The Burton process is a
thermal cracking
In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of ...
process invented by
William Merriam Burton and
Robert E. Humphreys, each of whom held a PhD in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. The process they developed is often called the Burton process. More fairly, though, it should be known as the Burton-Humphreys process, since both men played key roles in its development. This issue was settled in court, although the decision gave primary recognition to Burton.
The process uses the destructive distillation of crude oil heated in a still under pressure. In this revolutionary still, different products emerging from a bubble tower at different temperatures and pressures. Of critical importance, the use of these stills more than doubled the production of gasoline from most kinds of oil. The first large-scale use of these towers began with the decision by Standard Oil of Indiana to build 120 stills for an appropriation of $709,000, authorized in 1911. This decision was taken just as the US Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the
Standard Oil Trust.
This thermal cracking process was
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
ed on January 7, 1913 (Patent No. 1,049,667). The first
thermal cracking
In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of ...
method, the
Shukhov cracking process, was invented by
Vladimir Shukhov (Patent of
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
No. 12926 on November 27, 1891). While the Russians contended that the Burton process was essentially a slight modification of the Shukhov process, Americans refused to concede and the Burton-Humphreys patent remained in use. Ultimately, it contributed to the development of petrochemicals.
[Giddens, op. cit., pp. vi-vii]
In 1937 the Burton process was superseded by
catalytic cracking, but it is still in use today to produce
diesel.
See also
*
Cracking (chemistry)
*
William Merriam Burton
*
Robert E. Humphreys
*
Shukhov cracking process
References
{{reflist
Chemical processes
Petroleum technology