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Annual Meeting

March 17-19, 2019


Marriott Rivercenter
San Antonio, TX

AM-19-TECH9 CNOOC Experience with the IsoTherming®


Hydroprocessing Technology

Presented By: Pam Pryor


Business Development Manager
Zhang Shuguang, DuPont
Chief Engineer
CNOOC Sarah Jertson
Proposal Manager
Jiang Longyu DuPont
Operation Division Director
CNOOC Huaping Chen
Senior Technical Consultant
Hou Aiguo DuPont
Operation Division Director
CNOOC

Li Yilu
Unit Manager
CNOOC

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Title: CNOOC Experience with the IsoTherming® Hydroprocessing Technology

Authors:

CNOOC:
Zhang Shuguang, Chief Engineer
Jiang Longyu, Operation Division Director
Hou Aiguo, Operation Division Director
Li Yilu, Unit Manager

DuPont:
Pam Pryor, Business Development Manager
Sarah Jertson, Proposal Manager
Huaping Chen, Senior Technical Consultant

Abstract:

The DuPont IsoTherming® liquid-full hydroprocessing technology is providing the refining industry with
proven utility and capital savings compared to its conventional trickle bed technology counterparts. This
paper will provide Chinese National Offshore Oil Company’s (CNOOC) firsthand experience with
successfully implementing the DuPont IsoTherming® technology at their Huizhou refinery. Operating
data and economic benefits for the grassroots diesel and vacuum gas oil hydrotreating units at the
CNOOC Huizhou refinery will also be discussed.

Project Background:

Increasingly stringent global


requirements for on and off-road diesel
sulfur specifications continue to drive
refinery based hydroprocessing
projects. Dangerous air quality concerns
in China pushed diesel fuel reform over
the course of the past ten years, as
evidenced in Figure 1.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation


("CNOOC"), the largest offshore oil and
gas producer in China, is a government
owned company operating directly under
the State-Owned Assets Supervision
and Administration Commission of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. In May 2013
CNOOC received approval to construct Phase II in the CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. Huizhou
refinery to address the national need for low sulfur diesel brought about by Chinese environmental and
fuel regulations.

Phase II was designed to increase crude processing capacity at the refinery by 10 million ton/yr and
improve its flexibility to process a wider slate of more economically attractive sour Arab Gulf crudes. In
October 2017, after three years of construction, CNOOC claimed successful startup and testing of 15
processing units, auxiliary production units, and supporting public works for the Phase II refinery project.

The Phase II project included grassroots diesel and VGO hydrotreating units, which presented an
opportunity for CNOOC to evaluate their options considering new technology that has been
commercialized since 2005. Trickle bed hydroprocessing technology has been demonstrated globally
for decades in numerous refinery applications. However, trickle bed technology relies on maintaining a
high hydrogen to oil ratio. This leads to high energy consumption and capital investment arising from
the considerable amount of hydrogen circulation needed for the purpose of maintaining hydrogen partial

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pressure, control of temperature rise, etc. CNOOC wanted to explore the IsoTherming®
hydroprocessing technology as it is characterized by low energy consumption, low capital investment,
low operating costs, ease of maintenance and simple operation. In addition, at the time of the CNOOC
technology evaluation, there were more than ten IsoTherming® units in commercial operation
processing kerosene through 100% light cycle oil feeds in a variety of hydroprocessing applications.

The CNOOC Phase II ULSD and VGO hydrotreating development process was carried out over a five-
year time frame as follows:

Technical discussions with DuPont related to IsoTherming® began in March 2012;


CNOOC carried out an evaluation between IsoTherming® and trickle bed hydroprocessing
technologies in terms of process, investment and operating costs from January to March 2012;
CNOOC visited several U.S. IsoTherming® sites between April and September 2012;
CNOOC selected the DuPont IsoTherming® technology for the Phase II ULSD and VGO
hydrotreater units in October 2012.
Completion of two liquid-phase hydrogenation units at the Huizhou refinery, successful startup in
October 2017.

CNOOC Hydroprocessing Technology Evaluation

A. Trickle Bed Technology:

In a trickle bed reactor, combined hydrogen make-up and recycle gases and liquid feed are mixed,
heated to the desired reactor temperature and passed to a reactor fitted with an internal distribution
device on top of the catalyst beds. The distributor serves two purposes. First, it provides even
distribution of liquid reactants evenly across the catalyst bed. Secondly, it promotes mixing to pre-
saturate the liquid feed, to a certain degree, prior to entering the catalyst bed. From the perspective
of CNOOC, this reactor design has several fundamental shortcomings:

• As the reaction occurs at the catalyst surface between the dissolved hydrogen and the reactive
species in the feed, the hydrogen is depleted from the liquid. In most refinery applications, the
amount of hydrogen required for the reactions is greater than the solubility of hydrogen in the
fresh feed alone, or so-called gas-limited reaction zone. Thus, in order for the reaction to
continue to completion, additional hydrogen must be replenished from the vapor phase. This
in effect makes the rate of hydrogen mass transfer, or more accurately the creation of interfacial
area (due to interfacial hydrogen transfer coefficient typically high) into the liquid phase a factor
in the overall kinetics of the process.

• Once the interfacial area for hydrogen mass transfer is enough for the reaction to proceed, the
catalyst activity within this gas-limited reaction zone has to be reduced by grading catalysts.
Otherwise, excessive heat release from the reactions that occur in this zone would cause an
excessive temperature rise and subsequent premature catalyst coking. As a result, the reactor
volume is not effectively utilized.

• To ensure catalyst performance and longevity, excess hydrogen, often several times the
quantity required for the reactions, is recycled back to the reactor to maximize the hydrogen
partial pressure throughout the system. Hydrogenation reactions are highly exothermic. The
mass flow of hydrocarbon feed and recycle hydrogen through the reactor has a limited capacity
to adsorb the energy liberated and therefore hydrogen quench has to be used to control
temperature rise. In applications that involve high chemical hydrogen consumption it is
common to utilize a high hydrogen to oil flow ratio within the reactor to control the catalyst bed
temperature rise. The higher temperature at the bottom portion of reactor bed, together with
high gas flow, results in additional liquid feed vaporization. This phenomenon makes this
aspect of trickle bed reactor design and operation very difficult, leading to low hydrogen partial
pressure together with partially dry catalyst beds. This can seriously downgrade the reactor

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performance in this typically liquid-limited reaction zone. Partially dry-bed operation under high
temperature causes not only performance degradation, but also promotes the more
undesirable reactions such as cracking to light products (fuel gas, LPG and light naphtha).
Cracking results in loss of valuable products and increased catalyst coking.

• Two-phase flow through a heterogeneous catalyst is prone to liquid flow maldistribution. Any
slight variations in pressure drop through the bed, even an unlevel catalyst bed, will result in
liquid/vapor maldistribution. This results in inefficient use of the catalyst and results in hot spots
or coke formation.

B. DuPont IsoTherming® Hydroprocessing Technology:


Figure 2
In the IsoTherming® process, Figure 2,
IsoTherming®
hydrogen required for the reaction is
dissolved in the liquid before entering the
Make-Up Compressor
catalyst beds. The supply of hydrogen is
Hydrogen
accomplished by saturating a combined
feed and recycle stream of previously
hydrotreated liquid prior to entering the
Feed
reactor. The liquid recycle rate is set so that
the amount of hydrogen dissolved in the
combined (fresh and product liquid) feed is
much greater than the reaction
requirements. This design ensures excess
IsoTherming®
hydrogen availability at the reactor Reactor
inlet/outlet.

To replace hydrogen that has been


consumed throughout the catalyst bed, To LP Flash/Stabilizer
Recycle Pump
hydrogen is continuously injected between
each catalyst bed to re-saturate the feed
prior to the next catalyst bed. A nominal, continuous flow of excess hydrogen/off-gas is vented
from each catalyst bed as an indicator that sufficient hydrogen is flowing to the inter-bed re-
saturation point.

Liquid distribution differences between IsoTherming® and trickle bed are illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3
IsoTherming® & Trickle Bed Liquid Distribution Differences

• Vapor and liquid • Single liquid phase


phases • Lower temperature rise
• Lower light ends yield
• Requires almost • Lower catalyst
perfect feed distribution deactivation rates

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Trickle bed reactors require complex and carefully designed distributor devices along with multi-
sized catalyst and inert grading. CNOOC perceived that reactor conditions associated with the
IsoTherming® hydroprocessing technology would address areas of concern related to trickle bed
technology including multiphase flow, pressure drop and maintaining the correct flow regime. The
lack of a vapor phase and resultant reduced volumetric flow rate results in significantly lower
pressure drop across the IsoTherming® reactor. In addition, the liquid full reactor and even
distribution of reactants minimizes the possibility of forming isolated pockets of low flow and
resultant “hot spots” within the reactor bed.

Heat capacity of the total liquid IsoTherming® reactor feed (fresh feed plus recycle) is considerably
greater than that of the mixed phase feed (combined fresh feed and the hydrogen gas recycle
stream) associated with trickle bed technology. As a result, the temperature rise across an
IsoTherming® reactor/bed is considerably less than that of a trickle bed reactor. This lower
temperature rise eliminates the need for inter-bed cooling, typically associated with trickle bed and
the additional complexity it brings to the reactor operation and design.

For particularly severe services such as hydrotreating cracked stocks (coker gas oils or light cycle
oils) or during mild hydrocracking, the considerably lower temperature rise minimizes catalyst
coking rates and offers conceptually longer catalyst life. The IsoTherming® technology also virtually
ensures that there can be no large thermal excursions and hence the chance of a runaway reaction
is minimised. CNOOC deduced that IsoTherming® technology is inherently safer than trickle bed.

CNOOC ULSD & VGO Hydrotreating Technology Evaluation Summary

The inherent differences between IsoTherming® and trickle bed technologies led CNOOC to conclude
that IsoTherming® has advantages over conventional hydroprocessing technology including:

A. Lower Capital Requirements

1. High Pressure (HP) Related Equipment

The IsoTherming® technology offers a simplified process design with minimal high-pressure
equipment due to replacement of the recycle compressor gas loop with a canned motor pump.
By eliminating the hot and cold high-pressure separators, high-pressure condenser, recycle
gas amine scrubber and the recycle compressor, CNOOC expected significant capital savings
for both the ULSD and VGO hydrotreating projects. Table A provides a summary of differences
in high pressure equipment requirements for the IsoTherming® and trickle bed technologies.

Table A: CNOOC Comparison of High-Pressure Equipment Requirements


for IsoTherming® and Trickle Bed
Key Equipment IsoTherming® Trickle Bed
Reactor √ √
Amine Scrubber √
Amine Scrubber Knockout Drum √
Reactor Feed / Product Heat Exchanger √ √
Hot HP Separator Gas Cooler √
Hot HP Separator Gas/Recycle H2 Heat Exchanger √
Hot HP Separator √
Cold HP Separator √
Recycle H2 Compressor Knockout Drum √
Recycle Hydrogen Compressor √
Recycle Canned Motor Pump √

From CNOOC’s perspective, the less complex IsoTherming® reactors and the absence of a
hydrogen recycle system result in a considerably smaller, simplified design. Depending on the

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application, these IsoTherming® capital cost savings can be as much as 25% compared to a
conventional trickle bed design.

2. IsoTherming® Feed/Effluent Exchanger

The IsoTherming® reactor feed/effluent heat exchanger is a key piece of equipment designed
to recover the heat of reaction energy by heating the reactor feed with the reactor effluent. A
heat exchanger of this kind operates at a high temperature and pressure and has limited
flexibility in operating conditions. The traditional hydrogenation unit adopts the thread locking
ring heat exchanger. CNOOC opted to incorporate a new spiral-wound high-efficiency heat
exchanger for this service.

The spiral-wound tube heat exchanger design includes direct welding of the tube sheet to the
shell rather than the traditional flange connection structure. This design minimizes the risk of
leaks seen with the HP thread locking ring heat exchanger. CNOOC Huizhou replaced two
traditional HP thread locking ring heat exchangers with one spiral-wound tube heat exchanger
in the ULSD IsoTherming® hydrotreater. This equipment selection lead to an equipment
investment savings of 3.88 million CNY (U.S.$577,232).

B. Low energy consumption

By eliminating the hydrogen recycle gas compressor and its ancillary recycle loop equipment,
significant maintenance and operating cost savings can be realized. Overall, the IsoTherming®
technology has consistently demonstrated a 40-60% utility savings over trickle bed technology
including:

• The IsoTherming® reactor canned motor pump consumes substantially less energy than a
comparable trickle bed recycle gas compressor. The IsoTherming® unit power consumption is
reduced, on average, by 30-40% for any application.

• The combined feed and reactor recycle volumes are sufficient to maintain low temperature
profiles across each catalyst bed. The traditional trickle bed hydrogenation technology must
control the bed temperature rise with chilled hydrogen, in which a large amount of reaction heat
is removed with the recycle hydrogen, and eventually the majority of heat is cooled in the HP
air cooler.

• In addition, the IsoTherming® technology recovers the heat of reaction by recycling a portion of
the hot hydrotreated reactor bottoms back to the inlet of the reactor. This direct transfer of heat
to the feed in turn reduces the fired heater duty, i.e. lowers fuel gas consumption. Overall, the
IsoTherming® technology has consistently demonstrated a 30-60% drop in fuel gas costs due
to the reactor feed/bottoms heat integration designed into each IsoTherming® unit. Any excess
reactor bottoms heat, beyond what is required to pre-heat the reactor feed, can be used to
generate steam.

CNOOC Evaluation of IsoTherming® Commercial Experience

The IsoTherming® hydrotreating technology was first commercialized in 2003 at the Giant refinery in
Gallup, New Mexico. DuPont acquired the IsoTherming® hydroprocessing technology in 2007 and has
since licensed more than twenty units globally. At the time CNOOC evaluated hydrotreating technology
options, DuPont had licensed seven (7) IsoTherming® units in China across a range of range of
capacities and applications as presented in Table B.

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Table B: DuPont IsoTherming® Licensing Activity

CNOOC Technology Conclusions:

The IsoTherming hydrotreating process eliminates the recycle hydrogen system used in the trickle
bed process, thus leading to savings in energy consumption as well as savings in equipment
investment. CNOOC concluded “Thus, the DuPont process can operate with lower investment and
lower operating cost so that it is a state-of-the-art technology taking a leading position at home and
abroad.” CNOOC went on to state “The full liquid-phase hydrogenation technology is characterized by

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low investment, small floor space and low energy consumption, etc. so that it deserves massive
application. Therefore, it is feasible for Huizhou Refining & Chemical Project (Phase II) to utilize the full
liquid-phase hydrogenation technology in its diesel hydrogenation unit and VGO hydrogenation unit.”

Design Overview of CNOOC Huizhou Phase II ULSD and VGO HT Units

A. CNOOC Huizhou Phase II ULSD Unit

The CNOOC Huizhou Phase II, 3.4 MTPA (71,639 bpd) IsoTherming® ULSD unit was designed to
operate with ADU/VDU straight-run diesel as feedstock to make a diesel product that complied with
China National V criteria. DuPont designed the IsoTherming® ULSD hydrotreater based on
feedstock properties, Table C, and product properties, Table D, provided by CNOOC.

Table C: Design Feedstock Properties of CNOOC Huizhou Phase II ULSD unit

VRDS VGO HT Feed


Content Test method Unit SRD
Diesel Diesel Blend

Density ASTM D-1 17 kg/m3 @20°C 847.3 863.7 850.8 853.0


Nitrogen ASTM D-4629 Total wppm 120 400 45 150
Sulfur ASTM D-2622 S>50 wppm 14600 500 155 10860
Cetane ASTM D-
51.2
Index 4737A
Bromine
ASTM D-1159 g/100g 2.2 0 0 1.6
Number
oC
Distillation ASTM D-86 IBP 254 160 170 175
oC
50 vol% 288 - 278 285
oC
90 vol% 307 - 310 310
oC
EP 341 350 357 348
Aromatics ASTM D-6591 Mono wt% 16.3 23.2 25.8 18.4
Poly wt% 13.7 10.7 5.5 12.3
Total wt% 30.0 33.9 31.3 30.7
ASTM D-5708/
Metals Fe wppm <1.0
Core ICP
Flow Rate Design kg/h 298608 56647 49507 404762

Table D: CNOOC Huizhou Phase II ULSD Design Product Properties


SOR / EOR SOR / EOR
Content Unit
Naphtha Diesel
Flowrate kg/hr 5669 / 5909 390997 / 385233
Density (15°C) kg/m3 754.7 / 748.0 832.8 / 835.0
Total Sulphur, ASTM D-7220 wppm ≤10
Nitrogen, ASTM D-4629 wppm ≤1
ASTM D-86, vol% °C
IBP -98 / -97 148 / 120
50 138 280
90 153 304
EP 179 348

An overall process flow diagram for the unit is presented in Figure 4.

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Figure 4: CNOOC Huizhou Phase II IsoTherming® ULSD Hydrotreater

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A summary of key IsoTherming® reaction zone design parameters for the CNOOC Huizhou Phase II
ULSD hydrotreater are summarized in Table E.

Table E: CNOOC Huizhou Phase II IsoTherming® ULSD Reaction Zone Summary


Parameter Unit SOR EOR
Reactor Inlet Temperature °C 342 368
Reactor Inlet Pressure MPa(g) 9.22 9.38
WABT °C 365 392
LHSV hr-1 0.70 0.70
Chemical Hydrogen Consumption Nm3/m3 feed 63.9 60.5
Number of Catalyst Beds 5
Cycle Length months 36

B. CNOOC Huizhou Phase II VGO HT Unit

The CNOOC Huizhou Phase II, 2.6 MTPA (59,105 bpd) IsoTherming® VGO unit was designed to
hydrotreat a ADU/VDU VGO feedstock to make VGO to be fed to the fluidized catalytic cracking
(FCC) unit and to make a diesel product to be fed to the 3.4 MTPA (71,639 bpd) diesel
hydrogenation unit for further processing. DuPont designed the IsoTherming® VGO hydrotreater
based on feedstock properties, Table F, and product properties, Table G, provided by CNOOC.

Table F: Feedstock Properties of CNOOC Huizhou Phase II VGO HT


Content Test method Unit VGO #1 VGO #2 Feed Blend
Density @ 20 °C ASTM D-1217 kg/m3 944.5 905.0 908.7
Nitrogen ASTM D-5762 Total wppm 2480 860 1024
Sulfur ASTM D-2622 S>50 wppm 4130 26100 23872
Bromine Number ASTM D-1159 g/100g 1.2 1.2 1.2
oC
Distillation ASTM D-1160 IBP 377 352 352
at 1 atM oC
50 vol% 472 441 445
oC
90 vol% 522 518 518
oC
EP 553 559 557
Aromatics ASTM D-6591 Mono wt% 21.4
Di wt% 16.0
Tri+ wt% 14.6
Total wt% 52.0
Con carbon
Carbon residue wt% 0.40 0.10 0.10
number
Metals ASTM D-5708/ Na wppm
Core ICP Ni wppm 0.40 0.10 0.13
Method V wppm 0.08 0.10 0.10
Fe wppm 3.0
Design Rate kg/h 31384 278140 309524

Table G: VGO Product Properties of CNOOC Huizhou Phase II VGO HT


Property Test Method Units SOR EOR
Std. Liquid Density (20°C) kg/m3 880.0 881.2
Total Sulfur ASTM D-2622 wppm ≤1000 ≤1000
Nitrogen ASTM D-5762 wppm ≤600 ≤600
Distillation ASTM D-1160 °C
IBP 299 298
50 414 419
90 490 493
EP 544 543

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A summary of key IsoTherming® reaction zone design parameters for the CNOOC Huizhou Phase
II VGO hydrotreater are summarized in Table H.

Table H: CNOOC Huizhou Phase II IsoTherming® VGO Reaction Zone Summary


Parameter Units SOR EOR
Reactor Pressure MPa(g) 13.82 13.83
WABT °C 382 410
LHSV (Hydrotreating) hr-1 1.15
Chemical H2 Consumption (100% purity) Nm3 H2 / m3 feed 95.4 88.5
Number of Catalyst Beds 5
Run Length months 36

An overall process flow diagram for the unit is presented in Figure 5.

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Figure 5: CNOOC Huizhou Phase II IsoTherming® VGO Hydrotreater

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CNOOC IsoTherming® Technology Operations Highlights

A. CNOOC Phase II ULSD IsoTherming® Hydrotreater

CNOOC broke ground for the ULSD unit on October 16, 2014 followed by a successful startup on
September 29, 2017. At the time of startup, the ULSD unit operation complied with the design and
the ULSD product met China V standards as well. The ULSD unit underwent a Performance
Calibration Test at full rate September 4-7, 2018. During the calibration test, all the products and
waste emissions met unit design criteria indicating the IsoTherming® technology operated per the
design intent. Historical diesel product sulfur content is presented in Figure 6.

Figure 6
CNOOC Phase II IsoTherming® ULSD Product Sulfur

1. ULSD IsoTherming® Hydrotreater Reactor WABT and Normalized WABT

WABT calculations for traditional trickle-bed technology are well documented for refinery
hydroprocessing. Hydrogen is in excess and once the reactor pressure is set, reaction rate is
typically governed by non-hydrogen reactants and reaction kinetics are most often represented
by targeted reactants such as sulfur, nitrogen etc. WABT calculations are in a power law format
when calculating catalyst deactivation. Results of operational WABT and normalized WABT
calculations for the CNOOC Huizhou Phase II ULSD unit using industry standard trickle bed
methodology are shown in Figure 7. The operational WABT is calculated as usual, i.e., 1/3 of
reactor inlet temperature plus 2/3 of the reactor outlet temperature. A linear trending line of the
normalized WABT is also shown. The slope of this normalized trending line shows about 1.3°C
(2.3°F) per month. In traditional trickle-bed technology, the slope of this trending line is viewed
as the catalyst deactivation rate.

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Figure 7
CNOOC Phase II ULSD IsoTherming® WABT
(Trickle Bed Methodology)

The issue with applying trickle bed WABT methodology to IsoTherming® is that hydrogen is
also a variable, in addition to those mentioned above for trickle bed, (with even stronger
variation than other reactants along reactor beds) and needs to be represented in the kinetics
if the power law is to be used to determine catalyst deactivation. This creates some challenges.
Namely, in trickle-bed, normalized WABT is essentially an integral average of a single variable,
for example, sulfur concentration. While in the IsoTherming® technology, the normalized
WABT is an integral average of two variables in its product format (power law). So,
mathematically, one is a line integration average (trickle-bed), the other is surface integration
average (IsoTherming®). While integration average (normalized WABT) can always find a point
(operational WABT) on the line to establish correspondence, there will be a much wider area
to find a single corresponding point (operational WABT, most likely could be multiple points)
on a two-dimensional surface to the integration average (normalized WABT). This means if one
wants to find such a single and unique correspondence between operational WABT and
normalized WABT, the normalized WABT must be calculated close enough to operation points
where one of the variables, say, nominal hydrogen partial pressure more or less stays the
same. Only such a calculated normalized WABT can be used to realistically detect the actual
catalyst deactivation.

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Figure 8
CNOOC Phase II ULSD IsoTherming® Catalyst Deactivation

Figure 8 shows one such calculation and the slope indicated is 0.75 °C (1.35°F) per month.
This result corresponds closely to commercial observations for the CNOOC Phase II ULSD
IsoTherming® unit. A more intuitive way to look at this issue follows.

The hydrogen profile for any IsoTherming® bed, Figure 9, would show that roughly one-third of
the way down the bed, hydrogen has already been consumed to a significant level. Below this
point, the reaction rate will typically slow down due to lower hydrogen availability, not catalyst
deactivation.

Figure 9
IsoTherming® Hydrogen Profile

Attributing the slower reaction rate to catalyst deactivation, using the trickle-bed method, will
reflect an over, and unrealistic, correction. This over correction must be accounted for during
the normalization if trickle-bed normalization method is still to be utilized.

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2. Arsenic Poisoning

The design basis for the IsoTherming® ULSD hydrotreater did not account for the presence of
arsenic in the feed. As a result, the current ULSD catalyst loading does not have specific
arsenic guard material. Figure 10 illustrates the consistent presence of arsenic in the diesel
feed analysis since startup.

Figure 10
CNOOC Huizhou Phase II IsoTherming® ULSD Feed Arsenic Content

Arsenic is widely recognized as a strong hydrotreating catalyst poison and its destructive effect on
hydrotreating catalyst is regarded, by many, as permanent. The IsoTherming® Catalyst
Deactivation plot, Figure 8, and commercial operating data does not reflect the expected negative
impact of arsenic poisoning.

B. CNOOC Phase II VGO IsoTherming® Hydrotreater

CNOOC broke ground on the IsoTherming® VGO hydrotreating unit on October 16, 2014 and
subsequently initiated a successful startup on October 1, 2017. CNOOC indicated it has
demonstrated a successful application of the DuPont IsoTherming® liquid-phase hydrogenation
technology in Huizhou Petrochemical, with all technical indicators proving the technology works
well. A performance test for this unit will be completed in 2019 once sufficient feedstock is available
to run the unit at maximum capacity.

CNOOC Huizhou Economic and Social Benefits Analysis

A. CNOOC Phase II Hydrotreater Economic Analysis

CNOOC developed cost estimates for engineering and bare equipment during their
hydroprocessing technology option evaluation. Their results are summarized in Table I.

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Table I: CNOOC Hydrotreating Engineering & Equipment Cost Analysis

®
CNOOC Total Engineering & Bare Trickle bed IsoTherming Difference
Equipment Cost Estimate ¥362,759,800 ¥279,628,000 ¥83,131,800
$54,413,970 $41,944,200 $12,469,770

Bare Equipment Cost Breakdown Trickle bed IsoTherming® Difference


¥108,132,000 ¥64,910,900 ¥43,221,100
Static equipment
$16,219,800 $9,736,635 $6,483,165
¥62,560,300 ¥43,857,700 ¥18,702,600
Mechanical equipment
$9,384,045 $6,578,655 $2,805,390
¥57,255,200 ¥32,280,500 ¥24,974,700
Process pipe
$8,588,280 $4,842,075 $3,746,205
¥32,639,900 ¥26,406,500 ¥6,233,400
Automation
$4,895,985 $3,960,975 $935,010

B. CNOOC Phase II Hydrotreater Operating Cost Savings

1. 3.4 MTPA (71,639 bpd) ULSD IsoTherming® Hydrotreater

CNOOC determined an average IsoTherming® ULSD hydrotreater only requires approximately


50% of the energy consumption of a comparable Chinese trickle bed design. A portion of the
IsoTherming® operating cost advantage comes from reduced fuel gas use due to optimized
feed/product heat integration. For any given IsoTherming® unit, the feed furnace duty is
determined by start-up conditions when there is insufficient product heat to exchange with the
feed. As a result, IsoTherming® feed heaters typically run at significantly lower design
conditions once the unit is stabilized. For the CNOOC IsoTherming® ULSD unit, the feed
furnace only operates at approximately 23% of design, leading to a fuel gas savings of 7.854
million CNY/year (U.S.$1,168,360/year) compared to a comparable trickle bed design).

Figure 11
CNOOC Phase II ULSD Feed Heater Fuel Gas Consumption

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As shown in Figure 11, the unit total fuel gas consumption on a per ton basis of fresh feed is
plotted against the unit total fresh feed rate. It clearly shows that when more feed is processed,
more energy savings can be realized (within the design limit) and this is one of the strong
advantages of IsoTherming® technology.

The fuel gas savings combined with additional IsoTherming® operating cost advantages result
in total operating cost savings to CNOOC for the Phase II IsoTherming® ULSD unit of 65.7
million CNY/year (U.S.$9,853,200/year) compared to a trickle bed design.

2. 2.6 MTPA (59,105 bpd) IsoTherming® VGO Hydrotreater

A similar calculation was done by CNOOC for the Phase II IsoTherming® VGO hydrotreater.
CNOOC determined an average IsoTherming® VGO hydrotreater only requires approximately
60% of the energy consumption of a comparable Chinese trickle bed design. While a portion
of the IsoTherming® operating cost advantage comes from reduced fuel gas consumption, the
CNOOC IsoTherming® VGO unit, realizes total operating cost savings of 27.3 million CNY/year
(U.S.$4,095,000/year) compared to a trickle bed design.

C. Social benefit

CNOOC concluded that the projects, when built and put into operation, did yield a remarkable
reduction in energy consumption. The anticipated savings of large amounts of fuel gas and steam
were realized along with a considerable reduction in emissions. Overall the projects had a positive
impact on environmental protection.

Conclusion

Currently two hydrogenation options are available for production of ULSD, including traditional trickle
bed technology and liquid-phase hydrogenation technology, IsoTherming®. CNOOC technology
selection targeted reduced operating costs and improved economic benefits. The IsoTherming®
technology has demonstrated through commercialization that it is a well-proven, reliable and
acceptable refining upgrading technology that is capable of diesel and VGO hydrotreating. CNOOC
states the IsoTherming® hydroprocessing technology is characterized by low investment, minimal plot
space and low energy consumption and therefore it deserves broad application.

AFPM 2019 AM – Pg. 17

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