Method of producing lubricating base oil from feedstock comprising diesel fraction, and lubricating base oil produced thereby
Disclosed is a method of producing a lubricating base oil, including providing a feedstock including a diesel fraction, subjecting the feedstock to catalytic dewaxing, and recovering a lubricating base oil from a product of the catalytic dewaxing. A lubricating base oil produced thereby and a lubricant product including the lubricating base oil are also provided.
1. A method of producing a lubricating base oil, comprising:
providing a feedstock comprising a diesel fraction;
subjecting the feedstock to catalytic dewaxing; and
recovering a lubricating base oil from a product of the catalytic dewaxing, wherein the feedstock has a specific gravity of 0.81 to 0.87, a kinematic viscosity at 40° C. of 5.0 cSt or less, a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 2.0 cSt or less, and a pour point of 5° C. or less, and contains 2.0 wt % or less of each of sulfur and nitrogen.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedstock has a 10% outflow temperature of 250° C. or less and a 50% outflow temperature of 350° C. or less in a simulated distillation test according to ASTM D2887.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein an average carbon number of a hydrocarbon molecule in the feedstock is 10 to 25.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedstock comprises 90 wt % or more of the diesel fraction.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedstock further comprises a fuel oil fraction that is lighter than the diesel fraction.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the fuel oil fraction that is lighter than the diesel fraction is a kerosene fraction.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedstock comprises unconverted oil in an amount less than 5 wt %.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalytic dewaxing is performed at a reaction temperature of 250 to 410° C., a reaction pressure of 30 to 200 kg/cm 2 , a liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 0.1 to 3.0 hr −1 , and a hydrogen-to-feedstock volume ratio of 150 to 1000 Nm 3 /m 3 .
9. A lubricating base oil produced by the method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil has a kinematic viscosity at 40° C. of 9.0 cSt or less, a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 2.5 cSt or less, and a pour point of −50° C. or less.