Oil Refining
Refining is a chemical process carried out with the aim of purifying materials, so that they are processed to convert them from their raw form as they exist in nature to another form either to remove impurities as is the case in sugar refining or water refining or metal refining, for example, or to reduce the complexity of the mixture to obtain other more useful forms as is the case in oil refining.
Crude oil is refined in refineries to obtain petroleum derivatives, and the basic idea for refining is simple and old, known as "distillation", but technical progress, environmental requirements, and safety and security conditions have made refining operations very complex and expensive.
The principle of distillation depends on separating different hydrocarbons by heating them in a special tower in the form of a large cylindrical tube, as they separate based on the boiling point of each, so the light derivatives evaporate first such as ethane and propane, followed by naphtha, from which gasoline is made.
As temperatures continue to rise, heavier derivatives - such as diesel - evaporate, then heavier ones, and so on, until nothing remains at the bottom of the refining tower except asphalt and similar materials such as petroleum coke. As each derivative evaporates according to its boiling point, it is cooled and collected in special tanks. However, it is not that easy, as chemical methods are used to break down the long carbon chains in an attempt to extract the largest possible amount of light derivatives from crude oil; due to their higher yield compared to heavy derivatives. These products are also purified, and various things are added to them.
The top 5 countries in terms of refining capacity are: the United States in first place (18.1 million barrels per day), followed by China, Russia and India with about 17.3, 6.8 and 5.04 million barrels per day respectively, then South Korea (3.4 million barrels per day). The preparation is as follows: * Gas expulsion: The gas that accompanies the oil as it exits the well must be separated from the oil by reducing the speed of the oil and gas mixture. The gas separation method is used in several stages in the event of high pressure in the well. * Water and salt removal: Water, salts, sand and mud always accompany the oil during its extraction.
Oil goes through two stages in refineries:
1. Separation: Different materials are separated by heat, as compounds with a high boiling point remain at the bottom of the tower and compounds with a low boiling point rise to the top of the tower and are withdrawn from it.
2. Conversion: Some chemical processes are carried out to convert some of the compounds resulting from the tower into desired products such as polymers (plastics and plastics).
The main refined products include the following: LPG, naphtha, gasoline, kerosene/jet fuel, diesel, fuel oil and asphalt.
According to data from the US Energy Information Administration, one barrel of crude oil produces 45 gallons of various petroleum materials, which are monitored in the following table, noting the difference in proportions according to the recycling processes. It has many uses, including fuel for trucks, generators, and others.
We found that the most widely used chemical in this industry is naphtha, which is extracted from crude oil after being treated with other chemical compounds such as kerosene and butane. There are different processes through which naphtha can be extracted.
Refining economics and oil prices
After explaining what refining is, we are talking here about refining economics, which is one of the biggest determinants of oil and petroleum derivatives prices, because refiners often change production methods to extract materials that achieve higher profits than others, so the profit margin of each product in refineries is focused on by those interested, including speculators.
Technical capabilities vary from one refinery to another, as technically advanced refineries can extract light products from heavy oil, while old refineries cannot do the same work, and here refining economics differ according to the refinery, as refineries in the United States - which are the most advanced - have more profits than refineries in East Asia.
Refineries play a major role in changing the stock of crude oil and petroleum products, which affects the prices of crude oil and derivatives. The global demand for crude oil is provided by refineries, while people demand the products of these refineries. If refineries stop in a certain region for some reason, this stoppage reduces the demand for crude oil, so its stock increases and its prices decrease, while the output of petroleum products decreases, so its stock decreases and its prices increase.