ABSTRACT
A refinery feedstock is defined as natural gas, crude oil, or any carbonaceous material that is destined for further processing by which the feedstock is transformed into one or more components and/or finished products. However, the manufacture of lower boiling products from the lower-boiling portion of the feedstock automatically produces a certain amount of higher-boiling components which, if they cannot be sold, will accumulate until refinery storage facilities are full, and to prevent the occurrence of such a situation the refinery must be sufficiently flexible to change operations as needed. In addition, because of the need for a thorough understanding of crude oil and the various refinery processes and technologies, it is also essential that the definitions and the terminology of crude oil science and technology be given prime consideration. This will aid in a better understanding of crude oil, its constituents, its various fractions, and its products.
In this chapter, the various aspects of the feedstocks that are used in a refinery are defined so that the reader can make a ready reference to any such word used in the text. It is also the purpose of this chapter to present an outline of the composition of the aforementioned feedstocks so that the behavior of the feedstock in a refinery – especially in the present context in the dewatering and desalting operations – may be assessed.
