on 
Se a ae aati 
NECESSITY FOR RESEARCH IN OIL-SHALE INDUSTRY. 
conditions for treating his shale and refining his oil. The chemist and 
chemical engineer will probably have a greater field for research in 
oil-shale operations than in petroleum production and refining. Par- 
ticularly the oils need study. It is not possible to predict with accuracy 
the possible profits a plant can expect, or its costs, until the quality and 
quantity of products of marketable value it can make are known, as 
well as the conditions under which they can be made and refined. 
When the problem of producing satisfactory products has been 
solved, there may be a field for research in the study and production of 
by-products. Discussion of by-products seems premature now, it is 
true, but later the oil-shale industry may develop an important by- 
product industry. As a matter of fact, few realize the importance of 
the present petroleum by-product industry.- : 
When the Scottish oil-shale industry was started, economic condi- 
tions were such that the oils produced could be marketed with profit, 
but these conditions have changed, and since about 1864 the industry 
has been successful only because of continual improvements that have 
been made in the technology of shale-oil production and refining. In 
this regard, Steuart* writes :— 
“The Torbanehill mineral} yielded the raw material for about a 
dozen years, much of it being used in Scotland and some being ex- 
ported to America and the Continent for distillation. 
“In 1862, the supply from this source was being exhausted, and the 
material became too valuable and expensive for this industry, hence 
shale was resorted to, but with widely different results. While the 
Torbanehill mineral yielded about 120 gals. of crude oil per ton, the 
shales first used furnished 40 to 50 gals., and soon the yield was 30 to 
35 gals. The expiry of Young’s patent in 1864 led to a rapid expan- 
sion of the Scottish oil industry, but ere long it sustained a severe 
check. The discovery in 1859 of oil wells in Pennsylvania by E. L. 
Drake was soon followed by the importation of petroleum lamp oil 
into Britain, the quantity increasing year by year. Owing partly to 
this competition and partly to the increase in the number of oil works, 
prices gradually fell. 
AMERICAN AND Russtan Comprrrrion. 
“At first the Americans exported to Britain only burning oil, but 
they soon began to introduce supplies of lubricating oil and subsequently 
of solid paraffin. Then the smaller works (whose retorts had been 
mostly for the production of burning oil) tended to decrease in number, 
and the larger ones to increase in size, thus concentrating and cheapen- 
ing production. Retorts were improved to suit the circumstances, and 
to produce a purer oil with a larger proportion of heavy products. 
Mechanical labour-saving arrangements were devised, refining wag im- 
proved and cheapened, and economies of every kind were introduced. 
The chemicals used in refining were recovered; and the tars separated 
by them, the removal of which had involved expense, now became a 
source of profit as fuel. The supply of Peruvian guano began to fail, 
EE EA rs wae AN cee RS REMT TE AE nat ats LiL Sel Reka SPR FOE 
* Steuart, D, R., “The Oil Shales of the Lothians’—Part III. ‘‘The Chemistry of the Oil Shales.” 
“Memoirs of the Geological Survey,” Scotland, pp. 137-138. : 
+ A very rich oil shale. 
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