Simple Guide To Oil & Gas Refinary Part 1 - Separation

The first step is to separate the crude oil into its naturally occurring components.This is
known as separation and is accomplished by applying heat through a process
called distillation .

Separation is performed in a series of distillation towers,with the bottom product from
each tower feeding the next.A furnace in front of each distillation tower heats and
vaporizes the crude oil mixture.The vapor and liquid mixture is then fed into the
bottom section of the tower.The feed section is the hottest point in the distillation
tower and can reach as high as 750 degrees Fahrenheit.

Components that are still liquid at this elevated temperature become the tower ’s bottom product.Components that are in vapor form rise up the tower through a series of istillation stages.The temperature decreases as the vapors rise through the tower and the components condense.

The “yield ” from a distillation tower refers to the relative percentage of each of
the separated components,know as “product streams.”This will vary according to the
characteristics of the crude being processed.Because a liquid ’s boiling point decreases at lower pressures,the final distillation steps are performed in a vacuum to maximize liquid recovery.Products from the distillation tower range from gases at the top to very heavy,viscous liquids at the bottom.In all cases,these product streams are still onsidered “unfinished ” and require further processing to become useful products.