Introduction to Petroleum

Refining
Dr. Fatma Ashour
Typical Refinery
 PETROLEUM GASES
• NATURAL GASES:
• They are those gases produced at (and from) the oil
fields. The main constituents of natural gases are
methane and ethane.
• Methane is found in high percentages, usually in the
range of 85%, while ethane is found in percentages
up to 9-10% - based on dry basis (ie. It is assumed
that the Liquefiable Petroleum Gases (L.P.G) – which
are propane and butane-have been removed).
• Non-hydrocarbon Gases found in natural gas are considered
to be impurities.
• Main impurity being hydrogen sulphide, which gives the gas a
bad odor. In the absence of H2S, natural gas is odorless.
Sometimes traces of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide are
found in natural gas and in very rare cases, helium is also
found.
• The main use of natural gas is as a fuel (domestic or
industrial). It may also be used for the manufacture of
hydrogen and hence ammonia or it might be cracked to
produce unsaturated hydrocarbons which are used as raw
materials for various petrochemicals.
 REFINERY GASES
• These gases may be further subdivided into a
number of different types depending upon the
process by which they have been produced.
• Gases produced from the distillation plant are called
‘Distillation’ ‘gases’. These are largely similar to
natural gases with the exception that they usually
contain greater amounts of L.P.G. and sometimes
some gaseous mercaptans. Distillation gases are used
for the same purposes as natural gases.
• Gases produced form the cracking uints are known
as ‘Cracking gases’. These are characterised by their
relatively high content of unsaturated hydrocarbons,
such as ethylene, proplyene and butylene. The
composition of cracking gases depends upon the
cracking method used and upon the operating
conditions. The main use of cracking gases is for the
extraction of the unsaturated hydrocarbons they
contain and their utilization in the petrochemical
industries.
• The gases produced from the gasoline reforming units are
known as ‘Reforming gases’. These are similar in composition
to cracking gases with the exception that, when catalytic
reforming is used, they contain an appreciable amount of
hydrogen. Reforming gases are used in the same way as
crackin gases, with the additional advantage of extracting the
hydrogen and using it to produce ammonia.
• N.B. The most important property of petroleum gases is their
high calorific value which is in the range of 21,500 B.T.U/Ib.
(21,500/1.8 cal./gm).