Maximizing Flexibility in an Tier 3 Gasoline Environment

With the upcoming Tier 3 regulations, 10wppm sulfur in the gasoline pool will be the standard starting in 2017. The low sulfur limit is forcing refiners to take a thorough look at the different streams feeding the gasoline pool to identify those streams that will now require hydroprocessing in an ultra-low sulfur gasoline environment. Often this means existing FCC gasoline post-treaters will be pushed for increased operating severity and new feeds or new post-treaters installed. Maintaining the flexibility in these units to handle atypical and challenging streams beyond FCC gasoline is an issue that must be addressed. 

After giving an overview of the different options to tackle Tier 3, approaches that reliably meet ultra-low sulfur gasoline will be discussed. Key aspects of the talk will include;

• Process Schemes
• Maintaining flexibility while increasing severity
• Co-processing of difficult feeds like full range coker naphtha