Petroleum Industry's "Backroom" Work in the War
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Many are the New Products and Processes that Have Arisen from the Full Exploitation of the Petroleum Industry in Time of National Emergency
By W. H. Goddard,
RESEARCH and technical developments dependent on the petroleum industry have extended to many fields in war-time, some of them well outside the normal range. Surprising to many will be the fact that the quantities of petroleum products required were of the order of GO per cent. of the total of all supplies to the armies in the field.
One of the great achievements was the production of enormous quantities of special aviation gasoline with a high anti-knock value. This was the result of the employment of a special type of catalytic cracking, which, in turn, resulted in great progress in making synthetic rubber, which was in great demand owing to the scarcity of natural rubber. Allied production of aviation fuel rose from less than 2,000,000 tons in 1941 to more than 20,000,000 tons in 1944.
Toluene (an aromatic product usually obtained from coal) has been made from petroleum in far larger quantities than from the former base. The Trimpell plant for the hydrogenation of gas oil, which was designed to be as invulnerable to air-raid damage as possible, was entirely constructed in wartime and achieved a production of 2,000,000 barrels per year of aviation fuel.
Lead tetra-ethyl, essential in all aviation fuels and (for the first time) ethylene-di-bromide, the other important component in aviation ethyl fluid, were manufactured in Great Britain from sea water.
Reliable Hydraulic Oil Great research work was done in producing a satisfactory hydraulic oil for use in aircraft control-actuation, such as lowering landing wheels, which could withstand a wide range of temperatures without change of viscosity and, at the same time, retain its satisfactory lubricating properties. A great reduction in the number of grades of fuels and lubricants was brought about, as well as an improvement in quality, which was particularly important bearing in mind that such huge quantities demanded an assessment of the over-all quality and quantity available in crude petroleums. and of the refinery plant available.
An important part of our defence measures was the production of heavy smoke-screens for the protection of a number of industrial areas. This was achieved by means of simple gas-oil vaporizers which, in 1940 to 1942, proved to be most effective. Later, our American friends developed highly efficient fog generators which were used in the final campaign against Germany. In these, by choice of a carefully selected petrolenm product and vaporization at high temperatures with the aid of steamir.3, the maximum screening power was obtained by the production of oil droplets which were of suitable size to
remain suspended in the air for long periods of time.
Plastic armour, consisting of a relatively thin sheet of steel, coated on the outside with 2 ins, of a " bitumenaggregate" mixture, was developed to save steel. Machine-gun bullets, striking the stones in the mixture, were deflected, and, weight for weight, it was more effective than steel.
Bituminous emulsions and paints were used extensively in camouflage and in blacking-out windows. Prefabricated bitumen surfacing was made by treating fabric with high-softening-point bitumen. Rolls of his surfacing could be easily transported to the site of a new road or emergency aerodrome and bound by means of fuel oil to give a serviceable road surface. Bitumen was used largely in the manufacture of runways for the multitudinous airfields in Great Britain, with the aid of large American road-making machinery.
A minor use of fuel oil was in dustlaying in the case of temporary runways of steel netting, which, before treatment. were adversely affected by dust clouds in dry weather. Technical white oil, used in the manufacture of hydraulic fluids, instrument oil and agricultural spray oil has been made on a relatively large scale in Great Britain, together with sulphonated hydrocarbons used for corrosion inhibition, detergents and fat-splitting agents. Extended use of petroleum waxes and ceresins has been made in the manufacture of flexible waterproofing packages for C.: Far East. Special rust preventives were developed for the same war area to protect engines and other equipment during and after shipment.
A Waterproofing Compound A compound containing asbestos. developed for waterproofing tanks and lorries so that they could land rapidly on "D " day, represented the results of a great deal of research in the laboratory combined with practical tests made under conditions of extreme urgency. The work was completed successfully, in practice, with over 150,000 vehicles waterproofed. Vanadium, for toughening steel, was recovered from the ash of fuel oils, and naphihenic acid soaps put to extensive use for such purposes as the rotproofing of sandbags and ground sheets.
Often in this intense and urgent research work, while trying to solve one problem, a discovery was made which solved an entirely different problem This was the case with the flame thrower and the "land flame barrage.'' The scientists were looking for some means for rapidly making useless to the enemy, in case of invasion, all the stocks of liquid fuels in this country. This was found to be more difficult than at first anticipated, but eventually it was found that soap or rubber thickeners might be useful. On account of the difficulty of introducing these quickly into the small apertures of filling holes, and also of properly mixing them with the fuels, the scheme was nevertheless abandoned. The result, however, gave the lead to those looking for a satisfactory flamethrower fuel which would carry a good distance and keep up its burning powers after reaching its target. Petrol was of no use as it would flash-off quickly and not do what was required of it. The
land flame barrage" was an item of static defence in case of invasion; a mixture of petrol and gas oil was pumped through specially designed burners, with a pressure of 70 lb., in order to produce a continuous sheet of flame 25 to 30 ft. wide, in places where the enemy would have to approach or pass across roads, etc.
Igniting Flame-barrages Most ingenious methods were devised to ignite these barrages at a safe distance. The pump houses and storage tanks were heavily camouflaged or built into houses so that they could not be detected from the air. The whole question of the ignition of petroleum products under open-air conditions of wind and rain proved to be a most interesting but also a most difficult problem. The ignition had to be certain under all possible conditions. The greatest advance which was made in flame throwing was in the selection and production of suitable thickened fuels, as it was only with these that the longer range and target effects could be produced.
In this brief summary of war-time petroleum efforts, which is a résumé of a paper read to the Institute of Petroleum by the president, Professor F. H. Garner, 0.B.E., Ph.D., M.Sc., who himself did magnificent work in this great effort, only a fraction of what was actually achieved has been mentioned. It is, however, sufficient to give the reader a fair idea of what a great part was played by the petroleum industry, the scientists and technical staffs, the industries which were called on to complete many of the problems, the Petroleum Warfare Department, and the extent of co-operation and help given by America.