Gasoline fluid catalytic cracking

Refinery Production. Refinery propylene is formed as a by-product of fluid catalytic cracking of gas oils and, to a far lesser extent, of thermal processes, eg, coking. The total amount of propylene produced depends on the mix of these processes and the specific refinery product slate. For example, in the United States, refiners have maximized gasoline production. This results in a higher level of propylene production than in Europe, where proportionally more heating oil is produced. 

The process of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is the central process in a modem, gasoline-oriented refinery. In U.S. refineries, the amount of feed processed by fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCU) is equivalent to 35% of the total cmde oil processed in the United States (1). As of January 1991, installed FCCU capacity in the United States was 8.6 x ICf m /d (5.4 x 10 barrels/d). 

Various companies worked on the development of Fluid catalytic cracking units. During World War II, the government requested some of the leaders in this field to pool their knowledge so as to speed the production of aviation gasoline. The fact that so many Fluid units were constructed and put into operation in such a short time shows that this joint effort was successful. However, because of this effort, many of the basic Fluid patents were held for many years in combination with other companies, some of which also developed their own Fluid designs. 

A fluid catalytic cracking unit in Joliet, Illinois, converts bea components of crude oils into high octane gasoline and distillates. (Corbis Corporation)... 

Fluid catalytic cracking over an acid catalyst converts residual hydrocarbons from the vacuum gas oil fraction into valuable olefins, gasoline, and diesel products. The catalytic cracking proceeds... 

The modem gasolines are produced by blending products from cmde oil distillation, that is, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocraking, reforming, coking, polymerization, isomerization, and alkylation.Two clear examples of the possible use of solid-acid catalysts in refining processes are the isomerization of lineal alkanes and the alkylation of isobutene with butanes. In both these cases, and due to the octane... 

A number of mechanistic modeling studies to explain the fluid catalytic cracking process and to predict the yields of valuable products of the FCC unit have been performed in the past. Weekman and Nace (1970) presented a reaction network model based on the assumption that the catalytic cracking kinetics are second order with respect to the feed concentration and on a three-lump scheme. The first lump corresponds to the entire charge stock above the gasoline boiling range, the second... 

Gas oils Utilized as straight-run distillate after desulfurization. Lighter atmospheric and vacuum gas oils are often hydrocracked or catalytically cracked to produce gasoline, jet, and diesel fuel fractions heavy vacuum gas oils can be used to produce lubestocks or as fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) feedstock... 

Table IV. Aviation Gasoline Quality from Fluid Catalytic Cracking Using Silica-Alumina Catalyst...

Reynolds, B.E., E.C. Brown, and A, Silverman Clean Gasoline Via Vacuum Residium Hydrotreating and Residium Fluid Catalytic Cracking, Hydrocarbon Piocessing, 43 (April 1992). 

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units for producing high-octane gasoline from gasoil or naphta see Section 7.2. 

Catalytic cracking using a fluidized bed is the most popular form of cracking and is the emphasis of this section. To reaffirm this statement, there are more than 370 fluid catalytic cracking units in use worldwide with the capacity to produce more than 460,000,000 gallons of gasoline from heavier feedstocks (Slade, 1998). 

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