PAPER 2009--410

"Chevron's Technologies for Converting

Unconventional Hydrocarbons into Transportation
Fuels"
L. P. ZESTAR & L. J. NORDRUM
Chevron Energy Technology Company

D. FARSHID & B. E. REYNOLDS

Technology Marketing Division of Chevron Global Downstream

This paper has been selected for presentation and publication in the World Heavy Oil Congress 2009 Proceedings. All papers
selected will become the property of WHOC. The right to publish is retained by the WHOC’s Publications Committee. The authors
agree to assign the right to publish the above-titled paper to WHOC.
other impurities are recovered in an
Abstract environmentally sound approach. Furthermore,
the products from the VRSH process have high
Dense, multi-cyclic molecules with metal, hydrogen content which is essential for the
sulfur and nitrogen impurities are found in production of clean-burning transportation
residuum streams and significantly limit the fuels.
value of unconventional heavy oils. Processing
this residuum with conventional technologies VRSH™ Catalyst technology is built on
produces a large amount of low value Chevron’s legacy expertise in hydrocracking of
byproducts such as coke or fuel oil, which resid, plus a core competency in hydrotreating
erodes the economics of extra heavy oil (XHO) and hydrocracking catalysis. Through the CLG
processing. partnership with CBI-Lummus, Chevron is the
premier licensor of Resid Hydrotreating,
Chevron has developed the Vacuum Resid Vacuum Gasoil Hydrocracking and Lubricant
Slurry Hydrocracking (VRSH) process which Base Oil ISODEWAXING technology in the
employs our proprietary VRSH™ catalyst for world.
upgrading vacuum resid from extra heavy oil
(XHO) or bitumen. VRSH process converts
essentially all hydrocarbon material in the feed,
irrespective of molecular composition, into high
quality, high value products. Also, metals and

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Introduction Bed Resid Desulfurization, Ebullating Bed
The world’s remaining reserves of easily Resid Hydrocracking and Lubricant Base Oil
refined crude oil are being rapidly consumed Hydroprocessing. The extent of Chevron
leading to an increased interest in the carbon- Lummus success is illustrated below.
rich end of the crude spectrum dominated by
extra heavy oils. Chevron has a long history of
converting these carbon-rich resources to
desirable fuels in an environmentally
responsible way using our proprietary
hydrocracking processes.

In response to the increasing demand for diesel,

jet and gasoline over the last few decades
Chevron has designed, licensed and built many
units that convert lower value feedstocks to
valuable products. ISOCRACKING® catalyst
Clearly this partnership is beneficial for the
was developed in 1962 to hydrocrack VGO to
many licensees who obtain access to these high
diesel. In the late 1960’s the Resid
quality technologies. Chevron Lummus Global
Desulfurization (RDS) process was
offers a support staff of specialists who ensure
commercialized to partially convert and lower
new facilities are properly designed and can
the sulfur levels in atmospheric residuum. This
assist in the debottlenecking or expansion of
process was extended in 1977 to vacuum
existing facilities. Likewise, the research and
residuum with our Vacuum Resid
development teams associated with these
Desulfurization (VRDS) process. We continued
technologies developed unique insights which
to improve our catalysts and made two
have allowed Chevron to expand its capability
significant changes in reactor design; On-
in heavy hydrocarbon resid conversion.
stream Catalyst Replacement (OCR) and
Up Flow Reactors (UFR). These innovations
Conventional Resid Conversion
allow fixed bed reactors to run for extended
Technologies
campaigns without pressure buildup due to
solids and metal accumulation.
Two conventional processes to convert Vacuum
resids to more useable products are delayed
Chevron’s Hydroprocessing Innovations  coking and LC-FINING. Delayed coking is the
ISOCRACKING®  catalyst  1962  most-widely used process for resid conversion
RDS (Resid Desulfurization)  1969  and is based on carbon rejection. In essence the
VRDS (Vacuum Resid Desulfurization)  1977  resid molecule is thermally cracked resulting in
OCR (On‐stream Catalyst  1992  carbon-rich coke and distillates. The distillates
Replacement)  containing significant quantities of olefins
ISODEWAXING®  catalyst  1993  require hydrotreating to prevent gum formation.
UFR (Upflow Reactor)  1996  Actual coke yield is dependent on the resid
qualities such as MicroCarbon Residue (MCR)
In 2000, Chevron and Lummus entered into a and % asphaltene. Delayed coking typically
joint venture agreement called Chevron generates about 70-80 barrels of liquids for
Lummus Global (CLG) that combined the every 100 barrels of resid feed.
strengths of both companies. Chevron Lummus
Global technology is used worldwide in over LC-FINING is an ebullated bed hydrocracking
half the plants licensed in the last 10 years in system based on hydrogen-addition. Large
the four broad areas of Hydrocracking, Fixed resid molecules break where the atomic bonds

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are weakest, e.g. C-O and C-S bonds and liquid yield of high value products compared
hydrogen is added to produce a stable product. with conventional technologies.
LC-FINING produces a similar amount of
distillate products but with higher hydrogen With the inclusion of an integrated hydrotreater,
content as compared to coking. It also produces the distillate products are nearly free of sulfur
a more valuable liquid bottom product that can and can be blended into transportation fuel
be blended to fuel oil instead of producing solid products. We have successfully tested the
coke. process on vacuum resids derived from
Orinoco, Mexican Maya, California crudes,
Canadian oil sands and other sources.

VRSH High Conversion Configuration

The VRSH process can be utilized either in a

refinery application or it can be optimized to
Based on vacuum resid from Athabasca bitumen convert extra heavy crude to a fungible
VRSH Process synthetic crude. In a refinery application the
VRSH process can be operated in a recycle
Chevron has utilized its catalysis and mode to maximize conversion of vacuum resid.
hydrocracking expertise to develop an advanced In the high conversion mode of operation, the
resid conversion technology called Vacuum un-converted bottoms oil, which contains the
Resid Slurry Hydrocracking or VRSH process. concentrated slurry catalyst, is recycled to the
This technology utilizes a proprietary ultra-fine first reactor. This high conversion mode
slurry catalyst to extend the resid conversion significantly increases the total catalyst
capability and can achieve nearly 100% resid inventory within the reactor system thereby
conversion. This proprietary catalyst is utilized promoting greater resid conversion. In an
in circulating slurry reactors similar to LC- upgrader application the VRSH process can be
FINING ebullating bed technology. The operated in once through mode to achieve
majority of the product is converted to greater throughput. Resid throughput is
distillates which leave the process as a vapor, increased and the resid conversion level is
thus concentrating the slurry catalyst. The slightly reduced, resulting in greater amounts of
remaining unconverted oil is retained in the Vacuum Gas Oils (VGO) and less light
reactors with the highly active and concentrated products.
catalyst, which enables higher resid conversion.
The VRSH process achieves a very high level In either mode of operation, the VRSH process
of conversion with significant hydrogen produces a significantly greater percentage of
addition. It generates a liquid volume yield of
greater than 115%, a significant increase in
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high value products from vacuum resid than experience since both technologies utilize the
coking. same circulating liquid reactor platform. Larger
scale equipment tests, along with erosion and
rheology tests, have been conducted to ensure
the reliability and operability of our process.

To further reduce scale-up risk, Chevron has

designed an integrated Pre-commercial unit for
our Pascagoula Refinery which processes extra
heavy oil vacuum resid. The capacity of the
Pre-commercial unit is 3,500 BPD of vacuum
resid and is designed to test all critical
components in commercial sized equipment.
The facility is designed to have sufficient
flexibility to operate in either high conversion
VRSH Liquid Product Yields for Different Operating Modes
Based on vacuum resid from Maya Crude
or high throughput operating mode, to provide
data for both upstream and downstream
The VRSH process can be used in an upgrader applications. At this time, construction of the
application which can be designed to achieve a Pascagoula VRSH Pre-commercial project has
target synthetic crude API and resid content. If been strategically deferred. Timing of the
desired, flexibility can be included in the construction restart is under review and will
upgrader design to accommodate changes in depend on economic conditions.
crude demand and desired synthetic crude
properties.
Conclusion
VRSH technology includes an integrated Chevron has developed VRSH™ catalyst and a
catalyst management system which enables the proprietary resid conversion technology that
economic processing of high metal and high effectively converts the most challenging
asphaltene vacuum resids derived from vacuum resid. This process can be operated in
Orinoco, Athabasca or Mexican crudes. either a maximum conversion mode or in a high
Partially spent catalyst in the bottom oil stream throughput mode depending on the application.
contains the metals contaminants originally The VRSH process maximizes the production
present in the vacuum resid. The partially spent of high value products compared to
catalyst is de-oiled and recycled in our conventional resid conversion processes. VRSH
proprietary catalyst management process. technology includes an environmentally
Metals such as vanadium are recovered as friendly, integrated catalyst management
saleable products. system which enables the economic processing
of high metal and high asphaltene vacuum
resids.
Commercialization Pathway
Acknowledgement
Chevron has demonstrated the VRSH process in The authors wish to acknowledge the dedication and support of
continuous pilot units at our research facility in the entire research and engineering teams in Richmond
California, Houston Texas and Bloomfield New Jersey.
Richmond, California. Chevron’s extensive
commercial experience in catalyst research,
hydroprocessing and resid conversion has been
utilized in developing this technology. Chevron
has also employed the technical expertise of
CLG with their commercial LC-FINING