Chemistry in the Industries 289
Flow process in operation by the Standard Oil Company of
New Jersey. In this process, instead of passing oil vapors
through a catalytic bed, the process uses a powdered catalyst
so fine that it acts like a liquid—is carried along by the very
vapors it cracks. The catalyst ranges from 30 mesh down to
a few microns in size. As a powder, the catalyst exposes an
enormous amount of surface. In the reaction chamber the
oil is quickly cracked and the vapors, gases, and carbon-
coated catalyst move on, the catalyst is separated out, re-
generated, and thus made ready to use again. Meanwhile the
cracked oil goes into conventional fractionating towers from
which emerge base stock for making ιoo-octane gasoline,
special octane blending agents, and other hydrocarbons
which are the raw materials for alcohols and butadiene.
Researches in the oil industry are tending toward the pro-
duction of single hydrocarbons as gasoline in order that the
combustion conditions of the modern motor may be con-
trolled to a high degree of exactness. With the mixture of
hydrocarbons now in general use as gasoline, precision con-
trol is not possible. The motor fuel of the future will probably
be a blend of a few hydrocarbons, with the proper volatility
to suit prevailing climatic conditions, with an octane rating
of around 100, and accurately adjusted to give all the other
required properties. Looking upon the situation that is in-
dicated after the war, the petroleum chemist sees all existing
motors as out of date. Weights of post-war cars may be half
of what they are now. The power output per cubic inch of
piston displacement may double or even treble present
values. The fuels, which will also yield more miles per gallon,
will thus be “tailor made.”
Whether in the bitter cold of the Arctic or in the uniform
fifty-below-zero temperature of the stratosphere, machines
of war have a job to do. Their motors and gears require