Lecture 3.3

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CRICOS Provider No. 00126G copyright © The University of Western Australia
BL Oil & Gas History, Economics and Geopolitics OENA8433

Topic 3, Lecture 3: Oil at War – Innovations of War
Dr. Karin Oerlemans
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Unit Overview
Topic 1: Introduction – The Founders
Topic 2: The Global Struggle
Topic 3: War and Strategy
Lecture 1: Oil at War – The Axis Powers
Lecture 2: Oil at war – The Allies
Lecture 3: Innovations of War
Topic 4: Oil and Gas Economics
Topic 5: Oil and Gas Technology in context
Topic 6: The Energy Industry Today
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Recommended Reading
Yergin, D. (1991). The prize: The epic quest for oil, money and
power. New York: Free Press.
Economides, M. & Oligney, R. (2000). The colour of oil. Katy:

Round Oak.
Some Other References:

The prize: The epic quest for oil, money and power (video): Episode
4 - War and Oil. This episode can be viewed via Google video at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6966482233222074631&
hl=en
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/01/
pentagon_study_says_oil_reliance_strains_military/?page=2
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1981/jul-
aug/becker.htm
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Lecture Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this lecture you should:
Have some idea of the innovations in the oil industry during
World War 2
Begin to understand the strategic importance of fuel
improvements during the conflict
Gain an appreciation of the interactions between technical
systems and the social, cultural, economic and political context
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Review of WW1
First use of Motorised transport for War
By 1918 British alone had more than
500 Tanks
56,000 trucks
23,000 cars
34,000 motor bikes
‘Tank’ was code name

1916 First used at Battle of the Somme
Planes
1915 250 planes – 60 experimental
Initially used for reconnaissance and observation
Pilots shot at each other with rifles and handguns
1915 April First fighter aircraft – German Fokker Eindekker uses
synchronised machine-gun firing through the propeller arc
1918 – speed 120mph, 27,000 feet
Britain 55,000 planes
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3
Review of WW1
Character of War changed – Internal combustion engine:
Cars and motorbikes
Tanks
Trucks: for moving troops and supplies
Aircraft
Other Developments: Submarines (& later, aircraft carriers)
In essence:
MOBILITY & MAINTENANCE of SUPPLY LINE
Pressures of oil supplies
Men and Machines
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World War 1 & 2

World War 2 was fought with the same or improved weapons of
the types used in World War I.
Greater petroleum consumption

WW1 – US division used 4,000 horsepower
WW2 – US division used 187,000 horsepower
Half the tonnage shipped from the US was oil

US soldier required 67 lb of supplies and equipment – ½ petroleum
products
“A war of engines and octanes,” Stalin
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4
Innovations – fuel
Many grades of fuel and diesel
Now standardised – one all purpose motor fuel, one all purpose
diesel fuel
Portable pipeline system for transporting fuel to combat areas
Five gallon gasoline can

Adapted from German design
“Jerrycan” – built in spout
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Innovations – fuel
German synthetic fuel production
Derived from coal
Fischer-Tropsch process
Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch – coal compressed into gas,
which is mixed with hydrogen, placed into contact ovens and
certain catalysts added, oil molecules are formed. Further
treatment of this primary substance generates fuel, chiefly
diesel oil.
1944 production reached 124,000 barrels per day
I G Farben – Auschwitz using slave labor
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5
Innovations – Tanks
Early tanks –
Slow and unreliable
Exhausting to operate
Deployed their armament in their hulls rather than in a rotating turret
Had achieved enough to secure place on the battlefield
Development continued during the inter-war era
Germany’s blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)

Used mobile forces spearheaded by tanks and supported by dive-bombers
Massed tanks enabled them to defeat the Allied forces in 1940
1939
Most armies employed considerable numbers of small light tanks, largely
because they were relatively cheap to build.
Thin armour plating made them a liability
Race ensued to produce tanks with an optimum combination of firepower,
speed, and armoured protection
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Innovations – Planes
Planes – speeds 120mph, altitude 27,000 feet
Too few only 15,000
Aircraft:
Bombing
Transport
Troops
Tanks
Heavy equipment
Parachute
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6
Jet propulsion
Frank Whittle in Britain
Germany Heinkel He 178, powered by an HeS 3B engine

developed by Hans von Ohain
August 1939
First British – Gloster E28/39, powered by a Whittle engine

May 15, 1941
Tail-less Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-propelled fighter
First Jet aircraft – Messerschmitt Me 262 twin-engined fighter

1944 Gloster Meteor
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Early planes
(Blenheim’s)
less than
600 miles
Later planes
(Hallifax and
Lancaster
Bombers)
more than
twice that
distance
Illustration: Barker, R. (2003) Epic of flight: The RAF at war.

London, Caxton Publishing. 14
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No precision
1940 bombing diesel engine factory for U-boats. 100 crews bombed the
target area – almost all missed!
1942 Renault factory was 40% destroyed after targeting by 235 bombers
and 460 tons of bombs
Wellington bomber – 2 ton electromagnetic hoop “flying magnets”
Illustration: Barker, R. (2003) Epic of flight: The RAF at war.

London, Caxton Publishing.
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1930s two basic processes, alkylation and catalytic cracking, were
introduced to increase the yield of petrol from a barrel of crude oil
Alkylation – small molecules produced by thermal cracking are
recombined in the presence of a catalyst
This produces branched molecules in the petrol boiling range that have
superior properties—for example, higher antiknock ratings—as a fuel for
high-powered engines such as those used in planes
Catalytic-cracking process – crude oil is cracked in the presence of a

finely divided catalyst
Production of many diverse hydrocarbons that can then be recombined by
alkylation, isomerization, and catalytic reforming to produce high antiknock
engine fuels and specialized chemicals.
Petrochemical industry – alcohols, detergents, synthetic rubber, glycerine,
fertilizers, sulphur, solvents, and feedstocks for the manufacture of drugs,
nylon, plastics, paints, polyesters, food additives and supplements,
explosives, dyestuff, and insulation materials
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Catalytic cracking facilitated the production of large amounts
of:
100 Octane aviation gasoline
Enabled planes to go faster
More power
Quicker take offs
Longer range
Greater manoeuvrability
Outbreak of war – very little available or made
New refineries built and quickly – 15 stories tall and expensive
1945 USA producing 514,00 barrels per day of 100-octane fuel
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1944 Allies agreed oil to be primary
target
October 17,000 sorties were flown
By February 1945 Bomber

Command (Britain) had deposited
some 62,339 tons of ordinance of
petroleum targets in waves that
caused “shattering damage” (Albert
Speers – German Minister of
Armaments)
Germany’s flow of fuel slowed to a

US B-17 Flying Fortress
trickle – further damage to trains
and railways choked coal deliveries
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Innovations – Big & Little Big Inches
1941 after Pearl Harbor and U-boat menace
Construction began in August 1942
Completed December 1943
Build a pipeline from Texas to the east coast
1,245 miles long
½ of all crude oil
Little Big Inch – 1,475 miles from south west to east coast
Gasoline and refined products
By end of 1944 they carried 42% of all US oil
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Innovations - PLUTO
1944
Pipeline Under the Ocean
Link Britain to Europe
Supply half fuel needs of the Allies
Technical problems and installation mishaps
Flow a trickle – 150 barrels of oil per day (1/6th of 1% of need)
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Innovations – Atomic Bomb
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In Summary
Innovations of war – the oil industry
Improvements
Fuel
Fuel quality
Planes
Production
Synthetic fuels
High octane fuels
Transporting fuels
Jerrycan
Mobile pipelines
Big and Little Big Inches
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Lecture Conclusion
This is the end of Topic 3
You may now progress to Lecture 1, Topic 4
23
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CRICOS Provider No. 00126G copyright © The University of Western Australia

BL Oil & Gas History, Economics and Geopolitics OENA8433

Dr. Karin Oerlemans

CRICOS Provider No. 00126G copyright © The University of Western Australia

 Economides, M. & Oligney, R. (2000). The colour of oil. Katy:

 Some Other References:

 ‘Tank’ was code name

World War 1 & 2

 Greater petroleum consumption

 Half the tonnage shipped from the US was oil

 “A war of engines and octanes,” Stalin

 Portable pipeline system for transporting fuel to combat areas

 Five gallon gasoline can

 Germany’s blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)

 Too few only 15,000

 Germany Heinkel He 178, powered by an HeS 3B engine

 First British – Gloster E28/39, powered by a Whittle engine

 First Jet aircraft – Messerschmitt Me 262 twin-engined fighter

Illustration: Barker, R. (2003) Epic of flight: The RAF at war.

 Wellington bomber – 2 ton electromagnetic hoop “flying magnets”

Illustration: Barker, R. (2003) Epic of flight: The RAF at war.

 Catalytic-cracking process – crude oil is cracked in the presence of a

 Outbreak of war – very little available or made

 New refineries built and quickly – 15 stories tall and expensive

 1945 USA producing 514,00 barrels per day of 100-octane fuel

 October 17,000 sorties were flown

 By February 1945 Bomber

 Germany’s flow of fuel slowed to a

 By end of 1944 they carried 42% of all US oil

Você também pode gostar

Economides, M. & Oligney, R. (2000). The colour of oil. Katy:

Some Other References:

‘Tank’ was code name

Greater petroleum consumption

Half the tonnage shipped from the US was oil

“A war of engines and octanes,” Stalin

Portable pipeline system for transporting fuel to combat areas

Five gallon gasoline can

Germany’s blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)

Too few only 15,000

Germany Heinkel He 178, powered by an HeS 3B engine

First British – Gloster E28/39, powered by a Whittle engine

First Jet aircraft – Messerschmitt Me 262 twin-engined fighter

Wellington bomber – 2 ton electromagnetic hoop “flying magnets”

Catalytic-cracking process – crude oil is cracked in the presence of a

Outbreak of war – very little available or made

New refineries built and quickly – 15 stories tall and expensive

1945 USA producing 514,00 barrels per day of 100-octane fuel

October 17,000 sorties were flown

By February 1945 Bomber

Germany’s flow of fuel slowed to a

By end of 1944 they carried 42% of all US oil