December 8, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

1109

Zealand. Stanley provides a large natural harbour for
anchorage, with an entrance channel about 35 ft. deep,
to an inner harbour, the depth of water alongside the
wharf being, however, only about 10 to 15 ft. Beyond
the Straits of Magellan is* Punta Arenas, the most
southerly port of Chili, where vessels can anchor in
about 36 ft. of water, and a jetty about 200 yds. in length
is available; for bunker supplies a floating storage of
Welsh coal is kept in hulks.

Further north, along the coast of Chili, is the Bay of
Arauco, where local coal is available for bunker supplies
at the ports of Coronel, Lota, and Lebu. At the first-
named, which is the most important, two jetties are
available which have tracks connecting with the rail-
ways for deliveries to lighters, and thence to vessels at
anchor; and at Lota and Lebu there are also jetties for
loading coal into lighters.

Almost adjoining is Talcahuano, which is considered
to possess the finest natural harbour on the Chilian coast,
but the handling of cargo is mostly effected at anchorage.
It is situated only a few miles from Concepcion, which
is the third largest city in Chili and is within a few miles
distance of the Chilian coal fields. Talcahuano is the
principal naval port, and provides an arsenal and dock-
yard.

At Valparaiso, where the development of the port is
being proceeded with, important works have been under
construction and are nearing completion. These
improvements include strengthening and enlargement of
the existing mole from 746 ft. to 1,221ft.; a new jetty
825 ft. in length and 33 ft. wide; atad a coal wharf 660 ft.
long and 100 ft. wide. It may be of interest to refer to
the construction of this coal wharf : The decking is sup-
ported by 76 cylinders, arranged in four rows of 19 each.
These cylinders are built up of reinforced concrete rings
13 ft. diameter, 8 in. thick, 61 and 8| ft. deep, which
have been constructed on shore and allowed two months
to set or mature. These are bolted together with cast
iron jointing rings, and within each cylinder eight
octagonal ferro-concrete piles have been driven to a
depth of from 16^ to 33 ft. below the base of the
cylinders, the latter being then filled in solid with con-
crete. Across the width of the wharf and over each
four cylinders are reinforced concrete girders, on which
are placed the decking slabs—also of ferro-concrete, and
constructed on shore — each weighing about 40 tons.
The equipment of this wharf will comprise four electric
cranes and three electrically-operated transporters.

Other ports situated to the north of Chili include
Coquimbo, Antofagasta, Iquique, and Arica; at all places
discharging and loading has to be effected at anchorage.
The port of Coquimbo is situated to the north of
Valparaiso, and has coal stores with a capacity of about
25,000 tons.

The ports of Peru include Mollendo, at the south;
Callao (near Lima), where is a jetty with 6,000 ft. of
quaying, having a depth of water alongside varying from
23 to 27 ft. Another Peruvian port is Payta, in the
north, but vessels cannot go alongside the jetties there,
cargo handling being effected at anchorage. /

Thus the principal ports of South America have been
briefly reviewed, traversing the Atlantic coast south-
ward, from Para in the north of Brazil, to the Argentine
port of Bahia Blanca, then onward rounding Cape Horn
or through the Straits of Magellan to the Pacific, and
proceeding northward from Punta Arenas, south of
Chili, to Payta, iin the north of Peru. The developments
which have been and are proceeding to improve the
shipping facilities at the several ports mentioned will
doubtless tend to the extension of oversea commerce,
and call for additional coal supplies, since the oppor-
tunities offered by modem ports to oversea trade
indirectly affects the demand for coal.

[Note.—It has been necessary to postpone reference to
and illustrations of several coaling depots. These will
form a supplement to this article in a subsequent
issue.]

Red Cross Ambulances. — His Majesty has arranged to
inspect the convoy of motor ambulances, the gift of the
Scottish coal trade to the Red Cross Society, for the convey-
ance of the wounded from the fighting lines in France and
elsewhere. The ambulance cars are provided by a joint con-
tribution of £100,000, "iven in equal part by the Scottish
coal owners and by the workmen through the Mine Workers’
Federation of Scotland.

Novel Mine Signal System.—The A. Hanna Coal Com-
pany, operating mines in Northern Michigan, has equipped
its shafts with the following signalling system :—At each
level are installed one 6 in. and one 8 in. weather-proof type
loud ringing gong, with special switches consisting of a
telephone switch hook housed in a weather-proof cast iron
casing. Attached -to the switch hook is a long leather strap,
which, when pulled, makes contact, and rings the 6 in. bells
on every level, and one in the engineer’s room. When a
loaded car is ready to be hoisted, the leather strap is pulled
a number of times corresponding to a pre-arranged signal.
The bells ringing on each level in connection with the engi-
neer’s bell serve as a warning to the men on the various
HOT
levels. The 6 in. bells are on one circuit, and the 8 in. bells
on another—the latter being rung lw the engineer when he
is ready to hoist, or as a summons. The wires of the signal-
ling circuit are used for a telephone system, with a telephone
set in the engineer’s room, and a set on every level. The
system is simply a magneto party line circuit, and is used
as a means of communication in connection with the signal-
ling system between the various levels and the levels and
the engineer.

COKE OVEN MANAGERS* ASSOCIATION.

(Continued from page 1060.)

Continuing the discussion on Mr. Wilson’s paper on
“ Benzol Recovery ” :—

Mr. J. T. Worthington (Parkgate) said that at a
plant with which he was connected for four years they
used only rotary scrubbers, and they had no trouble as
regards bristles, as far as he remembered. He wel-
comed Mr. Wilson’s definite figure with regard to the
scrubbers, as it was the first time he had seen 'that
figure. He had compared it with the figures given in
two recent plants by different companies. In one, on
the theoretical amount to be treated, it was 22; and in
the other, 21. In the latter case, on the present output,
it was about 25, which meant that they were not getting
the output that the plant was put down for. In one
case of the 22 figure, it was nearly 30. The yield was
nowhere near the guaranteed output. On the top of
that, there was the argument of the 65’s oil. He found
that if they made 65’s oil, they got about 77 or 78 at
160degs. If they made 52’s, they got 71 or 72. Other-
wise, between 120 and 160 degs.—the valuable fraction
of the oil—at present in.the case of 65’s, they gdt 13
per cent., and in the other case 20 per cent. He thought
that the best figure for a selling basis would be 160,
and not 120 degs. The 120 degs. had been imposed on
them in times when toluenes were low priced. Nowa-
days, the buyers were buying it off them at 65’s, and
the other oils had gone up, and he thought they ought
to have some remuneration, at any rate, for that increase
in price—at least, the crude oil people ought? He
thought 75 at 160 degs. would be a fair figure, to give
and take below or above. As to the method of measur-
ing the oil, it was ail right, but the meter very quickly
lost its efficiency. He thought that if they could regu-
late their feed to the still, and keep the cocks right
through at the same time, they would find whether the
oil was being fed to the still properly by the inlet tem-
perature, everything else being equal. Mr. Wilson said
he did not consider the quality of the wash oil of equal
importance. In his (the speaker’s) opinion, it was very
important, because, according to the quality of the wash
oil, so they got the quality of their crude oil. At one
plant that he knew, they used anthracene oil, not
creosote oil, and they got 80’s benzol. One thing which
he did not like wras the gravity of Mr. Wilson’s rejected
oil. It struck him that they ought to have some definite
knowledge on the point where the non-efficiency of the
scrubber oil clashed with the cost of renewal. There
must be a point where it paid better to renew than to
go beyond, and they did not know it. That was a suit-
able point on which they might get a lot more informa-
tion than they had at present. As to the separation of
the oil for rectification into two fractions, Mr. Wilson
took the first fraction much higher than they did at
Parkgate. He himself found it paid, from a washing
standpoint, to change over when they got all the ben-
zine and just a slight percentage of toluene in, and to
wash the heavier fraction with toluene in. It came
cheaper as regarded acid, and gave less trouble as
regarded emulsification. In the Budget of 1916, a lot
of money had been put aside for technical research. He
thought that the information wanted by their associa-
tion was of vital importance at the present time, and
that they ought to stand a better chance of a grant if
they could produce satisfactory evidence that the money
would be used in a proper direction.

Mr. Wilson said he was inclined to agree with Mr.
Worthington as to the test of crude oil; 160degs. would
be a better point to take it to. Of course, each plant
wepit on the points that were most important to it. At
Staveley, they were not selling their crude, but working
it all up to the final products, and they had not devoted
quite as much attention to the question of scrubber effi-
ciency as some other firms had done. Certainly, if he
were working the plant to sell the oil, he should like to
sell it, as far as the 120 degs. point went, at anything
from 55 to 60. Just now, their test was coming out
higher, but they did not find that that was benzol.
Perhaps it was guessing to say it was due to naphtha-
lene, but they knew that there was a great deal more
naphthalene in the oil at present. Recently, they par-
ticularly noticed these high tests,and yet they were
getting 25 per cent, residue in the intermediate still.
With regard to Mr. Worthington’s remarks on meters,
he agreed that the more they could narrow down vari-
able factors on a plant, the better. Certainly, meters,
as they were designed at present, were not what they
should be. But with them, the chief trouble had been
corrosion, which was due entirely to the ammonia salts.
They hoped to eliminate this to a great extent. Brass
was not a very good thing to use where there wras
ammonia, and he thought that if the cocks and such
things could be made of cast iron, it would be better.
With regard to re-distilling the oil, they had done that,
but it lengthened out the test a good deal, and they
found that the present method, for most purposes, was
all right as a comparative test. He supposed each plant
would make its own allowance based on results, and
would know that a certain figure showed that it was
working well. At the same time, it would certainly be
of value if they could have a uniform test throughout,
so that figures would be comparable.

Mr. F. G. Bishop (Pinxton) thought that the prin-
cipal thing 'that they should all seek to obtain was a
standard test before and after scrubbers, as if there
was any loss in the scrubbers, it meant loss right
through; the working of the still did not really matter.
He only knew of one coke oven building company who
gave a test. This was through white petroleum, and
they guaranteed 90 per cent, efficiency. All other com-
panies, so far as he knew, gave the creosote test. His
company found the difference, by putting through white
petroleum, to vary between 5 and 10 grms. Another

important matter was the wash oil. He had been using
a Scotch shale oil, and he found that he got from 5 to
10 grms. more per cu. m. He did not think that 5 per
cent, of the coke oven plants to-day would be found to
have more than 75 per cent, efficiency if the test was
taken through white petroleum. That could be proved
by the returns given. A man would tell them that he
had had 3| to 4 gals., and yet he would have 48 grms.
per cu. m. in his gas, which should come out nearly
5 crude benzol.

Mr. Wilson said one objection to shale oil was the
paraffinoid bodies in it. The final products were not so
good. The gravity for pure toluol in the standard fixed
by the Government was, in his opinion, a very strange
one—a minimum of 868, and a maximum of 870. They
ran for a long time at about 872, and had great diffi-
culty in getting the Government to accept that as pure
toluol. At the outset of the war they made 90’s, but
lately he had attempted to make the pure toluol. He
thought that the low specific gravity which the Govern-
ment gave as the minimum pointed to the use of shale
oil in recovering the benzol. He did not see how they
got it otherwise.

Mr. Bishop thought Mr. Wilson would find a better
washing efficiency from shale oil than from creosote.
The naphthalene in the wash oil was a great factor. At
the outbreak of the war he had great trouble in getting
a double oil. He used a b.o.v. for the first wash, and
he found it came out very satisfactory.

Mr. Wilson said he should like to try it, but they
were not laid out for that. He had intended to try it,
especially on the heavy oil, but they had not the neces-
sary tanks for the b.o.v. For the heavy oil, they were
obliged to let down the d.o.v. at present—a wasteful
business.

Mr. W. Green (Manvers Main) thought that the
trouble with regard to the oil containing 7 per cent, of
water was purely a thermal question. There was the
same amount of steam in each case. In the first
instance, Mr. Wilson dealt with creosote oil, practically
free from water, which had a specific heat of about 0*5.
When dealing with the 7 per cent, of water, he had the
creosote at 0-5 specific heat, and the water at 1’0. There-
fore, he would require more heat to produce the same
results. As he only had the same steam on his super-
heater, the temperatures spoke for themselves, and
showed that it was simply a thermal question in that
respect. But the point was, when the water exhausted,
did it exhaust as free water, or as water in combination?
He did not know whether Mr. Wilson had noticed that,
in connection with tar distillation, he might find, on
distilling, that the water appeared to be all off, but that
sometimes, at about 170 degs., a sudden frothing
occurred, which accounted for more water. That, the
speaker thought, was water of combination. The phenol
bodies were capable of forming compounds with water,
and when they got to that temperature, decomposition
of those bodies occurred, with the result that water was
set free. Therefore, in the case of oils with 7 per cent,
of water in, he would require to go to a much higher
temperature than the normal in order to get off that
water. He wondered if that would explain the trouble
in that respect. That raised the question of phenols in
the wash oil. He noticed, from a recent discussion of
the Gas Engineers, that Mr. Bond seemed to think that
the presence of phenols was an asset to the recovery of
benzol. As to why that was so, he should like to hear
the opinions of some of their members, who might have
had far more experience than the “ youngsters ” of the
benzol profession. They found phenols in the waste
liquor from the sulphate plant, aind he thought they
would also find them in the benzol if it was analysed.
Therefore, there seemed to be an increase in the phenol
content of the oil, and that raised the question as to
whether these phenols were picked up in the scrubbers.
It would appear that this was the case. Sometimes
they had up to 1 per cent, of phenols in the crude
benzol. Would it pay to give a short washing for the
recovery of these, and also for the recovery of the bases
in the crude benzol? Another question was, what
influence had the phenols on the naphthalene? If they
removed the phenols, they got precipitation of naph-
thalene much easier, and, therefore, it appeared that
the phenols present had the power of carrying the naph-
thalene in solution. Such points as these were very
important to the industry, and were very suitable sub-
jects for thorough investigation. He thought the least
the association could do was to appoint a committee at
once to investigate such problems, and to hand out
work in connection with them, so that the members
could all collaborate and furnish details of various plants,
in order that they might arrive at some standard test.
Touching on Mr. Wilson’s tests of the benzol in the rich
and crude oil, he said he had found, like Mr. Wilson,
that as the water content of the oil increased, they got
more distillate over. That was when they used to distil
up to 135 degs. But he did not think that a primary
distillation, as they might term it, was satisfactory,
because it was dependent on the quantity of water, and
they had abandoned that test. Now, they distilled in
a 200 c.c. Wurtz flask up to 210 degs. Cent., and then
they separated off the water from that, and re-distilled
the distillate in a 50 c.c. Wurtz flask up to 120 degs.
That, of course, fairly approximated to 65 per cent,
benzol, and in each case they got comparative working,
because they were re-distilling the distillate in each case.
Air. Wilson had not given any .statement as to the loss
of benzol in the return gas. He thought information
on this point should be given in papers, in order that
one plant might be compared with another. They found
that one plant got 3 gals., and he had heard of one
getting 4 gals, quite easily, though that had not been
their experience. It depended, of course, on the coal,
and on the quantity in the oil. He thought the best
way of furnishing comparative results was the return
gas test, because if they were not losing it, they were