Questions on Crude Oil Hydrotreating

Question

Crude Oil Hydrotreating

A typical petroleum refinery is a complex chemical processing and manufacturing unit, with crude oil feedstock going in and refined fractions (products). Refining occurs by fractionation (distillation) of crude oil into a series of product streams based on boiling ranges for each fraction. Figure 1 shows a typical layout for an oil refinery.

 
Figure 1: Typical layout for an oil refinery

Crude oil is a very complex material consisting of different hydrocarbon compounds in addition to sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen and some metallic compounds, containing nickel, vanadium, iron and copper. The presence of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen and metallic compounds in crude oil has a significant impact upon the quality of oil products in addition to the harm they can cause.  

Question:

Study on your own (books, web based materials, journals) and  
a) write a 100 words summary on the harmful effects of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen and some metallic compounds, containing nickel, vanadium, iron and copper if they are present in the oil fractions obtained by crude oil distillation
b) write a 500 words summary on hytrotreating process and how it is currently carried out in existing refineries.

Study the references (electronic copies are attached with this coursework) and
c) write a 400 words summary on the new method of hydrotreating

Summary

The question belongs to Chemical Engineering and it is about crude oil hydrotreating. The concept of crude oil hydrotreating process and the harmful effects of the chemical compounds found in crude oil are also discussed in detail in the solution.

Total Word Count 1003