CHAPTER VIII. 
THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF PETROLEUM. 
By F. W. BUSHONG. 
ETROLEUM consists of an extremely complex mixture of 
pP very closely related substances, chiefly compounds of 
carbon and hydrogen. In addition to these essential con- 
stituents, crude oils generally contain also widely varying 
quantities of compounds of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen and minute 
quantities of other elements. 
The following table shows ultimate chemical analyses of a 
number of crude oils that differ much in their physical proper- 
ties, and, for comparison, an analysis of gilsonite, a variety of 
asphalt: 
Hydro- Suleue Nitro- 
Sp. gr. FIELD. Carbon. ent am. 
rds Soe ee Pennsylvania2*>..............| 86.06 13.89 DCS losoone 
0 8095 Oinu@ityzeRan soe ovens cee 85.80 DY. BNE te irae re ee 
0.83867 Welker, Ohio236,............. 85.46 13.91 ORAS = ax ier 
0.8386 ind layalOMo2 score ane ee 84 57 13 62 0 72 0.11 
0.862 Petrolia, Canada?3°.......... Sono Al eloma ee) ellos Gere e 
0.865 Cherryvale, Kan.?37,......... 85 48 13.07 1897 (ical erate 
Seales areas IBY CEL, IRCCS Soab4 coca ood the AS PSEA a. eee erate Ec anes 
0.912 Humboldt, Kan.?237.......... 85.63 12.44 D8 lecooud 
0.912 Beaumont, Tex.228........... 85.05 12.30 We Ths). ioe 
0.912 Wenturan ©aile23o ees hear 84.00 12.70 0.40 1.70 
0.940 HumboldtaskKtank232 2h ees 85.33 11.80 DIS Wooonoe 
0.9458 MOK Giricke Calle240e ners 86 06 RAS ORSte heen: 
0.9845 Santa Barbara, Cal.236....... 86 32 7 ORSAt ele ke 
Gilsonite | Wasatch Range, Utah2‘!....| 86 86 11.89 0.64 0.02 
235. Engler: ‘Ber. d. deutsch. Chem. Ges., 28, 2501, 1895. 
236. Mabery: Amer. Chem. Jr.. 17, 713, 1895; 18, 55, 149, 165, 1896; Proc. Amer. 
Acad. A. and §., 40, 323, 1904. 
237. Bartow and McCollum: Trans. Kan. Acad. Sci., 19, 58, 1903. 
238. Richardson: Jr. Franklin Inst., 162, 113, 1900. 
239. 18th Ann. Rep. U.S. G.S., 842, 1896-’97. 
240. O'Neill: Jr. Amer. Chem. Soc., 25, 699, 1908. 
241. Mabery and Byerly: Amer. Chem. Jr., 18, 149, 1896. 
(303) 
