PROCESSING OF PETROLEUM

Petroleum processing and refining involves a series of steps by which the original crude oil is converted into products with desired qualities in the amounts dictated by the market..The refining process depends on the chemical process of distillation[seperating liquids by their different boiling points] and catalysis[which speed up reaction rate] and uses the principle of chemical equilibra..chemical equilibra exits when the reactants in a reaction are producing products,but those products are being recombined again into reactants..by altering the reaction conditions,the amount of either products or reactants can be increased..refining is carried out in three main steps

STEP 1---->SEPERATION

The oil is seperated into
its constituents by distillation, and some of these components[such as the refinery gas] are further seperated with chemical reactions and by using solvents which dissolve one component of a mixture significantly better than another

STEP 2---->CONVERSION

The various hydrocarbons produced are then chemically altered to make them more suitable for their intended purpose..for example,naphthas are reformed from paraffins and naphthenes into aromatics..these reactions often use catalysis,and so sulphur is removed from the hydrocarbons before they are reacted,as it would poison the catalyst used..the chemical equilibra are also manipulated to ensure a maximum yield of the desired product..

STEP 3---->PURIFICATION

The hydrogen sulphide gas which was extracted from the refinery gas in step 1 is converted to sulphur which is solid in liquid form to fertiliser manufacturers..