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In what situations do advanced catalyst formulations and technical support affect/benefit downstream product investment, such as when separating olefins?

Mar-2025

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Wolf Spaether, Clariant, wolf.spaether@ clariant.com

The complexity of large-scale olefin product separation correlates with the compositional complexity of the product raw stream mixtures. Well-established fractionation technologies will quantitatively separate the different ‘C-cuts’ (C1, C2, C3, C4) due to their distinctively different molecular weights.

However, olefinic mixtures, dependent on their source (such as steam crackers, refineries, FCC, and deep catalytic cracking), typically contain additional impurities and poisons such as acetylenes, organic sulphur species, phosphines, and various heavy metals that cannot easily be removed by means of fractionated distillation. It is, however, imperative to remove those impurities and poisons to render the olefin product usable for further downstream conversion, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and other base chemical processes.

In a conventional configuration, the contaminated feed streams would be passed over several adsorbents to individually remove heavy metals, sulphur, and phosphines, followed by selective hydrogenation catalysts to convert acetylenes into their corresponding olefins. This would require capital-intensive flow sheets and cause undesired operational complexity.

Advanced catalyst formulations should be able to conduct the clean-up over significantly fewer steps, even down to a one-reactor single-pass operation. A good example is Clariant’s OleMax 101 catalyst series, which simultaneously cleans refinery offgas from oxygen, nitrous oxides, acetylenes, and heavy metals contamination in a single reactor design. The purified olefinic mixture can be combined with other olefin streams or directly processed in a downstream olefin recovery section. The employed capital could be significantly reduced in comparison to a conventional multi-reactor design.

Support should be provided beginning with the design phase, catalyst loading, start-up, and continued operation, as well as state-of-the-art digital data collection and analysis. Against this backdrop, a team of experienced global experts supports our clients during the entire life cycle of the catalyst, including regeneration to facilitate maximum on-stream availability.

Mar-2025
Mark Schmalfeld, BASF Refinery Catalysts, mark.schmalfeld@basf.com

Advanced catalyst formulation and technical support can significantly influence investment decisions and operational efficiencies in various chemical processes, including the generation of olefins and the equipment required for the separation of olefins. Here are several situations in which these factors provide substantial benefits:

• Enhanced selectivity and yield
Situation: In processes such as the separation of olefins from mixed hydrocarbon streams, advanced FCC catalyst formulations can improve selectivity towards desired olefins (for example, ethylene, propylene, and butylenes) while minimising byproducts. Targeted catalyst design and additive use improve olefins selectivity. Examples are specific lower unit cell size for the Ultrastable Y zeolite, speciality zeolites (such as ZSM-5), and other types of zeolites that increase yields of olefins (often targeting propylene and butylenes), which helps to define goals for investment decisions.
Benefit: Higher selectivity results in increased yields of target products, reducing the need for additional downstream processing, thus saving on capital and operational expenditure.

• Integration with process technology
Situation: The integration of advanced catalysts with proprietary process technologies or reactor designs can lead to synergies that enhance olefin separation efficiency. Working with catalyst suppliers and equipment process licensors can improve the effectiveness of investment decisions for olefins separation.
Benefit: Technical support that aids in integrating these technologies can lead to a smoother implementation process and quicker realisation of economic benefits.

• Tailored solutions for specific feedstocks
Situation: Different feedstocks can have varying compositions and impurities that affect olefin separation. Advanced catalyst formulations can be tailored to specific feedstocks (for example, resid feedstocks requiring metals-resistant catalyst designs, VGO feedstocks, or alternative feedstocks for the FCC such as pyoils from plastics vs pyoils from biomass materials all have alternative catalyst designs to support olefins production and enable improved yields from separation units).
Benefit: This customisation can lead to optimal performance and yields, justifying higher initial investments in catalysts tailored to specific operational needs.

• Technical support for process optimisation
Situation: Ongoing technical support from catalyst manufacturers can provide refiners with insights into optimising operating conditions and troubleshooting issues during olefin separation.
Benefit: This support can enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and increase profitability, making the initial investment in advanced catalyst technology more appealing.

• Sustainability considerations:
Situation: As sustainability becomes increasingly important, advanced catalyst formulations that enable the production of olefins from renewable feedstocks can provide a competitive edge.
Benefit: Investments in these catalysts not only improve economic outcomes but also align with corporate sustainability goals, enhancing their attractiveness to investors.

In summary, advanced catalyst formulations and technical support play critical roles in enhancing the efficiency, yield, and sustainability of processes such as olefin separation. By addressing issues such as selectivity, catalyst stability, and process integration, these advancements can significantly benefit investment decisions and overall operational performance.

Mar-2025