Heterogeneous catalysis in the refining industry for fuel production

The refining industry produces motor fuels, domestic and industrial fuels, as well as specialty products such as solvents, oils and petrochemical feedstocks. With the worldwide mobility of people and goods growing steadily, industrial refining processes will have to ensure the production of fuels for many years to come. These processes can be divided into two families:

• Transformation and conversion processes either to produce molecules with the right combustion properties for heat engines, or to convert molecules, particularly high-molecular-weight molecules, into molecules with molecular weights within the target range (see table 1 );

• catalytic purification processes (e.g. hydrotreating processes), the aim of which is to improve the characteristics...