Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

Gu Lang walked to the main oil pipeline interface. There was a red valve at the interface with the word ESD printed on it.

Jiang Peng speculated that this was an abbreviation for an emergency shutdown system, possibly a type of safety interlocking device.

It will be automatically triggered when the oil pipeline suddenly breaks to prevent a large amount of crude oil in the cargo tank from leaking through the broken pipeline.

The valves are now completely locked, which means they can't get the oil out through the cargo pipeline.

Gu Lang walked to the nearest manhole cover for a cargo oil tank.

The manhole cover is a round metal plate, about half the height of a person in diameter.

There were more than twenty bolts around the bolt holes that were fixed to the deck.

After discussing it, the two jointly rejected the plan to forcibly demolish the structure.

Firstly, the bolts on the ship are very large, and ordinary wrenches simply cannot tighten them; hydraulic bolt wrenches are required.

Secondly, even if it is forcibly opened, friction sparks or striking sparks may ignite the oil and gas inside.

The oil extraction operation has reached a temporary standstill, and Jiang Peng suggests returning to the cargo control room to find some inspiration.

After Gu Lang opened all the tool cabinets, he finally made a new discovery.

He found two full-body protective suits in one of the cabinets.

The surrounding area was filled with personal protective equipment such as goggles, chemical protective gloves, and safety shoes.

There is also a storage box on the bottom floor with the words "Sampling Equipment" on it.

Upon opening it, one finds a stainless steel sampler, an anti-static sampling rope, and laboratory sample bottles.

Gu Lang immediately realized the key point: oil tankers, like oil tankers, have the need for sampling and testing.

After informing Jiang Peng about this, the two immediately walked around the deck in different directions.

Sure enough, the 4-inch deck valve containing the sampling port was found on the main deck in the cargo oil tank area.

After studying it for a while, Jiang Peng opened the valve.

The sampler is hung on a sampling rope and lowered vertically into the oil tank.

After two unsuccessful attempts, Jiang Peng gradually increased the depth.

Finally, during the third recovery, crude oil was found on the sampler casing, and the depth of the crude oil was determined.

Jiang Peng opened the transfer valve at the bottom of the sampler and poured the crude oil into a transparent sample bottle.

The crude oil that was pumped up was transparent amber in color.

There was a faint oily smell, not pungent.

It has excellent fluidity, almost like clear water.

Jiang Peng squatted down, shook the bottle, and laughed.

"As expected, it's light, low-sulfur crude oil; it doesn't even have much of a odor."

Look at this transparency; the API level is definitely not low, starting at 31, maybe even reaching 38.

The API gravity that Jiang Peng mentioned is the international standard for measuring the weight of crude oil.

The higher the API gravity, the lower the crude oil density and the better the liquidity.

Medium-quality crude oil starts to become viscous, and its color ranges from dark brown to black, with a viscosity roughly the same as that of cooled honey.

When it comes to heavy crude oil, its viscosity becomes comparable to that of shoe polish.

Some super-heavy substances are even like tar or chocolate, and they won't flow at all without heating.

In industry, petroleum with a sulfur content of less than 0.5% is called sweet crude oil.

Compared to "sour crude oil" which smells like rotten eggs, sweet crude oil has fewer impurities and lower processing costs.

Therefore, light, low-sulfur crude oil is often more popular with refineries and is easier to refine into high-value gasoline and diesel.

Gu Lang was also excited to see that the oil was of such good quality.

"Light crude oil is good; in an emergency, it can even be directly added to a diesel engine."

I heard that during World War II, when the German army's supply lines were cut off on the Eastern Front, they would directly pour captured Soviet light crude oil into the tank fuel tanks.

However, the trade-off is a significantly shortened engine lifespan; it will break down very quickly, making it a once-in-a-lifetime solution.

"Then let's stick to what you said before and just focus on refining oil."

"Sure, you can keep the gasoline you refine, I only want the diesel."

After a brief discussion, the two decided to get started right away.

Because the sampler cannot be used to extract large quantities of crude oil, only 1.8 liters can be sampled each time.

To save time, Gu Lang decided to divide the work and cooperate.

Jiang Peng was in charge of collecting the oil and pouring it into various containers on the ship.

He then immediately began preparations for refining the oil.

Petroleum is a mixture of various compounds that are miscible with each other.

There are many industrial refining methods, including atmospheric distillation, vacuum distillation, catalytic cracking, etc., which are highly specialized.

For ordinary people, the only option is the most traditional atmospheric distillation method.

Gu Lang opened his phone and reviewed a video he had saved of smuggled oil thieves in the Philippines using crude oil refining methods.

As long as crude oil is heated to different boiling point ranges, its different components will vaporize in sequence.

By using a cooling device to turn the steam back into liquid, crude oil can be broken down into gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and heavy oil.

There was readily available equipment on board that could do this, so Gu Lang went to the C deck of the bridge and skillfully searched through the mess hall.

The kitchen equipment remained largely untouched after the ship was abandoned, with several large stainless steel soup pots still stacked on the ground.

Gu Lang collected all the soup pots and steamers.

He also took a handheld thermometer from the kitchen tool cabinet, which seemed to be used by the chef to measure oil temperature.

With a measurement range covering -50°C to 650°C, it can be used to measure temperature during oil refining.

They also violently broke into a refrigerator and removed the copper pipes from it.

Using the same method as the previous seawater distillation desalination unit, another coil-type condenser was made.

Before leaving, they broke a few tiles and packed the fragments to take with them.

Gu Lang moved everything onto the main deck and placed it in an open area at the bow, away from the cargo oil tank sampling port.

The condenser was placed in a large plastic bucket and filled with seawater.

Petroleum vapors are flammable, and the hand-operated distillation apparatus has poor sealing.

Distillation in a confined space is tantamount to building a bomb.

The conditions are rudimentary; only by operating in an open, well-ventilated environment can the safety factor be brought back.

The use of open flame gas stoves is strictly prohibited on oil tankers; only electric stoves are allowed in the kitchen.

Gu Lang had no choice but to pour light crude oil into a steamer and ignite it as a heat source.

He held the temperature gun, aimed the laser at the bottom of the soup pot, and measured the real-time temperature.

When the temperature is below 60 degrees Celsius, petroleum gases such as methane and butane will evaporate first.

Gu Lang directly piped the products from the first stage to the side of the soup pot to burn, further increasing the temperature.

After a long wait, when the temperature reached between 60 and 200 degrees Celsius, a clear liquid finally appeared in the condenser.

This is the product of the second stage – naphtha, which can be understood as crude gasoline.

The octane rating is low due to the lack of refined blending of national standard gasoline.

If used directly as gasoline, it is prone to knocking.

In the past, adding tetraethyl lead would have solved the problem, but this method has been phased out due to the toxicity of lead.

Nowadays, anhydrous ethanol is generally used as a substitute.