Tell meall about crude oil refining?

you basically heat up the oil in a tower and as the light end of the oil boils off they raise and condense at diff. levels and are separated, and what is left at the btm are the heavies. each level is used for something different, then a cat. cracker is used to break down the heavies in to something more usable, a lot of energy is used to do this, the gasoline part is more expensive to get the octane level needed and to meet gov. regulations. there is


a lot more to it than that, check out wikipedia, I'm sure they have something on it.





P.S. what did rebel's answer do with refining?Tell meall about crude oil refining?
http://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-ref鈥?/a>





Here's a really good website that gives good explanations along with a diagram. Hope it helps.Tell meall about crude oil refining?
Locating an oil field is the first obstacle to be overcome. Today, petroleum engineers use instruments such as gravimeters and magnetometers in the search for petroleum. Generally, the first stage in the extraction of crude oil is to drill a well into the underground reservoir. Historically, in the USA, some oil fields existed where the oil rose naturally to the surface, but most of these fields have long since been depleted, except for certain remote locations in Alaska. Often many wells (called multilateral wells) are drilled into the same reservoir, to ensure that the extraction rate will be economically viable. Also, some wells (secondary wells) may be used to pump water, steam, acids or various gas mixtures into the reservoir to raise or maintain the reservoir pressure, and so maintain an economic extraction rate.





If the underground pressure in the oil reservoir is sufficient, then the oil will be forced to the surface under this pressure. Gaseous fuels or natural gas are usually present, which also supply needed underground pressure. In this situation it is sufficient to place a complex arrangement of valves (the Christmas tree) on the well head to connect the well to a pipeline network for storage and processing. This is called primary oil recovery. Usually, only about 20% of the oil in a reservoir can be extracted this way.





Over the lifetime of the well the pressure will fall, and at some point there will be insufficient underground pressure to force the oil to the surface. If economical, and it often is, the remaining oil in the well is extracted using secondary oil recovery methods (see: energy balance and net energy gain). Secondary oil recovery uses various techniques to aid in recovering oil from depleted or low-pressure reservoirs. Sometimes pumps, such as beam pumps and electrical submersible pumps (ESPs), are used to bring the oil to the surface. Other secondary recovery techniques increase the reservoir's pressure by water injection, natural gas reinjection and gas lift, which injects air, carbon dioxide or some other gas into the reservoir. Together, primary and secondary recovery allow 25% to 35% of the reservoir's oil to be recovered.





Tertiary oil recovery reduces the oil's viscosity to increase oil production. Tertiary recovery is started when secondary oil recovery techniques are no longer enough to sustain production, but only when the oil can still be extracted profitably. This depends on the cost of the extraction method and the current price of crude oil. When prices are high, previously unprofitable wells are brought back into production and when they are low, production is curtailed. Thermally enhanced oil recovery methods (TEOR) are tertiary recovery techniques that heat the oil and make it easier to extract. Steam injection is the most common form of TEOR, and is often done with a cogeneration plant. In this type of cogeneration plant, a gas turbine is used to generate electricity and the waste heat is used to produce steam, which is then injected into the reservoir. This form of recovery is used extensively to increase oil production in the San Joaquin Valley, which has very heavy oil, yet accounts for 10% of the United States' oil production. In-situ burning is another form of TEOR, but instead of steam, some of the oil is burned to heat the surrounding oil. Occasionally, detergents are also used to decrease oil viscosity. Tertiary recovery allows another 5% to 15% of the reservoir's oil to be recovered.
crude oil refining is subjected to fractional distillation as petroleum has many fractions of layer in it.the fraction having the least density is seperated first and those having the maximum density are seperated at the last. as gases have low density,they are seperated first and then liquids and then solids. thank you

dermatologist