ABSTRACT
Petroleum refining has evolved continuously in response to changing demand for better and different products. The original requirement was to produce kerosene as a cheaper and better source of light than whale oil. The development of the internal combustion engine led to the production of gasoline and diesel fuels. In addition, the evolution of the airplane created a need for high-octane aviation gasoline and then for jet fuel, which required further processing of the kerosene fraction. This modern refinery produces a variety of products including many required feedstocks for the petrochemical industry, and each product is the result of application of one or more reactor configurations during the refining process.
