Hydrocarbon Processing - February 2022 - 53

100th Anniversary
History of the HPI
LEE NICHOLS, Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher
The 1930s: Catalytic cracking, polyethylene,
synthetic fibers, resins and jet engines
The hydrocarbon processing indusduced
gasoline from lignite.24
try (HPI) has a rich history of discovery,
challenges, breakthroughs, trial and error,
collaboration and success. Hydrocarbon
Processing continues its reflection on
the history of the HPI. In the January issue,
a detailed analysis was provided on
the origins of the modern refining and
petrochemicals industries. This included
the discovery of kerosene, the construction
of new refineries around the world,
the production of the first
synthetic
plastics, the rise of the internal combustion
engine (ICE), oil demand's exponential
growth during and after World
War I (WWI) and how thermal cracking
evolved refining processing. The following
will detail how the HPI continued to
evolve during the 1930s.
The discovery of catalytic cracking.
After serving in WWI in the French artillery
division and later in the tank corps,
French engineer Eugene Houdry worked
in his father's steel business. Outside of
work, Houdry had an interesting hobby,
racing cars. Through these endeavors, he
began to develop a passion for improving
engine performance.
With the significant increase in gasoline
demand after WWI, many forecasters
feared that thermal cracking was unable
to satisfy future global demand. Like
many other researchers around the world,
Houdry was trying to develop a new way
to develop high-performance fuels.
In the late 1920s, he and French scientist
E. A. Prudhomme developed a threestep
process to convert lignite to gasoline.
However, a major problem with the
process was that the catalysts would get
coated with carbon, lessening their effectiveness.
To solve this challenge, Houdry
used Fuller's earth (a naturally occurring
aluminosilicate), which effectively proHowever,
pilot
plant demonstrations yielded less
than expected results and the process was
deemed uneconomical.
Unable to secure additional financial
backing, Houdry moved to the U.S. and
eventually started working with SoconyVacuum
and Sun Oil Co. to perfect his
process. In 1936, the first Houdry Unit
began commercial operations at Sun Oil's
Marcus Hook refinery in Pennsylvania-
it was the first fixed-bed catalytic cracking
unit.23
Approximately 50% of the
15,000-bpd unit produced high-octane
gasoline, which was double the production
of conventional thermal processes.24
Around the same timeframe (circa 1938),
the alkylation process was commercialized
in the U.S. The process produced
high-octane aviation gasoline, which
saw significant demand increase during
World War 2 (WW2). The process was
then used in the 1950s to produce blending
components for automotive fuel.
The catalytic cracking process was later
improved upon by Warren Lewis and
Edwin Gilliland while working for Standard
Oil of New Jersey (U.S.). According
to literature,25
the improved process
included a continuously circulating fluidized
catalyst made of fine zeolite powder.
Houdry's fixed-bed unit gave rise to research
and development by other companies
that led to the invention of the fluid
catalytic cracking process in the 1940s.
Coking and gasification evolve. The
first delayed coker was built in 1929 by
Standard Oil of Indiana (the company
would later become bp). The Burton
thermal cracking process produced coke
that would be sent to a vertical coke drum.
However, cleaning the vertical coke drum
required arduous manual labor. It was not
until the late 1930s that Shell introduced
hydraulic decoking at its refinery in Wood
River, Illinois (U.S.), which used highpressure
water to clean coke drums. This
process enabled refineries to use two coke
drums for continuous operation.26
Over
the next several decades, coking would
become a staple in refining operations.
In the mid-1930s, Lurgi GmbH (now
a part of Air Liquide) invented a novel
coal gasification process. The pressurized,
dry-ash, fixed-bed gasifier would
use coal to produce synthesis gas (syngas).
The first commercial Lurgi dry-ash
gasification plant started operations in
1936, and the process is still in use today.
Polyethylene: An accidental discovery.
In 1933, while working at Imperial
Chemical Industries (ICI) in
Northwich, England, Eric Fawcett and
Reginald Gibson stumbled upon a white,
waxy substance during experiments they
were conducting on ethylene and benzaldehyde.
The experiments included heating
the mixture to 170°C at an extremely
high pressure-more than 1,900 bar-in
an autoclave. However, the reaction was
a safety hazard due to the explosive nature
and research was halted.
Two years later, ICI scientists Michael
Perrin, John Paton and Edmond
Williams began to conduct additional
research on Fawcett and Gibson's discovery.
In this iteration, the scientists
repeated Fawcett and Gibson's test but
focused solely on ethylene. What the
three did not know was that the pressure
vessel used leaked, leading to a loss
of pressure. Once the reaction was completed,
the trio noticed a white powdery
substance remained-one lab technician
described the substance looked like
a lump of sugar.27
The scientists had accidentally
stumbled upon polyethylene,
which would revolutionize society.
Hydrocarbon Processing | FEBRUARY 2022 53
Hydrocarbon Processing - February 2022

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