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الخميس، 6 أغسطس 2015

Understanding Petrochemicals

By Lenna Stockwell


For most of us, petroleum is a word that conjures up images of going to the gas station to load up our gas tanks with fuel. While petroleum is used as a source of fuel, there are also other important products that are created or derived from petroleum. Petroleum products are all around us, so it is important to have a basic understanding of petroleum and what it's all about.

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.

Many people mistakenly believe that dinosaurs are the source of petroleum. However, this is simply not true. Before dinosaurs existed, there was petroleum and the main "ingredients" are actual single-celled organisms such as algae and zooplankton which have been on Earth for billions of years. Petroleum is comprised of a variety of different hydrocarbons, which is simply a substance that created out of a specific number of hydrogen and carbon atoms.

Of course, petroleum is used to make a wide variety of fuel, including the gasoline used to power the millions of vehicles with internal combustion engines. Other types of fuel that we get from processing petroleum include jet fuel, diesel fuel, butane and kerosene. Petroleum also is used to make motor oil and oils that are used to lubricate machine parts. Asphalt is another substance derived from petroleum and people have been using asphalt for thousands of years.

Many of the plastics that are used to produce a huge variety of items are made from petrochemicals, which are chemicals produced as a result of processing or refining petroleum. Most thermoplastics are made from petroleum-based substances. Food packaging, medical packaging, electronic packaging and many other types of retail product packaging is made from thermoplastic, which is a type of plastic that can be heated and molded into just about any shape. Thermoforming companies can create customized packaging for their clients using a variety of these petroleum-based thermoplastics.

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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