MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND REFINING OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

What is Petroleum?A fossil fuel, supplies more energy to the world today than any other source created in an anaerobic environment, without the presence of oxygen.

What are products that come from petroleum?

• Petroleum gas - used for heating, cooking, making plastics.

- small alkanes (1 to 4 carbon atoms).

- boiling range less than 104 degrees Fahrenheit

or 40 degrees Celsius.

• Naphtha or Ligroin - intermediate that will be further

processed to make gasoline.

- mix of 5 to 9 carbon atom alkanes.

- boiling range 140 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit

/ 60 to 100 degrees Celsius.

• Gasoline - motor fuel.

- mix of alkanes and cycloalkanes.

- boiling range 104 to 401 degrees Fahrenheit /

40 to 205 degrees Celsius.

• Kerosene - fuel for jet engines and tractors; starting material

for making other products.

- mix of alkanes (10 to 18 carbons) and aromatics.

- boiling range 350 to 617 degrees Fahrenheit / 175 to

325 degrees

Celsius.

• Gas oil or Diesel distillate - used for diesel fuel and heating

oil.

- alkanes containing 12 or more

carbon atoms.

- boiling range 482 to 662 degrees

Fahrenheit / 250 to 350 degrees

Celsius.

• Lubricating oil - used for motor oil, grease, other lubricants.

- long chain (20 to 50 carbon atoms) alkanes,

cycloalkanes,

aromatics.

- boiling range 572 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit /

300 to 370

degrees Celsius.• Heavy gas or Fuel oil - used for industrial fuel.

- long chain (20 to 70 carbon atoms) alkanes,

cycloalkanes, aromatics.

- boiling range 700 to 1112 degrees

Fahrenheit / 370 to 600 degrees Celsius.

Residuals - coke, asphalt, tar, waxes.

- multiple-ringed compounds with 70 or more

carbon atoms.

- boiling range greater than 1112 degrees Fahrenheit

/ 600 degrees Celsius.

MANUFACTURING PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

The Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing is

based on the transformation of crude petroleum and coal into

usable products. It involves the separation of crude petroleum

into component products through such techniques as cracking

and distillation. PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

It is the process of exploring for oil and gas resources in the

earth’s sedimentary basins. There are three major types of

exploration methods:

(1)surface methods - such as geologic feature mapping and

detectionbased on surface indications of likely underground

rock formations.

(2) area surveys of gravity and magnetic fields - measures the

natural electromagnetic field at the Earth’s surface.

(3) seismographic methods - makes use of the sound-transmitting

 and sound-reflecting properties of underground rock formations.

DRILLING

A process where an up-and-down motion of the lever caused the bit to chip away the rock at the bottom of the hole. 

RECOVERY

which consists of a series of larger pipes taking the crude oil to the refinery via an oil (liquid) and gas (non-liquid) separator.

Secondary recovery is accomplished by injecting gas or water into the reservoir to replace produced fluids and thus obtain a greater percentage of the oil.

PETROLEUM REFINING PROCESSPetroleum refining can be defined as the physical,

thermal and chemical separation of crude oil into major distillation components, or fractions.

(1). SEPARATION PROCESSES

• This process, also known as topping, consists of heating the

oil to 350/400°C, causing it to evaporate at the base of a 60-

meter-high distillation tower.

• In this process, the crude oil, which is a mixture of many

types of hydrocarbons, is boiled and re-condensed to separate

the crude oil into components based on ranges of boiling

points.

DISTILLATION COLUMN

(2) CONVERSION PROCESSES

This conversion process, carried out at 500°C, is also known as catalytic cracking because it uses a catalyst (a substance that accelerates and facilitates chemical reactions). 

Catalytic Cracking

This conversion process involves the breaking up of large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller molecules using a combination of heat and catalytic action.