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Show NEW PROCESS TO SAVE GASOLINE S LESSEN THE PRICE "DETROIT, Oct. 27. A new and suc-' suc-' cessful method of handling and sjorlng crude oil and its derivations, just perfected per-fected by a Detroit hydraulic engineer, engin-eer, gives positive assurance of an almost al-most doubled gasoline output, with a consequent strong probability of radically rad-ically lowered prices. The new sys. tern eliminates evaporation losses In all the various stages of gasoline refining re-fining and marketing, thereby solving a problem which has baffled the oil producers for years, and one which they have spent fortunes trying to overcome. ov-ercome. The now system, which is hydraulic hydrau-lic in principle, is founded on the use of water In handling and storing crude oil and its products, both In the producing pro-ducing fields and refineries, and in wholesale and retail storage tanks. Detroit motor car manufacturers, who long have been seriously alarmed by the ever climbing prices of gasoline, gaso-line, and who feared these nlraost prohibitive pro-hibitive quotations would eventually destroy the stability of their business, are jubilant over the announced sue cess of the now process. They foresee a revolutionary change in the oil producing pro-ducing industry, with the good old days of reasonable prices restored. Evaporation from the open and part, ly open tanks In the great oil producing produc-ing fields carries away and wastes an amount of gasoline conservatively estimated es-timated at something over twelve million mil-lion barrels annually. The gasoline thus carried off is the highest in quality qual-ity and volatility, constituting the lightest and best of the gasoline contained con-tained In crude oil as It comes from the wells. When saved, as it will be under the new process of handling, and mixed with poorer grades and "heavy ends," now unsuited for commercial com-mercial use, the total output of marketable mar-ketable gasoline will be Increased tremendously. tre-mendously. Experts and engineers who have seen the hydraulic method in practical use do not hesitate to pre. diet that the total gasoline production will be doubled. This result, they predict, pre-dict, will bring prices to the levels that prevailed before the war, or even lower. I While designed principally for the oil producing fields, the new method 'is equally applicable to retail filling : stations and private storage systems. I An Idea of the favor with which it is , looked upon by experts in the oil and allied industries may be gained from the statement that three of the largest motor car factories have installed the system for handling and storing their supplies of gasoline and lubricating oil. The system has been in practical use in Detroit and certain other cities for upwards of four year;s, and wherever wher-ever used has demonstrated its ability to save the gasoline which evaporated through the vent, or "air hole," in the systems it displaced. The new system has been Installed in the new building of the Detroit News, recently completed, complet-ed, and said to be the finest newspaper newspa-per plant in the world. The new system Involves the use of water in storing and handling crude oil and gasoline. It provides for a water Inlet at the bottom of each tank, so that oil or gasoline, both of which are considerably lighter than water, will be floated to the top, thus keeping the tanks completely filled at all times. This does away with the air space in the tanks, and makes possible the use of air tight tanks, with a consequent con-sequent elimination of evaporation. Under the present method of handling han-dling crue oil in the producing fields large open or partly open tanks are used for storing the crude oil for varying vary-ing periods. With these tanks an immense im-mense onen surface is exposed to the air, which results in tremendous cvap. oration losses. An idea of the extent to which evaporation carriers away gasoline may bo gained from the statement, state-ment, frequently made by oil operators, operat-ors, that fires sometimes start in the oil fields from an open flame a half mile or more distant. In addition to conserving tremendous tremen-dous evaporation losses the hydraulic system will bring about an additional saving through the prevention of fires In the oil fields. Government statistics statis-tics show that approximately ten million mil-lion dollars worth of gasoline and crude oil is destroyed annually by fires, and that there is a loss of tanks, buildings, equipments etc., equal to the loss of oil. Much of the present gasoline trouble trou-ble is due to the presence of water and other impurities In retailers' storage stor-age tanks,- from where they are pumped, along with gasoline, into users' us-ers' motor cars. These impurities set. tie to the bottom of the retailors' tanks, near the gasoline outlet, and are picked up hjy the action of the pump. The hydraulic method overcomes over-comes this difficulty by having the gasoline outlet at the top of- the tank, far removed from water, impurities and sediment. With tho new system the user is assured clean, pure fuel of the highest volatility. Even the last gallon taken from the tank is pure and clean, the impurities and settlings remaining at the bottom of the retailer's retail-er's tank, from where they are periodically period-ically flushed Into a drain. Tho hydraulic system is so designed that gasoline is kept constantly above the water, the latter being used to float the lighter gasoline to the top of tho tank, in contact with the outlet. out-let. Tho system is automatic in action, ac-tion, water flowing into or out of the tank as gasoline is stored or withdrawn. with-drawn. Frederick G. Farr, the engineer who perfected the new process, Is backed by a company known as the Hydraulic Oil Systems Corporation, of which Claude S. Briggs, formerly a motor car manufacturer, is president. The company is ably financed and negotiations negotia-tions are reported under way for installing in-stalling the new system in the large oil producing centers. -fin |