Group iii base oils are becoming more prevalent, particularly as automobile fuel economy increases in importance. This longer process is designed to achieve a purer base oil. Hydrocracking is a more severe form of hydro processing. This yields a high volume of highquality diesel and kerosene product. Hydrocracking chemically rearranges less stable crude oil molecules into stable molecules. Additionally, synthetic oil contains fewer impurities that affect the durability of conventional motor oil. We supply base oil for a range of hydraulic and lubrication oilblending applications. These base oils are less than 90% saturates, more than 0. Group i, ii, and iii are derived from crude oil mineral oil, group iv is a fully. Gas oil hydrotreating dao isomerate gas alkyl feed alkylate polymerization naphtha gases butanes lpg reformate naphtha fuel oil bottoms distillates distillate hydrotreating cat naphtha cycle oils sda bottoms coker naphtha heavy coker gas oil light coker gas oil sulfur plant sulfur naphtha fuel oil solvent dewaxing lube oil waxes.
These base oils are often manufactured by hydrocracking, which is a more complex. The hydrocracking hc process is able to remove the undesirable aromatic compounds from petroleum stocks producing cleaner fuels and more effective lubricants. Sep 26, 2010 both group 3 hydrocracked oils and group 4 pao oils are referred to as synthetic in the marketplace. Group i rarely is used anymore, while group ii is your common petroleum oil. Group v is for all other base oils not included in groups i through iv. This, in turn, has put pressure on companies like neste to further develop their base oils products and their production processes to meet the tightening requirements. Group i base oils are generally obtained by treatment with solvents solvent refining, whereas the production of group ii and iii oils include high severity hydrocracking and hydroisomerization. Oil soluble catalysts are synthesized using sulfides, or oxides, or combinations of both or a salt of a group iv through group viii metal mo, ni, co, w, cr, v, fe, cu, zn, etc. Hydrocracking processes distillate hydrocracking is a refining process for conversion of heavy gas oils and heavy diesels or similar boilingrange heavy distillates into light distillates naphtha, kerosene, diesel, etc. Slurryphase hydrocracking of heavy oil and model reactant. The process consists of causing feed to react with. Similar to group ii, this product contains below 0. Hydrocracking increases the degree of saturation of the products which. Hydrocracking is a catalytic chemical process used in petroleum refineries for converting the highboiling hydrocarbons in petroleum to lowboiling products such as gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel and diesel oil.
By chemically converting refinery streams to base oil molecules with. Group ii the most used oil on the market for their affordable price comparable to group i oils, group ii base oils are produced via hydrocracking and have a viscosity index of 80120. The first three groups are derived from crude oil mineral oil. The heavier feed components in the blends cover heavy coker gas oil hcgo, heavy vacuum gas oil hvgo, light cycle oil lco and deasphalted oil dao. The metals used are cobalt, nickel, molybdenum, and tungsten in sulphided form. Although made from crude oil, group iii base oils are sometimes described as synthesized hydrocarbons. In fact, there are wide performance differences between base oil group categories.
Group iii group iii base oils are further refined using the hyrdrocracking process. By chemically converting refinery streams to base oil molecules with exactly the. A true synthetic oil is generally a group iv oil combined with group v additives in order to form a true synthetic oil. This group may be described as synthetic technology oils or hydrocracked synthetic oil.
The homogeneously dispersed catalyst and feedstock oil were added into the. Amsoils standard 25,000 mile oil and their series 2000 is a group iv. The resulting mix of converted and unconverted hydrocarbon is then separated. Group iv base oils are full synthetic polyalphaolefin oils and group v is for all other base oils not included in groups i through iv.
Paos fall into the category of synthetic hydrocarbons shcs. Group iv base oils are full synthetic polyalphaolefin oils. Hydrocracking is an important source of diesel and jet fuel. All hydroprocessing route to high quality lubricant base. Hydrocracking is an important source of diesel and jet fuel source. They are pure chemicals created in a chemical plant as opposed to being created by distillation and refining of crude oil as the previous groups were. Likewise, gasification pathways that could be used to produce hydrocarbons are not addressed here. Production of gasoline and diesel from biomass via fast. The main feedstock is vacuum gas oil, a heavy fraction of petroleum. Hydrocracking, processing heavy feedstocks to maximize. The process to create group iii oils is referred to as severe hydrocracking because it utilizes higher heat and higher pressure than the hydrocracking process used to create group ii oil. Api defines group iii as base stocks contain greater than or equal to 90 percent saturates and less than or equal to 0.
Oilsoluble dispersed catalyst precursors are created by the combination of an oxide, a sulfide or a salt of metal from group iv through viii including transition metalbased catalysts derived from the organic acid salt or metalorganic compounds of mo, v, w, cr, fe etc. Upgrading of waste oils into transportation fuels using hydrotreating technologies. The stability of modern group iii stocks is well predicted by their vi, because vi is an indication of the fraction of highly stable isoparaffinic and saturated structures in the base oil. Group iv base oils are polyalphaolefin pao synthetic base oils that have existed for more than 50 years. Hydrocracking is a process whereby group iii oils are made. The final hydrocracking chamber removes the last traces of aromatic hydrocarbons and polar compounds. Group iv base oils are produced by the unique process that is known as synthesizing. This stabilizes the molecular structure of the base oil to ensure a superior resistance to oxidation which results in a longer life for the lubricant.
The second approach is with a fuels hydrocracking unit, usually operating at higher conversion and typically producing light neutral base oils with high vi. Base oils of group iv and v are labelled as synthetic oils, they are not directly derived from crude oils. Base oils are used to manufacture products including lubricating greases, motor oil and metal. Thermal hydrocracking and catalytic hydrocracking of heavy oil and model reactant have been carried out to investigate the effect of dispersed mo catalyst on slurryphase hydrocracking. In order to remain relevant, hydrotreating is necessary to produce the highest quality base oil. Like group ii base oils, these oils are also becoming more prevalent.
Group iii as base stocks contain greater than or equal to 90% saturates and less than or equal to 0. The feedstock is then run through a hydrocracker, which breaks. Ester various hydroprocessed hydrocracked base oils what do they look like. These feed blends are processed in hydrocracking units with various objectives and flow schemes.
Premium base oil production by the hydroprocessing route. Jan 18, 2017 the first three groups are derived from crude oil mineral oil. Pao oils have an even bigger advantage over group ii oilsthe most common conventional oil than group iii oils. In a refinery, the hydrocracker upgrades vgo through cracking while injecting hydrogen. The result is a stable lubricant which is water clear and free from impurities. Unlike the first three base oil categories, which are all mineral oils, group iv base oils are polyalphaolefins synthetic base oils that are created through a much different process aptly called synthesizing. Between additive carriers and esters, alkylated napthalenes or other stuff added to help the oil be more soluble and seal compatible, i doubt any oil is more than 90% pao. They consist of group vi and viii nonnoble metals supported on. Group ii base oil technology, along with specially designed additives, can match traditional synthetic oils made from pao in applications such as turbine oils. Feed molecules are reshaped and often cracked into smaller molecules. This hydrocracked oil is commonly referred to as a group iii oil, while the pao synthetics are a group iv. Even an oil that is a higher percentage of pao will likely contain group iii to carry the additives and maybe even some group v. Both group 3 hydrocracked oils and group 4 pao oils are referred to as synthetic in the marketplace. Under mild process conditions, gas oil hydrocracking catalysts may also be used for mild hydrocracking.
These synthetic base oils are made through a process. Group iv oils that are all group iv have poor seal compatibility and additive solubility so they do not exist. Unlike a hydrotreater, hydrocracking uses hydrogen to break cc bonds hydrotreatment is conducted prior to hydrocracking to protect the catalysts in a hydrocracking process. In hydrocracking, the base oil feedis subjected to a chemical reaction with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst at high pressures above psi and temperatures above 650f340c. Like group ii base oil, this group of oil is refined by hydrocracking procedure which makes them pure in form. Over the last several years we have seen an increased demand for high quality distillate fuels and this is expected to continue over the next decade. Performance of base oils and future trends the evolution of base oil technology part 3. Group iv base oils have a viscosity index range of 125 200.
It results in even higher purity oil with a viscosity index of 120 or. Group v oils do exist, but are uncommon, and typically not often used for automotive use. Group iv base oils are made from polyalphaolefins paos and are chemically engineered and 100% synthetic base oils. For instance, in the series pao 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 40, it raises from ca 100 c for. The hydrocracking of model reactant was investigated with. Hydrocracking of residual oils mainly increases the production of high quality middle distillates for blending into jet and diesel fuels while reducing the volume of low value, high sulfur residual fuel oil. Hydrocracking is a twostage process combining catalytic cracking and hydrogenation, where. Group i base stocks contain less than 90 percent saturates andor greater than. There is a difference in both the way these two oils are produced and in the quality of their. Group v esters made from the combination of alcohols and acids. Thus hydrocracking becomes the technology of choice to address this market need. This process refines the oil very well, to a point that castrol called it a synthetic. May 30, 2018 group i, ii, and iii are derived from crude oil mineral oil, group iv is a fully synthetic oil, and group v is for all base oils that are not included in one of the other groups. Hydrocracking, processing heavy feedstocks to maximize high quality distillate fuels.
Formation of an sh group in a hydrocracking reaction. Performance of base oils and future trends the evolution of. They are often manufactured by hydrocracking, which is a more complex process than what is used. Oil why understanding where it comes from is important 2. Hydrocracking is an important source of diesel and jet. The unconverted oil uco from the hydrocracking unit or the product from the hydrotreating unit can be processed over the hydroisomerisation catalyst which will. Group i typically are conventional solvent refined lube basestocks. Upgrading of waste oils into transportation fuels using. For their wide applications, they are in high demand. The hydrotreating process accomplishes this by two main processes. In other words, the main application is to upgrade vacuum gas oil alone or blended with other.
This is synthetic base lubricant because it goes through a synthesizing process. Group iii these synthetics are actually petroleumbased products that have gone through an extra refining process known as hydrocracking. Performance of base oils and future trends the evolution. May 16, 2018 a true synthetic oil is generally a group iv oil combined with group v additives in order to form a true synthetic oil. I think the difference between these three is the degree of processing.
Group i oils are solventrefined, which is a simpler refining process, making them the least refined and therefore also the cheapest base oils available. The first three groups are refined from petroleum crude oil, while group iv base oils are. The xrd and xps patterns suggested that the major existence form of dispersed mo catalyst in slurryphase hydrocracking was mos 2. Nov 01, 2017 hydrocracking is an alternative to solvent refining technology which allows production of a far more pure and stable base stock. And, you cant judge motor oil performance solely on base oil type. Group iv group iv base oils are polyalphaolefins paos.
After full industrialization of light petroleum oil, hydrocracking processes are gradually applied for heavy oil and vr upgradation. The benefits of severe hydroprocessing are shown in figure 3, which compares a group ii oil with a group i. This is a procedure where petroleum oil undergoes an additional process to eliminate more of the impurities found in crude oil. Group iv pao polyalphaolefin made from ethylene gas. Generally speaking, group iv base oils offer the best performance, group iii second best, and so on in reverse order. It is interesting to note that the aniline point steadily increases with the increasing viscosity for oils with identical polarity.
Diesel range material can also be drawn off at the separation steps to. Group iii the best grade of petroleum base oil, since they are fully produced by hydrocracking, which make these oils purer. The hoil rc rc stands for resid cracking process uses ebullatedbed hydrocracking technology to process heavy feedstock residues atmospheric and vacuum residue with high metals, sulfur, nitrogen, asphaltenes and solid contents. Difference between synthetic oil and conventional oil. Unconverted hydrocarbon can then be recycled to the hydrocracking step for further conversion, sent to a second hydrocracking vessel, or sent to another conversion unit as feed e. What is hydrocracking technology in petroleum refining. Other options for pyrolytic processes and upgrading steps exist, but they were not evaluated in this study. Looking at the base oil market, we see high quality group ii and group iii base oils emerging in almost all regions. Originating in 1974, consists of synthetic oils made of polyalphaolefins. Originating in the 1990s, a more refined grade of petroleum group iii base oil, produced by hydrotreating. However, some oil companies may call their products under this group as synthetic oil.
Municipal and industrial wastes contain high heat values in the form of waste oils such as waste plastics oil wpo, waste cooking oil. Hydrocracking, processing heavy feedstocks to maximize high. Group ii base oils undergo hydrocracking which is a more. In a refinery, hydrocracking complements catalytic cracking by taking on the more aromatic feedstocks that resist cracking, including the byproducts of fcc, such as light cycle oil lco. Originating in 2015, produced by a gas to liquids gtl process. Hydrocracking can also be used to upgrade residual fractions using different reactor configurations and catalysts depending on the complexity of the upgrading. This is in contrast to the fcc, which uses the same feed vgo but produces more and betterquality gasoline the hydrocracker is particularly valuable in a refinery. Neste corporationnews19 august 2016 its all about the base the quality requirements for lubricants have become stricter over the past decades.
Homogeneously dispersed catalysts are metal compounds, and the metal is selected from elements of group iv bviii among which the molybdenum, nickel, cobalt and chromium are commonly used 2225. Our base oil is produced from refining crude oil or through chemical synthesis. Processing heavier feed stocks poses many challenges to the hydrocracking unit. An alternate route is to mix group i solvent based plants with group ii catalytic approaches. This lubricant goes through a hydrocracked refining process. Hydrocracking is an alternative to solvent refining technology which allows production of a far more pure and stable base stock. Know everything about group iv base oils and while oil. The benefits of synthetic oil arise, in part, because it has uniformly consistent properties, unlike crude oil, which is a mixture of hydrocarbons of varying molecular structure and size.
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