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A refinery is composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations used for refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Chemical engineering is the branch of Engineering that deals with the application of Physical science (e Unit processing is the basic processing in Chemical engineering. In Chemical engineering and related fields a unit operation is a basic step in a Process. Refining (also called affining) is the process of Purification of a substance. Materials are physical Substances used as inputs to production or Manufacturing.

Contents

Types of refineries

The various types of refineries include:

An oil refinery
An oil refinery

A typical oil refinery

Main article: Oil refinery

The image below is a schematic flow diagram of a typical oil refinery that depicts the various unit processes and the flow of intermediate product streams that occurs between the inlet crude oil feedstock and the final end products. An oil refinery is an industrial Process plant where Crude oil is processed and refined into more useful Petroleum products, such as Gasoline A process flow diagram (PFD is a diagram commonly used in chemical and Process engineering to indicate the general flow of plant processes and equipment UNIT ( U nited N ations I ntelligence T askforce later the UN ified I ntelligence T askforce is a fictional military The diagram depicts only one of the literally hundreds of different oil refinery configurations. It does not include any of the usual refinery facilities providing utilities such as steam, cooling water, and electric power as well as storage tanks for crude oil feedstock and for intermediate products and end products. [1][2][3][4]

Schematic flow diagram of a typical oil refinery
Schematic flow diagram of a typical oil refinery

A typical natural gas processing plant

A natural gas processing plant
A natural gas processing plant
Main article: Natural gas processing

The image below is a schematic block flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant. Natural gas processing plants or fractionators are used to purify the raw Natural gas extracted from underground gas fields and brought up to the surface by A process flow diagram (PFD is a diagram commonly used in chemical and Process engineering to indicate the general flow of plant processes and equipment It shows the various unit processes used to convert raw natural gas into sales gas pipelined to the end user markets.

The block flow diagram also shows how processing of the raw natural gas yields byproduct sulfur, byproduct ethane, and natural gas liquids (NGL) propane, butanes and natural gasoline (denoted as pentanes +). [5][6][7][8][9]


Schematic flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant
Schematic flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant

Typical refining of sugar

Harvested sugar cane ready for processing.
Harvested sugar cane ready for processing.
Main article: Sugarcane#Processing

Most of the sugar produced worldwide is derived either from sugarcane or sugar beets. Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae Sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L a member of the Chenopodiaceae family is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of Sucrose. However, the sugar produced from sugarcane is at least twice the amount produced by sugar beets. For that reason, this section on the refining of sugar deals with sugar produced from sugarcane.

Milling

The refining of sugarcane into sugar has traditionally been done in two stages. The first stage is the production of a raw sugar by the milling of freshly harvested sugarcane, usually done locally in the sugarcane-producing regions. In a sugar mill, sugarcane is washed, chopped, and shredded by revolving knives. The shredded cane is mixed with water and crushed. The juices (containing 10-15 percent sucrose) are collected and mixed with lime to adjust its pH to 7 which arrests sucrose's decay into glucose and fructose, and precipitates out some impurities. Solubility of Pure SucroseTemperature(Cg Lime is a general term for various naturally occurring Minerals and materials derived from them in which Carbonates Oxides and Hydroxides of pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a Solution. Glucose (Glc a Monosaccharide (or simple Sugar) also known as grape sugar, is an important Carbohydrate in Biology. Fructose (also levulose or laevulose) is a simple reducing Sugar ( Monosaccharide) found in many foods and is one of the three The lime and other suspended solids are settled out, and the clarified juice is concentrated in a multiple-effect evaporator to make a syrup with about 60 weight percent sucrose. A multiple-effect evaporator, as defined in Chemical engineering, is an apparatus for efficiently using the heat from Steam to evaporate water The syrup is further concentrated under vacuum until it becomes supersaturated, and then seeded with crystalline sugar. This vacuum means "absence of matter" or "an empty area or space" for the cleaning appliance see Vacuum cleaner. The term supersaturation refers to a Solution that contains more of the dissolved material than could be dissolved by the Solvent under normal circumstances In Materials science, a crystal is a Solid in which the constituent Atoms Molecules or Ions are packed in a regularly ordered repeating Upon cooling, sugar crystallizes out of the syrup. Centrifuginging then separates the sugar from the remaining liquid (molasses). A centrifuge is a piece of equipment generally driven by a motor that puts an object in Rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis Raw sugar has a yellow to brown color. To produce a white sugar, sulfur dioxide is bubbled through the cane juice before evaporation so as to bleach color-forming impurities into colourless ones. Sugar bleached white by this means is called mill white, plantation white, and crystal sugar. It is the form of sugar most often consumed in the sugarcane-producing countries.

The fibrous solids, called bagasse, remaining after the crushing of the shredded sugarcane, are burned for fuel which makes a sugar mill more than self-sufficient in energy. Any surplus bagasse can be used for animal feed, in paper manufacture, or burned to generate electricity for the local power grid.

Refining

Sugar refinery in Arabi, Louisiana, United States
Sugar refinery in Arabi, Louisiana, United States

The second stage is the processing is done in sugar refineries, often located in heavy sugar-consuming regions such as North America, Europe, and Japan, to produce refined white sugar that is more than 99 percent pure sucrose. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Solubility of Pure SucroseTemperature(Cg In such refineries, raw sugar is further purified. It is first mixed with heavy syrup and centrifuged to wash away the outer coating of the raw sugar crystals, which is less pure than the crystal interior. The remaining sugar is then dissolved to make a syrup (about 70 percent by weight solids) which is clarified by the addition of phosphoric acid and calcium hydroxide that combine to precipitate calcium phosphate. Phosphoric acid, also known as orthophosphoric acid or phosphoric(V acid, is a mineral (inorganic acid having the Chemical formula Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, or pickling lime, is a Chemical compound with the chemical formula Calcium phosphate is the name given to a family of Minerals containing Calcium Ions (Ca2+ together with orthophosphates (PO43- The calcium phosphate particles entrap some impurities and absorb others, and then float to the top of the tank, where they are skimmed off.

After any remaining solids are filtered out, the clarified syrup is decolorized by filtration through a bed of activated carbon. Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal or activated coal, is a form of Carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to The purified syrup is then concentrated to supersaturation and repeatedly crystallized under vacuum to produce white refined sugar. Sugar is a class of edible Crystalline substances mainly Sucrose, Lactose, and Fructose. As in a sugar mill, the sugar crystals are separated from the molasses by centrifuging. To produce granulated sugar, in which the individual sugar grains do not clump together, sugar must be dried. Sugar is a class of edible Crystalline substances mainly Sucrose, Lactose, and Fructose. Drying is accomplished first by drying the sugar in a hot rotary dryer, and then by blowing cool air through it for several days.

The equipment used in refineries

Refineries utilize a great many different types of physical equipment such as:

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Gary, J. Centrifugation is a process that involves the use of the Centrifugal force for the separation of mixtures used in industry and in laboratory settings A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the Pressure of a Gas by reducing its Volume. Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the Atmosphere. Crystallization is the (natural or artificial process of formation of solid Crystals precipitating from a homogeneous --> identical Solution Distillation is a method of separating Mixtures based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture A pressure vessel is a closed container designed to hold gases or liquids at a Pressure different from the ambient Pressure. In Electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts Mechanical energy to Electrical energy, generally using Electromagnetic A transformer is a device that transfers Electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled Electrical conductors An electric motor uses Electrical energy to produce Mechanical energy. In chemistry and manufacturing electrolysis is a method of separating chemically bonded elements and compounds by passing an Electric current Evaporation is the process by which Molecules in a Liquid state (e In Chemistry and common usage a filter is a device (usually a membrane or layer that is designed A furnace is a device used for Heating The name derives from Latin fornax, Oven. gas flare or flare stack is an elevated vertical stack or Chimney found on Oil wells or oil rigs, and in refineries MIX is a hypothetical computer used in Donald Knuth &rsquos monograph The Art of Computer Programming ( TAOCP) A control system is a device or set of devices to manage command direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or systems For other uses see Pipe. Within Industry, piping is a system of pipes used to convey Fluids ( Liquids and For other uses see Valve (disambiguation. For the electronic component see Thermionic valve. For information on Wikipedia project-related discussions see WikipediaVillage pump. A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts Thermal energy from pressurized Steam, and converts it into useful mechanical work A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary Engine that extracts energy from a flow of Combustion gas A storage tank is a container usually for holding liquids sometimes for compressed gases (gas tank Industrial Water Treatment can be classified into the following categories Boiler water treatment Cooling water treatment Bagasse (sometimes spelled bagass) is the Biomass remaining after Sugarcane or Sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice and is The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining Bauxite to produce Alumina. The Hall-Héroult process is the major industrial process for the production of Aluminium. Falconbridge Limited was a Toronto, Ontario -based natural resources company with operations in 18 countries involved in the exploration mining processing Not to be confused with Natural Gas Liquids (NGL Liquefied natural gas or LNG is Natural gas (primarily Methane, CH4 Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane, An oil refinery is an industrial Process plant where Crude oil is processed and refined into more useful Petroleum products, such as Gasoline Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae Sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L a member of the Chenopodiaceae family is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of Sucrose. H. and Handwerk, G. E. (1984). Petroleum Refining Technology and Economics, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, Inc. ISBN 0-8247-7150-8.  
  2. ^ Guide to Refining from Chevron Oil's website
  3. ^ Refinery flowchart from Universal Oil Products' website
  4. ^ An example flowchart of fractions from crude oil at a refinery
  5. ^ Natural Gas Processing: The Crucial Link Between Natural Gas Production and Its Transportation to Market
  6. ^ Example Gas Plant
  7. ^ From Purification to Liquefaction Gas Processing
  8. ^ Feed-Gas Treatment Design for the Pearl GTL Project
  9. ^ Benefits of integrating NGL extraction and LNG liquefaction
UOP LLC, formerly known as Universal Oil Products, is a multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the Petroleum refining, gas processing

Dictionary

refinery

-noun

  1. a building, or a mass of machinery, used to produce refined products such as sugar, oil, or metals
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