College of Science Department of

Chemistry
______________________________________________________________

Course Code: CHEM 3420 Course Title: Petroleum Chemistry

General Information

Number of Credits: 3
Instructional Format: 3 hours Lectures
Contact Hours/Week: 3
Prerequisite: CHEM 3322 Organic Chemistry 1 or CHEM 3323
Organic Chemistry for CAMS or CHEM 3324 Organic
Chemistry for Engineer
Co-requisite: None
Assessment: Homework, Quizzes, Tests, Final examination
Grading (A–F, Pass/Fail): Grading (A – F)
Textbook: Petroleum Chemistry and Refining *by James G.
Speight Industrial Organic chemistry** by Klaus
Weissermel
References (optional): The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum 4th Ed by
James G. Speight, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group
LLC, Boca Raton

1. Course Description

This course introduces students to organic chemistry as practiced in the refinery and
petrochemical industries. It covers general discussions about fossil fuels, gas and
petroleum exploration, refining and up-grading processes, industrial scale conversion
of selected primary petrochemicals into chemicals and products that dominate our
everyday life. The reaction mechanisms of some industrial chemical and up-grading
processes are also covered.

2. Course Objective

This course
1) seeks to present petroleum as a source of energy and industrial organic raw
materials and improve our knowledge of Omani oil and gas industry:
extraction and refinery operations, up-grading and conversion processes
2) presents molecular composition of crude petroleum as a chemical basis for
refinery operations
3) exposes students to quality control protocols associated with the oil industry;

1
 4) explains the processes by which fuel oil, diesel oil, lub oil, and asphalt are
stripped from crude petroleum and
5) connects class room organic chemistry with industrial organic chemistry by
showing how primary petrochemicals are converted to selected products that
dominate our daily life.

3. Learning Outcomes

(a) Knowledge and Understanding

1. Identify the sources and formation of industrial fossil fuels, evaluate the
relative limitations associated with their commercial exploitation as sources of
industrial organic raw materials and understand the physico-chemical
properties used to define crude and refined petroleum
2. Evaluate the differences between oils from the northern and southern parts of
Oman, their extraction, purification and refining requirements
3. Apply chemical knowledge previously acquired in organic chemistry course
(s) to refining, oil up-grading, designing and interpreting flow charts
4. Have a broad working knowledge of refineries, including the alkane, alkene,
and, aromatic and support utility plants; the importance of liquefied natural
gas (LNG), and environmental issues associated with oil and gas industries.
5. Well informed about the amazing world of petrochemicals and industrial
opportunities for chemists. Find the connection between crude petroleum
fertilizer, polymers, detergents, and selected everyday commodities and
industrial chemicals

(b) Skills
This course does not teach practical skills; industrial visit to a refinery will be
arranged whenever feasible. At the end of the course students should

1. be sufficiently literate about oil and gas industry

2. be able to evaluate a process technology and distinguish between
environmentally friendly and unfriendly technologies used in petroleum
refining and chemical conversion operations
3. be conversant with the roles that a chemist could play in the oil and gas
industry

(c) Attitudes (optional) -

2
 4. Assessment: Two tests (20 & 25% each); Assignment 10%; Final exam
(45%)

Assessment Criteria

Learning Assessment criteria

outcomes A B C D F
Recognize Analytical and clear Commanding Understanding of Limited knowledge Grossly inadequate
various types concept about fossil concepts about fossil lecture materials about fossil fuels; knowledge about
of fossil fuel, fuels; their formation, fuels; their formation, about fossil fuels; their formation, fossil fuels; their
their exploration exploration and their formation, exploration and formation and
processing economy; processing economy; exploration and economy; and the exploration, and of
formation and of the activities and of the activities processing activities of a chemist the activities of a
exploration of a chemist in a of a chemist in a economy; and of the in a refinery chemist in a
and refinery laboratory. refinery laboratory. activities of a laboratory. refinery laboratory.
properties chemist in a refinery
laboratory.
Evaluate Excellent knowledge Good knowledge of Evidence of lecture Limited knowledge Broad
methods used of recovery methods recovery methods room knowledge of the recovery generalization
to recover oil and properties of oil and properties of oil recovery methods methods, and about recovery and
and gas, and and gas, and the and properties of properties of oil and properties of oil
and gas and
environmental issues environmental issues oil and gas, and the gas, and the , and gas, and the,
environmental associated with oil associated with oil , environmental environmental issues environmental
issues recovery and clean recovery, and clean issues associated associated with oil issues associated
associated with up processes. up processes with oil recovery, recovery, and clean with oil recovery,
them and clean up up processes and clean up
processes processes.

Understand Mastery of up- Good knowledge of Lecture-room Limited knowledge Broad

petroleum up- grading technologies up-grading knowledge of up- of up-grading generalization
grading and ability to design technologies and grading technologies, and about up-grading
and read flow charts. ability to design and technologies and ability to design and technologies and
processes and
read flow charts. ability to design and read flow charts. ability to design
be able to read read flow charts. and read flow
and design charts.
flow chart for
operations
Have working Excellent and broad Good understanding Lecture-note Limited Grossly inadequate
knowledge of understanding of of operational understanding of understanding of knowledge of
various Plants operational activities activities in the operational operational activities operational
in the Natural gas, Natural gas or activities in the in the Natural gas or activities in the
in the refinery
Olefin, Aromatic and Alkane, Olefin, Natural gas or Alkane, Olefin, Natural gas or
Service Plants. And Aromatic and Service Alkane, Olefin, Aromatic and Service Alkane, Olefin,
the environmental Plants and the Aromatic and Plants and the Aromatic and
issues involved. environmental issues Service Plants and environmental issues Service Plants and
involved. the environmental involved. the environmental
issues involved. issues involved.

Excited about Excellent Good understanding Lecture-note Limited knowledge Poor knowledge of
the world of understanding of the of the uses, chemistry understanding of the of the chemistry and the uses, chemistry
petrochemicals uses, chemistry and and reaction uses, chemistry and reaction mechanism and reaction
reaction mechanism mechanism of reaction mechanism of converting mechanism of
and
of converting primary converting selected of converting selected primary converting selected
importance of petrochemicals into primary selected primary petrochemicals into primary
industrial modern products. petrochemicals into petrochemicals into modern products. petrochemicals
research and Concept of Industrial modern products. modern products. Concept of Industrial into modern
Development Research and Concept of Industrial Concept of Research and products. Concept
development Research and Industrial Research development of Industrial
development and development Research and
development

3
 5. Course Structure

The course is designed to be delivered in one semester of 15 weeks with 3 contact

hours per week. The course weight is 3 credit hours.

Week Topic
1 Course Objectives. Introduction
Fossil Fuel: Tar Sand Bitumen and Petroleum 9-14*and 1-13**
Fossil Fuel: Natural Gas. Sweetening of Sour Gas
2 Origin of Petroleum. Biomarkers 6-9*
Detection of Petroleum Deposit
Oil and Gas Exploration in Oman
3 Chemical Composition of Petroleum 14-36*, 79-100*
Separation of Crude Oil by Molecular Weight. True Boiling Point Curve 14-36*
Petroleum Analysis by Non-spectroscopic Methods 39-50*
4 Petroleum Analysis by Spectroscopic Methods 51-54*
Petroleum Refining: Distillation, Solvent Method 3-5*, 17-20*
Petroleum Refining: Distillation, Solvent Method 3-5*, 17-20*
5 Upgrading Process: Carbon Rejection. Hydrogen Addition 121-134* and 149-169*
Cracking Technologies: Steam, Fluid Catalytic, Visbreaking 126-134* and 59-63**
Hydrocracking. Hydrotreating 175-181*, 191-195*
6 Refining of Light Distillates. Improving the quality of Gasoline 66-74**
Review Zone 1
Quiz-1
7 Refining of Middle Distillates. Fuel Oil. Diesel Oil 224-234*
Refining of Vacuum Distillates. Dewaxing. Lub Oil and Greases.
Incompatibility in Refining Operations. Deasphalting 235-236*, 240-242*
8 Natural gas Plant and Omani LNG
Chemistry of Clean-up Processes 181-190*
Natural Gas: Manufacture of Syngas 19-24**
9 Selected Chemicals and Products from Syngas 24-42**
Ammonia-Urea plant; Fertilizer
Feedstock for Olefin Plant 63-74**
Selected Chemicals and Products from Olefin: Vinyl Acetate and Vinyl Chloride,
10 Polythene
Cumene, and Phenol-acetone 344-345**, 349-363**
Oxo-process 127-136**

4
 11 Oxo-alcohols and Carboxylic Acids; Alfol synthesis 136-141**; 210-212**
Review Zone 2
Quiz -2
12 Alpha and Higher olefins; Uses 74-89**
Feedstock for Aromatic Plant 313-318**
Isolation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Interconversions 319-326** and 331-
336**
Selected Chemicals and Products from Aromatic hydrocarbons: Caprolactam 253-
13 258**
Adipic Acid and Hexamethylenediamine 246-253**
Polystyrene 336-343**
14 Terephthalates 386-405**
Diisocyanates and polyurethanes 375-385**
Alkyl Sulfonates and Surfactants
15 Alkyl Sulfonates and Detergent Formulation
Buffer Zone 3
Revision

Topics

Introduction to fossil fuel; Origin, detection, and exploration of petroleum and gas;
Distillation, solvent method, de-asphalting; Oil upgrading process: Carbon rejection.
Hydrogen addition; Cracking technologies; Importance and limitations of
hydrocracking and hydrotreating; Refining of light distillates. Improving the quality
of gasoline; Refining of middle distillates. Fuel Oil. Diesel oil; Refining of vacuum
distillates. De-waxing. Lub oil and greases; Incompatibility in refining operations;
Natural Gas Plant; The Olefin Plant; The Aromatic Plant; Chemicals and products
from natural gas: Syngas, methanol, ammonia; Ammonia-Urea plant; Fertilizer;
Chemicals and products from Olefin: Methyl tert-butyl ether, polyvinyl acetate,
polyvinyl chloride, Teflon, polythene, polypropylene, ethylene-propylene
elastomers; Cumene, and phenol-acetone; Oxo-process; Alpha olefins and their uses;
Chemicals and products from aromatics: Caprolactam, polysterene, terephthalates.