Oil and Gas Industry and Refinery Processing

Flashcards covering the structure, composition, and refining processes of the oil and gas industry.

What are the three main components of the oil and gas industry?

Upstream (Exploration & Production), Midstream (Transportation & Storage), and Downstream (Refining & Marketing) operations

What is the average percentage of carbon found in crude oil?

84%

What is the average percentage of hydrogen found in crude oil?

14%

Name the major classes of hydrocarbons found in crude oils.

Paraffins, Naphthenes, Olifens, Dienes and Alkynes, Aromatics

What is API gravity?

A measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water

How does API gravity relate to density?

API gravity varies inversely with density

What is considered sweet crude oil?

Crude oil with a sulfur level less than a threshold value (e.g., 0.5 wt%)

What is considered sour crude oil?

Crude oil with a sulfur level above a higher threshold (typically above 0.5 wt%)

What is the primary goal of oil refining?

Production of fuels, specialties (solvents/lube oils), and intermediates for the chemical industry

What is the first step in the refining process?

Desalting and dehydration

What are the two typical methods of crude-oil desalting?

Chemical and electrostatic separation

What is the purpose of crude distillation?

To separate valuable distillates from the crude feedstock according to their volatility

What is the major limitation of atmospheric distillation?

Thermal decomposition reactions take place above a temperature of about 630 K

What is the purpose of a vacuum distillation unit?

To recover valuable gas oils from reduced crude via vacuum distillation

What is the octane number a measure of?

The quality of gasoline

What is the diesel equivalent of octane number?

Cetane number

What does cracking achieve in the oil refining process?

Breaks heavier, higher-boiling point petroleum fractions into more valuable products

Name thermal cracking processes.

Visbreaking, delayed coking, and flexicoking

What is Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) primarily used for?

Producing additional gasoline in the refining process

What are the benefits of FCC?

High yields of gasoline and distillate material, high reliability, low operating costs, and operating flexibility

What products result from the processed FCC effluent?

Butane, gasoline, light gas oil, and heavy gas oil

What is Hydrocracking?

A two-stage process combining catalytic cracking and hydrogenation to crack heavier feedstock in the presence of hydrogen

What is Catalytic Reforming used for?

Converting low-octane naphthas into high-octane gasoline blending components (reformates)

What are the byproducts of Catalytic Reforming?

Benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX) and hydrogen

What is Alkylation?

The reaction of isobutene with alkenes to form higher branched alkanes (alkylate)

What type of gasoline stock comes from Alkylation?

Premium blending stock because it has exceptional antiknock properties and is clean burning