Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Different Types Of Petrochemicals

By Lenna Stockwell


When we think about petroleum, most people probably just think about gas or oil. While the use of petroleum as a fuel is it biggest use, the byproducts produced by refining petroleum are used to make a huge variety of products that we use every day, from toothbrushes to parts of our cell phones and computers. Petroleum is a huge part of our lives, so here are a few facts that will help you understand this substance a little bit better.

First of all, petroleum is a liquid that is found underground and the word petroleum is actually an amalgam of two Greek words that mean rock and oil. This black or yellow substance was used even in ancient times as a source of lighting fuel, for medicinal purposes and possibly even as a weapon. Scientists believe that "Greek Fire," was partially made using petroleum that seeped up from the ground naturally.

Petroleum is called a hydrocarbon, which is a name that is given to any organic compound that contains only hydrogen and carbon. These carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms combine in different weights to produce the various gases, liquids and solids that you find in petroleum. For example, one of the gases in petroleum is propane, which is a source of fuel for many people around the world. While petroleum is a type of fossil fuel, it is not the fossils of dinosaurs that have created petroleum but rather the fossils of ancient algae and other types of single cell plants and organisms.

Vehicle fuel, such as gasoline for internal combustion engines is what most of our petroleum is used to produce. However, other types of fuel also are created from petroleum such as kerosene, jet fuel, butane and even diesel fuel. The motor oil that lubricates our engines also is made from petroleum as well as many oils that used in many pieces of machinery. Our roads are paved using asphalt, which also is a petroleum-based product and asphalt has been used since ancient times.

Plastic is a highly usable product made from the petrochemicals that are produced when you refine petroleum. There are many different types of plastics that are created with petrochemicals and these include many types of thermoplastics. Thermoforming companies use thermoplastics to create a huge range of helpful products, including medical packaging, food packaging, agricultural packaging, electronic packaging and many other types of retail product packaging. The custom thermoformed packages are created by melting thermoplastic to a specific temperature and then forcing it into a mold and then trimming off the excess plastic. The excess can be recycled and used to make new items.

There are many common forms of plastic derived from petroleum or rather petrochemicals. Polyvinyl chloride, for example, is one type of plastic that we use to make many products and most people simply just know this as PVC. It commonly is used to make pipes, but also used to produce signs, furniture, shower curtains, flooring and much more. Polystyrene is another petroleum-based plastic and is more commonly known as Styrofoam.




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