honeyweGBPGBP Jan 21

Fifty years of CCR Platforming
Edward R. Morgan Honeywell UOP
P
rofessionals in the oil and gas industry today ered vehicles became the primary source of
may not remember when gasoline was sold photochemical smog in many large cities – a
in multiple grades that included fuels con- problem amplified in areas such as Los Angeles
taining tetraethyl lead. Now relegated to the his- and Mexico City, where air masses are slow to
torical curriculum in petroleum engineering, clear. This all changed in 1970, when the U.S.
we take for granted that millions of automobiles Clean Air Act regulated components of air pol-
once emitted lead particles from their exhaust, lution including carbon monoxide, lead, and
where it entered the food chain through accumu- nitrous and sulfur oxides.
lation in waterways and soils. It was possible to reduce the oxides in vehicle
The use of lead as a fuel additive was neces- exhaust by channeling it through an automobile
sary to raise the octane number of gasoline by as catalytic converter, but lead in the exhaust would
many as five points, thus reducing pre-ignition, quickly deactivate the catalyst.
or “engine knock.” As late as the early 1990s, The barrier to the economic viability of
some gasoline produced around the world con- unleaded fuels was broken in 1971 with the intro-
tained up to 3 grams per gallon of tetraethyl lead, duction of CCR Platforming, a technology that
a conspicuous air pollutant and a heavy metal substantially raised the gasoline pool octane
neurotoxin. Lead was tolerated in vehicle emis- number. By making it possible to exclude lead
sions as a necessary, but environmentally harm- from gasoline, automobile exhaust now could be
ful, consequence to improve engine performance. run through a catalytic converter, attacking the
In addition, there was simply no economically full range of pollutants identified in the Clean Air
viable way to produce fuels without it. Act and removing millions of tons of pollutants
As a result, emissions from gasoline-pow- from the air.
Stacked
Reactors
CCR Combined Recontact
Section Feed Compression
Exchanger
R
C
F
LPG
R E
C R Separator
C
R
R Stabilizer
Reformate
Regenerated H H H H for gasoline
Catalyst blending or BTX
Spent production
Catalyst
Fired Heaters
Hydrotreated
Naphtha Feed
(C6 – C11)
CCR Platforming scheme
www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002580 January 2021 1

decreased until a critical point when the unit
would need to be removed from service to regen-
erate the catalyst.
The CCR section allowed refiners to continu-
ously remove coke accumulating on the catalyst.
This allowed lower reforming reaction pressures
to increase reformate and hydrogen yields, higher
reaction temperatures to achieve higher octane
levels for gasoline blending -- thereby enabling
lead-free gasoline -- and increased production of
aromatics for use as petrochemical feedstocks.
The technological breakthrough brought by
CCR Platforming solved a growing environmental
problem and greatly improved the economics of
refining. Today, more than 380 CCR Platforming
units have been licensed worldwide.
Redefining Refinery and Petrochemical Plant

Economics
The relative operating profit margin for naphtha
processing using CCR Platforming can be from
1.5 to 2 times the margin of semi-regenerative
reforming, due to the increased yields of refor-
The first CCR Platforming unit entered service mate and hydrogen.
on Jan. 3, 1971 at the Coastal States refinery in CCR Platforming provided operators more
Corpus Christi, Texas. It was a milestone for the flexibility to reliably process cost-advantaged
refining industry, ushering in the global transi- highly paraffinic or cracked naphtha feedstocks
tion to lead-free gasoline production. Today, vir- that were difficult for semi-regenerative reform-
tually every gasoline-fueled vehicle in the world ing units due to their higher coke production,
uses unleaded fuel and a catalytical converter. shorter operating cycles, and lower reformate
Most importantly, it has accommodated a five- and hydrogen yields. It also provided predicta-
fold increase in personal mobility while improv- ble reformate and hydrogen yields, simplifying
ing the health and living standard of billions of blending operations and refinery turnarounds.
people worldwide. CCR Platforming units typically have on-stream
availability of in excess of 97%, higher than
CCR Platforming Defined the 90-92% performance of semi-regenerative
CCR Platforming is a catalytic reforming pro- reforming units.
cess for upgrading naphtha feedstocks into high In the 50 years since the first CCR Platforming
octane gasoline blending components -- or into unit entered service, UOP has continuously
the petrochemical feedstocks used to produce improved the technology. New catalyst designs
plastic resins, films and fibers. have increased reforming yields and extended
While Platforming had been a proven process catalyst life. A new Platforming catalyst was
since 1949, the breakthrough for the technology introduced in 2020, further closing the gap with
came with the introduction of a dedicated con- the theoretical maximum of reforming yield effi-
tinuous catalyst regeneration (“CCR”) section. ciency. New regenerator designs and reactor
This made it technically superior to semi-regen- internals further improve reforming yields and
erative reforming, which had been the main- process reliability.
stay for upgrading naphtha, but which was In addition, a new chloride treatment process
limited by coke production caused by the reform- recycles effluent chlorides in the CCR regenera-
ing reactions. tion vent gas, significantly reducing the quantity
As coke accumulated on the catalyst, the refor- of chloride used by the process and marking an
mate octane number and yield performance improvement on conventional caustic treating.
2 January 2021 www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002580

Because the coke barrier has been addressed,
the size of a catalytic reforming units has
increased, substantially improving economies
of scale for catalytic reforming. Several CCR
Platforming units now are operating at feed rates
exceeding 90,000 barrels per day.
Gasoline remains the world’s most common
transportation fuel, and it will continue to be the
primary motor fuel for many years, thanks in
large part to the elimination of lead from the gas-
oline pool and superior economics made possible
by CCR Platforming.
LINKS
More articles from: Honeywell UOP
More articles from the following categories:
Catalysts & Additives
Today, more than 75 CCR Platforming units have Emissions Reduction
been commissioned with this system.
www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002580 January 2021 3

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Fifty years of CCR Platforming

Edward R. Morgan Honeywell UOP

CCR Platforming scheme

www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002580 January 2021 1

Redefining Refinery and Petrochemical Plant

2 January 2021 www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002580

www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002580 January 2021 3

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