Introduction to Petroleum Products

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The first generation of products in the petroleum “family” (1) Transparent gasoline. Gasoline can be divided into two types: gasoline for use in vehicles and aviation gasoline. Gasoline used in vehicles serves as the fuel to power various types of piston-engine cars； Aircraft gasoline, on the other hand, is used for propeller-driven aircraft equipped with piston engines. There are two main criteria for judging the quality of gasoline: the first is the distillation composition of the gasoline. What is distillate composition? There is a test called Enneberg distillation test in oil refinery laboratories. It involves placing 100 milliliters of gasoline in a small flask equipped with a side tube, inserting a thermometer, and carrying out heating distillation. The temperature indicated by the thermometer at the moment the first drop of oil is distilled is called the initial boiling point. The temperature when the volume of the distilled liquid reaches 10 milliliters is called the 10% point; similarly, the 20% point, 30% point, and so on can be determined, until the temperature at which the last drop of oil is distilled is reached – this is known as the dry point. The proportion of each component that makes up gasoline, based on its boiling point range, is what constitutes the distillation profile of gasoline. For automotive gasoline, the dry point according to the En method is required to be no higher than 205°C, and the 10% point is required to be no higher than 79°C. The second important indicator is octane rating, which is what people generally refer to as the grade of gasoline. The octane ratings of gasoline for use in vehicles in our country include 65, 70, 85, and so on. The grade number corresponds to the octane rating of this gasoline. The higher the octane rating, the better the gasoline’s resistance to knocking, and the less fuel it consumes. The octane rating of straight-run steam-cracked gasoline is only 40 to 50; to meet the **specified requirements, it is necessary to add gasoline from catalytic cracking and catalytic reforming processes. Generally, qualified gasoline is colorless and transparent, but some gasoline has a pink or blue tint; this is because tetraethyl lead is added to increase its octane rating. Tetraethyl lead is highly toxic; its pink or blue color serves as a warning to use it with caution, and one must never suck gasoline through the mouth. (1) Light yellow kerosene: In addition to being used for lighting, kerosene is also employed in industry as aviation fuel and in detergents, and in agriculture as a solvent for pesticides. Another important product of kerosene is aviation kerosene. The main indicators for evaluating aviation kerosene are its calorific value, density, and low-temperature performance; in addition, there are also certain requirements regarding its boiling range and viscosity. Aircraft kerosene is mainly used as fuel for jet fighters. This type of aircraft requires a high flight altitude, long range, and fast speed. This requires aviation kerosene to have a high calorific value and a high density. The net calorific value of the aviation kerosene produced in our country is not less than 10,250 calories per kilogram, and its density is not lower than 0.775 grams per cubic centimeter. Jet planes fly at altitudes of over 10,000 meters, where the temperature at such heights can drop as low as -55°C to -60°C. This requires that aviation kerosene do not solidify at such low temperatures. Specifically, the freezing point of aviation kerosene must not exceed -55°C to -60°C, in order to ensure that aircraft can fly properly at high altitudes. The boiling range of aviation kerosene affects the engine’s starting performance and its ability to burn completely; moreover, the boiling range is directly related to the density of the kerosene itself as well as its performance at low temperatures. The viscosity of aviation kerosene affects the performance of the engine nozzles and the quality of combustion. The viscosity is too high, resulting in large oil droplets that are injected into the engine; this leads to incomplete combustion and reduces the engine’s power output ； Too low viscosity results in a large angle of the sprayed oil mist and a short range, which can cause internal overheating. Due to the strict requirements for aviation kerosene, hydrocracking is primarily used in refining to produce it. (II) Brown diesel: As the level of agricultural mechanization in our country continues to increase, the demand for diesel also grows. Combustion engine vehicles in rural areas, such as tractors, agricultural irrigation machinery, and large trucks, all use diesel as fuel. Diesel is divided into light diesel, used in high-speed diesel engines, and heavy diesel, used in low-speed diesel engines. The requirements for the use of heavy diesel are not strict, while those for light diesel are more stringent. The main indicators for judging light diesel are: combustion performance, anti-knock performance, freezing point, and viscosity. Light diesel contains too heavy fractions, which results in poor combustion performance; if it contains too many light fractions, it is not economical from a financial perspective. Therefore, it is generally specified that the temperature at the 50% point of the Enneberg distillation for light diesel should not exceed 300°C, and the temperature at the 90% point should not exceed 350–355°C. The anti-knock property of light diesel is measured by the “octane number”. The higher the cetane number, the better the anti-knock performance. Due to differences in temperature across different regions or seasons, when light diesel is required, it is necessary to choose a non-solidifying type that is economically viable. Therefore, the grades of light diesel are determined by their freezing points, with five grades available: 10, 0, -10, -20, and -35. The meaning of the diesel grade is to indicate the freezing point temperature of that type of light diesel. (III) Lubricants with multiple functions The role of “lubrication” is well-known. When you apply some oil to the axle of a bicycle, riding it becomes much easier and less strenuous. In fact, cosmic rockets, communication satellites, airplanes, trains, cars, ships, tractors, as well as everyday items such as electric fans, sewing machines, and watches – in short, any machine that is in motion or has rotating parts relies on lubricating oil to function properly. Why can lubricating oil serve as a lubricant? Everyone has experienced this: when walking on ordinary roads versus ice, the feeling under one’s feet is very different. The reason is that the friction forces exerted by the road surface and the ice surface on the shoe soles are different. If lubricant is applied between the contact surfaces of two objects, an oil film is formed between them, which in turn changes the friction at those contact surfaces. This friction, which becomes the friction between the molecules of the oil film, results in very low frictional resistance. Therefore, lubricant enables machines to operate smoothly, reduces wear and tear, and also saves energy consumption. In addition to its lubricating function, lubricant has several other important roles: 1. Cooling effect: As we all know, friction between two palms generates heat ； Heat is also generated at the contact surface between two machine components that are moving in opposite directions. By adding lubricant, not only is frictional resistance reduced thereby decreasing heat generation, but the lubricant can also carry away heat, serving to cool the contact areas. ⒉ Flushing effect: As the lubricant slides between the two friction surfaces, it can flush out impurities such as metal debris, dust, and sand particles from between those surfaces. ⒊ Sealing function: Some machines require a high level of sealing in certain areas, and it is difficult to achieve the necessary precision solely through mechanical processing. For example, in a reciprocating pump, only by filling the space between the cylinder liner and the piston rings with lubricant to create an oil seal can steam leakage be prevented. ⒋ Protective effect: For example, new kitchen knives or scissors sold in stores have a layer of oil on their surface. This layer of oil film prevents air from coming into contact with the metal surface, making it less likely for the metal to rust and thus providing protection. ⒌ Lubricating oil also serves functions such as vibration reduction and force transmission. Due to the wide variety of mechanical equipment and the different functions they perform, there is also a great diversity of lubricants required. The most commonly used and representative lubricants are: the first category includes gasoline engine oils and diesel engine oils. Gasoline engine oil is used in various gasoline vehicles and gasoline engines ； Diesel engine oil is used in diesel vehicles, tractors, diesel locomotives, etc. The main functions of this type of lubricant are lubrication and cooling. The second category is machine oils (including high-speed machine oils). Mechanical oil and oils for heavy machinery are primarily used in textile industries, sewing machines, and various types of lathes; their main function is also to provide lubrication. The third category includes compressor oil, turbine oil, refrigeration oil, and cylinder oil. They are used in compressors, turbines, and refrigerators respectively, while cylinder oil is used in steam locomotives and in cylinders that are in direct contact with steam. It mainly serves a sealing function. The fourth category is gear oil. It is further divided into industrial gear oil and gear oil for vehicles and tractors. Industrial gear oil is primarily used in various industrial machines, such as rotary furnaces and rolling mills, in their gear transmission systems. Automobile and tractor gear oils are used in their gearboxes, reduction gears, and other components, as well as in the hypoid gear drives of luxury cars and off-road vehicles. The main quality requirements for such lubricants are lubricity and wear resistance; moreover, to ensure that cars and tractors can start in low temperatures, they should also have a low freezing point. The fifth category is hydraulic oil, which is primarily used as a transmission medium in various hydraulic machinery; systems such as car transmissions and mining equipment all require hydraulic oil. The sixth category is oils for electrical equipment, including transformer oil and cable oil. Mainly used for electrical equipment for seed preparation. Such oils do not require lubrication properties, but electrical properties are required. Since the raw materials and production processes for these types of oils are similar to those of other lubricants, they are generally included in the lubricant category. It can be seen that there are various types of lubricants, each with its own specific purpose and particular requirements; therefore, they generally cannot be used interchangeably. (IV) Unnotable black asphalt – Asphalt products of various grades can be produced from the residues at the bottom of atmospheric and vacuum distillation columns in refineries, as well as from units such as catalytic cracking. In 1894, a man named \"Berai\" succeeded in producing oxidized petroleum asphalt by blowing air into crude oil; he named this substance \"Berai-type petroleum asphalt,\" which is commonly referred to as asphalt. This black asphalt has made silent contributions to the development of human transportation. The average speed of cars on asphalt roads is 25% higher than that on gravel roads. Due to its excellent adhesiveness, insulation properties, heat insulation, as well as resistance to moisture, seepage, water, corrosion, and rust, asphalt has a wide range of uses beyond road paving. When building floodproof houses, asphalt is commonly used as a waterproofing layer; when constructing refrigerated warehouses, a mixture of asphalt and wood chips is often used as an insulating layer ； Applying asphalt to railway sleepers can prevent corrosion ； Coating underground pipes with asphalt can prevent rust ； Applying a layer of asphalt to the reservoir dam can prevent seepage and leaks ； Injecting asphalt at the joints of the bridge deck can help compensate for thermal expansion and contraction. Asphalt can also be mixed with other materials to produce products such as asphalt paint, asphalt shingles, asphalt rubber, asphalt coatings, and asphalt insulating sealants. With the development of modern science and technology, the uses of petroleum asphalt have become more diverse. In terms of building materials, mixing asphalt with soil can produce asphalt bricks and asphalt slabs that are highly strong, have low water absorption, and are attractive in appearance as well as durable; this represents a new type of building material. In agriculture, mixing asphalt with fertilizer and spraying it on the soil surface helps to retain heat, reduce water evaporation, and prevent the loss of fertilizer. In the electrical industry, asphalt can be used as an insulating material and for protecting cables, especially underground and underwater cables, which rely heavily on asphalt. Furthermore, by further processing asphalt, it is possible to produce petroleum coke required by the steelmaking industry, as well as carbon fibers necessary for manufacturing spacecraft, among other things. It is evident that asphalt has a wide range of uses, and it truly deserves to be regarded as an unsung hero in humanity’s efforts to transform and conquer nature. (5) Paraffin, highly praised by people – Paraffin has a very wide range of uses. By immersing paper in paraffin, various waxed papers with excellent water resistance can be produced, which can be used for packaging food, medicines, etc., for rust prevention on metals, and in the printing industry ； Adding paraffin to cotton yarn makes textiles soft, smooth, and elastic ； Paraffin can also be used to produce detergents, emulsifiers, dispersants, plasticizers, greases, and more. How is paraffin then produced? When discussing the first division of the oil \"family\" earlier, it was mentioned that wax oil can be obtained from vacuum distillation towers; this is a lubricant raw material containing a high amount of paraffin. For lubricating oils, wax must be removed to ensure quality ； Wax, on the other hand, also does not tolerate being in contact with lubricants. Therefore, in refineries, extrusion dewaxing or solvent dewaxing is employed to achieve two goals at once. Wax produced directly in refineries is yellow in color; it is known as yellow wax, has a low melting point, and of poor quality. After refinement (such as decolorization with clay), paraffin of good quality and high melting point can be obtained. The wax products available in the market in various colors have colors added to them according to people’s needs. The grades of commercial paraffin are classified by melting point; there are nine grades of paraffin in China, namely grades 50, 52, 54…70. The number on the grade indicates the melting point of this paraffin. What has been introduced above are the representative products obtained in the processing at oil refineries. Generally, near oil refineries, there is also a petrochemical plant filled with tall towers; they often go hand in hand like brothers. Because most of the raw materials required for the petrochemical industry can be obtained from refineries. Therefore, most petrochemical products are second-generation products of the oil \"family\". Second-generation products of the petroleum “family” (1) Plastic products loved by everyone. Plastic is something that is well-known to all, and people rely on it in their daily lives. Plastic cups, plastic sandals, plastic water bottles, plastic raincoats, plastic films, as well as plastic light bulbs, switches, phone casings, and so on, are all plastic products. It has advantages such as low cost, beautiful colors, ease of portability, and being lightweight and durable. Apart from being used to make household items, plastics have extremely wide applications in industrial and agricultural production as well as in the defense industry. If a car uses an average of 45 kilograms of plastic, it can replace more than 100 kilograms of metal materials. If plastic films are used in agricultural seedling cultivation, they can maintain the temperature in the seedbeds, promote early maturation, and thus increase yields. Using one ton of plastic film for seedling cultivation can increase grain production by ten tons. When used in vegetable production, it can increase yield by 1 to 3 times. Plastic is a material that is formed by shaping synthetic resins under certain conditions (such as temperature and pressure) into a specific shape; it retains its shape at room temperature. Some plastic products, in addition to resin as their main component, also contain certain amounts of plasticizers, stabilizers, lubricants, colorants, and so on. Since plastic is based on synthetic resins as its primary raw material, then what are synthetic resins? Let’s start with some practical examples; the rosin used for playing the lute is a type of resin. Rosin is a natural resin extracted from the latex secreted by the bark of trees such as Japanese red pine and Chinese pine. Common resins such as peach gum, shellac, and burlap are also natural resins. These natural resins are polymer compounds that soften when heated and harden when cooled. Later on, polymer compounds with the property of softening when heated and hardening when cooled were all referred to as resins. In recent years, people have primarily used materials such as oil, natural gas, and refinery gas as raw materials, and through chemical methods, synthesized a polymer with properties superior to those of natural resins; this is what is referred to as synthetic resin. Based on the common characteristics exhibited by plastics when heated, they can be divided into two main categories: thermoplastics and thermosets. Thermoplastic plastics are materials that soften when heated, even turning into a flowable viscous substance; at this point they can be molded into objects of certain shapes, and they retain their shaped form once cooled. If reheated, it can become soft again and its original shape can be changed to another shape. This can be repeated multiple times. Plastics with this property are called thermoplastics. Synthetic resins used to make thermoplastics include polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyoxymethylene, and others. So-called thermosetting plastics soften at high temperatures and become plastic, allowing them to be shaped into various forms of products. Further heating will cause it to harden and take shape, and additional heating will not soften it or change its shape. Electrical bakelite products such as light bulbs or electrical sockets are made from this type of plastic, and they cannot be recycled or reused. Synthetic resins used to produce thermosetting plastics include phenolic resin, epoxy resin, amino resin, polyurethane, etc. (II) Colorful synthetic fibers: In daily life, people often refer to many thin materials whose length is many times greater than their diameter and which possess a certain degree of flexibility as fibers. In nature, things such as cotton and linen that grow from plants ； Silk and wool produced from animals ； Asbestos and similar materials extracted from minerals are all natural fibers. In recent years, raw materials for synthesizing such polymer materials have mainly been obtained from the petrochemical industry, and then these materials are spun into fibers; this is what is known as synthetic fiber. Only polymers that possess the necessary properties for fiber formation, such as plasticity, ductility, elasticity, toughness, and high strength, can be used to make fibers. Such polymers are called fiber-forming polymers. To obtain a mucous substance similar to that needed by silkworms when spinning silk, the fiber-forming polymer is melted into a mucous form through heating, or the polymer is dissolved in a solvent to create a solution with a certain viscosity. Then, this mucous substance is forced out in thin streams through tiny holes in a nozzle shaped like a silkworm’s mouth, and it cools and solidifies into silk in air or water. After a series of processing steps, synthetic fiber products are obtained. There are many types of synthetic fibers available on the market; excluding the less common varieties, there are over 30 types in total. In terms of their performance, applications, and industrial level, the six types that have seen the most development are nylon, polyester, polyolefin, polypropylene, vinylon, and chloroprene. The output of the first three accounts for almost 90% of the total synthetic fiber production. (III) Synthetic rubber – a vital support for industry, agriculture, and the defense industry. The production of natural rubber is restricted by regional and climatic conditions, and it can no longer meet the growing demands; as a result, synthetic rubber has seen vigorous development. In order to produce synthetic rubber, humans first studied the latex that comes from rubber trees, and found that its main component is isoprene; accordingly, they began to synthesize this compound. Finally, in 1914, the first elastic material was synthesized, called methyl rubber. In recent decades, due to the fact that synthetic rubber is not constrained by weather or geographical conditions, its production efficiency has **exceeded that of natural rubber. Moreover, synthetic rubber boasts superior properties in terms of oil resistance, wear resistance, high-temperature resistance, low-temperature resistance, and airtightness compared to natural rubber. So the current production has **exceeded that of natural rubber**. The large amount of raw materials required for synthetic rubber, such as ethylene, propylene, butylene, and aromatic hydrocarbons, can all be obtained from the petrochemical industry. First, monomers for producing synthetic rubber are obtained from oil; however, through polymerization, they join together to form a long “chain,” just like the polymer molecules in plastics. However, it is not a straight \"chain\"; rather, it is a winding chain that can bend, stretch, and rotate, which enables the synthesis rubber monomers to polymerize into elastic macromolecular solids. There are a wide variety of synthetic rubbers, and *traditionally, they are roughly divided into two categories based on their main uses: general-purpose synthetic rubbers and specialty synthetic rubbers. General-purpose rubber is produced in large quantities and is mainly used to manufacture various tires, industrial products and household items, as well as medical and health products. Special rubber is specifically used for rubber products that are employed under special conditions. For example, butyl rubber is characterized by its excellent oil resistance, and it is widely used in the manufacture of various oil-resistant hoses, fuel tanks, gaskets, etc. For example, some fluororubber materials can not only withstand high temperatures but also resist degradation by chemical agents. Sealing rings made from such rubber can endure 60,000 cycles of deformation in a corrosive solution at 200 degrees Celsius while retaining their performance. (IV) Nutrients for farmland and orchards ------- Fertilizers. The soil needs to be continuously supplied with nutrients in order to provide humans with crops such as grains, vegetables, fruits, and cotton. The nutrients of the soil come from fertilizers. Since various natural organic fertilizers found in nature, such as human and animal excreta, manure, plant ash, and various types of humus, are increasingly unable to meet the needs of actual agricultural production, people have gradually explored and developed chemical methods for synthesizing fertilizers; such fertilizers are known as chemical fertilizers. Abbreviated as chemical fertilizer. Among chemical fertilizers, nitrogen fertilizers are the most widely used in agricultural production, and currently, in the production of chemical fertilizers across countries around the world, nitrogen fertilizers account for the largest share. There are many types of nitrogen fertilizers: commonly used ones include urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium bicarbonate, and ammonium chloride. They are all white granular crystals, and they are all soluble in water to be absorbed by plant roots in the soil. Nitrogen is an essential component of proteins, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll in crops. It promotes crop growth, resulting in lush stems and leaves with a dark green color, and it enhances photosynthesis in plants, thereby facilitating their growth. If one jin of sulfuric acid AN is used for fertilization, it can increase grain production by 4 jin. Urea contains more than twice as much nitrogen as ammonium sulfate, offering greater fertilizing efficiency; it can be used in any type of soil without damaging it. When it comes to the origin of nitrogen fertilizers, we must start with ammonia. In toilets with poor ventilation, we often detect a pungent odor; this is actually the smell emitted by a gas chemically known as ammonia, which is a basic ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers. Because ammonia reacts with sulfuric acid, ammonium sulfate is formed ； Ammonia reacting with nitric acid can produce *ao acid an ； Ammonia reacts with carbonic acid to produce ammonium bicarbonate ； Ammonia reacts with hydrochloric acid to yield ammonium chloride ； Under certain conditions, ammonia reacts with carbon dioxide to produce urea. So how is ammonia produced industrially? The raw materials for ammonia production are nitrogen and hydrogen. Four-fifths of the air is nitrogen; therefore, the nitrogen used in the ammonia production industry can, of course, be obtained from the air. The hydrogen required in the ammonia production industry can be obtained in many ways. Among them, producing hydrogen from natural gas and refinery gas as raw materials offers advantages such as low cost and high purity. At present, many fertilizer plants in our country use this method to produce hydrogen. After extracting nitrogen from the air and hydrogen from oil, people mix them in the required proportions; then, under certain conditions, a chemical reaction takes place, resulting in the production of synthetic ammonia. With ammonia, nitrogen fertilizers are available. With nitrogen fertilizer, there is a guarantee of increased crop yields in farmland. In addition to the products mentioned above, petroleum can also be used as a raw material to produce dyes, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, detergents, **, synthetic proteins, and other materials for organic synthesis industries. In short, thanks to modern petroleum processing technologies, it is now possible to obtain over 5,000 different products from this reservoir of oil. It can be said that petroleum products are used in various fields such as industry, agriculture, national defense, transportation, and people’s daily lives.