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, AjayAK
• 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: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=746721
• 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.

与炼油厂中加氢处理催化反应器的无缝操作相关的普遍问题是结垢和压降增长的问题。这些限制了催化反应器操作的预定运行长度，并且在严重的情况下保证了过早关闭。沥青衍生瓦斯油中出现的亚微米金属颗粒浓度极低（<100 ppm），可在延长的进料加工时间内累积，并最终导致显著的压力下降，从而导致过早停机。类似地，共辄烯烃也可导致催化剂失活和加氢处理器反应器中的结垢。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，需要对沥青衍生瓦斯油中存在的各种结垢物的结垢机理进行系统研究。在这项拟议的工作中，催化剂结垢和压降问题，由于污垢，如金属细粉和共轭烯烃将在工业条件下与加拿大合成原油有限公司合作研究。一个填充床加氢处理反应器，模拟工业加氢处理器和实际的工业进料将用于研究污垢的问题。考察了重质和轻质瓦斯油中污垢物对加氢脱硫和加氢脱氮的影响。此外，将通过改变加氢处理催化剂的表面酸性、催化剂颗粒形态和反应器操作条件来研究使催化剂床和反应器主体上的污垢沉积最小化的策略。此外，催化剂酸度和工艺条件的相互作用将沿着污垢沉积的数学模型进行研究。该项目的拟议成果将为我们的工业合作伙伴提供解决方案，以减轻局部区域结垢，从而实现其米尔德里德湖炼油厂催化剂再生之间的理想操作周期，该炼油厂每天从沥青油中生产350，000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。