Mechanisms of coke formation and fouling in thermal cracking
- Alberta Research Council, Devon (Canada)
- Alberta Dept. of Energy, Edmonton (Canada); and others
When heavy oil is cracked to produce distillate, coking of the reacting liquid is, in general, preceded by formation of a new, highly viscous liquid phase, rich in coke precursors. Results from pilot-scale experiments using feedstocks from Gudao (China) reported here show that inert-gas stripping of light distillates from the reacting liquid strongly inhibits coking and possibly the partition of precursors into the new phase. Heavy oil, rich in asphaltene, is often reported to have a high coking propensity. This paper provides experimental evidence to show that the asphaltene concentration is not the most critical factor in the coking propensity of heavy oil. Autoclave tests show that the liquid product could contain more than 40% of asphaltene, and yield only 60% of the coke produced by similar tests in which the liquid product contains less than 20% asphaltene. The solubility of asphaltene in the reaction liquid is the most crucial factor affecting coke yield. It controls the coking mechanisms and the fouling tendency of the resulting coke.
- OSTI ID:
- 229610
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9502114-Vol.2; TRN: 96:000932-0042
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. UNITAR international conference on heavy crude and tar sands on fueling for a clean and safe environment, Houston, TX (United States), 12-17 Feb 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]; Related Information: Is Part Of Heavy crude and tar sands -- Fueling for a clean and safe environment. Proceedings: Volume 2; Meyer, R.F. [ed.]; PB: 733 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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