Rohöldestillation
Rohöldestillation is a foundational unit operation in petroleum refining in which crude oil is heated and separated into fractions according to boiling point. The process usually begins with pretreatment to remove water and inorganic contaminants, after which the crude is heated and fed to an atmospheric distillation column. Inside the column, vapors rise and cool, so components with lower boiling points condense higher in the column and are withdrawn as light products, while heavier fractions condense lower down. Typical top products include LPG and naphtha; mid-range cuts are kerosene and diesel; the bottom product is heavy residue.
The atmospheric distillation yields are subsequently split and routed to downstream units for further refinement. Heavy
The specific yields depend on the crude oil's composition, including API gravity, sulfur and metals content.
Historically, atmospheric and vacuum distillation have been standard in refineries since the early 20th century, with