Question 1

What is a petrochemical? How does a petrochemical differ from a petroleum product?

Give an example by name of each of the four types of petrochemical.

Answer 1
Petrochemicals are chemical products made from raw materials of petroleum
(hydrocarbon) origin. Although some of the chemical compounds which originate from
petroleum may also be derived from other sources such as fossil fuels, coal or natural gas,
petroleum is a major source of many.

Petrochemicals are different from petroleum products in that they are individual
chemicals, used as the basic building blocks of the chemical industry and
can be derived from fossil fuels as well as petroleum whereas petroleum products are
bulk fractions derived from petroleum, have commercial value as a bulk product and can
only be derived from petroleum.

An example of each of the four types of petrochemicals are:

1. Ethylene
2. Benzene
3. Methanol
4. Methane

Question 2
What is the Dew Point? What is its significance?

Answer 2
The hydrocarbon dew point is the temperature (at a given pressure) at which the
hydrocarbon components of any hydrocarbon-rich gas mixture, such as natural gas, will
start to condense out of the gaseous phase. It is often also referred to as the HDP or the
HCDP. The maximum temperature and the pressure at which such condensation takes
place is called the cricondentherm. The hydrocarbon dew point is a function of the gas
composition as well as the pressure.

The hydrocarbon dew point is universally used in the natural gas industry as an important
quality parameter, stipulated in contractual specifications and enforced throughout the
natural gas supply train, from producers through processing, transmission and distribution
companies to final end users.

The hydrocarbon dew point of a gas is a different concept from the water dew point, the
latter being the temperature (at a given pressure) at which water vapor present in a gas
mixture will condense out of the gas.

All air contains water vapour of varying quantities. The dew point indicates the amount
of moisture in the air. The higher the dew point, the higher the moisture content of the air
at a given temperature. Conversely, the dew point of humid air will be higher than the
dew point of dry air.

Dew point temperature is defined as the temperature to which the air would have to cool
(at constant pressure and constant water vapour content) in order to reach saturation. A
state of saturation exists when the air is holding the maximum amount of water vapour
possible at the existing temperature and pressure.
Condensation of water vapour begins when the temperature of air is lowered to its dew
point and beyond. The dew point, like other measures of humidity, can be calculated
from readings taken by a hygrometer.

The dew point is associated with relative humidity. A high relative humidity indicates
that the dew point is closer to the current air temperature. If the relative humidity is
100%, the dew point is equal to the current temperature. Given a constant dew point, an
increase in temperature will lead to a decrease in relative humidity. It is for this reason
that equatorial climates can have low relative humidity, yet still feel humid.

At a given barometric pressure, independent of temperature, the dew point indicates the
mole fraction of water vapor in the air, and therefore determines the specific humidity of
the air.

The dew point is an important statistic for general aviation pilots, as it is used to calculate
the likelihood of carburetor icing and fog.

Question 3
Explain the difference between the fire point and the flash point. What is the significance
of each?

Answer 3
The fire point of a fuel is the temperature at which it will continue to burn after ignition
for at least 5 seconds. At the flash point, a lower temperature, a substance will ignite, but
vapor might not be produced at a rate to sustain the fire. Fire point and autogenous
ignition are additional considerations when selecting fire resistant greases. Industrially,
fire point is the lowest temperature at which industrial greases produce sufficient vapors
to form a mixture in air that continuously supports combustion after ignition.

The flash point of a flammable liquid is the lowest temperature at which it can form an
ignitable mixture in air. At this temperature the vapor may cease to burn when the source
of ignition is removed. A slightly higher temperature, the fire point, is defined as the
temperature at which the vapor continues to burn after being ignited. Neither of these
parameters are related to the temperatures of the ignition source or of the burning liquid,
which are much higher. The flash point is often used as one descriptive characteristic of
liquid fuel, but it is also used to describe liquids that are not used intentionally as fuels.
The flash point of a chemical is the lowest temperature at which a flame will propagate
through the vapor of a combustible material to the liquid surface.
Simply, the flash point is the minimum temperature at which the liquid produces a
sufficient concentration of vapor above it that it forms an ignitable mixture with air.
The source of ignition need not be an open flame but could be, for example, the surface
of a hot plate, or a steam pipe.

Every flammable liquid has a vapor pressure, which is a function of that liquid's
temperature. As the temperature increases, the vapor pressure increases. As the vapor
pressure increases, the concentration of evaporated flammable liquid in the air increases.
Hence, temperature determines the concentration of evaporated flammable liquid in the
air under equilibrium conditions. Different flammable liquids require different
concentrations of the fuel in air to sustain combustion. The flash point is that minimum
temperature at which there is a sufficient concentration of evaporated fuel in the air for
combustion to propagate after an ignition source has been introduced.

Carbon number and flash point.

50

0
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8
-50
FP, C

-100

-150

-200

-250
Carbon number

Question 4
Outline in the correct order and in a sentence or less for each of the various steps
involved in gas cleaning.

Answer 4
The various steps involved in gas cleaning are:
Dirt and sand are removed with filters or traps near the well
In many instances pressure relief at the wellhead will cause a natural separation of gas
from oil (using a conventional closed tank, where gravity separates the gas hydrocarbons
from the heavier oil).

In some cases, however, a multi-stage gas-oil separation process is needed to separate the
gas stream from the crude oil.

Some water and condensate, if present, will also be extracted as the process proceeds.

Condensates are most often removed from the gas stream at the wellhead through the use
of mechanical separators.

In most instances, the gas flow into the separator comes directly from the wellhead, since
the gas-oil separation process is not needed.

The gas stream enters the processing plant at high pressure (600 pounds per square inch
gauge (psig) or greater) through an inlet slug catcher where free water is removed from
the gas, after which it is directed to a condensate separator.

Extracted condensate is routed to on-site storage tanks.

Dehydration (removal of water from the produced natural gas)

The flow is directed though a tower containing an amine solution (amines absorb sulfur
compounds from natural gas and can be reused repeatedly)

After desulphurization, the gas flow is directed to the next section, which contains a
series of filter tubes.

As the velocity of the stream reduces in the unit, primary separation of remaining
contaminants occurs due to gravity.

Separation of smaller particles occurs as gas flows through the tubes, where they combine
into larger particles which flow to the lower section of the unit.

Further, as the gas stream continues through the series of tubes, a centrifugal force is
generated which further removes any remaining water and small solid particulate matter.

Once the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide are processed to acceptable levels, the
stream is routed to a Nitrogen Rejection Unit (NRU), where it is further dehydrated using
molecular sieve beds.

In the NRU, the gas stream is routed through a series of passes through a column and a
brazed aluminum plate fin heat exchanger.

Using thermodynamics, the nitrogen is cryogenically separated and vented.

Demethanizing the gas stream by cryogenic processing.

Fractionation, the process of separating the various NGLs present in the remaining gas
stream, uses the varying boiling points of the individual hydrocarbons in the stream.

The process occurs in stages as the gas stream rises through several towers where heating
units raise the temperature of the stream, causing the various liquids to separate and exit
into specific holding tanks.

Question 5
Why is the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons important? Show the three principal
chemical reactions of reforming as balanced chemical equations.

Answer 5
The thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons is the reducing of the molecular weight of
hydrocarbons by breaking molecular bonds. Higher molecular weight constituents are
converted to lower molecular weight products which are more valuable.
An increasing demand for gasoline and other middle distillates relative to the demand for
heavier fractions, makes thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons important in balancing
the supply of petroleum products.

The three principal chemical reactions of reforming as balanced chemical equations are:

Aromatics Production
Aromatics Production

Branched Alkane Production