Hydrocarbons

A hydrocarbon is one of nature's most simple and primitive organic compounds, and contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms. All living organisms produce hydrocarbons. One example is plants, they synthesize waxes containing hydrocarbons in order to prevent leaf surface decay. This is what makes their leaves shiny.

Even though many people talk about hydrocarbons like they are all the same thing they are not. Petroleum (fossil fuel) hydrocarbons are different from the hydrocarbons found in plants.

Almost all of the worlds useable supplies of hydrocarbons naturally occur in fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas. Did you know that there are approximately 300,000 different natural hydrocarbon compounds, that are mostly from oil reservoirs or coal deposits?

These atoms link together to form straight, branched chains, or ring structures commonly called PAHs (poly aromatic hydrocarbons). Examples of common petroelum hydrocarbons are gasoline, diesel fuels, crude oil, motor oils, marine fuels, jet fuel, and hydraulic fluids. Click here to see chart of common hydrocarbon chains.

 

Some substances are more easily biodegraded than others, depending on the compound's chemical and physical properties. To see what compounds these are click here.

Crude Oil

On average, crude oils are made up of the following elements or compounds:

- Carbon - 84%

- Hydrogen - 14%

- Sulfur - 1 to 3% (hydrogen sulfide, sulfides, disulfides, elemental sulfur)

- Nitrogen - less than 1% (basic compounds with amine groups)

- Oxygen - less than 1% (found in organic compounds such as carbon dioxide, phenols, ketones, carboxylic acids)

- Metals - less than 1% (nickel, iron, vanadium, copper, arsenic)

- Salts - less than 1% (sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride)