Executive Summary – INDAdeptG Unit at Guwahati Refinery

Introduction:

IOCL Guwahati plans to set up INDAdeptG unit for deep desulphurization of the heavy cut.
The new facility will also provide a cutting edge to IOCL for meeting future more stringent
specifications of BS-IV MS with respect to sulphur content over and above providing
platform for IOCL R&D to demonstrate own indigenous developed technology. Technical
specification of sulphur content in BS-IV MS is 50 ppm.

Unit Capacity:

The INDAdeptG unit is designed to deep desulphurise heavy gasoline with a capacity of
35,000 MTPA.

Process Description:

The INDAdeptG unit comprises of three main sections:

Demetallation Section

Adsorption Section

Regeneration Section

The adsorption process occurs in one or more number of fixed bed reactors at 300 0C, 20
bar, hydrogen to hydrocarbon ratio in a range of 100- 200 Nm3/m3 and liquid hourly space
velocity in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 h-1 depending on the sulfur contents of feed. During the
adsorption process, the sulfur compounds are chemically adsorbed on the adsorbent
followed by cleavage of the sulfur atom form the sulfur compound. The hydrocarbon
molecule of the sulfur compound is released back into the hydrocarbon stream. After
reaching the breakthrough point, the adsorbent is regenerated. The presence of hydrogen
prevents deactivation of adsorbent due to coking that would otherwise take place at elevated
temperature. The process consumes lower hydrogen (0.10 to 0.20 wt% of feed) as compared
to competitive commercially available processes with minimal octane loss of 0.5 to 1.5
units. So for only PrimeG technology has been considered for commercialization in India. In
INDAdeptG, the hydrogen consumption is significantly low, since it is consumed only for
saturation of olefin bond generated by cleavage of the sulfur from the sulfur compounds.
Hence, the process would help in reduction of carbon footprint, as currently hydrogen is
largely produced from fossil fuels through carbon rejection.

Typical Properties INDAdeptG

H2 Consum., wt% 0.10-0.20

Octane loss, units 1-2

Pressure, bar 10-20

Temperature, 0C 280 -300

H2/HC Nm3/m3 100 -200

Typical Flow diagram

Feed

H2

Reactor
Recycle Compressor

Separator

Lt. Gases

Product
Adsorbent

The adsorbent has been specially designed and proprietary in nature. The adsorbent is comprised of a
base component, a reactive component, and an activity booster component. The base component of
adsorbent is a porous material, which provides the porosity, elasticity for extrusion and strength to
the adsorbent. Such materials include alumina, clay, magnesia, titania or a mixture of two or more of
the said base materials. The reactive component of the adsorbent is a spinel oxide and prepared
through solid-state reaction of the individual metal oxides that constitute the spinel oxide. This
component is responsible for detaching the sulfur atom from the sulfur compounds present in the
feed. The activity enhancer component of the adsorbent is a bimetallic alloy generated in-situ from
mixed metal oxides.

Regeneration of adsorbent

Regeneration of adsorbent is accomplished insitu by controlled oxidation of the adsorbed carbon &
sulfur with a mixture of air & nitrogen. The cycle time will vary from 4 to 10 days depending on
feed sulfur and boiling range. The adsorbent has higher strength and thermal stability compared to
hydro treating catalyst. The regenerability study for the adsorbent has been conducted in pilot plant
for 6 months (25 cycles) and there was no loss of activity and physical properties, hence the life of
the adsorbent is expected to be similar to that of hydro treating catalyst systems. The salient features
of regeneration are given below:

• Automatic Reactor swing mechanism & necessary safety interlocks

• Oxidation & activation steps conducted with compositions below lower inflammability
Limit. Further purging introduced before these steps
• Typical Regeneration Cycle (4-8 days, Temp : 400 – 500 0C)
• The duration of various steps for 4 days regeneration cycle is given below,
 Depressurization: 1 hrs)

Purging with N2 to remove HCs: 4 hrs

Oxidation with mixture of N2 and Air (0.5 % O2: 76 hrs

Purging with N2 to remove O2: 4 hrs

Activation with N2 & H2 mixture (1.0 % H2): 10 hrs)

Pressurization: 1 hrs

The various cracked gasoline feed stocks have been used for desulfurization through INDAdeptG
process to reduce sulfur content below 10 ppm level. The detailed product properties and break-
through curve for typical cracked gasoline feed containing 1080 ppm sulfur is shown below

Properties of Typical Feed / Product Gasoline

Gasoline Feed Gasoline Product

1. Total Sulfur (ppm) 1080 < 10

2. Total Nitrogen (ppm) 21 5

3. Density @ 15 0C (g/cc) 0.7374 0.7370

4. Refractive Index (RI) @ 20 0C 1.4192 1.4189

5. Sim. TBP (ASTM D-2887)

Weight % Temperature, 0C

IBP 34 35

5 38 39

10 40 42

30 78 80

50 106 109
 70 130 132

90 163 166

95 181 185

FBP 222 225

6. RON 90.5 89.1

Utility Consumption

Utility Avg. load

Electric Power, kW 1300

Cooling Water, m3/hr 49

N2, kg/hr 20

Instrument air, Nm3/hr 270

DM water, m3/h 2.4

Effluent Generation:

Spent caustic of around 2.4 m3/h will be generated from the Unit which is marginal and
will be taken care in the existing effluent treatment facilities at Guwahati Refinery.

Project Cost:

Estimated cost of the project is Rs. 123.1 crores.75% funding of the project will be done
by OIDB (Oil Industry Development Board) and remaining 25 % of the funding will be
done by IOCL.

Completion Schedule:

The project is proposed to be commissioned by 36 months from the date of approval.