Diesel fuel is used to move consumer goods by rail and ship, to generate power, and to power all manner of agricultural and heavy-duty equipment.
Technological advances in hydrocracking and deep hydrotreating produce clean Euro-V/VI quality diesel from straight-run, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), residue hydroconversion or delayed coking-derived gasoils. Clean diesel and biodiesel technologies target more stringent specifications. Changes to International Maritime Organization regulations regarding fuel oil sulfur will lead to increased marine diesel demand, while the U.S. has already seen a demand surge in ultra low sulfur diesel.
The ISOCRACKING® technology, offered by Chevron Lummus Global (CLG), a joint venture between Lummus Technology and Chevron U.S.A. Inc., produces high quality jet and diesel fuels and heavy naphtha suited for catalytic reforming. The ISOCRACKING process is often used in conjunction with residue hydrocracking—employing the LC-FINING™, LCMAX® and LC-SLURRY technologies—or with delayed coking.
Diesel also can be produced by fluid catalytic cracking. Lummus Technology’s FCC and Resid FCC (RFCC) processes have long been trusted workhorses to meet the demand for motor fuels. These licensed technologies are continuously improved to meet today’s refinery challenges, including:
- Cracking a wide range of feedstocks (heavy vacuum gas oils to residues)
- Increasing operational flexibility
- Shifting the yield slates from maximum gasoline to maximum diesel and vice-versa
