Proposed is a mineral lubricating base oil having improved low-temperature performance, in which the lubricating base oil has kinematic viscosity of 9.0 cSt or less (at 40° C.), kinematic viscosity of 2.5 cSt or less (at 100° C.), and a pour point of −50° C. or less.

Proposed is a mineral lubricating base oil having improved low-temperature performance, in which the lubricating base oil has kinematic viscosity of 9.0 cSt or less (at 40° C.), kinematic viscosity of 2.5 cSt or less (at 100° C.), and a pour point of −50° C. or less.

Described are processes to produce base oils with one more improved properties, e.g., lower aromatics, economically and/or efficiently. In some embodiments the processes comprise a step that reduces the amount of residual refractory sulfur compounds prior to or simultaneous with a hydrofinishing step which advantageously provides base oils with lower aromatics than comparable processes.

A catalyst system for dewaxing of a hydrocarbon feedstock comprising at least two catalytic sections, the first section comprising a first dewaxing catalyst and a subsequent section comprising a second dewaxing catalyst, wherein the first dewaxing catalyst is a ZSM-12 zeolite based catalyst and the second dewaxing catalyst is a EU-2 and/or ZSM-48 zeolite based catalyst. The catalyst system displays enhanced performance when compared to systems containing either ony ZSM-12 based catalyst or EU-2/ZSM-48 based catalyst only.

Methods are provided for forming noble metal catalysts comprising both platinum and a second Group VIII metal, such as palladium, with improved aromatic saturation activity. Instead of impregnating a catalyst with both platinum and another Group VIII metal at the same time, a sequential impregnation can be used, with the Group VIII metal being impregnated prior to platinum. It has been discovered that by forming a Group VIII metal-impregnated catalyst first, and then impregnating with platinum, the distribution of platinum throughout the catalyst can be improved. The improved distribution of platinum can result in a catalyst with enhanced aromatic saturation activity relative to a catalyst with a similar composition formed by simultaneous impregnation.

A process for preparing a hydrocarbon fluid includes a step of oligomerising an initial hydrocarbon composition which contains, in relation to the total weight of said initial hydrocarbon composition, at least 2% by weight of 3-methyl-but-1-ene, at least 5% by weight of 2-methyl-but-2-ene and at least 5% by weight of 2-methyl-but-1-ene.

A drag reducing agent has a core comprising a polyolefin; and a temporary container encapsulating the core. The temporary container contains a container material, which includes an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, a polyvinylpyrrolidone, an ethylene vinylpyrrolidone copolymer, a vinylpyrrolidone vinyl acetate copolymer, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyethylene oxide, a polyethylene glycol, polyvinylidene chloride, a polysaccharide or its derivative, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. A largest dimension of the drag reducing agent is greater than about 1,000 microns.

Systems and methods are provided to allow for characterization of feeds, intermediate effluents, and/or products during lubricant base stock production. More generally, the systems and methods can allow for characterization of aromatics in various types of hydroprocessed intermediate effluents and/or products. In some aspects, the characterization can include measuring a fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectrum for a sample, and then generating a representation of the spectrum by fitting the measured spectrum to a linear combination of spectra corresponding to compounds or compound classes. As the hydroprocessing process continues, additional measured spectra and comparing the fit quality of the representation to the subsequently measured spectra. When the fit quality falls below a threshold value, the loss in fit quality indicates a change in the number and/or distribution of aromatics in the sample. In other aspects, fluorescence excitation-emission spectroscopy can be used to characterize the amount of aromatics within a sample that correspond to one or more fluorescence compound classes. Based on this characterization, adjustments can be made to a process to reduce undesirable levels of aromatics, such as undesirable levels of polynuclear aromatics.

Provided is a process for preparing base oil from a waxy hydrocarbon feedstock by contacting the hydrocarbon feedstock in a hydroisomerization zone under hydroisomerization conditions. The reaction is in the presence of hydrogen and an inert gas, with the total pressure in the hydroisomerization zone being at least 400 psig. A product from the hydroisomerization zone is collected and separated into base oil products and fuel products. The inert gas can comprise any suitable inert gas, but is generally nitrogen, methane or argon. Nitrogen is used in one embodiment.

Provided in one embodiment is an improved and more flexible process for preparing a finished base oil or a white oil product comprising passing a dewaxed base oil product to a distillation column and separating the dewaxed base oil product into fuel and base oil product streams. The base oil product streams are tested to determine if they meet desired specifications. Base oil product streams that meet the desired minimum base oil specifications are passed to a hydrofinishing reactor to prepare a white oil product, or passed to direct sale.