Transcript Engineering Steps: Alembic to Modern Refinary

Pharos University in Alexandria
Faculty of Engineering
HU 121 History of Engineering and Technology
Lect3
Distillation Engineering: Alembic to Petroleum Refinery
Prof. Dr. Abdelsamie Moet
Fall 2012/13
Crude Oil
• Crude oil consists of a complex mixture of
hydrocarbons of various molecular weights.
• Each of the hydrocarbon compounds in crude oil
has its own individual boiling point.
• To make use of these hydrocarbons, they have
to be separated first.
• Subsequently, they may be mixed or reacted to
the desired composition to be used as
“petrochemicals”
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Fractional
Distillation
• The crude oil is heated.
• The smaller molecules
have a lower boiling point, so they go to the top
of the column and condense out onto the trays.
• The larger molecules have higher boiling points,
so condense further down the column.
• This process is known as Fractional Distillation
• Fractions are then removed for further
processing.
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20th Century
9th Century
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alembic
• Distillation, the means of
separating liquids through
differences in their boiling
points, was invented around the
year 800 by Islam's foremost
scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan,
.
• Jabir invented many of the basic processes and apparatus
still in use today: liquefaction, crystallization, distillation,
purification, oxidation, evaporation and filtration.
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Evolution of Crude Refining
• In the 9th century, the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad had appointed (wali
al-naft) in every major producing district.
• The famous physician Muhammad al-Razi (Rhazes, 864-930) has
mentioned in Kitab al- Asrar (Book of secrets) that kerosene lamps
were in common use for heating and lighting.
• Al-Razi gives two methods for making kerosene:
– one using clay as an absorbent and
– another using sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride).
– The distillation is to be repeated until the distillate is perfectly clear and
"safe to light," meaning that the volatile hydrocarbon fractions had been
substantially removed.
• The kerosene lamps were in use in the Muslim world more than a
thousand years before they became known in the West.
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/islmoil1.html
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Evolution of Crude Refining
• The original requirement was to produce
kerosene as a cheaper and better source of
light than whale oil.
• The development of the internal combustion
engine led to the production of gasoline and
diesel fuels.
• The evolution of the airplane created an initial
need for high-octane aviation gasoline and
then for jet fuel.
• Present-day refineries produce a variety of
products including many required as feedstock
for the petrochemical industry.
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Drivers for Advances in Crude
Refining
• Currently 35% of this consumed energy comes
from crude oil.
• Crude oil is also the main source for many
products such as plastics, paints, medicines,
lubricants, etc…
• Therefore, advances in crude oil refining has been
driven by the growth in petrochemical industries.
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Almost Everything from aspirin to stealth
10
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Carbon Fiber Composites
• Stealth Fighter (F117 &
B2)
• The Puffin
3.7-meter-long, 4.1meter-wingspan craft, is
designed with carbonfiber composites to weigh
in at 135 kilograms,
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nasa-one-man-stealth-plane
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