Refining catalysts
Catalysts that let oil refineries crack heavy oil into petrol and strip sulphur from diesel; a consumable sold by a handful of firms.
Specialty chemicals · Catalysts · No. 74
- Product family
- Feedstock: Minerals and salts
- FCC catalyst roughly 0.5-0.9 Mt a year (indicative, basis: several hundred FCC units each adding about 1-3 t a day of fresh catalyst, larger units more); hydroprocessing catalysts not published
- HS 381519
Your petrol was cracked from heavy oil by a fine clay powder spiked with rare earths, mostly made by three firms.
Chart: Illustration: Refining catalysts
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Zeolite Y is grown from silicate and alumina gels, exchanged with lanthanum, then bound with kaolin and spray dried; FCC catalyst holds about 1-3% rare earth oxide.
Three things to know
- Grace, BASF and Ketjen together hold roughly 75% of the US market for FCC catalyst.
- Ketjen, one of the big three, had 2025 sales of $1,066 million, up from $1,036 million in 2024.
- India's BS-VI fuel rules since April 2020 demand 10 ppm sulphur fuels, which need deep hydrotreating catalysts.
The journey
- 1 MineralsKaolin, silica, alumina, rare earths, molybdenum
- 2 Zeolite makingZeolite Y crystallised and loaded with lanthanum
- 3 ShapingSpray-dried powders or metal-soaked extrudates
- 4 Refinery unitsCracks heavy oil, strips sulphur from diesel
- 5 Spent catalystRegenerated or reclaimed as hazardous waste