E-Books: Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability, and Quality HSSE WORLD

Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability, and Quality book for Corrosion Problems and Solutions in Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry start a journey into the amazing world of crude oil, fuels, and corrosion problems and solutions at oil refineries and petrochemical plants. Look around. Vehicles, computers, modern sources of energy, materials, such as

medicines, different goods from polymers, cosmetics, to name a few. The source of all these materials and energy is crude oil and products of its processing. Crude oil was formed in the depths of the Earth for millions of years. Since ancient times, people have used bitumen and other compounds accompanying crude oil or producing from it for waterproof, lubricating axles, and medical treatment.

The modern world depends severely on fuels that are obtained from crude oil in refineries.

The first oil refinery was built at Ploieşti, Romania, in 1856–1857. About 60 refineries were built in the 1860s in the USA. Then at the beginning of the twentieth century, refineries were erected like ‘mushrooms after the rain.’ Nowadays, more than 700 oil refineries function all over the world and use about 150 different types

of crude oil. Most technological processes of elaboration of crude oil were created in the twentieth century. The word ‘petroleum’ means ‘rock oil’ from the Latin ‘petra’ (rock or stone) and ‘oleum’ (oil). Therefore, ‘crude oil,’ or simply ‘crude,’ is a synonym for ‘petroleum’.

We should also differentiate between oil refining and petrochemical industries.

The oil refining industry produces the following products from crude oil: liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, gasoline, kerosene (jet fuel), gas oil (diesel fuel), fuel oil, lubricating oils, paraffin wax, asphalt (bitumen), coke, and sulfur.

The petrochemical industry produces olefins and aromatics. Then, these chemicals are used for manufacturing solvents, polymers, paints, medicines, fertilizers, etc. Our comfort life, health, and we can safely say ‘lifespan’ are linked to them. Oil refineries and petrochemical plants are firmly connected because the former produce raw materials for the latter. Both are considered typical chemical plants.

In spite of many conferences, publications, researches, reports, and achievements in refining and petrochemical corrosion control and monitoring, the number of corrosion problems is increasing in the last 20 years because of four factors: the first the introduction of new processes; the second some universities and colleges removed corrosion courses they had before in the engineering curricula; the third corrosion engineers in most of the oil refineries and petrochemical plants were replaced with consultants; the fourth—corrosion specialists retire and are not replaced.
There are many ways to avoid or control corrosion hazard: the selection of corrosion-resistant or suitable materials, correct design, use of anti-corrosive chemicals, control of technological parameters, use of coatings, cathodic protection, and, what is very important, inspecting and controlling at all stages of application of these actions.

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