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Refining Process Simulation HYSYS V10 (Hydrocracking, Visbreaking, Delayed Coking)

This document provides an overview of refining processes simulation in HYSYS V10, including hydrocracking, thermal cracking processes like visbreaking and delayed coking. It describes the feed for the simulation, hydrocracking to break carbon bonds and remove contaminants using hydrogen and a catalyst, and the differences between visbreaking which uses mild heating and delayed coking which uses moderate heating and results in coke byproduct.

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621 views11 pages

Refining Process Simulation HYSYS V10 (Hydrocracking, Visbreaking, Delayed Coking)

This document provides an overview of refining processes simulation in HYSYS V10, including hydrocracking, thermal cracking processes like visbreaking and delayed coking. It describes the feed for the simulation, hydrocracking to break carbon bonds and remove contaminants using hydrogen and a catalyst, and the differences between visbreaking which uses mild heating and delayed coking which uses moderate heating and results in coke byproduct.

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Borisvc8
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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REFINING PROCESS SIMULATION (HYSYS V10) - PART 2

FEED
The feed for this simulation is a vacuum residue from a North American Crude
(California) with an APIº=19.
Following we can see the distillation curve (TBP), cut yields and initial conditions:
HYDROCRACKING
Hydrocracking is a refining process for conversion of heavy gas oils and heavy diesels
or similar boiling-range heavy distillates into light distillates (naphtha, kerosene, diesel,
etc.) or base stocks for lubricating oil manufacture. The main propose of this process is
to break carbon-carbon bonds of large aromatic compounds and remove contaminants.
The process consists of causing feed to react with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst
under specified operating conditions: temperature, pressure, and space velocity.
Some of these streams would be hard to process in other cracking processes (FCC)
because of the high contaminants content and the higher carbon residue (S, N, O), which
quickly deactivates the catalyst, in the hydrocracking process the presence of hydrogen
minimize these effects.
Hydrocracking catalysts consist of active metals on solid, acidic supports and have a
dual function, specifically a cracking function and a hydrogenation function. The cracking
function is provided by the acid catalyst support (hydrodealkylation, hydrodecyclization,
hydrocracking, and hydroisomerization) and the hydrogenation function is provided by
the metals (desulfurization and denitrification—hydrogenation of polyaromatics and
monoaromatics).
a) Paraffin Dehydrocyclization
(Hexane) C6H14 + 4H2

b) Hydrocracking
(Heptane) C7H16+ H2 −→ C4H10 + C3H8

c) HydroDealkylation: Iso-C3H7- C6H5 −→ + C3H6

d) Paraffin HydroIsomerization

(Hexane) C6H14
Hydrocracker units can be operated in the following possible modes: single-stage (once-
through-mode) operation, single-stage operation with partial or total recycling, and two-
stage operation. In this case I used the single stage unit with two feeds. One internal
feed with an APIº=22.22 and an external feed from the visbreaker residue with an
APIº=8.58 as we see in the following table:
THERMAL CRACKING
Thermal cracking is a well-known process used in several refineries all around the world.
There are many thermal cracking processes as Visbreaking, Delayed coking, Flexy
coking, UOP Uniflex and Fluid Coking. This time we are going to see visbreaking and
delayed coking, starting with a brief explanation and the complete HYSYS simulation.
Before starting the explanation let’s see a comparative table of these two processes:
VISBREAKING DELAYED COKING
Mild heating (420ºC – 480ºC) Moderate heating (450ºC – 500ºC)
2 – 9 Bar 3 – 10 Bar
Reduction in viscosity Soak drum at 450-480ºC
Low conversion 10% Processes continues till complete coking
Liquid phase cracking. Process occurs
optimized to minimize coke formation Coke remove hydraulically
-SOKER VISBREAKIG PROCESS (Low Coke 20-40% yield 30%
temperature and high residence time) High residence time
-COIL VISKREAKING PROCESS (High
temperature ad short residence time)

a) VISBREAKING
Feed: Atmospheric and Vacuum residues
Objective: To lower the viscosity of heavy residues under relatively milder cracking
condition than the conventional cracking processes.
Visbreaking is essentially a mild thermal cracking operation at mild conditions where in
long chain molecules in heavy feed stocks are broken into short molecules thereby
leading to a viscosity reduction of feedstock.
Two visbreaking processes are commercially available: the soaker visbreaker and
the coil visbreaker. Now most of the new visbreaker units are of the soaker type. Soaker
drum utilizes a soaker drum in conjunction with a fired heater to achieve conversion.
Visbreaking is a non-catalytic thermal process. It reduces the viscosity and pour point of
heavy petroleum fractions so that product can be sold as fuel oil. It gives 80 - 85% yield
of fuel oil and balance recovered as light and middle distillates. The unit produces gas,
naphtha, heavy naphtha, visbreaker gas oil, visbreaker fuel oil (a mixture of visbreaker
gas oil and vsibreaker recidue). A given conversion in visbreaker can be achieved by
two ways:
- High temp., low residence time cracking: Coil Visbreaking.
- Low temp., high residence time cracking: Soaker visbreaking.
Reaction in visbreaking:

CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3 CH3-CH2-CH=CH2 + CH3-CH2-CH3


(Heptane) (Butene) (Propane)
b) DELAYED COKING
Feed: Usually Vacuum Residue
Objective: Crack heavy oils into more valuable light liquid products with less valuable
gas and solid coke as byproducts.
Delayed coking is a type of thermal cracking in which the heat required to complete the
coking reactions is supplied by a furnace, while coking itself takes place in drums
operating continuously on a 24 h filling and 24 h emptying cycles
Delayed coking consists of thermal cracking of heavy residue in empty drum where
deposition of coke takes place. The product yield and quality depends on the typed
feedstock processed. Typical delayed coking consists of a furnace to preheat the feed,
coking drum where the fractionation of the product takes place. The feed is first
preheated in furnace where the desired cooking temperature is achieved and fed to the
coking drums normally installed in pairs where the cracking reaction takes place and the
coke is deposited in the bottom of the reactor. The coke drums overhead vapour flows
to the fractionating column where they are separated into overhead streams containing
wet gas LPG and naphtha and two side gas oil streams.
Recycled stream from the fractionating column combines with the fresh feed in the
bottom of the column and is further preheated in coke heaters and flows to the coke
drums. When a coke drum is filled, the heated streams from the coke heated are sent to
the other drum.
SIMULATION DIAGRAM (HYSYS V10)

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