Three Ways Grace Helps Refiners with Feedstock Flexibility
How does Grace help refiners unlock increased feedstock flexibility? Below, our experts Victor Batarseh and Stefan Brandt outline how FCC catalyst innovations are helping to expand refiners’ horizons.
Grace has a long history of looking ahead – for more than 80 years we have developed innovative catalyst technologies to help refiners unlock increased feedstock flexibility while maintaining targeted yield slates for maximum profitability. Over the years, significant advancements in catalyst technology have optimized FCC operation while maximizing high-boiling-point, aromatic, highly contaminated resid feedstocks. Grace continues to support refiners by developing the solutions for the next generation of feedstocks including renewables and plastics derived.
How do we do it? Our approach involves a multi-pronged strategy employing specialty technologies and production processes to tune the zeolite stability and activity, catalyst porosity, matrix activity, and tolerance to contaminant metals within the relatively strict property window for optimum fluidization and in unit retention.
Pushing the Envelope
As refiners continue pushing the envelope on feedstock flexibility, we recommend catalyst technologies that mitigate the harmful effects of contaminant metals on performance. Two of our innovative technologies, MIDAS® Pro and PARAGONTM catalysts, are built on Grace’s workhorse MIDAS® platform,
- MIDAS® Pro catalyst has been commercially proven to provide a baseline iron tolerance improvement, as well as a barrier to unexpected feed iron excursions in the FCC. MIDAS® Pro catalyst improves iron tolerance through optimization of matrix surface area and pore distribution.
- PARAGONTM catalyst is the culmination of significant R&D and manufacturing investment, applying a novel vanadium trapping technology to the MIDAS® platform, offering a synergistic effect for conventional metals trapping and iron tolerance.
Testing Protocols that Minimize Risk
The co-processing of alternative feedstocks including bio-based renewables and plastics waste oils, pose new opportunities and challenges for the refining industry, and Grace is actively collaborating with refiners to minimize the risks and maximize the value associated with such feeds. Our extensive testing facilities are instrumental in providing our customers with an understanding of these unconventional feedstocks. Detailed feedstock analysis, ACE unit testing, and circulating riser pilot plant testing are utilized to identify and mitigate challenges and operability concerns. Following these evaluations, refiners can more confidently engage in commercial FCC trials and continuous co-processing while implementing catalyst reformulations to maintain optimal operation.
Addressing Contaminants
These unconventional feedstocks are often accompanied by contaminants and heteroatoms, which are not present in fossil feeds. Contaminants vary significantly by feed source but can be categorized as surface contaminants and zeolite deactivators. Grace is leveraging its deep understanding in fluid catalytic cracking and catalyst technology to pioneer solutions that tackle the unique challenges posed by the unconventional contaminants in the next generation of feedstocks.
These alternative feedstocks can also contain significant amounts of oxygen. Pilot plant and commercial observations suggest that most of this oxygen is converted to water, CO, and CO2, which can pose challenges with water handling and amine scrubber systems. However, even trace amounts of oxygenates in sour water systems and LPG products can cause significant challenges downstream of the FCC. Grace’s OXYBURNTM additive represents the first step on a catalytic journey to reduce FCC product oxygenates and mitigate issues downstream of the FCC. This enables increased processing of renewable feedstocks in support of refiner’s sustainability goals, while also limiting the need for capital solutions to address oxygenates.
Grace remains committed to innovating and working with refiners to develop catalysts, testing and additives to help refiners increase feedstock flexibility through the energy transition. Find out more about our sustainable solutions for the FCC.