch o f th e H isto ry o f th e Petro leum In d u s try ” (R eport No. 63,

Section V, 2nd W orld P etro leum Congress, P a ris , Ju n e 1937).3 R . J . Forbes, “ Das B itum en in den fünfzehn Ja h rh u n d e rte n vo r D rake ” (B itum en ,

1937, H eft I , pp . 11 ff.).4 R J . Forbes, “ N otes on B itum en an d Petro leum in A n tiq u ity ” (A m bix, 1938,

Vol. I I , No. 2, 68-92, London).

2 4

A CCELERATED O X ID A T IO N AS A CO N TR O L T E ST IN T H E ACID TR E A T M E N T OE C R A C K ED G A SO LIN E.*

By A. N e w t o n , B.Sc.

S y n o p s i s .

The working up of aeid -trea ted cracked d istillates in th e labora to ry has been found to give p roducts w ith induction periods w hich canno t be related to the trea tm en t given. This effect has been connected w ith th e presence of “ n a tu ra l ” oxidation inhib itors w hich are in general rem oved to different ex ten ts by laboratory and p lan t trea tm en ts . A m eth o d of rem ov­ing such inhibitors from gasolines b y trea tin g w ith a so lu tion of an arom atic diazonium chloride in alkaline solution h as been developed, a n d h as been shown to give inhibitor-free p roducts w ithou t affecting o th e r p roperties of the gasoline, th u s perm itting th e effect of trea tm e n t an d th e effect of inh ib ito rs to be determ ined separately. The app lication of th is m eth o d is discussed.

T h e accelerated oxidation test 2- 6> 8’ n > 15’ 16’ 18 supplies a convenient method of estimating how long cracked gasoline is likely to remain free from excessive amounts of gum when kept in storage. The test is used in two modifications, the first of which consists in determining the gum content of the sample after exposure for, say, four hours to the conditions of the test. The second modification consists in running the test until the rapid absorp­tion of oxygen associated with the induction period commences to take place, and taking the length of the induction period as a measure of stability. The second of these modifications is, in the writer’s opinion, the more convenient for use for the control of chemical treatment of pressure distillate, and has been used for several years for that purpose in the Pointe-a-Pierre laboratory. The first method merely shows whether sufficient treatment has been given, but provides little indication of over-treatment.

The method of preparing the sample for test is as follows : The sample of pressure distillate is taken at the treating plant at a point at which the distillate has received two preliminary caustic-soda washes, an acid treat­ment, a water wash and a final caustic-soda wash, and is ready for re­running. This sample is re-run in the laboratory with steam through a 6-in. Hempel column to take off a gasoline cut of 205° C. end-point compris­ing about 85 per cent, by volume of the pressure distillate. The distillate is washed once with caustic soda, sweetened with plumbite and sulphur, washed with water until neutral and finally dried by filtration. One hundred and fifty ml. of this sample are tested in a 400-nil. steel bomb with oxygen at 100 lb. per sq. in. (gauge) initial pressure and 100° C. Induction periods determined in this manner have been found to be reproducible within 30 minutes except when very high, when the variation is liable to be appreciably greater.

Recently an attempt was made to establish a correlation between the

* Paper presented a t a General M eeting of th e T rin idad B ranch held a t th e Apex Club on December 1, 1937, Mr. J . L. H arris in th e Chair.

THE ACID TREATM ENT OF CRACKED GASOLINE. 2 5

conditions of acid treatment and the oxidation stability of the product, by collecting and correlating daily induction period results with the amount of acid treatment. It was not possible to obtain any correlation and, in fact, the data showed extraordinary anomalies. As, however, two different types of pressure distillate and varying mixtures of these were being treated over the period in question, the issue was somewhat obscured, and no reason for the anomalies could be assigned.

A little further investigation showed that if any given sample of cracked distillate was divided into two portions, and these two portions were pre­pared separately for testing, the induction periods of the two finished gaso­lines were frequently different, although all reasonable precautions were taken to carry out the two treatments in an identical manner. In extreme cases differences amounting to several hours were encountered. On consideration it appeared that the failure to obtain duplicate results on samples prepared by an apparently duplicate treatment could only be associated with the presence in the gasolines of “ natural ” oxidation inhibitors.

It has been known for many years that cracked gasoline from Trinidad stocks contains appreciable quantities of phenols such as have been found in crude oils 7>14 and cracked products 3> 4> 13>17 from other sources. It has also been known, and has been demonstrated elsewhere,12 that these phenols act as oxidation inhibitors, or, to use a more popular term, gum inhibitors, as little as one part in fifty thousand parts of gasoline being sufficient to increase the induction period by six or seven hours, or to delay the appearance of gum in appreciable quantity for four or five months under ordinary storage conditions. However, while it is known that phenols are present in many, probably in most, cracked distillates, especially those from residual charging stocks, it does not seem to be generally appreciated that their removal by any of the customary methods of chemical treatment to such an extent that the residue is insufficient to affect the induction period of the gasoline by more than, say, 15 minutes, is a matter of some difficulty.

The ease of removal of acidic substances from oil solution by caustic-soda washing is determined by two circumstances : 10

(1) The higher the dissociation constant (or strength) of the acid the more easily is it removed ;

(2) The higher the ratio of the solubility of the free acid in oil to its solubility in water, the less easily is it removed.

i fThe common monocyclic phenols are very weakly acidic, having dissocia­

tion constants of the order of 2 X 10-8 . Moreover, with the exception of phenol itself, they are rather sparingly soluble in cold water, but are readily soluble in gasoline. Both these circumstances militate against their easy removal from oil solution by soda washing. In order to assess the difficulty of removal in terms of the laboratory operation of soda washing, a quantity of treated cracked gasoline was soda-washed a number of times with 10 per cent, by volume of 2 per cent, caustic-soda solution, removing a portion of the oil after each wash and taking the induction period of this portion as a measure of its phenol content. The same operation was also carried out by using 10 per cent, caustic soda instead of 2 per cent. The results are given

tip in Tables I and II.

T a b l e I .

Effect of Washing with 2 per cent. N aO H on the Induction Period o f Cracked JJ J Gasoline.

NEWTON : ACCELERATED OXIDATION AS A CONTROL TEST IN

No. of Soda W ashes.

In d u c tio n Period, m ins.

0 13201 10202 9603 5654 4805 4206 255

T a b l e I I .

Effect of Washing with 10 per cent. N aO H on the Induction Period of CrackedJJ J f i n q c l a YIP

No. of Soda W ashes.

In d u c tio n Period, mins.

0 13202 4954 1956 2108 195

10 15012 120

As would be expected, the stronger soda effects more rapid removal, but even in this case the removal of the last traces of phenols is extremely slow.

It may be noted here that the effect of soda washing and doctor treatment in reducing the induction period of East Texas cracked gasoline was reported by McNamara,9 but no particular significance appears to have been attached to it.

Numerous repetitions of the soda-washing experiments fully confirmed the difficulty of removing the last traces of phenols, and established beyond doubt that the lack of reproducibility in the routine testing method was connected with this stage of the working up. However carefully the operations were carried out, there was in general enough difference between the amounts of inhibitor removed in duplicate procedures to cause a con­siderable difference between the induction periods of the products. The difference in the amounts removed need not be very great. Some idea of the sensitiveness of the gasoline to inhibitor concentration can be gained from the figures in Table III, which were obtained by adding various amounts of a distillation fraction of pressure distillate phenols to an inhibitor-free cracked gasoline.

The effect is not quite regular, but on the whole the inhibitor shows the peculiarity that increasing amounts exert more than a proportional effect. With most inhibitors the reverse is the case. The increase in induction period with increase in phenol concentration per 100 ml. of gasoline is on the average about one hour per milligram.

T a b l e I I I .Effect o f Concentration o f Phenols on the Induction Period o f Cracked Oasoline.

THE ACID TREATM ENT OF CRACKED GASOLINE. 2 7

G ram s of In h ib ito r per 100 m l. of Gasoline.

In d u c tio n Period, m ins.

0 1200 005 5400 01 7650 0 2 2055*0 0 3 4230*

* These te s ts show ed no sharp break, th e pressure falling slowly an d continuously . T he break was a rb itra rily tak e n as th e p o in t a t w hich th e pressure h ad fallen 2 lb. per sq. in. below th e m axim um .

The significance of these results is greater than attaches to the duplication of a control test. Unless the presence of natural inhibitors is taken into account, or preferably unless they are completely removed, the results of work on the chemical treatment of cracked gasoline with the object of improving its potential gum content will not be truly indicative of the effect of the treatment used, but will be the combined result of the treat­ment and of the effect of inhibitors. Moreover, if the treatment used involves any step which is likely to alter the concentration of inhibitors to a variable extent, as most treatments do, the results will have no significance whatever. Similarly the testing of gum inhibitors will give erroneous results if carried out on cracked gasolines which already contain natural inhibitors.

Consideration of the reactions of phenols as a class indicated that it might be possible to find a more positive method of removing them from gasoline than exhaustive soda washing. Such a method can, in fact, be based on the diazo-reaction. If an aromatic amine such as aniline is dissolved in hydro­chloric acid, and an aqueous solution of sodium nitrite is added, the dia- zonium chloride which is formed reacts rapidly and usually completely with phenols in alkaline solution to form azo-dyestuffs. By shaking a sample of gasoline with caustic-soda solution, the phenols originally present in the gasoline distribute themselves between the oil and aqueous layers in a definite ratio. On adding a solution of diazonium chloride to the system, reaction (usually termed “ coupling ”) takes places with the phenols present in the aqueous layer with formation of azo-dye, and the distribution of phenol between oil and water is disturbed. Consequently more phenol passes from the oil layer to the water layer, and reacts until the whole of the phenol has been removed from the oil and converted into azo-dye. Although the reaction must take place in ‘the aqueous layer, the resulting dye does not necessarily remain in this layer, since the dyes from phenols and many aromatic amines are soluble in gasoline, but not in water or caustic soda. A soda-soluble, gasoline-insoluble dye may be formed by using an amine which contains an acidic group, such as the sulphonic-acid or carboxylic-acid group. With these considerations in mind, sulphanilic acid (aniline p-sulphonic acid) was chosen for use in the experiments now to be described.

A quantity of steam distillate was prepared from a sample of acid-

NEWTON : ACCELERATED OXIDATION AS A CONTROL TEST IN

treated pressure distillate and a portion set aside for induction-period determination. The remainder without previous treatment was washed with an alkaline solution of the diazo-compound from sulphanilic acid and a portion of the product reserved, the remainder being given a second diazo- treatment and so on. The results are given in Table IV .

T a b l e IV.

Effect of Diazo-treatment on the Induction Period of Cracked Oasoline.

No. of Diazo- trea tm en ts .

In d u c tio n Period, m ins.

D ev iation from Mean, m ins.

0 810 —I 435 ■—2 285 + 333 255 + 34 195 - 5 75 255 + 36 270 + 18

Mean of last five 252

With the exception of the fifth result, these are very satisfactory, and indi­cate that constancy of induction period (complete removal of inhibitors) is attained after two diazo-treatments. On repetition it was found that the number varied between two and three, but that if the diazo-treatment was applied to the distillate after soda washing and sweetening with plumbite in the usual manner, a single wash sufficed to prepare an inhibitor-free product. This is shown by the two samples in Table V.

T a b l e V.

Effect of Plumbite Sweetening followed by Diazo-treatment on the Induction Periodof Cracked Oasoline.

No. ofSample No. 1. Sample No. 2.

Diazo-treats. Induction

Period,mins.

D eviation from Mean,

mins.

InductionPeriod,mins.

D ev iation from Mean,

m ins.

0 495 _ 2851 240 - 2 5 165 + 272 270 + 5 150 + 123 285 + 20 120 - 1 84 330 + 65 135 - 35 225 - 4 0 135 - 36 240 - 2 5 120 - 1 8

last six 265 — 138 —

Note.—Sample 1 of Table V is th e same product as th e sam ple of T able IV .

The method finally adopted for working up samples to obtain inhibitor- free induction periods is as follows :

The pressure distillate is steam distilled through a 6-in. Hempel column packed with 5-mm. glass beads until a 205° C. end-point distillate has been

xxtiu m jiA T M E N T OF CRACKED GASOLINE. 2 9

removed. The steam distillate is washed very thoroughly with 10 per cent, by volume of 10 per cent, caustic-soda solution and sweetened with plumbite and sulphur. For the next operation two solutions are required.

(1) Ten grams of sulphanilic acid are dissolved in 100 ml. of 12A- hydrochloric acid and 200 ml. of water by boiling and, after cooling, the solution is made up to 1000 ml.

(2) A solution of sodium nitrite is prepared by dissolving 18-1 g. of the salt in water and making up to 1000 ml.

To the sweetened distillate 40 ml. of 10 per cent, caustic soda and 160 ml. of water are added and the mixture is shaken vigorously. The soda is left in contact with the oil. Fifty ml. of solution (1) are placed in a 200-ml. flask, cooled in ice and 10 ml. of solution (2) added. The resulting solution of diazotized sulphanilic acid is shaken for a few seconds in the ice-bath, then added to the oil-soda mixture and shaken very vigorously for two or three minutes. The removal of phenols is indicated by the development of a yellow to deep reddish-orange colour in the aqueous layer. After settling for five minutes, the aqueous layer is run off and the oil washed with water until free from alkalinity.

The routine use of this method of preparing samples has shown that induction periods can consistently be duplicated within the limits of experi­mental error. It has also shown that the true induction period (inhibitor- free) of cracked gasoline rarely exceeds 250 minutes, and is usually some­what lower, and that the course of induction period improvement by acid treating is rather different from that previously found. An initial, rela­tively small treat appears to remove the whole of the highly unstable di-olefines which are present to the extent of about 1 per cent, in liquid- vapour phase-cracked distillate. Increase in the amount of the treatment thereafter produces a comparatively small improvement in induction period corresponding to a slight decrease in the ratio of mono-olefines to saturated hydrocarbons in the residual spirit.

Apart from its routine use, the diazo-treatment has been of value in obtaining inhibitor-free materials for investigational purposes. The treat­ment has the advantage of not affecting other important properties of the cracked gasoline. In particular colour stability, which is usually rather susceptible to the action of reagents, is not changed by this treatment. This is illustrated by the results in Table VI.

T a b l e V I.Effect o f Diazo-treatment and Inhibitor on Dark Colour Reversion.

A. B. C. D.

A m ount of inh ib ito r, g./lOO ml. a 0 0-005 0 0 2Colour a fte r 0 days 28 28 27 26

27 26 26 26„ 28 „ . . . 27 27 26 27

,, ,, 56 ,, . . . 26 26 26 25„ 8 4 ............................ 27 26 26 27

Note.—A, gasoline sam ple w ith unknow n am o u n t of inh ib ito r. B was prepared from A by exhaustive d iazo -trea tm en t, an d w as used as th e base for p reparing C and D by addition of th e specified am o u n t of n a tu ra l inhib itor.

There is a possible limitation to the use of the diazo-treatment. Diazo- compounds couple with phenols in the position para- to the hydroxy-group, or if this position is already occupied in one of the two oriAo-positions. If both ortho-positions and the para-position are already occupied by alkyl or other groups, coupling does not take place (although in certain cases groups other than alkyl already present in the para-position may be displaced by the diazo-group). So far as is known, the phenols of cracked gasoline are largely mono- or poly-methyl derivatives of phenol, and of these the highest members to be expected in gasoline of 205 C. end-point are the trimethyl- phenols, which boil in the neighbourhood of 230° C. at atmospheric pressure. Of all the possible trimethylphenols, the only one which has neither para- nor or/Ao-positions unoccupied is mesitol (2 : 4 : 6-trimethylphenol). If this were present it, at least, would certainly not be removed by the diazo- reagent. However, it is known that the inhibiting efficiency of différent alkyl phenols varies very considerably, and it appeared possible that failure to remove certain individual phenols, if present, might not affect the oxida­tion stability of the otherwise inhibitor-free product. To test this point a quantity of phenols was separated from spent caustic soda which had been used in the preliminary soda-wash of raw pressure distillate. After purifica­tion, the phenols were fractionally distilled in vacuo, and the effectiveness of each fraction was tested on a sample of cracked gasoline which had been previously exhaustively diazo-treated. Fifty milligrams of each fraction per 100 ml. of sample were used in each case. The results are set out in Table VII.

T a b l e V II.Oxidation-inhibiting Efficiency of Fractions of Pressure Distillate Phenols.

3 0 NEWTON : ACCELERATED OXIDATION AS A CONTROL TEST IN

Boiling Range of F raction a t 10 m m.,

° C.

Yield of Fraction , per cent, of

T otal Phenols.In d u c tio n Period,

m ins.

U ninhibited gasoline — 9076- 86 15-9 70586- 96 20-6 94596-106 14-3 675

106-116 71 300116-126 15-0 115126-127 4-0 75

These results show an initial increase in effectiveness followed bv a decrease, until in the fraction, b10 116-126° C., corresponding approximately to the trimethylphenols the effect is practically nil. It is thus immaterial whether or not these higher-boiling constituents are removed. The cresols and xylenols are evidently the most active constituents of natural phenolic inhibitors.

I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. P. H. B Trasler for carrying out the large number of induction-period determinations required during the course of this work, to Mr. E. A. Richardson for much of the

reld tffis paper"111 t0 MeSSrS' THnidad Leaseholds, Ltd., for permission to

A «jiu IK iiA TM EN T OF CRACKED GASOLINE.

References.1 A ldrich an d R obie, J . Soc. A u t. Eng., 1930, 26 , 3.2 B ridgem an, Oil & Gas J ., 1932, 31 (3), 55.3 B rooks an d P ark er, In d . Eng. Chem., 1924, 16 , 587.4 Catlin, ibid., 1926, 18, 743.6 D ryer, Low ry, Egloff an d Morrell, ibid., 1935, 27, 315.6 Egloff, Morrell, Low ry and D ryer, ibid., 1932, 24 , 1375.7 H olzm ann and von P ila t, Brennstojf-Chemie, 15.10.30, 11, 409.8 H unn, F ischer and Blackwood, J . Soc. A u t. Eng., 1930, 26 , 3.9 M cNam ara, Refiner <k N a t. Gasoline M a n u f., 1934, 13, 381.

10 Meyer, J . In st. Pet. Tech., 1931, 17, 621.11 R am say, In d . Eng. Chem., 1932, 24 , 539.12 Sager, J . In st. Pet. Tech., 1934, 20, 1044.13 S tory an d Show, In d . Eng. Chem., 1928, 20 , 359.14 T anaka an d K obayashi, J . Fac. Eng., Tokyo Im p . Univ. 1927, 17, 127.15 Thom as, Proc. World Pet. Cong., 1933, 2, 122.16 W ard, Oil dc Gas J . , 1932, 31 (12), 16.17 W illiam s an d R ich ter, J . A m er. Chem. Soc., 1935, 57 , 1686.18 W inning and Thom as, In d . Eng. Chem., 1933, 25 , 511.

3 2

T H E D ESTR U C TIV E H Y D R O G E N A T IO N A ND D E ­STRUCTION OF H IG H M O LECU LA R M IX T U R E S OF HYDROCARBONS O B T A IN E D B Y P O L Y ­M ERIZA TIO N OF O L E FIN E S.*

By H. I . W a t e r m a n (Hon. Member) and J. J. L e e n d e r t s e (Associate Member).1

I n t r o d u c t io n .

Som e years ago Perquin and others undertook the study of the changes which occur in hydrocarbon mixtures when they are heated to 400-600° C. under high pressure. In particular, hydrocarbon mixtures of paraffinic nature (e.g., Rangoon paraffin wax) were chosen, these materials being very suitable for proving an eventual formation of cyclic compounds under these conditions. The nature of the reaction products was always difficult to determine, since, even very soon after the commence­ment of the experiment, the number of compounds present was very large. At that time the investigation had usually to be carried out by separating the components and identifying the compounds so obtained. Later, however, a method was devised for determining the nature of hydrocarbon oils by analysing the mixtures as such,2 instead of separat­ing out the individual compounds. As a result the reaction products from the destructive hydrogenation and destruction experiments could be analysed more simply. In this way it was proved that the hydro­carbon molecules of the Rangoon paraffin wax could be cracked without any ring formation. This occurred when the material was heated in an atmosphere of hydrogen under high pressure in the presence of a hydro­genation catalyst. However, when this was repeated in the absence of a hydrogenation catalyst or without hydrogen at high pressure, the reaction products contained cyclic compounds.3 The formation of ring structures under these conditions could be explained by side reactions of the (partly) unsaturated aliphatic products formed during the primary cracking of the paraffin molecules of the raw material. When reaction conditions are favourable for the unsaturated products to become hydrogenated (e.g., experiments in the presence of high-pressure hydrogen and a hydrogenation catalyst); side reactions involving ring closure will scarcely be possible, since the unsaturated linkages are rapidly hydrogenated.

Similar experiments were carried out on some cyclic raw materials of natural origin—namely, an extract and a raffinate from a Borneo lubricating-oil fraction.4 Here again a tweaking-down was observed. The total number of rings in the reaction products, however, was practically equal to that in the raw materials used. So, contrary to the results with Rangoon paraffin wax, no formation of extra rings was found here.

Since up to now only products of natural origin had been investigated, a study of the behaviour of some synthetic hydrocarbon mixtures under comparable conditions should prove interesting.

* Paper received October 30th, 1938.

DESTRUCTION OF HIGH MOLECULAR MIXTURES OF HYDROCARBONS. 3 3

Some preliminary experiments with fractions obtained from the poly­merization products of w-pentene-2 with aluminium chloride at about 0° C. have already been described.5 These hydrocarbons were mainly paraffinic. With this material the results obtained in some of the experiments indicated that “ depolymerization ” had occurred,— i.e., a regular breaking- down, in which the cyclic character (and other properties) of the reaction products change with the molecular weight in the same way as they do when polymerization occurs, but in the opposite direction. Under certain conditions—for example, at high temperature—ring formation was definitely proved. Furthermore, the results indicated that the breaking- down of these polymers was much more rapid than that of the natural products mentioned above.

In this connection attention may be directed to the work of Ipatiev 6 and others, from which it may be seen that the reactivity of a paraffin increases with increasing molecular weight and degree of branching, /so-octane, 2 : 2 : 4-trimethylpentane, for example, undergoes deep-seated changes in the presence of aluminium chloride activated with hydrochloric acid at 20-50 °C., when a part of the reaction products consists of isobutane. The rapid depolymerization of branched hydrocarbons such as 2 : 2 : 4 - and 2 : 2 : 3-trimethylpentane is shown also by the behaviour of these hydrocarbons with 97 per cent, sulphuric acid. In this case (^-hydro­carbons are formed even at room temperatures.7

In view of the results mentioned above, experiments with synthetic hydrocarbon mixtures were continued and improved. A summary of the results obtained will be given below.1

R a w Ma t e r ia l s .

Some of the experiments were carried out with a mixture of hydrocarbons obtained by the polymerization of isobutene with aluminium chloride at room temperature. The fractions used were derived from the polymers by a cathodic light vacuum distillation with internal condensation followed by careful hydrogenation. The mixtures obtained in this way were completely saturated, highly branched and mainly paraffinic in nature, though ring com­pounds were not completely absent. (The products are indicated as B2, B3, and B4 in Table I and contain 0-8-105 rings per molecule at mole­cular weights of about 450-480.)

Other experiments were carried out with synthetic highly cyclic hydro­carbons. The latter were obtained from the polymerization products of cycfohexene and aluminium chloride at about 70° C. A product derived from the “ A. oil ” of the polymerization as well as a mixture from the “ B. oil ” were used.8 In most cases these fractions were used as such without any previous hydrogenation (C4 and Dj in Table I). Only in the experiments with high-pressure hydrogen and a nickel hydrogenation catalyst were the raw materials first carefully and completely hydrogenated (C2 and D2). The number of rings per molecule were respectively in the “ A. oil ” (mol. wt. about 350) and the “ B. oil ” (mol. wt. 370) 4 and 5-6.

Also, for comparative purposes, experiments were carried out with a distillate fraction from a Pennsylvanian mineral oil.

The physical constants of the hydrocarbon mixtures are indicated in Table I. The complete analysis of the mixtures is given, as are the

34 WATERMAN AND LEENDERTSE : DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION AND

<DQj Pre

dict

edaf

ter

com

plet

ehy

dro­

gena

tion

.

0-32

68

120 i

1

lOcc__

Dis

tilla

te

frac

tion

of'

va

nia

oil.

Aft

erhy

dro­

gena

tion

.

g2

1-48

180-

8708

0-32

73

115-

1

121

-

1

Bef

ore

hydr

o­ge

nati

on.

G,

1-48

700-

8754

0-32

85

517

111-

8

122-

5

1-85

Mix

ture

of

cy

cloh

exen

e po

lym

ers

“ B.

oil

.”

Aft

er

hydr

o -

gena

tion

.

d2

1-51

750-

9767

0-31

00

370 87

-0

82 5-7

Bef

ore

hydr

o­ge

nati

on.

Di

1-53

700-

9978

0-31

30

369 57

-8 5-7

Mix

ture

of

cy

ctoh

exen

e po

lym

ers

“ A.

oil

.’

Aft

erhy

dro­

gena

tion

.

c2

1-51

310-

9528

0-31

55

348 78

-5

86 4-1

Bef

ore

hydr

o­ge

nati

on.

c,

1-52

290-

9740

0-31

36

345 74

-4 4-1

Mix

ture

of

fsob

uten

e po

lym

ers.

Aft

erhy

dro­

gena

tion

.

b4

1-46

800-

8418

0-33

02

480

123-

7

122

0-8

(0-7

7)

0-1

Aft

erhy

dro­

gena

tion

.

B3

1-46

950-

8453

0-32

98

481

126-

0

121-

5

0-85

Aft

erhy

dro­

gena

tion

.

b2

1-47

020-

8478

0-32

92

446

129-

1

118 1-

05

Phys

ical

C

onst

ants

.

Raw

mat

eria

l in

di­

cate

d as

n2

04

: :

:n2

-

1 !

(D)

n2

+ 2

d[

1 M

ean

mol

ecul

ar

wei

ght

Ani

line

poin

t ob

­se

rved

, °

C.D

itto

from

grap

h,

0 C.

.

Mea

n nu

mbe

r of

rin

gs

per

mol

ecul

e C

hlor

ine,

%

.

p r o p e r t i e s o f t h e c o m p l e t e l y h y d r o g e n a t e d P e n n a o i l , a l t h o u g h i n t h e e x p e r i m e n t s t h e n o n - h y d r o g e n a t e d m a t e r i a l w a s u s e d .

D e s c r ip t io n o f t h e E x p e r i m e n t s a n d R e s u l t s .

All the experiments were carried out in rotating autoclaves at 435° C. under standard conditions. The oils were always heated in the presence of hydrogen or nitrogen under high pressure (initial pressure 80 kg./cm .2 at room temperature). When hydrogen was used, either no catalyst was present or 10 per cent, nickel-on-kieselguhr. With nitrogen 10 per cent, nickel was always present.

The experiments were quantitative, the quantities of gaseous and liquid products being determined as accurately as possible and always in the same way. The gases were analysed and the average number of C atoms per molecule in the gaseous paraffins determined. The liquid product was fractionated quantitatively under standard conditions and the fractions were analysed by the specific refraction molecular weight method.2 Some­times a careful non-destructive hydrogenation of the fractions was neces­sary for the analysis. Thus the number of rings per molecule in each fraction could be deduced. As the molecular weight and quantity of each fraction were also determined, the total number of rings in each fraction, and hence in the whole product, could be calculated and compared with the total number of rings in the corresponding quantity of the starting material.

The following conclusions may be reached from the results of the experi­ments with the ¿sobutene polymers.

1. The isobutene polymer mixtures in question are relatively very unstable under the conditions of the experiments. Even after a time of reaction of 1 minute (i.e., a rapid heating to 435° C. immediately followed by a rapid cooling of the autoclave), an unexpected and very marked destruction was observed. This breaking-down was much more marked than that of the Penna-oil fraction under the same conditions. (Rangoon paraffin wax, held at 435" C. for 1 minute, also only breaks down to a very small extent).9 A comparison of the rates of cracking of the polymers and the Penna-oil fraction is given in Table II,* which clearly indicates the relative instability of the polymer mixtures.

2. The rings in the polymer mixtures are also relatively unstable. Table II illustrates this for two experiments with isobutene polymers. It may be seen that the total number of rings in the reaction products is much lower than in the corresponding quantity of the raw material. The total number of rings in a Penna-oil fraction, however, did not change under the same conditions (Experiment 9). The experiments described in Table II are given only as examples, the results of several other experiments, where the

d e s t r u c t i o n o f h i g h m o l e c u l a r m i x t u r e s o f HYDROCARBONS. 3 5

* In all th e tab les th e raw m ate ria l is designated in th e sam e w ay as in T able I — 6.^., B 3 is th e isobutene po lym er m ix tu re B 3 m en tioned in T able I . W hen th e ex p eri­m ent is one in w hich hydrogen or n itrogen a t h igh pressure is used, th is is in d ica ted by H 2 or N 2, respectively . T he reac tion tim e given is th e tim e o f h ea tin g a t 435° C. Thus, for exam ple, B 3, H 2, 1 m in u te m eans a n experim en t w ith raw m ate ria l B 3 w ith high-pressure hydrogen h ea ted for 1 m in u te a t 435° C.

D

3 6 WATERMAN AND LEENDERTSE : DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION AND

T a b l e I I .

Num ber of the experim ent. 7. 8. 9.

B 4, N i + H 2, 1 m in .

G j, N i + H 2, 1 m in.Raw m aterial and conditions of

reaction.B „ H „1 m in.

First gas fraction, % 1 Hydrogen in the gas, % U nsaturated hydrocarbons, % Mean num ber of C atom s per mol.

in the paraffinic p a rt

3100

0

’ 5 93

6

1

3100

Second gas fraction, % 1 5 15■j

(0-1)89Hydrogen in the gas, % .

U nsaturated hydrocarbons, % Mean num ber of C atom s per mol.

in the paraffinic p a rt

3813

4

1

2-3

0

2-6

Third gas fraction, % 1 4 800

3-9

(0-07)00

2-6

Hydrogen in the gas, % U nsaturated hydrocarbons, % Mean num ber of C atom s per mol.

in the paraffinic p a rt . "

017

4

First liquid fraction, % 1 13 10 2Boiling point, 0 C. < 5 0 20-60 < 4 0

(3 m m .)Molecular weight 70 78 104Number of rings per mol. . 0 0 0-9

Second liquid fraction, % 1 . 15 16 —Boiling point, 0 C. from 50 60-140 —

Molecular weight

(750 m m .) to 80 (80 m m.)

113 108Num ber of rings per mol. . 0 1 0 —

Third liquid fraction, % 1 ■ 16 14 —Boiling point, 0 C. C .V .D .I.C .2 from 140 —

Molecular weight 224

(760 m m .) to 105 (30 m m .)

152Num ber of rings per mol. . 0-4 0-2 —

Fourth liquid fraction, % 1 . 20 _ _Boiling point', 0 C. C .V .D .I.C .2 ___ _Molecular weight 390 _ _Num ber of rings per mol. . 0-6 — —

Residue, % 1 24 32 95Boiling point, °C. C .V.D .I.C .2Molecular weight 510 300 458Number of rings per mol. 1 0 0-45 1-65

Oain in rings in the experiment, % . - 3 0 - 5 8 0

1 th ® calrUi*tion of the quantities of the gaseous an d liqu id frac tions (% ) the to ta l quantity of the raw m aterials augm ented w ith the (small) w eight o f th e hydrogen has been taken as 100%. ' 1 6 J e

2 Cathodic light Vacuum D istillation w ith In tern a l C ondensation.

conditions were unfavourable for any marked secondary ring formation (see below), supporting the conclusion mentioned above.

3. The primary reaction products (see 1 above) decompose very slowly with prolonged heating at 435° C. Table III gives three comparable experiments differing only in the time of heating at 435° C. (Experiments 1, 2 and 3.)

UÍ.01ÜUU1IUJN UF HIGH MOLECULAR M IXTURES OF HYDROCARBONS. 3 7

T a b l e I I I .

N um ber of th e experim en t. 1. 2. 3. 6.

R aw m ate ria l an d conditions o f reac tion .

b 2,N i + H 2, 30 m in .

b 2,N i - f H 2,

5 m in.

b 2,N i + H 2,

1 m in .

B 2, N i + N 2,

30 m in .

F irst gas fraction , % 1 15 16 17 18H ydrogen in th e gas, % . 6 11 9 0U n sa tu ra te d hydrocarbons, % . 1 3 1 4M ean n u m b er o f C a tom s p e r

m ol. in th e paraffinic p a r t 2-9 2-9 3 0 2-5

Second gas fraction, % 1 . 10 16 6 5H ydrogen in th e gas, % . U n sa tu ra ted hydrocarbons, % .

1 0 1 08 7 0-5 3

M ean n u m b er of C a to m s p e rm ol. in th e paraffinic p a r t 3-5 4 0 4 1 3-7

F irst liquid fraction, % 1 . 18 20 15 18M ean m olecular w eigh t . a b t. 89 88 81 107N um ber o f rings pe r m ol. a b t. 0 a b t. 0 a b t. 0 a b t. 0

Second liquid fraction, % 1 23 __ __ 8M ean m olecular w eight . 142 — — —

N um ber of rings p e r mol. 0-2 — — —

T h ird liquid fraction (residue),% 1 .............................................. 34 48 62 51

M ean m olecular w eight . 282 253 235 241N um ber of rings pe r m ol. 10 5 0-5 0-2 1-5

G ain in rings during th e experi­m en t, % . - 3 2 - 6 0 - 7 7 + 60

R em arks . . . . T he d ist stopped m oval of frac tion .

lla tion w as a f te r re-

th e first

T he second liqu id frac tion was analysed tog e th e r w ith th e th ird one.

1 See no te 1 to Table I I .

4. The primary reaction (see 1 above) has the character of a “ depolymeriza­tion.” By “ depolymerization ” is here meant a change in the cyclic character (and other physical properties) of the reaction products with the molecular weight similar to that observed in the polymerization of iso- butene, but in the opposite direction. In Fig. 1 the specific refractions of the completely saturated reaction products from experiments 7 and 8 (see also Table II) are indicated. The broken curve is that for the products obtained by polymerization of tsobutene with aluminium chloride at room temperature. Both the experiments with high-pressure hydrogen without a catalyst and with nickel-on-kieselguhr as a hydrogenation catalyst give fractions corresponding with the broken curve.

DIA

GR

AM

FO

R S

AT

UR

AT

ED

M

IXTU

RES

OF

H

YD

RO

CA

RB

ON

S

WATERMAN AND LEENDERTSE : DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION AND

7 i-“u idioadç

5. When the 'primary reaction products (see 1 and 4 above) are heated further in the presence of nickel-on-kieselguhr, an influence of the hydrogenating conditions similar to that with Rangoon paraffin wax is observed. In Table III an example is given of an experiment (Experiment 6) carried out under conditions which were most unfavourable for hydrogenation, and it may be seen that here, in the absence of hydrogen, the total number of rings increased to a marked degree. Figures are also given (Experiments 1, 2 and 3) supporting the conclusion mentioned above, since it is shown by the analysis of the gaseous products from Experiment 3 that even after the very short reaction time of 1 minute all the hydrogen had been taken up. Therefore the reaction conditions in Experiments 1 and 2 were unfavou rable for hydrogenation. It will be observed that the loss of rings in Experiment 1 is smaller than that in Experiment 3. The results of Experiments 1 and 6 may be compared.

From the results obtained for the cyclohexene polymers the following conclusions may he reached :—

1. The cyclohexene polymer mixtures investigated were much more stable under the reaction conditions already described than were the isobutene polymers. The results of two experiments are given in more detail in Table IV.

DESTRUCTION OF H IG H MOLECULAR M IXTURES OF HYDROCARBONS. 3 9

T a b l e IV .

N um ber of th e experim ent. 12 15

R aw m ate ria l an d conditions o f C2, N i + H 2, D 2, N i + H 2,reac tion . 60 m in . 60 m in .

F irst gas fraction , % 1 1 1H ydrogen in th e gas, % . 10 79U n sa tu ra ted hydrocarbons, % .M ean n u m b er o f C a tom s p e r m ol. in

0 0

th e paraffinic p a r t 1-5 1-3

Second gas fraction, % 1 . 1 a b t. 1

F irst liquid fraction , % 1 . 11 7M ean m olecular w eight . 104 83E stim a ted nu m b er o f rings p e r m ol. . a b t. 1 a b t. 0-4

Second liquid fraction, % 1 3 —

Third liquid fraction (residue), % 1 . 84 91M ean m olecular w eight . 242 202N um ber o f rings p er mol. 3 0 2-5

G ain in rings during th e experim ent,/o + 2 a b t. —23

R em arks . . . . . T he second liqu id frac tio n w as analysed to g eth e r w ith th e th ird frac tion .

The d is tilla tio n was stopped a f te r rem oval o f th e first frac tion .

1 See no te 1 to Table I I .

4 0 DESTRUCTION OF HIGH MOLECULAR M IXTURES OF HYDROCARBONS.

2. Comparison of these results with those already described 4 for two cyclic oils of natural origin and of about the same molecular weight showed that the differences in stability were not very great. The natural products were somewhat more stable but the difference was small.

3. No rings in the polymer fractions were destroyed under the reaction condi­tions unless they had been formed as extra rings during the polymerization. This may also be illustrated by the two experiments given in Table IV. The cyclic character of the raw material C corresponded .with the cyclic character of cyclohexyl compounds of the same molecular weight, showing that ring formation had not occurred during polymerization. On the other hand, ring formation had occurred to some extent in the preparation of D. In all experiments the cyclic character of nearly all the reaction products corresponded with the cyclic character of cyclohexyl compounds of the same molecular weight.

4. Ring formation was never observed in the experiments even in those cases where hydrogenating conditions were most unfavourable—e.g., experiments under high pressure nitrogen in the presence of nickel-on-kieselguhr as catalyst.

S u m m a r y .

The rate of destruction at 435° C. of several synthetic hydrocarbon mixtures has been investigated under various conditions. The nature of the reaction products has been determined and the results have been com­pared with those for hydrocarbon mixtures of natural origin.

The conclusions reached are summarized in the paper in italics.

References.

1 The experimental work was done m ainly by P . H . H uism an, J . V elders an d P . H . vanAltena. The experiments have been described in more detail bv J . J . Leendertse, Thesis, Delft, 1938.

2 J . C. Vlugter, H. I. W aterm an and H . A. van W esten, J . In stn Petrol. Tech., 1935,21, 661.

3 H y v'a t e r m a n > J- J- Leenderste, L. Adam and C. van Vlodrop, J . In s tn Petrol.Tech., 1935, 21, 959.

4 H 'o i ^ aterm an> J - J . Leendertse and G. van der N eut, J . In stn Petrol. Tech., 1935,816.

5 H 'on' W aterm an, J . J . Leendertse and J . de Hulster, J . In stn Petrol. Tech., 1935,¿1, 952.

7 I ' S ' h )at,iev.an '} A. V. Grosse, Industr. Engng Chem., 1936, 28. 461.

Tcc/ 1938 24 303nStan ’ F ' A ' F id le r ’ K B ' P im and T - T a i t < J ■ Insln PetroL

2 C o ™ l \ f T17 Ji J ' Leenl°,rtsc aTn'V5- C- T erP oorten , Rec. trav. chim ., 1935.54. 245. Lompare J . JS. J . Perquin, Thesis Delft, 1929.

41

T H E IN S T IT U T E O F P E T R O L E U M .

TW ENTIETH ANNUAL DINNER.

T h e Twentieth Annual Dinner of the Institute of Petroleum was held at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, W .l, on Monday, December 12th, 1938, Lieut.-Col. S. J. M. Auld, O.B.E., M.C., D.Sc., President, occupying the chair. About three hundred members and guests were present, including the following : The Rt. Hon. Lord Cadman, G.C.M.G., The Rt. Hon. Lord Stamp, G.C.B., G.B.E., The Rt. Hon. Sir Kingsley Wood, P.C., M.P., Sir Charles Bruce Gardner, Lt.-Col. J. H. M. Greenley, Prof. F. G. Donnan, C.B.E., F.R.S., General Sir Walter M. St. G. Kirke, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Air Vice-Marshal W. L. Welsh, D.S.O., A.F.C.Eng., Vice-Admiral Sir George Preece, Major-General A. E. Davidson, D.S.O., Brig.-General Sir Harold Hartley, F.R.S., Air Vice-Marshal A. W. Tedder, C.B., Mr. J. B. Aug. Kessler, Mr. P. C. Kidner, Mr. C. B. Kingston, Dr. William Cullen, Mr. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, C.B.E., Air. F. C. Starling, Mr. H. B. Heath-Eves, Mr. A. L. McColl, Mr. R. W. Sellers, Mr. T. T. McCreath.

The loyal toasts, proposed by the President, having been honoured, The Rt. Hon. Lord Cadman, G.C.M.G., D.Sc., LL.D., D.Eng., proposed the toast of

“ His M a j e s t y ’s G o v e r n m e n t . ”

L o r d C a d m a n sa id : I th in k we can all jo in in th e to a s t o f th e h ea lth o f H is M ajesty ’s Governm ent w ith really sincere feelings. T here have been, I th in k , few periods in our h isto ry w hen a h ea lth y G overnm ent w as m ore essentia l to th e welfare o f th is country. T he tim es are v e ry difficult an d th e la s t really peaceful days w hich were enjoyed are long beh ind us. I n th e tw en ty -fou r y ears w hich hav e elapsed since th e ir te rm ination we have seen m an y changes an d suffered m an y stra ins . F irs t o f all there w as a long w ar o u t o f w hich w e em erged, as we th en th o u g h t, v ictorious. The w ar w as followed b y a peace w hich we hoped w as to be estab lished for all tim e. Now we have a peace w hich is fa r from peaceful. Indeed , its p rincipal featu re is the in tensity w ith which every n a tio n is p reparing itse lf for war.

In these circum stances, i t is v ita l for ou r n a tional secu rity an d existence th a t we should have skilled and able d irection— a condition w hich is im possible unless we have a healthy S ta te guided an d contro lled b y a h ea lth y G overnm ent. (A pplause.) F o rtunate ly , there are m en in th e p resen t G overnm ent w ho have th e qualities o f vision, energy and drive which are v ita l to th e conduct o f g reat affairs in th e stress o f tim es such as these.

W e are fa r from having forgotten th e m agnificent service w hich our P rim e M inister rendered in averting w ar a t a m om ent w hen every th ing seem ed a t its d arkest. (Applause.) B y th a t h istoric action he gained th e ad m iratio n of th e whole world. W e owe Mr. Neville Cham berlain, an d his G overnm ent, our h eartfe lt th an k s for th e wisdom he d isplayed in those anxious days o f la s t Septem ber. T here a re thousands o f people alive to -day who owe th e ir lives to th e P rim e M inister’s action.

A very large and im p o rtan t share in th e ta s k w hich th e G overnm ent now h as to perform is ho m e by our guest th is evening— Sir K ingsley W’ood. I have come in to personal touch w ith Sir K ingsley in several o f h is po litica l m a n i f e s t a t io n s . O n th e first occasion he was Postm aster-G eneral. T he General P o s t Office w as a fine organiza­tion even before Sir K ingsley W ood becam e its chief. I t had , how ever, some defects, and it lacked th e lubrican t o f harm onious co-operation w ith its m il l io n s o f custom ers. A fter Sir K ingsley h ad taken it over there w as a speedy an d rad ical change. B o ttle ­necks were w idened. D ecentralization m ade for ra p id ity o f decision. M echanical operation and m odem ideas in o rganization rep laced m an y trad itio n a l b u t ra th e r

42t w e n t i e t h a n n u a l d i n n e r .

cumbersome practices. Finally, a chilling au ste rity o f m aim er w as replaced by th a t geniality which always pervades the atm osphere a round Sir K ingsley W ood H e nu t television on the map. I t is a great th ing for a P ostm aster-G eneral to be the fast public officer in the world to introduce such a service to th e com m unity

Sir Kingsley is now our M inister for Air. A few m o n th s ago, I h a d the privilege of an inside view of certain sections of the Air M inistry before Sir K ingsley took charge. From what I then saw I th ink th a t he on his arriva l found m uch in com m on w ith the General Post Office as he first knew ib—th e organization w as basically fine, b u t it had some serious defects. Sir K ingsley’s period o f office a t th e Am M inistry has, I know already produced m any good results. The confidence th a t is reposed in him is well indicated by the fact th a t criticism of his M inistry is stilled, an d has been replaced by encouragement allied w ith expressions o f tru s t.

The Air Ministry is a D epartm ent in which the petro leum in d u stry has a p articu lar interest. Each phase of our industry , o f course, has its peculiar problem s, and I would not rank any group above others in relative im portance. T here is, however, something spectacular about the a ir and aeroplanes w hich appeals to th e im agination and raises their problems to an alm ost stra tospheric eminence. In th e solution of almost every problem of the air, engines and th e ir fuel and lub rication a re of funda­mental importance.

I t is in aeroplanes, for example, th a t th e in teroal-com bustion engine has reached a pitch of perfection and efficiency undream ed of in th e early, and even in th e la tter, years of its development. This engine, m oreover, like m an y o th er thoroughbreds, requires special forms of nourishm ent, and th e provision of su itab le fuels has not been accomplished w ithout considerable effort. In th e perfection of these products the Institu te and all its members have rendered sendees w hich I am sure are fully appreciated by all.

Despite the high level which engines and fuels have a lready a tta in e d , I do not think th a t we in the petroleum industry are y e t satisfied th a t th e u ltim a te heights have been scaled. The intem al-com bustion engine m igh t still be im proved in m atters of degree. For any revolutionary change, however, I th in k we m u st look elsewhere. My own hope is pinned to the developm ent of an in tem al-com bustion tu rb in e using heavy fuel. This proposition is n o t new, and it bristles w ith difficulties. N ever­theless, there are indications th a t the essential problem s of design w hich have h itherto proved insuperable are gradually being solved, and it m ay n o t b e considered u n ­reasonable to look forward to the oil turb ine-driven aeroplane.

I hope, therefore, th a t a t one of our fu ture dinners we shall acclaim as th e o u t­standing aeronautical event of the year th e first flight o f a n aeroplane propelled by such an engine. Then, perhaps, the Air M inister and all connected w ith aviation will insist on drinking the health of those who contribu ted to its developm ent. In the meantime, the duty is ours, and I have m uch pleasure in asking you to d rink the health of His Majesty’s Government, w ith special th anks to our P rim e M inister, which I tru st will be conveyed by Sir Kingsley W ood, whose nam e I couple w ith this toast. (Applause.)

The R t . H o n . S i r K i n g s l e y W o o d , P.C., M .P., who responded, sa id : I th an k my old friend Lord Cadman for the kind and generous w ay in w hich he has proposed this toast this evening. I was very m uch indebted to him w hen I w as a t th e Post Office, when he largely helped to carry out the reorganization w hich we m ade in t ose days, and to-day I am very glad to say th a t he is a m em ber o f an im portan t panel of business men who are helping us a t the Air M inistry.

I am obliged also for his reference to the tim e when I occupied th e position of Lost master - General. We owe a great deal to the 230,000 odd m en an d wom en who coa ue 6 Is ° / the Post Office up and down the country , an d I w as very glad in lose c ays in conjunction w ith them and w ithout them no th ing could have been

one—to try to help m atters forward so far as the Post Office w as concerned.I ® a to ' rL*g^t to respond to the toast of H is M ajesty’s G overnm ent, andsomethino- ¡r,may suggest th a t the petroleum industry and th e G overnm ent have bu t both n com™°n ‘ They have both som etim es been ra th e r severely criticized, as vet an'nearp1! f °i sa' , , v e m anaged to survive, and no serious rivals havegive good service T 1 th ink th a t the reason for th a t is th a t we bothgive good service, and th a t is why we prosper.

TW EN TIETH ANNUAL D IN N ER . 4 3

I th a n k L ord C adm an for h is references to -n igh t to th e P rim e M inister. Times indeed are difficult, b u t I should like you to feel th a t so fa r as th e G overnm ent are concerned, desp ite d isappo in tm en ts an d setbacks, we are determ ined to proceed w ith ou r policy o f peace an d appeasem ent. T h a t policy can only fully succeed, of course, if th ere is th e desire and th e goodwill on th e p a r t of all countries, for peace can be perm anen tly estab lished n o t b y one coun try , b u t only by m any. I do n o t tak e th e view , an d I do n o t believe a single person in th is room tak es th e view, th a t w ar is inev itab le, an d I w ould say to -n ig h t, speaking on behalf of th e g reat m ajo rity of m y fellow -countrym en, th a t we have n o t lost fa ith th a t comm on sense, goodwill and co-operation am ong th e na tio n s will y e t prevail.

L ord C adm an referred to th e Defence Forces of th e country . I speak to -n igh t in a v ery responsible position , one w hich I never sought, b u t which I am glad to occupy. Mr. C ham berlain th e o th e r d ay sa id th a t so fa r as th e Defence Forces of th is country were concerned, we m u st be so strong th a t th e w orld m ay know th a t any efforts th a t we m ay m ake to p rom ote peace are influenced n o t by fear o f w ar, b u t by h a tred of it. (Applause.) I th in k i t is obvious th a t th e m ore effectively p repared we are, th e g reater th e p a r t we shall p lay for peace in th e councils of th e nations.

I speak to -n igh t— an d I am v ery p ro u d indeed to speak— for th e R oyal A ir Force. I w as g lad to hear Mr. Churchill say th e o th er day in th e H ouse o f Commons th a t th e R oyal A ir Force co n stitu ted one o f th e finest an d m ost m agnificent bodies of m en an d scientific a tta in m en ts th a t ex is t to -d ay in th e whole field of m odern m ilitary progress. (Applause.) H e has qu ite legitim ately p u t forw ard h is criticism s, b u t th a t is his tes tim o n y to th e personnel of th e R oyal A ir Force itself. I should like to testify to -n igh t, from close association in th e few sh o rt m on ths for w hich I have been Secretary o f S ta te for A ir w ith th e R oyal A ir Force, th a t i t is d istinguished by courage, energy an d capacity . One o f th e m ost g ra tify ing th ings to m e is th a t during th e la s t few m onths v ery large num bers have joined th a t Force, an d those young m en who are com ing forw ard in such g reat num bers to -d ay are d istinguished b y th a t sam e energy and capac ity th a t belongs to th e R oyal A ir Force itself.

I do n o t disguise for a m om ent th a t while m uch has been done in connection w ith our a ir defences, m uch rem ains to be done. I t is th e m enace of th e a ir, th is new and sudden an d pow erful in stru m en t, th is m odem m eans o f assau lt, th a t is th e m ain cause of un certa in ty , u n re s t and dread in th e w orld to -day , and i t is for th a t reason th a t th is country , n o t for th e purposes o f aggression, b u t in order th a t we m ay fulfil our in te rnational obligations and ob ta in security for ourselves, is steadily building up its a ir defences, such defences th a t i t shall n o t be w orth while for anyone to a tta ck us. I suggest to you th a t th a t is w h a t th e coun try has a rig h t to dem and and a righ t to have. (Applause.)

I should like, in conclusion, to say a w ord to you ab o u t th e special association of m y D epartm en t w ith your own in terests. I say “ in conclusion ” advisedly, because the o ther n igh t I w as a t a d inner w ith m y wife, an d w hen I w ent hom e I sa id to her, “ W hat d id you th in k o f m y speech? ”— a very dangerous question to p u t to her ! (Laughter.) She said, “ W ell, I d id n o t th in k you were qu ite u p to your usual form. You d id n o t tak e full advan tage o f your o p p o rtu n ities .” I sa id to her, “ W hat opportunities d id I n o t take advan tage o f? ” and she replied, “ The opportun ities of concluding y our speech an d s ittin g dow n.” (L aughter.)

I should like to say, so fa r as m y own D ep artm en t is concerned, th a t our relations w ith th e petro l com panies continue to be friendly. (Laughter.) In fact, I m ay say th a t th ey are extrem ely am icable, and I desire to -n igh t to acknowledge th e keen in te rest th a t all th e com panies tak e in our m an y an d m ost im p o rtan t problem s of supply. I f I m ay, on behalf of th e A ir M inistry , to -n igh t, I should like to convey our b est wishes to th e In s titu te . I th in k you can be p roud of it. I t rig h tly m ain ­ta in s a high stan d ard of qualification for its m em bership , an d i t certain ly , from m y p o in t of view , m akes a v ita l con tribu tion to th e na tion , and it is doing m uch for the consum er of petroleum p roducts . A lthough I am engaged in looking a fte r our own coun try an d its A ir Force, th e In s ti tu te has a special appeal to m e because its m em bership is in ternational, and I th in k rig h tly so, because there are no boundaries in research or in discovery. All our friends here to -n igh t a re associated w ith one o f th e youngest b u t one o f th e g rea tes t of N a tu re ’s new forces, an d I am glad to know th a t you are w orth ily tak in g y o u r p a r t in utilizing and directing it. (Applause.)

4 4 t w e n t i e t h a n n u a l d i n n e r .

T h e R t . H o n . L o r d S ta m p , G.C.B., G.B.E., Sc.D., LL.D., t h e n p r o p o s e d

th e t o a s t o f _ „“ T h e I n s t i t u t e o f P e t r o l e u m .

Lord Stamp said : I discern quite clearly th a t in th e choice of th e proposer o f th is important toast you have followed the now custom ary technique. H e m u st be one who does not live too close to the works and see th e spo ts, so th a t he can be relied on not to make a series of untim ely criticism s a t a convivial gathering b u t a t the same time he m ust be sufficiently near to appreciate all y o u r v irtues. H ere, th e re ­fore am I with m y wealth of ignorance and benevolence (laughter), read y to assure all of y o u 'th a t you really deserve all those good th ings th a t you co nstan tly th m k about yourselves and occasionally in secret say to each o ther. (L aughter.) I n order th a t I should not be completely lacking in equipm ent, I approached your Secretary, and if I may use the proper term s, I find him in th e m a tte r of in form ation to be a positive gusher. (Laughter.) In fact, for the first tim e I realized th e m eaning of the words “ oil immersion.” I do no t know the h ydrosta tics of th e su b jec t; I do not know whether when you are drowned in oil you come up th ree tim es or not— I did not wait to see ! (Laughter.) I do assure you, however, th a t th e inform ation which I had for quantity equalled th a t of a stores catalogue, and for q u ality was rather like an eighteenth-century m ural epitaph. (Laughter.)

I had plenty of material, I can assure you, b u t when it cam e to com pressing it into a speech of ten m inutes’ duration, th a t was another story , and I fe lt very m uch like the trench-digger recently in the crisis who, having dug a v ery fine trench , after the crisis was instructed by his boss to fill i t in, which he duly d id , only to find th a t he had a great deal of soil left over. He drew his boss’s a tten tio n to i t , an d h is boss said, “ I told you all along, you silly fool, th a t you were n o t digging it deep enough. (Laughter.) I assure you th a t I had a great deal of m ateria l left over, an d I th m k it was not because I was not digging deep enough; b u t I do know now enough about your claims to public notice and respect to propose th is to a s t w ith g reat heartiness and conviction.

I notice th a t your life as an Institu te coincides alm ost w ith th e period o f aston ish­ing growth of production in petroleum products, which has been going on since 1913, quadrupling in the last few years. In some senses 1913 w as a tu rn ing -po in t, a new order of magnitude and a difference of degree became alm ost a difference of kind. You have had the inestimable advantage as an In s titu te of gradually growing up w ith your subject. I am not going to say which was cause and which w as effect (laughter), whether this marvellous increase in the production of oil is due to you or in sp ite of you, but, quite rightly, you were first of all devoted to th e ex trao rd inarily rapid growth of technical processes and refinements of them and innovations, b u t as tim e has gone on you are being drawn into the increasing, n o t specialization, b u t generaliza­tion of the interest in your profession, and its effects upon society. Y ou have now gone into the field of education w ith the prom otion of scholarships. Y ou have not yet reached the stage of an entrance exam ination, b u t I expect th a t , like th e other budding institutes, you will do so in order to subm it would-be new en tra n ts to an examination which you yourselves never passed and never could pass. (Laughter and applause.) “ Yes, m y boy, b u t you see I was a pioneer ! ” (Laughter.)

I think you have been very fortunate in your change of nam e, because it does now indicate the existence of a wider forum for discussion of those general questions to which I have referred, and in your new home, and w ith th is now recognized w id th and breadth of view, you are beginning in your twenty-fifth year a fresh stage of your usefulness to society. You have accomplished a very great deal which is of e x tra ­ordinary value to the industry and to the industries dependent on you. T he s tan d ard ­ization of methods of testing and the voluminous literature which you now produce, which seems to me quite concise and no t unduly w atered or oiled, b u t really thoroughly scientific in its compactness and directness, the reviews th a t you produce, these three or four encyclopaedic volumes covering every range of your sub ject— all these things show the intellectual aliveness of your In stitu te . The p rom otion of the branches abroad brings out strikingly the international character of your efforts, and the fact th a t half your members are overseas shows th a t you are one of those forces— and we want all we can get to-day—which bind nations together in u n ity o f purpose and of knowledge. (Applause.)

TW EN TIETH ANNUAL D IN N ER . 4 5

I t is expected of m e th a t I should say som ething of the economics of petroleum , b u t I can a ssure yo u th a t I am going to spare you. N o t long ago I was a t a wedding b reak ­fast, an d w as ju s t ab o u t to propose th e to as t of th e bride an d bridegroom when someone p ushed across a no te to m e. I opened it an d found th a t i t said “ None of your bloom ing s ta tis tic s ! ” (Laughter.) The ex trao rd inary th ing ab o u t the economics o f your sub jec t is th a t th ere are n o t any econom ics; there are only s ta tis t ic s ; because alm ost every economic te s t or criterion th a t you can app ly is e ither defeated or lacking. (Laughter.) F o r exam ple, y ou can find no ra tional connection betw een th e aggregate supply in y o u r in d u stry and th e p a rticu la r price th a t rules a t the tim e. (Laughter.) A pparen tly a t no tim e has i t really been dependent on d e m a n d ; i t has been entirely unpred ic tab le, an d largely due to th e fo rtu itous occurrence of new fields w hich have been discovered, and th e developm ent of new drilling conditions, and even th e decline of th e older fields, and these th ings have gone on sw eetly an d b lithely unconscious of the uses th a t were m ade of y o u r p roduct or of th e p a rticu la r price which happens to have been ru ling , an d only to a m inor ex ten t have th e fluctuations been dependent on consum ption or th e m ovem ent o f prices.

D em and seems to have p a id very little a tte n tio n to the supply or th e price. The economic grow th o f all k inds of new uses, th e in ternal-com bustion engine, av ia tion and a hundred o th er different uses of your p roduct, d irect or derived, has ru ined any ordinary economic dem and schedule, and w hen you look a t th e price, you find th a t, far from being a m ere equation betw een dem and an d supply, i t has been in various countries trem endously dependent u pon tax a tio n , w hich has som etim es far exceeded th e cost of y our p roduct. Y our in d u stry follows no economic rule, and w hen it comes to th e question o f co-operation for th e control of supply and th e regularization of price, in the case of th e U .S.A., b y fa r th e largest producer, we know th a t only for a sho rt tim e has th a t been a feasible an d practicab le proposal followed o u t logically. F o r a long tim e, indeed, i t w as forbidden. I t is ra th e r in teresting to rem em ber th a t the Shearm an a n ti- tru s t laws h ad th e ir origin very largely in the efforts of a num ber of oil producers to p u t a check to th e activ ities o f th e S tan d ard Oil Com pany. Now th e wheel has gone full circle. I rem em ber com m enting on th e fact, soon a fte r N .R.A . began, th a t th e Shearm an a n ti- tru s t laws h a d never been repealed, b u t only overlaid by a new set of instructions from W ashington. P roducers in th is as in o ther industries h ad for a generation been to ld th a t th ey m u s t never be seen in each o ther’s com pany, or th ey would be suspected o f discussing prices and o u tp u t, or doing som ething to m ake a disorderly in d u stry in to an orderly one. T h a t w as a fa ta l th in g to do. Suddenly, however, from W ashing ton cam e th e announcem ent th a t these were th e th ings which h ad to be done, an d th a t if th ey were n o t done it would be disobeying N .R .A ., and all the punishm ents of th e law would fall upon them . If, however, th e N .R .A . decrees were ineffective, presum ably th e Shearm an a n ti- tru s t laws would be invoked, and th a t , in fact, is exactly w hat happened. A v ery large num ber of oil producers d id get together and do som ething of th e k ind w hich these N .R .A . orders required , and w hen the orders were declared to be u n co nstitu tiona l, W ashing ton proceeded in th e courts of law against these various people u n d er th e old Shearm an a n ti- tru s t laws, an d th ey had a difficult tim e try in g to ju s tify them selves for going in tw o directions a t once. (Laughter.)

I have said th a t you have now a forum for th e w idest discussion of your problem s, and indeed your problem s are wide because now oil and its in terests have pen etra ted far beyond technical processes, fa r beyond im m ediate uses, and have become a p a r t of th e politics and of th e in te rnational com plications o f th e world. I suppose recent events m igh t have been different, or a t an y ra te qualified, if th e League of N ations h ad re ta ined au tho rity . The League o f N ations m igh t have re ta in ed au th o rity if its policy of sanctions had been successful. I t is qu ite possible th a t its policy of sanctions m ight have had a very different h isto ry if th e policy of oil sanctions in p a rticu la r h ad been effective. (Applause.) W hen you get dow n to i t , you will find th a t th e position of oil and the dem and for i t are becom ing a first-class underly ing problem in alm ost every political question. W e do n o t even now know th e ex te n t to w hich w ar will be modified by the dependence of nations upon oil, b u t we can see th a t i t will be a trem endous factor— th e pow er to ob ta in it in sufficient qu an titie s to m ain ta in a highly m echanised A rm y, N avy and A ir Force.

N o t only is i t ge tting into economic politics, b u t i t is also g e ttin g in to such economic questions as foreign investm en t. W e all know th e enorm ous num ber of restric tions

46TW ENTIETH ANNUAL D IN N ER .

t w dissuade us from foreign investm ent to-day, b u t I suppose th a t no single th ing has come as such a shock to the possibilities of foreign in vestm en t as th e recen t repudia- tions of the Mexican Government and th e ir action over M exican oil W h ether rig h t orw L g explainable or excusable, is beside th e m a rk ; it is th e general effect on th e m ind o f f o r e en investors throughout the world which is one of th e m ajo r factors in th e field of foreien investment. You cannot in th is forum of your In s t i tu te ask any question which will tu rn out in its effect to be like the question asked recently in the courts b y a barrister who said to the witness : “ You say th a t a t one o’clock you called on Mrs. Murphy ’ W hat did she tell you th a t Mr. Jones said ? ” Counsel on th e o ther side got up and said “ I object to the question,” and there ensued a long w rangle, an d for an hour or two the two opposing counsel and the judge discussed w hether th is p a rticu la r question was permissible in the circumstances. F inally th e judge ru led th a t i t was, and so once again counsel addressed him self to th e w itness and said , “ Y ou say you called on Mrs. Murphy a t one o’clock. Now w hat d id she tell y o u Mr. Jo n es sa id ? ” The answer was “ N oth ing ; she was no t in .” (Laughter.) M any scientific societies bother themselves w ith questions only to find th a t w hen th ey have been settled nothing happens, and you are entitled to ejaculate th e A m erican slogan “ So w ha t ? ’’ In your own case I am quite sure th a t every question th a t can be asked re la tin g to oil will have some definite bearing, so wide, so im portan t and so far-reach ing are m an y of the consequences.

I f praise is to be given, I believe you deserve it, and a t any ra te you th in k th a t you do. (Laughter.) I did take the precaution of consulting one or tw o people before I came who I thought m ight know som ething about you, an d on all h an d s I h ad such a certificate of respectability for you as alm ost made me suspicious. I t w as v ery different from my experience last week, when I was going to speak for th e guests a t quite a different function from th is, and I saw som ebody who said “ W here are you going to speak ? ” , and when I told him he said “ Oh, th a t lot ! Are you casting any pearls ? ” (Laughter.) That brought to m y m ind a certain lady w ith tw o d augh ters, who were ageing a little, still on her hands, and she p u t i t in these w ords :—

“ I have two girls, a couple of pearls,And w hat should I ask for more ?

B ut I see no sign of a couple of swineTo cast those pearls before.” (Laughter.)

I f I m ay speak for your guests in presenting our thanks, I should like to say th a t you have given us a royal time. I have been told by th e P resid en t th a t technical efficiency in your industry is so far advanced th a t such a th in g as a b low -out is now considered rather a disgrace. (Laughter.) I feel, however, th a t i t is w h a t you have given us to-night. A t any rate, I , who have been clam ouring for a w eek or m ore for a square deal, have certainly had a square meal to-night. (Laughter.)

I t is m y duty and m y pleasure to couple w ith th is toas t the nam e o f th e P resid en t of the Institu te, Colonel Auld. I know th a t in him your in terests are in safe h ands, and I know th a t m any of those progressive movements to which I have been referring have behind them his dynamic personality and th a t he has invigorated y our in te res t, and I am sure will continue to do so. I ask you to drink to the h ealth of y o u r In s t i tu te and of your President, Colonel Auld. (Prolonged applause.)

L ie u t . -C o l . S. J . M. A u l d , O.B.E., M.C., D.Sc., who was received w ith applause on rising to respond, said : Like everyone else, I suppose, there are tim es w hen I feel no t entirely adequate to the task in hand, and th is is one of them . I am v ery proud , as Sir Kingsley Wood suggested I should be, of the In s titu te of Petro leum , and I am proud to be answering for it to-night, and th a t m akes m y sense of unw orth iness a little greater. In addition to th a t, I have to reply to Lord Stam p, of whom I s tan d in a g rea t deal of f ' ' e ' ( aughter.) Lord Stamp has done us a great honour by com ing here to-night,m a t this great economist, th is celebrated m an of affairs, should have come here to propose e toast of the Institu te of Petroleum is very m uch apprecia ted . (Applause.) 1 cannot possibly hope to m atch his wisdom, his forthrightness and th e generosity of himfplf T if eS f xcePt ky the sincerity of my thanks and m y sincere ad m ira tio n for T M S p n res.Pect which 1 have Lord Stam p as th e P resid en t o f themen T m‘ens,lfied b7 th <! p 'e a t deference which I have for all g rea t railway-

18 > , a m ost a triie infantile fixation as far as I am concerned, because

TW EN TIETH ANNUAL D IN N ER . 4 7

I was alm ost literally cradled on th e old Glasgow an d South-W estern R ailw ay, an d I stood in very g rea t awe of the engine-drivers; in fact, one o f m y earliest recollections is of escaping from surveillance in com pany w ith ano ther todd ler an d p u ttin g pins on the railw ay line to see how beau tifu lly th ey were flattened o u t b y th e tra in s. T h a t am usem ent w en t on w ith increased daring u n til we were chased aw ay by th e drivers throw ing coal a t us. (L aughter.) Cause an d effect, you see ! Y ou stick p ins in the railw ays and eventually th ey th row th ings a t you. (L aughter.) T hey have h ad to p u t up w ith a good m an y pins in th e la s t few years, an d now th ey are beginning to throw th e coal. I th in k m ost of us w ill w ish th em th e g rea tes t success in th e fight which they are now m aking for th e ir square deal. (Applause.)

I t is m y privilege as P resid en t to be som ew hat inciden ta l in m y rem arks, and to refer briefly to th e m ajo r happenings o f th e la s t tw elve m on ths o f th e In s t i tu te ’s life. Following th e lead o f L ord S tam p , I shall endeavour, how ever, to spare y o u all figures. All figures, th a t is to say , excep t p e rhaps figures o f speech, because, in th in k in g over the th ings th a t I w ished to refer to , I found th a t th ey h ad an uncom m on resem blance to the happenings of a y ear o f m atrim o n ia l bliss. T hey s ta r te d o u t w ith th e w edding, then th e honeym oon, th e new hom e, th e house-w arm ing, and th en th e facing of th e b a ttle of life. I refer, of course, to our change of nam e and c o n stitu tio n , to our t r ip to Scotland th is year for ou r Sum m er M eeting in th e form of a Conference on Oil Shale, to th e occupation of our new prem ises, to th e ve ry successful Conversazione w hich we recently held, and th en to th e Crisis. L e t us hope th a t we m ay ad d to th e whole lo t the living h ap p y ever afterw ards. (L aughter and applause.)

Our change of nam e from th e In s ti tu tio n o f Petro leum Technologists to th e In s t i tu te of Petro leum in itse lf explains fu lly th e b ro ad er p a th w hich we are now following. W e have, as I have previously explained, tak en v ery g rea t care to safeguard the in terests of our technial pu ris ts , b u t we realize, as I have h eard i t sa id elsewhere, th a t i t is possible to be “ too sanguinary p u re .” (L aughter.) I c an assure y o u th a t th a t was n o t th e in ten tio n of th e founders o f th e In s titu tio n no r o f those responsible for its emergence as th e In s titu te .

One of th e first evidences of our new outlook has been th e fo rm ation o f separa te groups to tak e care of and encourage th e in terchange of th o u g h t a b o u t special sub jects. The first tw o o f these groups have been th e L u b ricatio n G roup an d th e A sphaltic B itum en Group. B u t I should like in th e presence o f L ord S tam p an d Mr. A ugust K essler to p lead for th e fo rm ation o f an Econom ics G roup, and in th e presence o f Mr. H eath E ves and Mr. McColl to p lead for th e fo rm ation of a D istrib u tio n an d M arketing Group. There in a nu tshell and in ty p e are our aim s an d asp ira tio n s, b u t we can n o t do these th ings u n til we have th e rig h t ty p e o f m em ber. I w ould p o in t o u t to you th a t Mr. Kessler, for exam ple, who has alw ays been th e stau n ch est su p p o rte r o f th e In s t i tu te in th e p a s t, is n o t a m em ber, and th a t Mr. H eath -E ves is n o t a m em ber, an d th a t Mr. Alex McColl is n o t a m em ber. (Cries o f “ Sham e.” ) They m igh t an d w ould have said in th e p a s t, “ W e are n o t technical m en ; how can we be m em bers ? ” A t any ra te , th ey can now be m em bers, an d it is n o t m erely th a t th ey can , b u t th a t th ey ought. W e ask them , and we ask all th e ad m in istra to rs of th e oil com panies, to jo in us in th is new and g reat ven tu re , and to b ring w ith th em th e ir colleagues, an d p a r ­ticularly am ongst th e ir colleagues th e ir b rig h test young m en an d th e ir b luest-eyed boys. (Laughter.) The p rim ary qualification th a t we shall dem and in each case before we do any th ing else is th a t a m an shall be able to say , “ I am an oil m an .”

The In s titu te has a lready th ree very lu sty offspring. Two of th em are th e groups which I have m entioned, b u t th e first was th e Scottish B ranch , o f th e existence o f which we are very proud. The Scottish B ranch w as th e im m ediate resu lt o f th e holding of th e conference on oil shale a t th e E m pire E x h ib ition in Glasgow th is sum m er. T his v ery precocious in fan t d id n o t exactly appear w ith a silver spoon in its m o u th , b u t it appeared w ith a very w eighty tom e in its han d , th e volum e to w hich I refer being th e record o f th e conference. This book is u n iq u e ; th ere is no o th er record of its k ind in existence as far as I know, and we are n a tu ra lly p roud of it. I am n o t bring ing it to your special a tten tio n , however, because o f its in trin sic value , b u t because i t is, as I see i t , a sym bol of all th e publications o f th e In s ti tu te o f P e tro le u m ; i t is a sym bol o f all th e w ork w hich has been done and w hich is being done b y th e In s t i tu te on beh alf o f th e in d u stry , and it is a sym bol o f all th e w ork w hich th e In s ti tu te will continue to do for th e in d u stry on an ever-w idening front.

W h at in re tu rn is th e petroleum ind u stry doing for th e In s t i tu te ? I t does, in fact,

48t w e n t i e t h a n n u a l d i n n e r .

a deal I t liberates its servants to work for th e In s titu te — alm ost uncom plain-*4,

. ^ *“ » ,” t *h' wi,° ie “ p ' ; * eii-w i*h “ « ‘* “ • *T v ic e in the twenty-five years of our existence th e in d u stry has come forw ard w ith financial help in the m atter of premises. The second occasion is q u ite recen t, and is due to the activity of my very distinguished im m ediate predecessor in office Lord Padman (Applause.) Lord Cadman f e l t - a n d , being L ord C adm an, h ad no h esita ­tion in s a v in e - th a t a passe fourth-floor-back was no fit h eadquarte rs for a body such as this which had so helped to build a new industry , and an ind u stry of th is m agnitude and richness. As a result, a num ber of groups cam e forw ard and offered to help us financially in such a way th a t we should n o t be h indered in our p resen t endeavours towards expansion. By their aid we were able to take on qu ite com m odious and very dignified premises in the beautiful new Adelphi building. I should like to take th is opportunity of thanking m ost sincerely th e bodies who were responsible. (Applause.) My gratitude, however, m ust no t be looked on in a cynical w ay as a sense of favours to come when I point out th a t th a t position m ust be tem porary . The ind u stry as a whole must awake to its responsibilities to the In s titu te . I t is n o t alw ays realized th a t this Institute, not very old as m any such bodies go, b u t very pow erful, has been k ep t going, and is a t present kept going, alm ost wholly by the subscrip tions of m en whose average salary is probably less than half of one d ay’s cost of advertising to one o f th e m ajor distributing companies.

Surely th a t is wrong. As an In s titu te we deserve, an d we in ten d eventually to obtain, our own permanent premises. We w ant to em bark upon ever g reater stan d ard ­ization work. We w ant to develop our Journal. W e w an t to increase our educational efforts. We want, in fact, to be, and we in tend to be, an In s ti tu te w orthy of the great industry to which we are all proud to belong. These th ings cost m oney. W e w ant money, and we want it w ithout any possible strings a ttach ed to it. I feel th a t we m ust form a building and endowment fund, and th en it will be th e privilege o f th e industry to contribute to th a t fund as a tribu te to th e w ork w hich I claim th a t th e In s ti tu te has done, and continues to do, for the industry . W ith th a t , an d w ith th e g reatly increased membership to which we look forward under these new conditions, I am convinced th a t the work which we shall do in the fu ture will be even greater th a n th a t which we have done in the past.

You will realize that, ra ther contrary to the accepted tene ts of good behaviour, I have somewhat sermonized and talked a t m any of our good friends am ong th e very distinguished guests whom we have w ith us to-night. I am sure, however, th a t they will forgive me. In any case, I th ink th a t som etim es we are ju s t a little too formally polite even to our guests. (Laughter.) I th ink in th a t connection o f th e young m an I have heard of whose father had placed him in a whole succession o f jobs in depart­mental stores as a salesman, and from each of them th e boy w as sacked. H is father was very disturbed about this, and dem anded to know w hat he could possibly do with him. “ Father,” said the young m an, “ I w an t to be po licem an; I th in k I could do better in a job where the customer is always w rong.” (Laughter.)

To complete my simile I would refer again in passing to th e very successful conver­sazione which we held quite recently in the house of the R oyal G eographical Society, and conclude with a few words about the very last stage—th e facing of th e b a ttle of life ; in other words, the Crisis, which naturally form ed the basis of th a t very stim u­lating speech by Sir Kingsley Wood. A t the tim e of the crisis as a m a tte r of course I placed, through the Petroleum D epartm ent, the whole resources, collective and individual, of the Institu te unreservedly a t the disposal of H is M ajesty’s G overnm ent; but it occurred to me then, and it has occurred to me w ith a certa in am o u n t of force since, th a t perhaps there is still som ething which m ight be done during th e period of preparation. I t is not possible always to get in touch w ith the people w hom you w ant to be in touch with, and I am wondering w hether the g reatest use is m ade by the governm ent of the very highly organized scientific and technical professional societies,

e our own. e Government D epartm ents are only too willing to send th e ir repre- c0™m lttees— to our standardization com m ittees, for exam ple— b u t it

t h e i r o w n & so™et \n& cou^^ be done by their asking us for d irect rep resen ta tion on s n e a k i n ees in m atters either directly or indirectly connected w ith petroleum

, as can, on y or our own Institu te . There are several cases w ith in my

TW EN TIETH ANNUAL D IN N ER . 4 9

personal knowledge in th is g rea t m a tte r o f p rep ara tio n w here an im provem ent could unquestionab ly have been b rough t ab ou t b y th a t m ethod. A t any ra te i t would be b e tte r th a n th e som ew hat h ap h azard , how ever in tim ate , con tacting w hich goes on a t p resen t. E xperience is th a t w hilst ind iv idual com panies or i t m ay be individuals or groups o f ind iv iduals, a re in th e closest to u ch w ith th e Services an d th e G overnm ent D epartm en ts, th e In s t i tu te as such is no t. Moreover th is m ethod o f keeping in touch is v ery frequen tly shrouded in qu ite unnecessary m ystery— in w h a t I m ight refer to as a m is t of occultation . (Applause.)

I t m ig h t be fe lt th a t rep resen tation such as I am suggesting m ight be capable of being m isused for personal or com m ercial ends, b u t I can assure you th a t th a t is n o t th e case. A m an who rep resen ts h is society as a delegate is a very different m an from one going on h is own business or th a t of h is com pany. Mr. Shrapnell-Sm ith, I am sure, will bear m e o u t on th a t p o in t.

I n th e presence o f so m an y em inen t Fellows o f th e R oyal Society, I do n o t w ish to be construed as w an ting in an y w ay to in tru d e on th e ir established privilege of acting as advisers in scientific m a tte rs to H is M ajesty’s G overnm ent. I t is ra th e r th a t th rough specialist organizations like our own it would be possible to concentrate for the benefit o f th e com m unity accum ulated knowledge an d experience n o t otherw ise available. M oreover, a t th e back of ind iv idual represen tatives i t m u s t be rem em bered th a t there would be whole team s o f m en only too willing and anxious to discuss and to advise and , if necessary, to em bark upon team w ork investigation— I will n o t even claim to call i t research— for th e e lucidation of pa rticu la r problem s which m ay occur. Such m atte rs as these are ve ry m uch in all our m inds, I know , an d I th in k up and down the country i t is a sure sign th a t we are aw ake, an d th a t we now know th a t w h a t Sw inburne said a good m any years ago is tru e , th a t i t m ay be b e tte r to weep th an to slum ber.

I will conclude, L ord S tam p, by thank ing you again ve ry heartily for your kind words, and by assuring you th a t th e In s titu te of Petro leum will n o t fail to give of its best on behalf o f science an d in th e service o f th e petro leum industry and of the C ountry. (Applause.)

I should m en tion th a t tw o m essages of greeting have heen received, one from the T rin idad B ranch and th e o th er from our good friend Colonel P ineau , D irector of the Office N ationals des Com bustible L iquides. (Applause.)

The proceedings then terminated.

1 A

ABSTRACTS.

GeologyGeophysicsDrillingProductionT ran sp o rt an d Storage ... GasC racking ...H ydrogenation Po lym erization ...Refining and Refinery P lan t C hem istry and Physics

Petro leumof

PAGE PAGE2 A A nalysis an d T esting 17 A6 A M otor Fuels 19 a7 a Gas, Diesel and Fuel Oils 20 a9 a L u brican ts and L ubrication 20 a12 a R oads and R oad M aterials 21 A12 a Special P roducts 21 A13 A D eto n atio n and Engines 21 A13 A Econom ics and S ta tistics 23 a14 a B ook Reviews 26 a14 a Books and P ublications R eceived 28 a16 A

A U TH O R IN D E X .The num bers refer to th e A b s trac t N um ber.

A lb r ig h t , J . C ., 49 A r t e r , K . T . , 66 A u b e r t , M ., 56

B a s s , R . M ., 30 B a ta a fs c h e P etro le u m

M ij., N .V . de, 43. 64 B e t z , L . D ., 53 B i llb e r g , A . , 86 B o n e r , C . J . , 55 B r it is h T h o m so n H o u s­

to n , C o ., L t d . , 43

C a m p b e ll, AV. J . , 37 C o o k , C . E . , 7 C o rso n , B . B . , 57

D e u tsc h e H y d rie rw e rk e , A .- G ., 67

D im a , M ., 52 D is t ille rs , C o ., L t d . , 43 D o d g e , J . F . , 17 , 18 , 20,

24, 25

E a r d le y , A . J ., 6 E d e le a n u , G e se llsc h a ft

m .b .H ., 67 E ls n e r , G ., 61 E rd h e im , E . , 50

F a h rio n , H ., 79 F ish e r , D . J . , 16 F l in t , P ., 23 F o s te r , H . H ., 77 F r u n z e t t i , D ., 69 F u lk e rso n , R . E ., 37 F u s s te ig , R ., 46

G a n itz k i, I . , 81, 82, 83 G erso n , G ., 63 G ilb e r t, C . L . , 80 G ra y , S . E ., 37 G re en sh ield s, R . J ., 71 G ro v e s , W . AV., 43 G u ib e rso n , S . A . , 37 G u sta fsso n , N . , ’ 68, 73

H e a d le s , A . J . AV., 2 H e b l, L . E ., 71 H e in z e , R . , 61 H ia t t , AV. N ., 14 H o fe re r , D . W ., 37 H u b e n d ic k , E ., 75, 76 H u n tin g to n , R . L . , 31 H u rd e lb rin k , F . , 54

I .G . F a rb e n in d u strie , A .-G ., 70

Im p e ria l C h e m ical I n ­d u str ie s , L t d . , 67

J o h n so n , G . AV., 38, 67 J o h n so n , J . , 37 J o n es, C . T . , 8

K a y e , M . K . , 5 K im m e ll, G . O ., 31 K o d a k , L t d . , 59 K r a u s , E ., 35 K u ro n o , K . , 62

L a n g , AV. E . , 37 L a y n e , L . A . , 37 L e c c a , O ., 36 L o ttin g e r , M . A . , 26 L o w e s , A . P . , 67

L y o n s , O . AV., 27

M aed a, R . , 74 M ard er, M ., 61 M a rty n , P . F . , 3 M eijn en , D . H ., 80 M eta llg es ., A .-G ., 40 M ills , K . N ., 34 M o n d a in -M o n v al, P ., 51 M o o re, T . V . , 33

N a v a rre , R . , 45 N ix o n , J ., 37

O liv e r , G . C ., 26 O sm u n , F . N ., 37 O tin , C ., 52 O w en , L . , 4

P h ilip s G lo elam p en - fab ric k en , N . V . , 40

P h illip i, P . M ., 28 P ig n o t , A . , 56 P ilg e r , A ., 10 P o tts , H . E . , 42, 43, 53 P r ic e , P . H ., 2 P r ie s t, H ., 44

R e n d el, T . B ., 71 R ie d e l, L . , 9 R in gro se , H . T . , 40 R u h rch e m ie , A .-G ., 43

S am b ro o k , K . H ., 80 S au n d ers , F . AV. J . , 13 S aw d o n , AV. A . , 17 , 18,

20, 24, 25 S ch n eid er, Y . , 60

S c h o tt , AV., 1 1 S c la te r , K . C ., 19 , 21 Serm o ise, M . D e, 78 S im o n s , J . I I . , 58 S m a rt, R . C ., 29 S m ith , D . H ., 26 S n e ig r, D . S ., 22 S p a n g , F . J . , 37 S p ie k e r , E . M ., 15 Sp ro u le , J . C ., 1 S ta n d a rd O il D e v e lo p ­

m e n t C o ., 43, 67, 70 S ta n le y , H . M ., 43 S ta n to n , G . AV., 60 S ta u d in g e r , H . P . , 43 S to k e s , J . C ., 26 S u n d strö m , R ., 65, 66

T e e to r , M . O ., 72 T e lle r , AV. R . , 39 T e rr il l , C . F . , 37 T ic k e ll , F . G ., 14 T r ig g s , AV. AV., 43

U .S . F ire P ro te c t io n A ss o c ia tio n , 40

V a n AVingen, N ., 32 V a rin o is , M ., 47

AVatson, K . M ., 41 A V ellard, R . , 51 AV hitney, E . G ., 77 AVilliam s, G . A . , 55 AVinn, AV. E . , 26

Y a g le , L . AV., 55

T h e a s s is ta n c e o f th e D ire cto r o f F u e l R e se a rc h o f th e D e p a rtm e n t o f S c ien tific a n d In d u s tr ia l R e se a rc h is ac k n o w le d g e d in th e p re p a ra tio n o f th o se a b s tr a c ts a p p ea rin g a b o v e t h e in itia ls D .F .R .

A

ABSTRACTS.

Geology.1 Origin of McMurray Oil Sands, Alberta. J- C. Sproule. B u ll A m er A ss. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1133-1152.— The McMurray Oil Sand is th e largest know n deposit of its k ind and the g reatest p o ten tia l petroleum reserve m N o rth This paper outlines first the existing theories of origin, an d th en gives th e own views as to the explanation of th e genesis.

The McMurray form ation is of Lower Cretaceous age, and overlies th e D evonian and Silurian unconfonnably. I n thickness i t increases from eas t to w est, bem g 90 ft. a t W hitem ud R apids and nearly 200 ft. a t McMurray. The chief feature of th e form ation is the variation, b o th vertically and laterally , in th e sorting of p-am s. I t consists m ainly of coarse and fine sands and silts. In places cross-bedding occurs, b u t locally the deposit is evenly stratified or massive.

The principal theories of th e origin of oil are outlined : viz., th e in situ theory , Clearwater shale theory— advanced from th e d a rk m arine shales overlying th e McMurray, the residual theory, th e la te ra l m igration theory , an d th e origin from underlying Paleozoic rocks. This las t theory (first suggested by R o b ert Bell) seems, from the evidence available, the m ore likely explanation. Bell considered th a t th e oil seeped upw ard along cracks in th e Palaeozoic in to th e overlying porous M cM urray Sands. The present au tho r suggests, in support of th is theory , th a t th e oil en tered the McMurray form ation from th e underlying Palaeozoic somewhere betw een th e A thabaska and Peace rivers, possibly m idw ay betw een M cM urray an d F o r t Verm illion.

G. S. S.

2. Regional Variations in Composition of Natural Gas in Appalachian Province.P. H. Price and A. J . W . Headlee. B ull. Amer. A ss. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1153- 1183.— From a detailed stu d y of th e com position of n a tu ra l gases in W est V irginia i t was shown th a t these have definite regional varia tions. This w ork is now th o u g h t to be suitable as a criterion for th e entire A ppalachian Province.

The variations are dealt w ith in relation to s tru c tu re and sedim entation , as inferred by carbon ra tios based on coal. The presence of various chem ical com pounds is shown for th e E lk-Poca and Campbell Creek Oriskany sand-fields, K anaw ha, an d th e Big In ju n Sand. A series of diagram s also shows th e d istrib u tio n of th e various components of the n a tu ra l gases for these areas. G. S. S.

3. Refugio Oil- and Gas-field, Refugio County, Texas. P . F . M artyn . B ull. Amer. Ass. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1184-1216.—The Refugio field is s itu a te d in cen tra l Refugio County, Texas, approxim ately 165 miles south-w est of H ouston. The field was first discovered in 1919.

The surface exposures are ten ta tiv e ly classed as of Lissie age (Pleistocene), and consist of loose deposits of reddish sands and sandy clays. The oldest rocks p en e tra ted by the deepest well (9225 ft.) have been those of th e V icksburg form ation (Oligocene). Thicknesses of all th e sedim ents ranging from th e Lissie to th e V icksburg are given in tabu lar form.

During the various stra tig raphic in tervals recurren t s tru c tu ra l u p lifts to o k place, and production has shown th a t accum ulation is n o t entirely dependent on th e la te s t movem ents in the area, b u t is held occasionally in older folds which have been only slightly modified by la te r tectonic disturbances.

Production figures for th e p a s t years (1928-1937) show a to ta l of 31,975,127 b rls., th a t for 1937 being 1,850,274 and the peak year (1930) 11,224,512 brls.

A large num ber of s tru c tu ra l and o ther m aps accom pany th e paper. G. S. S.

4. Origin of Red Sea Depression. L. Owen. B ull. Am er. A ss. Petrol. Geol., 1938, 22, 1217-1223.—This paper reviews the various theories hav ing reference to the’ origin of the Red Sea depression. The au th o r refers to th e fact th a t only a v ery sm all p a r t of th e R ed Sea litto ra l is known geologically, particu larly so in th e case of th e H ed iaz Coast. J

D a ta so far collected confirm th e suggestion postu la ted by W illis th a t th e Gulf of Aqaba and the R ed Sea are n o t only topographically d is tin c t u n its , b u t th a t th e ir origins are tectom cally different. I f i t is accepted th a t th e Gulf of A qaba is a r if t

Am erica.a u th o r’s

ABSTRACTS.

or ram p fau lt feature, some o th er origin for th e R ed Sea depression m u st be sought. I t is s ta te d th a t no evidence of a conflicting n a tu re has been no ted as to w hether th e Gulf of A qaba is e ither a r if t or a ram p feature. B o th r if t an d ram p conditions m ay have occurred during different stages of i ts h isto ry . G. S. S.

5. Geological Succession of Central Venezuela. M. K . K aye. B u ll. Am er. A ss. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1224—1230.— T his is a sho rt account of th e geological succession of C entral Venezuela, i ts object being to place on review th e s ta tu s of geological p roblem s in th is region.

T he geology is d ea lt w ith under th ree s tru c tu ra l aspects : th e C oast R ange complex, th e F o o th ill zone or Coast R ange, and th e P ost-O rtiz zones. These phases are briefly discussed in rela tionsh ip to th e m ain geosyncline, th e ir problem s outlined and recom ­m endations m ade bearing on those problem s. G. S. S.

6. Sediments of Great Salt Lake, Utah. A. J . E ard ley . B ull. Am er. A ss. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1305-1411.— The investiga tion of th e sed im entary environm ent of th e G reat Salt L ake was m ade from a s tu d y of i ts origin, chem istry, pe trography , life and th e topography an d hydrography of th e region drain ing in to i t .

The lake is a saline rem nan t of a fresh-w ater body, which, a t i ts h ighest level, was 1000 f t. above th a t of to -day . A large num ber of analyses m ade of th e sedim ents show th a t th ey all con ta in a large con ten t of calcium an d m agnesium c a rb o n a te s ; a t low levels sodium chloride (H alite) has crystallized on th e lake bo ttom , ind iv idual “ hopper ” c rystals being | - 1 ' | in. across.

T he sedim ents of G reat Salt L ake m ay be classified as follows : th e clays, oolites an d th e calcareous algae. All th ree are qu ite d is tin c t an d suitable for m a p p in g ; th ey are th o u g h t to have been derived from th e sam e source m ateria ls. T hrough vary ing m echanical influences, however, on th e a c tiv ity of p lan t or anim al life in th e lake, th ey have each acquired different physical characteristics and q u an tita tiv e ly d ifferent chem ical com positions.

Clays.— These are fine-grained p lastic sedim ents, a p ro p erty due chiefly to th e base ions, pa rticu la rly N a + a ttach ed to th e clay particles. The average origin of th e clays is approx im ate ly : c lastic (including colloidal) m ateria l tran sp o rted by lake cu rren ts 20% , m ate ria l tran sp o rted b y w ind 44% , m ate ria l p rec ip ita ted from solu tion 36% .

M ineralogically, th e m ost com m on species p resen t is q u artz , w ith felspars, h o rn ­blende, b io tite a n d tourm aline in vary ing quan tities. (O ther m inerals were detected , b u t all in very sm all am ounts.) T he chem ical p rec ip ita tes— tab u la te d in percentages— are aragonite , dolom ite, parasepiolite, absorbed bases, (Ca, Mg, X a, K) an d (?) m ont- m orillonite.

T he average m oisture con ten t of th e clays is 39% on a to ta l w eight basis. Com­pactio n and dehy d ra tio n ap p aren tly occur even a t shallow dep ths. In te re s tin g resu lts a re a crude hexagonal fissure system w hich occurs a t tw o places, an d th e effects of a recen t earth q u ak e in lib e ratin g cold sa lt w a ter in fissures a round a n alm ost buried bedrock hill. B acteria seem to have been very active, because of su lphurous fum es em itted , b u t th e diagenic effect on th e carbonate an d organic con ten t, an d th is in tu rn on th e colour, is unknow n. The lake w aters are p robab ly reductive to iron com pounds an d p reven t red colouring in th e sedim ents.

Oolites.— The m ost favourable areas for oolite developm ent a re inv ariab ly along shore-lines w hich face th e open lake and are exposed to vigorous wave action . The largest oolites occur on a b a r off th e south-w est end of Antelope Is lan d , which is washed b y th e open w aves d riven by th e p revailing north -w est w inds. R ipp le m arks are well developed in th e oolitic sands. The grains consist of nucleus an d concentric layers a b o u t th e nucleus. The nuclei consist of m ineral partic les (m ainly quartz) an d sm all pelle ts of th e brine shrim p (Artem ia gracilis). The concentric layers or bands consist of ab o u t 84% C aC 03, 5-5% 2M gC03,C aC 03, an d 5-6% of ve ry fine clay.

T he origin of th e grains can be correlated w ith vigorous w ave ac tiv ity , p a rticu la rly th e oscillatory m otion a t th e b o tto m and w ith th e p rec ip ita tio n of calcium an d m ag ­nesium on th e lake flo o r; th e tw o processes are believed to w ork to g e th e r to bu ild oolites. The carbonate is first p rec ip ita ted as m inu te c rystals n ear th e surface owing to evapora tion . These crysta ls sink , and on reaching th e b o tto m are m ore soluble th a n th e larger particles (the oolites a lready form ing), an d are redissolved. S im ultane­ously, molecules of carbonate come o u t of so lu tion and bu ild on th e larger particles,

ABSTRACTS.

which are less soluble. C onstant ag ita tio n by th e waves causes th e oolites to roll over and over, each tim e exposing fresh surfaces for accretion of carbonate m olecules and removing any excess clay th a t m ight se ttle . T hus, layers of un ifo rm thiehness are built up. If i t were no t for the waves, a plastic carbonate clay would p robably

^ Development of radial struc tu re follows by inversion of aragonite to calcite w ith verging of the crystals u n til th ey are microscopically visible. The enm eshed clay is pushed either to the side of th e growing rad ia te bundles of calcite, a ragonite and dolomite crystals, forming dense w hite in ter-ray regions, or to th e lam in atio n con tacts. Inversion recrystallization and m erging m ay continue to th e ex ten t w hereby th e complete oolite is rad ia te w ith only ghost lines of th e form er concentric layers.

Algal Bioherms.— The algae living in th e lake have b u ilt extensive deposits of calcareous rocks. Their d istribution , like th a t of th e oolites, is lim ited chiefly to th e western p a rt of the lake. The bioherm s range in d ep th from several inches to 10 or 12 ft., and consist principally of the deposits of th e algal Aphanothece P ackardii. The bioherms contain about 2% organic m atte r , 77% calcium and m agnesium carb o n a te in the non-lamellar p a rts and 20% insoluble m aterial. The CaO : MgO radio is 11 : 1.

All lake samples examined, w hether clays, oolites or bioherm s, con tained pellets. These are the rod-shaped faecal pellets of th e brine shrim p, Artem ia gracilis, an d are found in the eastern p a rt of th e lake as well as in th e w estern, in deep w a ter an d in shallow. Making up nearly one-third of th e lake sedim ents, th ey m u st be recognized as one of the m ost im portan t constituents. Since th e pelle ts con ta in 77% carbonate , and the bottom clays average only 47% , th e shrim ps, if b o tto m scavengers, m u s t selectively ingest a proportionally large p a r t of carbonate.

Following a description of th e la te ra l sedim entary varia tions and bu ria l of islands, the author concludes : if th e lake clays become a source rock of pe tro leum in th e fu tu re , as seems probable, th e struc tu re , th e reservoir rock and th e cap rock are a p p aren tly provided, and a set of conditions highly favourable for oil m igra tion an d accum ula tion will exist.

To facilitate reading of th is ra th e r long paper, a com prehensive sum m ary of th e properties and origin is given a t the end of th e description of each ty p e of sedim ent .

G. S. S.

7. Darrow Salt Dome, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. C. E . Cook. B u ll. A m er. Ass. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1412-1422.—The Darrow Salt Dom e is s i tu a te d on th e east bank of the Mississippi R iver abou t 30 miles from B a to n R ouge a n d 75 m iles from New Orleans. I t is also located very close to th e eastern edge of th e G ulf C oast salt-dome basin.

The dome itself is of th e norm al piecem ent ty p e , th e h ighest p a r t being w ith in 4627 ft. of th e surface. A flattening is exh ib ited on th e sou th shoulder of th e dom e, ju st below the 6000 ft. contour, b u t th is is th o ugh t to be lim ited to th e so u th flank of the structure. The m axim um am ount of cap rock is 61 f t., of which 37 f t. is lim e­stone and the remaining 24 ft. anhydrite.

As w ith other domes of th is type, m uch faulting , b o th rad ia l an d tan g en tia l, occurs on the flanks and probably over the top , due to tension an d differential d rag of th e sediments.

Production has been obtained from super-cap sands an d from flank sands re p re ­senting the same horizon in the Lower Miocene. The m ost im p o rtan t p roduction , however, has come from sands approxim ately 5700 ft. deep on th e eas t an d so u th ­west flanks, and more recently from th e south-east a t a d e p th of ap prox im ate ly 7000 ft. The producing sands occur up against th e sa lt m ass a t a re la tive ly high angle. The oil sands thus cover a narrow horizontal area, m aking i t v ery difficult to locate each well advantageously in the oil section. The deepest well drilled on th e dome was on th e sou th flank, b u t th is w as abandoned in Oligocene shales a ti tioU I t .

On December 31, 1937, a daily production of 2074 brls. was ob ta in ed from eigh t wells, the dome having produced 1,518,921 brls. to th e end of th e year. G. S. S.

8. Cretaceous and Eocene Stratigraphy of Barrilla and Eastern Davis Mountains?L Toran^ PeC, f ’ T,exas- , S ' T ' Jones- B ulL A m er- Ass- Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22, 1423- 1439. The Barilla and E astern Davis M ountains are in p a r ts of R eeves, Je ff D avis,

i

ABSTRACTS.

Pecos an d B rew ster counties, and flank th e T oyah s tru c tu ra l an d topographic basin on th e south-w est. The rocks consist of C retaceous sedim ents an d Eocene volcanics.

T he o ldest of th e Lower C retaceous rocks (Comanche Series) is represen ted b y a basal section of T rin ity (?) and F redericksburg age. Conform ably overlapping th is section is th e Fredericksburg group (200 ft. th ick), consisting of th e Com anche P eak lim estone a t th e base, th e E dw ards fo rm ation an d th e K iam ichi clay. Above th is group occur rocks of W ash ita age m ade up of th e Georgetown lim estone an d th e G rayson clay and B u d a lim estone.

T he U pper C retaceous is represented by th e Eagle Ford , A ustin and T aylor fo rm a­tio n s , th e basal U pper Cretaceous bed (W oodbine Sand) being absen t in th e area.

Of m uch in te res t is a m ajo r unconform ity w hich occurs betw een th e basal T ay lor an d th e first volcanic rocks which are regarded of Eocene age. The unconform ity zone varies in th ickness from a clean-cut co n tact of lav a an d sedim ents, w ith a m ar- m arized zone, to 60 ft. I n th is zone m an y facies occur— e.g., grey clay underlying w h ite tuff, and pebbles of T aylor an d A ustin lim estone or m arl under tuff.

T he volcanics occur m ain ly in th e form of lavas an d tuffs. The lava-flows are very n o tab le owing to th e following facts : (1) each flow m ain tains i ts own comm on charac­te ris tics over th e whole a r e a ; th u s, in areas of d istu rbance, each flow can be recognized from hand-specim ens, w ith one possible exception. (2) The flows are extensive over large areas, and m ay be traced fa rth e r n o rth and sou th th a n east and w est, ind ica ting th a t th ey encroached over a very fla t and gently inclined surface. (3) The flows th ick en tow ard th e w est an d south-w est, b u t th e th ickening is very uniform and gradual. I t is th o u g h t, therefore, th a t th e source of these rocks lay in th e D avis M ountain area w est of F o r t D avis. G. S. S.

9. The West Side of the Pompeckj Ridge in Cretaceous Times in Hanover. L.R iedel. Z . Dtsch. geol. Oes., 1938, 90, 26-41.— A question of im portance is w hether th e discordances observed in th e Cretaceous in various borings in H anover are regional o r local in origin. T his problem is exam ined from th e p o in t of view of th e varia tions in th e shore-line of th e “ N iedersachsischen Becken ” during th e different stages of th e lower Cretaceous. P resen t evidence p o in ts to th e discordance being regional, an d n o t due to local d isturbances in th e neighbourhood of salt-stocks. C onditions in P o land show a certa in agreem ent w ith those in N orth-w est G erm any, an d during th e lower Cretaceous there w as a bar, s tre tch in g from H anover to Poland, which corresponds in position w ith th e Pom peckj R idge. S. E . C.

10. Petroleum and Natural Gas on the North Front of the Alps and Carpathians, with Special Reference to Tegernsee. A. Pilger. K a li, 1938, 2/4 , 1-7.— Petroleum a n d n a tu ra l gas occur a ll along th e n o rth e rn fron t of th e A lps an d in decreasing q u an titie s from eas t to w est. Three tecton ic u n its are oil-bearing : th e foreland trough , th e Flysch nappe an d th e H elvetian . Of these, th e foreland tro u g h is th e m ost p roductive, an d in th is respect th e younger sedim ents and th e youngest tectonic m ovem ents a re th e m ost im p o rtan t. The petro leum geology of R oum ania, Galicia and th e V ienna B asin is sum m arized and th e various occurrences, w estw ards to France, are m entioned. The Tegernsee occurrence is d ea lt w ith in m ore deta il. F o u r tecton ic u n its m ay be d ifferentia ted . The upperm ost is th e U pper E a s t A lpine N appe. Below th is comes th e F lysch nappe, which is th ru s t over th e H elvetian . F ina lly th e Molasse form s th e fo u rth u n it in th e foreland. The oil has accum ulated in th e H elvetian L im estone, below th e o v erth ru s t, a lthough a very sm all am oun t of m ig ra tion has tak e n place across th e o v e rth ru s t in to th e F lysch. The source of th e oil is unknow n. T he H e lvetian is n o t a tru e reservoir rock, accum ulation hav ing tak e n place in a d is tu rb ed zone. Search should therefore be m ade a t Tegernsee for a reservoir rock w hich is p roperly covered. S. E . C.

11. Stratigraphical and Palaeogeographical Investigations on the Lower White Jura in Brunswick. W . S chott. Jahrb. Preuss. Geol. Landesanstalt, 1937, 697- 729.— S ch o tt’s earlier w ork d id n o t ex ten d eas t of th e line H anover-W ietze. Since th en fu rth e r evidence has been ob tained from deep borings in B runsw ick, an d th is is inco rpora ted in th e p resen t w ork, which deals w ith th e K im m eridge, K orallenoolith and H eersum er Beds. Six de ta iled sections are appended. S. E . C.

ABSTRACTS.

12 Progress ol “ D ’Arcy Exploration.” British Oil Search. Anon. Petrol.10.38, 40, 565.—The Cousland No. 1 well near D alkeith has been com-

n l e t e d ’a t a dep th of 2917 ft. in such a condition th a t gas can be produced if necessary. There are fivegas sands w ith a to ta l po ten tia l production of over 10,000,000 c. f t . day of dry gas. In addition, a sm all show of excellent-quality oil w as m et betw een 1248 a n d 7275 ft. Cousland No. 2 is to be drilled 300 ft. down th e flank of th e s tru c tu re on the crest of which lies Cousland No. 1, and a geological bore is to be m ade a t Balfour near K irkcaldy and due n o rth of C o p lan d across th e F ir th of F o r .

The H ardstoft well has been cleaned and deepened from 3130 to 3-72 It. I t s limestone reservoir rock is to be trea ted w ith solvent an d acid. F u rth e r geological bores are to be p u t down in the Chaldon Down area, and on th e basis of th e geophysical work in and around Lincolnshire a deep well w ill p robably be drilled between^Lincoln and Nottingham . G - D '

13 Search for Oil in Tunisia. F . W . J . Saunders. Petrol. T im es, 12.11.38, 40, 644-645—Search for oil in T unisia began in 1908 w ith some very shallow wells in an outcropping oil-im pregnated sandstone near Slougia. One well w as la te r deepened to 380 ft., encountering heavily im pregnated sand a t 150-160 f t . I n 1920 a well 350 yd. away found slight indications of oil a t th ree po in ts in a d e p th of 612 f t ., b u t a th ird well found no oil in a d ep th of 900 f t. I n 1922 several bores were m ade to depths of 150-170 ft., and 150 lit . of b lack asphaltic oil and sa lt w a ter were ob tained from the oil-impregnated sandstone.

A well in the plain of M edjerdah reached a d ep th of 2127 f t. w ith o u t finding oil, b u t a 5755-ft. well on the D jebel A bderrahm ane dom e showed traces of b itu m en , viscous oil, sulphurous gas and w ater a t six teen po in ts, and finally encountered gas under a pressure of 25 atm os.

Since 1931 the oil search has been carried ou t b y th e S ta te . Oil ind ica tions are found in beds ranging Trias to Miocene in age, and th e b est indications a re a t A in Rhelal, Slougia, Fedj-el-Hadoum , K ef B ou Debbous an d D jebel K eb ir in N o rth T un isia ; the domes of th e Hadjeb-el-A ioun and Sbeitla regions of C entral T u n is ia ; and the Berda zone of South Tunisia. The domes of N o rth T unisia resem ble th e sa lt domes of Texas and Louisiana. The Sahelian zone, a lthough lacking in superficial oil indications, is viewed favourably on account of th e presence of large closed domes. These will require testing to dep ths of 6000-7000 ft. G. D . H .

14. Effect of Angularity of Grain on Porosity and Permeability of Unconsolidated Sands. F. G. Tickell and W . N. H ia tt . B ull. Am er. A ss. Petrol. Oeol., 1938, 22 (9), 1272-1274.—Measurements of th e porosity an d perm eab ility of single com ponent separates from screen-sizing were m ade. The grains of these unconsolidated sands were somewhat equidim ensional, and for each sam ple th e “ roundness n u m b er ” (area of grain divided by its sm allest circum scribing circle) w as determ ined. On plotting porosity and a so-called “ dimensionless perm eab ility factor ” aga in st “ ro u n d ­ness num bers,” the porosity curve showed a m inim um for a “ roundness n u m b er ” of 0'82 and the “ perm eability ” curve showed a m uch sharper m inim um a t 0'75. The “ dimensionless perm eability fa c to r” was th e ra tio ob tained b y d iv id ing th e perm eability by the square of the average grain d iam eter. G. D . H .

Geophysics.15. Problem of Secondary Tilt-Harker’s Solution Corrected. E. M. Spieker. Bull. Amer. Am. Petrol. Oeol, 1938, 22 (9), 1255-1260.— F o r m ost cases H a rk e r’s solu tion of the problem of secondary t i l t is only approxim ate, and in some instances th e erro r is notable. H arker’s m ethod is described and i ts defects are p o in ted o u t b y m eans of a three-dimensional drawing. A dditional operations are o u tlined w hereby th e m ethod can be corrected to give an accurate resu lt. The reverse problem of d e te r­mining the resultant dip when an inclined p lane is sub jected to a second ro ta tio n can be worked out in a comparable fashion.

An alternative solution is provided in which th e co tangen ts a re used in stead of th e tangents. Although slightly more tedious th a n th e previous m ethod , i t has th e advantage of giving a b e tte r p icture of th e processes involved. G. D . H .

ABSTRACTS.

16. Problem of Two Tilts and the Stereographic Projection. D . J . F isher. B u ll. Am er. A ss. Petrol. Geol., 1938, 22 (9), 1261-1271.— The general case of H a rk e r’s so lu tion of th e problem of tw o t i l ts is show n to be erroneous. The problem can be solved rap id ly an d accu rate ly in term s of th e norm als to th e bedding planes, b y m eans of trac in g p ap er la id over a m eridional stereographic n e t. The Federow n e t can also be app lied to solve th e problem .

The m erid ional stereographic n e t is described an d th e m ethod of w orking o u t th e problem in term s of th e bedding planes them selves is also given. C ertain allied problem s are am enable to solution by th e use of th e stereographic n e t. T hus th e secondary t i l t can be determ ined for fau lts , jo in ts or cleavage surfaces, w hich m ay often be regarded as p lanes for sho rt d is tan c es ; also for lines or d irections on these surfaces, such as slickensides, outcrops of beds or fau lts , elongation of m inerals in cleavage surfaces, an d flow lines in flow layers. G. D . H .

Drilling.17. Intensive Drilling of Burma Fields Involves Unusual Problems. J . F . Dodge an d W . A. Sawdon. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 65.—-The principal oilfields of B u rm a are to be found on th e Irraw ad d y R iver, an d ex ten d for a d istance of 40 or 50 m iles. The developm ent of th e bed of th is river is com plicated b y th e necessity of m ain ta in in g nav igab ility . The various fields of B urm a are d ea lt w ith in some d e ta il, th e reservoir conditions, d rilling an d production m ethods being considered.

L . V. W . C.

18. Importance of Properly Prepared Drilling Fluid Recognized by Operators in Burma. J . F . Dodge an d W . A. Sawdon. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 76.— The m u d used in th e Y enangyuang an d Singu Fields is m ade from a local shale. The shale is quarried , d ried , crushed an d ground. I t absorbs some w ater, a n d is hand led like cem ent.

The m u d is m ixed a t th e well in cone-type je t m ixers, an d for ord inary drilling a m u d hav ing a v iscosity of 50-60 D igboi u n its is preferred. W here a w eight in excess of 85 lb. is needed, b a ry te s is used.

R o u tin e te s ts are m ade hourly . A t th e pressure-drilling wells th e te s ts m ade are : (a) v iscosity b y Digboi in stru m en t, (6) w eight, (c) sand co n ten t, b y screening, d ry ing an d weighing, an d (d) chloride sa lin ity of m ud. F o r o rd inary wells a “ m ud- w ate ” ind ica to r is used, an d th e m u d is trea te d to m ain ta in th e viscosity a t 50 or 60 D .U .

Chemical trea tm e n t is being used extensively. The th ree chem icals being used are : (1) sodium silicate, (2) cu tch , a local ta n n in ex tra c t an d (3) soda ash.

S e ttling is th e general m ethod available for rem oving cu ttin g s an d w eight m ateria l is recovered b y w ashing a t th e cen tra l p lan t. L. Y. W . C.

19. Difficult Drilling Conditions Mark Development of Bahrein Field. K . C. Sclater. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 94.— T he drilling conditions of th e B ahrein field a re peculiarly difficult. F ro m th e surface dow n to a d e p th approx im ate ly sea-level, boulders are encountered, an d necessitate th e se ttin g of 200-300 feet of surface casing. D ow n to 1500 f t. is cavernous lim estone, w hich in p laces con ta in pockets of ta r .

The use of ro ta ry has reduced th e tim e requ ired to d rill th ro u g h th e lim estone from 30 to 7 days, b u t a ll th e difficulties have n o t y e t been overcom e. Circulation cannot be m ain tained , an d drilling has to be carried on w ith c a u tio n ; clear w a ter is used as th e drilling fluid. E x trem e care m u st be exercised to p rev en t th e d rill p ipe freezing should th e slush pum ps be sh u t dow n for any reason due to th e fac t th a t th e c u ttin g s a re pum ped back in to th e fo rm ation an d se ttle quickly w hen th ere is no drilling w ater.

R ock b its a re used entirely .I n th e deeper wells circulation troubles are accen tuated .The tem p era tu re g rad ien t is h igh— 1 degree per 30 f t. of d ep th — th e fluid tem p era ­

tu re a t 2200 f t. being 155° F . and a t 4400 ft. 200° F . S low -setting cem ent is necessary owing to th e h igh tem pera tu res .

ABSTRACTS.

Difficulties have arisen by m udding off th e face of th e p ay sand, an d to overcom e th is special m uds th a t can be removed by acidizing are being tried

An isobaric m ap is m aintained to show th e lines of pressure in th e reservoir, an careful control is kept on the w ithdraw al of oil from th e reservoir. L. V. W . C.

20. Excessive Pressure Complicates Drilling of Punjab Fields. J. F . D odge and W A Sawdon. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 150.-A 11 th e p roduction from Punjab Province comes from th e K haur field and th e recently developed D hulian field. The greatest am ount of production from th e K h au r field is o b tained from th e 3000 ft. sand, b u t several deep wells have been drilled. Snubbing equ ipm en t has been used in these operations, and, due to th e pressures, i t has been necessary to snub 5-in. drill pipe 2000-3000 ft. in to and o u t of th e hole a t each round tr ip . A high-pressure w ater sand is generally found a t a d e p th sligh tly below 5000 ft. D rilling is then carried on under pressure in a closed system , and w hen th e 7-in. flush-joint casing is run, i t m ust be snubbed in. The w eight of th e m ud used averages ab o u t 74 lb. per cub. ft.

In the D hulian field there are th ree or four fresh-w ater zones betw een 800 an d 4200 ft. These zones sometimes flow 10,000-15,000 brl. p er day a t pressures rang ing from 200 to 400 lb. per sq. in., th u s causing considerable d ifficulty during drilling. W hen the zones are being drilled, th e flow of w a ter is so g reat th a t no a tte m p t is made to use m ud while ro tating . A fter th e b i t has reached th e b o tto m a f te r a round trip , a few hundred brl. of m ud are c irculated to s ta r t , and w hen th e tools are pulled , 400-500 brl. of m ud are pum ped in to th e well. The w ater flows are sh u t off b y se ttin g l l j - in . casing, and the 90-94-lb. m ud is used thereafter. L. V. W . C.

21. Modern Development Practice in Roumania’s Deep Fields. K . C. Sclater. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 211.—M odem drilling m ethods are now used in the newer and deeper fields and th e drilling practices em ployed b y th e im p o rtan t companies follow closely those of th e U.S.A. B low-out p reven ters , heavy m ud pum ps, control of drilling m ud, and gun perforation of b lan k p ipe are s ta n d a rd practices. The ra te of drilling compares favourably w ith th e b est p ractice in th e U.S.A., an exam ple being 25 days for drilling and com pleting a 4000-ft. well. T earing down, m oving and rigging-up tim e average less th an 14 days pe r well.

Close a tten tion is paid to the selection of su itable equipm ent, drillers an d drilling crews. A close control of drilling m ud characteristics during drilling is p ractised , and evidence of th is is th e practice of m ain tain ing th e drilling m u d a t th e proper viscosity, the use of v ib ratory screens, adequate se ttlin g arrangem ents an d rap id circulation.

Economic steam generation is p ractised , and th e driller has every im p o rta n t phase of the drilling operation under his constan t observation by th e provision of th e necessary instrum ents.

Gas lift is in wide use as a production m ethod. Paraffin deposition is com bated by steam ing of tubing, well-head connections and flow lines. A no ther m eth o d is to replace a t regular in tervals th e to p jo in ts of tu b in g w ith clean jo in ts . H o t oil is also used as well as chemicals. Mechanical scrapers are also em ployed.

‘ L. V. W . C.

22. Bullets now Take Side Wall Cores. D. S. Sneigr. Oil W k ly , 26.9.38, 91 (3), 46- The bullet side-wall coring device is an in stru m en t designed to be lowered in to a drill hole by m eans of the s tan d ard cable used for electrical surveys.

This device consists of a housing containing th ree or six bullets. E ach b u lle t is fired separately by electrical m eans, using gunpowder as th e p ropellan t. T he bu lle t is in the form of a cylinder, open a t th e ou ter end and closed a t th e rear. W hen fired, the bullet penetrates the form ation to a considerable d ep th . D uring p e n e tra ­tion the rear of the bullet is forced off, so th a t th e first m ate ria l g a thered inside th e bullet passes out, thus elim inating the m ud cake of th e wall.

The removal of the bullet from the hole is done by m eans of wires a tta ch e d to th e bullet and the housing.

The cores obtained are from J to § in. in d iam eter an d ab o u t 1 | in . long.L. V. W . C.

ABSTRACTS.

23. Derricks Moved Intact on Rollers to New Location. P . F lin t. Oil W ily ,26.9.38, 91 (3), 17.— D errick sk idd ing in C alifornia has been reduced to a ro u tin e operation . Two heavy d u ty crane-equipped tru ck s are used to l if t th e draw -w orks from th e derrick floor an d to place i t on a tra ile r tru ck . The derrick is jack ed up , p rio r to an y m oving operations, an d is th en pulled b y a tru c k w inch and a Y-shaped cable an d block an d tackle. The wooden tres tle across th e ground is k e p t a t th e proper e levation , an d wooden rollers fac ilita te tow ing w ork. These rollers a re m oved forw ard as tow ing progresses. L. V. W . C.

24. Advanced Technique Employed in Developing Fields of Sumatra. J . F . Dodge a n d W . A. Sawdon. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 125.— A dvanced technique em ployed in th e S u m atra fields consists of electrical logging, form ation te s tin g and contro l of w eight an d v iscosity of drilling fluid as s tan d ard practice . The various fields of th e island are considered. L . V. W . C.

25. Numerous Wells are being Drilled in the Island of Borneo. J . F . D odge an d W A. Sawdon. Petrol. Engr, October, 1938, 10 (1), 82.— The know n fields of Borneo are being developed, deeper s t r a ta a re being te s te d an d all prom ising stru c tu res explored. L. V. W . C.

26. Drilling Patents. W . E . W inn. U .S .P . 2,134,808, 1.11.38. A w ell-surveying device using liqu id to ind ica te th e o rien tatio n of th e device and a controllable compass.

G. C. Oliver. U .S .P . 2,134,886, 1.11.38. Core barrel.

<T. C. Stokes. U .S .P . 2,134,988, 1.11.38. Core barrel.

J . C. Stokes. U .S .P . 2,135,737, 8.11.38. Core drill.

D. H . Sm ith . U .S .P . 2,136,596, 15.11.38. A well-drilling m achine com prising a rig, a flexible-bit su pporting cable, a p a ir of clam ping m em bers and springs con­n ecting these m em bers tog e th e r to su p p o rt th e b it.

M. A. L o ttinger. U .S .P . 2,136,748, 15.11.38. M eans for positioning w hipstocks in a well. L. V. W . C.

Production.27. Gas Loading, Stage Treatment and Chemical Plugs Improve Gas Well Acidizing.O. W . L yons. Oil W kly , 12.9.38, 91 (1), 32.-—T he m ain difference betw een th e acid tre a tm e n t of a n oil well an d a gas well lies in th e m ethod and equ ipm en t used in trea tm e n t. Oil w as n o t available a t th e first gas well considered for acidizing, an d so w a ter was used as th e load to force th e acid in to th e form ation. T his m edium is s t i ll used to a certa in e x ten t. P rac tica l an d technical considerations have led, how ever, to th e a lm ost un iversal use of gas as th e agen t for p roperly d irec tin g th e acid in to th e form ation .

W here th e a rea has a num ber of zones w ith low perm eab ility an d th in n e r zones w ith h igh p e rm eab ility , i t has been found th a t stage tre a tm e n t offers m ore uniform increase in perm eab ility th a n any o ther type.

I t has been found th a t th e success of gas well acid izing depends on th e vertica l d is tr ib u tio n of th e acid in th e form ation. Organic tem p o rary chem ical p lugs have becom e very im p o rtan t. These plugs are so lu tions of organic m ate ria l w hich en te r th e w ell-head in liqu id form , b u t gel a t th e b o tto m of th e well in to gela tinous m asses which have rem arkab le p lugging properties . L. V. W . C.

28. Well Shooting Experiment may Develop Helpful Data. P. M. Phillip i. Oil W kly, 12.9.38, 91 (1), 40.—A lthough a large num ber of wells are s ti ll sho t, v ery lit t le is know n of th e effect th e n itroglycerine charge has on th e sand body. R esearch has recen tly been carried o u t w hich m ay b ring to lig h t im p o rtan t d a ta .

T he ob ject of th e te s t w as to shoot sm all charges of n itrog lycerine in sandstone sim ilar to th e B rad fo rd producing sand, and th en expose th e shot-holes for v isu a l observation.

ABSTRACTS.

One of the principal poin ts on which inform ation was desired w as th e num ber and ex ten t of the cracks opened up by th e charge. U n fo rtu n ate ly so m any cracks were formed in removing the face th a t i t was impossible to judge how m an y resu lted fromthe nitroglycerine itself. . .

The effect of the explosive shock appears to increase m ore th a n in p ro p ortion to the charge weight. Sand-tam ped holes d id noticeably m ore w ork on th e sand th a ndid w ater-tam ped holes w ith an equal charge. v - w -

29. New East Texas Gas-Lift Plant Has Several Features. R . C. S m art. OilWeekly, 19.9.38, 91 (2), 22.— A recent cen tral gas-lift p lan t has several novel features. One is th e repeated recycling of th e gas used to lif t th e oil from th e various wells w ithout drawing on th e residue lines. I n ad d itio n to th e necessary com pressors, a large separator is provided in which th e oil, gas and w a ter p roduced from th e wells are collected, th e gas being separa ted from th e liquid . T his gas is scrubbed , a n d is th en passed th rough a vacuum regu lator an d a 6-in. reducing reg u la to r to th e suction of the compressor. The pressure of th e gas is ra ised from 5 to 350 lb. p e r sq. in ., which is th e norm al operating pressure of th e gas-lift system . Gas is rem oved from th e oil and w ater, and is recycled in th e gas-lift operation . A no ther in te res tin g developm ent is th e reduction of high gas-o il ra tio s th ro u g h th e stream -lin ing of p ipe arrangem ents. L- V. W . C.

30. Pumping Problems and Equipment in the East Texas Field. R . M. B ass. Oil Weekly, 17.10.38, 91 (6), 31.— T here a re b u t th ree m ajo r item s to consider w hen p u ttin g th e well on th e pum p. F irs t , to be sure th a t th e well is in a co nd ition to pum p—th a t is, to be sure th a t th e fluid can get in to th e well b y h av in g th e b o tto m of th e hole clean. Second, select an d in s ta l p roperly th e pum ping equ ipm en t. T his is governed by th e p a rticu la r location of th e well. T h ird , to be s ine th a t th e su b ­surface equipm ent, rods, tu b in g an d p um p are of th e p roper size an d ty p e to p um p th e volum e and n a tu re of fluid necessary. L. Y. W . C.

31. Stage Separation of Crude Gas-Oil Mixtures. G. O. K im m ell a n d R . L. H u n tin g to n . Oil Weekly, 17.10.38, 91 (6), 40.— O riginal q u a n tita tiv e d a ta a re g iven on experim ental lab o ra to ry rim s covering th e stag e sep ara tio n of a m ix tu re of O klahom a crude oil, b u tan e and a d ry n a tu ra l gas. T he re la tionsh ip of th e p ressures betw een th e successive separa tors gave th e m ost in te res tin g resu lts . A co n stan t stage pressure ra tio of ab o u t 4 '50 to 1 betw een each successive stage n e tte d th e lowest overall gas-o il ra tio and th e h ighest g ra v ity crude oil.

A lthough th e pressures s tu d ied in th is in v es tig a tio n do n o t cover th e re trog rade region encountered in some “ d is tilla te ” fields, i t is believed th a t th e resu lts w ill th row some ligh t on th e techn ique to be app lied in general to stag e sep ara tio n practice. L . V. W . C.

32. Influence of Oil Flow on the Water Content of Sands. N. V an W ingen. Oil Weekly, 10.10.38, 91 (5), 26.— V ery lit t le w ork has been done on th e p rob lem of th e flow of oil th ro u g h w a te r-sa tu ra ted sands. T his p rob lem involves a n u m b er of variables, each of which has a definite influence on th e resu lts . I n analysing th e problem i t soon becam e ap p are n t th a t th e re w as no p o ss ib ility of t re a tin g w ith thoroughness all th e phases w ith in a reasonable tim e. Only certa in of th e variab les were considered for de ta iled s tudy .

The flow system consisted essentia lly of a core-holder a d a p te d to receive u ncon­so lidated sand sam ples, an d a pum p, tu b in g an d reservoir assem bly a rran g ed to m ain tain a flow of liquids th ro u g h th e core u n der any desired constan t-liq u id head.

Two liquids were used for d isplacing fluid : com m ercial w ater-w h ite kerosine an d ice-m achine oil.

T he resu lts ob ta ined show th e re la tions betw een th e specific p e rm eab ility an d residual w a ter sa tu ra tio n , o b ta ined b y flowing kerosine an d ice-m achine oil u n der th ree d ifferent co n stan t heads th ro u g h a series of unconso lidated cores. A definite correlation betw een th e d ry core or specific p e rm eab ility an d th e am o u n t of in te r ­s t i tia l w a ter is ind icated . The w a ter sa tu ra tio n is g rea tes t for cores of low est specific

ABSTRACTS. 11 A

perm eability , a n d th e influence on p e rm eab ility of w a ter co n ten t is m ost p ronounced where th e specific perm eab ility is lowest.

F o r th e h ighest-perm eability cores inv es tig a ted i t is of in te re s t to n o te th a t for all th ree pressures th e am oun t of rem aining w a te r is nearly th e sam e. L . V. W . C.

33. Behaviour of Fluids in Oil Reservoirs. T. V. Moore. B u ll. A m er. A ss. Petrol. Geol., 1938, 22 (9), 1237-1249.— In order to o b ta in a good oil recovery, i t ap p ears th a t th e p ressure of th e reservoir m u st be m ain ta in ed a t as h ig h a value as is p racticab le , a n d th e gas, oil an d w a ter m u st be k e p t as nearly as possible in th e ir n a tu ra l positional relationships. These conditions can be achieved b y using low ra te s of flow, especially in fields u nder h ydrau lic contro l. F ree gas an d w a te r should n o t be p roduced. W a te r an d gas m ay en te r a well b y m oving th ro u g h p a r ts of th e sand conta in ing l i t t le oil, or by m oving w ith th e oil. T he form er m ode of e n try can be checked b y rep a ir of th e well, b u t l it t le can be done ab o u t th e la tte r . H ig h ra te s of flow te n d to b ring ab o u t m ix ing of free gas a n d w a ter w ith th e oil, an d m ay therefore lead to th e p rem atu re developm ent of h igh gas—oil or w a te r-o il ra tio s.

T he com pletion a n d rep a ir of wells should be controlled by th e n a tu re an d stru c tu re of th e reservoir rock, as well as b y th e condition of th e fluids therein . V aria tions in perm eab ility of th e rock are of special im portance. More successful operations and a g rea ter oil recovery w ill re su lt if a tte n tio n is p a id to these po in ts. G. D . H .

34. Analysis of Stresses in Hook-Offs for Wells Pumping By Central Powers. K . N .Mills. Petrol. E ngr., O ctober 1938, 10 (1), 27.— I n order to overcom e som e of th e d isadvantages of th e com m on hook-offs as used for wells pum ped b y cen tra l powers, th e no tched slide-har hook-off was designed. The m ost efficient position of th e line of pu ll re la tiv e to th e cen tre line of th e notches in a slide b a r w as de term ined b y a photo-elastic s tu d y .

A beam of polarized lig h t w as passed th ro u g h a m odel of th e p a r t u n d e r ex am in a­tio n , th e m odel being m ade of an iso tropic tran s lu cen t substance such as celluloid.

Change of m om ent resu lted in a change of colour b a n d ; th e o rder of th e b an d s from th e cen tre w hen a beam w as exam ined was yellow, orange, red , v io le t, b lue, green, yellow, orange, etc . I f a ph o to g rap h is ta k e n a series of paralle l, equally spaced h lack a n d w h ite lines resu lts .

The colour an d order of these bands have a definite re la tionsh ip to th e in te n s ity of th e shearing stress, an d th e coloured ban d s a re loci of p o in ts of equal m axim um shearing stress.

The p o in ts of stress concen tra tion , an d therefore p o in ts of possible failure, can be determ ined a n d b y a process of t r ia l a n d erro r e lim inated or modified.

L. V. W . C.

35. The Geologist and the Well-Spacing Problem. E . K raus. B u ll. A m er. A ss. Petrol. Geol., 1938, 22, 1440-1446.— T his p ap er briefly ou tlines th e m o st recen t a n d w idely accep ted engineering th o u g h t on well-spacing, an d p o in ts o u t som e of th e sa lien t corresponding in te rp re ta tio n s.

The a u th o r quotes e x tra c ts from a sum m ary rep o rt b y th e Special S tu d y Com ­m ittee on W ell-Spacing (Amer. P e tro l. In s t.) , M ay 1938. T his re p o rt is sa id to give th e m ost en lightened engineering v iew point.

A no te of w arning is given to th e geologist concerning w ide spacing. Spacing recom m ended for p resen t producing conditions m ay be q u ite in ad eq u ate , if, owing to changed economic an d o th er conditions, pools an d wells w hich should be p roduced a t re stric ted ra te s are changed to open ra tes . W ith such change for m an y k inds of reservoirs and accum ulations, m ore wells w ill be requ ired to fulfil th e sam e degree of drainage th a t w ould have resu lted w ith few er wells u n d er re stric ted flow.

G. S. S.

36. Systematic Operation of an Oil-Field. O. Lecca, M onit. Petr, roum ., 1938, 39, 1467-1472.— T he artic le lim its itse lf to oil sands w hich a re th e m ain source of R um an ian oil production .

C onsiderations due to sand p o ro sity an d p e rm eab ility , oil v iscosity a n d gas p ressures, e tc ., are review ed, an d th e logical conclusions reached on th e ty p e of

ABSTRACTS.

scheme under which oil-fields should be operated . N otew orthy am ong th e suggestions is th a t anv given field should be exploited e ither by one com pany only o r th a t all the oil produced by any field should be apportioned am ong th e com panies o p erating• n i j ±. U. (jr. 1.in the held.

37. Production Patents. F . N. Osmun. U .S.P. 2,134,796, 1.11.38. F lu id -operated pip© cutter.

D. W . Hoferer. U .S.P. 2,135,076, 1.11.38. A w ell-pum p hav ing a m ovable barre l, a sta tionary plunger a t one end and a m ovable p lunger a t th e o ther. Slack con­nection is arranged betw een th e barrel and th e p lunger so th a t th e barre l m ay m ove w ith the movable plunger during a po rtion of each stroke a n d valves contro lling fluid flow through th e plungers.

W. J . Campbell. U .S.P. 2,135,167, 1.11.38. Swab.

S. A. Guiberson. U .S.P. 2,135,253, 1.11.38. Tubing catcher.

L. A. Layne. U .S.P. 2,135,583,8.11.38. Com bination packer.

S. E . Gray. U .S.P. 2,135,812, 8.11.38. R igid coupling for sucker rods.

R . E. Fulkerson. U .S.P. 2,136,047, 8.11.38. Packing anchor.

J . Nixon. U .S.P. 2,136,518, 15.11.38. A pipe cu tte r ad ap ted to cu t b y ro ta tio n , the speed controlled by th e speed a t which a fluid m ay pass from one of i ts cham bers to another.

F . J . Spang. U .S.P. 2,136,597, 15.11.38. W ell packer.

J . Johnson. U .S.P. 2,136,881, 15.11.38. A m ethod of well w ashing in w hich a casing having perforations is installed in th e well. Provision is m ade for tran s fe r of liquid from a cham ber in th e casing to th e casing ad jacen t to th e perfo ra tions, for confining th e liquid in th e casing from upw ard or dow nw ard flow ad jacen t to th e perforations, thus creating a sudden localized pressure in th e tran sfe r cham ber an d forcing th e liquid outw ardly.

C. F . Terrill. U .S.P. 2,137,104, 15.11.38. Fluid-flow ind icato r.

W . E . Lang. U .S.P. 2,137,167, 15.11.38. A m ethod of controlling th e recovery of oil from a sand having a num ber of associated productive s t r a ta of different perm eabilities exposed in th e same horizon, com prising selectively restric tin g th e flow of oil into the well from th e various s tra ta com m ensurately w ith th e ir respective permeabilities to minimize lack of uniform ity in th e oil depletion.

See also A bstracts Nos. 21 and 24. L . V. W . C.

Transport and Storage.38. Patent on Storage. G. W . Johnson. E .P . 494,679, 28.10.38. P ro tec tio n of in ternal surfaces of m etallic reservoirs, pipes and o ther ap p ara tu s com ing in to co n tac t w ith liquid fuels, by applying several coatings of cem ent, allow ing these to h a rd en in an atm osphere sa tu ra ted w ith w ater vapour and th en covering w ith a so lu tio n of m agnesium fluosilieate. g_ p; q

Gas.39. Research Aids New Laboratory Test Gas. W . R . Teller. A m er. Gas Assoc. M ovthly, 1938, 20, 298— 302.—The perform ance of dom estic appliances on liquefied petroleum gases was investigated . Appliances which dem o n stra te sa tis fac to ry p er­formance on butane will give acceptable perform ance w hen o p erated on p ro pane or butane-propane m ixtures a t the proper in p u t ra te , b u t no such assurance is h a d w ith appliances tested on propane. The am ounts of a ir theo re tically requ ired for com plete

ABSTRACTS.

com bustion , as well as th e th eo re tica l p ro d u c ts , are ab o u t th e sam e for b u tan e and p ropane on th e basis of equal h e a t liberations, excep t th a t p ropane produces 5% m ore H 20 th a n b u tan e . T he in flam m ability lim its of p ropane are h igher an d b roader th a n those for bu tan e . P ro p an e can be b u rned a t h igher in p u t ra te s th a n can b u tan e w ith o u t liftin g or blow ing of th e flames. P ropane an d b u tan e are sim ilar in th e ir ten d en cy to produce yellow -tip conditions. The yellow -tip lim it for n a tu ra l gas is lower th a n th a t for e ith e r p ropane or b u tane . The p rim ary a ir factors for propane an d b u tan e are 1-64 a n d 1-48, respectively , w hen a gas p ressure of 11 in . of H 20 is used. A ppliances approved for use w ith to w n ’s gas will be sa tis fac to ry for use on liquefied petro leum gases, p rov ided m odifications are m ade in th e b u rner design an d p ilo t arrangem en ts. D. F . R .

40. Patents on Gas. N . Y. P h ilip s G loelam penfabricken. E .P . 493,274, 5.10.38. A p paratus for m easuring gas pressures.

M etallgesellschaft, A.-G., E .P . 493,818, 14.10.38. P ro d uction of co n cen tra ted S 0 2.

U.S. F ire P ro tec tio n A ssociation. E .P . 494,754, 31.10.38. M ethod an d ap p ara tu s for m easuring e lectrically th e th erm al co n d u c tiv ity of gases.

H . T. R ingrose. E .P . 494,882, 2.11.38. V apour-detection ap p ara tu s for de tecting poisonous gases or vapours in th e a tm osphere. W . S. E . C.

Cracking.41. Cracking Fuel Oil to Coke. K . M. W atson . N a t. Petrol. News, 2.11.38, 30 (44), R.524.— I n order to m eet changing m ark e t conditions considerable advances have been m ade in th e design of cracking p la n t of exceptional flexib ility . Such p lan ts, operating on heavy residual fuel oil, m ay produce gasoline representing 70% of th e charge an d coke a t th e ra te of 65 lb. p er barre l of charge o r a sm aller p ro p o rtio n of gasoline, to g e th e r w ith d is tilla te furnace oil, gas oil an d lit t le or no coke. Cracking is usually carried o u t in a tw o-coil im it, to w hich th e coking u n it is added. The la tte r m ay, if necessary, be by-passed or used as a one-coil cracking u n it. I n runn ing to produce only gasoline an d coke, th e cracking u n it is o p erated to produce a residue of m axim um viscosity , no d is tilla te is rem oved as a side cu t from th e reaction colum n and m axim um recycling is a d o p ted on th e coking cham bers, which are m ain ta in ed a t m axim um pressure. T hree ty p es of p la n t are described—nam ely, external-coking, integral-coking an d pre-coking. T hree m ethods are in use for th e rem oval of th e coke from th e coking cham bers : th e cable m ethod , in which a steel cable is p laced in flat sp ira ls in th e cham ber an d w ith d raw n by m eans of a w inch subsequently ; or the ro tary -d rill m ethod , in w hich th e coke is d rilled o u t ; or th e hydrau lic m ethod, by which rem oval is effected by h igh-pressure w ater-je ts. In ten s iv e m arke ting schemes are crea ting desirable m ark e ts for th e coke. H . G.

Hydrogenation.42. Patents on Hydrogenation. H . E . P o tts . E .P . 493,470, 10.10.38. Im p ro v e ­m ent of fuel oils con ta in ing large q u an titie s of h a rd a sp h a lt by th e ad d itio n of 0 T % of H 2 a t pressures above 500 a tm ., a n d /o r a fte r th e ad d itio n of cyclic hydrocarbon d iluen t— e.g., m iddle oils, te trah y d ro n ap h th a len e , decahydronaphthalene or m ix tures of these.

H . E . P o tts . E .P . 493,947, 18.10.38. C a ta ly tic destru c tiv e hydrogenation of carbonaceous substances in th e liqu id phase— e.g., b itum inous or brow n coal.

H . E . P o tts . E .P . 494,980, 4.11.38. H y d rogenation in th e liqu id phase of liquid carbonaceous substances con ta in ing less th a n 2% of a sp h a lt to produce diesel fuel and lubricating oils. The process is carried o u t a t 300° C. and a t least 200 a tm ., using com pounds of Mo a n d /o r W as ca ta ly s t. W . S. E . C.

1 4 A ABSTRACTS.

P olym erization.43 Patents on Polymerization. S tandard Oil D evelopm ent Co. E .P . 493,7261310.38. Polym erization of C4 olefines in th e liquid phase by m eans of acid , th e in itia l polym er being separated in to d im er an d tn m e r frac tio n s ; th e form er are hydrogenated and the la tte r are depolym erized an d repolym erized.

Distillers Co., L td ., H . M. S tanley, and H . P . S taudinger. E .P . 494,575, 24.10.38. Polym erization of styrene a n d /o r m ethy l sty rene w ith an este r of cro tonic o r cinnam ic acid in the presence of an inert m edium — e.g., ¿sopropylbenzene.

H . E . P o tts . E .P . 494,657, 28.10.38. M anufacture of lu b rica tin g oils b y p o ly ­merizing or condensing w ith th e aid of anhydrous alum in ium chloride, liqu id or solid u n sa tu rated hydrocarbons or halogenation p ro ducts of sa tu ra te d or u n sa tu ra ted liquid or solid hydrocarbons or th e ir oxygen-containing d e riva tives in vessels con­struc ted of chrom ium -coated iron, chrom ium , chrom ium -alloyed steels or chrom ium - nickel-alloyed steels.

W. W . Triggs. E .P . 494,752, 25.10.38. Po lym erization of halogen bu tad ienes.

W. W. Groves. E .P . 494,772, 1.11.38. M anufacture of polym erized p ro d u c ts in an emulsified form b y conducting th e po lym erization in th e presence of w a ter w ith o u t th e add ition of an em ulsifying agen t an d in th e presence of a per-acid or of i ts sa lt.

N. V. De B ataafsche Petro leum Mij. E .P . 495,004, 4.11.38. P ro d u c tio n of lubricating oil by polym erizing cracked d istilla te s in th e presence of a lum in ium chloride. I f desired, th e reac tion p ro d u c ts a re neu tra lized (a fte r rem oving th e sludges), an d /o r trea te d w ith w a ter and th en h ea ted in th e presence of ad so rp tiv e earths a t 200— 300° C. in th e presence of steam .

B ritish Thom son H ouston Co., L td . E .P . 495,072, 4.11.38. M ethod of m aking Co-Cr oxide cata ly st.

R uhrchem ie, A.-G. E .P . 495,075, 4.11.38. N o n -cata ly tic po lym eriza tion of gaseous olefines in to liquid fuels a t h igh tem p era tu res an d pressures in w hich, as th e polym erization proceeds, th e cross-sectional a rea of th e gas flow is reduced.

W . S. E . C.

Refining and Refinery Plant.44. New System of Combined Distillation or Fractionation. H . P rie s t. Petrol. Tim es,19.11.38, 40 (1036), 669.—-The essential featu re of th e new system lies in th e recycling of a t least a p roportion of th e residuum while tem p era tu re is contro lled a t th e a p p ro ­p ria te level. In th is w ay th e p lan t is alw ays w orking a t th e o p tim u m capacity , w hilst th e th ro u g h p u t can be varied infin itely betw een zero an d a m ax im um dep en d ­ing on th e size of th e p lan t, w ith o u t affecting turbu lence. I n s ta r tin g th e p lan t, th e p ipe-still and d istilla tion colum n are connected in a closed c ircu it, an d crude is a d m itte d to a pre-determ ined level in th e colum n. The oil is th e n recircu la ted u n til th e te m ­peratu re has reached th e requ ired level and th e p ro d u c ts from th e d is tilla tio n colum n are on specification. Crude prehea ted b y exchange is th en a d m itte d to th e residuum stream , and d istilla tion p roducts plus some residuum are rem oved in equal p roportions. P lan ts have been operated a t th ro u g h p u ts as low as 6 brls. per d ay b y th is m eans. E xtrem e flexibility, b e tte r fractionation and greater w orking econom y are claim ed. Owing to th e fact th a t th e charge is ad m itted a t th e b o tto m of th e d is tilla tio n colum n, corrosive com ponents are said to be confined to th a t section of th e u n it, th u s p e rm ittin g th e use of cheaper m ateria l in th e pipe-still. P articu larly good resu lts a re claim ed w hen operating on coal-tar products. j j q

45. Phenol Solvent-Extraction Process. R . N avarre. R ev .P étro lif 22 7 38 (794/7951 933-937 and 29.7.38, (796), 9 7 1 -9 7 3 .-T h e various factors invo lved in th e phenol soivent-extraction process are discussed w ith p a rticu la r reference to th e effects of tem perature and w ater d ilution. Im provem ent in th e m ethod of solvent tre a tm e n t has a greater effect th a n va ria tio n in th e p roperties of th e so lvent itself. Solvent

ABSTRACTS. 1 5 A

ex trac tio n is com pared w ith frac tiona l d is tilla tio n , an d i t is found th a t one of th e m ain causes for th e low efficiency of th e p r im itiv e iso therm al counter-curren t solvent ex trac tio n (com parable to a bubble tow er w ith o u t reflux) is th e decline in solubility tow ards th e la s t stage of th e tre a te d oil in th e solvent phase. I t is concluded th a t , if th e process is only governed b y a tem p era tu re g rad ien t, th e la t te r would have to be v ery g reat, causing separation difficulties owing to in itia l h igh viscosities, w hilst on th e o th er han d , final tem p era tu res m ay approach th a t of com plete m iscibility .

W hile for efficient solvent e x trac tio n com plete sep ara tion of the phases is essential, th e tim e of separa tion is governed b y tw o facto rs : (1) th e rem oteness of th e conditions of tre a tm e n t from those of m iscib ility , and (2) th e v iscosity of th e raffinate portion . As an exam ple th e iso therm al solvent ex trac tio n of a Colombian d istilla te is discussed showing th a t a tem p era tu re g rad ien t alone does n o t resu lt in a sufficient g rad ien t of solvent power. The problem is solved by progressive d ilu tion of th e solvent th rough w ater in jection , resu lting in a h igher yield and a b e tte r u tiliza tio n of th e solvent power th a n w ith an invariab le p ro p ortion of w a ter in phenol. The m ethod of t r e a t ­m ent, com prising recycling an d tem p era tu re an d d ilu tio n grad ien t, is described, together w ith d e ta ils of th e tow er con tactor. The la t te r is h ighly efficient, possessing abou t fifteen tim es th e tre a tm e n t capacity of a bubble tow er of equal size.

A naph then ic pseudo-raffinate can be separa ted from th e p rim ary e x tra c t by cooling or b y ad d itio n of w ater. The y ield of th e so lven t-ex traction process is th u s considerably increased b y th e separation of a valuable p ro d u c t of special characteristics and specific uses. I n th is case, as before, counter-current com bined w ith d ilu tion grad ien t help to im prove b o th y ield an d q u a lity of th e naph then ic phase.

The rem aining e x tra c t, consisting m ain ly of arom atic and u n sa tu ra ted hydrocarbons, oxygen com pounds an d resins, has its special m erits, showing th a t solvent ex traction enables full adv an tag e to be tak e n of all constitu en ts of a given crude oil. F u rth e r im provem ents of th e raffinate can be o b ta ined b y re-blending, and th e benefits b rough t about by th e paraffinic frac tion an d b y a certa in p roportion of naph then ic fractions contained in an engine lu b ricatin g oil a re enum erated and discussed.

The final section of th e p ap er is concerned w ith specific problem s of solvent ex ­trac tio n and chem ical frac tiona tion . M ethods of dew axing b y solvents are discussed, and i t is shown th a t th e cold te s t can be im proved w ith o u t im pairing th e v iscosity index. Resinous m a tte r an d a sp h a lts w hich cannot be rem oved from residual oils by fractional d is tilla tio n are m ost efficiently e x trac ted by propane.

The th ird “ active ” frac tion of th e solvent tre a tm e n t is also supposed to include the valuable n a tu ra l o x idation in h ib ito rs an d th e m olecules which carry th e p ro p erty of oiliness. I n conclusion, i t is explained w hy presen t o x idation te s ts w rongly classify over-refined oils as being b e tte r th a n less refined ones of g reater s ta b ility in service, and how over-refining can be avoided or rem edied by th e ad d itio n of syn th e tic inhibitors. L. R .

46. Removal of Paraffin Wax from Silicate Residuums. R . Fussteig . Petrol. T im es,26.11.38, 40 (1037), 703.— T he artic le com prises a discussion of th e m echanism of the absorption an d adso rp tion of paraffin w ax, resinous and asphaltic m a tte r by th e clays used for decolorizing, an d a suggested m eth o d of th e p a r tia l recovery of th e paraffin w ax. The used clay is e x tra c te d tw ice w ith gas oil a t 95° C., th e w ax/gas oil solution being used a second tim e to e x tra c t fresh spen t clay. The w ax is recovered from the gas oil by c rystallization and sw eating. H . G.

47. Lubricating-Oil Purification. M. Varinois. M atières Grasses, 30 (364), 206- 208, and 30 (365), 228-230.— T hree m ain purification m ethods can be d iscrim inated : the discontinuous, th e continuous an d th e com bined continuous an d discontinuous. The m ain features of th e th ree m ethods are described and th e ir respective m erits discussed.

A nother section of th e rep o rt deals w ith th e various ty p es of p ressure filters in use, including fabric filters, various m etallic filters (some of which have a capacity up to 3600 litres per m inute), baked fu ller’s-earth filters, an d “ stream -line ” filters. D etails are given of design an d operation , an d th e ty p es of engines and m achines for w hich the respective system s of filter are p referab ly used, are ind icated . L. R .

16 A ABSTRACTS.

48 Mercaptan Scrubber and Caustic Regeneration. Anon. Refiner, S ep tem ber 1938 17 (9), 434. H 2S is rem oved entirely and m ercap tans a re reduced by a p ­proximately 50% by scrubbing stabilized cracked gasoline w ith 24°Be N aO H . The N aOH solution is regenerated continuously by passing once th ro u g h a 27 X 4-m. tower chromium p lated inside. The tow er is equipped w ith a closed s team coil operating a t boiler pressure, and exhaust s team is a d m itte d th ro u g h a sp ider in th e solution in the base of the tower. Scrubbing w ith N aO H has reduced th e p lu m b ite required for sweetening by over 70%, w hilst the lead su scep tib ility of th e trea te d gasoline has been increased.

49 Mercaptan and Hydrogen Sulphide Removal by Caustic Scrubbing. J . C. A lbrigh tRefiner, Septem ber 1938, 17 (9), 437.— Pressure d is tilla te contain ing 0 1 % m ercap tan s, 0 22% to ta l S and 0 002% H 2S is contacted , b y circulation, w ith 14°Be N aO H in th e cold for the removal of H 2S. The washed d istilla te is th en passed to a tw o-stage washer containing 14°Be N aO H for m ercap tan rem oval. I n th is w asher th e N aO H , after the first contact, is heated to 220° P . by closed steam coils to rem ove th e d is ­solved m ercaptans, cooled and contacted a second tim e w ith th e d istilla te . A ll th e H 2S is removed in the first washer, in which th e N aO H is used u n til i t is 75% spen t. The two contacts in th e second stage suffice to rem ove 50% of th e m ercap tan s. F urther sweetening m ay be carried ou t w ith “ D octor ” solution. The process is alm ost completely autom atic, and th e consum ption of N aO H in th e m ercap tan washer is negligible provided th a t H 2S is com pletely rem oved in th e first w asher.

50. Curious Case of Increase in Decolorizing Power of a Mixture of Two Decolorizing Earths. E . E rdheim . Przem. N a ft., 10.12.38, 23, 634.— I t w as found th a t a m ix tu re of two particu lar decolorizing earths h ad h igher decolorizing properties th a n w ould norm ally be expected from a sim ple ad d ition of th e ir decolorizing powers. T ests were carried out on a m ineral oil 9/10° E 50 of R um an ian origin. The tw o e a rth s “ S ” and “ G ” were of high and low quality respectively. The decolorizing effectw ith the above oil and 3% of th e decolorizing e a rth w as 87 1% in th e caseof “ S ” and 38 9% in th e case of “ G .” F rom th is i t would be expected th a t 3%of a m ixture of say 80 “ S ” an d 20 “ G ” should have a decolorizing effect of

( ^ l O ^ 80) X ( ^ r ) = A ctually , however, th e resu lt o b ta in ed was81%.

A diagram is given in which the m ix ture com position (from 1-100 “ S ” ) is p lo tte d against the decolorizing effect. The “ theoretical ” curve based on th e princip le of addition of the decolorizing powers is, of course, a s tra ig h t line. T he resu lts actually obtained are all abou t 31 % higher, and also lie on a s tra ig h t line. S i m i l a r results were obtained w ith other m ineral oils, as well as w ith tw o vegetable oils.

E . J . W .

Chemistry and Physics of Petroleum.51. Limits of Inflammability of Gaseous Mixtures. P . M ondain-M onval a n d R . W ellard. A nn. Off. Combust, liq. 1937, 12 (6), 1183-1196.— In th e case of th e th ree m ixtures studied, hexane-air, a lcohol-air and e th e r-a ir, i t is proved th a t u n d er th e triple influence of tem perature, pressure and tim e of contact , th e lim its of in f la m - m ability differed considerably from th e values usually determ ined e ith e r a t o rd inary tem perature or under atm ospheric pressure. The experim ental conditions were such th a t pre-com bustion was stim ulated as m uch as possible. I t appeared a t tem p era t ures characteristic for each m ixture. Fo r hexane-air m ixtures, as has been previously f i n ’ there is a definite fall of pressure s ta rtin g a t 120° C., th e fall con tinu ing to -00 G., a t which tem perature there is a rise of pressure, accen tu a ted as th e tem - perature rises above 200= C This rise of pressure is accom panied by th e appearancea t 22fl’ o w p Cr0 fiS’ f leS’ Pre('cdm g th e spontaneous com bustion w hich occurs

t? according to th e concentration of hexane.For e th y la k o h o l-a ir m ixtures heated under th e sam e conditions th e fall of pressure

occurred below 190= C., the pressure rise tow ards 220= C. F ina lly sp o n ta n e o ^ c o m !

bustion accom panied by a ldehydes an d C 0 2 occurred betw een 250° C. and 265° C., according to th e concen tra tion of alcohol.

W ith e th e r-a ir m ix tu res th e pressure fall s ta r ts a t 110° C., continues to 165° C., followed by a very rap id pressure rise preceding by a lit t le th e spontaneous com bustion a t 170-175° C., according to th e co ncen tra tion of e ther. E x am in atio n of th e diagram s in th e a rticle shows th a t i t is precisely a t th e tem pera tu res which characterize in each ease th e beginning of th e pressure rise an d th e appearance of th e p roducts of pre- com bustion (200° C. hexane, 220° C. alcohol, 165° C. ether) th a t th e curves representing th e u p per an d lower lim its of inflam m ability p resen t a characteris tic change of slope. I t is considered certa in th a t th ere is a re la tion of cause an d effect betw een th e tw o phenom ena. A t th e lower tem p era tu res th e zone of inflam m ability is ra th e r larger th a n a t o rd in ary tem p era tu re u nder a tm ospheric pressure, for one q u ite obvious reason— nam ely , th a t th e experim en tal tem p era tu res are alw ays lower th a n those a t which chem ical reac tion betw een a ir and com bustible liquid begins. J . L. T.

52. Aluminium Chloride in the Preparation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons from ParaffinWax. C. O tin an d M. D im a. M onit. Petr, roum., 1938, 39, 1613-1620.— T he au th o rs have reac ted a R o u m an ian paraffin w ax w ith nascen t A1C13. The w ax h a d a m .p. 53'9° C., an d a m ol. w t. 354-7, ind ica ting th a t i t w as largely C25H 52. I t w as h eated in th e presence of a lum in ium and gaseous HC1 in troduced . Cracking, reduction , polym erization, isom erization an d cyclization occur.

The yield of liq u id p ro d u c ts is b e tte r th a n th a t from th e anhydrous A1C13 process. This fact is p robab ly due to : (a) th e g reater a c tiv ity of th e nascen t A1C13 an d (6) th e reducing power of th e nascen t hydrogen, released in th e fo rm ation of th e A1C13, which re tards th e polym erization of th e u n sa tu ra ted bodies.

W hereas th e sp irit frac tio n from th e anhydrous A1C13 reac tio n con ta ins only a trace of arom atic hydrocarbons, th a t from th e nascen t A1C13 m ethod yielded 17 % of a rom atic hydrocarbons—-largely benzene an d toluene. T . C. G. T.

53. “ Reactive ” or “ Protective ” Colloids or Both. L. D. B etz and L. M. P o tts .N at. Petrol. News, 21.9.38, 30 (38), R . 470.— The article com prises a discussion of th e paper en titled “ Some P roperties of Colloids an d th e ir Use in W ate r T rea tm e n t,” L. D. Betz, N at. Petrol. N ew s, 15.12.37, 29 (50), R . 386. L. M. P o tts objects to th e differentiation of colloids u n der th e head ings “ R eac tiv e ” an d “ P ro tec tiv e ,” claim ing th a t th e so-called “ P ro tec tiv e ” colloid is a “ R eactive ” colloid wdth certa in special properties— e.g., i t can increase th e s ta b ility of a colloidal system . H e cites m any references to su p p o rt h is con ten tion . L. D . B etz , in replying, p resen ts as m an y or more references to reinforce h is own stan d p o in t. B y w ay of am plification , B etz defines a reactive colloid as one w hich is p rec ip ita ted by an e lectro ly te , in co n trad is­tinc tion to those “ p ro tec tiv e ” colloids, such as th e tan n in s, starches an d gum s, which are no t. H . G.

Analysis and Testing.54. Determination of Total Sulphur in Benzol, Petrol and Other Liquid Fuels. F .H urdelbrink. Chem.-Z., 1938, 62, 679-681.— The fuel is p laced in a flask hav in g tw o side-tubes fused th rough th e neck, one of w hich reaches nearly to th e bo tto m , so th a t air blown th rough i t is carb u re tted , w hilst th e o th e r is d irec ted upw ards, an d supplies secondary a ir. The m ix tu re is led to a b u rner h ead w ith Cu-gauze d iaphragm , and the com bustion p ro d u c ts a re absorbed in H 20 2 in th e usual w ay an d t i t ra te d . 5-10 c.c. of benzol can be burned in 10-12 m in. The d is tr ib u tio n of su lphur in successive fractions of a crude benzol is tab u la ted . D. F . R .

55. Rapid Methods for Determining Oil in Greases. C. J . B oner, L. W . Y agle andG. A. W illiam s. N a t. Petrol. N ews, 19.10.38, 30 (42), R . 498.— Q u alita tiv e m eth o d s for th e separation of th e c o n stitu en t oil in lu b rica tin g greases are presen ted . All depend on th e separa tion of th e oil phase by syneresis, decom position or solution. For lime greases 500-1000 gm. of grease are m ixed w ith 1% of h y d ra te d lim e, h ea ted

vessel to 300° F . an d s tirred u n til syneresis is ev iden t. T he m ass is th en cool, w hen fu rth e r w orking w ill cause th e sep ara tio n of sufficient oil to

suffice for tohe need of th e usual specification te s ts .

^ —AAACTS. 17 A

i

.>?/ A<t*>V

ABSTRACTS.

Clarification of the oil, from flecks of soap, by filtra tio n th rough clo th or by cen tri­fuging is advisable before testing . F o r sodium grease, successive trea tm e n t w n excess’of boiling w ater is said to effect th e com plete rem oval of th e s o a p leading th e oil which, a fte r a final ex traction w ith d ilu te alcohol an d hea tin g to remove m oisture, can be tested . A lum inium greases are first decom posed by ° 0lling w ith 20-25% of 35-40°Be N aO H solution an d th en tre a te d as a soda grease. T illers, which m ay be present in th e greases, are s ta te d to be rem oved w ith th e soap m every case The m ethods are said to yield resu lts s tr ic tly com parable w ith those ob tained by the A.S.T.M. m ethod, b u t th ey are n o t applicable to rosin base greases or to those containing E .P . dopes.

56. Flow Studies of Solid Fats. M. A ubert and A. P ignot. A n n . Off. Combust, liq. 1937, 12 (6), 1173-1182.— The flow caracteristics of la rd were s tu d ied u n d er th e following experim ental conditions. A m etal tube, s tra ig h t an d polished on th e inside, is first washed w ith benzene and toluene a t 70° C., th en w ith alcohol an d e ther, an d finally dried w ith air. The lard is m elted and poured in to th e tu b e th ro u g h a funnel screwed in to th e top , a cock a t the b o tto m being closed. The cock is th e n opened to expel the air, any a ir bubbles adhering to the sides of th e tu b e being rem oved by gently stirring w ith a p la tinum wire. D uring filling th e tu b e is su rrounded b y w a ter a t 70-80° C. W ater a t norm al tem pera tu re is th en ru n in slowly, th e u p p e r p a r t of th e tube being gently heated to ensure com plete filling. The w a te r-b a th is th en em ptied and filled w ith ice and allowed to s ta n d for l£ -2 hr. T he la rd is th en levelled off a t th e top and bo ttom of th e tube, which is connected up to a cylinder of n itrogen and pressure applied v ia controlling valves. The cock a t th e b o tto m of th e tu b e being open, th e m ovem ent of lard from th e end of th e tu b e is observed a n d th e pressure a t which m otion seen th rough a telescope occurs inside 30 sec. is no ted on a m anom eter.

At a tem perature of 0° C. two sets of readings of pressure, P x and P 2, P 2 being th e higher, are noted. They occur in no regular order, an d show a value for P 2/P i of th e order of pE . I t is considered th a t th e existence of tw o ty p es of la rd called a and /? is proved. I t is, however, impossible to determ ine th e conditions of fo rm ation of either type.

The effect of length and diam eter of th e tube was investigated . I n tu b es of 3 and 5 mm. d iam eter the a form occurs twice as often as th e /3 form . I n tu b es of 6, 7 and 10 mm. diam eter the occurrence of the tw o form s is p ractica lly equal, w h ilst in tubes of 4 and 9 mm. diam eter th e a form occurs m ore frequently . As regards th e effect of the length of th e tube, i t was found th a t th e pressure observed w as d irec tly p ro ­portional to the length of the tube. J . L . T.

57. Absorption Efficiency of Spiral Gas-Lift Wash Bottle. B. B. Corson. Industr. Engng Chem. Anal., 1938, 10 (11), 646.— A spiral gas-lift w ash-bo ttle is described, in which the length of contact betw een gas and liquid is g reatly increased, com pared w ith th a t obtaining in th e Drechsel ty p e bo ttle , w ithou t any corresponding increase in back pressure. C om parative efficiency tes ts , in which n itrogen—carbon dioxide m ixtures were absorbed in solutions of caustic, showed th e sp ira l ty p e to be con­siderably more efficient th an th e Drechsel (99'9% C 0 2 absorbed com pared w ith 87-5%). ip. x D .

58. Small Low-Temperature Rectifying Column. J. H . Sim ons. Industr. Engng Chem. Anal., 1938, 10 (11), 648.— A deta iled descrip tion is given of a sm all s till, w ith a capacity of about 5 c.c. of liquefied gas, which fits in to a q u a r t vacuum flask, and consequently is easily portable. The only ad d itio n al a p p a ra tu s requ ired for operation is a source of electric current for th e heater, a p o ten tio m eter for te m p e ra tu re m easu re­m ent and a w ater pum p. The device is a to ta l condensation colum n an d operates a t constant pressure; i t has been used successfully w ith liqu ids boiling a t — 130°

80 and — 50° C. »j» »j»

59. Patents on Analysis. K odak, L td . E .P . 493,948, 18.10.38. Im p ro v ed m ethod ot high vacuum distillation of organic liquids by add ing to th e d ist illand one o r m ore carrier liquids. w E c

ZZ^RACTS. 19 A

itńwithkvingi . to soSiMFab,imw ibtaitt: to fat ŁG.

tta.il under tk the bait ether, ct i a k i lopasiv moral b dby«8 >per parti ath it at ;haiWk r of tamp of the tit .thepessimaMnf*P,heb?afa FA*IcaWiB [uUMtilB «

ube of Jot es oi 6 ,1E rhilaiante lids f a * } dntftly p’ I I I

M otor Fuels.60. Calculation of the Octane Number of Gasoline from Physical Data. V. Schneider and G. W . S tan to n . Refiner, O ct., 1938, 17 (10), 509.— A m ethod for calculating octane num bers from such d a ta as specific g rav ity , d istilla tion characteristics and com position is p resented . I f th e com position of a gasoline is know n, th en its octane num ber resu lts from a calculation based on th e p roportion of each constitu en t and th e blending octane num ber of th e co n stitu en t. I n developing th e calculation presented , th e d a ta of Lovell, C am pbell and B oyd, w hich were in term s of aniline poin ts, were converted in to octane num bers by th e following equation . B lending octane num ber

1000 X Aniline N um ber X Sp. Gr. , . , .. , . .= — —-----------------------------------— + 55- The octane num ber of each ty p e of2 m ol. w t.

hydrocarbon was th en p lo tted separa tely against i ts boiling po in t. T ypical gasolines were th en analysed, by th e m ethod of Schneider, W atk in s an d S tan ton , and th e resu lts correlated w ith d is tilla tio n d a ta . F in a lly corrections necessitated by varia tions in u n sa tu ra ted s were calculated on th e basis of specific g rav ity an d estim ations of un- sa tu ra ted s con ten ts by th e b rom ide-b rom ate m ethod . The final resu lts are presented in th e form of th ree graphs to which th e A .P .I. g rav ity or specific g rav ity and th e d is­tilla tio n curve m ay be referred , to o b tain , b y m eans of a fu rth er sim ple arithm etica l calculation, th e octane num ber of th e sam ple. A lis t of some fo rty calculated resu lts is tab u la ted against th e resu lts of A.S.T.M. C .F.R . de term inations. W ith a few exceptions th e calculated resu lts are w ith in th ree p o in ts of th e determ ined result.

H . G.*

61. Stability of Alcohol Fuels towards Cold and Water. R . Heinze, M. M arder andG. E isner. Z . angew. Chem., 1938, 51, 524-526.— D a ta for th e clouding tem pera tu re of various e thy l an d m eth y l alcohol petro leum sp irit m ix tu res containing H 20 have been obtained, and are p resen ted in th e form of trian g u lar diagram s. D. F . R .

62. Fuel Alcohol. K . K urono. J . F uel Soc. Ja p a n , A ugust 1938, 70-72.— Based on th e law providing for a g radual increase in th e p roportion of alcohol adm ix ture to gasoline w ith in th e n e x t six years, th e expected yearly alcohol dem ands are estim ated . The possibilities of alcohol p roduction from potatoes are discussed, and a com parison is given of th e cost of p roduction w ith each of th e th ree m ethods of trea tm en t available— viz. th e rice-m alt, th e am ylo and th e acid-saccharification m ethod. The am ylo process is th e m ost econom ical, an d i t is also used a t present in th e five G overnm ent p lan ts in operation. L. R.

son- hit

eed. toof*

n* tit**4

T. I &

fafafrj*goaUSt!

(dioroi*^

t

63. “ Liquefied Gas.” G. Gerson. Auto. Engr, 1938, 28, 355-359.—This article is a survey of present p ractice in G erm any in th e use of liquefied gas as autom obile fuel. A bout 15,000 trucks, om nibuses an d trac to rs have been fitted w ith th is ty p e of equ ip ­m en t in recent years, an d large ta x reductions vary ing from 50 to 75% for such vehicles m ake i ts use a n a ttrac tiv e proposition , especially as resu lts show reduced running costs in com parison w ith p e tro l and diesel fuel. V ast supplies of su itable gases are available in G erm any, and are m anufactu red in p lan ts producing syn thetic petrol.

P a rticu lars are given of th e general lay o u t of th e vehicle equipped for runn ing on liquefied gases, together w ith d e ta ils of th e various item s of special ap p ara tu s required, such as storage bo ttles, reducing valves an d special carbure tto rs. I n practice th e gas is carried in liquefied form in bo ttles u nder i ts own v apour pressure, which is from 75 to 150 lb. pe r sq. in . I n order to regu late th e g as-a ir m ix tu re in th e p ro ­portion required by th e engine under th e vary ing conditions of operation , th e gas is expanded and vaporized in a single-phase or tw o-phase regulator. T his regulator has to m ain tain a substan tia lly constan t pressure difference betw een th e vapour pressure, which varies considerably u nder vary ing conditions, an d th e suction a t the nozzle, and th e function of th e regu la to r can be com pared to th e constan t level float of a carbure tto r. R equisite h e a t for expansion and vaporization m u st be applied to p reven t th e gas cooling to below th e tem p era tu re of vaporization . The regulator m ust be sufficiently sensitive to open under th e sligh test engine suction, an d w hen the engine is n o t running, th e regu lato r valve m u st be com pletely gas-tigh t.

2 0 aABSTRACTS.

, r s s ’ r iapproxim ately 0 4 RM. per litre and th a t of liquefied gas is 0 5 RM. p e r to R average figurey for conversion of a 3-ton tru ck to gas operation is given as 400 RM.

on nn Motor Snirit N V. De B ataafsche Petro leum Mij. E .P . 494,450,^6 ' 10 38 R em w in g m ercap tans from m otor sp ir it by m eans of an aqueous so lu tion of caustic alkTh containingP 25-75o/0 o£ glycol con tain ing 3-5 C a to m s m th e mol. and ethanolam ine as aux iliary agent.

N. V. De B ataafsche Petro leum Mij. E .P . 494,451, 26.10.38. P rocess as described in E .P . 494,450, using as aux iliary agen t m onoethyleneglycolm onom ethy e ther.

W . b . Üi. I/.

Gas, D iesel and Fuel Oils.

65 Ignition Characteristics of Diesel Fuels. R. S undstrom . Tekn . TidsJcr. (Auto- mobil-och M otorteknik 10), 15.10.38, 76-79.— Com parison be tw een various m ethods of expressing ignition quality , pa rticu la rly aniline p o in t, diesel index an d cetane num ber. A tten tion is d irected to th e com m on h a b it in Sweden for diesel an d semi- diesel engine m anufacturers, as well as consum ers, to p ay a g rea t deal of a tte n tio n to properties of th e fuel which have lit t le bearing on ign ition q u a lity . R . F . S.

Lubricants and Lubrication.

66. Break-In Oils for Automobile Engines. K . T. A rte r an d R . S u ndström . Tekn. Tiskr. (Autom obil-och M otorteknik 9), 17.9.38, 65-68.— Discussion of requ irem ents for break-in engine oils, based on recent theories of m olecular forces an d friction phenom ena. R . F . S.

67. Patents on Lubricating Oil and Wax. G. W . Johnson. E .P . 493,557, 11.10.38. P roduction of lubricating oils by condensing halogenated paraffin w ax w ith a sm all am ount of isocyclic (1-5% ) and a larger am ount of cyclic (5-20% ), hydrocarbons containing one or two rings.

A. P . Lowes and Im perial Chemical In d ustries , L td . E .P . 493,715, 12.10.38. M anufacture of oily condensation products from products ob tained b y condensing chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons of h igh mol. w t., in th e presence of anhydrous alum inium chloride, and trea tin g th e reaction p roduct w ith th e hydroxide or anhydrous sulphate or phosphate of Fe, Cr, or Al, a t 250-300° C., and sep ara tin g th e oil by decantation or filtration.

Deutsche Hydrierwerke. A.G. E .P . 493,766, 10.10.38. M anufacture of h ard paraffin wax compositions containing one or m ore n a tu ra l or artificial w axes an d one or more alkaline m etal or alkaline earth m etal, Mg, Al, or Zn alcoholate derived from aliphatic, cyclo-aliphatic or fa tty arom atic com pounds containing alcoholic O H groups and a t least six C atom s in the molecule.

Edeleanu Gesellschaft m .b.H . E .P . 493,999, 18.10.38. Im p ro v ed m eth o d of recovering solvent m ixtures used in refining or dewaxing hydrocarbon oils.

S tandard Oil Developm ent Co. E .P . 494,215, 21.10.38. D ew axing of h y d ro ­carbon oils using m ethyl norm al propyl ketone. W? S. E . C.

See also A bstract No. 55.

a -doaRACTS. 21 A

Roads and Road Materials.68. The Automobile and the Road. N. G ustafsson. Tekn . T idskr. (Autom obil- och M otortekn ik 8), 20.8.38, 57-64.— D iscussion of th e effect of various p roperties of th e road on fuel consum ption , acceleration an d to p speed of m odern cars. W ith regard to ro ad surfaces, stone p avem en ts an d u n trea te d roads, b o th of w hich are com m on in Sweden, are s ta te d to be dangerous an d p e rm anen t surfaces a re considered essential. R . F . S.

69. Patents on Road Materials. D. F ru n z e tti . E .P . 494,380, 25.10.38. M anu­factu re of b itum inous em ulsions b y m ixing o rd inary b itu m en or t a r em ulsions w ith clay and cem ent u nder such conditions th a t th e b reak ing of th e em ulsions or coagula­tio n of th e fine b itu m en globules in to coarser globules is p reven ted . W . S. E . C.

Special Products.70. Patents on Special Products. I . G. Farben industrie ., A.-G. E .P . 493,764, 10.10.38. Insecticide con tain ing a d iazoam ine com pound free from sulphonic acid an d carboxyl groups, tog e th e r w ith a solid in e rt substance an d /o r a w e ttin g agen t and /or an ad h er­ing agent.

S tan d ard Oil D evelopm ent Co. E .P . 494,859, 2.11.38. P rep a ra tio n of de te rg en t aids b y reacting , to gether in one s tep u n sa tu ra ted polym ers p roduced from gaseous olefins, w ith phenols an d conc. H 2S 0 4, n eu tra liz ing th e re su lta n t p ro d u c ts an d se p a ra t­ing th e soaps therefrom . W . S. E . C.

Detonation and Engines.71. Car Adjustment is a Large Factor in Anti-Knock Requirements. R . J . Green- shields, L . E . H ebl an d T . B. R endel. N a t. Petrol. N ews, 21.9.38, 30 (38), R . 464.— Sundry conclusions are p resen ted as th e resu lt of a n analysis of th e d a ta p roduced by th e various co-operative te s ts w hich have been carried o u t in re la tio n to th e octane num ber of gasoline in recen t years. T he au th o rs suggest th a t owing to th e flex ib ility of sp a rk advance m echanism s, th e an ti-knock requ irem en ts of s ta n d a rd cars is d e ­p en d en t on th e octane num ber of th e available m o to r fuels. B y p lo ttin g th e num ber of cars g iving no knock a t a p a rticu la r octane n u m b er ag ain st th e octane num ber an d m aking separa te curves for th e resu lts of th e 1931, 1936 an d 1937 te s ts , i t is shown th a t an ti-knock requ irem ent has n o t changed appreciab ly since 1932, w hen fuels of a m inim um octane num ber of 70 a re considered. Fuels of lower oc tane value ten d to be less sa tisfac to ry on th e m odem car th a n on i ts predecessors. T endency to knock a t full th ro ttle is usually overcom e b y re ta rd in g th e ign ition , a device w ith o u t sensible effect on th e pow er o u tp u t a t h igh speed, b u t hav ing a n increasing effect as th e speed level falls. F rom th is fac t i t is argued th a t th e h a b it of determ in ing octane num bers a t full th ro ttle is n o t in keeping w ith th e p rac tica l significance of th e resu ltin g figures.

H . G.

72. Reduction of Piston-Ring and Cylinder Wear. M. O. T eetor. J . Soc. aut. Engrs, 1938, 42, 137-140 an d 156.— I n sp ite of im proved m ethods of m anufactu re , i t is n o t y e t possible to m ake a perfec t cylinder or p is to n ring, an d in itia l w ear, com m only called th e “ w earing-in ” process, com pensates for m echanical and th e rm al d is to rtio n an d im proves perform ance. E ngine perform ance rap id ly reaches an o p tim um , an d from th e n on th e problem is one of w ear reduction . T he a u th o r discusses abrasive action in re la tio n to surface s tru c tu re , and describes a m achine u tiliz in g pieces of cylinders an d rings for exam ining th e w earing properties . Several problem s arose d u ring th e experim ental w ork, and th e m ethods used to o b ta in o p erating conditions com parable w ith practice are described. The problem of “ scuffing ” w as in v estig a ted , an d curves a re given show ing th e speed an d load a t w hich scuffing occurs w ith d ifferent typ es of ring an d cylinder m ateria l. R esu lts o b ta ined w ith surfaces hav in g a cellular surface know n as “ F errox ” show th is trea tm e n t to be very effective in th e reduction of w ear. C. H . S.

73 Sunerchareed Automobile Engines. N. G ustafsson. Tekn. T idskr. ( A u t o m ^ och M otorteknik 6), 18.6.38, 44-48.—D escription of w ork done to d ° te,™ n®ubricating of superchargers on ord inary cars. H igh-octane-num ber fuels an d th in oils are required in order to reach top speeds w ith com m on m odels equ pped w sunerchargers. The au th o r concludes th a t superchargers w ill even tually become stan d ard equipm ent n o t only in low-priced passenger cars, b u t also in tru ck s and buses. Acceleration and to p speed, to gether w ith econom y ofrunning are im proved by th e in sta lla tio n of a supercharger. T he tw o la t te r are deem ed’exceedingly im p o rtan t in Sweden, where m an y roads are trea ted and where, because of th e snow, even th e b est roads are difficult to traffic , . • , XV. r . o.during w inter.

74. Characteristics of the Small Motor Car. R . M aeda. J . Fuel Soe. J a p a n , A ugust 1938, 72, 73.— The characteristics of sm all m o to r cars, equ ipped w ith 750-e.c. four- stroke or 500-c.c. tw o-stroke engines, are discussed. The v e ry low fuel-consum ption figures of 74 m .p.g. average, an d 120 m .p.g. o p tim u m are claim ed as h av in g been ob tained in a tr ia l ru n of six ty -n ine sm all cars of D a tsu n ty p e . L . R .

2 2 a ABSTRACTS.

75. Operating Characteristics for Hot-Bulb Engines. E . H ubend ick . Tekn . Tidskr. (Autom obil-och M otorteknik 10), 15.10.38, 73-76.— W hen p lo ttin g o u tp u t agam st r.p .m . a t constan t fuel consum ption on one a n d th e sam e engine, curves of w idely vary ing shapes were obtained. The failure to ob ta in sm ooth curves is a ttr ib u te d to some defect in th e engine used (a tw o-stroke, ho t-bu lb engine delivering m ax . 10 h .p . a t 1000 r.p .m .) or th e a rrangem ent of th e ex h au s t line. Sm ooth curves could n o t be obtained by a ltering th e la tte r , however, or b y vary ing th e in jection . W ith norm al engines and arrangem ents, such curves should have th e shape of n arrow ellipses w ith one end a t th e norm al m axim um po in t, in th is case 10 h .p . a t 1000 r.p .m ., an d th e o ther approaching origin. The curve for m inim um fuel consum ption should be th e narrow est, an d those for increased consum ption encircle th e m in im um curve, th e ellipses becom ing w ider for h igher consum ption. I f such curves could be ob tained , th ey should be useful in selecting advantageous loads or to enable consum ption to be obtained from h .p . and r.p .m . R . F . S.

76. The Skandia Hot-Bulb Engine. E . H ubendick. Tekn. T idskr. (M ekanik 7), 16.7.38, 79-85.— D escription of th e Skandia ho t-bu lb engine, tog e th e r w ith operating characteristics and tests . Fuel and lubricating oil system s an d consum ption are dealt w ith. R . F . S.

77. The Diesel as a High-Output Engine for Aircraft. E . G. W h itn ey an d H . H . Foster. J . Soc. aut. Engrs, 1938, 42, 161-168.-—The developm ent a n d success of th e Junkers Jum o Diesel a ircraft engine have been so ou tstan d in g in th e face of rap id strides m ade by th e gasoline engine th a t i t cannot fail to a tt ra c t th e a tte n tio n of the m ost sceptical regarding th e m erits of th e Diesel engine for av ia tion . T he p resen t paper analyses results obtained a t th e N.A.C.A. lab ora to ry an d p o in ts o u t gains to be expected from th e fu rther developm ent of th e diesel engine for a irc ra ft. I n ­vestigations have been m ade w ith b o th four-stroke an d tw o-stroke single-cylinder engines, and th e variables investigated have included com bustion-cham ber ty p es bo th w ith and w ithout forced a ir flow ; fuel-injection sy s te m s ; g round b o o s tin g ; perform ance a t a ltitu d e ; factors affecting engine friction ; effects of in le t a ir te m ­peratures and pressures ; and th e effects of exhaust back pressure. T en y ears w ork has resulted in an increase in I.M .E .P . from 100 lb. per sq. in. a t 1500 r.p .m . to 260 lb. per sq. in. a t 2500 r.p .m ., and has produced everyday diesel engine op era tio n a t o u t­p u ts equal to or in excess of those obtained on th e b est a irc raft engines. D etails of the results obtained from m any of these experim ents are given, an d th e principal conclusions reached are as follows :__

The four-stroke Diesel can, w ith m axim um cylinder pressures n o t exceeding 1400 lb.mo ontm'n f " T t »«A ° if power equal to th a t obtained from gasoline engines using 100 octane fuel to b estad v an tag e , and a t a lower specific fuel consum ption.

The diesel engine offers the possibility of utilizing very h igh cylinder p ressures to

ABSTRACTS. 2 3 A

th e ad v an tage of pow er an d fuel econom y, because th e an ti-knock value of th e fuel does n o t lim it i ts perform ance.

The use of after-coolers w ith th e h igh ly boosted diesel engine offers su b s tan tia l increases in M .E .P . ob tainab le for a given specific fuel consum ption.

The a ltitu d e perform ance of th e diesel engine w ill be fully equal to th a t of th e gasoline engine, a lthough m ore stages in th e blower m ay be required.

The tw o-stroke diesel offers th e possib ility of g reater pow er p e r u n it size a n d w eight th a n a sim ilar four-stroke diesel, a t th e expense of increased fuel consum ption.

Successful developm ent of th e diesel engine requires research in im proving com ­bustion , im proving m ateria ls and design techn ique to accom m odate h igher cylinder pressures, a n d im provem ent of blowers an d after-coolers. C. H . S.

78. Combustion in C.I. Engines. M. de Sermoize. Rev. Petrolif., 18.11.38, (812),1490.— The various factors involved in th e com bustion process are enum erated ,

* an d i t is shown how difficulties can be overcom e b y th e co-operation of engine de ­signer an d petro leum technologist. T he characteris tic fuel qualities for th e various ty p es of engines a re m ain ly affected by speed, an d th e engines a re therefore su b ­div ided in to high-speed engines, above 1500 r .p .m .; in te rm ed ia te speed, u p to 1000- 1200 r .p .m .; low speed, up to 500-600 r .p .m .; an d ve ry low-speed engines w ith less th a n 200 r.p .m .

r a s W ith some high-speed engines of th e d irec t in jec tion ty p e , w hen operating on fuelabove 65 cetene num ber, owing to a too sh o rt delay period, sm oke is observed in th e

re-. exh au st. Consequently, for engines above 1500 r.p .m ., a cetene n u m b er below 70B.VU is generally recom m ended, w hilst a 65 cetene fuel should enable 4000 r.p .m . to berits? exceeded.

The 65% A.S.T.M. d istilla tion p o in t w hich ind icates th e v o la tility of lig h t d istilla te diesel fuels gives no tru e ind ication w ith fuels con tain ing residual oils. I n th is case th e Conradson te s t is recom m ended for g iving good corre lation w ith p ractice . F o r

.. large, slow-running engines a C onradson carbon residue u p to 2, an d som etim es 3%m ay be ad m itted . L . R .

t'/sm.■pill8.ii Economics and Statistics.

79. The Fuel Industry. I l l Petroleum. H . Fahrion . D ie Energiewirtschaft der W elt, p . 67-84.— T his pap er is based on th e rep o rts of various countries to th e I I I W orld Pow er Conference in W ashing ton . The figures in those rep o rts hav e been revised according to th e official figures pub lished for 1936. A nu m b er of im p o rta n t producing countries d id n o t furnish reports to th e Conference, an d d e ta ils concerning such countries have been o b tained elsewhere a n d included.

The petro leum in d u stry m ay be d iv ided in to five sections—prospecting , p roduction , ¡¡¿i: tran sp o rt, refining, nse an d commerce. E ach of these is described in a few sentences.

P articu lars concerning th e in d u stry in G erm any, F rance, G reat B rita in , Po land , A ustria , H ungary , R oum ania , R ussia, I ra q , Iran , D u tch E . Ind ies, C anada, U .S.A ., Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia a n d th e A rgentine a re given. These show a con tinual rise since th e crisis years, b o th in th e p roduction an d use of pe tro leum products . A

- 52 definite n a tio n a lis t view point is to be observed in th e various policies of th e differentZc.. i countries. S. E . C.

3be P 80. Petroleum Fuels in Relation to Agriculture in Great Britain. C. L. G ilbert, D . H .M eijnen an d K . H . Sam brook. Petrol. Tim es, 8.10.38, 40 (1030).— D espite th e pro-

E *- gressive decline in th e a rea of G reat B rita in u nder cu ltiv atio n th e consum ption ofreig fi Petro leum P roducts by th e ag ricu ltu ral in d u stry shows a s tead y increase. T his isL«3(1 principally due to th e stead y grow th in th e use to m echanical aids to farm ing T heX® 6 * in tro d u c tio n of such new process as grass an d hop d ry ing a n d orchard h ea tin g a ret Jfr responsible for considerable increm ents in th e consum ption of fuel oil while th e w idert adoption of dom estic an d da iry devices consum ing pe tro leum in some form in d ica tes

th a t pe tro leum will continue to sa tisfy a growing dem and. H G

81. Agricultural Tractors in the U.S.S.R. in 1938. I . G anitzk i. M onit. Petr, roum ., 1938, 39, 1765-1766.— The U .S.S.R . tra c to r in d u stry has been successfully developed

* 1 #

, a b s t r a c t s .2 4 A

. , , , tVlB f lf f o r ts o f A m e r i c a n s , n o t e w o r t h y a m o n g w h o m has b e e n J . balder,m a m l y d u e t o t h e e f f o r t s ° frQm ig/3() to 30/40 a n d 48/60. T h e G.A.ZThe tendency as successful conclusion te s ts on producer-gas vehicles, an dorganization has noon o f these in 1939 The T cheliabinsk factories, which haveth ey p l a n to co^ t r u e t 5 0 0 0 producing Diesel C aterp illars developing

f a c t t h e v P l a n t o p r o d u c e 32,000 s u c h v e h i c l e s in 1939, 10,000 being t r a c t o r s .The astounding growth in th e m echanization of R ussian agric id tu re is illu stra ted

by th e fact th a t in 1922 12,000 trac to rs were produced, an d in 1937 th e p roduction

haT heSspam p a rfs e rv ic e is only ab o u t 83% efficient, b u t th e repairing facilities are good. A n ou tstand ing feature of th e la t te r is th e o rganization of over 6000 depots for agricu ltu ral trac to rs . 1 •

82 New Developments in the Russian Transport Industry. I . G anitzk i. M onit. p i tr roum., 1938, 39, 1487-1489.— R ail traffic in th e U .S .S .R . is developing steadily , th u s tru ck s loaded in M ay 1938 num bered 96,626 p er d ay ag a in st 95,515 in May, 1937. The speed of passenger tra in s does n o t com pare a t a ll favourab ly w ith English an d A m erican s tan d ard s , n o r does th e ro lling-stock an d th e track s . T here is a general drive to im prove these conditions, an d a locom otive developing a speed of 180 km .p.h. is u n d er construction.

Civil av ia tion is developing rap id ly , th u s in 1938 i t is expected th a t passengers will num ber 220,000, m ail 7000 tonnes, and freigh t 38,000 tonnes. The m o st well-known a irc raft is th e A .N .T ., a fte r i ts co n structo r A. N . T upolev. T he M oscow -U.S.A . non­stop flight w as accom plished in one of these m achines. A p lane co nstructed by U ioutchine has flown 7600 km . a t an average speed of 307 km .p .h . R ussia , w ith 10,000 m ilita ry planes, possesses ab o u t 25% of th e w orld’s m ilita ry a irc raft.

The m ost no tew orthy developm ent in road tran sp o rt has been th e encouragem ent given to th e producer-gas vehicle. T. C. G. T.

83. Production and Operation of Automobiles in the U.S.S.R. I . G anitzk i. M onit. Petr, roum., 1938, 39, 1633-1634.— The considerable progress th a t has been m ade in th e construction of autom obile factories is largely due to A m erican firms. The Z .I.S . an d G.A.Z. factories should, according to program m e, produce 290,500 vehicles in 1938. The G.A.Z. o rganization , w hich h as been considerably influenced b y the F o rd Com pany, is being reconstruc ted to produce 500,000 vehicles in 1940. The Z .I.S . concern is also being considerably ex tended .

The spare p a r t in d u stry is n o t progressing so well, an d th e facilities for rep a ir are poor, though im proving. T . C. G. T.

84. Development and Economics of Motor Propulsion. A non. Przem . N a ft. , 25.11.38, 22, 621.— The pap er discusses th e sh ift in th e p ro p ortion of coal to petro leum , as used for propulsion purposes, which has tak e n place in th e la s t tw enty-five years. This sh ift in favour of petro leum p ro ducts is re la ted to th e developm ent of th e in tem al- com bustion engine, pa rticu la rly as used in m echanically propelled vehicles. An in teresting tab le is given showing th e respective consum ption of energy p e r passenger an d th e respective consum ption of fuel per passenger an d 500 k ilom etres, for some of th e m ost im p o rtan t m eans of com m unication.

B y m eans of these figures i t is d em o nstra ted th a t th e in te rnal-com bustion engine is m ost econom ical as far as sm all an d m iddle size engines a re concerned.

Some o ther considerations, such as th e ra tio of th e w eight to th e efficiency of an engine, are discussed. E J W

85. Oil in Hungary. Anon. Przem. N a ft., 25.11.38, 22, 617.— T he p ap er deals w ithth e problem s arism g from th e increase in oil p roduction from th e recen tly discovered oil- and gas-fields in H ungary . According to geologists, H u n g ary o ugh t to a tta in com plete selfsufficiency in petro leum p ro ducts in n o t m ore th a n 1-2 years. The ?nnten t o u tPu t of 68,000 tonnes of crude oil annually— as com pared w ith 495 to n s in 1937—already covers approxim ately 1/4 of th e in te rn al dem and. As i t is p robable

a B S i i l ACTS. 2 5 a

Wt

th a t th is p roduction w ill increase considerably, th e H ungarian petro leum ind u stry will be faced w ith th e following m ain problem s a p a rt from these, which are purely technical :—

(1) T ran sp o rt. The ra ilw ay is som ew hat in ad eq u ate in th e sou th -eastern p a r t of th e co u n try w here th e oil-fields are. Therefore there seems to be a possib ility of an expensive pipe-line, 220 kilom etres long, being laid.

(2) Refining. The question is w hether th e eight refineries th e refining capacity of which am oun ts to a lm ost 320,000 tons a year, w ill be able to cope w ith an increase in production . These refineries consist of d is tilla tio n and refining p lan ts only. I t is said th a t th e erection of a 4-million-pengo cracking p lan t w ith a capacity of 30,000 tons a year is being con tem plated by th e G overnm ent.

(3) The problem of alcohol ad d itio n to th e pe tro l, which is now com pulsory in H ungary , w ill have to be reconsidered. E . J . W .

86. Production of Liquid Fuels in Sweden. A. Billberg. Tekn. Tidskr. (Autom obil- ESdi och M otorteknik 7), 16.7.38, 49-53.— A résumé of a p relim inary rep o rt published by

a com m ittee appo in ted in 1937 b y th e Swedish A cadem y of Engineering Sciences. The com m ittee concludes th a t w ith p resen t prices of petro leum p ro ducts i t is u n ­economical to produce syn th e tic fuels b y any process know n a t p resen t. Of th e

itu l various processes available, hydrogenation of solid raw m ateria ls is considered th eleast su itable , p a r tly because of th e large investm en ts and high costs. H ydrogenation of liquid ta rs of various origin seems to offer some prom ise. Of special in te res t is th e production of ta r by low -tem perature d istilla tion of p e a t briquettes . F o r experim ental w ork in th is d irection Sw .K r. 150‘000 is requested . The new ly erected p lan t a t Persto rp , expected to comm ence operations shortly , w ill p robab ly yield inform ation an d experience regarding p roduction of liqu id fuels b y h eating wood or su lphate rosin a t h igh pressure in th e presence of lim e an d hydrogen. The com m ittee recom ­m ends no fu rth er action in th is field u n til experience from th is p lan t is available. F u rth e r w ork is recom m ended regarding th e p roduction of shale oil from K innekulle, the only im p o rtan t shale deposit in Sweden. The production of e th y l alcohol a t sulphite w orks is considered to be Sweden’s m ost p o ten t asset in th e field of liquid fuels, an d a tte n tio n is d irected to th e fac t th a t th e q u a n tity of e th y l alcohol can beincreased b y su itab ly vary ing th e conditions of th e cooking process ; there are alsoeconomic m ethods for producing e th y l alcohol from wood independently of celluloseproduction. Sw .K r. 15'000 is requested for fu rth e r w ork on such processes. F ina lly other substitu tes, such as e th e r and acetone an d th e ir derivatives, are m entioned,

ISt i Sw.Kr. 25 000 being requested to su p p o rt research in th a t field.The report contains a num ber of in te resting calculations. T he q u a n tity of wood

required to produce 100,000 to n s of gasoline by th e Bergius-I.G . process is given as 3,000,000 cubic m etres, corresponding to 430,000 tons of cellulose, w hich is 19% of Sweden’s annual cellulose production . According to th is s ta tem en t, a q u a n tity of wood equivalent to th a t a t p resen t consum ed b y th e en tire cellulose in d u stry would be necessary in order to produce Sw eden’s to ta l gasoline requ irem ents by th e

- . process ju s t m entioned. R . F . S.jss ®tie®!®rhids*1 tp e fut*0

jocyfl*l l *

denis*"dii!«¡toes* ^¡951®*6 [«HP*

2 6 a

BOOK REVIEWS.Practical Oil Geology. B y Dorsey H ager. P p . x ix + 466. 5 th E d itio n , 1938.

M cGraw-Hill Publish ing Co., L td ., London, W .C. 2. P rice 24s.

This handbook is ded icated to th e oilm en of A m erica w ith th e hope th a t i t will b ring to th em a b e tte r u n d erstand ing of geology an d i ts im portance to th e oil industry .

The book deals w ith th e origin an d com position of petro leum , s tra tig rap h y , palaeontology and s tru c tu ra l geology, w ith a ch ap ter on p rospecting an d m apping, an d also on th e location of te s t wells. D rilling an d p ro d u c tio n a re a llocated two chapters, followed by chap ters on th e occurrence an d com position of w a ters, n a tu ra l gas and oil shales. Geological field m ethods an d geophysics are unsatisfac to rily described, and finally a ch ap ter is devoted to w h a t th e geologist has done for the industry . A collection of strangely selected tab les form s an appendix .

The m ajor com plaint against th e book is th a t i t is slipshod an d unscientific, and the reader is frequently ir r ita te d by s ta tem en ts of th e obvious, such as, “ Norm ally th e older beds are b en ea th th e younger. T h is sim ple law is th e basis for determ ining th e ages of beds. Fold ing an d fau lting , how ever, m ay change the positions of certain beds b u t n o t th e ir age.”

Descriptions lack conciseness and are frequen tly re d u n d an t, an d , w h a t is worse, are often in terlarded w ith e lem entary calculations for w hich pu re ly a rb itra ry figures are selected. F o r exam ple, several pages a re devoted to th e sizes, shapes and packing of sand grains w ith m athem atical calculations, only to be followed by, “ M athem atical analysis of a tru e oil sand is senseless, unless a ll th e gram s are uniform in size and th e ir packing is uniform , which is seldom th e tru e condition . E x ­perim ental results on actual sands can alone provide th e answ er an d th e ranges of porosity secured from tab u la ted resu lts .” The m eaning of th e la t te r sentence is obscure, and sentences of th is ty p e are of frequen t occurrence. On page 33 the following observation is m ade : “ A heavy viscous oil w ill adhere to sand grains where a ligh t oil w ill n o t ; b u t th is is questionable in deep wells, w here th e tem ­peratures are high enough to raise th e v iscosity of even heavy oil so th a t th ey can flow from th e rocks readily .”

The more recent and m ost generally accepted theo ry of th e fo rm ation of salt plugs is n o t m entioned, and th e possib ility of production from fissures a n d prim ary porosity of limestones is ignored.

The chapter on drilling is weak, and could well be b rough t up to da te . The estim ation of derrick height, w ith m athem atical exam ples, from th e num ber of panels which m ay or m ay n o t be 7 ft. high is elem entary. No one w ill be able to grasp the operation of d rill stem testing from th e following descrip tion : “ A fter drilling into an oil s tra tum , some idea of p ro d uctiv ity m ay be gained b y m aking a drill stem tes t. The device is ru n on th e bo ttom of d rill p ipe. Opening a valve allows the fluid a t the bottom of th e hole to en ter th e p ipe .”

The book m ay have its uses to th e practical oilm en of Am erica, b u t as a source of inform ation i t is frequently unreliable and m isleading, an d seldom concise.

A. H . T a it .

Aktive Tonerde, Ihre Herstellung und Anwendung. B y Dr. In g . FranznArZVi a a P 'i 27t L ? lagramS 2 5 ’ tables 29- Ferd inand E nke, S tu ttg a r t . Price KM. 21-80 plus 25%.

e This inonograph on active alum ina is the latest addition to th e w ell-know n series

°S e“ h“ dbook” “ ued ""d“ edlw“ h|p ofPr d0CeSf OrS: !,* i8 ,ty Plcal of its general c l a s s - th a t is to say, th e author

has selected a restricted subject and has by in tensive s tu d y o f th e literature

BOOK REV IEW S. 2 7 A

(industria l, scientific an d p a te n t) collected to gether and n eatly classified all available inform ation on every possible aspect of th is subject.

Such a com pilation is o f g rea t value to th e specialist , who tends to know m ore and m ore a b o u t less an d less, an d can w ith ad v an tage be read in spare tim e b y those who find them selves steadily know ing less an d less ab o u t m ore and m ore.

The a u th o r h as m ade a good choice o f sub ject, for alum ina is a m ateria l w idely used fo r b o th industria l an d for pu re ly lab ora to ry purposes, for b o th o f which branches o f scientific app lication its characteris tic p roperties o f adsorp tive pow er m ake i t o f ou tstan d in g value.

The book is d iv ided in to th ree sections. The first deals w ith n a tu ra l bau x ite , w ith th e v a rie ty o f w ays in w hich pu re a lum ina can be m ade, an d finally w ith th e m ethods w hereby a lum inas w ith special physical an d colloidal characteristics are p repared.

P a r t 2 deals w ith th e physical a n d chem ical p roperties o f a lum ina, including especially its adsorp tive pow ers fo r vapours, electrolytes, colouring m atte rs and colloids.

P a r t 3, th e largest an d m ost im p o rtan t to th e technical chem ist , gives a f ull account of its indu stria l applications, w hich again a re p rincipally associated w ith its pow er for adsorp tion . I t s uses in th e purification o f w et an d vapour-laden gases, of d rinking-w ater, of wine, sugar, oils an d fa ts , m ineral oil and waxes and physiological products are well described.

A nother im p o rtan t in dustria l app lication— th a t of a filler in th e p aper, tex tile a n d ru b b er industries— is also d ealt w ith , an d finally a section deals w ith m iscell­aneous uses ranging from fluorescent screens to fireproofing and m eta l polish ing .

The p a rticu la r re la tion o f a lum ina to th e pe tro leum in d u stry is slight, and occu­pies only a few pages o f th e book. Ail th e published inform ation re la ting to th e use of bau x ite for decolorizing a n d desulphurizing receives reference, b u t th is refining agent is b u t little used to -day .

The general p roduction o f th e book and its indexes is beyond criticism .F . B. T h o l e .

Sea Transport and Measurement of Petroleum Products. B y C apt. P . Jan sen andH . H yam s. P p . 185. T. L. A insley, L td ., Mill D am , S ou th Shields. 1938.P ric e 12a. 6d.This is a sound an d w orkm anlike discussion of th e sub jects covered b y th e title .

Clearly w ritten , th e book is useful n o t only to th e ju n io r sh ips’ officers, to w hom it is specially addressed, b u t also for general reference. T he sections on oil m easure­m en t app ly ashore as well as afloat.

T he section dealing w ith tra n sp o rt opens w ith a descrip tion of th e construction of tankers, including th e m ore recen t double-longitudinal-bulkhead ty p e . V arious arrangem ents of sh ips’ lines an d valves are illu s tra te d in clear diagram s. Procedure a t loading an d discharge is explained, including ship-to-ship and ship-to-lighter transfers, w ith th e safe ty p recau tions necessary th e n and during th e gas-freeing of sh ips’ tan k s . T he handling in b u lk of a sp h a lt, creosote, an d anim al an d vegetable oils is o u tlin e d ; packed pe tro leum cargoes are also discussed.

T he section on oil m easurem ent begins w ith a brief descrip tion of th e principal classes of pe tro leum p ro d u c ts a n d th e lab o ra to ry te s ts com m only m ade on th em ; cargo sam pling an d th e correct m ethods for tak in g specific g ravities are discussed m ore fully. The differences betw een th e various h y drom eter scales in com m on use are fully explained, as is also th e calcu lation of w eights from th e ir readings. Tables of coefficients for correcting b o th g rav ities an d volum es for th e effect of tem p era tu re are se t ou t, w ith exp lanations an d exam ples. G raphical m eth o d s of correction are also given, b u t by lim iting th e ir g raphs to s tra ig h t lines, th e au th o rs have lost th e o p p o rtu n ity of allow ing for th e non-linear ch arac te r of these corrections which is given w hen graphical m ethods are adopted .

E x tensive tab les facilita ting th e calcu lation of tonnages from 6 0 ° F ./6 0 ° F . gravities an d oil volum es in cubic feet are included, since m an y tan k e rs still use cubic-footage tab les. M etric tonnages a re reckoned as w eights in a ir from these ta b le s ; th e fa c t is clearly s ta te d in th e te x t , b u t in p ractice m etric cargo w eights are m ore usua lly reckoned as in vacua. T he in sertion in fu tu re ed itions of a tab le

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS RECEIV ED .

allowing convenient conversion of oil w eights in a ir to w eights in vacuo w ould remedy this, which is th e book’s only no tab le om ission. O ther tab les show th e interrelation of un its in th e different system s of m easurem ent, th e figures given being those accepted in th e In s ti tu te of P e tro leum ’s own publication , “ M easure­m ent of Oil in Bulk w eights per U .S. gallon, against b o th specific and A .P .I . gravities; pipe-line capacities for various d iam eters; interconversion of F a h re n ­heit and Centigrade tem p era tu res; w ith o th er d a ta m ore specifically nau tical.

While legibility is n o t im paired, n e ither th e p rin tin g no r th e ed iting of th e book is as good as i t should be, considering th e h igh s ta n d a rd of th e te x t.

P e t e b K e r r .

Veredlung der Crackbenzine. (Refining of Cracked Gasoline.) P p . 73. A llgem einer Industrie Verlag. K norre & C o.,K -9 , Berlin, W . 9. Price RM , 6.80.

The particu lar difficulties encountered in th e refining of cracked gasoline due to th e high content of u n sa tu ra ted hydrocarbons, som e of w hich are beneficial, w hilst others are harm ful, are discussed. The chief m ethods em ployed to -d ay for refining cracked gasoline are th en critically surveyed, grouped u n d er th e headings : (1) Chemical Methods, (2) Physical M ethods and (3) H ydrogenation .

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.British Standard No. 21. Pipe Threads. Part I. Basic Sizes and Tolerances. R e ­

vised November 1938. Pp. 13. B ritish S tandards In s ti tu tio n , 28, V ictoria Street, S.W. 1. Price 2s.

Oil in Mexico. B y Jo h n Serocold. Pp. 72. Chapm an and H a ll L td ., 11, H e n rie tta S treet, London, W.C. 2. 1938. Price 2s. 6d.

The history and political m otives leading up to th e M exican oil d ispute, which resulted in the expropriation in M arch 1938 of th e oil com panies’ p roperties, are clearly set forth. The implications and consequences of th is policy, n o t only to Mexico and the B ritish Em pire, b u t to the world in general, are outlined.

IN ST IT U T E NOTES.

J a n u a r y 1 9 3 9 .

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS.T uesday, 14th Feb ru ary , 1939, a t 5.30 p.m ., a t th e R oyal Society of A rts,

Jo h n S treet, London, W.C. 2. “ Some Factors in Oil Accumulation,”by Professor V. C. Illing , M.A., M.Inst.M .M .

Tuesday, 14th M arch, 1939, a t 5.30 p.m . a t th e R oyal Society of A rts, Jo h n S treet, London, W .C. 2. Symposium on “ Dangerous Gases in the Petroleum and Allied Industries.”

P r e l i m i n a r y A n n o u n c e m e n t .22nd—2 4th May, 1939. The Sum m er M eeting of th e In s t i tu te will be held a t

B irm ingham . The program m e of th e m eeting will be published in Feb ru ary .

N o r t h e r n B r a n c h .

T hursday , 9 th F ebruary , 1939, a t 7.15 p.m ., a t th e E ngineers’ Club, A lbert Square, M anchester. Jo in t M eeting w ith th e In s t i tu te of Chem istry. “ What Happens to Motor Oil and What Happens to the Engines,” byC. I. K elly , M.Sc., F .I.C ., F.C.S.

T hursday , 16th F ebruary , 1939. Annual Dinner and Dance a t th e M idland H ote l, M anchester.

T hursday , 9 th M arch, 1939, a t th e E ngineers’ Club, A lbert Square, M anchester. Annual General Meeting and “ The Search for Oil in Britain,” by G. W .Lepper, B.Se., A.R.C.S.

Mr. L epper’s L ecture was originally delivered a t th e Conversazione held in L ondon on 8th Novem ber, 1938. The Council subsequently in v ited Mr. L epper to read his L ecture a t each of th e In s t i tu te ’s B ranches in G reat B rita in .

A rrangem ents are also being m ade for th e L ecture to be delivered to th e Sco ttish B ranch an d a t th e U n iversity of B irm ingham .

S c o t t i s h B r a n c h .

F rid ay , 24 th M arch, 1939. “ The Planning of a Modern Colliery,” by W illiamR eid , B.Sc. F u ll pa rticu la rs can be ob tained from Prof. W . M. Cum ming, D .Sc., R oyal Technical College, Glasgow.

S o u t h W a l e s B r a n c h .

F rid ay , 27 th Ja n u a ry , 1939, a t 6.30 p.m ., a t th e H o te l M etropole, Swansea. “ The Search for Oil in Great Britain,” by G. W . Lepper, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.

S t u d e n t s ’ S e c t i o n (L o n d o n B r a n c h ).

W ednesday, F e b ru a ry 15th, a t 5.45 p .m . a t th e Offices o f th e In s titu te , The Adelphi, L ondon, W .C.2. “ Some Information on the use of Ethyl in Fuels for Automobile and Aviation Engines,” by F . R . B anks, O .B .E ., F .R .A e.S ., M .I.A .E .

T h urdsay , 16th M arch, a t 5.45 p .m . a t th e Offices o f th e In s ti tu te , The Adelphi, London, W .C.2. “ The Application of Science to the PetroleumIndustry,” by G. H . Coxon.

TRANSFERS TO NEW CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP.

The Temporary Regulations relating to the transfer of the existing members to the new classes of membership, as set out in the leaflet sent to all members of the Institute, were approved at the Special General Meeting held on 10th January, 1939.

Members who wish to transfer to one of the new classes of member­ship are requested to submit their applications as early as possible on the forms provided for the purpose at the back of the leaflet con-______• 1 1 n 1 /N 1 -n/r . •

i i IN S T IT U T E r C " ™ “

NEW MEMBERS.The following elections were made by the Council in accordance

with the By-Laws, Section IV, Para. 7 at the Council Meeting heldon Tuesday, 10th January, 1939.

Elections are subject to confirmation in accordance with the By- Laws, Section IV, paras. 9 and 10.

Members.B e a u n e , B ernard C o l l i n s , W illiam Thomas ...F a r r a n t , V ictor M a t th e w ........................................F r a n k , F r i t z I v a n o f f , A l e x a n d e r L e v i , R i c h a r dN i c h o l s o n , Ian H ow ard G rant U n m a c k , E dw ard W est

Associate Members.C r o s s f i e l d , A rthur ...H i l t o n , Charles Jam es

Students.C a p l a n , B arry ... ... ............M c C u e , Cyril Frederick ..............................S t e e l , George R e g i n a l d

CANDIDATES FOR ADMISSION.The following have applied for admission to the Institute or

transfer to another grade of membership, and in accordance with the By-Laws the proposals will not be considered until the lapse of at least one month subsequent to the issue of this Journal, during which time any Member or Associate Member may communicate by letter to the Secretary, for the confidential information of the Council, any particulars he may possess respecting the qualifications or suitability of any candidate.

The object of this information is to assist the Council in grading candidates according to the class of membership.

The names of the candidate’s proposer and seconder are given in parentheses.B l a n e , Edw ard R ichardson, Chemist ( Vacuum Oil Company), “ The C ottage,”

Lynwood Drive, W orcester Park , Surrey. (S. J . M . A u ld ; IF. Q- Cullick.) B r a y b r o o k , Frederick H oughton, Chemist (Asiatic Petroleum Co.), 57,

Stanhope Gardens, London, S.W. 7. (J. Kewley ; IF. W . Ooulson.)B r u c e , Patrick David, S tudent, Im perial College H ostel, South K ensington,

S.W. 7. (V. C. Illing.)C h a s t e l a i n , Alfred George Gardyne de, Engineer (Unirea S .A .R . de Petrol),

S trada General B erthelot 90, B ucharest, R oum ania. (E. C. M asterson ; O. Elias). (Transfer from A . M .)

C l a r k e , Geoffrey Jard ine, S tudent, 10, G unterstone R oad, W est K ensing ton , W. 14. (V . C. Illing.)

E v e s , H ubert B ryan H eath , D irector (Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., L td .), 4, H a m p ­stead H ill Gardens, London, N.W . 3. (S. J . M . A u ld ; A . E . Dunstan.)

E v e r e t t , Eric George, S tudent, 118, Shelbourne R oad, T o ttenham , N. 17. (F . C. Illing.)

G o d b e r , Frederick, D irector (Asiatic Petroleum Co.), St. Helens C ourt, G rea t St. Helens, London, E.C. 3. (J. Kewley ; S . J . M . A uld.)

H a n f o r t h , W illiam Percival, Engineer, c/o Asiatic Petro leum Co., L td ., S . S . , L td., Smgapore. (L. H . Cooper ; D. R . Howgill.)

H a n n a h , Edw in George, Chemist (British B itum en Refineries L td .), 14, W averley Gardens, N. Stifford, Grays, Essex. (E. Lawson Lom ax ; C. E . Evans.)

H e s e l t i n e , Guy R obert Nelson, Sales M anager, c/o V acuum Oil C om pany, L td ., Caxton House E ast, W estm inster, S.W . 1. (S. J . M . A u ld : IF. OGulliclc.)

H o r n e , Donald, Chemist (Low-Temperature Carbonization Distillates, L td .), 28, Oxcroft Lane, Bolsover, Nr. ChesterfieM (O S Pound ■ R V. Wheeler.)

G erm any.... M anchester.... M anchester.

London.L uton.

... M anchester.

... South Africa.

... M anchester.

... London.T rinidad.

London.London.H ayw ards H eath .

jv e s s le r , dean H ap tis te , D irector, Asiatic Petro leum Co., L td ., St. Helens C ourt, G reat S t. Helens, London, E.C. 3. (J . K ew ley; S . J . M . Auld.)

L e a c h , R onald F rancis, Clerk (Shell-M ex dc B .P ., L td.), 2, S co tt’s W ay, Sun- burv-on-Tham es. M iddx. (P. AT. Harrap ; W. B . Rowntree.)

M a r s h a l l , Thom as Moye B erry , Chem ist (Shell M arketing Co., L td.), 3, M arloes R oad , L ondon, W . 8. (J . S . Jackson ; J . Parrish.)

M c C o l l , A lexander Lowe, D irector, V acuum Oil Co., L td ., C axton House E as t, W estm inster, S.W . 1. (S. J . M . A u ld ; W. O. Oullick.)

M cM i l l a n, W illiam H utchison, Professor of Mining (Edinburgh University), 5. Gordon Terrace, E dinburgh , 9. (IF. H . Cadman ; W. M . Cumming.)

M o u n t f o r d , Law rence Almeric, T rainee (Asiatic Petroleum Co., Ltd.), 51, Lower P ark , L oughton, Essex. (IF. IF. Ooulston ; J . Kewley.)

M u r p h y , B rian A loysius, Chem ist (Shell Oil Co. of Australia), 13, Daw son A venue, Elw ood, S. 3. M elbourne, A ustralia . (T . M . Hartiqan ; J . H . Ooodey.)

N a p i e r, Jo h n W atson , E ngineer (Alloa Oas Corporation), Gas W orks, Alloa, Clackm annonshire. (A . E . Dunstan ; W. M . Cumming.)

P i c k a r d , W illiam T hom as, S tuden t, 5, The Triangle, London, W . 10. (V . C.Illing .)

P r e s t o n , R ichard , Chem ist (Road Research Laboratory), “ M arand ,” B a th R oad , Slough, Bucks. (J . S . Jackson; J . Parrish.)

Se l l e r s , R ichard W ilcoek, D irector, (Iraq Petroleum Company), C axton H ouse E as t, W estm inster, S.W . 1. (S. J . M . A u ld ; Lord Cadman.)

Si s l e y, H aro ld , S tuden t, 67, E lgar A venue, T olw orth, Surbiton , Surrey. ( V. C. Illing .)

T h o r n e y c r o f t , T hom as H am o, D irector of Coal Companies, 113, S t. V incent S treet, Glasgow, C. 2. (W . H . Cadman ; W. M . Cumming.)

T r u e m a n , A rth u r E lijah , Professor of Geology, U niversity of Glasgow, Glasgow. (A . E. D unstan ; W. H . Cadman.)

W h i t e , Jo h n Michael W illson, A ssistan t (Shell-M ex dc B .P ., Ltd.), Lensbury Club, Teddington, M iddx. (F . M . Harrap ; IF. B. Rowntree.)

W r i x o n , R eginald B ry an B entley, Driller, c/o A nglo-Egyptian Oilfields, L td ., H u rghada, E g y p t. (H . de Wilde ; J . H . Blakiston.)

ARTHUR W. EASTLAKE,Honorary Secretary.

BRANCH NOTES.A n n u a l M e e t i n g o f A m e r ic a n M e m b e r s .

C h i c a g o , 1 6 t h N o v e m b e r , 1 9 3 8 .

The Fourth Annual Meeting of American members of the Institute was held at the Stevens Hotel, Chicago, on Wednesday, 16th November, 1938. Dr. J. Bennett Hill, M.Inst.Pet. (Sun Oil Com­pany), presided over an attendance of more than 150 members and guests. The meeting was held at the same time as the annualA.P.I. Convention in Chicago.

Five short talks were given by the following speakers :Dr. E. C. Williams (Shell Development Company) discussed

“ Research Angles in the Oil Industry,” and referred to work on the synthesis of glycerin from petroleum gases. A small com­mercial plant had been in operation for more than a year, and the economic production of glycerin was a possibility. This would provide an alternative source of supply of glycerin, although it was not anyone’s intent to compete with existing supplies.

Dr. G. Egloff (Universal Oil Products Company) reviewed the tendency in European countries to introduce substitutes for petro­leum gasoline. He estimated that during 1939 about 25 per cent, of the total European requirements for motor fuel would come from substitutes of one type or another—mainly synthetic hydro­carbons and alcohols from coal, wood, vegetables and cereals. Experimental work was also going on with such substitutes as ammonia, hydrogen and acetylene.

IV

Mr. Theron Whasson (Pure Oil Company) dealt with the geology and production activities in Illinois fields.

Dr. Frederick H. Lahee (Sun Oil Company, Dallas), Past-President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, discussed “ Geophysical Methods in Locating Wells.”

Mr W B Way, of the International Petroleum Exhibition, spoke about the 1940 Exhibition to be held in Tulsa from 18-25thMay, 1940. ,

Arrangements for the Meeting and Dinner had been made by Mr. C. R. Wagner and Mr. W. B. Ross of the Pure Oil Company,Chicago.

T r in id a d B r a n c h .

The Eleventh Annual General Meeting of the Trinidad Branch was held in the Apex Club, Fyzabad, on Wednesday, 30th Novem­ber, 1938. Mr. J. L. Harris (Branch Chairman) was in the Chair.

The Committee’s Report on the working of the Branch for the year and the Annual Accounts were submitted and approved. (AM?.—The Annual Report of the Branch will be published with the Annual Report of the Council.)

The following were elected members of the committee for the ensuing Session :

J. L. H a r r i s , B .S c . (Chairman)L. A. B u s h e F. H. L. T i n d a l l , B.Sc.E. C. S c o t t , M.C., B.Sc. L. K. W h i t e , B.Sc.Honorary Secretary and Treasurer : W. N. F o s t e r , M.A., Petroleum

Office, San Fernando, Trinidad, B.W.I.

R o u m a n ia n B r a n c h .

Mr. C. Brokaw read a Paper to the members of the Roumanian Branch on 8th December, 1938, on the subject of “ Directional Drilling.”

The Twelfth Annual Dinner of the Branch was held in Bucharest on 14th January, 1939. A telegram of greetings to the Council was forwarded by the Chairman (Mr. J. Rutherford) on behalf of the members present.

PERSONAL NOTES.Mr. R. C h a n d l e r is home from India.Engr.-Lieut.-Commdr. W. W. D o w n s has returned to Ceylon.Mr. J. M a h d i is in Iraq.Mr. M. P. M c C a r th y has returned to India.Mr. J. P. M c C u l lo c h has left for India.Mr. C. S. N e w e y is home from Venezuela.Mr. C. E. W e l l i n g s has left for Iran.Mr. H. Wo o d f i e l d has left Australia and is now in Japan. Correspondence or Journals forwarded to the following members

have been returned, and the Secretary would be pleased to receive any information regarding their present address : T. J. F. A r m ­s t r o n g , E. C. B r o w n , K. B u r t o n , 0 . C. E l v i n s , V. C. S. G e o r g e s c u , J. J. L . H a m i l t o n , J. R . H o r t h , A. D . J o n e s , J. L a n d e r , H. R. L o v e l y , I. L u s t y , A. M a c L e a n , G. P. M e l v i l l e ,C. A. M o o n , R . L . M u r r a y , S. N i c o l , M. I. O r e v i c e a n u , N . D . R o t h o n , H. G. S p e a r p o i n t , and A . , H - W il l i a m s .

HADFIELD'S. AvWAAiU \WWAAtl thlihh hh/t/j.

TRADER ERA 131 (MARK & TRADE HECLA 153 m a r k^ / w ' / t i ' H ’v v v w ^ ^ / w r r m m m ^

S T E A M P I P E FLANGE BOLTS

HAVE A HIGH CREEP STRENGTHFor use at the highest temper­ature employed in modern steam practice.Do not become brittle as a result of operating conditions.

Steel Castings a n d Forgings of all Kinds.

HADFIELDS LTD. 8“î,T“,,r— East Hecla and Hecla W orks, SHEFFIELD, Eng. -

N o. 1666.

SCHLUMBERGER ELECTRICAL CORINGFrance.— Société de Prospection

Electrique, 3 0 , rue Fabert, P a r i s .

U .S.A .— Schlum berger W ell Surveying C orporation, 2 7 2 0 Leeland, H o u s t o n ,

Texas.

Local Offices : Long Beach, Oklahoma C ity, N ew York, C orpus C hristi, B radford.

Venezuela.— P . Bayle, Villa Proselec, M a r a c a i b o .

Trinidad, B.W.I.— Schlum berger Elec­trical C oring M ethods, S a n F e r n a n d o .

C olom bia.— H . R appart, P u e r t o - B e r r i o .

Argentine.— G . G uichardot, C o m o d o r o

R i v a d a v ia , K m . 27.

M orocco.— M . Texier, Société de Prospection Electrique, P e t it je AN.

Rum ania.— A. Poirault, 18 S trada I. C. B ratianu, C a m p in a , (Prahova).

Germany.-—Firm a von Flotow, Schil- lerstrasse 361, H a n o v e r .

D r. B. Paul, Kobenzlgasse 30, V i e n n a .

Hungary.—M . Scheibli, V adaszkürt T ü r Istvan U.3, B u d a p e s t .

Iraq.— L . Beaufort, Q a i y a r a h .

British India.— A. Couret, D i g b o i ,

Assam.

Burm a.— L . Bordât, K h o d a u n g .

Netherland East Indies.— R. Sauvage, P lADJOE, Sum atra.

Schlum berger M ethods also applied in : U .S .S .R ., Japan, Italy, Poland, Yugoslavia, Egypt and B ritish N orth Borneo.

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

Geophysical Mapping of Hidden Structures for Oil and Gasby means of G ravim etric, Seism ic, E lectrica l, M agnetic Methods

W e especially draw attention to the ISIN C GRAVIMETER

high accuracy and high efficiency easy to operate and transport

AKTIEBOLAGET ELEKTRISK M ALM LETNING(The Electrical Prospecting Company)

Kungsgaten 44, Stockholm, Sweden

London Representative: REX LAMBERT, A.R.S.M., 25, Victoria Street, London, S.W.1 Telephone: Victoria 8988

A.S.T.M. VISCO SITY-TEM PERATU RE CHARTSC H A R T A : Saybo lt U n ive rsa l V isco s ity (20 by 16 in .)— te m p e ra tu re range, — 30° F . to + 450° F . ;

v iscos ity range, 33 to 100,000,000 Saybo lt U n ive rsa l Seconds. P r ic e 6s. Od. p e r pad o f 25 .

C H A R T B : Saybolt U n ive rsa l A bridged (8 J by I I in .)— tem p e ra tu re range , — 10° F. to + 3 5 0 ° F. ; v iscos ity range, 33 to 100,000 seconds. P r ic e 8s. Od. p e r pad o f 50.

C H A R T C : K in em a tic V is co s ity , H igh Range (20 by 16 in .)— te m p e ra tu re range , — 30° F . to + 450° F . ; v isco s ity range, 2 to 20 ,000 ,000 cen tis to kes . P r ic e 6s. Od. p e r pad o f 2 5 .

C H A R T D ; K in em atic V isco s ity , Lo w Range (20 by 20 in .)— tem p e ra tu re range, — 30° F . to + 450° F. ; v iscos ity range. 0 .4 to 100 cen tis to kes . P r ice 6s. Od. p e r pad o f 25 .

Obtainable from

THE INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUMThe A delph i, London, W .C .2

LIST OF ADVERTISERS.AKTIEBOLAGET E LEK TR ISK MALMLETNING A s k a n i a -W e r k e , A .G .B a b c o c k & W il c o x , L t d .B a k e r O i l T o o l s , I n c .W . C h r i s t i e & G r e y , L t d . ...A . F . C r a ig & C o . , L t d .D u k e & O c k e n d e n , L t d .F o s t e r W h e e l e r , L t d .W . J . F r a s e r & C o . , L t d .G e o p h y s i c a l P r o s p e c t i n g C o . , L t d H a d f i e l d s , L t d .I I a y w a r d - T y l e r & Co., L t d .I n s t i t u t io n o f P e t r o l e u m T e c h n o l o g is t s I n t e r n a t io n a l P a i n t & C o m p o s i t i o n s C o . , L t dL a n e -W e l l s C o . ......................................................L u m m u s C o m p a n y

M e t r o p o l it a n V i c k e r s E l e c t r i c C o ., L t d .N a t io n a l S u p p l y C o r p o r a t io n ....................O i l W e l l S u p p l y C o .S e c u r i t y E n g i n e e r i n g C o ., I n c .S o c i é t é d e P r o s p e c t i o n É l e c t r i q u e S p e r r y -S u n W e l l S u r v e y i n g C o . . ..J o h n G . S t e i n & C o . , L t d ..........................................S t e w a r t s a n d L l o y d s , L t d .

S v e n s k a D ia m a n t b e r o b o r r n in g s A k t i e b o l a g e t T in t o m e t e r , L t d .

I n

I n s

VIviii xivxii

de back cover xviii

de back cover

xiii vii

V I

v i ixvixvii

ix

XVX X

Back cover

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

v i

REOP

TRADE

PAINTS s PETROLEUM

INDUSTRY“ DANBOLINE S ILV ER ET T E ” The super alum inium p a in t fo r

a ll refinery purposes. O nly actual experience can prove its am azing durability.

TANCTECTOL The only protective p a in t fo r theIN T E R IO R o f petroleum storage ta n k s. W ith s ta n d s p e rm a n e n t immersion in a ll petroleum fra c­tions, benzole and salt or fresh w a ter . U sed by th e B r itis h Adm iralty, R oyal A ir Force, and leading O il Companies.

W rite for free booklet “ PAINT IN THE OIL INDUSTRY.”

INTERNATIONAL PAINT & COMPOSITIONS Co., Ltd.U .S . E n q u irie s : 31-32 GrOSVenor Place, Main Factory21 W E S T S T ., FELL IN G -O N -T Y N EN EW Y O R K . L O N D O N , S .W . I EN GLAN D

WHICH GEOPHYSICAL METHOD?W e employ all modern Geophysical methods

G R A V IM ET R IC M AGN ETICSEISM IC ELECTRIC, etc.

and can therefore apply the Method best suited to your local conditions and problems.

EXPERIEN CE CO U N TS

W e have had a world wide experience of Geophysical Prospecting extending over a period of fifteen years on behalf of the largest Oil Companies (British and American).

THE GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING CO., LTD.(Formerly The International Geophysical Prospecting Co. L id .)

(Managing Director: J. C. Templeton, B.Sc., F .C .S ., M .Inst.M .M ., M.Inst.P.T.)

9-11, Copthall Avenue, London, E.C.2

Telephone: Telegrams and CablesM ETROPOLITAN 6363 . CEO PRO SCO , LONDON

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

v i i

Adjustment of the Magnetic System s

Our First Class Precision Work

in the m anufacture of m agnetic Field Balances a llo w s of show ing

even variations of 1 /5 0 ,0 0 0 of the earth field. This is the

explanation of the v e ry successfu l results obtained with

A SK A N IA Field Balances

in the g eophysical investigation of o re and oil depo sits.

For further details write for our pamphlet G e o 3 5 6 1 8

BER LIN -FR IED EN A URepresentative for Great Britain and Ire la n d :

Lt.-Col. W . Salter, 6 4 V ictoria S treet, W estm inster, London, S.W .1

Representative fo r U .S .A .:American Askania Corporation, Houston, Texas, 8 2 6 , M. & M. Building

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.v i i i

NATIONALLOY SLUSH PUMP LINERS

All modern Ideal Slush Pumps are fitted with " Nationalloy ” Steel Liners which have a Brinell hardness of 600.

Owing to the precision machining and heat treatment in course of manufacture these liners are extremely resistant to wear and give much longer life than ordinary liners.

Two recent typical instances of actual service include the drilling of 28,656 ft. with one set of these liners in one case and 31,826 ft. in another case, and replacements of pistons were correspondingly reduced.

NATIONAL O W E CORIVER PLATE HOUSE LONDON E.C.2.

~J1 lU:- fsssrud. wk:n communicating with Advertisers.

î* â m

A new instrument

for quickly and

easily determining com­

bustible gas hazards

EXPLOSIMETERCOM PACT • SIMPLE • DURABLE • ACCURATE • PORTABLEThis new pocket-size Indicator meets the demands ot operating men for an instrument that can be carried about on the job, and can be operated by any workman.A test with the instrument requires only the adjustment of a single con­trol and the operation of a piston-type pump. The gas concentration is immediately readable on the indicat­ing meter. The sensitivity is such that gas concentrations below the lower explosive limit—as low as a few hundredths of one per cent by volume-can be measured.The instrument also shows whether the gas concentration is within or above the explosive range. A dilu­

tion tube of novel design is available which makes possible comparative readings of these higher concentra­tions.

The dependability, compactness, and easy operation of the Explosimeter gives it a wide field of use in public utility and oil refinery service, as well as in distilleries, paint and varnish plants, chemical and by-product plants, iron and steel mills, etc., wher­ever flammable vapours and gases may be present or are suspected. It is also well adapted to use by munici­palities for investigating fire hazards, testing sewers and manholes, and checking for gas hazards in sewage disposal plants.

Write for descriptive leaflet No. DN. 2 . Ex.

Metropolitan Vickers Electric Co., Ltd.Trafford P a rk , M a n c h e s t e r , 17

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.x

J . i i Km______

T H E

SIEVERS REAMER'I w a m a u l to lo o k a t i t . . .

• fa The S ievers R eam er is ou tstand ing in its ab ility to ream a round fu ll-gauged hole tha t s ta y s ream ed , becau se , in stead of rolling the excess form ation into the w a lls .it h a s an exclusive slicing action that a c tu a lly cuts excess form ation a w a y from the w alls sm oothly an d perm anen tly . The correct an g le a t w hich the cutters a re set causes a slight d o w n w ard th rust that h e lps to keep slack out of the drill string a n d a id s the cutting action of the bit. That m eans you not only get m ore effective ream ing, but a lso faste r d rilling w hen you use a Sievers!

• fa A nother im portant factor th a t contributes to the u n u su a l effi­c iency of the S ievers R eam er is its w ide w all contact— a fea tu re th a t a s su res a round cylindrical hole a n d full stab ilization of the drill string.

■ jf No m atter how you look a t it, you get g re a te r ream ing efficiency w ith a S ievers Ream er!

This w a y you see th e most effi­cient cutting action it is possible to b u i ld in to a r e a m e r — th e S ievers slicing action th a t a c tu ­a lly cu ts—not ro lls— your w alls out to gauge!

A nd th is w a y you see a w ide w all contact th a t a ssu re s a round cy lindrica l hole a ll the w ay to bottom, an d full s tab iliza tion of your drill string!

S E C U R I T Y E N G I N E E R I N G CO., INC.WHITTIER. CALIFORNIA. PHONE 42004

M ID -CO N TIN ENT * 5 5 2 5 C LINTON DRIVE. H OUSTON, TEXAS, PH O N E CA PITOL 2011 EXPORT ★ SECURITY ENGINEERING CO., INC., 420 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY

SteoesU Peam otd ★ Secu/iaituf, ★ S e c u rity jb^uitatUe. P 'lo d u cti

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

x i

EVEN SHERLOCK COULDN'T DO IT!

You can't tell w hat formations are like by looking dow n the well; guessing from bailer sam ples is pretty risky. Deductive pow ers are an asset — if, like Holmes, you have real facts to work on.

Geologists and Engineers D em and FACTS—And the BAKER CABLE TOOL CORE BARREL Supplies Them . . .

Good cores present a cross-section of the formation that is of the greatest value to those who make the decisions on any drill­ing job. With such cores the geologist and engineer can draw sound conclusions — based on facts — that will reflect credit on their knowledge and judgment and aid in the correct solution of even the most puz­zling problem.

EASY OPERATIONGood cores are easy to take with the Baker Cable Tool Core Barrel. Any competent driller quickly learns to operate it success­fully. He simply uses a shorter stroke and slower motion; drills with a slightly slack line and keeps the core-taking tube on bot­tom. Depending on the formation, core recovery is usually from 80% to 100%. Drill­ing progress is generally as fast with this core barrel as with a bit, and the hole is kept to gauge.

W rite For Inform ation . . .Let us send you the bulletin describing the construction and operation fof the Baker Cable Tool Core Barrel. Meanwhile, i fread more about it in your Composite Catalog.

B A K E R OIL T O O L S ,IN C .P O S T O F F I C E B O X 71. H U N T I N G T O N P A R K C A L I F O R N I A

C O A IIN G A • TAFT • HOUSTON • OKLAHOM A CITY • TULSA • NEW YORK

BAKER CABLE TOOL CORE BARRELKindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

x i i

★ T h e F in est C O N D E N S I N G A N D F R A C T IO N A T IN G PLANT . . .

. . . will b e f o u n d to

b e a r this mark —

The upper illustration shows a Multi- tubular Dephlegmating Condenser. The tubes and tube plates are of bronze. On the left is a Ring Packed Fractionating Column specially de­signed for high vacuum duty.

With our wide experience in the design and manufacture of Petroleum Refining Equipment, we can place the most up-to-date and economical plant at our clients' disposal.

Why not sen d for further details ?

W. J. FRASER & CO., LTD.DAGEN HAM ESSEX

T.A.S./PZ. 194Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

XUl

BABCOCKC lan One WELDED PRESSURE VESSELSCONSTRUCTED AT RENFREW

• BOILERDRUMS

OTHERVESSELS

Total Num ber 243 246

G reatest Length 38' 4" 74' 0"

Greatest D iam eter 5' 6" 20' 0"

Thickest Shell 3 1 " 15"J8

Heaviest 36 Tons 40 Tons

Highest Pressure 1 1 24 lbs./sq. in. 1495 Ibs./sq.in.

The 400,000 Volt X-Ray Unit installed will penetrate 4%" thick steel plate.

EVERYTHING FOR THE BOILER HOUS E I N C L U D I N G V A L V E S

BABCOCK & WILCOX LTD.34 FARRINGDON STREET, L O N D O N . E.C.4

Kindly mention this Journal when comm inicating with Advertisers.

x iv

SURWELGYROSCOPIC CLINOGRAPH

Sets Another Remarkable RecordT h e S uperio r O il C om pany’s deep well a t Rio Bravo, C aliforn ia, was double surveyed w hen a t a depth of 11,322 fee t w ith the “ SU R W E L ” G yroscopic C linograph a ttached to the drill pipe m aking the ro u n d trip in 5 i hours.

FROM TH E LOG

In-run started at9h 28m OOsec.

Bottom reached atl l h 41m OOsec.

Out-run completed at2h 55m OOsec.

Total time for twosurveys . . . 5h 27m OOsec.

Closure between In andO u t-ru n .............................. 6.1'

Maximum temperaturerecorded......................... 218°F.

Records taken every 45 feet.

Sperry-Sun cong ra tu la tes T h e S uperio r O il C om ­pany and th e ir C alifo rn ia staff fo r successfully com ­pleting one of the fastest ro u n d trip s ever m ade a t

tl c • „ s u c h d e p th — a s p le n d idThe Superior O il—Geisenger jf2 Rio Bravo, .

Kern Co ., California p e r f o r m a n c e !

SPERRY-SUN WELL SURVEYING CO.1608 Walnut Street, Phila., Pa., U.S.A.

(U .S . P aten ts 1 ,12 4 .0 6 8 ; 1 ,812 ,9 9 4 ; 1 ,89 8 ,4 7 3 ; 1 ,95 9 ,1 4 1 ; 1,9 6 0 ,0 3 8 ; 2 ,0 0 6 ,5 5 6 ; 2 ,0 1 2 ,1 3 8 ; 2 ,0 1 2 ,152 ; 2 ,0 1 2 ,4 5 5 ; 2 ,01 2 ,4 5 6 and o th e rs pend ing)

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

x v

KNOW WHERE

.N O C R I L L S T R A I G H TTO THE SAND

a n e -W e lls O il W e ll Su rve ys ch art < he com p lete course o f a w e ll in pen o r cased hole . Th e fu ll om p lem ent of L a n e -W e lls in stru - nents enables an o p e ra to r to obtain ecu ra te , easily in te rp re te d reco rds ,f bore-ho le fo rm atio n , learn the n clination and d ire c tio n of each oot of the hole as it goes dow n md co ntro l d r illin g progress to e rm in a te at any p red ete rm in ed jo in t . La n e-W e lls O il W e ll Su rveys lave charted m o re than fo urteen ■nillion feet of hole under alm ost »very possible o perating co nd ition . O perato rs depend on La n e-W e lls O il W e ll Su rveys to g ive them S T R A IG H T facts and e lim in ate g uessw ork .

E L E C T R O L O GThis e lectrica l logging d ev ice of bore-hole fo rm ation pho tog rap h ic­ally reco rds cu rves w h ich denote :he varia tion s in p e rm eab ility , ¡a tu ration and p o ro sity . These rurves d eterm in e the c lassifica tion , ocation and th ickness of all stra ta ■egardless of dep th . From E lectro - og reco rds , the o p e ra to r is b e tte r lb le to c o rre la te the w e ll w ith jth e rs in th e fie ld .

- A N E - W E L L S P H O T O - R E C O R D S I N G L E - S H O T S U R V E Y I N S T R U M E N TThis in stru m en t m easures both nclination and d ire ctio n in open lo le and is the standard size n strum ent used fo r observing :on tro lled d irectio n in d rillin g ve ils . It is run on sand line in an >uter case 3 £ " O .D . These in- trum ents are rented in the U nited T ^ C t r °^ ? Atates and are sold o u trig h t fo r use n overseas fie lds.

Instrum ent

StandardS in g le-S h ot

SurveyIn stru m en t

L A N E - W E L L S P H O T O ­R E C O R D G O - D E V I LT h is in s t ru m e n t is used fo r m easur­ing th e in c lin a t io n o f d r ill in g w ells. I t is d rop p ed in to th e d r i l l pipe to land on a c a tc h e r in se rte d above the b it . T h e w a te r- t ig h t o u te r case is 12 " O .D . , and is equipped w ith g uide sp rin g s at both ends, to keep it ce n tre d in the pipe. It m ay a lso be run on p iano w ire to p e rm it read ings to be taken at any t im e w ith o u t rem o v ing the d r i l l p ipe fro m th e h o le . A clear, sh a rp p hoto g ives a t ru e record o f th e in c lin a t io n . Bo th the S in g le-Sh o t and G o -D e v il in stru ­m ents can be o p e ra te d w ith o u t k n o w le d g e o f m athem atics or p h o to g rap h y .

G o-D evil

L A N E - W E L L S S M A L L P H O T O - R E C O R D M A G N E T I C S I N G L E - S H O T S U R V E Y I N S T R U M E N T

P ro v id e s an a c c u ra te , perm anent p ho to g rap h ic re co rd o f th e inclin­a tio n and d ire c t io n o f uncased hole. D u e to its sm all d ia m e te r , 2 J " O .D ., it can be run in s id e d r i l l p ipe o r on a w ire lin e w ith re t ra c ta b le coring e q u ip m e n t. T h e re co rd is avail­ab le w ith in f iv e m in u te s a fte r com­ing o u t of the h o le . N o knowledge o f m athem atics o r p ho tography is re q u ired fo r its p rep a ra tio n and read ing .

S m a ll B u lle t in s d escrib in g a ll Lane-W ells P h o to -R ^ o r d S e rv ic e s , T o o ls and Instrum ents

S u rvey0 are ava ' la B le th ro u g h Lane-W ells In stru m en t offices and b ran ch es .

LAltE'UIELLS COmPAIlYlccLnZcc£ *Jic£cl ‘S i'u ticc*

G E N E R A L O F F IC E S A N D P L A N T : 5610 S. Soto S t . , Los A n g e le s , C a lif .E X P O R T O F F IC E S : 420 Lex in g to n A v e ., N e w Y o r k C it y , N .Y .

D IV IS IO N H E A D Q U A R T E R S : P A C IF IC C O A S T — Los A ng e le s, C a lifo rn ia . G U L F C O A S T — H o u sto n , T e x a s . M ID - C O N T IN E N T — O k lah o m a C it y , O k la h o m a ,

c* ‘ T E X A S — C o rp us C h r is t i , Lo ng v iew , O dessa , V ic to r ia , Beau m o nt, A lic e , M cA lle n , R e fu g io , H e b b ro n v ille , W ich itar l i i c A B u f » P leasant, Palestine . L O U IS IA N A — Lake C h a r le s , S h re v e p o rt , H o um a , N e w Ib e ria . O K L A H O M A — T u ls a , Sem ino le .

r . akeI sf ,e ld ’ Long Beach- Sanca B a r t>ara . K A N S A S — H u tc h in so n . W Y O M IN G — C a sp e r . A R K A N S A S — El D orado . IL L IN O IS — Salem . C A N A D A — C alg ary , M ontana.

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.x v i

mKENT!.*■olckn

II K*

m '■rlN»:iaab<<Bsrdntafrlota*hotofïpno»

ill Li*

Iff*

;h Li*

If

A LUMMUS FURFURAL UNIT

For the M artinez Refinery of Shell Oil

Com pany of Californ ia , Lummus has

just completed a 3,500 barrel per day

Furfural Solvent Refining Plant for the

manufacture of high quality lubricat­

ing oils. This Lummus-built plant oper­

ated continuously for 34 days on its

initial firing run, when it w as shut

down for inspection. Lubricating oil

went into the product tank twelve

hours after beginning of operation.»»»

Furfural as a solvent has many advan­

tages. It is non-toxic, non-corrosive,

and has excellent selectivity. Lummus

Furfural Plants are characterized by

low cost installation, simplicity of

operation and low operating costs.

Com plete information upon request.

This F u r fu ra l P lant fo r Sh e l l is the

fifth Lum mus F u r f u r a l p la n t built fo r

m a jo r re fining c o m p a n ie s within the

last two y e a rs .

A. C. G R O N B E C KR e p r e s e n t i n g : T H E L U M M U S C O M P A N Y

Bush House, A ldw ych, London, W .C .2

Kindly rmntion this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

x v i i

La c h m a n V a p o u r P h a s e T r e a t i n g P r o c e s s

■ ■ ■

LACHMAN TREATED spirit does not

require any inhibitor.

LACHMAN TREATING in a singleoperation conserves anti-knock q u a lity ; reduces gum content to the vanishing point; reduces sludge and polymerization losses to the minimum and

reduces sulphur.

T h e practical advantages also of a method w hich is fool-proof in the sense that it cannot be over­done must appeal to all refiners.

A. F. CRAIG & CO., LTD.P A I S L E Y

Representing:

VAPO UR TR EA TIN G THE WINKLER-KOCH PR O C E SSE S IN C ., ENGINEERING CO.,

555, South Flower Street, 335, West Lewis Street,Los Angeles CALIFORNIA Wichita KANSAS

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.x v i i i

0 #

That's what an engineer said

looking at a lively Duplex steam

pump that was struggling with a

highly volatile product. This

odd behaviour is more usually

described as 'short-stroking/

and it occurs whenever the

ordinary Duplex steam pump

draws gas instead of a full

charge of liquid; piston accelera­

tions become erratic, and the

steam ports are closed before

the completion of the stroke.

Some users have discarded

Duplex pumps on this account;

o t h e r s h a v e p u r c h a s e d

Hayward-Tyler Duplex pumps

with Twells' valve gear, and

are now getting the economic

advantages of this type com­

bined with positive action.

With Twells' valve gear each

piston rod closes its own steam

port at the end of the stroke, the

opening of the port being

effected by the opposite piston

as with the standard Duplex.

The result is ability to work with

gas-laden liquids or even against

a vacuum, and incidentally a

saving in steam.

& CO. LTD.

PUMP M A K E R S LUTON B E D SKindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.

x ix

SPECIALLY SUITABL! FOR OIL REFINERIE

H E re liab ility o f N E T T L E 42/44°/c

alum ina firebricks in high tem p erature

installations is undisputed. U sers o f th is

brand are convinced o f th is : those w ho

have th e ir refractory problem s t ill w ith

them may w ell find that a tr ia l o f N E T T L E

will provide a so lution

JOHN G. STEIN & CO. LTD., BONNYBRIDGE, SCOTLAND

Kindly mention this Journal when communicating with Advertisers.