UOP And Albemarle Sell Diesel Unionfining Unit To Jamaica's
Unit represents first sale for the new UOP-Albemarle hydroprocessing alliance
Des Plaines, IL - UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced it has licensed a diesel Unionfining unit to Jamaica's Petrojam Ltd., the first sale resulting from the new UOP-Albemarle hydroprocessing alliance formed to help refiners produce cleaner fuels. The Unionfining process is a highly efficient catalytic process for the desulfurization of cracked and straight-run distillate materials.
Under the terms of the alliance, UOP will be the licensor and the engineering design and service provider to Petrojam, the national oil company of Jamaica, while Albemarle will supply the catalyst for the diesel Unionfining unit. The unit design is based on Albemarle's widely applied NiMo STARS catalyst KF-848, which has been commercially applied in many units producing ultra low sulfur diesel. This catalyst will help Petrojam produce ultra low sulfur diesel even while processing cracked naphtha and delayed coker distillate.
The unit is part of a clean fuels refinery upgrade at the government-owned refiner that will allow Jamaica to be more self-sufficient and reduce transportation fuel imports. Petrojam is also installing other UOP technology, including a CCR Platforming unit with a regeneration vent gas Chlorsorb system, and a Par-Isom unit.
The CCR Platforming process reforms naphtha to produce aromatics for petrochemical complexes, high-octane gasoline and hydrogen. With 200 units in operation and more than 30 in design and construction, the CCR Platforming process is the pre-eminent technology for naphtha reforming. The Chlorsorb system reduces chloride emissions from a CCR Platforming unit. The Par-Isom process uses a non-chlorided-alumina catalyst for light paraffin isomerization. The Par-Isom process product, isomerate, is a high-octane blending component used in formulation of clean burning gasoline.
UOP and Albemarle announced in March the formation of a hydroprocessing alliance to help the petroleum refining industry produce clean fuels. Hydroprocessing technology is used to remove sulfur compounds found in crude oil. The alliance offers a wide range of hydroprocessing technologies, catalysts and services to assist refiners in meeting the projected increased demand for refined products and ultra-low-sulfur fuels. Hydroprocessing technologies and catalysts are used in virtually all petroleum refineries around the world and are essential for the production of clean fuels.
SOURCE: UOP LLC