Feedstock flexibility

Extend Range of Feedstocks for the Process. Feedstock flexibility can enable maximum advantage to be taken of market fluctuations in the price and availability within the range of feedstocks which can be used. Obviously this is inappropriate in some cases where there is a close chemical link between feedstock and product, e.g. direct oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide, but in some processes, e.g. steam-reforming, flexibility is possible and may be advantageous. 

Feedstock flexibility, focusing on adapting processes that are suitable for low-rank coals, high ash materials, biomass, and others... 

The Shell Gasification Process (SGP) is a highly versatile, well-proven, system for producing synthesis gas (H2+CO) from virtually any available fluid hydrocarbon feedstock ranging from natural gas to asphalt. This feedstock flexibility feature can be especially valuable in times of hydrocarbon scarcity. 

The main advantage of partial oxidation lies in its feedstock flexibility, so that the cheapest feedstock can always be used. 

Partial oxidation, although a major source of synthesis gas in the 1940Ts, has gone out of favor in recent years due to a shortage of heavy feedstocks and the lower cost of steam reforming. However, due to its feedstock flexibility it will continue to play a growing although secondary role in synthesis gas production in the future. 

Description Fresh feedstock and recycle streams are preheated and cracked in the presence of dilution steam in highly selective PyroCrack furnaces (1). PyroCrack furnaces are optimized with respect to residence time, temperature and pressure profiles for the actual feedstock and the required feedstock flexibility, thus achieving the highest olefin yields. Furnace effluent is cooled in transfer line exchangers (2), generating HP steam, and by direct quenching with oil for liquid feedstocks. 

Feedstocks Ranging from natural gas to heavy naphtha as well as potential refinery offgases. Many recent refinery hydrogen plants have multiple feedstock flexibility, either in terms of backup or alternative or mixed feed. Automatic feedstock change-over has also successfully been applied by Technip in several modern plants with multiple feedstock flexibility. 

K. Elkins, Feedstock Flexibility Options. ICI Catalco Tech. Paper, 313/035/0REF. 

Base Operation. The feedstock flexibility of the plant is illustrated by the data in Table I. Using the identical plant, we show the ability of this facility to process Venezuelan, Kuwait, and West Texas atmospheric residues as well as West Texas vacuum residue to produce a 0.3% sulfur fuel oil product. The capacity of the plant varies with each of these... 

A cluster feeding on synthesis gas produced by gasification would create feedstock flexibility to existing petrochemical clusters, which is key to their continued prosperity in times of increasing uncertainty about global crude oil production and availability. This paper describes the design of such a syngas cluster and infrastructure where technical, economic and institutional requirements have been taken into consideration. 

The Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, has an important beneficial influence on the economy of the Netherlands as a centre of trade and industrial activity. Its large, state-of-the-art, petrochemical cluster converts imported crude oil into numerous end products. Its success, however, has also made the Rotterdam petrochemical cluster heavily dependent on crude oil and its continued supply. Since at present the cluster is quite inflexible in its need for crude oil as a feedstock, security of supply issues for crude oil threaten the operations of all cluster partners. In order to safeguard the continued competitiveness of the cluster, it is therefore important to reduce the dependency on cmde oil by increasing the cluster s feedstock flexibility. 

It provides feedstock flexibility because the prereformer can crack the heavier hydrocarbons into lighter gaseous products to feed into the main reformer. 

Table IV shows such data for a Lurgi sand cracker (28). Even though propylene-to-ethylene mole ratio is reduced by switching from naphtha to propane feed, propylene production from a unit increases. Unfortunately, most processors would not have this feedstock flexibility.

Description The commercially proven HAT series catalysts are the core of the S-TDT process. The catalyst provides high activity, high selectivity, good operation stability and feedstock flexibility. The excellent performance of HAT series catalysts provides technological supports for some aromatics complexes to expand their capacities without a reactor revamp, increase in catalyst inventory and hydrogen compressor replacement. 

An additional benefit of this development is increased feedstock flexibility, both for the SGP itself and for the refinery as a whole. The carbon recycle currently practised also recycles some of the ash, so that the charge pump, burner, and reactor system are exposed to a higher content of ash than that present in the fresh feed. Elimination of the recycle thus makes it possible to use feeds with considerably higher ash contents than previously. Current experience of >1000 pg/g vanadium at the reactor inlet would be directly applicable to residues of this quality. This is certainly an important feature when reviewing the possibility of introducing heavier (and cheaper) crudes into the refinery. 

The more dramatic changes in the petrochemical industry will need to be in attitudes and research. In view of the uncertainties of the long-term future, the watchwords must be adaptability and feedstock flexibility, be it by establishing new routes or by revitalizing the old. 

The progress in steam reforming technology has resulted in less costly plants, in part because of better materials for reformer tubes, better control of carbon limits, and better catalysts and process concepts with high feedstock flexibility. This progress has been accompanied by a better understanding of the reaction mechanism, the mechanisms of carbon formation and sulphur poisoning, and the reasons for tube failure. 

Successful, lower capital cost than multitubular fixed bed, but fixed bed is returning in favor because of feedstock flexibility... 

Feedstock flexibility The process is capable of treating a wide range of low grade, variable composition cellulosic feedstocks or on proposed dedicated energy crops such as willow, poplar, miscanthus Sp. or switchgrass 41). 

---