Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 136

Industry Pioneers
(known as Dutch Borneo at the time). In 1901, Shell Transport
and Trading Co. merged with a smaller competitor-Royal
Dutch-that had set up a sales organization in Asia. The company
took the name the Royal Dutch Shell Group. The company's
operations-drilling, exploration and refining-expanded
rapidly to various parts of the globe and since it has become one
of the largest integrated energy companies in the world.
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
The American industrialist was responsible for
building the largest refining operation in the
U.S., which led to the spinoff of several different
entities, each becoming some of the largest integrated
oil companies in the world.
The company's origins began in the early
1860s. Rockefeller and other associates owned refineries in
Ohio (U.S.), producing kerosene for lamp lighting. Over the
next 20 yr, the company expanded exponentially, controlling
nearly 95% of refining operations in the U.S. By the mid-1890s,
Standard Oil Co. had also become the dominant kerosene exporter
to other parts of the globe, such as Asia. However, the
company was eventually labeled a monopoly and was split into
several entities that would eventually lead to the creation of
Amoco, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil and Marathon.
FRITZ HABER, CARL BOSCH
Using fertilizers for agricultural significantly
expanded in the 1800s/
early 1900s. However, the primary
sources to develop ammonia-niter
and guano-were not adequate
to satisfy demand; therefore, a new
process was needed to produce adequate
amounts of ammonia and nitrates. This challenge was
solved by the German chemist Fritz Haber in 1909 and later
commercialized and expanded by Carl Bosch of BASF.
Haber conducted significant research in the early 1900s on
the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. The
process requires high temperatures, high pressure and catalysts.
Intense research was led by Carl Bosch. After a few years of trialand-error,
the process was a success, and the first ammonia synthesis
plant went into operations in Oppau, Germany in 1913.7
The Haber-Bosch process-still in use today-enabled BASF
to become the first company to employ high-pressure technology.
The Oppau facility's success with ammonia production
expanded to include a second site in Leuna, Germany. This site
would not only utilize the Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia
but would also be instrumental in the research and development
of synthetic gasoline from the hydrogenation of lignite.
WILLIAM BURTON
William Burton was an American chemist who is
credited for inventing a viable thermal cracking
process. In 1910, he and Robert Humphreys developed
their own thermal cracking process
while working at Standard Oil of Indiana's Whiting
refinery-Vladimir Shukhov (Russia) holds
the earliest patent for thermal cracking, which he invented in
1891. However, the Shukhov Cracking Process found little adop136
SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
tion since lighter fractions (e.g., gasoline) did not exist at the time.
According to literature8
, Burton's thermal cracking process
involved heating crude oil in a still to 371°C-399°C (700°F-
750°F). The petroleum vapors were regulated through a valve
system that maintained constant pressure through the entire
process. Once the fractions were evaporated, they gathered
through a condenser. Lastly, the still was opened and the carbon
deposits were collected. The process produced primarily
gasoline, gasoil, residual fuel oil and petroleum coke.8
The Burton
process was used extensively for more than 20 yr, until the
creation of catalytic cracking.
HERMAN FRANCIS MARK
The Austrian-born chemist, Hermann Francis
Mark, is well-known for his contributions to the
development of polymer science, which he devoted
more than 60 yr of his life to. While working
with IG Farben in Germany, Mark worked
on experiments on the commercialization of
polymers such as polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and the first
synthetic rubbers.8
After escaping Nazi Germany, Mark found his way to the U.S.
and started classes on polymers at the Polytechnic Institute of
Brooklyn, later founding the Polymer Research Institute, which
was the first facility devoted to polymer research. For his lifetime
of work, he received the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1979.
OTTO RÖHM
Otto Röhm was a German chemist and pharmacist
that founded Röhm and Hass AG. His experiments
with methyl methacrylate (MMA)
led to the development of Plexiglas.
After successfully developing and marketing
Oropon, a more hygienic and efficient way of
staining leather, Röhm focused his sights on plastics research.
While working with Walter Bauer, researchers conducted an
experiment polymerizing MMA between two layers of glass
in a water quench. The result was a clear plastic sheet that was
lighter than glass but much less prone to shatter. The material,
called Plexiglas, would first be used as a substitute for glass in
military aircraft, eventually being used in many industrial and
commercial applications.
EUGENE HOUDRY
With the aide of E. A. Prudhomme, French engineer
Eugene Houdry is known as a pioneer in
catalytic cracking. After serving in WWI in the
French artillery division and later in the tank
corps, Houdry worked in his father's steel business,
as well as raced cars. His passion led him
on a pathway to improving engine performance.
Prior to Houdry's discovery, thermal cracking was the primary
refining process to produce gasoline. However, many researchers
and analysts feared that thermal cracking was insufficient
to satisfy increasing global demand for gasoline. Houdry
and Prudhomme's research led to the development of the fixedbed
catalytic cracking unit. Operations of the 15,000-bpd unit
began at Sun Oil's Marcus Hook refinery in Pennsylvania (U.S.)
in 1936. Approximately 50% of the 15,000-bpd unit produced
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