Now It Can Be Told-Cumene Ali/itary IIcceNily IJa,f required IhaL man,1f oj the recelll dCi)e/opmcnIJ in petroleum technology be Jhielded in warlime 'ucrccy. flowel'er, now thai the fide oj bailIe 11M fumed (lnd Ihe dll/a nrc dai~y can;yillf/ Ilu fiqht deeper inlo Ihe ,r{rollghold oj the uum.lJ, Ihe reJlrietiof/,f are .'Jraduatly being rela.wd, and flu puhlica/ioll oj many inlue.rling .lIar/a oj war produclion flu/horizr:d.
HE demands of the global war on American industry have been tremendous. but in few fields have they been so huge and insatiable as in that of high-quality aviation gasoline. As modern warfare has taken more and morc to the air, America's refiners have been asked to supply such enormous Quantities of high-octane aircraft fuel as to require almost the complete metamorphosis of their manufacturing facilities. Not only that, but higher quality fuels were required as more powerful planes rolled off the production lines. One-hundred-octane was specified but to that were soon added performance from the outset specifications which could not be expressed in the conventional octane scale. Details of these specifications are still secret, but it may be stated in a general way that they concerned performance under take-off and combat conditions. Improved take-off performance is, of course, of great importance to bombers and carrier~borne fighters, and the extra spurt of power in aerial combat provided by modern super-fuels has often proved a decisive factor in military operations. Due in large measure to research in prewar years, the oil industry knew how to meet the huge demands for lOO-octane-plus fuels, both with regard to quality and volume. A mammoth construction program was launched. This involved giant catalytic crackers, rows of alkylation reactors, new pipelines, new boiler houses, and in some cases entire new refineries. But while all this construction was going on bombers were needed over Berlin, and there had to be a super-fuel for the fighter planes that were helping boys scramble ashore at Guadalcanal and Tarawa. Refiners had to produce the vital gasoline in steadily increasing volume before their mighty ncw units could possibly be rushed into production. And this is where cumene stepped into the picture. Research men working with single-cylindcr test cngines had discovered that certain matcrials possesscd to a markcd degree the qualities necessary for good take-ofT and combat performances. Cumene was particularly outstanding in that respect.
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Although unsuitablc as a fuel by itself it was extremely effective when added to aviation blends which had failed to meet power output specifications. Each gallon of cumene raised....mally gallons of fuel to the desired quality level. However, cumene was not available in more than experimental quantities. But the research chemists and engineers found the answer. Looking over convertible refincry equipment they found that a certain type of existing unit was readily adaptable to the production of cumene. Drawing on their general knowledge and experience they soon perfec'ted a completely new manufacturing process. In a matter of weeks the first converted unit was on stream, and followed in rapid succession by many ot hers until a total of 19 plants were turning out this important component which tided the aviation gasoline program over a difficult period and undoubtedly proved a great aid to AHied airmen 011 more than one battle front. The nation's first commercial cumene plant wellt on stream at Shell's Norco Refinery three weeks after approval had been givcll for the neccssary construction. Wood River Refinery was turning out cumene one month later, and SOOI1 after a third unit, ingcniously assembled from scrap equipment, was in operation,at the Shell Refinery in Montreal. Today, with towering catalytic crackers coming Oil stream ill increasing numbers, and great new refinery extensions swinging into productioll, the story of cumene is drawing to a close. Plans are being made to reconvert several units to thcir prewar use, others will be scrapped. But that the job has been well done has received testimony in the words of Ralph Davies, Deputyof Petroleum Administrator, who said, " ... an even larger increase in lOO-octane production was made possible by the use of cumelle. Early in 1942 we discovered that this blending agent had a highly beneficial eif.ect in improving certain operational characteristics of aviation fuel. Nearly 23 per cent of the increase in lOO-octane output in 1942-43 was made possible by this step alone."-Heprintcd with permission of Shell News, of the Shell Oil Co.
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