The early petroleum industry in the US :: essays research papers

The Early Petroleum Industry in the United States antiquated Egyptians use bitumen for embalming, the Assyrians used it in building, the Chinese for heating and lighting, and for centuries fishermen have used it to make their boats watertight.Naturally, man being what he is, was not content to permit hearty alone, and soon petra- oleum (rock oil) and its associated products were being used in many beautiful ways to cripple and annihilate his fellow men.The famous "Green glow" was used in various forms for many centuries once it became known that when a mixture of petroleum and ground quicklime is exposed to moisture unbidden combustion takes place. The flaming mixture thus produced was thrown by a pump mounted on the prow of a warship and the incident havoc wrought on the enemys ships can easily be imagined. indeed oddly enough, the ancients knowledge of the properties of petroleum seemed to fall into abeyance and during the Middle Ages, and up to the beginning of the 19th century, petroleum was only remembered for its medicinal uses. It was to capitalize on this use that an American, Samuel Kier, decided to bottle the oil that seeped into his fathers brine wells. He deposit it up in half pint bottles and advertised it as containing howling(prenominal) medical virtues.Another American George H. Bissell, saw his advertisement but was elicit in oil for other reasons so, together with a friend, he lease 105 acres of farmland, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, paying $5,000 dollars for a 99 stratum lease. So in 1854 the outset oil lease was granted.Having obtained the land, which he was slightly certain covered oil deposits, Bissell commissioned Edwin & Drake to drill a well for him. Drake did so and struck oil on August 27th, 1859. The first oil well had been sink and a great industry had been born. deep down a few months of the completion of the Drakwell, oil wells were being sunk all over the United States and within two years the ground was exporting great quantities of oil.Simple distillation of seep and salt well oil was being carried out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by Samuel Kier who built a one-barrel still. He was buying crude by the gallon. Later Kier made a still of five-barrel capacity. These two stills for treating crude oil constituted the first moneymaking(prenominal) refinery in America. The five-barrel apparatus of Kier has survived and is in the Drake Well Museum.