01-07-1913 Burton Patents Thermal Cracking for Petroleum Refining
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular Engineering Chemistry Entrepreneurship and Innovation History of Science and Technology Mineral and Mining Engineering Petroleum Engineering |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Community - Blog |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Andrew Favor |
| Description: | The Engineering Pathway's blog for January 7. "Today in History - January 7, 1913 - William Merriam Burton is awarded the patent for thermal cracking. Cracking is a process where organic molecules and broken down into simpler molecules by breaking carbon-carbon bonds. This process is used to breakdown crude oil into one of its many products. These methods were pioneered in by Benjamin Silliman Jr in 1855. But prior to 1913 one of the most popular ways of turning crude oil into useful products was distillation process which collected different products as they condensed in a distillation tower. While this process worked it produced very little gasoline. Burton new this process wasn't enough and wanted to improve the process just in case Henry Ford was right about automobiles. After years of testing in the laboratory William Burton developed the process of thermal cracking. In this process elevated temperatures and pressures (over 800C and 700kPa respectively) are used. This in effect doubled the yield from a single barrel of crude oil. In 1913 Burton received US Patent No. 1,049,667 for thermal cracking." |
| Rating: |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | thermal cracking petroleum refining |
| Is Component of: |
"Today in History" Blog of the Engineering Pathway Digital Library |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(c) Design a system, component, or process |
| Use of Resource: |
Events in history can be used to connect current technology to its historical roots. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | December 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.k-grayengineeringeducation.com/blog/index.php/2012/01/ |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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