OIL REFINERY AND
PETROCHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
ING. PROF. NANA SARFO AGYEMANG DERKYI, PHD.
AIM
The purpose of this course is to help students
appreciate the importance of, and gain
knowledge in oil refining and petrochemical
processing in the petroleum sector.
OBJECTIVES
1. Have a broad scientific and technological understanding of the
fundamentals and methodologies in the petroleum refining
processes.
2. Knowledge on the concepts of petrochemicals, refinery
equipment design and process plant design.
3. Appreciate the principles and applications of petrochemicals.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course, students will be able to:
(i) Demonstrate understanding of the scientific and technological principles of oil refining and
petrochemical processes.
(ii) Classify and determine petrochemical feedstock and products.
(iii) Identify the unit operations and processes in oil refinery.
(iv) Undertake oil refinery equipment design.
(v) Construct and analyze oil refinery process design using CHEMCAD/HYSIS.
Week Date (2020) Lecture Topic Assessment
1 Jan 20th & 24th Course Overview / Introduction to Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemical
Engineering
2 Jan 27th & 31st Composition of Crude Oil & Fuel Chemistry
3 Feb 3rd & 7th Overview of Refinery Products and Processes Assignment # 1
4 Feb 10th & 14th Petrochemical Feedstock and Specialty Products Quiz # 1
5 Feb 17th & 21st Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Processes: Separation Assignment # 2
6 Feb 24th & 28th Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Processes: Conversion Quiz # 2
7 March 2nd & 6th Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Processes: Conversion Assignment # 3
8 March 9th & 13th Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Processes: Conversion Quiz # 3
9 March 16th & 20th Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Processes: Treating and Supporting
10 March 23rd Mid-Semester Exam [20%]
10 March 27th Petroleum Refinery Equipment Design
11 March 30th Petroleum Refinery Equipment Design Assignment # 4
12 April 6th & 10th Petroleum Refinery Equipment Design Quiz # 4
13 April 13th & 17th Petroleum Refinery Process Plant Design Assignment # 5
14 April 20th & 24th Petroleum Refinery Process Plant Design
15-16 As per schedule End of Semester Exam [40%]
Introduction
What is Crude Oil & Crude Oil Refining?
Crude oil, also known as black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which is found in the upper strata
of some regions of the Earth's crust
It is a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, along with trances of other chemicals and compounds (e.g. Sulphur)
When extracted from underground, it ranges in density from very light to very heavy and in color, from yellow to black
Crude oil must undergo several separation processes
so that its components can be obtained and used as
fuels or converted to more valuable products
An Oil Refinery
The process of transforming crude oil into finished
petroleum products (that the market demands) is
called crude oil refining
Introduction
Petroleum refining processes are:
the chemical engineering processes and other facilities used in
petroleum refineries to transform crude oil into useful products such as:
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),
gasoline or petrol,
kerosene,
jet fuel,
diesel oil and
fuel oils
Distillation of Crude Oil
The components of crude oil can be separated by taking advantage of the differences in their boiling
points.
This is done by simply heating up crude oil, allowing it to vaporize, and then letting the vapor to
condense at different levels of the distillation tower (depending on their boiling points).
This process is called fractional distillation and the products of the fractional distillation of crude oil are
called fractions.
A fraction from crude oil can be categorized into two:
◦ Refined Product: A crude oil fraction which contains a lot of individual hydrocarbons (e.g. gasoline,
asphalt, waxes, and lubricants)
◦ Petrochemical Product: A crude oil fraction which contain one or two specific hydrocarbons of high
purity (e.g. benzene, toluene, and ethylene).
Introduction
Petroleum refineries are very large industrial complexes that involve many
different processing units and auxiliary facilities such as utility units and storage
tanks.
Each refinery has its own unique arrangement and combination of refining
processes largely determined by the refinery location, desired products and
economic considerations.
Some modern petroleum refineries process as much as 800,000 to 900,000
barrels (127,000 to 143,000 cubic meters) per day of crude oil.
Introduction
Petroleum refining has evolved continuously in response to changing consumer
demand for better and different products.
The original requirement was to produce kerosene as a cheaper and better source
of light than whale oil.
The development of the internal combustion engine led to the production of
gasoline and diesel fuels.
The evolution of the airplane created a need first for high-octane aviation gasoline
and then for jet fuel, a sophisticated form of the original product, kerosene.
Present-day refineries produce a variety of products including many required as
feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
Year Process Name Purpose By-products, etc.
1862 Atmospheric distillation Produce kerosene Naphtha, tar, etc.
1870 Vacuum distillation Lubricants (original) Asphalt, residual
Cracking feedstocks (1930's) coker feedstocks
1913 Thermal cracking Increase gasoline Residual, bunker fuel
1916 Sweetening Reduce sulfur & odor Sulfur
1930 Thermal reforming Improve octane number Residual
1932 Hydrogenation Remove sulfur Sulfur
1932 Coking Produce gasoline basestocks Coke
1933 Solvent extraction Improve lubricant viscosity index Aromatics
1935 Solvent dewaxing Improve pour point Waxes
1935 Cat. polymerization Improve gasoline yield Petrochemical
& octane number feedstocks
1937 Catalytic cracking Higher octane gasoline Petrochemical
feedstocks
1939 Visbreaking Reduce viscosity Increased distillate, tar
1940 Alkylation Increase gasoline octane & yield High-octane aviation gasoline
1940 Isomerization Produce alkylation feedstock Naphtha
1942 Fluid catalytic cracking Increase gasoline yield & octane Petrochemical feedstocks
1950 Deasphalting Increase cracking feedstock Asphalt
1952 Catalytic reforming Convert low-quality naphtha Aromatics
1954 Hydrodesulfurization Remove sulfur Sulfur
1956 Inhibitor sweetening Remove mercaptan Disulfides
1957 Catalytic isomerization Convert to molecules with high octane number Alkylation feedstocks
1960 Hydrocracking Improve quality and reduce sulfur Alkylation feedstocks
1974 Catalytic dewaxing Improve pour point Wax
1975 Residual hydrocracking Increase gasoline yield from residual Heavy residuals
