refining question

dsula · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 118

When refining oil is it possible to control how much you get of each, say diesel, gas and so on? In other words can you choose to get 90% of diesel and 10% of everything else this run, and the next you choose another ratio?

Other question.
Is it possible to get bio gas as well, or only diesel?

pup55 · Expert Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 3596

There is some flexibility, but it mostly depends on the design of the reactor, and the quality of the feedstock.

In North America, the industry average over the last few years has been 57% gasoline, the rest either diesel, propane, jet fuel, or other materials depending on the refinery. The refinery in Hawaii is mostly set up for Jet Fuel and Gasoline, for example.

An individual refinery can deviate from this slightly, maybe 5% or so, but their overall throughput may be sacrificed, so they hate to do this.

Mainly any changes in this ratio have to happen over a period of time.

So, if the heating oil price is high, like right now, there is pretty much no way for them to turn off the gasoline and just run heating oil. Also in the summer, when demand for heating oil goes down, they still cannot go all the way to 100% gasoline.

pip · Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:44 am Post subject: Re: refining question

I used to work in a refinery that processed WTI. We made about 60% gasoline and 30% distillated (kerosene and diesel). The 60/30 split could be varied by 5-10% depending on the market prices. Remainder was 5% light ends and 5% asphalt. There is some flexibilty but not a whole lot.
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dsula · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 118

So if I understand correctly it doesn't make sense to migrate to diesel cars in large scale. Europe (or maybe only Germany) is very fond of their diesel cars, claiming better efficency, less pollution. However there seems to be a more or less fixed ration of diesel/gas usage that must be maintained.

Doesn't the US use WAY more gas than diesel? Where is all that diesel going then?

dooberheim · Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:21 pm Post subject: Re: refining question

Diesel is actually a more important product, as most of our food and frieght is grown and transported with it. A lot of gasoline is used frivolously. Diesel is used mostly for essential work.

DK
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aahala · Intermediate Crude Joined: Feb 03, 2005 Posts: 954

dsula · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 118

pip · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: Re: refining question

Exactly, the market is already pretty well balanced. There can't be a large scale switch to diesel without creating a diesel shortage and a gasoline surplus.

European refineries already produce excess gasoline for their market because of the high number of diesels in Europe. The gasoline is exported to the US because we tend to use more gasoline cars.

Refineries can be built to produce more diesel, and Europe's refineries are. The 60/40% is not the natural makeup of crude oil. Most of the oil barrel is neither gasoline or diesel but heavier hydrocarbon generally referred to as gas oil. Solid at room temp. The refinery's cracking units break these big hydrocarbon molecules into a range of gasoline and diesel sized molecules. The US refineries are built to crack to primarily gasoline as gasoline has historically been more profitable. Europe cracks to diesel. I am not sure what the product breakdown for a typical EU refinery is but it's certainly more towards the diesel side.
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efarmer · Heavy Crude Joined: Mar 17, 2006 Posts: 455

If I understand correctly the summer and winter gasoline formulations here in the Midwest USA are largely the result the inclusion of the more volatile butane in the winter formulation and it's exclusion in the summer formulation. Does the butane content get produced as a constant similar to heating oil and stored for winter during the warmer weather?

Tanada · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject: Re: refining question