Oil is a natural hydrocarbon, which is an excellent raw material for producing a huge amount of various organic compounds. Consider the main petrochemical products that are currently needed for various industries.
Petrochemistry is a huge industry that is inextricably linked with all industries: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and the production of various polymeric materials.
Soot, carbon black, motor oils, gasoline, kerosene, gas oil - this is not a complete list of products obtained from industrial oil refining. The increase in the scale of production of chemical products is due to the modernization of existing plants, the emergence of new technologies in construction.
Petrochemical products are all compounds that are obtained by physical or chemical processing of gas and oil. The active use of these minerals began on an industrial scale from the mid-twentieth century. They replaced coal, wood. Currently, petrochemical products are used for the production of medicines, solvents, plastics, insecticides, dyes, textiles, detergents, rubber.
Oil ether
Often it is called gasoline. What is the formula of ether? Its chemical composition is C 7 H 7 BrMg. Petroleum ether is a light gasoline that is a good solvent. In the composition of bitumen, this substance is used for the deposition of asphaltenes.
Synthetic rubbers
This is a high polymer product, which consists of a mixture of hydrocarbons, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine. Rubber is able to pass during vulcanization into rubber - a product of high elasticity, which retains its properties under temperature fluctuations.
What petrochemical processes are used to obtain it? Ethylene (ethanol) is obtained by hydration of ethylene. It is evaporated in hermetically sealed vessels. Under the influence of high temperatures and a catalyst, ethanol is decomposed to butadiene. The diene hydrocarbon is purified, subjected to catalytic polymerization, forming raw rubber. Under reduced pressure, it is treated in mixers, rolled. The resulting petrochemical products are sent to rubber plants.
Plastics
The interaction of ethylene with chlorine produces a white powder - polyvinyl chloride resin. During its subsequent chemical treatment, vinyl plastic is obtained - a crystalline solid. Such petrochemical products are non-combustible, odorless, insoluble in alkalis and acids, and resistant to concentrated nitric acid.
Vinyl plastic is machined, welded with a jet of air, used for the manufacture of pipes, electrical insulation material, valves, hoses. This material is the basis of polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam with high thermal and sound insulation characteristics. It is in demand in engineering, medicine, agriculture, in everyday life.
Polymer compounds
Ethylene, propylene - these are hydrocarbons that are monomers for the manufacture of polymers. When high molecular weight polymerization of ethylene receive high or low pressure polyethylene. The catalyst in the process is oxygen.
Such petrochemical products have valuable properties: lightness, flexibility, dielectric and mechanical properties, high chemical resistance, water resistance. Polyethylene pipes are used for irrigation facilities, water supply systems, pumping products at chemical plants. Due to their good thermal insulation properties, even when water freezes, they do not burst; there are no lime deposits on the walls.
Teflon
This compound is also a petrochemical product. Tetrachlorethylene is obtained by polymerization of monomers, which contain two fluorine atoms. Teflon is resistant to acids, alkalis, it dissolves only in metallic sodium. This material is in demand in industry, medicine. For example, valves, pipes, hoses, and various gaskets are made from it.
Synthetic fibers
Currently, the most popular materials are: lavsan, kapron, anide, nitron. Caprolactam acts as a feedstock for the production of, for example, capron. It is melted and polymerized to give a kapron resin. Squeezed by nitrogen from the apparatus, the resin hardens, grinds, and is used to produce fiber.
Lavsan is produced from paraxylene, obtained by processing the gasoline fraction extracted from oil. This fiber has high strength, resistance to abrasion, temperature extremes. Apply it to make quality fabrics for coats.
Detergents
If previously solid soap was used as the only detergent, now there is a huge variety of synthetic detergents: liquids, powders. They have excellent washing ability, suitable for water of any hardness.
Fatty synthetic acids released from petroleum act as the starting material for their production. Important products that are in demand during the production of detergents are alkyl sulfates and sulfanol, which are formed during the sulfonation of fatty higher alcohols. The formula of the ester formed in this case depends on the starting alcohol taken. Alcohols themselves are obtained both by direct oxidation of paraffin and by hydrogenation of fatty acids.
To summarize
Among the main classes of substances that are released from natural gas or by-products, hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids, and sulfur compounds are of interest. Hydrocarbons are the main source of production of chemical compounds. From methane, which is the basis of gas, various organic derivatives are isolated, as well as hydrogen for the synthesis of ammonia. Butane, propane, ethane are converted into unsaturated hydrocarbons for their subsequent chemical treatment. Olefins and paraffins are in the gases that are formed during the processing of oil.