Document Qe6oKrXdDRRn95qdLN4Ewjk

LIA26198 ''aft"nfcMfc1ilH la'a > -----------------LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION------------- 4ao LOTWOTOM AVKNUC NSW VOMC tv, N. V. Kzpjfnai leo nr r WBUcinon Joseph A, Costello, Vice President Ethyl Corporation Za 19& the tetraethyl lead industry consumed 1,202 tons of lead Hotel. The Bureau of Klnes report for 19lt9 shooed that t.m consuiytlon rete had increased to 9L,6Ui tons. X believe it is safe to s^r the*, this l?e increase in lead utilisation has put the tetraethyl leed business In e position of sons Importance and concern to tbs ulnars, shelters and marketers of metallic leal, decause of this belief, it < *A K*4 T e4 eM fe < *^**j21 ' Mt* 4 , tut makes it tick - upon whet it depends for its industrial w*U-beirg - and what we see for lte future. i X m sure that everyone present krvrvs that TT1 is the active ln^r-*di<rtt's antiknock ooepouad used in almost ell actor fuel co the Worth America*' On.Tti.jnt, aa well u is i preat port of the moter fuels add throughout the world. The function of an antiknock compound in actor fuel is to improve ite ability to burn smoothly under high pressure in the present-dry high conpreasion, high output internal conbus- tlcn engines. The only effective antiknock conpounds presently in use oootain ITX,, and for each pound of TZL manufactured for this purpoee f,-<< if) of a pound of ccenon grade laed la required* fer and Isegt tta amount of TdL sold each year is a function of (1) the total csour.t cf gasoline conrjaedj and (2) the antiknock quality of the gasoline. The 1 rwat of gasoline consumed is controlled principally by she needs of bus and truck operators, tractor owners, and the greet motoring public* The petroleua industry S/c-wS no arpreciohle influence on the mount of this denari, and its orly function in this regard is to manufacture and distribute the --twit. required. The quality cf the fuel, on the other bar', is within certain Units under their control* It la * dictated by the requirere.its of the engines using it and the relative competitive pr sition which each pctro'.wn coapany endeavors to The manufacture of ;resent-day gasolines is e process of considerable complexity The final blending of stocks to get the desired finished protect is somewhat akin to blending e good cocktail - eqy an CUd Fashioned. A representative gasoline trill cootain at least five different ingredients. Oenerally these will include *treight-run gasoline cut directly froe the crude, thermally crocked gasoline esde ty applying heat and preesure to gae-cll, catalytieally cracked gasoline made froe gas-oil in tbs presence of e catalyst, a cut of light petroleua fraction such aa butane to aid in starting, and tetraethyl leal* While ell of the ingredients are important, the crtalytically cracked gasoline end the T3. eako the greatest contribution to the Nitlknock value of the flni*hd fuel, It, therefore, follows that ths eoet important coepetltor to the use of H2, (and therefore me tollio lead) in gasoline is cat cracked Presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting, Laed Industries Association, April 13-lk, 1950, 'hicago, DU nola, at the Panel Discussion of Lead Conaunars* )i npq jparauNips's|...:Pus m ww m N 3264 m , . r l f 1W*-. mmm mmm. L IA 16199 - v.*.. *. t - bast rtook, Th* relative utllisatioo of each 1 a matter of refinery economies* the 0 tt*>of largo percentage* of cat cracked gaaolln# require* very largo capital invest--nt cooto while on the other hand TO require* t inveateant ocet bat locreeeot rsw mat* rial coat** flood refinery practice dictate* the ua# of both# ao long ax TO. ooato remain low enough to ahow an economic advantage In obtaining antiknock value. Tba Mount of TO, used will always be dependent upon Ita economic worth. That la on* of the reaeone wfy our Comparer la particularly aensitive to prloe chargee in load metal, and haa oor.siiter.tiy paaeed along to ita ooneumcr* any ooat recktctioo that haa --suited from lower primary lead prioee. Aa to the future of the bailee**, whan 16r, gohaafar talked to yom laat yev he painted a rather roey picture* Aa 1 romo*bcr, It waa one of the few bright apota in what waa otherwiae a awry unhappy *ituition at the Uma* Zn general, we atill hare our roeo-colorrd glaaace on, although they bare been amoked un a bit by the foreign ai tuition in our buxineaa. I don't belian wa are unique in this regard, i w*nee ail 1"'* *<* d* bbrlnddd frr irii^;, ssl U~, are wnimiugr becoming more difficult to com by in foreign market*. It la aora apparent now than waa the oaaa a year ago that foreign demand for U. S. produced TO. will beecam nor* and more limited by the dollar exchange problxm. further, we can expect that within the next few year* the capacity for manufacturing TO. In England and on the European Continent, which up to now has bean quite email, will be appreciably expanded* This appear# to be fore-ordained if the growing foreign demand for TO - particularly In the Sterling Area - is to be fulfilled without the expenditure of U. S. dollare* gotwitbatending, however, a not too aooeuragiag foreign market for tha future, the outlook on this eontlneat still looks quite encouraging* Xt la most difficult to forecast tha tonnages of lead that will be required for DTEL in the next few year*. Aa I pointed out, tha mount required depends on tha amount of gasoline consumed and the TO concentration per gallon of gasoline which i in turn la dependent upon the octane rcmber* The pctroleus indueiy accncEixta are J currently prelecting an increase of approximately 3f per year in gasoline use for the nert few years - asseeing no serious depression or other advarse affect on the A general prosperity. If we accept this to be accurate, then we can iq that for each Increase of one octane number In the average quality of gasoline tha metallic load requirement will increase from $,000 to 10,000 tons par year, dopending upon what part la obtained by cracking and what part from lead* An Increase of at least 1 octane number is alreedr indicated far 1950, and It la reasonable to expect that this trend will continue et least for a few years* All of this axsum*s, of course, that the price of lead will not get out of hand, which the present price certainly doe* not indicate, and furthor that mo one will up with a "flash of genius* 1 will either Invent a high output engine that will run on low octane fuel or find a substitute for TO a* a knock suppressor* :: i 'i I 1 - itrj*-a.