HYDROTREATMENTS

Highlights

OBJECTIVE

Purification of different petroleum cuts,

from the lightest to the heaviest ones
in order to prepare finished products
or intermediate cuts focused on other
refining units.

POUR RÉSUMER :
• Processes that are essential for the purification of the petroleum cuts : desulfurisation, denitrification,
deoxygenation and saturation of the unsaturated compounds in the cracked cuts.

• Different processes and operating conditions according to the cuts to be purified (gasolines, kerosene,
gas-oil, vacuum distillates, straight run cuts or cracked cuts from FCC, visbreaker or pyrolysis),
the quality and quantity of the finished products.

• Processes consuming a large quantity of hydrogen (the heavier the feed and the higher the cracked
cut content, the larger the consumption), between 10 and 150 Nm3H2/ton feed. They depend largely
upon the hydrogen balance, mainly provided by the catalytic reformer.

• They produce H2S rich gas that has to be separated and then transformed into sulfur.

• Units adapted to treat different nature of feed by periods of several days.

• Process scheme separated into three sections:

- reaction: gasoil blended with hydrogen, heat-exchanger, furnace, reactor (1 or 2 beds).
- separation: water injection, air-cooler, high pressure separator (H2 removal), low pressure separator
(H2S removal).
- purification: water stripping, vaccum drying.

• The economic margin depends on the specification of the commercial products and on the price
difference between sweet and sour crude oils.

• Hydrotreatment of heavy feeds needs a source of hydrogen additional to the catalytic reformer:
Steam Methane Reformer (SMR) or Partial Oxidation (POx).

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