Vacuum Gas Oil Conversion

Vacuum gas oil (VGO) is a key feedstock for fluid catalytic crackers used to make transportation fuels and many other by-products. The Honeywell UOP FCC, Unicracking™ and VGO Unionfining™ processes are the keys to cost-effectively upgrading VGO into valuable products.

Whether used alone or in combination, these VGO treating and conversion technologies can produce a wide range of diesel/gasoline ratios while meeting stringent product specifications. Feedstock blends of VGO and deasphalted oil, coker gas oils and residue hydroprocessing products can also be effectively upgraded to further increase net fuel oil conversion.

Our solutions include a full range of world-class catalyst solutions used in conjunction with carefully selected processing conditions to achieve your desired product properties at minimum investment and operating costs. And through an alliance with ExxonMobil Catalysts & Licensing (EMCL), we offer integrated solutions to produce lube base oils and high-quality fuels as a one-stop-shop.

Learn more about UOP’s VGO Conversion Solutions:

FCC

The UOP FCC process can help you achieve your refining and petrochemical objectives by converting straight-run atmospheric gas oils, vacuum gas oils, certain atmospheric residues and heavy stocks recovered from other refinery operations into high-octane gasoline, light fuel oils and olefin-rich light gases like propylene for petrochemical use and butenes needed for the alkylation process. UOP first developed FCC technology in the 1940s, but we continue to evolve this technology focusing on continuous process-design innovation. Many of today’s state-of-the-art FCC units utilize advanced technologies to enhance catalytic cracking and reduce thermal cracking for significantly higher yields of desired products.

Hydrocracking

The industry-leading UOP Unicracking process can produce LPG, naphtha, kerosene and diesel, as well as high-quality unconverted oil for use downstream in the production of lube oils. The process can also produce FCC feed through the conversion of heavier feedstocks and the addition of hydrogen. We offer multiple Unicracking flow schemes and we can customize our single-stage and two-stage designs to meet your specific objectives. 

Hydrotreating

The UOP VGO Unionfining process provides better quality and higher yields of FCC gasoline with lower yields of FCC light and heavy cycle oils within the FCC unit. The typical application of this technology is FCC feed pretreatment. The feeds that can be processed in the VGO Unionfining process include straight-run vacuum gas oil, heavy coker gas oil and visbreaker gas oil. This process can also be used to produce low sulfur fuel oil.

Lubes

UOP and ExxonMobil Catalysts & Licensing (EMCL) created an alliance to offer integrated solutions to produce lube base oils and high-quality fuels.  This effort brings together leading UOP hydroprocessing technology, catalysts and equipment with EMCL hydroisomerization dewaxing technology and other EMCL hydroprocessing solutions to produce high yields of low sulfur, ultra-clean diesel with excellent cetane and cold flow properties and lube base oils.