Flow sheet of Modern Refinery

Crude distillation products

Petroleum Products

High Conversion Refinery

Refining Processes

Physical Separation Processes:

Crude Distillation: Crude first desalted >Atmospheric distillation column(with

steam)>Vacuum distillation column (50 mm Hg).

Solvent Deasphalting: Only physical process where carbon is rejected from

heavy petroleum fraction such as vacuum residue. Propane in liquid form (at
moderate pressure) is used to dissolve the whole oil, leaving asphaltene to
precipitate.This low sulfur and low metal DAO is called Bright Stock and is
used as feed stock for lube oil plant. Also sent to cracking units to increase
light oil production.

Solvent Extraction: Lube oil stock is treated by a solvent, such a s N-methyl

pyrrolidone(NMP), which can separate aromatics into the extract phase.
Solvent is then removed from both the phases and the raffinate is dewaxed.

Solvent Dewaxing: The raffinate is dissolved in a solvent (MEK) and the

solution is gradually chilled, during which high molecular weight paraffin (wax)
is crystallized, and the remaining solution is filtered. Extracted and dewaxed oil
is called lube oil.

Refining Processes

Chemical Separation Processes:

Catalytic Reforming: Supported Pt catalyst used to reconstruct

naphtha(C6-C10) into aromatics and isoparaffins. This produced
naphtha reformate used in gasoline formulation and as a feedstock
for aromatic production (BTX).

Hydrotreating: Hydrogen used to clean petroleum fractions from

impurities such as sulphur, nitrogen, oxy-compounds, chlorocompounds, aromatics, waxes and metals using hydrogen (cobalt
and molybdenum oxides on alumina).

Catalytic Hydrocracking: ARs and VGO are cracked in the

presence of hydrogen to get light products.

Refining Processes

Chemical Separation Processes:

Catalytic Cracking: FCCU uses zeolite based catalyst to crack

VGO to gasoline and small quantities of gas oil and refinery gases.

Alkylation: Process in which isobutane (collected mainly from FCC

and delayed coker) reacts with olefins such as butylene (C4=).

Isomerization: Isomerization of light naphtha is the process in

which low octane number hydrocarbons (C4, C5, C6) are
transformed to a branched product with the carbon number. Main
advantage of this process is to separate hexane (C6) before it
enters thereformer.

Refining Processes

Chemical Separation Processes:

Thermal Chemical Conversion Processes:
Delayed coking: This process is based on the thermal cracking
of vacuum residue by carbon rejection forming coke and lighter
products such a s gases, gasoline, and gas oils.

Flexicoking: In this thermal process, most of the coke is gasified

into fuel gas using steam and air. Products are gases, gasoline and
gas oils with very little coke.

Visbreaking: This is a mild thermal cracking process used to

break the high viscosity and pour points of vacuum residue.
Products include gases, gasoline, gas oil and unconverted residue.

Refinery-Petrochemical Integration