Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1873-03-22

The unusually large number Of fires at
ended by the extensive destruction Of life
md property, have Of late attracted the
attention OF scientific men, and caused
hem to investigate iuto their causes. The
arge number Of fires traceable directly 10
he use Of the petroleum oils, }" have led
hem to suspect their dangerous charac-
Ter and their experiments on these oils
have revealed the sad fact that nine-tenths
81 the oils cold as Illuminating agents,
are of highly dangerous character.
A description of these oils and the
pursued 10 their preparation will
not come amiss to many readers Of the
DELAWARE JOURNAL.
The crude petroleum or the petroleum
as 1t comes from the wells, consists Of
large number of hydrocarbons Compounds
of carbon and hydrogen,) ranging from
oils, WI ich are fsht and very infammable,
to oils which are heavy and non-combusu-
BILE. The separation Of these lighter oils
from the heavy, constitutes what IL called |
the "retiuing process" which consists In |
submitting the crude oil to fractional dis
tillation, In order TO separate the lighter |
oils from the heavier, by means Of their |
lower boiling points.
In this operation of course large guam |
tity of oil lie lost, and the rehner not pleased |
with the idea Of losing all this material,
which gives when burned, a flame 10 bright |
mess superior to the heavy oil, utilities this
highly inhamable material, by literally
adulterating the heavy and safe oil WITH
this material, producing an oil which lie
very far from being safe, being In fact al
most as dangerous AS the light oil itself.
Tuat he use of these oil have been the
frequent causes of extensive cOnfagra-
tons, and terrible loss Of life, the writer
will only call the readers attention to the
recent report of the Fire Marshal Of the
city of Philadelphia, who states that
during the year just passed, SO fires baye
been caused by the use Of light petroleum
oils. Similar, and even worse reports
have been issued by the fire marshals Of
Baltimore aud New York and other large
cities. The SO fires Ia the city Of Phila-
delpha caused the death of one hundred
beings. If these reports Of the 1re mar
shals will not convince any man of ordi-
nary i, telligeLee that these oils cannot be
USED without imminent danger to life
and property, then nothing will. Coal
oil horrors are an every day occurrence;
a person cannot read newspaper now-a-
days with being Mortified by the report Of
some person being burned to death by
these deadly ma erials.
These oils commonly go under very fas-
cinatiug names, evidently Intended TO
charm the eyes of the purchaser, who
buys them not knowing their dangerous
character, aud who does not find out the
real nature of these materials until he has
met with some accident caused by the ex-
plosion Of these ineendiary articles. The
oils which 20 under the name of "combi-
nation fluids" are the worst OF all and
should be Stunned like the plague. Let
us now see what will happen when these
oils are used, as In our portable lamps
Suppose the lamp to be filled with these
oils, and lighted, and let us see the effect.
The flame will impart portion Of Its heat
10 the metallic fastening Of the lamp,
thence TO the glass containing the
oil; the oil begins to voiatilize and
! fills the space above the oil With
! yapor, which passes through the open.
, lugs Of the fastening, and the moment
I this highly explosive mixture Of vapoul
y and air comes in contact with the ham,
above, au explosion Is the result, scattering
I the fragments of the lamp and burning
fluid in all directions, producing all the
5 sad effects always attending a coal OF
! explosion. Or let us suppose that thu
/ lamp is dropped and broken, a case no
, infrequeDt, the Gil will immediately Ignite
and serious effects may follow. II is no
: the oil which explodes, but a mixture o
the Yapor of the oil and the air.
i There are two points, and only two, b,
4 which the character of an oil may be de
a terlniued they are called respectively, tn
4 ''flashing point" and the 'burning point.
r The first is the point at which the oil give
/ oil an lnaammsble yapor the second is tn
/, point at which the oilitself will burn. Thu
i poorer or the lighter the oil is, The lower is III
y flushing and burning point. The point a
!. which an oil flashes is generally beloV
y the point at which il burns, for the reasol
a presently to be described.
a For testing the oils the following metho
' Is advisable The oil Is placed In porce
It lain evaporating dish, and the dish place
If on a wafer bath into the oil In the dis
l., is placed thermometer, which serves /
D. indicate the temperature of the oil. Tn
4. water bath Is then heated slowly by mean
I, of spirit lamp; the oil s tested ever
" degree, which is done by passing a sma
+. lighted taper rapidly over the surface {
2. the oil, taking care not to touch the auit
lie When the flashing point of the oil
Is reached, that Is the point at which the o
A. gives of an inaammable vapor, a blu
n flash is seen, which disappears almoi
" Immediately; the cause of th
ut phenomenon ls the following
The oil is not homogeneous, but consis
of several oils of different vapOrlEin
points consequently when the temper
ture reaches the vaporiziug point of Il
"a lighter oil it volatilises and causes Il
III flashing, but the temperature produce
A by the flashing of the lighter oil is h
ST sufficient to vOlatilise the heavier oil, CO.
sequently it will not burnt but as Il
a temperature rises il finally reaches Il
of vaporlzlng point of the heavy, and If
u lighted taper be then applied the oil vi
ID burn; this point Is called the burBlT
cd point of the oil. The reader will now s.
be why the flashing point must necessari
IN be below the burning point. The clos
these two points are the more homog
j.. neous ia the oil.
e. The hydrometer is not a reliable indie
as tor Of the character of the oil, for the re
n son that an inferior oil may be added 10
or good oil, without sensibly altering
ed specific gravity, and such an oil, from Il
o. fact that it contains quantity Of Il
We light oil, causes il to fash as soon as d
to temperature reaches the vaporiziug poi
N of the adulteraling oil. The fashir
de is really the dangerous point, because
or that temperature the oil is giving off i
en- famable vapor which when mixed wi
At air, causes the oil 10 explode.
on The writer will here lay down a simI
T., rule by which an oil may be tested i
ce rule is as follows pour few drops ID
De- a saucer and apply match if II burn
en- reject it as unsafe.
ire There is law on paper, which W
be intended to regulate the sale of the
ut. petroleum oils, but like great ma
rot other laws, lie seldom carried out as
should be. The law Is effective only wi
il the manufacturers and Wholesaler
ast but not with the retailers, the perso
ler who adulterste the oils with all sorts
The diary materials, such as "benzil
Tue camphor ETC." which are much cheaI
than the pure oils the resulting MKT
to forms a material unsafe, in the high
me degree. The villianous compounds
er- sold under various names intended to h
ro their dangerous character, to the poo
vas classes, who buy them because they
III cheaper than their heavier oils.
ZIG According to law passed In the G,
gress Of the United States the oils sold
hat Illuminating purposes should stand a
lily test of 100 fahrenheit. The reader
form an idea how this law is obsery
ON when the writer tells him that only alb
h 10 per cent. of the oils sold as illumin
the ing agents stand this test.
DRe A committee has lately been appoin
lily by the Franklin Institute of Philas
shy phia TO investigate into the causes
all CONGREGATIONS, and the most efici
cut modes of their prevention. CHE WI
ady of this article is honored by being a m,
L. I r. . \