Die schwedische Schieferölindustrie

When war conditions forced Sweden into the position to produce oil on her own, plants were erected at Kvarntorp in 1942, to make use of the immense local ledges of oil shale supplying 4,5% to 6,5% oil. The financia1 side of oil production was thus of minor importance. The investments were 81.000.000 sv. kr, the subsidies ran up to 33.000.000 sv. kr before oil imports were taken up again in 1946. By that time 220000 cbm oil at a net cost of .52 kr per litre had been produced. Since then the investment was raised by 22.000.000 kr. Further technical improvements promise an annual profit of 1.000.000·kr in spite of the reduced sales price of .10 kr per litre fuel oil resp. .16 kr per litre petrol. This unique success was only possible by still continuing improvements of the oil production methods and the development of coordinated industries for various kinds of by-products. Summing up the present author reports upon the composition and the hauling of the oil shale, the different systems of furnaces, the oil extraction "in situ" according to Ljungström, the coking plant, the lime kilns, the utilization of the pyrolysis gas, the light-petrol plant, the fuel and the refining plant. He gives a critical comparison on these different methods. Then he discusses as main products the oil, the white spirit and the Diesel-oil fraction, the heavy oil,the hydrogenation, the catalytic desulphuration, and the ash. As by-products he refers to the light concrete, the bricks, the cement, and the pyrolysis gas. The two last sections deal with the research and the economy .