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Fluid Catalytic Cracking Process

Petroleum refinery processes crude oil into useful products like gasoline, diesel fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is an important refining process that converts large hydrocarbons of high boiling point into gasoline and gases. Refinery fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) is an extension of FCC that can process heavier feedstocks. This report describes the characteristics of RFCC and introduces several numerical studies on the process.

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Minh Tuấn Phạm
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192 views3 pages

Fluid Catalytic Cracking Process

Petroleum refinery processes crude oil into useful products like gasoline, diesel fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is an important refining process that converts large hydrocarbons of high boiling point into gasoline and gases. Refinery fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) is an extension of FCC that can process heavier feedstocks. This report describes the characteristics of RFCC and introduces several numerical studies on the process.

Uploaded by

Minh Tuấn Phạm
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Petroleum refinery is an industrial plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more

useful products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. Fluid
catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important conversion processes in a petroleum
refinery, it also occupies very significant position in the refinery due to its economic benefits.
RFCC is an extension of conventional FCC process, processing the heavier feedstock, and RFCC
technology got great development around the reaction system, including the feeding atomization,
quick separation of oil vapor and spent catalysis, steam stripping of high efficiency, temperature
control of reaction as well as the innovation of riser reactor. This report shows the typical
characteristics of RFCC process and introduces the results of several numerical studies.
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Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important cracking process used in
refining petroleum. It is majorly used in converting large hydrocarbons of petroleum crude oil,
which have high boiling point and high molecular weight into beneficial gasoline, olefinic gases
and other such gases.

Fluid Catalytic Cracking Process:


The main reactions involved in Catalytic cracking are:
 Cracking of paraffins, napthenes, and aromatics side chains.
 Isomerisation of olefins
 Dehydrogenation of napthenes and olefins
 Transfer of hydrogen
 Cyclization of olefins
 Condensation of olefins
 Alkylation and dealkylation
Feedstock for FCC process
Vacuum gas oil (VGO), Hydro-treated VGO, Hydrocracker bottom, Coker gas oil, De-asphalted
oil, Reduced crude oil, Vacuum residue (VR).
Steps in the process:
 Reaction: In this step feedstock reacts with catalyst and cracks down into distinct
hydrocarbons.
 Regeneration: Here, catalyst by burning off coke is reactivated and then recirculated to
reactor.
 Fractionation: Cracked hydrocarbon is separated into different products like LPG,
gasoline.
Reactor and Regenerator:
Reactor and regenerator are the main part of Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit.
 The feedstock is put into unit along with recycle streams and is preheated at temperatures
of about 350-420 degree Celsius and then it enters the riser where it comes in contact with
regenerated catalyst. Divided catalyst and hydrocarbon vapours then enters reactor and are
maintained there at temperature of about 535 in Celsius.
 Reactor is a FCC unit division where cracked product vapours are separated from the
spent catalyst within the reactor and spent catalyst flows downward removing any hydrocarbons
vapours or catalyst coke before returning of the spent catalyst to the catalyst regenerator.
Catalyst circulates between reactor and regenerator.
 The catalyst is regenerated through burning off coke with air blown into the regenerator.
The regenerator operates at about 0.7 higher pressure than the reactor. Fresh catalyst is used to
optimize the cracking process.
Fractionator/ Distillation Column:
The reaction vapours flows from reactor to the bottom section of distillation column which is
commonly referred as fractionator, where this products are distilled into the FCC end products
which are cracked petroleum naphtha, fuel oil and off gas. After further processing for sulfur
removal, cracked naphtha becomes high octane compound.
Fractionator offgas is sent to a gas recovery unit, where it get separated into butanes and
butylene, propane and propylene and into lower molecular weight gases like hydrogen, methane,
ethane and ethylene.
Overhead gas in sent to a stabilisation section where, stabilised gasoline and light products are
separated, from which LPG is recovered.
Typical operating parameter of FCC:
Raw oil feed: 114 cubic meter/h
Furnace outlet temperature: 291 degree Celsius
Reactor feed temperature: 371 degree Celsius
Reactor vapour temperature: 549 degree Celsius

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