Fouling, particle deposition and presure drop during hydroprocessing

结垢和细颗粒沉积是石油炼制和工业面临的主要挑战。在加氢处理过程中，不需要的固体物质，要么被进料夹带，要么在加氢过程中产生，积聚在填充床反应器上，导致催化剂床的空隙率降低，从而增加催化剂床上的压降。过大的压降最终会导致反应堆关闭（过早关闭）。这一过程非常耗时，并且每天要花费数十万美元来更换尚未充分利用的昂贵催化剂。尽管过滤器用于防止反应器堵塞，但小颗粒（< 20 μ m）会在填料床反应器中显著积聚，导致高压降并最终过早关闭。为了控制加氢处理反应器中压降过大的形成，必须了解填料床反应器中细颗粒的形成机理、分布以及影响细颗粒沉积的有效因素。优化工艺条件将改善**反应器的整体运行和盈利能力。本研究的目的是通过研究影响细颗粒沉积速率、机理和分布的因素，找出**加氢反应器中结垢和颗粒沉积的根本原因。这些因素包括不同类型的结垢前体、不同气油流的结垢倾向、催化剂性能和加氢处理反应器的操作条件的影响。这项工作将研究在间歇式和滴流床反应器中的精细沉积。本项目的成果将为减少石油加氢处理反应器的结垢和提高加氢处理装置的性能提供解决方案。这将有利于Syncrude和其他加拿大石油生产商扩大生产能力

Fouling and fine particle deposition are major challenges facing petroleum refining and industries. During**hydrotreating process, unwanted solid materials, which are either entrained with oil feed or created within the**process, accumulate on the packed-bed reactors causing reduction in the void fraction of the catalyst bed, and**consequently increase in pressure drop across the catalyst bed. Excessive pressure drop would eventually**results in shutdown of the reactor (premature shutdown). This procedure is time consuming and costs hundreds**of thousands of dollars per day in lost profits to replace the expensive catalyst that have not been fully utilized.**Even though filters are used to protect the reactors from plugging, small particles (< 20µm) can accumulate**significantly in the packed-bed reactor causing high pressure drop and eventually premature shutdown. To**control the excessive pressure drop buildup in hydrotreating reactors, it is important to understand the**mechanism and distribution of the fine particles and effective factors that influence fine deposition in**packed-bed reactors. Optimizing the process conditions will improve the overall operations and profitability of**the reactors. The goal of this work is to identify the root causes of fouling and particle deposition in**hydrotreating reactors by investigating factors that affect fine deposition rate, mechanism, and distribution.**These factors include the impact of different types of fouling precursors, fouling propensity of different gas oil**streams, catalyst properties, and operating conditions of the hydrotreating reactor. This work will study fine**deposition in both batch and trickle bed reactors. The proposed outcomes of this project will offer solutions to**reduce fouling in hydrotreating reactor and enhance the performance of hydrotreating units in petroleum**industries. This will benefit Syncrude and other Canadian oil producers, to expand their production capacity