4 ms·

Edwin Drake

jacobush 7y ago
A true pioneer whose efforts for decades to come, spelled a relief for over-hunted whales.
- jweir 7y ago
  Until the Soviets started whaling https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/industrial-whaling-of-the-20th-century-was-worse-than-we-thought/ https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/industrial-whaling-of-the...
gregw2 7y ago
What was the diameter of that first oil pipe? Drake clearly was repurposing a technology that already existed... what was the pipe's original purpose?
- jacobush 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Well https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Well only says cast iron. Maybe sewer pipe, Pennsylvania was early using that: http://www.sewerhistory.org/photosgraphics/pipes-ancientearly-types/ http://www.sewerhistory.org/photosgraphics/pipes-ancientearl...
  - bookofjoe 7y ago
    >Drake used copper pipe two or three inches in diameter and in sections 12 to 14 feet long. https://ethw.org/Beginnings_of_the_Oil_and_Gas_Industry https://ethw.org/Beginnings_of_the_Oil_and_Gas_Industry
    - jacobush 7y ago
      I'm not saying he didn't use copper pipe for the first well, but one could imagine he used cast iron pipe in the first well. If he did, my layman understanding is that copper pipe must be much more less likely to break, than cast iron pipe. (Cast iron is pretty brittle.)
newguy1234 7y ago
If you haven't seen the documentary on the oil industry "the prize" then it is a must watch. You can watch all of it on youtube. Here is the scene were they talk about drake's significance to the oil industry: https://youtu.be/H2hSATHD634?t=409 https://youtu.be/H2hSATHD634?t=409
bpaddock 7y ago
Drake's Well Museum: https://www.drakewell.org/about-us https://www.drakewell.org/about-us I was there this summer. Well over a 100 years old and some of the original equipment is still running. Sad that our modern equipment has little hope of that.
Merrill 7y ago
Drake drilled the well to secure a greater supply for the Seneca oil company. The drilling technology was not particularly revolutionary, since water wells and wells to pump salt brine had been previously drilled. The key technology was fractional distillation of petroleum into an array of useful products, especially kerosene which could be used instead of whale oil for illumination. How Yale Launched the Oil Economy - http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2005_11/old_yale.html http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2005_11/old_ya...

A true pioneer whose efforts for decades to come, spelled a relief for over-hunted whales.

jweir 7y ago
Until the Soviets started whaling https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/industrial-whaling-of-the-20th-century-was-worse-than-we-thought/ https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/industrial-whaling-of-the...

What was the diameter of that first oil pipe? Drake clearly was repurposing a technology that already existed... what was the pipe's original purpose?

jacobush 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Well https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Well only says cast iron. Maybe sewer pipe, Pennsylvania was early using that: http://www.sewerhistory.org/photosgraphics/pipes-ancientearly-types/ http://www.sewerhistory.org/photosgraphics/pipes-ancientearl...
- bookofjoe 7y ago
  >Drake used copper pipe two or three inches in diameter and in sections 12 to 14 feet long. https://ethw.org/Beginnings_of_the_Oil_and_Gas_Industry https://ethw.org/Beginnings_of_the_Oil_and_Gas_Industry
  - jacobush 7y ago
    I'm not saying he didn't use copper pipe for the first well, but one could imagine he used cast iron pipe in the first well. If he did, my layman understanding is that copper pipe must be much more less likely to break, than cast iron pipe. (Cast iron is pretty brittle.)

newguy1234 7y ago

If you haven't seen the documentary on the oil industry "the prize" then it is a must watch. You can watch all of it on youtube. Here is the scene were they talk about drake's significance to the oil industry: https://youtu.be/H2hSATHD634?t=409 https://youtu.be/H2hSATHD634?t=409

bpaddock 7y ago

Drake's Well Museum: https://www.drakewell.org/about-us https://www.drakewell.org/about-us I was there this summer. Well over a 100 years old and some of the original equipment is still running. Sad that our modern equipment has little hope of that.

Merrill 7y ago

Drake drilled the well to secure a greater supply for the Seneca oil company. The drilling technology was not particularly revolutionary, since water wells and wells to pump salt brine had been previously drilled. The key technology was fractional distillation of petroleum into an array of useful products, especially kerosene which could be used instead of whale oil for illumination. How Yale Launched the Oil Economy - http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2005_11/old_yale.html http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2005_11/old_ya...