Refinery

Refinery - an industrial enterprise, whose main function is the processing of crude oil into gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oil, diesel fuel, lubricating oils, lubricants, bitumen, petroleum coke, the raw material for the petrochemical industry. Refinery production cycle usually consists of preparation of raw materials, primary oil refining and recycling of oil fractions: catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, coking, visbreaking, hydrocracking, hydrotreating and mixing the components of finished petroleum products. For details, see Virtual Refinery
Refineries are characterized by the following indicators:
Option refining: fuel, fuel oil, fuel and petrochemical.
Processing volume (million tonnes).
Processing depth (output of petroleum products based on oil, in% by weight, less fuel oil and gas)

Profiles refinery

To date, the border between the profiles are deleted by becoming more versatile. For example, the presence of a catalytic cracking unit at the refinery allows to produce polypropylene from propylene, which is produced in significant quantities in the cracking, as a byproduct.

In Russian refiners are three refineries profile, depending on the processing scheme of oil: fuel, fuel oil, fuel and petrochemical.

Fuel profile

The refinery fuel-main products are various types of fuel and carbon materials: motor fuel, fuel oil, fuel gas, bitumen, petroleum coke, etc.

Service settings include: Required - oil distillation, reforming, hydrotreating, additionally - vacuum distillation, catalytic cracking, isomerization, hydrocracking, coking, etc.

Fuel and lubricants

The refinery fuel and lubricants in addition to various types of fuels and carbon materials produced lubricants: petroleum oils, grease, paraffin wax, etc.

Service settings include: plants for the production of fuels and plants for the production of oils and greases.

Fuel and petrochemical profile

The refinery fuel and petrochemical structure in addition to various types of fuel and carbon materials produced petrochemical products: polymers, chemicals, etc.

Service settings include: plants for the production of fuels and plants for the production of petrochemical products (pyrolysis, production of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, aimed at reforming the production of individual aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.).

Preparation of raw materials

First the oil dehydration and desalting in special plants to extract salt and other impurities that may cause corrosion of equipment that slow cracking and reduce the quality of processed products. In the oil is not more than 3-4 mg / l of salt and about 0.1% water. Then the oil is fed to the primary distillation.

Primary processing - Distillation

Liquid petroleum hydrocarbons have different boiling points. This property is based distillation. When heated in a distillation column to 350 ° C of oil consistently with increasing temperature highlighted various factions. Oil refineries in the first distilled into the following fractions: naphtha (it boils at a temperature range 28-180 ° C), jet fuel (180-240 ° C) and diesel (240-350 ° C). Residual oil was distilled oil. Until the end of XIX century it was discarded as waste. For oil refining usually use five distillation columns, which consistently highlighted various petroleum products. The yield of gasoline in the primary distillation of crude oil is negligible, so it is carried out recycling for greater volume of motor fuel.

Recycling - cracking

Recycling of oil carried by thermal or chemical catalytic cleavage of primary refined petroleum products to get more gasoline fractions, and the raw materials for future production of aromatic hydrocarbons - benzene, toluene, and others. One of the most common techniques of the cycle - Cracking (born cracking - splitting).

In 1891, engineers VG Shukhov and SP Gavrilov offered the world's first industrial plant for the continuous implementation of the thermal cracking process: a tubular continuous reactor, where the pipes are forced lubrication oil or other heavy crude oil, and to the tube space served heated flue gases. The output of light components in the cracking process, from which you can then make gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel is from 40-45 to 55-60%. Cracking process enables components of fuel oil for the production of lubricating oils.

Catalytic cracking was discovered in the 30-ies of XX century. Catalyst seeds of raw and adsorbs on themselves above all those molecules that are able to quite easily dehydrated (give hydrogen). Formed with unsaturated hydrocarbons having high adsorption capacity, come into contact with the active centers of the catalyst. The polymerization of hydrocarbons, tar and coke there. Liberated hydrogen is actively involved in the reactions of hydrocracking, isomerization, and others. Cracking products enriched with high quality light hydrocarbons and the result is a wide gasoline fraction and diesel fuel fraction related to light oil. As a result, we obtain petroleum gas (20%), gasoline fraction (50%), diesel fraction (20%), heavy gas oil and coke.

Hydrotreating

Hydrotreated performed on hydrogenation catalysts using aluminum, cobalt and molybdenum compounds. One of the most important processes in the refining sector.

Objective of the process - clean gasoline, kerosene and diesel fractions and vacuum gas oil from sulfur, nitrogen, resinous compounds and oxygen. On hydrotreating may be made distillates secondary origin with cracking or coking plants, in this case there is also the process of hydrogenation of olefins. Capacity of the existing plants in Russia ranges from 600 to 3000 tons per year. Hydrogen required for hydrotreating reactions comes from catalytic reforming units or produced in special plants.

Raw gas is mixed with a hydrogen concentration of 85-95% by volume. Coming from circulation compressor to maintain the pressure in the system. The mixture was heated in an oven to 280-340 ° C, depending on the raw material, then enters the reactor. Reaction goes on catalysts containing nickel, cobalt or molybdenum at pressures up to 50 atm. In such circumstances, there is a destruction of sulfur and nitrogen-containing compounds to form hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, as well as the saturation of olefins. In the process through thermal decomposition produced a small (1.5-2%) of low-octane fuel, and with vacuum gasoil hydrotreater also produces 6-8% of the diesel fraction. In the diesel fraction of purified sulfur content can be reduced from 1.0% to 0.005% and below. Process gases are cleaned in order to remove hydrogen sulfide, which goes to the production of elemental sulfur or sulfuric acid.

Formation of the finished product

Gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil and industrial oils are divided into different grades depending on the chemical composition. The final stage of production refinery is to mix the received components for finished products desired composition. Also, this process is called compounding or blending.