Brief description of the main technological processes of fuel production. Modern technologies for deepening oil refining Modern oil refining

Oil is the most important feedstock for Russian industry. Issues related to this resource have always been considered one of the most important for the country's economy. Oil refining in Russia is carried out by specialized enterprises. Next, we will consider the features of this industry in more detail.

General information

Domestic oil refineries began to appear as early as 1745. The first enterprise was founded by the Chumelov brothers on the Ukhta River. It produced kerosene and lubricating oils, which were very popular at that time. In 1995, primary oil refining already amounted to 180 million tons. Among the main factors for the location of enterprises engaged in this industry are raw materials and consumer goods.

Industry development

Major oil refineries appeared in Russia in the post-war years. Before 1965, about 16 capacities were created in the country, which is more than half of those currently operating. During the economic transition of the 1990s, there was a significant decline in production. This was due to a sharp decline in domestic oil consumption. As a result, the quality of the products was quite low. The conversion depth ratio also fell to 67.4%. Only by 1999 did the Omsk Refinery manage to get closer to European and American standards.

Modern realities

In the last few years, oil refining has begun to reach a new level. This is due to investments in this industry. Since 2006, they have amounted to more than 40 billion rubles. In addition, the conversion depth coefficient has also increased significantly. In 2010, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, it was forbidden to connect to highways those enterprises for which it did not reach 70%. The head of state explained this by saying that such plants need serious modernization. In the whole country, the number of such mini-enterprises reaches 250. By the end of 2012, it was planned to build a large complex at the end of the pipeline running to the Pacific Ocean through Eastern Siberia. Its processing depth was supposed to be about 93%. This figure will correspond to the level achieved at similar US enterprises. The oil refining industry, which is largely consolidated, is under the control of companies such as Rosneft, Lukoil, Gazprom, Surgutneftegaz, Bashneft, etc.

Industry Importance

Today, oil production and refining are considered one of the most promising industries. The number of large and small enterprises involved in them is constantly increasing. Oil and gas refining brings a stable income, having a positive impact on the economic condition of the country as a whole. This industry is most developed in the center of the state, Chelyabinsk and Tyumen regions. Petroleum products are in demand not only within the country, but also abroad. Today, enterprises produce kerosene, gasoline, aviation, rocket, diesel fuel, bitumen, motor oils, fuel oil and so on. Almost all plants were created next to the towers. Thanks to this, oil refining and transportation are carried out at minimal cost. The largest enterprises are located in the Volga, Siberian, and Central Federal Districts. These refineries account for about 70% of all capacity. Among the regions of the country, Bashkiria occupies a leading position in the industry. Oil and gas processing is carried out in Khanty-Mansiysk, Omsk region. Enterprises operate in Krasnodar region.

Statistics by region

In the European part of the country, the main production facilities are located in Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Ryazan regions, Krasnodar region, on Far East and the south of Siberia, in cities such as Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk, Achinsk, Angarsk, Omsk. Modern refineries were built in Perm region, Samara region and Bashkiria. These regions have always been considered largest centers for oil production. With the relocation of production to Western Siberia industrial capacity in the Volga region and the Urals became excessive. In 2004, Bashkiria became the leader among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in primary oil processing. In this region, the figures were at the level of 44 million tons. In 2002, Bashkortostan refineries accounted for about 15% of the total oil refining volume in the Russian Federation. This is about 25.2 million tons. next place turned out to be the Samara region. It provided the country with about 17.5 million tons. Next in volume were the Leningrad (14.8 million) and Omsk (13.3 million) regions. The total share of these four entities amounted to 29% of all-Russian oil refining.

Oil refining technology

The production cycle of enterprises includes:

• Preparation of raw materials.
• Primary oil refining.
• Secondary distillation of fractions.

IN modern conditions Oil refining is carried out at enterprises equipped with complex machines and devices. They operate in conditions of low temperature, high pressure, deep vacuum and often in aggressive environments. The oil refining process includes several stages in combined or separate units. They are designed to produce a wide range of products.

Cleaning

During this stage, raw materials are processed. Oil coming from the fields is subjected to purification. It contains 100-700 mg/l of salts and water (less than 1%). During purification, the content of the first component is brought to 3 or less mg/l. The share of water is less than 0.1%. Cleaning is carried out in electrical desalting plants.

Classification

Any oil refining plant uses chemical and physical methods for processing raw materials. Through the latter, separation into oil and fuel fractions is achieved or removal of unwanted complex chemical elements. Refining oil using chemical methods makes it possible to obtain new components. These transformations are classified:

Main stages

The main process after purification in an ELOU is atmospheric distillation. During this process, fuel fractions are selected: gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as lighting kerosene. Also, during atmospheric distillation, fuel oil is separated. It is used either as a raw material for further deep processing, or as an element of boiler fuel. The fractions are then refined. They undergo hydrotreating to remove heteroatomic compounds. Gasolines undergo catalytic reforming. This process is used to improve the quality of raw materials or to obtain individual aromatic hydrocarbons - material for petrochemicals. The latter, in particular, include benzene, toluene, xylenes, and so on. The fuel oil undergoes vacuum distillation. This process makes it possible to obtain a wide fraction of gas oil. This raw material undergoes subsequent processing in hydro- or catalytic cracking units. As a result, motor fuel components and narrow distillate oil fractions are obtained. They are further sent to the following purification stages: selective processing, dewaxing and others. After vacuum distillation, tar remains. It can be used as a raw material used in deep processing to obtain additional volumes of motor fuels, petroleum coke, construction and road bitumen, or as a component of boiler fuel.

Oil refining methods: hydrotreating

This method is considered the most common. Hydrotreating is used to process sulfur and high-sulfur oils. This method allows you to improve the quality of motor fuels. During the process, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen compounds are removed, and the raw material olefins are hydrogenated in a hydrogen environment on aluminum-cobalt-molybdenum or nickel-molybdenum catalysts at a pressure of 2-4 MPa and a temperature of 300-400 degrees. In other words, hydrotreating breaks down organic matter containing nitrogen and sulfur. They react with hydrogen that circulates in the system. As a result, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are formed. The resulting connections are removed from the system. During the entire process, 95-99% of the feedstock is converted into a purified product. At the same time, a small amount of gasoline is formed. The active catalyst undergoes periodic regeneration.

Catalytic cracking

It proceeds without pressure at a temperature of 500-550 degrees on zeolite-containing catalysts. This process is considered the most efficient and deepens oil refining. This is due to the fact that during it, up to 40-60% of the high-octane gasoline component can be obtained from high-boiling fuel oil fractions (vacuum gas oil). In addition, they emit fatty gas (about 10-25%). It, in turn, is used in alkylation plants or ester production plants to produce high-octane components of auto or aviation gasoline. During cracking, carbon deposits form on the catalyst. They sharply reduce its activity - cracking ability in this case. To restore the component undergoes regeneration. The most common installations are those in which the catalyst circulates in a fluidized or fluidized bed and in a moving stream.

Catalytic reforming

This is a modern and fairly widely used process for producing low- and high-octane gasoline. It is carried out at a temperature of 500 degrees and a pressure of 1-4 MPa in a hydrogen environment on an aluminum-platinum catalyst. Using catalytic reforming, the chemical transformations of paraffinic and naphthenic hydrocarbons into aromatic hydrocarbons are primarily carried out. As a result, the octane number increases significantly (up to 100 points). The products obtained by catalytic reforming include xylenes, toluene, and benzene, which are then used in the petrochemical industry. Reformate yields are typically 73-90%. To maintain activity, the catalyst is periodically regenerated. The lower the pressure in the system, the more often the restoration is performed. The exception to this is the platforming process. During this process, the catalyst is not regenerated. As main feature The main advantage of the whole process is that it takes place in a hydrogen environment, the excess of which is removed from the system. It is much cheaper than that obtained specially. Excess hydrogen is then used in hydrogenation processes in oil refining.

Alkylation

This process allows us to obtain high-quality components of automobile and aviation gasolines. It is based on the interaction of olefinic and paraffinic hydrocarbons to produce a higher boiling paraffinic hydrocarbon. Until recently, industrial modification of this process was limited to the catalytic alkylation of butylene with isobutanes in the presence of hydrofluoric or sulfuric acids. In recent years, in addition to the indicated compounds, propylene, ethylene and even amylenes, and in some cases mixtures of these olefins, have been used.

Isomerization

It is a process during which paraffinic low-octane hydrocarbons are converted into the corresponding isoparaffin fractions having a higher octane number. In this case, predominantly fractions C5 and C6 or their mixtures are used. In industrial installations, under appropriate conditions, up to 97-99.7% of products can be obtained. Isomerization takes place in a hydrogen environment. The catalyst is periodically regenerated.

Polymerization

This process is the conversion of butylenes and propylene into oligomeric liquid compounds. They are used as components of motor gasoline. These compounds are also feedstocks for petrochemical processes. Depending on the source material, production mode and catalyst, the output volume can vary within fairly wide limits.

Promising directions

Over the past decades, special attention has been paid to combining and strengthening primary oil refining capacities. Another current area is the implementation of large-capacity installations for the planned deepening of raw material processing. Due to this, the production volume of fuel oil will be reduced and the production of light motor fuel, petrochemical products for polymer chemistry and organic synthesis will be increased.

Competitiveness

The oil refining industry today is a very promising industry. It is highly competitive both domestically and internationally. international market. Our own production capacity allows us to fully cover the needs within the state. As for imports, they are carried out in relatively small volumes, locally and sporadically. Russia today is considered the largest exporter of petroleum products among other countries. High competitiveness is due to the absolute availability of raw materials and the relatively low level of costs for additional material resources, electricity, and protection environment. As one of negative factors in this industrial sector there is a technological dependence of domestic oil refining on foreign countries. Of course, this is not the only problem that exists in the industry. At the government level, work is constantly underway to improve the situation in this industrial sector. In particular, programs are being developed to modernize enterprises. Of particular importance in this area is the activity of large oil companies and manufacturers of modern production equipment.

Oil is a mineral that is a water-insoluble oily liquid that can be almost colorless or dark brown. The properties and methods of oil refining depend on the percentage of predominantly hydrocarbons in its composition, which varies in different fields.

Thus, in the Sosninsky deposit (Siberia), alkanes (paraffin group) occupy a share of 52 percent, cycloalkanes - about 36%, aromatic hydrocarbons - 12 percent. And, for example, in the Romashkinskoye field (Tatarstan) the share of alkanes and aromatic carbons is higher - 55 and 18 percent, respectively, while cycloalkanes have a share of 25 percent. In addition to hydrocarbons, these raw materials may include sulfur and nitrogen compounds, mineral impurities, etc.

Oil was first “refined” in 1745 in Russia

This natural resource is not used in its raw form. To obtain technically valuable products (solvents, motor fuels, components for chemical production) oil is processed through primary or secondary methods. Attempts to transform this raw material were made back in the mid-eighteenth century, when, in addition to candles and torches used by the population, “garnish oil,” which was a mixture of vegetable oil and refined petroleum, was used in the lamps of a number of churches.

Oil purification options

Refining is often not included directly in petroleum refining processes. This is rather a preliminary stage, which may consist of:

Chemical refining, when oil is exposed to oleum and concentrated sulfuric acid. This removes aromatic and unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Adsorption cleaning. Here, tars and acids can be removed from petroleum products by treatment with hot air or by passing the oil through an adsorbent.

Catalytic purification – mild hydrogenation to remove nitrogen and sulfur compounds.

Physico-chemical cleaning. In this case, excess components are selectively released using solvents. For example, the polar solvent phenol is used to remove nitrogen and sulfur compounds, and non-polar solvents - butane and propane - release tars, aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.

No chemical changes...

Oil refining through primary processes does not involve chemical transformations of the feedstock. Here the mineral is simply divided into its component components. The first device for distilling oil was invented in 1823, in the Russian Empire. The Dubinin brothers guessed to put the boiler in a heated furnace, from where a pipe went through a barrel with cold water into an empty container. In the furnace boiler, the oil was heated, passed through the “refrigerator” and settled.

Modern methods of preparing raw materials

Today, at oil refineries, oil refining technology begins with additional purification, during which the product is dehydrated using ELOU devices (electric desalting units), freed from mechanical impurities and light carbohydrates (C1 - C4). Then the raw material can be sent for atmospheric distillation or vacuum distillation. In the first case, the operating principle of the factory equipment resembles what was used back in 1823.

Only the oil refining plant itself looks different. The company has furnaces the size of windowless houses, made of the best refractory bricks. Inside them there are many kilometers of pipes in which oil moves with high speed(2 meters per second) and is heated to 300-325 with a flame from a large nozzle (at higher temperatures, hydrocarbons simply decompose). The pipe for condensation and cooling of vapors is nowadays replaced by distillation columns (can be up to 40 meters in height), where vapors are separated and condensed, and entire towns from different tanks are built to receive the resulting products.

What is material balance?

Oil refining in Russia gives different material balances during atmospheric distillation of raw materials from one or another field. This means that the output can be different proportions for different fractions - gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil, associated gas.

For example, for West Siberian oil, gas yield and losses are one percent each, respectively, gasoline fractions (released at temperatures from about 62 to 180 C) occupy a share of about 19%, kerosene - about 9.5%, diesel fraction - 19% , fuel oil - almost 50 percent (released at temperatures from 240 to 350 degrees). The resulting materials are almost always subject to additional processing, since they do not meet the operational requirements for the same machine engines.

Production with less waste

Vacuum oil refining is based on the principle of substances boiling at a lower temperature when pressure decreases. For example, some hydrocarbons in oil boil only at 450 C (atmospheric pressure), but they can be made to boil at 325 C if the pressure is lowered. Vacuum processing of raw materials is carried out in rotary vacuum evaporators, which increase the distillation speed and make it possible to obtain ceresins, paraffins, fuel, oils from fuel oil, and then use the heavy residue (tar) for the production of bitumen. Vacuum distillation, compared to atmospheric processing, produces less waste.

Recycling allows us to obtain high-quality gasoline

The secondary process of oil refining was invented in order to get more from the same raw material. motor fuel due to the effect on petroleum hydrocarbon molecules, which acquire formulas more suitable for oxidation. Recycling includes different types so-called “cracking”, including hydrocracking, thermal and catalytic options. This process was also originally invented in Russia, in 1891, by engineer V. Shukhov. It involves the breakdown of hydrocarbons into forms with fewer carbon atoms per molecule.

Oil and gas processing at 600 degrees Celsius

The operating principle of cracking plants is approximately the same as that of installations atmospheric pressure vacuum production. But here the processing of raw materials, which is most often represented by fuel oil, is carried out at temperatures close to 600 C. Under this influence, the hydrocarbons that make up the fuel oil mass break down into smaller ones, which make up the same kerosene or gasoline. Thermal cracking is based on processing at high temperatures and produces gasoline with a large number of impurities, catalytic cracking is also based on temperature treatment, but with the addition of catalysts (for example, special clay dust), which allows you to obtain more gasoline of good quality.

Hydrocracking: main types

Oil production and refining today may include different kinds hydrocracking, which is a combination of hydrotreating processes, splitting large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones and saturating unsaturated hydrocarbons with hydrogen. Hydrocracking can be light (pressure 5 MPa, temperature about 400 C, one reactor is used, mainly diesel fuel and material for catalytic cracking are obtained) and hard (pressure 10 MPa, temperature about 400 C, several reactors, diesel, gasoline and kerosene are obtained factions). Catalytic hydrocracking makes it possible to produce a number of oils with high viscosity coefficients and low content of aromatic and sulfur hydrocarbons.

Recycling of oil, in addition, can use the following technological processes:

Visbreaking. In this case, at temperatures up to 500 C and pressures ranging from half to three MPa, secondary asphaltenes, hydrocarbon gases, and gasoline are obtained from the raw material by splitting paraffins and naphthenes.

Coking of heavy oil residues is a deep oil refining, when the raw material is processed at temperatures close to 500 C under a pressure of 0.65 MPa to produce gas oil components and petroleum coke. The process steps culminate in a “coke cake”, preceded (in reverse order) by densification, polycondensation, aromatization, cyclization, dehydrogenation and cracking. In addition, the product must also be dried and calcined.

Reforming. This method of processing petroleum products was invented in Russia in 1911 by engineer N. Zelinsky. Today, catalytic reforming is used to obtain high-quality aromatic hydrocarbons and gasolines, as well as hydrogen-containing gas from naphtha and gasoline fractions, for subsequent processing in hydrocracking.

Isomerization. Oil and gas refining in this case involves obtaining an isomer from a chemical compound due to changes in the carbon skeleton of the substance. Thus, high-octane components are isolated from low-octane components of oil to produce commercial gasoline.

Alkylation. This process is based on the incorporation of alkyl substituents into an organic molecule. In this way, components for high-octane gasoline are obtained from unsaturated hydrocarbon gases.

Striving for European standards

Oil and gas processing technology at refineries is constantly being improved. Thus, at domestic enterprises there has been an increase in the efficiency of processing raw materials in terms of parameters: depth of processing, increased selection of light petroleum products, reduction of irreversible losses, etc. Plant plans for the 10-20s of the twenty-first century include a further increase in the depth of processing (up to 88 percent) , improving the quality of manufactured products to European standards, reducing the technogenic impact on the environment.

World oil refining is a global, strategically important industry. One of the most knowledge-intensive and high-tech areas of industry and, accordingly, one of the most capital-intensive. Industry with rich history and long-term plans.

The development of modern oil refining today is facilitated by a number of factors. First, economic growth by region of the world. Developing countries are consuming more and more fuel. Every year their energy needs are growing exponentially. Therefore, most new large oil refineries are being built in the Asia-Pacific region, South America and the Middle East. Today, the most powerful refinery in the world is the plant of the private Indian company Reliance Industries (RIL) in Jamnagar (western Gujarat). It was put into operation in 1999 and today processes almost 72 million tons of oil per year! The top three largest enterprises in the world also include Ulsan Refinery in South Korea and Paraguana Refinery Complex in Venezuela (about 55 million tons of oil per year). For comparison, the largest domestic enterprise is the Omsk Oil Refinery, company-owned Gazprom Neft processes about 22 million tons of oil per year.

It is worth noting that the main trend in refinery development is not just an increase in volumes, but an increase in the depth of refining. After all, the more expensive light oil products can be obtained from the same volume of oil, the more profitable the production will be. To increase the depth of processing, the share of secondary processes is increasing throughout the world. The efficiency of a modern plant is reflected by the so-called Nelson index - an indicator that evaluates the level of secondary conversion power at a refinery in relation to the primary distillation power. The Nelson Complexity Index assigns a factor to each plant unit based on its complexity and cost compared to primary petroleum processing equipment, which is assigned a complexity factor of 1.0. For example, a catalytic cracking unit has a coefficient of 4.0, that is, it is 4 times more complex than a crude oil distillation unit with the same productivity. The Nelson index for the Jamnagar refinery is 15. For the same Omsk refinery it is now 8.5. But the adopted program for the modernization of domestic factories until 2020 involves the commissioning of new secondary process capacities, which will make it possible to “pull up” this indicator. So the calculated Nelson index of the TANECO plant in Tatarstan after completion of construction should be 15 units!

The second most important factor in the development of global oil refining is the constant tightening of environmental requirements. The requirements for the content of sulfur and aromatic hydrocarbons in fuels are becoming more and more stringent. The struggle for the environment, which began in the USA and Western Europe, is gradually moving to the markets of developing countries. Just 10 years ago it was difficult to imagine the introduction of requirements environmental class 5 in our country, but we have been living with these standards for more than a year now.

Compliance with strict environmental standards is not simple task. It is also complicated by the fact that the quality of oil on average is only getting worse. Supplies of readily available high-quality oils are running out. The share of heavy, bituminous and shale raw materials, containing less and less gasoline and diesel fractions, is increasing.

Scientists and engineers around the world are working to solve these problems. The result of their developments are complex, expensive installations and the most modern multi-component catalysts, which make it possible to squeeze the maximum of environmentally friendly fuels even from the lowest quality oil. However, all this leads to significant costs for oil refineries, directly affecting the profitability of the plants. The downward trend in their income can be seen all over the world.

All the trends described above are obvious for Russia. Being part of the global economy and accepting general operating rules, our country is investing more and more funds in the development of domestic oil refining, engineering, and science. This is complicated by the fact that in the 90s and 2000s practically no enterprises were built, much was lost for domestic science, and new qualified personnel were not trained for the industry. But the adopted state program “Energy Efficiency and Economic Development”, designed to radically improve the state of domestic oil refining until 2020, will make it possible to catch up. Its fruits can already be seen today at every gas station, where fuel below the 5th environmental class is practically no longer found.

Oil refining is a rather complex process that requires the involvement of... Many products are obtained from extracted natural raw materials - different types fuels, bitumen, kerosene, solvents, lubricants, petroleum oils and others. Oil refining begins with the transportation of hydrocarbons to the plant. Manufacturing process occurs in several stages, each of which is very important from a technological point of view.

Recycling process

The process of oil refining begins with its specialized preparation. This is caused by the presence of numerous impurities in natural raw materials. An oil deposit contains sand, salts, water, soil, and gaseous particles. Water is used to extract large quantities of products and preserve energy resource deposits. This has its advantages, but significantly reduces the quality of the resulting material.

The presence of impurities in petroleum products makes it impossible to transport them to the plant. They provoke the formation of plaque on heat exchangers and other containers, which significantly reduces their service life.

Therefore, the extracted materials undergo complex cleaning - mechanical and fine. At this stage of the production process, the resulting raw materials are separated into oil and. This happens using special oil separators.

To purify raw materials, they are generally kept in hermetically sealed containers. To activate the separation process, the material is exposed to cold or high temperature. Electric desalting plants are used to remove salts contained in raw materials.

How does the process of separating oil and water occur?

After initial purification, a sparingly soluble emulsion is obtained. It is a mixture in which particles of one liquid are evenly distributed in the second. On this basis, 2 types of emulsions are distinguished:

• hydrophilic. It is a mixture where oil particles are in water;
• hydrophobic. The emulsion consists mainly of oil with water particles in it.

The process of breaking the emulsion can occur mechanically, electrically or chemically. The first method involves settling the liquid. This happens under certain conditions - heating to a temperature of 120-160 degrees, increasing pressure to 8-15 atmospheres. Delamination of the mixture usually occurs within 2-3 hours.

In order for the emulsion separation process to be successful, it is necessary to prevent water evaporation. Also, the separation of pure oil is carried out using powerful centrifuges. The emulsion is divided into fractions when it reaches 3.5-50 thousand rpm.

The use of a chemical method involves the use of special surfactants called demulsifiers. They help dissolve the adsorption film, as a result of which the oil is cleared of water particles. The chemical method is often used in conjunction with the electrical method. The last cleaning method involves influencing the emulsion electric current. It provokes the union of water particles. As a result, it is easier to remove from the mixture, resulting in oil of the highest quality.

Primary processing

Oil production and refining occurs in several stages. A peculiarity of the production of various products from natural raw materials is that even after high-quality purification, the resulting product cannot be used for its intended purpose.

The starting material is characterized by the content of various hydrocarbons, which differ significantly in molecular weight and boiling point. It contains substances of naphthenic, aromatic, and paraffin nature. The feedstock also contains sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen compounds of the organic type, which must also be removed.

All existing methods of oil refining are aimed at separating it into groups. During the production process they receive wide range products with different characteristics.

Primary processing of natural raw materials is carried out on the basis different temperatures boiling of its constituent parts. To carry out this process, specialized installations are used that make it possible to obtain various petroleum products - from fuel oil to tar.

If you process natural raw materials in this way, you will not be able to obtain material ready for further use. Primary distillation is aimed only at determining the physical and chemical properties of oil. After this, the need for further processing can be determined. They also establish the type of equipment that needs to be used to perform the required processes.

Primary oil refining

Oil distillation methods

The following methods of oil refining (distillation) are distinguished:

• single evaporation;
• repeated evaporation;
• distillation with gradual evaporation.

The flash evaporation method involves processing oil under high temperature at a given value. As a result, vapors are formed that enter the special apparatus. It is called an evaporator. In this cylindrical device, vapors are separated from the liquid fraction.

With repeated evaporation, the raw material is subjected to processing, in which the temperature is increased several times according to a given algorithm. The latter distillation method is more complex. Oil refining with gradual evaporation implies a smooth change in the main operating parameters.

Distillation equipment

Industrial oil refining is carried out using several devices.

Tube furnaces. In turn, they are also divided into several types. These are atmospheric, vacuum, atmospheric-vacuum furnaces. Using the first type of equipment, shallow processing of petroleum products is carried out, which makes it possible to obtain fuel oil, gasoline, kerosene and diesel fractions. In vacuum furnaces, as a result, more efficient work raw materials are divided into:

• tar;
• oil particles;
• gas oil particles.

The resulting products are completely suitable for the production of coke, bitumen, and lubricants.

Distillation columns. The process of processing crude oil using this equipment involves heating it in a coil to a temperature of 320 degrees. After this, the mixture enters the intermediate levels of the distillation column. On average, it has 30-60 gutters, each of which is placed at a certain interval and equipped with a bath of liquid. This causes the vapor to flow down in the form of droplets as condensation forms.

There is also processing using heat exchangers.

Recycling

After determining the properties of the oil, depending on the need for a certain end product, the type of secondary distillation is selected. Basically, it consists of a thermal-catalytic effect on the feedstock. Deep processing oil recovery can occur using several methods.

Fuel. Application this method Secondary distillation makes it possible to obtain a number of high-quality products - motor gasoline, diesel, jet, and boiler fuels. To carry out processing, you do not need to use a lot of equipment. As a result of using this method, heavy fractions of raw materials and sediment are used to obtain finished product. The fuel distillation method includes:

• cracking;
• reforming;
• hydrotreating;
• hydrocracking.

Fuel and oil. As a result of using this distillation method, not only various fuels are obtained, but also asphalt and lubricating oils. This is done using the extraction method, deasphalting.

Petrochemical. As a result of applying this method with the use of high-tech equipment, a large number of products. This is not only fuel, oils, but also plastics, rubber, fertilizers, acetone, alcohol and much more.

How the objects around us are made from oil and gas - accessible and understandable

This method is considered the most common. It is used to process sour or high-sulfur oil. Hydrotreating can significantly improve the quality of the resulting fuels. Various additives are removed from them - sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen compounds. The material is processed using special catalysts in a hydrogen environment. In this case, the temperature in the equipment reaches 300-400 degrees, and the pressure – 2-4 MPa.

As a result of distillation, the organic compounds contained in the raw materials decompose when interacting with hydrogen circulating inside the apparatus. As a result, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are formed, which are removed from the catalyst. Hydrotreating allows you to process 95-99% of raw materials.

Catalytic cracking

Distillation is carried out using zeolite-containing catalysts at a temperature of 550 degrees. Cracking is considered a very effective method of processing prepared raw materials. With its help, high-octane motor gasoline can be obtained from fuel oil fractions. The yield of pure product in this case is 40-60%. Liquid gas is also obtained (10-15% of the original volume).

Catalytic reforming

Reforming is carried out using an aluminum-platinum catalyst at a temperature of 500 degrees and a pressure of 1-4 MPa. At the same time, a hydrogen environment is present inside the equipment. This method is used to convert naphthenic and paraffinic hydrocarbons into aromatic ones. This allows you to significantly increase the octane number of manufactured products. When using catalytic reforming, the yield pure material makes up 73-90% of the obtained raw materials.

Hydrocracking

Allows you to obtain liquid fuel when exposed to high pressure(280 atmospheres) and temperature (450 degrees). This process also occurs with the use of strong catalysts – molybdenum oxides.

If hydrocracking is combined with other methods of processing natural raw materials, the yield of pure products in the form of gasoline and jet fuel is 75-80%. When using high-quality catalysts, their regeneration may not be carried out for 2-3 years.

Extraction and deasphalting

Extraction involves dividing the prepared raw material into the required fractions using solvents. Subsequently, dewaxing is carried out. It allows you to significantly reduce the pour point of the oil. Also to receive products High Quality it is hydrotreated. As a result of extraction, diesel fuel can be obtained. Also, using this technique, aromatic hydrocarbons are extracted from prepared raw materials.

Deasphalting is necessary in order to obtain resin-asphaltene compounds from the final products of distillation of petroleum feedstock. The resulting substances are actively used for the production of bitumen, as catalysts for other processing methods.

Other processing methods

Processing of natural raw materials after primary distillation can be carried out in other ways.

Alkylation. After processing the prepared materials, high-quality components for gasoline are obtained. The method is based on the chemical interaction of olefin and paraffin hydrocarbons, resulting in a high-boiling paraffinic hydrocarbon.

Isomerization. The use of this method makes it possible to obtain a substance with a higher octane number from low-octane paraffinic hydrocarbons.

Polymerization. Allows the conversion of butylenes and propylene into oligomeric compounds. As a result, materials are obtained for the production of gasoline and for various petrochemical processes.

Coking. It is used for the production of petroleum coke from heavy fractions obtained after oil distillation.

The oil refining industry is a promising and developing one. The production process is constantly being improved through the introduction of new equipment and techniques.

Video: Oil refining

Vladimir Khomutko

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Modern technologies deepening oil refining

IN strategic plan The main goals of modernization of Russian oil refining are:

• maximizing the production of fuels that meet the Euro-5 standard;
• minimizing the output of fuel oil.

And how advanced oil refining should develop is also clear - it is necessary to build and put into operation new conversion processes in order to almost double their annual capacity: from 72 to 136 million tons.

For example, at the enterprises of the world leader in the oil refining industry - the USA, the share of processes that deepen refining is more than 55 percent, but in our country it is only 17 percent.

Changing this situation is possible, but with the help of what technologies? Using the classic set of processes is a long and very expensive path. On modern stage The most efficient technologies that could be applied at every Russian refinery are urgently needed. The search for such solutions should be carried out taking into account specific properties heavy oil residues, such as a high content of asphaltene and resinous substances and a high level of coking.

It is these properties of residues that indirectly push specialists to the conclusion that classical technologies of heavy residues (for example, coking, deasphalting and thermal cracking) are limited in their ability to select light distillates, which means that deepening oil refining with their help will be insufficient.

Available modern technologies

The main deepening technologies are based on the process of delayed coking of tars, which ensure the maximum yield of distillates (from 60 to 80 percent of the total volume of processed raw materials). In this case, the resulting fractions belong to middle and gas oil distillates. Medium fractions are sent for hydrotreating to produce diesel fuel, and heavy gas oil fractions are subjected to catalytic processing.

If we take countries such as Canada and Venezuela, they have been using delayed coking for more than two decades as a basic process for the commercial processing of heavy grade oils. However, for raw materials with a high sulfur content, coking is not applicable for environmental reasons. In addition, high-sulfur coke produced in colossal volumes as fuel effective application does not have it, and subjecting it to desulfurization is simply unprofitable.

Russia doesn’t need coke of poor quality, especially in such quantities. In addition, delayed coking is a very energy-intensive process, harmful from an environmental point of view and unprofitable at low processing capacities. Due to these factors, it is necessary to find other deepening technologies.

Hydrocracking and gasification are the most expensive deep oil refining processes, so they will not be used at Russian refineries in the near future.

Therefore, we will not pay attention to them in this article. Russia needs the least capital-intensive, but quite effective conversion technologies.

Search for such technological solutions has been going on for a long time, and the main objective of such a search is to obtain qualified residual products.

These are:

• high-melting pitch;
• "liquid coke";
• various brands of bitumen.

In addition, the yield of residues must be minimal in order for its processing through coking, gasification and hydrocracking to be profitable.

Also, one of the criteria for choosing a method for secondary advanced processing of petroleum residues is to obtain a sought-after high-quality product without losing the effectiveness of the technology itself. In our country, such a product, without a doubt, is high quality road bitumen, since the condition Russian roads is a perennial problem.

Therefore, if it is possible to select and implement an effective process for obtaining middle distillates and residues in the form of high-quality bitumen, this will make it possible to simultaneously solve the problem of deepening oil refining and provide the road construction industry with a high-quality residual product.

Among such technological processes that can be implemented at Russian processing enterprises, the following techniques are worthy of attention:

This is a well-known technological process used in the production of bitumen and tar. It is worth saying right away that approximately 80-90 percent of the tars obtained by vacuum distillation of fuel oil do not meet the requirements for commercial bitumen in terms of their quality characteristics, and their further processing using oxidative processes is necessary.

As a rule, before oxidation, tars are subjected to additional visbreaking in order to reduce the viscosity of the resulting boiler fuel, as well as to reduce the concentration of difficult-to-oxidize paraffins in the bitumen raw material.

If we talk about the vacuum gas oils obtained using this process, then they are characterized by:

• high density (more than 900 kilograms per cubic meter);
• high degree of viscosity;
• high values ​​of pour point (often more than thirty to forty degrees Celsius).

Such highly viscous and generally highly paraffinic gas oils are essentially intermediates that must be subjected to further catalytic processing. The bulk of the resulting tars is boiler fuel brand M-100.

Based on the foregoing, vacuum processing of fuel oil no longer satisfies modern requirements for processes that are designed to deepen oil refining, as a result of which it should not be considered as a basic process capable of radically increasing GOR.

Propane deasphalting is typically used to produce high-index oils.

Deasphalting of tars with gasoline is used mainly to produce raw materials, which are then used for the production of bitumen, although the asphalt phase released in this case does not always have the properties necessary to obtain commercial bitumen of the required quality. In this regard, the resulting asphaltite must be additionally subjected to either oxidation or dilution with an oil phase.

The light phase of this technological process is deasphalting. Its performance is even worse than that of vacuum gas oil:

• density value - more than 920 kilograms per cubic meter;
• pour point - more than forty degrees Celsius;
• higher viscosity value.

All this requires additional catalytic processing. In addition, deasphalted oil, due to its high viscosity, is very difficult to pump.

But the biggest problem with deasphalting is its high energy intensity, which is why the size of capital investments, compared to vacuum distillation, more than doubles.

The bulk of the resulting asphaltite requires additional processing using conversion processes: delayed coking or gasification.

In connection with all of the above, deasphalting also does not meet the basic requirements for technology designed to simultaneously deepen oil refining and obtain high-quality road bitumen, therefore it is also not suitable as an effective technology for increasing gas pressure ratio.

Visbreaking of fuel oil

This technical process is experiencing a rebirth and is becoming more and more in demand.

If earlier visbreaking was used to reduce the viscosity of tars, then at the present stage of technology development it is becoming the main process that deepens oil refining. Almost all the largest companies in the world (Chioda, Shell, KBR, Foster Wuiller, UOP and so on) for Lately developed several original technological solutions at once.

The main advantages of these modern thermal processes are:

• simplicity;
• high degree of reliability;
• low cost of necessary equipment;
• increase in the yield of middle distillates obtained from heavy oil residues by 40 - 60 percent.

In addition, modern visbreaking makes it possible to obtain high-quality road bitumen and energy fuel such as “liquid coke”.

For example, such large corporations as Chioda and Shell send heavy gas oils (both vacuum and atmospheric) to hard cracking furnaces, which eliminates the release of fractions whose boiling point is more than 370 degrees Celsius. In the resulting products, only gasoline and diesel distillates and a very heavy residue remain, but there are no heavy types of gas oils at all!

Technology "Visbreaking - TERMAKAT"

This modern technology makes it possible to obtain from 88 to 93 percent of diesel and gasoline distillates from processed fuel oil.

When developing the Visbreaking-TERMAKAT technology, it was possible to control two parallel processes at once: thermal destruction and thermopolycondensation. In this case, destruction occurs in a prolonged mode, and thermopolycondensation occurs in a delayed mode.