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Comprehensive analysis of semi-regenerative, CCR, and cyclic catalytic reforming processes for the production gasoline, aromatics and hydrogen from naphtha feedstreams. Market conditions and trends are considered in terms of supply and demand for catalytic reforming products, and technology advances are evaluated for both commercial offerings and emerging technologies reveal in patent literature and R&D work.

The catalytic reforming process transforms naphthenes and paraffins into aromatics and isoparaffins.

Regional factors will significantly influence the desired operating mode for the catalytic reformer to provide the strongest economic return on investment. Ranking only slightly behind the catalytic cracker in importance for gasoline production, the catalytic reformer contributes roughly 17-20 vol% of the gasoline pool in the US. In Europe where the outlook is one of a static demand for gasoline but increasing need for benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX), operation of the catalytic reformer centers on increasing aromatic yields. In Asia, significant demand for aromatics has dictated that the majority of catalytic reforming units be installed primarily as aromatics producers.

Reforming processes are classified as semi-regenerative, cyclic, or continuous (CCR) depending upon the frequency of catalyst regeneration. Operating conditions, average cycle length, catalyst composition, and product slate can all vary depending on the type of unit that is used. Although the capacity gap between fixed-bed (semi-regenerative and cyclic) and CCR technologies appears to be closing, the fact remains that semi-regenerative units make up over 52% of catalytic reforming capacity installed in refineries worldwide; CCR reformers accounted for approximately 34% of worldwide capacity; and cyclic regeneration technology is used to process 11% of the total reformate produced. In total, global refinery catalytic reforming capacity was pegged at just over 11.48MM b/cd in Jan. 2009 following a 0.49% increase in capacity from the previous year.

The impact that supply, demand, and pricing for reformed products (i.e., aromatics and gasoline) will have on the market refined products and petrochemicals markets, and the future role for catalytic reforming technology are further examined in the Market/Technology Trends & Opportunities sections. Additionally, state-of-the art technologies, process operations and considerations, and research developments are presented. New products and topics include:

• Updated information on Axens's, UOP's, and ExxonMobil's commercial catalytic reforming offerings;
• Profile Wire Scallops from UOP to allow for larger catalytic reforming units;
• New reforming catalyst offerings from Axens, BASF Catalysts, Criterion Catalysts & Technologies, ExxonMobil, Indian Petrochemical Corp., Sinopec, and UOP;
• Advanced process control and catalyst management systems to improve process efficiency and energy use;
• Current plant practices and operations include feed considerations for optimizing product flexibility; meeting product specifications and limiting contaminants in the processing reactor; strategies to specifically reduce benzene in gasoline products; avoiding the deposition of polynuclear aromatics in the reformer and heat exchangers; experience for revamping fixed-bed reformers to full or partial CCR modes; schemes to extend catalyst life and to reduce energy use and CO₂ emissions in catalytic reforming operations; identifying problems in the catalyst circulation loop and justifying a catalyst changeout;
• Novel process, hardware, and catalyst technologies in patents and R&D work regarding process optimization and flexible operations, modeling techniques, catalyst formulation, catalyst preparation, enhancement of hydrogen yield and recovery, utilization of halide promoters, and precious metals recovery from spent catalysts.

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