Distillation

Petroleum in the unrefined state is of limited value and of limited use and, therefore, refining that involves a series of process steps by which the petroleum is converted into salable products, is required to produce the products in the amounts dictated by the market ( Speight, 2017 ). In fact, a refinery is a group of integrated manufacturing plants (or sometimes referred to as ‘unit processes’) that vary in function ( Figure 17.1 ) to produce a variety of products produced and the processes are and products manufactured to give a balanced operation ( Speight, 2019 , 2020 , 2021 ). Figure 17.1 Simplified schematic representation of a refinery. The flowchart outlines petroleum refining steps from crude oil input through separation, conversion, and finishing units to produce LPG, gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, asphalt, and lubricants. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="black-white" xlink:href=" https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003767763/66de88c5-bd8f-4d04-bcac-41529ebe4503/content/fig17_1_B.tif "/>