100 



PETROLEUM 



iron tank-caw. *>roe of which are of 8000 gallon* 



OUMr 

 when 



itv. But the greatest advance was made 

 pipe lines f,,r the transj>ortation of petroleum 



.siior 

 Var 



were introduced. Samuel Van Syckle, of Titus- 

 Mile, Pennsylvania, put down the first successful 

 line, extending fnini I'ithole to Miller's Farm. H 

 ilii>tann> of four mile*. The oil region is now a 

 network of pipe*. They carry oil from tin- wells 

 I., rent nil |K>ints fr storage or for delivery to the 

 trunk lines to he puni|K-d to the refineries. Power 

 fnl puni|is move the nil rapidly in vast i|uaniiti>'- 

 for (jreat distances. There are twelve to fifteen 

 trunk lines of 6- and 8-inch pi|>e, carrying the oil 

 fnini the |K>int "f proliietion to the refineries hand- 

 ling it. The ino-t iin|>ortant lines aie known aa 

 the National Transit Line, South-west Line-. Maekfr 

 Imrg Line. Tidewater Line. Western anil Atluntic 

 Line. By these mule oil is delivered at New York, 

 Philadelphia, Baltimore. Cleveland, Bnttalo, mid 

 < 'hicago. The total length of these main lines and 

 their several branches and feeders is fully 'AVOW 

 miles The . \niericjin trade in petroleum is largely 

 controlled hy the Standard Oil Company. 



(3) rHxtilliilinn iinil I'rmlin-lt si-i-iirnl li<l Distil- 

 liitiiin. The main product of petroleum is refined 

 oil for illuminating purposes. To secure this the 

 rude petroleum is subjected to heat in stills of 

 different sues and shapes. In most cases the still 

 used is a horixontal cylinder, ma<le of iron or steel 

 plates \ to jj inrh tli'irk, resting upon, and partly 

 surrounded hy, brickwork, as in the case of ordinary 

 cylindrieal toilers. A large outlet or vapour-escape 

 i)'ile carries the vajHiurs over into a long condens- 

 ing pi !> or worm immersed in a vessel containing 

 water constantly supplied to cool and condense the 

 va|Kiurs [Missing through the cdtidenser coil. The 

 tir-t pramotl of di-tilliition are the light gaseous 

 lluiils whieh win IK- eondensed only at MTV low 

 temp-ratlin's, and then kept in liquid form only 

 iirnli'i- pressure. Generally this is not attempted. 

 Then follow in order the various naphtha and re- 

 lined oil products, until the residuum left in the 

 still represent* from 6 to 10 per rent, of the original 

 charge. The yields of the various products varies 

 according to the grade of crude charged in the 

 still, and also somewhat according to the amounts 

 of the different products which the manufacturer 

 find- it most desirable to make. From the different 

 Pennsylvania oils the range of products is as 

 follows : Naphthas, 8 to 20 percent.: refined oils, 

 "H t 70 per cent.: residuum, 9 to 5 per cent. : 1"--. 

 alMiut A percent. From the naphtha many s|>ecial 

 product* are made gasolenes lor lighting, stove 

 naphtha for rooking, gas-naphtha for gas-making. 

 The icliii'-d oil distillates, as they come from the 

 still, are impregnated with tarry matter and inllain- 

 nmlile gaes, imparting a greenish colour ami an 

 odour. To remove the gases the distil- 

 late is heated in a still worked entirely by steam, 

 icmove the redout and improve the odour the 

 distillate is then transferred to a large vertical 

 nider with a conical hottom, calh-d an agitator, 

 where, hy means of an air Mast, the oil is thoroughly 

 agitat'sl' with sulphuric acid, resulting in pre- 

 cipitation of much of the objectionable impurities 

 with the rcfn-e arid. The sha|K' of the agitator 

 admit* of this ri-lu-' lieing drawn oil" to go to 

 the arid pftoring factories or to fertiliser works. 

 The distillate is then washed with soda or som.. 

 other alkali, to neutralise any trace of acid, and 

 with water. 



From the residuum left in the still several grades 

 of heavy oil and paraflin wax an* ohtained by 

 farther distillation in other stills. The oils are 

 lied for liilirirating purposes, the wax is used for 

 candl'-- The limits of this article will not admit 

 of even pairing mention of the many other hy- 

 product" M-cuied in the way of luhricating oils, 



greoaes, wax, &c. It is safe to say that two hun- 

 dred different kinds of producte are secured from 



crude petroleum. 



While the sale of petroleum products in America 



is very large, tl x|M>rts largely exceed the home 



consumption. The figures In-low, which show the 

 petroleum exported from the I'nited Stales in the 

 fiscal years ending June 30, are taken from reports 

 of the Statistical Bureau of the United SutB 

 Treasury Depart ment at Washington. A larger 

 l>ercentage of the mineral-oil product of tin- roiin- 

 try is exported than of any other product except 

 cotton. It will l>e noted that the average value of 

 the exports for the thirty-three years 1864-SKi lias 

 amounted to 839,494,923. 



Tew. 

 1864 



I-.,. 

 18MS 

 1867 



im 



!-...! 

 1S70 

 1871 

 1872 

 1873 

 1874 

 1>7:. 

 1876 

 1877 



I.,,: .,,. 



23,210,369 

 25,490,849 

 50,087,341 

 70,255,581 

 79,456,888 

 100,630,684 

 113,735,204 

 140,892,1191 

 145,171,583 

 187,815,187 

 247,808,483 

 221,055,308 

 243,6110,152 

 309,108,914 



!:. >,..U.: 



M,40T,041 



21,810,76 



R,W,MO 



..i." - HO 

 42,050,75 



4i.-jr.,M'. 



30,078,5(18 



B,a,na 



61,780,438 



1-7- 

 1879 



I--,, 

 ISM 



I SKI! 



1883 

 ISM 

 ISM 



I--,; 

 1-7 



IM 

 I8M 

 ISM 



C..I100.. 



338,841,303 



10,010 



MMM,M 



505,931,I22 





174,08,110 

 577,781,7*1 



M,S16,aM 



61, 232,706 



41, '.'].;. <i7'.' 

 47,103,248 

 50,257,947 



tTSJti.an 



tU,lM,4M 



UM,M 

 47,044,40(1 



(4) Petroleum in nthrr Countries than the United 

 States. There are oil fields other than those in the 

 United Slates producing petroleum in commercial 

 quantities those of Baku, Burma, Canada, (Jalicia, 

 Peru, Japan, and, last to be developed, of Langkat, 

 or Lankhat, in Sumatra. 



The Baku (q.v. ) field yields immense quantities 

 of crude of heavy gravity, which on lieing dis- 

 tilled gives only a small percentage (2. r > to 32) 

 of burning oil of satisfactory quality. However, 

 jus the crude is very cheap, and the balance of 

 the product from distillation can be sold for reel, 

 tlie refiners of the Hussian crude have IM-CH able 

 to compete with other refiners for a share of the 

 world's trade in petroleum. The petroleum of 

 Canada, like that of several fields in the t'nited 

 States, particularly in the state of Ohio, is of low- 

 gravity, 26 to 42 Beaume, and ha-s a peculiar acrid 

 and nauseous smell, on account of the sulphur it 

 contains. It is difficult to refine, hut its prodUC- 

 lion has lieen fostered, and it supplies a large 

 demand throughout the British provinces. The 

 Japan field has l>een known for many centuries, 

 but the cheapness of the American refined products 

 renders it impracticable for products from the 

 Japan crude to coiiii>ete. Production has IM-CII 

 completely checked. 



(.I) Origin f I'rtnileiiin. This topic is treated 

 hen- somewhat' out of its natural order, not beOMM 

 it is lucking in interest, hut Iwcause so little seems 

 to IM- known almut the chemical geology ot petro- 

 leum. There have liecn three leading theories 

 advanced, under some one of which all ot the 



results from different lines of investigation can be 



..1: (1) Petroleum is a distillate produced by 

 natural causes ; (2) m-troleum is indigenous to the 

 locks in which it is found ; (3) petroleum is a pro- 

 duct of chemical action. A full summary of the 

 results of the investigations undo each one of these 

 theories is given by Piofcssor S. F. I'eckham ill his 

 report as special a^i-nt of the I'nitcd States census 

 for 1HSO. He inclines to the belief that Pennsyl- 

 vania |ietrolcuiii is of vegetable origin ami the 

 result of distillation. 

 See R Silliman, jun., Report on Sock-oil or /'< ' 



. i; .!. S. Sewberry, Ruck-nil* of /</" ( IS.VM: T. 

 > Hunt. Iliitnrii of Petroleum or Rock-'til ( 1XC1 ; Ke|irt 

 Smithsonian Inntitution) ; A. Norman Tate, r,trnl<nM 

 and it* rrmlurt* ( ItMW ). and Kxnminmtion of /'./< 

 rfr. ( 1869 ) ; Dra|>er and I'cane, ' History of Petroleum, 



