00:00:30 20 stories high, 100 miles of pipe,

00:00:58 12 million pounds of steel.

00:01:18 Thundering inside this massive structure is a remarkable process known as fluid catalytic cracking.

00:01:25 A process that has unleashed the energy potential of crude oil and has helped create the modern world.

00:01:32 Ours is a world which has become dependent on many cat-cracked petroleum products.

00:01:40 Heating oil to warm our homes, diesel fuel to power our trucks and locomotives,

00:01:47 feedstocks for plastics, synthetic fabrics and cosmetics,

00:01:51 and most importantly, gasoline for the more than half a billion vehicles traveling the world's roads and highways.

00:02:00 Fluid catalytic cracking is easily the most important crude oil refining process in the world today.

00:02:07 It is a way to efficiently transform heavy, low-grade oils and residues into lighter, more valuable fuels and petrochemical building blocks.

00:02:16 Each year, this adds over 80 billion gallons of high-quality fuel to the world's gasoline supply,

00:02:23 as well as more than 30 million tons of chemical feedstocks.

00:02:29 It was over 50 years ago in 1938 when Exxon, then known as the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey,

00:02:36 looked toward the future and made increased gasoline production a top priority.

00:02:41 Their scientists already knew that when a catalyst contacts the molecules of vaporized heavy oil,

00:02:47 a chemical reaction known as cracking occurs.

00:02:50 Their challenge was to take a giant step beyond the expensive and inflexible methods which already existed.

00:02:57 Leading an industry consortium, Exxon searched for a way to continuously circulate huge volumes of solid catalyst particles and oil vapor,

00:03:06 separate the catalyst from the newly cracked molecules, and recycle the catalyst to be used over again.

00:03:14 The successful solution to this challenge was based in part on work by Professor Warren K. Lewis, the father of chemical engineering.

00:03:22 His fluid solids theory showed that a dense bed of finely powdered solid catalyst could be made to move and act like a liquid

00:03:30 by injecting gas into the bed, and that this bubbling, fluid-like behavior could be continued indefinitely.

00:03:37 With this knowledge, the pioneering scientists at Exxon's Baton Rouge Laboratories forged ahead

00:03:43 to develop the revolutionary fluid catalytic cracking process,

00:03:47 and subsequently a host of other advanced processes based on fluid solids technology.

00:03:54 We were almost in despair until we finally put together an idea.

00:04:01 There were four of us sitting around, and each of us contributed.

00:04:06 One of the things that was contributed was the idea of a fluffed-up, dense bed of powder supported by vapor.

00:04:16 Now, to give credit where credit is due, we have to note that some of the elements of this were discovered by other people.

00:04:26 In fact, there was a crew of 400 technical men engaged in all phases of this enterprise.

00:04:35 The first little unit, an experimental unit in a laboratory, put in only a tenth of a barrel a day of raw oil

00:04:48 and made two gallons a day of very high-quality gasoline.

00:04:53 From that, we progressed onward to something ten times as big, then a thousand times as big,

00:05:01 and eventually, in the commercial unit, a million times as big.

00:05:11 1939. The world was at war, and early on, the situation looked grim.

00:05:17 It was at this time, after two years of trials and tribulations with small test units,

00:05:22 that the first convincing demonstration using powdered catalyst was achieved in a large pilot plant,

00:05:28 processing 100 barrels of feedstock a day.

00:05:32 What followed was an extraordinary three-year period of concentrated effort, spurred by America's determination for victory.

00:05:41 May 25, 1942. The world's first commercial cat-tracking unit was started up in Exxon's Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery,

00:05:51 processing close to 14,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

00:05:56 The start-up on Catcracker was 1942, first in the world,

00:06:03 and I was working with the crew of eight, along with my daddy, which was head operator.

00:06:11 And as we started the unit, the operating, we reached full capacity as quick as possible,

00:06:21 and this was a new experience for all of us.

00:06:26 We started something that had never been done before, and we realized that we had a big job in front of us.

00:06:35 It was a memory, I'll tell you.

00:06:39 100-octane aviation fuel for fighter planes and bombers, feedstock to make synthetic rubber for truck tires and tank treads.

00:06:48 These were keys to Allied victory, bounty from the new Catcracker.

00:06:53 By war's end, there were 34 units operating in the United States, with a total capacity exceeding half a million barrels a day.

00:07:02 Oil became the driving force of the post-war world.

00:07:06 Catcracking unleashed energy potential from a barrel of crude in amounts never dreamed possible.

00:07:14 Unlike distillation, which simply separates limited portions of fuel-grade components from virgin crude oil,

00:07:21 Catcracking converts the less desirable heavy oil left over from distillation into usable products,

00:07:28 stretching that same barrel to meet the changing consumer demand,

00:07:32 be it gasoline in the summer or heating oil in the winter.

00:07:40 Catcracking is a chemical reaction.

00:07:43 When a long-chain hydrocarbon molecule comes into contact with a particle of catalyst,

00:07:49 it splits into two or more shorter-chain fuel-grade hydrocarbon molecules.

00:07:57 Day and night, night and day, the process continues.

00:08:09 Moving like a fluid, the finely powdered catalyst and a stream of heavy feed are fluidized, heated, and mixed in the reactor vessel.

00:08:18 In a matter of seconds, a reaction takes place, which cracks the large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones.

00:08:26 These smaller molecules then leave the reactor to be recovered through a distillation process further down the line called fractionation.

00:08:36 During the reaction, the catalyst is coated with carbon, which reduces its activity.

00:08:42 To restore activity, the catalyst is transported to a regenerator vessel,

00:08:46 where the carbon is burned off and then returned to the reactor to begin the process once again.

00:08:53 Burning the carbon also provides heat for the process.

00:08:57 Every minute, an average of 60 tons of catalysts are continuously transferred from reactor to regenerator and back to reactor.

00:09:07 Well, in 1942, or those war years, fluid catcracking was a good and sound process.

00:09:13 It has evolved considerably since then from that relatively simple beginning with a regenerator and a reactor and the catalyst circulating between them.

00:09:22 There have been a lot of improvements and adaptations and innovations that have made it a much better process.

00:09:28 During the years that I've been associated with catcracking, we've worked continually on research and process development and engineering improvements.

00:09:36 And I can recall some of those things, such as transfer line reactors and short contact time cracking.

00:09:43 We worked on zeolite catalysts and octane catalysts.

00:09:47 We worked on something called high-temperature regeneration.

00:09:50 And more recently, on adapting the process to use low-valued black fuel oils.

00:09:56 All of these things have contributed to it being sort of an evolving process and a very successful process.

00:10:05 Looking ahead, as the world's supply of high-quality crude diminishes,

00:10:10 catcracking will be important to provide the conversion products that our refineries will need to make.

00:10:16 For example, we'll need to maximize the production of isobutylene and isoamylenes.

00:10:22 These compounds will be used to make lower emissions high-octane gasoline.

00:10:27 Furthermore, we do this in a clean and safe way.

00:10:31 The wet gas scrubbing process, which Exxon developed, is used to remove sulfur oxides and catalyst particles from the flue gases to protect our atmosphere.

00:10:41 So, as we move on into the next century, catcracking will certainly continue to be the workforce conversion process in our refineries

00:10:49 and to provide the products that our society will need.

00:10:57 The Exxon Research and Development Laboratories in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

00:11:02 Birthplace of fluid catcracking and many other advanced refining and petrochemical technologies.

00:11:09 For more than 50 years, these and other dedicated employees have worked long and hard together to reach a common goal.

00:11:17 To increase the output of high-performing, cleaner-burning fuels from increasingly difficult feedstocks.

00:11:24 The story of fluid catalytic cracking is their story.

00:11:28 A tapestry of forward thinking, quick response, problem solving, and commitment to making a good process even better.

00:11:37 With improvements in synthetic catalysts, mechanical adaptations, and innovative designs, the goal has always been the same.

00:11:45 A clean process and a cleaner-burning product.

00:11:49 Providing energy for the world's needs.

00:11:52 These are the concerns that will guide Exxon into the future.

00:11:58 Today, there are over 360 catcrackers around the globe, producing nearly one-half of the world's gasoline.

00:12:06 Fluid catalytic cracking has taken its place in history as the workhorse of the refinery.

00:12:12 Steadfastly providing the fuels the world relies on most.

00:12:17 From the Second World War's fuel supply to tomorrow's revolutionary low-emission gasolines,

00:12:23 catcracking's fundamental mission is and always has been to make the most efficient use of every barrel of oil we take from the earth.

00:12:32 And as we enter the 21st century, this mission becomes an even greater challenge.

00:12:38 Crude from the ground.

00:12:41 Fuels for tomorrow.

00:12:43 Exxon.