Factors affecting catalyst deactivation

Operational issues of any Petrochemical plant or Oil and gas field, upstream issues, etc.
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tuan
Posts: 63
Joined: 27 May 2025, 14:07
Area of interest: Chemical Engineering

Factors affecting catalyst deactivation

Post by tuan »

What are the common factors affecting catalyst deactivation for catalytic furnaces?
ww2i
Posts: 8
Joined: 20 Nov 2025, 21:06
Area of interest: Petroleum Engineering

Re: Factors affecting catalyst deactivation

Post by ww2i »

That happens with the impurities in the feedstock or process stream chemically bond with the catalysts's active sites, blocking them from participating in the desired reaction. Major contributors include Sulfur compounds (H2S, thiophenes), heavy metals (As, Pb, Hg, Ni, V), organonitrogen compounds, and even certain reaction products can act as poisons.
The way just to mitigate this is to have pre-treating facilities for feedstocks after identification, and then to remove poisons, using guard beds, or incorporating additives that preferentially adsorbs poisons.
Catalyst deactivation will be leading to reduced efficiency and increased operational costs.
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