Sunday Emmanuel

@sundayemmanuel · 07 Dec 2021

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What is a crude oil

Crude oil (petroleum)is the principal source of hydrocarbons which is formed in the rocks of the earth's crust from the remains of Marine animals and plants.it is a dark, viscous liquid, found in huge underground deposits in many parts of the world e.g.Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, Venezuela, Indonesia, and Russia.


Composition of crude oil
Crude oil is a complex mixture of gases, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons, together with some impurities of sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen. This impurity is known as contaminants. The most troublesome contaminants are organic sulfur compounds. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have oil with high sulphur content.


Exploration of crude oil
Geologists are seismometers to study the underlying layers of the Earth's crust and from the information obtained, they decide where the oil "caps" are located before drilling. Crude oil is extracted by drilling deep holes or well into the ground, using a rotary rake supported by a Derrick. When a well reaches an oil-bearing layer, crude oil and gas may shoot up into the air under high pressure. The crude is then stored in large steel tanks until it is sent to oil refineries by supertankers or by pipeline.sea transportation of oil in supertankers is cheaper than transportation through pipeline.



Refining of crude oil

The main operations of refining crude petroleum oil are separation, purification, and conversion. In this process, crude oil is separated into different portions called fractions. Each fraction contains several compounds, which fall within a certain boiling point range. These fractions can be differentiated from one another by their different volatility, odor, color, texture, and relative ease of ignition and Burning.
Industrially, fractionation is carried out on a large scale by fractional distillation. This is a special form of distillation carried out in a fractionating tower of an oil refinery. The crude oil is preheated in an electric furnace to about 400°c. The mixture of hot people and the liquid flows through the pipe to the fractionating tower.


Fractions of crude oil

Petroleum gas: this is the most volatile fraction of the crude oil liberated at the top of the tower at a temperature below 40°c. It consists Mainly of hydrocarbons that contain one to four carbon atoms per molecule e.g.methane, ethane, propane, butane, and ethane. Propane and butane and liquefied and sold in high-pressure gas cylinders for lightning and heating purposes at homes and in industries.

Petrol or gasoline: this is a mixture of hydrocarbons that contain 4 to 12 carbon atoms per molecule. It is a volatile liquid that distills in the temperature range of 40°c to 200°c. It is used as fuel for airplanes and motor vehicles. It is also a good solvent for paints and Grease. Petrol is the most important product of crude oil, because of the rapid increase in the number of its users.

Kerosene: b is a fraction that contains hydrocarbons with 12-8 carbon atoms per molecule.it Distills in the temperature range of 200 degrees centigrade to 250 degrees centigrade. It is used as fuel for lighting and heating.it is also used in some modern jet engines, airplanes, and tractors. Cruising is also a good solvent for grease and paint.

Diesel oil and gas oil: this is a mixture of hydrocarbons that contain 12 to 25 carbon atoms per molecule. They distill in the temperature range of 250°c to 350°c. They are used mainly as fuel for heating, in diesel engines, and raw materials for the cracking process.
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