LOW-SULFUR SPECIFICATIONS CAUSE REFINERS TO LOOK AT HYDROTREATING OPTIONS

Future environmental regulations may require refiners to produce fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline with less than 100 ppm sulfur. To comply, refiners can choose to hydrotreat the feed or desulfurize the gasoline. Process options to desulfurize gasoline include: (1) Undercutting the FCC gasoline; (2) Hydrotreating the full-range FCC gasoline; (3) Hydrotreating the heavy FCC gasoline fraction; (4) Using the extractive Merox process to treat the light FCC gasoline; (5) Using liquid-liquid extraction to remove sulfur compounds from the heavy FCC gasoline; (6) Recracking the heavy-gasoline; (7) Selectively hydrotreating with the ISAL process developed by Intevep SA, Venezuela; and (8) Using sulfur adsorption for the full-range FCC gasoline.