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E D IΤ Ι ΟΝ
Vol. 19, No. 4
Fluid Catalyst Process for Cracking Petroleum
a considerable amount of the intensive technical work carried on by The Standard Oil Development Co. during the past few years had reached a successful conclusion during 1940: In hydrogénation, the most complex and highly developed of the catalytic oil processes, new catalysts were developed and successfully demonstrated in full commercial operations. The Baton Rouge hydrogénation plant is actually producing at the present time more than 100 per cent by volume of gasoline from gas oil. In catalytic cracking, one of the most direct of the catalytic oil processes, the new, continuous fluid catalyst process—as contrasted with the stationary catalyst type previously employed by the oil industry—proved to be so successful in a semicommercial unit that it was decided to proceed immediately with installation of the three larger commercial plants. The Jersey technical staff had developed a stationary catalyst type of cracking process just before the outbreak of the present war. We originally planned to install this type of operation in a number of our refineries but decided to delay action on the stationary type because our work on the continuous fluid catalyst process had reached the stage where commercial application of it seemed imminent. What we feared was that the intermittent type plants would be obsolete before they were completed because the fluid catalytic process held forth such promises of economy in plant and operating cost and in yields. Our opinion in this respect has been borne out by events and our present plans are that all future catalytic cracking construction in the Jersey refineries will be of the lower cost, more efficient, fluid catalyst type.
Frank A. Howard, president of Standard Oil Development Co., turns nitrogen into t h e special apparatus illustrating the flow of the catalyst in the n e w process, while president of Standard Oil Co. (N. J.), W. S. Farish, explains a feature of the demonstration.
Expanding further on the Jersey company's technical developments in 1940, Mr. Farish stated that the first large commercial hydroforming plant went into operation recently at the Pan American Refinery at Texas City, Tex. Three additional installations are under construction. The process was developed jointly by The M. W. Kellogg Co., Standard Oil Co. (Ind.) and the Jersey technical organization. He further explained :
Ν ΕW S
A
NEW and highly flexible type of petroleum cracking, [known as the fluid catalyst process, is announced by W. S. Farish, president o f Standard Oil Co. (N. J.) and F. A. Howard, head of The Standard Oil Development C o . The new process, described, as employing "a revolutionary catalytic "technique", is regarded as a companion to hydrogenation and hydroforming. I t is intended pri marily for motor gasoline production. Patents are 100 per c e n t Americanowned and will be available to the petro leum industry under a licensing arrange ment. Construction of three large commercial plants of the fluid catalytic type is under way at the Bayway refinery of Standard Oil Co. (N. J.), at the Bayton Rouge re finery of the Standard Oil Co. of Louisi ana, and at Baytown, T e x . , where the Humble Oil and Refining C o . is building a large unit. The Baton Rouge installation is expected to be in operation this year and the other two units will be completed some what later, depending on t h e effect of the national defense program o n deliveries of construction material. The new fluid catalyst process differs essentially from the existing intermittent t y p e of catalytic cracking which has gained wide attention in t h e petroleum
industry in recent years. Mr. Howard ex plained the difference in this way: A chamber operating on the old prin ciple of catalytic cracking might be com pared with a single-cylinder engine. Oil vapor was passed through the chamber, which contained catalysts in the form of lumps or pellets, for perhaps 20 or 30 minutes. During this time carbon de posits accumulated on the catalyst, im pairing its effectiveness. Consequently, it was necessary to stop operations, purge the unit to get rid of vapors, and burn out the accumulated carbon with oxygen. All of this took more time than was consumed in actual cracking operations. Moreover the regeneration, or restoration of the catalyst in the cham ber, required higher operating tempera tures and much automatic apparatus which was quite expensive. In order to maintain continuous cracking operations in this type of catalytic process it was necessary to have several chambers, just as several cylinders are required to give an uninterrupted flow of power in an automo bile engine. In the fluid catalyst process we maintain continuous cracking operations in one chamber, and regeneration, or cleaning of the catalyst, in a separate zone, through which the catalyst flows like a liquid. The only thing that moves is the catalyst itself and the operation is continuous, like that of a steam turbine. In tracing the development of the fluid catalyst process, Mr. Farish revealed that
This process which operates principally to improve low-octane gasoline fractions, may be said to be a step halfway between hydrogénation and catalytic cracking. The process uses, although it does not consume, hydrogen, and we had a successful commercial demonstration of it last year in one of our domestic refineries. Mr. Farish declared that all Jersey's patent rights dealing with catalytic cracking and with hydroforming, as well as licensing rights in these fields previously purchased from other interests, had been acquired by the Standard Catalytic Co. (formerly the Standard-I. G. Co.) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Oil Co. (N. J.). Standard Catalytic Co. has made working arrangements for the licensing of these patents to the petroleum industry through Universal Oil Products Co. and The M. W. Kellogg Co. Theodore W. Bartlett, a recent graduate of the University of Vermont with a B.S. in chemistry, has joined the staff of Foster D. Snell, Inc., Brooklyn, Ν. Υ.
February 25, 1941
NEWS
EDITION
EDWALSpecial Chemicals
"NIAPROOF"* and "NIAPROOF"* Basic T w o n e w solid a l u m i n u m a c e t a t e s a l t s for the p r e p a r a t i o n of b e t t e r w a t e r - r e p e l l e n t finishes for t e x t i l e s , p a p e r , a n d l e a t h e r . Also 2 0 % a n d 24·% basic solutions. * Trade-ninrli
NACET
CHEMICALS CORPORATION
N e w W a x Manufacturing Process TΗΕ Β. F . Sturtevant Co.,. Hyde Park, Boston, Mass., announces the de velopment of a new process for sweating (fractional fusion) of waxes in cooperation with engineers of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. Patents resulting will be jointly held by the two companies. Advantages of the process include improved quality, re duction in manufacturing time, reduced costs, and increased sales value. The waxes are a by-product from the manufacture of gasoline, lubricating oils, etc., made from crude petroleum. The crude wax mass is a mixture of several individual constituents, which when defi nitely separated present several kinds of wax with different characteristics, uses, and market values. They are used in coatings for waxed paper, in waterproofing compounds for cloth, in electric wire insu lation, in lining material for food contain ers, and for hundreds of other purposes. The process consists essentially of an apparatus arrangement and control sys tem b y means of which the hot melted crude wax mixture is run into pans in a closed room. The wax mass is cooled under close control, each individual con stituent freezing separately as cooling proceeds, until pans contain total solids.
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1. DlACETYL-AMINO-AZOTOLUL 2. QUININE BISMUTH IODIDE 3. P-ACETYL-AMINOPHENOL W i t h o u t cost or obligation to you, q u o t a t i o n s will be f u r n i s h e d o n t h e s e a n d o t h e r c h e m i c a l s , W r i t e f o r f r e e 16 p a g e h o o k o n S e r v i c e s a n d C h e m i c a l s of o u r m u i i u f a e t u r i n g division.
THE EDWAL LABORATORIES, INC.
Then all noriwaxlike oils drain off, leaving only the wax mixture in solid form. Heat ing then takes place under absolute con trol, the temperature rising slowly and pausing as each fraction fuses and result ing liquid fraction is drawn off, until all waxes up to the highest melting point are gone from the pans. The apparatus consists of an evapora tive cooler, steam heating unit, circulating fan, distributing ducts in the room, and pipe coils with water pump in the pans. The air is circulated rapidly in the room, cooled or heated as the case may be, and the water maintained approximately at the air temperatures.
Checking Bottle-Washing Solutions A
ROBOT chemist known as the SoluBridge has been developed b y Nathan Schnoll, of Industrial Instruments, Inc., Jersey City, N. J., to provide an immedi ate report on t h e concentration of any washing or other solution or the condition of rinse water, read directly off the main dial in terms of free caustic content or by means of a conversion chart. The instru ment represents the adaptation of elec trical and radio principles, including the Wheatstone bridge, which maintains labo ratory-grade accuracy regardless of line-
voltage or other variations; a magic eye to serve as an indicator of bridge balance; a main control dial providing readings in terms of percentage concentration; and associated rectifier and amplifier tubes. Connected with the instrument is a molded rubber dip placed in the solution to be checked.
Things THOSE who hear about new products and scientific experiments and say "I wish I had a sample of that new thing!" should contact Science Service, 2101 Constitution Ave., Washington, D . C. Members of the new service, known as "Things", receive a scientific package each month. "Things" sent t o the group have included candy made from whey, an optics unit demon strating polarized light and other radiation phenomena, and in 1941 will cover novel fabrics, glass, plastics, metals, rubber, archaeological finds, and materials which test taste, heredity, and odors. Each month's unit is accompanied by explana tions and label cards suitable for use in a school laboratory display cabinet. Be cause of nonprofit operation, Science Serv ice offers a year's membership for $4.00. Provisions have been made for only 5000 -members.
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