This page separates what the source dossier on the karrick-process asserts from what the ingested material actually supports. It follows the pattern established for other archive dossiers in this wiki, such as Bedini Claims vs. Evidence: The Patents, the Inventor's Disclaimers and the Absence of an Energy Balance and E-Cat Claims vs. Evidence: The Dossier's Documents and the Absence of Independent Replication.
Claim-by-claim
| Claim | Source of the claim | Evidence supplied in the source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTC of Utah coal to <18% residual volatile matter yields ~30 gal crude oil per ton, cracking to 10 gal gasoline, 800 cu ft 1300 Btu gas and 90–100 lb oil coke | Larsen & Stutz thesis (1932) | Authors' own figures; no independent replication | Unverified assertion |
| Smokeless fuel product weighs 60–75% as much as the coal from which it was made | Larsen & Stutz thesis (1932) | Authors' own figures | Unverified assertion |
| 2200 cu ft of 950 Btu gas produced per ton of coal treated | Larsen & Stutz thesis (1932) | Authors' own figures | Unverified assertion |
| Gas Btu value falls from 1065 at 935 °F to 835 at 1560 °F as steam temperature rises | Frey & Yant, reported in thesis (Table 1) | Gas analysis table from Ind. & Eng. Chem., vol. 19 (1927) | Reported measurement |
| The process is justifiable, economical and "scientifical"; a commercial test plant "will, without a doubt, pay dividends" | Larsen & Stutz thesis, Conclusions | Authors' opinion; cost estimate of $44,193 (1932) | Promotional assertion |
What is established independently
Low-temperature carbonization itself is a documented industrial chemistry: destructive distillation of coal or shale in the 450–700 °C range, producing tar, gas, and semi-coke. That the chemistry exists and was pursued industrially is not in dispute. What the dossier does not supply is evidence for the specific performance figures it attaches to the Karrick variant.
The comparison that matters
The dossier's efficiency framing should be read against the broader coal-liquefaction landscape. Pyrolytic routes such as LTC generally yield less liquid product per ton of coal than indirect routes (Fischer–Tropsch synthesis) or direct hydrogenation (the Bergius process). Mainstream histories of coal liquefaction center on those routes rather than on Karrick, which is in tension with the dossier's suppressed-inventor narrative.
Evidence-quality summary
- Independent replication: none reported in the source.
- Mass/energy balance: the thesis supplies heat-balance calculations (three methods) and a 1932 cost estimate of $44,193, but these are the authors' own design figures, not measured plant performance.
- Third-party verification: none reported.
- Structured data: a gas-analysis table (Table 1, from Ind. & Eng. Chem., vol. 19, 1927) is present in the source.
- Scope: the source is a design thesis, not a laboratory report; its yield figures are calculations and reported test runs, not independently verified results.
Related
- karrick-process
- Low-Temperature Carbonization (LTC)
- Lewis Cass Karrick
- Patent as Evidence
Source notes & attribution
- https://rexresearch.com/karrick/1larstz.htm