An Action Plan to Improve FCC Unit Performance at the Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery

Amidst significant changes in the North American refining economic environment, octane and alkylate production have remained major profitability drivers for most refiners. Changing operating strategies and capitalizing on new catalyst technologies to maximize yields of high value products is critical to successfully navigate the current challenging environment.

In this paper, we present key aspects of the Albemarle ACTIONTM catalyst trial at Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) Galveston Bay Refinery FCC3 unit. The main operating objective was to increase profitability by improving unit yield selectivities, especially LPG production and volume gain. Using a variety of tools, sources of data and analysis methods, including a calibrated FCC-SIM unit model, MPC and Albemarle were able to confirm that ACTION delivered the desired performance improvements. The observed in-unit yield selectivities (including coke) matched the laboratory predictions and increased unit profitability by more than $1.60/bbl.