Zero Sulfur Transportation Fuels: No Margin for Errors

Suchanek - Criterion Catalyst and Technologies USA, Shiflett - Criterion Catalyst and Technologies - USA
The inevitable forces that mandate "sulfur free" transportation fuels in the technically advanced regions of the world within the remainder of this decade and early in the next will impose tremendous demands on those regions' refiners to react and to invest quickly and efficiently. The continued downsizing of refiners' technical resources will concurrently require that they partner effectively with the remaining viable technology suppliers in order to sustain reasonable business success. Major technology suppliers such as Criterion and Shell Global Solutions will be well equipped to aid the refiner in revisiting and upgrading the sometimes neglected refinery unit operations technologies that become critical in making zero sulfur fuels - reactor dynamics and enabling hardware, distillation technologies - including catalytic distillation and improved fractionation in order to meet the new fuels requirements. New catalyst technologies -- catalyst synthesis/manufacturing, process catalytic technologies and applications technologies will deliver "out of the box" approaches that marry catalysis, processing technology and even non-catalytic chemistry to enable management of the environmental demands. All this will be critically needed in order to enable refining margins to sustain a healthy business.