CRUDE OIL
Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of
hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. A type of fossil fuel, crude
oil can be refined to produce usable products such as gasoline, diesel and
various forms of petrochemicals. It is a nonrenewable resource, which means
that it can't be replaced naturally at the rate we consume it and is therefore a
limited resource.
Spiked Crude Oil:
• “Spiked crude oil” (also called “enriched” or “tailored” crude) is crude oil,
which has had hydrocarbons, added in gas or liquid form.
• The spiked crude may contain rather large amounts of added
hydrocarbons and therefore emit heavy gasses under certain conditions
(during loading, crude oil washing, discharging).
Sweet vs Sour Crude Oil
Sweet crude oil is considered “sweet” if it contains less than 0.5% sulfur. In
comparison, sour crude oil contains impurity sulfur levels larger than 0.5%.
Sweet crude oil contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon
dioxide and it is commonly used for processing into gasoline, kerosene,
and high-quality diesel. Before sour crude oil can be refined into gasoline,
impurities need to be removed, therefore increasing the cost of processing.
This results in a higher-priced gasoline than that made from sweet crude
oil. For this reason sour crude is usually processed into heavy oil such as
diesel and fuel oil rather than gasoline to reduce processing costs.
The sweet light crude oil Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) is used as a
benchmark in oil pricing.
Vapor Pressure
Vapor Pressure, also known as bubble point pressure and true vapor pressure, is the pressure
where the first bubble of vapor is formed at a given temperature. The composition (in the case
of a mixture) also influences this equilibrium pressure.
VMGSim calculates the vapor pressure by flashing the mixture of interest using a vapor
fraction equal to zero at the temperature specified in the stream that contains the mixture.
Units
The Vapor Pressure is reported in absolute pressure units.
True Vapor Pressure @ 100 F
This property is similar to the Vapor Pressure calculation except that the flash calculation is
performed at a specific temperature of 100 F.
Units
The Vapor Pressure @ 100 F is reported in absolute pressure units.
True Vapor Pressure @ Storage Temperature
It is defined as the vapor pressure of a liquid hydrocarbon calculated based on the ASTM
D6377-10 [1] standard method and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publication
AP-42 [2].
This property is calculated based on an equation presented in the EPA publication, derived
from a nomogram first published by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is based
on the Reid Vapor Pressure Equivalent of non – pressurized vessels (see definition below)
and the storage temperature. The storage temperature is defined by the specified temperature
in the stream that contains the mixture of interest.
Units
The Vapor Pressure @ Storage Temperature is reported in absolute pressure units.
Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) (D323)
The Reid Vapor Pressure is an important property of gasolines and jet fuels and it is used as
a criterion for blending of products. It is also a useful parameter for the estimation of losses
from storage tanks during filling or draining.
The Reid Vapor Pressure is defined as the vapor pressure of a mixture as it was measured
according to the experimental method depicted in the ASTM D323-99a standard method [3].
This test method covers the Reid Vapor Pressure determination of gasoline, volatile crude
oils, and other volatile petroleum products.
The standard method establishes that the analyzed mixture must be placed in a sample
container kept in a cooling bath at 32 F. Air saturation of the sample is performed by vigorously
shaking the container and returning it to the cooling bath. The sample is transferred to a test
apparatus consisting of two interconnected liquid and vapor chambers and equipped with a
suitable pressure-measuring device. The ratio of the volume of the vapor chamber to the
volume of the liquid chamber is 4. The entire system is immersed in a water bath at 100 F and
once equilibrium is attained the observed pressure from the measuring device is reported as
the Reid Vapor Pressure.
VMGSim calculates the Reid Vapor Pressure by simulating the ASTM D323-99a experimental
procedure. The mixture from the stream of interest is saturated with air (N2 79%, O2 21% mol)
at 32 F and 1 atm. Both N2 and O2 must be present in the component list from the property
package for the proper use of this method. The resulting saturated mixture is then flashed at
100 F and a constant vapor/liquid volumetric ratio of 4 to 1 (vapor volume fraction = 0.8), and
the calculated pressure is reported as the Reid Vapor Pressure (D323).
Previous calculations in VMGSim did not take into account the air saturation, which caused
the results to be lower. This is no longer the case since VMGSim 9.5 includes an option to
enable the air saturation of the mixture. This option is activated through a check box that can
be found in the Special Properties Unit Operation or the Refinery and Natural Gas tabs from
the Material Stream as seen in the following figures. If N2 and O2 are not present in the
component list the calculation is performed without air saturation.
Pour Point
The pour point of a crude oil, or a petroleum fraction, is the lowest temperature at which the oil
will pour or flow when it is cooled, without stirring, under standard cooling conditions. Pour point
represents the lowest temperature at which oil is capable of flowing under gravity. It is one of the
important low-temperature characteristics of high-boiling fractions. When the temperature is less
than the pour point of a petroleum product, it cannot be stored or transferred through a pipeline.
Standard test procedures for measuring pour points of crude oil or petroleum fractions are
described in the ASTM D97 (ISO 3016 or IP 15) and ASTM D5985 methods. The pour point of
crude oils relates to their paraffin content: the higher the paraffin content, the higher the pour
point