Its about time the government got into this and make rules. The oil and gas companies have run rough shod over laws, rules, and common sense safety in the arrogant name of profits believing their product and business was omnipotent. Ask any body with fracked over land, stolen property, or craters where business and home used to be.
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I was thinking of drawing on long ago learned knowledge to define the difference between flash point and ignition point, but I think it better that one of the petroleum experts bring precision to the task. Anyone volunteer?
This report was put out by a pipeline company who will say anything to get railroads lunch and dinner
Paul_D_North_Jr ericsp Sounds like it is almost natural gasoline/natural gas condensate. Are those the same as / similar to "casinghead gas", or "Natural Gas Liquids", etc. ? The 'ignition point" term I was thinking of before (at 2:20 AM this morning . . . ) was "flash point". See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point Any thoughts or comments ? - Paul North.
ericsp Sounds like it is almost natural gasoline/natural gas condensate.
The 'ignition point" term I was thinking of before (at 2:20 AM this morning . . . ) was "flash point". See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point
Any thoughts or comments ?
- Paul North.
Natural gasoline is a natural gas liquid. NGLs also includes propane and butane (and the negligible quantities of whatever unsaturated versions may be in the natural gas).
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
One thought, a low flash point does not necessarily mean a low ignition point. Methane has a flash point in the cryogenic range (i.e. colder than any spot on earth) but has an ignition point above 1,000F. Longer chain hydrocarbons have a higher flash point than methane but a lower ignition point.
Another indicator of ignition point would be the octane number (technically performance number for numbers>100). Propane has a performance number of 105 to 115 or so, methane is at least 130. My guess is that Bakken crude would have a very low octane number.
- Erik
Sounds like it is almost natural gasoline/natural gas condensate.
The most common way to generally grade crude oil is measured by API gravity (an inverse relation to density). The literature I've seen on Bakken crude is in the 36 to 45 range, which is typical for light crudes. Condensates I have dealt with are in the 60 to 70 range. Apparently API gravity isn't the whole story. Like what what Paul describes of the WSJ story, I have also noticed that it is hard to find specifics on Bakken sample analysis.
I would venture that not too much is available on the properties of Bakken crude because it hasn't been on the market for a very long time. It also sounds like it's the opposite of Venezuelan crude, which is quite heavy and contains more low-end stuff.
Although this might not - or might - be generally available on-line to non-subscribers (try: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304834704579401353579548592 ), here's a summary of the pertinent points:
"Bakken Shale Oil Carries High Combustion Risk - Analysis Of Crude From North Dakota Raises Further Questions About Rail Transportation" by Russell Gold (with Laura Stevens and Tom McGinty) of the Wall Street Journal, datelined Feb. 23, 2014 7:10 PM ET, as a "Business" article in the on-line version. The article appeared on Pages B-1 and B-2 - "Marketplace" section - of my local print edition of Monday, Feb. 24, 2014.
An analysis by the WSJ of data from Capline Pipeline (operated by Marathon Petroleum) discloses that the "average Reid Vapor Pressure is a common measurement of how quickly a liquid fuel evaporates and emits gases" for "North Dakota Sweet" is 8.56 psi to as high as 9.7 psi; Texas Eagle Ford Shale is also above 8 psi. Tesoro Corp., a U.S. West Coast refiner, said it has regularly received oil from North Dakota with readings up to 12 psi. The article says (or strongly implies) that this important data has been hard to come by in the public domain, even though sought by regulators and officials.
According to the article, other crudes commonly run in U.S. refineries are 6.17 psi for Brent, and 3.33 for Louisiana Light Sweet. The list and graphic has a total of 10, most of which are from around the world (and which I'd never heard of before).
Also according to the article, a higher vapor pressure means it is more likely to throw off combustible gases. The Bakken crude's vapor pressure is far higher and several times higher than that of crude from many other locations.
Also: Bakken crude tends to be very light, a mixture of oil, ethane, propane, and other gaseous liquids, unlike conventional oil which can look like black syrup. "You can put it in your gas tank and run it" said Jason Nick, a product manager at testing-instruments company Ametek Inc. "It smells like gasoline."
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I have no deep knowledge of this subject, or the accuracy of most of these statements, and so will defer to those who do. For example, doesn't the "ignition point" (or a similar temperature-based quality characteristic) also bear on this ? Certainly finding or purchasing a copy of the entire article is recommended for all the details.
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