Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Crude Oil Properties
Crude Oil Properties
Crude Classification
Paraffinic base
Mixed or intermediate
Naphthenic base
Mallisons method
Classification based on residue left after
distillation
>5% paraffins..paraffinic base
2-5 % paraffins.mixed base
<2% paraffins. Naphthenic base
Crude Assay
The crude assay is a compilation of
laboratory and pilot plant data that defines
the properties of the specific crude oil.
Contents of assay
True boiling point
curve
Specific gravity curve
Sulphur content
Viscosity
Pour point
EFV curve
ASTM Distillation
Liquid is boiled and vapours are
condensed
Vapour temperatures are noted and
plotted against the distillate recovered
These are employed as routine tests to
measure quality of refinery products
Flash Point
The flash point of an oil is the temperature
at which the vapour above the oil will
momentarily flash or explode.
Type of apparatus
Pensky Marten(PM) apparatus for middle
distillates and fuels
Abel apparatus for kerosene
Flash point
Empirical correlation
Flash point 0F = 0.77(ASTM 5% 0F-1500F)
Aniline Point
The minimum temperature for complete
miscibility of equal volumes of aniline and
the test sample.
The test is considered an indication of the
paraffinicity of the sample.
The aniline point is also used as a
classification of the ignition quality of
diesel fuels.
Octane Number
It is a measure of gasolines resistance to
knock or detonate in a cylinder of a
petroleum engine.
The higher the resistance the higher is the
efficiency of the fuel to produce work.
Cetane Number
The percentage of pure cetane in a blend
of cetane and alpha-methyl-naphthalene
which matches the ignition quality of a
diesel fuel sample.
This quality, specified for middle distillate
fuels, is synonymous with the octane
number of gasolines.
Viscosity
It is a measure of liquids resistance to
internal flow and is an indication of its
lubricating properties.
Common viscosity scales
Saybolt Universal
Saybolt Furol
Poise
Kinematic (Stokes or centistokes)
Cloud Point
The temperature at which solidifiable
compounds present in the sample begin to
crystallize or separate from the solution
under a method of prescribed chilling.
Cloud point is a typical specification of
middle distillate fuels
Pour Point
The lowest temperature at which a
petroleum oil will flow or pour when it is
chilled without disturbance at a controlled
rate.
Pour point is a critical specification of
middle distillate products used in cold
climates.
Sulphur Content
Crude is classified based on sulphur content.
Sour crude: A crude which contains sulfur in
amounts greater than 0.5 to 1.0 wt%, or which
contains 0.05 ft3 or more of hydrogen sulfide
(H2S) per 100 gal
Sweet crude: As evident from the above
definitions, a sweet crude contains little or no
dissolved hydrogen sulfide and relatively small
amounts of mercaptans and other sulfur
compounds.
Salt Content
The salt content is expressed as sodium
chloride equivalent in pounds per
thousand barrels (PTB) of crude oil.
Typical values range from 1 to 20 PTB.
1 PTB is roughly equivalent to 3 ppm.
Carbon Residue
Carbon residue is a measure of the cokeforming tendencies of oil.
It is determined by destructive distillation in the
absence of air of the sample to a coke residue.
The coke residue is expressed as weight
percent of the original sample.
There are two standard ASTM tests,
Conradson carbon residue (CCR)
Ramsbottom carbon residue (RCR).
Characterization Factors
An index of feed quality, also useful for
correlating data on physical properties.
An indication of carbon-to-hydrogen ratio.
01/ 3
B
T
T
Kw
G 0.827
TB is the mean avg boiling point in 0R
T0B is the mean avg boiling point in K
G is the specific gravity at 600F
Correlation index
Lower the CI value
composition of paraffins
greater
is
the
Nitrogen Content
Nitrogen causes severe poisoning of
catalysts used in processing and corrosion
problems such as hydrogen blistering.
Metal content
Metal contents affect
the activities of catalysts
Corrosion of turbine blades
Refractory furnace linings and stack