Alexis Shackleford - BASF
The production of tight oil crude is changing the North American refining landscape. These new crude fields are projected to generate roughly one-fourth of the crude refined by 2020, displacing mostly foreign imports into the United States. In general, these feeds are light, paraffinic, have low contaminants, and are low in resid content. While of higher quality, many US refineries have been configured to process the increasingly heavy crudes previously projected to be available.
For the FCC, this means a change in operating strategy. Typical challenges facing FCC’s processing these crudes include: high amounts of LPG, maintaining heat balance, higher alki metals, and reduced feed rates. The presentation will demonstrate how BASF is helping its customers capture maximum value with tight oil feeds through: 1. Collaboratively developed operating strategies between BASF and the refiner, 2. Innovative FCC catalysts and a strong commitment to technical service.
BASF has a diverse catalyst portfolio and a breathe of FCC technical expertise that can provide refiners with the flexibility to optimize units processing tight oil feedstocks and work though the challenges they pose including high activity, optimum delta coke and high iron tolerance.