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Petroleum Testing and Inspection Services > How the Oil Refinery Process Works |
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Oil Refining Production Process |
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A complex series of oil refinery processes turn crude oil into fuels and many other products |
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| The oil refinery production process starts with crude oil as the feedstock, then becomes quite complicated very quickly. A typical petroleum refinery is a complex chemical processing and manufacturing plant, with crude oil feedstocks going in and refined products like gasoline and diesel coming out. A wide range of products and feedstocks are produced in a petroleum refinery. Fuels, lubricants, chemicals, gases and other products used everywhere in modern life originate from crude oil processed in oil refineries. Without oil refineries, raw crude oil would be of little use to the global economy. Many crucial processing steps are taken at a petroleum refinery in order to produce fuel and other products modern civilization requires to function. Examples of oil refining processes include distillation, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, alkylation, coking, polymerization, reforming, blending and many others. These steps in the refining process produce a wide range of fuels and other products that meet environmental, regulatory and quality requirements. The diagram below , courtesy of the US Environmental Agency (.pdf download) , shows a schematic drawing of how crude oil feedstock is processed into a diverse range of petroleum refined products including fuels and petrochemicals. |
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