Cracker

Figure 2.8 shows the essential features of a refinery catalytic cracker. This particular reaction is accompanied hy the deposition of carhon on the surface of the catalyst. The fiuidized-hed reactor allows the catalyst to he withdrawn continuously and circulated to a fiuidized regenerator, where the carhon is burnt ofi" in an air stream, allowing regenerated catalyst to he returned to the cracker. 

Figure 2.8 A fluidized-bed reactor allows the catalyst to be continuously withdrawn and regenerated as with the refinery catalytic cracker.

They are classified apart in this text because their use differs from that of petroleum solvents they are used as raw materials for petrochemicals, particularly as feeds to steam crackers. Naphthas are thus industrial intermediates and not consumer products. Consequently, naphthas are not subject to governmental specifications, but only to commercial specifications that are re-negotiated for each contract. Nevertheless, naphthas are in a relatively homogeneous class and represent a large enough tonnage so that the best known properties to be highlighted here. 

These compounds can be malodorous as in the case of quinoline, or they can have a plecisant odor as does indole. They decompose on heating to give organic bases or ammonia that reduce the acidity of refining catalysts in conversion units such as reformers or crackers, and initiate gum formation in distillates (kerosene, gas oil). 

About 20 kg of scandium (as SC2O3) are now being used yearly in the U.S. to produce high-intensity lights, and the radioactive isotope 46Sc is used as a tracing agent in refinery crackers for crude oil, etc. 

Noodles (Oriental) kitchen cakes and crackers, pie crust, doughnuts, cookies, foam cakes, very rich layer cakes... 

Soft red winter (SRW), which is grown in the eastern third of the United States, is a high yielding wheat, but relatively low in protein, usually about 10%. SRW best provides flour for cakes, pastries, quick breads, crackers, and snack foods. This fall-seeded wheat constitutes about one-quarter of U.S. wheat exports. 

Soft-wheat flours are sold for general family use, as biscuit or cake flours, and for the commercial production of crackers, pretzels, cakes, cookies, and pastry. The protein in soft wheat flour mns from 7 to 10%. There are differences in appearance, texture, and absorption capacity between hard- and soft-wheat flour subjected to the same milling procedures. Hard-wheat flour falls into separate particles if shaken in the hand whereas, soft-wheat flour tends to clump and hold its shape if pressed together. Hard-wheat flour feels slightly coarse and granular when mbbed between the fingers soft-wheat flour feels soft and smooth. Hard-wheat flour absorbs more Hquid than does soft-wheat flour. Consequently, many recipes recommend a variable measure of either flour or Hquid to achieve a desired consistency. 

Pyrolysis gasoline is a by-product of the steam cracking of hydrocarbon feeds in ethylene crackers (see Ethylene). Pyrolysis gasoline typically contains about 50—70 wt % aromatics, of which roughly 50% is benzene, 30% is toluene, and 20% is mixed xylenes (which includes EB). 

The bottoms from the solvent recovery (or a2eotropic dehydration column) are fed to the foremns column where acetic acid, some acryflc acid, and final traces of water are removed overhead. The overhead mixture is sent to an acetic acid purification column where a technical grade of acetic acid suitable for ester manufacture is recovered as a by-product. The bottoms from the acetic acid recovery column are recycled to the reflux to the foremns column. The bottoms from the foremns column are fed to the product column where the glacial acryflc acid of commerce is taken overhead. Bottoms from the product column are stripped to recover acryflc acid values and the high boilers are burned. The principal losses of acryflc acid in this process are to the aqueous raffinate and to the aqueous layer from the dehydration column and to dimeri2ation of acryflc acid to 3-acryloxypropionic acid. If necessary, the product column bottoms stripper may include provision for a short-contact-time cracker to crack this dimer back to acryflc acid (60). 

Hard baked goods such as cookies and crackers have a relatively low water and high fat content. Water can be absorbed, and the product loses its desirable texture and becomes subject to Hpid rancidity. Packagiag for cookies and crackers includes polyolefin-coextmsion film pouches within paperboard carton sheUs, and polystyrene trays overwrapped with polyethylene or oriented polypropylene film. Soft cookies are packaged in high water-vapor-barrier laminations containing aluminum foil. 

Thermal Cracking. / -Butane is used in steam crackers as a part of the mainly ethane—propane feedstream. Roughly 0.333—0.4 kg ethylene is produced per kilogram / -butane. Primary bv-pioducts include propylene (50 57 kg/100 kg ethylene), butadiene (7-8.5 kg/100 kg), butylenes (5-20 kg/WO kg) and aromatics (6 kg/ToO kg). 

Isopentane Dehydrogenation. In isopentane dehydrogenation, which is used in the CIS, isopentane or a C fraction from a catalytic cracker is dehydrogenated to isoprene (6) ... 

IFP Process for 1-Butene from Ethylene. 1-Butene is widely used as a comonomer in the production of polyethylene, accounting for over 107,000 t in 1992 and 40% of the total comonomer used. About 60% of the 1-butene produced comes from steam cracking and fluid catalytic cracker effluents (10). This 1-butene is typically produced from by-product raffinate from methyl tert-huty ether production. The recovery of 1-butene from these streams is typically expensive and requires the use of large plants to be economical. Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP) has developed and patented the Alphabutol process which produces 1-butene by selectively dimerizing ethylene. 

Synthetic Fuels. Hydrocarbon Hquids made from nonpetroleum sources can be used in steam crackers to produce olefins. Fischer-Tropsch Hquids, oil-shale Hquids, and coal-Hquefaction products are examples (61) (see Fuels, synthetic). Work using Fischer-Tropsch catalysts indicates that olefins can be made directly from synthesis gas—carbon monoxide and hydrogen (62,63). Shape-selective molecular sieves (qv) also are being evaluated (64). 

Production estimates for propylene can only be approximated. Refinery propylene may be diverted captively to fuel or gasoline uses whenever recovery is uneconomic. Steam-cracker propylene production varies with feedstock and operating conditions. Moreover, because propylene is a by-product, production rates depend on gasoline and ethylene demand. 

Worldwide propylene production and capacity utilization for 1992 are given in Table 6 (74). The world capacity to produce propylene reached 41.5 X 10 t in 1992 the demand for propylene amounted to 32.3 x 10 t. About 80% of propylene produced worldwide was derived from steam crackers the balance came from refinery operations and propylene dehydrogenation. The manufacture of polypropylene, a thermoplastic resin, accounted for about 45% of the total demand. Demand for other uses included manufacture of acrylonitrile (qv), oxochemicals, propylene oxide (qv), cumene (qv), isopropyl alcohol (see Propyl alcohols), and polygas chemicals. Each of these markets accounted for about 5—15% of the propylene demand in 1992 (Table 7). 

Propylene has many commercial and potential uses. The actual utilisation of a particular propylene supply depends not only on the relative economics of the petrochemicals and the value of propylene in various uses, but also on the location of the supply and the form in which the propylene is available. Eor example, economics dictate that recovery of high purity propylene for polymerisation from a smaH-volume, dilute off-gas stream is not feasible, whereas polymer-grade propylene is routinely recovered from large refineries and olefins steam crackers. A synthetic fuels project located in the western United States might use propylene as fuel rather than recover it for petrochemical use a plant on the Gulf Coast would recover it (see Euels, synthetic). 

P. K. Ladwig, T. R. Steffens, S. L. Laley, D. P. Leta, and R. D. Patel, "Resid Processing in Fluid Catalytic Crackers," Foster Wheeler Heavy Oils Conference, Orlando, Fla., June 7, 1993. 

Used in baked goods (breads, cakes, cookies, crackers, doughnuts), pasta products, emulsified and coarsely ground meat products, meat analogues, breakfast cereals, dietary foods, infant foods, confections, milk replacers, and pet foods. 

The predominant feeds for reforming are straight-mn naphthas from cmde stills. Naphthas from catalyst crackers and naphthas from code stills are also used. Typical compositions are summarized in Table 5. Typical operating conditions for catalytic reforming are 1.135—3.548 MPa (150—500 psi),... 

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