OIL FROM COAL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18756, 12 July 1935, Page 3

OIL FROM COAL

EXPERIMENTS IN N.Z. HIGH TEST EXTRACTIONS Tho progress of the oib from-coal in-: dust t v overseas draws attention to laboratory experiments which have been carried out by Waikato Carbonisation, Limited, at Rotowaro. 'ln England and Germany the industry has reached the stage of a commercial proposition, but there is little to warrantsuch development in New Zealand, The market offering and possibly the capital resources available are too limited in the Dominion to enable coal to be treated in the, necessary large quantities. Low temperature distillation, the method used chiefly overseas, is similar to that used by the carbonisation company in its commercial treatment of slack coal. This has enabled the company to make experimental-tests for oil extraction. The company claims that tests have shown an extraction of from six to scveh gallons of oils from every toil of coal. The company also extracts about £0 per cent of the pitch used for treating slack. The company has been furnished with considerable data from overseas firms, and it has reported its results to these firms. Comparison indicates that, the Waikato lignite coal lends itself -to the process better than the same type of coal overseas, the extraction being higher than that secured in England and Germany. It is understood that South Island coal companies are showing interest in the low temperature process. 'The West Coast coal is bituminous, while Otago has lignite deposits. The New Zealand Government is kept informed of tho. results of the Carbonisation Company’s experiments.