AM-00-35 NOVEL PROCESS FOR FCC GASOLINE DESULFURIZATION AND BENZENE REDUCTION TO MEET CLEAN FUELS REQUIREMENTS

Description:

This presentation covers two elements of great interest to today’s refiner: 1) How to meet the new restrictions prescribed for sulfur and benzene in motor gasoline; and 2) How to simultaneously keep the refining operations profitable. By addressing the aromatics and sulfur requirements together, it is possible to reach a better solution than by looking at these issues separately. Forthcoming legislation will impose severe limitations on the amount of aromatics and sulfur that will be permitted in gasoline. In most cases, the relevant specifications are a maximum of 30 ppm sulfur; less than 1% benzene; and no more than 25-35% total aromatics. These will require a basic reconfiguration of virtually every refinery from what would have been considered optimum just a few years ago. However, the new investments need not be in vain, if they can provide a linkage between refining and petrochemicals, which may turn an environmental compliance problem into a profitable enterprise. The next section describes the current options that consider sulfur and aromatics independently, and the following section introduces an integrated approach to these problems. The process introduced in this presentation combines two traditional technologies in a new and novel way to meet both of the refiner’s objectives.