ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 30
A Brief
History of
Base Oils
Prehistoric
origins to
tomorrow's EVs
By Steve Swedberg
C
rude oil has been in use since prehistoric times. There
are accounts of Native Americans using crude seepage
for sealing baskets and other applications. Crude was
often found in salt processing where brine was brought to
the surface with early drilling methods to evaporate in basins
made for that purpose. Often crude came up with the brine
and tainted the salt.
Samuel M. Kier, a native of southwestern Pennsylvania,
was the first person to refine crude oil. In the mid-1840s,
he became aware of crude oil through his salt business. The
oil was a nuisance for many people in the salt business.
Normally, they burned the oil or allowed it to run off into
nearby waterways. However, Kier believed that he could
turn the oily byproduct from the salt wells into something
of value. First, he used the flammable oil produced by his
wells to light his salt works at night. The burning crude
produced an awful smell and a great deal of smoke, but it
did save him the cost of sperm whale oil, which was the
lantern fuel of the day.
Now knowing crude oil would burn and that it could
make a good and inexpensive lamp oil, Kier took samples
30
SEPTEMBER 2018
| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG
of his crude oil to Philadelphia in 1849, where chemistry
Professor James C. Booth analyzed them. Booth agreed that
crude oil could be used for illumination but needed to be
distilled or refined to get the best burning fluid. Kier started
experimenting with distillation and became the first person
in the U.S. to attempt to use liquid petroleum as a starting
material to produce lamp oil. His refining experiments were
successful, and by 1851, Kier had produced a product called
Carbon Oil, a fuel oil which burned with little smoke or
odor. He sold his Carbon Oil for $1.50 a gallon.
After experimenting with distillation, Kier and a partner
created the first U.S. petroleum refinery in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. He started with a small, one- or two-barrel
still, and by 1854, he had a larger five-barrel still in operation. After Edwin Drake discovered oil in 1859, the market
was overwhelmed with crude. Pittsburgh soon had seven
refineries. In fact, by the end of the 1860s, there were 58
refineries in Pittsburgh alone.
Originally, the distillation process was used only to
capture the distillate used for lamp oil (similar to kerosene
or No. 1 diesel). As time passed, uses were found for the
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ILMA Compoundings September 2018
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings September 2018
LETTER FROM THE CEO
INSIDE ILMA
WHAT’S COMING UP
INDUSTRY RUNDOWN
ROUGH ROAD AHEAD
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BASE OILS
BUSINESS HUB
COUNSEL COMPOUND
WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE
IN NETWORK
PORTRAIT
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - Cover1
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - Cover2
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 1
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 2
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - LETTER FROM THE CEO
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - INSIDE ILMA
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 5
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 6
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 7
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 8
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 9
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 10
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 11
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - WHAT’S COMING UP
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 13
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - INDUSTRY RUNDOWN
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 15
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 16
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 17
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 18
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 19
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 20
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 21
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - ROUGH ROAD AHEAD
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 23
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 24
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 25
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 26
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 27
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 28
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 29
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - A BRIEF HISTORY OF BASE OILS
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 31
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 32
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 33
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - BUSINESS HUB
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 35
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - COUNSEL COMPOUND
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 37
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 39
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - IN NETWORK
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 41
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 42
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - 43
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - PORTRAIT
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - Cover3
ILMA Compoundings September 2018 - Cover4
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