Which devices will be the mainstream technologies in the next decade
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Which processes will be mainstream in the next decade? Will delayed coking and heavy catalysis be phased out? Will a series of hydrogenation units such as residue hydrogenation become the mainstream?
Hydrogenation of residue oil will become the mainstream approach, but catalytic units probably won’t become obsolete – after all, most gasoline is produced using catalytic processes these days
Future new refining units for fuel-based refineries: catalytic cracking, reforming, product hydrogenation, and possibly delayed coking and solvent deasphalting. Hydroprocessing of residue, hydrocracking, and hydroprocessing of crude oil may be rare.
Raw material dehydrogenation or product dehydrogenation – these are two different processing methods, both of which can meet the requirements; however, a fully hydrogenation-friendly process is likely to be the future direction.
Hydrogenation routes will be the mainstream, and catalytic cracking will not be phased out in the short term.
Oil upgrading and modification equipment will certainly not be phased out; there might be requirements to meet standards from seven or eight different countries. ;P
The reason why catalytic processes are not phased out is that there is still a market for them. Moreover, the investment required to build new fully hydrogenation facilities is very high; in the overall planning of new refineries, when the investment level is high, catalytic processes are generally not considered. As environmental regulations become stricter, it’s only a matter of time before catalytic processes are phased out, and the same goes for coking. With stricter environmental rules, it becomes difficult to obtain the necessary environmental approvals for new coking plants, and the profitability associated with coking products decreases further due to the overall downturn in the steel industry. After all, oil is still a bit more expensive than coal.