Power rental leader Aggreko announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company a patent for its “Catalyst Cooling” process. 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 U.S. patent for Aggreko within this sector and its second U.S. patent overall. The U.S. Patent No. is 9,134,064. The patent solution, developed by the Aggreko Process Services 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 catalysts between 12 and 24 hours faster than liquid nitrogen. By utilizing this new process, Aggreko said, refiners can move catalyst cooling off the critical path and permit more work to be done while the unit is down.
Also, 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. Aggreko’s process can produce savings from $250,000 to more than $5 million depending on if catalyst is on the critical path and the number of refinery units affected, the company said.
