PETROCHEMICALS & PETROLEUM REFINING TECHNOLOGY EXPERIMENT 4

1. OBJECTIVES
a. To determine the Reid vapor pressure of petroleum products
b. To compare the Reid vapor pressure of different petroleum products
2. SUMMARY

Reid Vapour Pressure can be defined as the determination by the ASTM test method
D323 to measure the volatility of petroleum crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products.
In this experiment, the Reid Vapour Pressure (ASTM D323) consists of two chamber that
divided into two sections which are a vapour chamber and a liquid chamber, pressure gauges
and a water bath. The readings of pressure was taken in 5 minutes interval for 20 minutes
period of time after determine the vapor pressure of the crude oil and petroleum products is at
37.8 ºC. Based on the first objective, it is shown that petroleum products of petrol has the
RVP readings which are 38.4 kPa, 40.3 kPa, 43.2 kPa and 43.2 kPa. Then, the RVP for
kerosene are 2.0 kPa, 2.3 kPa, 2.6 kPa and 2.6 kPa and RVP of diesel readings are 0.2 kPa,
0.1 kPa, 0.0 kPa and 0.0 kPa for the duration of 20 minutes with 5 minutes interval. For the
second objective, the readings of RVP of those three different types of oils, it shows that
petroleum products of petrol has the highest RVP for the duration of 20 minutes with 5
minutes interval. Then, the second highest of RVP is the kerosene and diesel has the lowest
readings. So, it is studied that petrol has the highest RVP value due to the fact that it has the
highest volatilty. As the more the volatille of a petroleum products, the higher the RVP value
will be which RVP. As for the recommendation, do not changed the vapor chamber and
liquid chamber that already been label for one type of fuel only as the RVP will change
because of the mixing oil. However, all the objectives are achieved.

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3. INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Table 3.1 The reading of Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP) of Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene.

Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP), kPa

Types of Oil Time (minutes)

0 5 15 20 Average

Petrol 38.4 40.3 43.2 43.2 41.28

Diesel 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.08

Kerosene 2.0 2.3 2.6 2.6 2.38

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DISCUSSION

The experiment was conducted to determine the Reid Vapour Pressure of oil. There
are two objectives for this experiment which are to determine the Reid vapor pressure of
petroleum products and to compare the Reid vapor pressure of diffrerent petroleum products.
The Reid Vapour Pressure (ASTM D323) consists of two chamber that divided into two
sections which are a vapour chamber and a liquid chamber, pressure gauges and a water bath.
The experiment pre-started by filling the liquid chambers with 100 ml of petrol, diesel and
kerosene respectively. The chambers then were assembled with the vapour chamber together
with a transducer connecter. Then, the vapour pressure apparatus were assembled into the
empty water bath before it was filled. After that, the water bath was filled with water up until
¾ of it volume capacity. The bath control unit was started and wait for the temperature of the
water bath to reach 37.8 ºC. When the desired water temperature was reached, the test of the
vapour can be started by pressing the ‘Test’, ‘Stirrer’ and ‘Start’ button respectively. The
readings of pressure was taken in 5 minutes interval for 20 minutes period of time.

Reid Vapour Pressure can be defined as the determination by the ASTM test method
D323 to measure the volatility of petroleum crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products.
The determination of the vapor pressure of the crude oil and petroleum products is at 37.8 ºC
(100 ºF) which have initial boiling point above 0 °C (32 °F) (Lipták, 2003). For the true
vapour pressure, it is pressure of the vapour in equilibrium with the liquid at 37.8 ºC. The true
vapour pressure is the equilibrium vapour pressure of a mixture when the ratio of the gas and
liquid ratio is effectively zero, vapour-liquid ratio (V/L) = 0 at a specific temperature. When
the V/L is equal to 0, it will be the highest vapor pressure value of liquid due to the
equivalent of it to the bubble point of the mixture.

The relationship between the measured true vapor pressure and ration of vapour and
liquid depends on the mixture of the composition. When the mixture is near pure, the ratio of
vapour and liquid has little effect on the vapour pressure but the effect will be large if the
mixture is a large composition range such as crude oil or condensate (Dr.Mahmood
Moshfeghian, 2016). The difference between the Reid Vapour Pressure and True Vapour
Pressure is that the RVP is the alternative method for measuring the TVP . This is because the
TVP exclude dissolved gases such as air and water vapour. The RVP can be used to measure
the crude oil, condensate and petroleum distillate (Dr.Mahmood Moshfeghian, 2016).

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Based on the table 3.1, which is about the readings of RVP of those three different
types of oils, it show that petroleum products of petrol has the highest RVP with readings
38.4 kPa, 40.3 kPa, 43.2 kPa and 43.2 kPa for the duration of twenty minutes with 5 minutes
interval. Then, the second highest of RVP is the kerosene with 2.0 kPa, 2.3 kPa, 2.6 kPa and
2.6 kPa and diesel has the lowest readings with 0.2 kPa, 0.1 kPa, 0.0 kPa and 0.0 kPa for the
duration of 20 minutes. Petrol has the highest RVP value due to the fact that it has the highest
volatilty. As the RVP is about the measure how easily the fuel evaporates at given
temperature, the more the volatille of a petroleum products, the higher the RVP value will be
(“What is the Difference between Summer- and Winter-Blend Gasoline? | AAA
NewsRoom,” 2015). The high volatilty of petrol compare to diesel and kerosene is due to the
composition itslef. Petrol is made of a mix of alkanes and cycloalkanes with a chain lengtth
of between 5 to 12 carbon atoms which boil between 40°C and 205°C. For the diesel and
kerosene, it constructed with longer hydrocarbon containing 12 and more atoms which have
boiling point between 250°C and 350°C (“Differences Between Diesel and Petrol | ACEA -
European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association,” 2016).

As there are difference in RVP values of oils, each these types of oils will have
difference impacts in the performance on the engines. The more volatile liquid will have
higher RVP value. All liquids will vapourize at atmospehere temepratures but the rate of
vapouration is vary. The rate of vapourization will increase with high temperature and low
pressure condition. This volatility of fuel affects in engine starting, warmup length period,
fuel distribution and engine performance (“Volatility and engine operation,” n.d.). As the
RVP represents the volatility of fuel at its initial boiling point, it is important when starting a
cold engine. The lower the number of RVP, the more difficult it is to start a cold engine
because to it doesn’t vaporize. This can lead to the unable to start the engine due to the fuel
not be vaporised in the combustion chamber (Price or Performance?, n.d.)

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5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) is the analysis of vapor pressure for petroleum product such
as diesel, petrol, bitumen, lube oil and kerosene. The RVP value obtain in the experiment
shows the volatility of the fuels and also its component. Petroleum products can be classified
into 3 categories which are light, middle and heavy distillate. In the experiment, the type of
fuel used were petrol, diesel and kerosene in which the petrol is classified as heavy distillate,
while diesel and kerosene are from middle distillates. From the RVP value obtained in the
experiment, it can be concluded that the petrol has highest volatility followed by kerosene
and diesel. The value also indicates the composition of each fuel in which for petrol have
chain length between 5 to 12 carbon where as for the diesel and kerosene, both fuels
contained longer hydrocarbon than 12. The ability of those fuel to be used in cold engine also
depends on the RVP value. Lower RVP such as diesel will have more difficulties to be used
in cold engine. This is because the higher the vapor pressure of the fuel, the more energy
need to vaporise the fuel. The RVP value for diesel and kerosene should be close to each
other and not have significant different like the value recorded in the experiment.

The recommendation that can be apply to improve the experiment is by not changing the
vapor chamber and liquid chamber that already been label for one type of fuel only. This is to
make sure no contamination happens in future experiment. Besides that, the chamber must be
washed after the experiment using detergent to remove remaining fuel in the chamber and the
chamber need to be rinsed several times until the oily smell gone.

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6. REFERENCES

Differences Between Diesel and Petrol | ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers’

Association. (2016). Retrieved April 12, 2019, from
https://www.acea.be/news/article/differences-between-diesel-and-petrol

Dr.Mahmood Moshfeghian. (2016). Correlations for Conversion between True and Reid
Vapor Pressures (TVP and RVP) | Campbell Tip of the Month. Retrieved April 11,
2019, from http://www.jmcampbell.com/tip-of-the-month/2016/02/correlations-for-
conversion-between-true-and-reid-vapor-pressures-tvp-and-rvp/

Lipták, B. G. (2003). Instrument engineers’ handbook. CRC Press.

Price or Performance? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.capitalcityoil.com/pdf/The four

most important properties of racing fuel.pdf

Volatility and engine operation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2019, from
http://www.tpub.com/engine3/en32-59.htm

What is the Difference between Summer- and Winter-Blend Gasoline? | AAA NewsRoom.
(2015). Retrieved April 12, 2019, from https://newsroom.aaa.com/2013/06/what-is-the-
difference-between-summer-and-winter-blend-gasoline/