Over millions of years, the remains of these animals and plants were covered by layers of sand, silt, and rock. The heat and pressure from these layers turned the remains into what we now call crude oil or petroleum. The word oil means rock oil or oil from the ground.

Fractional distillation

Fractional distillation is a process by which oil refineries separate crude oil into different and more useful hydrocarbon petroleum derivatives based on their relative molecular weight in a distillation tower. It is the first step in crude oil processing and is considered as the primary separation process because it performs the primary separation of the various fuels. The various components that are separated during this process are known as components. Petroleum derivatives of the distillation tower are useful products that arise from the use of crude oil.

Crude oil and other hydrocarbons exist as liquids or gases in underground pools or reservoirs, in small spaces within sedimentary rocks, and near the surface in tar (or oil) sands. Petroleum products are fuels that are made from crude oil and petroleum derivatives of hydrocarbons found in natural gas. Petroleum products can also be made from coal, natural gas and biomass.

Classification of oil cuttings in the distillation tower

There are various methods for classifying useful petroleum products that are distilled from crude oil. A general way is to divide crude oil applications into three categories: light, medium and heavy cuts. Heavier fractions condense at higher temperatures and are removed at the bottom of the column. Lighter cuttings can go higher in the column before cooling to their condensation temperature, allowing them to be removed at slightly higher levels. In addition, the slices have the following features:

Features of various types of oil cuts
Distillation Style:

It is one of the most important cuts and its products have a boiling point of about 70 to 200 degrees Celsius. Petroleum derivatives of useful hydrocarbons in this range include gasoline, naphtha (a chemical raw material), kerosene, jet fuel, and paraffin. These products are highly volatile, have small molecules, low boiling point, flow easily and ignite.

Middle Distillation:

There are products that have a boiling point of 200 to 350 degrees Celsius. The products of this range include diesel fuel and petroleum gas, which are used in the production of municipal gas and commercial heating.

Heavy Distillation:

There are products that have the lowest volatility and their boiling point is above 350 degrees Celsius. These cuts can be solid or semi-solid and may require heat to flow. Fuel oils are produced in this sector. These products have large molecules, low volatility, poor flow and do not ignite easily. However, there are two main components that do not count in these three categories.