Novel Propylene Production Route: Utilizing Hydrotreated Shale Oil as Feedstock via Two-Stage Riser Catalytic Cracking

Abstract

In this paper, a novel propylene production route is proposed. Hydrotreated shale oil was first used as a feedstock for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) to increase the propylene yield because of its abundant aliphatic hydrocarbons. The catalytic cracking performance of hydrotreated shale oil was investigated in detail via two-stage riser catalytic cracking (TMP). The results of the pilot-plant-scale TMP indicated that hydrotreated shale oil blended with 30 wt % Daqing vacuum residue could not only maximize the propylene yield but also showed a more desirable product distribution than conventional FCC feedstock. The yield of liquid products (including liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, and diesel) was as high as 84.93 wt %, and the propylene yield reached 23.62 wt %, whereas the dry gas yield was only 6.06 wt %. This study may provide a novel route to reasonably use shale oil.