March 30, 2016 – ACtify™ and new reactive chemistry for desalting presented at AIChE

The AIChE Spring Meeting is the year’s key technical conference for practicing chemical engineers and Dorf Ketal will be there. We will be presenting two papers and hosting an exhibit as part of the AIChE-EPC program. Kyle Mankin will be presenting Supercharge Styrene Polymerization Control with Dorf Ketal ACtify^TM Technology on Tuesday during the Aromatics and Polymers II session. ACtify technology significantly increases reaction rate and adds a unique, retarder-like decay characteristic.  In commercial applications, our activated inhibitors have demonstrated reductions in polymer formation ranging from 40-65% in styrene distillation trains previously being treated by ‘industry leading’ inhibitors. 

On the same day, David Comer will be presenting A Solution for the Increasing Amine Cycle in Refinery Operations in Room 343B during the Refinery Margins and Operations session. Improved desalting is a viable technical option to deal with tramp amines from both the incoming crude and the sour water/wash water recycle circuits.   A new desalting adjunct chemistry option is now available that is non-acid and demonstrated as being able to safely and effectively remove amines from the crude in the desalter.   

We look forward to seeing you April 10-14 at AIChE in Houston!

March 28, 2016 – Dorf Ketal announces the appointment of Eric Quek to the position of Global Business Development Manager, Power Generation in Global Fuels Additives division of Dorf Ketal. Eric brings over 30 years of experience in the steam generation and fuels additives industry. Prior experience includes technical and business development positions with Bycosin, Octel and most recently his own private practice focused on fuels business development and branding for global oil companies. 

Eric will report directly to Miltos Papachristos, CEO and President Dorf Ketal Global Fuels Additives business. “Eric possesses a broad spectrum of technical and business development experience to help us rapidly grow the Power Generation market,” stated Mr. Miltos Papachristos. “From developing and implementing fuels additives programs in power plants and refineries to securing emission contractor testing certification from the Singapore Ministry of Environment, Eric has demonstrated his leadership abilities.” 

“Global Fuels Additives is a strategic growth market for Dorf Ketal and power generation is a new market segment for us,” commented Mr. Sudhir Menon, Chairman and Managing Director of Dorf Ketal. “This market is characterized by technical innovation, customer technical service and the industry knowledge to quantify the value for the customer. We are making excellent progress in strengthening our position in this market.”

March 15, 2016 – Dorf Ketal introduces new reactive adjunct chemistry at AFPM Annual Meeting

At the AFPM Annual Meeting, James Noland of Dorf Ketal introduced new reactive adjunct chemistry designed to remove tramp amines in the desalter without using acids. Increasing crude flexibility without increasing operating costs, this program gives refiners a new way of safely reducing the accumulation of amines in desalter operation. 

The patent pending new adjunct chemistry works by converting the amines in the desalter to water soluble imines that are easily removed with the brine. The reduction of amine content reduces desalter pH which improves overall desalting and reduces the partitioning of the amines into the oil. The reduction of amines in the crude and overhead results in lower salt points in the overhead and reduces the risk of corrosion and fouling. 

The oil industry uses approximately 300 million pounds per year of MEA-triazine for scavenging H₂S; this chemistry is the primary root cause of monoethanolamine (MEA) in the crude that can cause crude tower overhead corrosion. The extent of this contamination is difficult to measure and highly variable, frustrating efforts of refiners to deal with the crude flexibility challenges it creates. Before today, the only option for refiners to break this cycle was by using acid, an option with many safety and operational concerns.   

The new reactive adjunct chemistry adds value at very low dosages, even when tramp amines are not a concern. The new chemistry is fed to the desalter with an emulsion breaker. The dosage of the emulsion breaker can be reduced to offset the cost of the reactive adjunct.  The combination program reduces oil content in the brine, and improves desalting and dehydration efficiencies.