Oils: How We Use Them to Live

There are so many different oils of life, but at some point in our daily activities, we all draw upon a reserve of one or more of earths' natural resources; One of the most crucial of these being crude oil. We use them everyday, but the main one I would like to discuss is the one we use most, which is crude oil. Just imagine going a week without it. We would all just fall over in confusion and not know what to do, but having oil in our lives we now succeed at almost everything.

What is Crude Oil?

Crude oil, usually known as petroleum, is a liquid found within the Earth comprised of hydrocarbons, organic compounds and small amounts of metal. While hydrocarbons are usually the chief part of crude oil, their work can vary from 50%-97% depending on the type of crude oil and how it is extracted. Organic compounds like nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur typically make-up between 6%-10% of crude oil. Crude oil is a very key natural resource. It is defined as being a fossil fuel. Crude oil is created-

through the heating and compression of organic materials over a long period of time. Most of the oil we extract today comes from the remains of prehistoric algae and zooplankton whose remains settled on the bottom of an Ocean or Lake. Over time this organic material combined with mud and was then heated to high temperatures from the pressure created by heavy layers of residue. This process, known as digenesis, changes the chemical composition first into waxy compound called kerosene and then, with increased heat, into a liquid through a process called cat agenesis.

Who, When, and Where Oil was Found

Man first discovered oil that had bubbled up to the surface. The oil would collect in low places in the earth’s crust or float on top of ...

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.... Floating booms can be placed around the source of the spill or at entrances to channels and harbors to reduce the spreading of an oil slick over the sea surface. Skimming, a technique that, like the use of booms, is most successful in calm waters, involves diverse mechanisms that actually separate the oil from the water and place the oil into collection tanks. Another approach is to use a variety of sorbets (volcanic ash) that attracts the oil from the water. Where proper, chemical surfactants and solvents may be extended

over a slick in order to speed up its natural diffusion into the sea. Onshore elimination of oil that has penetrated sandy beaches and layered rocky shores is a difficult issue, constantly involving small armies of workers wielding hand tools or operating heavy construction-type equipment to scrape up contaminated debris and haul it away.