What are the practices followed at various refineries for hydroprocessing catalyst management. Is fresh catalyst charges or regeneration the preferred option? If regeneration is being followed, then for how many cycles? Are refineries maintaining stocks of different types of catalysts?
Answers
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04/12/2007
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A:
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Randy Alexander, EURECAT, randy.alexander@eurecat.com
The choice between fresh or regenerated catalyst depends on the severity of the application and the quality of available regenerated catalyst.
Several large refinery groups are using Eurecat's (www.eurecat.com) internet-based catalyst inventory system to manage regenerated catalysts. This allows the various refinery sites to easily share information on their lots of regenerated catalyst. This tool also assists the corporate catalyst coordinator in the task of catalyst selection for various units. This inventory system contains all of the information on each catalyst lot including contaminant metal levels, surface area, particle size, crush strength
Most catalysts are only suitable for one regeneration cycle. However, some of the newer catalysts such as Albemarle STARS (KF-757, KF-767, and KF-848) can be suitable for 2-3 cycles. The extra cycles are made possible by Albemarle's REACT process which actually redistributes the active metal sites after regeneration. Other catalyst companies also offer this type of rejuvenation process - e.g. Criterion's Encore process and Haldor Topsoe's ReFresh.
Please note that only 5-10% of spent hydroprocessing catalysts are suitable for regeneration. At Eurecat, we offer to analyze samples of your spent catalyst at no charge in order to determine the regenerability of the catalyst lot. The primary poisons that will make a catalyst unsuitable for regeneration are Si and As. These compounds are difficult to remove with regeneration.
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