Explosive Rate Increases Using Shaped Charges

Achieving tremendous increases in hydrocracker capacity of 20-35% without any capital investment sounds like impossibility. However, ground-breaking novel changes in catalyst design have enabled just that for two North American refiners. Hydrocracking units have rapidly become one of the highest profile units in the modern refinery with pressure to maximize charge rates up to a multitude of constraints including reactor system pressure drop. This paper provides two specific examples of hydrocracking units processing significantly higher rates without loss of activity or selectivity as a direct result of revolutionary new hydrocracking catalyst shape and selection within an existing reactor design.