Petroleum (Crude Oil) TST 4C Group 7
Points to discuss: 1. What is petroleum? 2. What are the uses of petroleum? 3. Should petroleum be used as a fuel or as a resource of chemicals?
1. What is petroleum? The origin of petroleum is small marine organisms, including microscopic small sea animals and plants (e.g. plankons), which buried with sand and mud over 3000 million of years, under high pressure and temperature with bacterial actions. Petroleum is trapped in porous rock by layers of non-porous rock.
1. What is petroleum? Also known as Crude oil Appearance: -Petroleum is a thick and smelly oily -liquid. -Colour: ranges from greenish brown to -black, depending on where it is obtained.
1. What is petroleum? a complex mixture mainly consists of hydrocarbons, i.e. compounds made of hydrogen and carbon only. Other compounds such as sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen combined with carbon and hydrogen are also found. The major constituent of petroleum is Alkane which is a homologous series of hydrocarbons.
First Ten Members of the Homologous Series of the Alkanes Name of hydrocarbon Formula of hydrocarbon Number of carbon atoms it has Boiling point Methane CH 4 1-162 C Ethane C 2 H 6 2 Propane C 3 H 8 3 Butane C 4 H 10 4 0 C Pentane C 5 H 12 5 Hexane C 6 H 14 6 Heptane C 7 H 16 7 98 C Octane C 8 H 18 8 Nonane C 9 H 20 9 Decane C 10 H 22 10 174 C
The substances in the same homologous series have: The same general formula CnH2n+2 similar chemical properties, and gradual change in physical properties. And they are differ by -CH2-group between successive members. Alkane is regarded as saturated hydrocarbon because all the bonds in the molecules are saturated, that is with single bonds only. The common name for alkane is paraffin, paraffin oil means liquid alkane. Petroleum is not burnt directly to supply energy since it produces a lot of black smoke, therefore it is refined before direct usage.
Drilling of petroleum
Transportation There are 2 main ways to move the petroleum from an oil-field to an oil refinery By oil tankers By pipeline
Refining Works of Petroleum The substances in crude oil are miscible therefore they do not separate out into layers. Therefore Fractional Distillation, which is carried out in the fractionating towers, is used in refining petroleum.
Refining Works of Petroleum Fractional Distillation is the process of heating up a mixture containing different substances with different boiling points, and drawing the different fractions off. Each fraction is not a pure compound but is a mixture of different alkanes with similar boiling points.
Process of Fractional Distillation The crude oil is heated to about 350 C. It is then pumped into the bottom of a fractionating tower.
Process of Fractional Distillation Most of the substances in the crude oil evaporate. The mixture of vapours then passes up the tower. The tower is steadily cooler towards the top.
Process of Fractional Distillation Because the different hydrocarbons have different boiling points, they condense at different levels up the tower. Special trays collect the condensed liquid and it runs off in pipes.
About boiling points The higher the number of carbon molecules, the higher is the boiling point. Hydrocarbons with high boiling points condense first, low down the tower. The lower the boiling point of the fractions, the higher the level of the fractionating tower it can reach. Some hydrocarbons have very low boiling points and so they are gases. (e.g. petroleum gas)
About boiling points The boiling point increases with the colour intensity (from colourless to brown) The boiling point increases with viscosity. [from non-viscous to fairly viscous (thick) ]
The fractions obtained are:
2. What are the uses of petroleum? Crude oil contains a lot of useful substances that can be used for different purposes. As a fuel As a resource of chemicals As lubricants
2. What are the uses of petroleum? Uses of petroleum 10% 8% Fuels Organic chemical 82% Lubricating oils, waxes, bit
As fuels 82% of refined petroleum is used as fuel, which is an energy source for heating, electricity and transportation. 2500 of different products and 3000 of petrochemicals are made if we use petroleum as a fuel.
According to U.S. energy source As fuels Percentage of energy produced from various sources 8% 24% Natural gas 22% Oil Coal Nuclear 38%
As fuels Therefore, petroleum plays a very important role in our daily life as fuels that produce energy
As fuels Below 40 C (C 1 -C 4 ) Refinery Gas Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) A fuel for industries Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) A fuel for cars
As fuels 40 170 C (C 5 -C 10 ) Gasoline (Petrol) Motor Gasline (mogas) A fuel for motor cars Aviation Gasoline (avgas) A fuel for planes
As fuels 170 250 C (C 10 -C 14 ) Kerosene (Parafin Oil) Jet plane fuel Domestic fuel (e.g. fuel for cooking)
As fuels 250 350 C (C 14 -C 25 ) Fuel Oil Diesel fuel A fuel for diesel engines in buses and trucks; Used in furnaces for industrial heating purposes.
As fuels Over 350 C (> C 25 ) Residue Fuel Oil Fuel for big ships; To generate electricity in power stations.
As a resource of chemicals Only 10% of refined petroleum is used as a resource of chemicals. However, this 10% portion comes more than 80% of all the organic chemicals produced in the world.
As a resource of chemicals Examples of chemicals that make form petroleum. Artificial rubber Plastics Alcohol Drugs Detergents Insecticides Antiseptics Textile fibres Food additives Perfumes Explosives Medicinal ointments Candle Fertilizer
As lubricants Petrolatum, colorless to yellowish-white, liquid petrolatum, liquid paraffin, or mineral oil of petroleum are used for lubrication
Other uses Asphalt, a brownish-black residue in the refining of petroleum used commonly in road making, roofing, and waterproofing. liquid petrolatum, liquid paraffin, or mineral oil are used as laxatives, and as a base for nasal sprays.
3. Should petroleum be used as a fuel or as a resource of chemicals? Currently, oil and gas are the main sources because they are the least expensive, most readily available, and can be processed most easily. As petroleum is the world's larger sources of energy, it is hard to replace its role. Plastics are important in our daily life, but at least we can use other materials other than plastics. If we don't use most of the petroleum as fuels, we will run out of fuels soon.
3. Should petroleum be used as a fuel or as a resource of chemicals? Only about five percent of the oil and gas consumed in Canada each year is needed to make all the petrochemical products that are produced domestically is that the need of fuels is much greater than that of petrochemical products.
Other topics discussed 1. History and Development 2. Industries related to petroleum 3. Fossil Fuels 4. Detailed Petroleum Refinery
The End Group Leader Tang Sui Man Janet 5C (38) Members Chan Wing Yi 5C (26) Kwan Ngai Man 5C (30) Ng Wing Yee 5C (37) Wong Hiu Yan 5C (39) Wong Pui Ting 5C (41)