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TOPPING UNITS
A mini-refinery that draws crude oil from a pipeline and produces turbine fuel to power a pump
station.
Crude oil topping units fill a need for crude oil producers that have domestic requirements for
diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, AGO, LPG or asphalt but don’t have total refining capacity. Essentially
they are atmospheric distillation units that produce hydrocarbon boiling point cuts from resid to
LPG. A topping unit is an inexpensive, technically simple means to enhance the value of crude oil
near the source of production.
Crude oil distillation is an energy intensive process that requires crude oil heaters with cross
heat exchangers. Desulfurization and desalting are necessary to achieve product specs and also
to protect the topping unit from fouling and corrosion. Hydrocracking, hydrotreating and
fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) are downstream processes that enhance yields of gasoline, but
are not required in many countries. Asphalt can be produced with vacuum distillation and air
blowing from the resid.
A diesel unit is a simplified topping unit that concentrates on diesel range components without
the full range of products available in an atmospheric crude oil distillation column.
Sep-Pro Systems can manufacture all the major components of a topping unit, resulting in
greater efficiency in cost and delivery time. Sep-Pro will lease the systems if appropriate. Crude
oil topping units add considerable value to crude oil and a lease becomes easily justified.