PETROLEUM

CHE252
INDUSTRIAL PROCESS

Introduction
1859 first well was drilled in Penn
Sylvania, USA
1897 first well was drilled offshore in
California, USA
1910 first well was drilled in Malaysia
(well Miri No.1 in Sarawak)

Petroleum
A form of bitumen composed principally of hydrocarbons
which exists in the gaseous or liquid state in its natural
reservoirs.
Petroleum = hydrocarbon compound + non hydrocarbon
compound
Hydrocarbon = organic compounds of carbon (C) &
hydrogen (H) only
Non-hydrocarbon = compound that contain some
sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen atoms besides C & H
The principal forms of petroleum are:
- Crude oil
- Natural gas
- Condensate
- Asphalt

Crude Oil
A mixture of HC that exists in the liquid phase in
natural underground reservoirs and remains
liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing
through surface separating facilities
Appearance: dark brown to yellowish brown
Density: ranges from very dense denser than
water to very light
Viscosity: ranges from solid to liquid

Natural gas
A mixture of HC compounds and small quantities of
various non-HC (eg. N2 and CO2) existing in the gaseous
phase or in solution with oil in natural underground
reservoirs at reservoir conditions
Main HC component: methane (CH4)
Dry gas contains 90-100% CH4
Wet gas contains greater proportions of ethane,
propane, butane etc
CO2, H2S & N2 also present
Sweet and sour gases refer to the low and high content
of H2S respectively
Application: power generation, industrial feedstock eg.
Fertilizers or liquefied into LNG for efficient transportation

Natural gas classification

Associated gas:
- free natural gas, commonly known as gas-caps
which overlies and in contact with crude oil in the
reservoir
Dissolved gas:
- Natural gas which is in solution with crude oil in
the reservoir at reservoir conditions
Non associated gas:
- Free natural gas not in contact with crude oil in
the reservoir

Associated gas reservoir

Gas
Oil
Water

Non - associated gas reservoir

Gas

Water

Condensate
HCs which are in the gaseous state under
reservoir conditions but become liquid
either in passage up the hole or at surface
due to the reduced pressure conditions.
Composed mainly of compounds in which
molecules contain at least 5 C atoms
Colour: yellowish to colorless

Asphalt
Thick brownish or black substance derived from
the same crude oil which produces kerosene,
gasoline and vinyl.
Composed of at least 80% carbon, which
explains its deep black color.
Sulphur is another ingredient found in the tar-like
asphalt, as well as some trace minerals.
Application: sealant for rooftops and a durable
surface for roads, airport runways, playgrounds
and parking lots.

Origin of petroleum
In general, 2 theories exist:
1. Inorganic theories
- reaction of CO2 with H2O under suitable conditions
- assumes oil form from the reduction of primordial
carbon or its oxidized form at high temperatures deep in
the earth
2.

Organic theories
- remains of plants and animals (most widely accepted)
- accumulation of HC from living things
- generation of HC by heat action on biogenically
formed organic matters

Reservoir rock
Most important types: sandstones and
carbonates
A petroleum reservoir is the part of rock
that contains the pool of oil or gas
Any rock with interconnected pores and
sufficient permeability to allow oil or gas
phase production

Sequence of activities in petroleum industry

Acquisition of Right
EXPLORATION
APPRAISAL
DEVELOPMENT
PRODUCTION
Export or Processing

 Acquisition of right to obtain permission

from government or relevant agency
before drilling of exploration well
Exploration to search for oil and gas
Appraisal to determine commercial
significance of discovery & to shape the
field initial development plan
Development to formulate the field
development plan, install platforms, to drill
and complete the development wells

 Production to bring oil/gas from

subsurface to surface and to separate
between gas/oil/water before the oil is
stored and gas is processed
Transportation to bring oil from storage
to refinery and gas to gas processing plant
either by pipeline or floating tanker
Refining/gas processing to manufacture
petroleum products from crude oil
Marketing to distribute the petroleum
products to customers

Seismic data acquisition

Seismic method involves generation of

elastic vibration causing ground motion
which can be detected by geophones

Exploration drilling:
- Petroleum accumulations can only be
discovered by drilling i.e. there is no direct
method of locating a pool of petroleum
without first drilling test wells
- Drilling also serves as a source of
subsurface data
- Purpose of drilling finding and producing
oil

Questions to be answered

Where, how deep is the reservoir?

How thick is it?
What kind of rock is it?
What is the porosity of this rock?
What does it contain (water, oil or gas)?
What will it produce?
What is its areal extent?

What is a field development plan?

Highlight the planned development activities in the field
Addresses the following:
- geology of the field
- oil and gas original in place, reserve and production
forecast
- schedule of field development
- no. of platforms and wells
- methods for improving oil recovery
- well completion design
- production facilities aspects
- gas utilisation and conservation schemes
- project cost and project economic

Types Of Offshore Drilling Rigs

Oil Production System

 Tubing a small pipe of diameter 3 inch

installed in the well to handle the fluid flow from
the reservoir
Christmas tree assembly of valves on a final
casing to control the rate of oil production
choke a removable steel orifice device fitted to
a well flowline to restrict fluid flow
Flowline a pipeline that connects the well to
the separator
Separator vessel for separating mixtures of oil,
gas and water
Storage tank a tank in which oil is stored

Purpose of refining
The refinery is designed to process
several different types of crude oil to
produce useful petroleum products

Diff. prodts at diff. temp

Refining crude oil is carried out in 3 main

stages:
separation to split crude oil into groups
of HCs using distillation process
conversion breaking down of large HC
molecules into smaller ones at temp higher
than used in distillation
treatment to remove impurities

Separation
-

Process to split crude oil into groups of HCs according to size of diff
molecules
Molecular size determined according to no. of carbon atoms present
The larger and more complex molecules, the higher the boiling pt. and
temp. to vaporize
When crude oil heated, lightest HC boil off first and heaviest last.
As vap. cooled, they condensed back to liquids reverse order
distillation process (to separate HCs into fractions or groups wt similar
boiling pts.
In refinery, fractional distillation takes place in tower (fractionator) wt
temp 340oC at base
Temp gradually decrease towards the top 110oC
Column internals divided by intervals by horizontal trays: perforated or
valve trays
Valve trays more common since they can accommodate wider vapor
load than perforated trays
Vap load, no of valves open on each tray also increase
Each tray cooler than the one below it providing temperature gradient
on which separate vapors can condense

Crude oil first heated by furnace, then passed into the lower part of
the column
Since most fractions in the oil is already boiling, they vaporize and
rise up column thru valve trays
As each fraction condenses and chges back to liquid on separate
trays, they are drawn off
This distillation proc. is continuous wt hot curde oil flowing in near
the base of column and separate fractions flowing out at each level
1st distillation carried out at atm. press. & separate crude oil into
gases, light distillates, middle distillates & residue
The very lightest fraction: refinery gas in vap phase, used as fuel in
refinery
1st prodt fraction: LPG C3 & C4
Light distillates: gasoline & naphtha major feedstock for
petrochemical industry
Middle distillates: kerosene aviation fuel, gas oil heating fuel and
for blending in diesel fuels
Residue used for fuel oil or further processed into lubricating oils,
waxes & bitumen
Depending on crude oil being processed, a single atm. DC not
sufficient to separate out req. range of prodts. Efficiently
Often a series of DC is used

Conversion
Dist. proc rarely yield prodts in proportions required
by market
Hence, a variety of conversion techniques used to
enable yield of prodts to be reshaped to match
market demand
Conversion processes depend on types of crude to
be processed & requirements of the market

Cracking

Cat-cracking

Breaking down
of large HC
molecules into
smaller
valuable ones
at temp.
Higher than in
DC

Cracking usg
catalyst Prod.
Components for
Blending into high
octane motor
gasoline, diesel
fuel Components,
C3-C4 gases

hydrocracking
Catalyst and
hydrogen gas
present at high
pressure

Conversion

Steam
cracking
LPG or light
distillates
broken down
in presence
of steam at
high T and
low P

Thermal cracking
visbreaking
Used to
improve quality
of heavy fuel
oils & to make
diesel fuel
components

Heat & pressure

alone was the
original method
of obtaining
greater amounts
of motor
gasoline

alkylation
Linking or
changing
arrangement
of molecules to
obtain
additional
quantities of
high octane
motor gasoline

reforming
Light distillates
containing HC
molecules
reformed by
heat & P into
more useful
molecules of
same size and
boiling range
usg catalyst eg
platinum
(Platformer)

Treatment
To remove impurities of prodts from distillation proc.,
feedstocks & prdts of conversion proc.
Why? Reduce efficiency of conversion proc., prdts
become corrosive or unpleasant for customer to handle
Main impurity: sulphur found in nearly all crude oils to
some extent
Crude oils categorized by sulphur content
Sweet crude: small amts of sulphur
Sour crude: large amts of sulphur
Mercaptans: organic sulphur compound
How to remove sulphur? Pass the untreated prdts wt a
stream of H2 thru a bed of catalyst, converted to H 2S gas
then addition of chemicals, extracted and converted to
liquid or solid sulphur for sale
Others: N2, O2 and various metallic compds which
needed removal

Blending
Most fuels and lubricants are blends of
limited no. of basic grades fr refinery
Contain additives designed for particular
uses
Carried out in batching tanks complete wt
stirrer or circulating pumps or by in-line
blending