About
This awareness-level course introduces the key laboratory sections and the testing principles used in refinery and petrochemical operations. It provides an overview of essential methods, including physical test methods, gravimetry, wet chemistry, chromatography, spectroscopy, and performance testing, and explains how each contributes to accurate and reliable results. Learners will gain a foundational understanding of how these techniques support product quality, regulatory compliance, and safe, efficient operations.
Target Audience
Process engineers, planning and economics engineers, inspection engineers, HSE engineers, maintenance engineers and supervisors, laboratory managers and supervisors, turnaround planners and operation supervisors.
You Will Learn
- Differentiate major laboratory test methods (physical, chemical, chromatographic, spectrometric, performance) and their applications
- Select the most appropriate standard test method for a property based on scope and limitations
- Explain key physical tests—distillation, viscosity, flash point, ignition, pour point, and cloud point—and their uses
- Describe wet chemistry, gravimetric, and volumetric methods and their applications to petroleum and wastewater analyses
- Compare titration techniques and apply potentiometric titration for sulfur species measurement
- Explain chromatographic principles and describe GC/HPLC components, detectors, and applications
- Interpret chromatographic and spectrometric data for qualitative and quantitative analysis
- Classify major spectrometric techniques and describe their applications in refinery and petrochemical operations
- Describe performance test methods (octane, cetane, corrosion, smoke point, penetration) and their relevance
- Summarize the organization and management needs of refinery and petrochemical lab sections, including personnel, facilities, equipment, and safety