Zhonghong Qiu

FCC catalyst with high LPG yield and lower gasoline olefin content

In recent years, great attention has been paid to fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes capable of acting as gasoline and light olefins producers. The Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP) has carried out extensive exploratory works in this area that have resulted in the development of the maximized gas and gasoline (MGG) process aimed at maximizing liquefied petroleum gas rich in C 3 and C 4 olefins and high octane gasoline yields. A number of units operating in MGG mode have been put into production to meet the local requirements in China. In order to get cleaner burning, a new specification to control inferior components in motor gasoline was implemented. According to this specification, the olefins content in motor gasoline should be less than 35 v%. This limit has put tremendous pressure on refineries to reduce the olefin components in gasoline, especially for processes like MGG since reducing olefins in gasoline is in contradiction with increasing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) olefinicity and gasoline octane. In this paper, work on improving the catalyst for the MGG process to satisfy the above requirements will be discussed.