Pilot plant experiments are designed to allow for evaluation of the impact caused by increasing the severity of key operation variables on deactivation of hydrotreating (HDT) catalysts, through accelerated runs performed in short periods of time. One of the main aspects of this work is the use of a kinetic approach in order to observe the impact of accelerated deactivation conditions upon catalyst performances during hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), and aromatic hydrogenation (HDA) reactions. This approach allows for evaluation of catalyst deactivation for each of the analyzed reactions. Results obtained with a reference catalyst indicate that the proposed methodology is able to deactivate the catalyst effectively, leading to proper representation of actual industrial deactivation at the end of a catalyst life cycle.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

-The main objective of this work is analyzing whether it is possible to develop an empirical correlation for in-line estimation of the sulfur and nitrogen contents of the middle distillates Hydrotreating (HDT) products for control purposes. Correlations are based only on readily available in-line information of specific gravity variation between feedstock and products, without considering any piece of information about the kinetic behavior of the catalyst. Experimental data were obtained in pilot plants under operating conditions that are representative of refinery operations. Results indicate that the removal of nitrogen and sulfur compounds during middle distillates HDT can be monitored in-line in real time, based on the available measurements of specific gravity. This allows for development and implementation of advanced in-line procedures for monitoring and control of the HDT process in real time.