Oil Processing

Oil is one of the basic human needs, even in nearly all parts of the world's petroleum is used as an energy source or for the needs of daily life - days. So far people only know the oil in the form so without knowing the origin of oil from where and how to get through so can be directly used. Generally obtained by drilling wells on land and on the beach, to a depth of hundreds of meters even until kilogram meters above sea level. the first oil found still in their raw form. 

The oil obtained is collected in tankers and then flowed through pipes into the tank station or oil refinery. Crude oil is a black viscous liquid and smelled dreadful. This oil can not be used as fuel or for other purposes, but must go through processing in advance. 

This oil contains about 500 species of hydrocarbons with the number of atoms C-1 through 50. The boiling point of hydrocarbons increases with increasing number of C atoms within the molecule. Therefore, oil processing is done through distillation storey, where crude oil is separated into groups (fractions) with a similar boiling point.

In general, Oil Process described as follows: 

CRUDE OIL ........... STORAGE ................. SALT  DISAPPEARANCE ........... FRACTIONATION HYDRODISTILLATION .............. FRACTION OF HEAVY AND LIGHT .............. HYDROCARBON PROCESS ................ END OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

In the process of hydrocarbons through several phases, namely: 

1 .. HYDRODISTILLATION

Distillation is the separation of oil fractions based on differences in boiling point. In case this is the distillation of fractionation. At first, oil is still raw, heated in a pipe flow in the furnace (furnace) until the temperature of ± 370 ° C. The oil is heated is then entered into the fractionation column in the flash chamber (usually located on the lower third of the fractionation column.) To maintain the temperature and pressure in the column then assisted heating with steam (steam hot water and high pressure). 

The oil evaporates in this distillation process climbed to the top of the column and then condensed at different temperatures. Components of a higher boiling point will remain a liquid and falls to the bottom, while a lower boiling point will evaporate and rise to the top through the lid-lid lid called a bubble. More over, the temperature contained in the fractionating column, the lower, so that each time the component with higher boiling point will be separated, while the components that lower the boiling point rises into the upper part again. Similarly, the process further so that the oil component is a component which peaked at room temperature of the gas. Gaseous component is called petroleum gas, then thawed and called LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas).

Crude oil fraction that is not vaporized into the residue. Residual oils include paraffin, wax, and asphalt. These residues have a carbon chain of more than 20. 

Fraction of oil produced by boiling point ranges are as follows: 

A. Gas 

The range of carbon chain: C1 to C5, Route Boiling: 0 to 50 ° C 

B. Gasoline (Gasoline) 

The range of carbon chains: C6 to C11, boiling Route: 50 to 85 ° C 

C. Kerosene (Kerosene) 

The range of carbon chains: C12 to C20, boiling Route: 85 to 105 ° C 

D. Diesel fuel 

The range of carbon chains: C21 to C30, boiling Route: 105 to 135 ° C 

E. Heavy Oil

Range ranai carbon: C31 to C40, boiling Route: 135 to 300 ° C

F. Residue

The range of carbon chains: above C40, Route Boiling: above 300 ° C

Petroleum fractions from the distillation process does not have quality graded according to the needs of the community, so it needs further processing which includes the process of cracking, reforming, polymerization, Treating, and blending.

2. CRACKING 

After going through distillation stages, each resulting purified fraction (refinery), as shown below: 

A. Cracking is the decomposition of hydrocarbon molecules are large molecules into smaller hydrocarbon compounds. An example of this cracking is the processing of oil or diesel oil into gasoline. This process is primarily intended to improve the quality and the acquisition fraction of gasoline (petrol). The quality of gasoline is determined by the nature of the anti-knock (knock), which stated in octane number. Numbers given in isooktan 100 octane (2,2,4-trimethyl pentane), which has anti-knocking properties are special, and the octane number 0 is given in n-heptane which has anti-knock properties that bad. Gasoline being tested will be compared with the mixture and n-heptane isooktana. Octane number is influenced by multiple molecular structure of hydrocarbons. Cracking the phasing process, namely: 

a. How to heat (thermal cracking), namely with the use of high temperature and low pressure. 

b. Way catalyst (catalytic cracking), namely with the use of catalysts. 

The catalyst used is usually SiO2 or Al2O3 bauxite. The reaction of cracking catalytic cracking mechanism karbonium ion. At first the catalyst because it is acidic proton to molecules olevin appends or withdraw the hydride ion from alkanes resulting in the formation of ion karbonium 

B. Hydrocracking 

Hydrocracking is a combination of cracking and hydrogenation to produce a saturated compound. The reaction was carried out at high pressure. Another advantage of this hydrocracking is that the sulfur contained in petroleum is converted into hydrogen sulphide which is then separated. 

3. Reforming 

Reforming is a change of quality gasoline molecules form less well (straight carbon chain) into gasoline oil quality better (branched carbon chain). Both types of gasoline has the same molecular formula form a different structure. Therefore, this process is also called isomerization. Reforming carried out using catalysts and heating. Reforming also can alter the molecular structure of paraffin hydrocarbons to aromatic compounds with high octane numbers. In this process molybdenum oxide catalyst used in Al2O3 atauplatina in clay. 

4. Polymerization and alkylation 

Alkylation represents an increase in the number of atoms in a molecule into a molecule that is longer and branched. In this process using a strong acid catalyst such as H2SO4, HCl, AlCl3.

Polymerization is the process of merging small molecules into large molecules. Examples of polymerization of the incorporation of compounds with compounds isobutana isobutena produce high-quality gasoline, namely isooktana. 

5. Blending 

Blending process is the addition of additive materials into fractions of oil in order to improve the quality of the oil product. Gasoline which has various requirements for quality are examples of the most widely used oil in barbagai country with a variety of weather. To meet the fuel quality is good, there are about 22 materials which can ditambanhkan mixing in the processing process. Among the ingredients mixing well-known is tetra ethyl lead (TEL). TEL serves to increase the octane number of gasoline. Similarly, lubricating oil, in order to obtain good quality then the processing required the addition of additives. The addition of TEL to increase the octane number, but can cause air pollution.