Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company

David Mentzer

Michael B Carroll

Eric D Joseck

Michel A Daage

Wenyih Frank Lai

Stephen John McCarthy

Lei Zhang

Christine Nicole Elia

Shifang Luke Luo

Ajit Bhaskar Dandekar

Stephen A Geibel

Timothy Lee Hilbert

Sylvain S Hantzer

Mohan Kalyanaraman

Gary Paul Schleicher

Eric Bart Sirota

Michael B Whitlock

James William Gleeson

Mark F Hurwitz

Charles L Baker

Krista Marie Prentice

Yogi V Shukla

Min Chang

Teck-Mui Hoo

Dennis A Gaal

John E Gallagher, Jr

Tore H Lindstrom

Norman G Cathcart

Sara M Berberich

William Francis Heaney

Stephen J Mccarthy

Teck Mui Hoo

Methods are provided for producing a plurality of lubricant base oil products with an increased overall yield. Prior to the final hydrocracking stage for viscosity index uplift, a feed for making a lubricant base oil is fractionated in order to form at least a feed for making a lighter lubricant base oil and a feed for making a heavier lubricant base oil. The fractionation cut points are selected to so that the feed fraction for forming a light lubricant base oil has a higher Noack volatility and a lower viscosity than the desired targets for the lighter lubricant base oil. The feed fractions are then hydroprocessed separately to achieve desired properties. After hydroprocessing, a portion of the heavier base oil is blended into the light lubricant base oil to produce a blended base oil product. This returns the volatility and the viscosity of the blended base oil to the desired specifications.

Lubricant base oil hydroprocessing and blending

Methods are provided for producing multiple lubricating oil basestocks from a feedstock. Prior to dewaxing, various fractions of the feedstock are exposed to hydrocracking conditions of different severity to produce a higher overall yield of basestocks. The hydrocracking conditions of different severity can represent exposing fractions of a feedstock to different processing conditions, exposing fractions of a feedstock to different amounts of hydrocracking catalyst, or a combination thereof.

Production of lubricating oil basestocks

Conditions selected for lubricant base oil production can be used to also produce a high quality diesel product. The diesel product can have a cetane index or cetane number of at least 55, corresponding to a high value diesel fuel. The diesel product can also have good cold flow properties, such as a pour point of &#x2212;40&#xb0; C. or less and/or a cloud point of &#x2212;25&#xb0; C. or less. Additionally, the sulfur content of the diesel product can be low, such as less than 1 wppm. This can allow the diesel product to be blended with other potential diesel boiling range products that have a higher sulfur content while still meeting an overall diesel fuel specification. The aromatics content can also be low, allowing the premium diesel to comply with various regulatory requirements.

Diesel fuel production during lubricant base oil hydroprocessing

The present invention is a process for removing waxy haze from and improving the filterability of base stocks including heavy mineral oil base stocks, gas-to-liquids (GTL) and hydrodewaxed or hydroisomerized waxy feed basestocks by filtering the waxy haze causing particles out of the base stock employing a filter characterized by a high surface area of pores accessible to the haze wax particles which have particles dimensions of no more than about 5 microns.

Method for haze mitigation and filterability improvement for base stocks

An integrated process for producing lubricant base oils from feedstocks under sour conditions is provided. The ability to process feedstocks under higher sulfur conditions allows for reduced cost processing and increases the flexibility in selecting a suitable feedstock. The sour feed can be delivered to a catalytic dewaxing step without any separation of sulfur and nitrogen contaminants, or a high pressure separation can be used to partially eliminate contaminants.

Sour service hydroprocessing for lubricant base oil production

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Marshall, VA, United States of America

David Mentzer