Introduction

Petroleum (or crude oil) is a complex, naturally occurring liquid mixture containing mostly
hydrocarbons, but containing also some compounds of oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. It is often
referred to as the black gold. Hydrocarbons are usually the primary component of crude oil,
their composition can vary from 50%-97% depending on the type of crude oil and how it is
extracted. Organic compounds like nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur typically make-up between
6%-10% of crude oil while metals such as copper, nickel, vanadium and iron account for less
than 1% of the total composition.
i)

Formation of Crude Oil

Crude oil forms by the breaking down of large molecules of fats, oils and waxes that

contributed to the formation of kerogen. This process began millions of years ago, when small
marine organisms abounded in the seas. As marine life died, it settled at the sea bottom and
became buried in layers of clay, silt and sand. The gradual decay by the effect of heat and
pressure resulted in the formation of hundreds of compounds. Because petroleum is a fluid, it is
able to migrate through the earth as it forms. To form large, economically recoverable amounts
of oil underground, two things are needed: an oil pool and an oil trap. An oil pool, which is the
underground reservoir of oil, may literally be a pool or it could be droplets of oil collected in a
highly porous rock such as sandstone. An oil trap is a non-porous rock formation that holds the
oil pool in place. Obviously, in order to stay in the ground, the fluids must be trapped, so that
they cannot flow to the surface of the earth. The hydrocarbons accumulate in reservoir rock,
the porous sandstone or limestone. The reservoir rock must have a covering of an impervious
rock that will not allow the passage of the hydrocarbon fluids to the surface.

ii)

Crude Oil Processing

The preparation of petroleum before it is sold to the consumers is very extensive. A large
number of different products is obtained from the petroleum refinery. Most of them are used as
fuels. A small but very important fraction is used as the basis for the chemical industry which
gives us such various such products as plastics, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

As usual, the oil well exploration is done mostly by geologist and engineering. The
geologist function is to find new area of hyrocarbons potential to be explored. Then there are
two types of engineer in charge, which is the drilling engineer and well engineer. After the oil
has been pumped out, it will be transported to refinery stations.
For the refining process the very first step involves application of heat to evaporate
components in the raw crude oil. The heated components are later separated based on its
boiling point. In oil refining, the product generated from separation process is not fully
customizable to suit market demand. A conversion process in oil refining process provides
flexibility in generating more valuable product. While separation and conversion steps in oil
refining process generate different chemical from the crude oil. Purification process helps oil
refining process people to come out with product with lower sulfur content. This means a
cleaner product will be generated in the oil refining process.
Then it will be stored in bulk terminal supply. From there, it will be transported to the
consumer for daily usage of car fuel, jet fuel, construction, various cosmetics product and paved
road constructions.

Objectives
1) To find the specific gravity value for the crude oil sample provided.
2) To know the volume percentage of crude oil based on types of products according to their
distinctive boiling points.
3) To determine the physical properties of various crude oil fractions.
4) To gain knowledge on the flow of crude oil distillation processes.

Methods
i)

First Distillation

Apparatus : Bunsen burner, funnel, retort stand, distillation flask, measuring cylinder and
thermometer (400oC).
Material : 250ml of crude oil
Method :
1) Two 100ml and one 500ml of empty measuring cylinder was weighed. Repeat the steps
for the distillation flask along with the cork.
2) 250ml of crude oil was inserted into the distillation flask with a long funnel (avoid from
splashing onto the flasks wall).
3) The weight was measured.
4) The set up shown below ( Figure 1)
5) The distillation was started. The movements of the mercury inside the thermometer
were observed and the first drop temperature was taken.
6) The distillation continued and the temperature was controlled carefully to get the
product at range of 3-4ml/minutes. The volume of the product were measured for every
5oC rise in temperature.
7) The first cylinder was replaced by the second cylinder after the temperature reached
200oC.
8) The distillation process was continued and stopped at 275oC.
9) The remaining of the crude oil in the flask was weighed and compared with the weight
before distillation. The difference was represented in percentage.
10) The readings were recorded and a temperature-volume graph was produced.
11) The products and remains of distillation were kept in the dark room for the next
experiment.

Figure 1 Apparatus set up

ii)

Second Distillation

Apparatus: The same apparatus as used in first distillation.

Materials: Remains of crude oil from first distillation
Methods:
1) The methods of first distillation were repeated.
2) The first drop products temperature was taken and the readings of measuring cylinder
for every 5oC temperature raise were recorded with drop range of 2ml/minutes.
3) The distillation was stopped after the temperature reached 375oC.
4) The density of product was determined.
5) The percentage of the followings were calculated in accordance to the original weight:
a) Distillates
b) Remains
6) A graph of temperature against volume percentage was plotted.

Results
i)

Before Distillation

M1 (distillation flask + thermometer + cork + base): 310.21g

M2 (distillation flask + thermometer + cork + base + crude oil): 515.80
Cylinder A: 144.20g
Cylinder B: 116.42

ii)

First Distillation

Cylinder A:
a) Volumes recorded for every 5oC raised of temperature
Temperature (C )

Volume (ml)

90

0 (1st drop)

95

0.1

100

0.2

105

0.4

110

0.7

115

1.3

120

1.4

125

1.7

195

2.0

200

4.0

b) Weight after distillation: 149.14g

Cylinder B:
a) Volumes recorded for every 5oC raised of temperature
Temperature (C )

Volume (ml)

200

0 (1st drop)

205

0.3

210

0.6

215

0.7

220

0.8

225

0.9

230

10

235

14

240

15

245

19

250

25

255

33

260

40

265

55

270

70

275

80

b) Weight after distillation: 184.43g

iii)

Second Distillation

After first distillation: Distillation flask + crude oil + thermometer + cork + base: 441.49g
After second distillation: Distillation flask + crude oil + thermometer + cork + base: 333.06g
Cylinder C (Before distillation): 215.79g
Cylinder C (After distillation): 322.58g

Cylinder C
Volumes recorded for every 5oC raised of temperature:
Suhu

Volume (ml)

110

115

120

2.5

125

3.0

130

3.5

135

4.0

140

4.5

145

4.5

150

5.0

155

5.5

160

6.0

165

6.5

170

7.0

175

7.5

180

8.0

185

10.00

280

16.00

285

23.00

290

35.00

295

37.00

300

39.00

305

43.00

310

47.00

315

51.00

320

60.00

325

70.00

330

72.00

335

82.00

340

99.00

345

103.00

350

108.00

355

111.00

360

114.00

365

119.00

Calculation

i.

First Distillation
Weight

Before Distillation

After Distillation

Cylinder A

a = 114.20g

e = 149.14g

Cylinder B

b = 116.42g

f = 184.43g

Distillation flask+Cork+Base+Thermometer

c = 310.21g

Distillation flask+Cork+Base+Thermometer+Crude

d = 515.80g

g = 441.49g

Apparatus

Oil

1. Initial weight of crude oil

=d-c
= 515.80g 310.21g
= 205.59g
2. Final weight of crude oil
=g-c
= 441.49g 310.21g
=131.28g

3. Weight of distillates in measuring cylinder A

=ea
= 149.14g 114.20g
= 4.94g

4. Weight of distillates in measuring cylinder B

=fb
= 184.43g 116.42g
=68.01g
5. Total distillates
= 4.94g + 68.01g
= 72.95g

6. Percentage of distillates over the initial weight of crude oil

Percentage of cylinder A = A / CO1 x 100%
= 4.94g/205.59 x 100%
= 2.403%
Percentage of cylinder B = B /CO1x 100%
= 68.01/205/59 x 100%
= 33.0804%

ii.

Second Distillation
Weight

Before distillation

After distillation

Cylinder C

a = 215.79g

c = 322.58g

b = 333.06g

d = 310.21g

Apparatus
Distillation
flask+cork+thermometer+base+crude
st

oil(1 distillation)

1. Remaining crude oils weight

=ba
= 333.06g 310.21g
= 22.85g
2. Weight of distillates in cylinder C
=ba
= 322.58g 215.79g
= 106.79g
3. Percentage of cylinder C = C/CO1 x 100%
= 106.79/205.59 x100%
= 51.943%
4. Percentage of remaining crude oil
= 22.85g/205.59 x 100%
= 11.114%

iii.

Specific Gravity of Crude Oil

Weight of picnometer: 35.14g

Weight of picnometer + distilled water: 88.58g
Weight of picnometer + crude oil: 81.42g
Weight of distilled water: 88.58g 35.14 = 53.44g
Weight of crude oil: 81.42 35.14 = 46.28g
Thus SG of oil = 46.28/53.44 = 0.8660

iv.

API of crude oil

API = [ 141.5/Specific Gravity ] 131.5g

= [ 141.5/0.8660 ] 131.5g
= 31.895

v.

Density of each distillates

Density = Mass/ Volume

1) A = 4.94g/4ml
= 1.24g/ml
2) B = 68.01g/80.0ml
= 0.85g/ml
3) C = 106.79g/119ml
= 0.90g/ml

Data Representation
i.

Volume of distillates in cylinder A, B and C

140.0
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0

Volume A (ml)

335

325

315

305

295

285

275

265

255

245

235

225

215

205

200

125

115

95

105

Temperature (C )

Volume B (ml)

Figure 2 Volume - Temperature for Each Cylinder

ii.

Cumulative Volume of Distillates in Cylinder A, B and C

Cumulative Volume (ml)

Figure 3 Cumulative Volume

355

340

325

310

295

280

265

250

235

220

205

195

115

100

Volume (ml)

Temperature

1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

Volume C (ml)

Discussion
i.

Characteristics of Crude Oil

a. Colour

Generally, petroleum is dark colour depend on the hydrocarbon content and also contamination
percentage.
Colour

Types of Crude Oil

Light colour

Light paraffin

Black

Rich of resin and asphalt

Very Dark Colour

High density

Brownish

Low density

Dark colour

Umdergone oxidation process

b. Boiling Point
Boiling and burning point of crude oil depends on the degree of API. The higher the degree of
API, the lower the boiling point and vice versa. Burning point is the ability of petroleum to burn
because of the sparks of fire. The higher the degree of API the easier for it to burn because of
sparks of fire. The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how
heavy or light petroleum liquid is compared to water. Crude oil that does not flow, or cannot be
pumped without being heated or diluted is called bitumen, and generally has an API gravity of
less than 10.
American Petroleum Index ( API )

Type of Crude

<10o

Heavy

20o 30o

Medium

>30o

Light

Since the degree of API calculated for the sample of crude oil provided is 31.895, thus in can be
concluded that it is from light type of crude oil.
c. Smell
The smell of crude oil depends on chemical content and can be differentiated between sweet or
sour. Paraffin and naphtene rich crude oil gives a sweet smell while benzene and aromatics
gives sour smell. Smell can be used to identify quality of crude oil. For this sample, it gives
pretty sweet smell.
d. Specific Gravity
Specific gravity is one of the crucial things in determining in classifying crude oil. It value used
to find the API. API is functional to know the quality of crude oil. The higher the specific gravity
the lower the API degree and the quality are lower. Commonly, the specific gravity of crude oil
is less than 1.0. The specific gravity for this sample of crude oil is 0.8860 which is for light oil.
e. Viscosity
Viscosity is the resistant force of fluid when an object move through it by sentipois. The light
type crude oil has low viscosity. The higher the API degree, the lower the viscosity. For this
sample, the viscosity is low since the API is pretty high.

Criteria of Crude Oil

Characteristics of Crude Oil

Colour

Dark brown

Specific Gravity

0.8860 ( Light)

Boiling Point

Low boiling point

Viscosity

Low

Smell

Sweet

ii.

Characteristics of Distillates

Hunt(1979) Diagram

Based on Hunt diagram, it can be concluded that chemical composition of each distillates A, B
and C are;
Measuring Cylinder

Chemical Content

N Paraffin

Iso Paraffin

Naphtene

Thus, based on the chemical composition, Hunt Diagram and eye observation, the physical
properties are;
Physical Properties

Colour

Light colur

Brownish

Dark brown-Black

Smell

Sweet

Pretty Sweet

Sour

Low

Medium

High

Gasoline

Kerosene

Diesel + Light Oil

Viscosity
Type of distillate

Distillate
Boiling Point (oC)

0 200

200 250

250 400

Conclusion
The specific gravity for the crude oil is 0.8896 and the API degree is 31.895 that both indicate
low viscosity, low boiling point, sweet smell. Thus it is a light grade oil.
For the distillates in cylinder A, it is made up of gasoline and chemical composition of n
paraffin. For cylinder B, the distillates is Kerosene and the chemical content of iso paraffin.
Lastly for measuring cylinder C, it is made up of diesel with mixture of light oil distillate with
chemical content of Naphtene.

References
i.

Sanudin Hj. Tahir, 2003. Geologi Petroleum. University Malaysia Sabah. Page 43-71.

ii.

J.-P. Wauquier, 1994. Petroleum Refining: Crude Oil, Petroleum Products, Process

Flowsheets, Volume 1. Page 1-26. (Google book)

iii.

Laudon, E.C. 1995. Principles of Petroleum Geology. Simon and Schuster Trade

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
SEMESTER 1 2014/2015
PROGRAM GEOLOGI
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY (SG30203)
TITLE : CRUDE OIL FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION

Lecturers Name

Prof. Dr. Sanudin Hj. Tahir

Demonstrators Name

Mr. Muhd. Nur Ismail B. Abdul Rahman

Students Name

Sufrizan Bin Dawing

Matric No.

BS12110630