ERTC 2021
Catalytic benefits of mesoporised zeolites
Kurt Du Mong ZEOPORE TECHNOLOGIES
Uplifting process performance and profitability
Zeopore makes its trademark by revolu- tionising mesoporisation technologies and applying these to various refining and petrochemical applications. Commercially relevant catalytic benefits have been demonstrated for multiple refining pro- cesses and industrial zeolites. As a result, refining becomes more profitable, flexible and sustainable. Several recent case studies bring evi- dence that these selectivity benefits are worth millions of dollars per year for average refineries. Zeopore’s inno- vative technology platform allows any commercially and readily available zeo- lite to be converted into a high-quality mesoporous zeolite at an affordable price. Complementing the zeolite’s micropo- res with a network of larger, high-qual- ity mesopores significantly increases the accessibility to the active sites inside the zeolite crystals, and boosts the catalysts’ selectivity, activity and lifetime. While establishing the required mesop- orisation, Zeopore is able to context spe- cifically optimise other critical intrinsic zeolitic properties, including acidity, sta- bility and composition. In addition, the company can embed catalytic metals into zeolites during the post-synthetic pro- cess, which allows for maximised dis- persions and minimised metal usage. Zeopore is the first company to have built such a broad market reach, with a myriad of mesoporous zeolite variants. Its cat- alytic process results prove compelling business cases in refining and the conver- sion of biomass and waste plastics. Demonstrated benefits in FCC, HDC and dewaxing The benefits of mesoporous zeolite cata- lysts in FCC cover increased bottoms con- version, reduced coke formation, higher middle distillate and olefin yields, and more qualitative products. By working on the low-cost NaY zeolite and capturing mesoporisation synergies in (rare earth- free) stabilisation, Zeopore has devel- oped a unique platform of FCC-based faujasites that not only displays strongly increased porosity in the fresh zeolite, but concomitantly features enhanced hydrothermal stability over standard mesoporous zeolites and conventionally stabilised USY zeolites. Zeopore technologies have also been successfully applied to ZSM-5-based
lyst manufacturing. Also, the use of Zeopore’s mesoporised catalysts drives more performant and targeted refining processes, which generate more high- added-value derivatives and fewer waste products from the same consumption of fossil feedstock. In catalytic dewax- ing, for example, Zeopore reaches 30°C cloud point improvement while keep- ing diesel yield loss under 2 wt%, as confirmed in a high-throughput testing campaign at hte GmbH. And finally, the zeolite innovations of Zeopore serve as a fundamental element in emerging mar- kets, such as the conversions of biomass or waste plastics, thereby contributing to the ongoing sustainability shift within the industry. Zeopore proudly states that its mesoporised zeolites success- fully work in such renewable feed-based isomerisation processes. As renewable products have lower cold flow properties than those of fos- sil-based products, higher performance dewaxing at an affordable cost is even more important in delivering high-qual- ity renewable fuels. Zeopore’s catalytic advancements also enable a further inte- gration of waste plastics recycling into the refining industry. Mesoporous fau- jasite and ZSM-5-based zeolite cata- lysts improve process efficiency in the further work-up of pyrolysis oil derived from thermal cracking of waste plas- tics. More strongly, in the catalytic pyrol- ysis of waste plastics, mesoporised zeolites yield order-of-magnitude activ- ity improvements over conventional zeolites.
additives, combining a fundamentally increased mesopore surface area with a preserved zeolite surface area before and after deactivation. In hydrocracking, Zeopore has demonstrated the preser- vation of the intrinsic properties of USY zeolite catalysts during mesoporisation. Only such high-quality mesoporised zeo- lites enable considerable improvement of selectivity, activity and stability. Other benefits are a lower hydrogen consumption and improved product qual- ity (such as cloud point and density). Unlike other technologies, these ben- efits are feasible for catalysts varying from low-zeolite content diesel-selective to high-zeolite content naphtha-selec- tive catalysts. The benefits of mesop- orisation in diesel dewaxing – using uni-directional zeolites – include improved cold flow properties at an unprecedented low diesel loss. Moreover, the reduced degree of cracking consumes less hydro- gen, the limited LPG formation ena- bles a higher plant capacity, and gains
Did you know industrially
modified zeolite catalysts unlock high selectivity benefits?
in hydrogenation potential enable a low- ered amount of aromatics in the prod- uct. Thanks to the larger substrate, the benefits in lubes dewaxing are even more substantial.
Higher sustainability in refining to recycling
First of all, the sustainability benefits of Zeopore cover a more environmen- tal friendly production of zeolite cata-
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12
Reference Zeopore
10
40
8
30
Any zeolite
Tunable
6
5x less
Accessibilty
~5˚C less
20
4
10
Economic & scalable
2
Retained intrinsic properties
ZEOPORE
0
0
0
10
20
30
0
10
20
30
40
Relative reactor temperature / ˚C
Cold ow properties improvement /˚C
Contact: info@zeopore.com
Zeopore advantages
Zeopore dewaxing
17
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