(125c) Exploring the Catalytic Options in Low-Mid Pressure Diesel Hydrotreating

Regularly revised, worldwide diesel fuel specifications continue to press impurity levels lower and product quality higher. Such fuel specification revisions naturally encourage the semi-continuous development of superior hydrotreating catalysts, to satisfy the new requirements and improve the economics of hydrotreacting where applicable. The goal of this talk is to draw rational boundaries where the most active examples of supported NiMo and supported CoMo catalysts ought to be applied, given the inhibiting influences of organic nitrogen species and aromatics species, for example. Included in the scope shall also be application of both types of catalysts simultaneously, where a bed of one of the catalysts is loaded above the other. In consideration of the pressing need for improved hydrotreating catalysts, Honeywell UOP has recently commercialized an entirely new portfolio of supported hydrotreating catalysts under the Unity(TM) trademark. Several of these catalysts shall be featured in this presentation, since they were developed for diesel hydrotreating in the low-to-mid pressure range.