Aggreko awarded US patent for ‘catalyst cooling’ process in refining

The US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Aggreko a patent (US Patent No.9,134,064) for its ‘Catalyst Cooling’ process, the company announced on Wednesday.

The unique solution is designed to reduce catalyst cooling time during the initial stage of a planned or unplanned maintenance turnaround for hydro processing and reformer units within the petrochemical and refining industry. 

This is the first US patent for Aggreko within this sector and its second US patent overall. The patented solution, developed by Aggreko Process Services (APS) team, focuses on last phase catalyst cooling and uses a combination of heat exchangers, chillers and pumps. 

Based on a correlation model specific to an oil refiner’s turnaround operations and timeline for cooling, APS demonstrated the process can cool reactor catalyst between 12-24 hours faster than liquid nitrogen.

By utilizing this new process, refiners can move catalyst cooling off the critical path and permit more work to be done while the unit is down. In addition, refiners can avoid the cost of nitrogen and potential safety issues associated with the extra logistical and human activity required to transport, handle and dispose of it. 

All combined, Aggreko’s process can produce savings from $250,000 to more than $5,000,000 depending on if catalyst is on the critical path and the number of refinery units affected.

“This solution demonstrates Aggreko’s commitment to the petrochemical and refining industry. Our catalyst cooling process will safely shorten a plant’s turnaround time, significantly reduce emissions and also provides significant cost savings,” said Bruce Pool, managing director of Aggreko North America. 

“This patent is a true testament to the innovative capabilities and industry experience our APS team continues to provide," he added.

APS is the rental equipment industry’s only specialized, rapid response team of elite, licensed process engineers that provides customized solutions for turnaround, emergency, process improvement or debottlenecking purposes. The group supports Aggreko’s refining and petrochemical division, which has been providing rental equipment solutions to the industry for more than 25 years.