Chinese scientists develop new oil refining method that may cut energy use by 90%

Chinese scientists say they have devised a new technique for refining oil that cuts the amount of energy consumed during the process by roughly 90 per cent.

If the technology used in the study could be scaled up for industry, it would not only greatly reduce production costs and emissions, but also make the process more precise and boost product value.

Crude oil cannot be turned directly into petrol or plastics.

Instead, refineries must separate it into different parts before each one can be put to good use – one of the most energy-hungry parts of the process.

The traditional way this is done is through distillation, which relies on tiny differences in boiling point and heating the mixture over and over so it vaporises and condenses – a process that uses a lot of energy and is relatively imprecise.

The new process operates at the molecular level to select different compounds and send them to the production line that suits them best, thereby maximising the use of resources.