Conference Alert & Call for Papers: 24th Annual Saudi–Japan Symposium: Catalysts in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals

“Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.” -- Howard Aiken (American computer engineer and mathematician 1900-1973)

Details for the 2015 call for papers for the 2015 Annual Saudi–Japan Symposium: Catalysts in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals appear at the bottom of this post.  But first, a little background …

The scope of the event is described as follows …

///////
The annual Saudi-Japan symposium on catalysts serves as a forum for presenting latest developments in applied catalytic research, promoting exchange of interdisciplinary ideas, and stimulating new developments. The symposium is organized jointly by the Center for Refining & Petrochemicals (CRP) and Center of Research Excellence in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals (CoRE-PRP) at KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the Japan Petroleum Institute (JPI), and Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum (JCCP), Tokyo, Japan.
Symposium focuses on, but not limited, to the following topics:
Petroleum Refining Catalysis
·         Hydroprocessing
·         FCC and Additives
·         Isomerization & Reforming
·         Heavy Oil Upgrading
·         Fuel Processing
Chemical & Polymer Catalysis
·         Alkane Oxidation
·         Alkylation of Aromatics
·         LPG-based Petrochemicals
·         Olefins Enhancement
·         Polymerization Catalysis
source: http://www3.kfupm.edu.sa/catsymp/
///////

The 24th Annual Saudi–Japan Symposium: Catalysts in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, December 1–2, 2014 has been and gone, but is still useful for identifying the names of experts, and enabling a peek into the research interests of Saudi Aramco.

One of the papers delivered at the 2014 symposium was …

///////
Direct reaction of CO2 with C-H bond activation of methane to produce chemicals
Emad N. Al-Shafei (shafeien@aramco.com), Sai P. Katikaneni, Ki-Hyouk Choi (Research & Development Center, Saudi Aramco)
Rob Brown (University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK)
Abstract
Activation of C-H bond methane and its direct reaction with CO2 to produce chemicals will result in elimination of several severe reaction steps while improving reaction efficiency.  The study investigated the methane coupling on heterogeneous catalysts and possible reaction with CO2 as whole molecule to produce carbolic acid. The catalysts of binary and ternary oxides based on TiO2 were synthesized and calcined at 700 °C. The methane coupling reaction was carried out at atmospheric pressure using fixed bed reactor at varied temperatures between 300 to 700 °C. The results showed that the formation of ethane and ethylene in the products were due to methyl radicals dimerization. By introducing CO2 molecule, the most of methyl radicals were consumed by direct reaction with CO2 and producing acetic acid molecule instead of methyl dimerization. The solid oxide catalysts showed different optimum temperature and catalytic activity for methyl coupling formation and reactivity towards CO2 molecule. The gas ratios of methane and CO2 were studied and results indicated that an increase of acetic acid yield by direct reaction route between methyl radicals of methane with CO2.
source: http://paperzz.com/doc/2739869/direct-reaction-of-co2-with-c-h-bond-activation-of-methan...
///////

Read an overview of the other presentations, written by Abdullah M. Aitani, Center for Refining & Petrochemicals, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

///////
Meeting Report 24th Annual Saudi–Japan Symposium: Catalysts in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, December 1–2, 2014
Abdullah M. Aitani
Center for Refining & Petrochemicals, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Introduction
More than 90 scientists, engineers, catalyst experts and researchers from Japan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the Czech Republic, participated in the two-day symposium on catalysts used in petroleum refining and petrochemicals held on December 1–2, 2014 at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The annual symposium was jointly organized by KFUPM, the Japan Petroleum Institute (JPI) and Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum (JCCP) to discuss latest advances in catalysts for refining and chemical processing. At this year’s symposium, there are 18 presentations in six sessions featuring papers hydroprocessing, gasoline/diesel upgrade, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), catalyst design, hydrogen production and CO2 conversion to chemicals. The following is a brief report on the topics covered by the symposium.
Source: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10563-014-9183-x
///////

Get a taste of the topics covered and the experts presenting their papers by viewing the program for the 2014 event.

///////
Catalysts in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals - KFUPM
The Japan Petroleum Institute - JPI
Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum - JCCP
Venue: KFUPM Research Institute Bldg. 15; 4th Floor, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, December 1-2, 2014
Day One: Monday, December 1, 2014
SESSION ONE HYDROPROCESSING Chairman: Dr. Mohammed Ba-Shammakh
9:00 1. Hydrocracking Catalyst Development and Commercialization
Dr. Omer R. Koseoglu, Saudi Aramco R&D Center; Dr. Kenji Nita, JGC Catalysts & Chemicals, Japan
9:30 2. New Approach to Active Sites Analysis as a Specific Illustration of HDS and HDN
Prof. Masatoshi Nagai, Tokyo University of Agriculture& Technology, Japan
SESSION TWO GASOLINE/DIESEL UPGRADE Chairman: Dr. Masatoshi Nagai
10:30 3. SuperButolTM Technology to Produce Superior Gasoline Blending Oxygenate from Low-Value C4 Refinery/Petrochemical Streams, Mr. Kareemuddin Shaik, Saudi Aramco R&D
Center
11:00 4. LCO Upgrade: Synthesis Strategies in the Search for Highly Accessible Microporous
Zeolite Based Catalysts, Dr. Nabil Al-Yassir, KFUPM-CRP
11:30 5. Experimental Study of Gas-Phase Pyrolysis Reaction of Benzene to Investigate the Early
Stage of Coke Formation, Dr. Akihiro Kousoku, Mitsubishi Chemical, Japan
SESSION THREE HIGH PERFORMANCE CATALYSTS Chairman: Dr. Omer Koseoglu
13:00 6. Plasmonic Nanocatalysts for Efficient H2 Production from Ammonia Borane under Visible Light Irradiation
Prof. Hiromi Yamashita, Osaka University, Japan
13:30 7. Recent Development of Catalysts for Heavy Oil Upgrading
Dr. Oki Muraza, KFUPM-CENT/CHE
14:00 8. New Strategy for High Performance Catalysts, Novel Effects of Organic Surface Modification Agents on Pt Nanoparticle as Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cell
Prof. Mikio Miyake, JAIST, Japan
Day Two: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 SESSION FOUR SEPARATION AND CO2 UTILIZATION
8:00 9. High-selectivity Y2O3 Doped–SiO2 Nanocomposite Catalytic Membranes for Gas Separation in Steam at High Temperature, Dr. Md. Hasan Zahir, KFUPM-CoRE Renewable Energy
8:30 10. In-situ Gasification and Combustion of Biomass in a CLC Process
Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, Dr. M. Mozahar Hussain, KFUPMKFUPMKFUPM -Chemical EngineeringChemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical EngineeringChemical EngineeringChemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering
9:00 11. Direct Reaction of CO2 with C-H Bond Activation of Methane to Produce Chemicals
Dr. Emad Shafei, Saudi Aramco R&D Center, Dhahran
9:30 12. CO2 Utilization
SESSION FIVE NOVEL CATALYSTS Chairman: Dr. Hiromi Yamashita
10:30 13. Novel Zeolites with Continuously Tuneable Porosity
11:00 14. Development of ZSM-5 Catalyst with the Location of Al atoms in the Pores Controlled and its Catalytic Properties, Dr. Toshiyuki Yokoi, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
11:30 15. Catalytic H/D Exchange in Olefins Mediated by Rhodium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes Prof. Luis Oro, Zaragoza University, Spain
SESSION SIX CATALYST DESIGN Chairman: Dr. Toshiyuki Yokoi
13:00 16. New Challenges in FCC for Processing Heavy Crudes
Prof. Avelino Corma, ITQ-CSIC-Polytechnical University of Valencia, Spain
13:30 17. Advanced Catalyst Design Concept with Nanotechnology
Dr. Takaki Mizuno, JGC Catalysts & Chemicals, Japan
14:00 18. Bi-Ni-O/γ-alumina Catalyst for n-Butane Oxidative Dehydrogenation to Butadiene
KFUPMKFUPMKFUPM -CRPCRPCRP
Source: http://www3.kfupm.edu.sa/catsymp/SymposiumProgram2014.pdf
///////

Here are details for the Call for Papers for the 2015 Symposium.

///////
Annual Symposium: Catalysts in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals, December 7-8, 2015, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (www.kfupm.edu.sa/catsymp )

A two-day technical symposium devoted to discussions on the advances in catalytic science related to the following topics:

Refining/Environmental
Polymers/Petrochemicals
Production of ULSD; ULSG
FCC and Additives
Isomerization & Reforming
Fuels Processing
Nanocatalytic applications
Alkane Oxidation
Dehydrogenation
Polymerization Catalysis 
LPG Aromatization
Alkylation of Aromatics

Key Dates
Abstracts (200-250 words)                                 March 30, 2015
Acceptance Notification                                     June 30, 2015
Full Papers                                                       September 15, 2015    

Contacts
Dr. A. M. Aitani, Center for Refining & Petrochemicals, the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, KFUPM Box 5040, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; Tel  +966 3860-3007; E-mail:  maitani@kfupm.edu.sa  or  catsymp@kfupm.edu.sa  
source: http://www3.kfupm.edu.sa/catsymp/call.htm
///////

Jean invites you to follow this blog (http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/), tell your colleagues about the blog, and invite Jean to join your LinkedIn network.

Conference Alert & Call for Papers – Latin American Refining Technology Conference

“Miami does not have a visitor-friendly airport. At Miami International, a cramped and dingy labyrinth, the message is: Just Try to Find Our Baggage Claim Area!” -- Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947)

A recent email alerted me to the LARTC 4th Annual Meeting 10th – 11th June 2015 - Call For Papers Deadline Extended: Friday 9th January 2015

One of the conference presenters is Oscar Chamberlain, R&D Downstream & Biofuels General Manager, Petrobras. He is listed as the inventor on a number of patents, including …

Modified Y-zeolite, process for the preparation thereof, and modified Y-zeolite-containing FCC catalyst US 5576258 A (http://www.google.com/patents/US5576258)

He is also mentioned in a Petrobras Magazine article …

Pioneering at SUX
Petrobras will carry out an unprecedented experiment in its Shale Industrialization Unit, SIX, located in the city of São Mateus do Sul, in the Brazilian state of Paraná. The capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be tested on a demonstration scale in a Fluid Catalytic Cracking Prototype Unit. The experiment is a world first and is necessary to make possible the use of the technology on an industrial scale and thereby reduce the release of emissions into the atmosphere of one of the gases most responsible for increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming. The first test should take place in 2009.
source: http://www.hotsitespetrobras.com.br/petrobrasmagazine/Edicoes/edicao56/en/internas/six/

///////

The text of the email appears below.

///////

Global Technology Forum are pleased to be returning to Miami for the LARTC 4th Annual Meeting in 2015. LARTC will again unite senior refining and petrochemical professionals along with industry suppliers to examine the latest news on ongoing projects, supply and demand challenges, discuss investment opportunities, explore cutting edge technological developments and find solutions to operational challenges facing the downstream refining sector within Latin America.

As with all Global Technology Forum events we will again be working with our esteemed advisory board to make the paper selections for the conference. The LARTC 4th Annual Meeting advisory board are:
•Oscar Chamberlain, R&D Downstream & Biofuels General Manager, Petrobras
•Enrique Troncoso Colombo, Energy Efficiency Coordinator, YPF
•Ezequiel Acosta Mora, Refining & Petrochemical Development Leader, Ecopetrol
•Hildo Francisco Henz, Director Partner, MSW Capital
•Marcos Godinho Tavares, Director, Marketing Solutions

You are now invited to submit one or two original papers for this conference for acceptance by the advisory board. Acceptance criteria will be originality and technical innovation.  At this stage, the only requirements are a working title, subject area and brief description of the proposed content (typically a 200 word abstract).

Due to a number of requests for extra time to complete abstracts from a number of individuals, we've decided to extend the deadline for all until Friday 9th January.

Preference will be given to papers giving case histories and actual operating experience. We would be pleased to receive abstracts from supply companies that are co-authored with operating companies. Some hot topics for the conference programme are as follows but not restricted to:
•Economics of the refining industry in the region by country; investment review strategies; models for development
•Future trends of the Latin America refining industry
•Business overviews or opportunities with the different producers/owners
•Opportunities arising from the Mexican oil sector
•Refining projects and/or immediate and medium term plans of individual countries
•The potential impact of Tier 3 in terms of revamp/catalyst usage
•Update on bio-fuels technologies
•Emissions reductions and sulphur removal technologies
•Update on shale oil/gas processing
•New process technologies
•Residue upgrading new technologies
•Coke furnace to produce steam and power
•Filterable solids in crude oils (ASTM D 4807). Increasing impact on desalter upsets and tight oil-water emulsions
•On line energy management
•New technologies in hydrocracking catalysts to improve cold properties on diesel oil
•New technologies to isolate FCC Reactor from fractionator
•Challenges for handling, storage and blending FAME - glucoside deposits
•Neural networks applied to crude oil/product property predictions and process control
•Use of tablets for operator routine duties in turnarounds etc..
•Converting natural gas to liquid fuel by synthesis
•Noble metal catalyst challenges: Catalyst regeneration, metal recovery and spent catalyst transportation as a dangerous waste
•Tendencies in ultralow sulphur processes.
•R&D challenges
•Delayed coking
•Processes for optimum plant maintenance and reliability
•Technologies for managing greenhouse gas
•Best practices / refiner case studies

For more information about the LARTC Annual Meeting please visit the website where you will find regular updates as well as details of our other events.

Important notice:  All papers are selected on merit and are not commercially linked and we welcome innovative submissions from both refiners and suppliers. There will however be a fee applicable to all presenters of the accepted papers as specified by GTF.

Please email your abstracts to me at victoria.pope@gtforum.com by Friday 9th January, I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Victoria Pope
Conference Manager
Global Technology Forum
Incisive Media
Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RX, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7316 9910

///////

Always remember, and never forget, that you can connect with Jean via LinkedIn.  Visit his profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch  and invite him to connect to your LinkedIn network.

Plan B: Strategic partnering in oil and gas

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” -- Nelson Mandela (South African Statesman First democratically elected State President of South Africa (1994), 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace, b.1918)

Strategy is an important, yet squishy, concept.  When discussing strategy, one is never quite sure how closely related the discussion is to reality.  That is why it is useful to read an article like the one that follows.  At worst, it provides the illusion of control. At best, it offers true insight into the future.  Read it and judge for yourself.
///////
Energy Strategy Reviews, 3 (2014) 21-29
Strategic partnering in oil and gas: A capabilities perspective
Rodrigo Garcia, Donald Lessard, Aditya Singh
Technology and Public Policy Program, MIT, USA
MIT Sloan School of Management. 100 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
New Ventures and Asset Management, Total Exploration & Production, France
Abstract
A firm’s strategy typically is defined in terms of its position in the industry or landscape in which it operates and the competitive advantage of the firm on that landscape. This competitive advantage, in turn, derives from a combination of assets (what the firm owns) and capabilities (how the firm does what it does). While the image of the oil and gas industry is that it is all about assets, competitive advantage generally results from a combination of tangible assets, capabilities, and intangible assets such as reputation and intellectual property (IP). The types of capabilities that are most likely to set one firm apart from others in a highly competitive field like oil and gas are complex bundles of complementary capabilities that are required to solve key challenges and that are hard to develop and emulate, particularly when the challenges are new and require new bundles of capabilities. Thus, the differentiating capabilities may be integrative, dynamic, or both. This paper identifies a set of integrative dynamic capabilities that are emerging as differentiators in the oil and gas industry and discusses what these imply for partnering at the company and asset levels.
Introduction
The petroleum industry faces challenges of intensifying demands for delivery of both shareholder value and increased output to meet global demand for hydrocarbons, while at the same time ameliorating its environmental and social impact. While the image of the oil and gas industry is that competitive advantage results from tangible assets, in fact it generally results from a combination of tangible assets, capabilities, and intangible assets such as reputation and intellectual property (IP). As chronicled by Zuckerman in The Frackers, the latest chapter of extraction from shale formations with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is the result of a combination of assets – land acreage, which in some cases was inherited from earlier business models but in many was the result of a capability of amassing acreage without drawing undue attention and dynamic drilling and completion capabilities.
The types of capabilities that are most likely to set one firm apart from others in a highly competitive field like oil and gas are complex bundles of complementary capabilities that are required to solve key challenges and that are hard to develop and emulate, particularly when the challenges are new and require new bundles of capabilities.
Even without the specter of climate change, the oil and gas industry is highly dynamic given the inexorable requirement to replace reserves, particularly as the most accessible reserves are exploited first and new opportunities typically involve greater technical challenges, institutional challenges, or both. With increased environmental scrutiny, these challenges become even more complex and dynamic, as resources must be extracted with an eye to both economic efficiency and an environmental footprint that may include local contamination, local social and economic displacement, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Taking the long view, most firms defined solely by extraction will eventually become extinct, as exploitation of carbon producing fuels must ramp down.
Even before then, extractive firms may have to position themselves as clean(er) energy service firms in order to maintain their public legitimacy and sustainable competitiveness, even as they also continue to seek to effectively identify and develop new reserves.
Even those firms whose central focus remains finding and extracting fossil fuels are seeing old sets of capabilities – such as advanced exploration techniques, complex drilling and completion, or processes for assuring safety in operations and the health and safety of employees and adjoining communities – becoming “qualifiers” and no longer differentiating, while new capabilities – such as industrializing the production of hydrocarbons from distributed sources while significantly reducing surface and environmental footprints, rapidly and safely prototyping and proving new technologies at scale, diversifying into new sources of energy, or creating inclusive supply and distribution infrastructures in new regions that engage local talents and entrepreneurship beyond the usual “local content” model are becoming the new differentiators.
Recognizing that the future is not predetermined, the purpose of this essay is not to provide a crystal ball regarding exactly which suite of capabilities-based strategies will be viable going forward, as this will result from a complex and unpredictable interaction of technological progress, innovation and collaboration in the oil and gas business, public policy, markets, social opinion, the physical realities of climate change. Rather, it is to define the types of capabilities required to meet the various technical and institutional challenges to explore various bundles of capabilities that are emerging and/or that may be called for and the resulting scope and type of organization of firms that possess them, and the way that this will play out in partnerships at the asset level.

As examples, authors explore six sets of challenges that oil and gas firms face that differ in their technical and institutional complexity:
Extreme environments and reservoirs, which by and large represent primarily technical challenges,
Unconventionals, which present a mix of technical and institutional challenges and where both sets of challenges are evolving as the exploration, development and operations of unconventional resources are still in a nascent stage,
Extended/enhanced production/recovery in well-established regions which again present technical and institutional challenges,
Integrated gas transport networks that extend across national boundaries and represent a complex combination of technical and particularly institutional challenges,
Enhanced local economic and social engagement in new regions that present primarily institutional challenges,
Reduced surface and environmental footprint including carbon capture & storage facilities that involve highly complementary institutional and technical challenges
Free Full text source: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S2211467X14000285/1-s2.0-S2211467X14000285-main.pdf?_tid=8c4801f6-8581-11e4-8e12-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1418775397_d29c8a9d139d485061e4ddf090efcd8c

Company Alert: GTC Technology

"I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways" -- Car racing legend A.J. Foyt

GTC Technology, a Houston based licensor of process technologies, offers technology that can be used to enhance desulfurization efforts in the refinery.

Here are three ways to find out more about the company.

GTC Technology Web: http://www.gtctech.com/about-us/
Google: gtc technology desulfurization
Google Patents: desulfurization inassignee:gtc inassignee:technology

There is also a Business Week description: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=45148787

Here is how the GTC Technology Web describes its desulfurization technology …
///////
FCC Gasoline Desulfurization Technology – GT-BTX PluS
GT-BTX PluS is a variation of GT-BTX® that uses extractive distillation technology for simultaneous recovery of BTX and thiophenic sulfur species from refinery or petrochemical aromatic-containing streams. The technology helps produce low sulfur gasoline meeting the 10 ppm limit of sulfur without change in octane value.  An alternative use of GT-BTX PluS is to generate a large volume of aromatics to produce paraxylene without the requirement of a typical naphtha reformer unit.  The aromatics recovery is especially attractive for use with feedstocks produced from high severity FCC operations.
The process is optimally installed on the FCC mid-cut naphtha stream. GT-BTX PluS removes all thiophenes and some of the mercaptan species from the FCC gasoline feed.  The olefin-rich raffinate can be sent directly to the gasoline pool for blending, or to a caustic treating unit to remove the mercaptan-type sulfur compounds before being sent to the gasoline. The desulfurized aromatics extract stream can be directly fed into petrochemical production units instead of recycling to the naphtha reformer. GT-BTX PluS provides an effective solution for meeting today’s clean gasoline requirements and gives refiners the ability to convert lower-value gasoline components into higher-value petrochemicals.
Process Description
The optimum feed is the mid fraction of FCC gasoline from 70°C to 150°C.  This material is fed to the GT-BTX PluS unit, which extracts the sulfur and aromatics from the hydrocarbon stream.  The sulfur-containing aromatic components are processed in a conventional hydrotreater to convert the sulfur into hydrogen sulfide (H2S).  Because the portion of gasoline being hydrotreated is reduced in volume and free of olefins, hydrogen consumption and operating costs are greatly reduced.  In contrast, conventional desulfurization schemes must process the majority of the gasoline through hydrotreating units to remove sulfur, which inevitably results in olefin saturation, octane downgrade and yield loss.
FCC gasoline is fed to the extractive distillation column (EDC).  In a vapor-liquid operation, the solvent extracts the sulfur compounds into the bottoms of the column along with the aromatic components while rejecting the olefins and non-aromatics into the overhead as raffinate.  Nearly all of the non-aromatics, including olefins, are effectively separated into the raffinate stream.  The raffinate stream can be optionally caustic washed before routing to the gasoline pool or to an aromatization unit to further increase benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) production.
Rich solvent, containing aromatics and sulfur compounds, is routed to the solvent recovery column (SRC), where the hydrocarbons and sulfur species are separated, and lean solvent is recovered in columns bottoms.  The SRC overhead is hydrotreated by conventional means and either used as desulfurized gasoline or directed to an aromatics plant.  Lean solvent from the SRC bottoms is recycled back to the EDC.
Process Advantages
•Produces high-quality aromatics from FCC gasoline
•Reduces the sulfur content of the FCC gasoline fraction being sent to the gasoline pool
•Reduces H2 consumption, only HDS function is required for thiophenic sulfur
•No olefin saturation
•Greater utilization of naphtha reformer compared to units that recycle the cracked gasoline.  Avoids BTX taking a “free ride” through the unit
•Opportunity to feed more fresh naphtha and generate more hydrogen
http://www.gtctech.com/technology-licensing/refining/desulfurization-technology/
///////

Three+three for free: Sulfur Poisoning

“In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend” -- Aeschylus (Ancient Greek Dramatist and Playwright known as the founder of Greek tragedy, 525 BC-456 BC)

These six items are available for free download on the Web.  One is a patent.  The others are journal articles.  This is not a substitute for an in-depth online literature search, of course.  I like to think of free downloads as analogous to browsing in a bookstore.  It’s fun to make accidental discoveries.  You never know when you will happen on something really interesting.

///////
Title: Method for preparing a palladium-gold alloy gas separation membrane system (Shell)

Type	Patent
Inventor	Earl PERKINS II Nathan
Inventor	John Charles Saukaitis
URL	Free Full Text Source:  http://www.google.com/patents/US8721773
Assignee	Shell Oil Company
Patent Number	US8721773 B2
Issue Date	May 13, 2014
Abstract	A method for preparing a palladium-gold alloy gas separation membrane system comprising a gold-palladium alloy membrane on a porous substrate coated with an intermetallic diffusion barrier. The method includes an abrading step to increase surface roughness of the palladium to a desired range, a gold plating step with a solution of chloroauric acid (AuCl4H) and hydrogen peroxide, followed by annealing to produce a palladium-gold alloy membrane.

Title: Chemical imaging of the sulfur-induced deactivation of Cu/ZnO catalyst bodies

Type	Journal Article
Author	Andrew M. Beale
Author	Emma K. Gibson
URL	Free Full Text Source:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021951714000876
Volume	314
Pages	94-100
Publication	Journal of Catalysis
Date	May 2014
Abstract	The effects of sulfur poisoning on the water–gas shift (WGS) activity of industrial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst bodies have been studied. The samples were characterized using chemical imaging methods, including XRD-CT, XAFS mapping, and XRF, in order to understand the process by which accelerated sulfur poisoning leads to catalyst deactivation. After ∼90 h on stream, all catalysts exhibited reduced activity; the higher the H2S concentration, the greater the extent of deactivation. Non-invasive XRD-CT measurements performed on intact samples recovered from the reactor revealed the formation of sulfide phases, including sphalerite (β-ZnS) and crystalline CuS, Cu2S, and CuSO4 phases. These sulfide phases were distributed predominantly as a graduated corona around the sample edge reaching ∼1.5 mm thick for experiments performed in the highest concentration of 500 ppm H2S. XAFS mapping, which is particularly sensitive to the local coordination environment around the element being probed, confirmed the presence of mixed Cu/Zn–O/S coordination environments and that the core of the sample remained sulfur-free. A combination of XRD-CT and XRF revealed that CuS appeared to be mobile under reaction conditions resulting in the redistribution of Cu toward the very edge of the samples. A combination of techniques has therefore demonstrated that H2S deactivation of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst bodies occurs via phase transformation of the active Cu/ZnO phase into sulfides and redistribution of these components over the sample instead of Cu active site poisoning by Sads species.

Title: Elementary Kinetic Numerical Simulation of Ni/YSZ SOFC Anode Performance Considering Sulfur Poisoning

Type	Journal Article
Author	Matthias Riegraf
Author	Günter Schiller
URL	Free Full Text Source:  http://jes.ecsdl.org/content/162/1/F65
Volume	162
Issue	1
Pages	F65-F75
Publication	Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Date	01/01/2015
Journal Abbr	J. Electrochem. Soc.
Abstract	An elementary kinetic model is developed and applied to explore the influence of sulfur poisoning on the behavior of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anodes. A detailed multi-step reaction mechanism of sulfur formation and oxidation at Ni/YSZ anodes together with channel gas-flow, porous-media transport and elementary charge-transfer chemistry is established for SOFCs operating on H2/H2O mixtures with trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). A thermodynamic and kinetic data set is compiled from various literature sources. The derived chemical model, validated against sulfur chemisorption isobars taken from literature, is used to analyze performance drops of SOFCs working under typical fuel cell operating conditions. Electrochemical results show that at relatively low H2S concentrations SOFC button-cell performance can be interpreted using chemical sulfur formation. However, when the concentration is sufficiently high, the inclusion of second stage degradation and triple-phase boundary reconstruction is necessary to describe the performance decrease. Additionally, it is shown that the sulfur surface coverage increases with increasing current density. In order to shed more light on advanced fundamental understanding of cell poisoning, sensitive analyses toward total anode resistance and sulfur coverage for different operating conditions were performed.

Title: Sulfur Poisoning of SOFC Anodes: Effect of Overpotential on Long-Term Degradation

Type	Journal Article
Author	A. Hauch
Author	A. Hagen
URL	Free Full Text Source:  http://jes.ecsdl.org/content/161/6/F734
Volume	161
Issue	6
Pages	F734-F743
Publication	Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Date	01/01/2014
Journal Abbr	J. Electrochem. Soc.
Abstract	Sulfur impurities in carbon containing fuels for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), e.g. natural gas and biogas, typically lead to significant losses in performance due to the sulfur sensitivity of Ni/yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) anodes for SOFC. Full cells having Ni/YSZ anodes have been characterized during long-term galvanostatic operation in internal reforming gas mixture (CH4/H2O/H2:30/60/10), with 2 ppm H2S exposure to the anode for 500 hours at 850°C, at different current densities. This work focus on the long-term effect of H2S exposure over a few hundreds of hours; and describes and correlates the observed evolution of anode performance, over hundreds of hours, with sulfur exposure at low cell overpotential (low current density) and at high overpotential (high current density) with and without H2S exposure. For tests at low overpotential with H2S exposure only a reversible loss in performance was observed and post-mortem SEM analysis showed an intact Ni/YSZ anode microstructure. For tests at high cell overpotential the H2S exposure caused both a reversible loss in performance and an irreversible long-term degradation. Post-mortem SEM analysis of the Ni/YSZ anode from this tests showed increased porosity and lack of percolating Ni in the few microns of the anode closest to the anode/electrolyte interface.

Title: Sulfur Poisoning of SOFCs: A Model Based Explanation of Polarization Dependent Extent of Poisoning

Type	Journal Article
Author	Vinod M. Janardhanan
Author	Dayadeep S. Monder
URL	Free Full Text Source:  http://jes.ecsdl.org/content/161/14/F1427
Volume	161
Issue	14
Pages	F1427-F1436
Publication	Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Date	01/01/2014
Abstract	Several experimental studies have shown that, 1) the extent of the poisoning effect due to trace amounts of sulfur compounds in the fuel is lower if a SOFC is operated at a higher current density, and 2) the performance drop due to sulfur poisoning is much lower for Ni-GDC or Ni-ScSZ anodes when compared to Ni-YSZ anodes. This work presents a first principles numerical model that simulates experimental studies of sulfur poisoning on SOFC button cells. The exchange current densities for the electrodes are determined using sulfur-free polarization data for cells fueled by humidified mixtures of H2 and N2. A detailed surface reaction model that predicts the fractional coverage of all adsorbed species at the three phase interface is coupled to the SOFC model and the sulfur coverage is used to alter the anode exchange current density. The resulting model predictions match experimental observations during both galvanostatic and potentiostatic operation. Our analysis shows that the observed lower performance drop at higher current density is due to the non-linear nature of the electrochemical rate equations, and that the lower impact of sulfur poisoning on Ni-GDC and Ni-ScSZ anodes (compared to Ni-YSZ anodes) is due to their higher electrochemical activity.

Title: Three-Dimensional Microstructural Imaging of Sulfur Poisoning-Induced Degradation in a Ni-YSZ Anode of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Type	Journal Article
Author	William M. Harris
Author	Jeffrey J. Lombardo
URL	Free Full Text Source:  http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140610/srep05246/full/srep05246.html?message-global=remove
Volume	4
Publication	Scientific Reports
Date	June 10, 2014
Journal Abbr	Sci. Rep.
Abstract	Following exposure to ppm-level hydrogen sulfide at elevated temperatures, a section of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) Ni-YSZ anode was examined using a combination of synchrotron-based x-ray nanotomography and x-ray fluorescence techniques. While fluorescence measurements provided elemental identification and coarse spatial mapping, x-ray nanotomography was used to map the detailed 3-D spatial distribution of Ni, YSZ, and a nickel-sulfur poisoning phase. The nickel-sulfur layer was found to form a scale covering most of the exposed nickel surface, blocking most fuel reformation and hydrogen oxidation reaction sites. Although the exposure conditions precluded the ability to develop a detailed kinetic description of the nickel-sulfur phase formation, the results provide strong evidence of the detrimental effects of 100 ppm hydrogen sulfide on typical Ni-YSZ anode materials.