Crude Oil Formation

Petroleum or crude oil, is not a single chemical

compound
Liquid petroleum, or oil, comprises a variety of liquid
hydrocarbon compounds, which are made up of long
molecular strings of carbon and hydrogen

There are also a variety of

gaseous hydrocarbons,
collectively called natural
gas, of which the compound
methane (CH4) is the most
common
 Crude Oil Formation
Most geologists believe that crude oil and natural
gas are the product of compression and heating of
organic materials over long geological time
According to this theory, oil is formed from the
preserved remains and algae which have settled
to the ocean bottom and are buried in large
quantities under anaerobic conditions (no oxygen)
 Crude Oil Formation
Over geological time this organic matter, mixed with
mud, is buried under heavy layers of sediment
As burial continues, the pressure and the temperature
both increase, and chemical changes begin to occur
The large, complex organic molecules are slowly
broken down into long chains of hydrocarbon
molecules, which have the consistency of asphalt
 Crude Oil Formation
Specifically, the organic molecules change into a
waxy material known as kerogen
With time and if the kerogen is subjected to
increased pressure and heat, it is further changed
into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process
known as catagenesis
Crude oil is a fossil fuel and one of the most important
substance in the world. It is a mixture of hundreds of
different compounds.

Crude oil is used to make

fuels for transport, heating
and generating electricity.

It is also used to make

plastics and hundreds of
different types of chemicals.

Every day, the world uses over 70 million barrels of oil.

The modern oil industry began
in the mid-19th century when
kerosene was distilled from
crude oil and used as cheap and
clean-burning fuel for lamps.
Gasoline was a by-product in
kerosene production, and was initially used as a solvent.

It wasn’t until the development of the internal combustion

engine and gasoline-powered cars in the late 19th century
that gasoline became highly valuable.
This led to a great increase in the demand for crude oil,
which has continued to this day.
Crude oil is often found trapped in rocks of the sea bed.

Oil rigs or drilling

platforms are used to
drill through the sea
bed to obtain the oil.

Once the oil has been

removed from the sea
bed, it is pumped in long
pipelines to an oil tanker
terminal or an oil refinery
on land.
 It is not necessary that oil is found near the
place where it is originated. It may be migrated
to several km from the source rock.
 Oil reservoirs are bounded by layer of
impervious rock known as cap and below a
layer of second impervious rock. The region
between these two layers is filled with porous
rock such as sand stone which contain oil or
gas in its pours. Oil flows in porous rock until it
reaches impervious rock. When there is gap in
cap rock natural bitumen or pitch is obtained.
It is difficult to say when crude oil
will run out because no-one knows
exactly how much oil there is left in
the world.

There are over 1 trillion (1 million

million) barrels of crude oil in
proven oil reserves

At current rates, this will last about 44 years, but the amount
of oil used in the world increases each year.

Some scientists believe there is a lot more oil still to find,

but others think that most oil has already been discovered.
 Venezuela, Kazakhstan,
All others, 79.729 39.62
216.544
Russia, 74.436
Nigeria, 35.876
Libya, 39.126 Iran, 137.49

United Arab
Emigrates, 97.8 Iraq, 115

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, 101.5

264.211
 World daily Crude Oil Production

80000
70000
thousand barrels/day

60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
 Quick Calculation. According to the previous
graph we use about 72 million barrels per
day. Oil reserves are 1201.332 billion
barrels.

 This equates to approximately 45 years of oil!

 US. Crude Oil Production

350000
300000
Thousand BBL

250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
Jan-1900 May-1927 Oct-1954 Feb-1982 Jul-2009
Crude oil is extremely useful but it has several drawbacks:
 Burning the products of crude oil as fuel produces gases
and particles that contribute to global warming and air
pollution.

 Removing oil from the

ground, as well as oil
spillages will be very
damaging to wildlife and the
environment.

 The high value of oil means it is sometimes the cause of

military conflict, especially because a large amount of oil
comes from countries that are politically unstable.
Many compounds in crude oil only contain the elements
carbon and hydrogen. They are called hydrocarbons.

Most hydrocarbons in crude oil are compounds called

alkanes. Alkanes contain a single chain of carbon atoms
with hydrogen atoms bonded along the side.
Alkanes or paraffin are a family of hydrocarbon compounds
with the general formula CnH2n+2.

 The simplest alkane is methane.

It has the formula CH4.

 The second simplest alkane is

ethane. It has the formula C2H6.

 The third simplest alkane is

propane. It has the formula C3H8.
 Paraffinic Base Type Crude Petroleum
This type of petroleum is mainly composed of the saturated
hydrocarbons from CH4 to C35H72 and a little of the napthenes and
aromatics. The hydrocarbons from C18H38 to C35H72 are sometimes called
Waxes.
 Asphalitc Base Type Crude Petroleum

It contains mainly cycloparaffins or napthenes with smaller amount of

paraffin and aromatic hydrocarbons.
 Mixed Base Type Crude Petroleum

It contains both paraffinic and asphaltic hydrocarbons and are generally

rich in semi-solid waxes.

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1) Distillation:
2) Cracking:
3) Reforming:
4) Polymerization
5) Hydrogenation
6) Alkylation
7) Isomerization

21
Crude oil itself has no uses – it must first be processed or
refined. This is done in an oil refinery.

The first step is to

separate
compounds in the
oil into groups
called fractions.

Each fraction
contains a mix of
compounds with
a similar number
of carbon atoms.
Molecules in crude oil can contain anything from just
1 carbon atom to well over 50.

The more carbon atoms in a hydrocarbon molecule, the

larger the molecule. How does this affect its boiling point?

Generally, the larger a hydrocarbon,

the higher its boiling point.

This is because the intermolecular forces between large

molecules are stronger than the intermolecular forces
between small molecules.
More energy is needed to break the forces between large
molecules, and so the boiling point is higher.
 Crude oil is a mixture of HYDROCARBONS
(compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen).
Some examples:

H H
Longer chains mean…

Increasing length
H C C H
H H 1. Less ability to flow
Ethane
2. Less flammable
H H H H
H C C C C H 3. Less volatile
H H H H
Butane 4. Higher boiling point
Fractional distillation is a process used to separate a
mixture of liquids that have different boiling points.
When the mixture is heated, liquids with a low boiling point
evaporate and turn to vapour.

Liquids with a higher boiling point remain

as liquid. The vapour can then be
separated from the liquid.

Fractional distillation is used to separate

crude oil into fractions with different
boiling points. It can be done industrially
and in the laboratory.
Crude oil is separated into fractions by fractional distillation.
1. Oil is heated to about 450 °C and pumped
into the bottom of a tall tower called a
fractionating column, where it vaporizes.
2. The column is very hot at the bottom but
much cooler at the top. As the vaporized oil
rises, it cools and condenses.
3. Heavy fractions (containing large molecules)
have a high boiling point and condense near
the bottom of the column.
4. Lighter fractions (containing small molecules)
have a lower boiling point and condense
further up the column.
Crude oil can be separated by fractional distillation. The oil is evaporated
and the hydrocarbon chains of different lengths condense at different
temperatures:

Fractions with
low boiling
points condense
at the top

Fractions with
high boiling
points condense
at the bottom
The amount of each type of fraction obtained by fractional
distillation does not usually match the amount of each
fraction that is needed.
Crude oil often contains
more heavier fractions than
lighter fractions, which are
more useful and therefore
more desirable.

The large hydrocarbon molecules

in the heavier fractions can be
broken down into smaller, more
useful, molecules to meet demand
for raw materials for fuels and plastics.
 Typical Oil
◦ Gasoline C4 to C10 27%
◦ Kerosene C11 to C13 13%
◦ Diesel C14 to C18 12%
◦ Heavy gas oil C19 to C25 10%
◦ Lubricating oil C26-C40 20%
◦ Residue >C40 18%
Large hydrocarbon molecules can be broken down into
smaller molecules using a catalyst. This is called catalytic
cracking.

The hydrocarbon molecules are heated until they turn into

vapour, and then mixed with a catalyst. The type of reaction in
catalytic cracking is called thermal decomposition.

The smaller molecules produced by catalytic cracking are a

mixture of alkanes and alkenes.

Alkenes are reactive molecules that are used to make

plastics and other chemicals.
Alkenes are a family of hydrocarbon compounds with the
general formula CnH2n.

Alkenes are very similar to alkanes, but they have one

important difference: they contain at least one double
covalent bond between carbon atoms.

 The simplest alkene is ethene.

It has the formula C2H4.

 The second simplest alkene is

propene. It has the formula
C3H6.
Decane from the naphtha fraction can be cracked to form
pentane (for use in petrol), propene and ethene.

decane
(C10H22)


+ +

pentane propene ethene

(C5H12) (C3H6) (C2H4)
Alkanes are examples of saturated compounds.

A saturated compound only contains single

covalent bonds between carbon atoms.

Alkenes are examples of unsaturated compounds.

An unsaturated compound contains at least one

double covalent bond between carbon atoms.

A test to distinguish between saturated and unsaturated

compounds is to add red bromine water. In the presence of
unsaturated compounds, the red colour disappears.
An important step in refining is removing impurities from
fractions. These can damage equipment that uses the
fraction, and cause pollution.

One of the most

important impurity to
remove is sulfur. When
burnt, this forms the gas
sulfur dioxide, which
causes acid rain.

Other impurities that need to be removed include nitrogen,

oxygen, water and dissolved metals.
 Gasoline
 Kerosene
 Diesel
 Heavy oils

36
• Gasoline is the most widely used liquid fuel.
• Production of gasoline is achieved by distillation of crude
oil. The desirable liquid is separated from the crude oil in
refineries. It contains some undesirable unsaturated
straight chain hydrocarbons and sulphur compounds. It
has boiling range of 40-120oC.
• Liquid gasoline itself is not actually burned, but its fumes
ignite, causing the remaining liquid to evaporate and then
burn. Gasoline is extremely volatile and easily combusts,
making any leakage potentially extremely dangerous.

37
 Gasoline or petrol is a
derivative product of crude
oil/petroleum. It is derived
during fractional distillation
process. It's not used in its
crude form. Different additives
are added like ethanol to use it
as fuel for passenger vehicles.
In the US and Latin countries,
term gasoline is used, but in
Europe and Asian countries it's
called petrol.
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• Kerosene oil is obtained between 180-250oC during fractional
distillation of crude petroleum.
• When kerosene is used in domestic appliances, it is always vaporized
before combustion.
• By using a fair excess of air it burns with a smokeless blue flame.
 USES
• Illuminant
• Jet engine fuel
• Tractor fuel (TVO)
• Additives

39
• Conventional diesel is similar to gasoline in that it is a mixture
of aliphatic hydrocarbons extracted from petroleum.
• The diesel fuel is obtained between 250-320oC during the
fractional distillation of crude petroleum.
• Diesel generally contains 85% C and 12% H.
• Diesel fuels consist of longer hydrocarbons and have low values
of ash, sediment, water and sulphalt contents.
• Calorific value is about 11,000 kcal/kg.
• Diesel easily ignite below compression temperature.
• It is used in diesel engine.

40
• It is a fraction obtained between 320-400oC during
fractional distillation of crude petroleum.
 This oil on fractionation gives :
• Lubricating oils which are used as lubricants.
• Petroleum-jelly (Vaseline) which is used as lubricants
in medicines and in cosmetics.
• Greases which are used as lubricants.
• Paraffin wax which is used in candles, boot polishes,
wax paper and for electrical insulation purposes.

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