Oil Refining
An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil War. Crude oil, or petroleum -- a dark, thick ooze from the earth -- had been known for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene. Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material. Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum. The first oil well was drilled by E. L. Drake, a retired railroad conductor. In 1859 he began drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it Drakes Folly. But when he had drilled down about 70 feet , Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day. News of Drakes success brought oil prospectors to the scene. By the early 1860s these wildcatters were drilling for black gold all over western Pennsylvania. The boom rivaled the California gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere. And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush. Crude oil could be refined into many products. For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocery stores and door-to-door. In the 1880s refiners learned how to make other petroleum products such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heating oil.
截止4月20日22时雅安共记录到余震789次
need的否定形式
祈使句
在雨中奔跑
漫长的告别
波斯顿爆炸案相关词汇
雅安地震并非汶川余震
雅安地震已致187人死亡
中国习语的英语表达方式
中考必备英语语法
最美的新娘
穷人与苹果
雅安地震与汶川地震的关联性
与工资相关的英语单词
雅安地震产生原因
黄海地震5.0级
全国感染H7N9禽流感确诊病例102例
四川雅安地震
盘点20世纪以来十大地震
英语单词12个月的来历
雅安地震灾区帐篷学校开课
英语单词can和be able to
中国的习语用英语该怎么样表达
芦山县7.0级地震
感叹句的语法知识
英语单词:名词
美
释小龙18岁助理跳水节目溺亡
聊天中常见的英语单词
我的家人
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |