AM-91-37 OPTIMIZING FCC OPERATIONS USING PRETREATMENT TO MEET FUTURE MARKET CHALLENGES

Description:

Regulatory guidelines along with market supply and demands will define the future refining picture. Global environmental concerns will push refiner's operations to generate cleaner burning transportation fuels. Domestically, reformulated gasoline will possess reduced light olefins and aromatics: and, diesel will contain lower sulfur and aromatics. Import and domestic crude supplies are expected to continue to become heavier and more sour. Residual oil consumption is projected to gradually decline compared to forecasted increases in the other transportation fuels. This will prompt more utilization of thermal processes and deeper cutting of the crude tower bottoms generating more hydrogen-deficient and poorer quality feedstocks. Hydrogendeficient feeds coupled with higher severity FCC pretreatment will escalate the hydrogen demand at the same time that the reformer feed and severity will be reduced in an attempt to lower aromatics in the reformulated gasoline pool. The use of recently developed and commercially tested catalyst technology in the areas of FCC and its pretreatment, either by hydrotreating or mild hydrocracking, have provided the refiner increased flexibility. In most all cases, these advances have enabled the refiner to produce both higher quality and volume of FCC gasoline and more light end products to meet reformulated gasoline requirements. Furthermore, overall diesel quality with respect to color, cetane index and sulfur also can be improved by taking advantage of this catalyst technology. In essence, a joint effort between the catalyst supplier and the refiner will be necessary to move towards compliance and profitability.