ABSTRACT
The focus of the earlier chapters of this book has been on deasphalting and dewaxing, but anyone would be remiss to suggest that these two processes are the only and/or prominent solvent-based processes in a refinery. There is a multitude of other solvent-based processes in the refinery such as the solvent processes that are used for product treating (this chapter) and for treating the various gas streams that occur in the refinery. However, it must be understood that in many cases, the solvent may be aqueous (i.e. water-based) and is not always organic. In fact, water itself is a frequently used and valuable solvent that is not always given the recognition that it deserves as a solvent, but it can exhibit excellent solvent properties because of the relatively small size of water molecules, which typically allows many water molecules to surround one molecule of solute.
