Product 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. 

Reduced Emissions and Waste Minimization. Reducing harmful emissions and minimizing wastes within a process by inclusion of additional reaction and separation steps and catalyst modification may be substantially better than end-of-pipe cleanup or even simply improving maintenance, housekeeping, and process control practices. SO2 and NO reduction to their elemental products in fluid catalytic cracking units exemplifies the use of such a strategy (11). 

The ethylene feedstock used in most plants is of high purity and contains 200—2000 ppm of ethane as the only significant impurity. Ethane is inert in the reactor and is rejected from the plant in the vent gas for use as fuel. Dilute gas streams, such as treated fluid-catalytic cracking (FCC) off-gas from refineries with ethylene concentrations as low as 10%, have also been used as the ethylene feedstock. The refinery FCC off-gas, which is otherwise used as fuel, can be an attractive source of ethylene even with the added costs of the treatments needed to remove undesirable impurities such as acetylene and higher olefins. Its use for ethylbenzene production, however, is limited by the quantity available. Only large refineries are capable of deUvering sufficient FCC off-gas to support an ethylbenzene—styrene plant of an economical scale. 

Deep C t lytic Crocking. This process is a variation of fluid catalytic cracking. It uses heavy petroleum fractions, such as heavy vacuum gas oil, to produce propylene- and butylene-rich gaseous products and an aromatic-rich Hquid product. The Hquid product contains predorninantiy ben2ene, toluene, and xylene (see BTX processing). This process is being developed by SINOPEC in China (42,73). SINOPEC is currentiy converting one of its fluid catalytic units into a demonstration unit with a capacity of 60,000 t/yr of vacuum gas oil feedstock. 

Ethylene as a By-Product. The contribution to world ethylene production is small, but not zero. In petroleum refining fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units, small amounts of ethylene are produced but generally not recovered, except in a few locations where large FCC units are adjacent to petrochemical faciUties. 

Product separation for main fractionators is also often called black oil separation. Main fractionators are typically used for such operations as preflash separation, atmospheric crude, gas oil crude, vacuum preflash crude, vacuum crude, visbreaking, coking, and fluid catalytic cracking. In all these services the object is to recover clean, boiling range components from a black multicomponent mixture. But main fractionators are also used in hydrocracker downstream processing. This operation has a clean feed. Nevertheless, whenever you hear the term black oil, understand that what is really meant is main fractionator processing. 

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. 

Fluid catalytic cracking units present formidable emission control problems. Contaminants are present in both reactor product gas and regenerator flue gas. The reactor product contains hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and cyanides, plus combined sulfur and nitrogen in the liquid products. Hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and cyanides are handled as part of the overall refinery waste water cleanup. The combined sulfur and nitrogen may be removed by hydrotreating. 

Since 1945, the fluid catalytic cracking process has rapidly overtaken fuel production and has become the central technology in the U.S. petrochemicals industi y. With fluid cracking, the scale of petrochemical operations grew eiinriiiotisly. For the first time, refiners could process virtually any volume of oil rapidly and efficiently. 

Another approach used to reduce the harmful effects of heavy metals in petroleum residues is metal passivation. In this process an oil-soluble treating agent containing antimony is used that deposits on the catalyst surface in competition with contaminant metals, thus reducing the catalytic activity of these metals in promoting coke and gas formation. Metal passivation is especially important in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes. Additives that improve FCC processes were found to increase catalyst life and improve the yield and quality of products. ... 

Analysis of feed and products from a fluid catalytic cracking process ... 

Murphy, J. R., Air Products-HRI, The Development of Feed and Air Distribution Systems in Fluid Catalytic Cracking, presented at the 1984 Akzo Chemicals Symposium, Amsterdam, The Netherlands... 

Carbon Monoxide Boilers Carbon monoxide boilers are used to recover waste heat generated from oil refining fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes. The FCC process produces copious volumes of by-product gas containing 5 to 8% carbon monoxide (CO), which has a heat content of about 150 Btu/lb. A 10,000 barrel (bbl) per day FCC unit produces 60,000 to 150,000 lb/hr of CO. 

A mixture of monolauryl phosphate sodium salt and triethylamine in H20 was treated with glycidol at 80°C for 8 h to give 98% lauryl 2,3-dihydro-xypropyl phosphate sodium salt [304]. Dyeing aids for polyester fibers exist of triethanolamine salts of ethoxylated phenol-styrene adduct phosphate esters [294], Fatty ethanolamide phosphate surfactant are obtained from the reaction of fatty alcohols and fatty ethanolamides with phosphorus pentoxide and neutralization of the product [295]. A double bond in the alkyl group of phosphoric acid esters alter the properties of the molecule. Diethylethanolamine salt of oleyl phosphate is effectively used as a dispersant for antimony oxide in a mixture of xylene-type solvent and water. The composition is useful as an additive for preventing functional deterioration of fluid catalytic cracking catalysts for heavy petroleum fractions. When it was allowed to stand at room temperature for 1 month it shows almost no precipitation [241]. 

Table 9.5. Approximate product distributions of fluid catalytic cracking for amorphous silica-alumina and zeolite catalysts.

See also Fluidized-bed entries Fluid-bed direct oxidation process, 10 656 Fluid-bed dryers, 9 122-123, 130-131 two-stage, 9 125 Fluid-bed roasters, 16 141 Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), 11 678-699, 700-734 18 651, 653 20 777 24 257, 271. See also FCC entries Fluidized-bed catalytic cracking (FCC) clean fuels production and, 11 686-689 defined, 11 700... 

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... 

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