PetroPulse Insights

Characteristics of Oil and Gas Phases of Petroleum  Molecular Behavior Phases of Petroleum Because of a man's environment of earth, water and air, it could well have been that his first scientific observations were that matter existed in three states or forms; solid, liquid and gas. Generally, it is found that all substances may exist in any of the three forms which have been termed phases of matter. Whether a substance exists in a solid, liquid or gas phase will be determined by temperature and pressure conditions acting on the substance. It is well known that steam can be changed to water by lowering its temperature and water can be changed into ice by further lowering its temperature. Hydrocarbon compounds, either individually or in mixtures, will change their state or phase in the same way by changing their temperature and pressure. The resulting change is called "phase behavior". Heavy hydrocarbons, including paraffin and tars, sometimes form naturally as solids in t...

 Characteristics of Petroleum Nearly all naturally occurring petroleum deposits are made up of an extremely large number of petroleum compounds, all mixed together. Molecules of all these compounds are composed of the chemical elements hydrogen and carbon in various proportions. Petroleum compounds of these elements are called hydrocarbons, and each compound is made up of a different proportion of the two elements. Seldom are two crude oils found that are seemingly identical and certainly never are two crude oils made up of the same proportions of the various compounds. Within a single petroleum deposit, the mixture differs some from place to place and in many cases to an extreme degree. Components of Petroleum The vast number of hydrocarbon compounds making up petroleum have been grouped chemically into series of compounds. Each series consists of those compounds similar in their molecular make-up and characteristics. Within a given series, there exist compounds from extremely lig...