Gasoline aromatization and desulfurization (GARDES) technology is extensively used in refineries of Petrochina, aiming to produce high quality ultraclean fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline. This article introduces the industrial application results on the hydrodesulfurization unit of the Hohhot refinery, which plays an important role in guiding next round gasoline upgrading. The characteristics and the principle of GARDES technology were elaborated by analyzing the distribution of sulfur and hydrocarbon compounds in the feed and product. The analysis results proved that the presence of broad ranged sulfur types in the feed can be removed at different stages. Olefin can be decreased by saturation and conversion into i-paraffins and aromatics. The sulfur content of the blend product can be limited under 10 mg/kg, showing GARDES technology has excellent sulfur removal ability. The olefin reduction can also satisfy the ever-increasing severe requirement about the olefin limitation, while the loss of research octane number (RON) can be minimized to an acceptable level. Furthermore, according to the demand of gasoline upgrading, GARDES technology has great flexibility by adjusting operation condition without any further investment, which brings more economic benefits for refinery.
Industrial application of gasoline aromatization and desulfurization technology in Hohhot refinery
