Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1-Processing of Petroleum
1-Processing of Petroleum
1-Processing of Petroleum
Petroleum
Introduction
Petroleum means “rock oil” in Latin.
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally-occurring flammable mixture of
hydrocarbons found in geologic formations, such as rock strata.
Technically, the term petroleum only refers to crude oil, but sometimes
it is applied to describe any solid, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons
(HC).
It is often referred to as the “black gold.”
Petroleum/crude oil consists primarily of paraffins (branched of
straight HC) and naphthenes (cycloalkanes), with a smaller amount of
aromatics and asphaltenes.
The elemental composition of petroleum : 83-97% carbon, 10-16%
hydrogen, 0.1-4% oxygen & nitrogen, and 0.5-6% sulfur, with a few
trace of metals.
The exact chemical composition is a sort of fingerprint for the source
of the petroleum.
How petroleum is formed?
Crude Oil
Definition: Mixture of naturally occurring
hydrocarbons that is refined into diesel,
gasoline, heating oil, jet fuel, kerosene,
and literally thousands of other products
called petrochemicals.
Crude oil formed when dead sea
organisms (plankton and algae) are
buried under sedimentary rock and are
exposed to intense heat and pressure.
Crude oil is a complex, naturally occurring
liquid mixture containing mostly
hydrocarbons.
Crude oil may contain several hundred individual HC
components, which range from liquids of very low boiling points
to solid waxes.
Non HC atoms attached to the HC molecules, in solution, or as
solids, such as S, N, O, metals, salts, etc.
These contaminants cause fouling of equipment, corrosion,
catalyst poisoning, and unwanted emissions from produced
fuels.
Non HC molecules can also be contained in the HC mixture
(inorganic or elemental).
Petroleum
Refining
Introduction
Crude oil may contain several hundred individual components,
which range from liquids of very low boiling points to solid
waxes.
It could be used as a boiler fuel to make steam for process
heating or electric power generation, but it is only marginally
more desirable than coal (because of the convenience of
handling liquids rather than solids).
The approach to making the best use of petroleum is first to
separate it into a small groups of compounds.
This is done in a petroleum refinery
Petroleum Utilization
Petroleum gas
used for heating, cooking, making plastics
small alkanes (1 to 4 carbon atoms)
commonly known by the names methane, ethane, propane, butane
often liquified under pressure to create LPG (liquified petroleum
gas)
Boiling range: < 40 C
Naphtha or Ligroin
Intermediate that will be further processed to make gasoline.
Mix of 5 to 9 carbon atom alkanes.
Boiling range: 60 – 100 C
Gasoline (petrol)
Gasoline is the most popular product derived from petroleum and
constitutes the largest fraction of product obtained per barrel of
crude oil.
Mix of alkanes and cycloalkanes (5 to 12 carbon atoms).
Boiling range: 40 – 205 C
Residuals
A black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a
residue from petroleum distillation.
Coke, asphalt, bitumen, tar, wax.
Used for road surfacing and roofing, and starting material for making
other products.
Boiling range: >600 C
Oil refinery
Hydrocracking
uses a different catalyst than FCC, lower temperatures,
higher pressure, and hydrogen gas.
cracks large HC into gasoline and kerosene (jet fuel)
2. Thermal method
Thermal cracking
High temperature with/without high pressure
Steam cracking
high temperature steam (1500 F/ 816 C)
break ethane, butane and naptha into ethylene and benzene
Visbreaking
residual from the distillation tower is heated (900 F / 482 C),
cooled with gas oil and rapidly burned (flashed) in a distillation
tower.
This process reduces the viscosity of heavy weight oils and
produces tar
Coking
residual from the distillation tower is heated (900 F / 482 C),
until it cracks into heavy oil, gasoline and naphtha.
When the process is done, a heavy, almost pure carbon
residue is left (coke)
Steam cracker at
Ludwigshafen in Germany
3. Treatment
Treatment is the final process of refining, and includes combining
processed products to create various octane levels, vapor
pressure properties, and special properties for products used in
extreme environments.
One common example of treatment is the removal of sulfur from
diesel fuel, which is necessary for it to meet clean air guidelines.
Treatment is highly technical and is the most time consuming
step of refining.
Important steps of refining processes
Steps Function
Crude Distillation Separate crude oil charge into boiling range fractions
for further processing
Conversion (Cracking) Break down (crack) heavy crude fractions into lighter
refinery streams for further processing or blending
Upgrading Rearrange molecular structures to improve the
properties (e.g., octane) and value of gasoline and
diesel components
Treating Remove hetero-atom impurities (e.g., sulfur) from
refinery streams and blendstocks
Remove aromatics compounds from refinery streams
Separation Separate, by physical or chemical means, constituents
of refinery streams for quality control or for further
processing
Blending Combine blendstocks to produce finished products that
meet product specifications and environmental
standards
Utilities Refinery fuel, power, and steam supply; sulfur recovery;
oil movements; crude and product storage; emissions
control; etc.
Petrochemical
Industry
Other Petroleum-based products
The industry that uses petroleum to produce other chemicals is
referred to as the petrochemical industry.
1. Plastic
Most synthetic plastics are made from olefins monomer,
which include ethylene and propylene.
2. Pharmaceuticals
Mineral oil and petrolatum are petroleum byproducts
used in many creams and topical pharmaceuticals.
Petroleum jelly (Vaseline), paraffin wax
3. Lubricant
Lubricant is used to reduce friction between two moving
surfaces and also functions in transporting contaminants
and other foreign particles away from moving parts so
that they do not due damage.
Petroleum-based products
4. Agriculture
One of the most important uses of petroleum is in the
production of ammonia to be used as the nitrogen source in
agricultural fertilizers.
Agriculture also depends on the use of pesticides to ensure
consistent, healthy crop yields.
Pesticides are almost all produced from oil. In essence, from
running farm machinery to fertilizing plants, agriculture is one
of the largest users of petroleum based products.
Petroleum-based products
5. Dyes, detergents, fabrics, varnish, other products
Petroleum distillates such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and
others provide the raw material for products that include dyes,
synthetic detergents, and fabrics.
Benzene and toluene are the starting materials used to make
polyurethanes, which are used in surfactants, oils, and even to
varnish wood.