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General
Petroleumindustryisamainenergyindustry.Ithasahugechainofvaluefromupstreamtothedownstream
industries,suchasoilexploration,oilextractionfromwellhead,storage,measurement,transportation,refinery,
petrochemicalandchemicals.Sincetheindustryisallaboutdealingwithvarioushydrocarbonproducts,
hydrocarbonindustryisanothernamefortheindustry.
Crudeoilfromthefieldreservoirusuallyhasgas,water,andsedimentinit.Theyarehighlyvariable,withnotwo
exactlyalike.Onecrudemaybebrightgreenincolour,sweetsmellingandasfluidaswater.Anothermaybejet
blackandhaveanunpleasantsulfuroussmell.Yetanothermaybepinkandstackupinapilewhenpouredonthe
groundonahotday.Attheotherextreme,gascondensateiscolourlessandwillcompletelyevaporateifleft
uncontained.Thespecificcharacteristicsofeachcrudereflectsitsuniqueblendofsizesandtypesofhydrocarbon
molecules,withthousandsofdifferentcompoundsinthemixture.
Thisextremevarabilityiswhythematerialwasnamedcrude.Itisindeedacrudematerial,beingmessy,unstable
anddangeroustohandle.Essentiallyunstableinitsinitialform,crudemustberefinedbrokendownintoproducts
withthespecificcharacteristicstohandlecertainjobswell,e.g.,gasolineanddieseltopowerengines,fueloilto
heathomes,etc.Thisistheroleofrefineries.
Verylittleofthecrudeisproducedbyrefinerowncompany.Instead,itisgenerallypurchasedontheopenmarket.
Theindustryhasaveryefficientmarketoperatingbetweenproductionandrefining.Producerscancountongettinga
goodpricefortheircrudeanywhereintheworldandrefinerscancountonbeingabletopurchasefeedstockata
goodprice.Crudeistradedfreely,oftenchanginghandsseveraltimesasittakesthemostefficientroutebetween
theproducingfieldsandtherefinery.
Crudeoilcanbetransportedfromtheproducingfieldtotherefineryinavarietyofconveyances.Foronshore
production,tanktrucks,railroadtankcars,andbargesoninlandwaterwaysareusedtosomeextent,butpipelines
arethedominantmodeoftransportation.Pipelinesarealsousedtobringproductionashorefromoffshorefields
locatedreasonablyneartoland.
Formostexportoperationsaroundtheworld,marinetankersaretheonlychoiceavailable.Thebulkoftheenormous
MiddleEastproduction,forexample,isshippedtoallpartsoftheworldintankers.
Mostofthewaterandsedimenthavetoberemovedbeforethecrudecanbesoldtoashipper.Also,gasandoil
mustbeseparatedfromeachother.Therefore,surfaceprocessingfacilitieswithseparation,measurementand
storagearebuiltclosetotheoilfield.Also,therearespecialvesselscalledseparatorsandtreatersbeingemployed
toseparatefluidsandtoremoveemulsifiedwaterfromoil.

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Separatetheproducedfluidsintostremasofoil,gasandwaterforsaleanddisposal

Removefreewaterfromthewellbyknockouts

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Emulsion,amixtureofwaterandoil,tobeseparatedbywashtankwithflume

Refineries
Crudeoilcannotbeusedasafuelitself,becauseitcontainssuchabroadspectrumofmolecularsize.Tobe
practicalasafuel,amaterialmusthaveknownburningcharacteristicssothatitcanbematchedwithanappropriate
burnersystem(engine,boiler,etc.).
Thefirststepinarefineryistosplitcrudeintoseveralfractionsor"cuts"tocutthelargemoleculesofthecrude
intosmallervarioushydrocarbonproducts.Eachcutisconcentratingaparticularrangeofmolecularsizes.For
example,oneofthecutsmightbelightgasesdescribedas"butanesandlighter"aheaviercutmightbekerosene.
Thecutsaremadewithadistillationprocessthatemploysselectivevaporizationandrecondensation.
Thehighestvaluedpetroleumproductsarethe"whiteproducts",whichincludegasoline,diesel,jetfuel,andheating
oil.Productionofthese"middleofthebarrel"products,particularlygasoline,ismaximizedbyconvertingasmuchas
possibleofthelesservaluedgasesandtheheavier"bottomofthebarrel"materialstowhiteproducts.Thisisdone
byalteringthemoleculesasfollows:
Polymerizationisusedtocombinethesmallgasmoleculesintolarger,middleofthebarrel,molecules
Crackingisusedtobreakupthelarge,bottomofthebarrel,moleculesintosmallerones
Isomerizationaltersthearrangementofatomsinamoleculewithoutaddingorremovinganytheatoms
Theprocessesemployedtocutorrefinethecrudeincludeatmosphericdistillation,vacuumflashing,thermal
cracking,catcracking,hydrocracking,gasplant,alkylation,catalyticreformingandblending.Roughly,theseare
chainofprocess,meaningtheyieldofthepreviousprocessbecomesthefeedstockofthenextprocess,with
distillationbeingtheinitialprocessandblendingthefinalone.
Distillation
Tounderstandhowtheatmosphericdistillationtowerworks,letsusetapwaterbeingboiled(vaporized),thencooled
sothatitrecondenses.Thisprocesscreatesdistilledwater,whichispurerthantheoriginalwaterbecauseonlythe
H20moleculesvaporizedandleftthevessel.Thevariousnonvolatileimpuritiesinthetapwaterremainbehind,
buildingupinconcentration,andeventuallyprecipitatingoutasasolidresiduewhenthevesselboilsdry.This
processfunctionsthentoseparatethewaterfromtheimpurities.
Intheaboveexample,waterisboiledat100C(atsealevel).The100Ciscalledwater'sboilingpointandisspecific
tothewatermolecule.Eachofthehydrocarbonmoleculeshasitsspecificboilingpoint,withthesmallerthe
molecule,theloweritsboilingpoint.Thisisthekeytocuttingcrudeinadistillationtower.
Atmosphericdistillationistheinitialprocessinarefinery.Itsfractionatingtoweralargediameterverticalvessel
withmultipleinternalcontactortraysisthelargestintherefinery.Thecrudeisheated,vaporizingmostofit,then
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injectedintothebaseofthetower.Vaporsrisingthroughportsinthetrayscomeintocontactwithcondensedliquids
workingdownwardthroughthecolumn.Thisinterchangecontinuallyvaporizessomeliquidandcondensessomegas,
establishinganequilibriumthroughoutthecolumnwithheaviermaterialtowardthebaseandlightermaterialtoward
thetop.Productcutsarecontinuouslyremovedfromthetowerthroughsidedrawsspacedalongitsverticallength.
Thelocationofeachsidedrawisdesignedtotapaspecificboilingpointrangeofmaterial.

Mechanismofdistillingwater

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Distillationtower

Twotowersunderconstruction
Blending
Blendingoperationsarethefinalstep,combiningthevariousoutputsofalltheprocessesintothefinalproductsthat
aresold.Theblendingoperationhasamajorimpactonmanagingtherefinery.Itdetermineswhatfeedstocksandrun
volumesareneededsoeachofthevariousprocesseswillyieldtherequiredvolumesandspecificationsofproducts,
suchasgasoline,dieselfuelandfurnaceoil.Theheavy,black,bottomofthebarrelresidualremainingafter
processingcanbesoldasasphaltorblendedwithlightermaterialsandsoldas"resid"(residualfueloil).

Petrochemicals
Petrochemicalsarenonfuelcompoundsderivedfromcrudeoilandnaturalgas.Theindustryhasbeenbuiltonthe
extremereactivityofthecarbonatom.Thefeedstocksforpetrochemicalplantsareprovidedlargelybyrefineriesand
includegases,naphtha,kerosene,andlightgasoil.Naturalgasprocessingplantsarealsoasourceoffeedstock,
providingnaturalgas,ethaneandLPG(liquefiedpetroleumgas).
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Petrochemicalplantsaretypicallybuiltadjacenttorefineriestobeneartheirsourceoffeedstock.Also,thereoften
arebyproductstreamscreatedintheplantsthatcanbestbeutilizedbyreturningthemtotherefineryforprocessing.
Infact,theboundarybetweenthetwotypesofplantoftenbecomesblurredasprogressiveintegrationofbothfluid
streamsandoperatingpersonneltakesplaceforincreasedefficiency.Asaresult,severalverylarge
refining/petrochemicalcomplexeshavedevelopedaroundtheworld.
Petrochemicalprocessesare,ingeneral,muchsmallerthanrefineryprocesses,butthereareexceptionslikevery
largeethyleneplants.Thesametoolsareusedasinrefiningheat,pressureandcatalystsbut,unlikerefineries,
inorganicchemicalsareusedinsomeofthereactions.
It'snothardtovisualizeafuturewherecrudeoilandnaturalgascouldbecomeinsuchshortsupplythatburning
hydrocarbonsasfuelwouldnolongermakesense.However,itwouldstillmakesensetomanufacture
petrochemicalsbecausetheyextractsuchincrediblevaluefromthehydrocarbonmolecule.

ProcessTool
Whethercruderefiningorpetrochemicalprocesses,thetoolsusedarethesame.Theyare:
Heat(distillation):toexcitethemolecules
Pressure:toretardvaporization
Catalyst:toassistthereactionbutnotparticipateinit

References
TheabovestuffistheexcerptfromThePetroleumIndustry,ANontechnicalGuidebyCharlesF.Conaway,Tulsa,
OklahomaPublisher.1999.

SimplifiedChainofValue
Chain

Feedstock(input)

Refinery

Crudeoil

Petrochemical

Fromoutputof
refineries

Chemicals

Outputfrom
petrochemicalorfrom
othersources

Process

ExamplesofYield(output)
Kerosene,lightoil(jetoil,gasoline,diesel),Naphtha,
Benzene,LPG,HFO,Bitomen,Sulfur

Heat,
Ethylene,polymers,PVC,Polyethylene,Polypropylene
pressure,
catalysts
Fibres

Equipment
Thefollowingsarecommonequipmentfoundintheoilandgasplant.
Absorber:Collectorthatactivelyabsorbsthelightrays
Boiler:Providesteamheat
Compressors:Compressorsdothesameforgasstreamsaspumpsdoforliquidscreatingapressuredifferential
thatmovesthegasthroughthesystem.Itisusedtoinjectlowpressureassociatedgasintohighpressurepipelines.
Columns:Fordistillation
Deaerator:Toremoveair
Drum:Acylindricalmetalcontainerforstorageofliquids
Furnace:Provideheatforcracking
Meters:Monitoringandcontrolmeterssenseflowratesandpressuresinvesselsandpiping,alerttheoperatoror
automaticallytaketheneededaction.
Nozzle:Exhaustducttocontrolfluidflowexitfromanenclosedvessel
Pipeline:Pipelinestransportforbothgasandliquids.Theyprovidetheconduitsfortransportingproducedfluidsto
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andthroughthefacility.Theyareconstructedbyweldingtogetherjointsofsteelpipe.Mostpipelinesareexternally
paintedandinsulatedforprotectionfromcorrosionandabrasion.
Piperack:Supportpipelines
Pressurevessels:Thelargecylindricalpressurevesselsseenineveryproducingfacilityareessentiallyenlarged
sectionsofapipeline.Theenlargementallowsfluidvelocitytoslow,providingtheretentiontimenecessaryforthe
fluidstogravitysegregate.Gravitysegregationistheprimarymechanismusedtoseparateoil,waterandgas.
Pumps:Pumpspressurizeliquids,creatingapressuredifferentialthatmovesliquidsthroughthesystemfromlower
leveltothehigherlevel.
Reactors:Adeviceusedtoforceacontrolledreactionwithagivensubstance.Themostcommonreactorisan
ozonereactor,whichforceswaterthroughapressurizedcolumnofanairozonemixture
Tanks:Tanksarelargevesselsusedforvolumestorageofoilorwaterortoprovideretentiontimeforgravity
segregation.Althoughstoragetanksarenotconstructedtocontainpressure,afewouncesofgaspressureis
normallymaintainedtoexcludeair.
Tower:Sameascolumn
Valves:Theyeitherblocking(openorclosed)orcontrol(throttling).

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