Beyond Petroleum

More recently, the chemical industry has seen the need to look beyond petroleum to processes for converting nonpetroleum materials to feedstocks (1,15). These processes, all fuel-oriented but having feedstock potential in varying degrees, usually deal with coal-derived liquids, shale oil, and biomass. 

I) the opportunity to diversify the primary energy base of vehicles beyond petroleum ... 

QriginaUy known as British Petroleum, BP now stands for Beyond Petroleum (BP 2005). 

Dartee, M. (2002) Quahty achievements in PLA based plastics International Congress Trade Show The Industrial Applications of Bioplastics, 3rd, 4th and 5th February. Drzal, L., Mohanty, A. and Misra, M. (2002) Biocomposites Opportunities for Value-added Biohased Materials , Proceedings of Creating Value for Biobased Resources -Moving beyond Petroleum, Kansas City, MI, USA. 

This product, given the abbreviation FOD (fuel-oil domestique) in France, still held a considerable market share there of 17 Mt in 1993. However, since 1973 when its consumption reached 37 Mt, FOD has seen its demand shrink gradually owing to development of nuclear energy and electric heating. FOD also faces strong competition with natural gas. Nevertheless, its presence in the French, European and worldwide petroleum balance will still be strong beyond tbe year 2000. 

A modem petroleum refinery is a complex system of chemical and physical operations. The cmde oil is first separated by distillahon into fractions such as gasoline, kerosene, and fuel oil. Some of the distillate fractions are converted to more valuable products by cracking, polymerization, or reforming. The products are treated to remove undesirable components, such as sulfur, and then blended to meet the final product specifications. A detailed analysis of the entire petroleum production process, including emissions and controls, is obviously well beyond the scope of this text. 

The gradual transition towards the biobased economy brings opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog beyond the petroleum era and into a cleaner, greener and more renewable future based on biotechnology knowledge. 

The unique power of synthesis is the ability to create new molecules and materials with valuable properties. This capacity can be used to interact with the natural world, as in the treatment of disease or the production of food, but it can also produce compounds and materials beyond the capacity of living systems. Our present world uses vast amounts of synthetic polymers, mainly derived from petroleum by synthesis. The development of nanotechnology, which envisions the application of properties at the molecular level to catalysis, energy transfer, and information management has focused attention on multimolecular arrays and systems capable of self-assembly. We can expect that in the future synthesis will bring into existence new substances with unique properties that will have impacts as profound as those resulting from syntheses of therapeutics and polymeric materials. 

On February 28, 1935, Carothers project succeeded beyond anyone s wildest dreams. The cheerful, lively Frenchman Berchet produced a superpolymer made from chemicals derived from cheap benzene, a by-product of coal later they would be made from petroleum. A filament teased from Berchet s polymer was, despite its lowly origins, pearly and lustrous. And when it was tested, it proved to be spinnable. Its code name was 6-6 because both its reactants—hexamethylene diamine and adipic acid—had six carbon atoms. Technically, the filament was polyhexamethylene adipamide, a long-chain polymer similar in structure to proteins. It became world-famous as nylon. 

B. d,l-a- Isopropylideneaminooxy)propionic acid. In a 1-1. three-necked flask fitted with a stirrer and a thermometer that can be immersed in the contents of the flask is placed 300 ml. of 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide (0.37 mole). The flask is heated on a water bath until the temperature of the solution reaches 70°, and 52 g. (0.30 mole) of ethyl a-(isopropylideneaminooxy)pro-pionate is added. The mixture is stirred rapidly while the temperature is held at 70° the stirring is continued for 20 minutes beyond the time necessary for the contents of the flask to become homogeneous (Note 4). The solution is cooled and acidified to Congo red paper with 5N hydrochloric acid, and 175 g. of ammonium sulfate is added. The mixture is extracted three times with a total of 300 ml. of a 1 1 mixture of ether and benzene. The combined extracts are dried rapidly over 5 g. of anhydrous magnesium sulfate and filtered (Note 5). The solvent is removed by distillation, and 160 ml. of petroleum ether (b.p. 30-60°) is... 

When several reactions occur simultaneously a degree of advancement is associated with each stoichiometric equation. Problem P4.01.26 is a application of this point. Some processes, for instance cracking of petroleum fractions, involve many substances. Then a correct number of independent stoichiometric equations must be formulated before equilibrium can be calculated. Another technique is to apply the principle that equilibrium is at a minimum of Gibbs free energy. This problem, however, is beyond the scope of this book. 

The quoted authors (D9) collected data on bubble volumes in water, aqueous glycerol, and petroleum ether. They have used Eq. (6) for verifying bubble volumes obtained for flow rates up to 3 cm3/sec. They find that theory and experiment agree excellently only in the flow range of 1.5 to 3.0 cm3/sec and not below 1.5 cm3/sec. This discrepancy has been qualitatively explained by them on the basis of surface tension effects, but there is no quantitative explanation. Although the equation has not been verified from 3 to 15 cm3/sec, the authors feel that it would be applicable. Beyond 20 cm3/sec, the experimental values have been compared with those obtained by using Eqs. (8)—(9) and considerable deviation has been observed. 

A number of techniques have been proposed. We will discuss only the more conventional methods that are widely used in the chemical and petroleum industries. Only the identification of linear transfer-function models will be discussed. Nonlinear identification is beyond the scope of this book. 

A few comments Sulfur dioxide (S02) is a gas produced by volcanoes and from many industrial processes. It is sometimes used as a preservative in alcoholic drinks, or dried apricots and other fruits. Generally, the combustion of fossil fuels containing sulfur compounds such as coal and petroleum results in sulfur dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere. Beyond its irritating effect on the lungs, sulfur dioxide is also a threat to the environment, since it is well known to contribute to acid-rain formation. 

The nation s petroleum resources are not inexhaustible, although its potential energy resources are adequate for centuries to come ( ). These include, in addition to liquid petroleum, natural gas, oil shale, tar sands, and coal. Above and beyond these resources is the basic energy to be derived from the sun, winds, tidal action, and nuclear forces. For the present purpose, no consideration of these ultimate energy sources is required. 

The optical properties of the components of petroleum have been of major importance in connection with their identification and in the determination of purity. The primary effort has been directed to the study of pure hydrocarbons and only limited work has been concerned with the prediction of the index of refraction and the specific rotation of hydrocarbon mixtures. Table V summarizes the optical properties of a number of the principal components of petroleum. Only a few references to the optical properties of pure hydrocarbons of primary interest to the analyst have been included. Developments (9) in refractometers have materially increased the potentialities of the index of refraction measurements at atmospheric pressure as an analytical method. Consideration of the pertinent data in this field is beyond the scope of the present discussion. Reviews of developments in infrared (24, 26) and mass spectrometry (68) are available. 

Overland Pipelines. Detailed maps of gas pipelines in the United States and other parts of the world can be found in several references, particularly among the periodicals serving the pipeline industry. Notable among these references is the international petroleum encyclopedia and atlas issued periodically by Petroleum Publishing Co., Tulsa, Oklahoma. Numerous trade associations serving the pipeline industry are also excellent sources on pipeline statistics, There are so many pipelines that presentation of this type of information is beyond the scope of this encyclopedia. 

The fundamental phases of petroleum production include (1) the initial exploration required to find heretofore undiscovered oil and gas reservoirs (2) primary and secondary recovery methods, which make use of both naturally occurring (or primary) reservoir energy and the application of secondary energy sources, such as the injection of gas or water and (3) enhanced oil recovery used to increase ultimate oil production beyond that achievable with primary and secondary methods. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods increase the proportion of the reservoir by improving the sweep efficiency, reducing the amount of residual oil in the swept zones (increasing the displacement efficiency), and reducing the viscosity of thick oils. 

The resins and asphaltenes from tar sands and from the other synthetic fuels have not been analyzed beyond the extent shown by the tables. The resins can be fractionated and analyzed in more detail using methods developed for petroleum resins by Jewell (46) and McKay (47), but more extensive work is necessary to have definitive analysis methods for these materials. 

To continue such references is beyond the scope of this book, although they do give a flavor of the developing interest in petroleum as well as heavy oil, distillation residues (residua), and bitumen. However, it is sufficient to note that there are many other references to the occurrence and use of heavy oil and bitumen or petroleum derivatives up to the beginning of the modem petroleum industry (Cook and Despard, 1927 Mallowan and Rose, 1935 Nellensteyn and Brand, 1936 Mallowan, 1954 Marschner et al., 1978). 

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