Allotropes of Carbon-Petroleum

The term ‘petroleum’ is derived from the Latin terms petra, which means rock, and oleum, which means oil. As it is generated from rocks, like many other minerals, it is also referred to as ‘mineral oil.’ Petroleum is widely employed in modern life. Petroleum fuels vehicles, cooks food, heats homes, and generates electricity. Furthermore, detergents used to clean dishes and garments include petrochemical glycerin, a petroleum product. Candle wax is a petroleum-based raw material. Petroleum derivatives include oil-based cosmetics and perfumes. Gasoline is a prevalent form of transportation fuel. 

Petroleum Structure 

Petroleum consists of four types of chemicals: alkanes, cycloalkanes, aromatics, and heteroatomic molecules containing one or more nitrogen, sulphur, and/or oxygen atoms. Alkanes are known as paraffin, cycloalkanes as naphthenes, and heteroatomic compounds known as NSOs. One or more alkyl side chains can be found in cycloalkanes, aromatics, and NSOs.

Petroleum extracted from oil wells is mostly a complex combination of hydrocarbons with varying molecular structures. It also has trace amounts of sulphur, oxygen, nitrogen, and contaminants like water and sand. In a hydrocarbon molecule, the carbon and hydrogen atoms can be linked in a variety of ways, and this linking determines the chemical and physical properties of various hydrocarbon groups. These are:

Paraffin Series

The alkanes, commonly known as paraffin, are the predominant type of hydrocarbons in petroleum chemistry. These are known as saturated hydrocarbons, and their molecular chains can be branched or straight. Paraffin is a very pure hydrocarbon that simply includes hydrogen and carbon; the alkanes are what give petroleum chemistry its flammable nature. It will be suited for various uses depending on the type of alkanes found in the raw petroleum chemical.

Olefin Series

Only alkanes from the following groups will be utilised as fuel: pentane and octane will be converted into gasoline, hexadecane, and nonane into kerosene or diesel or utilised for producing jet fuel. When it comes to the chemistry of petroleum that does not contain a substantial amount of the types of paraffin required to make a flammable fuel, things become much simpler, as many non-fuel applications of petroleum are significantly more lenient in the chemical composition of the raw petroleum.

Naphthene Series

The cycloalkanes, commonly known as naphthenes, are classified as a saturated type of hydrocarbon. The molecule has one or more carbon rings with hydrogen atoms linked to them. These hydrocarbons have nearly identical characteristics to paraffin but a significantly higher point of combustion.

Aromatic Series

Aromatic hydrocarbons are a type of unsaturated hydrocarbon. The aromatic hydrocarbons differ from the other hydrocarbons in the petroleum molecule in that they have benzene rings with hydrogen atoms connected to them. Aromatic hydrocarbons emit much more pollutants when combusted, and many of them have a pleasant, sickening odour, hence the name aromatic hydrocarbons.

Petroleum Uses

Transportation

The whole global transportation system is reliant on petroleum. It has transformed the entire transportation system, whether by road, rail, river, or air. Petrol and diesel are the primary energy sources for all forms of modern vehicles. 

Industrial Power

Oil is the most important source of industrial power. Gas turbines generate power using diesel and gasoline.

Lighting and Heating

Heavier oils are utilised in central heating plants for businesses, companies, and houses.

Lubricants

Lubricants are extremely useful for all types of machines, particularly those employed in transportation and industry. Petroleum is used to make all types of lubricants and greases. Vehicles of all types, as well as the vast array of sophisticated machinery used in industries and offices, rely on lubricants and would come to a standstill if they were unavailable.

Petrochemical Industry

Petroleum by-products are used as raw materials in petrochemical and chemical industries. Petro-products are used to make things like chemical fertiliser, synthetic fibre, synthetic rubber, nylon, plastics, pesticides, carbon black, and sulphur, among other things.

Utilisation of by-products

Crude oil is a complex mixture of carbon, hydrogen, contaminants, and a few other elements. Various by-products have been formed as a result of the refining process, which separates distinct fractions of hydrocarbons. 

Conclusion

Our current modern civilization is dependent on massive levels of energy consumption, and much of today’s economic wealth is based on a petroleum-based economy. Petroleum uses include the source in transportation and is the beginning material for many other items in our daily lives, such as plastics, medications, solvents, fertilisers, insecticides, and textiles, as well as asphalt that we use to move these products. However, if we continue to rely on fossil fuels, we will be unable to cut greenhouse gas emissions to address environmental issues such as global warming. Without decisive action, global energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are expected to treble by 2050.