![]() When once ignited, water will not extinguish petroieum, as it floats on top of it. Another drawback is its great combustibility and consequent danger connected with having it stored in quantity, while coal is perfectly safe in this respect, so safe, indeed, that a burning match, or even a burning stick or piece of wood may safely be thrown on a heap of coal and will burn up without igniting the coal, while petroleum, and even sometimes its vapors, are so combustible that it is dangerous to come near them with any flame these vapors, mixed with air, produce an explosive mixture. ![]() ![]() The drawbacks of the universal use of petroleum as a fuel, were, first, the trouble and labor connected with its transportation and storage while the solid coal can be loaded in open cars and duniped into heaps, the liquid petroleum must be stored antI transported in air-tight vessels, involving far more expense and investment of capital than is incident to the transportation and storage of coal. Instead of fire-men necessary to handle the solid lumps of coal, watch its combustion, and keep the furnace in proper condition by raking the fire, cleaning the ash-pit, etc., the combustion of a liquid fuel, stuch as petroleum, may be simply managed by varying the supply by proper stop-cocks, simply an occasional observation and regulation of the supply being sufficient, bringing nearer to the great desideratum all good inventions lead to: the abolition of all hard mechanical labor by human beings, to all of whom bountiful nature has not given such an abundant amount of brains for nothing, to be wasted while doing the labor that brainless animals or machinery can perform as well, if not better. Among the first was the smaller space it occupies, with a lesser weight, and the ease with which it can be manipulated no grates, no ashes, no raking, etc. The advantages and drawbacks were both easily comprehended. Since the first introduction of petroleum as an illuminator, and its subsequent abundance and consequent cheapness, various attenipts had been made to use it for fuel as a substitute for coal, especially for the production of steam. Standard Oil built its first oil refinery in Pennsylvania, then later expanded its extensive operations nationwide. However, the first major oil company was the Standard Oil Company founded by John D. Drake drilled the first commercially successful oil well in the United States. ![]() The American oil industry was born near Titusville in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1859. The invention of the kerosene lamp in the mid 1850's led to the establishment of the first US oil company, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. About 1847, Pittsburgh resident Samuel Keir devised a way to distill petroleum into a lamp fuel which he called "carbon oil". ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |