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Understanding Petrochemicals

By Lenna Stockwell


For most of us, petroleum is a word that conjures up images of going to the gas station to load up our gas tanks with fuel. While petroleum is used as a source of fuel, there are also other important products that are created or derived from petroleum. Petroleum products are all around us, so it is important to have a basic understanding of petroleum and what it's all about.

First of all, petroleum is a liquid that is found underground and the word petroleum is actually an amalgam of two Greek words that mean rock and oil. This black or yellow substance was used even in ancient times as a source of lighting fuel, for medicinal purposes and possibly even as a weapon. Scientists believe that "Greek Fire," was partially made using petroleum that seeped up from the ground naturally.

Many people mistakenly believe that dinosaurs are the source of petroleum. However, this is simply not true. Before dinosaurs existed, there was petroleum and the main "ingredients" are actual single-celled organisms such as algae and zooplankton which have been on Earth for billions of years. Petroleum is comprised of a variety of different hydrocarbons, which is simply a substance that created out of a specific number of hydrogen and carbon atoms.

Vehicle fuel, such as gasoline for internal combustion engines is what most of our petroleum is used to produce. However, other types of fuel also are created from petroleum such as kerosene, jet fuel, butane and even diesel fuel. The motor oil that lubricates our engines also is made from petroleum as well as many oils that used in many pieces of machinery. Our roads are paved using asphalt, which also is a petroleum-based product and asphalt has been used since ancient times.

Many of the plastics that are used to produce a huge variety of items are made from petrochemicals, which are chemicals produced as a result of processing or refining petroleum. Most thermoplastics are made from petroleum-based substances. Food packaging, medical packaging, electronic packaging and many other types of retail product packaging is made from thermoplastic, which is a type of plastic that can be heated and molded into just about any shape. Thermoforming companies can create customized packaging for their clients using a variety of these petroleum-based thermoplastics.

There are many common forms of plastic derived from petroleum or rather petrochemicals. Polyvinyl chloride, for example, is one type of plastic that we use to make many products and most people simply just know this as PVC. It commonly is used to make pipes, but also used to produce signs, furniture, shower curtains, flooring and much more. Polystyrene is another petroleum-based plastic and is more commonly known as Styrofoam.




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