The Crude Distillation Unit is the first major step in petroleum refining. It uses atmospheric fractional distillation to boil crude oil and separate it into distinct hydrocarbon cuts based on their boiling points. Products drawn from the CDU range from light gases at the top to heavy residual fuel oil at the bottom, which are then sent downstream for further processing.
Heard on the job
We're throttling back the CDU feed rate while the downstream hydrotreater is offline for maintenance.
Also heard as
- atmospheric pipestill
- crude unit