A MODERN complete oil refinery cannot operate successfully without the use of large quantities of sulphuric acid. Many of the processes require the use of sulphuric acid to such an extent that some large refineries use several hundred tons each day. Corrosion from this acid is as common to the refiner as any corrosion problem with which he is confronted, and it has been one of his major problems ever since the very inception of oil refining.
Early processes which used sulphuric acid from the start still depend on it and newly developed processes employ it with the full realization that corrosion as to be expected. The corrosion in some of the newer processes has been found to be just as severe, if not more so than that which has been experienced for years in some of the old treating processes.
In years past, there has been too much tendency...
