The development of petroleum refinery - Essay Example

Introduction The ample significance of utilizing petroleum has been realized even before the 19th century in Babylon, Egypt, China, Rome, and Persia.Petroleum industry, nevertheless, is accounted for by modern history to have initiated at Nova Scotia, Canada back in 1846 upon discovery of manufacturing coal and kerosene which was similarly derived from a Polish town through hand-dug oil wells around 1854. While Romania is recognized to have built the first large petroleum refinery in Ploesti, the refining of crude petroleum is greatly attributed to the drilling of the first oil well in 1859 at the state of Pennsylvania where developing larger-scale processing systems were sought to refine massive quantities “rock oil”.

The Development of a Petroleum RefineryBasically, petroleum refinery is established to perform the core duty of fundamental distillation by which the components of ‘crude oil’ are separated into fractions when crude oil is heated in the distillation column after which different hydrocarbon products may be obtained at varying temperatures. Under low temperatures conditions, light distillates at the top of the column include liquid petroleum gases (LPG), ‘straight run’ gasoline, and naphtha.

Out of the middle streams are recovered moderately heavy products such as kerosene and jet fuel whereas the through column’s bottoms are distilled the heaviest of yield being the residual fuel oil.Since production is chiefly concerned with an optimum output, schematic plant and equipment designs for refinery are developed such that desired products are maximized at minimum operating costs as much as possible. On this ground, certain refineries customize plant structure in such fashion as to recycle streams particularly those at the bottom to be fed back to lines where lighter products are processed in order that heavy distillates may be taken advantage of further upon conversion to less heavy form.

Manufacturers may also opt to decide on the feasibility of adjusting other factors that directly or indirectly impact the efficiency of distillation such as the number of column plates or stages, the type, design, or number of auxiliary equipments used if necessary, and more essentially, a strategic approach with separating components to remedy relatively close boiling points for the purpose of increasing percent purity of the desired yield. Moreover, refineries of crude petroleum have become enhanced through a system of downstream processing facilities utilized to change the molecular structure of the input whether by catalytic or non-catalytic thermal chemical reactions as further treatment after distillation.

Such development is intended to generate refined outcomes that meet favors of good general economy and fuel benefits for manufacturing companies and their end-users, respectively. Thus, downstream processes normally incorporate ‘reforming units’ to extend hydrocarbon chains as from lower-octane feedstock to higher-octane end-constituents. Besides crude oil, engineers may conceptualize on additional specialized inputs for entry to downstream portions of distillation for the refining capacity to increase the potential commodity mix.

Conclusion Down the history since ‘petroleum’ was first found, procedures to refine crude petroleum have indeed become essential for various reasons. As refining industries realize the several advantages with refined petroleum, they ought to continue seeking developmental ways of improving processes that constitute production with regard not just to consumer demands and company profit but also to the environmental issues alongside the typical course. ReferencesChemEngineering - Petroleum refining processes. 2012. ChemEngineering - Petroleum refining processes.

[ONLINE] Available at: http://chemengineering.wikispaces.com/Petroleum+refining+processes. [Accessed 26 March 2012].Petroleum Refining :: History -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 2012.petroleum refining :: History -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/454440/petroleum-refining/81776/History. [Accessed 26 March 2012].Petroleum refining. 2012. Petroleum refining. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Petroleum_refining.

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