CHE-350

PETROLEUM REFINERY
PROCESS
 Topics

Contents
Contents &
& Books
Books

Method
Method to
to Follow
Follow

Introduction
Introduction to
to Subject
Subject
 Contents
 Importance of petroleum refinery and petrochemical
industry
 Introduction to refinery and basic refinery schemes

 Origin; formation and composition of petroleum

 Indigenous and world resources

 Refinery products; properties; significant tests and standard

test methods; characterization and evaluation of crude oil

stocks
 Desalting; atmospheric and vacuum distillation; steam

stripping
 Contents
 De-sulfurization of oil and gas

 Conversion processes

 Thermal and catalytic cracking and reforming,

hydrocracking
 Raw materials and basic intermediates

 Petrochemical perspective of reforming and engineering

aspects
 Production of olefins, synthetic fibers, plastics and

elastomers
 Recent trends in research and development
 Schedule
Credit Hours = 3

Contact Hours (Theory)= 3 per week

Contact Hours (Lab)= NIL

Max. Marks = 100

 Grades criteria

3 Quiz 5 % Each

Assignment 5%

Two OHT’s 30 %

Final Exam 50%

Total 100 Marks

BOOKS
 Text Book 1
Petroleum Refining
Technology and Economics *
4th Edition

by
James H. Gary & Glenn E.
Handwerk

Published in 2001
by Marcel Dekker, Inc
 Text Book 2

Chemistry of
Petrochemical
Processes *
2nd Edition

by
S. Matar & L. F. Hatch

Published in 2000
by Gulf Publishing Company
 Reference Books and Notes
 An introduction to petroleum refining and the production

of ultra low sulfur gasoline and diesel fuel [Prepared by

international council of clean transport]
 Petroleum refining: introduction, products, refinery's
configurations, hydrogen technologies [Faculty of Chemical
Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb]
 Petroleum refining overview [NPTEL – chemical –

chemical technology ii ]
 Introduction

1. Petroleum

2. Petrochemicals
 1 - Petroleum
Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from petra - rock +
oleum - oil) or crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found
in formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of
hydrocarbons (mostly alkanes) of various lengths. The
approximate length range is C5H12 to C18H38 .
• Any shorter hydrocarbons are considered natural gas or
natural gas liquids.

• While long-chain hydrocarbons are more viscous, and the

longest chains are paraffin wax.

• In its naturally occurring form, it may contain other

nonmetallic elements such as sulfur, oxygen, and
nitrogen.

• It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be

yellowish or even greenish) but varies greatly in
appearance, depending on its composition.
• Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil
and gasoline (petrol), both important "primary energy"
sources. 84% by volume of the hydrocarbons present in
petroleum is converted into energy-rich fuels (petroleum-
based fuels), including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other
fuel oils, and liquefied petroleum gas.
• Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative
abundance, it has become the world's most important
source of energy since the mid-1950s.
• Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products,
including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and
plastics; the 16% not used for energy production is converted
into these other materials.
Top petroleum-producing countries
(×106bbl/ (×10³m³/
# Producing Nation
d) d)
1 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 10.37 1,649
2 Russia 9.27 1,474
3 United States 8.69 1,382
4 Iran (OPEC) 4.09 650
5 Mexico 3.83 609
6 China 3.62 576
7 Norway 3.18 506
8 Canada 3.14 499
9 Venezuela (OPEC) 2.86 455
10 United Arab Emirates (OPEC) 2.76 439
11 Kuwait (OPEC) 2.51 399 OPEC:
12 Nigeria (OPEC) 2.51 399 Organization
of
13 United Kingdom 2.08 331 Petroleum
14 Iraq (OPEC) 2.03 323 Exporting
Countries
Top petroleum-consuming countries
# Consuming Nation (bbl/day) (m³/day)
1 United States 20,030,000 3,184,516
2 China 6,391,000 1,016,088
3 Japan 5,578,000 886,831
4 Russia 2,800,000 445,164
5 Germany 2,677,000 425,609
6 India 2,320,000 368,851
7 Canada 2,300,000 365,671
8 South Korea 2,061,000 327,673
9 France 2,060,000 327,514
10 Italy 1,874,000 297,942
11 Saudi Arabia 1,775,000 282,202
12 Mexico 1,752,000 278,546
13 United Kingdom 1,722,000 273,776
14 Brazil 1,610,000 255,970
 Oil imports by country
# Importing Nation (bbl/day) (m³/day)
1 United States 13,150,000 2,790,683
2 Japan 5,449,000 866,322
3 China 3,226,000 512,893
4 Netherlands 2,284,000 363,127
5 France 2,281,000 362,650
6 South Korea 2,263,000 359,788
7 Italy 2,158,000 343,095
8 Germany 2,135,000 339,438
9 India 2,090,000 332,283
10 Spain 1,582,000 251,518
11 United Kingdom 1,084,000 172,342
12 Belgium 1,042,000 165,665
13 Canada 963,000 153,105
14 Turkey 616,500 98,016
 2 - Petrochemicals
Petrochemicals are chemical products made from raw
materials of petroleum (hydrocarbon) origin.
(Etymologically, the name is incorrect, as its root
petro- means "rock"; the correct term is
oleochemicals, from the Greek root oleo-, meaning
"oil".)
Although some of the chemical compounds which
originate from petroleum may also be derived from
other sources such as coal or natural gas, petroleum is
a major source of many.
 Classes of Petrochemicals
The two main classes of petrochemical raw materials are
olefins (including ethylene and propylene) and aromatics
(including benzene and xylene isomers), both of which
are produced in very large quantities.
From these basic building blocks are made a very wide
range of chemicals and other materials used in industry -
monomers, solvents, detergents, adhesives, etc. From the
monomers, polymers are produced for plastics, resins,
fibers, elastomers, certain lubricants and gels.
World production of ethylene is around 110 million

tones per annum, of propylene 65 million tones, and

of aromatic raw materials 70 million tones.
The largest petrochemical industries are to be found

in the USA and Western Europe, though the major

growth in new production capacity is in the Middle
East and Asia.
There is a substantial inter-regional trade in
petrochemicals of all kinds
 PART 1
Petroleum Refinery
 Oil refinery
An oil refinery is an
industrial process plant
where crude oil is
processed and refined into
more useful petroleum
products, such as gasoline,
diesel fuel, asphalt base,
heating oil, kerosene, and
liquefied petroleum gas.
Oil refineries are typically
large sprawling industrial
complexes with extensive
piping running throughout,
carrying streams of fluids
between large chemical
processing units.
Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez, California
Oil refineries are large scale plants, processing from about a
hundred thousand to several hundred thousand barrels of
crude oil per day.
Because of the high capacity, many of the units are operated
continuously (as opposed to processing in batches) at steady
state or approximately steady state for long periods of time
(months to years).
Basic Operation

Raw oil or unprocessed ("crude") oil is not useful in the form

it comes in out of the ground.
The oil needs to be separated into parts and refined before use
in fuels and lubricants, and before some of the byproducts
could be used in petrochemical processes to form materials
such as plastics, and foams.
 Each refinery has its own unique processing scheme
which is determined by
“The process equipment available, crude oil
characteristics, operating costs, and product demand.
The optimum flow pattern for any refinery is dictated by
economic considerations and no two refineries are
identical in their operations.”
 Petroleum fossil fuels are used in ship, automobile and
aircraft engines. These different hydrocarbons have
different boiling points, which means they can be
separated by distillation.
 Since the lighter liquid elements are in great demand for
use in internal combustion engines, a modern refinery
will convert heavy hydrocarbons and lighter gaseous
elements into these higher value products using complex
and energy intensive processes.