Impact of mesophase on the hydrodynamics of a resid hydroprocessor

加氢处理重油会产生中间相，这是一种分散的不混相液相，偶尔会在工业流化床（如Syncrude Canada Ltd.运营的LC-FinerSM）中观察到。中间相是由于不希望的二次反应而形成的，其特征是极性的，比连续的液相密度更大，粘度更大。这种额外的液相被认为对流化床反应器的运行有负面影响。因此，本研究项目的目标是研究中间相和催化剂物理性质对相持率和床层稳定性的影响，同时提高反应器的液体循环效率。所有元素都是相互关联的，因为中间相可能优先润湿催化剂，形成影响床稳定性（催化剂沉淀和/或携带）和气泡动力学的簇，这反过来可能影响回收盘将气体与其他相分离的能力，从而增加气体吞吐量，增加气体含率，并使气体分离更加困难。高气含率导致较低的液含率和停留时间，这降低了单位总能量所需的产品产量，因此降低了整个过程的能源效率。经济回报和环境影响的优化是加拿大油砂行业成功发展的核心，到2030年，加拿大油砂行业的合成原油日产量将增加两倍以上，达到500万桶，占北美需求的16%。

Hydroprocessing heavy oil can generate mesophase, a dispersed immiscible liquid phase, occasionally observed in industrial fluidized beds such as the LC-FinerSM operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. Mesophase is formed due to undesired secondary reactions and can be characterized as polar, denser and more viscous than the continuous liquid phase. This additional liquid phase is believed to negatively affect the operation of the fluidized bed reactor. The goal of this research project is thus to investigate the impact of mesophase and catalyst physical properties on the phase holdups and bed stability, while improving liquid recycle efficiency of the reactor. All elements are interrelated as mesophase may preferentially wet the catalyst, forming clusters that affect bed stability (catalyst sedimentation and/or carry-over) and bubble dynamics, this in turn may affect the ability of the recycle pan to separate the gas from the other phases, which then increases the gas throughput, increasing the gas holdup and rendering the gas separation even more difficult. High gas holdup leads to a lower liquid holdup and residence time, which decreases product yield per unit of total energy required and therefore lowers the overall process energy efficiency. Optimization of economic return and environmental impact are central to the successful development of the Canadian oil-sands industry, which is planned to increase more than twofold to five million barrels of synthetic crude oil a day, or 16% of North American demand by 2030.