Steady state modeling and simulation of an industrial combustor‐style fluidized catalytic cracking regenerator

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study was to develop a detailed steady state model for an industrial combustor‐style fluidized catalytic cracking regenerator consisting of high efficiency combustor and second stage regenerator. A rigorous model was developed for the combustor to predict profiles of important variables such as gas volume fraction, gas/cluster velocity, temperature, pressure, and gas/solid composition. The model for the second stage regenerator was also integrated so that the steady state behaviors of the reactor consisting of two distinct regions (dense bed region and free board region) could be accounted for. The model was programmed using FORTRAN language into five types of custom unit models of AspenPlusTM software. The custom unit models were then solved together on AspenPlusTM user interface level. The plant data of the industrial unit operated by SINOPEC were used to validate the proposed model. © 2012 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.