Estudio de la actividad del catalizador circulante en la unidad de craqueo catalítico fluidizado (FCC) de la Refinería Estatal Esmeraldas (REE)

摘要

In the oil industry the fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) aims to increase the yield of gasoline production and improve efficiency in the processing of crude oil. The determination of the circulating catalyst activity is a very important parameter, which evaluates the performance of the catalyst. It is also helpful to quantify the amount of fresh catalyst that must be added in the process in order to maintain the activity constant (equilibrium).The Esmeraldas State Refinery (REE) does not have the necessary infrastructure for the reliably selection and characterization of catalytic behavior. Therefore, this thesis proposes the design and construction of a Test Catalyst Equipment (TCE) for fluidized bed reactions. The work consists of the theoretical design considerations for the manufacture of a laboratory reactor. Subsequently, the real size of reactor is calculated based on the fluidization experiments by ejection.Additionally, in order to find a potential catalyst for large molecules a meso-porous solid (MMP) is synthesized. Such material is made from of amorphous alumino-silicate, which is subjected to a partial crystallization process of zeolite ZSM-5 in order to increase their activity. The used method is hydrothermal synthesis, i.e. self-generated pressure from water in a closed reactor.The catalyst equilibrium activity of the three samples taken from FCC Unit of Esmeraldas Refinery evaluated in the TCE indicated an activity of 81%, 79% and 78%. Meanwhile, MMP synthesized catalyst material has an activity of 64%, with a comparable composition gaseous of the product to the commercial catalyst used at the refinery, supplied by Grace Davison Company.