From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Paper titled 'Fuels and Lubricants for Internal Combustion Motors' by J. Veitch Wilson, detailing the history and chemistry of petroleum products.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 144\1\ scan0007 | |
| Date | 8th April 1910 guessed | |
| 2 Fuels and Lubricants for Internal Combustion Motors.* By J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} Veitch Wilson. Dawn of the Petroleum Industry in Britain. In 1847 Mr. James Young had his attention called by Doctor (subsequently Lord) Lyon Playfair to a small petroleum spring in Derbyshire. Mr. Young arranged to lease the spring and refine the products, but as the spring became exhausted in two or three years, Mr. Young, having in mind no doubt Lord Dundonald’s and Murdoch’s efforts in producing gas from coal, directed his attention to the discovery of some material from which, and a method by which, liquid hydrocarbons could be artificially produced. The material was found in the Boghead or Torbanehill mineral of which considerable deposits were found near Bathgate, in Scotland. This mineral, when gently heated in retorts similar to those used in the manufacture of gas, yielded from 100 to 130 gallons of crude oil per ton, or nearly half the weight of the coal. Similar material (we do not know whether to call it coal or not) has been found in the “Albert” coal of North America and in some of the Australian coal measures. Having arranged for a supply of this material, Mr. James Young took out his first patent, No. 13,292, October 17, 1850, which may be regarded as inaugurating the paraffin and the petroleum industry of the world. It was soon found that similar oil could be obtained, but in smaller quantities, say, from 25 to 30 gallons per ton, from various coals and from shale, which, found in connection with coal and other minerals, had been regarded as a waste material that it was necessary to raise in mining operations, but impossible to dispose of to advantage. Mr. Young erected his works at Bathgate, about midway in a direct line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and shortly afterwards several enterprising capitalists who had obtained licenses from him started works in Scotland and Wales to produce oils from shale and from coal. Petroleum Abroad. For many years petroleum had been known among the Indian tribes in America, who used it mainly for medicinal purposes. Latterly, it had attracted the attention of speculators, and on August 28, 1859, Colonel Drake, who had been prospecting in Venango County, Pennsylvania, struck oil at a depth of 33 feet. Numerous other wells were sunk in the neighbourhood, and the petroleum industry of the United States, which was destined to revolutionize the oil trade of the world, was thus launched upon its marvellous career. The chief products from the newly discovered oils, whether from coal, or shale, or petroleum, were devoted to illumination, but, incidentally and collaterally, a large and increasing quantity of heavier oil, suitable for lubrication, was placed at the disposal of the users of machinery. Those who can remember the strong smelling, straw coloured paraffin oil of the early fifties and sixties, and can compare it with the nearly colourless and odourless oils of the present day, will be prepared to realize that even a greater difference in respect to quality occurred between the earlier heavy oils, to which Mr. Young applied the title, *“ refined liquor,” as it is important that he did not regard them as commercial oils, and the superior and widely diversified range of modern mineral lubricating oils. As throwing some light upon the manner in which the earlier oils were regarded by users, I have been told by textile manufacturers in this country and abroad that they were originally induced to adopt mineral oils, not on account of their value or economy as lubricants, but because, when added in moderate quantities to the oil previously used for lubrication, their vile smell and taste prevented the mill girls from pilfering the oil for their hair and other dressing. Scientific Oil Refining. The improvements, however, in manufacturing processes which have been introduced under skilled scientific direction have effected radical changes in the quality of the oil and have produced a series of oils differing widely in appearance, in properties, and in character. These include the light spirits used as anaesthetics for surgical operations, the ordinary spirit for motor car work, and rubber manufacture, lamp oils, lubricating oils, * A paper of a recent paper by the author read before the Coventry Engineering Society. The abstract was illustrated by some 36 sample exhibits of minerals, oils, etc. A list is given in the Appendix. jellies, such as vaseline, heavier oils for the lubrication of steam cylinders, and, what appears to me to be the finest product of all, an absolutely water-white oil, equally free from colour, from taste, and from smell, which may be used as a vehicle for medicinal preparations for internal and external application. The general processes adopted in refining shale oil and petroleum are practically identical, although differing in some details on account of the difference existing between oils produced in the laboratory of mother nature and those which have been extracted from minerals by retorting and by the larger quantities of the products to be handled in the petroleum districts as compared with the quantities produced from shale in the Scotch oil field. As the Scotch process covers a longer range, i.e., deals with the production of oil from minerals, whereas the American oil refiner obtains his oil ready made, I think it will be better to describe the method of producing oil in Scotland. The Industry in Scotland. I, therefore, would ask you to accompany me in imagination upon a visit to the Broxbourn Oil Works, which, founded some 35 years ago, are now, in respect to extent of operations, probably one of the most important and most perfect in the British oil field. The first point to be visited is naturally the pits from which the shale is extracted. Unlike the ordinary coal pits, in other parts of the country, the Broxbourn mines, which are situated in the side of the hill, are approached by inclined planes from which trains or waggons are continually emerging with the shale. As this comes to the surface or to daylight, it is in large blocks considerably larger than those in which our domestic coal is sent to our cellars. The first process in the manufacture of shale oil is to reduce these blocks to pieces in size not exceeding those of the fist, so that the largest possible surfaces in relation to the weight of shale should be exposed to the action of the heat. The shale breaking is effected in this case by stone-crushing machinery which it is fed by hoppers. On leaving the breaking machine, the shale drops into small waggons, which by an endless chain, are drawn to a platform at the top of the retorts, to which I shall presently more particularly refer. I may here explain that in the manufacture of gas from coal and of oil from coal or from shale, we find one principle common to both, but accompanied by an important divergence in practice. The principle which is common to both consists in the fact that, in the production of gas or of oil, the mineral is placed in closed retorts from which air ought to be excluded, although I have heard of instances in which a broken gas retort is not replaced, but is left as a channel through which air may be drawn in to increase the volume, even at the expense of reducing the illuminating value of the gas. The point of divergence is found in the fact that while in the manufacture of gas it is necessary to work at a high temperature (say, about 2,000 deg. Fahr.) in order to obtain the greatest volume of permanent gas, and to avoid loss by condensation in the gas holders and pipes, it is necessary, in the production of oil, to work at the lowest temperature at which the volatile constituents can be extracted from the coal or shale as noncondensable gases would be a loss. This is found to be a dull red heat, or, say, 800 deg. to 1,000 deg. Fahr., although, as we shall shortly see, the heat varies in different parts of the retort. In the older days of the shale trade, the retorts were varied in form and size. Following gas-making methods, horizontal retorts of square, cylindrical, or D section were adopted, being built in ovens containing numbers up to 5 or 6. Perhaps the Scotch oil trade offers one of the most conspicuous examples with which we are acquainted, in which an industry whose survival was threatened by the free importation of cheap competitive products was driven by the struggle for its existence to effect economies in manufacture by improvements in processes and the utilization of waste products. Such was the position of the Scotch shale oil trade some five-and-twenty or thirty years ago, when the United Kingdom was flooded with cheap petroleum from America and Russia. Naturally, there was much talk about a tax upon imported petroleum, but no Government, either Liberal or Conservative, was found bold enough to increase the 3 APPENDIX. Carbon Liberated by Combustion. In the course of the evening, and in support of his contention that fatty oils are less liable than hydrocarbon oils to produce carbonaceous deposits in cylinders of internal combustion engines, the lecturer exhibited a number of open lamp burners without chimneys or other means of promoting combustion. Four lamps were trimmed respectively with olive oil, rape oil (or colza), coconut oil, and castor oil, two lamps were filled respectively with refined petroleum lamp oil and with palm mineral lubricating oil. Two small shallow vessels were prepared, one containing a small quantity of motor spirit, and the other a correspondingly small quantity of pure alcohol. The six lamps and the two shallow vessels were lit simultaneously with the result that, while lamps containing vegetable oils and the vessel containing alcohol burned freely without trace of smoke and were allowed to burn till the close of the lecture, the lamps containing petroleum lamp oil, lubricating oil, and “petrol,” emitted such volumes of smoke that they had to be extinguished after burning for only two or three minutes. The lecturer left the audience to draw their own conclusions as to which class of oil was more likely to be the cause of trouble and offence in the engine. TABLE D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} Examination of Deposits from Cylinders of Motor Engines. Motor Car No. Volatile. Coke. Ash. Insoluble. " " 1 47.2 44.8 8.0 2.33 " " 2 49.1 48.0 2.9 1.08 " " 3 52.5 41.4 16.1 2.33 " " 8 H.P. 4 45.8 43.1 11.1 1.15 " " 8 " 5 28.5 33.4 38.1 7.18 " " 12 " 6 40.8 37.1 13.1 6.59 " " 20 " 7 44.5 46.8 8.7 0.73 " " 20 " 8 43.7 42.4 13.9 3.71 " Bus... 9 40.9 46.5 12.6 2.60 " Cab... 10 46.3 49.5 4.2 0.48 " " 11 38.6 44.1 17.3 — Ash.--This consisted principally of iron with a trace of copper, lime, and silica. In the case of No. 5, a large percentage of silica, apparently sand, was found. In Nos. 6 and 8, lime was distinctly observable. TABLE C. Fractional Distillation of Petroleum. This table shows the temperature at which distillation begins (1st drop), and the various temperatures at which certain percentages of distillate are obtained from different spirits and from mixtures of these spirits giving the standard sp.{Mr Spinney} gr.{George Ratcliffe} of 680 deg. at 60 deg. Fah. Column 1. Gasolene S.G. 640 " 2. Benzoline " 700 " 3. White Rose Petroleum " 786 " 4. Motor Car Spirit " 680 " 5. Gasolene 35 p.c. + Benzoline 65 p.c. " 680 " 6. Gasolene 73 p.c. + White Rose Pet. 27 p.c. " 680 Temperature. Distillate. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. deg. F.{Mr Friese} deg. F.{Mr Friese} deg. F.{Mr Friese} deg. F.{Mr Friese} deg. F.{Mr Friese} deg. F.{Mr Friese} 1st drop ... 74 117 288 97 80 76 5 p.c. ... 88 152 325 119 111 90 10 p.c. ... 91 158 337 124 119 95 30 p.c. ... 102 174 372 139 143 111 50 p.c. ... 112 188 412 156 165 136 70 p.c. ... 130 208 458 176 191 286 90 p.c. ... 165 248 532 229 240 459 95 p.c. ... 207 282 576 282 295 599 96 p.c. ... 219 — 588 302½ 329 608 97 p.c. ... — 293 606 — 334 — 98 p.c. ... — 313 633 — 364 — 98½ p.c. ... — 338 638 — — — 99 p.c. ... — 495 665 — — — 99½ p.c. ... — — 680 — — — Residue p.c. 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Loss p.c. 4 2 Nil 4 2½ 4 TABLE E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Approximate Freezing Point of Solutions. Mixture. Glycerin. Calcium Chloride. Sodium Chloride. H2O 94 p.c. + 6 p.c. 28 deg. F.{Mr Friese} 21 deg. F.{Mr Friese} 16 " 90 p.c. + 10 p.c. — 12 24 " 88 p.c. + 12 p.c. 25 10 8 " 85 p.c. + 15 p.c. 22 — 0 " 82 p.c. + 18 p.c. 19 -3 — " 80 p.c. + 20 p.c. 15 -16 — " 75 p.c. + 25 p.c. 10 -30 — " 70 p.c. + 30 p.c. 5 — — " 60 p.c. + 40 p.c. -8 Congels. — " 50 p.c. + 50 p.c. — — — Exhibits. Boghead coal. Stearine candles. Shale as taken from mine. Paraffin candles. Shale as broken for retorts. Gas engine oil, light. Shale, spent as taken from retorts. Gas engine oil, heavy. Crude shale oil. Motorine A.{Mr Adams} B. & C. Ammonia liquor. Oleogene D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} & P. Sulphate of Ammonia. Huile de luxe. Still coke. Belgraphine B. & C. Green oil, with paraffin. Lamps burning: Blue oil, without paraffin. Alcohol. Crude paraffin scale. Motor spirit. Refined paraffin wax. Refined petroleum. Paraffin oil. American lubricating oil. Gas oil S.G. 840/50. Coconut oil. Lubricating oil S.G. 890/5. Refined Rape oil. Crude Pennsylvanian petroleum. Olive oil. Water white petroleum. Castor oil. Samples showing action on metals of anti-freezing mixtures. | ||