Chemical Engineering Department

ChE 461 – Petroleum Refining

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Course Description
An introduction to petroleum feedstocks, refining processes, and how refined products are made.
Design of atmospheric and vacuumcolumns for petroleum fractionation will be explained. Refinery
processes will be explained in terms of their objectives, feedstocks, products and catalysts. Refinery
economics will be introduced.

Prerequisite: ChE 306

Objective
To study the overall refinery flow including physical separation operations and chemical conversion
processes, and to learn basic calculations and methods used to design and run petroleum refining
facilities.

Textbook
James H. Gary, Glenn E. Handwerk, Mark J. Kaiser, Petroleum Refining, Technology & Economics, 5th
ed. CRC Press, 2007.

Reference Book
James G. Speight,The Refinery of the Future, Elsevier, 2010.

Instructor
Dr. Sulaiman Al-Khattaf, Professor, Chemical Engineering Department. Telephone: 2029;
email: skhattaf@kfupm.edu.sa
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General Objectives
At the end of the course, the students should:
 Become knowledgeable in composition, properties and classification of crude oil.
 Become familiar with operations and processes in petroleum processing as well related
chemistry and catalysis.
 Become knowledgeable about impurities in crude oil and how to remove them from
products.
 Develop understanding of refinery products and their specifications.
 Have an understanding about refinery economics.

Attendance
Class attendance is an essential matter for the course; hence, KFUPM rules will be followed strictly in
this regard.

Grading
Attendance (4%), Homework (6%), Quizzes (10%), Term Project (15%) (Submission due on
14-April-2013), Midterm Exam (30%) (Sunday, March 3, 2013; 7-9 p.m.) , Final exam (35%).

Communication
WebCt is used extensively in this course. Students should check it frequently.

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Topics Summary:
1. Introduction (Chapter 1)
 Refinery Overview
 Refinery Complexity
 Saudi Arabian Refining Industry
3. Refinery Products (Chapter 2)
 Gasoline
 Distillate Fuels
 Residual Fuel Oils
5. Coking & Thermal Processes (Chapter 5)
 Process Descriptions and Review –
Delayed Coking, Flexicoking, Fluid
Coking, Visbreaking
 Process Variables, Products
Properties and Yields
7. Catalytic Hydrocracking (Chapter 7)
 Feed Preparation for Hydrocracking
 Chemistry and Catalysis of
Hydrocracking Reactions
 Process Variables and Yields
9. Hydrotreating(Chapter 9)
 Sulfur in Petroleum Products and its
Impact
 Hydrotreating Reactions, Catalysts
 Process Variables
11. Alkylation & Polymerization
(Chapter 11)
 Alkylation Feedstocks, Reactions,
Catalysts And Products
 Alkylation Processes and Comparison.
 Polymerization Processes to Make
High-Octane Gasoline Product
14. Supporting Processes (Chapter 13)
 Hydrogen Production and Purification
 Gas Processing Unit
 Acid Gas Removal Processes
 Sulfur Recovery Processes
2. Refinery Feedstocks (Chapter 3)
 Crude Oil Properties
 Composition of Petroleum
 Types of Crudes and Classification
4. Crude Distillation (Chapter 4)
 Desalting Crude Oils
 Atmospheric Topping Unit
 Vacuum Distillation Unit
6. Catalytic Cracking(Chapter 6)
 Chemistry and Catalysis of Catalytic
Cracking Reactions
 FCC Unit Configuration
 Process Variables, Heat Recovery,
Yield Estimation
8. Hydroprocessing(Chapter 8)
 Hydroprocessing Objectives
 Processing Options
 Resid Processing Operations
10. Reforming & Isomerization (Chapter 10)
 Chemistry and Catalysis of Catalytic
Reforming and Isomerization.
 Process Variables and Yields
12. Product Blending (Chapter 12)
 Reid Vapor Pressure
 Gasoline Pool
 Diesel and Jet Fuel Blending
13. Petrochemical Feedstocks(Chapter 16)
 Refinery-Petrochemical Plant
Integration
 Aromatics Production
 Olefins and Paraffins Production
15. Refinery Economics & Planning
(Chapter 14)
 Linear Programming Overview
 Refinery Linear Programming Models
 Economics and Planning Applications