How oil was formed

FOSSIL FUELS

The fossil fuels were formed from the remains of plants and animals from many millions of years ago. Through the actions of microorganisms and particular conditions of immense temperature and pressure, these remains have been transformed into carbon deposits trapped within the ground or deep beneath the oceans.The time-scale of this process is so huge, compared to that of mankind’s development, that the reserves are considered to be finite and our continued extraction will ultimately deplete known reserves completely. There is a very strong incentive to look for "sustainable" energy solutions and to maximize the effectiveness with which we utilize energy in order to prolong the lifetime of the fossil fuel reserves for future generations.

Predictions of oil and gas resources indicate they will last for around another 40 years. New deposits are continually being located, but energy demand is also increasing and predictions of how long known reserves will last have remained approximately static since the 1960s. Known coal reserves are much large and are predicated to last up to two thousand years.

Fossil fuels are not only important for their energetic value but also as the raw material for many products of everyday life. For example, consider a car: fossil fuels not only power the car (in the form of petrol) and provide the energy for its manufacture, but provide the basic material for the tires, the dashboard, the wiring insulation and the paintwork. The tar and bitumen used to construct, the road is also derived from fossil fuels.

Oil. What is oil?

When oil is extracted from the ground it is called "crude oil". It floats on water, has a heavy, characteristic smell and has a color which, depending on its composition goes, from yellow to deepest black, but always has the characteristic "oil film" indecency. It is a non-uniform, highly complex mixture of hydrocarbons (carbon and hydrogen chains) with paraffins, naphthenes and aromatic compounds. It also has small quantities of other components including heavy metals and sulphur.

How oil was formed

Oil is found in conjunction with sedimentary rocks of marine origin, it was formed by the gradual build-up of deposits of plankton and sea creatures on the ocean bed millions of years ago. As the climates changed the seas dried up and these deposits came to be covered in successive layers and strata of sediment.

Over the course of time this sediment turned to thousands of meters of sedimentary rock and the continued action of compaction and high temperature brought about the transformation to bitumen and then oil. These deposits became trapped between impermeable layers of rock, and tectonic movement and geological faulting leads to the formation of underground reservoirs of oil, called oil-fields.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26