Process for making high viscosity index lubricating base oils
A process for making a lubricating base oil having a viscosity index of at least 110, comprising the steps of: combining a waxy light neutral base oil and a wax derived from pyrolyzing a plastics feed comprising polyethylene to form a blend; hydroisomerization dewaxing the blend; and recovering the lubricating base oil from an effluent from the hydroisomerization dewaxing step.
1. A process for making a lubricating base oil having a viscosity index of at least 110, comprising the steps of:
a) combining a waxy light neutral base oil and a wax derived from pyrolyzing a plastics feed comprising polyethylene to form a blend;
b) hydroisomerization dewaxing the blend; and
c) recovering the lubricating base oil from an effluent from the hydroisomerization dewaxing step.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the plastics feed comprises at least 95 wt. % polyethylene.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyethylene is selected from the group consisting of waste polyethylene, virgin polyethylene, and mixtures thereof.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyethylene is selected from the group consisting of high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and mixtures thereof.
5. The process of claim 1 , wherein less than 10 wt. % of the wax derived from pyrolyzing a plastics feed boils above 1000° F. (538° C.).
6. The process of claim 1 , wherein less than 5 wt. % of the wax derived from pyrolyzing a plastics feed boils above 1000° F. (538° C.).
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the blend comprises at least 20 wt. % of the wax derived from pyrolyzing a plastics feed.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the blend comprises at least 50 wt. % of the wax derived from pyrolyzing a plastics feed.
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydroisomerization dewaxing is performed using a shape selective intermediate pore size molecular sieve.
10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the molecular sieve is selected from the group consisting of SAPO-11, SAPO-31, SAPO-41, SM-3, SM-7, ZSM-22, ZSM-23, ZSM-35, ZSM-48, ZSM-57, SSZ-32, SSZ-32X, metal modified SSZ-32x, offretite, ferrierite, and combinations thereof.
11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil is a Group II plus base oil.
12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil is a Group III base oil.
13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil has a viscosity index of at least 130.
14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil has a viscosity index of at least 140.
15. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil has a pour point of less than −10° C.
16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil has a pour point of less than −20° C.
17. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lubricating base oil has a cloud point of less than 0° C.