Some history
Asphalts, tar and heavy oils are not a recent discovery, on the contrary, it may be said that these were the first hydrocarbons to be used by man. Since the dawn of human civilization, in fact, these were used for the most varied purposes: as a sealing and waterproofing material for boats and the roofs of houses, as a glue, as fuel for oil lamps and lights, and as a medication for wounds.
From the very beginning of industrial exploitation of oil, it was noted that only a very small part of the hydrocarbons present in a reservoir could flow out naturally because of the pressure in the oilfield: which however decreased gradually as the contents of the oilfield were emptied out, and therefore from the very beginning, the need arose to study techniques that could artificially increase the pressure so as to facilitate the oil extraction procedures. The most common technique consists in injecting gas and water in the reservoir, that help to move the oils with a lower viscosity towards the wells.
However, notwithstanding these expedients, the heavier and more viscous oils cannot be moved and at least 50% of the hydrocarbons remains in the reservoir. For this reason a large number of oil reservoirs have been abandoned, because they were considered unproductive with the “normal” techniques, although these oilfields still contain a very large quantity of viscous hydrocarbons. Now that the conventional oil reserves are becoming depleted, at the end of the 20th century, research has been started to find techniques that enable the extraction and utilization of these “difficult” hydrocarbons.
Heavy hydrocarbons are not economical, but they are abundant and in the 21st century they will be a very important source of fossil fuel.
Experimental processes to distil hydrocarbons from rocks such as oil shale or tar sand were studied even far back in the 18th century, to extract asphalts, tar and oils for the lamps.
Of course there are a number of historical curiosities: for example, the so-called “saurolo” used to be extracted from a rocky formation known as “scisti bituminosi di Besano” (Besano tar shale), in the province of Varese. This area was well known for the discovery of perfectly preserved fossil remains of fish and large reptiles. The heavy Saurolo oil was thought to be some kind of “dinosaur distillation”, and was considered a very powerful, multipurpose medication! In the second half of the 19th century Saurolo, which is very similar to Ichthyol (that was produced in Tyrol, which is now created artificially), was produced on an industrial scale and marketed by the pharmaceutical companies to cure skin diseases. In particular, it was used to cure cases of dermatitis reported by Italian soldiers who fought in the African campaigns. At the site, already in the 18th century, there was a mining activity to extract oil shale, that was used as fuel for lighting purposes. And starting from 1830, a new project was begun for the extraction of gas for public lighting of the city of Milan.
After this pioneering and experimental phase, researches on non conventional hydrocarbons started again in the Eighties, with an increasing allocation of funds . New technologies were used for the extraction, production and processing of the viscous oils, with important technological innovations that made exploitation of this resource increasingly profitable in terms of the percentages recovered and costs.
Special reports
-
13 May 2018
Small steps, great footprints
Have you ever wondered how much space is taken up by an apple or a steak?...
-
30 April 2022
Solar energy in Italy: where do we stand?
The Sun is the main source of energy on our planet, from which we derive almost all the forms of…
5 September 2021
Faraday, an electrifying biography
"The important thing is to know how to take all things quietly". Michael Faraday...
14 July 2021
Italy’s renewable sources
Renewable energy sources in Italy The Energy Services Operator (GSE) periodically publishes data and statistics on the renewable energy sources…
-
18 February 2021
Is lithium the new petroleum?
Today petroleum vies for the title of “contemporary gold” with several competitors, one of those is certainly lithium...
17 March 2020
Energy and renewable sources: what is the current status?
The unstoppable growth of renewable sources continues…
-
13 May 2018
Small steps, great footprints
Have you ever wondered how much space is taken up by an apple or a steak?...
-
30 April 2022
Solar energy in Italy: where do we stand?
The Sun is the main source of energy on our planet, from which we derive almost all the forms of…
-
5 September 2021
Faraday, an electrifying biography
"The important thing is to know how to take all things quietly". Michael Faraday...
14 July 2021
Italy’s renewable sources
Renewable energy sources in Italy The Energy Services Operator (GSE) periodically publishes data and statistics on the renewable energy sources…
-
13 May 2018
Small steps, great footprints
Have you ever wondered how much space is taken up by an apple or a steak?...
From the Multimedia section
Facts
-
Orimulsion
In order to improve supply security, and therefore the diversification of sources to produce electric energy...
Cracking operations
At the end of the fractional distillation, long hydrocarbon molecules can be transformed into lighter molecules by means of more…
Where does energy come from?
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need...
-
Electricity and electrons
In all electric plants, excluding photovoltaic solar plants, mechanic energy is transformed into electric energy through the same basic procedure...
Peat and peat-bogs
The age of coal starts towards the mid 1600s, stimulated by the need for finding an alternative energy source to…
Geographical distribution of energy
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need. Unfortunately we cannot exploit all this…
-
Some curiosities about methane hydrates
The melting of the ice cells, not only brings about the release of methane gas, but it also produces another…
Hydrogen from the sugar cane
The Centro di Ricerca Interuniversitario per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile (CIRPS) carried out a study in Peru...
Hydrogen from biomass
Hydrogen is an energy carrier that allows to generate energy in an environmentally sustainable way...
-
2 March 2011
Orimulsion
In order to improve supply security, and therefore the diversification of sources to produce electric energy...
Cracking operations
At the end of the fractional distillation, long hydrocarbon molecules can be transformed into lighter molecules by means of more…
-
Where does energy come from?
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need...
Electricity and electrons
In all electric plants, excluding photovoltaic solar plants, mechanic energy is transformed into electric energy through the same basic procedure...
-
Peat and peat-bogs
The age of coal starts towards the mid 1600s, stimulated by the need for finding an alternative energy source to…
Geographical distribution of energy
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need. Unfortunately we cannot exploit all this…
-
Orimulsion
In order to improve supply security, and therefore the diversification of sources to produce electric energy...
-
Cracking operations
At the end of the fractional distillation, long hydrocarbon molecules can be transformed into lighter molecules by means of more…
-
Where does energy come from?
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need...