Abstract
Heavy petroleum industries, including the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, are useful for producing fuels but they are among some of the biggest contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The recent global push for mitigation efforts against climate change has resulted in increased legislation that affects the operations and future of these industries. In terms of the FCC unit, on the riser side, more legislation is pushing towards them switching from petroleum-driven energy sources to more renewable sources such as solar and wind, which threatens the profitability of the unit. On the regenerator side, there is more legislation aimed at reducing emissions of GHGs from such units. As a result, it is more important than ever to develop models that are accurate and reliable, that will help optimise the unit for maximisation of profits under new regulations and changing trends, and that predict emissions of various GHGs to keep up with new reporting guidelines. This article, split over two parts, reviews traditional modelling methodologies used in modelling and simulation of the FCC unit. In Part I, hydrodynamics and kinetics of the riser are discussed in terms of experimental data and modelling approaches. A brief review of the FCC feed is undertaken in terms of characterisations and cracking reaction chemistry, and how these factors have affected modelling approaches. A brief overview of how vaporisation and catalyst deactivation are addressed in the FCC modelling literature is also undertaken. Modelling of constitutive parts that are important to the FCC riser unit such as gas-solid cyclones, disengaging and stripping vessels, is also considered. This review then identifies areas where current models for the riser can be improved for the future. In Part II, a similar review is presented for the FCC regenerator system.
Highlights
The aim of refinery operations is the transformation of the complex crude oil mixture into useful products
This demonstrated one powerful observation, because the rates are only concerned with the type of elementary step and structure of the molecule, the rates can be calculated for cracking of simple molecules, which produce smaller reaction networks such as the case of Standl et al [126], and extrapolated for models with more complex reaction schemes without the need to recalculate the rate constants
Analytical technology has come a long way since the early 1960s when fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) modelling first began, with tools able to provide more detailed characterisation of FCC reaction mixture, which has greatly advanced the fundamental approach to kinetic modelling
Summary
The aim of refinery operations is the transformation of the complex crude oil mixture into useful products. The FCC unit is notoriously difficult to model due to the size of the process, complicated hydrodynamics, and complex reaction kinetics, especially in the riser [5,6] Both the riser and the regenerator are fluidised bed reactors; Table 1 shows the normal operating conditions of the FCC riser. They summarised different hydrodynamic models of reactor flow, and gas mixing in the dense phase of bubbling fluidised beds, an area they identified as needing further work since due to the lack of agreement about how it should be treated They reviewed the state of modelling of interphase gas mass transfer. We give a brief overview of these aspects of kinetic modelling and describe how they are relevant in different types of kinetic model
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