Houdry process

petroleum refining

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Last updated

June 29, 2026

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The Houdry process is a method used in petroleum refining to produce high-octane gasoline. It involves passing oil vapors through a fixed bed of an aluminum silicate catalyst in pellet form. This process is a type of cracking, which breaks down heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter ones. The Houdry process was developed by Eugene Houdry in the 1920s and introduced commercially in the late 1930s, improving upon earlier thermal cracking methods by using catalysts to achieve a higher-octane product.12

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J. Howard Pew
…(in 1937) to use Eugene Houdry’s catalytic-cracking process, instead of thermal cracking, to make its gasoline.
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…(in 1937) to use Eugene Houdry’s catalytic-cracking process, instead of thermal cracking, to make its gasoline.
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gas-turbine engine
Industrial uses
…oil refining process called the Houdry process, in which pressurized air is passed over a catalyst to burn off accumulated carbon. The hot gases then drive a turbine directly without a combustion chamber. The turbine, in turn, drives a compressor to pressurize the air for the process. Small portable gas…
Read More
…oil refining process called the Houdry process, in which pressurized air is passed over a catalyst to burn off accumulated carbon. The hot gases then drive a turbine directly without a combustion chamber. The turbine, in turn, drives a compressor to pressurize the air for the process. Small portable gas…
Read More