AM-01-10 UNIPURE’S ASR-2 DIESEL DESULFURIZATION PROCESS: A NOVEL, COST-EFFECTIVE PROCESS FOR ULTRA-LOW SULFUR DIESEL

Description:

As requirements for ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel are being implemented in the European Union and North America, many refiners are faced with limited options, which generally entail revamp or replacement of existing hydrotreaters. UniPure has developed an alternative process that is attractive in many situations. It is based on well-known oxidative desulfurization technology, which avoids the use of hydrogen. Large, highly substituted thiophenic compounds, which are difficult to attack with hydrotreating, are converted rapidly and easily to sulfones in an oxidation system. UniPure’s innovations have resulted in a robust, cost-effective and energy efficient process. UniPure is developing novel, low emission technologies for upgrading the value and purity of crude oil and refined products in accordance with a PureEnergy Strategy TM . Our processes provide significant economic and environmental advantages through applications in both upstream and downstream facilities. We are currently offering an integrated, high-throughput emulsion-breaking process. Under development in joint programs with Texaco are a crude desulfurization process for implementation at production facilities and a heavy crude upgrading process that produces sulfur-free syncrude and ultra-low sulfur coke or syngas. UniPure can deliver its technologies with a full range of services through its strategic partnerships with Texaco, Mustang Engineering, equipment suppliers and insurance underwriters. Texaco found UniPure’s technologies are a strategic fit with their efforts to upgrade the value of heavy oil resources, which led them to purchase a 20-percent equity stake in UniPure in October 2000. Texaco’s investment provided UniPure with increased credibility in the marketplace, additional cash for growth and access to an early adopter for its new processes.