Petroleum industry products

Figure 3.2.1. Schematic diagram of petroleum industry products and yields. [Reproduced from reference 1]...

We will begin by a brief review of the concept of the X-ray fluorescence analytical method widely used in the petroleum industry for studying the whole range of products and for analyzing catalysts as well. 

The petroleum industry faces the need to analyze numerous elements which are either naturally present in crude oil as is particularly the case for nickel and vanadium or those elements that are added to petroleum products during refining. 

Chromatographic techniques, particularly gas phase chromatography, are used throughout all areas of the petroleum industry research centers, quality control laboratories and refining units. The applications covered are very diverse and include gas composition, search and analysis of contaminants, monitoring production units, feed and product analysis. We will show but a few examples in this section to give the reader an idea of the potential, and limits, of chromatographic techniques. 

Knowledge of physical properties of fluids is essential to the process engineer because it enables him to specify, size or verify the operation of equipment in a production unit. The objective of this chapter is to present a collection of methods used in the calculation of physical properties of mixtures encountered in the petroleum industry, different kinds of hydrocarbon components, and some pure compounds. 

Specifications represent, as indicated in dictionaries, the definition of the characteristics that a construction, a material, a product, etc., must have. The specifications for industrial products, such as petroleum products, are thus lists of terms and conditions that the products must meet. There are many types of specifications for petroleum products ... 

Benzene was prepared from coal tar by August W von Hofmann m 1845 Coal tar remained the primary source for the industrial production of benzene for many years until petroleum based technologies became competitive about 1950 Current production IS about 6 million tons per year m the United States A substantial portion of this ben zene is converted to styrene for use m the preparation of polystyrene plastics and films... 

Toluene is also an important organic chemical Like benzene its early industrial production was from coal tar but most of it now comes from petroleum... 

Petroleum Industry Gas chromatography is ideally suited for the analysis of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, and oil. A typical chromatogram for the analysis of unleaded gasoline is shown in Figure 12.25d. 

Foam Control. Whereas some siUcones are known to be foam promoters, Dow Corning FS-1265 Fluid is a Hquid fluorosiUcone with effective antifoam properties. Petroleum industry appHcation of fluids and dispersions in gas—oil separators on offshore drilling platforms has been successful. Their use peaked in the early 1980s, coinciding with constrained cmde oil capacity and production. Diesel fuels are an excellent solvent for dimethyl silicones and render them ineffective as an antifoam. A new antifoam which does not require the use of added siUca is formulated from a fluorosiUcone copolymer. It has shown promise to antifoam (8) diesel fuel (see Defoamers). 

Petroleum Products American Petroleum Institute 1220 L Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 Fosters development of standards, codes, and safe practices in petroleum industries and pubhshes the same in its journals and reference pubHcations. 

Chemical-Process Vessels. Explosion-bonded products are used in the manufacture of process equipment for the chemical, petrochemical, and petroleum industries where the corrosion resistance of an expensive metal is combined with the strength and economy of another metal. AppHcations include explosion cladding of titanium tubesheet to Monel, hot fabrication of an explosion clad to form an elbow for pipes in nuclear power plants, and explosion cladding titanium and steel for use in a vessel intended for terephthaHc acid manufacture. 

Synthetic Zeolites. Many new crystalline 2eohtes have been synthesi2ed and several fulfill important functions in the chemical and petroleum industries and in consumer products such as detergents. The stmctural formula of a 2eohte is based on the crystal unit cell, the smallest unit of stmcture,... 

A number of other words that have traditionally been used in the petroleum industry are difficult to define precisely. These refer pardy to specific hoiling ranges, but also to certain intended uses. Thus, gasoline boils lower than naphtha, and kerosenes generally higher, but these terms are applied to products that ate intended as fuels, rather than as solvents. 

Acid Treatment. The treatment of petroleum products with acids has been in use for a considerable time in the petroleum industry. Various acids such as hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and phosphoric acid have been used in addition to the most commonly used sulfuric acid, but in most instances there is Httie advantage in using any acid other than sulfuric. 

The constant demand for products such as Hquid fuels is the main driving force behind the petroleum industry (7,30). In fact, it is the changes in product demand that have been largely responsible for the evolution of the industry. 

Storage of Flammable Materials. The preferred storage for flammable Hquids or gases is in properly designed tanks. Floating roof tanks frequently are used in the petroleum industry for flammable cmdes and products (see Tanks and pressure vessels). The vents on cone roof tanks should either be equipped with flame arrestors or the vapor space above the contents should be inerted with a nonflammable gas or vapor, unless the flash point is weU above the maximum ambient temperature, the contents are not heated above the flash point, and the tank is not exposed to other tanks containing flammable Hquids. 

Catalysts for Chemical Industry Applications. The PGMs are widely used as catalysts in chemical manufacturing, petroleum (qv) refining, and electrochemical processing (qv). A number of the most important industrial products manufactured by using PGM catalysts are outlined herein. 

Petroleum and Goal. The alkanolarnines have found wide use in the petroleum industry. The ethanolamines are used as lubricants and stabilizers in drilling muds. Reaction products of the ethan olamines and fatty acids are used as emulsion stabilizers, chemical washes, and bore cleaners (168). Oil recovery has been enhanced through the use of ethan olamine petroleum sulfonates (169—174). OH—water emulsions pumped from wells have been demulsifted through the addition of triethanolarnine derivatives. Alkanolarnines have been used in recovering coal in aqueous slurries and as coal—oil mix stabilizers (175—177). 

Alkylphenol ethoxylates are chemically stable and highly versatile surfactants that find appHcation in a large variety of industrial products including acid and alkaline metal cleaning formulations, hospital cleaners, herbicides (qv) and insecticides, oil-weU drilling fluids, synthetic latices, and many others (see Disinfectants AND antiseptics Elastop rs, synthetic Insect control technology Metal surface treati nts Pesticides Petroleum, drilling fluids). 

In the early 1960s the petroleum industry employing molecular sieve technology made available a low cost and plentihil supply of normal paraffin fractions of very high purity. This enabled chlorinated paraffin manufacturers to exploit new appHcations with a range of products specifically designed to meet the technical and commercial requirements. 

For many years the petroleum industry has defined nonconductive liquids as having conductivities less than 50 pS/m. A higher value of 100 pS/m is used here to address the higher dielectric constants of certain flammable chemicals in relation to petroleum products. For example the dielectric constant of ethyl ether is 4.6 versus 2.3 for benzene from Eq. (2-3.2), ethyl ether therefore has the same relaxation time at a conductivity of 100 pS/m as benzene at a conductivity of 50 pS/m. It is the relaxation time, not the conductivity alone, that determines the rate of loss of charge hence the same logic that makes 50 pS/m appropriate for identifying nonconductive hydrocarbons makes 100 pS/m appropriate for identifying nonconductive chemical products. 

API is the major national trade association representing the entire petroleum industry exploration and production, transportation, refining, and marketing. 

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