Scope of the Symposium ROBERT E. WILSON
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on March 12, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1951 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1951-0005.ch001
Standard Oil Co. (Indiana), Chicago, Ill.
T h e past twenty-five years roughly match the development of the Division of Petroleum Chemistry, which was formed i n 1921. I n view of the fine historical summary recently prepared by Egloff and Alexander, there is no need to go into that story i n any detail. F r o m its initial 30 members the division has grown to its present size of more than 2000, and the number of technical men engaged in petroleum research i n the United States has increased to more than 10,000. Incidentally, it is hard to understand why any ambitious petroleum chemist fails to belong to the Division of Petroleum Chemistry. The policy of sending out complete preprints gives members a big advantage over other petroleum chemists. There is no substitute for receiving a personal set of these preprints, twice each year. Oil industry research expenditures are now well over $100,000,000 a year—about 2 5 % of the total amount spent on industrial research i n the United States, and about five times the amount spent on petroleum research in 1940. Because of inflation, this fivefold i n crease i n expenditures unfortunately does not mean a fivefold increase i n research. H o w ever, the research trend is certainly still upward, and i t will undoubtedly continue—unless there should arise some unexpected discouraging factor, such as adverse government action toward research expenditures, or dismemberment of the large companies responsible for the principal research effort.
Two Principal Developments The past quarter-century has seen two outstanding developments in petroleum tech nology. The first is the great increase i n technical knowledge that has arisen from so much research. The petroleum scientists of 25 years ago made good use of the tools they had at hand, but they simply did not possess the extensive thermodynamic information and other fundamental knowledge now available. It was only after physical chemists had compiled data on the behavior of naturally occurring hydrocarbon mixtures—as well as on pure hydrocarbons—that chemical engineers could develop formulas for predicting the performance of fractionation towers and other equipment. Knowledge of the detailed composition of petroleum, so conspicuous by its absence 25 years ago, has also been sup plied, mainly by the A P I cooperative research projects. Part of the general increase i n technology arose from improved techniques i n pilot plant operation and interpretation. Studies with small quantities of material provided reliable data for the design of large scale units which could be counted upon to operate successfully. This pilot plant work was greatly facilitated by the parallel development of modern instruments and automatic controls. The second notable achievement of the past 25 years has been the catalytic revolu tion. Thermal cracking, the great achievement of the previous 25 years, was a notable advance, but chemists were not exactly surprised to find that hydrocarbons will undergo pyrolysis. Conversions depending on catalysts were less foreseeable. Catalytic cracking has been the most important of these new processes, but such synthetic processes as polymerization, alkylation, isomerization, and hydroforming also represent a series of great new forward steps—particularly as the operating conditions in some instances were severe. Fortunately, engineers had learned to handle, with safety, temperatures and pressures formerly considered too high to be feasible in plant operation. A rough review indicates that about 6 0 % of the gasoline coming from American re fineries consists of new molecules, made i n the refinery and not present i n the crude oil ι PROGRESS IN PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1951.
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ADVANCES IN CHEMISTRY SERIES
taken i n . Outstanding examples are alkylate, polymer gasoline, and cracked gasoline. I n the case of alkylate alone, production during W o r l d W a r I I reached a level above 15 billion pounds a year, or more than twelve times the present production of ethyl alcohol, both natural and synthetic. The tremendous volume of such synthetic hydrocarbons used for fuels and lubricants became possible largely as a result of the work of men i n attendance at this symposium. These new products represent increased value to the customer per dollar spent, and they also represent increased efficiency i n the use of the country's national resources. The expansion i n technology has i n turn encouraged research scientists to broaden the scope of their research. Notable advances have been made i n such special fields as plastics, polymers, rubber, detergents, and many other synthetic products from petroleum. A number of these items represent broad technological achievements i n their own right. Research has also made major contributions to the discovery, production, and transportation of petroleum.
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on March 12, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1951 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1951-0005.ch001
Competitive and Cooperative Work I n the course of the past 25 years the pattern of increasing competition i n the petroleum industry has stimulated research. A t the same time, through wise use of the crosslicensing arrangements possible under the patent laws, immediate industry-wide use of new developments has become possible. Because licenses can be obtained at reasonable rates, even the small refiners have been able to use the latest methods without prohibitive research expense. I n addition, wasteful duplication of research and development has been avoided, and the most recent knowledge has become promptly available to serve as the foundation on which further developments could be built. Cooperative research has also become increasingly important—notably through the establishment, just 25 years ago, of the A P I program of fundamental research. M u c h joint work has also been done with other industries. The automobile industry has joined i n various important studies: on the effect of octane number, vapor pressure, and sulfur i n fuels, and on the increasingly important subject of additive-containing lubricating oils. The airplane industry and the airplane users—particularly the Armed Forces—have likewise cooperated, and have profited greatly by the results.
Other Fields Several fields of petroleum research are not covered i n this symposium. The most important are exploration and production. Another is research on devices that evaluate oil products and indicate probable performance. Such devices have become important tools i n product improvement. A special field not covered i n the symposium is that of insecticides, fungicides, and weed killers. Petroleum products are used to an increasing extent as carriers or principal toxic agents, or both. M o d e r n oil research includes work i n greenhouses, gardens, and orchards, as well as with automobiles, locomotives, and industrial machines. It is safe to say that the next 25 years will see a still greater broadening of the scope of petroleum research, both competitive and cooperative, provided we are not greatly h i n dered i n one way or another b y "the dead hand of government." R E C E I V E D June 9, 1951.
PROGRESS IN PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1951.
