# 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.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/

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
 Specialty chemicals · Catalysts · Foundation · Matter

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

1. Grace, BASF and Ketjen together hold roughly 75% of the US market for FCC catalyst.
2. Ketjen, one of the big three, had 2025 sales of $1,066 million, up from $1,036 million in 2024.
3. India's BS-VI fuel rules since April 2020 demand 10 ppm sulphur fuels, which need deep hydrotreating catalysts.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Minerals**Kaolin, silica, alumina, rare earths, molybdenum
2. 2 **Zeolite making**Zeolite Y crystallised and loaded with lanthanum
3. 3 **Shaping**Spray-dried powders or metal-soaked extrudates
4. 4 **Refinery units**Cracks heavy oil, strips sulphur from diesel
5. 5 **Spent catalyst**Regenerated or reclaimed as hazardous waste

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/refining_catalysts/links/index.md)