PTQ Q3 2026 Issue

absence of rare earths, these innovative catalysts maintain strong resistance to metal contamination and sustained performance in demanding refinery environments. Today’s flexible catalyst system designs allow refiners to develop and tailor optimal catalyst strategies, including zero- and low-rare-earth alternatives, that meet unit objec - tives regardless of feedstock characteristics. This approach helps maintain catalyst activity, product selectivity, and metals tolerance, maximising overall economic value. Q Are there alternatives to the heavy reliance on naph- tha as a key petrochemical feedstock? A Mel Larson, Strategic Consulting Advisor, Becht, mlarson@becht .com Naphtha accounts for approximately 40% of petrochemical feedstock globally, and in India, it accounts for more than 60% of the feed. Circular processing (including recycling) has the long-term potential to replace 5-20% of naphtha, though full lifecycle analysis may show net negative emis - sions benefits. NGLs (propane, butane) are viable alternatives but com - pete with other high-demand markets. The core issue comes down to cost-effective innovations. Ever-increasing demand for petrochemical products may drive first-gener - ation production shifts to plant-based feedstocks, though these still require fossil fuels for agricultural development. There are alternatives to naphtha; however, all require an energy cycle (cradle-to-grave) analysis to properly evalu - ate their true economic value and sustainability. Reliance on naphtha as a feedstock is unlikely to shift significantly over the next two decades. With greater operational and feedstock flexibility, advantaged economics, and improved carbon footprint, FCC technologies offer a practical alternative to naphtha-centric petrochemical feedstock production A Boheng Ma, Strategic Marketing Manager, FCC Catalysts, W. R. Grace & Co. (Grace), boheng.ma@grace.com The petrochemical industry’s traditional dependence on naphtha steam cracking is increasingly challenged by high energy intensity, capital requirements, and carbon expo - sure. While propane dehydrogenation (PDH) has grown as a propylene source, it remains constrained by equilibrium limits and sensitivity to propane pricing. In this dynamic landscape, FCC units provide several distinct advantages to reduce reliance on naphtha as a key petrochemical feedstock. The first advantage FCC technologies enable is on- purpose light olefins production using existing refinery assets. FCC technologies enable deliberate and flexible

control for the production of these petrochemical feedstocks. Through catalyst and additive design, and particularly with the use of high-activity ZSM-5-based technologies like the proprietary Zavanti or OlefinsUltra MZ, refiners can selec - tively crack gasoline-range olefins into valuable light olefins products with little to no capital investment. This flexibility allows FCC units to shift from fuels-focused production to on-purpose petrochemical feedstock production as market conditions change and evolve. In contrast, steam crackers and PDH units are largely locked into single-product opti - misation strategies and require substantial capital to alter product slates. From economic and decarbonisation perspectives, FCC- derived propylene is an important petrochemical feedstock, offering the lowest cash cost of production and lowest carbon footprint among commercial propylene pathways. PDH units require high reactor temperatures to overcome equilibrium limitations, resulting in high energy consump- tion and associated carbon emissions. Steam cracking is even more energy and carbon-intensive, operating at extreme temperatures to drive the thermal cracking reac - tions that produce petrochemical feedstocks. In contrast, an FCC unit’s catalytic pathway for propylene production operates at lower reactor temperatures and derives most of its process energy internally through coke combustion. This translates into lower operating costs, fewer processing steps, and reduced carbon intensity. Another advantage of FCC units is their feedstock and transition flexibility. PDH technologies rely almost exclu - sively on high-purity propane, while steam crackers are highly sensitive to naphtha composition and availability. FCC units can process a broad range of fossil, renewable, and circular feeds, including bio-derived oils and plastic- derived feedstocks, enabling the production of bio-circular propylene. This flexibility positions FCC as a practical bridge between today’s refining system and a lower-carbon petro - chemical future. Beyond these benefits, FCC units offer additional options to extend and upgrade petrochemical value within existing refinery configurations through incremental olefin recovery and upgrading routes. For example, FCC units operating in petrochemical mode also produce meaningful quantities of ethylene and butylenes. Ethylene, a typical constituent in the fuel gas system, can be valorised when routed to an integrated petrochemical complex. For non-integrated FCC units, targeted investments in ethylene recovery and purification may also be economi - cal to capture incremental value from this product stream. Additionally, co-processing bioethanol can leverage the high dehydration activity of FCC catalysts to generate additional bio-derived ethylene, creating potential economic upside through ‘green premiums’.1 Alternatively, FCC-derived eth - ylene and butylenes can be converted to additional propyl- ene via olefin metathesis. Finally, petrochemically focused FCC operation results in a lower naphtha yield that is richer in aromatic content, which can enhance the economics of benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX) recovery from FCC- derived naphtha. With greater operational and feedstock flexibility,

PTQ Q3 2026