Libyan College for Petroleum Sciences / Tobruk

Petroleum Engineering Department

Refinery Products

By
Salem Abdalwahab
Yasser Suliman
Haitham Nabil
Faraj Hussain
Salem Saad

Supervisor
M. Emad Abses

July - 2022
Overview

Refining is the processing of crude oil into a number of useful hydrocarbon products.

Processing utilizes chemicals, catalysts, heat, and pressure to separate and combine the basic

types of hydrocarbon mole-cules naturally found in crude oil into groups of similar molecules.

The refining process also rear-ranges their structures and bonding patterns into different

hydrocarbon molecules and compounds .Therefore, it is the type of hydrocarbon

(paraffinic ,naphthenic, or aromatic) and its demand that configure the refining industry.

Petroleum refining has evolved continuously in response to changing demands for better and

different products. The trend in demand has also been accompanied by continuous

improvement in product quality, such as octane number for gasoline and cetane number for

diesel.
The original requirement was to produce kerosene for household use, followed by the

development of the internal combustion engine and the production of transportation fuels

(gasoline, diesel, and fuels).Refineries produce a variety of products including many

required as feed stocks for the petrochemical industry. Early refining was the simple

distillation(fractionation) of crude oil followed by the develop-ment in the 1920s of the

thermal cracking processes, such as visbreaking and coking. The processes crack heavy fuels

into more useful and desirable product sby applying pressure and heat.
Refinery Operations

Modern refineries incorporate fractionation, conversion, treatment, and blending operations

and may also include petrochemical processing. Most light distillates are further converted

into more usable products by changing the size and structure of the hydrocarbon molecules

through cracking, reforming, and other conversion processes, as discussed further in this

article. Figure 1 presents a typical scheme of a high-conversion refinery.

Various streams are subjected to various separation processes, such as extraction, hydro

treating, and sweetening, to remove undesirable constituents and improve product quality. In

general, petroleum refining operations can be grouped as follows:

FIGUR 1 : Schematic diagram of a high-conversion refinery. Cat cracker, catalytic cracker; Hv Naph, heavy naphtha; LtNaph,
light naphtha; LPG, liquefied petroleum gas; Vac gas oil, vacuum gas oil; ATM gas oil, atmospheric gas oil.
 Fractionation (distillation) is the separation of crude oil in atmospheric and
vacuum distillation towers into groups of hydrocarbon compounds of
differing boiling-point ranges called ‘‘fractions’’ or ‘‘cuts.’’
 Light oil processing prepares light distillates through rearrangement of
molecules using isomerization and catalytic reforming or combination
processes such as alkylation and polymerization.
 Heavy oil processing changes the size and or structure of hydrocarbon
molecules through thermal or catalytic cracking processes
 Treatment and environmental protection processes involve chemical or
physical separation, such as dissolving, absorption, or precipitation, using
a variety and combination of processes including drying, solvent refining,
and sweetening.
Refinery Product
1- Gasoline
Motor gasoline is the highest volume refinery product, having a mixture of hydrocarbons
with boiling points ranging from ambient temperature to approximately 2051C. It flows
easily, spreads quickly, and may evaporate completely in a few hours under temperate
conditions. It is highly volatile and flammable. Gasoline is made up of different refinery
streams, mainly straight-run naphtha, isomerized C5/C6 paraffins, reformate, hydrocracking,
fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline, oligomerate, alkylate, and ethers. The most
environmentally friendly gasoline comes from branched paraffins. The im portant qualities
for gasoline are octane number (antiknock), volatility (starting and vapor lock), vapor
pressure, and sulfur content (environmental control). Additives are often used to enhance
gasoline performance and to provide protection against oxidation and rust formation. Table V
presents some typical data for current and future specifications for gasoline in Europe.
2- Diesel Fuel
Diesel fuel is usually second in volume next to gasoline. Diesel blend consists of cuts from
atmospheric distillation, hydrocracking, FCC light cycle oil, and some products obtained
from visbreaking and coking. The main property of diesel fuel for automotive engine
combustion is cetane number, which is a measure of engine start-up and combustion. Diesel
fuel and domestic heating oils have boiling point ranges of approximately 200–3701C. The
desired properties of these distillate fuels include controlled flash and pour points, clean
burning, and no deposit formation in storage tanks. Sulfur reduction and cetane improvement
have been extensively investigated to produce ultralow-sulfur diesel (ULSD). Meeting future
specifications for ULSD of 10–15 ppm sulfur will require significant hydrotreating
investment. Table VI presents some typical data for current and future specifications for
diesel fuel in Europe.
3- Jet Fuel (Kerosene)

Jet fuel is the third most important transportation fuel. It is a middle-distillate product that is

used for jets (commercial and military) and is used around the world in cooking and heating

(kerosene). When used as a jet fuel, some of the critical qualities are freeze point, flash

point, and smoke point. Commercial jet fuel has a boiling point range of approximately 190–

2751C and that of military jet fuel is 55–2851C. Kerosene, with less critical specifications,

is used for lighting, heating, solvents, and blending into diesel fuel. n-Paraffins in the range

C12–C14 may be extracted from kerosene for use in the production of detergents.
4- Coke and Asphalt

Petroleum coke is produced in coking units and is almost pure carbon with a variety of uses

from electrodes to charcoal briquets. Asphalt is a semisolid material produced from vacuum

distillation and is classified into various commercial grades. It is used mainly for paving

roads and roofing materials.

5- Lubricants

Vacuum distillation and special refining processes produce lube-oil base stocks. Additives

such as antioxidants and viscosity enhancers are blended into the base stocks to provide the

characteristics required for motor oils, industrial greases, lubricants, and cutting oils. The

most critical quality is a high viscosity index, which provides for greater consistency under

varying temperatures.
6- Refinery Gases

Refinery gases are the lightest hydrocarbons containing a mixture of gases from methane to

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and some pentanes. The gases are processed to separate LPG,

which consists principally of propane and butane. Other refinery gases include lighter

paraffins, unsaturates, and hydrogen sulfide. LPG is used as fuel and as an intermediate in

the manufacture of olefins and selected petrochemical feedstocks. Butanes are also used in

the manufacture of ethers and to adjust the vapor pressure of gasoline. LPG is also used in

transportation and in domestic and household applications.

7- Petrochemical Feedstocks

Light olefins from FCC and benzene, toluene, xylenes (BTX) aromatics from naphtha

reforming are the main petrochemical feedstocks derived from refineries. These products

are the basis for integrating refining and petrochemical operations. Olefins include

propylene and butanes, whereas benzene and xylenes are precursors for many valuable

chemicals and intermediates, such as styrene and polyesters.

8- Residual Fuel Oil

Residual fuel oil is the least valuable of the refiner’s products, selling at a price below that

of crude oil.

Residual fuels are difficult to pump and may be heavier than water; they are also difficult to

disperse and are likely to form tar balls, lumps, and emulsions. Many marine vessels, power

plants, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities use residual fuels or combinations of

residual and distillate fuels for heating and processing. The two most critical properties of

residual fuels are viscosity and low sulfur content for environmental control.
References

Aitani, A. (1995). Reforming processes. In ‘‘Catalytic Naphtha Reforming’’ (G. Antos et al.,

Eds.), pp. 409–436. Dekker, New York.

Farrauto, R., and Bartholomew, C. (1997). ‘‘Fundamentals of Industrial Catalytic

Processes,’’ pp. 519–579. Blackie Academic and Professional, London.

Stell, J. (2002). Worldwide refining survey. Oil & Gas Journal, December 23, 2002, pp. 68–

70.