Top 10 Overseas Refining and Chemical Processing Technologies
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1 A new high-intensity catalytic cracking technology for high propylene production: The “new high-intensity catalytic cracking technology for high propylene production” developed through cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Japan is an original technology. The main features are: the use of a downflow reactor, high reaction temperature (550–650°C), short contact time, and a high oil-to-reagent ratio. A downflow reactor is used to minimize backmixing, thereby reducing unwanted side reactions. A short contact time (<0.5 seconds) reduces the thermal cracking reaction, thereby decreasing the dry gas volume. A high oil-to-fuel ratio (>15) compensates for the reduced conversion reaction, increases catalytic cracking reactions, and facilitates higher production of propylene. Both the reaction system and the regeneration system are original innovative technologies. Numerous tests have been conducted using various feed oils and conventional catalysts along with ZSM-5 promoters in pilot-scale (0.1 barrels/day) and demonstration-scale (30 barrels/day) plants. The pilot plant installed at the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia uses Saudi vacuum gas oil as raw material; at a reaction temperature of 600°C, a catalyst-to-oil ratio of 25, and a conversion rate of 82%, the yields of the products obtained were as follows: 1.7% ethylene, 10.6% propylene, 13.4% butenes, 5.4% dry gas, 29.7% liquefied gas, 36.0% gasoline, 10.5% light cycle oil, 7.7% heavy cycle oil, and 9.1% coke. Among them, C3=/C3 is 6.7, and iC4=/iC4 is 1.2. An industrial plant with a capacity of 250,000 tons per year (5,000 barrels per day) is under construction. 2 A new catalytic cracking catalyst to improve gasoline yield: NaphthaMax. The new catalytic cracking catalyst NaphthaMax¢ò, introduced by Engelhard in 2005, is a latest product developed using the high-performance Dispersed Matrix Structure (DMS) technology platform; it represents an upgraded version of the NaphthaMax catalyst that was introduced in 2000. Its main features are that it is manufactured using a DMS matrix and Pyrochem-Plus zeolite, offering high activity, good stability, and low coking. The core is DMS technology. Industry experts believe that DMS technology is one of the most significant breakthrough technologies in the refining industry over the past 25 years. Catalytic cracking catalysts/additives made from special matrix materials and highly stable Pyrochem-Plus zeolite can enhance the diffusion of feed oil, enabling pre-cracking on the surface of highly dispersed zeolite crystals, thereby improving selectivity and reducing coking ； Furthermore, it can also reduce the resistance to the diffusion of catalytic cracking products into the inner surface of the zeolite crystals, thereby minimizing excessive cracking. When used in industrial plants, it achieves a high conversion rate of heavy oil, as well as high yields of gasoline and light olefins. Using the NaphthaMax catalyst increases gasoline yield by 2%, while using NaphthaMax¢ò increases it by another 2% compared to NaphthaMax. In actual industrial applications, it has been proven that, with the crude oil processing volume in refineries remaining unchanged, the use of NaphthaMax¢ò catalysts in catalytic cracking units increases gasoline yield by 4%, resulting in significant economic benefits. 3 The new hydrocracking catalyst ICR-240: The new hydrocracking catalyst ICR-240, developed by Chevron, was first used in industrial applications in 2004; it was employed in the second unit in 2005, and in two units in 2006. The ICR-240 was developed to replace the ICR-120 catalyst, which offers the best selectivity for producing middle distillates in the second stage of two-stage hydrocracking, in order to improve stability. The results of pilot tests using Middle East vacuum gas oil show that the activity of ICR-240 is 2.2‰ higher than that of ICR-120, while the C4 yield is 2% lower (in absolute terms). With improved quality in both kerosene and diesel, the kerosene+diesel yield reached 88%, which is 2% higher (in absolute terms) compared to using ICR-120. The acceleration test showed that the inactivation rate of ICR-240 is much lower than that of ICR-120. Pilot-scale test results of producing naphtha and diesel via hydrocracking of natural gas-to-liquid (GTL) oil show that ICR-240 has 2.2 times higher activity than ICR-120, a 1% lower yield of C1–C4 compounds (2%), a 1% lower naphtha yield (17%), and a 2% higher diesel yield (82%). Therefore, ICR-240 has been designated as the preferred catalyst for hydrocracking to produce naphtha and diesel in natural gas-based oil plants in Qatar and Nigeria. This post was last edited by liwening1997 on 2007-12-24 05:45]
4. New technology for producing clean fuels through the catalytic hydroprocessing of light cycle oil: In 2005, UOP introduced a new technology for producing clean fuels via the catalytic hydroprocessing of light cycle oil (LCO). This technology employs a fixed-bed, one-pass operation scheme; the feed oil is first subjected to hydroprocessing in one reactor, then undergoes partial conversion and hydrocracking using the HC-190 catalyst, followed by separation, without the need for liquid product recycling. The core technology is the HC-190 catalyst. LCO exhibits excellent performance in retaining monocyclic aromatics to the greatest extent during partial conversion, enabling the production of high-octane gasoline alongside diesel with very low sulfur content. The advantage is that it operates at pressures significantly lower than those required for conventional partial conversion hydrocracking and complete conversion hydrocracking; the diesel produced can be used as a component in ultra-low sulfur diesel blends, while the gasoline obtained has very low sulfur content and a high octane rating, allowing it to be used directly in the formulation of ultra-low sulfur gasoline. Using LCO produced by industrial facilities as raw material – with a sulfur content of 2290–7350 ppm, aromatics content of 60%–90%, cetane number of 22–25, and an 95% distillate boiling range of 349–377°C – pilot-scale tests using the HC-190 catalyst showed that the yield of light gasoline was 10.5%–13.5%, the yield of heavy gasoline was 35%–37% (with a RON of 90–95 and a sulfur content of <10 ppm), and the yield of diesel was 46%–51% (with a cetane number increase of 6–8 units and a sulfur content of <10 ppm). Life tests over 6 months have shown good stability in both conversion and product quality; the gasoline yield remained stable, with a slight increase in octane rating. 5 Continuous Reforming Catalyst R-264: The latest continuous reforming catalyst introduced by UOP, R-264, has three features: first, it offers great operational flexibility, as it can be used in both high liquid yield operation modes and high activity operation modes. When used in operations with high liquid yield scenarios, the yield of C5+ products is 0.7% higher than that using the R-134 catalyst ； When used in high-activity scheme operations, the reaction temperature is 4°C lower than that with the R-134 catalyst. Second, the processing severity can be increased without modifying the device. The coking amount of R-264 is 10% lower than that of R-134, allowing for more stringent operating conditions; thus, the octane number of the reformed oil can be increased without modifying the reactor’s regenerator to enhance its coking capacity. Third is to increase the processing volume; due to its high activity and high density, R-264 can overcome the limitations imposed by the reactor inlet temperature or the hydraulic conditions related to catalyst movement, allowing it to process more naphtha feedstock. Compared with R-134, it enables the processing of about 18% more feed oil. The R-264 catalyst was first used in May 2004 in the continuous reforming unit of the Schwechat refinery in Austria, increasing the feed rate of the unit from 120 m3/h to 140 m3/h. Since then, three more continuous reforming units have adopted the R-264 catalyst. The new generation of cracking furnace developed by Lummus, the SRT-X, a large-scale cracking furnace capable of producing 300,000 tons of ethylene per year, was introduced in 2005. The ethylene production capacity of each such cracking furnace is 300,000 tons per year, making it the largest cracking furnace in the world at present. Its main feature is that, while maintaining the rapid acceleration of the SRT-¢ö pyrolyzer to minimize coking, it features multiple sets of furnace tubes with high thermal efficiency arranged in a longitudinal configuration. The radiation section uses a multi-curtain furnace chamber; the bottom burners and furnace tubes are arranged in a radial pattern alternately, which reduces the floor space by 10%, increases the pyrolysis capacity by 3 times, saves 10% in investment costs, and also reduces operating and maintenance expenses accordingly ； In addition to being used for naphtha cracking, it is also suitable for the cracking of ethane, liquefied gas, and gas oil ； If some new technologies are also adopted in the pyrolysis gas separation section—such as reducing the number of stages in the pyrolysis gas compressor from 5 to 3 and lowering the outlet pressure to 17 kg/cm2 for \"low-pressure cryogenic separation\", replacing the three-component refrigerant with the mixed refrigerant Teriory, and using catalytic distillation CD Hydro instead of hydrogenation and distillation—along with the C4 olefin cracking (OCT) technology to increase propylene production—then, compared to conventional cracking units, the number of equipment pieces can be reduced by up to 25%, investment costs can be cut by 15%, compressor power consumption can be reduced by 15%, and greenhouse gas emissions can be decreased by 12%. The investment in a 1 million tons/year ethylene plant can save $20 million to $40 million. It is said that the use of such large-scale cracking furnaces in combination with new technologies for subsequent processes such as compression, cryogenic treatment, and refining can enable newly built naphtha cracking units in the Asia-Pacific region to compete with newly built ethane cracking units in the Middle East.