ABSTRACT

Petroleum refining is the physical, thermal, and chemical separation of crude oil into its major distillation fractions which are then further processed through a series of separation and conversion steps into finished petroleum products (Figure 28.1). The primary products of the industry fall into three major categories: (1) fuels (motor gasoline, diesel and distillate fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), jet fuel, residual fuel oil, kerosene, and coke), (2) finished nonfuel products (solvents, lubricating oils, greases, petroleum wax, petroleum jelly, asphalt, and coke), and (3) chemical industry feedstocks (naphtha, ethane, propane, butane, ethylene, propylene, butylenes, butadiene, benzene, toluene, and xylene). These petroleum products are used as primary input to a vast number of products, including: fertilizers, pesticides, paints, waxes, thinners, solvents, cleaning fluids, detergents, refrigerants, antifreeze, resins, sealants, insulations, latex, rubber compounds, hard plastics, plastic sheeting, plastic foam, and synthetic fibers.