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HOW AN OIL REFINERY WORKS SHELL OIL HISTORIC FILM 71862

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Language: en

00:00:18.760
of all the processes in an oil refinery
00:00:21.380 00:00:21.390 the most important is distillation it is
00:00:26.160 00:00:26.170 the first step in turning crude oil into
00:00:28.560 00:00:28.570 usable products the process depends on
00:00:32.040 00:00:32.050 boiling
00:00:35.590 00:00:35.600 when water is heated its temperature
00:00:37.930 00:00:37.940 rises to 212 degrees Fahrenheit and
00:00:40.799 00:00:40.809 stays there
00:00:43.250 00:00:43.260 this temperature is its boiling point
00:00:45.080 00:00:45.090 and once it is reached it the water
00:00:48.710 00:00:48.720 won't get any hotter from this point on
00:00:52.700 00:00:52.710 the heat is used to change the water
00:00:54.560 00:00:54.570 into steam turn liquid into vapor
00:00:59.450 00:00:59.460 as soon as the steam cools below the
00:01:01.610 00:01:01.620 boiling point it turns back into water
00:01:04.189 00:01:04.199 the vapor condenses but every liquid has
00:01:08.690 00:01:08.700 its own particular boiling point
00:01:10.400 00:01:10.410 determined by the size and shape of its
00:01:12.650 00:01:12.660 molecules in general the smaller the
00:01:16.550 00:01:16.560 molecules the lower the boiling point
00:01:18.770 00:01:18.780 the larger the molecules are higher the
00:01:21.260 00:01:21.270 boiling point the clear liquid is made
00:01:24.200 00:01:24.210 up of small molecules and boils at 173
00:01:27.980 00:01:27.990 degrees the dark liquid is made up of
00:01:30.560 00:01:30.570 larger bulkier molecules and boils at
00:01:33.820 00:01:33.830 363 degrees this difference in boiling
00:01:37.340 00:01:37.350 point allows the two liquids to be
00:01:39.410 00:01:39.420 separated again after they are mixed
00:01:42.609 00:01:42.619 here's one way to do it heat the mixture
00:01:46.490 00:01:46.500 inside the tube so that both liquids are
00:01:48.950 00:01:48.960 vaporized and feed the mixed vapors to a
00:01:53.090 00:01:53.100 column where they are cooled near the
00:01:56.540 00:01:56.550 bottom the vapors are cooled to just
00:01:58.820 00:01:58.830 below the boiling point of the dark
00:02:00.499 00:02:00.509 liquid so it condenses here and can be
00:02:04.130 00:02:04.140 drawn off but it's far too hot for the
00:02:07.940 00:02:07.950 vapor of the clear liquid to condense so
00:02:10.789 00:02:10.799 it rises until it too is cooled
00:02:12.920 00:02:12.930 sufficiently to condense
00:02:15.790 00:02:15.800 at the top of the column clear liquid is
00:02:18.520 00:02:18.530 collected and at the bottom dark liquid
00:02:21.900 00:02:21.910 the clear liquid will contain a small
00:02:24.460 00:02:24.470 amount of the dart and vice versa but
00:02:28.240 00:02:28.250 these amounts are slight because their
00:02:30.430 00:02:30.440 boiling points are far apart but crude
00:02:34.540 00:02:34.550 oil is a mixture of a great many
00:02:36.520 00:02:36.530 different kinds of molecules called
00:02:38.640 00:02:38.650 hydrocarbons
00:02:40.500 00:02:40.510 there are many thousands of them and
00:02:42.850 00:02:42.860 their boiling points lies so close
00:02:45.220 00:02:45.230 together they couldn't possibly all be
00:02:47.650 00:02:47.660 separated individually fortunately it
00:02:51.010 00:02:51.020 isn't necessary
00:02:52.260 00:02:52.270 instead of regarding crude oil as a
00:02:54.760 00:02:54.770 mixture of individual hydrocarbons they
00:02:57.970 00:02:57.980 are lumped into groups each covering a
00:03:00.610 00:03:00.620 range of boiling points in oil refining
00:03:04.210 00:03:04.220 these groups are called boiling
00:03:06.190 00:03:06.200 fractions or just fractions the top
00:03:10.960 00:03:10.970 fraction goes to make gasoline the next
00:03:14.470 00:03:14.480 one turbine fuel the next diesel fuel
00:03:19.420 00:03:19.430 and home heating oil the rest either
00:03:23.110 00:03:23.120 goes to make industrial fuel oil or is
00:03:26.380 00:03:26.390 separated into more fractions to help
00:03:29.710 00:03:29.720 understand the idea of boiling fractions
00:03:32.370 00:03:32.380 consider crude oil as a pack of playing
00:03:35.440 00:03:35.450 cards all shuffled up
00:03:42.460 00:03:42.470 the gasoline fraction can be thought of
00:03:45.500 00:03:45.510 as the fours the turbine fuel fraction
00:03:50.360 00:03:50.370 as the sixes
00:03:53.960 00:03:53.970 the diesel fuel and home heating oil
00:03:56.450 00:03:56.460 fraction as the eighths and the
00:03:59.690 00:03:59.700 fractions with the highest boiling
00:04:01.040 00:04:01.050 ranges the queens and kings
00:04:04.699 00:04:04.709 sorting crude oil into fractions takes
00:04:07.130 00:04:07.140 place in fractionating columns
00:04:10.270 00:04:10.280 separating all of them requires two
00:04:12.500 00:04:12.510 stages crude distillation and vacuum
00:04:16.819 00:04:16.829 distillation
00:04:21.330 00:04:21.340 first crude distillation
00:04:26.960 00:04:26.970 through these pipes crude oil is pumped
00:04:29.600 00:04:29.610 continuously from storage tanks to a
00:04:32.210 00:04:32.220 furnace where it's heated but it's only
00:04:36.530 00:04:36.540 made hot enough to vaporize some of it
00:04:43.940 00:04:43.950 when it reaches the college the crude
00:04:46.740 00:04:46.750 oil is a mixture of vapors and liquids
00:04:49.290 00:04:49.300 once inside vapors and liquids part
00:04:53.070 00:04:53.080 company the liquids fall to the bottom
00:04:58.850 00:04:58.860 they are the queens and kings and will
00:05:02.070 00:05:02.080 be dealt with later meanwhile the vapors
00:05:05.010 00:05:05.020 befores sixes and eights rise as they
00:05:11.790 00:05:11.800 pass through the tray they are cooled
00:05:14.000 00:05:14.010 when their temperature falls below the
00:05:16.650 00:05:16.660 boiling range of the heaviest fraction
00:05:18.420 00:05:18.430 this fraction condenses on the tray and
00:05:21.200 00:05:21.210 is withdrawn
00:05:27.740 00:05:27.750 the remaining vapors bubble through this
00:05:30.750 00:05:30.760 liquid and rise to the next tray where
00:05:32.880 00:05:32.890 they are cooled further below the
00:05:35.130 00:05:35.140 boiling range of the next heaviest
00:05:36.720 00:05:36.730 fraction this condenses and it too is
00:05:41.670 00:05:41.680 drawn off
00:05:47.829 00:05:47.839 the vapor that's left is drawn off the
00:05:50.570 00:05:50.580 top of the column and condensed there
00:05:55.489 00:05:55.499 are several ways of separating the
00:05:57.139 00:05:57.149 fractions one way is to use bubble trays
00:06:01.149 00:06:01.159 on each tray inside the columns are
00:06:04.480 00:06:04.490 mushroom-shaped fittings called bubble
00:06:07.070 00:06:07.080 caps the hot vapors rise up through the
00:06:11.809 00:06:11.819 stem and then back down underneath the
00:06:14.149 00:06:14.159 bubble cap into contact with the liquid
00:06:17.089 00:06:17.099 on the tray if liquid and vapor are of
00:06:25.549 00:06:25.559 the same fraction the liquid will be
00:06:28.369 00:06:28.379 cool enough to condense the vapor thus
00:06:31.309 00:06:31.319 if the liquid consists of 8 the vapor
00:06:35.179 00:06:35.189 that condenses will also be 8 but if the
00:06:44.449 00:06:44.459 vapor is of a lighter or lower boiling
00:06:46.579 00:06:46.589 fraction it will find this liquid too
00:06:49.129 00:06:49.139 hot to condense in so it will bubble
00:06:52.519 00:06:52.529 through and rise to the next tray still
00:06:55.309 00:06:55.319 as vapor if the liquid consists of 8
00:06:58.600 00:06:58.610 these bubbles will be sixes and fours in
00:07:06.129 00:07:06.139 practice however the vapors are so
00:07:09.409 00:07:09.419 closely intermingled they never separate
00:07:11.959 00:07:11.969 completely the first time some vapor
00:07:14.989 00:07:14.999 which belongs on this tray is carried
00:07:17.089 00:07:17.099 through with the lighter vapors to the
00:07:19.040 00:07:19.050 tray above here it condenses but now
00:07:23.540 00:07:23.550 it's on the wrong train
00:07:28.650 00:07:28.660 to return it to where it belongs a
00:07:31.330 00:07:31.340 steady stream of liquid overflows to the
00:07:34.000 00:07:34.010 tray below
00:07:37.170 00:07:37.180 since this tray is hotter the sixes that
00:07:40.659 00:07:40.669 come down are Reeve a prized and again
00:07:43.540 00:07:43.550 rise to the next tray but it is the
00:07:46.270 00:07:46.280 right temperature for the eight this
00:07:48.280 00:07:48.290 kind it stays condensed this thorough
00:07:56.590 00:07:56.600 mixing and separating goes on all the
00:07:58.600 00:07:58.610 time as the fractions are sorted out
00:08:00.900 00:08:00.910 liquids falling and vapors rise in all
00:08:04.390 00:08:04.400 the way to the top at the top of the
00:08:08.860 00:08:08.870 column its coolest and only the lightest
00:08:11.560 00:08:11.570 fraction is left the fort this vapor is
00:08:18.520 00:08:18.530 condensed but it still contains stray
00:08:21.610 00:08:21.620 sixes so here to a steady stream is
00:08:24.790 00:08:24.800 returned to the tray below the sixes
00:08:31.450 00:08:31.460 remain in the tray and the lighter fours
00:08:33.969 00:08:33.979 are Reeve a prized
00:08:41.110 00:08:41.120 only two trays have been shown here each
00:08:44.840 00:08:44.850 tray separating one fraction but in
00:08:48.080 00:08:48.090 practice several trays are needed to
00:08:50.600 00:08:50.610 separate each fraction efficiently an
00:08:52.930 00:08:52.940 actual crude distillation column may
00:08:55.460 00:08:55.470 contain more than 50 trays the top
00:08:58.580 00:08:58.590 00:09:04.220 00:09:04.230 one down turbine fuel the next diesel
00:09:11.150 00:09:11.160 fuel and home heating oil the liquid
00:09:16.880 00:09:16.890 settles to the bottom as residue but it
00:09:19.880 00:09:19.890 still contains other useful products the
00:09:23.390 00:09:23.400 fractions in the residue boil at very
00:09:25.490 00:09:25.500 high temperatures some more than a
00:09:27.590 00:09:27.600 thousand degrees at these temperatures
00:09:30.260 00:09:30.270 the molecules will crack apart before
00:09:32.420 00:09:32.430 the fractions boil to prevent this they
00:09:35.540 00:09:35.550 must be made to boil at lower
00:09:36.980 00:09:36.990 temperatures by vacuum distillation when
00:09:41.780 00:09:41.790 a liquid is heated the pressure of its
00:09:44.150 00:09:44.160 vapor increases this pressure pushes
00:09:47.270 00:09:47.280 against the pressure of the atmosphere
00:09:51.550 00:09:51.560 when the vapor pressure is high enough
00:09:53.840 00:09:53.850 to overcome the atmospheric pressure the
00:09:56.930 00:09:56.940 liquid boils
00:10:02.280 00:10:02.290 but the atmospheric pressure on the
00:10:04.600 00:10:04.610 liquid can be reduced by pumping out
00:10:06.940 00:10:06.950 some of the air and creating a partial
00:10:09.490 00:10:09.500 vacuum in the flask the vapor pressure
00:10:15.250 00:10:15.260 now has less resistance to overcome so
00:10:18.310 00:10:18.320 the liquid boils at a lower temperature
00:10:22.680 00:10:22.690 here the pressure has been reduced
00:10:24.970 00:10:24.980 enough to make the water boil at room
00:10:27.040 00:10:27.050 temperature similarly if the pressure
00:10:31.150 00:10:31.160 inside a distillation column is reduced
00:10:33.400 00:10:33.410 the heavy fractions can be boiled at
00:10:36.130 00:10:36.140 lower temperatures so they can be
00:10:38.530 00:10:38.540 distilled without their molecules
00:10:40.210 00:10:40.220 cracking apart
00:10:43.230 00:10:43.240 from the vapor entering the vacuum
00:10:45.269 00:10:45.279 distillation unit come more products the
00:10:48.840 00:10:48.850 lightest fractions go to the cat cracker
00:10:52.129 00:10:52.139 from the next fraction come wax and
00:10:54.660 00:10:54.670 lubricating oil the heaviest fraction
00:10:58.230 00:10:58.240 remains a liquid and is withdrawn for
00:11:00.749 00:11:00.759 processing into industrial fuel oil and
00:11:03.090 00:11:03.100 asphalt distillation is the key process
00:11:07.859 00:11:07.869 in a refinery but distillation alone
00:11:11.040 00:11:11.050 isn't enough for one thing the gasoline
00:11:15.809 00:11:15.819 that's distilled directly from crude oil
00:11:17.579 00:11:17.589 calls straight run gasoline by itself is
00:11:21.059 00:11:21.069 not high enough octane for the modern
00:11:23.009 00:11:23.019 car for another when enough gasoline
00:11:27.470 00:11:27.480 turbine fuel and diesel fuel are
00:11:30.600 00:11:30.610 distilled a lot of heavy fuel oil is
00:11:33.150 00:11:33.160 produced as well by using another
00:11:35.819 00:11:35.829 process cracking heavy oil can be
00:11:39.419 00:11:39.429 converted into high-octane gasoline
00:11:42.590 00:11:42.600 heavier oil is made up of molecules that
00:11:45.359 00:11:45.369 can be represented like this
00:11:52.879 00:11:52.889 when heated to very high temperatures
00:11:55.619 00:11:55.629 their movements become violent
00:12:00.470 00:12:00.480 eventually they shake apart or crack in
00:12:05.369 00:12:05.379 cracking into smaller molecules most of
00:12:08.400 00:12:08.410 them also change their shapes and take
00:12:10.499 00:12:10.509 on new properties most important of
00:12:13.679 00:12:13.689 these properties is a higher octane
00:12:16.230 00:12:16.240 gasoline this reshaping process depends
00:12:19.949 00:12:19.959 on a substance called a catalyst a
00:12:23.480 00:12:23.490 catalyst is any substance that
00:12:25.739 00:12:25.749 stimulates a chemical reaction without
00:12:28.049 00:12:28.059 itself being affected by it
00:12:31.100 00:12:31.110 hundreds of substances do this some
00:12:34.499 00:12:34.509 complex some simple like these pieces of
00:12:38.519 00:12:38.529 copper this demonstration shows how they
00:12:42.480 00:12:42.490 work
00:12:47.530 00:12:47.540 these two liquids normally react very
00:12:49.960 00:12:49.970 slowly when mixed together
00:13:02.010 00:13:02.020 now add the copper the reaction is
00:13:08.040 00:13:08.050 speeded up
00:13:24.750 00:13:24.760 when the reaction is complete the
00:13:27.790 00:13:27.800 catalyst is unchanged and can be used
00:13:29.950 00:13:29.960 again many catalysts are used in a
00:13:33.220 00:13:33.230 refinery one of the most important uses
00:13:36.370 00:13:36.380 is a catalytic cracking unit a cat
00:13:40.210 00:13:40.220 cracker the catalyst used here consists
00:13:45.760 00:13:45.770 of silica and alumina in the form of a
00:13:48.730 00:13:48.740 fine powder to do its job effectively
00:13:53.020 00:13:53.030 each grain must present the largest
00:13:55.840 00:13:55.850 possible surface area to the heavy oil
00:13:58.360 00:13:58.370 that's to be correct
00:14:00.930 00:14:00.940 seeing through an electron microscope
00:14:03.310 00:14:03.320 each of these grains resembles a sponge
00:14:07.350 00:14:07.360 the grains are so sponge like this small
00:14:10.900 00:14:10.910 handful has a surface area of six
00:14:13.270 00:14:13.280 thousand square feet
00:14:15.360 00:14:15.370 the area surrounding man
00:14:29.360 00:14:29.370 the catalyst also has to circulate
00:14:32.250 00:14:32.260 freely in the cat cracker and to do this
00:14:34.860 00:14:34.870 it must be made to behave like a liquid
00:14:37.340 00:14:37.350 at rest the powder is a solid mass and
00:14:41.280 00:14:41.290 will support a metal object but if gas
00:14:45.240 00:14:45.250 or vapor is blown through it
00:14:47.040 00:14:47.050 it's churned up or fluidized the wrench
00:15:00.389 00:15:00.399 sinks as if it were in a liquid
00:15:09.680 00:15:09.690 to do its work in the cat cracker the
00:15:12.420 00:15:12.430 catalyst must be heated to more than a
00:15:14.580 00:15:14.590 thousand degrees then at the base of the
00:15:17.580 00:15:17.590 unit hot catalyst and heavy oil meat and
00:15:21.050 00:15:21.060 cracking begins the heavy oil is
00:15:24.750 00:15:24.760 immediately vaporized and the vapor in
00:15:27.300 00:15:27.310 turn fluid eise's the catalyst this
00:15:31.050 00:15:31.060 mixture rises to the reactor here the
00:15:37.920 00:15:37.930 heat and the catalyst complete the
00:15:39.690 00:15:39.700 cracking reaction before long however
00:15:52.760 00:15:52.770 carbon forms on the catalyst clogging
00:15:55.530 00:15:55.540 the openings this reduces the working
00:15:58.230 00:15:58.240 area and makes the catalyst less
00:16:00.270 00:16:00.280 effective so it has to be cleaned it's
00:16:05.940 00:16:05.950 fed to a regenerator where the carbon is
00:16:08.370 00:16:08.380 burned off the burning also heats the
00:16:11.610 00:16:11.620 catalyst back to its working temperature
00:16:13.530 00:16:13.540 and it's ready for use again
00:16:20.990 00:16:21.000 this is the cycle of the cat cracker a
00:16:23.559 00:16:23.569 steady flow of catalyst meets a steady
00:16:26.420 00:16:26.430 flow of heavy oil and cracking goes on
00:16:29.300 00:16:29.310 continuously producing the new shakes
00:16:31.970 00:16:31.980 that make up high-octane gasoline
00:16:46.210 00:16:46.220 besides gasoline cracking produces
00:16:49.390 00:16:49.400 petroleum gases and diesel fuel
00:16:56.680 00:16:56.690 all these products are passed to a
00:16:59.180 00:16:59.190 distillation column where they are
00:17:00.890 00:17:00.900 separated but cracking doesn't provide
00:17:04.579 00:17:04.589 enough high octane gasoline to meet the
00:17:06.890 00:17:06.900 demand so low octane straight run
00:17:09.710 00:17:09.720 gasoline is converted into high-octane
00:17:11.900 00:17:11.910 gasoline by catalytic reforming straight
00:17:17.720 00:17:17.730 run gasoline consists mainly of short
00:17:20.300 00:17:20.310 straight molecules to upgrade it the
00:17:23.840 00:17:23.850 shapes of these molecules must be
00:17:25.550 00:17:25.560 changed that is reform as before heat
00:17:30.170 00:17:30.180 and a catalyst are required
00:17:48.390 00:17:48.400 and again high octane gasoline is
00:17:52.470 00:17:52.480 produced a catalytic reformer uses
00:17:57.180 00:17:57.190 platen the catalyst a thin film of
00:18:02.730 00:18:02.740 platinum is coated on pellets of
00:18:04.440 00:18:04.450 aluminum oxide and these are packed in
00:18:06.960 00:18:06.970 the reactors but reforming requires a
00:18:11.850 00:18:11.860 lot of heat and the process has to be
00:18:14.220 00:18:14.230 done in three or more stages the
00:18:21.720 00:18:21.730 straight run gasoline is heated to more
00:18:23.610 00:18:23.620 than 900 degrees and fed into the first
00:18:26.400 00:18:26.410 reactor as vapour as it passes through
00:18:30.540 00:18:30.550 the catalyst reforming begins but so
00:18:46.049 00:18:46.059 much heat is absorbed by the reaction
00:18:48.000 00:18:48.010 that it stops before reforming is
00:18:50.220 00:18:50.230 complete when it leaves the first
00:18:56.430 00:18:56.440 reactor the vapor is only partly
00:18:58.830 00:18:58.840 reformed so it must be reheated and fed
00:19:02.520 00:19:02.530 to the second reactor
00:19:07.140 00:19:07.150 again the vapor cools below its proper
00:19:10.170 00:19:10.180 reaction temperature and the reaction
00:19:12.780 00:19:12.790 stops to reform the vapor completely it
00:19:17.070 00:19:17.080 must be reheated once more and fed to
00:19:19.890 00:19:19.900 the third reactor here any remaining
00:19:24.900 00:19:24.910 straight-run gasoline molecules change
00:19:26.790 00:19:26.800 into those of high octane gasoline
00:19:46.330 00:19:46.340 during most of these reactions a lot of
00:19:49.610 00:19:49.620 hydrogen is released its presence not
00:19:52.700 00:19:52.710 only inhibits the formation of carbon on
00:19:54.800 00:19:54.810 the catalyst it is also valuable for use
00:19:57.680 00:19:57.690 elsewhere in the refinery these then are
00:20:01.910 00:20:01.920 the principal refining processes crude
00:20:05.150 00:20:05.160 distillation and vacuum distillation
00:20:07.390 00:20:07.400 which separate crude oil into various
00:20:10.190 00:20:10.200 products cracking which converts heavy
00:20:14.270 00:20:14.280 oil into high-octane gasoline and
00:20:17.890 00:20:17.900 reforming which converts straight-run
00:20:20.660 00:20:20.670 gasoline into high-octane gasoline but
00:20:25.310 00:20:25.320 this is only part of the story
00:20:27.350 00:20:27.360 other processes turn out additional
00:20:29.810 00:20:29.820 products as well as providing many raw
00:20:32.330 00:20:32.340 materials for the chemical industry all
00:20:35.270 00:20:35.280 in all there are thousands of products
00:20:37.220 00:20:37.230 based on petroleum and more uses are
00:20:40.040 00:20:40.050 being developed all the time

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