The engine oil is going to lower and lower viscosity grades in order to meet fuel economy and emission reduction requirements from government regulations. How to meet such viscosity lowering requirements is a critical issue for all base oil players in higher viscosity index (VI), lower Noack volatility and excellent cold cranking simulator performance (CCS @-35 degree C), as well as excellent oxidation stability. PAO can play some role, but the cost is very high. Hydrocracker bottoms with very high VI to produce very high VI base oil is very hard to get. To improve higher VI base oil yield will result in worse refinery economics. Gas-to-liquid (GTL) is one of the solutions and has already been verified as a good way. With similar Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process to GTL, Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) is an alternative solution.
The background of this Chinese CTL project and the CTL-based Group III+base oil project will be introduced in this presentation. The excellent Noack volatility, super high VI and ultra low CCS (@-35 degree C) also will be discussed based on pilot plant data.
David Dachang Du graduated from Logistics Engineering University with a Ph.D. degree in Applied Chemistry. He worked in the same university for several years, and for five years in a Chinese lubricants blending company as technology director and marketing manager. Then he went to Korea as a Post-Doctoral student at Kyunpook National University and later joined SK R&D Center Lube Lab as a Senior Research Scientist. Upon returning to China, he worked as Sales and Marketing Manager at SBC, SK Group III base oil’s distributor in China, for eight years until May 2012, followed by six years as distributor of Neste Group III base oil in China. Since 2018, he joined Jiyang Petrochem Group to develop Group III+ base oil from coal-to-liquid (CTL) Fischer-Tropsch wax, together with the Yitai Group. Currently, he is Managing Director of G-TiBase Oil Technology Co., Ltd. which is a JV between Jiyang Petrochem Group and Yitai Coal Co., Ltd. whose key business is Group III+ base oil manufacturing and marketing.
