﻿THE 
  NEW 
  COAL 
  AGE 
  — 
  SLOSSON" 
  245 
  

  

  properly 
  worked 
  up. 
  If 
  a 
  ton 
  of 
  bituminous 
  coal 
  is 
  heated 
  in 
  a 
  closed 
  

   retort, 
  instead 
  of 
  the 
  open 
  beehive, 
  we 
  may 
  get 
  besides 
  the 
  gas 
  and 
  

   the 
  coke 
  a 
  dozen 
  pounds 
  of 
  ammonium 
  sulfate 
  and 
  a 
  dozen 
  gallons 
  

   of 
  tar. 
  The 
  ammonium 
  sulfate 
  is 
  valuable 
  for 
  a 
  fertilizer, 
  since 
  it 
  

   will 
  feed 
  nitrogen 
  to 
  the 
  crops, 
  and 
  the 
  tar 
  on 
  redistillation 
  will 
  yield 
  

   a 
  dozen 
  products 
  out 
  of 
  which 
  some 
  200,000 
  distinct 
  organic 
  com- 
  

   pounds 
  may 
  be 
  made, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  extremely 
  useful 
  to 
  mankind. 
  

  

  The 
  war 
  has 
  taught 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  a 
  lesson 
  in 
  economizing 
  the 
  

   by-products 
  of 
  the 
  distillation 
  of 
  coal. 
  In 
  1913 
  nearly 
  three-fourths 
  

   of 
  our 
  coke 
  was 
  made 
  in 
  beehive 
  ovens, 
  which 
  wasted 
  the 
  tar, 
  ammo- 
  

   nia, 
  and 
  light 
  oils. 
  In 
  1925 
  the 
  ratio 
  was 
  reversed 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  

   three-fourths 
  of 
  our 
  coke 
  was 
  made 
  in 
  ovens 
  that 
  saved 
  these 
  by- 
  

   products. 
  Last 
  yeai' 
  was 
  the 
  peak 
  in 
  American 
  coal-tar 
  production, 
  

   over 
  528,000,000 
  gallons 
  ; 
  but 
  60 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  tar 
  so 
  recovered 
  was 
  

   afterwards 
  consumed 
  as 
  fuel 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  worked 
  up 
  into 
  chemical 
  

   compounds. 
  Tars 
  can 
  be 
  easily 
  and 
  cheaply 
  stripped 
  of 
  their 
  phenols 
  

   and 
  cresols 
  to 
  supply 
  domestic 
  needs 
  without 
  materially 
  reducing 
  

   the 
  fuel 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  tar. 
  Yet 
  the 
  burning 
  of 
  untreated 
  tar 
  is 
  on 
  the 
  

   increase 
  in 
  our 
  country. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  old 
  days 
  before 
  the 
  war 
  when 
  men 
  wanted 
  to 
  get 
  more 
  

   gasoline 
  than 
  petroleum 
  contained 
  they 
  knew 
  no 
  other 
  way 
  to 
  get 
  it 
  

   than 
  to 
  smash 
  up 
  the 
  big 
  molecules 
  into 
  little 
  ones, 
  to 
  break 
  down 
  

   the 
  heavy 
  oils 
  to 
  make 
  light 
  oils. 
  This 
  " 
  cracking 
  " 
  process 
  was 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  a 
  great 
  achievement 
  in 
  its 
  day, 
  and 
  quite 
  rightly, 
  since 
  

   we 
  could 
  be 
  running 
  few 
  automobiles 
  without 
  it. 
  But 
  the 
  world 
  

   is 
  passing 
  into 
  another 
  era 
  now, 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  synthesis, 
  when 
  the 
  chem- 
  

   ist 
  will 
  build 
  up 
  instead 
  of 
  breaking 
  down. 
  Starting 
  with 
  the 
  com- 
  

   monest 
  and 
  cheapest 
  rfiaterials, 
  air*, 
  water, 
  and 
  coal, 
  the 
  chemist 
  can 
  

   construct 
  at 
  will 
  all 
  sorts 
  of 
  valuable 
  compounds 
  for 
  which 
  we 
  for- 
  

   merly 
  had 
  to 
  rely 
  upon 
  nature, 
  if 
  indeed 
  we 
  could 
  find 
  them 
  at 
  all. 
  

  

  The 
  veteran 
  French 
  chemist. 
  Prof. 
  Paul 
  Sabatier, 
  of 
  Toulouse, 
  

   opened 
  the 
  door 
  to 
  the 
  new 
  era 
  with 
  the 
  key 
  called 
  " 
  catalysis." 
  

   Before 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century 
  he 
  found 
  that 
  hydrogen 
  gas 
  could 
  

   be 
  made 
  to 
  unite 
  with 
  carbon-monoxide 
  gas 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  finely 
  

   divided 
  nickel 
  and 
  produce 
  methane, 
  well 
  known 
  in 
  natural 
  gas. 
  

   Now, 
  these 
  two 
  constituents, 
  hydrogen 
  and 
  carbon 
  monoxide, 
  are 
  

   easily 
  made 
  by 
  passing 
  steam 
  over 
  red-hot 
  coal, 
  the 
  " 
  water-gas 
  " 
  

   process. 
  Many 
  other 
  metals 
  and 
  compounds 
  have 
  since 
  been 
  found 
  

   to 
  act 
  like 
  nickel 
  as 
  a 
  catalyst; 
  that 
  is, 
  they 
  speed 
  up 
  a 
  process 
  by 
  

   their 
  presence 
  without 
  being 
  used 
  up 
  or 
  appearing 
  among 
  the 
  

   products. 
  

  

  The 
  building 
  blocks 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  synthetic 
  chemist 
  in 
  this 
  new 
  

   game 
  he 
  is 
  playing 
  are 
  mostly 
  the 
  four' 
  ordinary 
  elements, 
  carbon, 
  

   liydrogen, 
  oxygen, 
  and 
  nitrogen. 
  We 
  may 
  combine 
  their 
  initials 
  

   7490&— 
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