What are the main steps of the oil refining process?
Three major types of operation are performed to refine the oil into finished products: separation, conversion and treating.
How does oil refinery work?
Petroleum refining separates crude oil into components used for a variety of purposes. The crude petroleum is heated and the hot gases are passed into the bottom of a distillation column. The liquids are then drawn off the distilling column at specific heights to obtain fuels like gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel.
What is the chemical formula of crude oil?
Its chemical formula, C8H18, reflects the fact that each of the carbons is covalently bonded to one or two of the other carbon atoms and two to three hydrogen atoms. Octane burns really efficiently, so having more octane is good.
What is the oil refining process called?
Fractional distillation
Fractional distillation. The primary process for separating the hydrocarbon components of crude oil is fractional distillation. Crude oil distillers separate crude oil into fractions for subsequent processing in such units as catalytic reformers, cracking units, alkylation units, or cokers.
What are the different types of refining?
There are four types of refineries – topping, hydro-skimming, conversion, and deep conversion refineries. Depending on the market a refiner is aiming at, each refinery has its unique design to ensure their production conforms to their host country’s set standards.
What happens at an oil refinery?
Petroleum refineries change crude oil into petroleum products for use as fuels for transportation, heating, paving roads, and generating electricity and as feedstocks for making chemicals. Refining breaks crude oil down into its various components, which are then selectively reconfigured into new products.
How much does an oil refinery cost?
Haas explained that when calculating the cost to build refineries, the industry’s jargon represents it as a cash amount per barrel of oil. “For many years, refinery cost to build was about US$10,000 to a barrel and then it changed and rose to about US$20,000 and about today it could be up to US$25,000”, he observed.
How is oil formed?
Oil is a fossil fuel that has been formed from a large amount tiny plants and animals such as algae and zooplankton. These organisms fall to the bottom of the sea once they die and over time, get trapped under multiple layers of sand and mud.
What is the first step in refining of crude oil?
distillation
The first step in the refining process is distillation, where crude oil is heated at extreme temperatures to separate the different hydrocarbons.
How to create a process flow diagram for a refinery?
The PFD example “Process flow diagram – Typical oil refinery” was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Chemical and Process Engineering solution from the Chemical and Process Engineering area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
How is gasoline and petrol distilled in the refining process?
Petrol, or gasoline, condenses out at around 110 degrees, while petroleum gas is drawn off at the top. The distilled liquid from each level contains a mixture of alkanes, alkenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons with similar properties, and requires further refinement and processing to select specific molecules.
How are fractions captured in crude oil distillation?
As the temperature of the crude oil in the distillation column rises, the crude oil separates itself into different components, called “fractions.” The fractions are then captured separately. Each fraction corresponds to a different type of petroleum product, depending on the temperature at which that fraction boils off the crude oil mixture.
Which is the most common method of refining crude oil?
The most common method of refining crude is the process of fractional distillation. This involves heating crude oil to about 350 degrees Celsius, to turn it into a mixture of gases. These are piped into a tall cylinder, known as a fractional tower.