PETROLEUM PROCESSING

2. Petroleum Extraction
Petroleum Developmental Drilling
• Complex mixture of hydrocarbons (mostly alkanes) • Drilling in an area where oil reserves have already
that occur in Earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous form been found.
• Commonly known as crude oil • On land, oil can be drilled with an apparatus called an
• The term is often restricted to the liquid form, oil rig or drilling rig.
commonly called crude oil, but, as a technical term, • Offshore, oil is drilled from an oil platform.
petroleum also includes natural gas and the viscous or
solid form known as bitumen found in tar sands. 3. Petroleum Refining
Refining petroleum is the process of converting crude oil or
Petroleum Formation bitumen into more useful products.
• Petroleum is a fossil fuel that was formed from the Major Processes:
remains of ancient marine organisms. • Separation
• Oil and gas are formed from organic material mainly • Conversion
deposited as sediments on the seabed and then broken • Treatment
down and transformed over millions of years.
a. Separation
Chemical Compositions of Petroleum Fractional Distillation
4 main hydrocarbons found in crude oil: i. crude oil is heated and fed into a distillation column
1. Paraffins (15-60%) ii. As the temperature of the crude oil in the distillation
2. Naphthenes (30-60%) column rises, the crude oil separates itself into
3. Aromatics (3-30%) different components, called “fractions.”
4. Asphaltics (remainder) iii. The fractions are then captured separately. Each
fraction corresponds to a different type of petroleum
Elemental Compositions of Petroleum product.
1. Carbon - 83 to 87%
2. Hydrogen - 10 to 14%
3. Nitrogen - 0.1 to 2%
4. Oxygen - 0.05 to 1.5%
5. Sulfur - 0.05 to 6.0%
6. Metals - < 0.1%

Classes of Petroleum Oils

1. Class A: Light, Volatile Oils
• Clear, highly fluid, high evaporation rate, flammable
• do not adhere surfaces, penetrate porous surfaces
• toxic to humans
2. Class B: Non-Sticky Oils
• Waxy or oily feels, less toxic and adheres to surfaces
• Increase in temperature increases penetration ability
to porous surfaces
3. Class C: Heavy, Sticky Oils
• Viscous, tarry, or sticky black or brown fluid
• Do not penetrate porous surfaces
4. Class D: Nonfluid Oils
• Non-toxic, do not penetrate porous substrates The most volatile components (those with the lowest boiling
• Melts and coats surface when heated points) condense at the top of the column, and the least volatile
(those with the highest boiling points) condense at the bottom.
Petroleum Processing (General Process)
Other Separation Processes
Reservoir
Ext ract ion PETROLEUM 1. Fluid Flow
Refining
Explorat ion PRODUCTS 2. Heat Transfer
3. Absorption
1. Reservoir Exploration 4. Adsorption
Exploratory Drilling 5. Filtration
• also called “wildcat” drilling 6. Crystallization
• intents to discover a petroleum reservoir 7. Extraction
b. Conversion
• Heavier molecules are converted, or "cracked," into
the lighter products for which there is higher demand.
• Demand for lighter petroleum products such as
gasoline is much greater than that of heavier products,
making the next phase, conversion, an especially
important part of the refining process.
Catalytic Cracking
• most widely used method of conversion
• the process of breaking heavy fractions down into
lighter ones using a combination of pressure, high heat
and a catalyst to quicken the process
Example Equipment: Fluid catalytic cracking distillation unit
Other Conversion Processes:
1. Reforming
• forming of molecules similar to the original ones
2. Coking
• lighter oils are produced from heavy ones by “thermal
cracking”
3. Polymerization
• convert by-product hydrocarbon gases produced in
cracking liquid hydrocarbons suitable for use as high-
octane motor & aviation fuels, and for petrochemicals
4. Alkylation
• exothermic and similar to polymerization; only differs
in the charging stock
c. Treatment
• the final process of refining
• includes combining processed products to create
various octane levels, vapor pressure properties, and
special properties for products used in extreme
environments
Example:
• removal of sulfur from diesel fuel, which is necessary
for it to meet clean air guidelines
Petroleum Products
• are materials derived from crude oil (petroleum) as it
is processed in oil refineries.
• Unlike petrochemicals, which are a collection of well-
defined usually pure chemical compounds, petroleum
products are complex mixture
1. Liquified Petroleum Gas
• gases that remain liquid at room temperature under
relatively low pressure (e.g. propane, butane)
• by-product of oil refining where it occurs as a "wet
natural gas during drilling” and is burned on the spot
• often used for heating or cooking purposes.
2. Gasoline
• Also known as refined naphtha with ethanol or
bioethanol additives
• Obtain by distilling crude oil at the fraction of a boiling
range between 35°C and 210°C
• Characterized by their knock resistance and octane no.
Knock resistance
• a fuel’s ability not to self-ignite and burn in an
uncontrolled way while the fuel is being compressed
Octane number
• describes the behavior of the fuel in the engine at
lower temperatures and speeds,
3. Naphtha
• untreated petroleum distillate from the refining of
crude oil or natural gas, which has the approximate
boiling range of gasoline.
• used as a base material for the production of high-
grade gasoline by means of the catalytic reforming
process.
• extremely volatile, highly flammable, carcinogenic.
4. Jet Fuel
• produced from crude oil using fractional distillation
• liquid fuel types used for in aviation
• middle distillate
5. Kerosene
• the “illuminating oil” in the early 20th Century
• a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons
• used as cleaning agent as it readily dissolves grease &
dirt from metal surfaces & as component of the fuel
6. Diesel
• Middle distillate known as refined gasoil
• Has the ability to self-ignite the fuel-air mixture in the
combustion chamber
7. Heating Oil
• also known as gasoil for use in furnaces, central
heating systems, and industrial furnaces
• obtained by distilling crude oil at 200-400 degree C
Classifications
• Light heating oil -used in households and commerce
• Heavy heating oil -used for electricity, district heating
and gas generation but requires preheating
• Bio heating oil - low-sulfur, extra-light heating oil to
which biogenic content has been added
8. Heavy fuel oil
• Also known as marine fuels
• residual fuel during the distillation of crude oil
• fuels used to generate motion and/or fuels used to
generate heat that have a particularly high viscosity
and density
Classifications of Heavy fuel oils
1. High sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) - 3 % sulfur content
2. Low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO)- 1 % sulfur content
3. Ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) - 0.1 % sulfur content
9. Natural Gas
• produced through geochemical processes in organic
material at great depths
• Components: methane, nitrogen and small amounts
of other hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane and
butane, and traces of helium and hydrogen sulfide
Two forms of Natural Gas
1. Compressed Natural Gas -converted into electricity or
used to power natural-gas vehicles
2. Liquefied Natural Gas - used to power marine and
truck vehicles
Petroleum fractions condense at different temperatures,
depending on the number of carbon atoms in the molecules, and
are drawn off from the column.