What are the main differences between atmospheric diesel, catalyzed diesel, hydrogenated diesel, and light wax oil?

Firstly, various types of diesel can be used as fuel. Additionally: 1. At normal pressure, diesel within a certain boiling range can be dewaxed using urea or molecular sieves, and the wax removed in this process can be used as a raw material for producing alkylbenzenes. 2. Catalytic diesel contains a high amount of aromatics; certain aromatics with specific uses can be extracted through extraction processes, but this is costly and it is difficult to obtain products with high purity. It is generally used as fuel (after hydrogenation treatment). 3. Hydrogenated diesel is generally used as fuel. 4. After paraffin dewaxing of light wax oil, the wax paste can be used to produce paraffin, while the dewaxed oil can serve as a raw material for lubricants.

I think it’s mainly due to differences in composition. Atmospheric diesel likely refers to the diesel fraction obtained from the atmospheric distillation column after crude oil has been subjected to atmospheric and vacuum distillation. Generally, it contains a higher amount of saturated hydrocarbons; if it’s a paraffin-based crude oil, its cetane number is also higher. Catalytic diesel is a diesel fraction obtained through catalytic cracking; it generally contains high levels of naphthenes, aromatics, and olefins, as well as high levels of sulfur and nitrogen. It usually requires hydrogenation treatment to meet quality standards. Hydrogenated diesel, on the other hand, is a diesel fraction that has undergone hydrogenation treatment, resulting in lower levels of sulfur and nitrogen and thus better quality.

At atmospheric pressure, diesel fuel undergoes different treatments depending on the properties of the crude oil used in its production. In general, it can be sold directly as a product; however, crude oils of poor quality, such as those with high acidity and sulfur content, as well as the by-products of fuel oil production, require refining processes. Catalytic diesel contains unsaturated hydrocarbons, which make it prone to oxidation and discoloration; it also has a low cetane number, so it cannot be used as fuel directly and must undergo hydrogenation treatment. Hydrogenated diesel is generally the product of hydrogenation treatment of catalytic diesel or coker diesel, and it is a high-quality fuel for vehicles. Light wax oil generally refers to the oil from the first and second distillation stages of atmospheric and vacuum distillation units. For companies that have an ample supply of catalytic feedstock, this oil can be subjected to wax removal and pour point reduction treatments, and then blended into diesel to increase diesel yield; this also helps to boost the processing capacity of the catalytic units. Each company should handle matters according to its own circumstances in order to achieve maximum efficiency.

It makes sense; it might be classified based on process conditions and composition

The final product is hydrogenated diesel; the others are semi-finished products