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Evalution of Petroleum Unit1

The document discusses the evaluation and composition of crude oil and petroleum fractions. It describes three methods for distilling crude oil: 1) Fractionation which determines product yields, 2) True Boiling Point Distillation using a batch distillation test to obtain boiling point distributions, and 3) ASTM Distillation for lighter cuts using atmospheric pressure and heavier fractions using reduced pressure. It also outlines the typical composition of crude oil, which mainly consists of carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur, along with smaller amounts of oxygen, nitrogen and metals. The composition includes paraffins, olefins, naphthenes, and aromatics.

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Prathamesh Poyarekar
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44 views

Evalution of Petroleum Unit1

The document discusses the evaluation and composition of crude oil and petroleum fractions. It describes three methods for distilling crude oil: 1) Fractionation which determines product yields, 2) True Boiling Point Distillation using a batch distillation test to obtain boiling point distributions, and 3) ASTM Distillation for lighter cuts using atmospheric pressure and heavier fractions using reduced pressure. It also outlines the typical composition of crude oil, which mainly consists of carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur, along with smaller amounts of oxygen, nitrogen and metals. The composition includes paraffins, olefins, naphthenes, and aromatics.

Uploaded by

Prathamesh Poyarekar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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 Evaluation of petroleum

1. API gravity
2. U. O. P. characterization factor
3. Correlation index
4. Distillation
(Refer text book notes for point 1, 2, 3 )
 Distillation

1- Fractionation

Distillation of crude oils determines the yield of the products that can be obtained from this crude
oil when it is processed in a refinery. A light crude oil will produce higher amounts of gasoline
than a heavier crude oil. Different standard distillation tests can be performed on crude oil or
petroleum fractions.

2- True Boiling Point Distillation

The boiling point distribution of crude oil (boiling point versus volume or mass percent distilled)
is obtained through a batch distillation test ASTM 2892. The distillation apparatus has 15-18
theoretical plates with a 5:1 reflux ratio. For boiling points below 340◦C (644 ◦F) the distillation
is performed at atmospheric pressure. The residue is distilled under vacuum (1-10 mm Hg).
The boiling points under vacuum are converted to normal boiling points. The distillation
continues to a normal boiling point of Refinery Feedstocks and Products 535 ◦C (995 ◦F). This
test allows for the collection of sample cuts at different boiling point ranges. These cuts can be
subjected to physical and chemical measurements.

3- ASTM Distillation
The distillation of petroleum cuts is done in a simple distillation apparatus which does not have a
fractionation column. For light cuts (gasoline, kerosene, diesel and heating oil) the distillation is
run at atmospheric pressure under ASTM D86 test. For heavier fractions an ASTM D1160 test at
reduced pressure is employed.

 Composition of crude oil

Fundamentally, crude oil consists of 84 – 87 wt % carbon, 11 – 14 % hydrogen, 0 – 3 wt %


sulphur, 0 – 2 wt % oxygen, 0 – 0.6 wt % nitrogen and metals ranging from 0 – 100 ppm.
Understanding thoroughly the fundamentals of crude chemistry is very important in various
refining processes. The existence of compounds with various functional groups and their
dominance or reduction in various refinery products is what is essentially targeted in various
chemical and physical processes in the refinery. Based on chemical analysis and existence of
various functional groups, refinery crude can be broadly categorized into

 Paraffins: Paraffins refer to alkanes such as methane, ethane, propane, n and iso butane, n
and iso pentane. These compounds are primarily obtained as a gas fraction from the crude
distillation unit.

 Olefins: Alkenes such as ethylene, propylene and butylenes are highly chemically reactive.
They are not found in mentionable quantities in crude oil but are encountered in some
refinery processes such as alkylation.
 Naphthenes: Naphthenes or cycloalkanes such as cyclopropane, methyl cyclohexane are
also present in the crude oil. These compounds are not aromatic and hence do not contribute
much to the octane number. Therefore, in the reforming reaction, these compounds are
targeted to generate aromatics which have higher octane numbers than the naphthenes.
 Aromatics: Aromatics such as benzene, toluene o/m/p-xylene are also available in the
crude oil. These contribute towards higher octane number products and the target is to
maximize their quantity in a refinery process.

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