The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1922-07-06
WOULD INCREASE
GASOLINE OUTPUT
Bureau of Mines Plans to Further
Condense Still vapors at
Refineries.
WILL SAVE VAST QUANTITY
Magnitude Of Loss Through Previous
Neglect Not Generally Known
Survey of Plants Reveals
Interesting Facts.

MISUNDERSTANDING or 1ncreaS
ing gasoline by 100 OO, 900 gallons
through more complete condensation
q SUI apors at the petroleum rem
cries was suggested by the bureau o.
mines AFTER an Investigator by y. .
Low tle bureau petroleum. engineer
hir 10" estinlated ina oo'oVo'oVO
gallons were recovered IRON uncon-
densed stlll vapors at ~reflner1es In
~.
~App'lcation OF the system TO all re-
nnerles would give a posslple gasoline
recovery ny tnis method OF I'o,ooo'Voo
saiiohs yeariy' 'he bureau salu IN a
s'a.e,ieh'.
Inc calculalohs OF the pureau OF
Hines are paseu on results oDIaineo IN
'~eiinerles whose general methous are
ni"re eh'cleit than those eihpioyeu IN
lne injurious Oh sinaller Summing
piants thai lave no recoVery systems.
l. IL assumed tnat IN me less ell
cien' shiiiinins plants' iocateu IL sec
'iohs where the supply OF colo water
50 essehtihl lor condenser use IS
scarce, greater ~recoverles couid pc,
nnaue man ~ lhe large rennerles
stuuleu.
true OF Southwest.
This should be especially true of
Oklahoma. north Texas and Louisiana
skimming plants, whare summer tenn
peratures are high ard cold water is
scarce. A survey of these plants, 1t
Is believed, would show thai their
losses In uncondensed still vapors
would be much higher than in the
plants where the studies of the bu-
fe,u of mines We're conducted.
''The magnitude of the loss from
non.condensation of these yapors has
been realized only bv few refners.
Judging by the number of plants that
have recovery systems. The thirteen
refineries studied bv the bureau Of
mines are obtaining 12S.651 gallons of
gasoline daily from u~ncondensed still
vapors. These plants are situated in
the refining centers, other han the
Pacific coast, and are running crude
representative Of all the producing
fields east of the Rocky mountains.
In addition several are running Mex
lean crude. Information from Cali
fornia refinerieS indicates hat on ac-
count of the smaller gasoline content
of the California crude there are no
recovery plants of Importance in that
state. The average recovery of gaso-
line at the refineries investigated by
bureau of mines amounted to four
tenths gallon per barrel of crude oil
"Unless preventive measures are
adopted losses of gasoline from failure
to condense still vapors will increase
IN the future, because crudes are be-
ing handled in the field with more and
more care to avoid evaporation. and
sill therefore contain much lighter
md more volatile fractions than at
present.
Condensing Vapors.
"Condensation of the vapors formed
1y heating crude oil is effected in the
refinery by leading vapors through
,oils of pine submerged in water. On
most of the vapor becomes
iqueied. but a certain amount of va
,or, due to insufficient time for
proper cooling or the fact that its con-
point is lower than the tenn
)erature of the water, will remain I'M
condensed. Also certain other frac-
ions will not be condensed, for the
-