Basic R&D promotes technological innovation in industrial applications - remember the key technological innovation of activated alumina crystal face control and the application project in diesel quality upgrade

Recently, the project "Key Technology Innovation of Activated Alumina Crystal Face Control and Its Application in Diesel Quality Upgrading" led by Sinopec (Dalian) Petrochemical Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as Sinopec Dalian Institute) won the first prize of scientific and technological progress of the Chinese Chemical Industry Society
.
The highly active diesel hydrogenation catalyst developed by this project can meet the needs of long-term production of national VI.
quality standard diesel, and bring good economic and social benefits
to application enterprises.

At present, domestic automotive diesel implements the National VI quality standard, and on the basis of sulfur content of not more than 10ppm, it is further required that the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is not higher than 7%, and the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the quality standards of clean vehicle diesel will be further reduced
in the future.
However, due to the influence of the thermodynamic balance of the reaction during the diesel hydrogenation reaction, the production of high-quality standard vehicle diesel will adversely
affect the operating cycle of the diesel hydrotreatment unit.

According to the contradiction between deep desulfurization, PAHs saturation and the operating cycle of industrial plants faced by Guo Rong, a senior expert of Sinopec Dalian Institute, the project team led by Guo Rong, a senior expert of Sinopec Dalian Institute, took catalytic material innovation as the starting point, and created the key technology of alumina crystal surface regulation strategy and the key technology of physical property depth control of activated alumina through the controllable "ion sustained release" and "energy reduction" of alumina precursors, which provided important support for the development of new alumina carriers and catalytic materials.
The successful application of new alumina carriers to the development of diesel hydrotreatment catalysts has promoted technological innovation
in industrial applications.

Guo Rong introduced that to achieve low-cost diesel quality upgrades, the key problem that needs to be solved is to improve the operating cycle
of the device.
The essence of long-term stable operation of catalyst is to reduce the carbon deposition rate
of catalyst during operation.
After determining this research goal, Guo Rong led the project team to start from the basic research of catalytic materials, and through the introduction of coordination agents, intervened and guided the growth behavior of aluminum oxygen precursors, and developed alumina grain materials
with acid-base amphoteric.

Subsequently, by delaying the chemical conversion process of aluminum-oxygen precursors, the project team increased the barrier of aluminum ion recombination reaction in the liquid phase, and for the first time obtained octahedral alumina grains
with much higher content than conventional industrial alumina B acid 。 The team introduced it into the development of diesel hydrogenation catalysts, and used the "acid island" effect formed by them to construct the adjacent bifunctional active center structure of the acidic site of the hydrogenation catalyst - metal sulfides, accelerate the adsorption-hydrogenation-desorption rate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heteroatomic compounds, reduce the occurrence of adsorption-polycondensation reaction on the surface of acidic sites, thereby reducing the formation of carbon deposits, realize the directional construction and fine regulation of the active phase of the catalyst, and make the catalyst have the dual functions
of ultra-deep hydrogenation and high activity stability 。 In the end, the relative desulfurization activity of the catalyst developed by the project team increased by 67%, which met the needs of
long-term stable operation of industrial plants.

Up to now, the project has applied for 51 domestic and foreign invention patents, 21 have been authorized, and PCT international patents have been laid out
in the United States, Japan, Europe and other countries and regions.
In terms of industrial application, the catalyst developed by the project team has been successfully applied in more than 60 sets of diesel hydrogenation units in China and 5 sets of diesel hydrogenation units abroad, with a total processing capacity of more than 60 million tons per year
.
In addition, the catalyst has also been successfully applied in Russia and other countries, contributing to the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative, marking that China's diesel quality upgrading technology has entered the international leading ranks and improving the influence
of China's hydrogen refueling technology in the world.

Strengthening basic research and development is the core of
promoting industrial technological progress.
Guo Rong said that in the future, the project team will further conduct in-depth research on catalytic materials and active phase regulation, develop alumina materials and key technologies of crystal plane regulation on a platform, and broaden the industrial application fields
of catalytic materials.