THE ROMANCE OF OIL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21248, 30 July 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE ROMANCE OF OIL

By A.M.1., Mech. E,

TART 111

A lot might be written about tho advantages of oil-fuel over coal, but I will just point to a few of them: A greatly reduced fuel space required, oil can be put aboard much more cheaply and quickly than coal can be, tho laborious work of stoking the boilers is done away with, while tho heat of the fire 3 can be regulated much more closely. In tho earliest attempts to burn liquid, fuel in a furnace, dating back to about 1870, tho oil was allowed to oozo through porous material 011 the surfaco of which combustion took place, or the oil was made to trickle over a sort of grid, and being broken up in this way it burnt readily. But with these primitive methods a largo portion of the heating value in tho fuel was lost and it was found that by spraying, or atomising, the oil, very much better results could bp obtained. This discovery brought about the development of tho modern oil burner, or spraying nozzle. Now, you will easily guess that in building up tho great 'oil industry many problems have arisen apart from the actual production, distribution and uses of tho oil products.' For instance, very thorough safeguards against fire must be adopted where largo quantities of oil are stored, and special methods of attacking oil fires have been developed. The ordinary, time-honoured way of putting out a fire is, of course, to pour water on it. But this is apt/ to bo a particularly bad plan in tho casts of an oil blaze, for if the water does nob immediately quench the fire it may only make matters worse by providing a surface over which the burning oil can float, thus spreading the blaze. The latest'method of dealing with such fires ,is quite interesting and I will describe' it briefly. Fire cannot burn without oxygen, which, as you know, is one of the two gases of which air i 6 composed. Certain other gases (non-supporters of combustion), such as carbonic acid gas, will quickly put out a fire because they shut out the oxygen which enables the fire to burn. But a fire causes such strong upward currents, of burning gases that a quenching gas, *ven if projected on to the fire, is at onco carried away. So an ingenious method is used by which quantities of froth-, or foam, are poured on to the firo. This froth is composed of myriads of bubbles of carbonic acid gas clothed with a film of 6ticky liquid. It may be compared with soapsuds, a mass of tiny air bubbles having thin walls of soapy water. The froth is quickly produced when required by allowing two chemical liquids to combine and form gas. The chemical action causes a vigorous agitation of the liquids, in which the bubbles of gas form a froth through the medium of a viscous substance made in some

(Associate Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers)

cases from liquorice root. The froth floats on tho surfaco of the oil and forme a " blanket " which smothers the flames. The fire extinguishing appliance consists of a metal vessel containing tho liquids and provided with a nozzle for discharging the froth. I have already referred to tho existence of petroleum deposits in the Taranaki district. Many attempts have been made to obtain oil in payable quantities, but the results havo not been very encouraging. Although the oil ha 3 been proved to be of excellent quality. From time to time companies have been formed to work the oil deposits, but the returns have not been profitable. Thfe earliest attempt to " strike oil " was made in 1865, when a small syndicate obtained from the Provincial Government the right to bore for oil on 50 acres of land near tho Sugar-loaves. The best vield obtained from one well was 80 gallons a day, but this was for only a short period. The presence of oil near the Sugarloaves had been noted by tho Maoris longbefore the arrival of Europeans and was thought by them to bo due to tho decomposition of the body of a eea rtionster. Now, from what I have said about the enormous production of petroleum in the world to-day, you will see that there must bo vast deposits *of oil deep down in tho earth. The question may occur to you: " llow did it get there?" In the caso of coal wo find plant-forms preserved in tho coal seams which unmistakably indicate their origin. But. of course, petroleum cannot tell its own story in this manner, and so geologists havo had to build up theories to account for its origin. These may be divided into two classes. According to the inorganic theory, oil and gas were formed by water coming into contact with heated carbides of iron, manganese and other metals lying beneath the porous strata in which the oil is stored by Nature. Upholders of the organic theory maintain that petrolaceous products were formed in somewhat the same way that coal was, and in addition, that the remains of marine animals and plants havo also contributed largely to the formation of oil. This is putting the matter,very briefly, of course. It should be added that scientific opinion nowadays very strongly supports the organic theory. Much more might be written regarding this wonderful gift of nature to mankind that has played, 6uch an important part in modern progress, but I hope that even this brief series of articles will give you increased knowledge of a fascinating subject, and that next timo you fill -the benzine tank, oil the lawnmower, iight a lamp or clean a pair of gloves, y6u will call to mind something of the processes bv which these indispensable oils, spirits and lubricants are obtained. Next Week " THE MAGIO OF WATER "