SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—B. 377 
Monday, August 11. 
11. Joint Discussion with Section A (q.v.) on Crystal Structure. 
(Page 365.) 
12. Joint Discussion with Section I (¢.v.) on Vitamins. (Page 429.) 
Tuesday, August 12. 
13. Joint Discussion with Section C on Liquid and Powdered 
Fuels. 
(a) Dr. G. 8S. Hume.—Liquid Fuels in Canada. 
The production of cil in 1923 in Canada was obtained from wells in New 
Brunswick, Ontario, and Alberta, but was only 1.3 per cent. of the total con- 
sumption of crude and refined oils for the same time, representing an adverse 
trade balance of nearly 315 million dollars. Such a condition has greatly 
stimulated boring operations within the last few years, and tests of prospective 
fields have been made in many places, the most promising results being obtained 
in Alberta. However, even though a certain increase in production is possible 
from wells, the consumption is so far in excess of production that the probabili- 
ties of making Canada independent of foreign oil supply in the near future 
from this source alone are not very great. Canada, however, possesses immense 
potential resources of oil in the tar sands of Alberta and the oil shales of the 
Maritime Provinces. The tar sands of ‘Alberta occur over an area of 7,500 to 
8,000 square miles, some portions of which give 20 per cent. bitumen carrying 
an oil content as high as 69 per cent. The oil shales of New Brunswick and 
Nova Scotia will in places produce as much as 30 to 36 imp. gals. of oil to 
the ton with some by-products, and the amount of oil shales available is exceed- 
ingly large. For neither of these deposits, though, has a satisfactory commercial 
process of extraction been evolved up to the present, although the technical 
difficulties are being studied by experimental work and laboratory investigation, 
and it is hoped a solution will be discovered. 
In Nova Scotia in 1915 the Dominion Iron and Steel Co. began the recovery 
of benzol and toluol with other products from the coking of coal. These were 
_ eused during the war for the manufacture of explosives, but subsequently have 
_ been combined as a motor fuel, the production of which reached 292,000 gals. 
- in 1921. It is claimed that this motor fuel possesses qualities which make it 
superior to the best gasoline, and with the establishment of coke ovens elsewhere 
in Canada, such as are now under consideration, motor fuel from this source 
will become increasingly important. 
(b) Prof. Grorce A. Guess.—Pulverised Coal in some Metallur- 
gical Plants. 
F: In reverberatory smelting pulverised coal was used successfully for the first 
time at the plant of the International Nickel Company at Copper Cliff, Ontario, 
in 1914. The difficulties that had to be overcome in the use of pulverised coal 
in reverberatory work are described and the advantages attendant upon its use 
are indicated. The experience of certain smelting works with powdered coal is 
given, and the use of the same for steam-raising is touched upon. 
(c) Col. H. D. Savace.—Powdered Fuel in Locomotives. 
(d) Prof. W. A. Bonn, F.R.S.—Brown Coals and Lignites. 
’ The paper discusses (a) the classification of sub-bituminous coals generally, 
_ with special reference to brown coals and lignites, and (b) their occurrence 
and distribution throughout the British Empire. Attention is directed to 
their economic importance, and to the need of more co-ordinated research 
and investigation into their properties and uses with a view to developing 
within the Empire a scientific brown-coal technology. Some results of the 
author’s recent investigations upon the drying, heat treatment, and carbonisation, 
&e., of brown coals are described from the point of view of their bearing 
upon the many problems which their utilisation presents to the fuel technologist. 
