Petroleum is made up of hydrocarbons in various states, including crude oil and natural gas. The refining process produces usable products such as diesel, gasoline, and heating oil. Each product has a specific cloud point temperature at which wax crystals form, which can cause damage to engines and equipment. Standardized testing methods, such as constant cooling rate, are used to determine cloud points.
Petroleum is mainly composed of various hydrocarbons in gaseous, liquid or solid state. Crude oil and natural gas are members of this group. A hydrocarbon in crude oil is paraffin, commonly known in food preservation. During the refining process, various temperatures produce different products, and the temperature at which wax begins to emerge into the fuel or oil is known as the cloud point.
Crude oil in its natural state is relatively worthless. Distillation in the refining process creates a more usable product. Several methods are employed that use changes in heat and pressure to achieve the desired result. The refinery contains various units, such as coker, cracker and alkylation which produce levels of practical goods. Some commonly known examples are diesel, gasoline, kerosene, gasoline, butane, heating oil, lubricating oil, and industrial fuel.
A refinery uses all of its resources, including heat and air, during the distillation of crude oil. The raw material is transformed into a progressively more refined product. Even some of the by-products are useful when further refined. Asphalt, used in road construction, and petroleum coke, used in the manufacture of dry-cell batteries or electrodes, are a couple of examples.
Each of these products has its own cloud point. A specific temperature at which that fuel or oil starts to become cloudy with the appearance of wax crystals. It is important during the process that the refiner knows what this temperature is for each product. These wax particles can cause damage if left in fuel intended for combustion engines, such as gasoline.
The wax, which appears in the cloud spot, can be harmful and destructive if undetected in refined fuels. Filters and fuel injection systems in fuel-powered engines can become clogged with wax buildup. Even in the refinery itself, it can be a hassle to build up and block pipelines and other equipment operating at cloud point temperatures.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) provides a test target outline for determining cloud point. Standardized testing enables uniformity compliance for those offering test methods, as well as the refineries that employ them. Typically, cloud points for all fuel and oil levels are analyzed in 40mm thick clear layers.
Methods for finding the cloud point vary. Constant cooling rate is a standard method used to determine the cloud point in both pure and blended fuels and oils. This method cools the fluid at a constant rate, such as two degrees per minute, making it easier to determine the precise temperature at which wax crystals form, thereby providing an accurate cloud point.
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