Evening star., 1941-06-08

mates of the cost of gasoline and oil
produced by coal on a perfected guam.
tity basis. 1t is known. however, that
under present methods the cost would
run higher than for products from Pc
troleum at present prices"
COpes With Shortage.
But cost would be of elativeIy little
Importance in period of national emer-
gency, such as might occur if the United
States should assume a shooting" role
in the war. The important thing then
would be to supply the Nations petroleum
needs quickly and efficiently, regardless
of cost. And in the hydrogenation proc.
ess, the Government has ready means
of coping with any shortages that may
develop.
1t is, in fact, just such a means as
has enabled Germany to carry on its
farfung mechanical warfare for nearly
two years without adequate domestic
sources of gasoline and OIL The Ger
mans have been experimenting with the
hydrogenation process since 1918, with
the result that they are now estimated
to be producing several million tons of
gasoline from coal every year. Great
Britain also mas a hydrogenation plant
in operation, but its capacity is only
about 100000 tons of gasoline a year.
Both the German and the British
plants are operating with the aid of
government subsidies because of the
urgent need of petroleum products Gre
ated by the war. If this country should
take more active part in the conflict,
and supplying its ships airplanes, tanks,
trucks and motorcycles with fuel and
fabrication should become a problem. it
certainly would not hesitate to subsidize
as many plants as might be necessary to
meet the situation.
And, for its money, the Government
would get more than gasoline and oil.
1t would also get, according to the
bureaus statement, large quantities of
tar acids useful in making the phenoHc
type of plaStics and of aromatic solvents
useful in the paint, varnish and explo-
Slves industries, as well as a variety of
organic Intermediates Exactly how
many by-products would result is not
known. however, as shortage of funds
has restricted the bureau to elementary
studies along this line.
Defined by Staff.
The hydrogenation process is described
as follows by the bureaus technicians:
'The coal is converted to oil by adding
hydrogen gas to it. First, the coal is
delivered from the mines to the bureaus
hydrogenation laboratory, where it is
cleaned, crushed and pulverized 1t then
is mixed into a paste and fed into a
chamber called a converter. At the same
time hydrogen gas which also is manu-
factured in the laboratory is forced into
the converter at high presSures. Heat
is applied, and the reaction takes place.
The first yield furnishes about 90 per
cent gasoline and about 80 per cent
medium oil. The medium oil is then
taken to a small cracking plant, or
still, in the laboratory and is frac.
tionated,' or distilled, to break it down
into gasoline, diesel oil, fuel oil, tar bases,
tar acids and other substances. The
gasoline obtained is a high-quality pro-
duct and can be used readily to run
automobiles or other vehicles and motors
relying on the gasoline internal combus-
tion engine"
Coal now supplies more than half Of
the total energy used annually in the
United States. But the hydrogenation
process can make it supply much more.
In fact. it is estimated that this process,
If applied to the nations total coal re-
serves of more than 310O billion tons.
could be made to produce at least
trillion, 300 billion barrels of oil. Those
are astronomical figures, difficult for the
layman to understand, but their signifi-
canoe is made amply clear by the bureau.
"AviatorS mariners and motorists of
the year 2241 A. D. still will be able to
operate their machines with gasoline"
the bureaus scientists declare. for the
future supply Of these essential fuels
seems assured"