Comparative Physiognomies of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products from Kwale in Delta State, Nembe, and Kula in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigated selected physiognomies of crude oil and petroleum products collected from Kali in Delta State, Kula in Rivers State, and Nembe in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria using the standard procedure of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The result shows that the crude oils were different in terms of API gravity and specific gravity. API gravity of 52.17, 46.31, and 45.38 for Kwale, Kula, and Nembe respectively. This shows that they are not heavy crude oil. The low water content and low viscosity of the crude oils lower the risk of pipe and container corrosion and flow difficulty. The result of density, specific gravity, viscosity, and kinematic viscosity shows the value of those parameters increase from light fraction to heavy fraction. The pour point and flash point recorded for light fractions were lowered than that of heavy fractions, for the three samples of crude oil. The flash point is 61.3⁰ C, -34⁰ C, and -31⁰ C while the pour point is 9 ⁰ C, 2⁰ C, and 6 ⁰ C respectively for Kwale, Kula, and Nembe. The level of heavy metal analyzed was generally low but metals such as nickel and vanadium and other elements such as Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Sulphur were in abundance in the samples of the crude oil. The results are discussed in terms of importance and implication.