Editor’s Note: In partnership with the Bartlesville Regional History Museum, Examiner-Enterprise is restoring the “Revisiting the Past” column that the late Edgar Weston published in newspapers from 1997-99.Weston’s column recounts the history of Bartlesville and Washington, Novata and Osage counties.A beloved figure, he retired as a Washington County court bailiff, following his passion for unearthing the area’s history and sharing it with others through his bus tours and writings.Weston died in 2002, but his work continues.His collection of columns was recently donated to the museum by the Weston family.We’ll be running one of his columns every Wednesday as part of our new Weston Wednesday feature.
Last week, in recognition of Engineers Week 1976, we reviewed the engineering achievements of the Bartlesville area during development.We continue:
1951: The Chemical Engineering Prize is awarded to Phillips for his pioneering work in the production of cold rubber.The Hula Dam is put into operation.
· 1952: Guozinc became the first smelter in the country to realize the mechanization of the charging and discharging of the horizontal retort furnace.
1953: National was the first smelter in the United States to use a fluidized bed to roast zinc concentrate.
1956: Phillips announces Marlex, the first in a series of high-density plastics.Price has developed wire clamps for pipe construction.The Bartlesville Petroleum Research Center (BPRC) has conducted pioneering research in rotational bomb calorimetry.Phillips built the first R&D building at the research center.
· 1951-1961: BPRC pioneered the use of radiotracers for the study of petroleum reservoirs.
· 1961: Price achieves a major breakthrough with automated welding of 36-inch pipe in the field with an automatic welder.BPRC and AGA jointly developed the use of blowing agents to remove liquids from gas wells.
1962: Phillips announced that a new additive for preventing icing in aircraft jet fuel systems was approved by the FAA and adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces.Phillips has developed a chromatograph for continuous flow analysis and automated plant control.
1964: BPRC demonstrated the effectiveness of STP in increasing water injection rates.The BPRC proposes the concept of using nuclear explosives to stimulate oil and gas production.BPRC developed radiochemical techniques for gasoline stability studies.
· 1965: Bureau engineers solved the problem of removing water blocks from gas producing formations.BPRC develops mathematical methods to describe the variables involved in the transient flow of reservoir gases and liquids so computers can be used to predict the delivery capacity of gas wells for the projected life of new fields.BPRC has developed microhydrogenation equipment and techniques to study organosulfur compounds.BPRC has developed X-ray analysis techniques to study petroleum composition.BPRC has developed equipment and procedures for sampling vehicle exhaust and has studied the reactivity of hydrocarbons in vehicle and diesel exhaust emissions.
1966: The BPRC determines the thermodynamic properties of organic compounds of lighter elements used in the space program.Phillips has developed a new process for making general purpose furnace blacks.
1967: Phillips designed and built the world’s most successful LNG plant in Kenai, Alaska, and began shipping LNG on tankers.
1968: Phillips designed and built the first natural gasoline plant on an offshore platform at Lake Maracibo, Venezuela.Applied Automation Inc. was founded to design, develop, manufacture and sell chromatography instruments and computer control systems.Phillips introduced the Large Granule Furnace Black.
· 1969: Phillips introduces K-Resin, a new copolymer of butadiene and styrene.Reda Pump Co. merges with TRW.National Zinc Co builds a new $2 million sulfuric acid plant in Bartlesville.Price has developed a new holiday detector for coated tubes.
1970: Skyline Corp. begins operations in Dewey.BPRC determined the improved interatomic force value by studying the speed of sound in compressed helium.
1972: The BPRC successfully deploys and detonates the largest ever charge of nitroglycerin in an oil well.AAI offers 2C computer-operated chromatographs.Phillips develops, designs and builds processes to produce viscosity index improvers that improve the oil flow characteristics of motor oils.Phillips developed Ryton, a new type of plastic for engineering applications.Phillips develops and begins construction of North Sea operations facilities.This includes a million-barrel concrete crude oil storage tank located on the sea floor with initial crude oil pumping and natural gas pipeline compressor stations, centrifugal compressors for high pressure gas injection, and a water-filled fire system platform for production and processing .
· 1974-76: ERDA is developing methods to improve oil and gas recovery and increase shale oil production.
1975: The Heston Waste Equipment Division begins operations in Dewey.AAI provides CRT terminals for process computer control systems.BPRC changed its name to ERDA, the Energy Research and Development Agency.
1976: The National Zinc Company replaced the smelting furnace with a new electrolytic refinery.The waterway piping system from the Freeport, Texas receiving terminal to the Cushing, Oklahoma distribution terminal will be completed with a fully automated computerized system for regaining control of all operations at the Adams Building