source : https://www.acs.org
Houdry Process for Catalytic Cracking
National Historic Chemical Landmark
Dedicated April 13, 1996, at the Sun Company (now Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P.) in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
Lancé par Eugene Jules Houdry (1892-1962), le craquage catalytique du pétrole a révolutionné l’industrie
The first full-scale commercial catalytic cracker for the selective conversion of crude petroleum to gasoline went on stream at the Marcus Hook Refinery of Sun Company (now Sunoco, Inc.) in 1937. Pioneered by Eugene Jules Houdry (1892-1962), the catalytic cracking of petroleum revolutionized the industry. The Houdry process conserved natural oil by doubling the amount of gasoline produced by other processes. It also greatly improved the gasoline octane rating, making possible today’s efficient, high-compression automobile engines. During World War II, the high-octane fuel shipped from Houdry plants played a critical role in the Allied victory.
Impact of the Houdry Process
The invention and development of gasoline-fueled motor vehicles has had a profound influence on human history providing transport for industrial products and employment for millions and determining where and how we live, work and play. In the United States today, more than half of the 300 million gallons of gasoline used each day to fuel more than 150 million passenger cars is produced by catalytic-cracking technology. High-octane gasoline paved the way to high compression-ratio engines, higher engine performance and greater fuel economy.
Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le carburant à indice d’octane élevé expédié des usines de Houdry a joué un rôle essentiel dans la victoire alliée.
The most dramatic benefit of the earliest Houdry units was in the production of 100-octane aviation gasoline, just before the outbreak of World War II. The Houdry plants provided a better gasoline for blending with scarce high-octane components, as well as by-products that could be converted by other processes to make more high-octane fractions. The increased performance meant that Allied planes were better than Axis planes by a factor of 15 percent to 30 percent in engine power for take-off and climbing; 25 percent in payload; 10 percent in maximum speed; and 12 percent in operational altitude. In the first six months of 1940, at the time of the Battle of Britain, 1.1 million barrels per month of 100-octane aviation gasoline was shipped to the Allies. Houdry plants produced 90 percent of this catalytically-cracked gasoline during the first two years of the war.
The original Houdry process embodied several innovative chemical and engineering concepts that have had far-reaching consequences. For example, the improvement of the octane rating with catalytic processes showed that the chemical composition of fuels was limiting engine performance. Further, aluminosilicate catalysts were shown to be efficient in improving the octane rating because they generated more highly branched isoparaffins and aromatic hydrocarbons, which are responsible for high octane ratings. From an economic standpoint, the catalysts could be regenerated after a short usage time, thus returning the catalyst to full activity without having to add additional material.
Soixante-dix ans après la découverte d’Houdry, les mêmes principes fondamentaux qui ont fait le succès du procédé sont toujours la base principale de la fabrication de l’essence dans le monde
The original fixed-bed Houdry Process units have been outmoded by engineering advances that transformed the fixed-bed to more economical fluidized-bed systems and introduced the use of crystalline aluminosilicate catalysts to provide higher yields of gasoline. Yet it is remarkable that, seventy years after Houdry’s discovery of the catalytic properties of activated clay to convert petroleum fractions to gasoline, the same fundamental principles that made the process a success are still the primary basis for manufacturing gasoline worldwide.
THE NATIONAL HISTORIC CHEMICAL LANDMARKS PROGRAM OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Google traduction.
Le premier craqueur catalytique commercial à grande échelle pour la conversion sélective du pétrole brut en essence a été mis en service à la raffinerie Marcus Hook. Lancé par Eugène Jules Houdry (1892-1962), le craquage catalytique du pétrole a révolutionné l’industrie. Le procédé Houdry a conservé l’huile naturelle en doublant la quantité d’essence produite par d’autres procédés. Il a également considérablement amélioré l’indice d’octane de l’essence, rendant possible les moteurs automobiles efficaces et à haute compression d’aujourd’hui. Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le carburant à indice d’octane élevé expédié des usines de Houdry a joué un rôle essentiel dans la victoire alliée. Les laboratoires Houdry de Linwood sont devenus le centre de recherche et de développement de cette invention Houdry et des suivantes.
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