O sub 2 enrichment increases FCC operating flexibility

Journal Article · Mon May 11 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Oil and Gas Journal; (United States)

OSTI ID:5355641

At the Gibraltar refinery in San Roque, Spain, Compania Espanola de Petroleos S.A. (Cepsa) finds it easier to cope with continuously changing feedstocks by using oxygen enrichment of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) regenerator combustion air. This paper reports that intermittent enrichment operation has enabled the fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) to quickly adapt to changes in feedstock, to increase conversion, or alternatively, to increase throughput at maintained conversion. In 1986, AGA AB installed an oxygen supply system to enrich the FCC regenerator combustion air at the Gibraltar refinery. Test runs were performed in an attempt to increase throughput and to try resid processing in the FCC. At that time, the unit was limited by the air blower capacity. Historically, the main incentives for trying this technique have been: Air blower limitations; Velocity limitations; Seasonal variations; Feed variations. In the following short description of the reasons for using FCC oxygen enrichment, the examples should be considered general guidelines.

• OSTI ID: 5355641
• Journal Information: Oil and Gas Journal; (United States), Vol. 90:19; ISSN 0030-1388
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
HYDROCARBONS
CATALYTIC CRACKING
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
CATALYSTS
SPAIN
AIR FLOW
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
FLUIDIZATION
OXYGEN ADDITIONS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRACKING
DECOMPOSITION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
EUROPE
FLUID FLOW
GAS FLOW
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
KINETICS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PYROLYSIS
REACTION KINETICS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
020400* - Petroleum- Processing