The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1922-02-16
Represents About 3 Per Cent of
Total Gasoline ProduC-
ton of Country.
is VALUED At S26,04O,OOO
Report of the United States Bureau Of
Mines Tells Of Many Other lnVes-
legations Made During
Last Year.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. conduct

Washington.-Inv igations conduct
ed by the United States bureau Of
mines, in the course of a special effort
to aid the mineral industries TO re-
establish themselves on a safe basis
to meet the renewed foreign competi-
ton ana 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 II. Foster Balm, 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. 1t was found that
I'm 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 I'D 100000 gallons of gasoline in
the mid-continent field alone. This has
a value, at % cents gallon, of $40
$4,000, and represents about 3 per cent
of the total gasoline produced in the
United States from all fields and all
sources. The bureau found that n large
percentage of this loss could be pre-
vented by the use Of efficient equip
ment
Tie bureau Of mines has pointed out
the considerable losses which have re
suited from the failure of many rein
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 the install
lation of this equipment, was either
lost or burned as fuel under the boilers
and stills. The value of fractionating
towers Mt petroleum refneries, by
means of which some companies have
Increased the yield Of gasoline from
crude oil by as much as per cent, or
16i2 per cent of the total, is now gen
orally recognized.
LoW-Pressure Waste.
Large quantities OF gas are now be-
Ing wasted in the Usage 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 low-pres-
sure burners for oil-tield boilers. The
demand Of the export market for
Sweet gasoline led to the develop
ment of Il 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 l2,0OOOOO
barrels of oil per annum Even ut the
present reduced price of oil, the gov
eminent royalty from this should total
perhaps $2.OOO00O 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 unrecoyerable. 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 mt Pc
trolia. Texas, conducted under the au-
thority of the army and navy helum