Oil is a mineral. Oil deposits. Oil production

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Oil is one of the world's most important minerals (hydrocarbon fuel). It is a raw material for the production of fuels, lubricants and other materials. For its characteristic dark color and great importance for the global economy, oil (a mineral) is nicknamed black gold.

General information

The specified substance is formed together with gaseous hydrocarbons at a certain depth (mainly from 1, 2 to 2 km).

The maximum number of oil deposits is located at a depth of 1 to 3 km. Near the earth's surface, this substance becomes thick m alta, semi-hard asph alt and other materials (for example, tar sand).

In terms of the originality of the origin and chemical composition, the oil, the photo of which is presented in the article, is similar to natural combustible gases, as well as to ozocerite and asph alt. Sometimes all these fossil fuels are combined under one name - petrolites. They are also referred to a wider group - caustobioliths. They are combustible biogenic minerals.

This group also includes such fossils as peat, slates, black and brown coals,anthracite. According to the ability to dissolve in liquids of an organic type (chloroform, carbon disulfide, alcohol-benzene mixture), oil, like other petrolites, as well as substances that are extracted with these solvents from peat, coal or their products, are referred to as bitumen.

Use

Currently, 48% of the energy consumed on the planet comes from oil (mineral). This is a proven fact.

Oil (mineral) is a source of many chemicals used in various industries in the production of fuels, lubricants, polymer fibers, dyes, solvents and other materials.

Growth in oil consumption has led to higher prices for it and to the gradual depletion of mineral resources. This makes us think about switching to alternative energy sources.

Description of physical properties

Oil is a light brown to dark brown (almost black) liquid. Sometimes there are emerald green specimens. The molecular weight of oil is from 220 to 300 g/mol. Sometimes this parameter ranges from 450 to 470 g/mol. Its density index is determined in the region of 0.65–1.05 (mainly 0.82–0.95) g/cm³. In this regard, oil is divided into several types. Namely:

• Easy. Density - less than 0.83 g/cm³.
• Average. The density index in this case is in the region from 0.831 to 0.860 g/cm³.
• Heavy. Density – over 0.860 g/cm³.

Thisthe substance contains a significant number of various organic substances. As a result, natural oil is characterized not by its own boiling point, but by the initial level of this indicator for liquid hydrocarbons. Basically it is >28 °C, and sometimes ≧100 °С (in case of heavy oil).

The viscosity of this substance varies widely (from 1.98 to 265.9 mm²/s). This is determined by the oil fractional composition and its temperature. The higher the temperature and the number of light fractions, the lower the viscosity of the oil. This is also due to the presence of substances of the resinous-asph alten type. That is, the more of them, the higher the viscosity of the oil.

The specific heat capacity of this substance is 1.7-2.1 kJ/(kg∙K). The parameter of specific heat of combustion is relatively low - from 43.7 to 46.2 MJ/kg. The dielectric constant of oil is from 2 to 2.5, and its electrical conductivity is from 2∙10-10 to 0.3∙10−18 Ohm-1∙cm-1.

Oil, the photo of which is presented in the article, is a flammable liquid. It flashes at temperatures from -35 to +120 ° C. It depends on its fractional composition and content of dissolved gases.

Oil (fuel) under normal conditions does not dissolve in water. However, it is capable of forming stable emulsions with liquid. Oil is dissolved by certain substances. This is done using organic solvents. In order to separate water and s alt from oil, certain actions are carried out. They are very important in the technological process. This is des alting and dehydration.

Description of the chemical composition

When disclosing this topic, all the features of the substance in question should be taken into account. These are the general, hydrocarbon and elemental compositions of oil. Next, consider each of them in more detail.

Total squad

Natural fossil oil is a mixture of approximately 1000 substances of different nature. The main components are as follows:

• Liquid hydrocarbons. It is 80-90% by weight.
• Organic heteroatomic compounds (4-5%). Of these, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen prevail.
• Organometallic compounds (mainly nickel and vanadium).
• Dissolved hydrocarbon type gases (C1-C4, tenths to 4 percent).
• Water (from traces to 10%).
• Mineral s alts. Mostly chlorides. 0.1-4000mg/L and above.
• Solutions of s alts, organic acids and mechanical impurities (particles of clay, limestone, sand).

Hydrocarbon composition

Mostly oil has paraffin (usually 30-35, rarely - 40-50% of the total volume) and naphthenic (25-75%) compounds. Aromatic compounds are present to a lesser extent. They occupy 10-20%, and less often - 35%. This affects the quality of the oil. The substance under consideration also includes compounds of a mixed or hybrid structure. For example, naphtheno-aromatic and paraffin.

Heteroatomic components and description of the elemental composition of oil

Together with hydrocarbons, the product contains substances with impurity atoms(mercaptans, di- and monosulfides, thiophanes and thiophenes, as well as polycyclic and the like). They significantly affect the quality of oil.

Also, oil contains substances containing nitrogen. These are mainly homologues of indole, pyridine, quinoline, pyrrole, carbazole, porphyrites. They are concentrated mostly in residues and heavy fractions.

The composition of oil includes oxygen-containing substances (naphthenic acids, tar-asph altene acids, phenols and other substances). They are usually found in high-boiling type fractions.

In total, over 50 elements have been found in oil. Together with the mentioned substances, V (10-5 - 10-2%), Ni (10-4-10-3%), Cl (from traces to 2∙10-2%) and so on are present in this product. The content of these impurities and compounds in the raw materials of various deposits varies widely. As a result, it is only conditional to talk about the average oil chemical composition.

How is the specified substance classified according to the composition of hydrocarbons?

There are certain criteria in this plan. Separate types of oil according to the class of hydrocarbons. They should be no more than 50%. If one of the classes of hydrocarbons is at least 25%, then mixed types of oil are distinguished - naphthene-methane, methane-naphthenic, naphthene-aromatic, aromatic-naphthenic, methane-aromatic and aromatic-methane. They contain more than 25% of the first component, and more than 50% of the second.

Crude oil does not apply. To obtain technically valuable products (mainly motor fuel, raw materials forchemical industry, solvents) it is recycled.

Product research methods

The quality of the specified substance is evaluated in order to correctly select the most rational schemes for its processing. This is done using a complex of methods: chemical, physical and special.

General characteristics of oil - viscosity, density, pour point and other physical and chemical parameters, as well as the composition of dissolved gases and the percentage of tar, solid paraffins and tar-asph altene substances.

The main principle of the stage-by-stage study of oil is to combine the methods of its separation into certain components with the consequent simplification of the composition of some fractions. They are then analyzed by various physicochemical methods. The most common methods for determining the primary fractional oil composition are various types of distillation (distillation) and rectification.

According to the results of the selection for narrow (boiling away in the region of 10-20 °С) and wide (50-100 °С) fractions, a curve (ITC) of the true boiling points of a given substance is constructed. Then, the content potential of individual elements, petroleum products and their components (kerosene-gas oil, gasoline, oil distillates, diesel, as well as tars and fuel oils), hydrocarbon composition, as well as other commercial and physical and chemical characteristics are determined.

Distillation is carried out on conventional distillation apparatus. They are equipped with distillation columns. In this caseseparation capacity corresponds to 20-22 pieces of theoretical plates.

The fractions that were isolated as a result of distillation are further divided into components. Then, using a variety of methods, their content is determined and properties are established. According to the ways of expressing the oil composition and fractions, its group, individual, structural-group and elemental analyzes are distinguished.

In group analysis, the content of naphthenic, paraffinic, mixed and aromatic hydrocarbons is determined separately.

In the structural-group analysis, the hydrocarbon composition of oil fractions is determined as the average content of naphthenic, aromatic and other cyclic structures, as well as chains of paraffin elements. In this case, one more action is carried out - the calculation of the relative amount of hydrocarbon in naphthenes, paraffins and arenes.

Personal hydrocarbon composition is determined exclusively for gasoline and gas fractions. In elemental analysis, the oil composition is expressed by the amount (in percent) of C, O, S, H, N and trace elements.

The main method for separating aromatic hydrocarbons from naphthenic and paraffinic hydrocarbons and separating arenes into poly- and monocyclic ones is liquid adsorption chromatography. Usually, in this case, a certain element serves as an absorber - a double sorbent.

The composition of hydrocarbon oil multicomponent mixtures of a wide and narrow range is usually deciphered using a combinationchromatographic (in liquid or gas phase), adsorption and other separation methods with spectral and mass spectrometric research methods.

Since there are trends in the world to further deepen such a process as oil development, its detailed analysis becomes essential (especially high-boiling fractions and residual products - tars and fuel oils).

Main oil fields in Russia

There is a significant amount of deposits of this substance on the territory of the Russian Federation. Oil (mineral) is the national we alth of Russia. It is one of the main export products. Oil production and refining is a source of significant tax revenues for the Russian budget.

The development of oil on an industrial scale began at the end of the 19th century. At present, there are large functioning oil production areas in Russia. They are located in various regions of the country.

Name fields	Opening date	Retrievable stocks	Oil production areas
Great	2013	300 mln t	Astrakhan Region
Samotlor	1965	2.7 billion tons	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Romashkinskoe	1948	2.3 billion tons	Republic of Tatarstan
Priobskoe	1982g.	2.7 billion tons	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Arlanian	1966	500 mln t	Republic of Bashkortostan
Lyantorskoe	1965	2 billion tons	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Vankorskoe	1988	490 mln t	Krasnoyarsk Territory
Fedorovskoye	1971	1.5 billion tons	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Russian	1968	410 mln t	Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Mammoth	1965	1 billion tons	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Tuymazinskoe	1937	300 mln t	Republic of Bashkortostan

US Shale Oil

Serious changes have taken place in the hydrocarbon fuel market in recent years. The discovery of shale gas and the development of technologies for its extraction in a short time made the United States one of the major producers of this substance. This phenomenon has been described by experts as the “shale revolution”. At the moment, the world is on the verge of an equally grandiose event. We are talking about the mass development of oil shale deposits. If earlier experts predicted the imminent end of the era of oil, now it can last indefinitely. Thus, talk about alternative energy becomes irrelevant.

However, information on economicaspects of the development of oil shale deposits is very controversial. According to the publication "However", shale oil produced in the US (Texas) costs approximately $15 per barrel. At the same time, it seems quite realistic to further reduce the cost of the process by half.

The world leader in the production of "classic" oil - Saudi Arabia - has good prospects in the shale industry: the cost of a barrel here is only 7 dollars. Russia is losing in this regard. In Russia, 1 barrel of shale oil will cost about $20.

According to the aforementioned publication, shale oil can be produced in all world regions. Each country has significant reserves of it. However, the reliability of the information given is questionable, since there is no information on the specific cost of shale oil production yet.

Analyst G. Birg gives the opposite data. According to him, the cost of a barrel of shale oil is $70-90.

According to Bank of Moscow analyst D. Borisov, the cost of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and Guinea reaches $80. This is approximately equal to the current market price.

G. Birg also claims that oil (shale) deposits are unevenly distributed across the planet. More than two-thirds of the total volume is concentrated in the United States. Russia accounts for only 7 percent.

For the production of the product in question, large volumes of rock have to be processed. The conduct of such a process as the extraction of shale oil is carried out by the open pit method. This is seriously harming nature.

According to Birg, the complexity of such a process as extracting shale oil is offset by the abundance of this substance on Earth.

If we assume that shale oil production technologies reach a sufficient level, then world oil prices may simply collapse. But so far, no cardinal changes have been observed in this area.

With existing technologies, shale oil production can be profitable in a certain case - only when oil prices are $150 per barrel and above.

Russia, according to Birg, the so-called shale revolution will not hurt. The fact is that both scenarios are beneficial for this country. The secret is simple: high oil prices bring big profits, and a breakthrough in shale production will increase exports through the development of relevant fields.

D. Borisov is not so optimistic in this regard. The development of shale oil production, in his opinion, promises a collapse in prices on the oil market and a sharp drop in Russia's export earnings. True, in the short term, this should not be feared, since shale development is still problematic.

Conclusion

Mineral resources - oil, gas and similar substances - are the property of each state in which they are mined. You can verify this by reading the article presented above.