Gasoline (ULP) In 19 century, kerosene was the standard fuel for lighting. At that time, petroleum smelting relied on a simple distillation process to separate components with different boiling points from petroleum. Kerosene has a high boiling point and is easily separated from low boiling gasoline and other impurities. Kerosene has become the main product of crude oil refining, while gasoline and other components are often burned in vain. In the first 20 years of the 20th century, researchers found that internal combustion engines operated better when using light fuels such as gasoline. But only 20% gasoline can be extracted from crude oil by distillation. Although American oil prospectors have drilled many oil wells in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oklahoma and Texas, the inefficiency of smelting gasoline has greatly hindered the development of automobile industry.
William Burton (vice president) and Robert Humphries (laboratory director), two engineers of American Standard Oil Company, solved the problem of low efficiency in refining gasoline. They improved the distillation method, increased the pressure in the standard heating process, and "cracked" kerosene into gasoline. This "thermal cracking" process doubles the smelting efficiency of gasoline and the oil yield reaches 40%. Burton obtained the patent of this process in 19 13. The gasoline produced in the United States has caught up with the demand for cars.