MANUAL Published: 29 April 2013
MNL5820131211301

Introduction

Source

Petroleum and natural gas provide more than 60 % of today's world energy demand and will remain the most important nonrenewable sources of energy for the next few decades. In addition, they provide feedstocks for petrochemical plants for the production of hundreds of different petrochemicals. Although petroleum refining is a century-old industry, today's refineries are much more sophisticated than those in the 1970s and 1980s or even the 1990s. This global industry needs to exercise continuous improvement to meet the challenges posed by new fuel specifications, new environmental regulations, and changing feed composition along with the decreasing availability of petroleum reserves and economic challenges. This introductory chapter presents an overview of petroleum formation, petroleum refining, natural gas processing, and the scope of the book with a brief reference to the significance of each chapter. Elements of modern and future refineries are discussed in a historical perspective along with current economic and environmental challenges and global competitions. In addition, a brief introduction to refinery planning and scheduling, management, offsite operation, and the economical and commercial aspects of refineries is presented for various chapters. The role of hydrogen, biofuels, and other potential sources of energy in the future energy supply is also discussed. This chapter concludes with a section on the usefulness and importance of the book.

Author Information

Riazi, M., R.
Kuwait University, KW
Eser, Semih
The Pennsylvania State University, PA, US
Peña Díez, José, Luis
Repsol, Madrid, ES
Agrawal, Suresh, S.
Offsite Management Systems LLC, Sugar Land, TX, US
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Details
Developed by Committee: D02
Pages: 1–20
DOI: 10.1520/MNL5820131211301
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-8681-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-7022-3