Refineries

The relevant process depends on the dispute. Crude oil is initially separated into fractions through distillation, after which refinery units may convert heavier streams into lighter products and treat streams to remove unwanted constituents or meet product requirements. EIA describes separation, conversion, and treatment as the three basic refining steps, with processes such as atmospheric and vacuum distillation, catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, reforming, and blending used according to refinery configuration.

Maintenance work orders, inspection reports, equipment histories, turnaround records, repairs, instrument calibration information, and prior operating problems can help assess the documented condition and maintenance history of equipment before an incident or process upset. A suitably qualified refinery expert can compare that history with contemporaneous operating data to determine whether a documented equipment condition, maintenance event, or change in operation corresponds with the disputed occurrence. The significance of those records depends on the particular process unit and failure scenario rather than on refinery operations generally.

A refinery expert can reconstruct process operations and explain how refinery units and operating records relate to one another, but some disputes require narrower disciplines. Petroleum expertise may be needed for disputed crude or product properties; specialized chemical-process expertise may be needed for detailed reaction, mass-transfer, or process-design analysis; specialized emissions expertise may be needed for measurement, source quantification, or air-emissions analysis; and qualified fire-origin-and-cause or explosion specialists may be needed when ignition or explosion mechanics are central. EPA identifies refinery emissions from sources including stationary combustion units, process vents, flares, and fugitive equipment leaks, illustrating how emissions analysis can overlap with refinery operations while still requiring specialized expertise when measurement or quantification is disputed.