Chemical Engineering Department3rd year- First semester
Properties Of Petroleum (Oil and gas) and Petroleum
Products
Credit Units: 3
Contact Hours: 2h (Theoretical), 3h (Practical)
Module Leader
Prof. Dr. Ibtisam Kamal
HDR, Process Engineering
Module Syllabus
Ch. 1 : Introduction to petroleum and Natural gas
Definition of petroleum oil, formation of petroleum oil and natural gas, composition of petroleum oil, the most
important characteristics of a crude that determine its quality (API gravity and the sulfur content), petroleum
fractions, petroleum standards, classification of gasses in reservoirs, descriptive terms for natural gas, generalities of
the origin of hydrocarbons, non-hydrocarbons, and gas hydrate components of natural gas, natural gas economic
significance.
Ch. 2 : Physical Properties of Petroleum oil
Density and specific gravity,, molar average BP, Specific heat. latent heat, critical points, coefficient of expansion,,
heat of combustion, heat of fusion, viscosity and viscosity Index, solubility, surface tension of hydrocarbons, vapor
pressure and boiling point corrections
Ch. 3 : Evaluation of oil stocks
Base and properties of crude oil, presence of impurities, operating or design data, curves of the properties of the
fractionation vs. percent distillate, finished products.
CH. 4 : Refinery products and test methods
Fractional distillation of crude oil, the routine laboratory tests ( API, VP (Reid), ASTM Distillations, Flash point and fire
points, Color, viscosity, cloud and pour points, Knock characteristics, sulfur tests, tests for bituminous and semisolid
materials, gum test), refinery products (properties and performance characteristics): Volatile products, light oils,
distillates, lubricating oils, greases and waxes, residues.
.Ch. 5 : Introduction to petroleum Processing
General processing, distillation cracking and reforming.
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Petroleum refining Engineering ; WL Nelson McGraw-Hill Book Co.; 4th Edition (January
1, 1969).
2. Modern Petroleum Refining Processes, 4th ed.,, B.K.bhaskara Rao, Oxford & IBH
Publishing,2002.
REFERENCES:
1. The Petroleum chemicals industry by R.F.Goldstine, e & fn London, 1967ز
2. Chemical technology of petroleum by W.S.Gruese and D.R. Stevens, Mcgraw‘ Hill, 1980
3. Fhe properties of petroleum fluids by William D. Mac Cain, JR, third edition, Penn Well,
2017.
4 Petro Chemicals Volume 1 and 2 ; A Chauvel and Lefevrev ; Gulf Publishing company
1989ز
Practical Part: 3h/week
Set of Experiments:
1. Determination of Density and Specific gravity of crude oils.
2. Effect of temperature on density of crude oil.
3. Determination of kinematic viscosity of crude oil and some
refined products.
4. ASTM (Angler) distillation.
5. Aniline point for petroleum products.
6. Determination of Dew Point .
Introduction:
Oil In Every
Day Life
How the barrel breaks down ?
OTHER 6000 items
The world market for gasoline seems to flatten out, and developing countries and even the
USA show an increasing demand for diesel as a transportation fuel.
Formation of Crude Oil and Natural Gas
Introduction
Petroleum oil “ The Black Gold” is one of the most valuable substances given
by the nature.
It is a thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid
hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earth's surface.
It can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline, naphtha,
kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, and asphalt.
Petroleum oil is used as raw material for a wide variety of derivative products.
It is used for manufacturing fibers, synthetic rubbers, plastics, detergents,
fertilizers, etc.
The fuel for all our life activities is derived from petroleum.
Origins of Petroleum
The origin of petroleum is one of the most involved problems of
modern sciences. A substantial majority of geologists and
chemists support the theory of the organic origin of petroleum,
but individual scientists consider that petroleum forms in nature,
at the expense of various chemical transformation of inorganic
substances.
a- Inorganic Theory
B- Organic Theory
a- Inorganic Theory
This theory regards petroleum origin suggested that carbonic acid or carbonates dissolved in ground
water acting on alkali metals present in the earth's interior formed acetylene and other hydrocarbons.
Another hypothesis suggested that the petroleum being formed by the action of steam or water on
metallic carbides in the inner portion of earth's crust. The molten metals in the hot interior of the earth
came in contact with coal, forming carbides. Carbides react with steam under high pressure and high
temperature forming the hydrocarbons.
The unsaturated hydrocarbons, were reduced with hydrogen in the presence of metallic catalysts at
high temperature. The hydrogen needed for the reduction is obtained by the action of hot metals on
steam.
Unsaturated hydrocarbons polymerize in the presence of hot metals forming aromatic hydrocarbons.
Cycloalkanes and higher open chain hydrocarbons.
The inorganic theory is based on some observations:
The discovery of methane and some paraffinic gases in atmosphere of different planets (the
temp. is very high) that is no possibility of life resulted in the conclusion that the origin of crude
oil is inorganic.
The occurrence of some asphaltic residues which composed mainly of igneous rocks.
The discovery that Helium gas is always associated with natural gas Helium itself is formed by
decay of radioactive elements such as radium and uranium.
b- Organic Theory
The organic hypotheses on crude oil formation is the most popular. It suggested that Petroleum oil
originates from to vast quantities of dead marine plankton or plant material that sank into the mud of
shallow seas. Over the centuries, layers of mud and organic debris were subjected to enormous pressure
and high temperature, and a petroleum-saturated rock was formed. During burial, a number of changes
carried out under the influence of bacteria. The major biological building blocks, or biopolymers
(proteins, cellulose, and lipids) are converted into their individual components biomonomers (amino
acids, sugars, and fatty acids). Under higher temperatures, the biomonomers begin to react among
themselves, growing into a complex two-dimensional refractory organic structure known as kerogen,
which is a solid form of hydrocarbon. Under further thermal stress and over millions of years of burial,
slow reactions occur, removing oxygen as carbon dioxide and water and transforming the kerogen to
crude oil.
A rock that has produced oil and gas in this way is known as a Source Rock. Hot oil and gas is less dense
than the source rock in which it occurs. Oil and gas migrate upwards up through the rock in much the
same way that the air bubbles of an underwater diver rise to the surface. The rising oil and gas
eventually gets trapped in pockets in the rock called reservoirs.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Formation
Five elements must be present for an oil and gas prospect to be successful and, if any one of them fails,
neither oil nor gas will be found when the well is drilled:
1. Source Rock (Organic matter)
When a source rock is subjected to high pressure and temperature deep within the earth over an
extended period of time, hydrocarbons form.
The main types of sedimentary source rocks are:
Shales : Layers of clay minerals.
Sandstones : Particles of sand together by the weight of sediments deposited above.
Carbonates : Fossilized skeletons and crystals of calcium carbonate. Limestone is a common carbonate.
Evaporates (Salts): Salts left behind as a result of evaporating seawater.
Combinations of these source rocks can also occur. Sandy shales or shaley sands would represent a
blend of two rocks.
Whatever the rock type, source rocks that ultimately generate commercial hydrocarbons have two key
characteristics:
Porosity - Hydrocarbons are created in the tiny pore spaces of the rock. If the source rock does
not have adequate porosity, hydrocarbons would not have been created.
Permeability - A measure of the level of connectivity between the source rock's pore spaces.
Without adequate permeability, the hydrocarbons created within the pore spaces of the source
rock cannot migrate from the source rock to a reservoir.
2. Transform organic matter; add heat and pressure by burying it (Maturation).
3. Carrier beds; Oil is less dense than water and will rise through the fluid system of the surrounding
rock. Carrier beds are rock layers that allow fluids to pass through themEx: Sandstone, if petroleum
stays buried, it can become postmature. Hydrocarbons are less dense than their precursor organic
sediment, so they migrate upwards over time to the earth's surface unless they are trapped.
4. Oil Traps
As the hydrocarbons migrate away from the source rock they must find a structure, or trap that has the
right conditions to stop the oil and gas from reaching the surface (capturing hydrocarbons preventing
further migration).
Oil Trap
5. Reservoir rocks
The oil needs to be trapped in a good place, a good reservoir rock is porous ( a pore is a small
open space; hole), permeable ( holes are connected so that its fluids can be produced(removed
from them).
Porosity Permeability
Chemical composition of Petroleum
Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that occur in the
sedimentary rocks in the form of gases (natural gas), liquids (crude
oil), semisolids (bitumen), or solids (wax or asphaltite).
An underground reservoir that contains hydrocarbons is called
petroleum reservoir and its hydrocarbon contents that can be
recovered through a producing well is called reservoir fluid.
Crude oil is a complex mixture of various components. Depending on
its geographic origin, its chemical composition and consistency vary.
Although there is considerable variation between the ratios of
organic molecules, the elemental composition of petroleum is well-
defined: Carbon - 83 to 87%, Hydrogen - 10 to 14%, Nitrogen - 0.1 to
2%, Oxygen - 0.05 to 1.5%, Sulfur - 0.05 to 6.0%, Metals - < 0.1%.
.
(1) Hydrocarbons
The principal constituents of most crude oils are hydrocarbon compounds. All hydrocarbon
classes are present in the crude mixture, except alkenes and alkynes. . This may indicate
that crude oils originated under a reducing atmosphere. The hydrocarbons present in
crude petroleum are classified into three general types:
a) Alkanes (or paraffins)
Saturated hydrocarbons- that is all carbon are bonded by single bonds so that they are
saturated with hydrogen. Their general formula is CnH2n + 2, alkanes with < 5 carbons are
gas, alkanes with 5 to 15 carbon atoms are liquids, alkanes with > 15 carbon atoms are
viscous liquids and solids. Paraffins from C1 to C40 usually appear in crude oil and represent
up to 20% of crude by volume. Since paraffins are fully saturated (no double bond), they
are stable and remain unchanged over long periods of geological time. Largest molecule
recorded from crude oil contains 78 carbons.
Two types of alkane isomers (i.e molecules with identical compositions, but different
structures:
Straight chain, called "normal alkanes" e.g. normal butane, these have higher boiling
points than the branched alkanes. Branched chain, called "isoalkanes" e.g. isobutene
