The Cecil Whig., 1915-11-13
MOREzGASOLINE
AND CHEAPER

The present European war has been
formed the gasoline war, and justly so,
for if deprived of this fuel the armies
anpaqed in the great conflict would be
comnelled to suspend operations. For
Transporting the field and siege guns
and for propelling the thousands of
motor cars used in the transportation
of troops, ammunition, and supplies
on the scale required in war of such
MAGNITUDE, gasoline is a necessity,
and without it the operation of Zeppe-
Inns and aeroplanes would be an i'm
possibility.
But in spite of the tremendous de-
mand made on the oil supply by rea-
son of the war, gasoline has been get
TING cheaper. This situation is the
result of the development of improv-
ed methods of refining by which
greatly increased supply of gasoline
can be obtained from a given quantity
of crude OIL During the past year
the tank-wagon price of gasoline has
fallen in the large centers, apparently
from this cause, from 16 cents to 9h
cents a gallon There is little doubt
that the price will eventually go still
lower with the development of the new
process just discovered by Doctor
Rittman, chemical engineer of the U.
s Bureau of Mines. The improved
processes now in use are held as
monopoly by one group of refiners.
The new process is to be free to all
refners who will submit to certain
government regulations. With it, it
will be possible to extract three times
as much gasoline as can be extracted
by the process of distillation.
Increased production of gasoline is
not all that will be accomplished by
the new process. 1t provides means
for obtaining from crude oil the two
hydrocarbons, toluol and benzol. here
tofore obtained from coal tar and pro-
duced almost exclusively by German
and British manufacturers Tuluol
and benzol are of vital importance
both in peace and war. They form
the "mother" substances from which
aniline dyes are made and are at the
same time indispensable ingredients
of the high explosives used in modern
warfare.
To understand just what is being
done by the new process 1t is first
necessary to know of some of the
qualities of that group of substances
known as hydrocarbons. A hydrocar-
bon, as its name indicates, is COM
binaton of the chemical elements, hy-
droqen and carbon. In the combina-
tion there is usually nitrogen, oxygen,
sulphur, or other chemical elements in
small quantities. which are removed
in the process of refining. The range
of substances produced by different
combinations of these two elements is
probably the widest to be found in the
whole range of natural products.
There are about 200 hydrocarbon pro-
ducts, many Of them INDISPENSABLE ad-
iuncts of our everyday life. Crude
oil, or petroleum. which is the source
from which most of these products are
derived, is simply mixture of many
hydrocarbons which may be separated
from each other without chemical ac-
ton by the process Of distillation.
Gasoline. Illuminating oil, and lubri-
eating oil, for example. are all present
in crude oil, being mixed together
be mixed. There are other products,
howerer, that ave less obviously pres
ent in crude oil ard to produce these
1t is necessary to resort to chemical
action, which consists in breaking up
some Of the hydrocarbons and rear
ranging tIa atoms in molecules Of a
different Eilt This is what is done
when oils are "rracled," process
that has Dem used heretofore mainly
for breaking up the heavier oils and
forming their components into gaso-
line molecules. 1t is one of the pecul-
iarities of hydrocarbons that this
breaking up and rearranging can be
done repeatedly and to practically an
unlimited extent.
The biggest feature of the new pro-
cess is that practically all the crude
oil "an be converted into any hydro
carl on desired. so that it provides
means for Cracking" oils on such a
scale as has not been thought possible
heretofore. Full details of the pro-
cess have not been made public. but it
is reported that the kind of hydrocar-
Lon produced is governed solely by the
degree of heat and pressure applied.
With temperature of 932 degrees F.,
for example, the product obtained is
gasoline. If the temperature is raised
""ouI l,llA degrees f., DeilHlle,
toluene, and Xylol, with small duanti-
ties of methane, creosote oil, and pitch,
are obtained. The apparatus is SIM
PIE and apparently does nothing more
than vaporize the crude oil and sub
Ject the vapor to the required temper
ature and pressure.
Almost simultaneously with the an
nouncement of this process another
discovery, so remarkable that it ranks
as one of the romances of science, was
made public. This consists in pro-
cess for taking paraffin, or any other
aterlvative of crude oil. and converting
IL back into crude oil-in short in
taxing one part of a complex product
and remaking the whole product
from it.
One Of the significant things in con-
niectlon with crude-oil products and
me vital part thev plav in nearly
every form of human activity, is the
Iact that the supply is more than
equal to the demand, and is likely to
MRe McITnN'c letter