AM-99-63 A UNIQUE DEVELOPMENT IN FCC CATALYST TECHNOLOGY MAXIMIZES REFINERY PROFITABILITY

Description:

Survival in today's difficult refining business is the ability to turn a profit in a world where low crude prices and very competitive product markets put enormous pressure on refining margins, while escalating environmental regulations call for tighter product specifications and lower particulate emissions. Strategies to meet these challenges often include dramatic cost reductions on all fronts and the biggest line item is often addressed by processing lower quality (i.e. lower cost) feedstocks. These so-called opportunity" crudes usually lead to a heavier charge to the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), which converts them to products of higher value. Unfortunately, heavier feedstocks generally lead to increased volumes of heavy fuel oil, at a time when the worldwide demand for "bottoms" is at an all-time low.