10
The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum
distillation (Table 1.2). The story of the discovery of the character of petroleum is somewhat circuitous but worthy of mention, in the historical sense (Burke, 1996).
At a time when the carbonation of water was being investigated, Joseph Priestley became
involved in attempting to produce such liquid since it was to be used as a cure for scurvy on Captain
Cook’s second expedition in 1771. Priestley decided to make a contribution to the success of the
expedition and set himself to invent a drink that would cure scurvy. During his experiments at a
brewery near his home in Leeds, he had discovered the properties of carbon dioxide (he called it
fixed air) given off by the fermenting beer vats. One of these properties was that when water was
placed in a flat dish for a time above the vats, it acquired a pleasant, acidulous taste that reminded
Priestley of seltzer mineral waters.
Experiments convinced him that the medicinal qualities of seltzer might be due to the air dissolved in it. Pouring water from one glass to another for 3 min in the fixed air above a beer vat
achieved the same effect. By 1772 he had devised a pumping apparatus that would impregnate
water with fixed air, and the system was set up on board Cook’s ships Resolution and Adventure
in time for the voyage. It was a great success. Meanwhile, Priestley’s politics continued to dog
him. His support for the French Revolution was seen as particularly traitorous, and in 1794 a mob
burned down his house and laboratory. So Priestley took ship for Pennsylvania, where he settled in
Northumberland, honored by his American hosts as a major scientific figure. Then one night, while
dining at Yale, he met a young professor of chemistry. The result of their meeting would change the
life of the twentieth-century America.
It may have been because the young man at dinner that night, Benjamin Silliman, was a hypochondriac (rather than the fact that he was a chemist) that subsequent events took the course they did.
TABLE 1.2
Process Development since the Commencement of the Modern Refining Era
Year
Process Name
Purpose
By-Products
1862 Atmospheric distillation
Produce kerosene
Naphtha, cracked residuum
1870 Vacuum distillation
Lubricants
Asphalt, residua
1913 Thermal cracking
Increase gasoline yield
Residua, fuel oil
1916 Sweetening
Reduce sulfur
Sulfur
1930 Thermal reforming
Improve octane number
Residua
1932 Hydrogenation
Remove sulfur
Sulfur
1932 Coking
Produce gasoline
Coke
1933 Solvent extraction
Improve lubricant viscosity index
Aromatics
1935 Solvent dewaxing
Improve pour point
Wax
1935 Catalytic polymerization
Improve octane number
Petrochemical feedstocks
1937 Catalytic cracking
Higher octane gasoline
Petrochemical feedstocks
1939 Visbreaking
Reduce viscosity
Increased distillate yield
1940 Alkylation
Increase octane number
High-octane aviation fuel
1940 Isomerization
Produce alkylation feedstock
Naphtha
1942 Fluid catalytic cracking
Increase gasoline yield
Petrochemical feedstocks
1950 Deasphalting
Increase cracker feedstock
Asphalt
1952 Catalytic reforming
Convert low-quality naphtha
Aromatics
1954 Hydrodesulfurization
Remove sulfur
Sulfur
1956 Inhibitor sweetening
Remove mercaptans
Disulfides and sulfur
1957 Catalytic isomerization
Convert to high-octane products
Alkylation feedstocks
1960 Hydrocracking
Improve quality and reduce sulfur
Alkylation feedstocks
1974 Catalytic dewaxing
Improve pour point
Wax
1975 Resid hydrocracking
Increase gasoline yield
Cracked residua
The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum
distillation (Table 1.2). The story of the discovery of the character of petroleum is somewhat circuitous but worthy of mention, in the historical sense (Burke, 1996).
At a time when the carbonation of water was being investigated, Joseph Priestley became
involved in attempting to produce such liquid since it was to be used as a cure for scurvy on Captain
Cook’s second expedition in 1771. Priestley decided to make a contribution to the success of the
expedition and set himself to invent a drink that would cure scurvy. During his experiments at a
brewery near his home in Leeds, he had discovered the properties of carbon dioxide (he called it
fixed air) given off by the fermenting beer vats. One of these properties was that when water was
placed in a flat dish for a time above the vats, it acquired a pleasant, acidulous taste that reminded
Priestley of seltzer mineral waters.
Experiments convinced him that the medicinal qualities of seltzer might be due to the air dissolved in it. Pouring water from one glass to another for 3 min in the fixed air above a beer vat
achieved the same effect. By 1772 he had devised a pumping apparatus that would impregnate
water with fixed air, and the system was set up on board Cook’s ships Resolution and Adventure
in time for the voyage. It was a great success. Meanwhile, Priestley’s politics continued to dog
him. His support for the French Revolution was seen as particularly traitorous, and in 1794 a mob
burned down his house and laboratory. So Priestley took ship for Pennsylvania, where he settled in
Northumberland, honored by his American hosts as a major scientific figure. Then one night, while
dining at Yale, he met a young professor of chemistry. The result of their meeting would change the
life of the twentieth-century America.
It may have been because the young man at dinner that night, Benjamin Silliman, was a hypochondriac (rather than the fact that he was a chemist) that subsequent events took the course they did.
TABLE 1.2
Process Development since the Commencement of the Modern Refining Era
Year
Process Name
Purpose
By-Products
1862 Atmospheric distillation
Produce kerosene
Naphtha, cracked residuum
1870 Vacuum distillation
Lubricants
Asphalt, residua
1913 Thermal cracking
Increase gasoline yield
Residua, fuel oil
1916 Sweetening
Reduce sulfur
Sulfur
1930 Thermal reforming
Improve octane number
Residua
1932 Hydrogenation
Remove sulfur
Sulfur
1932 Coking
Produce gasoline
Coke
1933 Solvent extraction
Improve lubricant viscosity index
Aromatics
1935 Solvent dewaxing
Improve pour point
Wax
1935 Catalytic polymerization
Improve octane number
Petrochemical feedstocks
1937 Catalytic cracking
Higher octane gasoline
Petrochemical feedstocks
1939 Visbreaking
Reduce viscosity
Increased distillate yield
1940 Alkylation
Increase octane number
High-octane aviation fuel
1940 Isomerization
Produce alkylation feedstock
Naphtha
1942 Fluid catalytic cracking
Increase gasoline yield
Petrochemical feedstocks
1950 Deasphalting
Increase cracker feedstock
Asphalt
1952 Catalytic reforming
Convert low-quality naphtha
Aromatics
1954 Hydrodesulfurization
Remove sulfur
Sulfur
1956 Inhibitor sweetening
Remove mercaptans
Disulfides and sulfur
1957 Catalytic isomerization
Convert to high-octane products
Alkylation feedstocks
1960 Hydrocracking
Improve quality and reduce sulfur
Alkylation feedstocks
1974 Catalytic dewaxing
Improve pour point
Wax
1975 Resid hydrocracking
Increase gasoline yield
Cracked residua