Crude Oil Processing

Refining Operations
• Fractionation
• Conversion Process
• Treatment Process
• Formation and Blending
 Refining Operations - Fractionation
• Fractionation
• Separation of Crude oil into different factions at
various temperatures during atmospheric and
vacuum distillations
 Refining Operations - Fractionation
• In the first step, molecules are separated through atmospheric distillation (i.e. at normal atmospheric
pressure), according to their molecular weight.
• During the process, which is also known as topping (refining) , the oil is heated at the bottom of a 60-
meter distillation column at a temperature of 350 to 400°C, causing it to vaporize.
• The vapors rise inside the column while the heaviest molecules, or residuals, remain at the bottom,
without vaporizing.
• As the vapors rise, the molecules condense into liquids at different temperatures in the column. Only
gases reach the top, where the temperature has dropped to 150°C.
• The liquids, which are become increasingly light the higher they are found in the column, are collected on
trays located at different heights of the column. Each tray collects a different petroleum cut (fraction) , also
known as a petroleum cut, with highly viscous preservation (hydrocarbons) like asphalt (bitumen) at the
bottom and gases at the top.
• The heavy residuals left over after atmospheric distillation still contain many products of medium density.
The residuals are transferred to another column where they undergo a second distillation to recover
middle distillates like heavy fuel oil and diesel .
 Refining Operations - Conversion Process
• Conversion Process
• Change size and/or structure of hydrocarbon
constituents
• Decomposition by thermal or Catalytic cracking
• Unification (combining) through alkalation and
Polymerization
• Alteration ( rearranging) with isomerization and catalytic
reforming
 Refining Operations - Conversion Process
• There are still many too heavy hydrocarbon molecules remaining after the
separation process. To meet demand for lighter products, the heavy
molecules are “cracked” into two or more lighter ones.
• The conversion process, which is carried out at 500°C, is also known as
catalytic cracking because it uses a substance called a catalyst to speed up the
chemical reaction. This process converts 75% of the heavy products into gas,
gasoline and diesel. The yield can be increased further by adding hydrogen , a
process called hydrocracking , or by using deep conversion to remove carbon.
• The more complex the operation, the more it costs and the more energy it
uses. The refining industry’s ongoing objective is to find a balance between
yield and the cost of conversion.
Refining Operations - Treatment Process
• Treatment Process
• Preparing fractions for t further processes and to
obtain finished product.
• E.g. desalting, drying, hydrodesulphurization,
solvent refining solvent extortion, sweeting,
dewaxing.
 Refining Operations - Treatment Process
• Treating involves removing or significantly reducing molecules that are corrosive or
cause air pollution, especially sulfur.
• European Union sulfur emission standards are very stringent. Since January 1, 2009,
gasoline and diesel sold in Europe cannot contain more than 10 parts per million
(ppm) , or 10 milligrams per kilogram, of sulfur. The purpose of these measures is to
improve air quality and optimize the effectiveness of catalytic converters used to treat
exhaust gas. For diesel, desulfurizationOperation that removes most of the sulfur from
flue gas, smoke, sour natural gas and refined petroleum products... , or sulfur removal,
is performed at 370°C, at a pressure of 60 bar. The hydrogen used in the process
combines with the sulfur to form hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is then treated to
remove the sulfur, a substance used in industry.
• Kerosene, butane and propane are washed in a caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)
solution to remove thiols, also known as mercaptans. This process called sweetening.
 Refining Operations - Formation and
Blending
• Formation and Blending
• Process of mixing and continuing fractions,
additives and other components to obtain
finished products
• https://www.britannica.com/technology/blendin
g-petroleum-refining
 Refining Operations - Formation and
Blending
• The main purposes of crude oil blending are to optimize commercial
value, to upgrade or reduce oil consumption to meet specifications
and to facilitate oil movement.
 Refining of Crude Oil
• Refineries vary in Complexity
• Simple Refinery
• Complex Refinery
• Highly Complex Refinery
 A Simple Refinery
• A Simply Refinery consists of
1. Atmospheric Distillation Unit
2. Gasoline Treatment Unit
3. Catalytic reforming Unit
4. Gas Treatment Unit
• A simple refinery produces large volume of residual oil
A Complex Refinery
• A Complex Refinery consists of
1. Atmospheric Distillation Unit
2. Vacuum Distillation Unit
3. Various conversion process such as Catalytic and Thermal cracking to
produce high value light products like gasoline diesel oil and lubricants
 Highly Complex Refinery
• Highly Complex Refinery is a complex refinery combined with
petrochemical plants
• Refining of crude oils essentially consists of primary separation processes
and secondary conversion processes.
• The petroleum refining process is the separation of the different
hydrocarbons present in the crude oil into useful fractions and the
conversion of some of the hydrocarbons into products having higher quality
performance.
• Atmospheric and vacuum distillation of crude oils is the main primary
separation processes producing various straight run products, e.g., gasoline
to lube oils/vacuum gas oils.
• Distillation of crude oil is typically performed either under atmospheric
pressure and under a vacuum.
• Low boiling fractions usually vaporize below 400°C at atmospheric
pressure without cracking the hydrocarbon compounds.
• Therefore, all the low boiling fractions of crude oil are separated by
atmospheric distillation.
• A crude distillation unit (CDU) consists of pre-flash distillation column.
• The petroleum products obtained from the distillation process are
light, medium, and heavy naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and oil residue.
Atmospheric Distillation
Vacuum Distillation
• Vacuum distillation is distillation performed under reduced pressure,
which allows the purification of compounds not readily distilled at
ambient pressures or simply to save time or energy.
• This technique separates compounds based on differences in boiling
points.
• This technique is used when the boiling point of the desired compound
is difficult to achieve, will cause the compound to decompose.
• A reduced pressure decreases the boiling point of compounds. The
reduction in boiling point can be calculated using a temperature-
pressure nomograph using the Clausius–Clapeyron relation.