Petroleum History

&
Introduction to Refinery
Course Outline
• Indigenous and world Oil resources. Crude oil stocks; Characterization and evaluation,
generation of crude processing data, processing plans. Refinery products; properties;
significant tests and standard test methods. Crude pre-heating and preliminary, chemical
and sweetening processes.
• Distillation schemes: atmospheric and vacuum distillation, various cuts. Side stream steam
strippers, kinds of reflux for distillation units. Basic arrangements of fractionating towers,
Distillation trains. Concepts and applications of TBP cut point: TBP overlap & ASTM gap in
distillation practice, relationships between TBP cut point and product ASTM boiling range.
Determination of number of plates in various sections of distillation column for various
cuts using Packie’s approach. Calculation of plate temperatures. Control of product
properties and stabilization. Operation, control & maintenance of distillation units.
• Selection and evaluation of chemical conversion processes: Cracking; Thermal cracking
and decomposition processes; Mechanism and reactions; Coking &Visbreaking.
Hydrocracking. Catalytic cracking: fluidized-bed catalytic cracking unit. Catalytic reforming:
Isomerization, Hydrotreating.
• Lubricating Oil Processing: Lube deasphalting and dewaxing processes: Hydrofinishing.
Production of asphalts & waxes. New trends in lube oil deasphalting, solvent extraction.
• Miscellaneous Topics: Refinery corrosion and metals. Refinery gases. Flare systems.
environmental concerns. Blending plants: Use of linear programming techniques to solve
refinery blending and production problems. Refinery economics, product design and
marketing.
 Recommended Books:
• Nelson, W.L. “Petroleum Refinery Engineering” 1958. McGraw-Hill Book Company
• Gary, J.H. and Handwerk, G.E. “Petroleum Refining: Technology and Economics” 4 th
Ed. 2001. Taylor & Francis.
• Hengstebeck, R.J. “Petroleum Processing” 1959. McGraw-Hill.
• Speight, J.G.“The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum” 5 th Ed. 2014. CRC Press.
• Watkins, R.N. “Petroleum Refinery Distillation” 2nd Ed. 1979. Gulf Publishing
Company.
• H. K. Abdel-Aal, Bakr A. Bakr & M. A. Al-Sahlawi “Petroleum Economics and
Engineering” 2nd Ed. 1992. Marcel Dekker.
• Hydrocarbon Fuels, E.M. Goodger, E.M. “Hydrocarbon fuels: production,
properties, and performance of liquids and gases” 1975 (digitized in 2011).
Macmillan.
• Wayne C. Edmister “Applied Hydrocarbon Thermodynamics” 2 nd Ed. 1984. Gulf
Pub. Co.
 Describe history of refining, raw materials, products and
their composition, overall process operation of oil refining
CLO 1 plant, processes and operations of a petroleum refinery,
main components of the refinery plant and their functions
Carry out characterization of crude oil and petroleum
products using various developed correlations based on
CLO 2
various physical and chemical test methods

Sketch the flow sheets of the processes and operations in

CLO 3 petroleum refinery

Solve problems pertaining to crude oil

CLO 4 refinery engineering
Modern Refinery
History of Refining of crude petroleum
• The refining of crude petroleum owes
its origin to the successful drilling of the first
oil wells in Ontario, Canada, in 1858 and in
Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1859.
• In 1933, Standard Oil secured the first
contract to drill for oil in Saudia Arabia.
• Settlers used oil as an illuminant for medicine,
and as grease for wagons and tools. Rock oil
distilled from shale became available as
kerosene even before the Industrial
Revolution began
• In 1933, Standard Oil secured the first
contract to drill for oil in Saudia Arabia.
• Settlers used oil as an illuminant for medicine,
and as grease for wagons and tools. Rock oil
distilled from shale became available as
kerosene even before the Industrial
Revolution began
• In 1901 one of the largest and most significant oil strikes in history
occurred near Beaumont, Texas, on a mound called Spindletop.
• One year after the Spindletop discovery more than fifteen hundred
oil companies had been chartered. Of these, fewer than a dozen
survived,
• principally the Gulf Oil Corporation, the Magnolia Petroleum
Company, and the Texas Company.
• The Sun Oil Company, an Ohio-Indiana concern, also moved to the
Beaumont area as did other firms.
• Other oil strikes followed
in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, and Kansas. Oil
production in the United States by 1909 more than equaled that of
the rest of the world combined.
 History of Use

• Please read your textbook!

• 1000 A.D. Arab scientists discovered
distillation and were able to make kerosene.
This was lost after the 12th century!
• Rediscovered by a Canadian geologist called
Abraham Gesner in 1852
Oil seep in California
 History of Use
• 1858: first oil drilled in Canada
• 1859: Edwin Drake!
• Who is he?
– He was the first person in the U.S. to drill for oil
• Where?
– Titusville, Pennsylvania
• Initial cost: $20 per barrel, within three years
dropped to 10 cents
• Now why do we measure oil in barrels?
• 1901: Texas! Spindletop gushed 60m high and gave
100,000 bbl a day
 The first oil wells
• The modern oil industry dates
back about 150 years.
• The world’s first oil well was
drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania
in 1859. It struck oil at 21 metres
below ground and produced 3,000
litres of oil a day.
• Known as the Drake Well, after
"Colonel" Edwin Drake, the man
responsible for the well, it began
an international search for
petroleum, and in many ways
eventually changed the way we
live.
15
16
 Why do we measure oil in barrels?
• Historically, oil producers did store oil in barrels, although the size
and nature of those barrels were far from standard.
• When the first oil fields were tapped in Pennsylvania during the
1860s, there were no steel 55 gallon drums in which to store the oil.
Instead, the oil was pumped into whatever containers could be
found, including pickle barrels, cracker barrels and whiskey barrels.
There was no standard size oil barrel, but eventually the wooden
whiskey barrel became the most popular storage container to hold
crude oil until it could be shipped to be refined.
• The standard whiskey barrel at the time held approximately 40
gallons of liquid. Early oil producers wanted to ensure their
customers received every last drop they ordered, so they actually
overfilled the barrels to 42 gallons. This 42 US gallon mark (which is
about 35 Imperial gallons and about 160 liters) became the
standard measurement of oil in barrels produced in American oil
wells.
 B. Formation of Oil

• Oil usually occurs with natural gas: mixture of

hydrocarbons of light molecular weight
• Forms almost exclusively from organic matter
in marine sediments—whereas natural gas
forms in both marine and terrestrial rocks
• ? Remember coal? What is that?
 B. Formation of Oil

• Marine Realm
– Remains of free-floating planktonic organisms
• Plankton are rich in lipids
– Terrestrial plant has cellulose and lignin
 Formation of Oil

• Marine Realm
– Remains of free-
floating planktonic
organisms
• Plankton are rich in
lipids
– Terrestrial plant has
cellulose and lignin
B. Formation of Oil

Depth represents
Increase in time
Increase in temperature
Increase in pressure
 B. Formation of Oil

• Diagenesis
– Surface to about ½ km, T , 50°C; CH4
• Catagenesis
– 50 to 150°C, P about 1.5 Kbar
– Compaction of sediment, expulsion of water
– Organic matter becomes kerogen and liquid
petroleum—biogenic gas decreases, however
some formed by thermal cracking of kerogen
– Wet gas: methane+ethane+propane+butane
 B. Formation of Oil

• Metagenesis
– Greater than 4 km, and 150°C
– Dry gas
– C rich residue
– Graphite developed
 Pakistan Oil Reserves
• With the total reserves of oil (0.31 billion barrels)
Gas (30 TCF), coal (185 billion tons) and
shale gas reserves (51 TCF).
• The production of oil in the country is only 59.08
thousand bbl/day and the consumption is 426.72
thousands bbl/day

• EIA2012 (U.S Energy information Administration)

 What is MTOE energy?

• Mtoe. Millions of tonnes of oil equivalent

(Mtoe) is a unit of energy used to describe
the energy content of all fuels, typically on a
very large scale. It is equal to
4.1868x1016 Joules, or 41.868 petajoules
which is a tremendous amount of energy
Major Refineries and their capacities
 World Reserves

• In 2018, there were 1.73 trillion barrels of

oil in the world. That's enough to last another
50 years since the world uses 95 million
barrels per day. Only proven reserves are
counted in the total world reserves.
 Oil Outline

• A. History of Use
• B. Formation of Oil
• C. Concentration of Oil
• D. Oil Recovery
• E. Oil Refining
• F. Where is the oil?
• G. How long will it last?
• H. What are the environmental Concerns?
• I. Real cost of oil
 D. Oil Recovery
• Initially used
cable tool
drills
 D. Oil Recovery

Cable tool bits

 DRILLING RIGS
Drillship Semisubmersible Jackup Submersible Land Rig

From Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary

 D. Oil Recovery
• Next was a rotary drill
– This is a tricone bit
ROTARY DRILL BIT, WORN

From Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary

 D. Oil Recovery

Water drive
WATER DRIVE
What is the Drive
Mechanism?

A reservoir-drive
mechanism whereby
the oil is driven
through the reservoir
by an active aquifer. As
the reservoir depletes,
the water moving in
from the aquifer below
displaces the oil until
the aquifer energy is
expended or the well
eventually produces
too much water to be
viable.

From Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary

 D. Oil Recovery

Gas cap recovery

GAS EXPANSION DRIVE
What is the Drive
Mechanism?

A gas-drive
system
utilizes the
energy of the
reservoir gas,
identifiable as
either as free
or solution
gas, to
produce
reservoir
liquids.

Are there other

drive mechanisms?

From Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary

D. Oil Recovery
 D. Oil Recovery
• Secondary Recovery—or Enhanced Oil
Recovery—increases production to 50-60%
– Water injection
– Gas re-injection
– Steam flooding
– Fire Flooding
– Chemical Flooding
D. Oil Recovery
D. Oil Recovery
D. Oil Recovery
 D. Oil Recovery
• Tertiary—OIL MINING
 E. Oil Refining
• Method by which crude oil converted to
petroleum products
• Distillation (fractionation)
– At high temperature the lightest fractions rise to
the top of a tower, heavier fractions condense at
bottom
 E. Oil Refining
• Typical Oil
– Gasoline C4 to C10 27%
– Kerosene C11 to C13 13%
– Diesel C14 to C18 12%
– Heavy gas oil C19 to C25 10%
– Lubricating oil C26-C40 20%
– Residue >C40 18%
 E. Oil Refining
• What we get out of oil now with modern
refineries:
– 50% gas
– 30% fuel oil
– 7.5% jet fuel

– HOW??
 E. Oil Refining
• Thermal Cracking
• Catalytic Cracking
– adds H, hydrogenation and thus increase the gas
productions
• Contaminants
– Sulphur, Vanadium, Nickel