What ECTC can do in hydroprocessing?

On our pilot site we have a hydrogenation unit, where production processes can be tested using specific raw materials, pilot batches of the product can be obtained. It can also be used for catalytic tests and for piloting of hydro-technologies. ECTC is ready to act as an independent center for testing hydroprocesses on oils and heavy hydrocarbons. We have unique competencies in this area and wide practical experience.

Despite the pandemic, the base oil market has shown positive dynamics in recent years. The motor oil market also experienced impressive growth. Industrial organizations in the USA, Europe, Japan regularly introduce new standards and increase the requirements for automotive oils in terms of harmful emissions, energy saving and additional engine protection. That is, they update the specifications for ash content, the content of salts, sulfur, paraffin and metals in the product.

Base mineral oils are usually obtained directly from oil refineries. These are oil categories I-III according to the classification of the American Petroleum Institute (API). The main difference between them is in the degree of purification and methods of processing of raw materials, which affect the chemical composition (presence of impurities) and physical properties (viscosity).

Commercial synthetic oils (lubricants) are produced using base oil as a feedstock material by compounding and mixing with functional additives. The quality of the final product depends on many parameters: the quality of the feedstock, the base oil, and the technology of its production. Hydrogenation processes play a key role in this.

Base oil oils are a mixture of C20-C60 hydrocarbons with average molecular weight of 300-750 g/mol. The main components of oils can be divided into three groups - preferred, acceptable and undesirable:

1. isoalkanes, monocyclic naphthenes;
2. polycyclic naphthenes, monocyclic arenes;
3. polycyclic arenes and areno-naphthenes, n-alkanes, heteroatomic compounds (resins and asphaltenes).

Hydrogenation processing of oil raw materials is used to remove undesirable impurities (heteroatomic polycyclic and resinous substances) and increase the proportion of preferred high-index low-freezing hydrocarbons. These include hydrotreating, hydrofinishing, hydrocracking, hydroisomerization, hydrodewaxing and hydrogenation processes.

Advantages of hydrogenation processes over traditional ones are following: high yield of oil components, which is due to the conversion of undesirable components (n-paraffins, arenes, etc.) into high-index isoparaffin/naphthenic ones, and a low proportion of waste and by-products.

Technological chains I-III demonstrate the evolutionary transition from traditional processes to hydrogenation. In chain I, the traditional scheme for the production of low pour point oils is supplemented by a hydrodewaxing process.

In chain II, the hydrodewaxing process replaces traditional solvent dewaxing, and in chain III, the replacement of solvent dewaxing with a combination of hydrotreating and hydroisodewaxing processes makes possible to obtain higher quality base oils of the third group.

At the same time, when designing a new production, without the use of traditional processes, the analogue of the technological chain III will be the chain IV.

Hydrogenation processes for the processing of raw oil can eventually replace traditional processes in the production of the most large-scale products. The advantage of hydrogenation processes is that they are almost completely wasteless and have high yields of target oil components. The disadvantages include high capital investments and known difficulties with the production and use of hydrogen.

ECTC has all the necessary resources to solve the problems of introducing hydro processes in industry: qualified specialists, equipment (a pilot setup in addition to existing one can be assembled in a short time), competencies and accumulated practical experience.

We are ready to provide:

• comparative tests of hydroprocessing catalysts (at temperatures up to 450 °C and pressure up to 160 atm);
  
• testing of catalytic systems before loading into an industrial reactor;
  
• testing the service life of catalysts up to 10,000 hours (experimental runs);
  
• production of pilot batches of hydrogenation products up to 8-10 tons.

We will answer all your questions. Contact us, we provide a wide range of engineering services.

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