crude oil refinery-short version

8/3/2019 Crude Oil Refinery-short Version

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Coryton Refinery - Glossary

Barrel the American standard unit of measurement for oil. One barrel is 35 imperial gallons or 159 litres.

Bitumen an extremely heavy semi-solid product of oil refining made up of heavy hydrocarbons. It is used for road-building and roofing.

Catalyst a substance which alters the rate of a chemical reaction without being used up itself in the reaction.

Cracking the process of breaking down larger molecules of hydrocarbons into smaller ones. When this is done by heating the oil it is known asthermal cracking. If a catalyst is used it is known as catalytic cracking.

Crude oil oil which has not undergone any refining. Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons with small quantities of other chemicals such as

sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen.

Cubic metre one cubic metre is equal to 1000 litres.

Diesel a light oil fuel used in diesel engines.

Distillates the products obtained by condensation during the fractional distillation process.

Drill bit a drilling tool coated with diamonds which cuts through rock.

Field an area in which an oil and/or gas well or a group of wells is found.

Feedstock a raw material for the manufacturing process.

Fossil fuel the organic remains of plants, animals and bacteria which decayed and over millions of years formed crude oil, natural gas and coal.

Fractional distillation a separation process which uses the difference in boiling points of liquids.


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Fuel oil a heavy distillate oil used for power stations, industry and ships boilers.

Gas oil a medium distillate oil, used to produce diesel fuel and to burn in central heating systems.

Gasoline the term used in the oil industry to refer to petrol.

Hydrocarbon a compound containing hydrogen and carbon only. Hydrocarbons may exist as solids, liquids or gases (coal, crude oil and naturalgas).

Kerosene a medium-light oil used for lighting, heating and aircraft fuel.

Methane the main component of natural gas. It also occurs in coal beds and is produced by animals and by the decay of vegetable matter. Thisis the smallest hydrocarbon molecule, with only one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.

Metric tonne one metric tonne is equal to 1000 kilogrammes.

Multinational company (MNC) a company with operations and investments in many countries around the world. Also known as transnationalcorporations (TNCs).

Naptha very light fractions of oil, used to produce petrol and as raw material for the petrochemical industry (e.g. to make plastics).

Natural gas naturally occurring gases found either alone or together with oil in underground reservoirs. The main component is methane.

Octane rating a measure of the performance of gasoline. A high octane rating gives efficient ignition.

Petrochemicals chemicals made from crude oil.

Petrol the light fuel used in cars and motor bikes.

Platform a fixed structure resting on the sea bed from which wells are drilled.


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Proven reserves reserves which are technically and economically feasible.

Probable reserves undeveloped oil and gas reserves from tested formations, but for which there is a lack of information.

Possible reserves oil and gas reserves which have a chance of being developed.

Refinery a plant where the components of crude oil are separated and converted into useful products.

Reserve amount of crude oil or natural gas expected to be recovered from a reservoir.

Reservoir a porous and permeable rock formation in which oil and/or gas is found.

Well a hole drilled into rock by a drill bit.

The Institute of Petroleum (IP) is an independent body concerned with the advancement of knowledge relating to the oil and gas industry. The IPproduces literature to inform young people, and those who influence them, about the opportunities within the industry. We also produce curriculumsupport materials as relevant to the petroleum industry. All of our products are available via our web site.

Useful web sites

www.petroleum.co.uk The Institute of Petroleums web site, a good starting point for research.Interactive guide to UK refineries, full text of educational resources, latest statistics, links to related sites.

www.bpamoco.com Information on worldwide operations.

www.bpamoco.com/scotland/Very detailed information on operations in Scotland and the North Sea, see Business Units Map for links bygeographical area.
http://www.bpamoco.com/scotland/%20http://www.bpamoco.com/scotland/%20


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www.bpamoco.com/worldenergyStatistics, graphs and information on world energy supplies.

www.conoco.com/pcrefineryRefining processes, facts and figures.

www.environment-agency.gov.ukIndustrial emissions, flood defences on the Thames Estuary.

www.exxon.com Worldwide operations of ExxonMobil, including maps.

www.multimap.com Map coverage of the UK at a range of scales.

www.og.dti.gov.uk Statistics and information on developments in the UK petroleum industry.

www.portoflondon.co.uk Information on all Thames Estuary terminals, trade, latest news.

www.shell.co.uk UK operations including maps of oil and gas fields, pipelines and plants.

www.texaco.co.uk Information on Milford Haven refinery and all sectors of UK operations.

www.oilandgas.org.uk The UK offshore oil and gas industry, educational resource listings.
http://www.bpamoco.com/worldenergy%20http://www.conoco.com/pcrefinery%20http://www.bpamoco.com/worldenergy%20http://www.conoco.com/pcrefinery%20


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Crude Oil

Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons. The composition varies

depending on its source. North Sea crude is a light oil. Thismakes it valuable because it needs less processing tomake it into the refined products that are most indemand. These are gasoline (petrol), diesel, kerosene(including jet fuel) and fuel oil. It is also low in sulphurwhich makes it easier to meet new environmentalstandards which demand a very low sulphur content.

Refinery Processes

The basic refining processes take place in thecrude distillation unit (CDU) of the Fuels Zone.Here, crude oil is taken into the atmosphericdistillation tower where it is separated into itsdifferent fractions. The hydrocarbons in crude oilhave different boiling points according to thenumber of carbon atoms in each molecule andhow they are arranged. The oil is heated and theresultant vapours rise up the tower. The vapourscool as they rise and condense onto trays. Thelightest compounds condense at the top of the

tower and are taken off as LPG (liquefiedpetroleum gas). The oil then undergoes furtherprocessing prior to distribution. The octane ratingis increased to improve engine ignition. Sulphur isremoved because when products are used thesulphur compounds emitted would smell of rotteneggs and dissolve in rain to form sulphuric acidwhich would contribute to the problem of acid


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Fig. 14 The fractional distillation process

Fig. 15 The Crude Distillation Unit where the first stage of processingthe crude oil takes place

Fig. 16 Refinery processes are controlled by computer from a centralcontrol room

Why are oil and gas important?

Oil is one of the most important raw materials we have. Everyday we use hundreds of things that are made from oil or gas.

Oil and gas are also important for the number of jobs they provide. Tens of thousands of people work in the oil and gas industry. Each week Britainproduces about two million tonnes of oil and gas. This is worth about 37 million pounds a day to the people of Britain.

Make a list of things you have used or you have done today that rely on oil or gas.

How many things can you find that don't rely on oil and gas?


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How were oil and gas formed?

Gas and crude oil are found underground.

Much of the world is covered by sea. The sea contains many tiny animals and plants.

These tiny animals and plants called plankton get their energy to live and multiply from sunlight. When they die theysink to the bottom of the sea. Those that died millions of years ago are the source of today's oil and gas.

The dead sea creatures were buried by sand and mud at the bottom of the sea.

It's is thought the sun's energy was stored in the bodies of the dead creatures and plants. The dead bodies started todecay.

Over millions of years the dead animals and plants were buried deeper and deeper. Thesquashed creatures turned into oil and gas.

The pressure and temperature deep underground turned the chemicals from the decaying animals and plants into

crude oil and gas.

How do we get oil and gas out of the ground?


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Crude oil is often a dark, sticky liquid that cannot be usedwithout changing it. The first part of refining crude oil is toheat it until it boils. The boiling liquid is separated intodifferent liquids and gases in a distillation column. These

liquids are used to make petrol, paraffin, diesel fuel etc.

Crude oil is a mixture of different chemical calledhydrocarbons. The boiling oil turns into a mixture of gasesin the column. The gases flow up the column which ishottest at the bottom and cooler at the top. The gases cooldown as they go up the column until they condense (turnback into liquid again). The separated liquids and gases,after cleaning and further processing, are used to makemany products.


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Liquids from refining oil still have to be changed to make them more useful. Sometimesit's to make them clean enough to be used. Sometimes it's to turn some of the unwantedliquids into things people want to buy.

The heavier liquids are in less demand from customers so are turned into lighterproducts that are in demand. One of the processes is called catalytic cracking. It breaksdown some of the heavy liquids from the distillation column.

The heavy liquids are changed into simple and more useful liquids and gases. Crackingis just one of many chemical changes in an oil refinery.

Which of the products from oil refining are used in the largest quantities?

What is the point of cracking heavy liquids into lighter liquids and gases?


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Oil and gas are often found far away or under the sea.They have to be transported to an oil refinery.This is often through a pipeline or in a tanker.

The crude oil is often found in remote places such as deserts, jungle orthe Arctic. Transport of the crude oil to the refinery is sometimes verycomplicated. The oil refinery turns crude oil into useful products andmaterials. These are transported all over Britain or abroad. The productscan travel through pipelines, by road, rail or by boats around the coast oralong rivers and canals.

What things are made from oil and gas?

In an oil refinery and in a chemical works, crude oil and gas are turned into hundreds of useful products.


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How do these products get to the customer?

Thousands of people are employed to make sure all these useful products get to the millions of people inBritain and overseas who wat to buy them everyday.

Many thousands of people are employed in Britain's oil and gas industry. Many of these work to get petrol and dieselfuel to where it is wanted - Britain's 10,000 filling stations - for motorists, lorrydrivers, taxis and buses.

Make a list of the jobs involved in finding and getting oil from under the ground to the petrol and diesel fuel at the filling station pumps.

Don't forget to include exploration, drilling, refining, transporting, selling and all the supporting jobs.

crude oil refinery-short version

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