In the past, converting a hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation unit to use sulfuric acid (H2SO4) catalyst meant reusing only the distillation section of the existing unit. The majority of the new equipment was designed to be installed in a grassroots fashion. This method could require a long unit downtime, significant plot space, and, in most cases, was prohibitively expensive.
The ALKYSAFE® conversion/expansion process (U.S. Patent 5,284,990) from DuPont™ STRATCO® Clean Fuel Technologies reuses both the reaction and distillation sections of the existing HF alkylation unit. This simplifies and significantly lowers the cost and downtime of the conversion. In addition, this process is cost-competitive with the mitigation systems currently being installed on HF alkylation units.
