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Made in the 1950s by the Shell Oil Company, "Refinery Process" goes behind the scenes at a huge oil refinery to show how crude oil is transformed into finished products. The film uses a combination of animation and live-action to present the story in a simple and entertaining style, how crude oil is separated into major fractions or "cuts". It then describes how complicated molecules are "cracked" into simpler molecules of the lighter, more valuable products by the application of heat and pressure.

This film is one of a series made by Shell as part of its public relations efforts. All the films in the series are well-made and use innovative techniques for their time. The company spent over $1 million dollars in the 1950s -- roughly $10 million in today's world -- on its film library.

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil refineries are typically large, sprawling industrial complexes with extensive piping running throughout, carrying streams of fluids between large chemical processing units. In many ways, oil refineries use much of the technology of, and can be thought of, as types of chemical plants. The crude oil feedstock has typically been processed by an oil production plant. There is usually an oil depot (tank farm) at or near an oil refinery for the storage of incoming crude oil feedstock as well as bulk liquid products.

An oil refinery is considered an essential part of the downstream side of the petroleum industry.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com