Cracking processes Houdry

Figure 19. Moving bed catalytic crackers (A) Thermoform moving bed process (B) Houdry catalytic cracking process.

The Houdry fixed-bed cyclic units were soon displaced in the 1940s by the superior Fluid Catalytic Cracking process pioneered by Warren K. Lewis of MIT and Eger Murphree and his team of engineers at Standard Oil of Newjersey (now Exxon). Murphree and his team demonstrated that hundreds of tons of fine catalyst could be continuously moved like a fluid between the cracking reactor and a separate vessel for... 

Fluid catalytic cracking rapidly overtook its competitors as both a source of fuel and of critical organic intermediates. Prior to 1942, the Houdry Process controlled 90 percent of the catalytic fuel market. But only three years later, in 1945, fluid cracking led all other catalytic cracking processes in market share (40 percent). At this time Thermofor technology stood at 31 percent, and Houdry at less chan 30 percent. 

Houdry The first catalytic petroleum cracking process, based on an invention by E. J. Houdiy in 1927, which was developed and commercialized by the Houdry Process Corporation. The process was piloted by the Vacuum Oil Company, Paulsboro, NJ, in the early 1930s. The catalyst was contained in a fixed bed. The first successful catalyst was an aluminosilicate mineral. Subsequently, other related catalysts were developed by Houdry in the United States, by I. G. Farbenindustrie in Germany, and by Imperial Chemical Industries in England. After World War II, the clay-based catalysts were replaced by a variety of synthetic catalysts, many based on alumino-silicates. Later, these too were replaced by zeolites. U.S. Patents 1,837,963 1,957,648 1,957,649. 

Prior to 1938, gasoline was obtained from thermal-cracking plants then the Houdry fixed-bed catalytic cracking process led to the development of a fluidized-bed process by Standard Oil for the catalytic production of motor fuels (4-8). Acid-treated clays of the montmorilIonite type were the first fluid-cracking catalysts widely employed by the industry. However, the ever greater demand for aviation fuels during the 1939-1945 period prompted the search for more active and selective catalysts. Research on novel catalyst... 

Cracking gas was briefly described in Vol 3 of Encycl, p C552-L, while cracking processes, such as of Dubbs and of Houdry are described in Ref 4, pp 429—31. See also Ref 9, p 528-R... 

Types and Properties. The properties of the catalysts used with the Houdry fixed-bed process, and with all true catalytic cracking processes, comprise the major factor not only in promoting the desired reactions, but also in the design and economy of construction and operation of the plant. 

It is no exaggeration to say that without catalysts Germany would have been in no condition to pursue its war effort until November 1918. Likewise, if Houdry had not developed in the early days of World War II its catalytic cracking process, the United States would have found it very hard to provide its bombers with light fuel. It was also through catalytic reforming that the United States managed to obtain from petroleum the toluene needed to produce TNT between 1941 and 1945. 

The first successful catalytic cracking process was the Houdry process, announced in 1933 (132) and commercialized in 1936 (172). This was a fixed-bed process employing, at first, an activated bentonite clay as catalyst. It had been known previously that certain types of decolorizing clays catalyzed the decomposition of hydrocarbon oils (165,188), but a carbonaceous deposit rapidly accumulated on the clay and seriously impaired its activity. During his early work in France, between 1927 and 1930, Houdry found that catalyst activity could be maintained at a satisfactory level by carefully burning off the carbonaceous deposit, or coke, at frequent intervals before the concentration became high enough to interfere seriously with the desired catalytic reactions. 

Houdry cracking process. Decomposition of petroleum or heavy petroleum fractions into more useful lower-boiling materials by heating at 500C and 30 psi over a silica-alumina-manganese oxide catalyst. 

The story begins in the early 1930s. Our researchers were trying to develop a catalytic cracking process, and they learned that Eugene Houdry was doing similar work in France. His work was further advanced and Houdry was persuaded to join our lab in Paulsboro, New Jersey. 

While natural or activated clay catalysts are no longer employed in the fixed-bed Houdry process, they are still widely used in the fluid process and to a considerable extent in the TCC process. A natural bauxite catalyst is employed in the fixed-bed cycloversion process, developed by the Phillips Petroleum Company. This process is of greater importance as a naphtha reforming process than as a catalytic cracking process. 

There are at present two main systems for carrying out the cracking process, both of them incorporating the essential features of catalyst-oil contacting and air regeneration of the catalyst. The principal difference between the two processes, is catalyst particle size. The original Houdry... 

The announcement of the commercialization of the Houdry cracking process was made at the annual meeting of the American Petroleum Institute held in Chicago in November 1938. The paper was titled "Catalytic Processing by the Houdry Process," authored by Eugene J. Houdry of Houdry Process Corp., Wilmington,... 

As a young scientist just beginning his career, the author of this historical review was present at the API meeting and heard the presentation and the discussion that followed. It was very obvious that the audience was greatly impressed and concerned about the impact of the new process. The editorial which accompanied the publication of the full paper in the November 30, 1938, issued of the National Petroleum News had this to say about the Houdry cracking process ... 

The most interesting recent development is the Houdry Process, reputedly a catalytic cracking process, several huge units of which have been built or are under construction. 

Many people assisted Mr. Houdry in his quest to develop a successful catalytic cracking process. Some of these are ... 

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