Which company’s hydrogenation process package is the best?

I’m using one from Zhejiang Meiyang, but I feel their technology is average.

The Fushun Research Institute is probably the best in China, and it’s likely good internationally as well; it supports domestic products

　Akzo Nobel Eka has developed a monolithic catalyst hydrogenation process. Due to the monolithic structure of the catalyst, as the reaction stream passes through the catalyst bed, it comes into contact with the catalyst in each channel under essentially the same conditions and for the same duration, which prevents uneven reactions in certain areas and reduces degradation side reactions； When the reactants pass through the catalytic bed, the bed resistance is low and the pressure drop is small, allowing for an increased feed rate. Moreover, due to the catalyst’s large geometric surface area and high catalytic activity, the production capacity of the plant can be significantly enhanced. 　　Degussa’s hydrogenation process uses tubular suspended hydrogenators; the reactors consist of a network of coiled tubes, with the flow rate of the working fluid within them exceeding 3 m/s. The operating temperature is around 100°C, the absolute pressure is 1500 kPa, and the catalyst used is palladium black. Before entering the hydrogenator, the working fluid and H2 are premixed in a Venturi mixer, which significantly improves production capacity ； The catalyst flows continuously together with the working fluid ； The working fluid reacts with hydrogen, and after the reaction, it passes through a separator to initially separate the catalyst from the hydrogenated fluid ； After separation, a specialized filter is used to separate the hydrogenated liquid from the catalyst again; the hydrogenation efficiency of this process is 12 g/L. 　　Kemira uses tubular hydrogenation reactors equipped with multiple static mixers made of inert materials; behind each mixer there is a catalyst section of honeycomb structure, in which the catalytic substance palladium is loaded on the inner wall of its parallel channels (or the carrier is first loaded on the inner wall). The advantage of this hydrogenator is that during the hydrogenation process, the working fluid and hydrogen can be mixed thoroughly in a timely manner, thereby improving the efficiency of hydrogenation. 　　The hydrogenation process of several other companies is also carried out in fluidized beds. To ensure the proper operation of the fluidized bed, catalysts in powder form are commonly used; for example, Solvay Interox and Atofina employ 2% Pd/Al2O3/SiO2/NaO2 in powder form as catalysts ； The catalyst used by MGC is (0.5%–2%) Pd/Al2O3. Since these catalysts are in powder form, they exhibit good dispersibility, activity, and selectivity; as a result, the catalyst utilization rate is high throughout the hydrogenation process, leading to high efficiency in hydrogenation ； Furthermore, during extraction the distribution coefficient of H2O2 is high, resulting in a high concentration of the extracted product, with a mass fraction as high as 40%. When the device starts operating, a small amount of catalyst is added at once; thereafter, it is added in stages, resulting in low consumption and low operating costs.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ hydrogenation processes and the compressors used in those systems offer excellent service; the Japanese engineers were very thorough during installation

For domestic options, the Beijing Design Institute of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences is recommended

Among the domestic recommendations are Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical Engineering Company, Sinopec Beijing Design Institute, and Sinopec Fushun Petrochemical Research Institute.

Domestically, Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical Engineering Company and Sinopec Beijing Design Institute; internationally, UOP, Chevron, Topsoe, etc.

Lubricant hydrogenation processes: In recent years, foreign lubricant production has focused on new technologies for producing API Class II and Class III base oils through processes such as hydrocracking and isomerization dewaxing. Notable examples include Chevron’s advanced isomerization dewaxing (IDW) technology, Exxon Mobil’s hydrocracking/selective dewaxing process, Shell’s hydrocracking/hydroisomerization technology, and Lyondell’s wax isomerization technology. (1) Chevron’s heterogeneous dewaxing technology. Chevron’s hetero-dewaxing process employs a full hydrogenation approach or is combined with solvent dewaxing; the corresponding process routes are hetero-cracking/hetero-dewaxing/hydrogenation followed by refining, and solvent refining/solvent dewaxing/hydrogenation/hetero-dewaxing/hydrogenation followed by refining. It mainly produces API Group II base oils, and can also produce API Group III base oils. This process utilizes two fixed-bed reactors; the first reactor is used for hydrocracking or hydrogenation in order to increase the viscosity index of the base oil and to remove harmful and undesirable components such as sulfur, nitrogen, and aromatics. The conversion rate is typically kept below 10%. After preliminary distillation, the products of hydroisomerization or hydrogenation proceed to the sequential stages of secondary hydroisomerization and post-hydrogenation refining, in order to reduce the pour point of the base oil and improve its oxidation stability and light stability. The catalysts used for hetero-dewaxing are precious metal catalysts, and four generations have been developed to date: ICR-404, ICR-408, ICR-418, and ICR-422. The carrier of the first-generation catalyst was a mixture of SAPO-11 and one type of mesoporous molecular sieve; it required passivation with adhesive compounds at the start of operation. The subsequent three generations of catalysts, thanks to improvements in both the carrier and the metal composition, did not need such treatment, and they also exhibited improved isomerization performance. Chevron’s heterogeneous dewaxing technology is mature and has been on the market for a long time; it is currently the most widely used such technology. Including companies like Daqing Refining & Chemical Company in China and Shanghai Gaqiao, there are a total of 20 industrial units that utilize this technology, of which 13 are already in operation while 7 more are under construction. (2) Exxon Mobil hydrocracking/selective dewaxing technology. The dewaxing technologies developed by Exxon Mobil include catalytic lubricant dewaxing (MLDW), selective dewaxing (MSDW), and wax isomerization (MWI). MLDW is mainly used to produce API Group I base oils, while the latter two isomerization dewaxing technologies are used to produce API Group II and III base oils. The MSDW process is similar to Chevron’s heterocracking process; the yield of base oil from the hydroisomerization dewaxing unit can reach 85%–97%, and it has relatively low requirements regarding the nitrogen and sulfur content in the feedstock. When adopting the hydrocracking/isomerization dewaxing/hydroprocessing route, Exxon Mobil improved the existing process: fresh hydrogen is fed into the isomerization dewaxing reactor, while the hydrocracking unit uses recycled hydrogen. The main raw materials are vacuum gas oil, solvent deasphalted oil, and solvent refined oil. The IMWI process can theoretically process a variety of feedstocks ranging from light neutral oils to bright oils, and is particularly suitable for treating wax-rich feedstocks, such as soft waxes (with a wax content usually > 75%), to produce base oils with an extremely high viscosity index. It can be used in combination with conventional solvent refining (solvent extraction + solvent dewaxing) and lubricant hydrocracking units. Its heterogenous dewaxing catalyst has now evolved to the 2nd generation, MWI-2, which can effectively process pure wax, achieving high yields and a low pour point for the oil products. The support used in Exxon Mobil’s hetero-dewaxing catalysts is mainly one-dimensional mesoporous molecular sieves. For process improvement, a combination of catalytic dewaxing and isomerization dewaxing can be employed, with the two types of catalysts being packed in separate layers; by controlling the temperature of each layer, the catalysts can operate at their optimal efficiency. (3) Shell’s hydrocracking/hydroisomerization technology. Shell’s XHVI production process via hydrocracking/isomerization dewaxing uses FTO-synthesized wax as raw material to produce ultra-high viscosity index Group III base oils through hydrocracking/hydroisomerization/solvent dewaxing; the wax conversion rate is 80%–90%, and the resulting products have a viscosity index of 145–150 with an aromatic content of 94%. The WA*SON process, on the other hand, uses crude wax as raw material to produce API Group III base oils, achieving a wax conversion rate of >85%. (5) Petrochemical Science Research Institute technology. RIPP has been researching the hydrodesulfurization of lubricating oils (RDW) technology since 1981, and it can be used under low or high pressure conditions. Process flows such as depressant/post-refining, or hydrogenation/depressant/post-refining, or hydrorefining/depressant in one pass can be used to process various feedstocks. The catalyst grade RDW-1 was first put into industrial use at the Karamay Refinery in 1995. (6) Fushun Petrochemical Research Institute technology. FRIPP has conducted research on both catalytic dewaxing and isomerization dewaxing. FRIPP’s paraffin has been successfully processed using the selective isomerization technology suite WSI, and industrial application of this technology has been implemented in the hydrogenation unit at Sinopec Jinling Branch, yielding qualified products. This set of technologies features high selectivity, strong adaptability to raw materials, and good stability; it can significantly improve the low-temperature and viscosity-temperature properties of the products, as well as greatly increase the yield of base oils. It is capable of producing food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade white oils, as well as API Class II and Class III base oils, high-quality rubber filler oils, and more. We have used those from the Institute of Rock Mechanics and Chevron; they are good.

The Fushun Petroleum and Chemical Research Institute and Luoyang Petrochemical Engineering Company are recommended.

We have a process package for catalytic hydrogenation using loop reactors shpiazzi@163.com

We use AXENS’ Prime G+ from France; it performs well. It achieves a high level of desulfurization, has low olefin saturation, and almost no aromatic saturation, which results in minimal loss of octane rating, along with a high desulfurization efficiency.