HYDROCARBONS

In early days of chemistry science, chemical compounds were

divided into two groups: inorganic and organic, depending on their original source. Inorganic compounds were obtained from minerals, while organic compounds were obtained from living organisms and contained carbon. However, now organic compounds can be produced in the laboratory. Those organic compounds that contain only elements of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) are called hydrocarbons, and they are form the largest group of organic compounds. There might be as many as several thousand different hydrocarbon compounds in petroleum reservoir fluids. Hydrocarbon compounds have

a general closed formula of CxHy, where x and y are integer numbers. The lightest hydrocarbon is methane (CH4), which is the main component in a natural gas. Methane is from a

group of hydrocarbons called paraffins. Generally, hydrocarbons are divided into four groups: (1) paraffins, (2) olefins, (3) naphthenes, and (4) aromatics. Paraffins, olefins, and naphthenes are sometime called aliphatic versus aromatic compounds. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is a nongovernment organization that provides standard names, nomenclature, and symbols for different chemical compounds that are widely used . The relationship between the various hydrocarbon constituents of crude oils is hydrogen addition or hydrogen loss such interconversion schemes may occur during the formation, maturation, and in-situ alteration of petroleum