Photo - coking stills at Pumpherston Refinery.
code: LVSAV2019.015
Description
B&W negative copied in 1990 from official albums then held at Grangemouth refinery.
Before the introduction of cracking plant and other new refinery techniques in the 1930's, crude shale oil was refined into its component fractions by a combination of boiler stills and coking (or pot) stills. Once the volatile components in crude oil had been driven off in a series of boiler stills, the heavy residual oil was drawn into a coking still. It was then gradually heated to dryness within the coking still. Once left to cool, men climbed into these still and removed the solid coke with pick and shovel.
