Michael Fitzgerald & Daniel Gillis - Chevron Lummus Global
Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) has been around a long time. It is primarily used for lubes application to make bright stock or for fuels application to prepare additional FCC feed, and to a limited extent hydrocracking feedstock.
However, there are several more usages of SDA that depending on the specific project circumstance, merit consideration. Over the past several years CLG has been investigating the use of SDA that has led to identification of both technical and economically attractive novel SDA applications. As such, CLG is now assisting our clients to take advantage of this technology to both enhance and complement CLG’s other residue upgrading technologies. This assistance is now further supported with the recent addition of a modern large SDA pilot plant at Lummus’s R&D center in Pasadena, Texas.
The purpose of this presentation is to provide the audience with awareness of the benefits the SDA process provides when integrated with other bottom of the barrel processes and what is required to overcome previously conceived barriers. Some of the new applications and their benefits that will be shared with the audience include:
- Integration with residue hydrocracking to increase residue conversion
- High lift SDA + Coking while overcoming coker heater fouling issues
- Use as a feed preparation step to make needle coke
- Expanding residue hydrotreating applications
Additionally, CLG will share with the audience its capabilities to support projects considering a SDA unit. These capabilities are based on CLG’s historical background in SDA, more recent licensing of modern SDA designs, and some of our findings from pilot plant programs we have undertaken.