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The Formation of Petroleum
The formation of petroleum occurred hundreds of millions of years ago during a period known as
the (Carboniferous Period). During this time period, dead organic material accumulated and was decomposed by bacteria. Sediment - mostly mud and sand - then covered this material, creating
high temperature and pressure conditions resulting in the creation of hydrocarbon molecules.
The resulting materials were either liquid, gaseous, or solid. For more specific explanations of the formation of different components of petroleum, see the formation of oil or the formation of natural
gas. Petroleum exists in many sedimentary rock formations, and because of its fluid nature it is able
to migrate through stone and collect in porous rocks.
If this petroleum within the porous, permeable sedimentary rock is contained here by a layer of impermeable rock then a trap is formed. Then, the movement of geological structures and force
of gravity cause these accumulations - called reservoirs - to lie beneath land or oceans.
The word ‘PETROLEEUM’ is a combination of two Latin words- PETRA (rock) and OLEUM (oil).
This signifies that petroleum is a kind of oil that is available from rocks. In ancient days, people would use a dense, dark and slippery fluid that would leak from some rocks in different parts of the world. They would use it for various purposes such as medicine, lighting and making different products. Petroleum is known as CRUDE OIL because it has few uses unless it’s refined at refineries.
Characterization of Some Petroleum Products
PETROLEUM
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, toxic, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture
of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth‘s surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point, into a large number of consumer products, from petrol and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals.
GASOLINE
Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid flammable mixture consists mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with isooctane or aromatics hydrocarbons toluene and benzene to increase octane ratings. Gasoline is primarily used as a fuel in combustive of the additives that are put into it. The bulk of
a typical gasoline consists of hydrocarbons with between 4 and 12 carbon atoms per molecule.
Depending on use, Gasoline can be classified as:
∙ Automobile gasoline ∙ Aviation gasoline ∙ Technical (solvent)
KEROSENE
Kerosene or paraffin oil is a colorless, oily, highly flammable liquid with a strong odour, distilled
from petroleum (10–25 % of total volume). It is a mixture of about 10 different types of fairly
simple hydrocarbons, depending on its source. Fraction distillation resulting in a mixture of
carbon chains that typically contain between 6 and 16 carbon atoms per molecule. It is less
volatile than gasoline, boiling at 150–275 °C. It is burned in lamps, heaters, and furnaces
and is used as a fuel or fuel component for diesel and tractor engines, jet engines, and
rockets and as a solvent for greases and insecticides. Kerosene is sometimes used as
an additive in diesel fuel to prevent gelling or waxing in cold temperatures.
DIESEL FUEL
Diesel oil is a type of Fuel oil. It is produced from the fractional distillation of crude oil between 200 °C and 350 °C at atmospheric pressure, resulting in a mixture of carbon chains that typically contain between 8 and 21 carbon atoms per molecule with specific gravity range of 0.76–0.94. Diesel fuel quality is defined by the cetane number, which usually falls into the range 30–60. A high cetane number indicates the potential for easy starting and smooth operation of the engine.
The cetane number is the analog of the automobile engine octane number, with cetane (n-hexadecane, C16H34) having the arbitrarily assigned number of 100. At the other end of the scale, heptamethylnonane, an isomer of cetane, has the assigned cetane number of 0.
FUEL OIL
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash point of approximately 40 °C and oils burned in cotton or wool-wick burners. In this sense, diesel is a type of fuel oil. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains, particularly alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The term fuel oil is also used in a stricter sense to refer only to the heaviest commercial fuel that can be obtained from crude oil, heavier than gasoline and naphtha.
Fuel oil is classified into six classes, numbered 1 through 6, according to its boiling point, composition and purpose. The boiling point, ranging from 175-600 °C, and carbon chain length, 9 to 70 atoms, of the fuel increases with fuel oil number. Viscosity also increases with number, and the heaviest oil has
to be heated in order to get into liquid state. Price usually decreases as the fuel number increases.
AVIATION JET FUEL
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification. Jet fuel is a mixture of a large number of different hydrocarbons. The range of their sizes (molecular weights or carbon numbers)
is restricted by the requirements for the product, for example, freezing point or smoke point.
Kerosene-type jet fuel (including Jet A and Jet A-1) has a carbon number distribution
between about 8 and 16 carbon numbers; wide-cut or naphtha-type jet fuel
(including Jet B), between about 5 and 15 carbon numbers.
BIODIESEL
Fuel made from natural, renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats, for use in a diesel engine. Biodiesel has physical properties very similar to petroleumderived diesel fuel, but its emission properties are superior. Using biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine substantially reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. Diesel blends containing up to 20 % biodiesel can be used in nearly all diesel-powered equipment, and higher-level blends and pure biodiesel can be used in many engines with little or no modification. Lower-level blends are compatible with most storage and distribution equipment, but special handling is required for higher-level blends.
Biodiesel is made from oils or fats, which are hydrocarbons. Fresh soybean oil is most commonly used, although biodiesel can be made from mustard seed oil or waste vegetable oil (such Characterization of Some Petroleum Products 7 as used oil from restaurant deep fryers).
These hydrocarbons are filtered and mixed with an alcohol, such as methanol, and a catalyst (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide), resulting in a chemical reaction whose major products are the biodiesel fuel and glycerol. Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters. Products of catalyzed reaction between fats or fatty acids and methanol are fatty acid methyl esters (FAME).
MOTOR OILS
Motor oils are derived from petroleum-based and non-petroleum-synthesized chemical compounds. Most motor oils are made from a heavier, thicker petroleum hydrocarbon base stock derived from crude oil, with additives to improve certain properties. The bulk of typical motor oil consists of hydrocarbons
with between 18 and 34 carbon atoms per molecule. Motor oil is oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts. Motor oil also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving
parts. Motor oils are today mainly blended by using base oils composed of hydrocarbons
(mineral, polyalphaolefins, polyinternal olefins), thus organic compounds consisting
entirely of carbon and hydrogen. The base oils of some high-performance motor
oils contain up to 20 % of esters. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
has established a numerical code system for grading motor oils in accordance
with their viscosity characteristics.
SAE viscosity grade includes the following,
from low to high viscosity: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 or 60.
The numbers 0, 5, 10, 15 and 25 are suffixed with the letter W, designating their
“winter” (not “weight”) or cold-start viscosity, at lower temperature.
The number 20 comes with or without a W, depending on whether it is being used
to denote a cold or hot viscosity grade.
MINERAL SPIRITS
Mineral Spirits, also called Stoddard solvent, is a petroleum distillate commonly used as a paint thinner and mild solvent. In Europe, it is referred to as petroleum spirit or white spirit. Mineral spirits are especially effective in removing oils, greases, carbon, and other material from metal. Mineral
spirits may also be used in conjunction with cutting oil as a thread cutting and reaming
lubricant. A typical composition for mineral spirits is the following: aliphatic solvent
hexane having a maximum aromatic hydrocarbon content of 0,1 % by volume,
a kauri-butanol value of 29, an initial boiling point of 65 °C, a dry point of
approximately 69 °C, and a specific mass of 0,7 g/cm3
HYDRAULIC FLUIDS (liquids) are a large group based on mineral oils or water. It is used in machinery equipment ranging from brakes, hydraulic cylinders, power steering, and transmissions. Natural oils such as rapeseed (also called canola oil) are used as base stocks for fluids where biodegradability and renewable sources are considered important.
TURPENTINE
Turpentine (also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, wood turpentine, gum turpentine) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene (C10H16).
Turpentine is representative of non petroleum product. The two primary uses of turpentine in industry are as a solvent and as a source of materials for organic synthesis. As a solvent, turpentine is used for thinning oil-based paints, for reducing varnishes, and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Its industrial use as a solvent in industrialized nations has largely been replaced by the much cheaper turpentine substitutes distilled from crude oil also known as mineral turpentine (b.p. 150-180 °C).