Ketjen Corporation, a leader in catalyst and specialty chemicals manufacturing headquartered in Houston, US, has announced the launch of SaFeGuard, a new catalyst technology designed to address iron (Fe) poisoning in fluid catalytic cracking process (FCC) units.
In a recent 30-day full commercial trial, SaFeGuard demonstrated a 77% improvement in accessibility with a 50% inventory replacement enabling an increase in unit activity, improved bottoms cracking, and ability to process heavy iron-rich feedstocks, said the US company in a statement.
Further testing and predictive modeling suggest that a full 100% inventory changeout could yield up to a 130% increase in accessibility delivering additional improvement in performance.
SaFeGuard delivers a step change in the contaminant Fe and calcium (Ca) tolerance window by minimizing the Eutectic formation, thereby keeping catalyst pores open. This enables higher activity levels and furthers bottoms cracking, ultimately uplifting profit margins.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Albemarle Corporation, Ketjen is headquartered in Houston, US, and serves global customers through operations in 25 markets.
"We’ve developed a powerful, safe and sustainable solution that addresses iron poisoning and will increase profitability for our customers by allowing for lower-cost feeds and more efficient operations," remarked Ketjen’s Chief Commercial Officer Henri Tausch.
"This new technology is the culmination of decades of research aimed at developing industry leading iron and calcium tolerant catalysis and illustrates our commitment to developing innovative solutions that support the evolving needs of our customers," he stated.
David Leach, Vice President and General Manager, FCC at Ketjen, pointed out that SaFeGuard was a great option for refiners who were taking advantage of opportunity crudes and even bio feeds because it is just as effective in combating additional contaminants including nickel, vanadium, calcium, sodium, and silicon.
"It can be used to process iron-rich feedstocks including heavy, resid, tight oil and renewable feeds, and it’s also great for units facing accessibility limitations because it requires less frequent catalyst replacement," he noted.
Ketjen’s next generation SaFeGuard technology is currently available for use by refiners around the globe, he added.-TradeArabia News Service