ABSTRACT
The concept of the widespread production of base stocks by hydrocracking emerged about the same time as the post-World War II development of fuels hydrocracking technology since the catalysts, hardware, and peripherals are all very similar. Standard Oil
had actually built a plant in the 1920s in Bayway, New Jersey, to make lubricants called “Essolube” by hydrocracking and employing IG Farbenindustrie technology, but this was a short-lived venture. Most of the other pre-World War II work was in connection with coal-to-oil conversions.
