Universidad Tecnológica de Altamira

Ingeniería Química de Procesos Industriales

“A Small Introduction Into the Petroleum”.

Subject: English VII

Teacher: José Abel Estrada Sanchez

Students:
491910684 – Marco Antonio Cruz Pinedo
491910588 – Félix López Valeria
491810004 – Gámez Ledezma Juan Ramón

Group: IQPI-8B
January - April 2022
 What is petroleum?

Petroleum is a flammable, oily liquid of natural origin that is mainly composed of a

mixture of hydrocarbons, which varies between 50 and 98%, and various organic
compounds that contain oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. It is sometimes found in springs
or ponds, but it is usually extracted from below the Earth's surface by drilling wells.
Previously called rock petroleum or mineral petroleum, unrefined petroleum is now
known as crude petroleum.

Petroleum forms much like coal. When plants and animals that live in water die, they
settle to the bottom of oceans, ponds, or swamps. But while coal takes millions of years
to form, petroleum takes only a million years to form. As the pressure on different
materials increases, petroleum is formed, which, little by little, is introduced into the
openings of the rocks or into special rocks called productive rocks. The productive
rocks are porous, which allows them to fill with petroleum. Many times, the movement
of petroleum trapped in the ground causes it to be deposited in the rock layers.

Petroleum is a viscous liquid that is green, yellow, brown or black in color and is made
up of different hydrocarbons, that is, by compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen
atoms in varying amounts. No two petroleum fields have ever been found that have
exactly the same composition, since, along with hydrocarbons, there are often other
oxygenated, nitrogenous and other organic compounds with elements such as sulfur,
nickel or vanadium.

How is petroleum obtained?

The main machines currently used to find petroleum are the gravimeter, the tape
recorder, and the seismograph. The first uses the principle that the gravitational
attraction of rocks that contain petroleum is different from those that do not. The
magnetometer, for its part, measures differences in the Earth's magnetic pull to find
petroleum-bearing rocks. This machine allows geophysicists to locate rock layers that
may contain petroleum. Seismography uses sound waves to identify different layers
and reservoirs below the Earth's surface.
Once the existence of petroleum is recognized, the oil companies contract the land and
the drilling site is prepared. Roads must be built, land leveled and cleared, many
spaces and land reinforced, and power and water supplies are prepared. After all this,
the drilling platform is built where the lifting devices, called towers, are mounted, and it
continues with the drilling pipes, tanks and pumps.

Drilling can be done in three ways: percussion, rotary or directional drilling. In the past,
percussion drilling was used, in which the bit contained a tool such as a chisel that went
up and down to pierce and break up the soil and rock. Fresh water was then poured
into the well to loosen the soil. However, this procedure was very slow, so rotary drilling
was used, in which a drill similar to that used by carpenters for wood is used.

When the bit goes down, it breaks the rock into fragments. When water is pumped
down the descending conduit, the sediments rise to the surface dragging these
fragments.

Directional drilling involves opening an angle of the prop shaft. Special drills, called
turbo-drills and electric drills, rotate and articulate by varying the direction of the bevel
drill. This method is used when it is not possible to drill directly downhole.

Geophysical exploration.

It is based on the fact that the rocks that make up the earth's crust have different
physical properties. These properties are elasticity (which affects the propagation of
seismic waves), magnetism (which is directly related to the composition of rocks) and
density (which causes variations in the value of gravity).

These properties allow to calculate the constitution and depth of the subsoil rocks.

Seismic exploration

Through explosives and vibrations, graphs are obtained that produce seismic waves
and that give information on the shape and depth of the subsoil strata. This is decisive
for the location of the traps.
Gravimetric exploration

Study of the subsoil through measurements of the gravity attraction of rocks. This
information complements others to calculate the nature of the subsoil.

Magnetic scan

With the use of a magnetometer, the fluctuations of the earth's magnetic field are
measured. In this way, the presence of indicator sedimentary rocks, in general, of the
possible presence of hydrocarbons can be indirectly recognized.

Also, very useful in the field of oil exploration is geochemistry (chemical study of rocks
and hydrocarbon emanations), photographs (both from aircraft and satellites of areas
where oil is suspected), surface geology (which studies rock formations, deformation
of strata, oily residues in rivers, and superficial emanations of gas and oil) and
electromagnetic techniques (study of variations in the characteristics of an
electromechanical wave in the subsoil).

However, despite the use of all these techniques, the existence of deposits is not
guaranteed, so it is necessary to drill for verification.

Drilling a pit

Today rotary drilling is the most used in oil wells. This method uses cylindrical steel
tubes (drill rods) coupled to a drum (rotary table) through which they are given rapid
rotation. The string of tubes is connected, at its lower end, to a bit (trephine) with cutting
elements of various sizes, depending on the type of rock to be drilled, made of
hardened steel or with diamond inlays.

The material ground by the bit is extracted by pressurized circulation of water mixed
with clay (drilling mud), which also helps support the walls of the well, keeping it full of
mud.

The use of coring bits allows a sample of the bottom material to be extracted during
drilling, which automatically penetrates the drill rod and is recovered on the surface for
analysis.
 Hydrocarbon production

A well, when it has been drilled and cased down to the petroleum bearing zone, is
ready to start producing. If the natural pressure of the gas is high, the oil is rapidly
propelled from the bottom and up the pipe.

In order to regulate, without loss, the output of oil through the mouth of the wells, a
system of valves called "Christmas tree" has been created. However, in many fields,
additional steps must be taken to bring the well into production or to maintain it by
running a relatively small diameter tubing (two to four inches) to the bottom to control
the release of oil or fluid gas.

When the well pressure is not enough for the oil to rise to the surface, production and
artificial lift systems are also used. Among these, the most common is mechanical
pumping, easily recognizable on the surface by the presence of the pumping unit. Other
pumping systems are also used in the country, such as electro-centrifugal, pneumatic
(gas lift) and hydraulic.

From the well, the petroleum is transported through pipes to special devices, in which
the gas and water are separated. From the separators, pipes (gas pipelines) lead the
fluid to different places for use as fuel or for further treatment. Other pipes (pipelines)
carry the liquid to storage tanks from where it will be shipped to its destination, be it a
refinery or shipping port.

The refining

The crude petroleum arrives at the refinery and is stored in large tanks to uniformly
regulate the amount to be treated, according to the possibilities of the facilities and the
needs of the market.

The basic principle used in the refining of crude petroleum is that of distillation, that is,
heating the oil in a furnace and boiling it through tall towers where the temperature at
the top is kept gradually lower than at the bottom.
This refining process is continuous. The oil is permanently pumped into the furnace
and the products are uninterruptedly extracted from the towers. This is repeated in
several plants of the refinery to get the required products from the available crudes.
Other plants are used for the chemical treatment of products, to remove unwanted color
and odor, and for the production of lubricating oils.

Considering the mixture of hydrocarbons that make up crude petroleum, we can

deduce that, as a general rule, the lighter it is, the more volatile it is, and therefore, the
lower its boiling point. This is the reason why the hydrocarbon group of gasoline boils
at a lower temperature than kerosene, and so on. It is these differences that facilitate
the selection of the different groups or fractions.

The vapors escape as bubbles through valves in trays located at different heights in
the tower, while the cooler liquid falls continuously from the top.

Petroleum uses

The petroleum is an energy source of great importance in the modern world.

Through the application of refining processes, a wide range of commercial products

can be made available to the consumer, such as:

• Energy: specific fuels for transportation, agriculture, industry, electricity

generation and for domestic use.
• Special products: lubricants, paraffins, asphalts, vehicle greases and products
for industrial use.
• Raw materials for the basic petrochemical industry: plastics, acrylics, gloves,
paints, various containers, detergents, textile fibers, insecticides, etc.
IV. Glossary

1. Petroleum: petroleum is a mixture of organic compounds, mainly hydrocarbons

insoluble in water. It is also known as black gold, crude oil, or simply crude oil.
2. Density: degree of consistency measured by the quantity of mass per unit
volume.
3. Petroleum deposit: an oil field, deposit or reservoir is a natural accumulation of
hydrocarbons in the subsoil, contained in porous or fractured rocks. Natural
hydrocarbons, such as crude oil and natural gas, are retained by overlying rock
formations with low permeability.
4. Oil refinery: An oil refinery or distillery is an industrial facility for refining oil,
which, through an appropriate process, obtains various derivatives of it.
5. Oil refining: oil refining is a process that includes the fractionation and chemical
transformations of oil to produce commercial derivatives. In accordance with this
objective, in general, these processes are carried out together in a refinery.
6. Geophysical exploration: in general, applied geophysics or geophysical
exploration refers to the use of physical and mathematical methods to determine
the physical properties of rocks and their contrasts.
7. Seismic exploration: is the use of seismic energy to probe beneath the surface
of the earth, usually as an aid in searching for economic deposits of oil, gas, or
minerals, but also for engineering, archeological, and scientific studies.
8. Gravimetric exploration: it studies density contrasts and is a regional exploration
method in the location of metallic mineral deposits, it helps to establish the
geological structure in oil deposits and coal accumulations, as well as
geothermal deposits.
9. Magnetic scan: magnetic methods are based on the detection of local magnetic
field variations due to the presence of subsurface structures. The anomalies that
are measured are due to the induced or remnant magnetization of the materials.
10. Gravimeter: or gravitometer is an instrument used in gravimetry to measure the
local gravitational field of the Earth. A gravimeter is a type of accelerometer
specialized in measuring the constant downward acceleration of gravity, which
varies by about 0.5% on the earth's surface.
11. Drilling: the action of making a hole in something by boring with a drill.
12. Furnace: a container that is heated to a very high temperature, so
that substances that are put inside it, such as metal, will melt or burn
13. Distillation: it is the process of separating the components or substances of a
liquid mixture through the use of selective boiling and condensation.
14. Petrochemistry: it is the branch of chemistry that studies the transformation of
crude oil and natural gas into useful products or raw materials. These
petrochemicals have become an essential part of today's chemical industry
throughout the world.
15. Magnetism: it is the set of physical phenomena mediated by magnetic fields.
These can be generated by electric currents or by the magnetic moments of the
constituent particles of the materials. It is part of a more general phenomenon:
electromagnetism.
16. Organic compounds: or organic molecule is a chemical compound that contains
carbon, forming carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds. In many cases
they contain oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, boron, halogens and other
less frequent elements in their natural state.
17. Pressure: it is a physical magnitude that measures the projection of force in a
perpendicular direction per unit area, and serves to characterize how a certain
resultant force is applied on a line.
18. Rock layers: most of the rocks exposed at the surface of Earth are sedimentary-
-formed from particles of older rocks that have been broken apart by water or
wind. The gravel, sand, and mud settle to the bottom in rivers, lakes, and oceans
19. Elasticity: this term designates the physical and mechanical property of certain
materials to undergo reversible deformations when they are subjected to the
action of external forces and to recover the original shape if these external forces
are eliminated.
20. Geochemistry: it is the science—a specialty of the Earth sciences—that uses
the tools and principles of chemistry and geology to explain the mechanisms
behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans.
21. Geophysics: it is the science that studies the Earth from the point of view of
physics. Its object of study covers all the phenomena related to the structure,
physical conditions and evolutionary history of the Earth.
22. Variable valve timing: is a system that varies the opening and closing time of the
air intake (or gas exhaust) valves in an alternative internal combustion engine,
especially the Otto cycle, depending on the regime conditions and motor
charging in order to optimize the charging renewal process.
23. Pump: it is a mechanical device that moves or transports fluids (liquids or
gases). This works by mechanical action converted from electrical energy into
hydraulic energy. It can also be seen as a device that expends energy in order
to raise, transport, or compress fluids.
24. Mechanical separators: mechanically assisted separators include the use of
rotating blades (e.g., radial blade fans) to mechanically impart a centrifugal force
to particles in the gas stream, causing them to separate from the gas stream.
25. Continouos process: it is a process when its production line does not stop at any
time during a specific period of time. Continuous process plants are usually
those that manufacture the same product, without it undergoing any change that
interrupts the production rate.
V. Summary

Petroleum forms much like coal. When plants and animals that live in water die, they
settle to the bottom of oceans, ponds, or swamps. But while coal takes millions of years
to form, petroleum takes only a million years to form. As the pressure on different
materials increases, petroleum is formed, which, little by little, is introduced into the
openings of the rocks or into special rocks called productive rocks.
Once the existence of petroleum is recognized, the oil companies contract the land and
the drilling site is prepared. Roads must be built, land leveled and cleared, many
spaces and land reinforced, and power and water supplies are prepared. After all this,
the drilling platform is built where the lifting devices, called towers, are mounted, and it
continues with the drilling pipes, tanks and pumps.

Today rotary drilling is the most used in oil wells. This method uses cylindrical steel
tubes (drill rods) coupled to a drum (rotary table) through which they are given rapid
rotation. The string of tubes is connected, at its lower end, to a bit (trephine) with cutting
elements of various sizes, depending on the type of rock to be drilled, made of
hardened steel or with diamond inlays.
The use of coring bits allows a sample of the bottom material to be extracted during
drilling, which automatically penetrates the drill rod and is recovered on the surface for
analysis.

A well, when it has been drilled and cased down to the petroleum bearing zone, is
ready to start producing. If the natural pressure of the gas is high, the oil is rapidly
propelled from the bottom and up the pipe.

The crude petroleum arrives at the refinery and is stored in large tanks to uniformly
regulate the amount to be treated, according to the possibilities of the facilities and the
needs of the market.

This refining process is continuous. The oil is permanently pumped into the furnace
and the products are uninterruptedly extracted from the towers. This is repeated in
several plants of the refinery to get the required products from the available crudes.
Other plants are used for the chemical treatment of products
The vapors escape as bubbles through valves in trays located at different heights in
the tower, while the cooler liquid falls continuously from the top.
VI. Questionnaire

1. What is the petroleum? It is a flammable, oily liquid of natural origin that is mainly
composed of a mixture of hydrocarbons.
2. Where could it be found? It is sometimes found in springs or ponds, but it is
usually extracted from below the Earth's surface by drilling wells.
3. What is pretroleum mainly composed by? It is composed by carbon and
hydrogen in a higher rate.
4. What are the more common colours that we can see on the texture of
petroleum? Green, yellow, brown and black.
5. How does the seismography work? Seismography uses sound waves to identify
different layers and reservoirs below the Earth's surface.
6. How could the drilling of a pit be done? In three ways: by percussion drilling,
rotary drilling or directional drilling.
7. What is a geophysical exploration? It is based on the fact that the rocks that
make up the earth's crust have different physical properties.
8. What is a seismic exploration? Through explosives and vibrations, graphs are
obtained that produce seismic waves and that give information on the shape
and depth of the subsoil strata.
9. What is a gravimetrical exploration? It is a study of the subsoil through
measurements of the gravity attraction of rocks. This information complements
others to calculate the nature of the subsoil.
10. What is the refining process like? This refining process is continuous. The oil is
permanently pumped into the furnace and the products are uninterruptedly
extracted from the towers.
VII. Mind map

PETROLEUM
VIII. Conclusions

1. Mexico is a country rich in oil, but we must understand that for this natural wealth to
serve to cover our needs in terms of clothing, health, food, housing, transportation, etc.,
it is essential to have sufficient knowledge to generate the transformation technology.

This requires the work and talent of scientists from all branches of science, as well as
all kinds of technical personnel such as chemists, biochemists, engineers of all
specialties, etc. (Marco)

2. Technology consists of applying scientific and empirical knowledge to solve current

problems that are defined according to the economic, political or social needs of a
particular society or group. Therefore, we can say that the technological development
of a country does not imply using the technologies of developed countries but trying to
cover their needs with their own resources, both human and material. (Valeria)

3. Scientific work allows us to establish the understanding and explanation of universal

causes, principles, processes and laws, in order to increase the relationship between
man and nature, regardless of the surrounding political and social context, thereby
achieving the satisfaction of needs common to most human beings. (Ramón)
IX. Bibliography
• FORO NUCLEAR 2020. (2016, 22 noviembre). Introducción: ¿Qué es y de
dónde proviene el petróleo? Recuperado 05 de enero, 2022, de:
http://www.rinconeducativo.org/es/recursos-educativos/introduccion-que-es-y-
de-donde-proviene-el-petroleo
• Chow Pangtay, S. (s.f.). PETROQUÍMICA Y SOCIEDAD. Recuperado: 1
febrero, 2020, de:
http://bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx/sites/ciencia/volumen1/ciencia2/39/html/petr
oqui.html
• Corona Barrios, A. (s.f.). INTRODUCCIÓN El Petróleo Es La Fuente Principal.
Recuperado: 3 febrero, 2020, de:
https://es.scribd.com/doc/27310384/INTRODUCCION-El-Petroleo-Es-La-
Fuente-Principal
• PETROPERU S.A. (s.f.). Historia del Petróleo – Museo del Petróleo |
PetroPerú. Recuperado: 4 febrero, 2020, de:
https://www.petroperu.com.pe/museo/historia-del-petroleo/