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CRUDE

OIL

CRUDE OIL

Crude oil is the term used for unprocessed oil. It is also known also as
petroleum. Crude oil is a fossil fuel, meaning that it was made naturally from
decaying plants and animals living in ancient seas millions of years ago - most
places you could find crude oil were once sea beds. Crude oils vary in color, from
clear to tar-black, and in viscosity, from water to almost solid.

Crude oils are such a useful starting point for so many different substances
because they contain hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are molecules that contain
hydrogen and carbon and come in various lengths and structures, from straight
chains to branching chains to rings.

Fractional Distillation of Crude Oil


Crude oil can be separated by physical methods, in this case
by fractional distillation, because it has different boiling and
condensation points.

The principle behind this method is that the various fractions


of crude oil boil at different temperatures.
The longer the hydrocarbon chain, the higher the boiling
point.

Fractional Distillation of Crude Oil


The crude oil is heated to vapourise it (evaporated or boiled)
and the vapour is passed into the fractionating column - a
large construction of many levels and pipes.
This is a continuous process (not a batch process). The
fractionating column works continuously with heatedvapourised crude oil piped in at the bottom and the various
fractions condensed and constantly tapped off from various
levels, each with a different condensation temperature range.

The most volatile fraction, that is, the molecules


with the lowest boiling points, boil or evaporate off
first and go higher up the column and condense at
the higher levels in the column at the lowest
temperatures.

The rest separate out according to their


boiling/condensation point so that the highest
boiling fraction, that is, the less volatile molecules
with higher boiling points, tend to condense more
easily lower down the column, at the higher
temperatures.

Fractional Distillation of Crude Oil


The bigger the molecule, the greater the
intermolecular attractive forces between the
molecules, so the higher the boiling or condensation
point.

Therefore going up the fractionating column, there is:


Decrease in boiling point, viscosity, and the number of
carbon atoms in the molecule.
Increase in volatility and ease of Ignition.

Fractional Distillation of Crude Oil


The steps can therefore be summarized as
follows:
Step 1- The crude petroleum is first heated into a
gas.
Step 2- The gases are then passed through a
distillation column which becomes cooler as the
height increase.
Step 3- When a gas cools below its boiling points
it condenses into a liquid and is collected.

Ramsden

Uses of the components of Crude Oil


Refinery gas is about 1-2% of crude oil. It is
mainly a mixture of alkanes containing up to
four carbon atoms in a molecule and usually a
gas at room temperature.
Refinery gas can be used as a gaseous fuel or
it can be liquefied under pressure to produce
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It can also be
used as feedstock for making petrochemicals.

Uses of the components of Crude Oil


Gasoline & naptha are about 15-30% of crude oil.
Gasoline is distilled off an used as motor fuel for
internal combustion engines. The other part,
naphtha, is used as chemical feedstock for
conversion to other compounds.
Kerosene- is about 10-15% of crude oil. It is used
as jet fuel and for domestic heating. It can also be
broken down to produce more gasoline.

Uses of the components of Crude Oil


Gas oil (diesel oil) is about 15-20% of crude oil. It is used as a fuel
in diesel engines and industrial furnaces.
Residue- is about 40-50% of crude oil. It can be further distilled
under low pressure to yield fuel oil, lubricating oil, waxes and
bitumen.
Reducing the pressure lowers the boiling point and allows the
heavier components to be separated without breaking down.
Fuel oil is used for fuel for ships and power stations.

Lubricating oils and waxes are used for motor oil, grease and other
lubricants.
Bitumen is used for road surfacing and roofing material.

Cracking and Reforming Techniques


The refining process
Every refinery begins with the separation of crude oil into different fractions
by distillation. Refining is the processing of one complex mixture of
hydrocarbons into a number of other complex mixtures of hydrocarbons.
Refining is where the job of oil industry stops and that of petrochemical
industry starts. The fractions are further treated to convert them into
mixtures of more useful saleable products by various methods such as
cracking, and reforming.
The quantities of petrol available from distillation alone was insufficient to
satisfy consumer demand. Refineries began to look for ways to produce
more and better quality petrol. Two types of processes have been
developed:
1. breaking down large, heavy hydrocarbon molecules
2. reshaping or rebuilding hydrocarbon molecules.

Cracking and Reforming Techniques


One fraction of crude oil may be in more demand than another fraction.
In such cases, catalytic cracking and catalytic reforming can be used to
change one fraction of crude oil to another.
*Cracking is a process in which large hydrocarbons molecules are broken
down into smaller molecules.
*Reforming is a process which converts straight chain hydrocarbons into
aromatic and more highly branched hydrocarbons.

Reforming Techniques

- There are three main reforming techniques


that we will focus on:
1) Isomerization
2) Alkylation

3) Catalytic reforming

Reforming Techniques

1) Isomerization

This involves breaking up straight chain


hydrocarbons and reassembling them as branched
chain isomers. This reaction takes place at about
500C in the presence of an aluminium chloride
catalyst.
Isomerization is important for the conversion of
normal pentanes and hexanes into higher cranched
isomers for gasoline blending.
500C/ AlCl3

Reforming Techniques

2) Alkylation
Branched-chained alkanes are desired since they have
a higher octane number. In this process of alkylation,
tertiary alkanes combine with alkenes to make longer
branched chain alkanes.
The product is a blend of alkanes with high octane
numbers. The reaction occurs at room temperature
and is catalyzed by concentrated sulphuric acid.
For example: 2-methylpropane is added to 2methylpropene to form 2,2,4-trimethylpentane which
has exceptional anti-knock properties.

Reforming Techniques
3) Catalytic reforming
Catalyst & conditions: Al2O3 500C 10 atm
For example:
Catalyst
heptane --------> toluene + hydrogen
C7H16 --------> C7H8 + 4H2

-------->

+ 4H2

The raw materials used in the petrochemical industry are known as


feedstock, for instance, naphtha, components of natural gas such as
butane, and some of the by-products of oil refining processes, such
as ethane and propane. These feedstocks then undergo processing
through an operation called cracking.
Cracking
Cracking processes break down heavier hydrocarbon molecules (high
boiling point oils) into lighter products such as petrol and diesel.
These processes could include catalytic cracking, thermal cracking
and hydrocracking.
For example:
A typical reaction is:
Catalyst
500C/ 20 atm
C16H34 ----------> C8H18 + C8H16 C6H14 Pt/ Al O
+ 4H2

hexadecane

2 3

benzene

Catalytic cracking (cat-cracking)- involves the use of a


catalyst at lower temperatures to break the bonds of the
hydrocarbon molecules. The reaction is usually catalyzed
by a powdered mixture of alumina and silica (Al2O3/SiO2)
at about 500C.
The C-C bond undergoes heterolytic fission which results
in a mechanism involving carbocations. This tends to
produce a large amount of branched chain alkanes which
are useful in gasoline. Branched chain alkanes give
gasoline a higher octane number.
Catalytic cracking is used to crack the distilled fractions
such as diesel oil and kerosene into smaller molecules.
The cracked compounds are important to produce more
valuable as well as a chemical feedstock for the
petrochemical industry.
C12H26 C10H22 + CH2=CH2
dodecane

OR C12H26 C9H20 + CH3CH=CH2

A note on gasoline
When the gasoline-air mixture is compressed in the internal
combustion engine, some hydrocarbons ignite spontaneously without
a spark and explode prematurely to cause a knocking noise.
Knocking can damage the engine and reduce the efficiency of the
gasoline. Tetraethyl lead was once added to gasoline as an anti-knock
agent. However the leaded gas can cause an unacceptable amount of
lead pollution in the environment.
In most countries, leaded fuel has been largely replaced by unleaded
fuel which contains more branched chain alkanes. Branched chain
alkanes ignite less spontaneously the straight chain isomers therefore
they are more resistant to knocking. The anti-knocking properties of
gasoline are measured on an octane scale using 2,2,4trimethylpentane and heptane.
2,2,4-Trimethylpentane has a low tendency to ignite spontaneously
when compressed and is given an octane number of 100.
Heptane knocks readily with little compression and is given an octane
number of 0.

A blend of gasoline is assigned an octane number by comparing it with


different mixtures of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and heptane.

Crude Oil and the Environment

The environmental impact of petroleum is often negative because it is


toxic to almost all forms of life. The possibility of climate change exists.
Petroleum, commonly referred to as crude oil, is closely linked to virtually
all aspects of present society, especially for transportation and heating for
both homes and for commercial activities.

Some environmental issues of the petroleum industry are as follows:


1. Crude oil is a mixture of many different kinds of organic compounds,
many of which are highly toxic and cancer causing (carcinogenic). A leak
from the Petroleum industry, such as Oil could be "acutely lethal" to
fish, that is it kills fish quickly, at a concentration of 4000 parts per million
(0.4%). Crude oil and petroleum distillates can cause birth defects.
2. 2. Exhaust - When oil or petroleum distillates are burned, usually the
combustion is not complete. This means that incompletely burned
compounds are created in addition to just water and carbon dioxide. The
other compounds are often toxic to life.
Examples are carbon monoxide and methanol. Also, fine particulates of
soot blacken humans' and other animals' lungs and cause heart problems
or death. Soot is carcinogenic.

3.

4.

High temperatures created by the combustion of petroleum cause


nitrogen gas in the surrounding air to oxidize, creating nitrous oxides.
Nitrous oxides, along with sulfur dioxide from the sulfur in the oil,
combine with water in the atmosphere to create acid rain. Acid rain
causes many problems such as dead trees and acidified lakes with dead
fish. Coral reefs in the oceans are killed by acidic water caused by acid
rain.
Burning large amounts of petroleum create large amounts of Carbon
Dioxide (CO2) gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Also some
organic compounds, such as methane released from petroleum drilling
or from the petroleum itself, trap heat several times more efficiently
than CO2. Soot blocks the sun from reaching the earth and could cause
cooling of the earth's atmosphere.

Dealing with oil spills


- A floating barrier called a boom is placed
around the oil to keep it from spreading.
- The oil can be ignited within the boom.

- A giant vacuum can be used to suck up the


surface oil.
- Absorbents are used to collect the oil left
behind from suctioning.

Dealing with oil spills


- Solvent compounds are used to break down
light oil spills and disperse it.
- Natural bacteria that use the petroleum
products as food are often effective at
cleaning up oil spills although they may take
years to work. Genetically engineered
microorganisms are also a consideration.

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