Date: December 17, 2013

To: Brenda Shine, EPA/OAQPS/SPPD

From: Jeff Coburn

Subject: Meeting Minutes for December 17, 2013, Meeting Between the U.S. EPA and Representatives from Johnson Matthey Intercat Division

On December 17, 2013, representa tives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their contractor (RTI International) participated in a meeting with representatives from Johnson Matthey’s Intercat division. The pu rpose of the meeting was to discuss advances in fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) catalyst additives to reduce emissions from the FCCU catalyst regeneration process si nce the previous meeting be tween EPA and Johnson Matthey representatives held on October 10, 2012.

Attendees

Johnson Matthey Interc at Representatives Bart de Graaf, Intercat Paul Diddams, Intercat

U.S. EPA Representatives Andrew Bouchard Eric Goehl Brenda Shine

RTI International (EPA contractor) Jeff Coburn

Discussion

Representatives from Johnson Matthey’s Inte rcat division provided a presentation to provide introductory background in formation and then more deta iled research findings. Key points discussed during the presen tation are summarized below.

 FCCU coke typically contains 0 to 2 percent nitrogen (N 2 ). At temperatures between 500 and 700 degrees Celsius (°C), some of this nitrogen will be converted to hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Above 700 °C, the coke nitroge n can be converted to nitric oxide (NO). Spent catalyst typically returns to the FCCU re generator at about 500 to 530 °C, so at that2 location, HCN formation is favored. The typica l dense phase catalyst bed temperature in the regenerator is about 730 °C, which favors NO formation.

 Combustion promoters are used to limit temper ature spikes in the FCCU regenerator as the gases exit the dense phase (with its higher heat capacity) and travel up to the internal cyclones. Combustion of carbon monoxide (CO) in this “light” phase gas can cause significant temperature spikes, which can cause metallurgical failure in the regenerator and/or cyclones. At some point, adding mo re combustion promoter will no longer reduce CO concentrations in the light ga s, but it can increase NO formation.

 The typical fate of nitrogen in an FCCU regenerator is as follows:

o No combustion promoter: 80 percent of nitrogen out as N 2 ; 20 percent out as NO.

o Platinum (Pt) combustion promoter: 20 percent of nitrogen out as N 2 ; 80 percent out as NO.

o Non-Pt combustion promoter: 70 percent of nitrogen out as N 2 ; 30 percent out as NO.

 HCN formation is small compared to NO form ation, but significant HCN can be emitted from the FCCU regenerator if condi tions are favorable to make HCN ( i.e. , low temperatures and high oxygen partial pressu re) and conditions are not good to destroy HCN that is formed ( i.e. , HCN formed near the top of th e dense phase, so short residence time at higher temperatures). According to Intercat representatives, FCCU regenerator design is the primary factor influencing HCN emissions and the type of combustion promoter used is not a significant factor (b oth Pt and non-Pt com bustion promoters tend to reduce HCN formation).

 Intercat has developed a new catalyst additive called “No NOx.” This additive does not have any combustion promotion activities, so it would be used in addition to combustion promotion additives. This new additives promotes the reaction of HCN to ammonia (NH 3 ), which then reacts with NO to form N 2 and water, similar to a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) control system. Commercial pr oduction of this “No NOx” additive is in the early stages; no commercial units ar e currently using this additive.

 Intercat also makes a series of catalyst addi tives to reduce sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions from the FCCU regenerator. These additives catalyze the oxidation of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) to sulfur trioxide (SO 3 ) and use a metal carrier to effectively absorb the SO 3 . The metal carrier is effectively regenerated in the riser section of the FCCU, where the SO 3 is released and converted to hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), which can be recovered and treated in the sulfur recovery plant. At low riser temperatures ( e.g. , those used when making diesel fuel rather than gasoline), the meta l carrier will not re lease all of the SO 3 ( i.e. , will not be regenerated in the riser), leadi ng to diminished effectiveness of the additive system. New SOx additive products have been developed to wo rk at lower riser temperatures, so it is possible to get good performance when FCCU ar e run in distillate mode. Also, normal SOx additives are not effective for FCCU that operate in partial burn mode. Intercat has developed a new catalyst addi tive that can achieve some SOx emission reduction for partial burn FCCU.