Note 55 — Chapter VIII · CARBON AND THE HYDROCARBONS

Naphtha has been applied for heating purposes on a large scale in Russia, not only on account of the low cost of naphtha itself and of the residue from the preparation of kerosene, but also because the products of all the Baku naphtha do not find an outlet for general consumption. Naphtha itself and its various residues form excellent fuel, burning without smoke and giving a high temperature (steel and iron may be easily melted in the flame). A hundred poods of good coal (for instance, Don coal) used as fuel for heating boilers are equivalent to 36 cubic feet (about 250 poods) of dry wood, while only 70 poods of naphtha will be required; and moreover there is no need for stoking, as the liquid can be readily and evenly supplied in the required quantity. The economic and other questions relating to American and Baku petroleums have been discussed more in detail in some separate works of mine (D. Mendeléeff): (1) ‘The Naphtha Industry of Pennsylvania and the Caucasus,’ 1870; (2) ‘Where to Build Naphtha Works,’ 1880; (3) ‘On the Naphtha Question,’ 1883; (4) ‘The Baku Naphtha Question,’ 1886; (5) the article on the naphtha industry in the account of the Russian industries printed for the Chicago Exhibition.