Part 13 (2/2)
In the United States the largest horizon is that of the Appalachian region. Since 1859 it has produced more than forty million gallons of crude oil. The Lima, Ind., horizon produces about twenty million barrels. The California and Texas horizons have become very important factors. The crude petroleum is transported partly in tank cars, but mainly by means of long lines of pipe, flowing from one pumping station to another by gravity. There are pipe-line terminals on the Great Lakes and at Pittsburg, but the princ.i.p.al are at the refining and exporting stations in New York, Philadelphia, and on the Delaware River.
A considerable amount is exported to European countries to be there refined, but in the main the crude oil is refined before exporting it.
Some of the refined oil is exported in barrels, and some in tin cases; the greater part, however, goes in tank steamers, and from these it is pumped into tank cars to be distributed. Most of the product is controlled by the Standard Oil Company, and it reaches nearly every country in the world. It is carried into Arctic regions on sledges, and over the African deserts by caravans. Great Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands are the chief purchasers and distributors. The value of the entire product is about one hundred and eighty-five million dollars.
The Russian oil-producing region is on and near the Apsheron peninsula, a small area of Trans-Caucasia, that extends into the Caspian Sea; the region is commonly known as the Baku field, and in 1900 the production of crude oil surpa.s.sed that of the United States. The petroleum is conveyed by pipe lines to the refineries at Baku. From this port it is s.h.i.+pped in tank cars by rail to Batum, whence it is conveyed to the various European markets. A considerable part of the product is sent by tank steamers to Astrakhan, and thence up the Volga to Russian markets.
Great Britain takes about one-third; about the same amount is s.h.i.+pped to Port Sad for China, India, and other Asian markets; the rest is consumed in central Europe.
=Petroleum Products.=--The various const.i.tuents of crude petroleum differ greatly in character, some being much more volatile than others. They are separated by distillation at different temperatures. By this process naphtha, rhigoline, gasoline, benzine, and other highly inflammable products are obtained in separate receivers. By a similar process the illuminating or refined oil and the lubricating oils are also separated.
The residuum consists of a gummy ma.s.s from which paraffine and petroleum jelly are extracted.
_Naphtha_ usually contains several volatile compounds, including _benzine_ and _gasoline_. It is used as a solvent of grease and also of crude india-rubber, but chiefly the manufacture of illuminating gas.
_Kerosene_ is the name commonly given to the refined oil. A good quality should have a fire test of not less than one hundred and fifty degrees; that is, when heated to that temperature, it should not give off any inflammable gas. This test is now mandatory in most States.
_Lubricating oil_ is used almost wholly for the lubrication of heavy machinery. It varies greatly in composition and quality.
_Paraffine_ or petroleum wax has largely superseded beeswax; it is used mainly in the manufacture of candles and as an insulator for electric wires. A native mineral paraffine, known as ozocerite, is mined in Utah and Galicia; it is used as an insulating material.
”_Vaseline_,” ”_cosmoline_,” or _petroleum ”jelly”_ is very largely used in pharmacy as the basis of ointments and also as a lubricant for heavy machinery.
_Asphalt_ is produced by the distillation of petroleum, but the greater part of the world's product comes from two ”pitch lakes”--one in Bermudez, Venezuela, the other in the island of Trinidad, off the Venezuelan coast. The former is the larger and produces a superior quality. Small deposits occur near Los Angeles, Cal., and in Utah. The output of the Venezuelan asphalt is used almost wholly for street pavement.
Probably no other mineral has had a wider influence on both social and economic life, and the industrial arts, than petroleum and its compounds. The kerosene lamp, the aniline dye, the insulation of electric wires, the lubrication of machinery, the cosmetic, the india-rubber solution, and the physician's sedative dose represent only a few of the devices that are derived from petroleum.
=Natural Gas.=--A natural inflammable gas occurs in or near several of the petroleum horizons. One important belt extends through western Pennsylvania and New York, and another through northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. It is conveyed through pipe-lines and used both as fuel and for lighting. Natural gas occurs in a great many localities, but is used commercially only in the regions noted. It is better adapted for making gla.s.s than any other fuel, and on this account extensive gla.s.s-making establishments have concentrated in the natural-gas belt of western Pennsylvania.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
The statement is sometimes made to the effect that coal is ”condensed sunlight”; is it true, or untrue; and why?
Why are the coal areas of Europe and America also areas of various manufactures?
A recent cartoon had for its t.i.tle--”John Bull and his coal piles (_i.e._, coaling stations) rule the world”; show why this statement contains a great deal of truth.
What are some of the advantages of steam-vessels over sailing-vessels?
Whale oil, crude turpentine, kerosene, and gas have been used each in turn for illuminants; what is the advantage of each over the preceding?
Describe the structure of an ordinary kerosene lamp-burner, an argand burner, a Welsbach burner.
For what are aniline, paraffine, naphtha, and carbolic acid used?
FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE
Obtain specimens of anthracite, bituminous, and cannel coal, and c.o.ke for comparison and study.
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