PTQ Q4 2025 Issue

performance increased significantly across the main experimental cam- paigns (from A to C), which demon- strates the effectiveness of the research approach. The main features of the technology are its high active metal dispersion and low metal-support interaction, leading

Quasar catalyst platform

Platform Quasar

Grades KF 882 KF 872

Application

Introduction

High-pressure distillate HT, LCO HT

2023 2024

HC-PT

Table 1

facilitates the saturation of (part of) the mono-aromatics. Bulk metal catalysts (BMC) are particularly effective in HYD and, depending on the operating objectives, are applied in combination with NiMo catalysts in both Zone 2 and Zone 3. This combination significantly boosts HDS activity and volume swell, further improving the overall economics of the operating cycle. Catalyst advancements for high-pressure distillate hydrotreating Quasar is Ketjen’s latest catalyst technology, designed for high-pressure distillate hydrotreating and HC-PT. KF 882 is applied for distillate and light cycle oil (LCO) hydrotreating, while KF 872 is used for HC-PT, as summarised in Table 1 . The Quasar technology was developed by combining the use of classical design of experiments (DoE), AI algo- rithms, and computational chemistry. The AI work utilised open-source algorithms, which were further customised in-house. This multifaceted approach enabled the identifi - cation of deeper relationships between the catalyst recipe and its performance, allowing for the development of the most effective formulation and a fundamental understand- ing of its behaviour. Figure 2 illustrates activity data collected from the DoEs utilised during the development of the Quasar catalyst platform. As shown, the number of recipes with higher

to significantly enhanced HYD activity and active metal efficiency. Compared to the previous generation of NiMo ultra-high activity type II catalysts, Quasar catalysts exhibit much higher HYD activity per metal atom. This allows for increased hydrodesulphurisation (HDS), hydrodenitro - genation (HDN), and hydrodearomatisation (HDA) activity without the need to increase the metal loading per reactor volume. Two other notable features of the technology are its abil- ity to preserve high dispersion of nickel during operation and its enhanced tolerance to temperature during dry-out in the gas phase for start-up. These features lead to bet- ter activity maintained throughout the operating cycle and higher flexibility during start-up. A potential disadvantage of NiMo compared to CoMo cat- alysts is the higher tendency of nickel, compared to cobalt, to segregate out of the active metal slabs and agglomerate into large, inactive nickel sulphide crystals. This is one of the mechanisms negatively affecting the performance of NiMo catalysts during the operating cycle. As shown in Figure 3 , the tendency of nickel to agglomerate into large nickel sulphide crystals can be significantly reduced. The figure compares STEM-EDX mapping of nickel in spent catalysts. As shown, the nickel in Quasar catalysts remains noticeably better dispersed than in the previous generation NiMo ref- erence catalyst, even after use, which aligns with the higher HYD activity observed.

The first Quasar grade introduced to the market was KF 882. Launched in 2023, it is designed for high-pressure distillate and LCO hydrotreating. Its opera- tional advantage stems from its increased HYD activity, making it ideal for operation in both reactor Zone 2 and Zone 3 for deeper nitrogen and sulphur removal and aromatics saturation, as pre- viously shown in Figure 1. KF 882 is capable of removing nitrogen very effectively, even at higher concentrations in the feed. The higher activity can be leveraged to increase the upgrading of distressed feedstock to ULSD and reduce weighted average bed temperature (WABT),

Q uasar

Campaign A Campaign B Campaign C

Quasar

HDS activity (%)

HDN activity

Figure 2 Main experimental campaigns for distillate hydrotreating and HC-PT, leading to the development of Quasar formulations (Campaign C)

PTQ Q4 2025