S EPT EMBER VOL . 7 6 NO. 0 9 EDI TO R ' S N O T E EDITORIAL STAF F
Editorial Office 1030 W. Higgins Road Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 847/720-5600
Keith Reid
its Richmond refinery where it operates its technology development center. The technology center features numerous labs where a range of fuels and additives are tested, as well as refinery catalysts. Automotive engines are tested both
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in vehicle field tests and on mounts in laboratories and master mechanics break down the engines to see how new additives impact the engine itself from their clean- ing properties to their interaction with the materials that make up an engine and its fuel system. Lubricants are tested to see wear patterns. And, in one facility a mini refinery operates that allows the company to test different catalysts to determine how they perform at providing the appropriate yield of whatever product is desired. I've toured refineries before, and the
main take away in those visits was the level of automation current facilities employ. However, the intricacies of the process are
Making fuel isn't easy
JUST RETURNED FROM A TRIP TO ChevronTexaco's corporate head- quarters that included a side trip to
typically off-limits and the cracking tow- ers, while impressive, are fairly obscure as to the technological marvels they contain. In the laboratory the process was out in the open and you could observe the flow and interactions and the actual production of product (though, of course, in far more limited quantities than its big brothers).
WHAT A MARVEL. We owe a lot to this technology that allows us to harness fossil fuels. In fact, we owe almost out entire standard of modern living that was first made possible by the wood or coal and the early steam engine and then accelerated massively by the use of oil for heating, transportation and chemicals. Does that mean there is not a role for
alternative energy sources? No, of course not. But it is good to remember just how powerful the harnessing of fossil fuels was and remains to this day and will be far into the foreseeable future. You can be proud to sell fossil fuels and enable the benefits they provide to your customers. l FON
Editor Keith Reid 847/720-5615 kreid@m2media360.com
Managing Editor Debra Reschke 847/720-5618 dreschke@m2media360.com
Columnists Charles Bursey, Sr. John Griffin George Lanthier
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MAIN OF F ICE
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