What is whale oil used for

Whale oil is taken from the body of a whale. We know that whales are relatively large in weight and have relatively more whale oil. Whales have many uses. In the early days, whale oil and seal oil were used as fuel. With the continuous discovery of new energy sources, whale oil as a fuel has withdrawn from the market. Whale oil can now be used to refine industrial oil, but in order to protect animals, fewer and fewer people are killing whales.

Before electricity was used to light our homes and streets, the primary source of lighting in the United States was whale oil. At that time, the world's lighting supply, apart from the sun and the moon, depended almost entirely on the whaling industry, as people had no alternative.

Additional information

Alternatives to whale oil soon appeared on the market. In 1867, kerosene became the first cheap alternative to whale oil. Then, in 1896, the price of sperm whale oil fell to its lowest point in decades, and whale oil lamps almost disappeared from our sight. Kerosene lamps, a substitute for whale oil, did not last long either, and were soon replaced by petroleum.

Blubber is an animal oil that is very rich in fat. It not only contains a large amount of glycerol, which can be used to synthesize nitroglycerin in explosives

Oil and cigarette processing, and can also be used to make soap and refine high-grade lubricating oil. The lowest fatty acid content in whale fat is less than 2%, and the highest is about 30%. The lighter the blubber, the higher its quality. More than 40 tons of oil can be obtained from the body of a 120-ton blue whale. This amount of fat is equivalent to the lard taken from thousands of fat pigs. After hydrogenation, whale fat can be obtained into hard blocks without fishy smell and taste, and can also be processed into edible margarine. Blubber has many other uses. It can be used to make candles and oil paints. It is also used in the steel and leather industries. Because whale oil maintains its viscosity at high temperatures, it is used as a lubricant for certain precision instruments. For example, sperm whale oil can be refined into industrial oil and spermaceti.

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