HTI offers the following technologies in the production of clean energy products from heavy oil or coal feedstocks: 1) the HCAT^®Process—a proprietary patented method of hydrocracking heavy residual oil with low sediment formation; and 2) Direct Coal Liquefaction—a technology for producing ultra-clean fuels, from coal alone, or in combination with refinery residues or biomass. The performance of these technologies is enhanced by the support our customers receive from our technical services team of engineers, scientists, and technicians with a broad range of expertise in oil refining, coal conversion, and catalysis.

The HCAT Technology is based on in situ formation of a molecularly-dispersed catalyst, intimately mixed throughout the residual oil feedstock, using HTI’s proprietary liquid catalyst precursor and mixing system.  This dispersed catalyst facilitates hydrogen transfer, particularly into large asphaltene molecules that cannot readily access the active sites of the solid supported catalysts in ebullated beds.  Hence, HCAT Catalyst compliments the solid supported catalysts and allows the ebullated-bed reactor system to operate more efficiently.

Commercial Proof

HCAT Technology has been successfully demonstrated at the commercial scale in four refineries.  For example, at one European refinery, our proprietary HCAT Catalyst Precursor was added to an ebullated-bed residue hydrocracker enabling the refinery to:

• Increase ebullated-bed reactor temperatures 9°C over baseline resulting in a 10% residue conversion increase
• Maintain the unconverted bottoms sediment within acceptable limits even while operating at increased residue conversion
• Reduce fouling and increase cycle length of critical vacuum tower bottom heat exchangers
• Increase residue feed rate by 5 tonnes per hour over baseline
• Improve the fuel oil product quality, concurrent with increased distillate yields

This refinery has successfully used HCAT Technology, on an ongoing basis, for controlling sediment formation and fouling while operating at high conversion and throughput rates since January 2010. In addition, HCAT Technology has proven to be able to handle a wide range of feedstocks with different properties, thus making it ideally suited for hydrocracking heavier, less-costly “opportunity” feedstocks, such as those found in Russia, Canada, Asia, and Latin America.

Summary

The HCAT Technology requires only a small capital investment and its dosage rate to a reactor can be adjusted to match unit operations and product requirements. The HCAT Technology allows conventional ebullated-bed upgrading units to:

• Control product sediment and fouling
• Increase residue conversion
• Increase residue throughput
• Increase distillate yields
• Use lower-cost, lower-quality “opportunity” feedstocks
• Improve unit on-stream time and reliability
• Improve product properties

HTI’s Strategic Alliances

HTI has teamed up with Axens, a global leader in clean fuel technologies, to help unit operators maximize their clean fuel production from residual oil while meeting product quality specifications. Announced in May 2013, this alliance enables the companies to promote the combined use of HTI’s proprietary HCAT Technology in conjunction with Axens’ H-Oil® ebullated-bed residue hydrocracking to produce clean liquid fuels from residual “bottom-of-the-barrel” heavy oil.