How does crude oil turned into gasoline

Conversion is where fractions from the distillation towers are transformed into streams intermediate components that eventually become finished products. This also is where a refinery makes money, because only through conversion can most low-value fractions become gasoline.

The most widely used conversion method is called cracking , which uses heat and pressure to literally "crack" heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter ones. A cracking unit consists of one or more tall, thick-walled, bullet-shaped containers, called reactors, and a network of furnaces, heat exchangers, and other vessels.

Fluid catalytic cracking, or "cat cracking," is the basic gasoline-making process. Using intense heat about 1, degrees Fahrenheit , low pressure and a powdered catalyst a substance that accelerates chemical reactions , the cat cracker can convert most relatively heavy fractions into smaller gasoline molecules. Hydrocracking applies the same principles but uses a different catalyst, slightly lower temperatures, much greater pressure and hydrogen to obtain chemical reactions.

Although not all refineries employ hydrocracking, Chevron is an industry leader in using this technology to cost-effectively convert medium- to heavyweight gas oils into high-value streams. The company's patented hydrocracking process, which takes place in the Isocracker unit, produces mostly gasoline and jet fuel. Some refineries also have cokers, which use heat and moderate pressure to turn residuum into lighter products and a hard, coallike substance that is used as an industrial fuel.

Cokers are among the more peculiar-looking refinery structures. They resemble a series of giant drums with metal derricks on top. Cracking and coking are not the only forms of conversion. Other refinery processes, instead of splitting molecules, rearrange them to add value. Alkylation, for example, makes gasoline components by combining some of the gaseous byproducts of cracking. The process, which essentially is cracking in reverse, takes place in a series of large, horizontal vessels and tall, skinny towers that loom above other refinery structures.

Pine Bend makes more than grades of gasoline. Water, which is supplied to the Pine Bend refinery via a system of seven wells, is an integral part of the refining process. It is used to make steam, cool the process, and reduce corrosion.

Cooling water is circulated to heat exchanges throughout the refinery where it cools process streams. The heated cooling water is returned to the tower where it is re-cooled with large fans through the process of evaporation.

All of the water that does not leave the refinery by evaporation is treated by the wastewater treatment plant. After approximately two to three days of treatment, clean water is discharged to the Mississippi River. Lab analysis is a crucial way to control our processes and ensure that we meet regulatory requirements. Pipelines deliver the vast majority of gasoline and diesel fuel to terminals, where the product is then loaded on trucks and delivered to retail gas stations.

Other products distributed include sulfur, asphalt, petroleum coke, propane, butane, and aviation gasoline. Heat and pressure from these layers turned the remains into what we now call crude oil or petroleum. The word petroleum means rock oil or oil from the earth. Click to enlarge.

Source: Image used by permission from Micrographia. Crude oil and other hydrocarbons exist in liquid or gaseous form in underground pools or reservoirs, in tiny spaces within sedimentary rocks, and near the earth's surface in tar or oil sands.

Petroleum products are fuels made from crude oil and hydrocarbons contained in natural gas. Petroleum products can also be made from coal, natural gas, and biomass. After crude oil is removed from the ground, it is sent to a refinery where different parts of the crude oil are separated into useable petroleum products.

These petroleum products include gasoline, distillates such as diesel fuel and heating oil, jet fuel, petrochemical feedstocks, waxes, lubricating oils, and asphalt. Learn more in Refining crude oil—inputs and outputs. This increase in volume is similar to what happens to popcorn when it is popped. A corn kernel is smaller and more dense than a popped kernel. The amount of individual products produced varies from month-to-month and year-to-year as refineries adjust production to meet market demand and to maximize profitability.

The most widely used conversion method is called cracking because it uses heat, pressure, catalysts, and sometimes hydrogen to crack heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter ones. A cracking unit consists of one or more tall, thick-walled, rocket-shaped reactors and a network of furnaces, heat exchangers, and other vessels. Cracking is not the only form of crude oil conversion.

Other refinery processes rearrange molecules to add value rather than splitting molecules. Alkylation , for example, makes gasoline components by combining some of the gaseous byproducts of cracking.

The process, which essentially is cracking in reverse, takes place in a series of large, horizontal vessels and tall, skinny towers. Reforming uses heat, moderate pressure, and catalysts to turn naphtha, a light, relatively low-value fraction, into high-octane gasoline components. The finishing touches occur during the final treatment. To make gasoline, refinery technicians carefully combine a variety of streams from the processing units. Octane level, vapor pressure ratings, and other special considerations determine the gasoline blend.

Both incoming crude oil and the outgoing final products are stored temporarily in large tanks on a tank farm near the refinery. Pipelines, trains, and trucks carry the final products from the storage tanks to other locations across the country.

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