The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1917-07-29

During my stay here 1 have gone
! through the Magnolia oil refinery. IN
Guiding it's tanks it covers about 45c,
acres and the most Of 1t is made UP On
great buildings filled with the finest oA
modern machinery. The refinery is now
using about 10000 barrels of crude petro-
leum day, much of which is brought,
here in pipes from oil fields as far aWay
| as the distance between New York ands
| Pittsburg. 1t is making vast quantities
| of Tub ricating oil, fuel oil, kerosene and
gasoline, in addition to other by-products
from paraffin to coke. 1t is now pro-
ducing 10000 barrels of gasoline a day
and it turns out enough of that fluid
every 10 days to run one of the cheaper
motor cars from the earth to the sun
This estimate is made on the basis Of
| 10 miles to the gallon and to show that
| 1t is correct 1 will give you the figures.
Multiply 10000 barrels by Is, the number.
of days, and you have the barrel prod
uct. 1t is 10000. Now each barrel con-
tains AZ gallons SO that the whole equals
100000 gallons, which, multiplied by Is
the number of miles to the gallon, gives
you the enormous distance of 94,5000 900
miles, or enough to take your "flivver,
clear to the sun, with almost 100000
miles to spare. That is what this one re-
finery is doing every two weeks. We
have other refineries whose product Is
equally large, so that you can see some-
thing of the value of such works to our
country in this time of war.
I despair OF being able to give you an
adequate conception Of the machinery of
the oil refineries. The processes are Of
many varieties and msy of their ma
chimes are as intricate as that of a
watch, although the scale is gigantic.
Other processes are triumphs of chem
lstry and others of almost every branch
of engineering known to production. In
brief, the process of refining oil Is largely
one of distilling. The crude oil as it
comes from the earth is reduced to a
vapor. It is then sent through coil after
coil of pipes, ranging In diameter from
three to eight inches. These coils are
embedded in large watts of cold water
which condense the vapor and turn it
back into oil. The process Is just like
that of distilling water or the making
of whisky except that the oil Is poured
in by the thousands of barrels where the
water and whisky go in in small guam
titles.
During these processes the oil is washed
with soap and water again and again.
Its impurities are precipitated and taken
out Some of 1t goes into kerosene and
that is again distilled and washed, and
some finally becomes gasoline which is
also washed. In the Magnolia refinery
here l saw some of the largest washtubs
in existence. They are steel tanks for
laundering the gasoline to make it clean
enough for your car Each of these gas
oline washtubs has a cylindrical floor
space equal to that of the average par
lor and it is as tall as three-story
house. 1t contains about $1,000 gallons,
and the washing is done with caustio
soda instead of soap. The suds rise to
the top just as in the tubs of the laun-
dry.
In making lubrlcating oil the stuff is
run through hot water and cold water.
1t Is cooked and is treated with chem
icals, including sulphuric acid. In the
making of paraffin the oil has to be
frozen as well as boiled, and for this the
refinery has an EGGPLANT. The whole is
a wonder of modern invention and of
Industrial cost efficiency processes.
Copyright, 1917. by Frank G. Carpenter)