CRUDE OIL

What is crude oil?

Crude oil is a fossil fuel and one of the most important substances in the world. It is a mixture of hundreds of different compounds. Crude oil is used to make fuels for transport, heating and generating electricity. It is also used to make plastics and hundreds of different types of chemicals. Every day, the world uses over 70 million barrels of oil. If you filled bath tubs with this amount of oil and put them end-toend, they would stretch round the Earth 7.5 times!

Composition of Crude Oil

CRUDE OIL
HYDROCARBONS
ALIPHATICS
25%

NON-HYDROCARBONS
NAPHTHENES
50%
CYCLOALKANES

AROMATICS
17%

SULFURS
<8%

NITROGENS
<1%

OXYGENS
<3% O

METALLICS
<100PPM

C1 - C60

(C6H5)n

SH
N H COOH

Crude oil: a brief history

The modern oil industry began in the mid-19th century when kerosene was distilled from crude oil and used as cheap and clean-burning fuel for lamps. Gasoline was a by-product in kerosene production, and was initially used as a solvent. It wasnt until the development of the internal combustion engine and gasoline-powered cars in the late 19th century that gasoline became highly valuable. This led to a great increase in the demand for crude oil, which has continued to this day.

How was crude oil made?

Crude oil is thought to have been made from the remains of marine plants and animals that died millions of years ago. These remains sank to the bottom of the sea, where they were buried in layers of sand and mud, preventing them from rotting. These layers gradually became sedimentary rock. Over millions of years the layers of rock built up, increasing the heat and pressure. This caused the remains to be broken down into the molecules that form crude oil and natural gas.

Hydrocarbons in crude oil

Many compounds in crude oil only contain the elements carbon and hydrogen. They are called hydrocarbons.

Most hydrocarbons in crude oil are compounds called alkanes. Alkanes contain a single chain of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms bonded along the side.

What are alkanes?

Alkanes are a family of hydrocarbon compounds with the general formula CnH2n+2.  The simplest alkane is methane. It has the formula CH4.

 The second simplest alkane is ethane. It has the formula C2H6.

 The third simplest alkane is propane. It has the formula C3H8.

Drilling

Crude oil is often found trapped in rocks of the sea bed. Oil rigs or drilling platforms are used to drill through the sea bed to obtain the oil.

Finding crude oil at sea

Once the oil has been removed from the sea bed, it is pumped in long pipelines to an oil tanker terminal or an oil refinery on land.

How can crude oil be made useful?

Crude oil itself has no uses it must first be processed or refined. This is done in an oil refinery. The first step is to separate compounds in the oil into groups called fractions. Each fraction contains a mix of compounds with a similar number of carbon atoms.

What is fractional distillation?

Fractional distillation is a process used to separate a mixture of liquids that have different boiling points. When the mixture is heated, liquids with a low boiling point evaporate and turn to vapour. Liquids with a higher boiling point remain as liquid. The vapour can then be separated from the liquid. Fractional distillation is used to separate crude oil into fractions with different boiling points. It can be done industrially and in the laboratory.

Fractional distillation of crude oil

Crude oil is separated into fractions by fractional distillation. 1. Oil is heated to about 450 C and pumped into the bottom of a tall tower called a fractionating column, where it vaporizes. 2. The column is very hot at the bottom but much cooler at the top. As the vaporized oil rises, it cools and condenses. 3. Heavy fractions (containing large molecules) have a high boiling point and condense near the bottom of the column. 4. Lighter fractions (containing small molecules) have a lower boiling point and condense further up the column.

Distilled and chemically processed fractions are treated to remove impurities and is done by passing the fractions through the following: 1.A column of sulfuric acid 2. An absorption column filled with drying agents to remove water 3.Sulfur treatment and hydrogen-sulfide scrubbers to remove sulfur and sulfur compounds

Fractional Distillation of Petroleum

Science: Refining Crude Oil

Distillation

What are the products?

The products of crude oil (and their boiling points) are as follows: Gases(310 degrees) Petrol (310-450) Naphtha (400-490) Kerosene (430-523) Gas oil (590-620) Fuel oil and wax (above 620)

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Petroleum Gas

Below 40

1-4

Fuel for cooking

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Petrol (Gasoline)

40 - 75

5 -10

Fuel for car engines

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Naphtha

75 - 150

7 - 14

Chemical feedstock

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Kerosene

160 - 250

11 - 16

Fuel for jet engines, cooking and heating

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Diesel

250 - 300

16 - 20

Fuel for diesel engines

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Lubricants

300 - 350

20 - 35

Making waxes and lubricating oils

Fractions of Petroleum
Fraction Boiling Range /rC No of carbon atoms per molecule Uses

Bitumen

Above 350

More than 70

Paving roads