Explanation Text - How is Petroleum Formed?
How
is Petroleum Formed?
Petroleum is one of nonrenewable natural source. It needs thousand
years to form an area of petroleum mining and the process can’t be separated
from chemical reaction. Petroleum is called natural source since algae lives in
insipid lake and also in the sea.
After algae had died, they will
precipitate in the bottom of sediment cavity and form source rocks. Source
rocks is kind of rocks that contain Carbon (High Total Organic Carbon). This rocks can be the pure result of precipitation in the lake, delta, and also the
sea. The forming of source rocks from algae is so specific. That is why, not
all sediment cavity will contain petroleum or gas. If Carbon is oxidized, those
carbon chains will not be next processed.
Source rocks will be buried under
the other kinds of rocks for a billion years. One of them is reservoir rocks.
It can be sand, limestone, or volcanic rocks. Precipitation happens
continuously. The more it is buried, the more it has greater temperature.
Petroleum is formed in 50° until 180° Celsius. But the best temperature is
about 100° Celsius.
Carbon will react with Hydrogen and
becomes hydrocarbon. Petroleum that is produced by source rocks is as an
unfinished petroleum. Although it is in liquid shape, it is far different with
water. The most important things are the density and viscosity. The viscosity
of petroleum is greater than water, but the density is lower than water.
Because of this lower density, petroleum tends to move up. When petroleum is
detained by bowl shape rocks, so this petroleum will be trapped and ready to
mine.
