RESEARCH COUNCIL OF ALBERTA

Abstract

THE annual report of the Research Council of Alberta, 1943 (King's Printer, Edmonton, Alberta. 5 cents) states that the present policy of the Council is to submit only brief annual reports to the legislature but to publish, from time to time, detailed reports on specific subjects. The present report is the first in a new series, and gives a general account of the work of the Council during the calendar year 1943. Two investigations in progress on bituminous sands are reported: in the first of these, the study of the hot-water process of separating the oil from bituminous sand has been renewed, but although success has been obtained in the laboratory, large-scale plants have given disappointing results in the production of separated oils free from sand. Tests in the Research Council's laboratories indicate that although ichthyol can be made from the oil, it is unlikely that bituminous sand oil will be a profitable source. In the second investigation, on the vis-breaking of Alberta bitumen, progress was slow, due to difficulties in obtaining equipment.