The Penex process is a continuous catalytic process used in the refining of crude oil. It isomerizes light naphtha (C5/C6) into higher-octane, branched C5/C6 molecules. It also reduces the concentration of benzene in the gasoline pool. [1] It was first used commercially in 1958. [2] Ideally, the isomerization catalyst converts normal pentane (nC5) to isopentane (iC5) and normal hexane (nC6) to 2,2- and 2,3-dimethylbutane. The thermodynamic equilibrium is more favorable at low temperature. [3]
In the petroleum industry, much research has been done on the upgrading of light hydrocarbons. The realisation that normal pentane is one of the most important remaining components of naphtha that can be easily upgraded prompted Phillips Petroleum to investigate the various processes for converting normal (linear) pentane into (branched) isopentane. The decisive factor in the isomerisation of normal pentane is an increase in the total octane number. This improvement in quality makes the result more valuable for blending with today's high-octane fuels. In addition, like other isoparaffins, isopentane has a low sensitivity (research octane minus engine octane) which means improved performance at street octane. Increasing the octane number also allows larger quantities of pentanes to be blended into premium petrol. [4]
In a refinery, light naphtha can come from the distillation column ("straight-run naphtha") or from other processes, for example the cracking units.
During isomerisation, the low-octane normal hydrocarbons are converted into their higher-octane isomers. For this purpose, the feed material is passed over a fixed bed catalyst in the presence of hydrogen. The hydrogen is continuously circulated in the reactor circuit. [5] The Penex process uses fixed-bed catalysts containing chlorides. [6]
As this is an equilibrium reaction, 100% conversion of the normal isomers is not achieved. The maximum octane number of the product is achieved by separating the unconverted normals using a molecular sieve (Molex technology) and returning them to the reactor. [5]
A single pass of feedstock with an octane rating of 50-60 through such a bed typically produces an end product rated at 82-86. If the feedstock is subsequently passed through a DIH (deisohexanizer) column, the end product typically has an octane rating of 87-90.5. If the feedstock is subsequently passed through a Molex-technology column, the end product typically has an octane rating of 88-91. If the feedstock is first passed through a DIP (deisopentanizer) column to remove iso-pentanes, then through the Penex bed, and subsequently through the DIH column, the end product typically has an octane rating of 91-93.
The Penex Process is licensed by the UOP corporation and currently utilized at more than 120 units at petroleum refineries and natural gas liquids plants throughout the world. [7]
In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin, is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in which all the carbon–carbon bonds are single. Alkanes have the general chemical formula CnH2n+2. The alkanes range in complexity from the simplest case of methane, where n = 1, to arbitrarily large and complex molecules, like pentacontane or 6-ethyl-2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl) octane, an isomer of tetradecane.
Petrochemicals are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane.
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum is transformed and refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum naphtha. Petrochemical feedstock like ethylene and propylene can also be produced directly by cracking crude oil without the need of using refined products of crude oil such as naphtha. The crude oil feedstock has typically been processed by an oil production plant. There is usually an oil depot at or near an oil refinery for the storage of incoming crude oil feedstock as well as bulk liquid products. In 2020, the total capacity of global refineries for crude oil was about 101.2 million barrels per day.
In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of carbon–carbon bonds in the precursors. The rate of cracking and the end products are strongly dependent on the temperature and presence of catalysts. Cracking is the breakdown of large hydrocarbons into smaller, more useful alkanes and alkenes. Simply put, hydrocarbon cracking is the process of breaking long-chain hydrocarbons into short ones. This process requires high temperatures.
Pentane is an organic compound with the formula C5H12—that is, an alkane with five carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of three structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, pentane means exclusively the n-pentane isomer, in which case pentanes refers to a mixture of them; the other two are called isopentane (methylbutane) and neopentane (dimethylpropane). Cyclopentane is not an isomer of pentane because it has only 10 hydrogen atoms where pentane has 12.
Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert petroleum refinery naphthas distilled from crude oil into high-octane liquid products called reformates, which are premium blending stocks for high-octane gasoline. The process converts low-octane linear hydrocarbons (paraffins) into branched alkanes (isoparaffins) and cyclic naphthenes, which are then partially dehydrogenated to produce high-octane aromatic hydrocarbons. The dehydrogenation also produces significant amounts of byproduct hydrogen gas, which is fed into other refinery processes such as hydrocracking. A side reaction is hydrogenolysis, which produces light hydrocarbons of lower value, such as methane, ethane, propane and butanes.
Isopentane, also called methylbutane or 2-methylbutane, is a branched-chain saturated hydrocarbon with five carbon atoms, with formula C
5H
12 or CH(CH
3)
2(C
2H
5).
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is the conversion process used in petroleum refineries to convert the high-boiling point, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum into gasoline, alkene gases, and other petroleum products. The cracking of petroleum hydrocarbons was originally done by thermal cracking, now virtually replaced by catalytic cracking, which yields greater volumes of high octane rating gasoline; and produces by-product gases, with more carbon-carbon double bonds, that are of greater economic value than the gases produced by thermal cracking.
Hydrodesulfurization (HDS), also called hydrotreatment or hydrotreating, is a catalytic chemical process widely used to remove sulfur (S) from natural gas and from refined petroleum products, such as gasoline or petrol, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel fuel, and fuel oils. The purpose of removing the sulfur, and creating products such as ultra-low-sulfur diesel, is to reduce the sulfur dioxide emissions that result from using those fuels in automotive vehicles, aircraft, railroad locomotives, ships, gas or oil burning power plants, residential and industrial furnaces, and other forms of fuel combustion.
Visakhapatnam Refinery, is one of the two oil refineries of HPCL in India, the other being Mumbai Refinery. This was one of the first major industries of Visakhapatnam and first oil refinery on the East Coast. After the nationalisation, HPCL has transformed itself into a mega Public Sector Undertaking and it is second largest integrated oil company in India.
Honeywell UOP, formerly known as UOP LLC or Universal Oil Products, is an American multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries.
Merox is an acronym for mercaptan oxidation. It is a proprietary catalytic chemical process developed by UOP used in oil refineries and natural gas processing plants to remove mercaptans from LPG, propane, butanes, light naphthas, kerosene, and jet fuel by converting them to liquid hydrocarbon disulfides.
Natural gasoline is a liquid hydrocarbon mixture condensed from natural gas, similar to common gasoline (petrol) derived from petroleum.
Biogasoline is a type of gasoline produced from biomass such as algae. Like traditionally produced gasoline, it is made up of hydrocarbons with 6 (hexane) to 12 (dodecane) carbon atoms per molecule and can be used in internal combustion engines. However, unlike traditional gasoline/petroleum based fuels, which are mainly composed from oil, biogasolines are made from plants such as beets and sugarcane or cellulosic biomass- substances normally referred to as plant waste.
The BPRefinery (Kent) was an oil refinery on the Isle of Grain in Kent. It was commissioned in 1953 and had a maximum processing capacity of 11 million tonnes of crude oil per year. It was decommissioned in August 1982.
Petroleum refining processes are the chemical engineering processes and other facilities used in petroleum refineries to transform crude oil into useful products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and fuel oils.
In the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries, the initialism BTX refers to mixtures of benzene, toluene, and the three xylene isomers, all of which are aromatic hydrocarbons. The xylene isomers are distinguished by the designations ortho –, meta –, and para – as indicated in the adjacent diagram. If ethylbenzene is included, the mixture is sometimes referred to as BTEX.
An alkylation unit (alky) is one of the conversion processes used in petroleum refineries. It is used to convert isobutane and low-molecular-weight alkenes (primarily a mixture of propene and butene) into alkylate, a high octane gasoline component. The process occurs in the presence of an acid such as sulfuric acid (H2SO4) or hydrofluoric acid (HF) as catalyst. Depending on the acid used, the unit is called a sulfuric acid alkylation unit (SAAU) or hydrofluoric acid alkylation unit (HFAU). In short, the alky produces a high-quality gasoline blending stock by combining two shorter hydrocarbon molecules into one longer chain gasoline-range molecule by mixing isobutane with a light olefin such as propylene or butylene from the refinery's fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) in the presence of an acid catalyst.
SIE Neftehim is a Russian joint stock company based in Krasnodar, undertaking research and development in the petrochemical industry. Its origins lie in the research laboratory attached to Krasnodar Refinery, which first developed the use of aluminium-platinum catalysts in the Soviet Union. Established in its present form in 1996, the company continues to develop catalytic techniques, isomerization processes, and other petroleum refining technologies.
The Port Harcourt Refining Company,, is a Nigeria-based oil and gas company primarily specializing in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products. It is headquartered in Port Harcourt metropolitan area of Rivers State, southeastern Nigeria. The company is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
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