PETROL FROM COAL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 75, 10 March 1933, Page 8

PETROL FROM COAL

£10,000,000 SCHEME. • Sydney, March 2. Proposals involving the establishment of a plant for the production of petrol from Australian coal at a cost of about. . £10,000,000 have been receiving consideration from important industrial and mining interests. Although a decision will probably depend on an improvement of economic conditions and upon a guarantee of protection against the dumping of foreign petrol, the commercial machinery already exists in Australia for the exploitation of the process —hydrogenation. Synthetic Coal Oil Products Proprietary, Limited, formed to conduct research into the production of oil from coal, for the commercial production of oil, hydrogen and by-products, and for the acquisition if necessary, of coal mines, has as its chief shareholders Imperial Chemical Industries, Limited, of London, one of the largest corpora, tions in the world; the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Limited., Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary, Limited; the Electrolytic Zinc Company, or Australia; and Howard, Smith, Limited, ship and coal mine owners. The present company has only a small capital; but has full power to increase it when necessary. Tests have already shown that Newcastle and Victorian coal are entirely suitable for the production of first grade petrol. A coal hydrogenation point to produce 21-1,000 tons of petrol a year—about 60,000,000 gallons—would cost about £8,000,(XX) ill English values, and would consume 1,000 tons of coal a day. During construction, which would take about two years, work would be given to between and 10,000 men. About 1,250 men would be required for the production of the petrol. Petrol, it has been estimated, could be produced at a cost of about B|d a gallon, without making allowance for profit on the capital expenditure.

It is claimed that the process has been proved technically successful. By it hydrogen is caused to react on the coal under great pressure, and by entering into chemical combination with it the coal is converted into oil, which may vary from petrol to heavy fuel oil. Coal and oil,’ apart from impurities, are of substantial I v similar composition—combination of hydrogen and carbon. The main essential chemical difference is that oil contains a larger proportion of hydrogen than does coal. Synthetically-produced oil, however, must natuially cost more than oil which gushes from a well. It is therefore a question of national policy whether oil produced from Australian coal should receive a measure of protection. The importance of the industry to the coal trade generally is a feature that will compel attention at the hands of the Federal Government.