Burton, William Merriam

Burton, William Merriam

▪ American chemist
born Nov. 17, 1865, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
died Dec. 29, 1954, Miami, Fla.

      American chemist who developed a thermal cracking process for increasing the proportion of gasoline obtainable from crude petroleum.

      Burton began work as a chemist at the Standard Oil Co. (Indiana) refinery at Whiting, Ind., in 1890, rising swiftly to serve as president from 1918 to 1927. Crude oil, a mixture of various hydrocarbons, can be separated into several groups of constituents by physical means, commonly distillation. His thermal cracking process, patented in 1913, utilized chemical methods that doubled the yield of gasoline by transforming many of the less volatile components into gasoline. Although other refining techniques have since been developed, the Burton process is still widely used.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • William Merriam Burton — Infobox Scientist name = William Merriam Burton image width = caption = birth date = birth date|1865|11|17|mf=y birth place = Cleveland, Ohio death date = death date and age|1954|12|29|1865|11|17|mf=y death place = Miami, Florida residence =… …   Wikipedia

  • William Burton — may refer to:* William Burton (antiquary) (1575 1645), author of The Description of Leicestershire , 1622 * William Burton (translator) (16th century), English translator of Achilles Tatius * William Henry Burton (1739 1818), UK MP for the Irish… …   Wikipedia

  • Burton process — The Burton process is a thermal cracking process invented by William Merriam Burton and Robert Humphrey. [cite book author = Jakle, John A. and Sculle, Keith A. title = The Gas Station in America publisher = The Johns Hopkins University Press… …   Wikipedia

  • Cracking (chemistry) — In petroleum geology and chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or heavy hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of carbon carbon bonds in the… …   Wikipedia

  • National Inventors Hall Of Fame — Le National Inventors Hall of Fame est une organisation qui honore les réalisations des inventeurs, peu importe leur nationalité, pour peu que celles ci soient remarquables. Pour y être admis, de son vivant ou à titre posthume, il faut posséder… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • National Inventors Hall of Fame — 41°04′43.23″N 81°31′01.10″O / 41.078675, 81.5169722 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • National inventors hall of fame — Le National Inventors Hall of Fame est une organisation qui honore les réalisations des inventeurs, peu importe leur nationalité, pour peu que celles ci soient remarquables. Pour y être admis, de son vivant ou à titre posthume, il faut posséder… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Le Vaisseau fantôme (film, 1943) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Le Vaisseau fantôme. Cet article concerne le film de Mark Robson. Pour le film de Michael Curtiz, voir Le Vaisseau fantôme (film, 1941). Le Vaisseau fantôme (The Ghost Ship) est un film américain de Mark Robson,… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of English words of Persian origin — As Indo European languages, English and Persian have many words of common Proto Indo European origin, and many of these cognate words often have similar forms. Examples of these include: English (Mother) and Persian (Madar), English (Father) and… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste de zoologistes — Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l attention du lecteur sur son… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”