Petroleum industry rhenium

Rhenium is a rare metal with total world production in 2007 estimated at about 50 tonnes. The principal industrial applications of rhenium are in high-temperature alloys used in jet engines and in platinum-rhenium catalysts used in the petroleum industry. In recent years, the demand for rhenium has increased and prices have risen to more than US 10,000 per kg. In late 2008, rhenium was the sixth most expensive traded element (WWW. lipmann.co.u k/fa cts/expe ns i ve. htm I)... 

About 20 percent of the rhenium consumed in the United States is used as a catalyst in the petroleum industry. A catalyst is a substance used to speed up a chemical reaction without undergoing any change itself. Rhenium catalysts are used in the reactions by which natural petroleum is broken down into more useful fragments, such as gasoline, heating oil, and diesel oil. 

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