PETEOLEITM. 75 



The Diesel type of engine, therefore, offers the means for greatly 

 increasing the power-generating capacity of the petroleum yet to 

 be produced in the United States, in itself alone having the ability to 

 double the energy extraction from the 7 billion barrels of petro- 

 leum still under ground. But the true significance of the prospect 

 does not appear from the general consideration. In connection with 

 marine service has this principle its richest promise ; the advantages 

 of oil over coal for ocean shipping are well known and obvious. If 

 America plans, as she must, on a great expansion in foreign trade and 

 the building up of a substantial merchant marine, she would ignore 

 her most potent point of superiority if she neglected the bearing of 

 the Diesel engine on this matter. 



It may be a source of surprise to some that the Diesel engine has 

 been so largely neglected in this country. In this respect, a quota- 

 tion from a report of the United States Bureau of Mines may be of 

 interest : 



Diesel developed his engine in- the early nineties, and has since then greatly 

 improved it and has made of it a most succesful and efficient power producer. 

 At present it is thoroughly dependable and will burn a great variety of 

 oils * * *. Although the prime requisite in Europe seems to be economy 

 in operation, low first cost seems to be a more important requirement in this 

 country, and at first comparison with the steam engine the Diesel seems to be 

 exceedingly costly. Small imperfections in mechanical construction, up to 

 within a very recent date, seem also to have had their influence upon the non- 

 construction of the engine in the United States. Also, although the general 

 industrial profits within the United States are large, the very abundance of 

 raw materials and the general extravagance in their use seem to have combined 

 against the wide adoption of this engine, in spite of its being so highly efficient, 

 and in spite of the fact that it has met with such success abroad, * * * The 

 generally wasteful methods of steam raising in this country must give way 

 to the more efficient methods of fuel utilization that now prevail in Europe, if 

 the United States is to maintain its present position or compete with other 

 countries in the manufacturing industries. With a more conservative use of 

 the Nation's abundant fuel supplies and a better development of the by-product 

 industries, there is no reason why the heavy-oil engine should not materially aid 

 in the more efficient utilization of the fuel resources of the United States-^ 



The use of gas oil, a high-grade fuel oil, in the manufacture of city 

 gas represents a practice largely unjustifiable on the basis of resource 

 economy. In 1915, the amount used for this purpose was about 16,- 

 000,000 barrels,^ or roughly 6 per cept of the domestic petroleum pro- 

 duction. With the exception of about one-fifth of the amount, which 

 was employed for making oil gas in the Southwest, where coal is 

 lacking, the bulk of the gas oil was used for carbureting or enriching 

 the luminosity and calorific power of the various types of city gas 



1 1. C. Allen, Heavy oil as fuel for internal-combustion engines : Technical Paper 37, 

 Bureau of Mines, 1913, pp. 9-10. 



" See C. E. Lesher, Artificial gas and by-products : Mineral Resources of the United 

 States for 1915, United States Geological Survey, p. 1051. 



