HAYES AND 
KENNEDY. 
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE OIL. 
149 
Mabery, and Richardson, whose results and conclusions are given 
below. The properties investigated include ultimate composition, 
volatility, products of fractional distillation, viscosity of residues, 
specific gravity, and refractive index of distillates. For the purpose 
of comparison, determinations of the same nroperties in oils from other 
fields are also inserted. 
COMPOSITION. 
The ultimate chemical composition of the Beaumont and Sour Lake 
oils as compared with oils from other fields is given below. 
Ultimate composition of various oils. 
Beaumont. 
Sour 
Lake." 
Pennsyl- 
vania." 
Ohio." 
Califor- 
nia.*' 
c 
o 85. 03 
12. 30 
b 84. 60 
10.90 
85. 96 
13. 97 
86.10 
13. 90 
85 
13.80 
84 
H 
12.70 
s ; 
1.75 
1.63 

.06 
. 60 
.40 
O.N 
.92 
2.87 

.60 
2.09 
Loss on treatment with ex- 
cess of H 2 S0 4 
39 
21.00 
30 
"Jour. Soc. Chem. Industry, Vol. XX, p. 161 et seq. 
b Report of the Liquid Fuel Board, United States Navy, 1902, p. 69. 
cSalathe, Bull. Cal. State Mining Bureau No. 19, p. 207. 
The sulphur content of the Beaumont petroleum is high and it also 
carries a large amount of hydrogen-sulphide gas in solution. This 
gas largely escapes on standing, and is more completely expelled if air 
or steam is blown through the oil. After such treatment Richardson 
found the oil to contain 1.75 per cent of sulphur. Mabery found 2. 10 
per cent; Denton found 1.63 per cent; O. H. Palm found the Higgins 
oil to contain 2.4 per cent of sulphur, and A. M. Smoot found the oil 
from the Lucas well to contain 2.04 per cent. 
According to Mabery, a the Ohio oils have 0.50 per cent of sulphur, 
while the Canadian oils contain, according to the same authority, 
0.98 per cent. Orton and Lord* found 0.553 per cent in the Trenton 
limestone oils. 
The condition in which this sulphur exists in the petroleum is an 
important question from the technological standpoint, since it will 
determine the methods to be adopted for its removal. Considerable 
light is thrown on the question by experiments in the fractional 
filtration of this oil, carried on by Dr. D. T. Da} 7 , and described at 
the Petroleum Congress in Paris in 1900. 
The oil from which the hydrogen sulphide had been removed by a 
current of air was passed through a filter made by packing kaolin in 
a glass tube 19 inches in length. The oil entered the bottom of the 
"Am. Chem. Jour. 1891, Vol. XIII, p. 234. 
b Eighth Ann. Rept. U. S Geol. Survey, Part II, 1889, p. 625. 
