AM-13-14 Role of Bulk Metal Catalysts in Hydroprocessing Improvement

Description:

NEBULA is a bulk metal catalyst developed jointly by Albemarle Catalyst Division and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. The NEBULA family of catalysts represents a completely new field in hydroprocessing catalysis. Since the initial commercialization in 2001, NEBULA catalysts have been deployed across many hydroprocessing platforms enabling refiners to overcome the varied and difficult challenges brought about by environmental legislation compliance, sour feeds penetration, and drive for improved processing margins. Today, NEBULA remains one of the highest activity commercially available catalysts for many applications. In particular, NEBULA has proved to be outstanding when deployed in hydrocracking pretreat and medium pressure distillate service. This paper will discuss the commercial application of NEBULA in three different ExxonMobil hydroprocessing services, detailing how NEBULA technology was applied, and the benefits that were gained from refiners investment in bulk metal catalyst.