How Is Crude Oil Or Petroleum Refined?
Crude oil – a mixture of various hydrocarbons – does not burn very easily. Before petroleum can be used for different purposes, the process of separating petroleum into useful fractions and removal of undesirable impurities is called refining. The petroleum’s refining is carried out by the process of fractional distillation, in which various fractions are separated according to difference in their boiling points that comprise evaporation and condensation. The first step in refining process is neutralization of crude oil by washing with acidic or basic solutions as needed. The oil is then heated in electric furnace above 4000°C and the vapours are fed into a tall fractionating tower. The tower is divided into a number of compartments by means of shelves having holes in them. These holes are covered with bubble caps. The vapours go up the fractionating tower where hydrocarbons that have a high boiling temperature range are easily condensed to liquids in the lower part of tower. The fract
