Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-02-19
HOW MOTOR oils ARE Made
Glimpse at the Intricate Processes That Result in a
Superior Lubricant for the Automobile Engine.

Few motorists realize the mani
fold and difficult processes through
which crude petroleum must go be-
fore it reaches the particular de-
gree of refinement that gives it
peculiar fitness as a lubricant for
gasoline motors.
An oil refinery is a wonderful
maze of machinery where hundreds
of separate and distinct processes
are being carried on at a time.
Lubricating oil is only a small part
of the output. less than 10 per cent
Of the crude, heavy mineral oil be-
ing used for this purpose.
The plant where Veedol, the we'll
known automobile lubricant is re-
fined. Is a typical refinery Of the
modern style, and a recent visit by
a newspaper representative proved
a genuine revelation. particularly
as to the part that modern science
takes in safeguarding the interests
of the motorists.
This huge manufacturing estab-
lishment covers III acres at Ba-
yonne, N. j., and was the first re-
llHtl ~ vi dW lLo supply VI u lNN
oil direct from the walls of Penn
sylvania through pipes to its plant
at the seaboard.
From the same dark, heavy
mineral oil are produced such
widely varying products as Veedol,
pure white paraffin wax; gasoline
so highly volatile as to boil in it's
test tube from the heat of the
human hand, and pitch so heavy
that it will not flow from it's con-
tainers.
A generation ago many engineers
refused to admit the suitability Of
mineral lubricating oils for use in
machinery. Today not only the
giant dynamos that bride Niagara
operate with a petroleum lubricant,
but 1t is now conceded that no bet
ter lubricant can be found for the
most delicately adjusted automo-
bile engines.
Even aeroplane engineers. who
have up to now considered a lubri-
cant with a vegetable base as the
only safe kind, are becoming con-
WINGED of the superiority of a new
petroleum lubricant produced in
the same refinery that furnishes
Veedol to the motoring world.
Right in the heart of this great
plant has been built a special lab
oratory for the purpose Of expert
menting with internal combustion
engine lubricants, and the correct
oil for every known type of gas
engine has been worked out here
with scientific accuracy. This is
the only laboratory of it's kind in
the world.
Here every modern appliance can
be found for testing motor oils
Their different effects on horse
power, durability and performance
on different types of motors are
carefully studied and recorded.
! The finest grades of motor oils,
such as Veedol, are distilled from
the crude by steam, and are fur
Their refined by filtration. redistil-
lation and refiltration'. Special
processes have been worked out,
and new machinery recently added
costs half a million dollars.
One has but to follow this oil
through a few of these involved
processes to see how much more
expensive it is to produce a high
grade lubricant than the many
cheaper grades found on the mar
ket. Yet to the motorist they are
both "motor oil' and he has scarce
ly any way of choosing between
them except by actual use. Too
often this method of determining
which lubricant to use is costly in