With the initial wave of ULSD production well established in many areas of the world, attention has turned toward maximizing the use of these new assets as well as looking forward to anticipate future requirements. ULSD is an ideal platform for providing opportunities to further upgrade diesel quality, since the chemistry/catalysis for cetane improvement, aromatics reduction, cold flow improvement, density reduction, biodiesel processing, and conversion can be achieved by applying the right catalyst and process system. This paper discusses a range of commercially proven options for achieving one or more of these additional diesel-upgrading objectives. These solutions can significantly improve overall refinery economics by leveraging this critical ULSD asset, providing flexibility to upgrade heavier feeds to make more diesel, maximize LCO into the on-road diesel pool, and provide capability to process more difficult crudes.
展开▼
