What are olefins?
The term ‘olefins’, also known as alkenes, refers to a large number of compounds that contain carbon and hydrogen and have at least one double bond in their structure. Short-chain olefins, like ethylene, are cracked from naphtha or natural gas. Ethylene is then oligomerised into longer chain linear alpha olefins, ranging from 6 to 30 carbons in length. Alpha olefins are characterised by their high purity, high degree of linearity, and a double bond uniformly positioned between the first and second carbon. For drilling fluid applications, alpha olefins in the C14 to C18 range are used because they have the right mix of physical properties like viscosity, pour point and flash point. Internal olefins are then produced from linear alpha olefins by catalytically moving the double bond to different locations in the molecule. As a result, the pour point of the fluid decreases significantly, thus enabling these materials to be used successfully in deep-water applications. Internal olefins used
Olefins are the building blocks for almost every consumer good that is not manufactured from wood, metal, glass, mineral or paper. Olefins are used to produce plastics, bags at the grocery store, major car parts, containers, antifreeze, PVC pipe, detergents, textiles, insulation, styrofoam and much more.
