900 B.H.P. LOW DUTY VICKERS ENGINE FOR OIL TANK VESSELS
900 B.H.P. LOW DUTY VICKERS ENGINE FOR OIL TANK VESSELS
BACK VIEW OF ENGINE
BACK VIEW OF ENGINE
Already a very large number of their engines have been constructed, the approximate brake horse-power produced by same being upwards of 337,600. These engines are of various sizes, ranging from 200 to 2,000 horse-power. The cylinders vary in diameter from 10 to 29 inches, and are arranged to work in groups to suit the power required, and may be either two-stroke or four-stroke cycle. The high temperatures set up in starting the engine are sufficient to ignite the fuel, the introduction of which in a finely-divided condition has been the object of so many experiments at Barrow; and so successful in this direction have Messrs. Vickers been that they are now able to deal satisfactorily, by careful adjustments of the engine to suit the various fuels, with the most troublesome oils.
As already referred to, the elimination of the air compressor constitutes the chief improvement embodied in the Vickers type of engine, seeing that the greatest worry which the Diesel engineer has had to encounter has been this very compressor. Needless to remark, therefore, this feature alone strongly recommends the new system to the experienced man. Further, the power required to drive the compressor above-mentioned is considerable, so that economy is not one of the least results due to its absence.
The principal advantages that can be claimed for the Vickers engine may be summarized as under—
1. Safety in working. (Many accidents have been due to the use of the air compressor.)2. Weight is saved.3. Space is saved.4. Lower air compression in the cylinders for ignition, and economy in air for starting the engine.5. Reduction in first costs; and6. Reduction in upkeep expenses.
1. Safety in working. (Many accidents have been due to the use of the air compressor.)
2. Weight is saved.
3. Space is saved.
4. Lower air compression in the cylinders for ignition, and economy in air for starting the engine.
5. Reduction in first costs; and
6. Reduction in upkeep expenses.
900 B.H.P. HIGH DUTY REVERSING ENGINE FOR LIGHT CRAFT
900 B.H.P. HIGH DUTY REVERSING ENGINE FOR LIGHT CRAFT
1,250 B.H.P. LOW DUTY VICKERS MARINE ENGINE FOR OIL TANK VESSEL
1,250 B.H.P. LOW DUTY VICKERS MARINE ENGINE FOR OIL TANK VESSEL
With regard to (4), the low compression claimed is rather interesting, as Messrs. Vickers have successfully demonstrated that, although a high compression temperature is necessary in the ordinary Diesel engine with the usual air spraying compressor, a much lower degree suffices for their mechanical injection system, whilst there is a greater certainty of ignition of the fuel on its first introduction, even with the existence of lower compression in the cylinder. The reason of this is that the spraying air used in the ordinary Diesel is usually compressed to about 60 atmospheres (900 lb. per square inch). What happens when air spraying is practised is this. When the cold air carrying the very high pressure above mentioned enters the cylinder, it necessarily expands, owing to the lower temperature already existent there, and such expansion chills the whole mixture, frequently preventing ignition on the first introduction of the fuel.
Under the Vickers system of mechanical fuel injection, there is, of course, no introduction of very highly compressed air, and, consequently, first ignition is rendered easier. From this, it will at once be seen that an oil possessing a high flash point can be more easily burned in the Vickers engine than in the ordinary Diesel, with the necessary adjunct of an air compressor. Provision is also made (should the type of fuel used require it) for a higher temperature of compression, and such oils are, therefore, much more easily dealt with than in the ordinary Diesel engine.
From what I have already said, it will be evident to the reader that it is only a question of time for air spraying, with its attendant use of the compressor, to become a thing of the past.
The mechanism involved by the adoption of the new system of fuel injection developed by Messrs. Vickersis exceptionally simple. It consists of a small fuel pump, such as is ordinarily used for pumping fuel, a reservoir or accumulator of novel form to retain the charge, and a valve with a special nozzle to admit the fuel in the form of a fine spray into the cylinder. The accumulator, I may here mention, is merely a tube, flattened slightly on the sides, and of sufficient length, when the oil is forced into it, to enable it to yield and store up a charge of fuel at the required high pressure, as explained in the next paragraph.
The principal feature of the system (and the secret of its great success) is the very high pressure at which the oil is injected into the cylinder. This pressure is kept up at about 4,000 lb. the square inch, so that the oil fuel, when it enters the cylinder and encounters the hot compressed air therein, is in the form of a very finely atomized mist, a conjunction of circumstances most favourable for ignition. As in all great inventions, the simplicity of the arrangement is not the least of its merits.
This somewhat rough, yet brief, outline will suffice to explain the astonishing success of the Vickers heavy oil engine, but, if the whole history of these (and other) noteworthy experiments could be written, a highly interesting story would be produced, showing indomitable perseverance in the face of discouragement, difficulty, and very heavy expense.
I have avoided touching upon the ordinary kerosene engines, for I imagine they are too well known to need more than passing reference here; nor have I gone into the details concerning the advent of the ordinary Diesel engine, which was a German invention.
I have preferred rather to deal with a British invention which is already revolutionizing oil engine construction generally, and which, obviously, has limitless fields open to it.
There will be no chapter in this little treatise which will be more carefully perused than the present one, for the subject is of direct interest to every reader, whether actually associated with the search for oil or not. To-day, as I have already mentioned in another chapter, this country is dependent for practically the whole of its petroleum requirements upon foreign oil-producing countries, and though ample evidence is forthcoming to suggest that there are possibilities of obtaining liquid oil in England—in fact, many years ago this was actually obtained in not inconsiderable quantities—it is very strange that only recently have serious efforts been made in the direction of systematic search for the valuable liquid.
That large quantities of petroleum can be produced in this country is agreed by all who have given the subject more than passing thought; the question is, by what means shall this production be brought about. While it is problematical as to the amount of commercial success which will attend the present search for liquid oil, though those who are most competent to judge believe that large stores of liquid oil will be found, it is already certain that there are vast possibilities in England for the production of petroleum from the treatment of the bituminous shales which freely abound in many parts.
It will be seen, therefore, that the subject really divides itself under two heads, and it is with the first of these—that of the possibilities of finding liquid oil reserves in commercial quantity in this country—thatI will now proceed to deal. For this purpose, it is better that we divide the country into three zones—western, middle, and eastern. The western zone will include the whole of England between the third meridian of West Longitude and the Irish Sea, the Bristol Channel, and the North Atlantic. It will be bounded on the north by a line running near Whitehaven to the mouth of the River Tees, and having the English Channel as its southern boundary. In this zone, the most northern occurrence of petroleum is found at Whitehaven, Cumberland, and the next is found on the Lancashire coast. Other indications are to be found in Denbighshire and in the northern part of the South Wales coalfield.
The occurrences of petroleum in what may be described as the middle zone are far more important and numerous than those of the western zone. They are important in the physical conditions to which they are subordinate, and in their greater productiveness. They are more numerous, and their geological position is more in direct relationship with later dynamical alterations in the rock structures. In this zone occurs the most important occurrence which has so far been recorded—I refer to that at Alfreton, in Derbyshire—for it was from this natural flow of petroleum over 70 years ago that Dr. Young, the founder of the Scottish shale oil industry, manufactured paraffin wax. Near Chesterfield is also unmistakable evidence of the presence of liquid oil at depth, for considerable quantities have flowed from the workings at the Southgate Colliery. In this middle zone, too, are the occurrences of petroleum found near Wigan and West Leigh, while flows of oil are recorded from several spots round Barnsley and Ilkeston. The petroleum find at Kelham, near Newark, some few years ago, is important for the reason that the drill in this case, at a depth of somewhere about 2,400 feet, struck truepetroliferous sands, underlain by dark, waxy shales. The oil rock has been proved to consist of loose, coarsely grained sand, having all the features of strata in which petroleum is ordinarily met with. The great value of this boring is that it has demonstrated the fact, so long doubted by many of the best geological authorities in Great Britain, that all the geological conditions, dynamical as well as historical, are present in this locality for the formation and subsequent retention of liquid petroleum, and that, as Dr. William Forbes-Leslie puts it, despite all contention to the contrary, a true oil-field exists in England.
So far as I am aware, however, North Staffordshire alone, among all the places in England, has the distinction of so far having produced liquid petroleum in sufficient quantity for refining purposes. It was in 1874 that oil was discovered in a seam of coal in one of the pits of the Mear Hay Collieries, Longton, and a contract was ultimately made with a Mr. William Walker, Senr., of Hanley, who erected plant at Cobridge for the purpose of refining the oil. I am indebted to Mr. Walker for the following facts, though in a general way I have full corroboration for them, for it was within a couple of miles from the collieries that I was born and spent my earlier days. The seam of coal wherein the oil was discovered was one of the deeper seams, and by no means one of the best in the district. At that time, the flow produced more than 5 tons of crude oil per week, and inasmuch as England then was not inundated with American petroleums, great possibilities were seen in the discovery. But almost before the refining of the crude had settled down to be a commercial undertaking, the plans of operation were upset, for a serious explosion occurred at the colliery, which rendered necessary the closing of the pit. Twelvemonths later, however, they were re-opened, and after the re-sinking had proceeded awhile, the oil was found far up the shaft, and in due course the shaft was cleared and the mines re-opened. Refining operations were resumed and continued for a year or two, when the pits had to be closed on account of the shafts shrinking.
However, in the course of a number of years, petroleum appeared in another colliery less than a mile from the Mear Hay Colliery, and again Mr. Walker secured the contract for the whole of the output. The quantity of crude oil found was several tons weekly, and a large stock had accumulated when Mr. Walker’s attention was drawn to this new find. This time, the supply continued for a longer period, and then again the seam of coal in which the deposit occurred had to be abandoned. Thus, while the resources of this part of the Charnian axis have not been properly tested—for, in the opinion of the colliery owners, it is not possible profitably to work coal and oil at the same time—there is ample evidence to suggest that, in the not distant future, there may be most interesting oil developments in this part of North Staffordshire.
The eastern zone of the country doubtless furnishes the most interesting petroleum occurrences in England. Here, the interest does not so much depend upon the number of escapes, as upon the promising geological conditions subserving the production and possible retention of petroleum. According to the investigations of Dr. W. Forbes-Leslie, F.R.G.S., whose valuable contribution on the subject of the occurrence of petroleum in England forms one of the most important papers ever read before the Institution of Petroleum Technologists, the northern line of oil occurrences runs from Filey, north-westerly, the principal finds being located at Filey, Pickering, and Kirby Moorside. Oil, too, hasbeen found at Brigg, in Lincolnshire, at Market-Rasen, Haugmont, and Donnington-on-Bain. The line of oil occurrences starts at King’s Lynn, on the Wash, and runs south-westwards as far as Cottenham, in Cambridgeshire, the principal occurrences being at King’s Lynn, Downham, Littleport, and Ely. The information obtained by the bore-hole at Kelham, to which I have already referred, is a factor of great value when taken into consideration and applied to an analytical review of the petroleum seepages in England. It is a positive proof that a true oil-bearing stratum underlies the surface rocks, at any rate, in one part of the British Isles, and, when it is considered in relation with the surface position of the oil escapes on the eastern flank of the Pennine Chain, it suggests a possible connection between those underground sources of oil and those surface escapes which are scattered, seemingly at such random, along the Pennines.
The attempts which were made but a few years ago to develop the possibilities of the Heathfield district of Sussex, with a view to obtaining commercial quantities of natural gas, were also prompted with the idea of maybe striking deposits of liquid petroleum, though it is doubtful, both from a geological point of view, and from the nature of the natural gas which is there in abundance, whether liquid oil will be met with in that part of the country. What has been established, however, is the fact that large quantities of natural gas are to be found in this delightful part of rural Sussex, and it is a great pity that the necessary enterprise has not been forthcoming to permit of a really serious development. Some years ago, I motored an American oil-man over the gas-fields of Heathfield, and he assured me that, if such evidences were found in the States, there would immediately be a great boom, and financewould freely flow in to stimulate development. But not so with Heathfield, for the opinion is freely held that this field is too near our midst for real speculative enterprise. Remove it to the wilds of Russia, and British finance would appreciate the immense potentialities which to-day lie dormant. For those readers who are, perhaps, not conversant with the history of the Heathfield gas developments it is well to record the fact that attention to these deposits was drawn years ago, when a well was being drilled for water on the property of the Brighton and South Coast Railway, near the present station. Strong smells of gas prevented working for some time, and as these increased it was decided that the better course would be to suspend drilling operations. The tubes of the well were partially drawn out, and the well sides caved in, yet the gas pressure increased. The well was abandoned as a water well, but pipes were attached to the cap at the mouth, and a steady pressure of gas was emitted. It was decided that, inasmuch as the gas burned with a pure flame, the station should be lighted with it. That was over twenty years ago, and to-day the well is still producing, and the station is still lighted with the natural gas, which needs no refining. Not only so, but a well-appointed hotel close by utilizes the gas for lighting and cooking.
A project was set on foot for sinking further wells and piping the gas to the southern coast resorts for general use, but lack of capital prevented progress being made, and so, to-day, Heathfield, like many other centres in the country, awaits the attention of the carefully-directed drill to open up its underground wealth.
In August, 1917, the feeling in many parts of the country that the Government should take some action in order to develop these latent resources became sostrong that a Bill was introduced into Parliament with this object in view. No attempt was made to progress with it until the following October, when a financial resolution was rejected by the House of Commons on the question of royalties. An amendment was adopted against the payment of royalties to the owners of surface lands who had made no attempt to obtain liquid oil, and who, as a matter of fact, did not know that it was there. Two months later the Petroleum (Production) Bill was dropped.
In March, 1918, however, a most encouraging turn of events occurred, for Lord Cowdray, head of the great firm of Messrs. S. Pearson & Son, and associated with those influential interests in oil represented by the Mexican Eagle Oil Company, the Eagle Oil Transport Company, and the Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Company, made offers to the Government which were couched in the following terms—
(a) For the period of the war to place at the disposal of the Government, free of all cost, the services of his firm and geological staff for the purpose of exploration and development.
(b) If the Government did not wish to risk public money on what had to be deemed a speculative enterprise, Messrs. S. Pearson & Son were prepared to drill, at their own risk and expense as licensees, subject to certain areas being reserved to them. The offer committed the firm to an expenditure of, possibly, £500,000.
The public spirited offer of Lord Cowdray was most thankfully accepted by the Government and, with a minimum of delay, drilling sites were marked out for the commencement of active operations.
Lord Cowdray’s geological staff particularly favoured the neighbourhood in Derbyshire, near to which Young made his first discoveries of oil, and Chesterfield wasselected as headquarters for the new oil developments. The first oil well to be drilled in this country was commenced in September, 1918, at Hardstoft, near Pilsley, on the Great Central main line between Sheffield and Nottingham, and on Tuesday, 18th October, the inauguration of England’s oil industry took place there in the presence of many oil notabilities. American drilling machinery of the percussion type was installed and, in view of the great depth to which it was expected the drill would have to proceed before encountering commercial quantities of oil, the well was commenced with a diameter of 18 inches.
A depth of just over 3,000 ft. had been reached at the commencement of June, 1919, at which depth oil production started. The well was put on the pump and began its steady yield of a good grade crude oil, the production being about fifty barrels per week. Up to the time of writing (December, 1919) the well is maintaining its yield.
Other wells have been sunk in the Chesterfield area at Ironville, Heath, Renishaw, Brimington, Ridgeway and in North Staffordshire and Scotland, but so far the success met with is not promising, though it is quite possible that commercial oil may be encountered.
Private enterprise has also commenced the sinking of a well at Kelham, Nottinghamshire, near a site where, many years ago, small quantities of oil were found in an experimental coal bore. Here, however, no definite result has been attained. The Company—The Oilfields of England, Ltd.—is operating under a drilling license from the Government under which the Government may take over the properties on a valuation should commercial oil be found.
Let us now briefly turn to the other aspect of the question of the production of petroleum in England—thatis, of producing oils from the treatment of the bituminous shales. There are several sources from which petroleum can be obtained in this country by distillation, and these are: (1) oil-shales, (2) coal, (3) cannel coals and torbanites, (4) blackband ironstones, (5) lignite, and (6) peat.
Though in the past the oil shales of England have not been recognized as possessing great potential value, comparatively recent discoveries have proved that at home we have enormous deposits of oil shales of remarkable richness. These are, so far as at present proved, situate in Norfolk and at short distance from King’s Lynn. Dr. Forbes Leslie, F.R.G.S., has for many years carried out a number of tests as to the quality and quantity of the shales in the Norfolk field, and as a result of his work it has been proved that upwards of twenty miles square, there is an area in Norfolk underlaid with rich oil-shales. From a geological point of view the shales are remarkable, for they uniformly lie within 300 ft. of the surface, several of the seams being but a few feet below ground. Their prolific nature may be judged from the fact that in sinking test wells to depths of 300 ft. in various parts of the field, over 150 ft. of this oil shale has been drilled through, and it is thus established beyond all possible doubt that at home we have all the materials at hand for a huge home production of oil.
The whole of the field has been secured by English Oilfields, Ltd., a company which, by reason of the influential interest behind it, is bound to be strikingly successful in its future developments in Norfolk.
The crude oil content of the shales is surprisingly great, for these shales yield approximately 60 gallons of oil per ton, or considerably more than double as much as the Midlothian shales. Dr. Forbes Leslie assertsthat there is already proved over 2,000,000,000 tons of shale on the properties in Norfolk, and after having carefully inspected the whole of the fields on many occasions, I think Dr. Leslie’s statement may be taken as very conservative, for after all it is only a question of a simple sum of calculation which allows one to arrive at the figures above quoted.
Commercial developments have already been commenced on the Norfolk fields, and it is safe to assume that they will become of enormous National importance, since the production of home oil supplies is to-day considered of vast National interest.
The other shales—such as the Kimmeridge shales of Dorset and Sussex—are not being worked commercially in spite of strenuous efforts, and there remains much to be done before a steady supply of petroleum can be counted upon from these sources. Of the other possible sources of supply, coal yields too little, and at the same time is considered too valuable to be utilized on a general scale; lignites are not yet opened for development on a sufficient scale; and peat has proved troublesome and expensive to treat owing to the difficulty of eliminating the water. This, therefore, leaves cannel coals, torbanites, and blackband ironstones, which are closely associated and, in numerous cases, easily obtainable. Cannel coal, I should explain, differs from the ordinarily known coal on account of its being less carbonized; it contains many fragments and particles of vegetable matter still showing their natural forms, though flattened by pressure. The percentage of hydrogen to carbon is higher in a cannel coal than in the bituminous coal, the percentage of inorganic matter is usually higher also, and the fracture and general appearance serve to distinguish this variety of carbonaceous deposit.
The desire that the British Empire should be self-supporting in every possible way has been the predominating idea of our statesmen for many years: it is to be regretted, however, that such little progress has been recorded in the direction of the achievement of a practical result. This remark applies to many commodities, yet to none more so than to petroleum and its products. To-day, as much as at any preceding time, the Empire is dependent upon foreign sources of supply for the vast bulk of its petroleum products. It is true that in the United Kingdom there is a growing production of oil from the shale-fields of Scotland, but this total represents but a fraction of the large quantities of products which are annually required to meet the ever-increasing demands in commercial and domestic circles.
At the outbreak of the European War, it was forcibly brought home to us as a nation that we were in a position regarding our petroleum supplies of absolute dependence upon other countries. The refined products were an essential part of the war, for without them it would have been impossible to have continued for almost a single day, and yet, practically every gallon used had to be transported thousands of miles, and from a country which at that time was neutral. To make matters even worse, the Continental sources of supply from which we had been previously drawing large quantities of petroleum were closed to export, for, through the Dardanelles, the Roumanian andRussian export ports were effectively shut off from the outside world.
Fortunately for Great Britain, the United States came forward with the offer of all the petroleum products required for the successful prosecution of the war, and we owe to the United States alone all success which has been the natural result of possessing ample requirements of petroleum products both on sea and land.
The fact, nevertheless, stands out tragically prominent that we as a nation have not developed our own oil resources in a manner we ought to have done, although everyone conversant with the oil business has been for years advocating the giving of serious attention to this important subject. To-day, speculative drilling for petroleum is proceeding in England, and it is to be hoped that some success will be ultimately recorded, but, inasmuch as I dealt with the question of Petroleum in England in the previous chapter, I will at the moment pass over this very interesting phase of the problem, and briefly look at the subject from an Empire point of view. Under the British Flag, we already have, or control, some excellent oil-fields in Burmah, Persia, Egypt, Trinidad, and Assam, and each producing steadily increasing quantities of crude oil. The Burmah fields have achieved fame mainly owing to the very large profits made by the chief operating company—the Burmah Oil Company, Ltd., whose head offices are at Glasgow. These have of recent years been developed upon most up-to-date lines, and the producing limits of the territory greatly extended, until now the annual crude oil production is upwards of 1,000,000 tons. The fields of Persia are very prolific, and their control to-day is in the hands of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Ltd., an influential concern largely controlled by the British Government, by reason of the investment oflarge sums of public moneys a few years ago. The development of the Persian fields is more or less in its initial stages, and though huge quantities of oil have already been produced therefrom, the limits of the presumably oil-bearing areas have by no means been defined. In order to facilitate the export of Persian oil, a pipe-line has been laid from the fields to Abadan, on the Persian Gulf, and a programme has already been laid down under which large quantities of Persian petroleum products will come upon the English markets.
The Egyptian oil-fields have lately witnessed developments upon an important scale, thanks to the enterprise of the Anglo-Egyptian Oil-fields, Ltd., a concern closely allied with the “Shell” Combination, and having as its Chairman, Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart. Commercial supplies of crude oil have been found at several points near the coast of the Gulf of Suez, and a large refinery has been built for the refining of the oil. Down to 1914, the only oil finds of importance had been at Gemsah, where a number of oil gushers were struck, but the field there proved to be one of most irregular formation, and none of the wells gave anything like a permanent yield. Fortunately, in that year a field was discovered at Hurgada, the formation of which was found to be singularly regular, and the yield of which has steadily increased until, at the time of writing, the production of crude oil in it is over 15,000 tons per month. That additional wells have not been sunk and the field further increased has been primarily due to the difficulties of obtaining the necessary plant under war conditions. Some very large wells have already been brought in, but, so far, the petroleum industry in Egypt is quite in its infancy. It is quite obvious, however, that in the next few years the production of petroleum inEgypt will be increasingly large, and the developments are bound to have a significant bearing upon the oil situation generally.
The same remarks equally apply to the Trinidad fields, where the anticipations of those associated with the pioneer oil operations have been more than fulfilled. Some prolific fields have been opened up, and the production to-day is such that an export trade of considerable magnitude can be maintained. Developments upon the Island were impeded by the total absence of roads in the oil districts, and much pioneer work had to be undertaken before it was possible to commence the serious exploitation of the fields themselves. The crude oil of Trinidad is of both the light and the heavy grades, the former showing remarkable percentages of motor spirit, while the latter is used not only as fuel oil but also for the treatment of roads so as to render them dustless. It is in Trinidad that there is the famous pitch lake, from which for many years large quantities of asphalt have been removed and exported for a variety of purposes. Trinidad asphalt, in fact, is well known all over the world. The potentialities of the Island are rapidly being appreciated, for its geographical position is such that would make it a practical base for the “oiling” of the great ocean-going vessels which are rapidly passing over from coal to fuel oil burning.
While on the subject of oil-fields which are under the British Flag, mention must be made of Canada, whose oil industry has been developed for many years. The principal producing fields are in Ontario, and the town of Petrolia is the centre of the petroleum interests. But the wells are not of the prolific class, and almost without exception show a very poor return for operating. Many of them are sunk only to the shallow strata, andtheir operation would certainly be profitless were not a system employed by which quite a number of small producing wells are pumped by central power. From time to time, Canada has experienced various oil booms, one of the most recent being that which occurred in Calgary, in 1914. A well showed a small production of high-grade oils, and immediately the country for miles round became the centre of an oil fever, which gradually died down when a number of unsuccessful developments took place. To-day, the output of the Canadian fields is steadily declining, and all efforts to stimulate the production have so far failed. Even a Government bounty of 1½ cents a gallon of oil produced has failed to encourage an increase in output, and it is evident that, unless new fields are opened out, the future offers little hope.
The total production of petroleum to-day by the oil-fields developed in the British Empire represents but about 2 per cent. of the world’s total petroleum output: it is therefore clear that, if we intend to secure our oil supplies in the future from territory under the British Flag, large supplementary sources of supply must be found. It is doubtful whether any additional liquid oil regions will be found to produce oil in commercial quantity, for, though several attempts have been made in various parts with this end in view, they have not achieved success, and numerous instances might be quoted where the employment of British capital in an endeavour to bring about this much desired result has met with failure.
The question then arises: Is it possible to augment considerably Empire-produced oils from other means of development? In this direction, the future is full of promise, for, though Nature has not given the Empire freely of liquid oil-producing fields, there are immense areas of oil-bearing shales at home and in our Dominionsoverseas which can, without great difficulty, be turned into most useful account. It is well known that great deposits of retortable material exist within the Empire’s bounds, and many of these deposits are exceedingly rich. At the moment, however, scarcely any have been exploited, and none adequately developed. From time to time, many samples of oil-bearing shales from various parts of the Empire have been sent to this country for analysis, and these have usually been put through Scottish retorts with varying results.
But the unsatisfactory analyses have not been due to the qualities of the shale or torbanite examined, but to the methods by which the distillations were carried out. The well-known consulting oil engineer—Mr. E. H. Cunningham-Craig—made a special point of this in a most interesting article which recently appeared in one of the Empire magazines, and he pointed out that the reasons for the unsatisfactory conclusions arrived at were very simple and obvious. The Scottish retorts are designed to deal effectually with highly inspissated and, as a rule, not very rich, oil-shales. The recovery of the maximum amount of sulphate of ammonia is a desideratum; a sufficient supply of incondensable gases to fire the retort must be produced; while the recovery of the lighter fractions (motor spirit) of the material treated was not an object of the first consideration. For these purposes, says Mr. Cunningham-Craig, large and high vertical retorts are used, the temperature of distillation is comparatively high, superheated steam is blown into the retorts, and a fairly complete extraction of volatile matter is achieved. But to apply such methods to a very rich and fresh torbanite—such as the richer shales of New South Wales—is absurd, involving many practical difficulties and not giving the most remunerative results.
Similarly, the rich oil-shales of New Brunswick (Canada), though more nearly allied to the Scottish shales, differ from them both chemically and physically to such an extent as to require different treatment. Let me now briefly refer to the deposits which are known in the Dominions and Colonies that give promise of yielding oil in commercial quantities by destructive distillation. I will first take the shales of Canada, for though, as I have pointed out, the Dominion’s production of liquid oil is steadily decreasing, there are numerous deposits of shales which only await careful exploitation and development in order to render Canada a petroleum-producing country of considerable magnitude. The oil-shales of New Brunswick have been known for many years, yet only a fraction of the area has been yet prospected. Experiments with the shales have shown that they are capable of producing nearly 50 gallons of crude oil the ton of shale treated, while ammonium sulphate has been produced at the remarkable proportion of 77 lb. a ton. Albert County is one of the best shale-fields, and it is here that a Government scheme has now been promulgated. The shales of Nova Scotia are likewise to be commercially developed, but so far no serious attempt has been proposed to deal with the enormous areas in Newfoundland, the Province of Quebec, and other already known regions of Canadian oil-shales.
Australia can boast of very large areas of shales: some deposits have been operated for several years, but others are still awaiting development. From a variety of causes, however, the shale-oil industry of Australia has never been set upon a profitable footing. The Commonwealth Oil Corporation some years ago set out to accomplish much, but the only thing which it seemed to do with energy was to sail to destruction.Its failure cannot be said to have been due to any absence of the material it set out to treat for petroleum, for at every turn enormous quantities were opened up. It would appear that the immensity of the possibilities which awaited its operations was one of the prime reasons for its premature decay, while there is no doubt that the system it employed was by no means the best for treating the shales. A more simple and less expensive method of retorting the shales would doubtless ensure successful working. In Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand the presence of these shales has been proved over extensive areas, and though for the most part they have so far been neglected, there is reason to hope that, in the not distant future, the advantage to be derived from their commercial exploitation will be the more widely appreciated. A most lucrative industry could be built up by the Commonwealth of Australia by the distillation of the torbanites there, and though, perhaps, it is too much to expect that an export trade in petroleum products could be built up, there is no doubt whatever that the large requirements for petroleum products in the Dominion could easily be met by the production from home sources.
The possibilities of developing a shale industry in Africa are not particularly promising, though they are by no means out of the range of probability. In the coal series in the Transvaal, beds of what are known as “oil-shales” are encountered in several localities The seams generally are thin, and in some cases unworkable, but the material is very rich, and has proved capable of yielding high percentages of crude oil.
In Sarawak (British North Borneo) the “Shell” Company is carrying out most important and highly successful developments, which are bound to havefar-reaching and gratifying results in regard to developments under the British Flag.
As I have shown, the problem of Imperial oil supply would be far on its way to solution by the development of the various shales in the British Empire, and the pity is that a more progressive policy has not been adopted in regard thereto long before the subject became of such pressing importance. Each of our Colonies—like the Mother Country—is a large consumer of petroleum products, and each is also totally dependent upon imported supplies, yet within the borders of each are to be found large deposits of the necessary crude material.
A perusal of the preceding chapters of this little work will have made it clear to the reader that petroleum and its products play a most important part to-day in the life of nations: if, however, one would be impressed with the immensely significant rôle which petroleum products have played in the conduct of the great European War, a brief reference to the subject will amply suffice. From the commencement of the Titanic struggle in 1914, it became obvious to those who were most competent to judge that, if victory was to be on the side of the Allies, it was imperative that they should possess sufficient reserves of petroleum products for all purposes, for it was evident then that activity would not be limited to armies on the land, but that the air and the sea would also become battle-grounds whereon the destinies of nations would in part be decided.
Germany, too, saw this; before the war it had been practically dependent upon regular supplies from the United States as well as from Roumania, but the bulk of its requirements came from the former mentioned country. With its States’ oil shipments cut off, it turned its attention to securing at least part of its stocks from the neutral North-Western European countries, which, in their turn, were likewise dependent upon America. The ruse worked for some time, and the unsuspecting American exporters shipped cargoes to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden with little idea that the bulk of these were ultimately to find their way intoGermany. It was only when the figures were published in the States as to the abnormally large quantities of petroleum products that had been sent to the European neutral countries that, to the thinking mind, it became obvious something was wrong.
I can modestly claim to have called the attention of the British Government to this underhand proceeding early in 1915, when I not only gave them details of cargoes which had been delivered to various North-Western European portsen routeto Germany, but also managed to secure the names of vessels all laden with such supplies, which at that time were crossing the Atlantic. Mr. Winston Churchill, to his credit be it said, acted without delay, and within a few days, as the vessels passed the North of Scotland, they were stopped, and—well, to cut a long story short, this country got the petroleum products which, in accordance with the original plan, would have gone to Germany. Some time afterwards there came a voice of protest from one or two interested persons in those neutral countries, for they declared that not a single barrel of petroleum had gone over to Germany, but evidence was soon forthcoming to show how well Germany’s ruse had worked for some months, and a prosecution in one of those countries made against an importing firm, for actually sending petroleum supplies into Germany, effectively closed the protest from those who would have liked the enemy’s desires to have been undisturbed.
There is not the slightest doubt that Germany at that time was in dire straits for sufficient petroleum products for its military purposes: had the war been somewhat delayed in its commencement, she would have been far better prepared, for, under the auspices of the Government, there had been laid down an elaborate programme for the importation and distributionof Roumanian petroleum products throughout Germany. As it was, the country was unprepared, and, though in other directions every possible precaution had been taken to carry through an elaborate military programme of offence, the prospective dearth of sufficient supplies of petroleum products necessitated the enforcing of the most stringent regulations with regard to the uses of all petroleum products, excepting for military purposes.
The taking of the Galician fields from the Central Armies by Russia gave a serious set-back to Germany’s military plans, and it was only when the Russians had to withdraw from Lemberg that the enemy was able to count upon sufficient supplies to meet his military requirements. To an extent, he was even then doomed to disappointment, for, when his armies arrived on the Galician fields, they found that practically the whole of the petroleum reserves had been destroyed, and a large number of the prolific producing wells more or less permanently damaged. Nor, to my mind, was the advance into Roumania prompted by the idea of territorial gains so much as to secure control of the country’s oil-fields. Here, again, Germany’s desires were in part thwarted, for the efforts of the British Military Mission, to which I refer elsewhere, had been eminently successful.
From that time onward, however, Germany’s supplies of petroleum products were secured, and that she turned them to account was a matter of common knowledge. Germany, naturally, greatly valued the acquisition of the Roumanian oil-fields, and it must be to its people a great disappointment that the whole of these immensely prolific regions for oil production are now permanently removed from the nation’s grasp.
Unfortunately, the British Government did not seriously appreciate the importance of petroleum products in war as well as peace until the war cloud of 1914 was about to burst. It had taken no notice of the suggestions made from time to time that in our own country there might be vast petroleum reserves awaiting development, and it had not even shown any encouragement to the Scottish shale-oil industry. All that it had done, and even this was on the eve of war, was to invest over £2,000,000 in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Ltd., for the development of the Persian oil-fields, so that the Navy could secure ample supplies of fuel oil. But here, however, there were difficulties ahead, for the Persian fields are in the interior of the country and have to rely upon pipe-lines to bring the supplies to the coast.
Everything, therefore, depended upon the security of the pipe-line, and the idea which was in the minds of many who opposed the scheme as to the possibility of supplies being cut off by the activities of the insurgents, was by no means a mistaken one; the pipe-line was, in fact, partially destroyed, and the transport of fuel oil held up for a long time.
As a nation, we have all along had to depend upon imported petroleum products, and, inasmuch as our supplies could be drawn at will from a variety of producing countries, the idea that we might at one time find ourselves cut off from supply does not appear to have occurred to many. No sooner had the war started, however, than we found, owing to the closing of the Dardanelles, that both Russia and Roumania could no longer attend to our requirements, while the Far East, owing to the great ocean journey necessitated to this country (and the quickest way lay through the Mediterranean) could not maintain regular shipmentswith us. It is fortunate that we found the United States willing, and from the start very desirous, to do all that was possible to help us out of a difficulty; while Mexico, with its wealth of British oil interests, catered in every way for the meeting of the enormous demands we made upon its resources.
To say that petroleum products have played a highly-important part in the conduct of the war is but to under-estimate facts. The importance of their part has been equal to that of the supply of guns and shells, and, when the statement was made in the House of Commons in 1917 that adequate supplies of petroleum were quite as essential as men and munitions, petroleum’s part was then not over-stated. Rather would I say it was on the contrary, for, had there been at any time a dearth of any classification of petroleum products, then the vast naval and army organization, both on and across the water, would immediately have lost its balance, and our great fighting units would automatically have become useless. Just think of it for a moment.
To-day, our great naval fighters—take theQueen Elizabeth, for instance—rely upon fuel oil for purposes of power, while our second and third line units must also have it, for, whether it be fuel oil or the lighter products of the oil refinery—I refer to motor spirit—it matters not, so far as supply is concerned. The whole of our winged fleets in the air must, of necessity, be useless unless they can regularly draw large quantities of motor spirit, and the volume they consume, even on a single trip, would surprise many, though it is not possible here to enter into figures.
At first sight one might be inclined to think that, apart from petroleum products being a very useful adjunct to the organization of battles on land, theiruse is not of a very real nature, but, if we pause for one moment, our first impressions are disillusioned.
It was my privilege at the end of 1917, thanks to the kindness of the British Foreign Office, to pay a visit to the fronts of France and Flanders, and there to have an opportunity of seeing the part which petroleum products did actually play. The immensity of this importance cannot be easily grasped, nor easily described. We all know the remarkable progress which had been made in regard to the extension of the railway systems throughout the zones of battle, but it will surprise many to learn that it was when the rail-heads had been reached, and between there and the real battle front, that motor spirit had the realm of transport to itself. Tens of thousands of heavy motor vehicles took up the work of transport when it left the railway, and it was this service that was required to see not only that our millions of men daily received their food, but each and every sort of ammunition also. But it was not even when the front line of battle was reached that motor spirit had finished its work. Those great machines of war—the tanks—had to remain stationary if they were not fed by large supplies of spirit, while petroleum, too, took a primary position in the making of the liquid fire which now and again we heard of as causing such havoc to Fritz. But, at its best, the railway was somewhat slow at the Front, no doubt owing to the enormous congestion which was inseparable from the reign of a state of war. Consequently, whole fleets of motor vehicles were employed day and night in a ceaseless stream of traffic, from the coastal ports right up to the zone of battle. Without divulging secrets, it is safe to say that that branch of the service alone demanded millions of gallons of motor spirit weekly.
Both after as well as before battle, the products ofpetroleum were essential, for, when the Red Cross vehicles took up their humane work of transporting the wounded heroes of the fight, those, too, called for innumerable quantities of motor spirit. And when darkness had fallen the oil lamp came into general use. It was to be found wherever there was a vestige of life in those zones of battle: the soldiers in their, at times, lonely dug-outs, used oil for cooking as well as for light, and all vehicular traffic was guided from disaster along the roads by the use of oil, which also offered the only source of artificial light in the Red Cross vehicles. What an immense organization it was which depended for its ceaseless activities upon the products of petroleum!
One day, while at General Headquarters, I expressed a desire to see the methods by which all that world of activity secured its necessary supplies of petroleum products regularly, when once they had arrived in France in bulk. A few days later, I was, accordingly, allowed to visit the immense central depot at Calais, at which all the petroleum products required for use in the organization of transport were dealt with. It is safe to say that at no centre in the world did there exist such an extensive petroleum depot, nor anywhere else was there an organization upon whose perfect working so much depended. Though motor spirit necessarily occupied the first position of importance, practically the whole range of products was dealt with. The motor spirit was received in bulk, but at the depot had to be measured into the familiar 2-gallon can (which was made on the spot) and sent up country in special trains each day. Specially coloured tins denoted the best quality of the spirit, and it was that which was reserved for the numerous aerodromes in France and Flanders. The magnitude of that branch of the depot might be guessed when I state that at the time of myvisit considerably over 2,000,000 2-gallon petrol tins were being either stored or filled for up country dispatch.
All kinds of lubricants were also essential for the purposes of war, for even motor spirit itself would be of little use for the internal combustion engines, if the engines could not secure their regular supplies of lubricating oils. These, too, had to be dispatched with remarkable regularity to every section of the battle zones, whilst, as I have suggested earlier, the daily requirements of war necessitated the distribution of illuminating oil in large quantities.
But no reference to petroleum’s part in the great European war would be complete were it not to include mention of the way in which supplies of toluol assisted in securing victory to the Allies. Toluol, as is known, is necessary for the production of high explosives, and in the early stages of the great conflict, the output of high explosives was considerably restricted by the absence of sufficient quantities of this necessary explosive primary.
It was at that time that a discovery of the utmost importance was made, for, as the result of investigations carried out at the Cambridge University, it was found that the heavy petroleums of Borneo contained large percentages of toluol.
Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart., the Chairman (and the founder) of the Shell Transport and Trading Company, Ltd., lost no time in apprising the British Government of the discovery, for it is in the Borneo oils that the Shell Company and its allied concerns are chiefly interested.
The offer for the delivery of these immense quantities of toluol was eagerly accepted by the British and Allied Governments, and from that time onward, the supply of high explosives was practically unlimited.
The French and Italian Governments have asserted that, but for this specific offer of toluol, the manufacture of high explosives would have had to remain so limited, that it would have been impossible to bring about an Allied Victory in 1918. Their thanks were publicly extended to the Shell Company at the conclusion of hostilities, and Mr. H. W. Deterding and the Asiatic Petroleum Company were specially thanked, while as far back as 1915, Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart., received the thanks of the British Government for his invaluable war services. It was only after the firing of the guns had ceased on all Fronts, that it was permissible to record in what a remarkable manner these services were rendered.
The exigencies of space have prevented my dealing, excepting in the most brief manner, with this interesting subject: I only hope I have succeeded in showing that, in times of war, as well as in those of peace, petroleum products occupy the position of first importance.
In view of the great interest which is now being centred in the production of petroleum in the British Isles—thus making this country to a large extent less dependent upon foreign sources of supply—the Shale-oil Industry of Scotland is assuming a new importance, for the reason that it is in the direction of the development of new oil-shale areas in several parts of the country that experts look with a great amount of confidence.
It is specially interesting, therefore, to deal at some length with the growth of the industry, the methods by which the oil shales are operated, and the prospects for its extension.
The name of Dr. James Young, of Renfrewshire, will ever be associated with the commercial exploitation of the oil-bearing shales in the Midlothians, for it was due to his enterprise that the Scottish shale-oil industry really owed its birth and much of its later development. It was while Young was managing a chemical works at Liverpool that his attention was drawn to small flows of oil which came from a coal seam at Alfreton, in Derbyshire. This was in 1847, and after experimenting with the liquid, Young succeeded in extracting therefrom on a commercial scale both a light burning oil and a lubricant, as well as wax. When the supply became exhausted, Dr. Young had an idea to imitate the natural processes by which he believed the oil had been formed. The outcome of this was the well-known Young patent for obtaining paraffin oil and other products from bituminous coals at slow distillation.
The Young process was utilized with much success in the United States until such time as it became unprofitable owing to the largely increasing production in America of liquid oils obtained direct from the earth. It was about this time that a bituminous mineral known as Boghead coal, and existing in the Midlothians, was discovered, and from this Young secured upwards of 100 gallons of oil from each ton treated, but soon this mineral was, in a practical sense, exhausted, and so the bituminous shales, now known as oil-shales, came in for attention. Before passing away from Dr. Young’s services in connection with the establishment of the Scottish shale-oil industry, it should be mentioned that he figures very largely in more than one of the earlier Scottish shale concerns. He founded the Bathgate Oil Company, which, in the zenith of its operations, treated 1,000 tons of shale daily, this Company being later merged into the Young’s Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company, Ltd., one of the large Scottish shale-oil undertakings and well known throughout the world to-day.
The Scottish shale-oil fields, as exploited to-day, cover a belt of territory which is about 6 miles broad and stretches from Dalmeny and Abercorn, on the Firth of Forth, southwards across the fertile tract between the River Almond and the Bathgate Hills to the moorland district of Cobbinshaw and Tarbrax. Throughout this region there are various important mining centres, such as Broxburn, Uphall, East Calder, Mid-Calder, West Calder, and Addiwell; and in connection with the shale-oil industry, upwards of 25,000 persons now find regular employment.
The shale measures on which the shale-oil industry depends, form part of the calciferous sandstone series of Mid and West Lothian and the southern coast of Fife.The carboniferous system of Scotland may be arranged in descending order in four divisions, as under—
4. Coal measures, comprising red sandstone, shales, and marls with no workable coals, underlaid by white and grey sandstones and shales with numerous valuable coal seams and ironstones.
3. Millstone grit, consisting of coarse sandstones, with beds of fireclay, a few thin coals, ironstones, and thin limestones.
2. Carboniferous limestone series, embracing three subdivisions, the highest of which contains three or more limestones with thick beds of sandstone and some coals, the middle includes several valuable seams of coal and ironstone, and the lowest is characterized by several beds of marine limestone with sandstone, shales, some coals, and ironstones.
1. Calciferous sandstone series, forming two subdivisions. The upper is known as the oil-shale group, and is over 3,000 feet in thickness, and contains, in its highest part, beds of coal, usually of inferior quality, and, farther down, about six main seams of oil-shale, inter-stratified with beds of sandstone, shale, fire-clay, marl, and estuarine limestones.
Although the calciferous sandstone series is well developed in other parts of Scotland, it has not hitherto yielded any oil-shale of economic importance beyond the limits of West Lothian, Mid Lothian, and Fife. Thin seams of oil-shale do occur in various places in the counties of Haddington and Berwick, but, generally speaking, the quantity is not sufficient to be practically worked.
A word or two as to the oil-shales themselves. The shales, as known in the Lothians, are fine black or brownish clay shales, with certain special features which enable them to be easily distinguished in the field.Miners draw a distinction between “plain” and “curly” shale, the former variety being flat and smooth, and the latter contorted or “curled,” and polished or glossy on the squeezed faces. In internal structure, oil-shale is minutely laminated, which is apparent in the “spent” shale after distillation, when it is thrown out in fragments, composed of extremely thin sheets like the leaves of a book.
Before touching upon the methods employed in mining the shale and the treatment it receives during distillation, it is interesting to note that the industry in Scotland has passed through many vicissitudes since its establishment. At that time, the American oil industry was but in its infancy, and the production in the States was utilized mainly on the American markets. Consequently, there was a great demand for the Scottish oils in this country, and in 1870 there were no fewer than ninety small oil-works in the Lothians, the majority of which were operating the shales. It was about this time that the American illuminating oil came over to this country, and a very sorry blow was dealt the Scottish industry. So disastrous was the resulting competition between the Scottish products on the one hand, and the American and Russian petroleums on the other, that one by one the Scottish companies closed down, and, after less than eight years of competition, the number of operating companies had fallen to twenty-six. The decay continued until the number of active concerns in the Scottish shale-oil industry could be counted on one’s fingers.
The industry exists to-day simply as a result of the great improvements which have been made in the retorting of the shale, by which larger quantities of products are produced—including ammonia. It is thus able to withstand foreign competition.
To-day, it is estimated that nearly 4,000,000 tons of the Scottish shales are treated every twelve months by the several operating oil companies. The most important of these concerns—the Pumpherston Oil Company—has been regularly operating since 1883, and, inasmuch as it deals with by far the largest quantities of shale treated, a brief account of its operations will be of advantage in enabling the reader to understand the methods by which a total of nearly 400,000 tons of oil are produced each year in Scotland.
The operations of the Pumpherston Oil Company are upon a scale of considerable magnitude, for the Company’s works comprise the crude oil plant, the sulphate of ammonia plant, oil and wax refineries, etc. The Seafield and Deans works, 7 and 4 miles distant respectively, possess only crude-oil and sulphate-producing plants, the refining plants being confined to Pumpherston. The Company’s works cover 100 acres, while the shale fields extend over many thousands of acres in and around the district of Pumpherston.
As has already been mentioned, the shale fields so far operated lie, in the main, in the Lothians, and, as one motors by road from Edinburgh to Glasgow, the shale country is passed through. Before the commercial development of a shale field, trial borings are sunk, now more generally by means of a diamond bore, for by its revolving action a solid core is obtained which readily shows the character and inclination of the strata passed through. When a seam of shale has been found by boring operations, and the exact position and depth of outcrop determined, it is necessary, before sinking a mine, to put down a trial shaft for the purpose of making sure as to the true gradient at which the shale is lying, and the thickness as well as the quality of the same.
In the shales in the Pumpherston district there are five distinct seams, dipping from 29 degrees to 38 degrees, and the mine is driven in the middle seam, the other seams being entered by level cross-cut mines driven from one to another. Each of these seams is worked separately, the cross-cut shown in the sketch serving the purposes of communication and transit. In some cases, where the inclination of the shales is at a different angle, it is necessary to sink a vertical shaft, and this method is applied to the series known as the Mid-Calder.
The usual dimensions of the inclined shaft are a width of from 10 to 12 feet, and the height is from 6 to 8 feet. If the sides of the shaft prove to be of a soft nature, as is generally the case with the shale at the crop, walls are run up and the roof is supported by larch crowns, but, where the shale is hard and the roof good, then the less costly method of timbering is adopted.
The supports to the roof in many cases are fixed “centre” fashion, dividing the shaft into two unequal parts. The smaller division has generally a width of just over 3 feet, and is used for haulage ropes and water pipes, while the larger division is utilized for winding. During the progress of sinking, levels are broken away in the seam at regular distances, and driven so as to get communication with, and drive headings to form, the outer mine. These headings are driven in the same direction as the sinking mine to the levels above, until they connect with the outer mine or shaft. The outer mine is then used for winding the shale up to the surface, and the other is kept for sinking purposes, and by this means winding and sinking can go on simultaneously.