GTL base oil technology

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
We , for all practical purposes , received our RADAR technology ( magnatron tube ) from GB . Which we put to much better use ( during WWII ) than we did the jet technology .

Jet engines of that era were very thirsty beasts . Considering Germany's fuel problems , the only up side of this on the jet is it burned a lower grade of fuel than the Av-Gas burned by the piston engine airplanes .

I knew a professor who had worked with radar during WWII...his eyes looked damaged and were also a strange color.
The rumor among the EE students was that the danger from the microwave emissions was not well understood at the time and the researchers would look down a "live" waveguide to see if there was some kind of blockage if their power output readings didn't make sense.
 
I have read the discovery which lead to the microwave oven involves a RADAR researcher .

While working / experimenting , he noticed a Hershey choclote bar , in his pocket , had melted .

Do not know if it was true or not .

A late cousin ( fire control technician on a Polaris sub ) told a story , he had been told .

A RADAR technician crawled / climbed up the RADAR mast . The technician or someone had not turned the RADAR off . Rhis guy got to the top ans stuck his head up , level with the RADAR dish . Looked directly into the beam and promptly fell . Dead before he hit the deck .

Do not know if this story is / was true or not .

The people working on the Manhattan project had only vague understanding of nuclear radiation . Many died prematurely , as a result .
 
Lots of stories regarding research into new technologies we weren’t careful with.

The story of John Wayne and the crew and cast of The Conquistador comes to mind. A lot of people died from cancer being exposed to the radiation.

It continued into the sixties with asbestos and Agent Orange. I would like to think we have gotten better at safety but stuff happens nevertheless.
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
The people working on the Manhattan project had only vague understanding of nuclear radiation . Many died prematurely , as a result .

Read about the Demon Core, which was very destructively instructive at the time.
 
I remember " tickeling the Dragon's Tai " in the movie Fat Man & Little Boy .

Will have to do some research on The Demon Core . Yor have an audio book on it ?
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
I have read the discovery which lead to the microwave oven involves a RADAR researcher .
While working / experimenting , he noticed a Hershey choclote bar , in his pocket , had melted .
Do not know if it was true or not .
A late cousin ( fire control technician on a Polaris sub ) told a story , he had been told .
A RADAR technician crawled / climbed up the RADAR mast . The technician or someone had not turned the RADAR off . Rhis guy got to the top ans stuck his head up , level with the RADAR dish . Looked directly into the beam and promptly fell . Dead before he hit the deck .
Do not know if this story is / was true or not .
The people working on the Manhattan project had only vague understanding of nuclear radiation . Many died prematurely , as a result .

The pilot who defected to Japan in a MiG-25 claimed that other pilots liked to kill small animals that ran on the runway while they were taxiing by flicking their radar on and off quickly. That plane had a unusually high power output for a fighter/interceptor that was supposed to be less susceptible to brute force jamming.

Thalidomide is another good example of not realizing the effects of a new technology before a lot of damage was done.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Thalidomide is another good example of not realizing the effects of a new technology before a lot of damage was done.


It was scary in how it happened, and is a valuable drug that may make a comeback...problem was due to chirality (the spiral handedness of the molecules - eg, go to the garden and sort out your snails into left hand and right hand spirals). The lab made drug all threw a specific chirality and worked, no side effects. The mass produced threw either the other handedness, or a mix of the two and had the side effects.

(Trans and Cis Fatty acids are similar, Cis is the kink that you get naturally, Trans is the reverse, and our enzymes and things struggle with it).
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
... Thalidomide is another good example of not realizing the effects of a new technology before a lot of damage was done.
So were DDT, leaded gasoline, and R-12 (slightly less far off-topic).
 
I do not recommencement purposely breathing refrigerant , but I have not been convinced R-12 is the demon it is claimed to be . If you want to know the truth , often all that is required is to follow the money trail . My guess it had more to do with the money trail , than " saving the planet " .

Wyr
God bless
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Thalidomide is another good example of not realizing the effects of a new technology before a lot of damage was done.


It was scary in how it happened, and is a valuable drug that may make a comeback...problem was due to chirality (the spiral handedness of the molecules - eg, go to the garden and sort out your snails into left hand and right hand spirals). The lab made drug all threw a specific chirality and worked, no side effects. The mass produced threw either the other handedness, or a mix of the two and had the side effects.

(Trans and Cis Fatty acids are similar, Cis is the kink that you get naturally, Trans is the reverse, and our enzymes and things struggle with it).


I am totally clueless concerning left hand and right hand molecules . Interesting .

Wyr
God bless
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Thalidomide is another good example of not realizing the effects of a new technology before a lot of damage was done.


It was scary in how it happened, and is a valuable drug that may make a comeback...problem was due to chirality (the spiral handedness of the molecules - eg, go to the garden and sort out your snails into left hand and right hand spirals). The lab made drug all threw a specific chirality and worked, no side effects. The mass produced threw either the other handedness, or a mix of the two and had the side effects.

(Trans and Cis Fatty acids are similar, Cis is the kink that you get naturally, Trans is the reverse, and our enzymes and things struggle with it).




Thalidomide is now being used for certain cancers and for some cases of Hanson’s Disease. (Leprosy). The precautions are carefully explained to the patient before dispensing.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Fuel and lubricating oils derived from the Fischer-Tropsch method were considered full synthetic until Shell claimed it was a group III+ and also a full synthetic and wanted to put full synthetic on the label as a group III.

Getting around the law has been going on for over 3 decades, it never happened and it didn't this time either. If they would have pulled this off there would be no more SHC designation, just full synthetic like the USA.
I read this explanation about the numerous attempts to circumvent the law in a trade paper years ago. GTL is a legitimate Fischer-Tropsch full synthetic but in Germany its an SHC of their own designation, they could have legally listed it as a Group V synthetic in Germany as it always was.

Confusing eh? It is but to simplify..

Under the law, if it comes out of the ground as oil it cannot be labeled full synthetic regardless of what processes have be done to it or the outcome.

Full Synthetics are group IV reserved for PAO and group V for esters, GTL and whatever else doesn't fit in the other groups.

I read something about future group VI but don't remember much about it.


Not sure where this has come from? What "law" for a start?

Group IV is defined by the SAE as PAO. That's it - if it ain't a polyalphaolefin, it ain't a group IV.
Group V is defined as 'anything not in groups I to IV'. So group V is not a "fully synthetic" group, it is a very diverse group that includes some fully synthetics (like esters, glycols, ethers and such) but also some very not-synthetics, such as any mineral oil with a VI
GTL base oils, the way they are produced, gives an outcome that fits Group III. Not by Shell's description but by the API's. You don't get to pick and choose which group a base oil goes in, it is defined by the API classes according to chemical and physical properties. Group III+ is not a formally-defined group, it's just a way of trying to differentiate group III base oils that happen to sit near the top of the allowed criteria.

Also, where do you think the reagants that go into making PAO and other full-synthetics come from? That's right - under the ground.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom