FL0lDlIED OAIALYIlO OPAOKlNO A5lO5

The first FCC unit was commissioned in 1942. The catalytic cracking process consists of contacting heavy oil with a powdered catalyst at elevated temperatures to form lighter,
more valuable products-mainly gasoline. The modern FCC unit has four main sections: the reactor/regenerator, flue gas treating, main fractionator, and gas recovery.
P|ser PeocIor
The typical FCC unit feed is comprised of gas
oils from the atmospheric distillation column, vacuum
distillation column, and delayed coker. These gas oils boil between
650 F and 1,050 F.
Oil is first heated in a preheat system. This usually consists of heat exchangers
whose heating medium is intermediate pumparounds from the main fractionator.
This increases the feed temperature to 300-500 F. Sometimes a feed preheat furnace
provides additional heat.
After preheating, the feed is injected into the base of the riser where proprietary feed
injectors atomize the feed into very small droplets. The oil feed comes into contact and
mixes with hot regenerated catalyst at the riser bottom.
The feed-catalyst mixture flows upward in the riser where the cracking reactions
occur. These reactions consume heat (endothermic) and crack the heavy oil into
smaller molecules.
Typically, the temperature will decrease 40-70 F from the feed injectors to the
riser outlet. The oil-catalyst mixture typically stays in the riser 1-4 seconds,
and a majority of the cracking reactions occur during this time.
The reactions yield a hydrocarbon vapor and leave a
deposit on the catalyst surface, which reduces
its activity.
FCC CoIo|ysIs ond Add|I|ves
Fluid cracking catalysts are designed to crack or break the larger
feed molecules into smaller, more valuable products like gasoline and diesel.
They are comprised of one or more crystalline, zeolite components and a matrix to
hold them. The zeolite is a three dimensional crystal that controls overall catalyst
activity and selectivity towards the desired yields, while the matrix provides bottoms
conversion, the necessary pore structure, and physical properties such as attrition
resistance and particle density.
Additives are also used regularly in FCC units to control specific reactions and
meet required specifications. These additives can be liquids or solids. Typical
additive applications include CO combustion control, SOx and NOx
control in the flue gas, increased bottoms cracking, nickel
and vanadium passivation, octane enhancement
and LPG production.
PeocIorJ$Ir|pper
Vesse|
At the end of the riser, the hydrocarbon vapors and
catalyst flow through a riser termination device (RTD) that
separates the vapors from the catalyst.
A fast separation is important because prolonged exposure of hydrocarbon
vapors to the spent catalyst can result in undesirable reactions. The RTD can
be directly connected to the secondary cyclones or discharge the vapors into the
reactor/stripper vessel.
Catalyst from the RTD flows to the spent catalyst stripper and the hydrocarbon
vapors enter the reactor vessel.
The main function of the reactor/stripper vessel is to house the reactor cyclones
and stripper.
Product vapors entering the reactor mix with steam and any hydrocarbon vapors from
the spent catalyst stripper. This combined gas flows to the reactor cyclones, which
remove any catalyst not separated by the RTD. Vapors from the cyclones flow through
the reactor plenum and to the reactor overhead line. In a closed RTD system the
product vapors, stripped hydrocarbons, and steam are contained and piped directly to
the cyclone separation system.
Spent catalyst from the cyclones flows down the cyclone diplegs into the spent
catalyst stripper. Steam is used to displace hydrocarbons from between the
catalyst particles. This helps recover additional product vapors and prevents
them from being carried into the regenerator. Most strippers are equipped
with internals, which helps improve mixing between steamand catalyst.
Catalyst then flows to the spent catalyst standpipe and through
the spent catalyst control valve that controls the catalyst
level in the stripper. From the standpipe, catalyst
flows into the regenerator.
Pes|d Crock|ng
In recent years many refiners have elected to process
residual feeds in the cracker. These feedstocks contain more
contaminants (nickel, vanadium, sulfur, nitrogen, iron, etc.) and produce
more coke and generate more heat in the regenerator. Specialized designs are
necessary to accommodate the extra heat produced. These techniques include
customized feed injectors, mixed temperature control (MTC), dense bed catalyst
coolers, and the addition of a second stage of regeneration.
Operating parameters are also adjusted for the heavier feedstocks. More steam is used
for feed dispersion and stripping; higher catalyst-to-oil ratios are employed and water
injection into the riser is sometimes used for regenerator temperature control.
Increased catalyst additions help control the metals content of the
equilibrium catalyst, and the catalyst properties must be changed for
the larger feed molecules. Increased pore size and pore
volume are required along with metals tolerance
and activity maintenance.
PegeneroIor
In the regenerator, spent catalyst mixes with air from the main air blower,
which burns off most of the coke that has formed on the catalyst. Heat produced
in this combustion raises the catalyst temperature by 300-400 F.
Flue gases leaving the regenerator flow through regenerator cyclones where entrained
catalyst is removed and returned to the regenerator bed.
Regenerated catalyst flows into the regenerated catalyst standpipe,
through a slide valve and back to the riser, where the
entire process is repeated.
Mo|n FrocI|onoIor
ond Gos Pecovery $ysIem
Hydrocarbons from the reactor flow through the reactor overhead line into
the main fractionator. The main fractionator quenches the hydrocarbon vapor
and separates it into product streams. Some heat from the main fractionator is used to
preheat the FCC feed stream and provide heat to the gas recovery system.
Heavier products are separated in the main fractionator and lighter products are
separated in the gas recovery plant. Typical products from the main fractionator
and gas recovery plant are dry gas, C3/C4 LPG, light naphtha, heavy
naphtha, light cycle oil, and decant oil. The recent trend is to
further fractionate the LPG stream into added-value
products such as propylene.
F|ue Gos $ysIem
Flue gas enters the flue gas line and passes through the flue gas slide
valves, which control the regenerator pressure. Most FCC units have
additional flue gas equipment before discharge to the atmosphere including
some or all of the following: CO incineration, heat recovery, power recovery,
particulate removal (third stage separators or electrostatic
precipitators) and wet gas scrubbers for particulate,
SOx and NOx control.
PEACICP
FLUE GAS
PEGENEPAICP
AlP HEAIEP
SIPlPPlNG
SIEAM
SIPlPPEP
SLUPPY PECYCLE
MIC PECYCLE
CVEPHEAD VAPCP
FPESH FEED
Foujos|Ie $IrucIure
Iruncoled
Cclohedron
Hexogonol
Prism
b$Y ond PEY Ieo||Ies PepresenIoI|ons
Equ|||br|um PEY
23 Al Aloms{UC
UCS = 24.3
SiC2{Al2C3 = T5
Fresh PEY
UCS = 24.3
85 Al Aloms{UC
Equ|||br|um b$Y
7 Al Aloms{UC
UCS = 24.25
SiC2{Al2C3 = 54
Fresh b$Y
UCS = 24.4
34 Al Aloms{UC
:PVSEFTUJOBUJPOGPSDPNQMFUF'$$ DBUBMZUJDTPMVUJPOT
To learn more about Engelhard FCC Catalysts and Additives,
visit us at XXXFOHFMIBSEDPN.
4UPOF
&/(* /&&3* /( 130$63&.&/5 $0/4536$5* 0/
'"#3* $"5* 0/ .0%6-"3*;"5*0/
&/7* 30/.&/5"- ."* /5&/"/$&$0/46-5* /(
#VJME PO PVS OBNF
BOE CFBU ZPVS DPNQFUJUJPO
www. shawgrp. com
4UPOF8FCTUFS
Oil & Gas Journal
1700 West Loop South, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77027
Tel: 713/621-9720
Fax: 713/963-6285
www.ogjonline.com
Project publishing support and
coordination from Oil & Gas Journal:
David Nakamura, Renning/
Petrochemical Editor
Alana Herron, Art Director and
Artistic Illustration
Stone & Webster, Inc.
1430 Enclave Parkway
Houston, TX 77077
Tel: 281/368-4000
Fax: 281/368-4001
www.shawgrp.com
Engineering design and graphics
provided courtesy of Stone &Webster Inc.,
A Shaw Group Company:
Rosy Kickirillo, Coordination Support
Dilip Dharia, Warren Letzsch and
Ed Yuan, Technical Advisors
John Hood, Technical Illustrator
"L[P/PCFM$BUBMZTUToBOEZPVSGVUVSF
0VSSFDPSEPGJOOPWBUJPOJO'$$DBUBMZTJTSFBDIFTCBDLmGUZZFBST
4P OBUVSBMMZ XF BSF UIJOLJOH OPX BCPVU UIF DIBMMFOHFT UIBU XJMM TIBQF ZPVS GVUVSF
Helpin you cope with the operational constraints, environmental demands and competitive pressures on your rehnin business -
and ensurin you meet the needs of your customers.

Innovative catalysts and additives Modern manufacturin Proven performance Reliable supply Intellient support www.akzonobelcatalysts.com
How to identify the L
best company for L
your next turnaround.
exceeds
customer
expectations
offers complete
planning, L
management
and execution
well recognized
(FCCU work is L
legendary)
in demand
(completed
?.8 million
man-hours
in ?00IL
& ?00?)
outstanding
safety record
(TRIR I.S)
The AltairStrickland fingerprint has several distinct
We're best known for FCCU upgrades, revamps and turna
(like the major FCCU revamp we completed in just ?0 d
But we perform far more work than that (we completed
projects totaling I.4 million man-hours in ?00? alone
We're equally known for our ability to work in tand
customers and other contractors. Customers often comme
cooperativeness just as a major Gulf Coast Chemical co
spring when we completed their !S,000 man hour planned
We're also known for the above average safety train
and the quality of our craftsmanship. Let us put our
next job.
TURNAROUND PLANNING, MANAGEMENT AND EXECUTION
Call ?8I-4I8-?00, L
western U.S. call !I0-?I?
call toll free I-800-4I8-
'-6*%$"5"-:5*$$3"$,*/(
Back copies of the Mar. 17, 2003, Oil & Gas Journal, which
includes this poster, may be obtained from PennWell. To order:
call 800/633-1656; fax 918/831-9482; e-mail sherryh@pennwell.com;
or submit request to P.O. Box 21288, Tulsa, OK 74121.
Reproduction of the contents of this poster, in any manner,
is prohibited without the consent of PennWell Corp. MMIII.