Oil and Gas

I must not be asking the question right.

I have a barrel of oil. Can I turn the majority of that barrel into whatever petroleum product I'd like or does the makeup of the oil require me to turn 46% of it into gasoline?

 

The make up of the oil requires you to turn 46% of it into gasoline.

Crude oil contains all of these things in it, refining is the process of extracting similar things at the same time. Just like distilling alcohol, at certain temperatures, certain substances become airborne and carefully controlling the temperature allows you to extract only the ethanol rather than the other byproducts of fermentation.

 

TIL. thanks.

 

I haven't found any information that shows gasoline being refined into other petroleum products. As to your question concerning the refinement process here is what the EIA reports concerning a barrel of oil. A 42 gallon barrel of oil produces about 19 to 20 gallons of gasoline. The link to inputs and outputs breaks down the petroleum products produced from one 42 gallon barrel of crude oil with gasoline being the largest output at 20.08 gallons followed by distillate fuel oil at 12.47. Kerosene (jet fuel) is 3.53 gallons all other products are substantially less as you go down the chart.

Oil and petroleum products explained

Petroleum refineries convert crude oil and other liquids into many petroleum products that people use every day. Most refineries focus on producing transportation fuels. On average, U.S. refineries produce, from a 42-gallon barrel of crude oil, about 19 to 20 gallons of motor gasoline; 11 to 13 gallons of distillate fuel most of which is sold as diesel fuel; and 3 to 4 gallons of jet fuel. More than a dozen other petroleum products are also produced in refineries including liquids the petrochemical industry uses to make a variety of chemicals and plastics. The amount of individual products produced varies from month to month and year to year as refineries adjust production to meet market demand and to maximize profitability. Learn more in Refining crude oil—inputs and outputs.​

 

The company is Louisiana Chemical Equipment Company (LCEC). Here are the tanks. These are actually 12.5'-dia. x 143' long. They are not bullet tanks, surprisingly (the ends are flat). The MAWP (max working pressure) is 50 psig, and they are insulated. Good luck with transportation on tanks that long. I would think they would hold propane, if the pressure wasn't too high. They are designed to be chilled, I believe, which keeps the pressure down. I suspect that they would not hold natural gas if the refrigeration system failed for any extended period of time. To see what else they have, click on "Equipment" and then click on "Tanks". They probably have more than a hundred tanks of various sizes at any given time.

Two Unused 100,000 Gallon LNG Tanks for Sale - LCEC.com

 

Here are a couple of links for cracking and converting processes in refineries. Most of what they seem to be doing is trying to make more gasoline, or make additives to gasoline. Cracking converts heavier components into lighter ones. Conversion sometimes converts lighter components into heavier ones. Either one will require additional energy and capital (sometimes including catalytic reactors, etc.), so it isn't cheap.

Cracking (chemistry) - Wikipedia

Conversion processes

From the second article (VGO is vacuum gas oil):

 

P.S. What size barbeque are you running over there to require 100,000 gallons of propane?

 

It's true that cracking is part of the refinement process for gasoline and other products. You're not going to turn that gasoline into peanut butter. The distillation process (boiling) yields what is know as straight-run gasoline and straight-run diesel. Straight-run gasoline is not a finished product but it is gasoline and it is flammable. Straight-run diesel can be used for off road use but not for not for highway passenger and commercial vehicles. In any case you are not going to turn gasoline into peanut butter or any other product that comes from a barrel of crude.

Refining Processes of Diesel vs Gasoline

The refining processes of diesel vs gasoline begin with the separation of each from crude oil. The separation of diesel and gasoline hydrocarbons from crude oil occurs during the distillation process. Straight-run diesel and straight-run gasolines are the gasoline and diesel products that come out of the distillation column.
.......
The refining processes for gasoline and diesel are different because the hydrocarbon mixtures and mix ratios of gasoline and diesel are different. Additionally, the refining process is also part of the reason diesel and gasoline have different hydrocarbon compositions. Part of the refining process is breaking up large, long-chain hydrocarbons to make new smaller hydrocarbons.

Different hydrocarbons have different combustion and compression resistance properties. Combustion and compression resistance properties determine for which type of engine a fuel is most appropriate. There are two kinds of combustion engines.
​

 

He's cutting them up to make the world's biggest offset smoker.

 

I don't believe I ever claimed that refineries could turn gasoline into peanut butter. Just because you can't turn gasoline into peanut butter, does not mean that you can't turn gasoline (or its components) into something else. Obviously, the article I quoted had multiple conversion processes that convert parts of the oil stream into other (non-peanut butter) chemicals. I'm not a petroleum engineer, but I do know a chemical reaction when I see one.

 

Interesting about global demand. Obviously speculative and may prove to be untrue. But interesting nonetheless. Thread.

 

A minor problem with fracking for oil: earthquakes. West Texas (where the Permian Basin is located) just experienced its biggest earthquake in history, at 5.3 on the Richter scale. The previous record was 5.0 in 2020.

So while technology may solve one problem (lack of oil to consume), it can create other problems (earthquakes, poisoned groundwater, etc.). We really need to do what we can to reduce oil usage to a minimum (increase gas tax, encourage hybrids, EV's, discourage sports cars and monster trucks and SUV's, etc.).

West Texas Was Just Rocked By the Biggest Earthquake It Has Ever Seen

 

Oil Rout Intensifies As China Cuts Oil Purchases
Oil Rout Intensifies As China Cuts Oil Purchases | OilPrice.com

 

EPA floats sharply increased social cost of carbon
Always gotta watch the other hand.

 

So what is your take as to why their numbers are wrong?

Are you saying that users of carbon based fuel should bear none of the external costs of carbon fuels, such as air pollution, health care costs, sea level rise/flooding, fires, etc? Only the victims of those side effects should suffer the consequences?