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• With the most profitable refiners focusing on the production of basic chemicals such as aromatics, olefins, and polyolefins, what catalyst and reactor technology is key to this focus?

  Mar-2024

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Answers

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• Alex Ashton, Chevron, lkjhgfdsa999@yahoo.com

  Refiners rarely produce polyolefins, and they often send BTX as a mixture to aromatics processors, who typically process it to maximise production of benzene and para-xylene, since those are the two primary chemical feedstocks. Light olefins produced incidentally as part of FCC operation are purified by distillation and sent to polyolefin producers.

  If refiners wish to bring more of the downstream processing into their facilities, they will have to make significant investments. They would be better off, IMO, aiming at adapting their facilities to process renewable feedstocks, both for liquid fuels and for chemicals production.

   

  Apr-2024

• Marcio Wagner da Silva, Petrobras, marciows@petrobras.com.br

  Considering the growing demand by petrochemicals and the hostile and falling market for fossil fuels is expected an movement by the big players of the downstream industry aiming to promote closer integration between refining and petrochemicals assets in order to raise the yield of petrochemical intermediates like ethylene, propylene, and BTX in their refining assets.

  For downstream players with sufficient capital power it's possible to expect the announcements of crude to chemicals capital investments like recently announced in Asia and Middle East. Considering this context, is expected that the conversion processes in general will reach a more strategic role in the refining assets and processing units like FCC, Steam Crackers, Catalytic reforming units, and hydrocrackers should deserve more attention from refiners and is expected more capital investments in revamp and green projects in the next years, the same can be said about the catalysts applied in these processing units regarding new technology development and operating costs related to a more intensive use of these catalysts.

   

  Apr-2024