The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-23
By F. H. Leslie, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Universi- ty of Michigan.
Science service.)

ty of Michigan.
 Science Service.)
 N T present petroleum is being l LAA produced faster than it is used,
 A eS afh stocks of gasoline are in creasing. Crude oil produced in
 Oklahoma has dropped in price from sS,5o to s1 per barrel, and the price of gasoline has been lowered several cents per gallon. But one should not
 be misled by the present situation, which is only part of the business
 cycle through which we are passing.
 It is a peculiarity of the oil produc- ing business that the drilling of new wells reaches maximum at the crest, or even after[the crest, of the
 wave of prosperity. The result is an over production of crude oil in the time of depression. Prices drop,
 profits vanish, and now drilling stops But within year or two the pendulum swings the other way, and again there is scarcity of sil. due to the lHttIIuptioH VI diAiiAi6 III eAhN
 time of depression. This cycle of
 events would take place even if there
 were an endless supply of crude oil | underground
 The real motor fuel problem is not
 concerned with the swings of the
 business pendulum. although the | present abundance of fuel is pointed to by superficial critics as showing
 how wrong have been the predictions of the scientists that have warned
 us of future shortage.
 The problem arises in part through | the fact that the underground reserve of petroleum is limited. At present l States is only about 5,soo,o0o bar
 rels. Were this oil to be extracted from the ground at rate equal to | that of the year 1920 fact that Is l quite out of the question from practical standpoint, the reserve
 would only last 13 years. It is thus
 evident, however. that after few
 years weSmust expect decline in
 the domestic production of petroleum. On the other hand the use of auto
 mobiles. tractors, trucks and gasoline
 engines Is becoming more general.
 Only 25 years ago there were bus | four automobiles in the country. One was in a circus, another was used | for exhibition purpc-es, and two were
 regarded as mechanical freaks. To-
 day the total number of registered ] motor vehicles is over s,O0o,- 1 0oo, an almost unbelievable in-
 crease in the short period of 25 years.
 What is more, the number is still growing. and will probably exceed
 IS, ,ooo ,ooo within few years.
 I Where are we to get the fuel to run this vast number os ours? so
 far there has been little difficulty as
 we have depended largely on greater
 draughts upon natural deposits. True enough. we have changed the nature | of the commodity we nkow as gaso- line. Its boiling rang e>sfhat is the range of temperature over which it distils. has been broadened. with the | result that the amount of gasoline 1 obfainable from barrel of crude oil has been increased 50 to 75 per
 cent. Also gasoline has been ex-
 tracted from natural gas by processes l involving either compression ana cooling, or oil-washing and cooling And too, we have produced "synthetic | gasoline" or-cracked gasoline" on a I moderate scale. The processes for
 the production of these last named
 fuels involve the heating of the oil
 in liquid or vapor form. At the pres
 ent time these gasolines comprise
 IS to 20 per cent of the total quantity
 of gasoline marketed. The develop-
 ment and more extensive use of thes : ' proc ,sses may be expected. It is
 probable that their use will be the most important, means of bridgins the gap between present and future :. sources of motor fuel.
 The quality of market gasoline will not change greatly in the next few , years. at least not l.til the auto motive engineers perfect devices tha,