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Assignment #1

Methane (CH4)
Methane, also known as marsh gas or methyl hydride, is a colorless odorless gas
and is easily ignited. The vapors are lighter than air and when exposed to fire or intense
heat the containers for the long time, it may rupture violently and rocket (CAMEO
Chemicals, n.d.).
Natural Occurrence
Naturally, methane is produced by the anaerobic bacterial decomposition of
vegetable matter and majorly produced in wetlands. Other important natural sources of
methane include termites, volcanoes, vents in the ocean floor, and methane hydrate
deposits that occur along continental margins. (The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica,
n.d.).
Preparation
Methane can commercially prepared from natural gas or by fermentation of
cellulose and sewage sludge. It can also be formed when pure carbon combines directly
with pure hydrogen at temperatures above 1100 C (ONiel, 2013). Methane can also
be obtained by a nickel-catalyzed reaction of carbon dioxide and hydrogen (Lewis,
2007). It can also be produced electrochemically from water and carbon dioxide using
ruthenium electrodes at 61 C to obtain a 30% yield based on electric current (CHEM
ENG NEWS, 1985).
Uses
For industry purposes, it can be used for (1) fuels and fuel additives, (2)
functional fluids, (3) intermediates, (4) laboratory chemicals, and (5) processing aids.
For consumer purposes, it can be used for fuels and related products and plastic and
rubber products (EPA Chemical Data Report, n.d.).
Toxicity
According to Bingham, et al. (2001), liquefied methane may cause frostbite-like
effect on skin contact. Methane also acts as a simple asphyxiant when inhaled. Its
presence displaces air and causes hypoxia (Ford, et al, 2001).
References:

Bingham, E.; Cohrssen, B.; Powell, C.H. (2001); Patty's Toxicology Volumes 1-9
5th ed.
John Wiley & Sons. New York, p. V4 6
CAMEO
Chemicals,
(n.d.)
Retrieved
from
http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/3757
CHEM ENG NEWS 63 (25): 25 1985 Retrieved from http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgibin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+@rel+74-82-8
EPA Chemical Data Report (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/cdr/
Ford MD, Delaney KA, Ling LJ, Erickson T (2001); Clinical Toxicology. W.B.
Saunders
Company., Philadelphia, PA., p. 789
O'Neil, M.J. (2013). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and
Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, p. 1105
The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica (n.d.) Retrieved from http://
http://www.britannica.com/science/methane

Petroleum
Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that occur in the Earth in liquid,
gaseous, or solid forms. In liquid form, commonly called crude oil, but it also includes
natural gas and the viscous or solid form known as bitumen. The liquid and gaseous
phases of petroleum constitute the most important of the primary fossil fuels. Liquid
and gaseous hydrocarbons are so intimately associated in nature that it has become
customary to shorten the expression petroleum and natural gas to petroleum when
referring to both (Riva, n.d.).
Natural Occurrence
Petroleum is a fossil fuel derived from ancient fossilized organic materials
(Kvenvolden, 2006). Large quantities of these remains settled to sea or lake bottoms
and are buried under anoxic conditions. As further layers settled to the sea or lake bed,
intense heat and pressure build up in the lower regions and caused the organic matter
to change, first into a waxy material known as kerogen, and then with addition heat it
will turn into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons through a process known as catagenesis.
Hydrocarbon pyrolysis in a variety of mainly endothermic reactions at high temperature
and/or pressure, causes the formation of petroleum (Braun, et al, 1993).
Preparation
Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling after the thorough studies of
structural geology, sedimentary basin analysis and reservoir characterization
(Guerriero, et al., 2012). It is then refined and separated into a large number of
consumer products, most easily by distillation, from petrol gasoline and kerosene to
asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals ("Organic
Hydrocarbons: Compounds made from carbon and hydrogen", n.d.).
Uses
Petroleum can be taken to oil refineries, because of its heterogeneous chemical
structure, and the hydrocarbon chemicals separated by distillation and treated by other
chemical processes, so that it can used for a variety of purposes. And the most
common are fuels Example of fuels are LPG, butane, gasoline, kerosene etc. Petroleum
can also be derived into other end products such as alkenes, lubricants, wax, sulfur,
asphalt, paraffin wax, aromatic petrochemicals, etc. And because of petroleum
industry, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically due largely to the
increased use of energy-intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides
(Simanzhenkov, 2003).
Toxicity
Incomplete combustion of petroleum results in production of toxic byproducts
because too little oxygen results in carbon monoxide. Due to the high temperatures
and high pressures involved, exhaust gases from gasoline combustion in car engines
usually include nitrogen oxides which causes the creation of photochemical smog (Use
of ozone depleting substances in laboratories, n.d.).
References:

Braun, Robert L.; Burnham, lan K. (June 1993). "Chemical Reaction Model for Oil
and Gas
Generation from Type I and Type II Kerogen"
Guerriero V. et al. (2012). "A permeability model for naturally fractured carbonate
reservoirs". Marine and Petroleum Geology (Elsevier) 40: 115134
Kvenvolden, K. A. (2006). "Organic geochemistry A retrospective of its first 70
years". Org. Geochem. 37: 111

"Organic Hydrocarbons: Compounds made from carbon and hydrogen", (n.d.)


Retrieved
from
http://cactus.dixie.edu/smblack/chem1010/lecture_notes/2B.htm
Riva,
J.P.
Jr.
(n.d.)
.Petroleum.
Retrieved
from
http://www.britannica.com/science/petroleum
Simanzhenkov, V; Idem, Raphael (2003). Crude Oil Chemistry. CRC Press,. p. 33.
Use of ozone depleting substances in laboratories, (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.norden.org/pub/ebook/2003-516.pdf

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