Earlier commercial processes for cracking petroleum were thermal processes, relying on heat rather than on catalysis. After modifying houdrys techniques, in april 1936 soconyvacuum transformed a thermalcracking unit at paulsboro into a unit that used the houdry process. Cracking and alkenes crude oil, hydrocarbons and alkanes. 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. 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. The processes that were invented to improve the yield of gasoline from crude oil were known as cracking. Eugene jules houdry was a mechanical engineer who graduated from ecole nationale. Houdry hydrocracking article about houdry hydrocracking by. 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.
Over 95% of butadiene is produced as a byproduct of ethylene production from steam crackers. 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. Petroleum refining refers to the process of converting crude oil into useful products. 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. When it comes from the ground, crude oil is almost useless, a mixture of thousands of different types. In 1933, houdry and soconyvacuum joined with sun oil company in developing the houdry process. Pdf modeling of thermal cracking process in a crude oil. 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.
Because catalysts can reduce the pressures and temperatures needed for carrying out commercially useful reactions, they help reduce costs. Houdry process corporation catalytic processes and catalysts. Houdry pioneered in the use of catalysts to crack the large hydrocarbon molecules in petroleum into smaller ones that could be used in gasoline. The amount of crude c4s produced in steam cracking is dependent on the composition of the feed to the cracking unit. Cracking is used to break down the long chains of hydrocarbons that crude oil is comprised of into smaller hydrocarbon chains. Cat cracking is a remarkably versatile and flexible process with principal aim to crack lowervalue feedstocks into highervalue lighter liquids and distillates. 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. Some butadiene is recovered from olefinic refinery gases, mainly from the fluid catalytic cracker.
Houdry process corporation catalytic processes and. Cracking fuel oil, another product of distillation, was necessary to meet increased gasoline demands. Houdry process for catalytic cracking national historic. Catalytic cracking is defined as a cracking process that operates at moderate temperature in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst. This process greatly increases both the quality and yield of gasoline obtainable from crude oil, and. 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. 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. Fluid catalytic cracking wikimili, the best wikipedia reader.
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. He invented catalytic cracking of petroleum feed stocks, for which he received the perkin medal among others. 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. The cracking products, such as ethene, propene, buta1,3diene and c 4 alkenes, are used to make many important chemicals. Cracking down on crude oil science history institute. Expired lifetime application number us117490a inventor eugene j houdry original. Basically, the process rearranges or restructures thehydrocarbon molecules in the naphtha feedstocks as well as breaking. The production of butadiene is dependent upon the feedstock cracked, operating rate and severity of cracking. Among others at the company who helped houdry in the development of the catalytic cracking process was alex golden oblad. Recently due to the availability of more heavy oils, the process interest was to yield light and. 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. The hot gases then drive a turbine directly without a combustion chamber.
It was not until 1927, however, that he first successfully produced motor gasoline from a heavy. Badger and sons company, of boston, would build the units, and the houdry process corporation would manufacture the catalysts. The turbine, in turn, drives a compressor to pressurize the air for the process. Eugene jules houdry was a mechanical engineer who graduated from ecole nationale superieure darts et metiers in 1911. 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. A catalytic process combining cracking and desulfurization of crude petroleum oil in the presence of hydrogen.
After the war, houdry invented a method for catalytically cracking lowgrade crude oil. 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. 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. 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. 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. Cracking products are sent to a fractionator to be separated into gas, gasoline, light cycle oil lco and heavy cycle oil hco products. Making crude oil usefulfractional distillation and cracking. Cracking was originally done thermally, and continued until 1933, when the houdry process for catalytic cracking was developed. Crude oil is composed of hundreds of different hydrocarbon molecules, which are separated through the process of refining. Houdry process for catalytic cracking american chemical society. One of the first improvements in petrochemical production was the catalytic process developed by eugene houdry 18921962, who obtained. The first step in refining crude oil is known as fractional distillation. Eugene houdry discovered a method for cracking lowgrade crude oil into hightest gasoline, developed a process for producing synthetic rubber in world war ii.
Pioneered by eugene jules houdry 18921962, the catalytic cracking of petroleum revolutionized the industry. In a thermal cracking process, the molecular bonds of the liquid are broken to the lighter ones. Butadiene became an important resource during world war ii. Domont, france liquid fuelsup until world war i enough gasoline was produced from crude oil by distillation. Houdry invented a catalytic cracking process that could transform coal into gasoline. 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.
It is widely used to convert the highboiling hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils to more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases and other products. Fluid catalytic cracking fcc is one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum refineries. Used in the oil and gas industry to refer to a variety of methods whereby a larger product is broken down into smaller byproducts. Catalytic cracking an overview sciencedirect topics. He also managed to catalytically crack lowgrade crude oil. Pew had presented a paper with the uninformative title of catalytic processing of petroleum hydrocarbons by the houdry process, the. Steam cracking is a petrochemical process in which saturated hydrocarbons are broken down into smaller, often unsaturated, hydrocarbons.
Cracking is used to convert long alkanes into shorter, more useful hydrocarbons. 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. Petrol and other fuels are produced from it using fractional distillation. For example, crude oil can be processed cracked to.
Us2634232a process for catalytically cracking hydrocarbons. The catalytic process for cracking petroleum molecules into the shorter ones that constitute gasoline was developed by houdry, who also. 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. In high severity naphtha cracking, the c 4 fraction is about 9 wt% of the cracked products and contains 4550 wt% butadiene.
Butadiene production process overview sciencedirect. Sep 27, 2011 houdry invented a catalytic cracking process that could transform coal into gasoline. But the original houdry process had both established the use of catalysis in the petroleum industry and helped win the war. Why do long hydrocarbons have higher boiling points.
In addition, the houdry process created higher value byproducts that could be burned as fuel oil. Crackers using light feeds typically produce low quantities of. Fluid catalytic cracking encyclopedia article citizendium. 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.
At the 1938 meeting of the american petroleum institute industry insiders sat up and took notice. Houdry process corporation pioneered the development and commercialization of catalytic cracking in the petroleum refining industry. 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. The process which followed the houdry process was the thermafore catalytic cracking process which adopted the use of movingbed catalysts. Invention and innovation in the petroleum refining industry. He revealed the cracking process at a chicago chemicals conference in 1938. With this process, oil companies were able to double the yield of usable oil with each barrel of crude oil they processed. Petroleum processing course with the assistance of semih eser an. The houdry process was the first to make catalytic cracking commercially viable. 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 was based on cyclic fixed bed configuration. It is the principal industrial method for producing the lighter alkenes or commonly olefins, including ethene or ethylene and propene or propylene. Gilliland, under contract to standard oil of new jersey, now exxonmobil.
In 1944 houdry and his coworkers introduced their own continuous catalytic cracking process, known as tcc, or thermafor catalytic cracking. In fact, it has been around since the turn of the last century. The differences between catalytic cracking and catalytic. The process was further developed by two mit engineers, warren k. 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. 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.
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. 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. At the end of world war i, many worried that within a few years the worlds oil supply would be depleted. 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. For cracking, gas oil feed was heated to 800f and fed to a fixedbed reactor packed with the catalyst particles. The first catalytic cracking process was developed as a batch process mcafee, 1915 shortly after the development of a thermal cracking process. Heavier feeds, such as naphtha, yield higher amounts of c4s and butadiene than do lighter feeds. For cracking, gas oil feed was heated to 800f and fed to a fixedbed reactor. Born in france, houdry studied mechanical engineering at the ecole des arts et metiers in paris. 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. Pioneer in catalysis houdry process corporation pioneered the development and commercialization of catalytic cracking in the petroleum refining industry. Jun 30, 2014 this video was created for penn states f sc 432. Fluid catalytic cracking fcc is the most important conversion process used in petroleum refineries.
Butadiene is recovered in the ethylene cracker in the crude c 4 fraction. Houdry served as a lieutenant in a tank company in the french army during world war one, receiving the french legion of honour. 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. In june of 1936 the experimental soconyvacuum plant at paulsboro, new jersey, began cracking 2,000 barrels of crude per day. Us2423674a process of catalytic cracking of petroleum. Nihf inductee eugene houdry invented catalytic cracking. In just under a year a new unit was processing 15,000 petroleum barrels a day. 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. 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.
Both houdry process corporation and catalytic construction company have principal offices at 1528 walnut st. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed. 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. Houdry hydrocracking article about houdry hydrocracking. 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. He settled in paulsboro, new jersey, where he formed the houdry process corporation in 1931. Cracking of crude petroleum to gasoline north american. We were dismantling the houdry crackers in southern california when i started in the oil business in the 70s. How does it work why is crude oil both important and useless. Houdry process for catalytic cracking national historic chemical. 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.