Return to TOM Reel Volume I Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

The Technical Oil Mission (TOM) reels contain a wealth of material of great importance to the oil industries of the United States. The value of that material is reduced by the fact that it is distributed over a large number of reels, many of them not indexed, and selection of the most pertinent material is difficult. This classified index of the TOM reels, therefore, should be helpful in studying German oil technology and particularly synthetic-fuel production.

The material in the reels refers not only to oils but also to a large number of other subjects. As an aid to the reader, the following classification of the material has been adopted in compiling of the index:

Volume I.

1. Analytical

2. Catalysts

3. Chemical Processes and Chemicals

Volume II.

4. Distributing, Manufacturing, and Research Organizations

5. Engineering and Engines

6. Fuel (Solid and Special)

7. Gasification

8. Gas Synthesis

Volume III.

9. Hydrogenation

10. Miscellaneous

11. Oil-Processing Operations

Volume IV.

12. Oil Products from Coal, Petroleum, and Shale

13. Patents and Patent Applications

14. Theoretical (Chemical, Engineering, Physical)

The present index includes TOM Reels 1-259 and 273-279. Additional reels still are being made, and it is planned to issue a supplementary index later. It is felt that the value of the index would be greatly reduced, however, by any further delay in its publication.

Thirteen reels, TOM Nos. 260-272, contain abstracts on a large number of subjects totaling more that twice the number of items indexed in the remaining 267 reels. An index of these abstracts would be desirable but would require much time in the preparation and would increase the size of the present index disproportionately to the added value. A rudimentary index of the contents of each of the 13 reels is found on the first frames of each reel. This index gives information, not on the actual contents of the abstracted articles, but only on their FIAT numbers (arranged in numerical order) and PB numbers, together with the number of articles abstracted.

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The total number of pages in the present index is expected to be about 800. The material is broken up into four volumes of roughly 200 pages each, to simplify binding. A brief table of contents is printed in the front of each volume to assist in finding articles of interest. Because of the advisability of limiting each volume to a definite size, the classes of subjects are grouped alphabetically rather than by related subjects.

Cross indexing of the references has been kept at a minimum, but the different topics discussed in individual articles are entered under the different headings.

An explanation of the method used in finding a reference appears to be advisable. In some instances the frames in the reels were numbered consecutively from beginning to end. Occasionally these numbers are somewhat hard to read, particularly if they were originally placed below the page photostated, with the result that some of these numbers have failed to be included in the photostat prints made from the reels. In other instances, the numbering was not done consecutively from the beginning to the end of the reel, and different sections of the reel would start over with frame number 1. In this case it was necessary to indicate both the section of the reel and the frame number to find a given article.

In many of the reels, the frames are not numbered. The following method then was used in finding an article:

The aluminum receiving reel on the Recordak has divisions etched for 10 feet of film length. The number of film layers for each 10-foot length ranges from 10 to 25. A small variation in the thickness of the film or in the tightness of the winding may make an appreciable difference in the length of film read. This method is admittedly subject to criticism.

When a multiple of a 10-foot length of the film wound upon the aluminum reel was indicated, the frames were counted. A frame was considered an image separated from the next image by an empty space. If a large drawing was broken up into a number of sections and printed in four different images, for example, it was considered four frames. If, on the other hand, a book was photographed with two pages not separated by an empty space, that also was considered a single frame. This in part accounts for the different numbers of frames per 10-foot length of the film. That number may vary within very wide limits, ranging from 50 to over 150.

In every instance the location of a given article was recorded by taking the reading of the first page of that article and its last page, giving information on the length of the article.

To illustrate the process of finding an article on the film:

A reference reads:

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To find the original article on TOM Reel 7, the film is rolled onto the receiving aluminum reel until the 70-foot-length mark is reached. From then on the frames are counted, and the beginning of the article should be found on or near the fifteenth frame. Some minor discrepancies inevitably occur owing to the uncertainties in measuring the footage, such as possible differences in length of the blank film before the first image appears at the beginning of the reel, in the thickness of the films, and in the tightness of the winding of the film. Nevertheless, the article sought will be in the immediate vicinity, and not much additional time will be needed to find it.

Sometimes, as in the foregoing illustration, both the bag numbers and the item numbers are given. Items are numbered in a few reels, and these item numbers are repeated on every frame. In such instances, where reel footage and frame numbers are not needed to find the article, they are omitted.

In some of the reels, the information on the bag and item number may be helpful. Where that is true, as in the example cited, they were entered. Otherwise, these data were omitted.

The terminology offered certain difficulties, which were in part the result of the relatively novel subject of synthetic-oil production. Whenever possible, German terms were retained, even if they did not have a close enough counterpart in English. The term “TTH” was retained for low-temperature hydrogenation (Tief Temperatur Hydrierung), “DHD” (Druck Wasserstoff Dehydrierung) for the dehydrogenation under pressure. On the other hand, the term “Benzinierung” was discarded because the German word “Benzin” is not used in America for gasoline. The literal translation of that term seemed awkward and inexpressive, and the term “splitting hydrogenation”, which is the actual explanation of the process, has been adopted instead.

Attention is called to the glossary of chemical products by Harry A. Curtis, CIOS Item 22, TOM Reel 196, frames 5029-5042, which contains a considerable number of names coined largely by the I.G. Farbenindustrie for chemical products. A few terms retained, and not found in the glossary of Curtis, were:

tanol - iso-octane

leutol - Leuna toluene

arobin - aviation gasoline

T-Stoff - concentrated H₂O₂

R-Stoff - ergols, nitro-aromatics

XU - hypergols, 70% tetra nitro

methane and 30% nitrogen tetroxide

kybol - alkyl benzenes

Oppanol - poly iso-butylene

Ordinarily these German terms, if used, are explained in the text by giving their American equivalent.

Equipment used in synthetic-fuel-oil production was accepted arbitrarily as converters for hydrogenation reactions and reactors for gas synthesis. Naturally,

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converters are reactors and vice versa, and the distinction is purely arbitrary. The separators of the liquid and gas phases were called catchpots. For the rest of the equipment used the terms have become fairly well fixed by usage.