Coal and Petroleum (L23)

Question 1

the process in which coal is formed is a straightforward process of ______

Answer 1

pressing and gentle cooking of organic matter

Question 2

where does the organic matter used to make coal come from?

Answer 2

land plants in a low-energy environment (like a swamp)

Question 3

what slows down the further decay of the organic matter used to create coal?

Answer 3

an oxygen-free environment

Question 4

what is peat?

Answer 4

a material made from the accumulation of organic matter

Question 5

what type of coal is produced under diff levels of cooking?

Answer 5

little bit of cooking - a low-grade coal called Lignite

more cooking and pressing - Bituminous Coal (more compact black coal)

highest temp and pressure - Anthracite (high grade coal)

Question 6

How was coal produced in the Paleozoic?

Answer 6

failed rift was produced from the Atlantic Ocean opening up and being bordered by swamps

Question 7

What is Petroleum? and what is derived from?

Answer 7

petroleum is oil and natural gas derived from the remains of plankton

Question 8

What are the oil and natural gases products of?

Answer 8

products of the chemical breakdown of the remains of various hydrocarbon compounds through absence of oxygen in organic rich-mud

Question 9

what does this organic rich mud lithify into?

Answer 9

shale

Question 10

What is Cracking?

Answer 10

the large complex molecules of oil and gas are broken down into smaller and shorter ones dominated by hydrogen and carbon due to conditions of increasing temperature with increasing depth

Question 11

What is the oil window?

Answer 11

the temperature range in which most oil is produced between (60-120 degrees celcius)

Question 12

what does wet gas refer to?

Answer 12

stuff that is liquid underground but a gas at the surface

Question 13

What is dry gas?

Answer 13

more or less pure methane, gas both underground and at surface

Question 14

What happens when oil and gas is unimpeded by an impermeable rock unit and why is it not good?

Answer 14

the oil and gas will continue to rise and emerge at the surface

not good, b/c it ends up being eaten up by microbes and oxidized

Question 15

What is an Oil Trap?

Answer 15

a geologic environment that allows for economically significant amounts of oil and gas to accumulate underground

Question 16

where are oil and gas contained in?

Answer 16

A reservoir

Question 17

What is the key factor in oil traps forming?

Answer 17

it has to have a permeable reservoir unit that is overlain by an impermeable rock

Question 18

Where do the fluids occur?

Answer 18

in all the individual pores and fractures within the reservoir rock

Question 19

from bottom to top, the fluids always occur in this order:

Answer 19

water, overlain by oil, overlain by gas

Question 20

What are stratigraphic traps?

Answer 20

traps whose characteristics are controlled by how the reservoir unit was deposited

Question 21

What happens when the cap rock is punctured by drilling?

Answer 21

the oil and natural gas, under pressure, migrate from the pore spaces of the reservoir rock to the drill hole

Question 22

before methods were developed to control the upward flow of oil in wells, what dangerous methods were used?

Answer 22

Blowouts (pressure explosions) and gushers (uncontrolled escape of oil)

Question 23

What is Coke?

Answer 23

A spongy substance that is created from coal being heated in the absence of oxygen to remove gases

Question 24

Where is coke burned in and why?

Answer 24

blast furnaces b/c it provides extremely high temps required for smelting process

Question 25

what is an upside of using coke and what is it used in?

Answer 25

it burns much cleaner than coal and it doesn’t generate as much smoke as coal, so less damaging environmentally

used in the production of cement

Question 26

What are some useful byproducts form processed coal?

Answer 26

organic substances used to make plastics, medicines, and solvents

Question 27

What is the most obvious use for oil and gas is as _____

Answer 27

fuel

Question 28

How is crude oil distilled in a distilliation tower?

Answer 28

1. boiled to produce vapor
2. vapor allowed to cool and condense at diff temps
3. heaviest material is called bitumen
4. Liquid fractions are collected in a broad range of temp, with each fraction used differently

Question 29

what are the different purposes for the diff types of fractions?

Answer 29

Smallest hydrocarbon molecules are used as gases (natural gas)

intermediate size, used in liquid form as fuel (gasoline)

the largest size, used as solids (tar)

Question 30

what are plastics in a chemical sense?

Answer 30

organic polymers, which are long chains of smaller carbon-based chains (called monomers) that have been linked together

Question 31

what are the particular monomers in plastic?

Answer 31

a chemical unit called an “ester”

link them together and its a polyester

Question 32

what are some pros to using plastic?

Answer 32

can be diverse in weight and durability
can be mouled into solid pieces
excellent electrical and thermal insulators
waterproof
cheap to manufacture

Question 33

Why is plastic the ultimate customizable “designer” material?

Answer 33

b/c the properties of plastics can be readily modified through the manipulation of chemical components

Question 34

what is an unforunate result of plastic manufacture?

Answer 34

plastic commonly used in single-use application and plastic doesn’t break down easily

serious environmental issue