Petroleum Refining Technology

The course is com­pre­hen­sively cov­ered by Prasad (2017), with some ref­er­ences to Nelson (1958).

Unit I

• Petroleum Exploration Production
• Refining of Crude oils
• Crude oils
  • Characteristics
  • Constituents
  • Classification

Unit II

• Quality Control of Petroleum Products
• Classification of lab­o­ra­tory tests
  • Distillation
  • Vapor pres­sure
  • Flash and fire points
  • Octane num­ber
  • Performance num­ber
  • Cetane num­ber
  • Aniline point
  • Viscosity in­dex
  • Calorific value
  • Smoke point
  • Char value
  • Viscosity
  • Penetration tests
  • Cloud and pour points
  • Drop point of grease
  • Melting and set­tling points of wax
  • Softening point of Bitumen
  • Induction pe­riod of gaso­line
  • Thermal sta­bil­ity of jet fu­els
  • Gum con­tent
  • Total Sulfur
  • Acidity and Alkalinity
  • Copper Strip Corrosion Test
  • Silver Strip Corrosion Test for ATF
  • Ash
  • Carbon Residue
    • Conradson method
    • Ramsbottom method
  • Color
  • Density and Specific grav­ity
  • Refractive in­dex of hy­dro­car­bon liq­uids
  • Water sep­a­ra­tion in­dex (modified) (WSIM)
  • Ductility

Unit III

• Petroleum Products:
  • Composition
  • Properties & Specification of:
    • LPG
    • Naphthas
    • Motor spirit
    • Kerosene
    • Aviation Turbine Fuels
    • Diesel Fuels
    • Fuel Oils
    • Petroleum Hydrocarbon Solvents
    • Lubricating oils (automotive en­gine oils, in­dus­trial lu­bri­cat­ing oils elec­tri­cal in­su­lat­ing oils, Jute Batching oils, white oils, steam tur­bine oils, metal work­ing oils, etc.)
    • Petroleum Waxes
    • Bitumens
    • Petroleum coke
• Crude Oil Distillation:
  • Desalting of crude oils
  • Atmospheric dis­til­la­tion of crude oil
  • Vacuum dis­til­la­tion of at­mos­pheric residue
• Thermal Conversion Process:
  • Thermal Cracking Reactions
  • Thermal Cracking
  • Vis-breaking
    • Conventional
    • Soaker
  • Coking
    • Delayed Coking
    • Fluid Coking
    • Flexi-coking
  • Calcination of Green Coke

Unit IV

• Catalytic Conversion Process:
  • Fluid cat­alytic crack­ing
  • Catalytic re­form­ing
  • Hydro-cracking
  • Catalytic Alkylation
  • Catalytic Isomerization
  • Catalytic Polymerization
• Finishing Process:
  • Hydrogen sul­phide re­moval processes
  • Sulphur con­ver­sion processes
  • Sweetening processes
    • Caustic treat­ment
    • Solutizer process
    • Doctor treat­ing process
    • Copper chlo­ride sweet­en­ing
    • Hypochlorite sweet­en­ing
    • Air and in­hibitor treat­ing process
    • Merox processes
    • Sulphuric acid treat­ment
    • Clay treat­ment
  • Solvent ex­trac­tion processes
    • Edeleanu process
    • Udex process
    • Sulfolane process
  • Hydro-treating processes

Unit V

• Lube Oil Manufacturing Process
  • Evaluation of crude oils for lube oil base stocks
  • Vacuum dis­til­la­tion
  • Solvent de-as­phalt­ing
  • Solvent ex­trac­tion of lube oil frac­tions
    • Furfural
    • NMP
    • Phenol
  • Solvent de-wax­ing
  • Hydro-finishing
• Manufacture of pe­tro­leum waxes
  • Wax sweat­ing
  • Solvent de-oil­ing
• Manufacture of Bitumens
  • Selection of crude oil
  • Methods of man­u­fac­tur­ing bi­tu­mens:
    • Distillation
    • Solvent pre­cip­i­ta­tion
    • Air blow­ing

Specific Figures

These 16 flow­sheets and their the­ory are from Prasad (2017) and have been ear­marked for im­por­tance.

• Atmospheric Distillation of Crude Oil
  • Page 183
  • Figure 6.3
• Vacuum Distillation Process
  • Page 185
  • Figure 6.4
• Thermal Cracking
  • Page 195
  • Figure 7.2
• Soaker Vis-breaking
  • Page 202
  • Figure 7.6
• Delayed Coking
  • Page 206
  • Figure 7.8
• Fluid Catalytic Cracking
  • Page 231
  • Figure 8.4
• Catalytic Reforming
  • Page 240
  • Figure 8.6
• HF Alkylation Processes
  • Page 255
  • Figure 8.12
• Claus Process
  • Page 272
  • Figure 9.2
• Lube Oil Complex
  • Page 297
  • Figure 10.1
• Lube Distillates
  • Page 298
  • Figure 10.2
• Ketone De-waxing
  • Page 308
  • Figure 10.5
• Dilchil De-waxing Process
  • Page 310
  • Figure 10.7
• Solvent De-oiling
  • Page 315
  • Figure 10.10
• Production of Bitumen
  • Page 322
  • Figure 11.1
• Air Blowing Process
  • Page 324
  • Figure 11.3

Specific Topics

These 9 the­ory top­ics are im­por­tant for the later units.

• Vis-breaking - Page 196
• Fluid Coking - Page 210
• Catalytic Reforming - Page 238
• Hydrocracking - Page 244
• Catalytic Isomerization - Page 256
• Catalytic Polymerization - Page 260
• Claus Process - Page 271
• Sweetening Process - Page 276
• Solvent Extraction of Lube Oil Fractions - Page 302
• Solvent Dewaxing Process - Page 307

References