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Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oil refinery

An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into useful petroleum products. Raw oil or unprocessed ("crude") oil is not very useful in the form it comes in out of the ground. Oil needs to be separated into parts and refined before use in fuels and lubricants, and before some of the byproducts could be used in petrochemical processes to form materials such as plastics, and foams. Petroleum fossil fuels are used in ship, automobile and aircraft engines. These different hydrocarbons have different boiling points, which means they can be separated by distillation. Since the lighter liquid elements are in great demand for use in internal combustion engines, a modern refinery will convert heavy hydrocarbons and lighter gaseous elements into these higher value products using complex and energy intensive processes.

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Matter & Energy News

September 9, 2025

Artificial intelligence is consuming enormous amounts of energy, but researchers at the University of Florida have built a chip that could change everything by using light instead of electricity for a core AI function. By etching microscopic lenses ...
Scientists at the University of Tokyo have unveiled “gold quantum needles,” a newly discovered nanocluster structure formed under unusual synthesis conditions. Unlike typical spherical clusters, these elongated, pencil-shaped formations display ...
Scientists have created a transparent solar coating that turns ordinary windows into clean energy generators without affecting clarity. Using cholesteric liquid crystal layers, the coating redirects polarized sunlight to the window edges where solar ...
A hidden quantum geometry that distorts electron paths has finally been observed in real materials. This “quantum metric,” once thought purely theoretical, may revolutionize electronics, superconductivity, and ultrafast ...
A Japanese research team successfully harnessed E. coli to produce PDCA, a strong, biodegradable plastic alternative. Their method avoids toxic byproducts and achieves record production levels, overcoming key roadblocks with creative ...
Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a groundbreaking nickel-based catalyst that could transform the way the world recycles plastic. Instead of requiring tedious sorting, the catalyst selectively breaks down stubborn polyolefin ...
Scientists in Japan have uncovered a strange new behavior in “heavy” electrons — particles that act as if they carry far more mass than usual. These electrons were found to be entangled, sharing a deep quantum link, and doing so in ways tied ...
Quantum scientists in Innsbruck have taken a major leap toward building the internet of the future. Using a string of calcium ions and finely tuned lasers, they created quantum nodes capable of generating streams of entangled photons with 92% ...
Rice University physicists confirmed that flat electronic bands in kagome superconductors aren’t just theoretical, they actively shape superconductivity and magnetism. This breakthrough could guide the design of next-generation quantum materials ...
A Vermont research team has cracked a 90-year-old puzzle, creating a quantum version of the damped harmonic oscillator. By reformulating Lamb’s classical model, they showed how atomic vibrations can be fully described while preserving quantum ...
In just one afternoon, scientists used a nanoparticle “megalibrary” to find a catalyst that matches or exceeds iridium’s performance in hydrogen fuel production, at a fraction of the ...
While superconducting qubits are great at fast calculations, they struggle to store information for long periods. A team at Caltech has now developed a clever solution: converting quantum information into sound waves. By using a tiny device that ...

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