DuPont Clean Technologies (DuPont) has announced its IsoTherming hydrotreating unit installed at the CNOOC Huizhou Refinery in Guangdong Province, China has successfully completed its performance test, certifying that the unit is meeting performance guarantees.
The VGO hydrotreater at CNOOC is designed to process 51,419 bpsd (2,600 kmta) of a vacuum gasoil feedstock as feed for the FCC unit.
The hydrotreater was initially commissioned in late September 2017 but, due to the market-driven, reduced refinery throughput, ran at various lower rates until recently. These performance results highlight the technology’s ability to sustain catalyst activity over a long period of time.
CNOOC also chose IsoTherming technology for a 71,637 bpsd (3,400 kmta) ULSD hydrotreating unit (also at the Huizhou refinery) which was also commissioned in September 2017 after passing its performance test in 2018.
IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology utilizes a novel liquid phase reactor system. Its suitable for applications including kerosene hydrotreating, transmix hydrotreating, diesel hydrotreating, FCC feed hydrotreating (VGO hydrotreating), mild hydrocracking, dewaxing, gas-to-liquid (GTL) upgrading, and heavy oil upgrading for both grassroots and revamp configurations.
DuPont has 27 IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology licenses globally, of which 15 are in commercial operation.
“It’s great to see how the IsoTherming technology showcased sustained catalyst performance over the past few years with the unit still able to achieve start-of-run performance guarantees,” said Kevin Bockwinkel, Global Business Manager, IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology.
