CHAPTER 1:
HISTORY OF THE CHEMICAL PROCESSING INDUSTRY
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, the student will be able to:
• Identify the roles and responsibilities of a process technician.
• Define key terms used in process technology.
• Explain the future of oil, “the Big rollover”, and “the Hubbert peak theory”.
• Explain the history and development of the chemical processing industry.
• Describe current issues and trends in the petroleum industry.
• List alternative fuel sources that will be used by process technicians in the future.
• Describe batch operations, thermal cracking, catalytic cracking, and fractional distillation.
ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe process technology training programs.
College programs fall into the following areas:
2. What skills do technicians need in order to succeed?
3. Describe a typical operator apprentice-training program.
Industrial training programs vary from one company to another. Some are certified by
the US. Department of Labor while some are not. This certification requires a specific
number of on-the-job training hours and scheduled classroom hours. These programs can
run from one to five years and usually are attached to pay increases. Key elements of
apprentice training programs include:
4. List three differences between high school and college.
Students may choose any three from the following list.
TOPIC
COLLEGE
HIGH SCHOOL
1. Freedom
Controlled by student
Controlled by administration
2. Cost
Paid by student
Paid by parents (taxes)
3. Learning
Student responsibility
Teacher responsibility
4. Resource
Vast and confusing
Limited
5. Job
High % work
Low $ work
6. Married
High % married
Low % married
7. Reward
High paying career
High School diploma
8. Good Student
Sometimes struggled because
they do not know how to
apply what they have learned
A & B’s, good GPA
9. Curriculum
Selected by Student
Designed by
education/industry/govt.
Direct job application
Selected by administration
Designed by education
Very little application (ex.
History, English)
5. What is your motivation for pursuing a career in process technology?
6. What is time management?
Time management combines a student’s knowledge of his or her personal study needs
with a structured system. The typical time management system includes:
• To Do List & Weekly Schedule
• Specific study times
7. What is diversity?
8. Define sexual harassment.
9. List five significant events in the history and development of the chemical processing
industry. Select any of the following.
1859 Colonel Edwin L. Drake took an old steam engine and adapted it to fit a drill.
Drake selected a spot near Titusville, Pennsylvania to drill for oil.
1860 Batch operation. The first refinery was built by William Abbott and William
10. Describe the primary issue in oil production today.
11. What tools must a student acquire and use in order to be successful in a process
technology program?
12. What is process technology?
13. List all process technology classes offered at your school.
14. Calculate the gross income of a first-year technician.
15. Calculate the gross income of a senior technician at top rate. Use the standard of 2,080
hours plus 1000 overtime hours at time and a half.
16. Describe batch operation.
17. Contrast thermal and catalytic cracking.
18. Identify two inventions that revolutionized the chemical processing industry.
19. Who was given the title, “the father of the gas industry?”
20. What significant event took place in 1859 that changed the chemical processing industry.
21. Describe fractional distillation.
22. What are the primary responsibilities of a process operator?
The standard roles and responsibilities of process technicians include mastering an understanding
of basic equipment, design, operation, and maintenance. New process technicians will learn about
valves, pumps, compressors, steam turbines, instrumentation, heat exchangers, cooling towers,
boilers, furnaces, reactors, and distillation columns. In addition to this, technicians will learn how
23. Identify the future trends that have been predicted for the process industry.
24. Explain the function of regulatory agencies by describing one such agency and its
responsibilities.
• Promotes national security and defense
• Regulates civilian use of nuclear materials
Department of Transportation
Raw materials that enter the plant from public roads and highways, railroads, maritime, or air are
regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Process technicians responsible for
shipping out raw materials and products will receive specialized training that will clearly identify
specific rules, regulations, and procedures. The DOT system includes the use of labels, signs, and
placards. Chapter 3 includes additional information on the DOT.
There is a wide array of DOT organizations. A comprehensive list of these organizations include:
• Office of the Secretary—the secretary of Transportation is the principal advisor
and is assisted by the Deputy Secretary in overseeing the formulation of the
national transportation policy
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Research and Special Programs Administration
• Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
• Surface Transportation Board
Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employs more than 18,000 people across the
United States. More than 50% of these individuals are classified as engineers, chemists, or
scientists. The president of the United States appoints the administrator of the EPA and carefully
monitors all major activities. Established in 1970 to protect human health and the American
environment, the EPA works for cleaner water, air, and land. This is accomplished as the EPA
heads up the country’s environmental research, science, assessment, and educational process.
Understanding the role of the EPA is important for a process technician. The EPA is
charged with enforcing the laws enacted by Congress by designing, developing, and enforcing
regulations. The mission statement is applied toward a variety of environmental programs.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
25. Describe how shift work can affect the process technician. Answer: Shift work has a
variety of side effects that should be considered prior to committing to the educational
requirements and preparation needed to qualify for a position. Rotating shifts confuse a number
26. What are the five basic skills of equipment training?
Equipment training focuses on five basic skills; (1) familiarity with the equipment and
27. Describe the “Big Rollover” and the “Hubbert peak theory.” Answer:
• The big rollover (when global oil production peaks, and begins to decline). Many
economist believe the peak occurred in 2006 or 2007 at 85 million barrels per
day. Others believe production can go as high as 110 in near future.
28. Describe the Biogenic theory.
The most dominant view is called the “Biogenic theory” that describes how natural gas and crude
oil were formed using pressure or compression and heat on ancient organic material. The
Biogenic theory hypothesizes that crude oil is made up of the remains of small ocean animals and
29. Describe the molecular composition typically found in crude oil.
Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons that vary in molecular structure and weight from region to
geographic region. It is mostly composed of alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and cycloalkanes.
The balance of the organic compounds include nitrogen, oxygen, iron, nickel, copper, vanadium
and sulfur. Molecular composition varies depending on geographic location. Typical crude oil
compositions include:
• Hydrogen 10-14%
• Carbon 83-87%
30. List the specific products manufactured from petroleum.
CHAPTER ONE TEST
HISTORY OF CHEMICAL PROCESSING
1. The lifeblood of modern society is:
a. computer technology
b. transportation technology
c. communication systems
d. crude oil technology
2. Who took an old steam engine and adapted it to fit a drill in 1859?
a. Col. Edwin L. Drake
b. Prof. Benj. Sillman
c. J.C. Booth
d. Abraham Gesner
3. When was the first oil refinery built by W. Abbott and W. Barnsdall?
a. 1800
b. 1860
c. 1901
d. 1917
4. What is the typical starting income for a process technician is:
a. $18.00- $22.00 per hour
b. $24.00- $28.00 per hour
c. $36.00- $40.00 per hour
d. $28.00- $34.00 per hour
5. What two inventions changed the direction of modern chemical processing?
a. kerosene lantern and steam engine
b. radio and television
c. automobile and electric light bulb
d. atom bomb and colt revolver
6. What are the primary differences between College and High School?
a. Freedom and responsibility for learning
b. High percentage of students are married and have jobs
c. Cost per credit hour and freedom to select curriculum
d. All the above
7. What is sexual harassment?
a. hidden biases between people with differences.
b. reasonable, specific, measurable objectives that lead towards the successful
completion of a goal.
c. behavior that constitutes unwelcome sexual advances.
d. the study and application of the scientific principles associated with the operation
and maintenance of the chemical processing industry.
8. Distillation is a process that:
a. adds all ingredients to the process up front.
b. separates the components in a mixture by boiling point.
c. uses heat and pressure to separate small hydrocarbons from large ones.
d. uses a catalyst to separate hydrocarbons.
9. Early manufacturers were able to extract __________ barrels of gasoline from every 100
barrels of crude oil.
10. Crude oil is a mixture of:
a. naturally occurring acids and clay
b. hydrocarbons
c. sour water
d. fine silt, water and natural gas
11. Thermal cracking uses _________ to separate mixtures.
a. catalyst and heat
b. acid and heat
c. mixing and agitation
d. heat and pressure
12. Fractional columns use the following principle:
a. distillation
b. reaction
c. filtration
d. reforming
13. Catalytic cracking uses ________ to separate mixtures.
a. catalyst and heat
b. acid and heat
c. mixing and agitation
d. heat and pressure
14. Chemical plants and refineries employ all of the following except:
a. engineers, chemists, and janitorial services
b. machinists, mechanics, and college professors
c. process technicians or research technicians
d. electricians, instrument technicians, and security officers
15. Modern manufacturers can extract _____ barrels of gasoline from every 100 barrels of
crude oil.
16. Safety awareness is:
a. taught from the moment you step into the plant
b. rarely discussed after the training program
c. reviewed annually
d. a medium size industrial program
17. Quality awareness includes all of the following except:
a. statistical process control
b. run charts
c. emergency response
d. scatter plots
18. The “Big Rollover” is best described as:
a. stock market crashes
b. when total “estimated ultimately recoverable (EUR) is determined.
c. a term used to describe the predicted increase in global oil production.
d. when global oil production peaks, and begins to decline.
19. The term, “estimated ultimately recoverable (EUR)” is best described as:
a. a term used to describe the predicted increase in global oil production.
b. a technical term describing the total amount of crude oil that will ultimately be
recovered.
c. recovery speed after exposure to hazardous chemical.
d. when global oil production peaks, and begins to decline.
20. William Murdock is best known for:
a. using gases from heated coal to light his home.
b. first to notice that coal produced fumes he called “gas.”
c. drilled first natural gas well in United States in 1821.
d. discovered how to produce kerosene from crude oil or coal.
21. Most experts agree that the world’s total endowment of oil is:
a. 27 billion barrels
b. 1800 billion barrels
c. 900-1500 billion barrels
d. endless regenerated supply
22. Abraham Gesner is best known for:
a. using gases from heated coal to light his home.
b. first to notice that coal produced fumes he called “gas.”
c. drilled first natural gas well in United States in 1821.
d. discovered how to produce kerosene from crude oil or coal.
23. Jan Baptista van Helmont is best known for:
a. using gases from heated coal to light his home.
b. first to notice that coal produced fumes he called “gas.”
c. drilled first natural gas well in United States in 1821.
d. discovered how to produce kerosene from crude oil or coal.
24. William Aaron Hart is best known for:
a. using gases from heated coal to light his home.
b. first to notice that coal produced fumes he called “gas.”
c. drilled first natural gas well in United States in 1821.
d. discovered how to produce kerosene from crude oil or coal.
25. Benjamin Sillman Jr. is best known for:
a. finding a way to distill coal oil from shale or coal.
b. discovered how to produce kerosene from crude oil.
c. drilling the first oil well in United States.
d. proposing the theory of crude oil distillation.
CHAPTER ONE ANSWER KEY