Light Cycle Oil Upgrading to High Quality Fuels and Petrochemicals: A Review

The processing of light cycle oil (LCO) for diesel fuel production by the hydrotreating (HDT) process is under general re-evaluation because of current stringent environmental regulations. The low-quality of LCO with high sulfur and nitrogen, and a high percentage of diaromatic hydrocarbons, limits the possible upgrading alternatives. A HDT step, involving hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitrogenation, and partial hydrodearomatization, is combined with a hydrocracking (HYC) step for producing (1) high-quality fuels (high-octane gasoline and ultralow sulfur diesel) and a (2) benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX) enriched fraction. In this review studies regarding the HDT-HYC process for producing such products from real feedstocks are considered, with the aim to provide the state of the art developments for LCO upgrading.