Honeywell UOP introduced a new catalyst that can more efficiently remove sulfur and nitrogen from lower-value diesel blending components, allowing them to meet Euro V clean fuels specifications.
Honeywell UOP’s ULTIMet™ catalyst, the newest addition to its Unity hydrotreating portfolio, has more active sites for chemical reactions and can be used as a drop-in reload to “debottleneck” a unit, resulting in increased plant capacity with no additional capital expense. The new catalyst also can be loaded in combination with conventional hydrotreating catalysts to further improve their performance.
“The ULTIMet catalyst enables refiners facing stricter fuel requirements to achieve higher quality product specifications and greater profitability,” said Jose Carrazza, Vice President and General Manager of Honeywell UOP’s Catalysts, Adsorbents & Specialties business. “This new catalyst also delivers greater operating flexibility than conventional catalysts in hydrotreaters, so it can handle more challenging, lower-priced feedstocks.”
The ULTIMet catalyst also has the high strength and attrition resistance necessary to prevent breaking, which ensures a more reliable operation and helps extend the operating cycle by as much as 50 to 75 percent.
Hydrotreating is a critical step in the refining process where hydrogen and a proprietary catalyst are used to remove sulfur and other contaminants before conversion into transportation fuels. The process produces a cleaner-burning diesel fuel product that meets new fuel regulations such as the Euro V standard, which specifies sulfur content of less than 10 parts per million in transportation fuels.
Honeywell UOP’s line of Unity catalysts includes more than two dozen hydrotreating catalysts for hydrocracking and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) pre-treat, and diesel, kerosene and coker naphtha hydrotreating. Honeywell UOP also offers catalysts for naphtha hydrotreating and FCC gasoline desulfurization.
Honeywell UOP inaugurated the use of catalysts in the refining industry in 1931, beginning with solid phosphoric acid. This and subsequent processes significantly raised the yield of high-octane transportation fuels. Today, Honeywell UOP is recognized as a leading developer of advanced catalysts for the refining industry.
About Honeywell UOP
Honeywell UOP is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions (www.honeywellprocess.com), a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries.
About Honeywell
Honeywell (NYSE: HON) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials.