The six main uses of oil These are: transportation, industrial energy, heating and lighting, lubricants, use of by-products and the petrochemical industry. Transportation, defense, technology, industry, commerce, research and development and many other facets of human activities are directly or indirectly linked to the use of oil or its by-products.
Provides fuel for heat and lighting, lubricants for machinery and raw materials for a number of manufacturing industries (US energy information administration, 2016).
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The entire transportation system in the world depends on oil. Gasoline and diesel are the main sources of energy for all types of modern transport vehicles.
Oil is the main source of industrial energy. Diesel and gasoline are used in gas turbines to produce electricity.
The heaviest oils are used in central heating plants for shops, offices and homes.
Oil is also used to produce electricity for industrial and domestic use. Lighter grades of oil, such as "kerosene", are still used for domestic purposes..
Lubricants are very useful for all kinds of machines, especially for machines used in transportation and industries..
All types of lubricants and greases are produced from petroleum. Vehicles of all kinds and the wide range of sophisticated machinery in use in factories and offices rely on lubricants and grind to stop if they were not available..
Figure 4: lubricant made from petroleum.
Crude oil is a mixture of carbon, hydrogen, impurities, and few other components..
The refining process separates various hydrocarbon fractions and several by-products have been produced (Chand, 2016).
When most people think of oil, gasoline and diesel fuel come to mind..
They may even conjure up images of jet fuel, but you will rarely consider the other unexpected places that oil by-products show up in modern life..
Because crude oil contains a large number of different hydrocarbons, various refined products have found their way into multiple arenas, from plastics to pharmaceuticals (Petroleum.co.uk, 2015).
One of the most important uses of oil is in the production of ammonia that is used as a source of nitrogen in agricultural fertilizers..
At the beginning of the 20th century, Fritz Haber invented a process that allowed the industrial-scale production of ammonia.
Before that, the ammonia for the fertilizer came only from manure and other biological processes..
Plastic is a staple of modern life. From computer monitors to Styrofoam, plastics are integral aspects of many manufactured products..
Polystyrene, from which polystyrene foam is made, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), both products of post-WWII industrialization.
Nylon, which can be found in stockings to mechanical gears and even car engines, is the most successful petroleum plastic to date. Most plastics come from olefins, which include ethylene and propylene.
The tires are made of rubber. Until 1910 all rubber was produced from natural elastomers obtained from plants.
The need for synthetic rubber was relatively small until World War II, resulting in embargoes on natural rubber from South America and the need to produce synthetic rubber on a large scale. Rubber is primarily a butadiene product.
Mineral oil and petrolatum are petroleum by-products used in many topical creams and pharmaceuticals..
Tar, which is used for psoriasis and dandruff, is also produced from oil.
Most drugs are complex organic molecules, based on smaller and simpler organic molecules. Most of these precursors are petroleum by-products.
Petroleum distillates such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and others, provide the raw material for products including colorants, synthetic detergents, and fabrics..
Benzene and toluene are the starting materials used to make polyurethanes, which are used in surfactants, oils and even to varnish wood.
Even sulfuric acid has its origin in the sulfur that is removed from the oil.
ink.
Upholstery.
CDs.
Vitamin Capsule.
Denture adhesive.
Putty.
Guitar strings.
Heart valves.
Anesthetics.
Cortisone.
Toilet seats.
Color pencils.
Pillows.
Artificial grass.
Deodorant.
Lipstick.
Hair color.
Aspirin.
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Oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that are produced on Earth in liquid, gaseous or solid form.
The term is often limited to the liquid form, commonly called crude oil, but as a technical term it also includes natural gas and the viscous or solid form known as bitumen, which is found in tar sands..
The liquid and gaseous phases of petroleum constitute the most important of the primary fossil fuels (Gordon I. Atwater, 2016).
A thick, flammable, yellow to black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally below the earth's surface.
It can be separated into fractions that include natural gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, and asphalt. It is also used as a raw material for a wide variety of derived products (American Association of Petroleum Geologists, S.F.).
Oil was formed from the remains of ancient marine organisms, such as plants, algae, and bacteria.
Over millions of years of intense heat and pressure, these organic remains (fossils) are transformed into carbon-rich substances in which we count as raw materials for fuel and a wide variety of products (National Geographic Society, S.F.).
Oil, today, is a main source of energy in the world. This is also due to its multiple usability in different fields of machine civilization..
Every aspect of man's daily life is in some way influenced by the use of oil (Petroleum.co.uk, 2015).
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