OIL FROM BRITISH COAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20989, 28 September 1931, Page 4

OIL FROM BRITISH COAL.

HYDROGENATION PROCESS PRACTICAL VALUE PROVED. VAST INDUSTRY ENVISAGED. " The possibilities of producing oil f roni coal were reviewed recently i n a lette to the Times by Professor P. G. Donnan of the University of London. A point of particular interest is; his statement 0 { the cost at -which motor spirit has been produced by Imperial Chemical I n( j us . tries, Limited, at Billingham, in Nor. folk. An important statement on the subject was made by Lord Rutherford, who is chairman of the advisory council of the Scientific and Industrial Research Conn cil, in his first speech in the House of Lords on May 20. Lord Rutherford outlined the progress of experiments in th# carbonisation and the hydrogenation of coal, and stated that they have proved that it is scientifically possible to provide the bulk of the oil required by Great Britain by the treatment of coal. Under present conditions, it would be impossible 1 to convert coal into oil and compete on a cost basis with natural oil, but sooner or later prices of natural oil would risi and the future situation would difier materially from the present. Petrol at 7d a Gallon. Remarking that "at present Great Britain consumes annually nearly 9,000,000 tons of petroleum oil, all of which has to be imported, Professor Donnan wrote that the process whereby coal can be converted into the maximum amount of oil is easily explained. The finely ground coal, mixed with a certain quantity of oil, is subjected to heat in an atmosphere of compressed hydrogen gas. Th« process is known as "hydrogenation,". since the hydrogen gaa enters into chemical combination with the coal cr its pro. ducts. The operations may be so con. ducted as to yield high-grade petrol ag sole product, or a variety of products, such as petrol, kerosene, Diesel engine oil, lubricating oil, and fuel oil., The process has been worked on a large commercial scale in Germany, and for several years 100,000 tons of petrol were produced annually by the hydrogenation of brown coal. -"During the last -five or six years the hydrogenation of British coal has been very carefully investigated at the Billingham works of Imperial Chemical Industries, Limited," he continued. ."Ihe process has been closely investigated in a plant capable of treating 20 tons of coal a day, and I have had the privilege of being- in general touch with this work. It has demonstrated the commercial feasibility of manufacturing high-grade petrol and other oils from British coals, and has shown that petrol of a quality equal, if not superior, 'to the finest natural motor spirit can be produced at a cost of about 7d per gallon. Though the 20-ton plant cannot be regarded as a commercial unit, surely the point has now been reached at which commercial production is justifiable, and should be taken up in the national interest." Independence olf Foreign Oil. Professor Donnan said that assuming the coal hydrogenated would produce 60 per cent, of its weight in -petrol, and silowing for the coal required for the manufacture of the hydrogen and for the production of the steam and the electric power required in the process, four tons of coal are necessary for each ton of refined petrol. A plant capable of treating 1000 tons of coal a day and producing 213,000 tons of petrol annually, would therefore require about 850,000 tons of coal per annum. It has been calculated by experts that a plant of this, character would give permanent employment to 5000 men, of whom 3000 would be miners, in addition to the employment during the construction period of some 17,000 men for, say, two years. The flexibility of the hydrogenation process is such that the plant could be employed to produca petrol only, to produce petrol, Diesel engine oil, and fuel oil in various proportions, or to hydrogenate various types of tar -with a yield of petrol approaching 80 per cent. The plant proposed would be only a modest beginning," he continued. "Suppose it were successful. Suppose then that slowly and gradually we could build up an industry that would completely cover our national requirements of all classes of oil. Let us put these at 10,000,000 tons per annum, for the sake of argument. Were we to manufacture these 10,000,000 tons of mixed oils by hydrogenation of British coal, expert calculation indicates that we should requir# annually about 30,000,000 tons of coal (the heavier oils requiring less hydrogen than petrol), and that; the industry would give permanent employment to some 90,000 men afc the works and some 100,000 men at the mines, a, total of nearly 200 ; 000 men. Great Britain would then be completely independent of foreign supplies of motor spirit and fuel oil. The building up of such an industry would be of enormous benefit to many ancillary industries, for example, to the iron, steel, and engineering industries. He added that it is important to bear in mind that the hydrogenation process differs in its essentials from the low temperature carbonisation process. lb® latter produces as its main products pa and semi-coke and perhaps up to 8 P cent, of liquid products. It contributes to but does not offer a solution 1 of tn» problem of oil production in " re Britain, as does the hydrogenation process.