Crude Oil Properties

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Crude oil types
Crude oil can be classified as
– Paraffin base
•Little heavy aromatic material (asphaltic).
•Good for paraffin wax manufacture.
•Quality Lube stocks.
•High grade kerosene.
– Naphthene base
•Little heavy aromatic material (asphaltic).
•High quality gasoline (octane).
•Poor lubes & kerosene.
– Mixed base (between paraffin and naphthene)
– Aromatic base
•High quality gasoline & asphalt.
•High levels of poisons sulfur & nitrogen.
•Residue is asphaltic.
– Asphalt base
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Crude oil types

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Crude oil types

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Paraffinic oil vs naphthenic oil
• Paraffinic oil (> 40% paraffins)
• High viscosity index
• Saturated molecular structure offers resistance to oxidize
• High water resistance
• High aniline point prolongs life cycle
• High oil lubricity
• Naphthenic oil (> 40% naphthene)
– Low viscosity index
– Molecular structure allows for oxidation
– Low water resistance
– Low aniline point
– Low lubricity and high sludge production
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 viscosity index (VI)
• The viscosity index is a unitless number, used to
indicate the temperature dependence of an oil’s
kinematic viscosity.
• It is based on comparing the kinematic viscosity of
the test oil at 40°C, with the kinematic viscosity of
two reference oils
• One reference has a VI of 0, the other with a VI of 100
• viscosity at 100C of the references and the test oil are
the same.

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 High VI= small
viscosity change

low VI= high

viscosity change

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Relatively simple analytical tests are run on the crude with
empirical correlations to evaluate the crude oil as the
feedstock for the particular refinery
The following useful properties are used
• API Gravity
• Sulfur content, wt%
• Pour point, C
• Carbon residue, wt%
• Salt content, lb/1000bbl
• Characterization factor, Kw
• Correlation Index, CI
• Nitrogen content, wt%
• Distillation range
• Metal content, ppm
• Total acid number
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 API Gravity
• The density of crude oil is expressed in terms of API
gravity rather than specific gravity
• API at 60°F (15.6°C) can be calculated as
 141.5
API   131.5
specific gravity

• API for crude oil is in the range of 10-50

• API is nonlinear therefore can’t be averaged like specific

gravity. However if averaged the error will be small
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Arabian Crudes
• Arabian crudes are classified as follows:
API Crude type
(29 and less) Arabian Heavy
(29-32) Arabian Medium
(32-34) Arabian light
(36-41) Arabian Extra Light
(49-52) Arabian Super Light

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Properties of Crude Oils
Arabian Heavy Arabian light Nigerian light Beryl UK Property
28.0 33.9 35.8 36.5 API gravity
-30/-1 -40/-4 45/7 35/2 Pour Point, F/C
53.4 13.0 6.76 9.27 Viscosity at
15C, cSt
2.8 1.8 0.12 0.42 Sulfur, wt%
7.3 3.6 0.92 1.3 CCR, wt%
660 830 540 880 Nitrogen, ppm
17 3 3 <1 Nickel ppm
55 19 <1 4 Vanadium,
ppm
5 4 5 4 Light HC, vol%

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Different crude oil sulfur and yields

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Different crude oils characteristics

United States-Mars is an offshore drilling site in the Gulf of Mexico. WTI = West Texas
Intermediate; LLS = Louisiana Light Sweet; FSU = Former Soviet Union; UAE = United Arab
Emirates.
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Crude oil benchmark
• Crude oil benchmark is a crude oil that serves as a
reference point for the many other crudes available.
• Using benchmarks makes referencing types of oil
easier for sellers and buyers.
• There are three primary benchmarks, WTI,
Brent Blend, and Dubai.
• Other well known blends include
– the Opec basket used by OPEC,
– Tapis Crude which is traded in Singapore,
– Bonny Light used in Nigeria and Mexico's Isthmus.
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Brent Blend
• It is actually a combination of crude oil from 15 different oil
fields in the Brent and Ninian systems located in the North
Sea.
• Its API gravity is 38.3 degrees (making it a “light” crude oil,
but not quite as “light” as WTI), while it contains about 0.37
percent of sulfur (making it a “sweet” crude oil, but again
slightly less “sweet” than WTI).
• Brent blend is ideal for making gasoline and middle distillates,
• Brent blend, like WTI, production is also on the decline, but it
remains the major benchmark for other crude oils in Europe
or Africa.

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil

• very high quality and is excellent for refining a larger

portion of gasoline.
• Its API gravity is 39.6 degrees (making it a “light” crude oil),
and it contains only about 0.24 percent of sulfur (making a
“sweet” crude oil).
• This combination of characteristics, combined with its
location, makes it an ideal crude oil to be refined in the
United States, the largest gasoline consuming country in
the world.
• Although the production of WTI crude oil is on the decline,
it still is the major benchmark of crude oil in the Americas.

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Dubai Crude
• is a light sour crude oil extracted from Dubai. Dubai Crude
is used as a price benchmark because it is one of only a
few Arabian Gulf crude oils available immediately due to
exporting all of it.
• Dubai Crude is generally used for pricing Arabian Gulf
crude oil exports to Asia.
• The Dubai benchmark is also known as Fateh is used in the
United Arab Emirates.
• Dubai Crude is a light oil. It has a gravity of 31° API (
specific gravity of 0.871) and a sulfur content of 2% weight

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Pour point, °C
• It is defined as the lowest temperature at which the crude will
still pour
• It is a critical specification of distillate at cold climate.

• The pour point of the crude in F or C is a rough indicator of

the relative paraffinicity and aromaticity of the crude
• The lower the pour point the lower the paraffin content and
the greater the content of aromatics
• ASTM D-99
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Aniline point
• The lowest temperature at which equal volumes of
fresh aniline, aromatic (C6H5NH2), and an oil is
completely miscible

• Mixed aniline point: The minimum temperature at

which a mixture of two volume of aniline, 1vol. of
sample and 1vol. of n- heptane will form a solution.
Equal volumes Homogenous
of aniline +oil Heating cooling cloudiness
solution
sample
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
• Indication of the relative amount of aromatics
which are more miscible in aniline than paraffins.
• It is used as a classification of the ignition quality
of diesel fuels
• The higher aromatics contents the lower aniline
point because aniline is dissolved by aromatics
on heating the lower paraffins content the lower
cetane number and lower diesel quality
• Measured by ASTM D611 %Aromatic Aniline point range
75 (aromatic) 32.2-48.9
40 (naphthenic) 65.6-76.7
15 (paraffinic) 93-126.7

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Flash point and Fire point
• Flash point: It is the lowest temp. at which the oil
gives off vapor that will ignite where a flame is
passed over surface of the oil.
• Fire point: It is the lowest temp. at which sample
is ignites and continues to burn for at least 5 sec.
• When oil is exposed to the high temp service,
this test provides a safe guard against
decomposition and fire hazards during storage,
transportation, handling and other uses.
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Cleveland
(open cup)

Pensky marten
(closed cup)

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Smoke point
• It is the height of the flame in millimeters beyond which
smoking takes place
• It is a measure of the burning quality of jet fuels and kerosine
• It is measurd by ASTM D-1322
• The smoke point is related to the hydrocarbon type
composition of such fuels.
• Generally the more aromatic the fuel the smokier
• the flame.
• A high smoke point indicates a fuel of low smoke producing
tendency

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Carbon residue, wt%
• It is determined by distillation to a coke residue in the
absence of air
• It is related to the asphalt content of the crude oil
• It is also related to the lubricating oil that can be
recovered
• The lower the carbon residue the more valuable the
crude
• It is expressed in wt% by either Ramsbottom (RCR) or
Conradson (CCR) ASTM test procedure (D-524 or D-
189)
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Cloud Point
• The temperature at which solidifiable compounds (wax)
present in the sample begin to crystallize or separate from
the solution under chilling condition
• Low cloud points are desirable under low temperature
conditions
• Wax crystals can plug filters and fuel system lines which
leads to stalling aircrafts and diesel engines under cold
conditions
• It is a measure of paraffins in the oil as wax thus it is not
required in the light fractions
• Measured by ASTM D-2500
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Salt content, lb/1000bbl (PTB)

• It is necessary to desalt the crude before

processing if the slat content, expressed as
NaCl, is greater than 10 lb/1000bbl
• Salt cause severe corrosion problems and
catalyst poisoning
• It is economically recommended to desalt the
crude oil to <0.5 lb/100bbl
• 1 lb/1000bbl can be approximated as 3ppm

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Characterization factor, Kw
• UOP or Watson characterization factor (KW) is expressed
as follows 1/ 3
TB
KW 
G
where
TB  mean average boiling po int,  R
G  specific gravity at 60 F
• When KW is
– <10 is highly aromatic
– 10.5-12.9 is highly naphthenic
– 13-15 is highly paraffinic
• It is an indicator of paraffinicity of the oil
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Correlation Index CI
• It is useful in evaluating crude oil fractions
• Correlation index (CI) is expressed as follows
87,552
CI   473.7G  456.8
TB

• CI=0 for normal paraffins and 100 for benzene

• The lower the CI value the greater paraffins in the fraction

• The higher the CI value the greater naphthenes and

aromatics
• It is an indicator of the aromaticity of the oil
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Distillation Range
• The boiling point range of the crude gives an
indication of the products quantities present

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 True Boiling Point (TBP)
• It is the single most important information for any
crude oil distillation
• It represents the true boiling point of HCs present at
the given % volume distilled
• TBP distillation tends to separate the individual
mixture components in order of boiling
• It is a good approximation of
– yields of the products in the refineries
– establish operation strategies
– process optimization
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 True Boiling Point (TBP)
• The most useful distillation is known as true
boiling point (TBP) using ASTM D-285
• New trend to substitute TBP with D-2892 (15
stages: 5reflux ratio)
• Atmospheric and max temp is 650°F
• Crude distillation rage can be correlated with
ASTM distillations (D-86 and D-1160)
• Fig 3.1 can be used to estimate TPB cut points
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
True Boiling Point (TBP)

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Distillation Curve & Fractions
Temperature, F

Volume percent vaporized

 Initial point of
heavier cut

Temp Gap

End point of
lighter cut

End point of
lighter cut

overlap
Temp

Initial point of
heavier cut

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Gap or overlap
• Degree of fractionation is determined by the gap or overlap
between two adjacent side streams.
• Ideally there should be no overlap between products
• ASTM distillation does not give perfect fractionation and
determination of the initial and end point in the lab is not always
possible or accurate.
• The fractionation gap is defined as the difference between the
ASTM 5% boiling point of the heavier product and ASTM 95%
boiling point of the lighter product.
• A positive number is a gap. A negative number is an overlap
• Larger gap values represent more separation between the two
products.
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Gap
a gap is an indication of
good fractionation

Overlap
Some of the light product is
still in the heavier product

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 ASTM D86
• No packing
• Reflux ratio from heat losses
• 1 atm and max temp is 650°F
• Correlations to correct to TBP basis

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 ASTM D1160
• Used in resids (650°F+)
• Vacuum at 10-40 mmHg and max temp is
1000°F
• Correlations to correct to atmospheric
pressure and TBP basis

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Convert D86 to TBP Temperatures
Vol% a b

IBP 0.9167 1.0019

10 0.5277 1.0900

30 0.7492 1.0425

50 0.8920 1.0176

70 0.8008 1.0226

90 0.9490 1.0110

95 0.8705 1.0355

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 API-Empirical method
TBP (50 )=0 . 87180( 𝐴𝑆𝑇𝑀 (50))1 . 0258 TBP(50)=TBP at 50% vol, °F
ASTM(50)=ASTM D86 at 50% vol,
°F
= TBP temp difference, °F
𝑌 𝑖= 𝐴 𝑋 𝐵𝑖 =ASTM D86 temp difference, °F

Max , °F B A Cut Point i

100 0.60244 7.4012 0-10% 1
250 0.71644 4.9004 30%-10% 2
250 0.80076 3.0305 50%-30% 3
150 0.82002 2.5282 70%-50% 4
100 0.75497 3.0419 90%-70% 5
- 1.6606 0.11798 100%-90% 6

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Convert D1160 to TBP Temperatures

D1160 temperatures at 10 mm Hg are

converted to TBP temperatures at 10 mm Hg
– Graphical method
–Empirical method

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Graphical method

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Empirical method
• D1160 temperatures at 50% & higher equal to the
TBP temperatures.
• 0% to 10%, 10% to 30%, & 30% to 50% D1160
temperature differences converted to TBP
temperature differences.

Vol%
Distilled a b c d Max ∆T
Range
0%-10% 2.23652561 -1.39334703E-2 3.6358409E-5 1.433117E-8 144 °F
10%-30%
1.35673984 -5.4126509E-3 2.9883895E-5 -6.007274E-8 180 °F
30%-50%

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Distillation Curves
• Bureau of Mines has carried out Hempel
distillations on thousands of crude oil samples
from major producing fields
• The major deficiency in Hempel assay is the
lack of information of low boiling components
• These components are not condensed by
water and reported as “distillation loss”

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
• Hempel distillation analysis is reported as
– At 1 atm and up to 527°F (275°C) end point
– 40 mmHg 572°F (300°C) end point
• Distillation temperatures reported at 40
mmHg must be corrected to 760mmHg using
fig. 3.6
• Estimates of TBP at higher temperatures can
be obtained by plotting distillation temp
versus % distilled on probability graph paper
fig 3.7

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Probability chart

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 TBP and API curve construction
• Consider the reported %loss
• Calculate the mid temperature for each cut
with the corresponding % volume and API
• Plot the values of mid temp, % vol and API
• Convert the TBP values from vacuum pressure
to atmospheric pressure (fig. 3.6)
• Use the probability cure for predicting TBP at
high % volumes (fig. 3.7)
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Crude Assay
• The complete and definitive analysis of a crude oil is
called crude assay. Contains some of the following
data
– Whole crude salt, gravity, viscosity, sulfur, light-
end carbons, and the pour point.
– TBP curve and a mid-volume plot of gravity,
viscosity, sulfur,
and the like.
– Light-end carbons analysis up to C8 or C9.

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
– Properties of fractions (naphthas, kerosenes,
diesels, heavy diesels, vacuum gas oils, and
resids). The properties required include yield as
volume percent, gravity, sulfur, viscosity, octane
number, diesel index, flash point, fire point,
freeze point, smoke point, and pour point.
– Properties of the lube distillates if the crude is
suitable for manufacture of lubes.
– Detailed studies of fractions for various
properties and suitability for various end uses

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Properties Primary Uses
Primary use Property
Crude pricing Specific gravity (API)
Storage and transportation requirements Viscosity-Pour Point
Processing and transportation Sulfur
requirements
Asphalt and heavy fuel oil potential Carbon residue
Processing requirements Salt, Nitrogen,
Metals(Ni, V)
Storage, processing and transportation Light Hydrocarbons
requirements (C1-C5)

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
 Total acid number
• Total acid number (TAN) is the number of mg
of KOH required to neutralize 1g of oil
• Originally used to monitor the oxidation of
lubricating oils
• The crude can be so acidic that cause rapid
corrosion of fractionation columns
• Expensive alloy steel equipment are used in
the highly acidic crudes
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Average Boiling Point for a fraction

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Average Boiling Point for a fraction

Petroleum Refining ChE462

Dr Hisham Bamufleh
Petroleum Refining ChE462
Dr Hisham Bamufleh