As mentioned in the lesson, the era of thermal refining was during 1910 to 1940. This refining process was used to increase the yield of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel from petroleum through conversion processes as the demand for these fuels increased (particularly for gasoline during World War I). The era of catalytic refining was during 1940 to 1970, spurred by the onset of World War II.

During this time, higher performance gasoline was necessary so thermal conversion processes (characterized by free radical reactions) were replaced by catalytic conversion processes (characterized by ionic reactions). These catalytic processes included cracking, reforming, alkylation, and polymerization. As mentioned in the lesson introduction video, something that I found very fascinating was that what was initially a very competitive market among oil companies before WWII suddenly changed when everyone (in the Allied forces) joined together in a combined effort to produce better refining processes. This in turn developed higher quality (higher octane) and more powerful fuel for the war effort.

Interestingly, the German opposition originally developed synthetic oil by utilizing processes such as the Fischer-Tropsch process and Bergius process through coal gasification. They developed aviation/jet fuel, oils, and rubber among other things throughout WWII. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_fuel.

World War II provided a driving force for developing catalytic technologies to increase the yield of distillate fuels. There was an extremely high demand for petroleum-derived products during the war. Such products or uses included paving runways, making toluene for explosives, manufacturing synthetic rubbers for tires, lubricants for firepower and machinery. Although, the majority of the petroleum was distilled to produce gasoline to fuel trucks, tanks, and airplanes. Thus, the previous thermal refinery processes were improved upon and more efficient catalytic refining processes were introduced. Such catalytic processes include catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, alkylation, hydrotreating and polymerization. All these processes emphasized improving the yield and octane number of the gasoline produced. Catalytic cracking utilized fluidized bed for continuous regeneration which enabled production to be much more efficient than its thermal cracking counterpart. Furthermore, the process has useful byproducts that could be used as petrochemical feedstocks for other processes. The catalytic reforming process, which was based on the cyclic process, enabled increased production benzene for styrene, toluene for explosives, and aromatics for aviation fuel. In addition, a considerable quantity of hydrogen is produced as a byproduct of the catalytic reforming process. This hydrogen can be used for hydrotreating petroleum fractions to remove heteroatoms, in particular sulfur. Additional processes such as alkylation and polymerization utilized olefins and paraffinic reactions to increase the octane number of gasoline. Thus, the advent of such processes to meet the high demand of gasoline during World War 2 marked the beginning of the catalytic refinery period.

Refrences:

Course Website

Catalytic Refinery, 1940 – 1970, F. Self, E. Ekholm, and K. Bowers, Refining Overview – Petroleum, Processes and Products, AIChE CD-ROM, 2000

The increasing demand needed for World War 2 aided the development of petroleum refinery processes. The changes were brought about by the demand for higher grade fuels and the transitions and developments in the combustion engines. Environmental regulations also played a role in the innovations of petroleum refining. The introduction of the new processes encompassed the refinery processes that we know as separation, conversion, finishing, and support.

From this world war, thermal cracking refineries were needed for quicker and easier production of petroleum based products. This war brought together a sort of alliance for a combined effort of petroleum refining for more powerful fuels. The new developments brought about by this alliance was able to increase the yield as well as produce a multitude of products. It also aided the finishing processes for stabilizing and purifying the products of thermal cracking. Boosting the octane numbers of the petroleum fuel allowed for more power for the machinery needed for not only war but also for automobiles which were becoming an increasingly demanding notion. There was still a need for kerosene at this time as well because of the slow electrification outside the urban areas. The high demand of the light and medium distillates made this an important task to experiment and develop new ideas of petroleum refining.

World War 2 created a driving force to improve the production of gasoline. The age of thermal refining could not produce the high octane gasoline needed for airplanes during the War. Another process that could meet the demand for the high octane aviation fuel had to be developed. Catalytic cracking was developed to meet this demand. This process required a completely different plant then that of the thermal age. After the war the improved octane gasoline that was being manufactured allowed car manufacturers to build bigger more powerful engines to burn this higher grade fuel.

World War 2 was the catalyst needed to drive companies to develop new and improved refining technologies. There were several principle processes that were developed during the catalytic refining period. Heavy fuel oil that was being used for trains was now obsolete because diesel was now the main fuel for trains. The loss of this outlet for heavy fuel oil forced refineries to further break down this product. The processes such as solvent deasphalting and visbreaking were needed to increase production. Hydrogen was now a product of production and could be use for the process known as hydrotreating. The kerosene market made a comeback and was now used to produce jet fuel after high octane aviation became obsolete. World War 2 forced companies to improve there refinery processes that lead to the catalytic refinery.

https://cms.psu.edu/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=F0DEC0D639B24F22BFD9F7D5924181EC

Wars cause the “tides” to shift and facilitate humans’ potential (and industry) to the next level. An increase in demand for gun & engine lubricators, chemicals for making bombs, and gasoline forced the petroleum industry to attempt satisfying the decade long dream of breaking carbon bonds to reduce the size of the molecule and ultimately increase yield. World War II presented the petroleum industry with an unheard of opportunity that would not have resulted in the same process we use today. Competing refineries all across the World, from the United States, France, Great Britain, and Poland, collaborated in order to create the best possible chemistry and operations so that the Allies fighting against The Nazi Regime would prevail. They became obsessed with increasing the octane number of their gasoline products so much that they started adding TEL to their blend. Little did they know, they were setting themselves up for a “battle” twenty some years down the road with Clair Patterson who proved that the lead burned from their high octane gasoline in automobiles was poisoning humans and the environment. We could say, in an abstract way, that World War II indirectly lead to us discovering the toxicity of lead when burned in engines. The War also pushed the automobile industry to create more fuel efficient vehicles to match the quality of gasoline being produced from the catalytic cracking’s ionic reactions compared to thermal cracking’s free radical reactions. If wars are so influential to the petroleum industry, as history has proved, it makes me wonder what kind of changes would be made if a third world war were to break out within the next year.

Sources:

F. Self, E. Ekholm, and K. Bowers, Refining Overview – Petroleum, Processes and Products, AIChE, 2000, Chapter 6. [6.] M.R. Riazi, S. Eser2, J. L. Peña Díez, and S. S. Agrawal, “Introduction” In Petroleum Refining and Natural Gas Processing, Editors: M. R. Riazi, S. Eser, J. L. Peña, S. S. Agrawal, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2013, p.6

http://www.space.com/25579-cosmos-recap-earth-age-lead-poisoning.html

Before the start of America’s involvement in World War II, the demand for petroleum based products, while growing steadily, was still reasonably small especially compared to the demand during and after wartime. Thermal refineries had been the primary operational utility for generating petroleum based products like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from around 1910 until 1940; however they were suddenly unable to produce enough product to feed the country as well as the military vehicles, tanks, and planes at the start of WWII¹. Beyond sheer volume, there was also drastic increase in demand for high performance, high octane fuels for use in more advanced vehicle engines and as aviation fuels². To satisfy these two new problems, newly designed refineries called catalytic refineries were introduced which incorporated exceedingly more advanced cracking capabilities through the use of specialized catalysts. These catalysts worked through ionic reactions which are faster and more easily controlled than the older thermal refinery style free radical reactions³. The specialty of these new catalysts is their ability to produce much higher octane number fuels which combust more steadily and cause less damage to the internal combustion engines that use them. Non-fuel, petroleum based products such as toluene and butyl rubber made in refineries were also found to be extremely useful during WWII⁴. Toluene is a major component of trinitrotoluene (TNT) which was used heavily during World War II in explosives and butyl rubber is a man-made rubber which became a substitute for natural rubber when traditional supplies were cut off⁴.

1. Eser, Semih. “Lesson 6: Thermal Conversion Processes.” FSC 432: Petroleum Processing. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2014. <https://cms.psu.edu/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=F20C6357261A4AE2A750C141B721E8C1>.
2. Eser, Semih. “The Thermal Refinery (1910 – 1940).” FSC 432: Petroleum Processing. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2014. <https://cms.psu.edu/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=F20C6357261A4AE2A750C141B721E8C1>.
3. Eser, Semih. “The Catalytic Refinery (1940-1970).” FSC 432: Petroleum Processing. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2014. <https://cms.psu.edu/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=F20C6357261A4AE2A750C141B721E8C1>.
4. “1940 – 1945 The War Years.” 90th Poster Early Years. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2014. <http://www.exxonmobil.com/NA-English/Files/90thPstr3WarYears.pdf>.