Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 135

100th Anniversary
Industry Pioneers
LEE NICHOLS, VP, Content/Editor-in-Chief and
SUMEDHA SHARMA, Technical Editor
Industry Pioneers: The people that have advanced
the HPI for more than 150 yr
CARL VON LINDE
Carl von Linde was a German scientist and engineer
who pioneered new technologies in refrigeration
and the invention of air separation and
gas liquefaction processes. In the 1870s, Linde's
studies led to an efficient design for refrigeration.
The first iteration used methyl ether, which
was later switched to ammonia. Towards the end of the 1870s,
Linde and five partners established the Gesellschaft fur Linde's
Eismaschinen (Linde's Ice Machine Co.) in Wiesbaden, Germany.
The novel refrigeration device was of extreme importance,
especially to the beer brewing industry, as well as the meat
industry and cold storage facilities. These inventions quickly replaced
ice in many industries, especially in food handling.
In the early 1890s, Linde research shifted to low-temperature
refrigeration and the liquefaction of air. This included the technique
of obtaining pure oxygen and nitrogen by fractional distillation
of liquefied air. In 1895, he successfully liquefied air by compressing
it and then letting it expand rapidly, which cooled it. This
enabled him to obtain oxygen and nitrogen from the liquified air
by slow warming.1
Several years later, he invented a method for
These discoveries led to the creation
separating pure liquid oxygen from liquid air, which provided oxygen
to various industries.2
of Linde Air Products in the U.S. in 1907, which later became part
of the Union Carbide company at the beginning of World War I.3
ABRAHAM GESNER
The Canadian geologist and physician, Abraham
Gesner, is credited with the invention of kerosene.
In the mid-1830s, he worked as a provincial
geologist in New Brunswick, Canada, examining
coal in the province. In the 1840s, he began
experimenting with hydrocarbons, especially bitumen
from Trinidad. From these experiments, he developed a
process to extract oil, which could be burned. However, the bitumen
product was expensive to obtain and the burning of it produced
a horrendous odor. Therefore, he started experimenting
with a type of asphalt called albertite. Gessner noticed that the
oil that was extracted-the process was done by heating coal in
a retort4
-burned with a strong yellow flame with no odor.
In 1854, Gesner obtained three U.S. patents for his kerosene
fuel and set up the North American Kerosene Gas Light
Co. on Long Island, New York (U.S.). The company prospered
and kerosene began to be the go-to fuel for lamp lighting, replacing
whale oil.
SAMUEL KIER
Samuel Kier was an American inventor and is
thought of as the founder of the American refining
industry. Several years after Gesner's discovery
of kerosene, Samuel Kier began his own experimentation
on petroleum that would seep into
his family's salt wells near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(U.S.)-at the time, this substance was known as " carbon oil. "
Although the substance could be burned for lighting, much like
Gesner's experiments with bitumen from Trinidad, the unrefined
material had an unpleasant odor. Instead, Kier used the material
for medicinal purposes until it lost its appeal in the early 1850s.
To find another path for the oily substance, Kier experimented
with using the substance for lighting. On the recommendation
of James Booth, a chemist and professor from Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania (U.S.), Kier used distillation to extract the best materials
for the use of lamp burning fuel. In 1851, Kier began selling
his lamp fuel oil for $1.50/gal, a more cost-effective product
than whale oil. As demand grew, Kier established North America's
first oil refinery in 1853, which processed 1 bpd-2 bpd of
liquid petroleum in its first year, growing to 5 bpd in 1854. The
effects of Kier's refinery not only led Pittsburgh to become the
first U.S. city to be illuminated by petroleum, but also led to the
start of the country's refining industry.
MARCUS SAMUEL, SAMUEL SAMUEL
In 1870s, the Samuel brothers inherited
their father's import-export
business. At the time, their
father (Marcus Samuel) built a
prosperous business of importing
shells from the Far East to be
used in interior design.
Around 1880, the Samuel brothers expanded their father's
business to include exporting oil around the world. However, a
challenge at the time was oil containers and space on a marine
vessel. Oil barrels were prone to leak and took up a lot of space
on oceangoing vessels. To overcome this challenge, they commissioned
a fleet of steamers to carry the oil in bulk.5
Just as the
brothers were revolutionizing crude oil trade, they began to include
shipping kerosene to demand centers around the world.
In 1896, the brothers renamed the company Shell Transport
and Trading Co.
By the late 1890s, business was booming, and the the company
established its first refinery in Balikpapan, Indonesia in 1897
Hydrocarbon Processing's Centennial Anniversary | SEPTEMBER 2022 135
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