Title : Catalyst intervention for maximising light olefins in high severity FCC process
Abstract:
The global demand for petrochemicals is predicted to grow continually at a CAGR of 5.50% during the period 2025-2033. Consequently, light olefins like ethylene and propylene, which are key building blocks of petrochemical products, are also of high demand. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) technology is considered as one of the important processes for producing light olefins. Catalyst plays a crucial role in FCC process and have been evolved continuously with improvement of performance in terms of activity and selectivity for light olefin maximization. Indian Oil has been actively pursuing research, development and commercialization of FCC process technologies in the past two decades. Indian Oil’s high severity INDMAX process is a specially designed and commercially proven technology which enables to convert resid feedstocks to light olefins with increased selectivity. This process employs a customized catalyst system based on proprietary zeolite stabilization and matrix technologies with features of tailored pore architecture and fine-tuned acidity, for enhancing the conversion levels and olefin yields. INDMAX technology enables refiners to achieve operational flexibility achieving high conversion levels above 88-90 wt% and propylene yield of 18-20 wt% from variety of feedstocks having CCR as high as 4 wt% through synergistic integration of catalyst system and process parameters. The present paper describes the performance of INDMAX technology and the characteristic features of catalyst system which enables the feedstock flexibility and increased product selectivity for maximizing light olefin yield.
