FUELS TECHNOLOGIES

FLUID COKING™ Conversion Technology

FLUID COKINGTM is a continuous fluid bed technology that
Upgrading thermally converts heavy hydrocarbons such as vacuum resid,
heavy hydrocar- atmospheric resid, oil sands bitumen, heavy whole crudes,
deasphalter bottoms, or FCC bottoms to lighter products. FLUID
bons with effi-
COKING is commercially-proven, based on ExxonMobil's FCC
cient integration process technology and operating experience. FLUID COKING
for power/steam is currently used commercially in refineries for deep conversion
and as the resource to upgrade heavy oils/bitumens.

Expect these advantages:

• Continuous fluid bed process where product coke is com-
busted to provide process heat, avoiding the need for
purchased fuel or natural gas as used in delayed coking
• Flexibility to handle a wide variety of feed types, espe-
cially those with high metals, sulfur, and Conradson
Carbon Residue (CCR)
• Large single train capacity provides economy of scale that lowers investment cost rela-
tive to delayed coking; can process 100 KB/SD of 20-plus wt% CCR vacuum resid in a
single reactor
• High reliability with service factors routinely exceeding 90% and lower staffing require-
ments compared to semi-batch delayed coking
• Handling of fluid coke is much simpler and cleaner than the labor-intensive handling of
delayed coke
• Efficient combination with fluid bed boilers enables cogeneration for electricity and
steam production (both heat integration and single flue gas clean-up)
• Addition of an outboard gasifier converts FLUID COKING to FLEXICOKING™ as a
means to stage investment, producing a fuel gas or hydrogen rich stream

The FLUID COKING Process at Work

Feed (typically 1050°F/565°C-plus Simplified FLUID COKING Flowplan
vacuum resid) enters the scrubber
(1) for integrated, direct contact heat reactor products
to fractionator
exchange with reactor overhead flue gas to
CO boiler
effluent vapors. The scrubber
condenses higher boiling resid

hydrocarbons in the reactor effluent

feed 1 scrubber

(typically > 975°F/ 525°C) and heater

3 net coke

recycles these along with the fresh

feed to the reactor. Lighter overhead 2
vapors are sent to conventional air
blower
fractionation and light ends recovery. reactor
In the reactor (2), feed is thermally air

cracked to a full range of lighter

products and coke. cold
coke hot
coke
Coke inventory is maintained by
transferring bed coke from the
reactor to the burner (3) via a coke transfer line. Yield,
on Feed Product Dispositions
Depending upon the feed, 15% to 25% of the coke • Refinery Fuel/Sales
Reactor Gas, C 4 -
is burned with air to satisfy process heat 11 wt%
• H2 Manufacture
• LPG Recovery
requirements, eliminating the need for an external • Alkylation Feed
fuel supply. Hot coke from the burner is circulated
back to the reactor (through coke transfer line), Coker Naphtha
15 - 20 wt%
• Mogas Blending
• Refinery Fuel/Sales
supplying the heat necessary to maintain reactor • Petrochemical Feed
temperature and to sustain the thermal cracking Kuwait 1050˚F+ Reactor/ • Middle Distillate
Vac. Resid Lt. Coker Gas Oil
reactions. The balance of the coke is withdrawn Scrubber/ 12 - 14 wt% • FCC/Hydrocracking Feed
25 wt%CCR • Petrochemical Feed
and sold as a product. The burner also produces a Fractionator
low heating value flue gas that is usually sent to a Hvy. Coker Gas Oil
35 - 36 wt%
• FCC/Hydrocracking Feed
• Fuel Oil
CO boiler for further energy recovery through
steam production. Flue Gas • Steam Generation
0.02 FOEB/ • Power Generation
Bbl Feed • Emission Control/Stack
A Full Range of Products Gross Coke
(30wt%)
The fluid coker produces a full range of products, Burner • Power Generation
• Cement Industry Fuel
from a C4-reactor gas stream through a full range of Net
24 wt%
• Partial Oxidation Feed
Coke
liquid products to a product coke stream. The typical
product distribution is pictured to the right.
The reactor gas stream is typically sent to a light ends plant in order to produce a C2- fuel gas, C3's for alkylation unit
feed, chemical feedstock, or LPG, and C4's for mogas blending.

The liquid products are typically cut into three fractions. The coker naphtha is sent to a hydrotreater and then used as
reformer feedstock or for mogas blending. The light and heavy coker gas oils are used as FCC, hydrocracker, or
petrochemical feed.

Product fluid coke, spherical in shape with a mean particle size of 100-150 µm, is a non-agglomerating, free-flowing solid
which can be pneumatically conveyed in a closed system. Fluid coke can be sold as solid fuel with its product valuation
based upon its sulfur and metals content and hardness characteristics. Current outlets include cement kilns, where the
cement adsorbs the sulfur-containing combustion products from the coke, or boilers for steam and power generation.
Fluid bed boilers for power production are an attractive outlet for fluid coke since this coke does not require grinding or
other preparation steps such as delayed coke.

Process Options
The FLUID COKING process is very flexible. Typically, the 975ºF/525˚C-plus liquid is recycled to extinction. However, with
minor modifications to the scrubber, this stream can be withdrawn as an additional product. This is typically referred to as
extra heavy coker gas oil, and is often blended into the refinery fuel oil stock. Elimination of recycle typically results in an
increase in liquid products of 4 - 6 wt% on fresh feed, also reducing the overall reactor gas and coke make.

Significant Commercial Experience and Growing

There are at least seven units in operation ranging in capacity from 8 to 100 KB/SD with over 350 KB/SD of total
capacity. A new unit, currently under construction, will have the capacity of approximately 100 KB/SD.

Most Flexible / Best Coking Approach

If a refiner has sweet resids and wants to make anode grade coke for the aluminum or steel industry, then delayed coking
is the preferred approach. If the goal is to make fuel coke, produce power and steam or later convert to FLEXICOKING to
make a clean fuel or natural gas substitute or a hydrogen rich stream, FLUID COKING is the clear choice.

To learn more about ExxonMobil's refining technologies available for license, contact:

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company

Technology Sales & Licensing
3225 Gallows Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22037-0001
phone (703) 846-2568; fax (703) 846-2725
http://www.exxonmobil.com/refiningtechnologies

FLUID COKING and FLEXICOKING are trademarks and proprietary process names of Exxon Mobil Corporation or its affiliates.