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By William Blauvelt

THE type of gas producer in which the ashes are fluxed and run off as slag was among the very earliest made. Ebelmen built the first one in 1840 at Audincourt, France, only a year after the installation of the first gas producer of which we have record. Charcoal was used as the fuel, with blast-furnace slag and clay is flux. My interest in this type of producer began when as a boy I saw the fluxing producer at Chester, N. J., which was invented by W. J.. Taylor, and described by him in 1881.1 This producer was invented independently by Mr. Taylor to meet the difficulties he experienced in making producer gas for roasting sulphurous iron ores. It will be of interest to review briefly his description of his producer. It was built like a small blast furnace, having a hearth 24 in. in diameter and 24 in. high. The bosh angle was 25° from the vertical; the diameter at the bosh 4 ft. and at the top 3 ft.; the total height 12 ft. The producer contained one water-cooled tuyere 12 in. above the bottom, with a 1.5-in. nozzle.. Depth of the coal above the tuyere; 6 ft. Mr. Taylor mixed the coal with from 30 to 40 per cent. of basic blast-furnace slag to flux the ash. Occasionally some limestone was also used, but never limestone alone, as the use of the furnace cinder gave a larger volume of slag and made it easier to maintain a proper fluidity. . The producer was blown with a small Weimer blowing engine, delivering 300 ft. of air per minute, at from 1 to 1.5 lb. pressure. The slag was tapped every 2 hr. and was black and glassy in appearance. Broken or egg size anthracite was used. The fine sizes of anthracite could not he made to work. Mr. Taylor expressed the belief that bituminous coal could be used if not too fine, but no experiments were made with this coal. Runs were made of four weeks' duration, with no stops or changes. Mr. Taylor reported the following advantages:

Jan 12, 1913

By O. C. Wheeler

In past years the exploration of the oil possibilities of Colombia has been confined to parts of three distinct physiographic provinces; namely, the coastal plains area near the Caribbean Sea, the Magdalena Valley and the upper reaches of the Maracaibo Basin near the Venezuelan border. During 1935, little exploratory work and no drilling was carried on on the coast, but there was considerable activity in the other two areas. In the Magdalena Valley, the Tropical Oil Co. continued its producing and development operations on the De Mares Concession. The Socony-Vacuum exercised the option it acquired in 1934 on Sr. Luciano Restrepo's concession adjacent to the Tropical property and north of the Sogamoso River. No wells have been started on the Socony's lands although, according to the terms of the lease, drilling must be started within the next two years. West of the Carare River and adjacent to the Tropical's southwestern boundary, the Sociedad Nacional del Carare denounced the lands formerly held by the Union Colombiana, whose lease automatically lapsed during the year owing to the company's failure to comply with its drilling obligations. In the same area, the concessions held by Callejas et al. and the Société Européene des Pétroles are also understood to have lapsed for the same reason. Holdings of other interests in the Magdalena Valley were inactive during the year. Near the upper part of the Maracaibo Basin, the Gulf, through its subsidiary the Colombian Petroleum Co., continued active exploration and development on its Barco concession. Colombian Petroleum Co.—The following information and that presented in the accompanying tables relating to the activities of the Colombian Petroleum Co. was supplied through the courtesy of Mr. E. S. Bleecker, chief geologist of that company. Four wells were completed during the year on the north Petrolea dome, where an attempt is being made to define the limits of the field. On the south end of the Petrolea anticline, one well, Petrolea No. 3, which might be classed as a wildcat, encountered a heavy flow of salt water immediately below the oil zone and had to be abandoned. A second location has been made 1 miles south of No. 3 and somewhat higher on

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By Frank Soulé

Jan 1, 1900

United Engineering Trustees, Inc. W. D. B. HOTTER, JR., '44 A. L. QUENEAU, '45 ALBERT ROBERTS, '43 The Engineering Foundation GEORGE D. BARRON, '44 F. F. COLCORD, '46 A. L. QUENEAU, '45

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