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The modern refinery is based on technology from many individuals and organizations. However, it can be argued that perhaps the most impact on refining has been made by a company that doesn't even own any oil wells! Nestled at a couple of sites in suburban Chicago, UOP has made enormous impact on petroleum refining over the last 90 years.
During the industrial revolution, oil was generally produced from whales. (The peak number of whales harvested was in 1962!) Edwin Drake's first well in Titusville, Pennsylvania struck oil in 1859. However, at that time, crude oil produced only a limited amount of useful product. Before the 1920's, crude oil was separated into products mostly by simple fractionation. Gasoline was a waste product. The automobile changed this. All of a sudden, the problem was how to make more gasoline from petroleum.
Jesse A. Dubbs and his son Carbon Petroleum (yes, his real name was Carbon Petroleum - CP for short) invented a process for using chemistry to increase the amount of gasoline yield from crude oil. In his spare time, CP was also President of the Village of Wilmette. With investment from fellow Chicagoan J. Ogden Armour, UOP built in 1921 a new research and development center near the suburb of Riverside. In an interesting parallel, Armour's father is famous for his quote on "using everything but the squeal," which characterizes his effort to make meat-packing plants more efficient. Jesse Dubbs' son Carbon leveraged his father's inventive vision to start the refining industry on the path of efficiency by converting more of the barrel into useful product. Serving as a showcase for chemical innovation, The UOP Riverside R&D Center generated over 9,000 US patents during the period from 1921 to 1955. The Riverside Laboratory was designated as one of the first National Historic Chemical Landmarks in 1995 by the American Chemical Society. As the demand for gasoline and other hydrocarbon-based products increased, this Chicago-based company continues to be the leader in new refining technology.
Over the years, this company has been owned by the oil companies and the ACS. It has been a publicly-traded corporation, and is now owned as a joint venture by two major US companies. The primary R&D center is now co-located with the company headquarters in suburban Des Plaines. This Center is staffed with a new generation of enthusiastic scientists and engineers, who have continued the tradition of innovation. A stream of major inventions related to new processes for fuels and petrochemicals has emerged from this Chicago giant. For example, this company not only provided major innovation for the automotive catalytic converter, but also for the required lead-free fuel. This effort has made Chicagoland a major center for development of advanced, more environmentally compatible, fuels and chemicals.
The first stop on any tour of the Des Plaines Research Center is the Patent Hall of Fame, located in the lobby. An employee must have at least 75 US patents to earn a place on this wall; today, there are photographs of 26 inventors...with more on the way.
We should be proud of the modern petroleum industry...it was...invented in Chicago.
Additional information may be found for this company at www.uop.com
RUSS JOHNSON
Updated 3/25/05