Show ELKO SHALE OIL PLANT OPERATING with a plant capable of producing each day sufficient oil to supply all of elko county for a month the catlin shale products company is in a fair way to establish an industry of no small importance for the community jud judg ing from the very interesting presentation of the matter at yesterdays meeting of the progressive business club by W L sheeler superintendent of the plant says the elko free press A most interesting talk was made by mr sheeler descriptive of the process that is being used at the local plant for the extraction of the valuable products from the shale elko county are remarkable when compared with those of other sections of the country in the fact that they contain a far greater percentage of than those of utah and colorado the of the latter states produce an oil of mixed base while the elko produce an oil with a content of from fifteen to twenty per cent this high wax content has been one of the many troubles that has been encountered in the proper working of the plant resulting in a very thick and he heavy avy oil which at a temperature of eighty seven degrees has the consistency of butter six years experiment in the six years of experimental operation of the plant a world of changes have been made in perfecting a successful mode of extraction of the oil content of the elko county rock time after time explained mr sheeler has the company installed a piece of machinery for experimental purposes which was immediately found inadequate and scrapped to give place to some new appliance one of the great handicaps to be overcome was the proper control of the immense in immense volume of gas given out by the retorts twenty thousand cubic feet a minute of highly inflammable gases is being b developed requiring t a huge receiving space before going b into the condensers the the product of the shale a combination of oxygen and petroleum when condensed from the crude product is is in turn sent to the refinery a completely equipped refining unit capable of taking care of the present crude output at the plant shale produces forty gallons of oil per ton in this refinery will be found stills capable of handlin handling the lighter oil content of the crude to tle the amount of barrels every twenty four hours the agitators have a capacity of 30 barrels a day and the wax plant a complete unit nit will produce twenty four tons of refined pure white wax in in a twenty four hour period the oil content of the shale being mined at the present time tim e will average slightly ill over forty gallons to the ton the superintendent explained to his hearers why there biad ad been such an apparent reticence on the part of the plant officials respecting t company operations the entire proportion artion has been la largely of an exper experimental ime antal nature during the time we have been in operation and the truth of the matter ter is that there was nothing in particular to tell telf said mr sheeler heeler trouble has been the principal thing encountered 4 W to date and no one cares to hear about afie other fellows troubles he usually has enough of his own to worry about the product of the plant is comparable with the pro lets of the best well oil and has served its separate purposes wherever the products have been tried gasoline 01 of which in the is there is buta but a small quantity used sed in the company cars the lubricating oils are success fully bused used about the machinery at the plant and a ready market will be found for all that the company can produce when operations are placed on a steady basis the talk given by mr sheeler was most comprehensive and was the first real insight into the companas comp anys operations that the majority of the club members has had |