Into which categories can refinery equipment be divided?

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Based on their function, oil refining equipment can be roughly classified into several types, including fluid transfer equipment, heating equipment, heat exchange equipment, mass transfer equipment, reaction equipment, and storage equipment. (1) Fluid transfer equipment: The function of fluid transfer equipment is to transport various fluids from one device to another, or to increase their pressure in order to meet the requirements of oil refining processes. This includes various pumps, compressors, blowers, as well as the associated pipelines and valves, etc. (II) Heating equipment: Equipment that heats oil to a certain temperature to cause it to vaporize or to provide heat for reactions involving the oil is referred to as heating equipment. Tube-type heating furnaces are commonly used in refineries; they are thermal heating devices that, in terms of structure, include cylindrical furnaces, vertical furnaces, and inclined-roof furnaces. Cylinder furnaces are widely used in refineries. (III) Heat exchange equipment: Equipment that transfers heat from a high-temperature fluid to a low-temperature fluid in order to heat, condense, or cool oils, while also recovering heat from them to save fuel, is referred to as heat exchange equipment. There are many types of heat exchange equipment. Based on their purpose of use, they include heaters, heat exchangers, condensers, coolers, and reboilers; according to the method of heat exchange, they can be classified as direct mixing type, regenerative type, and shell-and-tube type. In refineries, various type of shell-and-tube heat exchange equipment are the most commonly used. (IV) Mass transfer equipment: The function of mass transfer equipment is to utilize the differences in certain physical properties between substances, such as boiling point, density, and solubility, in order to separate certain components from a mixture. Most of these devices are in the form of tall, narrow towers; hence they are often referred to as tower equipment, such as distillation towers, absorption towers, desorption towers, extraction towers, etc. Based on their structure, tower equipment can be divided into plate towers and packed towers, among which plate towers are more widely used. (5) Reaction equipment: The function of reaction equipment is to carry out certain chemical and physical reactions. Among them, chemical reactions play a dominant and decisive role, while physical processes are auxiliary or accompanying. Reaction equipment is also widely used in refineries; units such as catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, hydrocracking, and hydrorefining all require different types of reactors. (VI) Storage Equipment: Equipment used for storing various types of oils, liquefied petroleum gas, and other liquid or gaseous materials is referred to as storage equipment or storage tanks. Based on their structural characteristics, they include vertical storage tanks, horizontal storage tanks, and spherical storage tanks, among others. Among the various devices mentioned above, some are primarily used in oil refining and chemical manufacturing facilities – devices such as heating furnaces, reaction equipment, tower equipment, and heat exchange equipment are known as process equipment. Others can be utilized not only in oil refining and chemical production but also in other applications; devices such as pumps, compressors, fans, and valves are classified as general-purpose equipment.