Baha Eren - BASF
The enforcement of the IMO 2020 regulation is expected to cause lower demand for high sulfur fuel oil and pricing disruption throughout the refining industry. Demand for low sulfur marine fuels will widen the spread between light-heavy crudes and tighten the distillate market.
Refiners and shipping companies are considering several options when coping with the implementation of MARPOL. A few of these options include: capital investments for scrubbers on ships, increased usage of delayed cokers and hydrocrackers, LNG as a marine fuel, and alternate fuel blending.
Refinery optimizations are natural routes for refiners to take advantage of the margin opportunity in the coming years. Flexibility in FCC operation will be critical in meeting these new challenges. Operation optimization, hardware changes, and catalyst solutions will complement the potential large shifts in target yields slate. This presentation will describe the utilization of FCC catalysts solution as a process technology approach to mitigate the effects of IMO regulations and corresponding shifts in FCC economics.
Baha Eren is currently the Technical Service Engineer for FCC catalysts at BASF. Using modeling and data analytics, he provides optimized catalyst solutions and unit troubleshooting for FCC units. Baha has held various positions within BASF in the polyurethanes business and the chemical monomers division. Based in Houston, TX, Baha holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas.