For cracking, gas oil feed was heated to 800f and fed to a fixedbed reactor. Jul 03, 2014 the process which followed the houdry process was the thermafore catalytic cracking process which adopted the use of movingbed catalysts. Houdry process for catalytic cracking national historic. Crackers using light feeds typically produce low quantities of. In 1937, eugene houdry developed the houdry process of catalytic cracking, which produced a highoctane base stock of gasoline which was superior to the thermally cracked product since it did not contain the high concentration of olefins.
In response, eugene jules houdry, a french mechanical engineer with a passion for racing cars, decided to turn lignite, a lowrank, brownishblack coal, into gasoline. Invention and innovation in the petroleum refining industry. The differences between catalytic cracking and catalytic. Sep 27, 2011 houdry invented a catalytic cracking process that could transform coal into gasoline. Petrol and other fuels are produced from it using fractional distillation. Cracking, in petroleum refining, the process by which heavy hydrocarbon molecules are broken up into lighter molecules by means of heat and usually pressure and sometimes catalysts. Pioneered by eugene jules houdry 18921962, the catalytic cracking of petroleum revolutionized the industry. Gilliland, under contract to standard oil of new jersey, now exxonmobil. Pew had presented a paper with the uninformative title of catalytic processing of petroleum hydrocarbons by the houdry process, the.
The process was developed by french mechanical engineer eugene houdry and pharmacist ea prudhomme and initially used lignite coal as a feedstock, and an acid. Pioneer in catalysis houdry process corporation pioneered the development and commercialization of catalytic cracking in the petroleum refining industry. Petroleum refining refers to the process of converting crude oil into useful products. One of the first improvements in petrochemical production was the catalytic process developed by eugene houdry 18921962, who obtained. Used in the oil and gas industry to refer to a variety of methods whereby a larger product is broken down into smaller byproducts. For cracking, gas oil feed was heated to 800f and fed to a fixedbed reactor packed with the catalyst particles. Fluid catalytic cracking fcc is the most important conversion process used in petroleum refineries. The houdry process, invented in the 1930s by frenchborn eugene jules houdry of pennsylvania, involved using fluid catalytic cracking for the selective conversion of crude petroleum to valuable gasoline. The first catalytic cracking process was developed as a batch process mcafee, 1915 shortly after the development of a thermal cracking process. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.
With this process, oil companies were able to double the yield of usable oil with each barrel of crude oil they processed. The american chemical society designated the development of the houdry process for catalytic cracking by eugene jules houdry as a national historic chemical landmark at the marcus hook refinery of the sun company now sunoco logistics partners l. Cracking and alkenes crude oil, hydrocarbons and alkanes. Although the houdry process generated about as much gasoline as did existing thermal cracking units, the catalytic product had a octane number of 88 compared to 72 for the noncatalytic product. The first fullscale commercial catalytic cracker for the selective conversion of crude petroleum to gasoline went on stream at the marcus hook refinery of sun company now sunoco, inc.
The process which followed the houdry process was the thermafore catalytic cracking process which adopted the use of movingbed catalysts. Modern living is built on crude oil this hub explains how crude oil is changed into the things we use everyday, from petrol to plastic. In addition, the houdry process created higher value byproducts that could be burned as fuel oil. Named after the french inventor, eugene houdry, this unit relied upon a semibatch catalytic cracking process, enabling the large, heavier crude oil molecules to be cracked into smaller gasolinerange molecules in the presence of a powdered catalyst. Eugene houdry, born in france, developed, after settling in the usa, one of the earliest catalysts to convert useless crude oil into high octane fuel. Not only did houdrys process increase the quantity of gasoline, but in addition its quality was superior to all existing gasolines. It was not until 1927, however, that he first successfully produced motor gasoline from a heavy. Because catalysts can reduce the pressures and temperatures needed for carrying out commercially useful reactions, they help reduce costs. He settled in paulsboro, new jersey, where he formed the houdry process corporation in 1931. Three years later, in 1936, soconyvacuum converted an older thermal cracking unit in their paulsboro refinery in new jersey to a small demonstration unit using the houdry process to catalytically crack 2,000 barrels per day 320 m 3 d of petroleum. Onpurpose butadiene production by richard nielsen with a contribution by russell heinen june 2011 abstract 1,3butadiene is currently almost entirely produced as a byproduct of ethylene steam cracking of naphtha or gas oil feedstocks. The catalytic process for cracking petroleum molecules into the shorter ones that constitute gasoline was developed by houdry, who also. Eugene houdry discovered a method for cracking lowgrade crude oil into hightest gasoline, developed a process for producing synthetic rubber in world war ii, and invented the catalytic converter for cleaning automobile exhaust.
Finally the last an most recent process is the afore mentioned fluidized catalytic cracking which uses a fluidized bed catalyst. A catalytic process combining cracking and desulfurization of crude petroleum oil in the presence of hydrogen. Butadiene production process overview sciencedirect. Badger and sons company, of boston, would build the units, and the houdry process corporation would manufacture the catalysts. The crude c4 stream isolated from the steam cracking process is fed to butadiene extraction units, where butadiene is separated from the other c4s by extractive distillation. Us2423674a process of catalytic cracking of petroleum. Houdry process corporation catalytic processes and. In high severity naphtha cracking, the c 4 fraction is about 9 wt% of the cracked products and contains 4550 wt% butadiene.
We were dismantling the houdry crackers in southern california when i started in the oil business in the 70s. Cat cracking is a remarkably versatile and flexible process with principal aim to crack lowervalue feedstocks into highervalue lighter liquids and distillates. Us2634232a process for catalytically cracking hydrocarbons. He invented catalytic cracking of petroleum feed stocks, for which he received the perkin medal among others. Butadiene became an important resource during world war ii. How does it work why is crude oil both important and useless. For example, crude oil can be processed cracked to. Domont, france liquid fuelsup until world war i enough gasoline was produced from crude oil by distillation. He revealed the cracking process at a chicago chemicals conference in 1938. Making crude oil usefulfractional distillation and cracking. Cracking products are sent to a fractionator to be separated into gas, gasoline, light cycle oil lco and heavy cycle oil hco products. The process revolutionized the production of gasoline and enabled refineries to produce twice as much highquality fuel per barrel of oil than the previous method. He also managed to catalytically crack lowgrade crude oil. Cracking down on crude oil at the end of world war i, many worried that within a few years the worlds oil supply would be depleted.
Fluid catalytic cracking encyclopedia article citizendium. The processes that were invented to improve the yield of gasoline from crude oil were known as cracking. Cracking is the most important process for the commercial production of gasoline and diesel fuel. Following the development of a fixedbed houdry process, 1936 and a movingbed thermafor catalytic cracking, 1941 catalytic cracking process, fluidbed catalytic cracking fcc, 1942 became the most widely used process worldwide because of the improved thermal efficiency of the process and the high product selectivity achieved, particularly after the introduction of crystalline zeolites as catalysts in the 1960s. The turbine, in turn, drives a compressor to pressurize the air for the process. Cracking was originally done thermally, and continued until 1933, when the houdry process for catalytic cracking was developed. Houdry process for catalytic cracking american chemical society. When the royal air force began using 100 octane aviation fuel based on houdrys catalytic process plus tetraethyl lead, it transformed the battle in the skies over europe in 1940, helping the allied cause at one of the darkest moments of the war. At the 1938 meeting of the american petroleum institute industry insiders sat up and took notice. Pdf modeling of thermal cracking process in a crude oil. Nihf inductee eugene houdry invented catalytic cracking.
The production of butadiene is dependent upon the feedstock cracked, operating rate and severity of cracking. In 1933, houdry and soconyvacuum joined with sun oil company in developing the houdry process. It is widely used to convert the highboiling hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils to more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases and other products. After modifying houdrys techniques, in april 1936 soconyvacuum transformed a thermalcracking unit at paulsboro into a unit that used the houdry process. The houdry process was the first to make catalytic cracking commercially viable. Donald campbell and colleagues fuelling a way of life. Eugene houdry discovered a method for cracking lowgrade crude oil into hightest gasoline, developed a process for producing synthetic rubber in world war ii. Eugene jules houdry was a mechanical engineer who graduated from ecole nationale superieure darts et metiers in 1911. In just under a year a new unit was processing 15,000 petroleum barrels a day. Eugene jules houdry was a mechanical engineer who graduated from ecole nationale. Heavier feeds, such as naphtha, yield higher amounts of c4s and butadiene than do lighter feeds. Fluid catalytic cracking fcc is one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum refineries.
Fluid catalytic cracking wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Expired lifetime application number us117490a inventor eugene j houdry original. Houdry process article about houdry process by the free. Unlike modern crackers, houdry s unit employed a semibatch process with a fixed bed of catalysts. At the end of world war i, many worried that within a few years the worlds oil supply would be depleted. Catalytic cracking process was developed in 1920 by eugene houdry for upgradation of the residue was commercialized latter in 1930. Recently due to the availability of more heavy oils, the process interest was to yield light and. Catalytic cracking an overview sciencedirect topics. Cracking of crude petroleum to gasoline north american. While the process of refining crude oil is nowhere near as complex as the process for harnessing nuclear energy, it is still quite ingenious and offers an inside look at one of our most controversial, essential commodities.
But the original houdry process had both established the use of catalysis in the petroleum industry and helped win the war. It is widely used to convert the highboiling, highmolecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils into more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and other products. Cracking is used to convert long alkanes into shorter, more useful hydrocarbons. The process was further developed by two mit engineers, warren k. Catalytic cracking of crude oil led to an important process breakthrough the houdry process, figure 1 that coupled the endothermic cracking reaction with the exothermic reaction of catalyst regeneration in a cyclic, continuous operation, heinen added. Houdry process was based on cyclic fixed bed configuration. The cracking products, such as ethene, propene, buta1,3diene and c 4 alkenes, are used to make many important chemicals. The amount of crude c4s produced in steam cracking is dependent on the composition of the feed to the cracking unit. In a thermal cracking process, the molecular bonds of the liquid are broken to the lighter ones.
Jun 30, 2014 this video was created for penn states f sc 432. In 1944 houdry and his coworkers introduced their own continuous catalytic cracking process, known as tcc, or thermafor catalytic cracking. Why do long hydrocarbons have higher boiling points. In june of 1936 the experimental soconyvacuum plant at paulsboro, new jersey, began cracking 2,000 barrels of crude per day. The catalytic process for cracking petroleum molecules into the shorter ones that constitute gasoline was developed by houdry, who also created an early catalytic converter for cars. When it comes from the ground, crude oil is almost useless, a mixture of thousands of different types. Following the development of a fixedbed houdry process, 1936 and a movingbed thermafor catalytic cracking, 1941 catalytic cracking process, fluidbed catalytic cracking fcc, 1942 became the most widely used process worldwide because of the improved thermal efficiency of the process and the high product selectivity achieved, particularly after the introduction of crystalline zeolites as. In the early 1900s, the standard oil company, then the largest oil company in the world, was using temperature distillation and thermal cracking to refine crude oil into different products. Cracking fuel oil, another product of distillation, was necessary to meet increased gasoline demands. In addition to the process for highoctane gasoline, houdry also invented a catalytic process for the production of butadiene from the butane gas derived from crude oil production. Butadiene is recovered in the ethylene cracker in the crude c 4 fraction. Petroleum processing course with the assistance of semih eser an.
Some butadiene is recovered from olefinic refinery gases, mainly from the fluid catalytic cracker. Following the development of a fixedbed houdry process, 1936 and a movingbed thermafor catalytic cracking, 1941 catalytic cracking process, fluidbed catalytic cracking fcc, 1942 became the most widely used process worldwide because of the improved thermal efficiency of the process and the high product selectivity achieved, particularly. Over 95% of butadiene is produced as a byproduct of ethylene production from steam crackers. Born in france, houdry studied mechanical engineering at the ecole des arts et metiers in paris. Houdry pioneered in the use of catalysts to crack the large hydrocarbon molecules in petroleum into smaller ones that could be used in gasoline. Cracking, as the name suggests, is a process in which large hydrocarbon molecules are broken down into smaller and more useful ones, for example. The houdry process was the first industrial technology in the united states to employ on a large scale the gas turbine system, adapted from european designs, and the heart of the energy recycling process. The hot gases then drive a turbine directly without a combustion chamber.
Catalytic reforming catalytic reforming is a chemical process used in petroleum refineries to convert naphthas, typically having low octane ratings, into highoctane liquid products called reformateswhich are components of highoctane gasoline also known as petrol. Houdry process corporation catalytic processes and catalysts. Earlier commercial processes for cracking petroleum were thermal processes, relying on heat rather than on catalysis. Houdry hydrocracking article about houdry hydrocracking. Houdry process for catalytic cracking national historic chemical. Cracking is used to break down the long chains of hydrocarbons that crude oil is comprised of into smaller hydrocarbon chains.
That step was implemented by advent of the movin gbed pr ocess known as the thermofor ca talytic c racki ng tcc process which used a bucket conveyorelevator to move the catalyst from the regeneration kiln to the separate reactor section. Both houdry process corporation and catalytic construction company have principal offices at 1528 walnut st. The first step in refining crude oil is known as fractional distillation. Crude oil is composed of hundreds of different hydrocarbon molecules, which are separated through the process of refining.
Houdry hydrocracking article about houdry hydrocracking by. The next major step was to develop a continuous proces s rather than the semibatc h houdry pro cess. It is the principal industrial method for producing the lighter alkenes or commonly olefins, including ethene or ethylene and propene or propylene. Among others at the company who helped houdry in the development of the catalytic cracking process was alex golden oblad. Catalytic cracking is defined as a cracking process that operates at moderate temperature in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst. In petroleum refining, cracking is a process by which heavy hydrocarbon molecules are broken up into lighter molecules by means of heat, pressure, and sometimes catalysts. In fact, it has been around since the turn of the last century. Houdry process corporation pioneered the development and commercialization of catalytic cracking in the petroleum refining industry. Early processes used high heat and pressure but houdry discovered that a catalyst enabled the process to be done at a lower temperature, more quickly, and more cheaply. Basically, the process rearranges or restructures thehydrocarbon molecules in the naphtha feedstocks as well as breaking. Houdry invented a catalytic cracking process that could transform coal into gasoline. The houdry process, invented in the 1930s by frenchborn eugene jules houdry of pennsylvania, involved using fluid catalytic cracking for the selective conversion of crude.