Applications of Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy in Refineries and Important Issues to Address

This review primarily concerns NIR (near‐infrared) applications in refineries. Initially, this article reviews the fundamental aspects for analysis of hydrocarbon mixture by NIR spectroscopy, such as spectral sensitivity in various spectral regions, signal‐to‐noise ratio, and spectral resolution. Though there are applications of NIR to diverse petroleum products, this review subsequently focuses only on applications to four major products: gasoline, diesel, naphtha, and crude oil, which are the most interesting from a refiner's viewpoint. In each application, discussion of important issues to consider for proper and optimal NIR measurement is included. Finally, the issue of calibration transfer is discussed.