HCU Pretreat Commercial Operation

Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) developed the Hydrothermal Cleanup (HCU) Pretreat process as an alternative to conventional pretreat processes for removal of contaminants for fat, oil, and grease feedstocks.  HCU is a single-step, continuous-flow process that has a residence time of less than two minutes.  HCU Pretreat does not use bleaching clay, and product yields exceed 99.5%. Water is the only effluent stream. HCU Pretreat hydrolyzes phospholipids to water-soluble salts and reduces residual phosphorus content from hundreds of ppm to less than 2 ppm. Because phospholipids are hydrolyzed, fatty acids are retained, and product yield is maximized.  No waste gums or solids are produced. Metals that are present, mostly in the form of soaps of fatty acids, are simultaneously reduced from hundreds of ppm to less than 10 ppm total. 

The first two commercial units have been in operation since Q2 of 2023 with a total treatment capacity of 50,000 barrels per day.  Information on the commercial operation of the two HCU Pretreat units will be provided.