Petroleum California

Monterey Formation, bitumen, heavy oils and asphalts, petroleum (California, USA)... 

Occidental Petroleum Coal Conversion Process. Garrett R D Co. (now the Occidental Research Co.) developed the Oxy Coal Conversion process based on mathematical simulation for heating coal particles in the pyrolysis unit. It was estimated that coal particles of 100-mm diameter could be heated throughout their volumes to decomposition temperature (450—540°C) within 0.1 s. A large pilot faciUty was constmcted at LaVeme, California, in 1971. This unit was reported to operate successfully at feed rates up to 136 kg/h (3.2 t/d). 

The acid content of cmde petroleum varies from 0—3%, with cmdes from California, Venezuela, Russia, and Romania having the highest content. Smaller amounts are found ia U.S. Gulf Coast cmdes, whereas Httie or no naphthenic acids are found ia Pennsylvania, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia cmdes. Typical concentrations are shown ia Table 2. Minor amounts of naphthenic acids are also found ia bituminous oil sands, but these are not economically recoverable. Identification of naphthenic acids ia water from oil-beating strata is being examined as a potential method of petroleum exploration (18). 

Sulfur Polymer Cement. SPC has been proven effective in reducing leach rates of reactive heavy metals to the extent that some wastes can be managed solely as low level waste (LLW). When SPC is combined with mercury and lead oxides (both toxic metals), it interacts chemically to form mercury sulfide, HgS, and lead sulfide, PbS, both of which are insoluble in water. A dried sulfur residue from petroleum refining that contained 600-ppm vanadium (a carcinogen) was chemically modified using dicyclopentadiene and oligomer of cyclopentadiene and used to make SC (58). This material was examined by the California Department of Health Services (Cal EPA) and the leachable level of vanadium had been reduced to 8.3 ppm, well below the soluble threshold limit concentration of 24 ppm (59). 

I am pleased to acknowledge that the simulation results presented in this chapter were obtained from calculations carried out in collaboration with Kechuan Tu, Mike Klein, and Kent Blasie. The calculations and fitting of the neutron scattering spectra benefited from discussions with Mounir Tarek. Financial support was provided by the School of Physical Sciences at the University of California at Irvine and a grant from the donors of The Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society (ACS-PRF 33247-G7). 

Deep drilling oil rig at Not al Petroleum Reser e s Elk Hills site near Bakersfield, California. (U.S. Department of Energy)... 

R. E. Dilgren, A. R. Deemer, and K. B. Owens, Paper No. SPE 10744 presented at the 52nd Annual California Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, San Francisco, March 1982. 

Aleva, G. J. J. (1984). Laterization, bauxitization and cyclic landscape development in the Guiana Shield. In "Bauxite Proceedings of the 1984 Bauxite Symposium," Los Angeles, California, February 27, 1984-March 1,1984 (L. Jacob, Jr., ed.), pp. 297-318. American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, New York. 

This work was supported by a Faculty Research Grant from the University of California, Irvine and the Petroleum Research Fund administered by the American Chemical Society. The excimer laser... 

Presented at the 55th Annual California Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and available as an addendum to reference 1. 

The interfacial tension behavior between a crude oil (as opposed to pure hydrocarbon) and an aqueous surfactant phase as a function of temperature has not been extensively studied. Burkowsky and Marx T181 observed interfacial tension minima at temperatures between 50 and 80°C for crude oils with some surfactant formulations, whereas interfacial tensions for other formulations were not affected by temperature changes. Handy et al. [191 observed little or no temperature dependence (25-180°C) for interfacial tensions between California crude and aqueous petroleum sulfonate surfactants at various NaCI concentrations. In contrast, for a pure hydrocarbon or mineral oil and the same surfactant systems, an abrupt decrease in interfacial tension was observed at temperatures in excess of 120°C 1 20]. Non ionic surfactants showed sharp minima of interfacial tension for crude... 

Sample. Petroleum crude oil sample from Long Beach Field (TUMS Well C-331, API° 20), California, and shale oil obtained by retorting at 500°C the Green River Oil Shale (Anvil Point Mine) were studied. About 20 g of shale oil was dissolved in 200 ml of THF and then filtered. The sample was recovered by a rotary evaporator. Although the same procedure was done on the other samples, the percent ash was different for each sample. All the samples were evaporated to a constant weight in a vacuum oven at 50°C. 

Snyder, L.R. Nitrogen and Oxygen Compound Types in Petroleum. Total Analysis of a 400-700oF Distillate from a California Crude Oil, Anal. Chem. 1969, 41, 314. 

Price, L.C. (1973) The Solubility of Hydrocarbons and Petroleum in Water. Ph.D. Thesis., University of California, Riverside, CA. Price, L.C. (1976) Aqueous solubility of petroleum as applied to its origin and primary migration. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 60, 213-244. 

Acknowledgments We would like to thank the National Science Foundation (DMR-0135233, DMR-0703988, Chem-0456719, Chem-0723497), the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (36730-G7), the Dupont Company, the 3 M Company, the Simitomo Company, the Rhom and Haas Company, and the Univesity of California at Irvine for generous financial support. ZG gratefully acknowledges a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. CSP acknowledges an Allergan Fellowship, a UCI dissertation fellowship, and the Joan Rowland award from UCI. 

Ho, T., Marcus, L. F., Berger, R., Radiocarbon Dating of Petroleum-impregnated Bone from Tar Pits at Rancho La Brea, California, Science, 1969, J64, 1051-1052. 

Electrofining A process for purifying petroleum fractions by extracting them with various liquid reagents and then assisting their separation by means of an electric field. Developed by the Petreco Division of Petrolite Corporation, and first operated in California in 1951. 

Hydrobon A catalytic petroleum hydrotreating process, developed by UOP and formerly licensed jointly with the Union Oil Company of California under the name Unifining. 

Hypersorption A continuous chromatographic separation process using a moving bed. Invented in 1919 by F. D. Soddy (famed for his work on isotopes) at Oxford and developed commercially for petroleum refinery separations by the Union Oil Company of California in 1946. Six plants were built in the late 1940s, using activated carbon as the adsorbent. The process was abandoned because attrition of the bed particles proved uneconomic. 

Mercapsol A process for removing mercaptans from petroleum fractions, using aqueous sodium or potassium hydroxide containing cresols and solubility promoters. Developed by the Pure Oil Company, a division of the Union Oil Company of California, and first operated in West Virginia in 1941. 

Unisar [Union saturation of aromatics] A process for hydrogenating aromatic hydrocarbons in petroleum fractions, using a noble metal heterogeneous catalyst. Developed by the Union Oil Company of California. The first commercial unit opened in Beaumont, TX, in 1969 eight commercial plants were in operation in 1991. 

Unisulf [Unocal sulfur removal] A process for removing sulfur compounds from petroleum fractions, similar to the Stretford process, but including in the catalytic solution vanadium, a thiocyanate, a carboxylate (usually citrate), and an aromatic sulfonate complexing agent. Developed by the Union Oil Company of California in 1979, commercialized in 1985, and operated in three commercial plants in 1989. 

The New York Times reports this is one of the deadliest periods for the American petrochemical industry s history "Alarm(ing) company executives, the 12 worst explosions killed 79 people, injured 833, and caused roughly 2 billion in damage". In the U.S.A. over 34,500 industrial chemical accidents were reported during the period of 1988-1992, nearly one every hour. Over 2,000 of these resulted in injuries, evacuations or fatalities. Some 40 percent occurred concentrated in just two percent of the counties of the U.S., primarily in California, Texas and Louisiana, home to most and some of the largest petroleum and chemical facilities in the U.S.A. 

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