Coker Unit: processes vacuum resid, which is heated to over 900° F and put into the coke drums, where it undergoes thermal cracking as the oil decomposes under the extreme heat. Products include butane and lighter material, naphtha for Reforming, turbine and diesel fuel, gas oil for Cat Cracking, and fuel grade petroleum coke.
Reformer Unit: using heat, catalyst and moderate pressure, the reformer changes the molecular structure of crude and coker naphthas to produce a high octane primary gasoline blend stock called reformate.
Alkylation Unit: uses acid catalyst to combine small molecules into larger ones collectively called alkylate, which has a high octane and is the cleanest burning of the gasoline blendstocks.
Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit: uses heat and catalyst to break or “crack” large gas oil molecules into a range of smaller ones, specifically gasoline, low quality diesel stocks, and a residual oil called slurry (fuel oil).
Desulfurization Unit: a device used to remove sulfur from petroleum oil.
Hydrotreating: removes impurities by using hydrogen to bind with sulfur and nitrogen.
Hydrocracking: breaks or “cracks” diesel stock material into gasoline blending stocks using heat, catalyst and hydrogen under very high pressure.
Isomerization: rearranges the atoms in a molecule so that the product has the same chemical formula but has a different structure, such as converting normal butane to isobutane.
