The Chemical Industry Wonder materials and troublesome pollution SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 1 Major Developments in the Chemical Industry • The Chemical Industry arose mid- way through the Industrial Revolution. • It provided previously unheard of products that increased productivity, led to revolutionary new products, and transformed the economies of some nations. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 2 Gas • Johann Baptista van Helmont, Dutch scientist • 1577-1644 • Engaged in the study of “airs.” • Coined new word “gas” from Greek χαος, same root as the English word “chaos.” • Van Helmont identified gases by their sources, rather than by their composition (which was unknown). • E.g., “wild gas,” “windy gas,” “fat gas,” “dry gas,” “smoky gas,” etc. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 3 1 Coal Gas • One gas obtained was an inflammable “air” obtained from coal that burned like the flames of coal itself. • In 1760 was the first attempt to light a room by the gas from coal. • It was not very successful, and was dropped. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 4 Gas Lighting • Around 1800, Phillipe Lebon, a French engineer, produced a gas from heating wood. • It produced a soft light, which he contained in a glass globe. • He conceived of a distribution system involving concealed pipes running throughout a house. • But Lebon was attacked and killed by muggers in 1804, putting an end to his plans. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 5 James Watt and Matthew Boulton • Firm of Boulton & Watt get interested in gas. • James Watt’s sun, Gregory Watt, went to Paris to investigate and learned of Lebon’s work. • Meanwhile William Murdoch, Bolton and Watt’s chief engineer in Cornwall, sought to find a way to make a tar from coal for coating ships’ bottoms. • Accidentally he produced a gas from coal that could be used for lighting. • Because of Gregory Watt’s visit to Paris, Watt & Boulton realized the significance of Murdoch’s discovery and recalled him to their Birmingham factory. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 6 2 Coal Gas Lighting • The Boulton-Watt steam engine foundry in Birmingham’s Soho district became the first factory illuminated 24 hours a day by coal gas. • Watt & Boulton went into gas lighting as a side business. • They outfitted many British factories, e.g., the Salford cotton mill, with 900 gas lights in 1806-1807. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 7 Soho Stinks • Coal gas was not purified or washed and it burned imperfectly. • The result was a foul odor. • The Soho Foundry became nicknamed the “Soho Stinks.” • Boulton and Watt decided there were too many problems with gas lighting and they abandoned the business in 1814. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 8 The Gas Age • The Gas Light and Coke Company was set up in 1812 in London. • By F. A. Winzer (later Winsor) from Germany. • By 1816, there were 26 miles of gas mains in London. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 9 3 The Gas Age, 2 • By 1823, there were three rival companies in London north of the Thames. • Their goal was to replace the other night lighting, which was burning oils from animal fats. • Gas lighting cost only about 1/3 to ¼ as much as, say, whale oil. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 10 Pollution • Pollution was the major problem since the gas was not purified. • One suggestion (in 1833) for providing illumination indoors without bringing in the foul air was to place the light outside a window and let it shine through the glass to light the room. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 11 Pollution defeated • Solutions: • In 1840 the atmospheric burner was introduced. It mixed gas and air together before combustion. • In 1895, the gas mantle was introduced. • A glass sheath enclosed the burning flame, dissipated the glow, providing a safer and more usable light. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 12 4 Social Consequences of Gas Lighting • British philosopher Andrew Ure: • Saw gas lighting as a great liberator. • For example it meant that children could safely work 12 hour shifts in factories! SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 13 Social Consequences of Gas Lighting, 2 • Streets became safer at night because they were better lit. • The level of literacy and education in general went up because people could more easily read at night. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 14 Night Schools for workers • In Britain night schools were set up all over the country where factory workers could go after work and hear a lecture or study some subject. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 15 5 Night Schools for workers, 2 • The British Mechanics’ Institutes, founded in the 19th century, became the model for community colleges and trade schools catering to the adult student. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 16 Cooking with Gas • Gas was used primarily for lighting, only occasionally for warmth, and even less often for cooking. • It was only with the introduction of the gas ring in the 1860s that temperatures could be controlled enough to make gas practical for cooking on a modest scale. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 17 The End of Gas Lighting • With the innovations of the atmospheric burner and the gas mantle, most of the difficulties of gas lighting had been overcome and the process was practical for general usage. • However, just at that time, electric lighting began to be introduced and the age of gas lighting came to an end. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 18 6 Petroleum • Petroleum seepages have been known for millennia. • In the Middle East for example there are at least 30 places where petroleum seeps up to the surface of the earth naturally. • References to petroleum in various forms occur in the earliest written records. • In the 9th Century BCE, Assyrians marked sites of escaping gases as “where the voice of the gods issued forth from the rocks.” • Ancient Babylonians named the inflammable oil “naphtha” – i.e., “the thing that blazes.” SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 19 Early Uses of Petroleum • Naphtha was later used in the Byzantine Empire in the making of a weapon, “Greek Fire.” • Greek Fire was a mixture of crude oil and other chemicals that ignited when mixed with water. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 20 Asphalt and Tar • About the only natural form of petroleum that was originally considered useful was solid rock (asphalt) or thicker seepages that could be used to make bitumen (tar) for caulking ships’ bottoms and waterproofing. • The modern petroleum industry arose as a means to satisfy the existing demand for lighting that had been created by gas lighting. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 21 7 “Coal Oil” • James Young, assistant to British scientist Michael Faraday, in 1848 developed a lubricant from a petroleum product – a form of naphtha. • When refined further, it made excellent lighting. • He set up a company to manufacture and sell this product in Europe and America to compete with gas lighting and animal oils. • The name “coal oil” is still used in some places, but he called it paraffin illuminating oil. In America it became known as kerosene. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 22 Drilling for Oil • Impediments: • Lack of hard drills • Lack of mechanical power • Uncertain success • Early 19th century drillings sought water or salt, not oil. • Developments: • In 1830 the derrick was introduced. • In 1850 the steam engine was adapted to power drills. • Between 1840 and 1860 more than 15 borings that were looking for salt hit petroleum accidentally. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 23 Looking for Oil • G. H. Bissell, an American industrialist, considered deliberately searching for oil. • He sent a sample of oil from a Pennsylvania seepage to Yale chemistry professor Benjamin Silliman, Jr. • Silliman reported back that he thought that several new products could be obtained from the crude oil. • Bissell also got some advice on likely places to drill for oil. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 24 8 Drake’s Well • Bissell funded exploration led by his contractor Edwin L. Drake. • On August 27, 1859, after drilling 69 ½ feet through bedrock, Drake struck oil. • The Pennsylvania Oil Field began. Drake’s well in 1866 SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 25 The turning point in the history of petroleum • Within 15 years, the annual output of oil in the U.S. (mostly all in Pennsylvania) reached 10 million barrels of 360 lbs each. SC/NATS 1840, Science and the Environment – XV The Chemical Industry 26 The Oil Well Industry • The first big product of the petroleum industry was kerosene. • The U.S. exported it in tins worldwide to satisfy a demand for lighting. • Gasoline was the first distillate obtained in refining, but it was regarded as both useless and dangerous, so it tended to be just burnt off. • In Europe, the petroleum industry developed mostly in Russia.