Modeling Coke Distribution above the Freeboard of a FLUID COKING Reactor

Abstract

In a FLUID COKING unit, reactor cyclone fouling by coke deposits can set the run length of the unit. Over time the coke deposits can grow and obstruct the cyclone which will limit throughput and lead to a shutdown. For this reason, producing a more uniform coke distribution pattern within the reactor horn chamber may lead to an increased interval between turnarounds. An existing pilot-scale experimental model of the coker reactor freeboard, horn chamber, and exit cyclones allows determination of coke distribution to the cyclones, but provides limited understanding of the underlying fluid dynamics within the system. In this work a two-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of this experimental rig was developed. Coke was modeled as an Eulerian stream of solid particles with monodisperse particle diameter. It was found that predicted coke distributions were sensitive to the choice of coke diameter, but a suitable choice gave good agreement with experimental observations. In the current work this val...