Question
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Maximising cycle duration of hydroprocessing units has always been important to refiners, but what other step-out gains can we see from catalyst developments in terms of volume swell, PNA saturation, and HDN activity while achieving high HDS performance?
Mar-2023
Answers
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Steve DeLude, Becht, sdelude@becht.com
Catalyst activity improvements over the years have allowed operators to pursue various options to improve profitability and operating flexibility. While increasing cycle length and reducing the annualised shutdown cost can be significant, most refiners find that increasing throughput (debottlenecking), processing more difficult feedstocks, changing feed fraction cutpoints (yield optimisation), modifying operation to improve blending flexibility (improved product quality through higher hydrogenation), and/or higher volume yields offer better overall value than simply pursuing a long cycle length strategy.
Catalyst vendors have pursued multi-catalyst systems and new modelling techniques to tailor catalyst loads to specific refinery objectives. This situation makes it very important for the refiner to discuss in detail with potential catalyst suppliers their preferred operating strategy, feed options, and product quality improvement opportunities when considering their next reactor catalyst load.
Mar-2023
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