Stellar Improvements in Hydroprocessing Catalyst Activity

Description:

Hydroprocessing catalysts have been important in meeting transportation fuel quality standards for many years. The importance of these catalysts to facilitate meeting the currently mandated standards for diesel and gasoline worldwide are critically important to the successful and profitable operation of today’s refineries. Beyond direct treating of feedstocks for final product blending, hydroprocessing catalysts will play an important role in squeezing additional profit generation opportunities from existing hydrocracking operations. The history of catalyst development in this field has been evolutionary in nature. However, in the last several years, dramatic improvements in hydrotreating catalyst activity have been achieved. The stellar improvements in hydroprocessing catalyst activity demonstrated by STARS™ 1) and NEBULA™ 2) technologies are providing many new opportunities for refiners to increase profitability. The performance of these new catalysts in commercial applications will be reviewed. The role of these new generations of hydroprocessing catalysts in the economical production of environmentally mandated fuels will be discussed.