Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Earth Systems 3209 Unit: 5 Earth’s Resources Reference: Chapters 21; Appendix A & B

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Extracting and Refining Petroleum Unit 5: Topic 3.5 Focus on...  identifying and describing the two main means of extracting petroleum from Earth.  identifying and describing the methods of refining petroleum.  using a distillation column to help explain this process.

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador  The two main means of extracting petroleum from Earth include: 1)Drilling 2)Surface Extraction (open pit mining) Extracting Petroleum from Earth

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 1) Drilling  Drilling can take place on land, ice, or water.  A proportion of petroleum in a trap is under natural pressure and therefore, will be released naturally when tapped by a drill.  Another proportion of petroleum will remain in the trap due to loss of pressure.  Thus, other techniques will be required to get the remaining oil from the trap. For example pumping in water, gas and filling the reservoir. Extracting Petroleum from Earth

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 2)Surface Extraction (open pit mining)  Alberta oil sands (tar sands) is an example where petroleum is extracted directly from the surface by open-pit mining.  The petroleum migrated towards the surface and volatiles (e.g. water) were lost to the atmosphere.  This increased viscosity (i.e. thickness) and prevented the oil from spreading out and/or dissipating. As a result it accumulated in the sediment. Extracting Petroleum from Earth

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 2)Surface Extraction (open pit mining)  The reservoir consisted of loose (unconsolidated) sediment that exhibited high porosity and permeability, but no cap rock.  In some instances, steam is injected directly into the tar sands to mobilize the hydrocarbons, which are then recovered from pumps much like conventional crude oil.  Fort McMurray’s Athabasca oil sands Extracting Petroleum from Earth

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Include: 1)Distillation  Crude oil contains hundreds of different types of hydrocarbons all mixed together.  Different hydrocarbon chain lengths all have progressively higher boiling points, so they can all be separated by distillation (heating). Methods of Refining Petroleum

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Methods of Refining Petroleum  Once petroleum is extracted from the sub-surface and is de-salted and de-watered, it enters a distillation column.  Heat is added to the column to separate the petroleum into fractions based on boiling points (cracking).  The bottom fraction is removed to another column for further separation.

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Include: 2)Cracking  Cracking processes breaks down heavier hydrocarbon molecules (high boiling point) into lighter products such as petrol and diesel. This is done by catalytic cracking and thermal cracking.  “Catalytic cracking" is the process used to break crude oil down into gasoline, kerosene, and fuel oils.  “Thermal cracking” is a process in which hydrocarbons such as crude oil are subjected to high heat in order to extract usable components during the cracking process. Methods of Refining Petroleum

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Include: 3)Reforming  Involved the conversion of straight chain hydrocarbons into branched chain hydrocarbons such as gasoline.  Involves heat, pressure, and the use of catalysts (speed up reaction rates) to reform different hydrocarbon compounds. Methods of Refining Petroleum

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Example 1: Which applies to the vapours at the top of the distillation column? A) long chained molecules with a high boiling point B) short chained molecules with a high boiling point C) short chained molecules with a low boiling point D) long chained molecules with a low boiling point

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Example 2: Which is a refining method and involves the use of heat, pressure, and catalysts? A) cracking B) floatation C) reforming D) remote sensing

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador A C B D Your Turn... Take the time and complete the following questions... (Solutions to follow) Questions: At which location in the distillation column would you collect the lowest boiling point hydrocarbons? (A) A(C) C (B) B(D) D

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Solutions... Questions: A C B D At which location in the distillation column would you collect the lowest boiling point hydrocarbons? (A) A(C) C (B) B(D) D

Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Summary... Overview of Points covered: Petroleum can be extracted by two methods: 1)Drilling (beneath the surface) 2)Open Pit Mining (near the surface) Petroleum can be refined using the following Methods: 1)Distillation 2)Cracking 3)Reforming