tile constituents from the less volatile, in order t o increase the density, improve the fire test, sweeten MR. C H A I R M A N , BROTHER CHEMISTS, .4ND MR. F R A S C H : the odor, and otherwise improve the quality. This It is my very pleasant privilege as the senior Past was followed by further applications for additional President of the Society of Chemical Industry, re- improvements for the same purpose. Five such siding in this country, to present to Mr. Herman patents were applied for between 1876 and 1885, Frasch. on behalf of the Perkin Medal Committee all of which were granted. of the Associated Chemical and Electro-Chemical He also obtained a patent in 1884 for the manuSocieties of America, the sixth impression of the facture of waxed paper, a material saturated with Perkin Gold Medal, in recognition of his most valuable . paraffin which has found a great variety of applications. I n 188j, Mr Frasch invented an improved work in Applied Chemistry. Herman Frasch was born in Gaildorf, in Wuertem- petroleum oil lamp. berg, in 1852. I n Our great inven1868 he took u p the tor’s attention was not, however, conpractice of Pharmacy, came t o Amerfined t o petroleum. ica, and was placed I n 1882 he invented in charge of the laba process for manuoratory of Professor facturing white lead Maisch a t the Philadirectly from the delphia College of Galena ore. I n the Pharmacy. He same year he defound, however, t h a t v o t e d considerable Industrial Chemistry attention t o improvinterested him much ing the processes and more than Pharmaapparatus for manuceutical Chemistry, facturing salt, a suband in 1874 he esject which continued tablished a laborato occupy his attention for several years. tory of his own. Five patents for his Here began t h e improvements in this studies and invesindustry were aptigations which replied for in the sulted in some of the years 1882 to 1899, most important achievements ever and s u b s e q u e n t l y accomplished in ingranted. dustrial chemistry. He also studied the I n 1876, a t the ammonia process for age of twenty-four, making carbonate of he evolved a process soda from salt, and for refining parafin between 1882 and wax which was pur1886 applied for four chased b y a Clevepatents for improveland Petroleum Comments, all of which pany, affiliated with were granted. the Standard Oil I n 1883Mr. Frasch Company. These devised a very incompanies were so genious invcntion of HERhlAN F R S S C H , well pleased with his a process of making PBRKIN MEDAL 1912. first invention t h a t elements for thermaf they induced him t o electric generators, give up his work in Philadelphia, move t o Cleveland, which was granted the same year. I n the same year and make the petroleum industry his specialty. he obtained two patents for the manufacture of a He devoted himself assiduously t o the refining of superior carbon for electric light carbons, and car- petroleum, and made many improvements in the bons for other purposes, from “wax tailings” o r processes in use, for some of which he sought “still w a x ” b y treating the same with nitric or suland obtained patents. The first was applied for phuric acid in a specially designed furnace. December 15, 1876, when he was but twenty-four Mr. Frasch’s contracts with the various oil comyears of age. I t was for a n improvement in appa- panies expired in 188j,and he then moved t o Lonratus and processes for the separation and treatment don, Ontario, where he went into business for himself, of oils, by more completely separating the more vola- forming the Empire Oil Co. I t was here t h a t he PRESENTATION ADDRESS. By C. F CHANDLER.
Feb., 1912
T H E JOL7R.Y,4L OF I.TDLSTRI.4L
il.YD E,YGIA\'EERING
CHEMISTRY.
I33
solved the Canadian oil problem, by devising a sim- cents a barrel t o $1.00 and above, thus benefitting ple process b y which the offensive oils of Canada and the farmers and oil producers of Ohio, Indiana and Ohio could be made so pure t h a t they became as Illinois; and also by greatly increasing the demand valuable as the Pennsylvania oil. There had never for this kind of oil, until the production of this field been any difficulty in treating Pennsylvania oil so went u p t o 90,000 barrels per day, giving an increase as t o obtain perfectly sweet gasolene benzine, naph- in return t o the land- and well-owners of untold miltha, burning oil, lubricating oil, and paraffin, for lions of dollars. the simple reason t h a t these oils were practically Other inventions of Mr. Frasch in connection with free from sulphur. But the Canadian and Ohio oils petroleum refining are: contained about one per cent. of sulphur, in such 1890.-A process for removing from the heavier offensive combinations that i t was impossible t o ob- burning fraction of the oil, the sulphuric acid taken tain from them, by the customary processes of treat- up during the acid treatment b y the cracked prodment, products t h a t could be marketed, so they ucts. This he accomplished by distillation with were only available €or fuel purposes. Many chemists lime. attacked the problem of deodorizing those oils b y 1895.-Processes for increasing the flow of oil wells. decomposing the sulphur compounds ; many processes The Pennsylvania oil wells occur in the Devonian were devised and patented, but not one of them was sandstone, and in order t o rejuvenate an exhausted satisfactory until Mr. Frasch began t o study the sub- well, i t had long been customary to shatter and crack ject. On February I , 1887, he applied for his first the surrounding rock b y exploding one or several patent for " Refining Canadian and similar Petroleum hundred quarts of nitroglycerine a t the bottom. Oils," and by December 31, 1894, had applied for I n Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the wells occur a t twenty patents for his inventions in connection with a much deeper geological horizon, in the Silurian this subject, all of which were granted. The essence limestones. Frasch substituted sulphuric or hydroof his invention consisted in distilling the different chloric acid in place of nitroglycerine for the purproducts of the fractional distillation of the crude pose of rejuvenating the exhausted wells, one proving oil, with metallic oxides, especially oxide of copper, best in some localities, the other in other localities, as b y which the sulphur was completely removed, by one yields insoluble calcium sulphate, and the other entering into combination with the copper, while soluble calcium chloride. the oils distilled over as odorless and sweet as those By plugging the wells after the acid has been poured from the best Pennsylvania oil. The process was down, the pressure of the carbonic acid gas forces comparatively inexpensive, as Frasch devised simple the acid through the most minute cracks, which were processes for separating the sulphide of copper from thus widened so as to open communication with new the residuum, and restoring i t by roasting t o its origi- cavities of supply. nal condition, making i t possible t o use i t over and I goo.-The application of live steam to remove over again on fresh lots of oil. completely the gasoline, naphtha and benzine from It was in the works of the Empire Oil Co. that the burning oil in the process of distillation, in order Mr. Frasch solved the problem of raising the terribly to raise the fire tests. 1902.-A process for treating the peculiar crude offensive sulphur-containing oils of Canada and Ohio from the low grade of fuel oils, to the highest grade oil of Fresno Co., California, so as to remove the of purest oil. He had the process in operation on valuable aromatic hydrocarbons which i t contains : a large scale, when in May, 1888, the Standard Oil Benzol, toluol, xylol, mesitylene and naphthalene. Co. purchased his patents after they had been thor1902.-A process by which i t is made possible to oughly investigated and tested b y their experts. secure a satisfactory burning oil, from the peculiar The Company bought the works of the Empire Oil crude oil of Beaumont, Jefferson Co., Texas, which Co. a t London, Ontario, and proceeded a t once to consists on washing out of the burning oil fracconstruct large works for carrying out Frasch's in- tion, its peculiar smoke producing hydrocarbons, b y ventions a t Lima, Cleveland, Whiting, Olean, Phila- means of wood alcohol. delphia and Bayonne. Mr. Frnsch received in pay1899.-Improved processes to bring t o the surface ment, stock of the Standard Oil Co. selling a t that by solution, the rock salt reached by boring. time €or 168 and paying 7 per cent. After his proI 894.-Process for purifying solvent extracted oils, cess had been thoroughly established, he sold half having special reference t o linseed oil, consisting in his stock a t 820, and the Company had been paying removing the solvent naphtha from the oil b y low for some time 40 per cent. instead of 7 per cent. tension steam in a partial vacuum. When one considers t h a t the capital of the Stand1895.-Improvements in mining gold or like metal, ard Oil Co. was one hundred million dollars, the pe- which consist in saturating strata containing the cuniary return from the Frasch process in the in- diffused metal with an aqueous solution of a suitable creased value of the stock, and the greatly increased solvent, the final solution being subsequently drawn dividends, assumes gigantic proportions. from wells or borings through the strata. In addition t o the advantages to the owners of the On the 23rd of October, 1890, Mr. Frasch applied stock of the Standard Oil Co., there were a host of for a patent for an epoch-marking improvement in others who profited to an enormous extent. Frasch's the sulphur industry. I t had long been known t h a t process sent up the price of crude Ohio oil from 14 there was a large deposit of native sulphur in Cal-
T H E J O C R X A L OF I S D V S T R I A L A.\-D
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casieu Parish, Louisiana, a t a depth of one thousand feet below the surface. But all attempts t o get a t the deposit and bring the sulphur to the surface had failed completely, on account of the layers of quick sand above the deposit. Mr. Frasch evolved the idea of melting the sulphur in place, by means of superheated water forced down a boring, and forcing the melted sulphur t o the surface, through a n inner tube. During the period beginning October 23, 1890, to February 6, 1905, Frasch has applied for ten patents for his inventions of apparatus and processes for accomplishing this result. His efforts kave been entirely successful. The Union Sulphur Co. was organized, he secured control of the sulphur deposit, set up the batteries of boilers, bored the wells, built the railroad t o carry the sulphur t o the seaboard, and the docks a t Sabine Pass, for the ships which deliver the sulphur t o the seaboard. There are seven batteries of boilers, each of which runs a well. A single well delivers about four hundred and fifty tons of sulphur per day. I n a twomonths test, six wells delivered one hundred and twenty-two thousand tons of sulphur, proving the capacity of the mines to exceed the entire consumption of the world. The sulphur is pumped into bins about fifty feet high constructed of planks, where it congeals and forms a block of from seventy-five thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand tons, over ninety-nine per cent. pure sulphur. The planks are subsequently removed, the huge block is broken up b y blasting, and the sulphur is loaded directly into the cars b y a scooping derrick which picks up two tons a t a time. The effect of this work on the imports of sulphur into the United States is very far-reaching, as will be seen in the following figures, showing imports and exports of sulphur into and from the United States.
1903.. 1907..
Imports
Exports.
Tons
Tons. none
................ 188,888 ................ 2 0 , 3 9 9
35,000
At present the Louisiana Deposit supplies this country with sulphur, and might supply large quantities t o European countries. Fortunately the Company is owned by a feu- broad-minded and largehearted men, who could not be induced to bring starvation and ruin upon the two hundred and fifty thousand people dependent upon the mining of sulphur in Sicily. Kinety per cent. of the stock of the Union Sulphur Co. is owned b y Herman Frasch, the estates of H. McK. Twombly, Abram H. Hewitt and Edward Cooper and Mr. L. H. Severance. I have presented to you very briefly the great achievements of Mr. Frasch in the field of Applied Chemistry, but quite fully enough to satisfy you t h a t your Committee is fully justified 'in placing Mr. Frasch b y the side of Sir William Perkin, as one of our greatest Industrial Chemists and Chemical Engineers.
E.VGIA7EERIA\-G CHELTTISTRY.
Feb., 1912
To MR. F R A S C H : I t gives me great pleasure, as the representative of the Society of Chemical Industry, and the affiliated Chemical and Electro-Chemical Societies, to place in your hands this beautiful token of the appreciation and affection of your Fellow Chemists. ADDRESS O F ACCEPTANCE. ny HERMASFRASCH
MR.C H A I R M A NLADIES , A X D GESTLEMEN: When I received the notification that I had been awarded the Perkin medal, I was most happily surprised. I recognize and appreciate fully the honor and distinction which the medal conveys, and I wish t o express my sincere thanks and appreciation t o the members of the Awarding Committee and to the Societies which they represent. OIL
Very little is known of the impurities contained in petroleum. They influence the price, however, to a remarkable degree. The best illustration of this is the case of Ohio oil. This contains about 0.75 per cent. of sulphur, and before my desulphurizing process was known sold a t 14 cents per barrel, while Pennsylvania oil, with a sulphur content of only 0.03 per cent., sold a t $2.2j a t the same time. Sulphur affects the value of petroleum in a greater degree than phosphorus does t h a t of iron ore. One of the oils which contains an objectionable amount of sulphur is that found near Pretolia, Ontario. It is the only crude that has been found in the Dominion of Canada. When this oil was first discovered in 1868, i t was refined in the usual waytreated with sulphuric acid and soda, and then put on the market. The result was disastrous. The odor emanating from the oil was very offensive and penetrating, so much so that' the cargoes of ships carrying flour and bacon, anchored near a vessel loaded with Canadian oil, were spoiled, as the flour and bacon absorbed this odor. Law-suits based upon these facts were decided against the shippers of Canadian oil, and all export ceased. In order to protect the home industry, the Canadian Government imposed a duty of 9 cents per gallon on Pennsylvania oil, but in spite of this almost prohibitive duty, half the oil consumed in Canada was imported from Pennsylvania. The offensive odor of this oil, moreover, was not its only objection. I t had also the property of depositing soot upon the lamp chimney, so that a large percentage of the light emitted b y the flame was lost. The Canadian Government, as well as the Canadian producers and refiners, made every effort t o discover a method b y which the objectionable properties of this crude oil could be eliminated, but practically nothing has been accomplished in twenty years, except perhaps in the matter of covering up the odor, when in 1885 I bought a refinery in Canada and made a thorough investigation of the character of this crude and decided to discover a remedy, if possible.
