Emission characteristics of benzene series in FCC flue gas

Abstract

Benzene series are considered as air pollutants in refineries. However, the emissions of benzene series in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) flue gas are poorly understand. In this work, we conduct stack tests on three typical FCC units. Benzene series, including benzene, toluene, xylene and ethyl benzene, are monitored in the flue gas. It shows that the coking degree of the spent catalysts affect the emissions of benzene series significantly, and there are four kinds of carbon-containing precursors in the spent catalyst. A fixed-bed reactor is used to conduct the regeneration simulation experiments, and the flue gas is monitored by TG-MS and FTIR. The emissions of toluene and ethyl benzene are mainly emitted in the early and middle stage of the reaction (250–650 °C), while the emission of benzene is mainly detected in the middle and late stage of the reaction (450–750 °C). Xylene group is not detected in the stack tests and regeneration experiments. Higher emissions of benzene series are released from the spent catalyst with lower C/H ratio during regeneration process. With the increase of oxygen content, the emissions of benzene series decrease, and the initial emission temperature is advanced. These insights can improve the refinery's awareness and control of benzene series in the future.