A LAMPFUL OF OIL.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 210, 18 October 1888, Page 3

A LAMPFUL OF OIL.

From Harper's Magazine. (Continued,) After Drake’s discovery, the works at New. town Creek and South Brooklyn were converted from distilleries of coal oil to refineries of petroleum, and it was in these factories that kerosene was first produced to any extent. Early in 1860 Holmes erected a refinery at Erie, Pennslyvania. and soon thereafter the •‘woods were (literally) full of them,” particularly along Oil Creek. They were of very simple and primitive construction, and their product did not compare with the careful end scientific work cf tc-day.' The greatest Bt< p in the direction of improved apparatus and processes was taken in 1862, at Corry, Pennsylvania, at Plummer, between Oil City And Titusville.

Processes vary in different establishments, but they are essentially as follows: The Crude oil is emptied into stills made of heavy boiler iron, either in a cylindrical form (placed horizontally) or with oval top and corrugated bottom, underneath which Is the furnace fire. Every refinery has a series of these stills, each containing from 600 to 1,500 barrels. The former are twelve and a half feet in diameter, and thirty feet in length. The heat of the furnace c-uses vapours to rise from the most volatile portions of the oil within three hours after firing up. The vapour enters a coil, or worm, or iron pipe in cold water. The water cools the vapour into a liquid ca led ” This condensation in some refinerie- i« effected by permitting the vapour to escape into confined boxes of water, or condensers. In this box or condenser the vapour is converted into a distillate which passes through a pipe to the “ receiving room," and the water sinks to the bottom of the condenser, and is withdrawn. All distillate is sent to the receiving room, where a separation is made according to its density. All that is below 60 deg. B. (Baume Standard of density), and down to4o deg. B. is turned into a tank for kerosene distillates. The lighter portions, or the earlier runs from the still,. go into naptha, gasoline, or benzine tanks, while the heavier oils, below 88 deg. 8., go into the manufacture of paraflne and lubricating oil. The lightest vapour la called "rhigolene," ranging from 115 deg. to 105 deg. 8., though it and the second run are usually turned into the naptha tanks. When saved it is used as an anesthetic. The next product is known as "cymogene,” ranging from 105 deg. to 95 deg. B, and is Sometimes u-ed in ice machines. Below this is gasoline, 95 deg. to 80 deg. 8., used largely in country houses for manufacturing gas. The Park Avenue Hotel, New York, the Grand Union, Saratoga, and the Hotel Kaaterskill are lighted by this kind of gas. Next comes naptha, 80 deg. to 65. deg. 8., which is extensively used in South American towns for street lamp lighting, a d in conjunction v Ith benzine, 65 deg. to 60 deg 8., as a substitute for turpentine in mixing varnishes and point. They are also used as a solvent to remove stains and grease and for cleaning wools, and for this purpose are of superior value. Finally We come to that portion of the distillate intended for kerosene. It is relatively free from the obnoxious and inflammable elements that characterised the earlier runs from the stills, but it is necessary to subject it to further treatment. This distillate, therefore, is conveyed into a still, where live steam is injected into it, the gentle heat driving off through a pipe » large proportion of its inflammable ingredients. The method of one of the leading manufactories ia producing their high-test oil is to introduce the oil in the lower part of the tank of water heated to a temperature of 206 deg. F., or just below the boiling-point. The oil rises through the water, and the vapour which is thus generated ia carried away ; the remaining portion of the improved distillate is conveyed to a large tank called the “ agitator.” In this agitator the distillate is treated with one and a half or two per cent, of sulphuric acid. Meanwhile a current of air is forced down a tube submerged in the distillate. The air escapes from perforations at its lower extremity, breaking up the acid into minnte particles or atoms, which insures the closest commingling and admixture of the oil and acid. The pitch which is held in suspension in the distillate has a greater affinity for the sulphuric acid, aud consequently flies to its embrace. When the current of air ceases, the acid in combination with the pitch is precipitated to the bottom and drawn off. The acid acts as a scavenger, " sweetening " the oil. It goes into the agitator as white and clear as water, and comes out a thick, black, tarry mbs’ance, known as ••sludge” or spent acid. This sludge, which has a very offensive odour, is either dumped in deep ocean or sent to Barren Island to be used in the manufacture of artificial fertilizers. The next process is to give the distillate a water bath, for which purpose a large quantity of water is pumped to the top of the agitator, and falling to the bottom, cleanses its contents, removing the light films of acid that may attach to the oil globules. A solution of caustic soda is next applied in 1 ke manner to neutralise any remaining traces of acid, and to complete the diodorisation of the oil. This distillate has now become

refined oil, but to lighten and brighten its color it is withdrawn into settling pans, L where it is bleached from twelve to forty- ' sight hours. It is then barrelled or packed in wood-incased tin cans, and made ready for shipment to consumers at home or abroad. The next product from the stills is a black tarry substance, termed residuum because it cannot be advantageously distilled for illuminating oil. It is theiefore convened into paraffine wax and lubricating ails by processes entirely different from those employed in producing kerosene. Paraffine is made into wax candles, matches, and chewing-gum, candles, etc, Anthracine is the basis cf the beautiful aniline dyes. Heretofore it has been solely geriyed from the coal tar obtained by the dry distillation of bituminous eoal. A process baa, however, been patented for obtaining this aothracine from crude petroleum, or the petroleum tar obtained as a refuse product in the distillation of petroleum for the purpose

of producing kerosene. Lubricating oil for journals working under light pressure is as good as sperm-crtl. In fact, sqch railroads as Rondon and Northwestern, the war ships of England, and the cotton factories of Manchester sad New England use paraffine oils in •reference to animal or vegetable oils. The former will not spontaneously ignite. Mineral lubricating oil costs only a tenth as much as sperm oil. The medical value of petroleum and its E'tcU, especially for rheumatism and , has long been retyignioed- Its most irtant use ia in vaseline, which is conceded to be almost without a rival as a base for ointments ; 'and for many diseases, >uch as consumption, bronchitis, phthisis, etc., its internal use has been recommended. Further

experiments are necessary to define its full value as a remedial agent. In the. matter of refined oil there are various grades adapted to different markets qr legal requirements. The ordinary standard for the oil of commerce is 100 deg flash test, Tagliabue teeter, and HO dea. fire test. Different instruments have been devised to test the quality of oil, hut the principle of all is the same. An open or •□closed cup containing oil in which a thermometer is submerged is heated by means of a spirit-lamp. As each increasing degree of heat is registered, a lighted taper is rapidly passed over the surface to detect’the ex{stance of naptha or gaseous matter. The lowest temperature at which the oil evolves an inflammable vapor ia noted and fixed as the "flashing point." The heat is intensified, Wd the ezpyrUieut continued until the oil ftaelf ignites. The former is the flash teat, the latter the fire test. An inflamable vapor sech as a low grade of oil gives off at even a low temperature is, when mixed with atmospheric air say in the proportion of one to five, a very dangerous compound. It is

not the oil which explodes, but the gas which is generated fh a hot lamp. I The flash test of IQO' F. and the fire test qf IK)’ are doubtless safe in properly constructed lamps, even though the temperature of the oil may rise above the degree of the test, because the vapor is confined, and also because a portion of it is constantly consumed by the flame. As a matter of fact, experiments made by Professor C F. Chandler dsmonstrate that the temperature of oil in lamps frequently doss rhe higher than the fiegts* fixed upon tla safety standard. For ,Mtan<!e, in a room where the thermometer H *0 84 dbgs Ft the highest record

of the oil in any one of thirteen metal lamps was 120 degs. F., and in any one of twelve glass lamps 91 degs. the average for the metal lamps being 96$ degs. F., and for the glass 86 degs. In a room 90 to 92 degs. F., the highest temperature in the metal lamp was 129 degs. F, and in the glass 98 degs. the average for the metal heir g 104$ degs.F. and for the g’ass 92$ dogs. Fr m thia it would appear that g ass is a safer material than meta), inasmuch as the oil does not get sc hot, but, on the contrary, danger of breakage is greater. When the brass “ studentlamp ” heats up to about the highest degree, it has an attachment excluding the atmesphe e, so that blowing out the flame does not drive it downward. Moreover, it is so arranged that the oil is always on the same level and therefore the capillary attraction is never overtaxed, as in o;dinary lamps, when the oil is low. Experts in kerosene lighting lay stress on the necessity of procuri g a good quality cf wick and of fitting it fully, (TO BE CONTINUED).