Dictionary of Environmental Health
Another name for CRUDE OIL although the term strictly includes both crude oil and natural gases containing hydrocarbons. The name petroleum literally means ‘oil from rock’. It consists primarily of hydrocarbons although around 10 per cent of the total consists of aromatic hydrocarbons and other substances such as oxygen and nitrogen. Sulphur is a common contaminant ranging in content up to around 5 per cent. There is no standard composition of petroleum, and natural deposits contain varying degrees of solid, liquid and gaseous elements dependent on source.
There are three broad classifications. Asphaltic type petroleum contains naphthenes, paraffin type petroleum contains predominantly paraffin hydrocarbons and the mixed-base type both paraffin hydrocarbons and naphthenes.
Although commercial exploitation began in earnest in the mid 1850s petroleum has been exploited on a major scale for only a little over a century and its impact on industrial development has been remarkable. The economics and politics of oil production have had a major influence in shaping modern society, which is largely dependent on petroleum and its products. Although petroleum is used as a major primary fuel source, petroleum products are used in generating electricity as well as in the production and manufacture of medicines, fertilisers, foodstuffs, plastics and a wide range of industrial and domestic chemicals.
See also: NAPHTHENE; PETROL; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
This is the complete article, containing 218 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on Petroleum
