Glossary of Refinery Terms

ASTM: Initials of American Society for Testing Materials, an organization which sets
standards for the testing of industrial products.
Absorption: The process by which one substance attracts another, forming a homogeneous
mixture. Oil absorbs natural gasoline from wet natural gas. Caustic absorbs
hydrogen sulphide from hydrocarbon vapors.
Additive: A substance added to petroleum products to impart some desirable property.
Adsorption: The process by which one substance attracts another, forming a physical or
chemical bond at its surface.
Agitator: A cone bottom tank for treating oils equipped with air or gas spargers for
mixing.
Air-Blowing: A process for raising the softening point of an asphalt by reacting with air at
elevated temperature.
Alkylate: The product of an alkylation process.
Alkylation: Process of combining an olefin with an isoparaffin to form an isoparaffin of
higher molecular weight. Also, combining an olefin with an aromatic to form
alkyl-benzene.
API: Initials of American Petroleum Institute.
API Gravity: A special gravity scale adopted by the API for expressing gravities of petroleum
products.
Aromatic: Unsaturated ring structured hydrocarbon molecule.
Asphalt: Black to dark brown solid or semisolid bituminous material which gradually
liquifies when heated, produced from distillation residues of crude petroleum, or
occuring naturally.
Asphaltenes: One of the principal components of asphalt. It is the black or brown solid
material precipitated from an asphalt with normal pentane. It is an arbitrary
fraction defined by the method of analysis. Other arbitrary fractions of asphalt
are oils and resins.
Assay: The tabulated results of a comprehensive laboratory analysis of crude oil.
Barrel: The standard unit of measurement in the petroleum industry. It contains 42 US
standard gallons, 35 imperial gallons. (BPD - Barrels Per Day).
Base Oil: A finished petroleum stock which is blended with other materials to make
salable products.
Bitumen: Hydrocarbon material of natural or pyrogenous origin, or combination of both,
accompanied by nonmetallic derivatives, which may be gaseous, liquid,
semisolid or solid, and which is completely soluble in carbon disulphide. (ASTM
D 8-63).
Blanket Gas: Gas introduced above a liquid in a vessel to keep out air to prevent oxidation of
the material, or to prevent forming explosive mixtures.
Blending: Mixing two or more materials together.
Blind: A steel plate inserted between a pair of flanges to prevent flow through a line.
Bloom: The colour of an oil observed by reflected light.
Blowdown: Withdrawal of water from boilers and cooling towers to prevent buildup of
 solids.
Bottoms: Residue remaining in a still after distillation. Tank bottoms refers to water and
sediment in the tank.
BS and W: Bottoms sediment and water measured in a crude oil by centrifuging a sample.
Sometimes abbreviated to S and W.
Bright Stock: High viscosity, refined, and dewaxed lubrication oil base stock, usually
produced by suitable treatment of petroleum residues.
By-Products: Useful materials recovered incidental to the principal objective of refining
petroleum.
Catalyst: Material which promotes a chemical reaction but remains unchanged itself, or
can be regenerated to its original form.
Catalytic Cracking: A process in which large molecules are broken down into smaller molecules by
the use of heat, pressure, and catalyst.
Catalytic A process in which the sulphur content of petroleum is reduced, usually by
Desulphurization: conversion to H2S, using a catalyst with or without the presence of added
hydrogen.
Catalytic A process which naphthenes are converted to romatics by removal of hydrogen
Reforming: in the presence of a catalyst.
Chromatograph: An apparatus for analyzing mixtures of compounds by separating them into
individual components which can be identified by colour or other means.
Clay: Granular or finely divided mineral material used for treating pertroleum. Thisi s
a general term including fuller's earth, bauxite, bentonite, and montmorillonite.
Compounding: Mixing additives with oils, particularly lubes, to impart oxidation resistance, rust
resistance, detergency.
Condensate: 1. Liquid condensed from the vapours leaving the top of a distillation
column.
2. Condensed steam.
3. Petroleum liquids separated from wet natural gas by cooling at
elevated pressure.
4. Petroleum liquids produced from certain wells by reducing the pressure
of a supercritical gas mixture. (Retrograde condensation).

Cracked Naphtha: The crude low boiling product from the thermal cracking process, from which
gasoline is made by distillation.
Cracked Tar: Residue from the thermal cracking process.
Crude: A short name for raw or unrefined petroleum. Crude oil.
Cut: A fraction; a part of the whole, e.g., the gasoline cut from raw crude oil.
Cutback Asphalt: Asphalt blended with gasoline, kerosene, or heavier distillate for ease of
handling during application, e.g. road oils.
Cutter/ A low viscosity petroleum stock used to reduce the viscosity of heavy, very
Cutter Stock: viscous materials such as asphalts and cracked tars. Light cycle oil is an
example.
Cycle Stock: Material taken from a latter stage of a process and recharged to the process at
some earlier stage. Light cycle oil, a fraction of the synthetic crude produced in
the catalytic cracking process, which is returned to the reactor is an example.

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Cylinder Stock: Oil used for lubrication of steam cylinders, usually a high viscosity distillate.
Demulsification: Process of "breaking" or separating an emulsion into its component parts.
Demulsifier: An additive which promotes demulsification.
Deoiling The process of making an oil-free wax from a waxy stock, comprising chilling
mixture of solvent and feed to crystallize part of the wax, and separating the
wax from the waxy-oil-solvent by filtering or centrifuging.
Desalting: The process of removing salt from crude by emulsification with water, then
breaking the emulsion and separating phases.
Dewaxing: The process of making a wax-free oil from a waxy stock, comprising chilling a
mixture of solvent and feed to a low temperature to crystallize all of the wax
and separating the wax cake (slack wax) by filtering or centrifuging.
Dew Point: Temperature at which a mixture of gases reaches saturation conditions for one
or more of the components and condensation begins.
Doc Text/Doctor A qualitative analytical test for mercaptans comprising mixing a sample of
Test: gasoline or heavier distillate with Doctor solution (sodium plumbite, a solution
of litharge in caustic) and adding a little finely divided sulphur. If the yellow
colour of the sulphur is darkened, mercaptans are present and the text is
reported "positive". A positive result is also called a "bad Doc". A negative
result may be reported "Doc sweet".
Doctor Treatment: The process of sweetening gasoline or heavier distillates by converting
mercaptans to disulphides, using sodium plumbite, sulphur, and air.
Downcomer/ That part of a distillation column tray in which liquid is separated from the froth
Downspout: and flows by gravity to a tray below.
Draw/Draw-Off: A pipe connection (usually valved) to a vessel through which liquid can flow.
Examples: A side cut draw on a distillation column. A water draw on a tank.
Dry Gas: A hydrocarbon gas consisting mainly of methane and ethane and containing no
recoverable amounts of butane or heavier hydrocarbons.
EP/End Point: The highest temperature indicated by the thermometer in a distillation test of an
oil.
Extract: In a solvent extraction process, it is the material preferentially dissolved by the
solvent.
Extraction: A process of separating a material by means of a partially miscible solvent into
a fraction which is soluble in the solvent and a fraction which is relatively
insoluble.
Fixed Gas: Gas which will not condense under the pressure and temperature conditions
available in a process.
Flash Point: The lowest temperature at which an oil gives off vapor in sufficient quantity to
burn momentarily on the approach of a flame or spark.
Flash Tower: A vessel used for separation of liquid a vapor in a flash distillation process.
Flashing: The process of separating products by reducing the pressure on a hot oil as it
enters a vessel. The light fractions vaporize (flash off) while the liquid drops to
the bottom.
Flood/Flooding: A spewing or heaving of liquid along with vapor out of the top of a distillation
column. It is caused by excessive liquid and/or vapor flow in the column.
Flux/Flux Oil: 1. A liquid residuum from asphaltic crude.

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 2. An oil for blending with asphalt for the purpose of softening it or
preparing it for air blowing.

Fuel Gas: Light gas by-products from refining operations which are used to fuel process
furnaces.
Fuel Oil: A general term which is applied to any oil used for the production of power and
heat. For a description of classes of fuels, see ASTM D 288.
Furnace: A term applied to oil and/or gas-fired heaters use in refinery processes.
Gas Blanket: An atmosphere of inert gas applied to the vapor space of a vessel to prevent
oxidation of its contents and/or prevent an explosive mixture from forming.
Gasoline, Cracked: The principle product of catalytic cracking and thermal cracking processes.
Gasoline, Natural: Liquid product recovered from wet natural gas by absorption, compression, or
refrigeration.
Gasoline, Polymer: Product of polymerization of normally gaseous olefins to hydrocarbons boiling
in the gasoline range.
Gasoline, Straight One of the products obtained by distillation of petroleum.
Run:
Header: 1. A common line to which two or more lines are joined.
2. A U-bend connection between two consecutive tubes in a heater coil.

Heater: The furnace and tube arrangement which furnishes heat for a process.
Hydrocarbon: Compounds of carbon and hydrogen. Crude oil is a complex mixture of
hydrocarbon compounds.
Hydrocracking: A process in which large molecules are broken into smaller molecules by the
use of heat, pressure, catalyst, and hydrogen.
Hydrofining: A process for treating petroleum with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst
under relatively mild conditions of temperature and pressure. Some
hydrocracking may occur under more severe conditions.
Hydrofinishing: A mild hydrofining process used particularly to replace or supplement clay
treating of lube oils and waxes.
Hydrogenation: A hydrogen treating process in which hydrogen is added to unsaturated
molecules. Olefins are converted to paraffins, aromatics are converted to
naphthenes, oxygen is converted to water, nitrogen is converted to ammonia,
and sulphur is converted to H2S.
IBP/ The temperature in a laboratory distillation test indicated by the thermometer at
Initial Boiling which the first drop of distillate falls from the condenser.
Point/
Init:
Isomerization: A process for rearranging the atoms in a molecule so that the product has the
same empirical formula, but a different structure, e.g., converting normal
butane to isobutane.
Lean Oil: Absorption oil from which gasoline fractions have been removed, e.g., the oil
leaving the stripper in a natural gasoline plant.
LNG: Abbreviation for liquified natural gas.

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LPG: Abbreviation for liquified petroleum gas.
Lube: Short for lubricating oil.
Lube Distillate: High boiling, 700-1000 F range, petroleum distillate used for manufacture of
lubricating oils.
Mercaptans: Sulphur compounds occuring naturally in some crudes and formed in cracking
operations. They are foul smelling substances of the formula RSH where R is
an alkyl group.
Naphtha: A general term applied to the lower boiling fractions of petroleum, usually below
400 F.
Naphthene: A hydrocarbon containing at least on ring structure and saturated with respect
to hydrogen.
Naphthenic Acids: The organic acids occurring naturally in petroleum.
Natural Gas: Naturally occurring light hydrocarbons varying in composition from mostly
methane to a mixture ranging from methane through hexanes.
Neutral Oil: Lubricating oil base stock of low and medium viscosity, genrally light in colour,
and produced from lube oil distillation or distilled from a refined and dewaxed
residuum.
Octane Number/ A measure of the antiknock qualities of gasoline. Isooctane is rated at 100.
Rating: Normal heptane is rated at zero. A 50-50 mixture of these two would be rated
at 50.
Olefins: Open chain hydrocarbons containing one or more double bonds.
Paraffins: Open chain hydrocarbons saturated with respect to hydrogen.
Paraffin Wax/ Hydrocarbons of molecular weight higher than 250 and boiling above 600 F
Petroleum Wax: which are solid at room temperature. Waxes are mostly straight hydrocarbons,
with a small amount of branching. They may also contain naphthene and
aromatic rings.
Polymerization: The process of combining two or more molecules to form a single large
molecule.
Raffinate: A term applied to the refined oil produced in solvent extraction processes.
Rectification: Fractional distillation referring to the removal of low boiling hydrocarbons from
gasoline to adjust its vapor pressure.
Reforming: A process of cracking gasoline to increase its octane number.
Resins: One of the three main constituents of asphalt, characterized by absorption on
clay.
Rich Oil: Absorption oil containing dissolved gasoline fractions.
Riser: A pipe which allows vapor or liquid to flow upward in a process vessel.
Rundown Tanks: Receiving tanks for products of distillation. Also called pans.
Scrubbing: Purification of a gas by washing it in a tower or agitator.
Seal Oil/Sealing Oil Any oil used to pump packing glands to keep packing cool and prevent leakage
of stock being processed.
Sour: Foul smelling. Describing a petroleum fraction having a bad odor usually
caused by mercaptans.
Straight Run: A material produced directly from crude oil by distillation.

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Sweet: Having a good odor; negative to the Doctor test.
Sweetening: A process of removing mercaptans or converting them to disulphides.
Tar: Synonym for petroleum residuum, either straight run or cracked.
Thermal Cracking: The process of breaking down large molecules into smaller ones by the use of
heat and pressure.
Thermalsyphon/ A heat exchanger in which circulation flow is induced in a process liquid by
Thermosyphon generating vapors which lift the liquid back into the process vessel, thereby
Reboiler creating a continuous recycle without the aid of a pump.
Thinners: Narrow boiling fractions in the gasoline and kerosene boiling range (200 F to
450F) used as solvents and diluents in the paint and varnish industry.
Topping: The process of distillation in which only a fraction of the distillable portion of the
feed is removed, e.g., Topped Crude - an atmospheric column bottoms.
Treating: A general term for refining petroleum with chemicals.
Unsaturates/ Hydrocarbons deficient in hydrogen, including olefins and aromatics.
Unsaturated
Hydrocarbons
Vacuum Distillation at reduced pressure (below atmospheric pressure) with or without
Distillation the use of steam.
Vapor Gaseous substance which can be at least partly condensed by cooling or
compression.
Vapor Binding: The formation of vapor in a liquid line causing an interruption of liquid flow.
Vapor Lock: Vapor binding in the gasoline line leading to an engine.
Virgin: A descriptive term applied to products produced directly from crude to
distinguish them from similar products from cracking processes.
Visbreaking: A mild thermal cracking process.
Viscosity: The resistance of a fluid to flow when a force is exerted upon it.
Viscosity-Gravity A useful function for characterizing viscous fractions of petroleum. Ref. ASTM
Constant: D 2501-67
Viscosity Index: An empirical number indicating the effect of change in temperature on the
viscosity of an oil. A high viscosity index (VI) signifies a relatively small change
of viscosity with temperature. Ref. ASTM D 2270-64.
Wax/ A product separated from petroleum which is solid or semi-solid at 77 F and
Petroleum Wax: consists essentially of mixture of saturated hydrocarbons.
Weathering: The process of vaporization which occurs when crude of petroleum product is
allowed to stand in an open vessel. Also, deteriorization of a material resulting
from exposure to the atmosphere.
Wet Gas: Natural gas, or gas produced by some refinery process, which contains
recoverable gasoline fractions.