Naphtha

Naphtha is a group of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures used primarily as feedstocks in refineries for the reforming process and in the petrochemical industry for the production of olefins in steam crackers. It is also used in solvent applications in the chemical industry.

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Naphtha is obtained from petroleum refineries as a portion of the distillation (also referred to as a cut). It is an intermediate between the lighter gasoline and the heavier benzene. Naphtha has a specific gravity of about 0.7. The generic name naphtha describes a range of different refinery cuts used in the different applications. To further complicate the matter similar naphtha types are often referred to by different names.

Olefin: Olefin is a synonym (archaic, but widely used in the petrochemical industry) for the more widely accepted term, alkene. Alkenes are hydrocarbons that simply have a double bond between at least two carbon atoms. The least complex alkene is ethene (containing two carbon atoms) followed by propene (thr...

Steam crackers: REDIRECT Cracking (chemistry)...

Petroleum: Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. A widely believed myth is that the oil itself is flammable, however it is actually the gas that evaporates from the oil that is flammable. ...