Sirte University-Libya ‫ليبيا – سرت جامعة‬

Faculty of engineering
‫الهندسة كلية‬
Chemical Department ‫ي الكيميائ م القس‬

API gravity for crude oil and its products

Course title: Petroleum processing lab

Code: ChE443

Lecture: Hassan Haroun

Supervision: mukhtar shaglouf

Name of Student: Retaj Ibrahim Aloslop

No. Student: 1841033

Procedure date: 14/11/2022

Delivery date: 20/12/2022

Note: Before Starting the Laboratory Work, the Importance and Seriousness of the
Materials Used Should Be Considered Take Precautions and Follow Safety
Instructions and Rules Recommended In Each Laboratory

Safety rules in chemical laboratories:

1) Wear a coat to protect your clothes and body from spilled chemicals.
2) Wear appropriate gloves when handling chemicals or samples.
3) Put on protective glasses to protect the eyes from chemicals.
4) Performing the experiment carefully and calmly to protect you from
accidents.
5) Inform the laboratory technician of accidents, no matter how small.
6) Ask the teacher what you do not know.
7) Not to touch, taste, smell or inhale odors or chemicals.
8) Not to eat or drink inside the laboratories.
9) No smoking inside the laboratories.
10) Not to use or touch tools contaminated with chemicals.
11) Seek first aid immediately if you have any accident, God forbid.
12) Adhere to the safety precautions of each experiment.
13) Safe withdrawal of liquids using a pipette.
14) Read the warning labels on the bottles before use.
15) Always wash hands with soap and water after completing the experiment.
16) Use of antiseptic materials to sterilize the place after using the samples.
17) Keeping the spaces you work in or on clean.
18) Primary safety means such as fire extinguishers, first aid box, emergency
shower and alarm devices must be provided and kept in a visible place and
periodic maintenance should be done to ensure their validity.
 Abstract
This report provides information about the API gravity for crude oil and its products,
as it provides a definition of the device, clarifies the theory and mechanism of its wor k,
shows its parts with pictures, and wha t is distinguished, wha t is its purpose, and how
to teach students about it. It also presents the steps of conducting the experiment by
groups of students. Wher eas, and displays the recording of the readings and the
necessary calculations to calculate the API gravity for crude oil and its products.
Introduction:
API gravity it was developed in France in 1768 and officially accepted by the U.S.
National Bureau of Standards in 1916. After encountering a series of errors and
variations, the American Petroleum Institute refined the scale and created API gravity.
This is now widely used across the globe API gravity is a commonly used index of the
density of a crude oil or refined products. API stands for the American Petroleum
Institute, which is the industry organization that created this measure. A crude oil will
typically have an API between 15 and 45 degrees. Higher API indicates a lighter (lower
density) crude

The objective:
The objective of this experiment is to determine the specific gravity and API gravity of
various crude oils, liquid petroleum products, and petroleum mixtures using a glass
density meter.

Method:
This experiment will show us how to determine API and S.G via Hydrometer test.

1. API gravity
Is a commonly used index of the density of a crude oil or Refined products.

2. Density of substance
Is the ratio of its mass to its volume, It is always necessary to state the Units of
density g/cm3

3. Specific gravity of substance

It is the ratio of the mass of a volume of a substance to the mass of an
Equal volume of some substance taken as a standard. For convenience, the following
standards are general used for water, 60 F (15 C°).

4. Hydrometer.
Device for measuring some characteristics of a liquid, such as its density (weight per
unit volume) or specific gravity (weight per unit volume compared with water.
What is a hydrometer and how does it work?
A hydrometer is an instrument used to determine specific gr a vity. It operates based on
the Ar chimedes principle that a solid body displaces its own weight within a liquid in
which it floats. Hydrometers can be divided into two general classes: liquids heavier
than water and liquids lighter than water .

(Hydrometer device)

Crude oil classification:

 Crude oil will typically have an API between 15 and 45 degrees.

 Higher API indicates a lighter crude (lower density).
 Lower API indicates a heavier crude (higher density).

High API crudes are more valuable because they yield more high-value:

 Light products when it refines in a refinery.

 Light crude is typically ranged between 35-45 API.

Which includes most of the highest valued crudes :

 Crudes lighter than 45 API are typically considered extra-light.

 Crude or condensates and are valued lower than light crude.
Calculation of API gravity:
141.5
퐴푃퐼 푔푟푎푣푖푡푦– 131.5where S.G is the specific gravity of the fluid
=
푠.푔

s.g = 푑푒푛푠푖푡푦 표푓 푡ℎ푒 표푏푗푒푐푡 /

푑푒푛푠푖푡푦 표푓 푤푎푡푒푟

Experiment equipment:
1) Tester or graduated cylinder
2) Thermometer
3) Hydrometer
4) Fluid (crude oil)

Procedure the experiment:

Procedure: First, we took a graduated cylinder (tester), which must be clean. We filled
the cylinder with 800 ml of the first (new) sample. After filling the cylinder, we put the
thermometer to measure the temperature of the fluid, and then we put the hydrometer,
allowing time for the hydrometer to flow freely. We took the scale reading, we recorded
the reading, and finally we took out the hydrometer and cleaned it. We repeated the
same steps for the second sample (Sidra).
Calculation of experiment:
 The density of the first (new) sample = 0.812 g/cm
3
푝 표푓 푠푢푏.
푠. 푔 (0.812
= ) 푤푎푡 = 0.812
푝 표푓
푒푟(1)
141.5
퐴푃퐼 = ( 0.812) − 131.5 = 42.7 퐹

 API for the sample (new) its light

 The density of the second sample (Sidra) = 0.853 g/cm

푝 표푓 푠푢푏.
푠. 푔 (0.853
= ) 푤푎푡 = 0.853
푝 표푓
푒푟(1)
141.5
퐴푃퐼 = ( 0.853) − 131.5 = 34.4 퐹

 API for the sample (sidra) its light

Summary of the experiment:

At the end of the experiment, we calculated the density of the liquid, the specific density,
and the API. From this information, we calculated the classification of the first sample,
which was light, as well as the second sample, which was light.
References:
^Report on the Development, Construction, Calculation and Preparation of the ASTM
– IP Petroleum Measurement Tables (ASTM D1250; IP 200), 1960, published by the
Institute of Petroleum, 61 New Cavendish Street, London, W.1 and American Society
for Testing Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia 3, Pa.

^API Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards, Chapter 11.1 – 1980,Volume

XI/XII, Adjunct to: ASTM D1250-80 and IP 200/80

" ^Comments on Crude Oil Gravity Adjustments". Louisiana Department of Natural

Resources. Archived from the original on 2 May 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2014.

^Crude oil grades, Crudemonitor.ca, web PDF file: CMonitor-Gr-PDF Archived

October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

^USGS FS2006-3133_508, web PDF file: USGS-508-PDF

^ Canadian Centre for Energy Information. "What is crude oil?" Archived 2014-07-10
at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on: 2012-09-10.