Crude Oil distillation. In the first stage
the crude petroleum is mixed with water to dissolve any
salt.
The
resulting brine is separated by settling. The remaining oil
is pumped through a tubular furnace where it
is partially vaporized. The components that have a low
number of carbon atoms vaporize and pass into a fractionating
column or tower. As the vapors rise in the column, cooling
causes condensation. By controlling
the temperature, the volatile components may be separated
into fractions that fall within particular boiling point
ranges. In general, compounds with the lowest boiling points
have the fewest carbon atoms and compounds with the highest
boiling points have the greatest number of carbon atoms.
This process reduces the number of compounds within each
fraction and provides different qualities. The final
products derived from this first-stage distillation process
are raw gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel.
