, 1886-12-14
CRYSTAL LIED PETROLEUM


Process-An Invention of Importance.
A very important invention has re-
Gently been made by a German chemist
in the employ of the Russian govern
ment in the oil regions at Baku, near
the Caspian sea. Russian petroleum
has since the last ten years entered into
competition with American kerosene in
the European markets, and if the new
process of crystallizing the oil fulfills the
expectations, American petroleum will
be excluded there in the near future, as
the Russian product will be much
cheaper and its transportation less
dangerous, thus saving, besides leakage
and expensive barrels, the heavy in
surance
Strange rs it may seem, and contrary
to the theories of the scientists, the
great oil regions near the Caspian sea do
not yield any coal, therefore the crude
oil has to be shipped by rail to Odessa
and other ports where coal can be OBJ
tanned, and is there refined. 1t is clear
that in a country with n nomadic popu-
lation and in the Caucasus, where the
difficulties of building a railroad are
almost indispensable, the cost of ran
portation is very high and the loss from
leakage great. The new process does
away entirely with this difficulty. The
expensive barrels are saved, and there is
no leakage, as the petroleum is hard
ened. AT the place where it is to be re-
fined, by another cheap and simple
method it is made fluid again. But, at
the same time, the new invention has
made it possible to refine the crude oil
at its source, which alone saves two
thirds of the cost of transportation.
The process itself is very simple II
cheap. Petroleum, naptha, or crude
oil, is a very complicated mineral, which
contains rs n mixture from eight to fif-
teen hydro-carbon combinations of the
so-called methan group, of which marsh
gas is the first and paraflinc the last i'll
the order. Petroleum, from the chemi-
cal standpoint is not an oil, like the vege-
table or animal oils or fats, which, though
often having the same hydro carbon
combination as the mineral oils, contain
oxygen, and may he still further OK
idized, whereby they are turned into
fatty acids. These when treated with
soda or potassa salts, combine, forming
solid substances. which have lost all
their former qualitics-inilammability
fiuidity, oily or fatty appearance. They
are turned into soap.
Chemists have for a long time vainly
endeavored to oxodize hydro arbons,
but, as in n great many other things, n
stead here, overlooked what was nearest,
and the most completed processes did
not bring about the oxidation of the
lao 1.,. ,n.1n,a ,,ntt1 tln D,,a.f,p Found
that all that was necessary TO obtain the
result was to saponify the oil directly
with soap. For this purpose the crude
oil is heated and from / to 3 per cent. OF
common tallow soap is added, which
readily dissolves. This mixture is boiled
about an hour, whereupon the whole
mass suddenly changes into a putty-like
substance, which when cold has about
the consistency of hard tallow, and can
be cut and formed into any shape. The
process is the same rs making soap,
with the difference that the petroleum is
not entirely %saponified, but only in n
suspended state of saponiiication.
The new substance has almost entirely
lost the characteristic smell of petroleum.;
is hard to light, and burns very slowly
WIN IL ltuulSn ndlnt MliIlOul SllOht
and making great neat. 1t leaves very
little residuum, which is entirely odor-
less. Now, it is n very w~ell-known fact
TO the chemist hat petroleum contains
nine times more heat than anthracite
coal-tllat is, the actual mount of heat
which can be realized from one pound of
petroleum (kerosene) is equal to nine
pounds of coal, the petroleum having the
advantage of taking only one-tenth of
the space of the coal, of being cleaner,
cheaper. and more easily regulated. Be
sides that the construction of the heat
ing apparatus would be much simpler
should the new substance be used. The
invention will be of the greatest impor-
lance TO the large ocean steamers and
war ships, as they would have only to
carry one-tenth of the weight of fuel for
their boilers, thus saving the other nine
tenths of weight and space for cargo or
troops. But it is expected that it will be
used in the household instead of coal i'll
the near future. The shipping of kero-
senc for lighting purposes will be made
cheaper, as the hard substance would be
shipped in cheap boxes instead of the
expensive barrels. At the place of desti-
nation the crystallized material is re-
duced 10 n fluid by the action of an acid.
Chemist in Chicago Times.