Catalytic Naphtha Reforming Process

Soni Oyekan

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351981699
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Industrial & Technical Chemistry

Based on the author's decades of years of experience in oil refining, Catalytic Naphtha Reforming Process conveys essential information on key concepts, operations, and practices of catalytic naphtha reforming technologies and associated oil refining processes. The book reviews collective technical and operational advancements with respect to efficient use of catalysts and catalytic reformers in oil refining and incorporates key advancements from recent developments in catalytic reforming technologies and processes. High octane reformate gasoline blendstock production via the use of high performing continuous catalyst regenerative processes is emphasized for regulated, environmentally friendly gasoline. The benefits of timely, effective process unit monitoring are covered in this book. Some of the principal objectives of this book include the need to emphasize more proactive approaches in the planning, operations and maintenance of catalytic reforming units and oil refineries. A number of recommendations are provided for enhancing the operations, reliability, and productivity of catalytic reformers and oil refineries.

1

Introduction to Catalytic Reforming and the Oil Business

1.0Introduction

Catalytic reforming is the process used in oil refineries for converting the low-value heavy naphtha fraction of crude oil to premium reformate, benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), and hydrogen. As will be reviewed in detail, reformate constitutes about 30% of the gasoline that is produced. Hydrogen from catalytic reformers is used as coreactant in several hydroprocessing units in oil refineries. In some oil refineries, the catalytic reformer is the sole provider of a refinery’s hydrogen. Additionally, benzene, toluene, and xylenes are used in the petrochemical industry in the production of other chemicals and solvents. Numerous technological advances have been made to improve catalytic reforming processes so as to provide increased productivity over much longer times between turnaround maintenance periods. Starting with a thermal naphtha cracking process, reforming technologies have evolved through fixed-bed semiregenerative catalytic reforming and fixed-bed cyclic regenerative reformers to the current high-performance, high-productivity continuous catalytic regenerative technologies. In the catalytic reforming process, as is the case for other catalytic processes, the catalyst during hydrocarbon processing loses activity with time and has to be regenerated. With the exception of continuous catalyst regenerative reforming processes, a reformer or a reactor shutdown is required to effect necessary catalyst regeneration and catalytic activity recovery for fixed-bed regenerative catalytic reformers.

In this book, some of the regulated gasoline quality requirements such as lower benzene concentrations and oxygenate blending that have some impact on catalytic reforming process operations are reviewed in appropriate chapters. Some of the expected regulated reductions of aromatics may further impact catalytic reforming units’ utilization. The demand for BTX in the petrochemical industry and hydrogen for increased upgrading of heavy sour crude oil and unconventional bitumen-derived oils in oil refineries will continue to drive the need for more efficient and smart operations of catalytic reformers. Additionally, I have dubbed catalytic reformers “gate keepers” of oil refineries, as they are the first major catalytic conversion units after the crude distillation units. Catalytic reformers, with their highly sensitive platinum-containing catalysts, exhibit catalytic performance declines with the introduction of low concentrations of contaminants from the crude unit that are present in hydrotreated naphtha feeds. In the current era of the processing of a variety of crude oils and unconventional oils with highly variable qualities, changes in catalytic reforming operations are often relatable to changes in either one of the crude oils or crude slate that the oil refiner is processing.

1.1Early History of Crude Oil Business

There is...