Trade · 6 pages · 12 min
How a refinery cracks a barrel
A refinery separates crude by boiling point and then breaks heavy molecules into lighter fuels.
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From the opening
A barrel of crude is a mixture of hydrocarbons of many sizes, not a single fuel ready to burn in one kind of engine. A refinery first separates that mixture and then cracks the heavier fractions into the smaller molecules that gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel require. The opening covers distillation sorts by boiling point, crackers break heavy molecules, and the slate is manufactured.
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Inside
- Distillation sorts by boiling point
- Crackers break heavy molecules
- The slate is manufactured
- Simple plants convert less
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Atmospheric distillation of crude oil
- Fluid catalytic cracking