Oil Refining
[size=3][color=#29384e][font=Times New Roman]An important new industry[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] oil refining[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] grew after the Civil war. Crude oil[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] or petroleum[/font][font=宋体]–[/font][font=Times New Roman] a dark[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] thick ooze from the earth[/font][font=宋体]–[/font][font=Times New Roman] had been known for hundreds of years[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] but little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850[/font][font=宋体]‘[/font][font=Times New Roman]s Samuel M. Kier[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] began collecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene. Refining[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] like smelting[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] is a process of removing impurities from a raw material.[/font][/color][/size][size=3][color=#29384e][font=Times New Roman] [/font][/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#29384e][font=宋体] [/font][font=Times New Roman]Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum.[/font][/color][/size]
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[size=3][color=#29384e][font=宋体] [/font][font=Times New Roman]The first oil well was drilled by E.L. Drake[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] a retired railroad conductor. In 1859 he began drilling in Titusville[/font][font=宋体]，[/font][font=Times New Roman] Pennsylvania. The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it[/font][font=宋体]“[/font][font=Times New Roman]Drake[/font][font=宋体]‘[/font][font=Times New Roman]s Folly[/font][font=宋体]”。[/font][font=Times New Roman] But when he had drilled down about 70 feet[/font][font=宋体]（[/font][font=Times New Roman]21 meters[/font][font=宋体]），[/font][font=Times New Roman] Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.[/font][/color][/size]
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[size=3][color=#29384e][font=宋体] [/font][font=Times New Roman]News of Drake[/font][font=宋体]‘[/font][font=Times New Roman]s success brought oil prospectors to the scene. By the early 1860[/font][font=宋体]’[/font][font=Times New Roman]s these wildcatters were drilling for[/font][font=宋体]“[/font][font=Times New Roman]black gold[/font][font=宋体]”[/font][font=Times New Roman]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.[/font][/color][/size]
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[color=#29384e][font=宋体][size=10.5pt] [/size][/font][size=10.5pt]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 1880[/size][font=宋体][size=10.5pt]‘[/size][/font][size=10.5pt]s 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[/size][/color]
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