PrintSummary
The evolution of petroleum refinery can be considered to have taken in four stages from being just a separation refinery (distillation and dewaxing) to a conversion refinery in accordance with the demand for petroleum products. The conversion refinery evolved first as a thermal refinery with the development of thermal cracking, reforming, and polymerization, and transitioned into the catalytic refinery during World War II, with the development of processes such as catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, alkylation, and catalytic hydrotreatment to define the finishing processes. The next stage of evolution after the catalytic refinery, high-end conversion refinery, has kept all the catalytic processes and added hydrocracking with emphasis on processing the heavy crude oils and production of cleaner fuels in compliance with environmental regulations. The increasing demand for hydrogen for hydrocracking and hydrotreatment operations and the need to recover increasing quantities of elemental sulfur highlighted the requirement of supporting processes for the operation of this refinery.
Learning Outcomes
- Comprehension of discrete stages in the history of petroleum refining and the driving forces that ushered in these stages.
- Evaluation of the driving forces that could impact the future of petroleum refineries and consideration of different scenarios for responding to the driving forces.
Reminder - Complete all of the Lesson 11 tasks!
| Readings: | F. Self, E. Ekholm, and K. Bowers, Refining Overview - Petroleum, Processes and Products, AIChE CD-ROM, 2000. |
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| Assignment: | Exercise 10: Construct refinery flow diagrams. Quiz 4. Will cover material in Lessons10-11. Check the syllabus and course calendar for Quiz 4 schedule. |
Questions?
If you have any questions, please post them to our Help Discussion (not email), located in Canvas. I will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.