Chapter 10: Patent Literature

The patents and patent applications describing processes and catalysts for the upgrading of Fischer–Tropsch syncrude are reviewed. Various pretreatment methods have been described that deal with upgrading to make the syncrude pumpable and to remove metal contaminants from the syncrude. Refinery configurations for HTFT and LTFT syncrude refining are discussed, including proposals for the pre-refining of the total syncrude. Inventions dealing with the upgrading of primary products were grouped by feed type for discussion. For distillate, residue and waxes most patents deal with hydroisomerisation (dewaxing), hydrocracking and hydrotreating. Patents describing the upgrading of lighter fractions are more varied and include oligomerisation, cracking, dehydrogenation, alkylation, reforming, dehydration and co-processing strategies.