| Show Oil Shale Information on as Given Out United States Officials By Hundreds of Utah people are finan- finan financially financially ally connected with the vast oil shale districts of the state so they will be he Interested in the following general information on oil shale as given iven out h by the United States bureau bureau bu- bu reau eau of mines It will be recalled that hat Utah Is credited by the federal officials with probably as much oil shale laic as the combined showings of ot the he surrounding states state A glance at athe atthe atthe the he most recent government maps will ill convince one of at this fact The following is the information Just Issued issued Is- Is sued in circular form The destructive distillation of oil shale hale became an Industry in tn Scotland In n the early and has been a firmly firmly firm firm- ly v established industry there ever since nee The oil all shale Industry has alo also also al- al so o been heen an established one In France for tor or quite a number of ot years At the present time there are no commercial shale operations In this country although there Is a great amount mount of activity particularly In Inthe inthe the he states slates of Colorado Utah and Nevada Ne- Ne No-I No vada ada where are arc large and easily accessible ac ac- deposits of ot rich oil shale and where geographic and transportation conditions are such as to favor the reduction production of oil all to n these states There are arc also large deposits of bituminous bituminous bituminous bitu bitu- minous or oil In other parts of f the country and anti the United States geological survey has Issued a number numer num- num br ber er of pu publications describing these deposits A study of ot figures dealing with the production and consumption of or crude bil II Indicates the fact that hydrocarbon bon on oils ons must soon Mon bo ho obtained elseI elsewhere elsewhere elsewhere else else- I where than from rom the oil wells of this country hence It seems highly probable able that the oil shale Industry will become firmly established in favorably favorably favor favor- ably situated localities Oil does docs not exist in oil shale as such uch It Is present in the form of ot complex organic compounds called Upon destructive distillation lon tion tion that Is heating In the absence of ot air this organic material of ot the shale Is decomposed yielding hydrocarbon hydrocarbon hydrocarbon hydro hydro- carbon oils and permanent gases The shale contains some nitrogenous material material ma ma- which by heat Is broken up Into pyridine base and ammonia It can readily be understood that not only the quantity of oil oU but hut al also also also al- al so the quality which it is possible to obtain from any given oil shale will wUl willbe willbe be in a n large degree upon the methods and con conditions used in retorting This makes the absolute determination of oil aU an nn oil shale Impossible impossible impossible im Im- im- im possible and hence oil cannot be bo analyzed as are gold copper or Ir iron n ores The practice In Scotland has been to use a tall tail slender circular retort the broken shale being fed In at the top through a n suitable sealed valve and th spent shale discharged at the bottom of the retort The temperAtures tempera temper temperatures temperA temperA- tures employed are high reaching a abright abright abright bright red heat at the base of the retort retort re re- re- re tort and the time that the shale Is s sin in the retort is rather jather long which requires requires requires re re- re- re I quires a large Investment In equip- equip to handle a n large dally daily tonnage The Scottish are arc rather low in oil averaging about 23 gallons per to ton whereas they are much higher than our shale In nitrogen yielding about 60 to 70 pounds per ton of at ammonium am nm- ammonium sulphate In order to obtain the maximum amount of ot ammonia In a shale It is necessary to heat the shale to In Incandescence incandescence Incan incan- an- an and then Introduce steam The steam disassociates In the presence presence presence pres pres- ence of a fixed carbon c. which has been heen formed In the process of heatIng heatIng heating heat- heat Ing liberating free hydrogen which combines with the nitrogen forming ammonia In this country where our our most favorable shale deposits at the present time are very much richer In oil all but contain much less nitrogen than the Scottish s It may prove advantageous to neglect more or less Continued on next Pale Page Orb SHALE E f I t Continued from Crom Third Page the ammonia production and to In Increase Increase increase In- In crease the capacity of a plant by shortening the time and md t temperature of heating beating Theoretically all the products I Inow now obtained from both crude petroleum petroleum petroleum petro petro- leum and from coal tar are possible from shale oils The Scottish opera- opera Fr S tors tOrs har never never er different r J products from their shale oil oU marketing marketing market market- ing tag it as motor spirit naptha burning burnt burn burn- t lag ing oil gas and fuel oil lubricating oil and paraffin wax This Is probably proba proba- J bly Ny largely due to the fact that thc they have hae well established markets for 7 these products and for or this reason find it more profitable to confine confino themselves to them It must be realized realized realized re re- re- re I t that no little skill and experience experience experience ence will be necessary in fn making many different marketable products from shale oil Estimating Plant Profits It seems most advisable when estimating estimating es- es profits on a proposed oil plant to plan on first marketing rt only motor fuel fuel oil and ammonium ammonium ammo ammo- S sulphate as the products as as- asil il it ilIs ilis itis is impossible to estimate the yields much less the cost of other products until the shale oil itself Is actually actu produced in commercial quantity Reliable general estimates of the cost of shale oil operations cannot l he be e made as most of costs are dependent dependent dependent de de- pendent largely upon local and Individual Individual Indi Indi- individual vidual conditions Some of the shale deposits are such th that t the shale can f be mined with a steam suave This I of course Is a much cheaper meth method d of mining than the stops and pillar method or other methods where the I shale must be brought from under I ground Thirty five cents per ton Is I considered by some as a aa reasonable reasonable figure for average steam shovel mining and per t ton n as an average aver nver- S 5 age figure for underground nd mining A number of the proposed processes processes pro pro- ceases In this country Include crushIng crushIng crushing crush- crush Ing the shale to a rather fine mesh This cost of crushing must of course be taken Into consid consideration It costs In round numbers about 10 cents per barrel to top crude oil that Is fa to take the gasoline off crude oil making a residual fuel It seems reasonable to believe that shale oil can be handled at about the same cost It costs about seven- seven tenths of 1 cent per pound of am- am sulphate to produce this chemical from shale oil plants plant in Scotland In deciding upon the location of an shale oil plant an adequate water supply must be bo considered as well as asman man many other features covering labor transportation and maintenance In estimating the cost of ot operations depreciation and expense or nance must be taken Into consideration tion and these factors cannot well he be determined except by actual Finally It must he bo realized that the production of oil from oil shale is In fact a large Jarge low-grade low manufacturing manu manu- manufacturing S proposition rather than the theS application of an intricate chemical proc proems process Ys and that for shale oil operations operations opera opera- to be he commercially successful a large huge amount of capital and engineering engi engl- veering and technical ability will be necessary k r r |
