Abstract

Requirements for motor fuel characteristics will have changed dramatically by 2005–2007. Hence, construction of new grass-root secondary refining units is necessary, while the existing units have to be modernized substantially, which in turn requires extensive investments. However, there is a far much cheaper option. The philosophy of multifunctional reactors based on novel catalytic systems changes the feedstock conversion chemistry and allows existing refineries to produce fuels and petrochemicals with drastically improved qualities. We have succeeded in using old catalytic cracking and reforming technologies to produce hydrogen and reformulated gasoline (low in aromatics, benzene and olefins). We have also managed to increase the gasoline yield from vacuum gas-oil cracking.

Introduction

Catalytic cracking and reforming are currently the principal refinery processes. They produce required volumes and ensure necessary quality of components of commercial gasoline blends. The impending drastic changes in motor fuel properties in developed Western countries will mostly be attained through modernization of these two processes, and the most economic way to enhance these processes is development of fundamentally new catalysts, which have to make new reaction routes possible when processing the same feed. This will increase yields and favorably change the chemical composition of target products without significant modernization of process equipment, or make it feasible to process new feed types on existing units and, consequently, to obtain new valuable products.

Results and New-generation reforming catalytic systems discussion One of the key issues connected with obtaining reformulated gasoline is modernization of catalytic reforming. Currently, this process is the main source of benzene and aromatics in commercial gasoline. Reforming faces contradictory challenges now: environmental legislation pushes for decreasing the proportion of benzene/aromatics, which can be quite precarious considering the impending ban on MTBE in commercial gasoline blends1. Therefore, the very philosophy of reforming should be changed: isomerization of n-C7-C9 paraffins into methylcyclopentane naphtenes should become the key process instead of n-hexane dehydrocyclization2, which would make it possible to decrease the aromatics proportion and increase the gasoline yield, without decreasing the reformate octane number. We have developed principally new catalysts that make this new approach feasible. When this new catalyst is loaded in one reactor vessel in a semi-BLOCK 2 - - FORUM 8 63 MODERNIZATION OF OIL REFINING CATALYTIC PROCESSES TO PRODUCE FUELS WITH ENHANCED ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTI

This content is only available via PDF.
You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.