Petroleum is defined as any mixture of hydrocarbons that can be
recovered from a drill pipe. It occurs in form of oil and gas which mainly
have a chemical composition of hydrocarbons of various carbon chains.
Origin
By referring to
different grounds from two opposing theoretical hypothesis, petroleum origin
and formation still become a polarized topic of scientists’ debates. These
theories are abiogenesis and biogenesis. Abiogenesis-inorganic origin of
petroleum, is an oldest theory which suggests that petroleum comes from the
underneath part of the mantle very long time ago before the existence of life
on earth (Mendeleev, 1877).
![]() |
Dmitry Mendeleev |
The second hypothesis, biotic or organic origin
suggests that petroleum is formed from biological matters, left behind by very
ancient lives. These matters become subjected to high temperature under the
absence of oxygen.
The last hypothesis, biogenesis is currently accepted by
many people due to how it is supported by various valid grounds while the first
one is more doubtful. Its early supportive tenets lost their truth, especially
when they fall in contraction with modern science.
History
Early in 16th century, a theory of the origin of oil stated that
it resulted from very deep carbon deposits that have been around far longer
than life on this planet.
That theory, lately became known as the abiotic oil
formation (AOF) theory, was largely [ignored] and forgotten until rather
recently when a few people-some of them scientists revived it and backed
it with some tenets .
![]() |
Ancient Abiotic Oil Formation |
The idea concerning the origin of petroleum dates back to
the 18th and early part of the 19th century, when the chemical nature of
petroleum was not known.
Different perspective of petroleum
Biotic origin of petroleum inspires the
possibility of exhausting oil reserves and abiotic hypothesis assure
quasi-unlimited supplies of oil and gas reserves. Therefore many issues
regarding energy renewability rises.
Politics as the main driver of every issue
in our modern socio-economic aspects of living, the arguments of abiotic
versus biotic origins of petroleum are caused by some hidden reasons which
are for particular interests and politically motivated. For example, “a limited
supply can be used to control people and as justification for actions like war.
An unlimited supply, on the other hand, means that we need not worry about
running out, that we ought to be able to drill for more oil and increase the
daily supply so as to decrease price, and so forth”
Chemical Composition of Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and other chemicals. The composition varies widely depending where and how the petroleum was formed. In fact, a chemical analysis can be used to fingerprint the source of the petroleum. However, raw petroleum or crude oil has characteristic properties and composition.
The hydrocarbons primarily are alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Elemental Composition of Petroleum
Although there is considerable variation between the ratios of organic molecules, the elemental composition of petroleum is well-defined:- Carbon - 83 to 87%
- Hydrogen - 10 to 14%
- Nitrogen - 0.1 to 2%
- Oxygen - 0.05 to 1.5%
- Sulfur - 0.05 to 6.0%
- Metals - < 0.1%
No comments:
Post a Comment