Historically, demand for transportation fuels has been the main driver for oil refiners to maximize production of gasoline and diesel products to improve refinery margins, therefore, FCC units have played a major role as one of the main producers for transportation fuels in refineries, in particular gasoline. 

Most recent market trends predict that demand for transportation fuels will drop gradually in the upcoming years, as a result of new regulations to reduce carbon emissions and an increase of electric vehicles in the light-duty automotive fleet. This will reduce the demand of traditional transportation fuels (such as gasoline and diesel) and put refiners under increased pressure to lower their carbon footprint.

At the same time, the market outlook forecasts an increased demand for petrochemical products in the future. This market trend offers refiners an opportunity to better integrate their facilities with petrochemical complexes. Which, if market projections are true, would increase refining margins and increase their competitiveness.

This work will examine how the FCC process and associated catalyst technologies are well-positioned to sustain the future refining-petrochemical business as it transitions to a more chemical oriented market, discussing the impact of process configurations and the latest innovations in FCC catalyst and ZSM5 design, which can be utilized to maximize chemicals production from FCC units to feed downstream petrochemical complexes.