Petroleum refineries/refining hydrotreating processes

Petroleum refining has entered a significant transition period as the industry moves into the 21st century. Refinery operations have evolved to include a range of next-generation processes (that include hydrotreating of heavy oils and residua) as the demand for transportation fuels and fuel oil has shown a steady growth. 

During the next 20-30 years, the evolution future of petroleum refining and the current refinery layout will be primarily on process modification with some new innovations coming on-stream. The industry will move predictably on to (1) deep conversion of heavy feedstocks, (2) higher hydrocracking and hydrotreating capacity, and (3) more efficient processes. 

This chapter deals with catalytic hydrotreating (HDT), which is one of the most important processes in petroleum refining industry, not only for upgrading of heavy oils but also for producing low-impurity content fuels and preparing feeds for various conversion processes. Its importance in refineries and current worldwide situation, as well as the main process aspects (description, type of reactors, fundamentals, and process variables) are discussed. 

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