Upgrading of a Petroleum Residue. Kinetics of Conradson Carbon Residue Conversion

Abstract

A pretreated petroleum residue was hydroprocessed in a continuous hydroprocessing unit provided with a continuous stirred tank reactor. In this paper, the kinetic study of Conradson carbon residue (CCR) conversion is reported. The range of CCR conversion is 5.6−62.4%. The data of CCR conversion fit first-order kinetics, and the activation energy is 36.3 kcal/mol. No pressure dependence of the rate constants as defined by the equation K = K * was observed. The structural analysis of the feed and products indicated that hydroprocessing produces an increase in the saturated fraction and a decrease in the polar fraction. The higher content of saturated fraction in the products obtained at 400 °C than in those obtained at 415 °C together with the increase in aromatic carbon and decrease in molecular weight in the products processed at 415 °C seem to indicate that cyclization reactions plus aromatization of the formed rings are being produced at this temperature. The asphaltene content was linearly related with...