Naphtha hydrotreater and catalytic reformer on a gasoline train — Naphtha hydrotreater and catalytic reformer.

Product information

Product

Finished gasoline is a blend, not a single rundown. Naphtha from the crude unit is treated, reformed, and joined with isomerate, alkylate, and cracked stocks until octane, Reid vapor pressure, sulfur, and distillation sit inside the specification the market and the regulator both accept.

The equipment on that path has to hold hydrogen, heat, and catalyst in the right place for years of cyclic duty. Reactors, charge heaters, recycle compressors, and rundown coolers are specified as one train so a change in naphtha sulfur does not strand the blender.

A miss on product quality is rework. Off-spec gasoline goes back to tankage, burns hydrogen twice, and still has to clear the same lab window. We design the hardware so the lab result is a confirmation, not a surprise.

Naphtha hydrotreater reactor and recycle compressor — Naphtha hydrotreater: reactor, charge heater, recycle gas.

Naphtha treating

Sulfur, nitrogen, and diolefins have to leave naphtha before a reformer will keep its catalyst. The hydrotreater is a hydrogen circuit as much as it is a reactor: charge heater, quench, recycle compressor, amine wash, and high-pressure separators travel together. Internals are set against the heaviest, sourest naphtha the feedstock side is allowed to send.

We write data sheets so fabrication and inspection see the same metallurgy the process needs in wet H2S service. A reactor that looks adequate on paper still fails if baskets plug, if quench is short, or if the compressor cannot hold recycle when the feed gets heavier.

Catalytic reforming heaters and reactor stack — Catalytic reforming heaters and stacked reactors.

Reforming and octane

Catalytic reforming raises octane by rearranging naphthenes and paraffins into aromatics. Fired heaters, stacked reactors, and hydrogen recycle have to stay in balance when the naphtha cut shifts. We specify heater tubes, reactor internals, and the net-gas path so octane barrels are made without overfiring the cabin or starving downstream hydrotreaters of hydrogen.

Octane is not free. It is heat, catalyst, and a hydrogen balance the rest of the gasoline train depends on. Equipment that cannot follow a seasonal RVP change or a heavier naphtha endpoint forces the blender to buy octane that the unit was supposed to make.

Gasoline blending tanks and rundown headers — Gasoline blending tanks, headers, and vapor recovery tie-ins.

Blending to specification

Reformate, treated FCC gasoline, isomerate, and alkylate meet in tankage. The blend has to hit octane, RVP, sulfur, benzene, and distillation at the same time, in summer and in winter. Headers, in-line blenders, and tank mixers are process equipment: they decide whether a batch leaves as product or comes back as rework.

Vapor recovery on blending tanks is part of product quality as well as the permit. Light ends that flash in July change RVP and the fence-line reading together. We tie rundown, tankage, and vapor recovery so the lab sheet and the flare log tell the same story.