Improving performance and safety while reducing costs for Oil Refiners

Refiners are increasingly under pressure to improve efficiency, increase output and reduce downtime of reactors. The need for evolution in the working methods of ‘reactor charge-outs’ has never been so important.

On the evening of Sunday 2nd April 2006, CleanCat Technologies, supported by leading catalyst services company Mourik International, successfully performed the first commercial deployment of the ‘CleanCat’ System for pneumatic loading of catalyst into a fixed bed reactor.

The loading activity took place at an ExxonMobil refinery on a dark, wet and windy evening with wind speeds in the region of 40mph, ideal conditions to highlight the benefits of the CleanCat System’s independence from inclement weather.

Conventional methods of loading, (series of big-bags lifted to the top of reactors by a crane) could not have occurred until the weather conditions at site improved. Immediately the economic savings of the CleanCat system is evident as weather can seldom be planned for.

Keith Wilson from ExxonMobil’s Process Technology department has worked closely with CleanCat in the development of the system, Keith comments, “CleanCat provides Exxon Mobil with an opportunity to improve cat handling efficiency whilst mitigating weather dependency, reducing overall downtime required to complete a load.".

Bill Thomson, CEO of CleanCat Technologies stated: "The catalyst was loaded in a shorter time than traditional methods, It was much safer and also achieved acceptable breakage levels which were well inside ExxonMobil's acceptability criteria. This is a great start for CleanCat and a big thanks to everyone associated with the development of the technology and putting the theory into practice”.

CleanCat Technologies, a division of InterBulk Investments plc, have been developing and fine-tuning the technology. The system involves a dense phase conveying unit at ground level to convey the catalyst to the top of the reactor. At the top, a specialist dual-purpose ‘catalyst controller’ controls the velocity of the catalyst in the pipeline and also allows the catalyst to fall by gravity through a discharge sock in the conventional way.  For unloading, the process is reversed and the control unit forms part of a dense phase vacuum system where the conveying speed of the catalyst is controlled; substantially reducing the breakage levels and allowing the catalyst to be loaded by gravity either into bins, or a 17m3 ISO-Veyor, a patented ISO container developed by CleanCat.

The CleanCat ISO-Veyor is a key element in improving the catalyst supply chain and is being offered to catalyst manufacturers, regenerators and logistics companies as an economical, efficient method for transportation, storage and conveying of catalyst compared to big bags, barrels or bins.

For further information, please contact Dean Reilly, dreilly@clydeblowers.co.uk