Fuel reforming distillate

Chromatography is perhaps one of the most widely applied automated instruments in process analysis, particularly in the nonaqueous chemical and petrochemical industries [8]. In petroleum refining, for example, the crude petroleum, containing hundreds of chemicals from methane to asphalt, is converted to salable cuts by distillation. Further processing by catalytic reforming, distillation, and chemical reaction yields materials used for fuels, lubricants, petrochemical feedstock, and other applications. 

Simple conventional refining is based essentially on atmospheric distillation. The residue from the distillation constitutes heavy fuel, the quantity and qualities of which are mainly determined by the crude feedstock available without many ways to improve it. Manufacture of products like asphalt and lubricant bases requires supplementary operations, in particular separation operations and is possible only with a relatively narrow selection of crudes (crudes for lube oils, crudes for asphalts). The distillates are not normally directly usable processing must be done to improve them, either mild treatment such as hydrodesulfurization of middle distillates at low pressure, or deep treatment usually with partial conversion such as catalytic reforming. The conventional refinery thereby has rather limited flexibility and makes products the quality of which is closely linked to the nature of the crude oil used. 

A modem petroleum refinery is a complex system of chemical and physical operations. The cmde oil is first separated by distillahon into fractions such as gasoline, kerosene, and fuel oil. Some of the distillate fractions are converted to more valuable products by cracking, polymerization, or reforming. The products are treated to remove undesirable components, such as sulfur, and then blended to meet the final product specifications. A detailed analysis of the entire petroleum production process, including emissions and controls, is obviously well beyond the scope of this text. 

SSPD [Sasol slurry phase distillate] A process for converting natural gas to diesel fuel, kerosene, and naphtha. Operated by Sasol in South Africa since 1993. Three stages are involved. In the first, natural gas is converted to synthesis gas by reforming. In the second, the synthesis gas is converted to waxy hydrocarbons in a slurry-phase reactor. In the third, the waxes are upgraded to middle distillates. See also Arge. 

Hydrocarbon feedstocks for steam reformers include natural gas, refinery gas, propane, LPG and butane. Naphtha feedstocks with boiling points up to about 430°F can also be used. The ideal fuels for steam reformers are light hydrocarbons such as natural gas and refinery gas, although distillate fuels are also used. Residual fuels are not used since they contain metals that can damage reformer tubes. 

Liquid fuels such as distillate, naphtha, diesel oils, and heavy fuel oil can be reformed in partial oxidation reformers. All commercial POX reactors employ noncatalytic POX of the feed stream by oxygen in the presence of steam with reaction temperatures of approximately 1,300 to 1,500°C (2,370 to 2,730°F) (18). For illustration, the overall POX reaction for pentane is... 

The hydrocracking unit is typically used to produce reformer feedstock, jet fuel plus gasoline, and distillate blend components. Feedstock consists of cycle oil, coker distillates, and gas oils. 

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