AM-07-18 STRATCO® Alkylation Technology Improvements

Description:

With the phase-out of MTBE and the continued increasing demand for clean fuels, the desire to produce additional alkylate has become significant in the recent years. DuPont continues to satisfy this market demand with its acquisition of STRATCO alkylation technology four years ago. As the leading licensor of alkylation technology, it is the intention of DuPont to continually improve its offering. This is accomplished through a dedicated research and development program. Historical improvements in the technology include: Effluent treating design. One of the primary areas of interest is to improve the operability and throughput of the proprietary equipment. The goal is to bring improvements to the refining sector that will maximize equipment throughput while minimizing capital investment. The improvements or modifications to the reactors are easily paid for by the increase in alkylate production or quality or reduced catalyst consumption. Standard maintenance on a Contactor reactor would include hydraulic head repairs, improved impeller tolerances, upgraded feed nozzle designs, coatings and metallurgy upgrades, mechanical seal upgrades and tube bundle replacement/design. Technology upgrades currently available for the Contactor reactor include Tube Insert technology, ¾_ Tube Bundles, or a combination of the two. Both the maintenance and technology upgrades have been shown to result in alkylate octane increases on the order of 1-2 numbers and catalyst usage reductions of 10-20%.