Naphtha is a general term for refined, partially unrefined, or unrefined petroleum compounds that distill below 240°C.
This cut is considered a volatile oil component that is used as a solvent or in the production of gasoline and aromatic compounds. It is similar to gasoline in terms of boiling range and number of carbon atoms. In another definition, naphtha is a cut obtained from the atmospheric distillation of crude oil. It is between the gas cuts and kerosene. This cut contains molecules with a number of carbon atoms between 5 and 12, which generally include paraffins, olefins, naphthenes and aromatics. There are also compounds such as sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, water, salt and a number of metal compounds such as vanadium, nickel and sodium.
Naphtha can be divided into light and heavy categories based on the compounds present and the number of carbon atoms in their structure.
Naphtha is generally colorless, but may appear pale yellow in the presence of aromatics.
Light: Generally has molecules with 5-6 carbon atoms that boil at 30-145 degrees Celsius.
Heavy: Consists mainly of molecules with 7-12 carbon atoms and have a boiling point between 140 and 205 degrees Celsius.
In general, paraffin compounds have the least boron and aromatic compounds have the strongest boron.