Various kinds of petroleum products are produced from crude oil at our refineries. The crude oil is a hydrocarbon mixture featuring a wide range of boiling points, and the crude oil that Japan imports from the Middle East is rich in sulfur.
  In the refinery, the atmospheric distillation unit distills crude oil to separate it into various fractions: gas, naphtha, kerosene, diesel fuel, and heavy fuel oil. LPG is made from the gas fraction. After hydrodesulfurizing, the naphtha fraction is processed by the catalytic reformer and converted into gasoline. Kerosene and diesel fuel are made by hydrodesulfurizing the kerosene and diesel fuel fractions, respectively. Heavy fuel oil is made by hydrodesulfurizing the heavy oil fraction by the direct fuel oil desulfurization unit. In addition, the vacuum distillation unit separates the heavy oil fraction into light and heavy fractions. Next, gasoline is also made by hydrodesulfurizing the light fraction through the vacuum gas oil hydrodesulfurization unit, and then finishing it by the fluid catalytic cracking unit. Finally, asphalt is made from the heavy fraction.
These production processes of the refinery generate environmental impacts, such as air and water pollutants, and waste. Therefore, we implement various measures to reduce them.