AM-95-67 FCC Pretreating to Meet New Environmental Regulations on Gasoline

Description:

Refiners hydrotreat FCC feed for economic and environmental reasons. Processing hydrotreated FCC feed results not only in lower sulfur products and lower SOx and NOx emissions, but also in higher conversion and gasoline yield. The severity of the hydrotreating required, or desired, depends upon the feed to be processed and the controlling specification the refiner is trying to meet . These targets relate to, among other things, whether or not the product is targeted for EPA or CARB (California Air Resources Board) gasoline, and if the plant has a set restriction on SOx emissions. UOP has licensed over fifteen VGO Unionfining units for use as FCC feed pre-treaters, most of them to United States refiners. This discussion will center on the operating experience of refiners using VGO Unionfining. Of particular interest are the severity of the operation and the importance of proper reactor internals design.