Hydrotreating is to remove impurities by using hydrogen to bind with oxygen (deoxygenation) along with other heteroatoms (nitrogen, sulphur, and chlorine). The Hydrotreating is generally treated for subsequent processing in catalytic reforming units, and the heavier distillates, ranging from jet fuels to heavy vacuum gas oils, are treated to meet strict product quality specifications or for use as feedstocks the refinery. Hydrotreating for sulphur removal is called the Hydrodesulphurization (HDS).
Reference Definition by EIA: Hydrotreating is a refining process for treating petroleum fractions from atmospheric or vacuum distillation units (e.g., naphthas, middle distillates, reformer feeds, residual fuel oil, and heavy gas oil) and other petroleum (e.g., cat cracked naphtha, coker naphtha, gas oil, etc.) in the presence of catalysts and substantial quantities of hydrogen. Hydrotreating includes desulfurization, removal of substances (e.g., nitrogen compounds) that deactivate catalysts, conversion of olefins to paraffins to reduce gum formation in gasoline, and other processes to upgrade the quality of the fractions.
Related Definitions in the Project: The Plant and Process Unit
