The labor standard., 1922-02-15
OIL EVAPORATION
 CAUSES BIG LOSS
Represents About 3 Per Cent of Total Gasoline Produc-
 tion of Country.
IS VALUED AT S26,84O,OOO
Report of the United States Bureau of Mines Tells of Many Other Inves- tgations Made During
 Last Year.

ed by the United States bureau of mines, in the course of special effort to aid the mineral industries to re- establish themselves on safe basis to meet the renewed foreign competi- tion and the changed conditions of sup ply and demand of the postwar period, point the way to the possible saving of vast sums through the application of improved methods in the production of various mineral materials, according to H. Foster Bain, director, in his an- nual report, just made to the secretary of the interior.
 An investigation of losses of crude oil through evaporation in storage and in transportation, conducted during the year by the bureau, disclosed losses of startling magnitude. It was found that in the few days in which crude oil is stored on the lease before being taken by the pipe line, the aggregate loss per year from evaporation amounts to about 122, 100000 gallons of gasoline in the mid-continent field alone. This has value, at % cents a gallon, of $26,- S4O,0O0, and represents about per cent of the total gasoline produced in the United States from all fields and all sources. The bureau found that a large percentage, cf this loss could be pre- vented by the use of efficient equip ment.
 The bureau of mines has pointed out the considerable losses which have re- suited from the failure of many refin- cries to recover gasoline from con- densed still vapors. The significance of this investigation is shown by the fact that one refinery in the mid-con- tinent field is now recovering from still vapors approximately 400 barrels of gasoline daily which, before theIinstal- lation of this equipment, was either lost or burned as fuel under the boilers and stills. The value of fractionating towers at petroleum refineries, by means of which some companies have increased the yield of gasoline from crude oil by as much as per cent, or 16h per cent of the total, is now gen. erally recognized.
 Low-Pressure Waste.
 Large quantities of gas are now be ing wasted in the Osage Nation in Oklahoma because of low-pressure con- ditions, and the bureau of mines Is in vestigating the feasibility of utilizing this waste gas by the use of foW-pres- sure burners for oil-field boilers. The. demand of the export market for sweet gasoline led to the develop ment of process for treating, gasoline to remove the objectionable sulphur compounds, by which treatment some grades of American gasoline heretofore objectionable were made suitable for export.
 Under the arrangement by which Su- pervision of the drilling and production of oil and gas on the public lands is vested in the bureau of mines, the bu-, reau has supervision of about 100 pro- ducing oil properties, which are pro- ducing at the rate of about 12,OOO OO0 barrels of oil per annum. Even at the present reduced price of oil, the gov-J ernment royalty from this should total perhaps $2,OOO,OOO per annum. A spe- cial process, devised at the San Fran cisco station of the bureau, for crack ing heavy oils and tars promises the recovery of large yields of gasoline and other lighter products, hitherto regard ed as unrecoverable. Investigations made by the bureau in Colorado and Utah indicate that the oil-shale de- posits of the Rocky mountain states contain potential fuel supply of al- most unequaled importance.
 The experimental helium plant at Pe- trolia, Texas, conducted under the au- thority of the army and navy helium board, was ln operation during the year y.s< hnl; duced for short periods. A study of the practicability of storing this rare and noninfiammable gas in mine work ings was made at the bureaus experi- mental coal mine at Bruceton, Pa. At the cryogenic or low-temperature lab- oratory in Washington, D. O., liquid air i'll quantity is now being produced. The primary object of this laboratory is to investigate gases and liquids at Low temperatures, with special reference to the separation of helium from natural gas. Field investigations of possible supplies of helium in natural gas were completed during the year, every known gas field in the United States having been tested. Results were mark edly successful, as they have shown that this country contains the largest supply of helium-bearing natural gas in the world.
 Scrap Losses investigated.
 An investigation of scrap losses in aluminium alloy foundry practice showed that the annual losses in the United States amount to $1,2O0,OO0. and that universal adoption of meth ods recommended by the bureau of mines would probably result in q saw. ing of about $6O0,0OO per annum. Melt ing losses in this industry, which are largely preventable, aggregate about $3,OOO,OOO yearly. A new method was devised to simplify the collection of radium emanation from radium salts. Experiments are now in progress to perfect the process and to develop ap- paratus that can be recommended for Dublic uSp in laboratories and hOSDitalS.