Catalysis 2025 Issue

molecular structures in the PDPO samples (see Figure 4 ). Both PDPO samples gave significantly higher conversion levels at the selected conditions, and while both samples resulted in elevated gasoline yield, PDPO A showed high - est gasoline selectivity. Further, gasoline octane numbers decreased due to the higher hydrogen content of the two feeds (see Table 2 ). The higher conversion is reflected in the very low bot - toms yields from the two PDPO samples. Both samples yielded somewhat elevated coke levels, which needs to be considered in view of the commercial FCC unit’s heat bal - ance. PDPO A made a significantly higher benzene yield and somewhat higher CO+CO2 (CO x ) yield. These obser - vations indicate that the feed to the upstream pyrolysis process might be higher in monoaromatics precursors and oxygen content for PDPO A. Catalytic testing of the respective plastics-derived pyrol - ysis oils A and B showed high crackability with favourable gasoline and bottoms yield. PDPO B yielded more LPG By fully understanding the yield structure and addressing associated challenges, refineries can unlock the potential of waste-derived feedstocks, achieving both financial and environmental benefits than sample A at somewhat higher LPG olefins yields like propylene and butylene. The gasoline fractions from both samples contained reduced research octane number (RON) and motor octane number (MON) quality, which needs consideration in the techno-economic assessment. Additionally, the higher coke yield for the samples needs to be included in the required modelling of FCC unit effects. The complete yield structure data allow an initial assess - ment of the margin uplift from the plastics-derived pyrol - ysis oil types. Conclusion By fully understanding the yield structure and addressing associated challenges, refineries can unlock the potential of waste-derived feedstocks, achieving both financial and environmental benefits. Against this backdrop, collabora - tion is key to accelerating the assessment of challenges and opportunities that arise with the energy transition and new developing circular value chains. Repsol and Grace collaborated to investigate the crack - ability and yield structure from catalytic cracking of two different plastics-derived pyrolysis oils in pilot plant equip - ment. The resulting yield delta to a reference VGO sample allows an initial assessment of yield shifts but also indi - cates areas that might need more attention in a commer- cial trial, like oxygen in the PDPO or the effect on gasoline quality.

The combination of Repsol and Grace competencies in the evaluation of two plastics-derived pyrolysis oils is an example of a successful collaboration to assess opportu - nities and challenges associated with the processing of advanced chemical recycling feed streams in the refining industry. References 1 OECD, 2024, Projections of Plastic Waste (accessed on January 10 2025), https://bit.ly/3Eh77Rm 3 Repsol Group, Integrated Management Report 2023 . 4 Harding et al., Fluid catalytic cracking selectivities of gasoil boiling point and hydrocarbon fractions, Industrial and Chemical Engineering Research, 1996. 5 Wallenstein et al. , A novel selectivity test for the evaluation of FCC catalysts, Appl. Catal. A , 2002. Rafael Orejas Contreras is the FCC’s Senior Technical Advisor at Repsol. He has more than 30 years of experience in the refining indus - try. He has worked in the Petronor and Puertollano refineries. He has held various roles as a head of the department in conversion units, head of pre-commisioning and start-up of the reduction fuel oil pro - ject in Petronor and five years as SMAC Manager. Orejas is a Mining Engineer graduate from Univ Politécnica of Madrid and holds an MBA degree from IAE Argentina. María Bescansa Leirós is Technical Sales Manager FCC & ART for Spain, Portugal and parts of Romania within Grace’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region. She brings with her 19 years of experience in the refining industry, previously working at the Repsol La Coruña Refinery in northwest Spain. She has held various positions within Repsol, most recently in the FCC area, but always related with catalytic processes. Bescansa worked in both process and operating depart - ments in technical and managing tasks, including Deputy Process Manager and Deputy Operations Manager, both at the distillation area and the FCC area, and led the team that developed the first ISO 50001 awarded to a refinery. She holds a Master’s in chemical engi - neering from the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and a Master’s in business administration. Stefan Brandt is Market Development Director Energy Transition for Grace’s FCC business. He is based in Worms, Germany. He has more than 25 years of experience in FCC catalyst technology and its appli - cation, holding positions in quality control, R&D, and technical sales and service. Throughout his tenure in R&D, he was involved in various EU-funded projects for processing and co-processing of bio-based feedstocks. Brandt holds a Diploma in chemistry from the University of Bochum, Germany and a PhD in chemistry from the same university. He is the co-inventor of several patents and the co-author of peer- reviewed journals and numerous trade press articles. Nelson Olong is Principal Scientist in the Catalyst Evaluations Research and Services group for Grace FCC. He started his career at Grace in 2007 in the FCC catalyst synthesis group and later joined the process technology department. He is currently one of the R&D partners for resid conversion, serving as Strategic Marketing Manager and responsible for catalysts evaluation. During Olong’s career, he has been involved in the development of many new FCC catalysts and manufacturing processes. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Saarland, Germany.

Catalysis 2025