Global Major Refining Catalysts Development Trends(2)

This company developed FCC feedstock hydrotreating catalyst (grade KF-907) for the production of clean gasoline meeting Tier III standards. The Ni-Co-Mo trimetallic type pretreatment process for FCC feedstock has been designed for high HDS activity and stability during operation, and is stable under high and low pressure conditions. The catalyst has been used in seven industrial units in the US and Japan.

In the U.S., KF-907 catalyst has been used in two FCC feedstock hydrotreating pretreatment units with hydrogen partial pressures above 8.3 MPa, one of which is a 2.5 million t/a heavy coker gas oil and heavy decompression gas oil unit. Industrial applications have shown that this catalyst can be used in FCC feedstock hydrotreating pretreatment units with different operating pressures. 

Compared with KF-905 catalyst, the weighted average bed temperature with KF-907 catalyst is reduced by -13.8 to -12.2°C, which corresponds to a 15% to 20% increase in HDS activity; the average deactivation rate of the latter is -17.3°C/month, which is -17.6°C/month lower than that of the former.

Refinery process improvement will not progress much for the mature refining industry. However, due to the different feedstocks, products and unit structures of each refinery, the selection of catalysts with better adaptability or selectivity for the adoption of more targeted catalysts to obtain the desired products or chemical feedstocks can solve the critical problems of different refineries and units.

FCC units have many and complex catalyst requirements due to the task of producing more gasoline and chemical feedstocks, and therefore the upgrade of FCC catalysts worldwide has never stopped. Its market share accounts for 40% of all refining catalysts in the world. China has become the second largest refining entity with FCC processing capacity second only to the US. As a major secondary processing unit in refineries, its level of improvement is a matter of corporate efficiency, and the timely development of lower cost and more targeted FCC catalysts is particularly important.

The expanding application of clean fuels has led to an increase in FCC feedstock pretreatment and catalytic gasoline and diesel post-processing plant capacity, resulting in an increasing amount of hydrotreating catalysts worldwide, especially hydrotreating catalysts, which account for one-third of global refining catalysts. Among them, the role of gas and diesel hydrotreating catalysts cannot be underestimated.

As the process of clean fuels in China is accelerating, the demand for catalysts will also increase in the future. The development of gasoline and diesel hydrotreating catalysts with higher activity, better selectivity, lower cost and longer life cycle for China's gasoline and diesel fuel structure is of far-reaching significance for clean fuel quality upgrading.