Patent attributes
Process to prepare a water-white lubricating base oil having a saturates content of more than 90 wt %, a sulphur content of less than 0.03 wt % and a viscosity index of between 80-120 by subjecting a non-water-white hydrocarbon feed having a lower saturates content than the desired saturates content to a hydrogenation step, the hydrogenation step comprising contacting the feed with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst, wherein the contacting is performed in two steps: (a) contacting the hydrocarbon feed with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst at a temperature of above 300° C. and at a WSHV of between 0.3 and 2 kg of oil per litre of catalyst per hour, and (b) contacting the intermediate product obtained in step (a) with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst at a temperature of below 280° C.
