Petroleum. Occurrence Origin

Smith, P. V., Studies on the Origin of Petroleum Occurrence of Hydro-... 

In the past perfumes were made using flower and herb extracts and natural animal musk. These were very expensive and only used at special occasions. Nowadays perfume is 95 percent petrochemical substances (chemicals extracted from petroleum) and is much less expensive than the original rose water of yore, thus its use has become an everyday occurrence. Modern perfume can consist of hundreds of separate ingredients, and not all of these are tested for their effects upon health. Some ingredients could be toxic at certain dosage levels. Yet many still don t believe this, as if perfume is still just innocent natural extracts. 

The transformation of porphyrin precursors to porphyrins, as well as the occurrence of these compounds in possible petroleum source materials and In petroleum, have considerable geochemical significance In the history of the origin and accumulation of petroleum. 

Further details in connection with the geologic origin and occurrence of petroleum may be obtained from special books on the subject. 

The Selexol process has found a very wide range of applications. It was originally used to remove CO2 from an ammonia plant in Nebraska, followed soon after by H2S and CO2 removal from natural gas in the U.S. and in Europe. Other applications include desulfurization and CO2 removal from synthesis gas derived from the partial oxidation of heavy petroleum stocks and from coal gasification. Natural gas treating applications include several, where in addition to production of pipeline specification gas, a relatively pure stream of carbon dioxide is produced for reinjection into oil formations, so-called enhanced oil recovery or EOR. A relatively new use for the process dating back to 1979 is the purification of landfill gas drawn from the biological degradation of municipal waste in sanitary landfills. This application is characterized by the occurrence of chlorinated and aromatic hydrocarbons as impurities in the landfill gas. 

As noted above, hazardous wastes originate in the anthrosphere. However, to a large extent, they move, have effects, and end up in the anthrosphere as well. Large quantities of hazardous substances are moved by truek, rail, ship, and pipeline. Spills and releases from such movement, ranging from minor leaks from small containers to eatastrophie releases of petroleum from wrecked tanker ships, are a common occurrence. Much effort in the area of environmental protection can be profitably devoted to minimizing and increasing the safety of the transport of hazardous substances through the anthrosphere. 

This chapter provides a summary of data on the occurrence of dissolved organic acid anions in subsurface waters, especially in formation waters associated with petroleum. In addition, it discusses general aspects of the origin and survivability of organic acid anions in the subsurface. 

Benzene, toluene, the xylenes, ethyl benzene, styrene, isopropyl benzene (cumene), chlorobenzene, the dichlorobenzenes, nitrobenzene, diphenyl, naphthalene, 1-methyl-naphthalene, 2-methyl-naphthalene, 2,6-dimethyl-naphthalene, and 2,6-diisopropyl naphthalene are the most important volatile aromatics of commercial significance. These compounds do not occur in the environment naturally except as constituents of petroleum which may seep into the oceans from underground deposits. The occurrence of these products in the environment is thus mainly or exclusively of man-made origin, as distinct from other hydrocarbons such as methane, terpenoids, polycyclic aromatics. 

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