1. Section B: Petroleum as an Energy Source
Man has used oil for over 5000 years
First drilled in 1859 in PA
Oil is used in almost every aspect of modern life: products, shipping, manufacturing, heating, transportation, etc

2. B.1 Energy and Fossil Fuels: Overview
Chemical energy, a form of Potential Energy, is stored in the bonds of compounds
In an energy releasing chemical reaction bonds break and reactant atoms reorganize into new bonds
Result has less chemical energy, but process released energy (heat and light)

3. B.1 Energy and Fossil Fuels: Combustion of Methane
Energy releasing reaction of burning methane
CH4 + 2 O2  CO2 + 2 H2O + energy
2 Steps: Bond breaking, then bond making

4. B.1 Energy and Fossil Fuels: Combustion
Breaking bonds requires energy: endothermic change (increases chemical energy)
energy + CH4 + 2 O2  C + 4 H + 4 O
The forming new bonds releases energy: exothermic change (decreases chemical energy [>])
C + 4 H + 4 O  CO2 + 2 H2O + energy
Overall this is exothermic as more is released when reforming than is required to break bonds
Burning methane:
Show that the potential energy is at one point, goes up after bonds are broken, than goes lower than ever when bond making

5. B.1 Energy and Fossil Fuels: Combustion (continued)
Overall reaction maybe exothermic or endothermic:
if more energy is added to break bonds than produced when bond making then endothermic
opposite, like burning methane, is exothermic
Generally, if a reaction is endothermic, then the reverse reaction is exothermic
Actual “reaction mechanism” are more complex

6. B.2 Energy Conversion Conversion makes energy more useful
Hair dryer example: oil/potential - generate steam/thermal – spin turbine/kinetic - general electricity/electrical – transmit – thermal and kinetic in the hair dryer.
Energy is not consumed, but changes form - Law of Conservation of Energy
But some energy is lost to useful work.

7. B.2 Energy Conversion (continued)
Conversion of chemical energy into heat and then mechanical typically loses > 50%
Minimizing conversion is essential to using fuel efficiently
Solar cells (convert sunlight to electricity) and fuel cells (convert chemical energy to electricity) hold promise in adding efficiency of petroleum use.

8. B.2 Energy Conversion – Automobile example
Around 25% of the energy in gasoline contributes to powering the drive wheels.
75% is lost into the environment, mostly in the form of heat: 33% lost through exhaust, 30% through engine cooling, 6% pumping combustion air, 3% due to piston ring friction, …
Sample conversion in a car:
Generator / alternator – mechanical energy to electric
Rear window defroster converts electrical to thermal
Engine converts chemical to mechanical and thermal
Gasoline is potential energy.

9. B.3 Combustion Lab: Background
In this lab we measure how much thermal energy is released when burning a fuel.
We burn a paraffin wax candle (long chain alkane) under a can of water and watch the water temperature increase.
We will note the increase in temperature, while the mass of the candle decreases.

10. B.3 Combustion Lab: Background
Candle wax burning: (exothermic)
C25H52(s) + 38 O2(g)  25 CO2 (g) + 26 H2O (g) + E
Paraffin wax Oxygen Carbon Dioxide water vapor ENERGY
(Alkane) gas gas gas
More energy is liberated by forming bonds of the CO2 and H2O molecules than is required to break bonds of C25H52 and O2

11. B.3 Combustion Lab: Background
Specific heat capacity of a substance is the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of the substance by 1° C.
The SHC of water is 4.2 J/(g·°C or joules per gram per degree Celsius).
To raise the temperature of 10 g water from 25°C to 30°C: 4.2 J * 10 g * 5°C = 210 J
A sixty watt light bulb requires 6,000 J for one minute

12. B.3 Combustion Lab: Background
Heat of combustion is the quantity of thermal energy given off when a certain amount of substance is burned.
This is usually measured when :
one gram or
one mole (molar heat of combustion)
of substance is burned.

13. Hydrocarbon Table: Including Heat of Combustion
Boiling
Short
Heat of
Molar Heat of
Name
Point (C)
#Carbon
formula
Combustion
(kJ/g)
(kJ/mol)
Methane
-162 1
CH4
55.6
890
Ethane
-88.6 2
C2H6
52.0
1560
Propane
-42.1 3
C3H8
50.0
2200
Butane
-0.5 4
C4H10
49.3
2859
Pentane
36.1 5
C5H12
48.8
3510
Hexane
68.7 6
C6H14
48.2
4141
Heptane
98.4 7
C7H16
***
4817
Octane
125.7 8
C8H18
47.8
5450

14. B.3 Combustion Lab: Calculations
Mass of water in grams = volume of water (100mL) * 1.0 g/mL
Total rise in temperature = final temperature – initial temperature
Heat = mass * Specific heat of substance (water – 4.2J/(g·°C)) * change in temp.
Mass of burned wax = Mass of candle & card before burn – mass after burn
Heat of combustion of paraffin = #3 / #4

15. B.4 Using Heats of Combustion
Hydrocarbon + Oxygen gas 
Carbon dioxide+Water+??Thermal energy??
2 C2H6 + 7 O2  4 CO2 + 6 H2O kJ
(see the table with heat of combustion entry for ethane-C2H6)
Notice the table entry is for one mole, we have 2 here “2 C2H6” so we multiply by 2.
12 g of octane would be:
12 * 47.8kJ = 574 kJ

16. B.5 Altering Fuels: Overview
Due to changes in demand various fractions of hydrocarbons vary in price over time. E.G: the gasoline fraction demand is growing more quickly than other types, such as kerosene
Chemists and chemical engineers work innovate to maximize $ for crude oil, by maximizing the amount of the more valuable fractions while minimizing less valuable fractions of distillation.

17. B.5 Altering Fuels: Cracking
Due to cars becoming more popular in the early 1900’s chemists invented cracking.
Cracking - larger hydrocarbons are broken into smaller ones. E.G: C16 => 2 C8s (kerosene into gasoline)
Extra C1-4 are burned to feed the cracking process
> 1/3 of all crude is cracked, and catalysts are used such as aluminosilicates for efficiency (< tempature)
Gasoline is mostly straight chain, but branched chains burn better in engines – less knocking. E.G: 2,2,4-trimethylpentane isomer of octane is works well

18. B.5 Altering Fuels: Octane Rating
Isooctane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane) by definition is 100 octane, straight chain heptane is 0. Gas is rated this way. (> isooctane > octane rating, > heptane < octane rating)
Prior to the mid-1970, lead, was added to gasoline to inexpensively increase the octane rating by more slowly burning straight chain gasoline molecules, but the lead was found to be harmful to the environment, so eliminated.

19. B.5 Altering Fuels: Oxygenated Fuels
A fuel with an oxygen atom – added to gasoline to raise octane rating, introduced when lead was removed. (burns cleaner due to the oxygen)
Methanol (methyl alcohol, CH3OH): > octane rating and produced from natural gas, coal, corn or wood
MTBE (116 octane rating), first used in ’70s as an octane booster then increased importance as an oxygenated additive. BUT is mixes readily with water, tastes bad, can be bad for you, and seeps into water from leaking tanks. (net: good for air, bad for water) Some states have eliminated the use, some others limiting use.
MTHF (87 octane rating), is promising. Generated from renewable resources, also oxygenates fuel
For more on MTBE state usage see:

20. B.5 Altering Fuels: Oxygenated Fuels (continued)
Octane ratings can also be boosted by isomerization – convert straight chain hydrocarbon molecules to branched chain
Hydrocarbon vapor is heated with a catalyst to get branched chains.
Branched C6H14 can be added to gasoline fractions (C5-12) to produce high-quality gas
Isomerization and cracking add costs!