Petroleum Products Testing

Petroleum, which literally means “Rock Oil” or “Oil from the Earth”, was formed from the remains of plants & animals that lived millions of years ago (Pre-Dinosaur age) in a marine environment. Subsequent decomposition of those remains (over millions of years) by application of heat & pressure (due to burial) by deposition of sand & silt over them led to the formation of “Crude Oil” or Petroleum. It is one of the 3 Fossil fuels, viz., Coal, Natural Gas, Petroleum, that occur in our nature, & is composed of a complex mixture of different types of hydrocarbons along-with a number of elemental impurities, like Sulfur, Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc. Due to wide variations in the origin of Petroleum products, they vary considerably in terms of their Physico-Chemical properties & appearances, from one Oilfield to other.

The separation of Crude Petroleum into its various individual fractions (called ‘Petroleum Products’), like Petrol, Diesel, & Naphtha, take place in a ‘Petroleum Refinery’ by a process called ‘Refining’, which consists of 3 steps: (1) Separation (2) Conversion & (3) Purification. There are 4 major types of Petroleum fractions, depending upon their Chemical Bonding patterns:

1) Paraffins (2) Olefins (3) Naphthenes & (4) Aromatics

Depending upon their usage, Petroleum Products can be broadly divided into 2 types, ‘Fuel Oil’ & ‘Lubricants’. Characterization of these products in terms of a number of Physico-Chemical properties, like Viscosity, Octane number, Cetane number, Distillation range, is of utmost importance in determining the suitability of a particular Petroleum Product for the purpose of its intended use, transportation, storage, & other functions.

Some of the Petroleum Products tested by Modi Laboratary are as follows:

Test Parameters of Petroleum Products (Routine & Specialized Tests)s

Some of the Standard Test Methods, Protocols, & Specifications adopted/followed by Modi Laboratary are as follows:

Major Equipments used for Testing