White Oils hydrotreatment

FIGURE 11.3 Summary of Chevron study on white oil hydrotreatment using noble metal and sulfided base metal catalysts reactor outlet temperatures versus product quality. Source M. L. Diringer and C. R. Hare, Two-Stage Hydrotreatment for White Oil Manufacture, U.S. Patent 3,340,181. With permission. 

This exact scenario transpired at a 3000-psi white oil hydrotreater reactor I had designed for the Amoco Oil Refinery in Whiting, Indiana. All seven catalyst beds were destroyed, along with my patented reactor interbed quench distributors. The place to locate the pressure relief valves is not at the top, but at the bottom, below the final catalyst bed support of the reactor. 

To address any concerns that there might be chemical differences between white oils produced by the acid process and hydrotreatment, the mass spectra of Lyondell Duotreat products were compared with those from acid treatment.8 The authors concluded that there was indeed little difference at the same viscosity level (Table 11.3). White oils made by acid treating can have higher sulfur levels than those that are produced by hydrotreating.27... 

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