Resumen

LOBELLES-SARDINAS, Gabriel Orlando; GARCIA-CONDE, Luis Ernesto  y  MOREJON-GI, Rosemary. Activity level estimation of the nafta hydrofination catalyst at Cienfuegos`oil Refinery S.A. RTQ [online]. 2022, vol.42, n.2, pp. 303-322.  Epub 30-Ago-2022. ISSN 2224-6185.

In the naphtha hydrofination process, a cobalt-molybdenum catalyst supported on alumina is used, the activity of which has decreased with the time of use as a result of the operational conditions of the process. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately determine the useful and remaining life of said catalyst to know when it will be necessary to regenerate or change it. In this sense, the objective of this research is to estimate the activity of the naphtha hydrofination catalyst, for the operational conditions of Refinería Cienfuegos S.A. After the bibliographic review, the Correlative Method was selected based on experiences of pilot plants of the French Petroleum Institute. The development of the correlative method allowed obtaining the corresponding curves, among them the Relative Activity and normalized WABT vs running days, through which the catalyst activity and its useful life time could be specified, favoring decision-making to avoid economic losses. The validity of its results was verified by comparing them with those obtained by specialized institutions and its implementation was recommended as part of the control carried out in the plant. As a relevant result, the remaining useful life of the catalyst was estimated at 3,3 years in which an additional 54 432 m3 of virgin naphtha will be processed, more than the one programmed with a reduction in the cost of the catalyst to 0,072 $/ m3

Palabras clave : correlative method; catalyst; activity estimation.

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