Can you explain the full process of oil refinery?
The crude oil in its natural state is of no use. To refine the crude oil, it goes under an extensive process and the final product we obtain is oil and petroleum. The three major types of operation that are performed to refine the oil into finished products are separation, conversion and treating. Separation: In the first step, the crude is separated into various components through atmospheric distillation. In the oil refinery, the crude oil is heated at the bottom of a 60-meter distillation column at a temperature of 350 to 400°C. This process is called topping. Due to the extreme temperature vapour rise inside the column while the heaviest molecules, or residuals, remain at the bottom, without vaporizing. Lighter products, such as butane and LPGs etc are recovered at the lowest temperatures. Mid-range products like kerosene and distillates settle at the mid-section of the column. The heaviest products such as residual fuel oil are recovered at temperatures sometimes over 1,000°F Conversion: 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. Treating:. Choices of a treating method depend on the nature of the petroleum fractions, amount and type of impurities in the fractions to be treated, the extent to which the process removes the impurities, and end-product specifications. Treating materials include acids, solvents, alkalis, oxidizing, and adsorption agents. Treating involves removing or significantly reducing molecules that are corrosive or cause air pollution, especially sulfur. There are governmental institutes which make it mandatory for the oil refining industry to keep a check on the toxic emissions. The purpose of these measures is to improve air quality and optimize the effectiveness of catalytic converters used to treat exhaust gas.
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