NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO MEET THE LOW SULFUR FUEL CHALLENGE

摘要

Regulations to reduce the sulfur level in gasoline and automotive diesel to less than 50 ppm are in place or planned in many countries. A number of technologies have been developed to enable production of these fuels. For instance, SCANfining ~(TM) I is a highly selective process for reducing sulfur in fluid catalytic cracked (FCC) naphtha with minimum olefin saturation/octane loss. Recently ExxonMobil announced the development of SCANfining II, a process that can selectively reduce even the sourest FCC naphthas to ppm sulfur levels with low octane loss. Both of these processes use RT-225, a catalyst jointly developed and commercialized by ExxonMobil and Akzo Nobel. These companies have also recently completed the development of NEBULA, a hydroprocessing catalyst with more than double the activity of any other commercial catalyst at medium-high pressures. NEBULA has recently been applied in several refinery distillate hydrotreaters and is performing as expected. Some countries are now considering reducing fuel sulfur even lower, to 10-15 ppm or less. Achieving this ultra-low sulfur level without large additional expenditures is a major challenge. Both ExxonMobil and Akzo Nobel are continuing to develop new catalyst and process technology options to help the refining industry meet these future needs.