Powerformate

Power cables Power cycles Power factor Powerforming... 

Several significant reforming processes are ia use (37,38). These iaclude Powerforming (Exxon), Ultraforming (Standard Oil Co.), Rheniforruing... 

Figure 1 shows a simplified flow plan for a typical hydroskimming refinery. The atmospheric pipestill performs the initial distillation of crude oil into gas, naphtha, distillates, and residuum. The naphtha may be separated into gasoline blending stock, solvents, and Powerformer feed. The distillates include kerosene, jet fuel, heating oil and diesel oil. The residuum is blended for use as bunker fuel oil. 

Light ends recovery and fractionating equipment is necessary after the Powerformer and on the pipestill overhead stream to separate the effluent mixtures into the desired boiling range cuts. 

Virgin Naphtha Catalytic Reforming (Powerforming) - This technique is used for the production of high octane motor gasoline, or as a source of aromatic compounds. 

Because some hydrocracking occurs, Powerforming also produces saturated C to Q light hydrocarbons. The methane and ethane formed normally are consumed as refinery fuel. Propane and butane products are frequently marketed as LPG. The relative quantities of each of these products vary considerably with feed quality, operating conditions and octane severity. 

Also of importance to the industry is the demand for aromatic products. The high octane reformate, which is rich in aromatics, is a major source of aromatics for petrochemical operations. Powerformers can produce aromatics such as benzene and toluene. 

Powerforming is basically a conversion process in which catalytically promoted chemical reactions convert low octane feed components into high octane products. The key to a good reforming process is a highly selective dual-function catalyst. The dual nature of this catalyst relates to the two separate catalyst functions atomically dispersed platinum to provide... 

The overall reaction scheme by which high concentrations of aromatics are produced in Powerforming is rather complex. However, it can be broken down into four important and distinct types of reactions. In Figure 1, these four reactions are illustrated by the reactions of hydrocarbon feed components. 

To appreciate the engineering aspects of Powerforming, it would be helpful to go over some of the engineering design considerations. 

The Powerformer reaction absorbs heat it is largely an endothermic reaction. This heat of reaction is in the order of 200-350 BTU/pound, depending on the type of feed. Since the individual Powerforming fixed bed reactors operate... 

Powerforming is a version of the platinum reforming process. Basically there are two types of unit semi-regenerative and cyclic. The choice of unit and the exact process conditions used will depend to a large extent on the particular application. However, certain generalizations regarding each of the two types can be made. 

A schematic flow plan of a typical semi-regenerative Powerformer is shown... 

The common practice in semi-regenerative Powerformers is to desulfurize the reactor feed. This reduces the deactivation rate of the Powerforming catalyst,... 

When the feed is desulfurized, the Hydrofining unit is commonly integrated with the Powerformer to conserve heat. The stripper on the hydrofiner product which removes HjS is combined with the Powerformer absorber used to recover C4+ from the tail gas. This tower is termed an absorber stripper. Powerformer tail gas is used to strip HjS from the hydrofiner product. The hydrofiner product in turn serves to absorb the C4 + from this tail gas and return it to the Powerformer. 

There are many factors to be considered in selecting the type of Powerformer to use. It largely depends on the local situation and includes such things as feed stock, octane level, the value of gasoline yield, the use for by-product hydrogen, plant size, etc. While we can not completely generalize, we can mention some of the more important considerations. 

A low pressure semi-regenerative unit provides yields that approach those obtained in cyclic Powerforming but with savings in investment. For smaller units and moderate severities, the low pressure semi-regenerative unit would likely be the most attractive alternative if selectivity improvement credits are sufficiently high. 

There are several versions of the two-step process. One involves the use of 5A molecular sieves in conjunction with Powerforming. In this combination process, the 5A sieves may be used to remove n-paraffms from the feed to improve feed quality. Alternatively, the Powerformate may be sieved to remove the low octane n-paraffm components. Extraction of aromatics from Powerformate is another interesting two-step process. 

Hydrofining is applied to virgin naphthas mainly in the form of a pretreatment step for the feed to catalytic reformers (Powerforming). Sulfur levels of 5 parts per million (ppm) or less are required to avoid deactivation of the platinum reforming catalyst. 

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