" REFINERY PROCESSES " HOW AN OIL REFINERY WORKS 1950s SHELL OIL HISTORIC FILM 71862

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Made in the 1950s by the Shell Oil Company, "Refinery Process" goes behind the scenes at a huge oil refinery to show how crude oil is transformed into finished products. The film uses a combination of animation and live-action to present the distillation process in an oil refinery, which is crucial for turning crude oil into usable products. Distillation relies on boiling, where liquids turn into vapor at their boiling points and condense back into liquids when cooled. Each liquid has a unique boiling point based on its molecular structure, allowing for the separation of mixed liquids. Crude oil, a mixture of hydrocarbons, is separated into boiling fractions in fractionating columns through crude and vacuum distillation. These fractions are used to produce gasoline, turbine fuel, diesel fuel, and industrial fuel oil. The refinery also produces various other products and raw materials for the chemical industry, continuously developing new petroleum-based products.

00:00 Distillation turns crude oil into usable products.0:30: The process depends on boiling, where water's temperature rises to its boiling point and then turns into steam. When steam cools below the boiling point, it condenses back into water. 1:07: Each liquid has a unique boiling point. Clear liquid with small molecules boils at 173°F, and dark liquid with larger molecules boils at 363°F.
1:36: The difference in boiling points allows separation of mixed liquids. Heating the mixture vaporizes both liquids, which are then cooled in a column to separate them.. 2:30: Crude oil is a mixture of many hydrocarbons with close boiling points, grouped into boiling fractions.3:05: Boiling fractions are used to make gasoline, turbine fuel, diesel fuel, and industrial fuel oil.Crude oil is like a shuffled pack of cards, with fractions representing different cards. 3:36: Sorting crude oil into fractions occurs in fractionating columns through crude and vacuum distillation.Crude oil is pumped from storage tanks to a furnace, heated to vaporize some of it. 4:49: Inside the column, vapors and liquids separate, with liquids falling to the bottom. Vapors rise and are cooled on trays, condensing heavier fractions. 5:11: Remaining vapors rise to the next tray, cooling further and condensing lighter fractions. Vapors are drawn off the top and condensed, with bubble trays used for separation. Bubble caps on trays help condense vapors into liquids of the same fraction. 6:27: Lighter vapors rise to the next tray if they can't condense in the liquid.7:14: Liquid overflows to the tray below, re-vaporizing lighter fractions and condensing heavier ones. At the top, only the lightest fraction remains, which is condensed. 8:17: Stray fractions are returned to the correct tray for re-vaporization.An actual crude distillation column may contain over 50 trays for efficient separation. 9:03: The top fraction makes gasoline, followed by turbine fuel, diesel fuel, and home heating oil. 9:19: Residue at the bottom contains useful products with high boiling points.Vacuum distillation lowers boiling points. 10:14: Vacuum distillation produces more products, including wax, lubricating oil, and industrial fuel oil.Distillation alone isn't enough; cracking converts heavy oil into high-octane gasoline. 11:01: Cracking involves heating heavy oil to high temperatures, causing molecules to shake apart.A catalyst stimulates the cracking reaction without being affected.Catalysts like copper speed up chemical reactions. 12:31: Catalysts remain unchanged and reusable after reactions.Catalytic cracking units use silica and alumina catalysts to crack heavy oil into high-octane gasoline. 13:43: Catalysts must present a large surface area and behave like a liquid for effective cracking.Fluidized catalysts mix with heavy oil, rising to the reactor for cracking. 15:10: Carbon forms on catalysts, reducing effectiveness, so they are cleaned in a regenerator. 16:46: Cracking produces gasoline, petroleum gases, and diesel fuel, separated in a distillation column.Cracking alone doesn't meet gasoline demand, so straight run gasoline is upgraded by catalytic reforming. 17:16: Reforming changes the shapes of straight run gasoline molecules into high-octane gasoline.Catalytic reformers use platinum-coated pellets for the reaction. 18:1: Reforming requires high heat and multiple stages. 19:48: Hydrogen released during reforming inhibits carbon formation 20:00: Principal refining processes include crude and vacuum distillation, cracking, and reforming. 20:22: Thousands of petroleum-based products are developed.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com