How to separate oil derivatives from each other

Oil refining

Oil is raw materials extracted from the ground, which are not useful in their natural state, and cannot be used in human industries, but after extracting them from the ground they are subject to what is called refining. to convert it from its raw form into compounds usable for human use; These components are broken, fragmented, and separated to obtain the original components, and then combined to form new groups.

Separation of oil components

Crude oil extracted from the ground is subjected to several processes that result in new compounds, which may be in the gaseous, liquid or solid state, and the components are separated from each other through three main stages, which are in the order as follows:

Physical processes

Several methods can be used to separate the oil components in the first stage, the most famous of which are:

• distillation: The boiling or condensation method is used to separate the lighter particles from the raw materials with low boiling points, and the primary distillation process can be used, i.e. atmospheric; to obtain some compounds, or distillation under rarefied pressure; to obtain other compounds.
• Solvent extraction: Where special solvents are used that can separate the components of raw materials from each other depending on the chemical composition of the molecules, and the resulting compounds must be very pure, and they must meet international standard specifications; Due to its dangerous role in all uses.
• Cooling: Where the cooling method is used to solidify certain parts of the materials in the mixture, and separate them from the liquid, and these include:
  • Gas separation process.
  • Gasoline stabilization process.
  • The octane number process for benzene.

chemical processes

In this phase, chemicals are added; To change the hydrocarbon molecules present in the oil, and it takes place under the influence of heat and pressure or auxiliary factors, and the aim is to increase the quantity and quality of car and jet fuel, and the chemical stage includes:

• Thermal conversion processes.
• The crushing process using the catalyst.
• Catalytic reform of gasoline.
• Operations using petroleum gases.

purification or treatment

This stage is the final stage for separating the oil derivatives from each other, and it is done using physical processes or chemical processes, such as: using a caustic soda solution; To purify butane gas and gasoline from hydrogen sulfide, or use concentrated sulfuric acid to purify kerosene from sulfuric and aromatic substances that cause black smoke to rise, jet fuel and others. Hydrogen gas is also used to remove many impurities, or use a liquid to absorb hydrogen sulfide if its percentage is large; Because it helps to corrode machinery and equipment.