Ulaszowice industrial oil refinery
Refinería industrial de petróleo de Ulaszowice
- Date
- 1856 · confidence medium
- Place
- Ulaszowice, Jasło, Subcarpathia, Poland
- Credited to
- Ignacy Łukasiewicz
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A distillery built by Łukasiewicz near Jasło to process crude oil continuously, producing kerosene, machine oils and asphalt. It is regarded as the first industrial refinery.
The 'world's first refinery' status is debated: in Romania the Mehedinţeanu brothers opened a distillery at Râfov (Ploiești) around 1856-1857 and other plants in Baku and Pennsylvania are almost contemporary. The exact location of Ulaszowice is approximate.
What it led to
- a refining industry in Galicia, rebuilt at Polanka after the 1859 fire
- cheap kerosene for lighting in Central Europe
- a refining model for the Carpathians and Romania