The Washington herald., 1921-07-26
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TUESDAY. July -. Is7l.
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TUESDAY. JULY -. Is71.
FUTURE OF oII-sHALE
DEPENDS ON PETRoLEUM NEED.
The future OF the oii-shsle In
dustry in this country depends large
ly on the relative supply ana de-
mand for petroleum products. par
ticuiarly in the Rocky N9aLtatn
district" declares a Bureau Of Mines
report by n J. Gavin. H IL Hall
and W. Z. Perdew. that has just
been issued 10 give info-mstion en-
the possibilities Of this source CT
petroleum.
In years TO come the production
Of petroleum may so decrease and
the demand 30 increase that ell
shale may be largely needed TO sup
ply the dehcit OF crude petroleum
as a source Of refined products. they
declare.
The oil shales OF this country
contain enormous quantities of oil.
but large amounts Of money will
have to be invested before the cIl-
shale industry becomes Of crmmer-
cial Importance" IL is pointed out
Estimates by various engineers OF
the cost Of a complete retorting
plant handling 200 tons Of shale
q day, are between 1.oOo. .0oe end
5000. 900, and II the average shsle
treated yielded forty-tvo gallons
of oil a ton. IL would probably re-
Quire at least 1,300 such plants op-
Grating 565 days a year 70 supply
the volume Of crude oil that was
consumed in this country in 1890.
and the shsle mined daily would
amount TO approximately one-half
the coal mined daily in this coUn-
try. However. IL is hardly 90 be
expected that shsle oil will be call
ed upon to replace petroleum COM
! pletely for a great many years.
Although the Scotch industry has
been existent for more than fifty
years, the amount OF shale oil pro-
duced in Scotland during the cal
endar year Of 1880 was less than
two days average production of
crude oil in the United States dur
ing the same year."
The oil-shale industry is not
strictly comparable TO the petro-
leum industry. II is a completely
new industry for this country and
calls for new training and expert
ence. After the oil has been re-
moved from the shale the problems
connected with its refining are
much more complex than are those
OF refining petroleum
Up to the present time more than
$50 companies have been organized
for the purpose OF developing or
selling stock in oil-shsle enter
prises. Some OF these are sppa-
rently essentially stocksselling or
especially helpful in developing the
, industry; others are really inter
ested in making the industry a sue
cess and have organized on a firm
basis. Some OF them have spent
considerable time and money on e1-
perimental work with the aim OF
developing retorting processes other
than the Scottish that will be salts
factory for American shales
About sixty processes for retort-
ing oil shaies in this country have
, come to the attention OF the Bureau
! OF Mines. These processes are in
various stages OF development
= ranging from those that are still
) only in the minds Of the inventors
i to the various processes successful
in Scotland. which are also expected
9 by some TO be equally successful n
4 treating American shsles.
Oil shale occurs in beds or STRAIT
: ranging in thickness from a fev
a inches 20 several feet and its yiel'
!, OF oil ranges from practically moth
|, ing to ninety gallons or more a tor
: Usually the oil does not exist a
! such in the shale. but is produce,
by the destructive distillstion o
complex organic compounds in tn
: shsle. These compounds are prob
= ably Of vegetable origin. Destruc
tive distillation. that Is, heating g
the absence OF air, decomposes thi
organic matter and yields hydro
c carbon oils and permanent gases
n Oil shsle also contains varyinl
e quantities OF heterogeneous com
= pounds. which under the action o
= heat decompose into ammonia an
). other nitrogen bases. includin
e pyrioines and pyrrols.