ABSTRACT
In the early days of petroleum processing, there was no need to understand the character and behavior of petroleum in the detail that is currently required. Refining involved distillation of the valuable kerosene fraction that was then sold as an illuminant. After the commercialization of the internal combustion engine, the desired product became gasoline and it was also obtained by distillation. Even when crude oil that contained little natural gasoline was used, cracking (i.e., thermal decomposition with simultaneous removal of distillate) became the modus operandi.
