BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR…
WITH THE HELP OF PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES 

Baby, you can drive my car! 

(“Drive My Car,” by the Beatles, 1965)

Another example of process technology impacting the life of the average United States citizen is the fuels industry. Most USA citizens interact with planes, trains, or automobiles daily.

PTOA Readers learned in the previous orientation segment that  many process industry employees work in the Exploration and Production (E&P) of crude oil and natural gas. After these natural resources are coaxed out of prehistoric rock formations, more industrial processing is required to clean up the oil and gas prior to transport via pipeline, train, or waterborne vessel to a fuels refinery.

Refining Crude Oil into Fuels is a Process Industry

When was the last time you used crude oil for anything? Crude oil is a feedstock to a fuels refinery that upgrades or adds value to the crude via a step-wise succession of industrial processes to make motor fuels.

First, the dissolved salty water in the crude is removed. Then the crude oil is separated by physical properties into several intermediate products. Then each of these intermediate products is converted by more physical and chemical step-changes to produce a slate of fuel products customers can use. Here are some examples of hydrocarbon fuels:

• The gasoline in your car.
• The jet fuel in the plane that flew you to a vacation spot.
• The propane in the refillable cylinder attached to your backyard grill.
• The “white gas” in a cylinder attached to your Coleman camping stove that is used to cook hamburgers during a tailgate party.
• The light duty truck grade diesel in a truck with a Cummins engine.
• Heavier grades of diesel are used to fuel fishing boats, trains, ocean liners and cargo ships.

Can you figure out which item in the picture on this  page IS NOT powered by a fuel made from crude oil? Next, think about what energy source is providing the fuel...because it always takes energy for anything to move!

Fuels Can Be Derived from Renewable Natural Resources

Guess what?

There are exciting renewable energy process technologies in the works to replace carbon-based processes.

For just one example, a company called Virent in Wisconsin is using their  "Bioforming" process to create plant based hydrocarbon fuels and plastics from plant sugars. Virent has every intention to replace crude oil.

The Bioforming processes that generate Virent's "green fuels" use the same Process Technology principles and processes that are featured in the Process Technology & Operator Academy.

Take Home Message: One application of process technologies is the refining of hydrocarbon fuels from crude oil. Biofuels and other renewable energy industries also use process technologies to convert feedstocks into more valuable products.

Photo credit: Your Mentor

©2014 PTOA Orientation Segment 3

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