New-York tribune., 1909-01-17
NEW OIL PLANT
Lubricants Produced at Refinery or
ValUoline Oil Company.

fuery at Butler. Penn 1hese WI .on,n rLs
Gently completed at cost OF over cV'FV' -
re,- r1sn+ was found necessary on account oi u.o
large increase in orders for the coihpdnS 80 80
uct. cylinder and machinery oHs' "i ~ -,
noints to the resumption of activity a1iio.8 !.
manufacturing interests The ne"
o,,,,rehersi,,a in character, including me pIou
nets of kerosene, naphtha, luprlcntiAs lupr :,
parafine wax and 4 product caIeo - ~,
which is a mineral jelly similar 10 Naseii"e
vaIvoIine Oil Cornpanys barrel factory IS also
ut - rho navy nlant The plant at Butler, PENN
IS the third to be built and operated by the Na4N
line OIL Company. The first Is al Ause""'s
/ tust across North River from Grant i'"o'
and the second at Warren, Penn, known as the
Wilburine OH Works The three loseln7t
eat5 To form the largest works in the world l't
the manufacture of lubricatfng oils Ihe coinpaiy
also operates about five hundred miles Oh pipe ie,
nenetratinS TO all parts OF the Pennsylvania OH
fields and conveying crude oil from the "eils u '7
refining plants in Warren and Butter.
In the manufacture Of cylinder and machine OILS
from crude petroleum the valvoIine OIL Company
claims TO be the pioneer. The process was discoE-
cred by Dr. John Ellis, when he was hvlhg III
Binghamton. N V, in the early GUS IN 1910 II
Ellis came to New York City and built plant IN
Brooklyn for the manufacture Of lubricants by ms
process At that time the only cylinder lubricant
in use was taIlow and the prejudice in It's favor
was so strong that the work Of introducing the
new mineral lubricant mean task IL Is On
record that the first person TO adopt the new CYL
inder oil was George Corliss. the inventor OF the
famous CorIiss engines and founder Of the Corlss
Steam Engine Company. of Providence. X. l. AI'er
thorough trial he pronounced 1t better than taiio"
for steam cylinders. The business prospered unoer
the direction If Dr. Ellis who, when ne retired
some years ago. relnquished the management 10
w Dixon Ellis his son. and George a. ELS, pres
ident and treasurer, respectively of the NaIVohne
OIL COMPANY Associated with them are 'euIlo II,
I2oult Of London, England vice-president' ana
william. James Goulding Of New YORK. secretary.
Under the able direction Of ". Dixon Ellis and
his associates great strides have been haue III ''le
extension of the company's market Not an ounce
of this product is sold OIL dealers. but In almost
every city or commercial centre in the world Is 10
be found a distributing depot of the NaiNoIiHe VII
COMPANY. To these numerous points the o'-S arc
Skinned in tank cars, or cases and barrels shlps
are loaded at the companys piers Tor export 'Naue,
reaching TO Calcutta, Bombay and the furtherrhoS'
ports of China, japan and Australia. IN America
alone four hundred tank cars owned oy the cou'-
psnv are In constant conveying the product 10
rs various depots and great quantities are shpped
in barrels For local distribution Of kerosene ana
gasolene the company operates hundreds OF tank
wagons and wagons for distributing cans IN which
oil is put for family On account OF the large
number of these cans used the company mas l's
own plant for their manufacture
To persons not directly interested the process OK
refining crude petroleum and the EXTRACTION oi 'le
lubricating oils has little Significance Yet u
highly scientific process and one worth knowing
about so that a brief description here viii not De
an7iss To begin with the Vavoline OH Company.
which has established a reputation Tor making
very high quality of cylinder and machine OILS "o-
tains its crude product from the Pennsy4'alld 'iI
fields only obtaining the very best for its purpose
that ts nroduced The reason for this is that Penn
sylvania petroleum has a parafine base and there
fore higher ubricatinG qualities than the produc'
Of Western fields, which has an asphaltum base
The first process of distillation is performed by
superheated steam injected into still filed with
crude oil This vaportzes the OIL and the vapor,
carried in pipes through tanks Of cold water called
condensers returns 20 liquid form. Disuation pro-
duces several different products. The first and more
volatile is called naphtha- Following this Is kero-
sene and then the lighter lubricant known as
spindle oil" The residue, which remains In the
still is called cylinder OIL. These various prod
ucts are determined by their specific gravity as
fhev come out of the condenser pipes IN the tall
house" Here the still tender carefully watches
the product testing It occasionally with hydrom-
eter and as that instrument indicates me Turn
ing pofnt from product TO another ne olVerls
the stream from the tail pipe to It's proper receiving
tank.
Naphtha and kerosene form about 70 per cent OF
the product Of crude petroleum, and are specially
treated before they nt for use. The method OK
refining the cylinder and spindle oils is very similar
to that used IN making white sugar Upon being
taken from the 'stilr' the cylinder oil goes TO the
filters which large, cone-shaped tanks hleu
with a mixture Of animal charcoal ana luA'e'
earth the Identical substances used In hteflhs
sugar The effect is to remove grit and other I'M
nurties and to decoorize the oil From six TO ten
vibrations are necessary to bring some grades to
the right color ana purity. For lighter grades OF
machine and spindle oils special redistllng is nee
essary to obtain the different oils.
As there over forty dlnerent grades or
yalvoline oil made, the reader understand
that considerable scientific knowledge is required
10 convert crude oil into these numerous grades
Out Of the carload of greenish brown fluid
filed with grit and other impurities, come oils
that have nearly ali the tints of the solar spec
trum; some that thin and as clear as water;
others that are seemingly as black and thick as
far vet all possess the essential quality of maxi
ing the wheels, whether Of watch or a mammoth
marine engine, smoothly And then, what
infinite care is necessary TO remove the least par
tice of grit or other deleterious matter from the
oil before It may be safely used in the cylinders
and bearings of engine. Nothing causes the
engineer of a great liner more anxiety than
the oils he uses, grit in the bearings has been
known to wreck ships. Consequently, the greatest
care is used in the filtration process, and the oil
is subjected TO constant inspection and test 10
insure the removal Of all foreign substances and
to bring it up to the highest possible degree of
excellence.
Valvoline is subjected TO three tests: for
color a second viscocity and the third for ite
resistance of high temperatures An instrument
called 'tlntometer' establishes the color and Is
| a comparative test between a colored glass and a
sample of oil The 'vscocity' of oil is its lubr-
eating quality The greater the viscocity the better
the lubricant. This quality is established by the
'viscometer'' and the degree Of excellence is de-
termned by the number of seconds required for sixty
cubic centimetres of oil (about two fluid ounoes)
to pass through small opening when heated to a
certain temperature. This formula varies for diff
ferent grades, but the best oil is that which
through the ori1ce most slowly. Finally the
flash and burning" tests which establish the
property Of the oil to resist heat. These tests
made by heating a small cupful OF oil until a
40. Vrhe is ed n fha