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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Peter Andreas Nymann, Topsoe, PAN@topsoe.com
Higher activity catalysts like HyBRIM and HySWELL not only improve HDS activity but also improve the removal of nitrogen-containing hydrocarbons and the saturation of aromatic components.* The higher HDN and HDA activity leads to lower product density (higher API), which leads to better cetane index and greater volume yields. The higher degree of aromatic saturation also provides additional end-point reduction, enabling the processing of higher boiling material in diesel hydrotreaters while still meeting the T95 specifications. Higher activity may also facilitate the upgrading of lower-value streams like LCO and CGO in hydrotreaters to produce high-quality diesel. Higher saturation of aromatics and removal of nitrogen in FCC feed pretreaters improve FCC yields and product quality or alternatively enable co-feeding of lower quality feeds in the FCC.
*Note: HyBRIM and HySWELL are marks of Topsoe.
Mar-2023
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