Effect of chemical impurities(poisons) on the

platforming process
• Feed Quality and Catalyst Poisons
• Above recommended maximum levels of feedstocks contaminants,
catalyst performance will be measurably and negatively affected
and steps should be immediately taken to rectify problem. In case
of sulfur and nitrogen, UOP strongly recommends operation at as
low severity as possible and not at maximum allowable levels.
Such minimization of known poisons will help assure maximum
selectivity and stability of a Platforming operation

• Sulfur
Maximum allowable concentration
Maximum allowable concentration in naphtha feed is 0.5 wt ppm
Process Symptoms
Sulfur contamination in Platforming unit results in attenuation of
platinum activity. This in general means that hydrocracking (acid
catalyzed) reactions will increase relative to dehydrogenation and
dehydrocyclization (metal catalyzed) reactions. Resulting
observable effects include:
• - Decreased hydrogen production
• - Decreased recycle gas hydrogen purity
• - Increased hydrocracking (higher C3 and C4 yield)
• - Reduced reactor delta T's
• - Lower C5 plus yield
• - Lower catalyst activity in more severe cases
• - Increased catalyst coking rate (decreased stability)

Possible Sources
 Inadequate naphtha hydrotreating: This can result from low
activity hydrotreating catalyst or from simply running at too
low temperature in a hydrotreating reactor
  Inclusion of cracked naphthas in Platforming unit charge:
most cracked naphthas have a high sulfur content. They must,
therefore, be hydrotreated with a more active hydrotreating
catalyst or at a higher hydrotreating reactor temperature
 Processing of feeds with high end boiling points in
Platforming unit charge: in general, for any of typical
Platforming unit feedstocks, as the end boiling point
increases, sulfur content increases.
 In other words, compared to lighter boiling fractions of a
given feedstock, heaviest boiling fraction contains highest
sulfur content as well as sulfur compounds that are most
difficult to desulfurize.

• Nitrogen
• Maximum allowable concentration:
Maximum allowable concentration of nitrogen in naphtha feed is
0.5 wt ppm
• Process symptoms
Nitrogen is an acid function poison. Organic nitrogen that enters
Platforming unit will be converted to ammonia. This ammonia will
react with chloride on catalyst to form volatile ammonium
chloride. Ammonium chloride deposits will accumulate in
Platforming unit products condenser, separator, recycle compressor
suction lines, and stabilizer column. This can result in decreased
cooling capacity in products condenser
• Overall effect is to reduce catalyst chloride level producing
following symptoms:
• - Loss of catalyst activity
• - Increased hydrogen production
• - Increased hydrogen purity
• - Increased reactor delta T's.
• Possible sources
• Inadequate naphtha hydrotreating: most virgin straight run
naphthas contain very little nitrogen. Consequently, hydrotreaters
processing such naphtha can be designed at lower pressures than
would be required if naphtha contained higher nitrogen levels

• Inclusion of cracked naphthas in the Platforming unit charge: most

cracked naphthas have high nitrogen content. They must, therefore,
be hydrotreated at high pressure in preparation for inclusion to
Platforming unit feed.

• Processing of feeds with high end boiling points in Platforming

unit charge: in general, for any of typical Platforming unit
feedstocks, as the end boiling point increases, nitrogen content
increases.

• In other words, compared to lighter boiling fractions of a given

feedstock, heaviest boiling fraction contains highest nitrogen
content as well as nitrogen compounds that are most difficult to
hydrotreat.
• Water
• A Platforming unit performs best when feed to unit is
essentially dry and water/chloride balance is maintained via
chloride injection into chlorination zone of regeneration
section. If an unknown source of water enters system, long
term effects can be an increase in catalyst coking rate and a
decrease in yield and activity.
• Maximum allowable concentration
• A recycle gas water content of 30 mol ppm indicates excessive
water, dissolved oxygen, or combined oxygen in feed to
Platforming unit. Moisture levels at or above this level may
lead to excessive hydrocracking reactions and coke laydown.
Additionally, chloride will be stripped from catalyst, upsetting
water/chloride balance.
• Process symptoms
• Water tends to act as a metal function poison (much like
sulfur) and enhance acid function. Water also strips chloride
from catalyst to form HCI in recycle gas. In short term, this
high level of HCI accentuates acid function, most notably
hydrocracking. Therefore, short term observable effects may
include:
• - Decreased hydrogen production
• - Decreased recycle gas hydrogen purity
• - Higher C3 and C4 yields
• - Reduced delta T's
• - Lower C5 plus yield
• - Increased catalyst coking rate
• - Increased recycle gas HCI levels
• Possible sources
• Inadequate hydrotreating of feed may allow unconverted
oxygen compounds to enter Platforming unit. Oxygenated
hydrocarbon compounds frequently contaminate naphthas in
storage tanks
• Furthermore, any properly hydrotreated feed that is not
completely stripped will allow water and other catalyst
poisons to enter Platforming unit
• Leaks in steam or water exchangers in upstream units
• Platforming unit water injection system
• NHT stripper feed effluent exchanger leaks
• Inadequate drying in drying zone of regeneration tower
• Leaks in steam heaters or steam jackets in regeneration
section
• Leaks in cooling pads of blowers in regeneration section (if
applicable)
• Leaks in cooling panel of surge hopper in regeneration section
(if applicable)
• Improper operation of reduction zone gas removal system (if
applicable)
 • Metals
• Maximum allowable concentrations
• Because of quantitative and irreversible effects of
Platforming catalyst metal contamination, there should be
no detectable levels of metals in Plateforming unit charge.
 Process symptoms
• Most metals are poisons to platinum function of catalyst.
Observable effects will be a loss of overall catalyst activity
and selectivity as more and more catalyst is contaminated
 Possible sources
• Some virgin naphthas contain measurable levels (ppb) of
arsenic
• Lead can be introduced by either reprocessing of off-spec
leaded gasoline or contamination of Platforming unit feed
tanks with leaded gasoline
• Corrosion products:
Corrosion of plant hardware can result in migration of corrosion
products into reactors. Iron is most common such corrosion
contaminant; molybdenum, chrome, and copper are other
possibilities.
• Water treating compounds containing zinc, copper,
phosphorus, etc., have at times been mistakenly added to
Platforming unit charge
• Some cracked (coker) naphthas can contain silicon, added
as an antifoaming agent elsewhere in refinery
• Excessive injection of corrosion inhibitors on NHT
strippers can result in inhibitor getting into stripper
bottoms. This is especially of concern when there is no
overhead liquid draw on stripper