Reforming, in petroleum refining

UNIDAK A process for extracting naphthalene from reformer residues in petroleum refining. It includes a dealkylation stage to convert the naphthalene homologues to naphthalene. 

Endothermic reactions can also be run with interstage heating. An example we have considered previously is the catalytic reforming of naphtha in petroleum refining, which is strongly endothermic. These reactors are adiabatic packed beds or moving beds (more on these in the next chapter) in which the reactant is preheated before each reactor stage. 

UNIDAK A process for extracting naphthalene from reformer residues in petroleum refining. It includes a dealkylation stage to convert the naphthalene homologues to naphthalene. The process temperature is approximately 600°C the catalyst is based on cobalt/molybdenum. Developed by the Union Oil Company of California. 

Chemical processes encountered in petroleum refining are far more complex than steam reforming. The feedstocks are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons of various types each of which is converted along intricate pathways. 

Traditionally, the area of hydrogenation eatalysis has been attracting much attention because of its technological importance in petroleum refining and reforming processes [4]. Over the past two decades, hydrogenation catalysts have also become increasingly important in the industrial production of fine chemicals. The last area will be the main focus of this chapter. 

Chromatography is perhaps one of the most widely applied automated instruments in process analysis, particularly in the nonaqueous chemical and petrochemical industries [8]. In petroleum refining, for example, the crude petroleum, containing hundreds of chemicals from methane to asphalt, is converted to salable cuts by distillation. Further processing by catalytic reforming, distillation, and chemical reaction yields materials used for fuels, lubricants, petrochemical feedstock, and other applications. 

However, in many industrial processes a large number of chemical reactions occurs simultaneously. In petroleum refining operations dealing with feeds containing hundreds of components (i.e. gas oil catalytic cracking, n htha catalytic reforming, middle distillate hydrodesulfurization), where the complete analysis is a problem, the number of reactions becomes formidable and the reaction network may also become very complicated, so that components of the feed can be lumped into a small number of groups. 

Petrochemicals Platinum is a key catalyst in the processing of low-lead and unleaded gasoline and jet fuel, in petroleum refining, and in catalytic reforming. Petrochemical uses of platinum also include the manufacture of thermoplastics and polyester. 

The most important processes in petroleum refining are fractional distillation, catalytic craddng, and catalytic reforming. 

We now consider a dual-site mechanism, which is a reforming reaction found in petroleum refining to upgrade the octane number of gasoline. 

Reforming (Section 2 16) Step in oil refining in which the pro portion of aromatic and branched chain hydrocarbons in petroleum is increased so as to improve the octane rating of gasoline... 

A few industrial catalysts have simple compositions, but the typical catalyst is a complex composite made up of several components, illustrated schematically in Figure 9 by a catalyst for ethylene oxidation. Often it consists largely of a porous support or carrier, with the catalyticaHy active components dispersed on the support surface. For example, petroleum refining catalysts used for reforming of naphtha have about 1 wt% Pt and Re on the surface of a transition alumina such as y-Al203 that has a surface area of several hundred square meters per gram. The expensive metal is dispersed as minute particles or clusters so that a large fraction of the atoms are exposed at the surface and accessible to reactants (see Catalysts, supported). 

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