Comparative Study of Hydrodemetallization (HDM) Catalyst Aging by Boscan Feed and Kuwait Atmospheric Residue

Abstract

Two feeds, a high-metal feed, namely, Boscan heavy crude (BHC), and a conventional low-metal feed, such as atmospheric residue from Kuwait export crude (KEC-AR), were studied with regard to their capacity to deactivate a hydrodemetallization (HDM) catalyst typically used in Kuwait refineries. Feed properties, such as 1300 wt ppm metal (V + Ni), 10 wt % asphaltenes, and 12 wt% CCR, make BHC an ideal feed to accelerate the deactivation of catalysts in an aging test. The competitive adsorption of coke and metals shortens the lifetime of the HDM catalyst tested in a pilot plant experiment under operating conditions applied in Kuwait refineries by ≈80% compared to KEC-AR. During the start of the run phase (up to 240 h), the HDM catalyst accumulated ≈6 times more metals and ≈1.5 times more coke when aged with BHC instead of KEC-AR. At the end of run, the maximum metal on catalyst (MMOC) in both experiments, accelerated test with BHC (1944 h) and life test with KEC-AR (9720 h), was ≈24.5 g of metal (V + Ni)/100 ...