A Case Study of FCC Reactor Using Kinetic Modeling

摘要

Fluid Catalytic Cracking(FCC)technology,as one of the most important process technologies used in petroleum refineries since the last century,converts heavier feedstocks,usually vacuum gas oil or heavy residue,into more valuable products,such as gasoline,LPG and olefins.A typical FCC unit consists of a riser or downer reactor section,a catalyst stripper section and a catalyst regeneration section.In the FCC reactor,the feedstock comes into contact with the surface of catalyst where the long-chain molecules of the high-boiling hydrocarbons are converted to shorter molecules through endothermic cracking reactions.The amount of energy required for this conversion is normally provided by the heat of combustion,which results from burning coke in the regenerator section.Heat is also needed to vaporize the feed in the inlet to the FCC unit.Hence,the heat balance on an FCC unit determines the basic interaction between the key variables of this unit.Understanding this heat balance helps to better understand the FCC process and to take decisions on how to improve the operation of real FCC unit.