Ramsbottom carbon residue (RCR) is well known in the
petroleum industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (often by oil tankers ...
as a method to calculate the carbon residue of a fuel. The carbon residue value is considered by some to give an approximate indication of the combustibility and deposit forming tendencies of the fuel.
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The carbon residue of a fuel
The Ramsbottom test is used to measure carbon residues of an oil. In brief, the carbon residue of a fuel is the tendency to form carbon deposits under high temperature conditions in an inert atmosphere. This is an important value for the crude oil refinery, and usually one of the measurements in a crude oil assay
A crude oil assay is the chemical evaluation of crude oil feedstocks by petroleum testing laboratories. Each crude oil type has unique molecular and chemical characteristics. No two crude oil types are identical and there are crucial differences ...
. Carbon residue is an important measurement for the feed to the refinery process fluid catalytic cracking
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is the conversion process used in petroleum refineries to convert the high-boiling point, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum (crude oils) into gasoline, alkene gases, and other petroleum produc ...
and delayed coking
A delayed coker is a type of Coker unit, coker whose process consists of heating a residual oil feed to its thermal cracking temperature in a Industrial furnace, furnace with multiple parallel passes. This cracks the heavy, long chain hydrocarbon ...
.
Calculation methods
There are three methods to calculate this carbon residue. It may be expressed as Ramsbottom carbon residue (RCR), Conradson carbon residue (CCR) or micro carbon residue (MCR). Numerically, the CCR value is the same as that of MCR.
Sometimes the carbon residue value can be listed as residual carbon content, RCC, which is normally the same as MCR/CCR.
For the test, 4 grams of the sample are put into a weighed glass bulb. The sample in the bulb is heated in a bath at 553°C for 20 minutes. After cooling the bulb is weighed again and the difference noted.
See also
* Conradson carbon residue
*Cracking (chemistry)
In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking ...
*Crude oil assay
A crude oil assay is the chemical evaluation of crude oil feedstocks by petroleum testing laboratories. Each crude oil type has unique molecular and chemical characteristics. No two crude oil types are identical and there are crucial differences ...
* Micro carbon residue
*Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...
*Petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
References
Petroleum technology
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