Unveiling Secrets of Crude Oil Through Refining

Crude Oil is combination of millions of different hydrocarbons all mixed together. This mixture of hydrocarbons can't be of much use to us, thus we need to separate same kind of hydrocarbons from this mixture in order to get something which is more useful. The kind of separation can be done through a process called 'refining'.

An oil refinery is the place where the 'refining' process is undertaken in a controlled environment. A unique characteristic of similar hydrocarbons is that they have a similar boiling point. This basic information helps us to segregate this mixture and get different products out of it. An oil refinery typically would have a distillation column in which crude is heated and different chains are pulled out as they turn in vapours at different boiling points. Each of these chains represents a different product with different set of properties.

To understand the hidden diversity of crude we would be required to discuss it further in little more detail. Following are the different products along with their usages, which could be separated by the process of oil refining:

1. Petroleum Gas - This Gas is used mainly for heating, cooking and manufacturing plastics. This Gas is further liquefied to make LPG which today is primary source of energy to fuel millions of kitchens worldwide.
2. Naphtha - This is an intermediate chemical which is further used to make a number of useful products.
3. Gasoline - Available in liquid for this is a motor fuel and used all around the world to run motor vehicles.
4. Kerosene - This again is a kind of fuel used primary to run jet engines and tractors. This is also referred to as poor man's fuel and used for cooking in many developing countries.
5. Diesel - Diesel is used to run motor vehicles fitted with a diesel engine and also used to generate heating.
6. Lubricating oils - Lubrication is required to save part of various machines from wear and tear. Using lubricating oil prolongs the life of machine parts and allows them to function smoothly.
7. Fuel Oil - This particular kind of oil is used as an industrial fuel to make other products.
8. Residuals- There are various solid residuals or by products that are left as a result of refining crude. These residuals further have can be used in various applications and industries. Some examples of these residuals are; waxes, coke, asphalt, tar etc.

So after having gone through the above you would have got a fair idea of what all is hidden inside crude and how refining process helps us to unveil these hidden secrets.

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