Naphthene series | petroleum | Britannica (original) (raw)

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crude oil

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  In crude oil: Chemical and physical properties
  …most prevalent in them: paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics. Paraffins are the most common hydrocarbons in crude oil; certain liquid paraffins are the major constituents of gasoline (petrol) and are therefore highly valued. Naphthenes are an important part of all liquid refinery products, but they also form some of the heavy…
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  In petroleum: Hydrocarbon content
  The naphthenic series has the general formula C_n_H2_n_ and is a saturated closed-ring series. This series is an important part of all liquid refinery products, but it also forms most of the complex residues from the higher boiling-point ranges. For this reason, the series is generally…
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cyclo-compounds

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  In petroleum refining: Saturated molecules
  Saturated cyclo-compounds are called naphthenes. Naphthenic crudes tend to be poor raw materials for lubricant manufacture, but they are more easily converted into high-quality gasolines than are the paraffin compounds.
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