The petroleum products obtained from the distillation process are light, medium, and heavy naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and oil residue.
Crude oil must first be desalted, by heating to a temperature of 100-150 °C and mixing with 4-10% fresh water to dilute the salt.
The remaining crude oil is passed through a side stripper which uses steam to separate kerosene.
The top product from the atmospheric distillation column is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases, e.g., methane, ethane, propane, butane, and naphtha vapors.
[3] Simulation helps in crude oil characterization so that thermodynamic and transport properties can be predicted.
[5] Dynamic models help in examining the relationships that could not be found by experimental methods (Ellner & Guckenheimer, 2006).