Source: hte
hte GmbH – the high throughput experimentation company (Heidelberg, Germany) has been selected by Bechtel, a global engineering, construction, and project management company, to produce white petroleum waxes from refinery waxes in hte’s R&D pilot plant. These highly valuable products are needed in the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food industry. The aim of the study was to investigate optimal conditions for producing the white waxes, and to support the engineering process for a refinery end customer.
Bechtel selected hte for testing feedstocks derived from lubricating base oil processing in a parallel four-fold bench scale system (photo) under industrially relevant operating conditions. The hte bench scale system allows for maximum operational flexibility of each reactor and for producing larger amounts of the final products in the range of several liters each. In addition to catalyst activity and selectivity, the correct treatment of the samples and their corresponding complex analysis was of great importance.
Comment Bechtel: “Bechtel chose hte to perform the R&D laboratory tests after visiting their laboratory and recognizing it had the capabilities needed to perform the rigorous hydroprocessing tests required in terms of pilot plant equipment, analytical testing and quality of technical staff. Bechtel appreciated that after selecting hte they were able to deliver.”
Wolfram Stichert, CEO at hte, comments, “We are delighted to have been selected by Bechtel for these challenging catalyst testing and process optimization studies regarding the production of white waxes. We are pleased to have another satisfied client in our portfolio and look forward to strengthening our collaboration with Bechtel in future R&D projects.”