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Gas and Oil are found natural below the surface of the earth where they are mined through pumps. In a petroleum well, there is oil, water, and gas. Among the gases found in the mining, wells are the methane, propane, ethane, and butane. Sometimes the gas can be found on its own and oil can also be found on its own. Oil is fine in its crude form where processing is needed to refine into various products. During the refining process, fractional distillation is used where the oil is boiled. Since it is made of several other components each fuel type once its boiling point is arrived at, it evaporates, and it is collected and then cooled. The first product is the gas inform of methane. The final product is bitumen. Other products of fractional distillation include petrol, diesel, paraffin, kerosene, and tar. After refining it is transported via pipes or tracks to places where they are used. When combusted, the products form carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide causes global warming. Bitumen last long since it is used in road construction.

The stages of the process life cycle

Oil and gas are critical to everyone’s day to day life, it has become an essential form of energy in transportation for those who haven’t chosen to go to electric cars. Oil and gas fields commonly have a lifecycle reaching from 15 to 30 years, from first oil to desertion. Manufacture can last 50 years or more for the largest deposits. Deepwater fields, however, are operated just five to ten years due the very high withdrawal costs. The first phase of the process is the Preparatory Phase, in this phase the company is researching the “fields” profitability, determining the number of wells needs and determining the fields production potential. The next step to the process is, “Start-up”, during this period, production increases gradually as more and more wells are drilled. Then we get into plateau production, this occurs when production stabilizes. Then we get into the “decline” stage, this occurs when production decreases at a rate of 1% or greater a year. Even after production ends there are still large amounts of oil and gas, companies will try to improve techniques for recovery. The last step is abandonment, when oil and gas companies abandon a field, they may sell it to a smaller private company with lesser production costs that require minor returns.

The approaches for reuse and recycling used in your chosen area

The effectiveness of each reuse and recycling approach

Gasoline and oil are such hazardous chemicals that recycling them is a complicated process, many alternatives to simply releasing any unwanted gasoline or oil into the environment are available but the simplest solution is reuse into a device which can utilize the chemicals as needed. Gasoline contains over 150 different chemicals that may irritate skin and eyes and is lethal if consumed so taking an old can of gas to a recycling facility will not do, hazardous waste drop-off centers are set up in every city for proper disposal of these harsh chemicals. Once gasoline has been received by a recycling center then reuse is the first option considered but in the case of Argon, Helium Hydrogen or other noble gases the process to purify and refine them after use is complex and technical.

Oil is a different process entirely from gas when it comes to recycling or reuse, this is because gasoline is refined from crude oil and an end product while oil itself can be further refined into other complex chemicals. Hydrocarbons like oil and gas can be chemically altered to produce different substances, these alterations are a key part of the recycling and purification process. When recycling oil heat is the deciding factor for separating different hydrocarbon chains for further refinement, methane, ethane, propane and butane all stay liquid at room temperature but can be vaporized and distilled down to cleaning and paint solvents, lubricating oils and even tar and bitumen. The ability to recycle oil is a key solution to many environmental problems now being faced, like gasoline standards have been set in every state and city to help address the proper disposal and recycling options available for these hydrocarbon-based chemicals. Although gasoline may be difficult to recycle that is because the best option is to reuse it, oil can be recycled and reused for different products and current techniques and technology allow efficient and cost-effective oil recycling practices to exist that help reduce toxic waste disposal into the environment and are very effective.

Differing types of infrastructure within the sector

As one can see the Oil and Gas process lifecycle is very extensive, and to complete this very intricate process a vast array of infrastructure and equipment is essential. During each stage of the process there are different needs for different types of infrastructure. In the beginning stages this process requires stationary drill platforms, onsite tanks and supply containers which keep the exploration and discovery stages operating. The middle stages of the Oil and gas lifecycles require the most comprehensive types of infrastructure. During these “development” stages it is common for investors to spend billions of dollars on massive oil refinery facilities, huge drilling machinery, pipelines and pumps. Within the production process field engineers typically stay onsite 24-7 so typically there will be onsite living barracks and stations. Production also would be possible without a production facility equipped with complex tanks and pipes that the oil and gas reach during different stages of the extraction process. Once the oil field is sucked dry these large pieces of infrastructure are taken down and merely on to the next.

Conclusion

Oil and gas are a part of our everyday life in one form or another. The processes that we take to use these resources from finding the resource to recycling the left over or unusable parts have cost us billions of dollars every year. These resources are harsh in all forms. They are dangerous chemically and cause harm to our environment as we use them. The process to retrieve them from the earth at times is dangerous and again cost much to pump out of the ground. No matter how we look at these resources they are useful, dangerous , and costly all at once.

References

ERM (2017) Life Cycle Assessment of Used Oil Management. Environmental Resources