Hydrocarbon Processing - April 2022 - 58

100th Anniversary
Industry Pioneers
SUMEDHA SHARMA, Technical Editor
Industry Pioneers: Cracking technology,
catalysts, polymers and zeolites
DONALD L. CAMPBELL,
EGER V. MURPHREE,
HOMER Z. MARTIN AND
CHARLES W. TYSON
of butadiene production, which was used by ER&E for making
synthetic butyl rubber, another technology that was vital
during that era. The first commercial FCC plant processed
13,000 bpd of heavy oil, making 275,000 gal of gasoline.3
FCC is widely employed today around the world and continues
to evolve as the market for high-performance clean fuel
demand increases.
Donald Campbell was an American engineer who was alDonald
Campbell, Eger Murphree, Homer Martin
and
Charles Tyson-often called the 'Four Horsemen'-are credited
with the landmark invention of fluid catalytic cracking
(FCC). The FCC process revolutionized the refining industry
by providing an efficient process to increase the yield of highoctane
gasoline from crude oil. Their invention was awarded
a U.S. patent and described as 'a method of and apparatus for
contacting solids and gases.'1
During the late 1930s, Exxon Research & Engineering Co.
(ER&E) was looking for ways to improve high-octane gasoline
yield. Chemical engineering professors at MIT-Warren
K. Lewis and Edwin R. Gilliland-suggested that a low-velocity
gas flow through a powder may lift it enough to cause it to
flow like a liquid.1
Campbell, Martin, Murphree and Tyson at
ER&E focused on the idea of a fluidized catalyst to innovate
a design that would ensure a steady and continuous cracking
operation. This idea led the four inventors to design a fluidized
solids reactor bed with a pipe transfer system between the
reactor and regenerator unit in which the catalyst is decoked
and regenerated for reuse. The solids (catalyst) and gases (vaporized
oil) are in continuous contact as they move upward in
fluidized flow while cracking occurs. The hydrocarbon chains
are split into smaller pieces, and the cracked molecules are further
distilled to produce gasoline, heating oil, fuel oil, propane,
butane and chemical feedstocks that are instrumental in producing
a variety of petrochemical products.
The four inventors developed the process in 1942, and the
first commercial FCC facility went online on May 25, 1942.2
Their invention was not only extremely important but also
timely, as it enabled refineries to produce and supply enough
high-octane fuel to aid U.S. and Allied forces during World
War 2 (WW2). FCC technology also led to the rapid buildup
58 APRIL 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
ways fascinated by inventing and solving problems. He attended
Iowa State University, then MIT and the Harvard Business
School. He worked for 25 yr at ER&E, with a total of 41 yr at
Exxon. He retired as Assistant to the Vice President of New
Areas of Research, with 30 patents to his credit.3
Eger Murphree, a graduate in chemistry and a teacher,
joined Standard Oil of New Jersey (later ER&E) in 1930. With
his phenomenal work at ER&E and as co-inventor of FCC
technology, he rose to serve as the President of ER&E from
1947-1962.4
synthetic toluene, butadiene and hydrocarbon synthesis, FCC
and fluid hydroforming.4
Homer Martin was a chemical engineer who earned a BS
degree from the Armour Institute and an MS and PhD from
the University of Michigan. He joined ER&E in 1937 and became
one of the most productive inventors, garnering 82 patents
until his retirement in 1973.5
Charles Tyson received his BS and MS degrees in chemical
engineering from MIT and joined ER&E in 1930. He was the
Director of the Petroleum Development Division and later the
Special Assistant to the Vice President of ER&E. His work,
primarily focusing on petroleum processing, earned him more
than 50 patents until his retirement in 1962.2
ROBERT BANKS AND PAUL HOGAN
American research
chemists J. Paul Hogan
and Robert Banks
discovered crystalline
polypropylene (PP)
and created a process
for making highdensity
polyethylene
(HDPE) while working at Phillips Petroleum in 1951.6
Their
breakthrough invention, although serendipitous, was not accidental.
In the wake of WW2 and diminishing oil demand,
He is widely recognized as a leader in the field of
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