What does a furnace do in a refinery?

 

Refinery furnace process.

A furnace in a refinery is used for heating crude oil and other hydrocarbons to break them down into smaller molecules and separate them into different components, which can then be processed further to produce various petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

The process of heating the hydrocarbons is called cracking, and it is typically done in a furnace using high temperatures and pressure. The furnace is usually a large, cylindrical vessel that contains a series of tubes or coils that are heated by burning a fuel, such as natural gas or oil.

The hot gases produced by the burning fuel are circulated through the tubes or coils, and the hydrocarbons are passed over the hot surfaces, which causes them to break down into smaller molecules. The smaller molecules are then separated based on their boiling points and other physical properties, and the different components are collected and further processed to produce the desired products.

The operation of a furnace in a refinery requires a significant amount of energy, both in terms of fuel consumption and electricity. The exact amount of work required will depend on the size of the furnace and the capacity of the refinery, but it can be quite substantial. A typical furnace in a large refinery might require several thousand kilowatts of power and consume several hundred thousand cubic feet of natural gas per hour.