7^th World Congress on Petrochemistry and Chemical Engineering November 13-14, 2017 Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Petroleum Chemistry is made of a mixture of different hydrocarbons. The most prolific hydrocarbons found in the chemistry of petroleum are alkanes, these are also sometimes knows as branched or linear hydrocarbons. A significant percentage of the remaining chemical compound is the made up of aromatic hydrocarbons and cycloalkanes. Additionally petroleum chemistry contains several more complex hydrocarbons such as asphaltenes. Each geographical location and hence oil field will produce a raw petroleum with a different combination of molecules depending upon the overall percentage of each hydrocarbon it contains, this directly affects the colouration and viscosity of the petroleum chemistry. The primary form of hydrocarbons in the chemistry of petroleum are the alkanes, which are also often named paraffins. These are termed saturated hydrocarbons and the exhibit either branched or straight molecule chains.

Industrial gases are a group of gases that are specifically manufactured for use in a wide range of industries, which include oil and gas, petrochemistry, chemicals, power, mining, steelmaking, meals, environmental pollution, medicine, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food, water, fertilizers, nuclear power, electronics and aerospace. Their production is a part of the wider chemical Industry (where industrial gases are often seen as "speciality chemicals"). The principal gases provided are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen, helium and acetylene; although a huge variety of natural gases and mixtures are available in gas cylinders. The industry producing these gases is known as the industrial gases industry, which is seen as also encompassing the supply of equipment and technology to produce and use the gases. Whilst most industrial gas is usually only sold to other industrial enterprises; retail sales of gas cylinders and associated equipment to tradesmen and the general public are available through gas local agents and typically includes products such as balloon helium, dispensing gases for beer kegs, welding gases and welding equipment, LPG and medical oxygen.Very small scale gas supply is not confined to just the industrial gas companies. A wide variety of hand-carried small gas containers, which may be called cylinders, bottles, cartridges, capsules or canisters are available to supply LPG, butane, propane, carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide. Examples are whippets, powerlets, campingaz and sodastream.

Chemical reaction engineering is a specialty in chemical engineering or industrial chemistry dealing with chemical reactors. Frequently the term relates specifically to catalytic reaction systems where either a homogeneous or heterogeneous catalyst is present in the reactor. Sometimes a reactor per se is not present by itself, but rather is integrated into a process, for example in reactive separations vessels, retorts, certain fuel cells, and photocatalytic surfaces.

Petroleum refining processes are the chemical engineering processes and other facilities used in petroleum refineries (also referred to as oil refineries) to transform crude oil into useful products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and fuel oils. Petroleum refineries are very large industrial complexes that involve many different processing units and auxiliary facilities such as utility units and storage tanks. Each refinery has its own unique arrangement and combination of refining processes largely determined by the refinery location, desired products and economic considerations. There are most probably no two refineries that are identical in every respect. Some modern petroleum refineries process as much as 800,000 to 900,000 barrels (127,000 to 143,000 cubic meters) per day of crude oil.  

In the oil and gas engineering industry, reservoir modeling involves the construction of a computer model of a petroleum reservoir, for the purposes of improving estimation of reserves and making decisions regarding the development of the field. A reservoir model represents the physical space of the reservoir by an array of discrete cells, delineated by a grid which may be regular or irregular. The array of cells is usually three-dimensional, although 1D and 2D models are sometimes used. Values for attributes such as porosity, permeability and water quality are associated with each cell. The value of each attribute is implicitly deemed to apply uniformly throughout the volume of the reservoir represented by the cell.

Oil industry holds a major potential of hazards for the environment, and may impact it at different levels: air, water, soil, and consequently all living beings on our planet. Within this context, the most widespread and dangerous consequence of oil and gas industry activities is pollution. Pollution is associated with virtually all activities throughout all stages of oil and gas production, from exploratory activities to Refining Crude. Wastewaters, gas emissions, solid waste and aerosols generated during drilling, production, refining (responsible for the most pollution) and transportation amount to over 800 different chemicals, among which, of course, prevail oil and petroleum products. Other environmental impacts include intensification of the greenhouse effect, acid rain, poorer water quality, groundwater contamination, among others. The oil and gas industry may also contribute to biodiversity and conservation loss as well as to the destruction of ecosystems that, in some cases, may be unique. 

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat which are renewable. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity/micro hydro, biomass and biofuels for transportation. And a feedstock is defined as any renewable, biological material that can be used directly as a fuel, or converted to another form of fuel or energy product. Biomass feedstocks are the plant and algal materials used to derive fuels like ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, and other hydrocarbon fuels. Based on REN21's 2016 report, renewables contributed 19.2% to humans' global energy consumption and 23.7% to their generation of electricity in 2014 and 2015, respectively. This energy consumption is divided as 8.9% coming from traditional biomass, 4.2% as heat energy (modern biomass, geothermal and solar heat), 3.9% hydro electricity and 2.2% is electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. Worldwide investments in renewable technologies amounted to more than US$286 billion in 2015, with countries like China and the United States heavily investing in wind, hydro, solar and biofuels.  

Crude oil, coal and natural gas formed from the prehistoric matter of plants, animals, zooplankton and other life that was buried sometimes miles deep inside the Earth and subjected to high temperatures and high pressure over millions of years. These three so-called fossil fuels include a wide assortment of carbon-based substances. Humans have known about petroleum, or crude oil, from centuries, but the substance wasn’t considered terribly interesting until the mid 1800s, when it was distilled into kerosene and found to be a good, cheap alternative to burning whale oil in oil lamps. At that time, only the wealthiest could afford whale oil, which was preferred over candles or animal fats. Americans and others worldwide quickly adopted petroleum and learned to make an unending stream of useful products from it. Simultaneously, a worldwide obsession with striking oil was born. In 1885 Robert Bunsen invented the Bunsen burner, which mixes gas with air to produce a steady flame for heat or cooking. Widespread household use of natural gas waited until the mid-twentieth century, when thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines were built across the country. Today, natural gas is a popular fuel for heating homes, cooking, and powering clothes dryers, as well as for power plants and industries. Some vehicles are powered by natural gas as well. Like petroleum, natural gas is a starting material for many other goods like plastics, chemicals, and even hydrogen. Natural gas is an especially efficient fuel when burned in combined-cycle power plants, where electricity is produced in two stages. The combusted natural gas itself runs gas turbines, and then the leftover heat is used to heat water for steam-turbines. In recent years, geologists have revised upwards their ideas of how much natural gas we can recover, increasing estimates by 11 percent between 2008 and 2009 alone, though there has been some contention that these estimates are inflated. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the world, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It’s cheap, readily mined domestically and generated almost half of all electricity in the country in 2009 as well as more than 40 % of electricity produced globally. Though American coal is a domestic affair we don’t need to import it the fuel has caused substantial air pollution, as well as ground and surface water pollution from mercury and acid rain. Coal is also the source of countless mining and steady supply of greenhouse gases.

Simulation modeling is the process of creating and analyzing a digital prototype of a physical model to predict its performance in the real world. Simulation modeling is used to help designers and engineers understand whether, under what conditions, and in which ways a part could fail and what loads it can withstand. Simulation modeling can also help predict fluid flow and heat transfer patterns. Simulation modeling allows designers and engineers to avoid repeated building of multiple physical prototypes to analyze designs for new or existing parts. Before creating the physical prototype, users can virtually investigate many digital prototypes.

Without continuous technological innovation, further energy savings will become increasingly difficult to attain.  While petrochemical producers have made huge progress in energy reduction, they have almost reached a physical limit where any further reduction would not be of the same proportions as that already achieved.  To continue the momentum of energy savings, the petrochemical sector is focusing on creating products with enhanced performance which in turn reduce energy consumption during their lifetime.  Such examples include: Insulation in construction; lightweight plastics used in cars and transportation; solar panels; wind mills and water purification systems among many others.