REFINING OF CRUDE OIL

CONTENT
Characteristic of crude oil
Refining process of crude oil
Technologies for achieving clean fuels
How fuel is distributed?

WHAT IS CRUDE OIL?

Crude oil, also known as black gold, is

a thick, dark brown or greenish
flammable liquid, which is found in the
upper strata of some regions of the
Earth's crust.
It is a complex mixture of various
hydrocarbons, (mainly, alkanes), along
with traces of other chemicals and
compounds.
Crude oil can be categorized as either
"sweet crude" ( sulphur content less
than 0.5%) or "sour crude," ( sulphur
content is at least 2.5%)

HYDROCARBONS IN CRUDE OIL

Alkane (Paraffins) methane, ethane, propane,
butane, etc.
Aromatics benzene, naphthalene
Naphthenic or Cycloalkanes cyclohexane,
methyl cyclopentane
Alkenes ethylene, butene, isobutene
Dynes and Alkynes acetylene, butadiene's

COMPOSITION OFCRUDE OIL

Carbon 84%
Hydrogen 14%
Sulfur 1 to 3%
Nitrogen - <1%
Oxygen - <1%
Metals - <1% (nickel, iron,vanadium, etc.)
Salts - <1%

What is Oil Refining ?

In oil refining process crude oil
is converted in to more useful
petroleum products, such as
gasoline(petrol), diesel oil, asphalt
base, fuel oil, kerosene, and
liquefied petroleum gas by
fractional distillation.
-

REFINING PROCESS
Distillation separates crude oil
into various components
(fractions) using the difference
in boiling temperatures
Chemical processing breaks
longer chain hydrocarbons into
shorter ones makes diesel into
gasoline, for example.

DISTILLATION OF CRUDE OIL

Separate the components of crude oil by the differences in
their boiling points. This is done by simply heating up
crude oil, allowing it to vaporize, and then letting the
vapor to condense at different levels of the distillation
tower. This process is called fractional distillation and the
products of the fractional distillation of crude oil is called
fractions.
A fraction from crude oil can be categorized into two categories:
Refined Product: A crude oil fraction which contains a lot of
individual hydrocarbons (e.g. gasoline, asphalt, waxes, and
lubricants)
Petrochemical Product: A crude oil fraction which contain one
or two specific hydrocarbons of high purity (e.g. benzene,
toluene, and ethylene).

PRODUCTS FROM REFINING

Petroleum Gas used for heating, cooking,
making plastics
Naphtha an intermediate product used to
make gasoline
Gasoline motor fuel
Kerosene fuel for jet engines and tractors
and a starting material for making other
products

PRODUCTS FROM REFINING

Gas Oil or Diesel used for diesel fuel and heating oil
and a starting material for making other products
Lubricating Oil used for motor oil, grease, other
lubricants
Heavy Gas or Fuel Oil used for industrial fuel and a
starting material for making other products
Residuals coke, asphalt, tar, waxes, and a starting
material for making other products

Chemical process
There are two types(1) The thermal conversion processes
(2) Catalytic conversion process
(1)The thermal conversion processes
-The larger hydrocarbons are decomposed at
elevated temp. to form material of lower
molecular weight.
Thermal cracking heat large hydrocarbons
at high temperature until they break apart.

THERMAL CRACKING

(2) Catalytic conversion processes

It is a catalytic conversion processes for
converting heavy gas oil, into more valuable
products such as LPG, gasoline, cycle oil etc.
- Fluid catalytic cracking
-Hydro cracking

Fluid catalytic cracking

REFINING CAPACITIES

World Oil Consumption

World Oil Consumption (millions of barrels per day) -2013

>10

7-10

4-7

2-4

1-2

<1

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

WHY UPGRADE AN OIL REFINARY ?

Oil refining releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

Response to changing market demands for certain products
Government regulations
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA90)
Changing consumer demand for better and different products
Decrease the number of non-hydrocarbons, impurities, and other
constituents
Potential physical, mechanical, chemical, and health hazards are
recognized in air