Petroleum & Natural Gas Fossil Fuels p 34 Petroleum & Natural Gas

Petroleum Found in sedimentary rocks such as limestone & sandstone Only about 1/3 of the oil is removed using traditional drilling methods. Gushers may be seen as a result of underground pressure causing oil and gas to quickly rise to the surface.

Titusville, Pennsylvania First oil well in the United States Drilled by Edwin Drake in 1859 Oil was first used in lamps and later as fuel in engines, as an energy source for power plants, & the basic ingredient for petroleum products. “The drilling of this oil well, by Edwin L. Drake in 1859, is the event recognized as marking the modern phase of the petroleum industry. A series of revolutionary technological changes, unforeseen even by the most prophetic, followed. An emerging source of concentrated energy and abundant chemical compounds, petroleum supported sweeping changes in our modes of illumination, power development, transportation, and industrial chemistry. Few events in history have so transformed the face of civilization.” It is doubtful whether Drake or others realized the full significance of his success at the time. He had demonstrated in a practical way how oil could be secured in great abundance. By applying salt-well drilling techniques, the vast subterranean deposits of petroleum could be tapped, and a new industry was born. An industry which not only provided the world with a cheap and efficient illuminant, but also a source of unexcelled lubricating oil. Later, it would serve as the fuel for the internal combustion engine—an invention which would change the way of life for everyone.

Spindletop Located in Beaumont, Texas First oil well in Texas Struck oil on January 10, 1901 A geyser of oil gushed 200 feet into the air

Petroleum Deposits

Transporting Oil To move oil from its original location to its destination, oil companies use various methods including…

Railroad ~ 2%

Trucks ~ 4%

Pipelines ~ 66%

Oil Tankers ~ 28%

Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Shortly after leaving the Port of Valdez, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef. The picture below was taken 3 days after the vessel grounded, just before a storm arrived. How did the accident happen? The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and determined that the probable causes of the grounding were: The failure of the third mate to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue and excessive workload; The failure of the master to provide a proper navigation watch, possibly due to impairment from alcohol; The failure of Exxon Shipping Company to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez; The failure of the U.S. Coast Guard to provide an effective vessel traffic system The lack of effective pilot and escort services. Okay. But what actually happened? The Exxon Valdez departed from the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminal at 9:12 pm March 23, 1989. William Murphy, an expert ship's pilot hired to maneuver the 986-foot vessel through the Valdez Narrows, was in control of the wheelhouse. At his side was the captain of the vessel, Joe Hazelwood. Helmsman Harry Claar  was steering. After passing through Valdez Narrows, pilot Murphy left the vessel and Captain Hazelwood took over the wheelhouse. The Exxon Valdez encountered icebergs in the shipping lanes and Captain Hazelwood ordered Claar to take the Exxon Valdez out of the shipping lanes to go around the icebergs. He then handed over control of the wheelhouse to Third Mate Gregory Cousins with precise instructions to turn back into the shipping lanes when the tanker reached a certain point. At that time, Claar was replaced by Helmsman Robert Kagan. For reasons that remain unclear, Cousins and Kagan failed to make the turn back into the shipping lanes and the ship ran aground on Bligh Reef at 12:04 am March 24, 1989. Captain Hazelwood was in his quarters at the time. How much oil was spilled? Approximately 11 million gallons or 257,000 barrels or 38,800 metric tonnes. Picture the swimming pool at your school or in your community. The amount of spilled oil is roughly equivalent to 125 olympic-sized swimming pools.  How much oil was the Exxon Valdez carrying? 53,094,510 gallons or 1,264,155 barrels

Exxon Valdez Spill Map How many miles of shoreline were impacted by oil? Approximately 1,300 miles. 200 miles were heavily or moderately oiled (meaning the impact was obvious); 1,100 miles were lightly or very lightly oiled (meaning light sheen or occasional tarballs). By comparison, there is more than 9,000 miles of shoreline in the spill region. How large an area did the spill cover? From Bligh Reef the spill stretched 460 miles to the tiny village of Chignik on the Alaska Peninsula. 

Oil Sheen During the first few days of the spill, heavy sheens of oil, such as the sheen visible in this photograph, covered large areas of the surface of Prince William Sound.

Skimmer Oil being skimmed from the sea surface. Here, two boats are towing a collection boom. Oil concentrated within the boom is being picked up by the skimmer (the vessel at the apex of the boom).

Oil Pool on Beach Beginning 3 days after the vessel grounded, a storm pushed large quantities of fresh oil onto the rocky shores of many of the beaches in the Knight Island chain. In this photograph, pooled oil is shown stranded in the rocks.

Water Pressure Treatment Workers using high-pressure, hot-water washing to clean an oiled shoreline. In this treatment method, used on many Prince William Sound beaches, oil is hosed from beaches, collected within floating boom, then skimmed from the water surface. Other common treatment methods included cold-water flushing of beaches, manual beach cleaning (by hand or with absorbent pom-poms), bioremediation (application of fertilizers to stimulate growth of local bacteria, which degrade oil), and the mechanical relocation of oiled sediments to places where they could be cleaned by wave and tide action. Hot water treatment was popular until it was determined that the treatment could be causing more damage than the oil. Small organisms were being cooked by the hot water. High pressure cold water treatment and hot water treatment involved dozens of people holding fire hoses and spraying the beaches. The water, with floating oil, would trickle down to the shore. The oil would be trapped within several layers of boom and either be scooped up, sucked up or absorbed using special oil-absorbent materials.

Block Island Before Clean-Up The top photo shows a section of the Block Island coastline before treatment by high-pressure, hot-water washing; the lower photo shows the same section during high-pressure, hot-water washing.

Block Island During Clean-Up In the photo below, note the small black patch of refloated oil (next to the inner boom, on the righthand side of the photo) ready to be skimmed, and the brown plume of oil and sediment drifting outwards from the beach.

Oiled Wildlife Workers transporting captured, oiled wildlife to a rehabilitation center for cleaning. Researchers are actively debating the effectiveness of wildlife rehabilitation. While some studies have found rehabilitation to be ineffective, rehabilitation proponents have pointed out other cases in which rates of survival of rehabilitated wildlife have been substantially higher. How many animals died outright from the oil spill? No one knows. The carcasses of more than 35,000 birds and  1,000 sea otters were found after the spill, but since most carcasses sink, this is considered to be a small fraction of the actual death toll. The best estimates are: 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, and billions of salmon and herring eggs. How does oil harm birds and mammals? TIP: Check out National Geographic , January 1990, Page 26-27 for a great illustration on how oil affects the fur and feathers of wildlife. There are three primary ways oil injures wildlife: The oil gets on the fur and feathers and destroys the insulation value. Birds and mammals then die of hypothermia (they get too cold). They eat the oil, either while trying to clean the oil off their fur and feathers or while scavenging on dead animals. The oil is a poison that causes death. The oil impacts them in ways that does not lead to a quick death, such as damaging the liver or causing blindness. An impaired animal cannot compete for food and avoid predators. Oil also affects animals in non-lethal ways such as impairing reproduction. How were the oiled birds and sea otters cleaned? A professional team and dozens of volunteers, including veterinarians, set up a cleaning facility and recovery facility. Dawn dishwashing detergent was the cleaning agent of choice.

Oiled & Dead Merrelet

Oiled Sea Otter

Oiled Duck

Oil Refinery After being extracted from the ground, crude oil is sent to a refinery where it is changed into many useful products. Crude oil is a mixture of many compounds, mainly hydrocarbons. Crude oil is heated to about 370 degrees Celsius and is pumped into the bottom of a distillation tower. After being heated, most of the hydrocarbons are gaseous, though the very thick ones are still a liquid even at such a high temperature. Next it is pumped into a fractional distillation tower (see the next slide).

The process of fractional distillation splits the crude oil into simpler mixtures called fractions. The different fractions are taken out of the still at different levels. The vapors get cooler and condense as they rise up the tower. The heavier ones (with higher boiling points) condense first and the thinner, runny ones get further up the tower before they condense. The gasses pass out of the top. This process leads to the development of “petrochemical products.” Products that come from petroleum.

Natural Gas Cleanest burning fossil fuel Found with oil & in coal mines Colorless, odorless, & tasteless A malodorant is added to make it easier to detect leaks The malodorant was added after the New London School tragedy in 1937… NEW LONDON SCHOOL EXPLOSION. In 1937 New London, Texas, in northwest Rusk County, had one of the richest rural school districts in the United States. Community residents in the East Texas oilfieldqv were proud of the beautiful, modern, steel-framed, E-shaped school building. On March 18 students prepared for the next day's Interscholastic Meet in Henderson. At the gymnasium, the PTA met. At 3:05 P.M. Lemmie R. Butler, instructor of manual training, turned on a sanding machine in an area which, unknown to him, was filled with a mixture of gas and air. The switch ignited the mixture and carried the flame into a nearly closed space beneath the building, 253 feet long and fifty-six feet wide. Immediately the building seemed to lift in the air and then smashed to the ground. Walls collapsed. The roof fell in and buried its victims in a mass of brick, steel, and concrete debris. The explosion was heard four miles away, and it hurled a two-ton concrete slab 200 feet away, where it crushed a car. Fifteen minutes later, the news of the explosion had been relayed over telephone and Western Union lines. Frantic parents at the PTA meeting rushed to the school building. Community residents and roughnecks from the East Texas oilfield came with heavy-duty equipment. Within an hour Governor James Allred had sent the Texas Rangersqqv and highway patrol to aid the victims. Doctors and medical supplies came from Baylor Hospital and Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children in Dallas and from Nacogdoches, Wichita Falls, and the United States Army Air Corps at Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana. They were assisted by deputy sheriffs from Overton, Henderson, and Kilgore, by the Boy Scouts, the American Legion, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and volunteers from the Humble Oil Company, Gulf Pipe Line, Sinclair, and the International-Great Northern Railroad. Workers began digging through the rubble looking for victims. Floodlights were set up, and the rescue operation continued through the night as rain fell. Within seventeen hours all victims and debris had been taken from the site. Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler canceled its elaborate dedication ceremonies to take care of the injured. The Texas Funeral Directors sent twenty-five embalmers. Of the 500 students and forty teachers in the building, approximately 298 died. Some rescuers, students, and teachers needed psychiatric attention, and only about 130 students escaped serious injury. Those who died received individual caskets, individual graves, and religious services. Three days after the explosion, inquiries were held to determine the cause of the disaster. The state of Texas and the Bureau of Mines sent experts to the scene. Hearings were conducted. From these investigations, researchers learned that until January 18, 1937, the school had received its gas from the United Gas Company. To save gas expenses of $300 a month, plumbers, with the knowledge and approval of the school board and superintendent, had tapped a residue gas line of Parade Gasoline Company. School officials saw nothing wrong because the use of "green" or "wet" gas was a frequent money-saving practice for homes, schools, and churches in the oilfield. The researchers concluded that gas had escaped from a faulty connection and accumulated beneath the building. Green gas has no smell; no one knew it was accumulating beneath the building, although on other days there had been evidence of leaking gas. No school officials were found liable. These findings brought a hostile reaction from many parents. More than seventy lawsuits were filed for damages. Few cases came to trial, however, and those that did were dismissed by district judge Robert T. Brownqv for lack of evidence. Public pressure forced the resignation of the superintendent, who had lost a son in the explosion. The most important result of the disaster was the passage of a state odorization law, which required that distinctive malodorants be mixed in all gas for commercial and industrial use so that people could be warned by the smell. The thirty surviving seniors at New London finished their year in temporary buildings while a new school was built on nearly the same site. The builders focused primarily on safety and secondarily on their desire to inspire students to a higher education. A cenotaph of Texas pink granite, designed by Donald S. Nelson,qv architect, and Herring Coe, sculptor, was erected in front of the new school in 1939.

Natural Gas Deposits

Molecular Structure of Natural Gases Like all fossil fuels, natural gas is made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. These molecules are called hydrocarbons. Different arrangements of the atoms results in different types of gases.

Notable Oil Spills 1/5/93 Shetland Islands 87,000 tons 12/3/92 Spain 84,000 tons 1/25/91 Kuwait 1,450,000 tons 3/24/89 Alaska 34,000 tons 8/6/83 South Africa 250,000 tons 2/83 Persian Gulf 600,000 tons 11/1/79 Galveston, TX 36,000 tons 1942 Atlantic Ocean 590,000 tons

Petrochemical Products Crayons Deodorant Cassette Tapes Tires Dishwashing Liquids Toothbrushes Lipstick Tennis Rackets Guitar Strings Eyeglasses Yarn Fishing Lures Toilet Seats Candles Insect Repellent Credit Cards Aspirin Golf Balls Glue Contact Lenses Dish Cameras Nail Polish Balloons Here is a short list of petrochemical or petroleum products. Notice how much we rely on these products!!!

Petrochemical Product Project 1. Select 10 examples of Petrochemical Products 2. Communicate the problem that petroleum is nonrenewable and that the above objects are all made from petroleum. 3. Communicate how important petroleum is to your life and the need to conserve it. 4. You must have a written product, neatly done. 5. Don’t forget to title your project and put your name on it.

Ideas Advertisements, cartoon, collage, comic strip, computer website, demonstration, detailed illustration, diary, display, game, illustrated story, interview, mobile, newspaper story, narrative, nursery rhyme, painting, pamphlet, photo essay, pictures, play, poetry, power point, press conference, puppet show, rap, riddle, science fiction story, skit, song, television program, transparencies or creative idea of your own

Products from Petroleum Fishing pole Deodorant umbrella Football Helmet Golf bag Tent

Photo Sources http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=KIDS http://www.eia.doe.gov http://www.eere.energy.gov http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/com/energy/index.html