PETROLEUM REFINING

INTRODUCTION

To begin with petroleum is a homogeneous mixture of organic compounds, mainly hydrocarbons insoluble in water is also known as "crude" petroleum refineries operate twenty-four hours a day to convert crude petroleum into useful derivatives. Petroleum is separated into several fractions used for different purposes. Some fractions have to undergo thermal and chemical treatments to convert them into final products such as gasoline or grease.

DEVELOPMENT

Through physical and chemical processes, we transform crude petroleum and other raw materials into higher quality and value-added products for commercialization.

From the sea or through pipelines, the crude petroleum obtained in different wells around the world reaches our Industrial Complexes. After reception, they are analyzed and sent to different areas of the refinery for processing.

The first stage of crude processing consists of a physical separation of the hydrocarbons present in the petroleum, according to their boiling points. To do this, it is introduced into a distillation column where high temperatures are applied. The lighter components, such as gases, are concentrated in the upper part of the column, while the heavier ones, such as lubricants or bitumen, are left in the lower part. Although it is most common to think of gasoline or diesel, this is not the only thing we can obtain from a barrel. Tires, asphalts, plastics, containers and a long etcetera have as common denominator that they come from oil barrels.

The five basic processes of petroleum refining are as follows:

• separation (by distillation or absorption)

                                  

• cracking (breaking large chains of molecules into smaller molecules) 
• reformation (re-arrangement of the molecular structure)

                                                

• combination (combining smaller molecules in order to obtain larger molecules)    

                                         

• treatments (chemical removal of contaminants)  

                                    

CONCLUSION:

The process that natural petroleum goes through until it becomes functional seems very interesting to me, besides knowing that there are processes that do not allow the waste of petroleum to have more value in the commercial market, besides that there are special processes like naphtha (fuel) that goes through plants especially to eliminate toxic compounds. Personally, I would like to be able to see what a distillation tower looks like and how an petroleum plant works as such.

REFERENCES

SOURCE: http://www.profesorenlinea.cl/Ciencias/petroleoRefineria.htm.

SOURCE:https://www.repsol.com/es/conocenos/que-hacemos/refino/index.cshtml

https://www.ypfb.gob.bo/es/9-ypfb-corporacion/17-ypfb-refinacion.html

Berger, Bill D., Anderson, Kenneth E.; Modern Petroleum, A Basic Primer of the Industry; Oil & Gas Journal Books; 1978