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March
2017
47
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
R
efining operations are closely connected to fuel and
intermediate economics, crude sourcing and availability.
Refiners must assess the impact of fuel quality issues as well as
regional, national and seasonal regulations. Flexible operation
of catalytic technologies in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC),
hydroprocessing, and hydrogen production is needed to quickly adjust
to the ever changing refining climate. Catalysts and additives allow for
quick response to varying conditions while improved process
monitoring enables refiners to manage and minimise operational
impacts.
Fluid catalytic cracking
FCC is a major conversion unit important for the production of
transportation fuels and petrochemical intermediates from a variety of
feeds. The FCC operation can be adjusted to maximise middle gasoline,
distillates (e.g. diesel) or light olefins by optimising operating severity
and, ideally, the catalyst properties. However, it usually takes several
months to change-out the catalyst inventory, so the use of catalytic,
highly concentrated, specialised, ‘additives’ proves to be a very
Ken Chlapik, Scott Vidrine
and Sravan Pappu, Johnson
Matthey Process Technologies,
USA, and Paul Diddams,
Johnson Matthey Process
Technologies, Europe,
evaluate
catalytic technologies and
monitoring techniques that
enable reliable yet flexible
refining operations between
major turnarounds.
IS THE
CATALYST
ENOUGH
?