The industry consultant believes auto-quench, excursion control and bed-outlet layers should join auto-depressure as industry-best practice for all hydrocrackers.
At present, hydrocarbon pricing pays strong dividends for hydrocracking (HC), which leverages low-cost hydrogen (H2), sourced from today’s abundant natural gas supply, into high-value liquid fuels. Among hydroprocessing (HP) units, HC units have the greatest H2 uptake, with a typical liquid volume swell of 10%. This earns in the range of $100 million (MM) per year for a 30,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) HC unit based on volume swell alone, in addition to the usual value upgrade of HC conversion.
As a result, hydrocrackers—which are already one of the hydrocarbon processing industry’s most demanding process control challenges—are being pushed to greater limits. HC reactors op
Log in to view this article.
Not Yet A Subscriber? Here are Your Options.
1) Start a FREE TRIAL SUBSCRIPTION and gain access to all articles in the current issue of Hydrocarbon Processing magazine.
2) SUBSCRIBE to Hydrocarbon Processing magazine in print or digital format and gain IMMEDIATE ACCESS to the current issue as well as to 3 articles from the HP archives per month. $399 for an annual subscription.
3) Start a FULL ACCESS PLAN SUBSCRIPTION and regain IMMEDIATE ACCESS to this article, the current issue, all past issues in the HP Archive, the HP Process Handbooks, HP Market Data, and more. $1,695 for an annual subscription. For information about group rates or multi-year terms, contact J'Nette Davis-Nichols at jnette.davis-nichols@gulfpub.com or +1 713.520.4426.