Catalyst deactivation and the effect of catalyst makeup on the FCC unit
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, PMB 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
2 Department of Petroleum Engineering, Niger Delta University, PMB 071, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
3 Africa Centre of Excellence for Oilfield Chemicals Research (ACE-CEFOR), University of Port Harcourt, PMB 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Research Article
Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 2023, 14(02), 061–079.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gjeta.2023.14.2.0028
Publication history:
Received on 02 January 2023; revised on 12 February 2023; accepted on 14 February 2023
Abstract:
One of the significant processes of the crude oil refining process is the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit. This unit produces olefins and other feedstock for the petrochemical industry as well as high octane gasoline, naphtha, light cycle oil, and heavy cycle oil. Attrition is one of the forms of catalyst deactivation on FCC catalyst which affects its operation, thereby giving rise to a high amount of catalyst makeup to compensate for the losses in this unit. This study investigated the effect of catalyst attrition on a commercial FCC unit through an analysis of its technical data from 4-run operations. The catalyst loss profile was evaluated while the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed abrasion as the dominant attrition type in the unit, hence resulting in many catalyst particles being lost as micro fines through elutriation. A simulation study was carried out using ASPEN HYSYS version 8.8 to assess the effects of reduction and increment of fresh catalyst makeup on the product yield while a cost analysis was done to evaluate the economic implication. The results showed that a 2% reduction of the current daily catalyst makeup gave the same yield as that of the reference value. The products also had similar qualities showing that $117,000.00/annum could be saved by a 2% reduction of the current catalyst makeup.
Keywords:
FCC unit; Refinery; Simulation; Catalyst; Attrition
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0