Petrochemical Jobs
At Hays Energy, we are committed to providing the very best service and we work with more employers than any other recruitment consultancy to bring you the widest variety of petrochemical jobs. Using our in-depth knowledge of the recruitment market and working in partnership with clients on a long-term basis, we are confident that we can connect the right people to the right petrochemical jobs.
About the petrochemical industry
The UK downstream oil sector comprises over 200 companies involved in the refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products.
They range from oil companies, supermarket chains, independent retail groups, through to the independent retailer with one site.
The market is split into commercial and retail sectors. The commercial market includes power generators, industrial, transport and agriculture customers, independent fuel distributors, the Government and its agencies, public services and the military. The retail market covers fuels mainly sold from filling stations.
The market for transport fuels in the UK amounts to about 53 million tonnes per year, equivalent to about 49 billion litres or an average of 66 million litres of petrol and 70 million litre of diesel per day. Other than jet fuel, the market for transport fuels is mature with little overall growth in demand and in the case of retail fuels sold on the forecourt, this sector is virtually stagnant having grown by 2.4% since 1997. Indeed this figure masks the fact that petrol sales have declined by around 20% and diesel sales increased by 42% during this period.
Refining Gas/Oil
In its natural state crude oil has little practical use, but by refining it we can end up with liquid petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, jet fuel, gas oil, heating oil and residues such as bitumen.
Refining also provides the by-products or feedstocks for lubricants and, most importantly, for petrochemicals which are the basis for plastics, paints, adhesives, detergents, resins, solvents, synthetic fibres and rubber. The type of crude oil processed - for example lighter and 'sweeter' North Sea Brent blend or Arabian heavy - has an influence upon the mix of products a refinery produces. UK refineries process a range of crude oils, but those from the North Sea predominate (about 70% of the total). This helps refineries produce the high quality, low sulphur road fuels that modern vehicles require to deliver low exhaust emissions.
Typically, a barrel of North Sea crude oil will yield 3% LPG, 37% petrol, 25% diesel, 20% kerosene (jet fuel/heating oil) and 12% fuel oil (heavy residue for power generation). A heavy crude oil will yield a much smaller proportion of petrol, diesel and kerosene - perhaps 50% - and the balance fuel oil residue which requires further processing to transform it into lighter more useful fuels.
How a refinery works
Typically, the refining processes involves four main stages:
- Fractionating or distilling by use of heat
- Chemical conversion by cracking & other processes
- Treatment and clean up to remove, for example, sulphur
- Formulating & blending into finished products
Many of the refineries in the United Kingdom came on stream in the late 1950s and early 1960s, reflecting the post-war demand for petroleum products as the economy recovered, road transport expanded and car ownership took off. Since that time, refineries have evolved to meet the growing demand for more complex and environmentally friendlier fuels, as well as the myriad by-products such as solvents and petrochemical feedstocks.
PROCESSES INVOVLED:
Distillation
The starting point in all refineries is crude oil distillation. As the phrase implies, essentially this involves boiling crude oil in a high tower called a fractionating column, which breaks down the crude oil into more useful components or fractions.
Cracking
Distillation is just the start of the process as on its own, distillation does not produce enough of the lighter, more valuable products such as petrol. As the name implies, cracking involves breaking the molecular composition of the heavier gas oil and residues into simpler lighter ones. Crackers split into three broad types: thermal crackers which use heat alone; fluid catalytic crackers which use heat and a catalyst to intensify the chemical conversion process; and hydrocrackers which use heat, a catalyst and hydrogen, more specifically for maximising diesel production.
Alkylation
Alkylation is a process which builds smaller molecules into larger ones, typically to produce high octane blending components for petrol. The process will take light gases from the cracker as well as from other sources, such as isobutane from an isomerisation unit.
Desulphurisation
Increasingly, refineries are concentrating on processes which remove sulphur from fuels, in response to tighter fuel specifications requiring low sulphur but also to improve refinery flexibility. Reliance on low sulphur crude oils alone restricts the flexibility of a refinery.
Reforming
Reforming units use a catalyst, usually platinum, to promote a chemical process which produces more high octane blending components by modifying the molecular structure of naptha feedstock.
Blending
Blending is the process which brings together the various components that make up fuels, to produce a finished product to the correct specification and quality. and with the appropriate properties for the market for which it is intended.
