Iran annually needs 29,000 tons of catalysts worth $700 million for the petrochemical, refining and gas sectors, the head of the Catalyst Technology Development Department of the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry said.
“Less than 30% of the total need, worth $123 million, are produced by domestic companies and the rest has to be imported,” the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana also quoted Mehdi Rashidzadeh as saying.
The National Petrochemical Company is determined to indigenize all major catalysts used in the industry with the help of startups to accelerate the completion of petrochem value chain, he added.
Data from global catalyst markets indicate that the industry’s turnover in 2020 was about $35 billion that is estimated to reach $57 billion in 2030. Such figures show the significance of supporting local firms active in the field of catalyst production, otherwise petrochem plants will have to import a lot more catalysts in the coming years that will reduce their profit margin.
According to the official, domestic catalyst producers and knowledge-based firms have indigenized several catalysts used for hydrogen processing, hydrocracking, dry reforming of methane, isocyanates production, sulfur recycling and removing impurities like mercaptan, sulfur and other environmentally-unfriendly materials from gas condensates.
“All these catalysts are commercialized and used in petrochemical plants and refining complexes,” he added.
HDS Catalysts
Referring to Sabalan Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh, southern Bushehr Province, Rashidzadeh noted that the firm has started using domestically-made hydrodesulphurization (HDS) catalysts for the first time in the made exclusively by the Danish chemical company Haldor Topsoe.
“It was possible for us to source similar catalysts from other foreign companies but we preferred to support domestic production, so we asked three local companies to produce this catalyst,” he added.
The Petrochemical Research and Technology Company, Kharazmi Technology Development Company and Sarv Oil and Gas Industries Development Company focused on the production of HDS catalysts.
Hydrodesulphurization is a catalytic chemical process widely used to remove sulfur from natural gas and from refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel and fuel oils. The purpose of removing sulfur from products such as ultra-low sulfur diesel is to curb sulfur dioxide emissions from fuels in automotive vehicles, aircraft, locomotives, ships, gas and power plants, residential and industrial furnaces and other forms of fuel combustion.
The official said thanks to the efforts of domestic companies, the production of HDS catalyst has been indigenized and this is a great achievement for our petrochemical industry.
An undertaking of Sepehr Energy Corporation, the plant can produce 1.65 million tons of methanol per year.
Referring to the role and significance of catalysts, Rashidzadeh said more than 85% of chemicals need catalysts during their production process.
Catalysts help create high added value, but in the past three years, Iran faced major problems in the way of importing catalysts due to the US sanctions.
Chemical Reaction
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up chemical reaction but is not consumed by it. Most solid catalysts are metals or oxides, sulfides and halides of metallic elements and semi-metallic elements such as boron, aluminum and silicon.
“Of the total 85 catalysts used in Iran’s petrochemical industry, 22 have been indigenized,” NPC’s director for investment, Shahram Rezaei, said.
“The domestically-produced catalysts are worth $123 million. The indigenization of 17 catalysts worth $70 million are underway.”
The new products include ammonia synthesis, ethylene oxide and methanation catalysts, as well as catalysts needed for natural gas dry reforming.
Studies are also underway to produce the remaining catalysts.
“Experts of Petrochemical Research and Technology Company, in collaboration with knowledge-based companies, have launched efforts to meet the needs of petrochemical plants by localizing main catalysts, which will speed up the completion of value chain in the lucrative sector,” he said.
“Of the 40 types of catalysts used in the industry, 28 have been indigenized and 12 more will be localized by the end of the current Iranian year [March 2023].”
Catalyst consumption is rising and local companies are improving their R&D to not fall behind foreign competitors.
Referring to potentials for exporting catalysts and their knowhow to other countries, Rezaei said, “Negotiations have been held with some neighboring countries by the private sector and we hope to begin the export of products in the near future.”
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