A Short Note On Benzene And How It Is Used

The objective of the experiment was to reduce Benzil, using sodium borohyride as the reducing agent. In a benzil reduction, there are five possible products than can occur, specifically a racemic mixture of benzoin, racemic mixture of hydrobenzoin, or meso-hydrobenzoin. Therefore, three different tests were conducted in determining the identity of the product: melting point, thin light chromatography, and infrared spectroscopy.

In the early hours of August 17, 1975, a tragic disaster occurred on the Gulf Oil refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This horrific disaster took the lives of eight firefighters, and potentially could have taken more lives if it wasn’t for the help of many surrounding fire stations. The cause of the fire was the overfilling of Tank 231. While no crude oil escaped from the tank as a result of being overfilled, large quantities of hydrocarbon vapors were trapped above the surface of the tank’s crude oil. As the quantity of crude oil increased, these hydrocarbon vapors were forced out of the tank’s vents and into the area of the No.4 Boiler House where the initial flash occurred. The overfilling of the tank

“During the early 1900’s the discovery of oil and natural gas in areas around Baton Rouge attracted chemical companies to the city” (Reilly). Since the beginning of the 1900’s Louisiana has been a large refining state, one may say one of the best, but also one of the most damaging. It can be safely said that since the start of refining in Louisiana well over a billion pounds of pollution has been released. In 2011 alone over a million pounds of chemicals were released into the air and a separate 1.3 million had been released into the water. All of Louisiana’s 17 refineries reported accidents contributing to these chemical spills (Sturgis). The numbers that have been presented so far may not seem out of the ordinary

Gasoline are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons (Gary et al, J., 2007) additives, and blending agents. The composition of gasoline depends on the refinery processes, the crude oil used, the overall balance of product demand, and the especially the product specifications. The typical composition of gasoline hydrocarbons (% volume) is: 4-8% alkanes; 2-5% alkenes; 25-40% isoalkanes; 3-7% cycloalkanes; l-4% cycloalkenes; and 20-50% total aromatics (0.5-2.5% benzene). Table 1 shows

When crude oil is refined there is an abundance of gas that is released into the surrounding air. Some of the components that are emitted include, but are not limited to sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane (U. Rehman, personal communication, October 1, 2016). This has a tremendous impact on the air quality near a refinery. The poor air quality that is caused by pollutants is harmful to humans and other living

Repercussions of burning oil have arisen more progressively. The debatable topic of global warming holds burning fossil fuels responsible for higher temperatures in colder climates. An article by World Book explains why oil is so harmful towards the environment. As more cars are produced more pollutants are released into the atmosphere, those pollutants cause smog in larger manufacturing oriented cities as well as, acid rain. Factories, burning oil, dispose of the remaining chemicals into bodies of water rendering them unsafe to drink for both humans and animals alike (Hunt par. 1). Another article produced through World Book describes the

Fumes in heavily oiled area can also affect the community and there is widespread concern that some workers are not being given sufficient safety equipment, including respirators — and volunteers, who may not have as much training or experience as hired workers, could be in the greatest danger. So far, more than 400 oil-exposure

They also claimed that upset emission are getting worse. They suggest that refineries should upgrade their equipment and hire more workers to prevent accidents. The Bucket Brigade highlighted the Exxon Mobil Complex in Baton Rouge. It was caused by leaking bleeder valve Tank 801. There was about ten pounds of benzene released at 5am on June 14, 2012. There were iWitness pollution may detailing strong odors of burnt tar. The benzene is known to cause cancer in humans.

One resolution to the fuel pollution issue uses the idea of reinvention to curb the damage that smoke and fuel causes to the environment. A U.S. company, Sea Change LLC. paired with the Maine Maritime Academy to create a more friendly fuel (“1”). The engineering classes at the academy along with chemists created a fuel that burned cleaner and safer for the environment. The fuel used mirco-glycerol droplets mixed with ultra-low sulfur diesel to reduce harmful emissions and as a result found a reduction in smoke by 25 to 50 percent (“1”). In addition Nitrogen Oxide levels showed a reduction by 5 to 15 percent compared to regular low-sulfur diesel at equivalent horsepower (“1”). This hard work truly paid off big for these two entities and they showed that with some ingenuity safer ways of burning fuel just wait to be

In a 100-mL beaker, 6.0 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) was cooled to 0 ˚C and then 3.05 g of methyl benzoate (C6H5CO2CH3; density=1.08 g/mL) was added. In two different beakers, 2.0 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid and 2.0 mL of concentrated nitric acid (HNO3) were cooled in an ice bath. Both acids were mixed together and the mixture was allowed to cool in the ice bath. The mixture in the 100-mL beaker was cooled to 0 ˚C. While still remaining in the ice bath, the acid mixture was slowly added into the methyl benzoate solution by the use of a Pasteur pipet. The temperature of the solution was controlled by swirling the solution and stopping the addition of acid mixture when the temperature raised.

In this lab, extraction was use as method for separating a mixture of compounds. Specifically, Benzocaine and Benzoic Acid were individually isolated from a starting mixture which consisted of both components. A percent recovery was found for both. The percent recovery found for the benzocaine was 1%, while the percent recovery for benzoic acid was 35%. These low percentages are result of errors during the experiment. One source of error was during the separation of layers. When separating the two layers, some of the top aqueous layer flowed out with the bottom layer. This happened in all of the separation steps, and caused slight impunity in the compounds. This error could have been prevented by more concentration during this part of the experiment.

Abstract: This procedure demonstrates the nitration of methyl benzoate to prepare methyl m-nitrobenzoate. Methyl benzoate was treated with concentrated Nitric and Sulfuric acid to yield methyl m-nitrobenzoate. The product was then isolated and recrystallized using methanol. This reaction is an example of an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction, in which the nitro group replaces a proton of the aromatic ring. Following recrystallization, melting point and infrared were used to identify and characterize the product of the reaction.

Result and Discussion In this experiment, the synthesis of benzocaine was carried out by acid catalyst and recrystallization process was utilized to purify the product form impurities. The synthesis of Benzocaine was carried from 4-Amino benzoic acid (PABA) and absolute ethanol with sulfuric acid as catalyst. The reaction took place under reflux, and isolation of product was carried out by using saturated Na2CO3 and dH2O. The characterization of the product involved the NMR and IR spectrum analysis.

Crude oil can be refined to produce many kinds of combustible fuels (International Agency for Research on Cancer. 1989), but when introduced to the environment it can be harmful. Some of the major ill-effects are the decrease in growth or death of some plant life and organisms. Seed germination can also be affected by the introduction of crude oil to the surrounding soil (Henner et al., 1999). When crude oil is introduced to water in high concentrations, the growth of organisms are effected in a negative way and can cause plants to stop undergoing photosynthesis and death can ensue (Pulich et al., 1974).

What are the industrial uses for diesel? Diesel is used commonly as the fuel for motor vehicles like cars, SUVs, trucks, and buses. It is also a source of fuel in other industries besides transportation, like the construction industry and the use of diesel in power equipment such as forklifts and excavators, and it is used in the agriculture industry powering the tractors and other farming equipment, along with other industries. How good is diesel fuel for you or the environment? Are there concerns in using diesel? Diesel fuel was thought to be around since the mid 1800s but it wasn’t until the late 1800s when the diesel engine was invented. This invention was a very important one in terms of industry because it started the shift from coal to diesel powered engines. However, the shift to use more fuels like diesel has lead to a concern for how close are we to exhausting precious non-renewable energy sources. How much pollution is being released into the atmosphere? Is there an alternative renewable energy source? With the fear of global warming, all fuel sources, including diesel, are beginning to be replaced, or reinvented, with cleaner and safer alternatives. An example of these alternatives is biodiesel. Biodiesel is an alternative to diesel that can be produced from plant products, such as cornstarch and oils produced from soybean and other oil producing crops (Pittman, 2011). One obstacle that is present with biodiesel produced from plant products is the potential loss