Computational fluid dynamics modeling of crude palm oil hydrocracking in fixed-bed reactor

Abstract

Hydrocracking of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in fixed-bed reactor was studied using a six-lump computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The experiment was conducted in the reactor at the temperatures of 673-773 K with CPO flow rates between 60 and 300 g/h. The predictive modeling of CPO cracking demonstrated a strong correlation with the experimental data. CFD simulation investigated the influence of input flow rates and temperatures on species mass fraction and product yield in the reactor. At the lowest input flow rate, the highest results of diesel (31.7 %), kerosene (17.1 %), gasoline (7.62 %), and gas (3 %) were produced. As CPO flow rate increased from 60 to 300 g/h, the concentration of CPO in the reactor increased while the concentration of the desired products decreased at the reactor outlet. The highest total oil fraction was obtained at 773 K and a 60 g/h flow rate with oil fraction value of 59.42 %.