Understand the Basics of the Crude Oil Classifications

Crude oil is essential for everyone, as without the petroleum oil world would cease to move. No vehicles will be there on the streets. Not heavy machines in the industrial plants will work properly. If you read pipeline industry publication, you shall come to know that there are different kinds of crude oils. You need to know about the right type of crude oil for the right purposes. Crude oil, obtained from different sources, feature different characteristics. Based on those characteristics, crude oil has been used for producing different derivatives. The basics of crude oil classification have been discussed in the following section of this article.

The major component of crude oil is carbon, which is around the 80% of the crude oil materials. The second crucial component is hydrogen. This is why hydrocarbon gas is released when crude oil is burnt. Apart from these elements, there are some other elements too. These elements are nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, helium, etc.

Classification of Crude Oil

Crude oil has been classified into four major categories. These categories are Very Light, Light, Medium and Heavy crude oil. Different types of crude oil have different usages. For example, very light crude oil has been used for generating fuel for jet plane engines. This is the finest quality liquid petroleum fuel. It is expensive too. Light crude has been used for producing Kerosene, petrol, etc. Based on three factors, fuel price is determined. These three factors include viscosity, toxicity and density.

Sweet Crude and Sour Crude

Apart from classification of the crude oil as mentioned above, some other classifications are also there. For example, there are two types of crude. They are sweet crude and sour crude. Now, you must be thinking that there is something with taste of the crude oil. Well, it has to be remembered that crude oil comes with toxicity. Hence, tasting them is not recommended. In fact, it could be life threatening. Sweet crude oil is the oil that comes with low percentage sulfur. On the other hand, crude oil possessing high percentage of sulfur is known as sour crude. For manufacturing fuel for engines or machines, sweet crude is mostly used in comparison to the sour crude.

Heavy Crude and Light Crude

If you check pipeline report news, you shall come across two basic types of crudes. The first one is known as light crude. The second one is called as heavy crude. Heavy crude comes with high toxicity level and higher density. Using such crude is harmful for nature and engines. Heavy crude contain high amount of toxin and thus burning this crude will cause environmental issues. Nevertheless, engines do not run proficiently or seamlessly with heavy crude.

Light crude has been used for producing good quality fuel for jets and vehicles. Such fuel is expensive too.  Light crude oil comes with lower density and higher viscosity. Moreover, toxicity level is low in light crude. The toxic elements can be easily eliminated from the crude oil. These are some of the most important factors that you need to know when it comes to dealing with the crude oil.