History of the American Petroleum Institute Research Project 45 (APIRP-45)

This project, originally known as the American Petroleum Institute Hydrocarbon Research Project (API-HRP), was organized on August 15, 1938, as a cooperative undertaking of industry under contract with the Ohio State University ResearchFoundation. It began active operations on September 1 of the same year in laboratories of the University's Department of Chemistry. The University project was conceived by Prof. Cecil E. Boord of Ohio State University, who recognized the need of the petroleum industry for basic information on which gasoline technology could be built. API-HRP was not a member of the official family of API projects, but for six years was an independent venture subsidized by the voluntary subscriptions of 26 to 38 industrial concerns. The avowed objectives of API-HRP were: (1) the synthesis and purification of hydrocarbons in quantities of 1 to 2 gal., (2) superpurification and measurement of physical and thermal properties, and (3) engine combustion studies. The pure hydrocarbons needed for the work were to be synthesized, purified and/or certified at the “Hydrocarbon Laboratory” under the direction of Prof. Boord, with Prof. A. L. Henne as Associate Director. Work on superpurification and physical properties was initially under the supervision of J. B. Hill (Sun Oil Co.), and later under George Calingaert (Ethyl Corp.). A portion of the engine-testing program was accepted by the General Motors Corp. under the supervision of T. A. Boyd, J. M. Campbell, and W. G. Lovell. Supercharged engine tests and tests by microtechniques were undertaken by the Ethyl Corporation laboratories. The original program called for the synthesis, purification, and knock-testing of 85 hydrocarbons over a 4-yr. period; the actual number completed was 84. Interest in the project's work was high and it was extended and continued on a yearly basis as API-HRP until the summer of 1944, when it was formally placed under the API Advisory Committee on Fundamental Research on the Composition and Properties of Petroleum (ACFRCPP). The basic aims of the project remained unchanged, but the ACFRCPP added the task of supplying synthetic hydrocarbons to APIRP-6 for use in the high-purity (standard samples) program. By June 30, 1957, APIRP-45 had supplied 174 different hydrocarbons in total amount of 233.7 gal. for this purpose. The work of the Project is guided by an API Advisory Committee comprising outstanding men in the field of petroleum technology. Past chairmen of this committee include D. P. Barnard, R. F. Marschner, and W. G. Lovell; the current chairman is E. C. Hughes. As this book is being prepared, APIRP-45 is beginning its twentieth year of operation under the direction of Prof. Boord, with Drs. K. W. Greenlee and J. M. Derfer as Associate Directors.