Petroleum


Petroleum (from Latin petrus–rock and oleum–oil) or mineral oil.
It can be shortened to the prefix petro-, as in "petrodiesel".

Petroleum is a thick, dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at
certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth. It consists of a
complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but
may vary much in appearance, composition, and properties. Biological
material in rocks starts off largely as a waxy material known as kerogen.
Under the influence of heat and pressure, kerogen breaks down first into
liquids and to gases. Both the liquid (petroleum) and gas phases (natural
gas) tend to migrate through porous rocks until they encounter impermeable
beds where packets/pools will tend to collect. After a drilling and pumping
process to extract it from the strata, petroleum is refined by distillation.
The products include kerosene, benzene, gasoline, paraffin wax, asphalt,
etc.

The biological nature of petroleum is not certain. Russian scientists have
proposed that petroleum is "abiotic" in nature.

The following paragraph is from the above site.

"The modern Russian-Ukrainian theory of deep, abiotic petroleum origins
recognizes that petroleum is a primordial material of deep origin which has
been erupted into the crust of the Earth. In short, and bluntly, petroleum
is not a Òfossil fuelÓ and has no intrinsic connection with dead dinosaurs
(or any other biological detritus) Òin the sedimentsÓ (or anywhere else)."

Western science has ignored the "proof" supplied by the Russians. Russia is
now completely oil self sufficient, lending credence to their claims. If oil
is indeed the result of an abiotic geological process, the supply is
virtually limitless.

Strictly speaking, petroleum consists entirely of aliphatic hydrocarbons,
those composed of nothing but hydrogen and carbon.

The four lightest hydrocarbons -- CH4 (methane), C2H6 (ethane), C3H8
(propane) and C4H10 (butane) -- are all gases, boiling at -107¡C, -67¡C,
-43¡C, and -18¡C, respectively (-161¡, -88¡, -46¡, and -1¡ degrees F).

The chains in the C5-7 range are all light, easily vaporized, clear
naphthas. They are used as solvents, dry cleaning fluids, and other
quick-drying products. The chains from C6H14 through C12H26 are blended
together and used for gasoline. Kerosene is made up of chains in the C10 to
C15 range, followed by diesel fuel/heating oil (C10 to C20) and heavier fuel
oils as the ones used in ship engines. These petroleum compounds are all
liquid at room temperature.

Lubricating oils and semi-solid greases (including Vaseline¨) range from C16
up to C20.

Chains above C20 form solids, starting with paraffin wax, then tar and
asphaltic bitumen.

Boiling ranges of petroleum atmospheric pressure distillation fractions in degrees
centigrade:

   * petrol ether: 40 - 70 (used as solvent)
   * light petrol: 60 - 100 (automobile fuel)
   * heavy petrol: 100 - 150 (automobile fuel)
   * light kerosene: 120 - 150 (household solvent and fuel)
   * kerosene: 150 - 300 (jet engine fuel)
   * gas oil: 250 - 350 (Diesel fuel/ heating)
   * lubrication oil: > 300 (engine oil)
   * remaining fractions: tar, asphalt, residual fuel

Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source (powering the vast
majority of automobiles, trucks, trains and ships), and as the base of many
industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities.
Access to it was a major factor in several military conflicts, including
World War Two and the Gulf War. Much of the world's readily accessible
reserves are located in the Middle East, a politically unstable region.

Petroleum history

Petroleum industry was initialized by Edwin Drake in the 1850's, near
Titusville, Pennsylvania. The industry grew slowly in the 1800s and did not
become a real national concern until the early part of the 20th century; the
introduction of the internal combusion engine provided a demand that has
largely sustained the industry to this day. Early "local" finds like those
in Pennsylvania and Ontario were quickly exhausted, leading to "oil booms"
in Texas and California. Other countries had sizable oil reserves as a part
of their colonial holdings, and started to develop at an industrial level.

Following the 1973 oil crisis there was significant media coverage of oil
supply levels. This brought to light the concern that oil is a limited
resource that we will eventually run out of, at least as an economically
viable energy source. At the time, the most common and popular predictions
were always quite dire, and when they did not come true many dismissed all
such discussion. The future of petroleum as a fuel remains somewhat
controversial. Some would argue that because the total amount of petroleum
is finite, the dire predictions of the 1970s have merely been postponed.
Others argue that technology will continue to allow for the production of
cheap hydrocarbons and that the earth has vast sources of unconventional
petroleum reserves in the form of tar sands, bitumen fields, oil shale, and
methyl hydrate that will allow for petroleum use to continue for an
extremely long period in the future.

The presence of the oil industry has significant social and environmental
impacts, both from accidents and from routine activities such as seismic
exploration, drilling and the generation of polluting wastes. Oil extraction
is expensive and frequently environmentally damaging. Offshort exploration
and extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine environment.
Extraction may involve dredging which stirs up the sea bed killing the sea
plants that marine creatures require to survive. Crude oil and refined fuel
spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged fragile ecosystems in Alaska,
the Galapagos Islands, and many other places. Fortunately, renewable energy
source alternatives do exist.