CHAPTER XXII 



MATERIALS PRODUCING HEAT AND LIGHT FIRE 

 EXTINGUISHERS 



182. Petroleum. Crude petroleum is found in enormous 

 quantities in oil-bearing rock strata. The world's production 

 of this most important material in the year 1912 was 

 350,000,000 barrels. California, Oklahoma, Illinois, West 

 Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio 'and Pennsylvania are the 

 principal sources of supply in this country, which furnishes 

 62 per cent of the world's production. In other countries 

 Russia is the largest producer (19 per cent). Petroleum from 

 the Appalachian fields is a thick greenish liquid. It is 

 composed of a mixture of many hydrocarbons, some of which 

 contain sulphur. Petroleum is economically conveyed 

 through pipe lines, one of these extending from the Okla- 

 homa field via Kansas City and Chicago to the seaboard, 

 a distance of 1600 miles. 



Petroleum is the source of very many substances of great 

 value, as for the production of illumination, for fuel and for 

 lubrication. By processes of distillation at different tem- 

 peratures these products are separated from the petroleum 

 and, passing off as vapors, are turned into liquids by conden- 

 sation. In the distillation the products of low-boiling 

 points coming off first are in succession petroleum-ether, 

 gasoline, naphtha, benzine and kerosene. The remaining 

 oil is then chilled and the solid waxes and paraffins are 

 separated by filtering. The liquid remainder is then dis- 

 tilled fractionally into fuel oils and light and heavy lubrica- 

 ting oils. All these products from petroleum and many 

 others not mentioned are composed of mixtures of hydro- 

 carbon compounds having formulas varying from C5Hi2 con- 



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