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Name the refinery operation in which light fractions are removed from unstabilized crude or condensate to control vapor pressure and improve storage/transport safety.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: Stabilisation

Explanation:


Introduction:
Some crude oils and condensates contain significant light ends (C1–C4, light naphtha) that raise Reid vapor pressure (RVP). A front-end operation removes these to make the stream safer to store and ship.

Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Objective: remove light fractions to reduce vapor pressure.
  • Context: crude/condensate handling prior to further refining.


Concept / Approach:
Stabilisation is a controlled flash/stripping operation that removes volatile components, lowering RVP and improving product stability for transport. It differs from conversion (visbreaking), impurity removal (sweetening), or water removal (dehydration).

Step-by-Step Solution:

1) Identify the goal: reduce light ends for safe handling.2) Map the operation that achieves this goal: stabilisation.3) Conclude: select “Stabilisation.”


Verification / Alternative check:
Process flow diagrams show stabilizer columns upstream of storage/export for condensates and volatile crudes to meet RVP specs.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

Visbreaking: conversion process to reduce viscosity of residues, not light-end removal from crude.Dehydration: removes free/emulsified water, not light hydrocarbons.Sweetening: oxidizes/removes mercaptans to improve odor/color, not primarily RVP control.


Common Pitfalls:
Equating “stabilisation” with general “treating”; here it specifically targets light ends and vapor pressure.

Final Answer:
Stabilisation

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