Petroleum Refining

Question 1

What is the correct sequence of petroleum refining operations?

Answer 1

1. Desalting Operation
2. Crude Distillation
3. Vacuum Distillation
4. Catalytic Cracking
5. Catalytic Reforming
6. Gasoline Sweetening

Question 2

What happens during the desalting operation?

Answer 2

salt and water removed from crude oil to prevent corrosion and fouling

Question 3

What happens during crude distillation?

Answer 3

separates crude oil into fractions based on boiling points using atmospheric distillation

Question 4

What happens during Vacuum Distillation?

Answer 4

further separates residuum from crude distillation under reduced pressure to avoid thermal cracking

Question 5

What happens during Catalytic Cracking?

Answer 5

breaks down heavier hydrocarbons into lighter, more valuable products like gasoline and olefins

Question 6

What happens during Catalytic Reforming?

Answer 6

converts low-octane naphtha’s into high-octane gasoline components using catalysts and heat

Question 7

What happens during Gasoline Sweetening?

Answer 7

removes sulfur compounds from gasoline to improve quality and reduce emissions

Question 8

What is Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC)?

Answer 8

key process in petroleum refining used to breakdown hydrocarbons from vacuum distillation

Question 9

What is petroleum?

Answer 9

Petroleum is a fossil fuel made up on thousands of organic substances, also called crude oil

Question 10

How is petroleum formed?

Answer 10

from decomposition of organic material under heat and pressure over millions of years

Question 11

What is an octane number and what does it mean?

Answer 11

• indirect measure of anti-knock quality of gasoline
• A high octane number means it is very resistant to knocking (GOOD)

Question 12

What is a cetane number and what does it mean?

Answer 12

• It is the measure of the ignition quality of diesel fuel
• A high cetane number means the fuel ignites easily (GOOD)

Question 13

What are the key steps of FCC?

Answer 13

1. Preheating - heavy oil feedstock is preheated
2. Cracking Reaction - feed is vaporized and mixed w catalyst in reactor
3. Regeneration - the used catalyst (coated with coke) is sent to a regenerator where coke is burned off
4. Product Recovery - cracked vapor products are cooled and separated into gases, gasoline and other fractions