Refinery Catalyst Market Analysis

Catalysts work by enhancing the rate of chemical reactions and are the critical part of industrial processes to limit cost and save energy. Refinery Catalyst is a chemical process that converts the petroleum refinery products (low octane count) from the crude oil into (high-octane) liquid products such as diesel, gasoline, kerosene, etc. The end products of which are called as reformates. These reformates are chief sources of aromatic bulk chemicals such as benzene, toluene, xylene and valuable blending stock for gasoline. The increasing demand for transportation of fuels is anticipated to boost the consumption of refinery catalysts. Moreover, the increasing market demand for refined products has led refinery catalysts to witness a growing market pace.

Refinery Catalyst Market Taxonomy

The global refinery catalyst market is segmented on the basis of type, ingredients, and applications.

On the basis of type, the refinery catalyst market is segmented as:

• FCC Catalyst
• Hydrotreating Catalyst
• Hydrocracking Catalysts
• Catalytic reforming Catalyst
• Others

 On the basis of ingredients, the refinery catalyst market is segmented as:

• Zeolite
  • Natural Zeolite
  • Synthetic Zeolite
• Metals
  • Precious Metals
    • Platinum
    • Palladium
    • Rhodium
    • Gold
  • Rare Earth Metals
  • Transition and Base Metals
    • Tungsten
    • Cobalt
    • Nickel
    • Iron
    • Zirconium
    • Molybdenum
    • Manganese
    • Chromium
• Chemical Compounds
  • Sulfuric acid
  • Hydrofluoric acid
  • Calcium Carbonate

On the basis of application, the refinery catalyst market is segmented as:

• Oil refineries
• Chemical synthesis
• Polymer manufacturing
• Environmental Safety
• Others

Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) is one of the major secondary procedure used in petroleum refineries which converts the high molecular weight and high boiling fractions of petroleum crude oil into more valuable products such as olefin gases, gasoline, and others. Cracking of petroleum hydrocarbons was earlier done by thermal cracking, which is now completely replaced by catalytic cracking. Hence, making the hydrocracking segment of refinery catalysts market to grow at a high rate during the forecast period.

Zeolite ingredient segment is the largest market in the global refinery catalysts market, as it is the most widely used in the FCC process. Owing to its affordable cost coupled with beneficial properties has enhanced the growth of refinery catalyst in FCC process.

Furthermore, other metals such as platinum, tungsten, nickel, cobalt molybdenum and various other metals are usually used for hydrocracking and hydrotreating process to remove impurities and reduce the emission of harmful gases into the environment. As the demand for fuels containing less sulfur content increases, the demand for metals is witnessed to have significant growth during the forecast period.

Refinery Catalysts Market Outlook

• Asia Pacific is the largest market for refinery catalysts. The countries such as China and India have the largest population which in turn has enabled burgeoning growth in Industrialization, Urbanization, and Construction activities. Thereby, driving the growth of refinery catalyst market in Asia Pacific at the fastest rate. The rapid expansion and industrialization of polymer manufacturing and refining companies in the Asia-Pacific region is also expected to increase growth of refinery catalysts in the region.
• Increasing Oil and Gas exploration activities has led to an increase of demand in the Middle East region. Therefore, refinery catalysts market is expected to have a high growth rate in this region.
• In Europe, the economic slowdown has hindered the market from the past few years. But, the growing construction and automotive industry has enabled the refinery catalyst market to grow at a steady rate.
• Shale gas boom has attracted many markets in North America and has led to the establishment of many exploration and refining projects. This, in turn, has led to the use of the catalyst to convert heavy crude oil into lighter parts. The increasing use of petroleum feedstock in North America is creating the highest growth opportunities in the refinery catalysts market.

Key Developments:

For instance, in May 2018, BP Global partnered with high throughput experimentation company (HTE) to evaluate commercial refining catalysts for both naphtha reforming and hydrocracking applications using high throughput technology under commercially relevant conditions for its refineries around the world.

For instance, in December 2015, Albemarle Corporation launched its zeolite-based AlkyStar catalyst to produce high-quality alkylate after start-up of the world’s first solid acid catalyst alkylation unit at the Shandong, China, plant of Zibo Haiyi Fine Chemical Co., LTD.

In March 2016, BASF SE launched Borotec fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst using unique boron-based technology, to provide mild- and moderate-resid feed FCC units more flexibility in crude selection, which results in increased yields of high-value products.

In July 2018,  Honeywell UOP licensed its new R-364 Platforming catalyst to Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. to convert naphtha feedstock into aromatics.

In October 2010, Johnson Matthey acquired Intercat, Inc. and its subsidiaries for approximately US $56.2 million. Intercat's technologies will strengthen Johnson Matthey's position in the growing petroleum refining catalysts sector.

Key players in the global refinery catalyst market

The market of Refinery Catalysts is dominated by large multinationals such as BP Global and Royal Dutch Shell. Other key industry participants include YARA International, Foster Wheeler AG, OXEA GmbH, W R Grace, Johnson Matthey, Albemarle Corporation, BASF SE, Technip SA, and UOP LLC.