Denti-Ball Shaped Catalysts for Oil-Refining Processes of Various Kinds

Denti-Ball Shaped Catalysts for Oil-Refining Processes of Various Kinds

The Denti-Ball Shaped Catalysts were developed by our company. These novel catalysts were specifically designed for the hydroprocessing units of various fuels and the feedstocks of other processing units in oil-refinining industry, and have successful commercial applications in many Chinese refineries since they were developed years ago..

Each Denti-Ball-Shaped Catalyst is spherical with tiny grooves on its surface, and has a much larger external surface area than that of existing ball-, cylinder- and tri-lobular-shaped catalysts. When packed in a reactor, the Denti-Ball Shaped Catalyst increases the void volume in the catalyst beds, thus reducing pressure drop in the catalyst bed. This increased void volume is attributable to the presence of tiny grooves formed on the surface of the catalyst particles, in addition to the spaces between particles, which together form a complex network. The bed density of the Denti-Ball Shaped Catalyst is more uniform than that of the cylinder or tri-lobular shaped catalyst thanks to the more uniform diameters of the Denti-Ball Shaped Catalyst particles. This structural advantage helps avoid the phenomena of bridging and overly-dense packing often observed in the cylinder or tri-lobular shaped catalysts. Due to its superior structural features, the Denti-Ball-Shaped Catalysts are an excellent choice with respect to heat removal, mass transfer, and overall efficiency.

The Denti-Ball Shaped Catalysts are particularly suitable for hydrogenation processes in which the pressure drop of the catalyst bed is a major concern. Recently, Our company has developed several types of Denti-Ball-Shaped Catalysts, such as catalysts for the second stage hydrofining process of pyrolysis gasoline, catalysts for hydrofining coker naphtha, and catalysts for upgrading the fuel with poor ignition quality. These catalysts have been used commercially. Application results indicate that the pressure drop observed in Denti-Ball Shaped Catalysts for the second stage hydrofining/hydrotreating process of pyrolysis gasoline is only one third of that observed in tri-lobular shaped catalysts.

For the refiners who consider pressure drop in catalyst bed a big concern, who want to reduce bridging phenomenon in catalyst bed, and who want to prolong catalyst service life, denti-ball shaped catalysts are a good choice. Because the excellent properties of the denti-ball shaped catalysts mainly come from the untraditional shape of the catalyst carrier, many kinds of hydroprocessing catalysts can be processed to have denti-ball shape, so denti-ball catalysts are broad-spectrum catalysts. Almost any kind of hydroprocessing catalysts can be made to have denti-ball shape, thus possesses the characteristics of the denti-ball shaped catalysts. Actually, denti-ball shaped catalysts are not limited to hydroprocessing catalysts. From this regard, denti-ball shaped catalysts represent a revolution in industries that need fixed-bed reactors, and maybe other kind of reactors with catalysts in the reactors.