Not only can you drill your own shallow oil well by hand, it's also possible to refine that crude oil into useful products. Thermal cracking is used to break crude oil down into the desired products. Essentially, the fluid to be refined it put into a container. Heat is then applied. Different products are produced from the crude oil at different temperatures. It's inefficient, and probably more than a little bit dangerous, but it works.
Actual whisky stills were used to make gasoline and other products in my area during the 1920's and 1930's. The people in these photos are doing the work via more primitive methods. This actually bears some resemblance to a "cheese box" still such as shown here...
http://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx?XC=/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx&TN=IMAGEBAN&AC=QBE_QUERY&RF=WebResults&DL=0&RL=0&NP=255&MF=WPEngMsg.ini&MR=10&QB0=AND&QF0=File+number&QI0=IP-1a-26&CISOPTR=DF=WebResultsDetails
...and on page 339 of this publication.
http://books.google.com/books?id=3-8qAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR28&lpg=PR28&dq=%22cheese+box%22+refining+still&source=bl&ots=yslcwfxGdE&sig=1nMwprsuqpXilqGyn_1-gT8weHU&hl=en&ei=HiTUTYOoLYPc0QHNiNzjCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22cheese%20box%22%20refining%20still&f=false
Talk about a living history exhibit! Subtract the motorcycle and diesel-engine winch and this scene could have taken place in the mid 19th century!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamcohn/sets/72157623980773597/with/4625692211/
Definitely not a sophisticated refining operation.
http://www.life.com/image/84121430
http://www.life.com/image/84121536
The final product doesn't look bad at all!
http://www.life.com/image/84121431
No comments:
Post a Comment