Development of methods to monitor the fouling of stripper sheds in fluid cokers

世界各地都在使用流体焦化来提炼各种来源的重油。例如，在北艾伯塔省，辛克鲁德的流体焦化装置每天生产超过0.3Mbbl的合成原油。帝国石油公司还在其萨尼亚炼油厂运营着一台液体焦化装置。在流动焦化装置中，热焦炭颗粒提供重油热裂解所需的能量。热焦炭从燃烧器输送到焦化炉顶部，沿着焦化炉流下，在那里它与重油接触，然后从焦化炉底部流回燃烧器。在焦炭离开焦化装置之前，焦炭流经汽提塔，在汽提塔中注入蒸汽以去除残余油。然而，焦炭在汽提塔炉棚表面逐渐长大，最终可能会限制焦炭的流动，迫使焦炉提前停炉。本研究旨在为工业焦化厂汽提塔炉棚结垢的在线监测提供可靠的方法。这些信息将使工业操作员在焦化装置中保持理想的操作条件，在减少结垢的条件和最大限度提高有价值产品的条件之间保持适当的平衡。研究的目标是建立测量技术，使用五种不同的方法来确定商业焦化装置汽提塔结垢的程度。前两种方法将侧重于检测汽提塔上方或汽提塔区域内床层流体动力学的变化。其他三种方法将侧重于检测棚子、棚子附近的柱壁或专用污垢探头上沉积物厚度的变化。加拿大流体焦化装置更高效的运行将为加拿大带来可观的经济利益。随着经济逐渐从化石燃料转向流动焦化，沥青饲料将得到其他饲料的补充，如废塑料、热解生物油、糖和不合格的植物油。拟议的研究将有助于焦化厂适应新的饲料，为加拿大带来经济和环境效益。

Fluid Coking is used around the world to upgrade heavy oils from various sources. For example, in Northern Alberta, Syncrude's Fluid Cokers produce over 0.3 Mbbl/day of synthetic crude. Imperial Oil also operates a Fluid Coker at its Sarnia refinery. In fluid cokers, hot coke particles provide the energy required for the thermal cracking of heavy oil. The hot coke is conveyed from a burner to the coker top, flows down the coker where it comes into contact with heavy oil, and flows back to the burner from the coker bottom. Before they exit the coker, the coke flows through a stripper where steam is injected to remove residual oil. However, coke deposits that gradually grow on the surface of the stripper sheds may eventually restrict coke flow, forcing the premature shutdown of the coker.The proposed research aims to develop reliable methods for online monitoring of stripper shed fouling in commercial cokers. This information will allow the industrial operator to maintain ideal operating conditions in a coker, with the right balance between conditions that reduce fouling and conditions that maximize the yield of valuable products. The research objective is to establish measurement techniques that can determine the extent of stripper fouling in commercial cokers using five different approaches. The first two approaches will focus on detecting changes in bed hydrodynamics above the stripper or within the stripper region. The other three approaches will focus on detecting changes in deposit thickness on the sheds, the column wall near the sheds, or dedicated fouling probes.More efficient operation of Canadian fluid cokers will bring substantial economic benefits to Canada. As the economy gradually shifts from fossil fuels, bitumen feeds to fluid cokers will be supplemented with other feeds such as waste plastics, pyrolytic bio-oil, sugars, and off-spec vegetable oil. The proposed research will help adapt cokers to the new feeds, bringing economic and environmental benefits to Canada.