Investigation of fouling and pressure drop profiles in packed-bed catalytic reactor during hydrotreating of bitumen-derived gas oils

沥青衍生瓦斯油加氢处理过程中填充床催化反应器的结垢和压降曲线研究

• 批准号: 566954-2021
• 负责人: Dalai, Ajay
• 金额: $ 9.47万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=722347
• 关键词: Investigation; fouling; pressure; drop; profiles

A prevalent problem associated with the seamless operation of hydrotreating catalytic reactors in the refinery is the issues of fouling and pressure drop growth. These limit the scheduled run lengths of catalytic reactor operation and in severe cases warrant premature shutdowns. The occurrence of submicron metal particles in bitumen-derived gas oils at extremely low concentrations (<100 ppm), can accumulate over extended feed processing times and culminate in significant pressure drop and consequently premature shutdown. Similarly, conjugated olefins can also lead to catalyst deactivation, and fouling in hydrotreater reactors. To gain insight into fouling and the pressure drop profiles associated with hydrotreating of bitumen-derived oils, and to develop appropriate mitigation strategies, a systematic investigation on the fouling mechanism of various foulants present in bitumen-derived gas oils is required. In this proposed work, catalyst fouling, and pressure drop issues due to foulants such as metal fines and conjugated olefins will be studied under industrial conditions in collaboration with Syncrude Canada Ltd. A packed bed hydrotreating reactor that simulates an industrial hydrotreater and actual industrial feeds will be used in studying the issues of foulants. The effects of foulants in the heavy and light gas oils on hydrodesulfurisation and hydrodenitrogenation are also examined. Besides, strategies to minimize foulants deposition on the catalyst bed and reactor body will be investigated by altering the surface acidity of a hydrotreating catalyst, the catalyst pellet morphology, and reactor operating conditions. Additionally, interactive effects of catalyst acidity and process conditions will be investigated along with mathematical modeling of foulants deposition. The proposed outcomes of this project will offer solutions to our industrial partner to mitigate localized zonal fouling, and thus to achieve the desired operating cycle between catalyst regenerations in their Mildred Lake upgrader that produces 350,000 bbl/day of sweet crude oil (SCO) from bitumen oil. In addition, this research will enable other Canadian oil companies to improve the profit margin of SCO production while publishing the project findings.

炼油厂加氢处理催化反应器无缝运行的一个普遍问题是结垢和压降增长问题。这些限制了催化反应器运行的计划运行长度，在严重的情况下需要提前关闭。在沥青衍生气油中，亚微米金属颗粒的浓度极低（< 100ppm），随着进料处理时间的延长，这些颗粒会累积，最终导致显著的压降，从而导致过早停机。同样，共轭烯烃也会导致催化剂失活，并在加氢处理反应器中结垢。为了深入了解与沥青衍生油加氢处理相关的结垢和压降分布，并制定适当的缓解策略，需要对沥青衍生气油中存在的各种污垢的结垢机制进行系统研究。在这项工作中，将与加拿大辛克鲁德有限公司合作，在工业条件下研究催化剂污染和由金属粉和共轭烯烃等污染物引起的压降问题。模拟工业加氢处理装置和实际工业进料的填充床加氢处理反应器将用于研究污染物问题。研究了重油和轻油中杂质对加氢脱硫和加氢脱氮的影响。此外，还将研究通过改变加氢处理催化剂的表面酸度、催化剂颗粒形态和反应器操作条件来减少催化剂床层和反应器体上污垢沉积的策略。此外，还将研究催化剂酸度和工艺条件的相互作用，以及污垢沉积的数学模型。该项目的建议成果将为我们的工业合作伙伴提供解决方案，以减轻局部区域污染，从而实现其Mildred Lake升级装置催化剂再生之间的预期操作周期，该装置每天从沥青油中生产35万桶低硫原油（SCO）。此外，这项研究将使其他加拿大石油公司能够在公布项目结果的同时提高SCO生产的利润率。