Scribd
Upload
375 views31 pages

UOP Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Process: Presented by

The UOP Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) process involves: 1. Cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks using fluidized zeolite catalysts in a riser reactor and regenerating the spent catalyst in a regenerator. 2. Fractionating the cracked products in the main fractionator to produce gasoline, gas, and heavier fractions. 3. Further separating the lighter overhead fractions in an gas concentration unit. The FCC process provides flexibility to optimize yields for gasoline, distillates, or petrochemicals by adjusting process severity and catalyst properties. Feed hydrotreating and high-boiling feed processing present challenges but also opportunities.

Uploaded by

Laurens
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
375 views31 pages

UOP Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Process: Presented by

The UOP Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) process involves: 1. Cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks using fluidized zeolite catalysts in a riser reactor and regenerating the spent catalyst in a regenerator. 2. Fractionating the cracked products in the main fractionator to produce gasoline, gas, and heavier fractions. 3. Further separating the lighter overhead fractions in an gas concentration unit. The FCC process provides flexibility to optimize yields for gasoline, distillates, or petrochemicals by adjusting process severity and catalyst properties. Feed hydrotreating and high-boiling feed processing present challenges but also opportunities.

Uploaded by

Laurens
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 31

UOP Fluidized Catalytic

Cracking Process
Presented by:
Mejia, Ronniel Ian B.
Orejas, Lester C.
Rosales, Roel
Rutagenes, Laurens M.
Terms to remember:

 UOP - is the leading international supplier and technology licensor for the
petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production and major
manufacturing.
 Alkylate - is a gasoline blending stock that is produced by the acid-catalyzed
reactions of olefins with normal hydrocarbons to yield higher boiling, and
higher octane, iso-alkanes
 Coke - a carbonaceous material having a low ratio of hydrogen to carbon (H/C),
deposits on the catalyst and renders it less catalytically active.
 Zeolitic Catalysts - sieve catalysts that demonstrated vastly superior activity,
gasoline selectivity, and stability characteristics compared to the amorphous
silica-alumina catalysts then in use.
Terms to remember:

 Riser Cracking - provided a higher selectivity to gasoline and reduced


gas and coke production that indicated a reduction in secondary
cracking to undesirable products
 VSS - vortex separation system
 Crackability - is a function of the relative proportions of paraffinic,
naphthenic, and aromatic species in the feed.
 Hydrocarbons - chief components of petroleum and natural gas.
 Fluidization - a method to keep solid particles floating in an upward
direction in a flow of gas or liquid.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

 1930s (Early Development)

 1942 – first commercial FCC unit named as Model I


After that 31 Model II units were designed

 After the war (UOP stacked FCC unit)

 Mid -1950s (UOP straight-riser FCC unit)

 Mid-1960s – Zeolitic Catalyst

 1971 – Riser Cracking


UOP stacked FCC unit
UOP straight-riser FCC unit
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
PROCESS DESCRIPTION (includes flow diagram)
PROCESS DESCRIPTION

3 Main Sections:

I. Reactor and Regenerator


II. Main Fractionator
III. Gas Concentration Unit
I. Reactor and regenerator

The heart of a typical FCC complex .


The feedstock is cracked to an effluent containing
hydrocarbons ranging from methane through the
highest-boiling material in the feedstock plus hydrogen
and hydrogen sulfide.
In the operation of the FCC unit, fresh feed and,
depending on product distribution objectives, recycled
cycle oils are introduced into the riser together with a
controlled amount of regenerated catalyst.
▪ The charge may be heated, either
by heat exchange or, for some
applications, by a fired heater.
▪ The main purpose of the
regenerator is to reactivate the
catalyst so that it can continue to
perform its cracking function when
it is returned to the conversion
section.
Reactor and regenerator (HEAT BALANCE)

The schematic diagram of the FCC heat


balance in Fig. 3.3.7 shows the close
operational coupling of the reactor and
regenerator sections.
Reactor and regenerator (HEAT BALANCE)

As with other large commercial process units, the FCC unit is


essentially adiabatic. The overall energy balance can be written
in the following form:

- This equation, which has been greatly simplified to present only


the major heat terms, describes the basis of the overall reactor-
regenerator heat balance.
Reactor and regenerator (HEAT BALANCE)

Heat is needed to:


Bring the feed
 Vaporize the feed
Supply the endothermic heat of reaction
Raise the incoming regeneration air temperature
II. Fractionation Section

Here the reactor effluent is separated into the various


products.
Product vapors from the reactor are directed to the main
fractionator, where gasoline and gaseous olefin-rich
coproducts and other light ends are taken overhead and
routed to the gas concentration unit.
 Because of the high efficiency of the catalyst-hydrocarbon
separation system used in the modern UOP reactor design,
catalyst carryover to the fractionator is minimized.
III. Gas Concentration Section

Also known as “unsaturated gas plant”.

The unstable gasoline and lighter products from the main


fractionator overhead are separated into fuel gas.

It is an assembly of absorbers and fractionators that


separate the main-column overhead into gasoline and
other desired light products.
Gas Concentration Section
YIELD VERSATILITY

One of the strengths of the FCC process is its


versatility to produce a wide variety of yield
patterns by adjusting basic operating parameters:

 Gasoline Mode
 Distillate Mode
 High-Severity (LPG) Mode
 PetroFCC
Gasoline Mode

This mode is better defined as an operation


producing a high gasoline yield of a specified
octane number.
This condition requires careful control of reaction
severity, which must be high enough to convert a
substantial portion of the feed but not so high as to
destroy the gasoline that has been produced.
Distillate Mode

If the reaction severity is strictly limited, then the


FCC unit can be used for the production of
distillates.
The usual limitation in this step is reached when the
resulting cycle oil reaches a particular flash point
specification.
High-Severity (LPG) Mode

If additional reaction severity is now added beyond


the gasoline mode, a high-severity operation
producing additional light olefins and a higher-
octane gasoline will result.
PETROFCC

This is a specialized application where even greater


reaction severity is utilized than for the high-
severity (LPG) mode.
However, for PetroFCC, the aim is now to produce a
yield pattern with a petrochemical focus.
FEEDSTOCK VARIABILITY
Feedstock Variablity

▪ The early FCC units were designed primarily to


operate on virgin VGOs. These feedstocks would be
characterized as good cracking feedstocks.
▪ Thus, a greater proportion of FCC feedstock has its
origin in the bottom of the barrel.
Feedstock Variablity

This section briefly discusses


two significant FCC
operations: the hydrotreating
of FCC feeds for yield
improvement and
environmental concerns and
the cracking of various
solvent-extracted oils and
whole residues.
FCC Feed Hydrotreating

The products, including the flue gas, are typically rich in


sulfur compounds.
Of these approaches, only feed hydrotreating provides any
significant processing improvement because the addition
of hydrogen can dramatically increase the cracking
potential of any given feed.
As feedstock quality declines and growing emphasis is
placed on tighter sulfur regulations, feed hydrotreating will
receive even more consideration.
Cracking of High-Boiling Feedstocks

▪ As refiners seek to extend the range of the feedstocks that are


processed in FCC units, the most frequent sources of these heavier
feeds are:

 A deeper cut on a vacuum column .


 The extract from solvent extraction of the vacuum tower bottoms .
 The atmospheric residue itself.
Cracking of High-Boiling Feedstocks

Regardless of the source of these high-boiling components, a


number of problems are typically encountered when these
materials are processed in an FCC unit, although the magnitude of
the problem can vary substantially:

Additional coke production


Necessity for metal control
Distribution of sulfur and nitrogen
Heat-balance considerations
The FCC process is one of the most widely employed
refining processes. More than 500 FCC units have been
built worldwide since the process was first
commercialized,and more than 400 are still operating.

The FCC process will continue to play a major role and have
a bright future.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

You might also like