Union Rheinische Braunkòhlen Kraftstoff A.G.
(Wesseling)
Location
This plant is situated on the west bank of the Rine at the town of Wesseling which is 8 miles south of Cologne. It is in the zone administered by the Military Government Office at Cologne and comes under the jurisdiction of the North German Coal Control, District No. 7, with offices also in Cologne.
Description
Brown coal is hydrogenated to motor fuels, using 700 atmospheres pressure in the liquid phase and 325 atmospheres in the vapour phase. There are 4 liquid phase stalls and 4 vapour phase stalls. When brown coal only is used as raw material the capacity of the plant is 225,000 tons per year of petrol and diesel oil plus 25, tons of treibgas. Tar and shale oil are also occasionally converted, with a correspondingly greater production.
The construction and operation of the plant haave been described in detail in reports by L.H.Mulit, CIOS File No. XXVII -60; and J.A.Oriel, I.H.Jones and H.M.Weir, CIOS Target No 30/4.10, on file at the Ministry of Fuel and Power.
Status.
On September 4th and 5th N.B.Hutcheon and the writer visited this plant. The following personnel were at the plant and were interrogated:
Dr. Mueller von Blumencron, General Manager
Dr. von Heinz Sustmann, Chief Chemist.
Dr. Sustmann speaks English and conducted the inspection.
Permission for the company to resume the manufacture of petrol has not been granted but authorization has been given to start the synthesis of ammonia and preparations are being made to convert part of the hydrogenation plant for this purpose. The crane over the stalls was in operation and 300 atmosphere converters were being prepared for ammonia synthesis. Some of these had been dismantled and taken away and one of them had just been brought back. All the control room instruments had also been taken away and had apparently not been returned. Most of the compressors for 325 atmospheres were missing at the time of the inspection; the roof of the compressor house was only a little damaged, so that the compressors must have been removed for use elsewhere rather than destroyed by bombing. In the power plant repair work was in progress.
Dr. Sustmann stated that there were 1000 workers in the plant and that, starting with 600 more, it would be possible to produce petrol at the rate of 1,500 tons per month after 3 months repair work; after 4½ months the production could be 400 tons per month; after 9 months 900 tons per month; and after 18 months 18,000 tons per month.