1.
3 COMPOSITION AND
CLASSIFICATION OF CRUDE
OIL AND PETROLEUM
PRODUCTS
At the end of this chapter, students should be able:
1. To differentiate the types of hydrocarbons and non-hydrocarbons
2. Identify the basic properties of crude oil
COMPOSITION OF PETROLEUM
Petroleum:
- Complex mixture of hydrocarbon molecules.
Hydrocarbon:
- Organic compounds of Carbon & Hydrogen atoms
(1-60 carbon atoms)
Crude Oil
- Unrefined petroleum product
- Vary in appearance and
composition
- consistency : water to tar
like solids
- color : clear to black
COMPOSITION OF
PETROLEUM
C1 - C4 : gases
C5 – C19 : liquids
C20 - > : solids
COMPOSITION OF CRUDE OIL & NG
Element Crude oil Natural gas
Carbon 84-87% 65-80%
Hydrogen 11-14% 1-25%
Sulfur 0.06-2% 0-0.2%
Nitrogen 0.1-2% 1-15%
Oxygen 0.1-2% 0%
COMPOSITION OF PETROLEUM
Hydrocarbon Average Range
Four different Paraffins 30% 15 to 60%
types of Naphthenes 49% 30 to 60%
hydrocarbon Aromatics 15% 3 to 30%
molecules
appear in crude
oil.
PARAFFINS
- known as Alkanes
- CnH2n+2
- saturated HCs
- straight or branched (isomers)
1. Straight : lighter, gases &
paraffin waxes
General formula : CnH2n + 2
2. Branched : heavier, higher
octane number
General formula CnH2n + 2, n > 3
AROMATICS
- known as Arenes/Aryl HCs
- unsaturated but very stable
- C6H2n-6
- rings contain six carbon atoms, with alternating
double and single bond between the carbons
- can add paraffin side chains to replace the
hydrogen attached to the ring carbons
NAPHTENES
- known as Cycloalkanes/ cycloparaffins
- CnH2n
- ringed structures with one or more rings
- rings contain only single bonds
between the carbon atoms
NAPHTENES
- Typically liquids at room temperature
- Monocycloparaffins predominate
- Dicycloparaffins – heavier ends of naphtha
OLEFINS
- Known as alkenes (CnH2n)
- Usually formed during processing
(seldom naturally)
- Undesirable in finished products
because the double bonds are reactive
hence the compounds are easily
oxidized and polymerized
- Does not exist in crude oil
Other Hydrocarbons
Alkynes: triple bond (alkynes),
CnH2n-2
Non-Hydrocarbons
Sulfur compounds
- H2S, mercaptans, sulfides, thiophenes, etc
- elemental sulfur
- causes corrosion
- hydro-desulfurization: remove sulfur
compounds
- sweetening: remove obnoxious sulfur
compounds, convert to
odorless sulfides
NON-HYDROCARBONS
Nitrogen Compounds
- include trace metals
- form nitrogen oxides in furnaces
- Decomposition : ammonia & cyanide
corrosion
Oxygen Compounds
- phenols, ketones, carboxylic acids
NON-HYDROCARBONS
Trace metals
- Ni, Fe,V
- Small quantities, removed in refining process
- Remove arsenic, vanadium, nickel-poison
catalysts
Naphtenic acid
- organic acids
- corrosive at T > 450°F
NON-HYDROCARBONS
Salts
- Inorganic salts : sodium chloride, calcium
chloride in suspension or dissolved in entrained
water (brine)
- Removed or neutralized – poison catalyst,
corrode equipment, fouling
Carbon dioxide
Results from decomposition of bicarbonates
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
1. Pour Rough indicator of the relative paraffinity
& aromaticity of the crude
point
The temperature where the liquid (oil) becomes
semi-solid and loses its flow characteristics
Lower pour pt:
-Lower paraffin content
-Higher aromatic content
(heavier oil)
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
2. Carbon Residue (wt%)
Roughly related to the asphalt content of the
crude & to the quantity of the lubricating oil
fraction that can be recovered
Determine the amount of carbon which remains after
combustion with a limited amount of O2
The lower of carbon residue means more valuable of
the crude
Method to calculate Carbon residue in weight %:
1. Ramsbottom Carbon (ASTM D-524)
2. Conradson Carbon (ASTM D-189)
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
3. Salt Content (NaCl)
- NaCl>10lb/1000bbl – Desalting process
- Can cause corrosion problem if not removed
4. Nitrogen Content wt%
- N2>0.25wt% (Undesirable)
- Can cause poisoning to catalyst used corrosion like H2
blistering
5. Metals Content, ppm
- Affect the activities of catalyst hence lowering product distribution
- Vanadium above 2 ppm can cause severe corrosion to turbine
blades
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
6. API An arbitrary scale expressing the gravity or
density of liquid petroleum products
Gravity
(range 10-50) Defined as American Petroleum Institute
(API) gravity
Higher API gravity : more paraffinic crude, higher yields
of gasoline, the lighter the compound
Lower API gravity : more aromatic crude, lower yields of
gasoline, the heavier the compound
modulus 141.5
API 131.5
SG
141.5
SG
API 131.5
A measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water
Higher API gravity than water – floats when mix with water
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
7. Sulfur content %
- Measured by ASTM
- The relative content of sulfur in natural oil:
-“SWEET” which means it contains little sulfur
(< 0.5 wt%)
-“SOUR” which means it contains large amount of
sulfur (> 0.5 wt%)
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
8. Total Acid Number (TAN)
• To monitor the oxidation of lubricating oils during use and
acidic crude oils
• Cause rapid corrosion of the fractioning columns; higher
acidic require expensive alloy steel equipment
• TAN is the no of mg of KOH required to neutralize acids
in1 g of oil
Composition of Petroleum
Refining process
Crude Oil Products
Chemicals, catalysts, heat, pressure
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
Petroleum products are usually grouped into three
categories:
1. Light distillates (LPG, gasoline, naphtha),
2. Middle distillates (kerosene, diesel),
3. Heavy distillates (heavy fuel oil, lubricating oils, wax,
asphalt).
This classification is based on the way crude oil is
distilled and separated into fractions (called distillates
and residuum)
PETROLEUM
Crude oil is separated into PRODUCTS Distillate
fractions by fractional distillation.
The fractions at the top of the
fractionating column have lower
boiling points than the fractions at
the bottom.
The heavy bottom fractions are
often cracked into lighter, more
useful products.
All of the fractions are processed
further in other refining units.
C1-C4 gases
20oC
C5-C9 naphtha
70oC
C5-C10 gasoline
120oC
C10-C14 kerosene, paraffin oil
170oC
C14-C20 diesel oil
270oC
C20-C50 lubricating oil
C20-C70 fuel oil
600oC
>C70 residue
THE PITCH DROP EXPERIMENT AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
Thank You
