Characterization of a Petroleum Fraction by Carbon Atom Distribution

2 Characterization of a Petroleum Fraction by Carbon Atom Distribution 

One has seen that the number of individual components in a hydrocarbon cut increases rapidly with its boiling point. It is thereby out of the question to resolve such a cut to its individual components instead of the analysis by family given by mass spectrometry, one may prefer a distribution by type of carbon. This can be done by infrared absorption spectrometry which also has other applications in the petroleum industry. Another distribution is possible which describes a cut in tei ns of a set of structural patterns using nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen (or carbon) this can thus describe the average molecule in the fraction under study. 

1 Using Infrared Spectrometry to Characterize Petroleum Fractions according to the Nature of the Carbon Atoms 

Chapter 3. CHARACTERIZATION OF CRUDE OlLS AND PETROLEUM FRACTIONS 

Although a diatomic molecule can produce only one vibration, this number increases with the number of atoms making up the molecule. For a molecule of N atoms, 3N-6 vibrations are possible. That corresponds to 3N degrees of freedom from which are subtracted 3 translational movements and 3 rotational movements for the overall molecule for which the energy is not quantified and corresponds to thermal energy. In reality, this number is most often reduced because of symmetry. Additionally, for a vibration to be active in the infrared, it must be accompanied by a variation in the molecule s dipole moment. 

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